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Uryu, you thought to yourself, walking down the road with a bag of groceries clenched tightly in your hands. The wind was brisk, the eve upon you already as you walked with only the light of the streetlamps to guide. For a while, while you walked, you could feel his spiritual pressure a little strained, as if he had been chasing someone, but the moment that you felt it dip, panic set in. The bag you previously clutched dropped to the sidewalk, oranges and apples rolling down the sidewalk itself as you made a quick pace to flash step to the source.
Your y/e/c eyes grew wide as they landed upon the boy with crimson splattered against his chest, lying seemingly lifeless upon the middle of the street. Heart beating quickly in your chest, you wasted no time scooping the boy up in your arms. As you lifted him, you joked, trying to calm your anxiety. "I wanted an excuse to see Ryuken, but you didn't need to get yourself cut up for me," you spoke softly.
"Be careful," Uryu mumbled as he was drawing out of consciousness. "They may still be around."
Y/e/c eyes quickly examined your surroundings, realizing that you saw no one in a close proximity. Quickly, you started your flash step, making your way towards the hospital you knew Ryuken owned. Not even a block away from the hospital, you could feel a slender hand grip you, pulling you back.
A torrid gash pierced your chest from behind, without warning as you felt yourself heavy upon your feet. Your entire body quivered, wavering for a moment as you clutched onto Uryu tightly. An exclamation escaped your lips as you could swear the boy in your arms called your name out softly, though the pain itself had been immeasurable. You forced yourself to continue on, arriving at the hospital quickly with Uryu still tightly clenched in your arms.
Panted, short of breath, you arrived at the front desk, your voice practically slurred from a mix of panic and pain. "Need...doctor...now," you managed to force out. "He's been stabbed."
It took mere moments for someone to come out with a stretcher, taking Uryu back for an emergency operation. Though you had been asked a few vague questions, you denied the nurse, saying that you would speak to his father directly after he got out of surgery. Waiting in the front waiting room felt like hours, your lips crestfallen and bitten with concern. After a while, you remembered, and glanced to your own body, y/e/c eyes wide in shock.
Despite the blood of Uryu's that stained your shirt, you held no gash. No crimson bled from your body, and no wound had been present. Your hand moved to your chest, clenching tightly, and you were sure the sensation happened. Even so, there was no proof. A man with raven locks and brown orbs flashed in your head as you closed your y/e/c eyes, but for whatever reason, he felt familiar to you.
"Y/N," you could hear the stoic voice you had been waiting for break your train of thought, causing you to glance up at the man. "You need to tell me everything." His tone was serious, though you could tell from knowing Ryuken all those years that it held a type of worry you rarely saw from the snow white haired male.
You nodded. "Can we go somewhere without humans?" You questioned hesitantly, before pursing your lips. The man hadn't been daft, and you figured before you even opened your mouth that he knew it was not an ordinary stabbing.
A slender hand reached out for you to grab as he nodded wordlessly. Once you took that hand, you were led through the hallways of the hospital itself, seemingly outside of a room. If you were to guess, it had been right outside of the room they put Uryu in.
"I sensed two spiritual pressures near Uryu's before I felt his drop," you started, biting your lip as you fiddled with your hands. "I didn't see anyone, but…" You pursed your lips, moving a hand to your chest as you gripped it once more. For a moment, a memory flashed into your mind.
Ryuken was carrying you, bloodied, away from an arrancar he had slain. The expression upon his lips was of pure terror, a sight you were sure you had never seen on the man prior. It could have been the blood loss, but you could swear as you glanced into his eyes, you saw the reflection of love.
The memory quickly changed, instead of Ryuken holding you, it had been a man with raven locks. For some reason, you knew the man was Tsukishima, and his expression read of worry, yet relief. Brown eyes reflected something of pure love, even devotion. The man uttered words you swore you had heard before, saying, "You're so reckless, but I'm glad you're alive."
"Y/N!" Ryuken spoke, lithe hands on either side of your shoulders as he forced you back into reality. Chilled blue eyes held a clear hint of concern, and yet his face read of impatience. Once he realized your attention returned, he continued. "You trailed off. What else happened?"
"I flash stepped here as quickly as I could," you replied, pursing your lips. "It felt like someone pulled me back and drove a sword through me, but…" Your eyes trailed downwards as your hands moved to emphasize your point. "Clearly, I'm not even cut."
Ryuken's eyes widened as he focused upon you, noticing a spiritual pressure that had not belonged to you affecting you. Though he was unsure as to what, who, or anything of the sort, he could tell you had not been lying. "You felt it, though?" He questioned, rather hastily.
"Yeah…" you trailed off, your lips dipping to a frown. "For some reason, I keep seeing some guy with black hair and brown eyes. Tsukishima?"
"You should probably stay here under surveillance," he concluded, pursing his lips. "There isn't enough information to go on, but I think you would be safer."
"Ryuken," you quickly countered, shaking your head. "These people tried to kill Uryu. It would be better if I'm out there, getting rid of the threat. What if one of the other kids gets hurt next?"
"Y/N…" Ryuken trailed off, his lips dipped to a disapproving frown as he placed a hand upon your shoulder. "I'd rather not see you coming back here on a stretcher next. Just...fine. If you insist, you check in regularly."
"I will," you replied softly, a tint of blush against your cheeks. You rarely saw Ryuken so worried about you, and the thought warmed your heart. Even so, with your warm thoughts of Ryuken, there was something nagging at you that you were unsure about. It almost felt wrong to be soft on the man for some reason, as if it were meant for someone else. "May I see Uryu before I go?"
"Come," Ryuken said, nodding, and opening the door beside you. "He was asking about you."
"Y/N?" The boy questioned from behind the curtain, when you were merely a couple of steps into the door. "Are you okay?"
"I-uh," you started, a little perplexed by his question. You furrowed your brows as you continued. "I'm not the one in a hospital bed, but I do appreciate your concern."
"It sounded like something attacked you," Uryu spoke wearily. "I was barely conscious at the time, but…"
"Well, I'm fine," you replied reassuringly. "Do you think you'd be up for answering a question I have for you?"
"I guess," he replied sheepishly. "I don't remember much. Mostly your smart-ass remark and then your scream."
You sighed softly, pursing your lips, trying to find the words to ask the boy about his assailant. Surely he hadn't remembered enough to work off of so little details, but you had to try. "A guy with long, black hair and brown eyes, probably around his late twenties - is that who attacked you?"
"I was following him, I think," Uryu replied. "My mind is pretty fuzzy after that. I'm sorry."
"It's okay," you replied softly, pursing your lips. "Get some rest."
Ryuken pulled you aside as the two of you stepped out of Uryu's room. His lithe fingers held your arm to stop you from leaving right away, his blue eyes narrowed upon you with a glimmer of concern. "Don't be reckless," he warned.
"What has Tsuki ever done to you?" You questioned as you held your zanpakto in a defensive position in front of the snow white locked male, y/e/c eyes narrowed upon him.
Your memory of Ryuken had been far and few between, while Tsukishima had been the man who was always there for you. He had been the man who gazed to you with loving brown eyes, and his cold exterior seemed to melt away whenever he was around you. He was the man of your dreams.
Ryuken's blue eyes widened, his mouth agape as he stared upon you, defending the man he held his arrow towards. "Y/N…" he breathed out, pain behind his words as he simply gazed in horror. He knew from Uryu how Tsukishima's power worked, and though the signs had been there, it had not lessened the pain. "Not you." His voice grew in confidence, despite his disheveled exterior. "You're reckless, but you're stronger than this."
"You're holding an arrow of spiritual pressure to the man of Y/N's dreams," Tsukishima teased, a lithe hand slipping down your side as he felt complete safety behind you. "Isn't that right, love?" As he spoke, his brown eyes glowed purple, inserting himself in yet another memory. By this point, Ryuken was replaced in nearly all of your history.
"Well, you've saved me far more times than I can count," you responded wryly, basing your statement off of the memories you remembered. "Though it was hard to admit. I've always thought you were far too good for a soul reaper's affections."
Ryuken's heart clenched in his chest as he found himself wavering, realizing from your words what you had meant. He realized from those words what the man inserted himself into, what he had replaced. The normally stoic man could feel tears brimming in his blue eyes at the sight, the sight of another man claiming the woman he loved as his own. His stomach churned over the idea that you had thought you loved the man back.
"I never should have made you feel that way," he concluded, tears welled in his eyes. His voice cracked as he stared upon the scene, and though those words were meant to be for Tsukishima, the man you thought you loved, Ryuken was the one to answer them first. Ryuken was the one that dropped to his knees before you, his only defense taken as he bowed his head in front of you.
You were not sure why your heart broke at the scene, why you could feel yourself wanting to scream for the man not to cry. Tsukishima was the one who would always chide you for being reckless, for being too rash in situations. He would always be the one to stare upon you with those fond eyes, those eyes meant for only you.
Right? You questioned yourself. Y/e/c eyes widened as you began questioning your memories. Your zanpakto trembled in your hand as you wondered. Your heart and your memories had not seemed to line up, and it made you sick to your stomach. It made your head ache with such an intense pain, and yet, you hadn't felt safe. Something had been wrong, terribly wrong, and yet, you could not place it.
You felt lithe arms wrap around your waist, a chuckle against the shell of your ear. Clearly the man with the raven locks had not noticed your tremble quite yet, or maybe he actually had not understood you in the same way that he thought he did. The words that slipped over your lobe caused your heart to drop into your stomach.
"Kill him, my love," Tsukishima ordered you, as if you had been an attack dog.
You could feel tears welling in y/e/c eyes as you tried to clutch your zanpakto properly. With everything feeling the way it had, you were unsure you were able to move, let alone figure out a plan that had not been half cocked and reckless. Swallowing hard, you felt those lithe arms slip from your waist, and you knew you had to act now. A second delay could have cost either of you your lives.
Your flash step had to be perfect, precise, as you got far away from the situation. Aiming your zanpakto to hit Ryuken, you had to fake out the situation, before hoisting him upon your shoulder. Surely your reckless behavior would be something you would need to apologize for later, but you had not cared as you flash stepped as far away from the situation as you possibly could. Part of you knew the man who had been calling you love would need to be dealt with, and yet, you were still so conflicted. You flash stepped until you couldn't anymore, a little outside of Karakura itself, before setting a completely confused and disheveled Ryuken down.
"Where are we?" Ryuken questioned finally, blinking his watery blue eyes as he moved a lithe hand to wipe the tears away. His gaze shifted over to you questioning, his brows furrowed in confusion. "Y/N?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm about half here still," you replied, pursing your lips after your words as you moved to wipe your own tears that managed to slip down your cheeks. "I got us a little outside of Karakura, because something isn't right."
"What do you mean?" He questioned carefully, eyeing you suspiciously, as he was unsure how deep under the fullbringer you still had been.
You allowed a sigh to escape your lips, which seemed to mix with a sniffle as you sheathed your zanpakto and brought your hands to your head, the pain hitting you hard as you questioned the memories more. "Based on my memories, I hardly know you," you admitted uncomfortably, "but based on my heart, seeing you distressed tears me to shreds."
Ryuken swallowed hard, standing to his feet as he took a chance. With one hand, he held your own, while the other moved to your cheek. Before you knew it, the man had stolen your lips, pressing them hard, yet cautious, against your own. He waited patiently with his lips against your own for any sort of reaction.
Despite your memories, all those confusing things in your head, you found yourself melting into Ryuken's kiss. Your heart fluttered quickly in your chest, your stomach churning with theoretical butterflies as you tasted the man's lips upon your own. None of it made sense to you, and yet, you knew it felt right.
As the two of you separated, he rested his forehead against your own, still holding your face gently with his hand. Blue eyes gazed into your own questioningly, a clear fondness shining through normally stoic eyes. His voice had been barely above a whisper as he said, "I'm sorry I've pushed you away all these years, Y/N."
Those memories in your mind began to change back, though some had still been under the grip of Tsukishima's fullbringer. You found your fondness far more understandable as you practically tackled the man, initiating the second kiss. Your hand moved to sink into snow white locks, while the other rested over his shoulder.
As the two of you separated once more, you murmured, "I never want to be tricked into loving anyone besides you, Ryuken."
"Good," he chuckled softly as he pulled you to him, relief washing over him. "I've loved you for so long, but this plan was reckless. We need to find somewhere safe to keep you until we can take Tsukishima out."
You chuckled softly in reply, though you nodded agreeably. "I'll let you choose the place, because I still don't trust how my brain works right now," you admitted sheepishly.