"It's a promise"

The eyes. Those god-forsaken eyes, that would usually haunt her with their deep emptiness. Black as charcoal, they always seemed so alien to her, so unnatural, so dead. And yet they were so full with things she was yet to discover... if he ever let her, that is. Layers and layers of emotions he hid so well. Every time their gazes would meet, she would find herself lost in them. Like she was watching at the eye of storm, skillfully hidden behind a pair of two all-engulfing black holes. Again and again, as she would tear a layer away, there would always come another, thicker and darker. But she persisted. She would never look away first, never falter in his gaze. For the meaning behind her jade one was always painfully clear.

"I won't leave you."

"I won't let you suffer alone."

"I am not afraid of you."

"I love you more than I can bear..."

And even if he didn't understand her reasons or come to even consider how on earth she managed to stick to her resolve so relentlessly time and time again, he eventually started to find comfort in her emerald eyes, glassy with tears more often than he would like. And even though he would probably never admit it, she was getting to him. Slowly, but surely. She was like a river, steadily digging in the rocks that were his very being. Unyielding even to his temper, his constant glares, his neglectful attitude. She somehow managed to beat the stubbornness out of him with such finesse, at times he wondered why he even tried to repel her advances. As unmatched, strong and arrogant he could be on the battlefield, when their eyes met he would often find himself on the losing side. And though is irritated him to no end, he couldn't ignore that sometimes, just sometimes, something deep within him came to life. She somehow came to possess the ability to stir his emotions at will and he had no idea how she'd managed to take down so many of the walls he had so carefully secured himself with. He hated it all with a burning passion and yet he wasn't oblivious enough not to realize, that it was in fact him that had let her burry her slender hands so deep in his being and embrace the shell of a human he had turned into. His eyes would always convey the same message as he hastily tore his onyx gaze away from her.

"Annoying."

Somehow, along the way, they had come to accept it. This clash of green and black had turned into something comforting. And yet nothing could have prepared her for the moment his black eyes were boring into hers with a burning hate, the same hate she had witnessed at that god-forsaken bridge. As if it had never really left. As if all the things she had uncovered in those deep eyes the past few months had been just an illusion, no trace of them to be found anymore. What had caused this she had no idea. There was no warning. And yet, his hand was around her throat, squeezing and suffocating her mercilessly. She couldn't tell if a second or an hour had passed as the hate bubbling in his eyes turned to spinning vermilion and purple. Her gaze became misty with tears, she felt lightheaded and didn't really notice as the purple skeleton hand of his spirit warrior rose at his side. But as the sound of thousand birds filled her ears and blue electricity infused her line of sight, her whole being came to life once again.

Chi chi chi chi chi chi chi

The chidori came crashing down, directly at her heart. And yet it never made contact. In some form of slow motion, like she was having an outer body experience, she witnessed herself crash her chakra-laden fist in his chest, sending him flying to the opposite wall. As oxygen filled her lungs once again she saw the lightning technique weaken and diminish, the purple arm vanishing into the air. Her instincts had kicked in the right moment, but as he rose from the dust with his mismatched gaze still sending daggers her way, she quickly came to the realization it wasn't over just yet.