Brought Back To Life

A tragedy

As the sun rose the next morning, Yoruichi was awakened by the rays that made it through the windows in Ichigo's room. The warmth was pleasant, easing the chill of the air conditioned room. She smiled as she rolled over, looking at her roommate on the floor.

Last night was a big, but welcome change from Ichigo's normal sleeping habits. Instead of tears and thrashing, small happy sighs and little smiles made up the majority of his expressions. She had giggled at some of his sleep talking.

While most of it was her name, the "come back-s" and other begging had changed to "stay". The funniest, though, was when he had gotten a strange expression and brokenly muttered, "pants...Yoruichi...damn...". She had had to fight to not laugh out loud at this.

As she watched him now, he looked so peaceful. His ever present scowl relaxed into a slight, sleepy smile. 'Why not have a little morning entertainment?' , she thought. She slid out from under the covers, dropping to the floor by Ichigo's side. As she cuddled next to him, her eyes flew open in shock as his muscular arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her close. 'Very close'.

His smell was incredible. He smelled of body wash and...she couldn't put her finger on it. She looked up to see that he was still asleep. As she tried to shift, his arms tightened and she felt his face press into the crook of her neck as he inhaled deeply, making her shudder. 'Kami, it's been a while since I've been touched like this. He had better be careful', she thought, her body warming up at Ichigo's embrace.

"Mmm, Yoruichi," he mumbled. She tried one last time to adjust herself, still shocked at how her joke had backfired. Again, he tightened his arms mumbling, "she's mine...". 'What the hell? Does he really want...me?' Yoruichi froze, a slight blush on her cheeks. Yes, even she was made to blush. Her heart was starting to pound, and she knew that if she didn't wake him up soon, the way her body was heating up he would get a very forceful awakening. 'Easy girl, he would definitely have a heart attack with what you have in mind.' As she started to shake his shoulder, his eyes snapped open, his wide brown ones locking with her hungry golden ones.

Ichigo was subconsciously pleased. No nightmares! However, his dreams were...weird. At first, he was trying to keep her from leaving. However, he soon found himself standing in a room of snobby looking men with peacock feathers all coming for Yoruichi, who was suddenly at his side. Her heavenly scent overwhelmed him, making him turn to the peacock suitors and snarl, "She's mine", his voice reminiscent of when he was wearing his hollow mask. As they backed off, he turned to Yoruichi, holding her to him, reveling in her soft skin and how warm it was.

Suddenly, he felt his shoulder shake. 'What? No! She's mine!' He began to hold on tighter as consciousness began to invade his dream. His eyes snapping open, momentarily rejoicing in meeting a pair of wide, golden eyes with a hungry look in them. Then his mind cleared: 'warm skin, heady scent, golden eyes...', he looked down, 'shit'. He knew he was in trouble.

As Ichigo jumped to his feet, he began blushing like mad and apologizing profusely. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean...well I didn't know...don't be mad...", and then he paused. "Wait...what are you doing on the floor? What the hell?!"

Yoruichi's eyebrow cocked up. 'Buckle up berry-boy. This next blush will be one for the record books'. "Well good morning to you too, Romeo. Or should I say, good morning to both of you?", she purred while flicking her eyes down to his waist.

'Son of a bitch!', Ichigo yelled internally, clasping his hands over his obviously "awakened" lower self. His face turned crimson. "I...I...shit...I...I didn't mean...goddammit I'm not a pervert!", he yelled, turning and muttering, "I'm going to take a shower."

Yoruichi couldn't help but call out in between her hysterical laughter, "At least I won't have to worry about you using all the hot water, ne?" This was met by a slamming door.