I do not own Bleach. If I did though… Think of the money…
It was like this from the very beginning. She'd stand back and watch him fight, her heart in her throat, and pray that this time he won't die. Ever since that fateful night when she transferred her powers into him, it had been like this. He always had a great amount of power, more than any one person deserved to have. So when he fought just a normal Hollow, it was bound to be an easy fight for him. That didn't stop her heart from racing and the tension from building up in her body, hoping and wishing that he didn't make a vital mistake
And when the fight would be over and he would turn to her, he would give her that smile that both infuriated her and made her happy at the same time. How could anyone so flawed and reckless seem so perfect at times? He fought to protect every one, not caring about what would happen to his body when the fight was harder than he thought it would be. He went to hell and back to save her, and went back again to save the place he fought against originally to do so. He didn't have a selfish bone in his idiotic body.
So as she stood back and watched him fight yet another Hollow, this one at 2am, she knew that, no matter what, he would survive. He had a wild look of happiness about him as he dodged and attacked, as though he was playing with the Hollow. She would ask him about that look later, like she had many times before, and he would give the same answer.
I won't get any new skills if I stick to the same way of fighting.
She hated that answer, because that meant that he wanted to continue to fight, he wanted to keep putting his life on the line. And that meant that she would still be here, standing back, watching him fight. And with every blow that he didn't dodge, with every cut that he received, she would feel as though she was dying. Shinigami's aren't meant to feel like this, she would tell herself, Shinigami's aren't meant to care about a human so much. These emotions are wasted, they are nothing but hazardous thoughts. She kept telling herself this over and over again, willing it to sink in, but she knew she was fooling herself.
Finally he killed the Hollow with one easy swing of his blade. She watched it disintegrate into the air and she felt as though a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders. He stood straight and turned to face her, his trademark smile already on his face. She just wanted to slap that smile off his mouth and tell him not to be so careless. Then she saw the blood running down his arm, and watched as the smile wavered a little. She ran towards him and caught him just before he fell, cursing the entire time under her breathe about the idiocy of males.
"Wipe that smile off your face jackass, you're injured, that's nothing to be happy about." He just continued to smile and closed his eyes. His breathe became slow and forcibly controlled. While he was making no objections, she took her time to care for his wound. It wasn't a deep cut, and she suspected that he collapsed due to low stamina, Hollows have been coming more frequently recently and he hasn't been able to fully regenerate between fights. Once she had healed him, she looked up to his face and saw that smile again, and she could tell that his eyes were slightly open, watching her.
"Stop your god-damn smiling Baka, you got injured, so no need to be all cocky and shit." She masked her face into complete indifference as he let out a low rumble of laughter.
"If I didn't get injured then you would have nothing to do. Had to make you feel useful somehow, didn't I Rukia?" With that he stood up and started to walk away. By the time he was 10 steps away, Rukia was fuming. He could imagine the steam coming out of her ears.
"Make me feel useful. Make ME feel useful? How dare you… you… ungrateful moron!!! After all I have done for you this is my thanks? Next time you can heal yourself!" In the time it took her to say this she had tackled Ichigo to the ground and was jumping on his back. And to think that she was worried about him. In one fluid movement he threw her off his back and pinned her to the ground.
"Rukia," his face took on a serious note, "Thankyou." With that he stood up and presented his hand to her. "Let's go home hey? I'm really tired." She sighed and grabbed his hand, pulling herself up. As they walked back to Ichigo's house she couldn't help but think about how it was always like this, right from the very beginning.
Not only the Hollows and the worries that came with him fighting, but the fighting with each other, the fights over nothing that would lead to a deeper understanding of each other. Because, no matter how many times he risked his life, no matter how worried or scared she got, he would always pull through. Him and his impossible amount of power no one should ever have. And although he took chances to improve his fighting ability, she knew what he really was doing was ensuring that when some thing stronger came along, he could continue to fight to protect the ones he loved and cared for.
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