Title: September rain

Pairing: HichigoxKei & IchigoxRukia?

~*~

"I'm not here to join you...I'm here to use you."

Shinji's smile never wavered, "we'll see."

A small shadow to the left shifted into a crouching position, hand tensing for her sword. Shinji stopped her, "Hiyori don't! Not you!"

The blond-pigtailed girl scowled, "why the hell not?!"

" 'Cause I said so..." the Vizard leader surveyed Ichigo's face, smile widening, "we will wait for her."

Another gasped, "not--?"

"Yes. In this case when time is of the essence, a more direct approach is needed."

~*~

They made him wait.

This other would come soon, Shinji promised.

Scowling even though he had no choice, Ichigo had seated himself down upon a rock, the closest to the staircase, a clear view of the entrance afforded by it.

Nine then...there were nine--

The doors swung open.

He looked up eagerly.

The bottom half of a girl appeared, olive green cargo pants visible below two armfuls of stuff. The Vizards poured forth; Lisa Yadomaru snatched one smallish white bag embossed with the logo of a bookstore near downtown. A joyful yell followed.

"Did you get my magazine?" demanded the stocky-built Kensei Muguruma. The reply was a muffled affirmative. The girl staggered down the steps, Shinji removed the rest of the bags, shooing the others back. "Ichigo-kun, this is..."

He got to his feet.

"Kei," the girl interrupted, knocking Shinji's arm from her shoulders. Her hand extended business-like, her smile neither formal nor falsely bright. For some reason he felt his lips curve slightly upward in response, "Ichigo Kurosaki."

"I know," another smile, this time more of a smirk, "Shinji's been going on and on about you forever. It makes me feel as if I know you already."

The Vizard instantly declaimed any notion to which the girl shook her head at.

"Anyway...since you're here I can only assume you're going to--"

"I'm not joining you guys."

Her smile lessened, "then what--"

"I just want you to show me how to control this thing."

She looked to Shinji for approval. He nodded once; she dusted her hands, shrugging her khaki jacket off revealing a worn butterfly T-shirt, the print faded.

Ichigo felt mild trepidation sink like a stone in his stomach at her approach.

What was she going to do--

He expected something.

--hit me like Rukia--

Certainly not the girl throwing herself on him.

He saw Shinji's bemused look, arms crossed over his chest. Hiyori's roll of her eyes and the sharp ground jar into his backside, the girl's weight dragging him down.

"Hey--"

Darkness enveloped him.

~*~

"So this...is your mindscape."

At the sound of the girl's voice, his eyes flew open.

"You!" he struggled up, his elbows twisting back to gain leverage. Kei ignored his exertion, particularly the bare blade stuck through the back of his shirt into the building, effectively pinning him there.

"Not very cheerful is it?" she asked rhetorically.

Ichigo tried to reach behind to yank the sword out, "let-me-go!"

"And that..." the girl turned, "must be your Hollow."

The figure of his nightmares, a leering image of himself in white and black; Zangetsu was in its hand and a grin that exposed its long tongue peeled its lips back. "Kiiiiiing! What a pleasant surprise!" Its yellow-eyed gaze flickered to her, looking her up and down in a way that brought a flush of shame to Ichigo's cheeks.

"And who...are you?"

~To be continued~

Disclaimer: don't own Bleach.

AN: Instead of including it in ShiKai--those chapters were just too long most of the time to comfortably include more...I decided to make it a separate story.

:) thanks for reading.

No flames-haters-stupid comments!

Reviews appreciated :)