I don't own Bleach; never have, never will. All property of Kubo Tite.
It'll be another stormy day, thought Zangetsu melancholically, gathering his flapping robes about him. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see a flash of white, as if to remind him of the inevitable. He shook his head.
"Go away," he said out loud.
The hollow behind him merely grinned, stopping as Zangetsu stopped, but just as Zangetsu started walking again, it spoke, in that voice Ichigo could never hear.
"But why should I?" the thing said.
"Go away," Zangetsu repeated.
"But I am you. How can you make yourself go away?"
Zangetsu merely turned and stared down his nose at that swirling mass of chaos and swirling desires. He didn't see how Ichigo could see his own shape in that creature, but since the shinigami was unable to see even the true form of Zangetsu, who was he to recognize his own subconscious?
"Are you trying to stare me down?" said the thing, its face splitting into a leer. "Are you perhaps...afraid of me?"
"Then by your logic, wouldn't I then be afraid of myself?"
"But you are."
Zangetsu snorted and whirled on his heel, ignoring the flutter of white, and strode purposefully away from the demon. He had better things to do than this.
"Do you really? What will you do instead? Stare at the sky as usual, wondering when it'll ever clear up again?" said the hollow, laughing at Zangetsu's face, "Don't look so surprised. I am you, after all, and I understand you far better than that boy ever will."
Zangetsu could hear the truth behind those words. Yes, perhaps he...and looked down in horror. It was spreading again. His once black cape was now mottling with ugly blotches of white, as if someone had spilled bleach all over them, wet, toxic and spreading so quickly.
"Don't deny it: I can fulfill your desires far better than that boy ever will. Do you want to be the best? Then come with me; what can you gain from that pup who can't even look you in the eye?"
And with that, the thing suddenly coalesced into a solid white form. Ichigo, leering at him, a demonic gleam in those white-on-black eyes. Zangetsu started. No, no, you can't give in! He thought furiously to himself, eyes and teeth clenched, You promised, you promised, you—
The hollow was still babbling, but Zangetsu could now listen without reacting to it. He let out the breath he'd been holding and unclenched fists he hadn't known he'd balled. He glanced down. There wasn't much black left, only a few patches here and there.
Please, he said silently to the sky, a giant cauldron of seething purple clouds, I promised to do everything in my power to keep the sky here sunny and bright. Help me Ichigo, to keep my promise.
Zangetsu resumed pacing across the barren buildings, a whispering white shadow in tow.
Before I run out of time.
Angel + lack of sleep + weird meds really pointless and badly written fic. Sorry for clogging up FF. --;;;;;