[+You Can Run, But You Can't Hide+](Renji)A Promise To the Dead Should Always Be Kept

Chapter Four: A Promise to the Dead Should Always Be Kept
I walked into the apartment quickly and locked the door behind me; force of habit. I put my bag in my bedroom and went into the kitchen in search of something to drink. The refrigerator was poorly stocked, I noted that for later. I'd probably go shopping tomorrow after going out. There was still my carton of orange juice on the top shelf though. I call it mine as Ryokyu refuses to drink any claiming that the pulp tried to choke him to death.
I took the carton out and set it on the counter before grabbing a cup. Looking at the carton, I noticed it was new, and thus unopened. The juice carton and I fought our own private battle every time I had to open a new one. So far, the carton always won and I was always forced in the end to grab a pair of scissors to cut it open.
After a few minutes of useless tugging on the cardboard container, I was forced to grab the scissors, as usual, and cut the cartoned menace open. After I poured myself a glass, I noticed a note on the table.
It read:
"Rowen-chan:
I won't be back till late tonight.
Dont wait up."
-Ryokyu
"Wonder what's up?" I said setting the note back down and going into the living room. I figured I'd watch some TV, make myself some dinner and then go to bed. That should kill a few hours.
I picked up the remote from the side table and turned on the TV. TV is a marvelous invention that lets humans observe other humans do their everyday activities. It was almost as fun as hunting hollows!
When I turned it on, the television was still tuned to the news channel. I didnt like watching the news. Mostly it was just a human reporting the death of another human or an explosion downtown, or that it was going to cloudy with a chance of showers; whatever that meant. All of those things could be easily explained by attacking hollows, but the humans didnt know it. Ryokyu however couldnt get enough. He would watch it everyday before he went to work.
Something today however caught my attention when the news came on. The human in the box was telling people to stay home at night and watch out for a person he 'cleverly' named the Shadow Killer. I'm not kidding, that's what they called him. The man was supposedly selective about those he killed, but when he found his target, no one would see him, even if there were hundreds of witnesses. I dismissed it after hearing that last bit of info as it being a hollow on a rampage. It wasnt my job to hunt hollows anymore. Besides, if I did, it would make it easier for the soul society to find Ryokyu and I.

.......
I turned off the TV after not seeing anything I wanted to watch and went back into my bedroom. There was nothing to eat for dinner either way. Quickly and gratefully, I got out of the ridiculous skirt, pulled on some pj's and went to sleep. My sleep that night was interrupted by my usual nightmare. However, tonight the horror was cut short, just as I was witnessing Mitsoko's murder for the hundredth time. The dream was cut off when the murderer turned to look at me. I didn't see his face this time as the noise Ryokyu was making when he came in to the apartment woke me up. I groggily walked out of my room to see Ryokyu slumping into his. He shut his door behind him, clearly telling me to go to bed. I didnt bother him; if he wanted to talk about what he was doing he would do so tomorrow.
The rest of my sleep that night was unplagued by any dreams or nightmares; and because I went to bed so early, I woke up early too. It was still dark when I awoke so I turned over to go back to sleep. Finding that I couldnt, I got out of bed. The apartment that Ryokyu and I lived in was rather small. There were the two bedrooms, each barely large enough to fit a decent sleeping mat, let alone anything else. The two bedrooms were connected by the bathroom that Ryokyu and I had to share. That wasnt much different than where we lived in the Seireitei. The largest room was our living room, but that was also supposed to fit a dining area. Ryokyu and I ate in the kitchen so a dining area wasnt necessary. The only other room was the kitchen that had a small refrigerator and sink, oven and microwave, and a few cupboards. It wasnt much, but we didnt care. It was enough.
The best part of the apartment wasnt in the apartment funnily enough. There was an old fire escape that was outside the bedroom windows that led up to the roof. If you could make it up the over twenty flights of stairs, you would be treated to the stars that were unobstructed by the lights down below. It was there I headed now. The rusty staircase didnt look very safe, something that deterred normal people from going up to the roof. I wasnt too worried about some stranger being up there. Ryokyu and I were the only people to frequent it as we could get up the creaky stairs easier than any human could. We lived on the tenth floor of the complex. Gratefully, indoors there was an elevator but the only way up to the roof was these stairs.
I climbed the last few flights of stairs onto the roof and walked over to the opposite edge. I laid down on the tar that still radiated warmth from baking in the daytime sun. It was then that I realized that I wasnt alone. Ryokyu was up here as well and looked like he had been for a while as he was fast asleep. I hadnt noticed him before as he was wearing his usual all black attire. Neither of us really liked bright colors. I stood back up and walked over to where he lay. I remembered how exhausted he seemed when he had come in earlier and decided not to bother him anymore than to lay down next to him. His breathing was slow and steady; I could hear his heart beating in a rhythmetic pattern. Unfortunately, Ryokyu kept to his profile as a light sleeper and me laying down next to him proved too much for his slumber. When I put my head down next to him, his eyes snapped open and he sat bolt upright.

Haha! Paranoid freak! (Hey! Be nice! Dont forget the rest of the chapter in the results)

"There's nothing to be afraid of Ryokyu, it's only me." I said trying to calm him down.
"Sorry Rowen. You know how I am." He said laying back down.
"What are you doing up here Ryokyu?" I asked. I really would have felt safer if he wasnt sleeping up on the exposed roof.
"Oh, I couldnt get to sleep so I figured the climb might tire me out. I'm still getting used to this gigai. They feel so weird."
"I agree with you there, but the fact that they hide our spirit energy so the soul society can't find us makes them invaluable."
"Lucky I was able to pull some strings with Urahara-san. So, you gonna tell me why you're up here Rowen-chan?" Ryokyu said sitting back up, helping me to sit up in the process.
"Well, I went to bed early myself so I ended up waking early too. I figured I'd come and look at the stars, but instead I find you conked out on the roof."
We both chuckled. We knew it a habit of Ryokyu's to want to sleep out in the open. I always thought he was a bit claustrophobic.
"I dont think it's smart for you to sleep up here Ryokyu, What if someone sees you? Things arent as free as they were back then." I said referring to our time in the Soul Society.
"I understand Tanegawa-taichou." He mumbled, nodding back off to sleep. I dug my elbow into his side, attempting to wake him back up. Apparently, it didnt work.
So instead, I jumped on him and started to tickle him. For such a hardened assassin, he was extremely ticklish, but only in certain spots, and only if you knew what you were doing. Luckily for me, I knew every one of his weak spots. However, whenever someone found one of his ticklish spots and actually managed to tickle him right, he would hide it and try desperately not to laugh so no one would find out. He did that now and I saw his face twitch, trying to keep from smiling.
"I know you're awake Ryokyu. Come on, open your eyes!" I said putting my face inches from his. I saw the smallest smirk form on his face.
He remained adamant in his charade. So as a new tactic, I crawled off of him and walked over to the stairs.
"Fine then, I guess I'm just gonna have to go lock the windows when I go back downstairs. There's no telling what kind of weirdo's are out this time of night."
That did it. Ryokyu immediately shot right back up.
"No, wait!" he exclaimed as I started back down the stairs.
Then he saw me grinning at him, I had locked him out before so now he proved that he had learned his lesson before as well. We both remembered him pounding on my window at three a.m. trying to get back in when I had accidentally locked him out.
"Come on Ryokyu. You know it's dangerous to sleep up here. If you want to sleep, let's go downstairs."
"That's ok. I'm not tired anymore. Come here Rowen." Ryokyu said holding out his hand for me to take. He pulled me back onto the warm tar roof and walked me to the center. "Look up Rowen-chan. Look up at the stars." Ryokyu said as he lifted my chin and walked around behind me, draping his arms gently over my shoulders.
"This night reminds me of the first night after our squad had been formed. Do you remember?" He asked speaking quietly into my ear.
"Of course I do. The council had elected me captain and you adjutant captain. You were mad that you were one-upped by a girl. Later that night, I found you up on the roof of our building, sleeping under the blanket of stars. You gave me a hard time about going inside and told me that just because I had been elected captain didnt mean I was stronger. You insisted on fighting me right then and there."
"Yeah, and you beat the crap out of me too. I didnt question you after that. But now I want to ask you something." Ryokyu said sitting down, making me sit down too.
"I know that when we first came here, you gave me the reasons why it would be better to stay in the city, however, do you still think it's a good idea. There are a lot of people here, the more people to find us and turn us in."
I wondered for a moment why he thought the city wasnt safe anymore. "Ryokyu, we wont find anywhere better than where we are. We have a place to live; we're close to Urahara who can get us anything we need. Plus, youve got your job and now I've got school. Is there any other reason that we should leave?"
Ryokyu looked disappointed the conversation hadnt gone his way. "No, I dont have any real reason." He said downcast.
We sat there for a few more minutes before he spoke again.
"Remember what Mitsoko asked me to do before he died? He told me to protect you, to keep you safe. I want you to know, I'll do anything to fulfill his dying wish."
He pulled me back to lie against his chest.
"That's all I want for you, I want you to be safe."
"I'll be fine Ryokyu; you dont have to constantly worry about my safety. I'm not a helpless little child." I told him, pushing away from him.
I stood and walked back to the stairs. Ryokyu followed and the two of us went quickly back down to the apartment. Our windows to our respective bedrooms were side by side, so we each crawled through our own. But when I closed my window I heard Ryokyu say;
"Rowen, you know I love you, right?"
"Yes, I love you too Ryokyu."


Bet you thought that was leading to a lemon didnt you, you dirty minded freak. No, I promise, no lemons...yet...MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...I'm evil