Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.
AN: Yet another crack-ship fic. Sigh. I can't seem to help myself.
This one features Ichigo Kurosaki and Cyan Sun-Sung. For those who don't remember her, she's the most ladylike of Harribel's Fraccion. The one who transforms into a giant snake when she enters her Resurrecion, remember?
Ichigo heaves his massive sword over his shoulder and looks at her uncertainly. The slender figure standing alone atop the highest tower of Los Noches seems so fragile that he can't bring himself to wipe out its Hollow reiatsu with a quick Getsuga Tenshou as he knows he should.
He steps over the rubble of the fallen palace and says hesitantly, "Excuse me?"
It's the politest he's ever been. The last time he uttered those two words he was three years old and his mother stood before him. Yet, as she turns to face him and he finally sees her face, he feels that it was just the right thing for him to have said to a Hollow he was supposed to kill.
Her features are aristocratic: soft but hinting at a hidden iron will. Long dark hair frames her face as it blows gently in the wind. Her lavender eyes are intently focussed on his brown ones.
Suddenly, Ichigo is horribly aware that his robes are a mess and his hair is probably sticking up in crazy directions. He runs a hand through it but it just seems to get untidier.
"Yes?" she replies.
For a moment, Ichigo is tempted to just go away and tell the Soul Society that all the higher ranking Arrancars of Hueco Munedo have been destroyed.
"Are you an Arrancar?"
Even as the words escape his mouth, Ichigo feels stupid. The bone fragments in her hair are definitely not combs and he wonders why he didn't spot them sooner.
(He later decides that it was because he was too distracted by the trail of glittering pink spots running down her cheek. He thought they looked like tears but he never did get around to asking her about them.)
She nods.
Uncomfortable with the whole situation, Ichigo grabs his blade and settles Zangetsu on his other shoulder. Her piercing eyes continue to bore into him.
"So, uh..." he says and immediately wishes he had kept his mouth shut. He can almost hear Renji's derisive laughter echoing in his ears.
"You are a Shinigami." It is not a question.
"Er... yeah."
She nods again and turns away from him to observe the broken sky. Aizen's drapery of blue and white clouds has been torn away by the force of the battle in some places and Hueco Munedo's original black cover is now visible. She continues to contemplate it for a little longer while he observes her total lack of fear with a puzzled look on his face.
"Please do stop scratching your head. It makes you look like a baboon's backside."
He jumps at the sound of her voice. It's almost a minute before he can see past the calm, almost serene tone the words were delivered in and decipher their meaning.
"Did you just insult me?" he asks incredulously. It wasn't something that happened very often since he defeated Aizen.
She spares him a sideways glance that conveys her exasperation and continues to study the sky intently. Ichigo is confused by her odd behaviour. He tries to twist his head so he too can see what fascinates her so.
She exhales in a soft, slow sigh and jumps lightly off the tower, landing on her feet with a grace that he has never seen before. He expects her to walk towards him. Instead, she walks away in the opposite direction. Her path is not fixed; she twirls this way and that as if she is moving only to please her own fancy.
"Where – where are you going?" he shouts behind her retreating back. Her only answer is a sweet smile that gives him no information. For once in his life, Ichigo Kurosaki is thrown off-balance and has no idea what to do.
So he follows her. A part of his mind registers the fact that whereas she seems to flow along with the sand, her small feet leaving only the faintest prints behind, his own running seems to create a veritable sandstorm around them.
An hour later, Ichigo glances at his watch. It's a bright red piece with a colourful strap that Inoue designed for him. He should probably go home, where food, friends and comfort await him. But he can't bring himself to abandon this fragile creature in the middle of the harsh desert and so, with a frustrated kick that splashes sand down his robes, he keeps going.
After another hour, she stops and looks at the sky again. Ichigo copies her and looks up as well, squinting as his eyes meet the glare of Aizen's faux-sun. He looks down and is blinded for a second. He nearly misses seeing her draw her sword. Automatically, he swings Zangetsu in front of him and places his heels firmly on the ground in preparation for battle.
But she isn't even looking at him and chagrin overtakes him. It is quickly replaced by another thought: If not him then who does she intend to fight in the middle of this godforsaken place?
She lifts her sword, a strange gleam in her eyes and screams a command. A second later, Aizen's sun is gone. She uses her Sonido to rush up and tear the last of it away. It falls apart to reveal a massive moon, bigger than the one Ichigo sees every night on Earth.
Finally, she turns and faces him. Her sword is still in her hand. "Now, Shinigami, shall we fight?"
A smirk tugs at his lips as he replies, "Getsuga Tenshou."
And as his power cuts the land between them apart, barely giving her enough time to get out of the way, he knows that this fight is special. He will not lose it, but he knows that he cannot win it either.
The wind blows and carries her scent towards him. He inhales deeply and pays for it a second later when her sword is at his throat. But she is smiling and so is he and they both know that the other has surrendered.
This is my first time writing a piece in present tense so all comments are appreciated! Criticism, praise and even random ramblings are welcome :)