Author's Note: This is a bit of an AU idea I've been toying with. I may or may not write more to it, depending on how people react to the story. Frankly, this idea is in a very rough stage and was a spur of the moment decision to write.
Essentially, it's your run of the mill zombie AU, but I'm attempting to pull a little twist here. You'll see.
Now, this first chapter isn't too bad, but I intend to get really gory and creepy in future chapters, as is a habit of mine. You've been warned.
It was the end of the world as they knew it. Like any imaginable apocalyptic situation, it had started small. Extremely small in fact, to the point that some of the Survivors spitefully theorized that it could have been prevented if not for sheer stupidity. It had all begun in a small town on the countryside. The first zombie had appeared quite sporadically, and perhaps if someone had had the sense to watch some good old fashioned horror films, they'd have also had the sense to blow the thing's head off.
It didn't truly matter anymore. Theory or not, what was done was done.
The truth of the matter was, over 90% of the world population was no longer human. There were few and far between who managed to cling to their humanity for the past two months— a miracle in and of itself.
Ichigo was one of those survivors. He and several others who'd banded together in hopes that having so many others to watch their backs, they may stand a fighting chance. At least, that was the idea.
It had worked well enough thus far, but relations were strained between many. Especially when they had to put up with that quite literally mad scientist, Mayuri. How he'd managed to survive thus far was a conundrum to all the other survivors of their little community. He cared more about his research than his own life. He'd demonstrated such many a time whilst attempting to examine the undead that infested their world on multiple occasions. Truly, no one had a clue how he hadn't been turned.
Zombies.
A thing that Ichigo had believed he wouldn't see anywhere short of a corny horror film or countless video games up until two months ago.
He'd been one of many to doubt the plausibility of such a creature ever coming into being. When his father had informed him he was putting together a 'zombie apocalypse survival kit', Ichigo had mocked him. Now he was dead.
In the end, the kit hadn't been nearly good enough for what Fate had in store for them. His father had survived the first wave, and even the third that devastated the small town they used to call home. For a month and two weeks, his father amazed Ichigo with his skill, cleverness, and ingenious preparation.
Then one night, they'd been taken by surprise. Little Yuzu had been the first to go. It had been early that day, two in the morning. Ichigo remembered it well, because the numbers on his alarm clock as he heard the screams downstairs were all carved into his mind.
The scene would replay in his mind every night without fail, like some macabre broken record.
There had been knocking on the door. Frantic knocking. Banging, rather. Panicked screams for help.
Yuzu, the lightest sleeper of them all, had rushed down the stairs to allow the person in. Little did she know, by the time she got to the door, the horde had already caught the Survivor outside. They were upon her in seconds.
Isshin had ordered Ichigo to hide with his sister, Karin in the closet while he fought off the horde and saved Yuzu. The latter of which no one had known they'd been much too late to even attempt.
Isshin had fought valiantly, but had been devastated by his youngest child's death. In life and death, especially in a post-apocalyptic situation such as their circumstance had been and still was, a moment was all it took.
His brief seconds of vulnerability had cost him, and the horde overtook him. He didn't stand a chance.
The strangest event of that night was perhaps that Ichigo and Karin were the sole survivors. Somehow, the hordes searched his bedroom, but never checked the closet. He remembered clearly how he could hear them, ambling around, moaning and groaning right outside the door. He'd even heard a strange, raspy snuffling against the door. As if some terrifying beast had been trying to sniff them out. In a sense, Ichigo supposed that's exactly what it had been.
At the time, he'd been convinced they'd be eaten for sure, because surely being able to hear their heavy breathing and hammering heartbeats was child's play for the zombies. Though the creatures could appear slow and clumsy at times, when they were on the prowl, their superior speed and senses were seldom matched.
However, as quickly as they'd arrived, they'd vacated the premises. Ichigo and Karin survived to live another day.
"Are you daydreaming again, Ichigo? It's nearly your shift for lookout!"
As he was jolted out of his thoughts, he looked up at the person who'd just entered the bedroom, "Sorry Renji, a lot on my mind, you know. I was thinking about Dad."
The redheaded, tatted up man just grunted in recognition that he understood. Renji was an interesting guy. At first glance, one may assume he was a pushover. In fact, from behind many guys had mistaken him for a woman (a mistake that had got each one a black eye). Upon closer inspection, one might see the lean, corded muscle rippling beneath the man's skin. The way his dark brown eyes, usually so soft and warm, could harden in an instant. Abarai Renji was no pushover. He'd certainly proven he could hold his own in the community.
The redhead turned to leave, glancing over his shoulder back at Ichigo, "Don't beat yourself up over it. There was nothing you could have done. No sense dwelling on the past, man. Besides, you gotta be strong for your sis. All she's got is you now."
Ichigo gave a stiff nod, "I know. Thanks, Renji."
Renji grunted again as he left the room. He did Ichigo the courtesy of closing the door behind him (something that not all Survivors cared to do for him), allowing Ichigo some brief privacy for a few moments more while he pulled himself together.
After he evened his breathing out and eased the slight tremble in his fingers, he set his face into his trademark scowl.
Time to mingle with the community.
Ichigo stood from his desk and walked out of his room. He headed down the stairs to the adjoining kitchen and living room— their community base of operations, or that's what they called it anyway. It wasn't much, but it was the best they could do. They couldn't afford a more spacious area just yet, what with larger living arrangements being easier to infiltrate.
Ichigo didn't particularly enjoy being around the others. It wasn't really that he didn't like people or anything, but he didn't like when people… said things about him.
"I'm telling you guys, we should never have brought those two in. Haven't you ever thought of how odd it is, the story that Kurosaki boy told us? I bet you he's, well… you know. One of them. Maybe the girl is too."
That was Ganju.
"That isn't a very nice thing to say! Ichigo is my friend, and I think we can trust him!"
Orihime.
"Do you now? Ichigo was your friend. I'm telling you, something's not right with the guy. One time, I saw him napping on the couch, and get this— he wasn't breathing! He was asleep for half an hour, and didn't breathe that whole time, but when he woke up, he started breathing again after a few minutes, like it was an afterthought or something. That guy isn't normal, I'm telling you."
"Telling rumors again, are we, Ganju?" Ichigo said coolly as he held the man's shoulder in an iron grip. There was an unnatural smile on his face that didn't even come close to reaching his eyes.
"N-not at all!" Ganju stuttered out too quickly. He looked to the other occupants of the room, "Right, guys?"
No one jumped to his defense. Ichigo had no doubts that there were at least a couple people who shared Ganju's sentiments, but anyone other than Ganju wasn't senseless enough to admit it in front of Ichigo himself.
Ichigo's grip tightened on Ganju's shoulder, making the stout, slightly shorter man whimper, "Listen, Ganju. It's important that this community has trust. Each other is all we've got, so I don't want anyone planting seeds of doubt, whether they're about me, or anyone really."
Ganju nodded his head eagerly, "O-of course, Ichigo! Won't happen again."
With that, the orangette released his grip. He started walking away, but stopped, "Oh, and Ganju?" he said in a sickeningly sweet voice all of a sudden.
"Yeah?"
A silver flash whizzed by Ganju's face.
THUNK.
Behind Ganju was a knife, now embedded in the wall. A small trickle of blood flowed freely from a now visible shallow cut on his cheek.
"If I ever catch you saying or doing something to endanger my sister again, the next one goes between your eyes. Have I made myself perfectly clear?" Ichigo demanded, his voice going deathly low.
Ganju gulped, "Crystal."
There was a tense moment of silence. Then Ichigo was smiling as if no conflict at all had just transpired, "Good. What's for breakfast?"
"Hash and fruit. We found a lot of cans during our raid, so help yourself," Rukia said as she entered the room with a plate of aforementioned food.
"Awesome," Ichigo said, wandering into the kitchen to grab a heaping plate.
Once he sat down at the table with his food, he turned to look at a girl with long, mid-back length orange hair. She was one of the few people he'd known before the apocalypse.
"By the way, Orihime," he spoke to the girl, getting her to look up at him, "thanks for standing up for me back there. I really appreciate it."
She smile gently, "You're welcome, Ichigo. Any time."
Ichigo gave her a fleeting smile in return before going back to his food.
As he did, he silently brooded. It was true that no one really liked Mayuri, but Ichigo was runner up to the man for least trusted person in the community.
It wasn't as if he had a shady personality. There just tended to be things about him that were mysterious, and which he couldn't explain. Such as the incident Ganju had brought up for instance, when he really hadn't breathed for a good three minutes after waking up. He hadn't known he also wasn't breathing while he was asleep.
At the time, he hadn't felt like he expressly needed oxygen, and there was no pressing urge to take a deep inhalation of breath. Until he'd felt the need to speak at the time, he hadn't even thought to breathe.
There was also the matter of his body temperature, which was always much lower than the natural body temperature. This was a fact he'd never confided to anyone, but the few people who had ever touched his skin were well aware of the fact that he was eerily colder than any regular human should be.
Then there was the time that the zombies had come into his home, and didn't bother even opening the closet door to check if someone living was inside. One could just assume they'd overlooked the hidey hole, but Ichigo knew better. Zombies were thorough, if nothing else. Stupid though they were, they would leave no nook or cranny unchecked.
Which meant only one thing: they knew someone was inside the closet, but had chosen not to attack. Zombies didn't simply not attack humans. It wasn't done.
That, more than anything else, had been what made many in the community suspicious of him. After all, what kind of monster did zombies avoid attacking?
"How is she, Mayuri?" Ichigo asked the mad scientist as he entered the room.
The man hardly looked up from the journal he was furiously writing in, "Hmm? Oh, the girl. She's still running a high fever. At this rate, she may die."
The man didn't sound too dismayed by the prospect. Ichigo grit his teeth. He'd had to begrudgingly allow this man to look after Karin, because he was the only one with at least an inkling of medical knowledge.
Even that wasn't enough. It filled him with equal parts rage and sorrow, the idea that his only remaining family could be taken from him at any given moment by the flu. A regular, run of the mill flu.
Something he'd experienced plenty of times in the past, but had been able to get treatment quickly and efficiently for via his father.
The feeling of powerlessness his sister's situation gave him didn't help matters. He absolutely loathed that there was nothing he could do.
'I swear, Karin, I will help you…'
Ichigo's shift on lookout was peaceful as always. The hordes never bothered attacking when he was on lookout. He'd never questioned it before, but with all the flak he'd been getting recently, he was beginning to wonder.
All the others had witnessed attacks while on lookout at least once. Ichigo however had yet to have a shift that wasn't peaceful.
It was as if they avoided attacking because they knew he was nearby.
But that was impossible, right?
"You don't belong here."
Ichigo looked up to see a woman who was rather short in stature with black hair and dark eyes. She wore black tights and a sleeveless skin-tight shirt to match. She had a .22 strapped in a holster on either hip. Soifon. Despite appearances, she was the community's record holder for most consecutive kills in a single fight against the hordes. Her abilities gave her a lot of clout to throw around.
Ichigo groaned, "Tell me something I don't know."
"If you know, you should leave. Ganju's about as useful as a dull blade, but he was right about one thing. You're nothing but trouble," the woman crossed her arms.
"Believe me, I'd leave if I could, but Karin…"
"Quit being delusional. We all know she's going to die. You know it just as well as the rest of us. It's only a matter of time."
Ichigo had a knife to her throat in an instant, "How dare you?!"
"I would appreciate if you remove your weapon from my throat, Kurosaki," Soifon said, and he felt the cold, hard pressure of the muzzle of a gun against his nether regions, "that is, if you want this to stay in tact."
Ichigo growled, eyes narrowing dangerously. He eventually decided it wasn't worth it and lowered his knife, returning it to its hidden holster up his sleeve. It took a few moments more before Soifon withdrew her gun.
"You're getting a little too brazen with that temper of yours, Kurosaki," Soifon snapped, "I'd better not catch you pulling a stunt like that again."
"Don't worry," he said, "you won't."
She watched him with open suspicion upon her face, then turned on her heel and left. Ichigo cursed under his breath as the door closed. Soifon was always antagonizing him. The woman hadn't been afraid to admit from the beginning her dislike of him.
It was probably thanks to her that Ganju so openly protested his presence in the community.
Despite the fact that not everyone was distrustful of him, Ichigo knew it was only a matter of time before he got kicked out of the community. Things were getting too tense, and soon it wouldn't matter what his friends said in his defense.
He dreaded when that time would come. He could only hope that he could cure Karin by then.
Days went by. Things weren't looking so good for Karin anymore.
Ichigo was at his wit's end; he couldn't take it anymore.
It was obvious already that Mayuri wasn't even trying. So he'd take matters into his own hands.
"And just where do you think you're going?"
Ichigo swiveled around. Of course it was Soifon giving him shit for leaving the house. He sneered, "Out."
"Out where?" she pressed, her eyes narrowing with suspicion.
"That's none of your concern," Ichigo said, brushing past her and grabbing the doorknob.
She grabbed his wrist, and damn did she have a strong grip, "That's where you're wrong. See, you're part of this community. Anyone in our community who goes outside is of my concern, and that includes you."
"You sure change your tune fast," he grumbled, "just yesterday, you were wanting me to leave."
"What of it? You challenging my authority?"
"Not at all," Ichigo replied with an air of nonchalance that he didn't truly have.
She relinquished her hold on his wrist, but then slammed her hand on the door, making it impossible for him to leave, "I don't like your tone. Here's the deal. I'll let you go do whatever it is you're wanting to do, on one condition: you have to have someone of my choosing accompany and monitor you."
Ichigo ground his teeth in agitation, but after releasing a heavy sigh, he told her, "Fair enough. Who do you have in mind?"
She smirked, "I have just the man for the job…"
"Ugh, why did it have to be Byakuya?" Ichigo whined to himself.
The man himself was several paces behind him, keeping a watchful eye on him. Byakuya was a man of average height with long black hair, and equally black eyes. He somehow always had a regal look about him, even if he was to wear rags (which he never would).
In Ichigo's honest opinion, Byakuya wouldn't be that bad a guy, if it weren't for the fact he was a stickler for the rules. He was quite anal about rules.
Needless to say, Ichigo believed some rules were just made to be broken. Not all, but some.
"You're searching for something."
Ichigo let out a very manly screech. Byakuya had come up to walk beside him at some point. The teen grabbed at his chest, trying not to pay too much mind to the fact nothing was beating in there.
"Give a guy a little warning, would you?" he asked the man.
"I apologize," Byakuya replied, "I am accustomed to making no sound when I walk," he tilted his head, looking at Ichigo sideways, "however, you could benefit from paying more attention to your surroundings. We can't afford to be lost in thought."
"Spare me the lecture, Byakuya. I've heard it a hundred times before," Ichigo ground out.
"Have you? Then one would think you would have learned something by now," the man replied crisply.
"Listen, I'm really not in the mood."
Byakuya dropped the subject. He was quiet for all but five minutes.
"What are you searching for?"
Ichigo was about to make a snarky comeback about how the aristocratic looking man was awfully talkative or curious today, but as he turned to look at the man, he got a good look at the concern on his face. Ichigo shrugged, "You know my sister's got the flu?"
Byakuya inclined his head slightly in a nod.
Ichigo watched the horizon for hordes as they walked, "I'm hoping to find some medicine for her. A doctor would be even better, but I don't think it's very likely that we'll find one of those. Least not one who's a Survivor."
Byakuya hummed his agreement, "A doctor would be invaluable, but I agree it's not very likely we can find a living one. Perhaps we can find medicine for your sister though."
Ichigo was taken aback. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped. He barely managed to speak coherently, "Oh. Uh. Um… Thank you."
Byakuya scoffed, "For what? She's your sister. I'll not fault you for wanting to help her. I'd like to think I would have done the same for Rukia."
This was the reason why Ichigo actually liked Byakuya. It was the one thing he valued over rules. Family.
Not many of them still had people around who they knew during the time before the apocalypse. Even fewer still had family members. He and Byakuya had their sisters, and oddly enough, Mayuri had his daughter, Nemu.
It would seem that pairing Ichigo up with Byakuya hadn't worked in Soifon's favor this time around. Ichigo grinned. He had hope that this venture just might be successful.
Eventually, they happened upon a small clinic. Ichigo pointed it out and Byakuya nodded. They went inside to investigate.
It came as no surprise that the hordes were inside the clinic.
What did was the fact that when Byakuya and Ichigo entered, they separated like the Red Sea to allow the two to pass.
Byakuya raised a single brow at that, "Is there something you'd like to tell me, Kurosaki?"
"Not particularly," he replied slowly.
Somehow, he wasn't sure telling Byakuya that he thought they recognized him as one of their own would go over well. Besides, it wasn't as if he was getting insatiable cravings for human flesh or anything. He still had his conscience in tact. So there was nothing to worry about, and no reason to tell Byakuya, who would no doubt tell the rest of the community about it.
They walked through the open pathway between the crowds of undead with Byakuya keeping an eye on their backs, in case the zombies decided they wanted to attack them after all. They found a door. There were plenty of doors, but this particular door was the only one the zombies were allowing them to see.
They'd purposely led them there.
"I must admit this is creepy," Byakuya told Ichigo calmly, in a low voice. The man worried that if he acted too spooked, the zombies would smell it and attack.
Ichigo shrugged, "Yeah, a little. Let's just hurry up and see if there's anything we can use in here."
Byakuya didn't protest, so Ichigo opened the door…
… and was immediately attacked by a scrawny guy with shoulder length black hair and dark circles under his owlish eyes. He was wimpy looking to say the least, but he still managed to catch Ichigo by surprise.
"Whoa there!" he exclaimed, holding his arm up in front of him.
The scalpel that had been aimed at his head hit the back of his forearm instead. The scrawny, wimpy man reeled back, his eyes widening comically.
"Y-you can talk?!" he cried incredulously.
Ichigo rolled his eyes, "Of course I can talk," he told him, "I'm not like them," he jabbed a thumb back toward the zombies that were now wandering around, seeming lost, but still oddly avoiding him and Byakuya.
"W-w-what are you?"
"A friend," Ichigo said, "and him too," he gestured at Byakuya.
"Our community isn't too far from here," Byakuya explained, "one of our own has the flu, and we're here searching for medicine for her."
The smaller man seemed to weigh his options, fidgeting nervously with his thumbs all the while. He sighed, "Well, okay, come in. I think we still have some medicine you can use for your friend, but I have a request."
"What would that be?" Ichigo asked as the small man led them inside the spacious room, closing the door behind him.
He halted to a stop. There, on the floor, was a woman in a lab coat. Her black hair was so long that some of it was limp on the floor. Her eyes were closed as she appeared to be sleeping. As his eyes trailed lower, he saw that her ankle was discolored and swollen considerably. It had to be broken.
"We haven't been able to escape because her ankle is broken, and all of those are out there waiting for us. I can't even put her ankle in a splint because they're blocking off the supply room out there. Do you think you can help her?" he asked them unsurely.
Ichigo studied her for a moment. She was quite a beautiful woman, and if the lab coat and ID clipped to it were any indication, she was a doctor. He recalled his conversation with Byakuya earlier. They weren't kidding when they'd spoken of how a doctor would be invaluable. This woman could help Karin.
"If I can get the supplies for you, you can fix her up?" he asked the man, just to clarify.
He received a nod.
"Got it. I'll be back in a jiff," he stopped at the door, "by the way, I didn't get your names."
The scrawny man gave a hesitant smile, "Hanatarou. Yamada Hanatarou. She's Ms. Unohana."
Ichigo smiled for a moment, "Nice to meet you. I'll get that splint for you, and then we can get out of here. Easy-peasy."
Hanatarou didn't look so sure himself, but that was okay. He'd see.
Once he'd made sure to close the door behind him, he noticed that the zombies had yet again parted to make a pathway for him. This time, the end of the pathway was exactly where he needed to go. The supply room.
Now he was sure they were doing this on purpose. But why?
Perhaps he'd ponder that later.
For now, his main focus should be helping the doctor lady, Unohana, so that she and Hanatarou could help Karin. He grabbed the stuff and hurried back to the room.
Hanatarou seemed surprised that he had been successful and unscathed, whereas Byakuya remained stoic as ever. Unohana was beginning to stir into wakefulness.
Hanatarou took the supplies off Ichigo's hands and got to work on splinting Unohana's ankle. When he was done, he turned to Ichigo.
"I am in your debt, sir," he said with a deep formal bow.
Ichigo waved him off, "It was nothing. You or her at least know how to treat the flu, right?"
Hanatarou nodded eagerly, "Of course! If you can get us to your place safely, we should be able to help her right away."
"Okay," Ichigo replied. He looked Unohana, gauging her size. "I should be able to carry her there. You may want to wake her up so she doesn't freak out on us later."
Hanatarou did as Ichigo said and gently shook the woman's shoulder. After her eyes cracked open, he spoke in hushed tones to her. Only after receiving a nod from her did he turn back to Ichigo.
"We're ready to go. I just need to grab some stuff."
"Be quick about it," Ichigo told him.
He then approached Unohana, helping her up. Ichigo hefted her up onto his back, allowing her to wrap her arms around his neck as he hooked his arms under her legs.
"I do hope I'm not too heavy," she whispered.
Ichigo shook his head, "Not at all. I could deadlift twice your weight for fun," he teased.
Unohana giggled at that, "I'm sure you could."
Byakuya was getting antsy. He kept glancing toward the door, as if he expected the hordes to burst through and attack them any moment.
"Hanatarou, any day now!" Ichigo called out to the guy.
"Coming, coming!" Hanatarou rushed back over to the group with a large satchel over his shoulder.
Ichigo frowned, "What's all that?"
"Medicine, bandages, syringes. Other things," Hanatarou said as he ticked the list off on his fingers, "never can be too prepared."
Ichigo grunted, "I suppose."
"Are we ready to go?" Byakuya asked. Though his voice was a monotone, discrete body language told Ichigo the man was anything but at ease.
"Yep! Lead the way," Hanatarou chirped.
Byakuya reached for the door, but Ichigo lunged in front of him. An impressive feat while carrying Unohana, to be sure.
"Uh, maybe I should… go first," he offered, nodding his head toward the door.
Byakuya contemplated the offer, and after a few seconds of consideration he backed off. Without further ado, Ichigo opened the door.
For the third time, the horde made a pathway for them to pass.
Unohana shivered, "They… aren't attacking…"
"Maybe they're friendly," Ichigo joked.
"I don't think so," Hanatarou spoke up, "just the other day, they were banging on the door, trying to get at us. This is unusual."
"You'll find that many unusual things tend to happen when Ichigo is around," said Byakuya.
Ichigo snapped a glare back at him at the unwanted disclosure of information. Byakuya stared back with a cold, steely gaze. Ichigo looked away.
"Well, so long as we aren't getting attacked, I don't think Ichigo could be a bad guy."
The three men of the group were shocked by Unohana's admonishment. She didn't recede the statement. Ichigo was starting to think that he might like this woman.
They arrived at the base without complications. When they got there, Ichigo took Unohana to the makeshift lab in the basement, where Karin was being kept. They had her sit in an office chair, which she was able to use to move around the room efficiently enough while she looked over and treated Ichigo's sister.
To Ichigo's relief, Byakuya kept quiet about the happenings while they were about. He knew this because he happened to overhear Soifon arguing with him.
"What do you mean, nothing happened?! He has to be up to something!"
"Not everything Kurosaki does has an ulterior motive, contrary to what you believe. In fact, most of his actions don't. You'd do well to trust a guy like Kurosaki Ichigo, who still has his morals in tact when faced with what we have seen. We can trust him more than some people around the community."
"Are you insinuating something, Kuchiki?!"
"What would make you assume something like that?"
Ichigo snickered from where he stood, hopefully out of hearing range from the two. It was good that some people were being swayed toward his favor. He'd thought that Byakuya would rat him out for sure, but perhaps he'd misjudged the guy.
Byakuya was alright in Ichigo's book.
"Something funny, Ichigo?" Renji asked from the foldable table in the living room. He was staring at a hand of cards. Playing poker with Ikkaku and Yumichika, by the looks of it.
"Nah," Ichigo waved the question off. He slid in the last chair at the table, "Mind if I join you guys?"
"Go ahead. I was just about to deal a new hand," Ikkaku answered as the other two passed in their cards.
Renji grinned mischievously with a glint in his eye, "What do you guys say we sweeten things up a little?"
"Okay, I'll bite," Ichigo said, "what's the deal?"
The redhead covered his mouth with his hand as he chuckled a rather evil sounding chuckle, "Loser's gotta take the night shift tonight."
Ichigo's mouth twisted at that, "The night shift? That's your shift tonight. What happens if you lose?"
"Eh, I'll take my shift and the winner's next night shift or whatever. So, you in, or you too chicken?"
Ichigo grinned, "You're on."
Ichigo groaned as he trudged outside onto the roof, pulling on a thick coat to protect him from the cold. Not that he actually felt the cold, but the others would question him if he didn't wear it in the frigid nighttime weather. Not to mention, he couldn't afford to grow even colder than he already was— he felt nearly as chill as a corpse as it was.
It had been a spectacular loss. Ichigo was still pretty damn sure Renji had rigged the game somehow. He wasn't sure how, but the guy didn't usually bet unless he knew he was going to win. Hence, he must have cheated.
Not that it really mattered now. He was outside already. It meant that the others would most likely have a peaceful night. He just didn't particularly enjoy actually having to stare at the mindless hordes of the undead clambering around and wandering aimlessly down below.
However, Fate had other plans in store for him tonight.
There was a flash of pure white in the distance. At first, he'd thought he imagined it.
Ichigo dashed those thoughts when he saw it again, but nearer.
Something was out there, and it was coming closer. It was coming right for them. Ichigo's fingers brushed the tips of his hidden blades fondly; an action that instantly calmed him and reminded him that he was not defenseless.
Then it was upon him.
He could feel its presence, though he wasn't sure how. He just knew it was there, very close.
"Boo."
The voice was from right beside him, softly in his ear. Sort of raspy and high, but distinctly masculine. Ichigo yelped as he leaped maybe a good foot or two into the air.
He spun around, sliding one of his hidden blades into his hand.
Before him was a man, or at least Ichigo thought so. His hair was a long and untamed mane, and both his hair and his skin looked like they were supposed to be pure white at some point. He was filthy, covered in dirt and other unmentionable substances that may have included blood and bits of flesh. None of the latter mentioned substances seemed to be his own.
Most haunting of all had to be his eyes, with sclera black as coals and golden irises that practically glowed.
The pale man laughed, and Ichigo could have sworn his tongue was blue, and that he may or may not have had a few sets of fangs.
"Awfully jumpy, arent'cha?" the man asked, then those haunting eyes trailed down to the knife. "What ya gonna do with a thing like that? Cut me? Yer not very nice."
Ichigo scowled at the man, "What are you?"
Yellow and black eyes widened to twice their original size, "Huh? Well, the same thing as what ya are, of course. What else?"
"We don't even look anything alike."
The pale man was put off by the statement, but a smirk slowly crawled across his face, "No two people are exactly the same, doesn't mean we're not the same. Ya see, there are things about ya and me that are very much the same… I'm sure ya've noticed."
"Like what?" he snapped. He didn't like where this was going.
"Surely ya've noticed," the man said waving a hand toward the hordes below. Ichigo caught sight of black fingernails as he did. The man walked a little closer, but not enough to be in range of Ichigo's knife, "they never attack ya."
"Yeah? And?" Ichigo was not going to let one minuscule fact sway him. There were plenty of reasons the zombies may avoid him. It didn't mean he was a monster. But who was he fooling?
"Ya don't feel the need to breathe all the time like they do," the man went on, his smirk only growing wider as he named more facts that Ichigo could not deny, "yer heart doesn't beat. Yer body temperature is colder than natural, but ya don't feel cold at all. But yer not like those down there," he pointed at the mindless hordes, "oh no, because ya have somethin' they don't. Ya still have yer mind."
"What do you want from me?" Ichigo ground out, glaring back at the man.
The man slinked around him, looking him up and down as he walked in a slow circle, "Mm… that's an interestin' question, really. A friend, I guess. Me and ya, we aren't the only ones of our kind. But the others out there, they're vicious. Mean lil fuckers, they are, and can't trust 'em any farther than ya can throw 'em."
"What makes you think you can trust me then?" Ichigo's eyes followed the pale man. He turned his head to watch him as he came around behind his back. Ichigo didn't want to let him out of his sight.
"Nothin' yet. But I got a good feelin' about ya," the man replied without missing a beat. He rolled his eyes then, "Ah, but enough about me. I wanna know. Have ya started to crave their flesh yet?"
"W-what?!"
"Don't play dumb with me. The cravings. Have ya started to get them? Tummy gets the rumblies when ya see them nearby? And it smells so good, ya can practically taste it on yer tongue already. Their food starts to lose its flavor. Ya start to hate how it tastes, and ya can't think of anythin' else but how great it would be to just sink yer teeth in… Just one bite. Just one…"
"No!" Ichigo yelled. "Look, I don't know who you are—"
"Shiro."
"Excuse me?" Ichigo asked, incredulous at the fact that the man had interrupted him like that.
"My name's Shiro," the man said with a grin.
"Look, Shiro," Ichigo spat, "you're not wanted here. Leave."
Shiro shrugged, "Alright."
Ichigo cried out in surprise as the man took a step back and fell right off the roof. He ran over to the edge of the roof, looking down.
There was no body down there. No hideous blood splatters or anything of the like. It was as if Shiro had been a mere figment of his imagination. He was gone.
Despite that, the damage was done. Ichigo shuddered.
He wouldn't do it. He wouldn't be like that. No way.
Just one bite. Just one...
Author's Note: As usual, I have no beta-reader, so there may be mistakes here and there. Please review to let me know if you caught any grammatical errors, general mistakes, or glaring plot holes. Or just let me know whether you loved it or hated it. All feedback is appreciated so long as it's constructive.
Until next time!