Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach as much as I wish I did. It belongs to the brilliant Tite Kubo-sama.
Summary: There has always been some chemistry between Shinji and Ichigo, but the circumstances of their meeting kept it at a standstill. A chance encounter before that fateful meeting in canon will change the entire future of all parties: the vizards, arracanars, soul society and the humans. A protector may protect, but who protects the protector. Shinji and the others must now protect Ichigo, whose powers are now being released from a weakening seal placed on him as a baby. The question is, now that the seal is weakening, how much stronger will he become?
Pairings: Shinji Hirako/ Ichigo Kurosaki
Chapter Summary: Ichigo is sick, nearly gets raped, and is saved by Shinji.
Chapter 1: Shinji to the rescue
Everything was going dark, black spots littered in his eyes, unsure of what had happened. He had lost. He had been defeated, but how? How could he lose? How could he have failed to protect his friends? Chad? Orohime? Tatsuki? They were all going to die, because of his weakness.
A wet feeling, a kind or stinging sensation began to form in his eyes. He duly noted that it was tears forming. How pathetic. He was crying at his own vulnerability, his inability to protect those that mattered. The last time that he had cried, had been when his mother died, and after Karin, Yuzu, and his father had cried at her death. It had been so long that he had even thought of crying.
Red light began to form in his sight. Why, why couldn't he control the hollow that was within him. 'Was Shinji right?' he thought sadly. He already knew the answer though. Fear from losing control to the hollow inside him had damaged his ability to fight. It practically made him helpless, to afraid of using his power in fear of using it against someone that he knew.
Fear. That felling again. He just couldn't seem to get rid of it. The very thing that Zangetsu hated him to show, the one thing that he should have been rid of with his training with Urahara and his battle with Zaraki. He was pathetic just like his hollow self had said. And he was trash, just like that bastard hollow of Aizen's had said, Ulqui… or something.
The red light was getting closer to him and the prone bodies of his friends behind him, reeking of the hollows spiritual energy.
"Sing Benhime!"
The red light suddenly exploded, debris from the surrounding area exploding along with it. A face suddenly came into his sight, but it was blurry, just like everything else.
"Its ok now Ichigo. We'll take care of everything from here"
He closed his eyes, glad that they were here. They would help his friends. If they had died and he'd survive, he didn't think he could live with himself. "Thank you Yoruichi-bachan, Kisuke-jisan". Everything went black.
Glazed brown eyes slowly opened, glancing around blearily. This was not the park, nor was it the seireitei. It was-
"Ichi-nii! Wake up. Breakfast is ready" Yuzu said through the door, knocking to wake him up.
Looking at the door, Ichigo concentrated on his sister's footsteps as she walked away, so as to stop the pounding headache that had already formed. Getting up slowly, he tried to resist throwing up from how that action alone made him dizzy. 'That's right' he thought, 'I'm not in soul society anymore'. More concentrated on his thoughts and staying awake, he didn't notice the creeping movement to his side.
"Iiiiichiiiiiigooooo!" Kon yelled as he jumped at the orange haired teen. Said teen didn't have enough time to react and dodge the assault. Kon latched onto his head, squiggling around. He stopped when Ichigo didn't do anything. "Ichigo?" Kon unhitched himself from the substitutes head and instead jumped down on the bed. He gazed at the substitute, wondering what was wrong with him.
Red feverish cheeks, glazed eyes, sweat and panting breathing was what he saw. Moving his stuffed paw, he checked the teens forehead. Beaded eyes widening, he yelped, pulling his hand away. "Ichigo, you idiot! You're burning up!"
Ichigo slowly made his way down stairs, taking his time so that he wouldn't fall, dressed in his school uniform, school bag held loosely in his hand. He had shakily gotten dressed after assuring the suddenly caring Kon that he was alright. It was the first time that Kon actually looked like he genuinely cared about him, and Ichigo didn't know how to handle him when he was that way. He was barley used to being cared for by his family; it was still weird to be cared for by others.
"Ohayoo Ichi-nii" Yuzu chirped from her place at the table. Karin sat beside her, their father sat at the 'head' of the table. Wait, no, he wasn't at the head of the table. But he was just there a minute ago. Where could he have-
Ichigo blinked, 'what', he crashed into the wall, holding his aching ribs from the suddenly blurry form of his triumphant father. He glared as much as he could to the multiplying figure, but only came out looking like a kicked puppy with his sickened face.
"Why'd you do that dad!" he shouted, but it came out more as a whisper, his voice hoarse from his fever. He couldn't think straight; otherwise he would have remembered that this was a daily occurrence.
Isshin glanced at his eldest, taking in his sicken appearance, and got a worried look. "Son, are you ok?" he said seriously.
Karin and Yuzu were glancing worriedly at their brother. While he doesn't get sick that often, when he does, it usually is a very serious ordeal. Karin didn't say anything sarcastic, her brother was finally back to normal, but it wasn't what she expected, She didn't want him to be sick!
Ichigo nodded, but regretted it immediately as things started to spin. Holding his head, he tried to give a reassuring look. "Don't worry" he said in his hoarse voice. "I'm alright".
That only served to make them worry further.
"Ichi-nii is such a baka"
It took a lot to convince his family that he was well enough to go to school. He eventually had to settle with a promise of going home if he got worse.
Beside him walked Chad, who almost always walked him to school every day since the day that they made that promise to each other. He's been even more determined to keep to his promise since he found out that Ichigo was a soul reaper and risked his life to protect others on a daily basis. It became even worse when Rukia told him that he was as good as hollow bait with his spirit energy and his lack of control. It was a bit annoying, having to assure Chad that he would be alright, but that just showed how much the giant cared for him.
"Ohayoo Kurosaki-kun" Orohime said enthusiastically. Bedside her were Tatsuki and Chizuru. Uryu as usual, sat by himself in the frot of the classroom.
Giving her a nod of acknowledgement, he sat down at his desk, avoiding Keigo's attempt at jumping him. Yes, jumping. Not many knew that Keigo was actually bi, and that during middle school had a huge crush on him. Things had been awkward between them for a while. It eventually went away after a talk between them and things went back to normal, but that didn't stop Keigo from trying to cope a feel every day. His exact wording was that Ichigo was too soft and curvaceous, even with his muscles, and that someone should hug him every day. Ichigo had flat out told him that that was what his family was for.
Orohime started to walk towards Ichigo, intending to ask him if he was alright. The last time he had been that silent had been when Rukia had been kidnapped. Ochi-sensei, however, chose that moment to walk in.
"Alright class, go to your seats" everyone sat down. She chattered for a bit about how she wasn't surprised that some students had come back. She only stopped talking to take roll.
"Chizuru"
"Here"
"Ichigo"
"…"
"Ichigo?" Looking up, she noticed that his seat was empty. However, she did notice the orange hair on the floor. "Ichigo!" she gasped, jogging a bit to him. "Someone call the nurse!" she shouted to the shocked class. She jumped a bit when Chad stood up.
Chad picked him up. "I'll take him to the nurse". Ichigo was held bridal style by the giant, head on his chest. His face was red, sweating profoundly, hair damp on his forhead.
"Thank you Sado-kun"
Chad left the room, not before giving Orohime a nod, which she returned. She would be coming to the Kurosaki household and getting rid of Ichigo's cold. 'Ichigo, why didn't you mention that it had gotten this bad? You should have stayed at home' he thought.
Ichigio started to stir as they walked to the nurses, his eyes opening. He was moving, and he was against something very warm. "Chad" he said, realizing he was being carried. The only one that would willingly carry him, and that could lift him at the school currently was only his giant Mexican friend.
"We're almost there" and that was that. Ichigo knew better then to fight with Chad when his mind was made up, plus, he didn't feel like arguing at the moment.
'This is nice'
'Almost there' Ichigo thought as he walked down the street. After being taken to the nurse, he was excused for the day. He managed to convince Chad that he would be alright going home alone, but it was only with the promise that he would come over later to check on him with Orohime, and maybe Ishida.
So here he was, walking alone on one of Karakura's vast streets. Not paying attention to his surroundings, he failed to notice the hands coming up from behind him. His eyes widened as he was grabbed and forcibly taken to an ally.
'Shit!'
Shinji stood idly on top of a street post, watching as the newest vizard staggered down the street. He was supposed to have started school today in order to convince the boy to join them, but his instincts had told him to skip, that it would be detrimental, and not beneficial to go to school.
'I wonder what's- oh, I get it. The boys sick. Stupid child' he thought as he felt the carrot tops reitsu. It was flickering weakly around him, and felt very hot. Not to mention the boys own sickly appearance.
'The hollow' he thought grimly as he took a closer look at the boys reitsu, 'is very close to the surface'. It was there, the hollows black energy visibly underneath the boys own pearl blue energy.
'What!?!' he thought in alarm as the boy was grabbed from behind. The grabber was another boy, perhaps a bit older then Ichigo, with dyed orange hair and a buff appearance, wearing the high school uniform. Panic was being leaked through Ichigos reitsu as well as anger. He watched as the sickly boy was dragged into an ally. 'This doesn't look good' he thought as he jumped to the roof that covered the ally. 'I have a bad feeling about this'
Ichigo gasped as he was thrown to the wall, back to his attacker. His body shuddered at the force, as well as the cold that seeped through him at the brief contact. He quickly turned around to face his attacker; it was never a good thing to have your back against an opponent, something he learned as a child. His body shook at the stress it was forced under.
"I told you didn't I" his attacker told him, shoving him back against the wall, "that you should stop trying to copy me with that hair of yours".
Ichigo glared weakly at the other teen, knowing who it was. "I've told you a thousand times that this is my natural color. If you want to talk about copying, then it would be you who is in fact guilty."
He got a hand in the gut at the response. He kneeled over; coughing, but that put him in a vulnerable position. His hair was grabbed and he was shoved against the wall, this time, his back was facing the other. His body, forced against the wall and the teen's chest left very room for comfort.
"Bastard" he choked out. His eyes widened as his legs were spread out by the others legs, and tried to elbow him. His hand was grabbed however, and along with his other hand, was forcibly held against the damn wall.
"I'm going to show you" the teen whispered in his ear, "what happened when you don't listen to me"
Ichigo could feel his pants being pushed down by the man's free hand, exposing his ass and genitals. His body shuddered in fear. 'This is not happening! Things like this don't happen in this town!'
'You don't seem very strong right now. Humph, it's not my fault that you can't fight back. Who knows, maybe after this" the hand wandered along Ichigos ass, along the crease, "I'll keep you as a pet"
Ichigo felt fear, no full blown panic at his words, and struggled. He fought back even harder as he heard a zipper being undone. 'Somebody help'
Shinji looked down at the scene in front of him, an unreadable look in his eyes. This was not something that he expected to see when he jumped over here. In the last 100 years that he has lived in the human world, this was the first rape that he had seen.
'Disgusting vermin' he thought as the teen rapist pulled down the young vizards pants. No one should be assaulted like this. The boy should be able to fight this, but with that cold of his, things seemed to be taking a down turn.
He jumped down silently, and without making a sound, kicked the offender off Ichigo. The boy collapsed against the wall, shaking. Shinji payed the boy notice, seeing the raw fear and cold sweat in the boys eyes.
"Bastard" the rapist said, getting off the floor. "Don't think your safe Ichigo. I'm just gonna take care of this small fry right here, and we'll get back down to business. He only caught me off guard"
Shinji snorted in disgust, "that's wishful thinking 'cause I'm telling you right now, you aren't laying another hand on him". He watched calmly, and countered the dyed teen when he charged.
Ichigo stared at the 2 in shock, something like this was actually happening. He suddenly felt like a damsel in distress. "Who are you?" He could feel tendrils of reitsu being released from the teen. Tendrils of hollow and shinigami energy that whispered along his skin.
Shinji looked at the younger boy and felt pity. He was only 15 years old, according to Urahara, and he looked it at the moment, if not younger. The kid was going to have a hard time adjusting to the life of a vizard. He silently promised to help him.
"My name is Hirako, Shinji Hirako" he held out his hand, "pleased to meet you", insert blinding wide smile.
End chapter
AN:
Does anyone know a good story with Ichigo and the vizards?
Please review