Call it dipping my toes in the pond before trying to jump back in. A little bit of IchiRuki to get myself back in shape.


There was an animal inside of him, and he wasn't talking about the Hollow.

Ever since that first day of misery in the rain, a beast had been born within him that clawed at the walls of his soul. It clawed and climbed its way up to the heights of the skyscrapers of his inner world and bellowed into the gale that filled the storms of those early years just after Masaki's death.

The animal wanted the power to protect - the power that it had lacked back by the riverside when Grand Fisher or Aizen or Ywhach or whoever the hell wanted to take credit for his mother's murder this time had killed her. He'd fought his way to the top of his martial arts school until the day he finally beat Tatsuki, and he'd thought that had been enough.

But the satisfaction had been short lived. He quit the dojo shortly after that, and the animal wandered the streets of Karakura looking for the next challenge; the next chance to prove that he wouldn't lose anything or anyone ever again.

And then she walked into his life.

Ichigo hadn't felt hopeless for a long time. Karakura was small, but for the longest time, it had felt like the whole world to the boy. He stood on top of that world. He was confident he had all the power he needed until Hollows had become a thing.

Ichigo owed Rukia a debt deeper and more personal than anything he'd be willing to admit. Just as quickly as he realized the gap in power that existed between him and the threat to his sisters, she'd been there to close that gap. Saving her life was the least he could have done in return.

He'd come to realize something on his romp through Soul Society, though. His reasons for saving Rukia weren't just to repay a debt. Rukia had been his second chance - the second shot at saving someone important. Someone who mattered. And when he'd done it - when the rain had finally stopped and the night sky shone through the clouds, the animal had lifted its head and howled to the moon.

Rukia had won the loyalty of the animal inside of him. It cried out for him to follow her everywhere she went, and when he couldn't follow it hung its head and sulked. He realized it was stupid. He wore his feelings on his sleeve for everyone to see. He didn't care.

Rukia was his second chance, his redemption, and, damn it, she was the love of his life. He'd devote his sword and his soul to her, and if she cried for a savior he'd cross worlds and fell kingdoms to protect her.

He had no problem with the creature inside of him. Just like Zangetsu - both of them - the beast was a part of him. If anything, it was thankful for it. It gave him drive and propelled him towards the things that he knew meant the most to him. It drove him to Rukia. It drove him home.

And she laughs at him sometimes for the animal; she pokes and prods at how well she's tamed him and made him hers. Still, her gratitude is worth it. From the smallest of things like putting a straw through a juice box to the huge, out-of-this-world acts he'd never be able to do for anyone but her, seeing her depend on, fuss over, and smile at him is enough.

So when he looks down and sees her head leaned against his shoulder on the plane home from their class' graduation trip to Okinawa, he revels in the pride that wells up in his chest. He knows now more than ever that she's enough. She's more than enough.

She's everything.


I've stopped doing this for feedback. I don't really play the waiting game with reviews anymore. I'd rather write just to write.

Still, I hope you enjoyed this.