Even Now

Even Now : Chapter 18 - Regret

Chapter 18 —Tatsuki—

“Regret”

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“Oi, Where are you going?”

The pale man stopped and turned to face me. I scowled when I saw the expression he wore at the time. He’d been always like that, wearing that poker face mask, but this time I saw something different  in his emerald eyes. His eyes were darker than usual and his usually pale lips were turned into a thin line. He didn’t say anything to me but the look on his face explain it all. Something was going on.

“What’s wrong?” I walked toward the bartender, a little bit more concerned that I wanted to. I knew he has been in Orihime’s room just now. If my feeling was right, this wouldn’t be good. Oh how I wished I was wrong.

“I’ve to go,” he said in his deep baritone, “take care of that woman.”

Whom he refered  with “that woman” was Orihime. I didn’t understand exactly what he meant by that but I knew there must be something really wrong behind this. This man, Ulquiorra, was no longer dangerous for Orihime, I knew it. Since the beginning I knew he would never hurt Orihime. There was something in the way he looked at her which assured me that he would not dare to do that. He loved her. Even back then when he had to betray Orihime, in the end, he saved her. Now, the look in his eyes, and the way he talked to me... He wanted to save her.

...from what?

I had a feeling about what he had been hiding but I didn’t dare to ask. I wished I was just wrong.

“Where’re you going?” I looked into his eyes, searching for somekind of emotion which might tell me what was in his mind. He looked at me directly, I couldn’t read this man, “What about Hime?”

If I was right, which hopefully not, this vacation would be the worst vacation ever.

His eyes didn’t leave mind. His emerald eyes were cold and empty.

You might not believe something like this, me neither, about telepathy. Nu-uh, there wasn’t such a thing like that. I was not Orihime who believed in supernatural power but when he looked into my eyes, just like a telepathy, I could understand what he was trying to say. All of sudden, I knew what it was all about.

I gasped loudly.

My eyes widened and I shook my head.

No way.

No fucking way.

It was all about Aizen.

I was—unfortunately—right.

-

I had known Ichigo Kurosaki since forever. I’d known him before everyone else. Literally, I’d known him for the entire of my life. We grew up together and since our parents were best friends plus we lived closed to each other, there were times where I spent my time mostly with that scowling boy. His late mother used to invite me for dinner. We were practically sibling.

When Orihime joined us a little later, I knew it right away, there had been something special about them. Orihime was a really cute and nice girl, I liked her very much. Me and Orihime became friends right away and I had a feeling that the only man I could accept to be with her was my other bestfriend, Ichigo. I was really happy when they were getting alone.

My dad made me took karate class when I entered elementary school which meant  I couldn’t play with Ichigo and Orihime as often as usual. I did miss them, especially Orihime but when they had each other with them, I would not worry about them.