ICE HEART
xlvi. "i
❝IT WAS FORBIDDEN LOVE.❞

After what seemed like a lifetime, the petite female was finally given permission to escape the Fourth Division barracks by Retsu Unohana, seeing as the older woman deducted that she was fully healed and her injuries were now completley fine, with only a small scar (that was only noticeable if you knew it was there) remaining.

As soon as she was given the information, Ayame hastily changed into her Shinigami uniform and grabbed her Zanpakutō, before she bolted out of the Squad Four barracks and into the open world, a large grin taking over her lips as she did so. Of course, Toshiro was waiting outside of the barracks for the female, seeing as Unohana had told him she would be let out today, and the white-haired male insisted that he walked her back to her Squad, and there was simply no room for arguments.

So, with Toshiro by her side, the female roamed aimlessly around the Seireitei with a faint smile on her lips as she absorbed the scenery, knowing that it'd be a long time since she'd be able to see it again. She had decided to take the longest route to get back to her Squad so that she could see more of the Soul Society, and the male beside her happily agreed. As long as she was happy, he didn't care what they did.

Toshiro didn't know how Ayame had done it, but the peculiar woman had managed to break down the walls and warm the layer of ice that protected his ice heart.

Whenever his blue orbs landed on her flawless self, his heart always skipped a bit and butterflies fluttered in his stomach. Her oyster-white smile always managed to make his day, even if he had only seen a glimpse of it. If he felt a hint of her spiritual pressure, he considered himself blessed that her presence was near him. At first, he didn't understand this strange and unusual feeling. Although, now he did, and it had become extremely painful to hide overtime, especially since all that Toshiro wanted to do was to pull the smaller woman into his arms and press his lips onto hers.

So, that's exactly what he did.

To say that the female was surprised when she felt a tug on her arm and then her pink lips came into contact with Toshiro's was an understatement, but that didn't stop her from kissing the male back with just as much force, which surprised the male greatly - he never expected her to return the same feelings that he had, hence why he was so nervous to ever express them.

However, all good things had to come to an end, and Toshiro learnt this when her blue orbs widened as she hastily pulled away, a blush evident on her cheeks as she realised what had just happened between the pair.

"W-What the hell was that for, Toshiro?" She questioned with wide eyes as she lifted her fingers to her lips, whilst the small male was certain that he had felt his heart smash into several smithereens, "We can't do this!"

In confusion, Toshiro's eyes narrowed, "Why can't we? We both like each other; I know that you do because you kissed back!"

Clearly conflicted, the female brushed a hand through her straight, luxurious, blonde hair and lowered her gaze to the ground, feeling extremely guilty as the next few words quietly escaped her lips, "I'm leaving."

Those two words shouldn't have made such an impact, but they did. Those two words made time stand still, as though everything had froze in place as Toshiro's blue eyes widened with shock and his lips parted in a silent gasp. Those two words changed everything between the pair, and left such a humongous hole between them - one that neither of them thought could be fixed.

"What?"

Lifting her head up to face the male with tears welling up in her eyes, "You heard me. I have three more days until I'm required to return to the Soul Palace, and then you won't see me again until there's another threat to the Soul King that requires a member of the Royal Guard Squad to come down. I have my duties, just like you have yours. This-" She pointed between herself and Toshiro before she continued, "-would never work."

At that moment, the icy Captain felt so stupid and pathetic, and he wondered how he could've forgot about Ayame's previous duties. It was such a major part of her character, and one of the reasons why she was so well-known, and how Toshiro even knew about her existence. It was inevitable that she had to return, and she had even stated that when Toshiro had first met her, so how did he forget?

"I understand." Toshiro muttered with a defeated tone, "Let's just forget that it ever happened."

Instantly, the female shook her head, "I don't want to leave, Shiro."

At her upset tone, the male lifted his head to see tears streaming down her porcelain face, causing his eyes to widen massively before he acted upon instinct and wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tightly so that she could sob on his shoulder, which is exactly what she did as small sobs wracked her small frame.

"Can't you speak to the Soul King? If you leave, we'd need to find three Captains, and Momo has taken a liking to you." Toshiro questioned, hoping that she would consider his idea and permanently stay in the Soul Society.

However, that idea was shot down when the female shook her head, her grip on Toshiro's shihakushō tightening as she did so, "I can't. It'd only cause havoc."

Releasing a small sigh, the small male hesitantly nodded in understanding, knowing that it'd probably be an extremely irritating and long process to get demoted from a squad designed to protect the Soul King, "I understand."

So, with that being said, the pair stood in each other's embrace for as long as possible, both of them coming to the conclusion that they couldn't be together, and that everything was acting as a major hurdle for the couple, as though it was forbidden love.