Even Now

Even Now - Chapter 15 "Revelations"

Chapter 15—Rukia—

"Revelations"

Our cheeks were red for two different reasons that night. My cheeks reddened after what had he done to me, that idiot… He should stop doing something idiot like that… like… kissing me. Damn, it was too embarrassing to remember that kiss. His red cheek was not from blushing. I slapped him hard after what had he done and it left a red hand print on his left cheek. But apparently my slap wasn't hard enough to wipe that smug grin off his face. Stupid, oh why he looked that happy?

"Don't look at me like that!"

"Like what?"

"Like that!"

"Like what?"

I growled and he looked amused by my reaction. Idiot. Oh why had I let an idiot like him kiss me? I glared at him but he just grinned at me. How confident. I spat. The look in his stupid face really made me wanted to slap him again—harder this time. But I knew even though I slapped him again it'd do me no good so I tried so hard to control myself and believe me it wasn't easy.

Damn Renji.

The way he looked at me made me self-conscious and I hated it. I knew he realized it how I became uncomfortable under his gaze. I knew he realized that I couldn't at his face right now but he kept gazing at me. I could tell, it entertained him.

I tried to say something. I needed to clear it up. I knew from his look, he had a wrong idea. I knew it, exactly, what he was thinking. I didn't like it.

"Renji idiot! Y-you get it wrong!" I coughed to cover my trembling voice. It wasn't easy to talk like this when I was still slightly embarrassed from the kiss, "You know—you know I love Ichigo…"

He laughed at this statement and gave me a funny look, he looked at me for few seconds before opened his mouth to say, "Ichigo loves Orihime. We know that. We ALL know that."

I didn't bother to debate that, this idiot could be really smart at some times. Better not to debate him. However I needed to make him understand my point, "That's not the problem, idiot! It's about my feeling!" yeah, it's all about my feeling, "I love him!" I hissed, we stood in the corridor not too far from our room. I didn't want to shout, the last thing I wanted was to let everyone heard us. Though it was really hard to control it.

He smirked.

I clenched my fists angrily, "I love Ichigo, and that's final!"

"How do you know?"

"Eh?"

Renji's smug smile faded away as he looked at me seriously, "How do you know that your feeling for him couldn't fade away?" He walked closed to me while I stepped back slowly, still looked into his eyes. I gulped. He wouldn't look away.

"What makes you think it's impossible for you to fall for me?"

What?

I found it was hard to talk or even to think when he kept cornering me to the wall. His tall figure was towering me. I had never felt as intimidated as what I felt now. I couldn't think clearly. He was too close.

"I… I just know it."

I tried to look away but I couldn't.

"You kissed me back, Rukia…"

I tried to be as though as usual. But he knew he had that effect to me. Damn it.

He chuckled.

I gulped.

"You kissed me back."

Before I realized what'd happened, he'd pinned me to the wooden wall. He looked into my eyes with such an expression he'd never worn before. I knew it, he wasn't playing around, he was dead serious. Those eyes made me hard to breathe. He never showed me this side of him before. This wasn't good.