Bleach: Unwanted Past

Chapter 2

A Sakura tree blossoms in the early spring, and its bright pink pedals get picked one by one as the wind blows. One petal, in particular, falls into the hands of a young black-haired girl. Her bright green eyes sparkled as she looked at the pedal pinched between her tiny fingers. Her smile grew as she looked fondly at it.

"Look, Sachi!" She calls after the brown-haired boy. His bright yellow eyes meet hers when he looks up from his spot on the grassy ground. "It's a cherry blossom! Isn't it pretty?"

The young boy looks down at the pedal, smiling at his friend's own happy expression. "Wow! I've never seen one up close."

"I know! We caught the blossom just in time." She giggles as she looks back at the blooming tree.

Sachi stands up, taking his place by her side. "The tree...it's pretty. Just like you." He smiles fondly at her when she looks at him with a blushed face. Her smile only grew wider.

The more I think about it, the longer it feels like I'm stuck in this dream world. Such a dream hasn't ever poked its way through the locked-away cage until now. Why now, of all times? Why bring him up at a time like this?

The vast cold air stuck to my covered arms, the goosebumps already at their peak under my jacket sleeve. Cold sweat rolled down my neck as I shivered, my body finally moving from its still sleep-like position. My eyelids slid open, but it still felt like they were closed. I rolled onto my back and lifted my head to look at my surroundings.

My arms hold onto each other as I sit up. I felt cold but hot at the same time. What's worse, it was like I was in a black void. Nothing but darkness going for miles and miles. Water surrounded my form on this so-called ground, yet I didn't feel wet.

It's silent. Too silent.

Nothing but the sound of heavy breath and the thundering of my heart beating. Was I nervous? Scared? Why wouldn't I be? Someone kidnapped me...

I stand up, the water sloshing around at my feet as I do so, and look around in a panic. Where was he? What did he do?

A deep chuckle echoes in the void, the core of it behind me. "Looking for me?"

I turn around, finding someone I regret to even think about. "Sachi..." He was in the air, looking down at me as if I was prey to a wild animal. His unfamiliar smirk grew when my eyes met his. "No. You're not Sachi."

Sachi never had such dark eyes. Gold, but not the gold irises I knew. Not with the white of his eyes being replaced with black. He wore his usual Soul Reaper uniform, and his light brown hair stayed the same. Yet...it's not the Sachi I knew and loved. He's not the man I grew up with.

He laughed. It felt so dark, nothing like I used to know. "Is that so? Do you think that," his face is suddenly an inch away from mine, making me take a step back, "because you wish to forget me?"

This time, he laughs harder when he puts some space between us. "Of course, you would. After what you did to me...I think I'd try to forget me, too." His smirk grew impossibly creepier.

I could feel my nails digging into the palm of my hand as the anger built. I can't give in to his mockery. Just ignore him, Kana. Ignore him. "What is this place? Why am I here?"

Sachi's head twists to the side in question. "Hm? You're not even going to ask how I'm alive?"

"Why should I? You're just a fragment of my memories. But..." I take another step back when he gets closer once more. The look in his dark eyes almost sent a shiver down my spine. Almost.

"But?" He taunts.

"But you are the opposite of what I remember of him. So, I don't understand..." I couldn't understand him. Why is he here? Why am I here?