Prolouge: What is the Heart?

What is a heart? A hollow organ that acts as a force pump maintaining the circulation of blood. A part of the human body that I do not possess nor see.

I always thought that if I couldn't see it, there was no reason for it to exsist. Until, Azien-sama put me in charge of Inoue Orihime's care.

While separated from her, but among the other arrancar, I'd often thought about what she told me. She often talked about her home, what little of her family she had left, and her shinagami friends, the ones she was here to "protect." What irritated me the most was her discussions on "feelings."

"Feelings," she said, "are emotions you feel from the heart. When someone is hurt, you could feel desperate or worried, even afraid if they are hurt bad enough. But when someone is happy, you feel their excitement and joy, it sort of feels like a warm glow that pulls you into a hug."

Feelings… emotional ties that were foreign to me.

Which was rather strange, considering that something stirred within me whenever I was in her presence. I felt my fingers twitch whenever I watched her as she gazed at the night sky, crystal tears at the corner of her eyes. And when I did break my silence, she pretended to be unnerved by me.

She was strong, but also fragile. I had to often feign from seemingly too soft with her. I had my orders to break her down into nothingness, she had her will to keep herself upright, even if she had to hide those tears in the dark. And after I left her room every time, I felt something. I looked onto my hollow hole in my sternum for answers, answers it could not give.

It wasn't until I heard the alarm go off that faithful day that I knew this could be the end. I used sonido to Orihime's cell, knowing very well that this could be the last day I would ever see her.

Notes:

Confession: I haven't "read" the Bleach comic books, but I have seen two or three seasons of the tv shows.

This is going to be a chapter fanfiction, don't ask me how long, I'm not sure how long I will be making it, or if I'll even finish it… :shrug:

Either way, this idea has been in my head for a long time, but I've never actually had a chance to sit down and write it because of school, work, and other stories that I'm dedicated to.

Let me know what you think, I would appreciate the feed-back!

Bleach & it's characters belong to Tite Kubo