A/N: This is my first Bleach fanfic, and the first fanfic that I've written in over 10 years, that I've wanted to actually put to the masses. (Go easy on me, okay?) I wanted to make this clear here, at the beginning of it all - Although I have read the Bleach manga, it's been a long time. I'm working my way through the chapters again from scratch, since I last left off at like.. chapter 520-something, I think. Excluding the Bounto Arc, I'm going on the anime. For now. Off you go!
Also, I don't own Bleach. This is written purely for enjoyment. (Rated T mostly for violence and language. Cause that's just how Bleach is.)
Stillness.
The action up until now had been nonstop, more and more tainted by the no longer suppressed fear, that the hero would not reign victorious. He had been confident that he would save the day by saving the princess in the castle. He had tunnel vision when it came to protecting people, to the point that he put himself constantly between them and their plight, so that no one else would have to feel pain.
Breathing was … difficult.
His airways were being constricted by the enemy's prehensile appendage wrapped firmly but not crushingly around his neck, forcing his Adam's Apple into back of his throat. Any managed breath was shallow and labored, compounded by wounds and stamina loss from one epic fight after another after another. He was sure a lung had been punctured by a rib or two.
Near-depleted reiatsu.
The modified shitagi and kosode of his shihakusho were nearly destroyed, now only covering his right arm from wrist to shoulder, indicative of just how much spiritual pressure he had expended in this battle. The smaller of his abrasions had clotted, but others still bled profusely, staining his torso wrap and splattering his face.
And the exhaustion.
Weariness seeped into the bones of his soul. Even Zangetsu felt tired in his vice-like grip. His palm felt slick with sweat, yet he refused to drop his trusted partner, lest he really become vulnerable. He didn't even have the energy left to try feebly prying the tail from his windpipe.
He could faintly hear voices through the din of blood pounding in his ears, some further away than others. He always heard hers more clearly than anyone else's, but now it sounded miles away. Sienna orbs couldn't even open to find her, despite his great need to reassure himself she was safe.
The scream from her was felt more than heard by all three men around her, loosed from the very pit of her soul. When the echo faded in the valley of silence, the all-encompassing pain of his heart literally blown out through his back, to be burned into nonexistence by the force of the power, was mercifully brief.
In the last moment of consciousness, he felt the sensation of wind licking the new cavity in his chest as his body became weightless.
And then oblivion.
Where was he?
Was he in the recesses of his own mind, where Zangetsu dwelled? No, the air didn't feel right to be there. Had he died? While possible, that wasn't correct either. He wouldn't be wondering much, if anything, if he'd been truly dead. Wherever it was it was black as pitch. Or maybe he simply couldn't see any longer. It was hard to tell. There were no smells, no sights, nothing felt on his skin. Just a sensed notion of emptiness. A stark lack of existence.
Sounds of another battle crept towards his ears, reaching him in distorted patches, reverberating in the pocket his mind had retreated into. Only some sharp breath intakes seemed to pass clearly through the veil that was keeping most other sounds at bay.
Her breaths.
"Help me, Kurosaki-kun!"
She's calling me…
His mind had splintered, and the lines between justice and vengeance were a hot mess of bloodstained anti-sand on the ceiling.. floor..? of Hueco Mundo. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered, save the lilt of her broken voice, expending the last vestiges of hope in their ragged wails.
She's calling me… I can hear her…
He needed to get to her, but he didn't know how. He didn't even fully understand where he was. Wasn't entirely sure he knew who he was anymore. What was he?
Get up…
The how didn't matter, nor the why. There was just the need. The most basic animal instinct to protect. He demanded his body move its' ass, but it refused to listen. It couldn't even begin to try to comply with his last desire. The most important desire. His only desire.
"Help me!"
He could hear every nuance of her cries, each tone.. each sharp.. each flat. Felt the ripples of her reiatsu that usually shone with the brilliance of the sun, now shackled with chains of blackened fear and despair, pouring from her slim body wracked with uncontrollable sobs.
Get up…
Get up…
Get up…
He let his hollow completely take over; he knew he alone didn't have enough strength left, and he was out of options. She needed him, and he was going to save her, dammit. He no longer cared how it was to be done, as long as it was fucking done.
I will…
I will…
… protect you!
I'll take it from here, King.
Their reiatsu exploded. And so did Ichigo's mind. The orange-haired substitute soul reaper rose up, expelling an unfathomable store of pressure that no one thought he even had left at this point. Humanity gave way to Insanity, let loose the demon that always cackled and chattered at the back of his mind.
This time... this one time… his negative didn't argue or bitch or poke fun at him. The demon's "queen" was just as important to it as she was to Ichigo. And he had been sorely itching for a fight ever since causing her to flinch away from them.
I'll protect the Queen for us.
Or, at least that was supposed to be how it went.
The hero in demon form would nearly end his queen's captor in the most brutal way possible. No mercy, no remorse. In his fit of rage and lost mind, he'd attack a comrade who dared to stand against him & try to save what was left of his soul, only to be thanked soundly with a black blade in his stomach.
The queen would somehow shake him out of his self-imposed insanity, and he would return from the brink to show remorse for his actions to both his comrade and his worthy adversary. The fight would end, and he would return to the fake Karakura-cho just in time to attack the turncoat & start the next phase of the war.
But as we know, even the best laid plans can go awry.
A/N PS: I'll be honest. I got a flash of a half-baked idea for this while re-watching episodes 270-272, and it's still uncooked in the middle. Right now, I have some possible endgames in mind and only a few threads I can work with in between, but it might be a while before the next part comes out. If a next part comes out - that depends on you.
If you like what you read so far, tell me about it. If you loathe it, keep it to yourself and move on to another story. That's all I ask.