intraspective | Room 504, Sunday Evening

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Room 504, Sunday Evening

Really, if you wanted to make a case for it, Ino hadn’t been seen, or heard from, since Friday evening. That was because, in the case of all long running shows, relatively minor characters get written out of the story only to return three seasons later for no good reason.

Ino wasn’t particularly aware of any of that though, as other than having spent a day being completely non-existent, she was still her perfectly normal self.

And as such, was spending the evening in her pajamas, listening to Utada Hikaru, and singing along under her breath while studying her medical scrolls, having completely missed any sort of news that things were out of the ordinary. (And, really, was glad of that.)

[Open, though Ichigo's thread is chronologically last, please!]

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Ichigo was dripping wet when he made it onto the fifth floor. There was a very good reason why he was dripping wet. Mainly because hours ago he'd taken a dive off Galactica Point. He'd been dead, he'd stared death into the face (not that of a shinigami strangely enough) and he'd come back. Death had only taken the hollow and Ichigo's shirt.

Now Ichigo stood in front of Ino's door. His heart was singing loudly. He was free of the burden that had weighed so heavily upon his soul. Now. Now, he could live.

He knocked loudly on the door. "Ino! Are you there? Please, be there. Ino!!!"

...

...

What? She mouthed the word at the door, then rolled her eyes and got up. She didn't know what was up with that but he'd totally just lost the game and she wasn't going to speak until they were face-to-face so he couldn't deny that it had been him.

She opened the door, and blinked. Huh, that was a lot of... shirtlessness and he was soaking wet.

"Ino," he breathed, joy spreading over his face. He didn't care about the game, he cared about Ino.

His Ino. Ino. Ino. Ino.

He didn't allow her time to respond as he stepped forward, both hands cupping her face as he kissed her. Kissed her deeply and with more skill than a boy with his experience should have. Ino.

Um. Um. Um, what?

It wasn't that she didn't like the kisses, because she did and wasn't going to lie, but they weren't the sort she was used to from... him.

And, uh, that was weird. She broke the kiss as quick as she could without making it seem like that was what she was doing.

"Ichigo?" Um, what? Seriously? Explanations would be lovely. Honestly.

He was still breathless from the kiss, his chest rapidly falling up and down as water cascaded down his well-formed muscles.

"Ino! I'm sorry that I left you, but I came back. I'm alive!" How long had he been gone anyway? It felt like eternity. "I came back for you. It's gone now, Ino. I'm free to love you again."

...

...yeah, what?

Though she'd admit that it was a nice chest, mmm...

"Are you okay?" she asked dubiously. Severely dubiously.

He moved past her into the room, wanting to have this moment to be just between them. "I'm better than alright, Ino. It's gone. It's completely gone. When I fell off the cliff, only the hollow died. I'm me again! I won't hurt you, we can finally be together."

She, for her part, contemplated making a run for it. That'd probably be the sane thing to do, but Ino rather thought that he might follow her.

"You're soaking wet," she informed him, getting a towel and offering it to him. "Dry off before you get a cold and tell me... about falling off the cliff. That sounds bad. Did you hit your head?"

"I jumped," he clarified, smiling as he accepted the towel and he started running it through his hair. "I died."

"Does that mean you're a... full shinigami now, and not just a part-time one?" As she sneakily checked for any injuries.

He let her check, he was used to her worrying about him. It was why he loved her. "No, they gave me another chance. They took the hollow and I got to come back."

Ino debated with herself. Really, he wasn't in his right head and she shouldn't pry for more information, right?

...

"The hollow?" she asked, frowning a bit. "Have you been keeping secrets from me, dearest?"

She needed her camera, seriously. Or a video camera. Stat.

He stopped drying off his chest, emotions clearly showing on his face. "I didn't want to hurt you."

"Lying hurts too," she said, sounding remarkably unhurt by that.

"Lying doesn't try to kill you," he pointed out. He held on to the towel even if he was dry now, safe for his hair. "I almost hurt Angela, I had to stop it."

"You should've left a note," she scolded him. "What if I'd thought you'd run off with another woman?"

Ino was... not... going to laugh. No, really. Straight face.

...mostly.

"There wasn't any time," he whispered, not seeing the laughing. He dropped the towel to the floor and stepped closer to her. "I'm sorry, Ino. Will you forgive me?"

Ino wanted her Ichigo back. This one was no fun. Could she get a refund?

"You're forgiven," Ino said, leaving out the 'because you're mental today', "I'm not even mad," it was too pathetic to be, "but you're not allowed to lie anymore."

"I won't," he whispered and he reached up to touch her cheek. "I couldn't stop thinking about you."

Ino narrowly avoided rolling her eyes and sighing.

"I'm not worth that much thought," she said wryly amused. "But that's sweet."

...and severely creepy, but.

"You're worth so much more," he argued. "I just needed to see you right away. I wanted you to know how we can be together now."

...

"Ichigo," she said gently, "we weren't together before."

Ino wanted to beat her head against the wall.

"But," he stared at her. "We went to the dance together. We kissed..."

He couldn't breath. Did he come back only to be rebuffed by his one true love?

If asked, Ino would say she wasn't anyone's 'one true love'.

"And you never asked," she pointed out. "I did all of that."

...this was ridiculous, really.

She was a cruel one true love.

"I see," he breathed, his fists clenching and he tried to keep the tears at bay. "I understand. I'll leave you," he whispered, his voice breaking and he couldn't stand this... He turned and headed for the door.

Ino was so, so tempted to let him go. But she was a bit, uh, worried he'd throw himself off another cliff. That'd be bad.

"I didn't say you had to go," she said crisply.

"There is nothing here for me to stay," he replied. His shoulders squared as his fingers closed around the doorknob and he stayed standing there, wanting her to give him a reason to stay.

"Giving up on 'one true love' pretty easy, aren't you?" she said, and yes, she did air quotes for that. "I mean, really, minor dissent and you're all set to leave me?"

"No!" he glared and turned back towards her. "I would do anything you wanted me to do. If it involves leaving, I will. If you want me to stay, I will too. Just tell me what is in your heart, Ino. I will give it to you!"

Ino was pretty sure he'd just leave if she cracked up laughing at him right now.

"I don't want someone who agrees with everything I say," Ino said, figuring that answering honestly would work well enough as an answer, "I don't want someone who doesn't have a life outside of me. I want to laugh, to have fun, to enjoy a relationship even when it's work. Because the working for it makes it worth it. Nothing's easy."

"Fine," he decided and he stepped forward. "Then I'm sleeping on the carpet."

"...there's two beds in the room."

"Oh," he considered it. "The carpet's more work."

"The other bed is further away," she said helpfully.

"I want to be close to you," he said stubbornly. Didn't she understand that? "It hurts to be parted from you!"

"You are not sleeping on the floor. You'll just get a cold."

"Oh pretty Ino," he sighed. "You always worry about me."

He felt like kissing her and he stepped closer towards her.

Ino privately thought that 'pretty' was a weak description of his 'one true love' but that was okay. This was weird.

"When you act mental, I do," she said tartly, pondering her options.

"I feel fine," he assured her. "Never felt better, he reached out to touch her cheek. Kiss me, sweetheart."

"You'll thank me for this in the morning," she informed him, stepping closer.

And totally knocking him out.

"In-" he started, but the blackness surrounded him and Ichigo fell to the ground.

"Mental," she muttered, wincing as he fell. "You'll so thank me tomorrow."

With a sigh she set about getting him into the spare bed.

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Room 504, Sunday Evening

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