A/N. I am sooo sorry! The last day of September is here and I haven't posted anything this month before now. I meant to do so earlier. I've got things saved already like 'Escape' and 'Nightmares' (I'll give you both today) but I kept putting it off hoping to get one of my other pieces done and it's already the end of the month and I didn't get the others typed. No pieces for a full month and then two in categories that I haven't posted in yet. I will post something Sherlock (because I think that's how I got half my followers...) next month, honest. At the least I'll get 'The Least' updated some time in October but you should probably expect 'Halloween something(s)' from me also (in whatever random category grabs my limited attention span) as it's my favourite day of the year...
Ichigo lay restlessly on his bed. After a long day out with his friends he was exhausted. He wished they could have stayed longer though. He sighed before grabbing his school bag; he had homework to finish. It took him hours to finish what he had been assigned that week and his hand was cramped from the prolonged writing. He leaned back from his desk and stretched his arms back and above his head. Something cracked as he moved. Great now he was tired and sore. He stood up stiffly and packed away the work he'd finished before dumping his bag by the bedroom door.
He headed over to his dresser then to grab a comfortable pair of pajama pants to wear. As he changed he looked around at his room. The place was a mess. Dumping the clothes he'd changed out of into the hamper he set about picking up what was laying about the room. It only took him 20 minutes to pick up everything and straighten the remainder of his belongings.
He stood in his, now perfectly cleaned, room looking to make sure he had missed nothing. Everything was where it should be. Well he could always work ahead on his school assignments. He nodded to himself. Yes, he'd get to work on those now; one could never be too far ahead. He headed back toward his school bag.
"Damn it, King! Get your ass in bed already."
Ichigo strangled the impressive yelp that wished to escape at hearing his own voice berating him in such a manner. He scowled as he turned to the mirror that was beside him. Seemingly standing there in his reflection's place was his inner hollow.
"Shut up. It's my body and I'll do whatever I want with it."
The rejoinder only made the hollow sneer at him. "You might be the King right now but I still have to live here too. You've been sleeping less and less and it's telling on our reflexes. You're going to get us killed if you keep it up, King, so get us into that damned bed!"
The stupid hollow had a point. He looked toward the bed that called so invitingly to him. He still hesitated.
"It's because of those night visions ain't it? Those dream things you've been having." The hollows image was looking at him consideringly now, as if he'd been given more pieces to a puzzle he had been working on.
Ichigo flinched under the scrutiny.
The hollow nodded in confirmation. "It is. You know those things ain't real King, but if that's all the issue is me and the old man 'll take care of it for the night."
Ichigo gaped at the hollow opposite him, his mouth moving but no coherent sentence coming out. "You-? How-? Why?"
The hollow seemed to shift somewhat sheepishly ignoring the last question. "Well, we are in your head already. Can't be hard to poke around and move the damn things." He turned away slightly before continuing gruffly. "Don't think I'm doing this for you. I just don't want to deal with a weak body when I get to use it next time." He turned his back to Ichigo and walked away.
The image blurred and shifted till Ichigo was looking at only himself in the mirror. It didn't matter what the hollow said, he wasn't going to sleep. He crossed his arms and stood stiffly still glaring slightly at the now ordinary mirror. He stifled a yawn before sighing heavily. Maybe he could just lay down and rest his body a bit at least. He flopped down onto the covers he'd straightened in his earlier cleaning spree. He was asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.
Can someone tell me what genre this should be listed as? I left it as general because I'm not sure if it qualifies as anything else (along with a lot of the things I write). It doesn't have the usual humor of half the stuff I write and I don't think this piece'll count for angst either so... Any suggestions for a genre and explanations of why it fits there, or should I just leave it how it is?