|
|
Post by Ichigo Kurosaki on Nov 8, 2024 20:31:42 GMT -6
Bleach Unrated: REBOOTEDCurrent Arc: The ChaosEpisode 576 "Nightmares": Ichigo had woken up to the familiar sound of screaming. Evita's screaming. So loud he shot up out of bed like the frame had launched him up and ran out of his room and into hers. Ichigo entered her room to find her thrashing in bed, fighting with her own bedsheets. Ichigo ran up to her bed and pulled the covers back, grabbing her hands as gently as he could to keep her from hurting herself.
"Evita! Evita, wake up! It's me! You're okay! It's just a dream!" He did his best to keep from having to bind her arms at her side, but the girl was stronger than she looked. "Evita, open your eyes!" |
|
|
|
Post by Evita Anita Aizen on Nov 8, 2024 20:40:29 GMT -6
Evita jolted awake, her eyes partly black and tears slipping down her face.Her threads started to form a crown at her forehead. For a moment, it seemed like she would spring up and attack him. Then, she blinked and the hollow disappeared as she sat up. Pulling her blankets up, Evita turned around, wiping her eyes.
“Wha-” she croaked. She ducked her head and tried again. “Sorry… Straw- Ichi…"
She pulled her blankets up higher as she continued to shake.
|
|
|
|
Post by Ichigo Kurosaki on Nov 8, 2024 20:44:23 GMT -6
Ichigo took a breath of relief and sat down on the edge of her bed. He shook his head with a sad smile. "You don't have to apologize, Eve. Believe me, I get it." He hesitated for a moment, waiting for her to speak again. She was still shaking. He tilted his head at her with a frown. "Do you... want to talk about it?"
The nickname calmed some of the emotion strangling her but brought more tears to her eyes. She shook her head quickly, trying to stop them from falling down her cheeks. She hated crying. Everything about it, from the feeling of the wetness sliding down her cheeks that reminded her of blood to the weakness that spilled out of her from them. As if she couldn't control anything at all. When she felt like such a child!
Something behind her shook.
She had to say something. "I- I can't speak much n-" she muttered.
Ichigo nodded in understanding and slowly moved closer to her until he was sitting next to her. He reached his arm around her shoulders and pulled her into his chest, hugging her gently. "It's going to be okay. You'll be okay. You're strong, Eve. Crying doesn't make you weak. It makes you human, and there's nothing wrong with being human." He gave her a small smile. "Humans can be pretty badass too, trust me, I would know."
|
|
|
|
Post by Evita Anita Aizen on Nov 8, 2024 21:29:38 GMT -6
Evita couldn’t stop herself from leaning against him. Only a small part of herself even wanted to try to get away, and even that part seemed to fight less with that nickname. It always soothed her. Even now. She never understood why, but it felt too good to question either. Now, she just closed her eyes and listened.
As he spoke, the face of the Primera Espada flashed in her mind, and some of her shaking faded as Ichigo’s words reminded her of the Espada’s. It had felt good to help protect the school. She knew that.
But…
“But-” she blurted before clamming up again. Something shook again. She squeezed her eyes shut, and something crashed to the ground. “They die…. so easily….” Evita mumbled.
|
|
|
|
Post by Ichigo Kurosaki on Nov 8, 2024 21:36:22 GMT -6
Ichigo couldn't help but chuckle. It was such a hollow thing for her to say. He was sure White had said the same thing to him at some point. He nodded and patted her shoulder. "Yeah. We do. It's part of the balance. Souls die, then go to Soul Society, live their second life, and then die there and get reincarnated. And sometimes, if souls lose their way, they turn into hollows. And then Soul Reapers cleanse the hollows, then their spirits get to be reborn as humans again. All souls were human at one point. Even our souls. It's all part of the cycle of life, and there's nothing wrong with that."
He looked down at her with a sad smile once more. "It sucks, watching your friends and family die... but their spirits go on and their memories live inside us. And because humans are weak, it's up to us to protect them. Not just because we can, but because it's the right thing to do. And because we're human too. Even if we are different from everyone else."
|
|
|
|
Post by Evita Anita Aizen on Nov 8, 2024 22:02:17 GMT -6
Evita scoffed but it was more a weak huff than anything else, a small imitation of her usual dismissal of similar speeches to hide how awkward they made her feel. She didn’t pull away from his embrace either, even if the trembling was fading. He was warm. She liked his voice. And maybe a small part of her needed to hear this.
When she didn't quip back at him, Ichigo grinned, figuring he had gotten something through to her. He pulled away from her slowly, looking down at her. "So, now that you've calmed down, how about some hot cocoa before you go back to bed? It'll make you feel better."
She tilted her head up to get a better view of his face. "Okay," she murmured without her usual sassiness about treats.
Ichigo nodded and scooted off the bed first. "I'll get a broom for that, too."
Evita looked to the corner he indicated and saw the broken frame of the picture from the Kurosaki day trip on the ground. She flushed, usually keeping it half hidden. “It’s - it’s fine," she squeaked, though her tone was a ghost of her usual self-assured stances. "I’ll- I'll clean it later.”
She threw a hand up and the picture flew out of the frame, flipping upside down, as her telekinesis pushed the mess of glass and wood to one corner.
|
|
|
|
Post by Ichigo Kurosaki on Nov 8, 2024 22:29:10 GMT -6
Ichigo watched as Evita moved around the glass and retrieved the photo without touching either. He shoved his hands into his pajama pants pockets and huffed a sigh, shaking his head as he walked out of Evita's door. "Man. Why the hell didn't I get cool mind powers? How is that fair?"
It wasn't too long and Ichigo returned with two mugs of hot cocoa with mini marshmallows on top. He handed one to Evita. As he sat down next to her again, he glanced down at the picture. "We should take another family trip. Before the twins run off to live on their own too, eventually. I feel like Dad might actually fake a heart attack to get us back in the house when that happens."
|
|
|
|
Post by Evita Anita Aizen on Nov 8, 2024 22:43:34 GMT -6
Her shoulders relaxed more as a marshmallow melted her mouth and Evita followed his gaze to the picture. Listening again. Enjoying the warmth from him and of course, her sweet, tasty drink. Maybe it loosened her tongue. She blurted something foolish before she could stop herself.
“Only- only with more ice cream. Or ice pops. He had too much meat packed. Last- last time.”
Feeling her face start to burn again, she took another drink of her hot cocoa, coughing as it burned her throat a moment later.
Why did she say that? She didn't want to go on another loud, stuffy trip.
|
|
|
|
Post by Ichigo Kurosaki on Nov 8, 2024 22:52:04 GMT -6
Ichigo laughed and patted Evita's back. "Careful there." Once she stopped coughing he responded with a nod. "Yeah, it was way too hot that day to just be eating meat. Though I gotta say, Dad's a rockstar on the grill." He grinned and elbowed her gently. "Just don't tell him I said that."
Ichigo looked down at the picture again, thinking about how he had practically raised him and the twins by himself for most of their lives. He really was a rockstar, and not just on the grill. Though he had to admit, he often times wondered how he was as a Soul Reaper. He could imagine some of it, but surely he wasn't a goof-off all the time. The thought of his father as Captain of Tenth Division instead of the ever serious Toshiro Hitsugaya made him want to pick the white haired snow dragon's brain the next time he saw him. Especially since he couldn't ask Rangiku about it any longer.
He looked over at Evita once more. "By the way... I wanted to talk to you about something. It's important, but it's not bad, I promise."
|
|
|
|
Post by Evita Anita Aizen on Nov 8, 2024 23:18:18 GMT -6
She huffed again, indignant at the idea of complimenting the older Kurosaki but alert enough to keep from scalding her mouth again on her hot chocolate. Isshin Kurosaki wasn’t the only loud person around, but there was something about him that made her want to keep her distance from him more than the others. Unlike most of the soul reapers around them, it wasn’t difficult to get in his head, but the only thing she got from there were images of his family on repeat. She couldn’t make heads nor tails of the show and it made her skin crawl. It was as if something was getting to her. It was annoying to say the least.
She turned back to Ichigo when he looked to her and made a request, raising her eyebrows at his choice of words. “Why would it be bad?” she asked.
|
|
|
|
Post by Ichigo Kurosaki on Nov 8, 2024 23:29:47 GMT -6
"Well, probably because you won't exactly like hearing what I'm about to suggest..." Ichigo sighed, setting his mug of hot cocoa on then nightstand while he spoke to Evita. He turned to face her, placing his hands on his knees. "In about a month, I'm going to be taking classes at the Shino Academy in Soul Society. Before we moved, I decided that I needed to learn all of the Soul Reaper disciplines, not just some of them. I need to become a proper Soul Reaper, and to do that I need to take the same classes everyone else had to."
He took a deep breath once more and shook his head. "I'm not going to be living in Soul Society, but I will be traveling back and forth daily. That's going to be a lot of time that I won't be around. And while I know that you can take care of yourself, you're still a child, and I'm not going to leave you by yourself. So I was thinking, that when the time comes, or if you feel overwhelmed before then, even, you can live with Dad and the twins, that way you won't be by yourself while I'm in classes. You can come over or even spend the night whenever you want, but I can't just let you be here by yourself twenty-four-seven." Ichigo rested his hand on her back and shook his head again. "I'm not abandoning you. I would never do that, but I don't want to neglect you either."
|
|
|
|
Post by Evita Anita Aizen on Nov 11, 2024 21:03:12 GMT -6
Evita scowled at Ichigo, her eyes narrowing more and more as he spoke. He was right. She didn’t like this conversation at all, but the storm inside didn’t seem as explosive when he reached out to her again. She usually hated being touched nowadays even more than before, but this time, she didn’t want it to stop. Evita focused on her chocolate, clenching her hand around the warm cup as she slurped loudly.
Ichigo retrieved his own hot chocolate. "You can say what you want to, Eve. I won't get mad. I promise."
Evita scoffed at him through teary eyes. "As if you've ever gotten mad at me once, Strawberry," she snapped, resorting to her old name for him in the face of her mounting nerves. She rubbed at her blurring eyes.
"Hey, hey," Ichigo scooted closer, "it's okay. Shit, Eve, you don't need to cry!"
"I'm NOT crying!" she hissed, ignoring the pressure shaking something else in her room. "I don't know why I'm reacting like this." She rubbed at her eyes again. "Everyone is moving on. Everything is changing and I don't-" She stopped, curling around the cup.
|
|
|
|
Post by Ichigo Kurosaki on Nov 11, 2024 21:46:11 GMT -6
"It's okay to be upset," Ichigo shook his head with a comforting smile. "Change sucks, but it can also be good change. It might be uncomfortable at first, but once you get used to it, it's not so bad. And you're free now. You're free to explore whatever interests you. Find things that make you happy. Be as normal as you can be. Be a kid. There's lots the world has to offer. You just have to be willing to go and find it."
He looked out her bedroom window. It faced one of the side streets and continued down as far as he could see. It was the middle of the night, so everything was dark save for the street lights. "It's a big world out there, and it can be scary, but I know you're brave." He turned back to Evita. "It will take baby steps, but each little step you take will add up. And before you know it, you'll be able to go anywhere. Do anything. Be anything you want."
|
|
|
|
Post by Evita Anita Aizen on Nov 11, 2024 22:45:44 GMT -6
Caught looking at him again, Evita bent back over her cup, still frowning deeply. Wrong. He was all wrong. Sh shook her head. “I’m not brave,” she mumbled, trying to override the whispers in her head. “If I were, I would have fought my way to the top in Las Noches like a part of me craved to instead of staying in that room. I wouldn't have run away from that fight. I would have chased down father when he said he would show me the world and didn’t. I would have saved Mom-”
She swallowed over a lump in her throat but kept talking to push those particular memories backwards. “I wouldn’t hate red. It’s just a stupid color. I’d be happy that Soji has a path laid out for him when I failed at mine. When he belongs and I don’t.” She kicked her blanket off and strode over to her stereo, slamming a hand down to stop its humming, her eyes half blackened. “I don’t know what I want…”
|
|
|
|
Post by Ichigo Kurosaki on Nov 11, 2024 22:51:03 GMT -6
"It's okay to not know what you want," Ichigo stood up and shook his head. He sat his cup down and slowly walked closer to her, moving around to the side instead of coming up behind her. "And not taking over Las Noches doesn't make you a coward. Nothing good would have come from that. You may have hollow inside you, but you're still human. You can embrace both. I learned to."
Ichigo placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently. "You belong in this family. And if you feel like you don't then I'm sorry for letting you feel like that."
Evita's head snapped to him as his aura fluctuated. "It's not-" She ducked her head again. "It's not that. You-" She fumbled for the right words. "I'm the reason Mom died. If I were more a kid, if the humans made sense-" She rubbed at her head, feeling a headache coming on, rubbing at her eyes from more tears. She never talked about this. "They wouldn't have attacked. They wouldn't have killed her."
Ichigo shook his head firmly, frowning at her. "Don't. Don't go there. That thinking won't lead you anywhere good. Trust me. I've been there. There's nothing you could have done. We were all thrown into impossible odds we couldn't control. Don't put her death on yourself. She wouldn't want that."
|
|
