Touched - Encounters

Ran came by my room to return my assignment after she had copied the answers, and to invite me out with her new friends.

“No thanks, Ran, I'll take a raincheck,” I said. She pouted adorably and, for a second, my will wavered.

She ran her hands through her thick hair. “If I didn't know you, Gin, I'd say you were deliberately avoiding me.”

I am, Ran.

“Sorry, Ran-chan,” I said, getting up from my seat. “You'll just have to have fun without me.” And I left the dorm room without another word. As I descended the stairs a large hand grabbed me by my shirt and dragged me into the dark recesses of the stairwell.

“It's you,” I said calmly, a ready smile on my face.

“It's me.” Fumio, the resident bully who had the hots for Ran. I pushed his hand away. “I saw her going into your room.”

“And you also saw me leaving it not three minutes after she entered it.” I stood as tall as I could, but still was dwarfed by him.

Fumio slammed his large, beefy hands against the wall, trapping me. “So, just to confirm again: you and Rangiku are not a couple, yes?”

“We're not.”

“Good. Because if she was...” Two of Fumio's bully boys emerged from the darkness, anticipatory smirks on their faces. I wrinkled my brows. Fumio leaned in again to get my full attention. “If she was, I'll get them to show you a real good time.”

“Perhaps we'll show him anyway, Fumio,” leered one of them, a tall one with two ridiculous ponytails. “He looks like he needs a good time.”

The other one sniggered. “He's so delicate... you sure he can withstand you? He might just break before you can come.”

Fumio roared appreciatively at the lack of wit. I stayed where I was, my fury mounting but the smile on my face unwavering. “I have to leave now, Fumio. Ran is looking for drinking buddies. You might want to try your luck at the bar.”

“Good one, Ichi-chan,” the tall lunkhead said, clapping me on the shoulder. I withstood the urge to shudder. “Come on, boys, we got a pretty bitch to meet.”

As they filed past me, the twin-ponytailed one leaned in and tried to brush his lips against my skin. I had, however, stepped back just before he could make contact with me.

I might have sold myself back in Rukongai to feed Ran and me, but no goon was going to touch me. Ever.

Then I recalled the scent of Aizen Sousuke, lieutenant of the Fifth and trembled.

No man but him.

I slipped out of the dormitory compound to where he usually passed by on his way back home, not too far from the academy. Lounging against a pillar, I could sense him approaching.

“This is a death wish of yours, isn't it?” he said in his warm voice and slight drawl.

I hadn't followed him, and I said so. But he identified the truth: I had been waiting. Abruptly I felt his reiatsu cascading over me, smothering me, trying to rip me from my skin, to devour me completely. I tried to keep breathing, to keep thinking – this man would enjoy a game more than an outright pledge of allegiance. Just when I thought I would collapse, he reined in his powerful reiatsu.

I wonder if that's how it'd feel when we finally have sex.

“On such a night, shouldn't you be with your lovely lady?” He was giving me the once-over with his eyes: the brown orbs lingered at my crotch almost indecently long before sliding back to my face to meet my eyes. I suppressed the urge to shiver: he had just completely undressed me without moving a single finger. And he was advancing...

As I straightened I clarified my relationship with Ran with him. I half-expected him to grip me by my neck as he had done previously, but instead he merely moved on.

He was interested in her, I realized, when he asked for her name.

No. Your interest is in me. It has to be.

He had the most subtle method of teasing. I swallowed my fear and moved up to him, lacing my fingers with his, pressing my body against the broad back and firm butt, desiring to engage him with a mystery: me. “Is this the way you liked to be asked, sir?”

“Yes.” He had a chiseled profile worthy of the gods; my fingers were burning with the contact. The long dark lashes, that cruel but tantalizing mouth, the hint of raw sensuality in his stillness... all screamed at me even as I moved closer, breathing in his fragrance.

“Will you ask me for my name?”

He seemed pleased with the suggestion. “What is your name, bold young fellow?”

"Ichimaru Gin," I told him, and then, unwisely, tried to remove my hands from his. He gripped his hands tightly, not caring about the pain he was inflicting on me. I cried out for the sudden shock.

“You forgot to be polite. You forgot to smile,” he told me my mistake quietly, and I mentally filed it away for reference. I apologized, although perversely I wanted him to hold me forever – even if it hurt.

I don't want others to hurt me.

But he let go, and he let me go. Then Aizen Sousuke, lieutenant and enigma, faded into the shadows. I found a stone seat and sat for an hour, uncertain. Should I continue? Or should I leave well enough alone?

But Ran needed a guardian, and I a protector. Aizen was destined for great things, I recognized that. But I was playing with hellfire here.

Let it burn then. What do I care?