Evil Angel

By: Hitokiri Musei and Fallen Truth

Rated: M

Summary: Vizards are a crime against nature, and when the Soul Society comes after Ichigo it sends him into hiding and constant running, with nothing but the faith inside of him, the help of his evil angel opening his wings over him.

Warnings: This is probably going to be extremely AU, but it's definitely interesting. We're having a lot of fun with this one. This is going to be a HichiIchi as well. This is post-war with Aizen, Ichigo is currently 20 years old, living away from home.

I think I finally feel good about posting this; it's been written to chapter 7, and so I think that I can hold onto it without too much trouble. Now, Fallen Truth is moving, so I won't be able to consult her as easily as normal, so I will probably only contact her when I really get stuck. Even so, she did get me started on this, and she has provided some good input, so her name remains on the story. I hope you guys enjoy it!

Note: Every chapter is named after a line or phrase from the song "Evil Angel," which inspired this story.

We don't own Bleach, nor "Evil Angel" by Breaking Benjamin.


Chapter 1

Imaginary Friends

I suppose that I knew all along that this would happen.

Ever since the first time that I had heard what had happened to them, ever since Shinji had told me that they were a crime, exiled from the Soul Society, I knew somewhere inside me that something would happen eventually.

I guess I was just in denial. I thought that I had friends there, ones that I could count on. It wasn't as though I had many in the real world. The life of a shinigami-daikou had consumed everything that I had to give, and so my life in reality suffered. I hadn't heard from any of my high school friends since graduation nearly two years ago.

I thought that my friends from Soul Society would never leave me alone. I was their ally, their friend, their nakama. I thought for sure that they would try to do something to help me, even if it meant that they would be breaking the rules.

But as I sat here, soaked in the rain that fell from the graying skies, I knew that they had betrayed me, and that I had only one place left. I had only one person left to watch over me, and it was our crooked and broken relationship that kept me going. It was because of that bond that we had that I was still alive, and that faith kept me moving, no matter how many times they came after me, no matter how many times I was forced to keep running.

I had no one but my Evil Angel.


Some time ago…

King.

King, wake up!

I was startled out of a deep sleep by the echoing voice in my consciousness, my eyes flying open to stare into the darkness of my bedroom. I could feel the coolness of sweat on my skin, the clumps of orange hair that were matted to my forehead. Even my thin tank top was plastered to my body, uncomfortable.

My eyes darted to the window, where the rain fell outside almost violently. It was only after I had assured myself that nothing was going on that I turned my attention inward, calling to the voice that had awakened me.

What is it Shiro? Why did you wake me?

Something's not right King. I don't like the feeling that I'm getting.

I frowned as my Hollow failed to explain any more, though by the feeling that began to course through my body, I knew what he meant. There was something out there, hiding in the rain outside of my small flat, watching me while I slept. It hadn't just been Shiro's voice that had startled me awake, because now that I focused, I could feel what he was describing as well. I felt a pang in my chest as I recognized it; I knew this feeling well.

I rose, pushing my blankets back and hurriedly moving towards the desk where I kept my shinigami-daikou badge. Some part of me knew that even if I got it, there would be no way that I would be able to use it; I couldn't, not against this force. I stretched out my hand to take the familiar piece of equipment, but before I even touched it a voice stopped me.

"Don't move, Kurosaki."

I swore inwardly, and I heard the faint growling of Shiro somewhere within me. I had been waiting for this, and now that it had come, I knew that there was nothing left for me.

I turned to meet fuming teal green eyes and the gleam of the long sword that was pointed at my chest. Hitsugaya Toshiro had grown some in the last four years that I had known him, but he was still a good 5 inches shorter than my own muscular frame. But despite that difference, the small taichou still managed to strike a bit of fear into me.

"Toshiro." I murmured, my voice husky as I took a step backwards and away from the sharp point of Hyourinmaru. I had been right; the cool feeling of Toshiro's reiatsu had been unmistakable. My hand fell away from where the badge rested, my mind resigned to the fact that I wouldn't use it now.

He said nothing for a long moment, his eyes burning as he looked into my own. I could see something in those eyes, something that I had been uncertain if Toshiro could even feel. Toshiro was unbreakable, unmovable; he always had been. Then why was there a hint of hurt hiding in his deep eyes? "Kurosaki…" he murmured. "How could you?"

I blinked; that hadn't been the question that I had expected. "I… Toshiro, I don't…"

"How could you keep something like this from us?.!" he thundered, his eyes murderous as he took several steps closer to me, the sharp edge of Hyourinmaru shifting to rest against my throat. "Did you think that you could hide it forever?.! Why didn't you say something to me, at least?.!" His voice stumbled off into silence, and then he swallowed. "I would have found a way."

My face softened at those words. "Toshiro, you know as well as I do that there's nothing that can be done. He is a part of me. You can't take him away."

Toshiro didn't say anything, and then he sighed. "The soutaichou has ordered your capture, Kurosaki. Your capture and sentencing, and then execution."

"Just because of him?" I asked softly, part of me wanting to know. "Even though…"

The shorter man cut me off, his voice sharp and angry. "I fought for you, I'll have you know. I wasn't the only one, but in the end, we were ordered to track and capture you. For deceiving and betraying the Soul Society, and for playing in powers that were long ago forbidden."

I smiled softly. "Even though it wasn't my fault? Shiro wasn't something that I asked for, you know. Even so, I owe him my life, and so I don't think that I would get rid of him even if I had the choice."

The small taichou blinked at that revelation, but his eyes hardened again. "The soutaichou seems to think that you found this power on purpose, in order to raise your own strength, though I'm not sure what he could possibly think you would use it for. I told him that he was losing his mind, and that this order was ridiculous."

I couldn't help but grin at the imagery of little Hitsugaya Toshiro getting up in the face of the old soutaichou telling him just how much of an idiot that he was. I felt happy somewhere within me that I had made this friend so long ago. "Thanks Toshiro. I owe you for that one."

He scoffed faintly, but slowly lowered Hyourinmaru away from my throat. "You have been nothing but helpful to us, Kurosaki, and you have been the first friend that I have had in longer than I can remember." he whispered. "It is because of you that Aizen is gone, and the Espada have been erased. And still…" He shook his head, and then set his shoulders. "There is nothing more that I can do for you, except to turn a blind eye in this moment."

My eyes widened as I looked at the small taichou, gratitude flowing through me. "Toshiro, you…"

A surprising smile spread across his features, something that I had almost never seen in the entire time that I had known the young genius. "It is the least that I can do for you, in payment for the debt that I owe you."

"Debt…?"

His face was soft, his voice just as gentle. "You gave my sister back to me." His face then hardened, seriousness creeping across his features. "Now go, Kurosaki. You have to go far from here, and never stop running. I'm afraid that the next time that we meet, I can't afford to be as I am now."

I nodded, understanding.

"Go." He said sharply, glancing towards the door that was behind me. "Go, now! They're here!"

Just before I leapt out of the window, nothing with me except for the clothes I had on, I turned to meet his teal eyes. "Thank you, Toshiro."

He shook his head, and smiled slightly. "Move quickly, Kurosaki Ichigo. I hope that we shall not meet again."

Hitting the ground outside of my flat was a bit of a shock to me, but the years of fighting had taught my body strength and power, and I was up and running through the rain a moment later, my muscles straining as I pushed myself faster and faster.

I could faintly hear the sounds of the other shinigami entering my flat, but I pushed them away as I ran into the darkened streets of Karakura, my feet slapping wetly against the black stones and my breath sounding in my ears.

I felt the surge of power within me, and then the air around me shifted, and Shiro was gliding beside me, a white ghost in the rain.

Run with me, King… It's you and I now… Run with me…