Disclaimer: All Bleach characters and related terminology belongs to Kubo Tite.
Oblivion is a Bliss
Section One
Kurosaki Ichigo, age 16, a student at Karakura First High School. At first sight, he seemed as normal as any high school-er should be during summer break; enjoying the blazing sun, playing beach volley ball upon the hot sand, and of course, swimsuit viewing. But none of the above mentioned actions apply to this certain teen at the moment. As unusual as his bright orange colored hair can be, Kurosaki Ichigo can also see ghosts, therefore he occasionally helps the poor lost souls find peace and solace, or fending off evils called Hollow as a substitute Shinigami.
Currently, the said teen sits under an umbrella propped up on the sizzling sand, nursing a couple of sand burns on his body, the scowl on his ever frowning face deepens the more as the tender skin seared at his touch. So, what is a substitute Shinigami doing on the beach instead of chasing down Hollows one would ask? One could argue that that's what he should be doing as a healthy teen, even if he is a substitute Shinigami, but that's not the case here...
It all began several days ago, in the middle of the night to be exact...
"...go." A voice whispered.
No response.
"Ichigo!" The voice whispered louder.
In his sleep, Kurosaki Ichigo faintly heard someone calling his name and felt a slight weight on his stomach. He groggily cracked an eye open to find the blue-violet orbs of the source of weight staring intensely at him. Recognition had yet come to his sleep filled brain, until two seconds later.
"R-Rukia!" Ichigo cried in surprise at the owner of the blue-violet orbs.
"Shh! You want to wake everyone up?" Rukia whispered sharply, clasping her palm over Ichigo's mouth in a swift.
Kuchiki Rukia, the girl who threw Ichigo's almost normal life upside down when he was 15, is a Shinigami from Soul Society, a place where souls go after death. As of a few months ago, she has started, yet again, to reside at the Kurosaki household, and to the best of Ichigo's knowledge, and sanity, should be sleeping in her own room, on the first floor study that his father had cleared out for her, not sitting comfortably on his stomach.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Ichigo hissed as soon as Rukia removed her hand.
'And in the middle of the night in a nightgown, on top of me no less? And what's that suspicious sweet smell on your hand?'' Ichigo added silently in his head, his face reddening slightly, thankful that it is still dark out.
"I just thought of something and I need to tell you right now," Rukia said, still leisurely atop her perch on Ichigo's stomach.
"Can't it wait until morning? I'm exhausted from the fight earlier." Ichigo groaned. He had only fallen asleep for a couple of hours after chasing down a particularly sneaky Hollow.
"No! I have to tell you now, or else I'll regret it in the morning." Rukia said defiantly, crossing her arms under her chest, the translucent fabric of the night gown brushed lightly against her skin.
"Alright, what is it?" Ichigo sighed in defeat. When Rukia makes up her mind there is no stopping her. He brought up his hands to rub at his sleepy face, also in an attempt to cover his eyes, her unconscious action didn't go unnoticed by him, even in his sleep deprived state.
"Let's go to the beach," Rukia beamed.
"What? Now?" Ichigo yawned, he's about to drift off again.
"No. Starting tomorrow." Rukia said, "Lets invite everyone and have a beach party to celebrate your birthday!"
"But my birthday isn't until next week," Ichigo said tiredly, closing his eyes. "And there are Hollows-"
"I know." Rukia cut off his slurred speech, "I've already got approval for us to take a week off from duty. Soul Society will send out someone in our place."
It was strange that the number of Hollows, mostly weak ones, had increased recently, both Ichigo and Rukia barely has had time to themselves before the Hollow signal goes off right after another.
"Hmm..." was the reply she got.
"Ichigo?"
"..."
"Ichigo?" said Rukia, prodding the said teen's forehead not so gently with a slender finger.
"Hmm...?" Ichigo drifted in and out of sleep.
"So...you agree to go?" Rukia asked hopefully.
"Mm...sure..." came his mumbled reply.
'Victory!' Rukia cried in her head and started babbling on about fun things to do at the beach to a non-responsive Ichigo, excitement apparent in her voice.
Ichigo faintly registered the words "contest", "Chappy", and "Nii-sama" before finally nodding off to sleep, unknowing what his agreement might bring on tomorrow and for next whole week.
Rukia climb off of Ichigo upon finding out that he's asleep again, she quietly headed for the door but paused to take a look at his sleeping face, even in his sleep, he never relaxes his frown.
"You've been worn out lately, it's time for a break." Rukia gently said as she closed the door silently behind her, anticipating the vacation tomorrow onward.
Indeed, not knowing what the future carries is a bliss. Maybe.
When Kurosaki Ichigo woke up that morning to a bright glare from the Sun, a sense of foreboding loomed over his head, though he can't quite remember what happened the night before, instinct tells him it wasn't good, but he took no notice of it, only glad that he had a good night of sleep. As he head down the stairs for breakfast after dressing and cleaning, the ominous cloud darkened; the house is quiet, too quiet.
Normally the Kurosaki household is quite lively in the morning; Ichigo'd be awaken by his father's kicks; then his sister, Karin'd be screaming at their father for being an idiot; his other sister, Yuzu'd be in the kitchen preparing breakfast; and the girl who threw his life upside down would be staring at the TV watching animated series of Don Kannonji and his ever faithful sidekick, Chappy the rabbit.
But the house this morning is just a stretch of silence. Despite that, he still pays the inauspicious air no mind, just thankful that his father didn't torture him awake.
Ichigo paced to the kitchen hoping to see everyone there, he thought he'd heard the echo of his own footsteps, only to find a plate of now lukewarm breakfast, with a small note underneath, on the table. He poured himself a glass of milk and sat down in his seat. Taking a large gulp of milk as he begin to read the note, only to spray the paper with his drink. With milk dripping down his jaw, Kurosaki Ichigo screamed, "What the HELL?"
True indeed, oblivion is a bliss. If only for a little while.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
In case there are people who only read/watch the official English publication of Bleach, here are some term(s) that might seemed confusing from the story:
Shinigami: Soul Reaper
Nii-sama: a respectful way of saying Older brother (what Rukia calls Byakuya)
Also, all characters' names are written last name in front, first name in back.
Hello everyone, thank you for reading. This is my very first time writing a story! How exciting! (right...). This will be a three chapter short story, I've already got the whole thing written out, only need to do some corrections and voila! Regarding the title. At first I was going to name it Ignorance is a Bliss, but that didn't sound right, it felt so condescending. So I changed it. But now the current one doesn't sound so right either T_T. It was on a whim that I started this story, inspiration is Ichigo's coming birthday. If the story seemed jumbled, please give advises (grammar, spelling, wording, ect.) to better the story, all comments are accepted and helpful. Again, thank you for reading. See you in the next chapter!
I think there's something wrong with the Doc Manager on FF. It won't let me double space! And when it did on the preview, it made all the text BOLD and all double spaces disappeared when I upload the chapter! What the heck? I've edited the chapter many times and each time a different result! Help!