~Breathe into Me~
There were differences between them, she had noticed.
The two forms of Ichigo's Zanpaku-to.
The older, wiser Zangetsu whom looked out for his young wielder and the narrow-eyed uncaring younger Tensa Zangetsu whom had never revealed himself nor the extent of the power Ichigo could wield.
She had seen them.
Zangetsu hovering behind Ichigo that day on Sokyoku hill, the very image of a fierce hardened warrior. She hadn't long then to ponder the warmth radiating from the spirit before Renji had taken her away from the execution grounds. Good...so he had finally learned the name of his sword. She had guessed that, having felt the battles he had fought during her imprisonment within the Senzaikyu.
Many times after that, did she see the same spirit. As expected, he stood quite close to the orange-haired guardian radiating strength and self-possession that Ichigo sadly lacked. The two made a pair, the elder spirit and the younger human.
Until that is...one day she noticed something significantly different. It was during the Arrancar invasion and she was trying to free Ichigo from the sword stuck through his arm effectively pinning him down. In the space of a few seconds between the blue-haired Arrancar whom she'd had a run in with before and the doom blast near to taking her head off...
Rukia saw another.
A slender figure cloaked in head-to toe black. Who-? Come to think of it, she had not seen the old man. Could it be-?
But then another appeared. This time of flesh and blood or however you called a Shinigami-hybrid. She was pitched aside as the blue-haired Arrancar went after the new arrival whom Ichigo called: "Shinji."
Breathless and lying on her side while the battle was fought in the sky, she closed her eyes. Willing her heart to stop its furious, frightened beat. Fear was a weakness. She shouldn't have been afraid of death! To have been afraid even for a moment...it was..
'Are you hurt?' The voice wasn't spoken aloud, rather it was in her mind.
Deep, calm yet strange almost for the appearance of the stranger. Young he seemed, pale too. His touch was gentle though, which was why she permitted it.
"Who are you?" she asked, frowning when he didn't answer right away; his fingers sliding around the crown of her head, then lightly skimming her bruised cheek.
'Someone whom has been watching over you for a very long time.' The stranger murmured, the words echoing quietly in her consciousness; solemn he was in the face of everything. There were so many things she wanted to ask, her mind attempting to understand his meaning. Watching-
"But, who-" are you?
The press of his fingertips against her lips halted any further words.
He shook his head slightly, indicating not now.
Why not- she wanted to complain. Curious beyond unusual measure to know the name of the stranger whom had showed concern over her. Not that she needed to be the object of concern, her mind was quick to point out. But still-
"Who-" she tried again, halfway rising, feeling the complaints of her aching muscles.
He stepped back at the same moment that Ichigo's voice cut through.
"Who are you talking to, midget?"
Then, he was just gone.
Her head swiveled to and fro, disregarding the melting ice of Hakuren and the damage to the surrounding shops and businesses. Where was he?
"Oi! Earth to midget!" Ichigo called loudly, waving his good hand in her face.
"Shut up, baka!" she scowled at him, shoving his rude hand away. "You..scared him away."
"Huh...?" The sub's eyebrows met. "Are you screwed in the brain or something?"
"Now, what're you babbling about?" Crossing her arms over her chest, she saw that the bowl-cut blond, the one Ichigo seemed to know; had looked their way.
"There was no one else near you! You were talking to air!"
She couldn't understand it.
Anything of it and it frustrated her beyond belief.
Ichigo hadn't seen anyone- but, she just knew he was real! She had been awake- she had felt his hand on her cheek! Rukia in her Gigai atop the roof of the Kurosaki clinic that night, tried to rationalize the whirl of thoughts going in and out of her head.
She wasn't crazy...she had seen someone else on the battlefield...
She bit her lip, folding her fingers beneath her chin. Like before. It didn't escape her, those previous observations on the spirit form of Ichigo's Zanpaku-to. So, then could it be...?
-'Someone whom has been watching over you for a very long time.'-
She quickly shook her head, frowning even more. No, it couldn't be. Lost in her thoughts, she failed to notice the slightest disturbance as Orihime slipped into Ichigo's room below.
-TBC?
Disclaimer: don't own Bleach.
AN: This is a few months old, found it in a scraps doc box while searching for something else. Creeps off to bed. Thanks for reading
Reviews appreciated (there is a little more, but all in all, it's meant to be a short chaptered story)