[It's not your job to protect me, is what she wants to say. That's her job. She's the older one.]
[But who is he talking about? There's no 'him' that she knows of in her life that she needs to be protected from. It's been ages since she was bullied; she's a lieutenant now.]
[For some reason, Ichigo's face flashes into her mind. He's the missing piece, here. The one who knows her but she doesn't know him. The human who is also a shinigami. But she doesn't think she needs to be protected from him. He's been nothing but kind to her. No, he said he was a friend of Hitsugaya's (Toushirou, she remembers). So who...?]
H-him?
[She doesn't mean for her voice to come out as squeakily as it does. But even as the word passes through her lips, she gets a chill of fear. He's been avoiding this. She knows it. She's not always as oblivious as she seems. And she's not sure what he's going to tell her. Isn't sure if it's something she wants to know. She's of the opinion that sometimes it's better not to know, better to go into things with an open mind and a clean slate, and take the consequences as they come.]
no subject
[But who is he talking about? There's no 'him' that she knows of in her life that she needs to be protected from. It's been ages since she was bullied; she's a lieutenant now.]
[For some reason, Ichigo's face flashes into her mind. He's the missing piece, here. The one who knows her but she doesn't know him. The human who is also a shinigami. But she doesn't think she needs to be protected from him. He's been nothing but kind to her. No, he said he was a friend of Hitsugaya's (Toushirou, she remembers). So who...?]
H-him?
[She doesn't mean for her voice to come out as squeakily as it does. But even as the word passes through her lips, she gets a chill of fear. He's been avoiding this. She knows it. She's not always as oblivious as she seems. And she's not sure what he's going to tell her. Isn't sure if it's something she wants to know. She's of the opinion that sometimes it's better not to know, better to go into things with an open mind and a clean slate, and take the consequences as they come.]