Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or any of its characters. They belong to Tite Kubo and whoever else actually owns it and I make no money from writing this. This story however is mine and is not to be replicated, reposted, or copied in any way without my consent. Thank you.
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Why Did He Have To Say That?
.
Then Ichigo said two words. "
Marry me."
…
It was like Tatsuki had been hit by a bus. Those two simple words wormed their way into her heart, mind, and soul, and did things to them she never thought possible. They had been together, as a couple, for all of four—or was it five?—days. Such a short amount of time, and yet it felt like they had been together all their lives. It was almost funny, because in a way they had. They had been together all throughout their lives, they had simply never noticed each other for what they really were.
Someone to love.
In that amount of time, she had learned he had feelings for her, and for those feelings: he had put his sanity on the line to help her gain the powers she needed to live. She had discovered a surprise lurking deep in her soul, and once more Ichigo had come to her rescue and somehow managed to subdue the beast within her with one of his own.
Such a short time, and yet nearly every emotional and physical barrier that had been in front of them had been destroyed by their will to be together. Even their souls recognized that much. Even the monsters dwelling
inside their souls had found solace in each other.
No matter how hard she would have tried to deny it had she been her old self, she owed her life, and her afterlife, to the orange-haired young man looking into her eyes like they were the key to his salvation. It was a debt she would gladly pay for the rest of her life. He wasn't even the one to start their relationship, it had been her feelings that had encouraged him to pursue it.
It had been her that had wanted them together; her who had so selfishly fought for his lips. She had wanted him, and she had gotten him. In fact, she had acquired every aspect of him.
She had obtained his trust.
She had obtained his virginity.
She had obtained the most sought-after and hard-to-get item in the world: his
love.
She had gained those things, and now it became crystal clear to her why he had asked her that simple two-word question as she reviewed why she had so eagerly fought to get them.
His virginity—while something most men would want to get rid of as soon as they could—was something she knew deep in her heart that he had kept for a purpose. It wasn't just because he got embarrassed easily by beautiful women. It was because he was saving it. Saving it for someone who managed to break through his mask.
His trust, no person could truly grasp what it meant to have his trust. He had gone through Hell during his crusade to save Rukia, and it was because she had his trust. If someone had his trust they had his life. He would put it on the line no matter what the situation if the person in trouble was someone he deemed his friend.
His love: that was the thing every person at school had thought died the moment his mother did. He was an empty shell trying to keep from cracking under the guilt he had placed on himself. He hid everything inside, everything that might be vulnerable. His once goofily smiling face was replaced by a scowl that rarely left it, and his soft eyes had become hard and unforgiving. There were few people in the world that knew the true amount of emotion he was capable of, but that one emotion was seemingly locked away forever, never to see the light of day again.
And he had told her he loved her.
For her, he had risked unlocking the boundaries of his emotions. He had made himself vulnerable again. The invincible Vizard hero had surrendered his heart to the one person that seemed most likely to scoff in the face of anything that implied intimacy. The rough tomboy had won the love of the
unloving strawberry.
She should have realized sooner.
She should have known that when she had obtained those things, she had gained something far more valuable and far more lasting.
She had gained his commitment.
He didn't jump into the bowels of Hueco Mundo itself just to save some little lovesick airhead. He had dived headfirst into the definition of suicide for a friend close to his heart, someone who had gained his devotion through trials and struggle. He was devoted to each and every one of his friends, but never had he committed himself to an interpersonal relationship meant for trying to find one's life's love.
She really should have known. He did
nothing half-asked. He had made love to her because he knew where he wanted their relationship to go. He hadn't done it out of the urge to relieve his hormones, he hadn't done it as some jock-proclaimed need to boast about his conquests, he had done it because he loved her and he wanted to show her that he wanted to be with her for more than just a few months, or a few years. He wanted to be with her for
life.
This knowledge that she had gained over a lifetime of observation and personal experience made every part of her burn with a different kind of flame. The flames of passion he still kept simmering within her, but these flames burned with the intensity of the sun. Like her zanpakutou's name.
He was the moon. He was the cutting moon that would slice through the heavens themselves to get what he wanted. Behind the confident actions though, he would do those things while hiding the true purpose behind them more often than not.
She was the sun. His opposite in some ways while in others, so alike. Just like as the moon's light only comes from reflecting the sun. She fought for what she wanted with little hesitation, and she wasn't afraid to voice what she was fighting for. Orihime's long hair was proof of that. But love was something she was hesitant of, and in that she was exactly like him.
We've both been idiots, she thought, and it brought a small smile to her already glowing face. The magnificent brown eyes that hadn't stopped looking into hers, warmed further with the reflection of her smile visible in them. It was moments like these that she wanted to remember for the rest of her life.
It was moments like these she wanted to keep
creating for the rest of her life.
With him.
They weren't even out of high school yet, but he had experienced more in two and a half years than most people could live out in two and a half lifetimes. Most people would never know what it felt like to be skewered by a sword. Most people would never know what it felt like to be afraid of their own soul because of some gigantically powerful monster trying to kill them from the inside out. Most people would never know the pressure of getting stronger in a limited time period while someone's life hung in the balance of whether or not they achieved it in time.
Even though he didn't show it most of the time, she knew. He had been forced to grow up much faster than anyone else. Yet he did it willingly. He did it knowing what would happen if he did. He would grow farther away from who had once been his friends, but along the way those that were with him would become even closer than they had been before. Most of all, he would grow further away from his old life in general. He would never be able to look on a tragedy and say he couldn't do anything, and he would never be able to ignore what had been out of his vision anymore. He had pledged his life to many different things in the past, and even as that life dwindled at times, he fulfilled his pledge no matter what the cost.
Even if that cost was he had had to mature at an extraordinary rate for a teenage boy.
Now, the
young man lying under her had asked her a question she knew he knew the full repercussions of, a question that would alter both of their lives tremendously.
And after going over these things in her mind as her fingers lay twined with his, and his adoring eyes still watching her lovingly, without a hint of impatience, she couldn't resist the answer that immediately came to mind afterwards. It scared the living Hell out of her, it really did, but she couldn't say anything else.
A choked noise that sounded somewhat like a word caught Ichigo's attention and he looked at her quizzically. "What did you say?"
Again, the same noise, but it was getting stronger. Finally, after swallowing numerous times to try and wet her suddenly parched throat and licking her lips nervously, which had Ichigo stiffening beneath her, she was able to get out the word she had been trying to say. It came out as a whisper, something that wouldn't have been heard had he not been listening for it, but what it said was still indisputable.
"…Yes…"
They laid there for a lot longer after that, as if they couldn't believe they had just had the conversation they knew they just had. Then, when the reality finally set in, Ichigo's face broke out into the widest, happiest,
stupidest grin she had ever seen him wear in her entire life. The ones of his childhood couldn't even hold a candle to the one on his face now. He was happy.
She had made him happy.
With that in mind, she knew without a doubt that there was an identical smile mirrored on her now. She had made the right decision, she was surer of that now then she ever could have been before.
Mrs. Tatsuki Kurosaki.
Hey, that rhymes! She realized with a giggle, which soon erupted into full out laughter. For no apparent reason, maybe just to go along with it, but more likely because he was so happy, Ichigo did the same. They were naked, holding each other, still in bed after just making love,
engaged, and now they were laughing their heads off.
God we're a couple of goofballs! Ichigo thought, but he couldn't stop laughing. So much had happened in so little time and he couldn't care in the least. He knew the moment this had happened he was going to ask her, and she had made him so unexpectedly happy he just couldn't stop. All the laughter and smiles he had bottled up over the years, everything that he should have taken happiness in but didn't because he thought he didn't deserve it, all of that came rushing to the surface at once. Tatsuki had pulled it all out of him. She had offered all of herself to him, so he could do nothing less than do the same to her.
She deserved his laughter, she deserved his smiles. She deserved to hear that he loved her every day of her life.
And for some reason, that didn't bother him one bit.
When they quieted down, still shaking from the occasional giggle in each other's arms, their eyes locked once again.
"So how are we gonna live? You have a job ready?" She asked suddenly.
Mentally Ichigo smiled, she had really meant her answer, she was taking this seriously. "Tatsuki, I've been getting medical training from my dad most of my life, and I'm sure I could talk Captain Unohana into giving me a few lessons, or Hell, maybe I'll even ask Hanatarou. That'll give me more than enough heads-up to blow through medical school. And money?" He laughed after that, for a reason she didn't know, but he soon put that confusion to rest.
"Soul Society owes me more than they'll probably ever admit, but just because they don't admit it doesn't mean they don't know it. I've been kind enough to not have asked for anything yet, but if I did, we could probably live very comfortably without having to work a day in our lives. I'm sure they would even be
more than happy to do it if we also promised to be the resident Soul Reapers of Karakura town indefinitely, which I'd do anyway. Tatsuki, we will
never have money problems. Being a savior does have
some perks."
A small, light smile that was joined by softening black eyes met his gaze. "You really did think this through…you really mean it…"
Ichigo frowned jokingly. "You mean you doubted me?"
Her smile was so wide it shut her eyes. "Not for a second. I just had to see your reaction!"
She squeaked in surprise when all of the sudden he had rolled them over and he was once more on top of her, looking down into her eyes. She was almost worried for a second, but another smile from him put any fears but the most pleasurable to rest. "Never do that to me again," he threatened mockingly and didn't even let her have a response; instead he dove down and captured the lips that had been quivering in eager anticipation of his next move from such an intimate position.
The feel of her soft breasts molding themselves to his chest as he leaned his weight on her body to continue was something he knew he would never tire of. Tatsuki was mostly hard muscle, but what was soft on her was
so soft it felt like heated satin. If he could, he would be more than content to just lie there and revel in the feel of her heart beating against her chest. That wasn't to say he didn't love it when she was the one to sprawl out on his body and simply relax on the warm flesh, which he had discovered he loved a lot during one of their few cuddle-sessions of affectionate afterglow. He knew better than anyone that sometimes a soft touch or an assuring love with no pressure for something more was just as good as the real thing. As it was though, he put all of himself into wrestling her lips with his, and it came as no surprise to him when she was the one to deepen the kiss and worm her tongue into his mouth. If there was one thing his fiancé was, it certainly wasn't passive.
He felt himself start to harden again and almost groaned. They had been at it for…he had lost track of time. Even in Soul Reaper form he had to have limits and though his stamina was aching for more, certain other parts of him were aching for other reasons. He certainly wasn't a virgin anymore. Still, his aches couldn't overcome his desire to continue feeling her bare body.
His hand traced her smooth side and the soft curves of her breasts visible from under his chest. She could easily handle his body weight, but that didn't mean he would take away the other hand he always had off to the side to support himself in his unfounded fear of crushing her. She gave a mewl of appreciation into the kiss and it vibrated up his tongue and right to the overloaded pleasure sensor of his brain.
I love it when she does that. They did break apart eventually though, and it wasn't a disappointing release at all. It was a wordless consensus that had somehow been reached during the act. The thought occurred to them that maybe they were so in-tune to each other's bodies now that they had instinctively known when it was time to stop.
Ichigo flopped to her side but instead of staying there, he completed the movement by slipping his hands onto her back and flipping her over onto him. He didn't even ask, and Tatsuki didn't complain that was for sure. His heartbeat was strong and after their sessions there was something invigorating about hearing it pump so vigorously against his chest it was like it was trying to break out of his ribs. She probably didn't know he was getting just as much out of it as she was but had she known she certainly wouldn't have done anything differently.
Oh man I'm going to be sore tomorrow, the young woman groaned inwardly. She was so pleasantly sore all over it was like she could last for the week simply on the afterglow from their repeated acts tonight. She knew eventually the soreness would lose its novelty but that would come tomorrow, when she wasn't still on a buzz from the waves of euphoria that had caused that soreness. She could have almost laughed right there, because somehow she knew that Ichigo was in exactly the same boat she was.
For now though, this was enough. This was home.
"You do realize we're going to have to tell everyone eventually, right?" She asked mirthfully.
Her orange-haired lover let a pitiful whine escape his windpipe at the reminder. "I don't even want to
imagine what my dad's going to do when we tell him."
Tatsuki paled at that. She had forgotten how flamboyant his father was, on par with the insane shopkeeper that had nearly killed her, maybe even more so.
"Remind me why I'm marrying into your family again?" She asked mock-worriedly. She hadn't expected anything to come of it, but he surprised her. His near-evil grin shocked her for a few seconds, before he showed her what that smirk meant. She felt his hard manhood slip over her folds and she moaned unwittingly.
"Gladly."
They could worry about the soreness later. For now they couldn't feel anything other than each other.
…
Author's Notes: Edit edit edit...and finally, more editing! You get the idea, LOL. Hope you enjoyed it.
