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That Dreaded Word	By : Platinumsabr Category: Bleach > Het - Male/Female Views: 11539 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, or the characters from it. I don't make any money from the writing of this story, but I do enjoy writing it. Any Original Characters are mine however, as is the story itself, and if you see it posted elsewhere pleas

Chapter List
- 6
- 7
- 8
And
Then There Were Three

He didn�t know what his fate
was anymore, or what life would throw at him next. He looked down at his limp
right arm and grimaced before going back to the Kurosaki�s backyard and picking
up his sword�s sheathe. With a toss of the blade and a quick alignment Izanami
slid back into her scabbard with a sharp whistle of metal.

�What the hell is going to
happen next?�

And he wasn�t the only one
facing problems.

~~~~~~~~~~

She ran.

She didn�t know why she ran, she
didn�t know why she had run as fast as she had ran or where she was running to,
but she had ran.

Soi-Fong, captain of the Second
Division, assassin, and overall stick-in-the-mud�couldn�t get her heart to stop
pounding wildly against her chest. She slumped against one of the brick walls
in the alleyway she had come to an eventual stop in and put a hand on her
palpitating chest. Her entire body felt like it was on fire, and she felt a
high unlike anything she had ever felt in her life. It wasn�t like she was the
most unattractive woman before these changes had started taking place, but it was
the first time she had ever been asked out by a man, and he had done it looking
her right in the eyes without a single stutter or hesitance to his being.

That was medal-worthy even if
simply talking to her, but he had done it while asking her on a
date!!

The terror was still there for
reasons unknown, but she had never felt as euphoric or panicked as she did
right then. What�m I supposed to do!?! What�m I
supposed to say, what�m I supposed to wear, how�m I supposed to act!? How do I
do this!?!

Her thighs were burning, and she
felt a throb impossible to describe. She knew her attraction to him, but what kind
of attraction was vastly becoming apparent. Not only was she interested in his
person, his personality and life, but also his body. She could try to deny it
as much as she wanted, but when those words came out of his mouth and she was
told without a shadow of a doubt that her attraction wasn�t merely one-sided, her
body had frozen, melted, and gone absolutely haywire in the span of a hair�s
breadth. She had never been so aroused in her life so far, and that just went
to show how much experience she had in the area.

God help her, she wanted him!

She didn�t know what to say to
him. It was the first time anyone had ever asked her out on a date, not to
mention it was the first time she had ever spent enough time alone with a man
outside of work for him to even assume a date would be possible.

And yet she found the idea of a
date with him�wasn�t totally repulsive.

If what she gathered from those
around her was true, it could even be said that their second meeting could be
considered a date unto itself. It wasn�t often that a woman went to meet a man
alone at a club with any other intentions, and it was only now that she was
beginning to realize all this. She may be hundreds of years old, but when it
came to matters like this she felt like the awkward teenager again.

However, when she thought about
all that, another horrible revelation came as well.

He was the same.

He had been in a relationship
God-knows-how-many-years ago, but his lover had been killed trying to kill him,
and he had spent the last two-hundred odd years hiding behind a mask just as
fake as his right arm. And yet even with all that, he still reached out. He
took a leap of faith that even she, as one who had already recovered from her
trauma, wouldn�t have taken.

And she had run away.

I ran away!! Oh God�oh
God�!!!! She span around wildly with her hands clasped tightly in her hair,
wracking her brain trying to figure out what she could do. She had no
experience with matters of relationships, but she was an expert on betrayal, on
hatred, and of misunderstandings. She knew better than anyone what could be
expected from something like what she had just done, and now one of the most
serious and composed captains of the Thirteen Divisions was as lost as a ship
without a navigator.

Her old self would have never
come to these realizations, but the past few decades had changed her just like
it had changed all those around her. However, that did nothing to help her deal
with the realizations. She was sure she must look ridiculous, spinning around
as she was with her hands in her hair, but right then she didn�t care about
reputation, or anything else for that matter, only one thing was on her mind.

Yoruichi-sama! She can
help me!!

And the gigai�d captain
immediately took off at full speed. She couldn�t afford to waste time.

~~~~~~~~~

Yoruichi Shihouin was doing
nothing of any great importance, just relaxing and enjoying the company of her
visiting daughter. Kin and Kaien made it a point to come back every once in a
while, and they had decided to stay a little longer than normal this time
before they headed back.

Kaien hadn�t really wanted to
leave his mother and father without any help for Senna when they had enough to
deal with with the new mystery and Hueco Mundo. Normally it wasn�t too hard to
balance, but with Ichigo being called to alert thanks to the disappearances, it
didn�t leave much time to slip away. Add in a hyperactive daughter and his
plate was full enough. So, Kin was all too happy to stay as well, and one could
almost question if the two bronze-skinned women sitting on the couch together
watching television were actually sisters instead of mother and daughter.

They both nearly hit the ceiling
when they heard the sliding door to the store open so quickly the bang
resounded through the entire house. Two sets of yellow eyes were instantly
drawn to the door leading into the room they were in when it too opened, and an
out-of-breath Soi-Fong was revealed, bent over from exertion.

�Yoruichi-sama!
Yoruichi-sama�!!�

The former Special Ops commander
was up in an instant with worry all over her face. �What�s wrong!? Did one show
up again!?�

Soi-Fong shook her head
vigorously as she struggled to retain her lost breath. Normally she wouldn�t be
so hard-pressed for air, but she wasn�t exactly the calmest before, and the
hyperventilating was more from the revelations than anything else. �Takumi�I
mean G.T�.I mean Gwydion�he�!!�

�He what??
Is he okay??� Kin asked worriedly as she walked over from behind her mother.

�He�he asked me�on a�on a date!�

Yoruichi�s widening eyes were
instantly joined by an even wider grin before she fell over laughing
hysterically. �Oh God, Little Bee!! You just about
killed me there!! You look like the world�s going to end and you were just
asked out on a date!?!� She fell back into laughter and Kin couldn�t help but
cover her mouth to try and hide her snickers from her godmother.

�This isn�t funny!!� the braided
captain replied angrily. �I didn�t know what to do!! I still don�t know
what to do! What do I do!? I mean�I ran away!!�

The laughter stopped. Abruptly.

Yoruichi lolled back into a
sitting position as she wiped the remnants of merriment from her eyes, all
traces of her previous humor gone. �You�ran away?�

She nodded truthfully, looking
exactly like a confused child asking her parent something she didn�t understand.
�I know! I know I shouldn�t have now! You have to tell me what I can do to fix
it!�

The former captain�s eyes
couldn�t have been any wider. �You�re asking me for�help?� It was essentially
confessing that she had weaknesses, and that she of all people didn�t know what
to do. That hadn�t happened in over a century, and it happened few and far
between even during her time as her bodyguard. Then again, back then the little
girl had hung on her every word like it was an undeniable truth of the
universe, and knowing her weaknesses had only been possible when seeing her in
battle and giving her pointers on how to improve. Otherwise, it was like the
young woman had been a carbon copy of her, something that didn�t have a will of
its own, only an existence made to fit whatever she needed. This blatant
confusion was something she hadn�t bore witness to in a long, long time.

�Wait,
is this that guy that bumped into you back when we were all at that club?� Kin
asked quickly before the conversation branched off. The wicked grin that spread
on her mother�s face was all the confirmation she needed, and she quickly
looked back at Soi-Fong in disbelief. �He asked you out, and you ran?�

�I know!�

Her snap took Kin aback, and for
the first time she allowed herself to look over Soi-Fong in any degree of detail.
She looked�tired; stressed, like for once in her life she knew she had done
something wrong and she simply didn�t know what to do. She seemed surprised by
her own reaction to his proposal, and more than that even she looked�different,
different in a way that could be seen visibly, rather than the obvious
emotional discrepancies.

Soi-Fong looked terrified at her outburst.
�I-I�m sorry, Princess.�

�Have you�grown?� she responded,
without even bothering to answer her apology.

Yoruichi was now right by her old
guard, looking over her carefully, and with every noticeable detail that she
saw that proved Kin�s question, her eyes continued to widen. �You have,
haven�t you? Damn�� The approval in her voice would have been like honey
to Soi-Fong had she been in any state to appreciate her mentor�s words.

�That�s beside the point dammit!
I need to know what to do!�

�So that means�you didn�t mean to
run away? You wanted to answer?�

Her skin turned from her normal
pallor to a bright cherry red in less time than it would have taken to
formulate an answer. �I�I-I-I-I��

This was even rarer than her
asking for help, she was flustered. Clearly she was overtired and definitely
unprepared for the situations she had been plunged into recently,
it was the only explanation either of them could come up with for her show of
emotion so carelessly. She was scared, scared of what she had done and the
ramifications of it. It was only clear to one of them however, that she knew
more than what she was letting on. She knew something imperative to the person
who had asked her out, and she knew strongly that her reaction had been the
wrong one.

Yoruichi was quickly becoming
concerned. She knew just as well as her former subordinate what she was so
worried about. In fact, she was one of the only other people other than
her that could know what she was so worried about.

�You�re tired Little Bee, we can
both see that. You�re overreacting right now, I�m sure he�ll understand if you
answer him tomorrow when you�re rested and thinking straight.�

�But what if I�m not overreacting!?�
she shot back instantly. �I did the one thing�I�I��

�You panicked, it�s perfectly
normal; nothing to stress out about. Even if he takes this the wrong way today,
if you answer him tomorrow he�ll be fine. It all depends on if you mean it.�

The rapidly changing woman
straightened up stubbornly, as if taunted by the simple statement. �I can
answer today.�

�Oh-ho-ho no
you don�t,� the purple haired woman rebutted as she pushed the woman now
gaining inches on her over to the couch and sat her down. �You look like you�re
going to fall asleep standing up, right now you�re anything but
rational.�

�But I�I don�t know why I ran
away Yoruichi-sama, why did I run away?� Her eyes were pleading, and it hurt
the ex-captain�s heart just to look at them. She looked so confused right then
it was like looking into the eyes of her own daughter, and she had known the
braided captain for so long she very well could be considered close to that.

�You were scared Soi, that�s it.
It�s a big step for you, you just weren�t prepared for
it.�

Her eyes blazed. �And he was!?
How was I so unprepared for it when he was!? Am I really�� her voice trembled
and she let her head fall into her hands as she rested her elbows on her knees,
��really�that na�ve? It seems like I don�t know anything anymore, even my own
body! What does dating even mean exactly? What feelings do you have to have to accept
dating someone? Yoruichi-sama�what is this?�

Kin was lost when it came to what
she meant about his preparedness, that was certain, but her mother knew exactly
what she was implying, and it was a tribute to Soi-Fong that even though she
was close to passing out on the spot she still had almost all of her mental
faculties, and more than enough to think, if not perfectly clearly. It didn�t
go unnoticed either that her words also revealed that she cared about another
person�s feelings, someone other than themselves. Still, neither of them
could remember the usually stony woman being so shaken before, and the fact of
the matter was the questions she was asking weren�t the easiest to answer. Just
that she was asking them though was proof enough that she was actually
concerned about the relationship phenomena, whereas before she had scoffed at
anything like it.

�There is always the simplest
way to find out if you�re really undecided�� Kin suggested with a wicked
grin, though it went completely unnoticed by the woman currently grasping at
any straw of truth she could get.

�What is it!?�

�Kiss him.�

Well, that, she hadn�t
been expecting. Before she even knew what she was doing her fingers had reached
up to her lips, as if the words alone had recalled the delicious, indescribable
yearning that his kiss had evoked in her. She could feel everything she had
done at the time, from the texture of his haori as her hands bunched in the
fabric to the moist heat of his lips pressing so amazingly forceful into hers.
Kin�s grin faded and she gave a nervous chuckle as she took in the glazed look
on Soi-Fong�s face. It was one she recognized very well, and so did Yoruichi.

�Well I�ll be damned��

The noise shook Soi-Fong from her
daze and she suppressed the blush that threatened to rise up her neck as she
saw the wide eyes of the other occupants of the room.

Kin rubbed the back of her head
like her husband and his father were so fond of doing. �I�m�not going to say
anything. If you�re really that confused though, why don�t you just tell us
what you feel around him? Maybe we can offer some input then; we can�t know
what you�re thinking after all.� At this point it was only for confirmation for
them, the look they had just seen was one only a select
few could get.

It all came out at once. All the
confusion, the conflicting emotions, the strangeness in her chest, everything
that she had ever felt or was feeling around him and her utter uselessness at
knowing what to do in response to them. The dam had been broken, she couldn�t
hold anything back. When it came to what she was most anxious about, she almost
hesitated before telling them about the final and most confusing items on her
list: the desire to keep him safe, to stay by him, to simply desire him,
and the gut-wrenching feelings of dread as she watched him injured and
unconscious. By now she was willing to try anything, even baring what she would
normally never allow to pass her lips, but granted, these were the only
two people in the world she would ever consider disclosing this information to.

When she was done, Kin�s usually
slim eyes were reminiscent of pie plates, and Yoruichi had a look unlike
anything she had ever seen except when Kin was born. It was a�maternal look,
one of soft, glowing pride as she smiled and sat down beside her. With no fear,
Yoruichi reached over and grabbed one of her hands before tenderly raising it
up and holding it over her left breast. Soi-Fong did blush�only
slightly�this time, as her mentor held both her and her own hand on her newly-developing
chest.

�This�tightness, as you
call it, would it happen to feel really tight here when it happens?�

Confused, Soi-Fong merely nodded,
expecting a better answer than that. What�s she getting at?

�God, Little Bee, you�re
hopeless!� she exclaimed with mock-exasperation. �It�s your heart.
You�re falling in love.�

And in that moment, as her denial
and terror peaked and she went over everything she had just said�again and
again�with that hypothesis as her reference to reject, the dreaded captain of
the Second Division found herself in a rapturous sense of calm that made the
tightness in her chest vanish like leaves in the wind, as if it had been
waiting for this exact moment. The moment when the confusion plaguing her mind
finally settled into warm contentedness when it realized what its body had been
trying to so vehemently tell it.

Worst of all, it made sense. It
made the same irrational, unknowable, seemingly insane sense as anything else
she had encountered related to that word.

She was falling in love. Her, of all people.

Unexpectedly, she found a chuckle
leaving her lips before she had the will to stop it. It really was funny, but
she knew something she hadn�t known before, and it was what had made her run
away. With the adrenaline of anxiety leaving her system, she found
consciousness harder and harder to hold onto, but she couldn�t allow herself to
sleep yet, no matter how hard her rapidly growing body wanted to.

She had something she needed to
do, even if the embarrassment just might kill her.

�I�I can answer today.�

~~~~~~~~~~

It had hit him hard and fast at
the time, but he was still waiting for the rest to finally sink in. He could
feel the tension growing in his muscles, could feel his oldest protector
wrapping around him like a blanket of comfort, only it did the opposite. Hatred. He hated himself, and he couldn�t even find it in
him to be mad at her. She had done nothing wrong, it was his fault.

The tendons in his neck tightened
as he swallowed heavily and tried to slow his breathing down. He couldn�t
remember the last time his anger had overcome him enough to break past his
carefully composed mask, but the extra self-loathing had made the sea beneath
too much to conceal anymore. He had never wanted to hit something more than he
did right then, but he also wanted to get hit. He wanted, needed,
someone to beat some sense back into him. Surely he had gone insane, that was
the only reason he could come up with. Why else would he have even thought she
could answer any other way? But as much as he wanted that to be the case, he
knew that he would do it again in a heartbeat.

Maybe he was a masochist deep down, it was the only thing that explained why he seemed to
be so magnetized to things that could hurt him.

Or maybe his life just plain
sucked.

He hadn�t been able to move from
the Kurosaki�s backyard since he had come back to pick up Izanami�s sheath, and
the angrier he grew the harder it was to get his hand out of the fist growing
tighter accordingly. She had been strapped securely to his back ever since just
in case Ai was only a prelude to things yet to come, but even as he thought
that he knew it was probably more literal than he intended. It may not happen
right then, or even the next day, but he was sure he would see her again, her
and what she and the enigmatic �he� she had mentioned had sent after him once
already. She had all but promised him that.

�I thought I felt you out here.
Have�ta admit I thought you would�ve been back home
the first chance you got.�

He willed his taut muscles to
allow him to turn to see his captain walking towards him, and as much as he
wanted to look the same as always, he knew his anger was reflected in his
scowl. He was a coil of stress with no outlet, and for the first time in his
life he was wishing for a Hollow to emerge. He desperately needed something
to beat on, even if it may put him in danger at the same time.

Ichigo stopped short with a
cautious look on his face when he saw how Gwydion looked. �You okay?�

The violet eyed man took in a
shuddering breath to once again try and calm himself,
but to no avail. �I�ve been better.�

�Something you wanna talk about?�

Gwydion smiled sardonically. �Not
exactly, but I could really use a good punch in the face right now, so if
you�re volunteering please go right ahead.�

Now Ichigo didn�t know him quite
as well as Tatsuki did, being that she trained him on a regular basis in her
fighting style, but he did know him enough to know that this was far from his
usual self. �Normally I probably would, but I�ve never known you to be one for
that kind of thing. Then again, I guess I�ve never really seen you angry
either, or sad for that matter. Tats says you can be pretty funny when you
wanna be, and I hear Senna�s taken a liking to you too. I don�t think she�d be
too impressed with me if she saw her dad punching you in the face.�

The lighthearted tone had the
opposite effect than he had intended, and Gwydion closed his eyes as he put his
sleeved hand up to his forehead with another hiss of breath. �I�m sorry, I shouldn�t have asked that of a commanding officer.
I�ll be on my way.�

The strained tone only worried
Ichigo more. He had never seen him like this before. The long-haired man turned
to walk way and he reflexively reached out to stop him. �Wait a minute!�

The man in question stilled like
death, and it was only then that he realized what he had done. He had
impulsively grabbed his right arm like he would anyone else�s, and just as he
had seen earlier, the arm beneath the robe-like sleeve was a lifeless
decoration even if it squeezed like stiff flesh beneath his fingers. A longer,
more strained breath could be heard as the body the fake appendage was attached
to shivered in effort. �Captain�I�m going to have to
apologize in advance for this.�

Ichigo looked at the back of the
man in front of him strangely. �Uh�okay?�

The shift of material in front of
him was like watching ink gain form, and then he was on the ground clutching
his right cheek in pain. He had received his fair share of punches to the face
over the years, most of those from his ever-loving wife, but there had been few
that had rattled him like that one did. He was stronger than he had ever
suspected, and the violet eyes he found himself looking up from the ground at
were blazing with anger, even though one was just as lifeless as his right arm.

Ichigo rubbed his jaw as he
picked himself up from the ground and stretched out languidly. �Guess I can�t
say I haven�t seen you angry now. Like I said before, normally I probably
would.� That said, he reached back and punched Gwydion square in the jaw, just
as he had him. �There�s your punch in the face; now we�re even.�

The other man chuckled slightly
as he got up and he too rubbed the sore spot on his face. �I was hoping for a
little more opportunity to vent, but I suppose aggravating a captain to do that
isn�t the best idea. Again, I apologize.�

He turned to walk away again, but
this time Ichigo put his hand on his shoulder to stop him. �You know you can
talk to me too, right? Technically I�m your captain, but it�s not like the guys
posted in other places have the chance to talk to me that much. You�re the only
one to stay here, I�m a Soul Reaper just like you
before I�m a captain.�

For the first time Ichigo saw the
odd half-smile that Gwydion rarely made. �Thank you, Captain. One day I may
take you up on that offer, right now I think it best that I be alone.�

The orange-haired captain sighed
and ran his hand through his spiky hair. �You know, you remind me a lot of
Byakuya. Most other people would know that I�m not stupid enough to not know
when something�s bothering them. Being alone never helps anyone.�

Gwydion�s eyes narrowed in
irritation. �Truth be told Captain, I�m not exactly in the mood for�talking, right now.�

He laughed at that. �Are you
ever?� He almost stumbled at the sudden and ferocious outburst of bright violet
reiatsu lighting up the dimly-lit backyard.

�Let me give you some advice: there�s
a time and a place for everything. Just because you�re a captain doesn�t mean
you�ve lived longer than any of the
soldiers assigned to you. Not all of us need you to come in and fix our
problems.� His voice was darker than normal, and it would seem that what little
was left of his patience had been used up. Today had
been one hell of a day, and he didn�t need anything else at this point.

If anything, Ichigo was more
surprised at the volume of reiatsu then he was anything else. He had seen
Gwydion fight, but he had never thought he was this strong. �Well, you�re just full of surprises, aren�t you?� he
stated lightheartedly as he raised his power to counter the growing pressure in
the air. �I�m not about to be intimidated by you though.�

Gwydion didn�t even flinch as
Ichigo�s reiatsu overtook his own, and his hard glare remained in place. �Unless
you have some pressing business to state, I see no need to stay here.�

Ichigo sighed and shook his head
in his palm in frustration as his reiatsu lowered, nearly causing Gwydion to
fall forward at the sudden lack of pressure. �I was hoping you would tell me,
but I can see that won�t be happening today. I�ll come straight out and say it:
who came to you today?�

He tensed instantly. He was very
skilled at sensing reiatsu, and Ai barely ranked as an unseated officer even
when she was right in front of him. I
suppose Tatsuki-san must have felt out meeting. Few things escape her
perception. �Someone not from these parts. Her
reiatsu didn�t reveal her as much of a threat, but she made it perfectly clear
she could take my life at any time. It would seem I�ve gained some unusual
attention.�

Ichigo�s eyes narrowed. �And you
didn�t think it was right to tell me about it? What if it had been another
attack?�

�Then I would already be gone,�
he replied stiffly. �She left no trail to speak of, I
don�t even know where she came from. If she was the same as that other�thing, she didn�t look the part, and if
she was concealing her reiatsu then she did a fine job, because it was impossible
for me to distinguish anything even remotely similar to the other one. It would
be a waste of your time.�

�Like hell it would!!� he
snapped, and Gwydion flinched. �Now we know
you�re being targeted! If last time wasn�t a coincidence, then why did she let
you stay!?�

The long-haired man turned around
briskly with his sleeve over his eyes as he tried to rub away the headache
surely coming on. He had had enough of this, duty be damned. �Because
I said no.�

�What�s that supposed to mean!?�

He glanced over his shoulder with
his only good eye glaring out under his sleeve. �It means you had better be prepared for more of them to come in the
future! If I�m her target, at least that means the others aren�t in danger! This
isn�t over, that�s all I know.�

When he turned back around and removed
his hand from his head, he went rigid when he saw the captain of the Second
Division, and the woman that had run away from him hours earlier, looking at
him with wide, frightened eyes. �When did this happen?� she asked, aghast.

He tried to grit his teeth and
walk away from her, but both his sense of duty and the part of him that didn�t
want to lose hope, didn�t let him. He sighed in resignation. Yes, his life
sucked. �Shortly after you left,� he replied softly, biting back the sadness
that wanted to enter his voice.

For a brief moment, she looked
horrified. I may as well have slapped him
in the face, and I put his life in danger too!? If I had
stayed� She knew, if she had stayed, she wouldn�t have figured out
what she was feeling, and now they had a solid lead on the intentions of at
least one unknown. That didn�t stop her stomach from turning at the thought of
what could have happened instead.

She fought down the blush that
wanted to rise as she thought of what she intended to do, but she couldn�t let
that stop her. �E-Excuse me Ichigo, I�m borrowing your officer for a second!�
Before Ichigo could even respond, she had grabbed his sleeve and pulled him out
of the backyard and to one of the sides of the massive headquarters.

It was the second time that day
he had been pulled somewhere without his consent, but even though it hurt to be
around her, the part of him that had never stopped falling for her wished to
stay. Maybe I really am a masochist. He
doubted it though.

He was in love, and love made
people do crazy things, even getting hurt willingly.

He gathered the tatters of his
composure all but gone after the day that had proven to wear on even the most seemingly
unshakable soldier. �What might this be about, Captain?�

She had planned out every word
she was going to say to him, every excuse and apology she could think of before
she admitted her pleasure at his earlier proposal; but standing there in front
of him, looking up into his visibly hurting violet eyes while she could tell he
was doing his best to stay composed, her mind blanked out on her. Her tongue
felt heavy in her mouth and she suddenly had nothing she could say, but luckily
for her�or perhaps not�her body had other ideas.

He didn�t even know what hit him.
Last thing he knew he was standing in front of the woman of his affections�and
she was looking very, almost adorably flustered�and then she was in front of
him on her tiptoes and pressing her lips against his.

He couldn�t help it, his mind
short-circuited and shut down and his body took over. He had craved this
feeling ever since he had impulsively stolen their first kiss, and right then
he couldn�t care about anything previously clawing at his mind, from his sadness
to his anger. He only hoped this wasn�t a dream, but if it was, he never wanted
it to end.

When he pushed forward against
her and pressed his hand behind her head to increase the pressure, she moaned.
He took over the kiss dominantly, hungrily, and she couldn�t believe the sound
that had come from her own mouth as her arms wound up around his neck. The
feelings this time were even more intense than the last, and her body burned
against his as she felt his heat beneath his clothes as they meshed closer. It
felt like she was being devoured, and God help her, she couldn�t get enough of
it. She fought against his lips just as his did hers and she couldn�t believe
how good it felt. Was it just because of the kiss, or was it because it was
with someone she�loved?

This was so much better than any
words she could have ever come up with.

They pulled apart, panting for
breath as they stared at each other with half-lidded eyes.

Even the ever-composed Gwydion
didn�t know what to say to what had just happened. �Holy��

Okay, he had a bit of an idea.

�C-Can I still take you up on
your offer?� Soi-Fong asked hesitantly, and right away her mouth had been taken
over again by his soft lips. She surrendered immediately, relinquishing herself
to the delicious feelings taking over her tired body. If a picture was worth a
thousand words, his kisses were worth tens of thousands. When he pulled away
she almost groaned, but she was too buzzed to feel anything else but the warmth
spreading through her body. She could finally understand what the other women
found so great about love.

Even though one of his eyes was
sightless and milky, she could still see the depth of his emotions like an
endless ocean in his other shimmering violet eye. �I�You�You can�t possibly
imagine how happy I am right now.�

She laughed warmly�one of the
first of its kind for her�as she looked back into his eyes with the same
drunken warmth displayed in hers. �You know, for once, I think I probably can.�

It would be a growing experience,
just like with her body, but now, she was looking forward to what the future
held.

~~~~~~~~~~~

In the eerie white lighting
illuminating the grayish walls, a figure chuckled softly as he watched the
people on the screen in front of him before another presence entered the room.

�I was wondering where you had
holed yourself up this time! I met your new interest today, and he was even more
than you had said!�

He felt arms wrapping around his
neck from behind his chair and he chuckled again. �Finally taking an interest
in my work are you? That�s unlike you.�

Ai laughed cheerily. �I�m always interested in your work, it�s my
work too! I think he might just be a
little more than work�. He�s incredible, I can�t even begin to describe it! His flavor�it�s�you
can�t imagine how much hatred and power he�s hiding! Work or not, he�s mine.�

He smiled amusedly and nodded his
head over at the screen he had been watching. �We may have an unforeseen factor
in both.�

He felt her still as she looked
up at what he had been watching, and her arms moved from his neck numbly until
he heard the back of his chair crack
under her fingers.

�Who is she?!?� Ai hissed as she bared her teeth to the unfeeling
projection in front of them.

�Though she seems to have changed
somewhat, I�m certain that would be Soi-Fong, captain of the Special Ops Second
Division. I had expected Soul Society to move in response to the failure they
killed when one finally managed to thwart their pursuer, but I have to admit this was outside of my calculations.�

�To hell with
that! If you want her out of the way, I�ll do it personally!�

�Now now Ai, no
need to lose your temper right away. This is nothing I can�t deal with,
and remember, we have a much greater chance with this one than any of the
others. There�s still a chance he may come to us.�

A pout warped Ai�s sensual face. �I
offered already, but I never thought that
was the reason he said no. It�ll be a lot harder if he has an attachment over
there, we should take him as soon as we can!�

The man gave a velvety chuckle. �Ah,
but attachments can be forgotten. Don�t worry, he will be with us. I won�t let strength
like that slip through our fingers.�

�I�ve been waiting so long for
another man to survive it feels like torture! You and her can screw around as
much as you want but when�s the last time I�ve gotten any action!? Don�t make me
wait too long!� She stormed out of the room with that warning hanging in the
air, and he couldn�t help but chuckle again.

�Poor girl.
She hasn�t joined us in a long time has she? When should I go get him?� A
feminine voice that wafted hotly through the air asked from the shadows.

He smiled seductively. �I won�t
risk this chance to anything, especially not impatience. We�ve waited too long
for someone like this to rush in when the alarm is still high. Let them sit and
agonize for a while, he will disappear from right under their noses. Let�s leave the �when�
as a surprise.�

A dark figure slinked through the
room to straddle his lap as she wound her arms behind his neck. �You�re
positively evil. God I love you.�

He grinned at her before crushing
her to him and attacking her lips with vigor.

Soon. Very soon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author�s Notes: Well, I can blame most of the wait on Persona 4
coming out and being too good for me to put down, and the rest of it on the
week-long vacation I went on to the States. I�m sorry it took so long for this
chapter to come out, but even though it took so long, I still had fun writing
it and I hope you enjoy reading it!

Thanks to everyone that reviewed
and I hope you�ll continue to do so!
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That Dreaded Word