The beast within, chapter 3

The beast within, chapter 3

   ,,You shouldn’t have said that…“ Rukia was shocked at Ichigo‘s actions. ,,You shouldn‘t have said that, Rukia-chan...“. The girl shivered. What‘s wrong with him? He NEVER called her Rukia-chan. ,,Ichigo, what...“ and Rukia fell silence. Instead of Ichigo‘s soft brown eyes, a pair of yellow ones were staring right at her. They  reminded her of a lizard. ,,I...Ichi...go?“ Rukia looked at the man before her. Her eyes were filled with confusion and fear. Just as she was about to say something else, yellow lizard eyes disappeared and soft brown ones returned. Ichigo let go of Rukia and backed away. He then put his head in his hands. What had just happened?  Rukia was still staring at him. Could something bad have happened to him? Is he alright? Were those yellow eyes real or were... Were they just her imagination? She then slowly walked to her friend and kneeled down beside him. ,,Ichigo, are you alright?“ He didn‘t answer. The teen was still in shock, as he didn‘t understand what was happening to him. ,,Ichigo, I... I‘m sorry. I shouldn‘t have said those things to you.“ Rukia said quietly. Ichigo then looked up and stared her right in her eyes. She was serious. ,,No problem, it‘s ok“ . Rukia was relieved. She smiled at him a little. ,,Ok, now we really have to go to bed. You have to rest, that hollow was pretty tough“. He nodded. ,,Sure, goodnight“. They stood up. Ichigo went to his ,,bed“ on the floor, while as Rukia went to the real bed. They didn‘t say anything afterwards. Mainly because they didn‘t know what to say. They were both confused about what had occurred a minute ago. But neither of them spoke about it. They were just too afraid to know.

   The next day, Ichigo had to stay at school after class on cleaning duty, so Rukia had to walk home alone. But she didn‘t mind. In fact, she was glad she could be alone for a little while. She needed to think and not just about what had happened yesterday. What was the matter with Ichigo? Why hasn‘t he been himself lately? These past few weeks, he was always awfully quiet, as if his mind was somewhere else. It‘d fine if he‘d be like that in school or at home, but lately, he seemed to lack concentration while fighting hollows. That was what worried Rukia. She knew, that her friend was incredibly strong, so it surprised her how weakly he fought hollows who had very little spiritual pressure. Rukia shivered. And why was Ichigo acting so strangely last night? Those eyes... And the way he held her, it was so harsh...She sighed heavily. It wasn‘t like she didn‘t deserve the roughness of her friend on her. What she had said to him yesterday was awful. Really not something a close friend would say. Come to think about it, she was getting closer to Ichigo after he had rescued her from her execution. They talked more, and fought less. She smiled to herself. She liked him, he was a one of a kind person. But that was the exact reason why she was so worried. Rukia decided, that when the opportunity comes, she‘ll try to talk to him again. And get the answers that she wanted.

   Ichigo was cleaning the class board. He was angry. Some friends he had. They were supposed to help him in cleaning duty, but ditched him for a couple of cute classmates. He cleaned the last dirty corner of the board. There, he was done. Ichigo took his backpack, put it on one shoulder and went out. Too bad he couldn‘t go home with Rukia. Wait, did he actually thought of that? He shook his head as if disapproving. Why would he want to go home with her anyway? But then it hit him. He wanted to tell her something. He wanted to tell her that he was sorry for what had happened last night. And for making her worry. Ichigo didn‘t know what had came over him. What was that voice inside of him? It reminded him something. Something Ichigo didn‘t like. And yet, no matter how hard he tried, the orange-haired Kurosaki couldn‘r remember. He sighed. Ichigo hadn‘t been himself lately and he knew it. The problem was he didn‘t know why. There‘s been a feeling inside of him that kept bothering him for a couple of weeks now. The feeling of insecurity, fear of being left alone. Not to mention the constant feeling that he was being watched. Ichigo kicked a little pebble on the ground. Damn it, he needed to talk to Rukia. He needed to apologize to her. And he intended to do so at the first chance he got.

   When Ichigo went to his room, he saw Rukia standing there, looking straight at him. ,,Ichigo, we need to talk“ she said with a tired voice. ,,Yeah, I know“ he sighed. ,,Good“ Rukia let a sigh of relieve. She was glad that he didn‘t shut himself away from her like yesterday. ,,So...“ she trailed off. ,,So... What do you want to talk about?“ Ichigo wasn‘t actually very good at talking about this kind of stuff. ,,Ichigo. Please tell me.“ The teen was taken aback of the tone of her voice. She seemed so tired, worried and confused. ,,Tell me what... What‘s wrong?“ Rukia asked carefully not to anger him like before. ,,Nothing.“ Ichigo felt like he had to tell her his feelings, but he just didn‘t know how. ,,Why? Why can‘t you just tell me?“ a little flame of anger was heard in Rukia‘s voice. She couldn‘t believe that Ichigo still didn‘t trust her. ,,Because there is nothing to tell, Rukia“ Well nothing I know of myself at least, thought Ichigo to himself. Rukia was definetely angry now. There she was, silly girl, trying to help this stubborn idiot, who couldn‘t have cared less about her. She clenched her fists. ,,I see. That‘s how you feel“. She lowered her head. Ichigo was panicking now. What should he tell her? Damn it! He was so sure of what he was going to say to her and now his brain just froze, Ichigo couldn‘t think of anything. ,,Rukia, I...“ ,,Save it“ She cut him off while raising her angry eyes at him. ,,I don‘t want you to tell a person you don‘t trust anything“. Ichigo was shocked. Was that it? Did she really think he didn‘t trust her? ,,That‘s not what I...“. ,,I said save it“ her voice was louder now. She was certain now, that he didn‘t rely on her, but she was afraid of him actually saying it. ,,But I...“ ,,Shut up Ichigo!“ Rukia was shouting now. Ichigo felt desperate, he wanted to calm her down so much, but didn‘t know how. ,,Help...“ He thought to himself. And there it was again, that voice. ,,But of course king. I was wondering when you would turn to me“ the voice was laughing now. An evil, sinister laugh. Ichigo fell to his knees. Rukia looked at him, all of her anger gone, leaving concern. ,,Ichigo! Ichigo, what‘s wrong? Are you all right?“ And she froze. Those eyes. Those yellow lizard eyes. They were back. ,,Why hello there my dear Rukia-chan“ the man in front of her gave a sinister smirk.