Title: Falling.
Rating: PG
Pairings/Characters: Kyouraku Shunsui/Ise Nanao
Warnings: **spoilers** Spoilers for the last couple of episodes before the fillers, though if you haven't seen them you probably won't recognize much.
Word Count: Exactly 300 words.
Summary: She can feel them in her bones. Far away, struggling to save the world she so enjoys, they fight for survival.
A/N: Written for bleach_contest and crossposted to various communities.
Falling.
His heart is racing as comrades fall. All around him reiatsu thunders through the air, building and crushing and biting. He feels its pull, constantly tormenting him because he knows friends lie broken on the ground. A jump, a burst of energy, and he soars high above them. His zanpakutou surge, like they're asking for release. He can only give them more pain.
A deep longing inside him, to keep soaring above it all and pretend it's not real, but a bright flash of energy in front of him pulls him out of the thought. Blood soaks.
~
She can feel them in her bones. Far away, struggling to save the world she so enjoys, they fight for survival. Every time she inhales, a pain hits her. With every breath, more of them crush to the earth. Helpless, she is, like a bird caged. Her zanpakutou weeps, much like she does, as they huddle together until the end. They're the last line of defense, but she isn't sure fighting back would be worth it if everyone else is dead.
Standing tall, not relenting even under the constant barrage of worry. They'll be alright. He said they would be. A woman, so tiny as she stands on the roof, yet a little girl remembering that first evening.
Nanao-chan.
Lips tremble, but she stands strong. She waits and believes, because she wants to share one more night. Should they make it, that little girl will have grown.
~
The ground is cold beneath him and he can smell the bitterness of blood. His zanpakutou rest on the ground beside him, tremors rippling through the dirt as they call for him. In the back of his mind something – someone – else calls for him too and he makes to stand.
Taichou!
He fights on.
