Two Weeks, a bleach fanfic

Ichigo helped his girlfriend up the stairs of the Shiba inn, thankful that Kukaku and Ganju had been there to keep the bothersome Shinigami from harassing them. Ichigo himself was usually greeted by several of those who had been there, but the suddenness of Tatsuki's overly assertive admirers had her retreating into his arms. Her eyes had grown wary and her spirit had gotten nervous, especially when Matsumoto appeared to welcome them. The real kicker was Rukia's appearance.

No. Tatsuki wasn't about to outright attack anyone. He knew this, but Tatsuki still hadn't fully recovered after Shizukami. A week just wasn't enough for her to fully grieve over what had happened. It wasn't quite enough to convince her that he wasn't going to leave her either. She kept pulling back, shy, unsure. The echo stone around his neck kept wondering if he wasn't going to get tired of being with her. When Rukia arrived that first day, he was slammed back to her confession regarding the soul reaper.

Seireitei effected her just as much as the nightmare realm; they changed the way Tatsuki thought about things. Every time. The feeling of death made her thoughts dark, even if they were just walking through Shizukami to check in on the new occupants.

He'd kicked all of the shinigami out, telling them to make an appointment for next week, before escorting her inside. He hadn't brought her here to spend two weeks talking about how grateful everyone was for her actions. He hadn't brought her here to share her with everyone else and make her feel bad. He'd brought her here so they could sit alone, just the two of them, and watch the sun set and rise as he held her in his arms. Kukaku seemed to understand without being told. Ganju as well.

"Hey." Ichigo came to sit beside her at the window. She was playing with the cuff of the yukata she wore. Black with red higanbana, it had arrived the morning after they'd passed God's test. Her hair was held in place by the camellia pin she'd taken from Tsubaki, a messy bun that let inky spider webs fall against her fair skin. The steam from her teacup swirled up to frame her face before drifting off. She was beautiful.

"Feeling better?"

"Yeah." She set her teacup to the side. "I'm worried though."

"About what?"

"Ichigo," she let out a small laugh. "Please, let's not talk about it."

He didn't have to pull her into his arms anymore. Not when she climbed into them willingly. The feeling of her tears against his skin had nearly become normal. She was mourning her murderer and her mother.

Tatsuki's eyes fluttered open to stare at the roof. Thick wooden beams stretched out across white plaster. The sunlight was warm on her skin, bouncing off of the walls and filling the room with radiance. She'd never valued the sun so much. After a week of darkness and sorrow, the promise of sunshine made her smile. It was hard to smile right now. There were too many emotions flooding her brain and too many memories vying for her attention. These two weeks were for Her more than Them; Ichigo told her as much before they fell asleep last night. She turned her head to see Ichigo sleeping in the futon beside her. His mess of hair stood out against the sheets, the only part of him she could see.

She pushed herself up, the scent of breakfast pulling on her stomach. She grabbed a a pair of pants from her suitcase. White denim and one of the only pairs left in her wardrobe. Her mother had burned the rest. She might have expected Tatsuki to succeed. She might have planned to steal from her once more. It didn't matter what Yuuko had thought. Only what she'd done. Tatsuki grabbed a shirt from the suitcase as well, a thin, scarlet camisole normally reserved for bedtime. She slipped Ichigo's haori on before she went to collect their breakfast.

She slid the door open to see their hostess sitting there with a pensive look. Tatsuki knelt down to the woman's level, facing her for the first time since her arrival. Her meeting with the Shiba family had been much too short. The sister had known what she felt first, sending her brother to their room with Tatsuki's luggage as Kukaku went to shout at those who still wouldn't leave.

"I'm sorry for not introducing myself sooner," Tatsuki spoke first. "Arisawa Tatsuki, Priestess of the Giris Clan."

"Right to the point," Kukaku nodded. "You know, I wondered what kind of girl you were. The first time I met that idiot, I could see that he didn't intend to die. I knew he had someone to go back to."

So long ago.

"And? Do I meet expectations?"

"Blow them straight out of the water," the woman grinned at her. She leaned forward and poured tea into Tatsuki's cup before serving herself. The breakfast in between them wasn't for Ichigo. It was for two women who needed to talk.

They slept.

His hollow knew before he did. He knew that the creature Tatsuki had stabbed inside of Shizukami was the same kind of spirit as Zangetsu. Not exactly the same, Tatsuki's kind had been serving the dead much longer than Seireitei, but they were alike. Memory was a sort of proto-zanpaktou. When Tatsuki had admitted this fact, his inner hollow had crowed in glee. It had been watching her closely since she'd started wearing kimono as well.

"Apparently, she's sort of like my babysitter," Tatsuki hummed. Dinner was sitting between them, the two enjoying their down time before the real work started up again. He would go back to hunting hollows, she would start hunting the Tainted.

"She tried to kill you."

"She tried to imprison me," Tatsuki shook her head. "When God sent her children into the world, she sent the Sagtab with to keep them safe."

"So, imprisoning you was her idea of protecting you?" Ichigo didn't want to believe that. Memory had been downright crazy, violent, and near merciless.

"I never said they were particularly intelligent." The priestess rolled her eyes before they softened. "Tsuki started talking to her though. In dreams. She started to feed her energy and teach her to speak. They were both very lonely."

Ichigo chewed his rice as he thought about what she said. A few hours in Shizukami made his thoughts turn dark. A few days and his actions were more aggressive, more focused on a singular goal. The primal emotions and desires that he'd always blamed on his hollow had been His desires and His emotions. He'd spent less time than Tatsuki and both of them had spent less time than Memory had. Almost eight hundred and fifty years she'd been stuck in that hellish place. It made sense that she'd gone off the deep end.

"That's the first time you've talked about Tsuki," Ichigo pointed out. "As though she were a different person I mean."

"The memories are starting to fade away," Tatsuki shrugged. "Like a book I read a long time ago."

Tatsuki didn't want to get up. She wanted to lay in bed and pretend that her mommy was going to come in and tease her for sleeping in too late. She wanted to remember that Yuuko hadn't always been Yuuko the Killer. She'd been Yuuko, her mother, who baked cookies with her the one and only time either of them had ever tried. Her mother who had bravely challenged the barbecue while Tatsuki herself attempted rice balls. Her mother, who had fought tooth and nail to get Tatsuki into one of the best dance schools in the region despite the fact that the teacher didn't want to take a martial artist into her flock.

She'd been the best dancer in the class. The teacher was actually sad to see her go when puberty struck, changing her body type and ensuring she never became a prima ballerina.

Her mother held her every day for a week after that.

Ichigo's arms tightened around her.

"I think I need to go shopping when we get back."

Ichigo looked over at Tatsuki. They'd been watching the sunset, both looking forward to the descending night and the rush of power it brought.

"I dunno. I kind of like seeing you wear my clothes."

Their alone time was coming to a close. Both of them knew it. The shinigami were getting bolder, coming closer to offer their thanks and remind her that Seireitei would always be home to her and a number of other things. Thy both knew that first thing in the morning the captain commander of the Gotei 13 was going to show up and offer his thanks because he'd been the first to make an appointment with the Most Honorable Priestess of Death.

"It sounds so morbid."

Tatsuki was laying on his stomach, hair unbound and blanketing them in darkness. It tickled his skin, each strand alive with energy. He couldn't stop playing with it though. She could feel his fingers winding through the strands.

"It does," Ichigo agreed. "Priestess of Death...It could be worse."

"How?" Tatsuki pushed herself up. Her arms on either side of his chest as she rest above him. She was wearing his haori again. The thick black fabric covering the crimson silk of her kimono.

"You could be the Most Divine Maiden of the Tormented," Ichigo grinned up at her. She scowled for only a moment before she leaned down and kissed him.

"You had to say something." Tatsuki looked over at the orange haired shinigami. "Didn't you?"

"You did ask how it could get worse."

Tatsuki shook her head, ignoring the old man across from them. She could swear he was amused by the whole thing. Which of them made him smile more, she didn't know, she didn't care either. She had the feeling he was happy, wary, but happy.

"I'm sorry," Tatsuki apologized a few moments later. "I'm not entirely used to this whole..."

He nodded as she waved her hand. Yamamoto wasn't so entirely bad. He'd scheduled his meeting for an entire day though in hopes that he would be able to discuss her future actions. No. She couldn't change where the gate dropped people off. It was built long before her time and she wasn't about to go up against God. She'd probably send them through once a month. No, she was not going to commit ritualistic suicide every night. Would he like to do it instead? Well then, it sounded like they might need to put up an outpost. She most certainly was not going to ask the fourth division to stop help those who needed it.

The meeting only ended when Tatsuki told him the honest truth of things. She was going to do whatever the hell she damn well wanted to because her station was higher up on the ladder than his was. She left the room and Yamamoto behind, rising elegantly from her place at the table and heading to their room. Forget what she'd said before.

"What a pompous old coot."

Ichigo snorted before agreeing with her.

The guy from the Central 46 at least brought her a present.

The four noble families brought her presents too. Kimono mostly.

Rukia had come alongside her brother to represent the Kuchiki clan. Tatsuki's hand tightened ever so slightly around her teacup and it wasn't until Ichigo's hand rest upon her knee that she relaxed at all. Her own hand had fallen to rest upon his own, her fingers tightening as the high amount of spiritual energy challenged the proof of him and the sound of his thoughts echoing through their stones.

The tension lessened dramatically when Rukia announced that a certain red haired lieutenant had finally asked her to dinner. Ichigo would even go so far as to say Tatsuki had been friendly with her. Not in the 'let's go shopping and talk about boys' kind of way, but Ichigo's fingers weren't being crushed by Tatsuki's grip. Byakuya had given him a knowing look before sipping at his tea.

"How the hell did that get here?"

Tatsuki was looking down at the tea table; her Kodachi was in the middle. Resting silent and patient inside of it's sheathe. Ichigo was the one to speak of it; the visiting captain didn't know there was anything odd. Tatsuki moved closer to the table, kneeling when it didn't seem to move.

"I didn't pack it." Tatsuki disliked the fear coloring her voice.

"She followed us?"

"Her duty is to protect."

The two of them sat down and watched the kodachi for a moment longer.

"Perhaps you should ask her." The two looked up to see Unohana smiling kindly at them. "If she has followed you from the living world, she must care a great deal."

Tatsuki looked at the kodachi once more. The look of joy in Memory's eyes still echoed in her mind. So many centuries alone and finally she'd been able to leave and return to her charge...Her hand was wrapped around it moments later. She was so happy. She was shy. Very shy. Well that was just confusing, after she'd been so desperate and aggressive in shizukami, she'd expected her to be belligerent. Shizukami twisted things. The spirit world changed things.

"Well she's not trying to kill you," Ichigo grunted.

"How many times do I have to tell you? She was trying to keep me safe."

Unohana sat with them for the rest of the afternoon. No thanks or questions regarding her future plans in seireitei, she simply sat with them. Every so often she would ask what their plans were, but her inquiries had more to do with their social lives. At least, until she commented on their relationship. A heavy blanket of silence descended upon them. Ichigo was quiet, preferring to sip his tea instead. Anyone could see the guilt on his face and in his spirit. A silent fear seemed to wrap itself around Tatsuki as she thought back to their last week. Would it be their last week?

"May I speak with you in private?" Unohana asked.

Tatsuki glanced over at Ichigo. He seemed to want to stay and keep invasive probings at bay.

"Of course." She gave Ichigo's hand a gentle squeeze before he left.

The eleventh division officers had been waiting for her on the front porch. Just sort of sitting around, japing at one another and scoffing at their techniques. All four of them were just sitting there. Waiting for her. She could feel Ichigo scowling when the eyebrow feather guy started on about how pretty she may or may not have been. Ichigo had proceeded to tell eyebrow feather guy -she knew she'd met him somewhere before- that she had been, was, and always would be, more beautiful than he could ever think of.

The pink haired little girl had agreed with him when Tatsuki finally emerged from the inn.

"Thank you," Tatsuki managed to say when the tiny girl was suddenly in her arms. "You're very pretty yourself."

"My name is Yachiru. Do you think I'll end up being a beautiful woman one day?" The little girl asked. "Or will I be a strong one?"

Tatsuki almost snorted at that. "Obviously it's possible to be both. I can still knock Ichigo on his ass."

"I like her."

The little girl jumped down from Tatsuki's arms and went back to the fearsome man sitting on the porch across from Ichigo. She hadn't meant to make them all laugh, but Ichigo didn't seem upset, he seemed proud. Eyebrow feather guy seemed a bit upset; when Tatsuki sat down beside Ichigo, she found she didn't even care.

"I notice you got a blade." Ikkaku had been staring at it since she sat down. "What's its name?"

"I honestly don't know." Tatsuki sipped at her tea. Where had she met eyebrow feather guy? "I do know she's very shy though."

"A dragon with a shy blade?" The large man was smiling at her. Zaraki, Ichigo had whispered into her ear. "That's funny."

"How am I supposed to judge if she's as pretty as her owner if she's too shy to come out?" What the heck was his name? "Can't you call her?"

"She won't come," Tatsuki shook her head. "She doesn't know you. Actually, I don't even remember your name." Ikkaku made to introduce himself. "No, I remember you." She waved him off. "You, feather brow guy. What the hell is your name?"

She had to stop making these people laugh.

"Oujo is so mean," Yachiro giggled as the feather man gaped.

"Maybe we should call her out."

Now that they'd finally gotten some time to themselves, Ichigo wanted to know just who was hiding inside of his girlfriend's kodachi. He got that she'd protect Tatsuki if he ever fell, she was almost obsessive about it, but it was confusing to say She and Memory all of the time. He wanted to know just who had given Tensa a hard time; the spirit was still been upset over it when Ichigo went into his inner world. Impressed, but still upset. She'd teased him a bit too much according to the various spirits inside of him.

"So call her out!"

Ichigo looked over at the screen that separated him from the bath tub. Unohana's suggestion was a way for Tatsuki to start to overcome her agraphobia. Not that he wouldn't have given her complete control in the first place. She'd been pushed into too many situations in her life. The last thing he wanted to do was upset her or make her feel trapped. Especially when he was feeling the way he was. She was just there, just beyond thin sheets of lacquered rice paper and silk. He could hear her splash and shift in the water and when he leaned just right, he could see her silhouette backlit against the screen.

"I'm sorry."

Ichigo fell back at the sudden presence of Tatsuki's guardian spirit. She'd just popped up next to him while Tatsuki teased him from behind the screen. Her skin was nearly so pale as Tensa's, though it seemed to have a faintly blue tint, a healthy blue if it was possible. She was covered this time, clothed in a wispy, sky blue gown, deep indigo hair falling loose around her shoulders. She looked innocent and soft, even though Ichigo knew she was anything but.

"You're a little girl!"

She blushed, looking down at her lap as she began to fiddle with her fingers. Her hands were tied. Bound at the wrists by a strip of thick black leather. It was marked with the same sigils that covered Ichigo's swords.

"She came out?"

Ichigo turned to see Tatsuki wrapping herself in a yukata, still wet and warm from the bath. The moisture soaked through the silk and her hair clung to the fabric.

It was his turn to blush and look at his lap.

"You look different." Tatsuki knelt in front of the spirit. "Do you feel better?"

Ichigo watched as the two of them began to speak. It reminded him of the first time he'd met Zangetsu. The curiosity and the need to know someone who was so close to you. Someone who knew more about you than anyone else. The only person who might be able to compete with those inside of him was Tatsuki. The only person who might have been able to challenge Memory was Ichigo.

"What's your name?" Ichigo asked. The girls still hadn't gotten to that part. She was blushing again, a slight squeak erupting from her as she looked down at her hands again. This was going to get annoying quick.

"Ay-Ayumu," she whispered to him. She paused before speaking again. Louder this time and more determined. "My name is Ayumu. Her name is Ayukumu."

"Her name?" Ichigo spoke in time with Tatsuki. "You mean..."

Well damn.

"Move in with me."

Ichigo stopped what he was doing to look at the woman behind him. She was leaning against the porch, hair pulled into it's messy bun and wearing one of his sweatshirts. They'd returned from the spirit world almost an hour ago, he unloading her various gifts as she set about getting her kimono together for the cleaners.

"Are you sure?" It was very sudden. After two weeks, he was sure she wanted some time alone. Or maybe just time without him hovering over her every move and listening to her every breath. She'd snapped at him at least twice for coddling her; she ran to him at least once a day for assurance though. They were not going to any spirit world unless they absolutely had to from now on.

"I liked waking up to see you there." Tatsuki nodded to herself before drawing in a shaking breath. "I want you to move in with me."

Ichigo stopped getting his things together.

"Alright."

Tatsuki smiled, shoulders relaxing as she released the air in her lungs.

"You know, the old goat is going to be here almost every day."

"I know," Tatsuki grinned. "Tsume is going to be here too."

"And the Gotei are never going to leave us alone." Ichigo climbed back up the porch stairs and stopped in front of her.

"The rumors are going to fly too." She rest her arms on his shoulders, looking up at him with a half grin. "We'll have to set them straight."

Ichigo's eyes drifted shut when she kissed him. Always soft, always chaste. The side of her that was his and his alone. Why he'd ever imagined her to be all sass and brass, why he'd always thought she'd be aggressive in even this, he'd never know. He was certainly glad he was wrong.