Love At First Word

Chapter 12

~ Ichigo ~

I knew peace wouldn't last forever. It never did with my condition.

Six entire days passed and we were doing fine. I was able to get up and down the stairs by myself, I was moving around the dorm with no problems at all, I had grown closer to Shinji, Nnoitra, the rest of the group, and especially Grimmjow.

And then a spell hit me.

I knew I was awake, could feel the clenching and unclenching of my fingers in the sheets. That's how it always was and panic always flooded through me.

~ Grimmjow ~

"-JOW!" I woke up to a blood-curdling screech.
"GRIMMJOW!"

I nearly tripped myself twice trying to get to Ichigo's room.
When I finally burst in the door, my chest tightened painfully.

Ichigo was writhing like he was hurting, his eyes wide open. At first, I thought he was having a seizure, but realized that he probably wouldn't have been able to talk, let alone scream, had he been in one.

"Grimm-Grimmjow."
Ichigo's wavering voice brought me from my thoughts and I rushed to his bed.
He groped the air, turning wide, unfocused eyes my way.
I scooped him up without thinking and sat him in my lap. He clutched my bare chest desperately, nearly painful.

"What's wrong?" I asked quietly, trying to sooth his shaking form.

"I-I can't see. At all. It's another spell."

"Sp-spell- You've had these before?" I stuttered.

"Yes. Yes, I...I have brain damage. I'm slowly going blind. Right after the accident, I could see completely out of my left eye and sort of out of my right. Four years later, my right eye was gone and my left eye was fading. I'm steadily getting worse, but I wear glasses."

"And you just...just wake up blind." I whispered, clutching him tighter.

"Yes! It's awful! I can't see color! I can't see my friends! I can't-I can't see-"
He pressed his face to me chest and bawled. He didn't stop shaking and sobbing harshly for another hour.
It made me hurt, listening to him cry. It ripped through me like a bullet and when I was sure he'd cried himself back to sleep, I laid down with him. Ichigo curled himself into a ball and his smaller hand wouldn't let go of mine.

Another hour passed with me drifting in and out of sleep as Ichigo's breath slowly evened back out.
"Ichigo." I murmured, nudging him. He groaned and buried his face closer to me.

"N-n." He grumbled.

"It's six o'clock. One more day and then we can go and visit your family just like you wanted."

"Nnnnnnoooooooo..." Ichigo groaned rolling with his back to me.

"At least open your eyes. Can you see?" I asked quietly. After a few moments, Ichigo gave me a small nod.

"Yes. I'm sorry for earlier."

"It's fine. You were hurting mentally. But! You have to get up now." I grinned as he buried his head under a pillow.
"I'll knock you off the bed." I warned. He peeked an eye open, which confused me - it was the blind one.

"You wouldn't." he warned back, and I grinned wolfishly.

"Oh, but I would, dearest Ichigo." With that, I planted two hands on his back and sent him to the floor with a thud.
He shouted profanity as he pulled himself up. I leaped over him and shot out the door. Not seconds later, I heard footsteps behind me. I guessed he was following the sound of my own steps and I stopped.
So did he.

I began creeping towards the pantry door and quietly opened it, praising the lord when it didn't make a sound, and crouched down closing it just as quietly behind me.

~ Ichigo ~

He must've thought I was dumb. Or completely blind. I wasn't either - I grew up with a doctor, a martial arts master, and a retired psychologist as my guidance. My hearing was also tremendously improved with my loss of sight.

Yeah, I knew he was in the pantry. It was the closest, darkest alcove he could've found with the need to hide.

He could've hid under the table - that was a blind spot of mine.
He could've gotten on top of the fridge - also a blind spot.
Hell, he could've gotten in the fridge.
But the pantry? Really?

"Grimmjow? Where'd you go?" I asked sweetly. He was a sucker for whimpering. Probably reminded him of his younger sister.
"Are you under the table? I can't - I can't see under there."

Yep, with all the shifting going on, he was definitely in the pantry. He was also regretting leaving me by myself.

"Are you on top of the fridge? I can't see up there either." I smirked, but managed to keep it out of my voice.

I crept towards the pantry and listened as he shifted uncomfortably.
I counted to five and opened the door.
"I'm not a complete idiot - you do realize that, right?"

Grimmjow scowled at me and I grinned.
"You little shit! Makin' me feel guilty." He grumbled.

"I'm quite good at it." I paused for a moment before a hesitantly leaned forward and hugged his chest. I took note of how short I was compared to him, how small and thin I seemed compared to his six-foot, 176 pound build.
"Thank you for letting me cry this morning."

His arms carefully set themselves around my shoulders and hugged me right to him.
"You just sounded so pained." he mumbled.

"It hurts me to know I won't be able to see my family soon." I whispered back.

"You're just an accident waiting to happen, aren't you Strawberry?"

I grinned at my nick name and looked up at him,

"Seriously though. Thank you."

"Anytime, Berry-Head." I laughed as I smacked his chest and went to the cabinet to to pull down the cereal.