Okay guys, I really apologise for this, but it was a promise - long story short, rule 34 required me to do a Ichigo/Heartless fanfic as a result of a plushie incident.

Ichigo sat against the wall of some side street he had wandered into after defeating countless hollows, exhausted. It was very late...or very early, he could no longer tell, he'd been hunting down hollows for so long. Laying his head back, he closed his eyes, planning to rest for a few minutes before heading out again.

It may have been minutes or hours later that he awoke to the sounds of skittering. Jumping up, Ichigo grabbed his sword, expecting another hollow to come out of the darkness. However, what emerged was most definitely not a hollow. In fact he wasn't quite sure what it was. It was small, and had a semi-human form, but it was completely black except for the large yellow eyes that pierced the darkness. Its antennae twitched, and it seemed unable to stay still, swaying rhythmically. It was, Ichigo thought, quite cute really, which was not a word he used often. He slowly lowered he sword, and laid it on the ground, before walking slowly towards the creature.

"Hey, little guy," the creature looked up at him, quivering slightly. "Don't worry. I'm not going to hurt you." He kneeled down to the creature's level. "what's your name?" It would be rude to ask it what it was. The creature made a strange non-human noise in response. "Um...are you lost?" The thing nodded sightly, then suddenly looked behind him before skittering behind him. From the same direction that the creature had come from, came a very peculiarly dressed youth, wielding a giant key.

"Hurry and run!" the youth said as he charged towards Ichigo. "Otherwise the Heartless will get you!" Ichigo looked at the youth for a moment, and then at the small shivering creature. He only took a moment to make his decision.

Grabbing the little thing, Ichigo ran back towards his sword, hurrying to pick it up before the youth reached him. Swinging it around he saw the youth had stopped in shock, his eyes looking first at the sword, then Ichigo holding the creature.

"What are you doing? Are you a Nobody?" The kid asked. Ichigo's eyes narrowed. How dare this kid call him a nobody. Fine, if he was going to attack a small defenceless creature, and the insult Ichigo, he would pay the price.

The fight was short, and in the end the kid lay unconscious in the alley. Ichigo looked at the small creature in his arms. "Do you have anywhere to go?" It shook its head sadly. "Okay, you can come home with me" And with that he turned and headed back towards his house.

Once inside, he put the creature down and walked up to his bedroom. It followed him in, and hopped on the bed. Sitting down beside it, he examined the creature. It was so innocent looking, and sweet; why would anyone want to attack it? Without thinking, Ichigo leaned down and planted a kiss on the brow of the creature. It's already large eyes widened, and it looked back at him. Then it leaned up, and with lips Ichigo didn't even know it had, kissed him full on the mouth. The kiss lasted for quite a while, and was quite pleasant. When they pulled apart, Ichigo blushed, surprised at the passion. Shaking slightly, he pulled back the covers of his bed, and asked the adorable creature "Shall we go to bed?"