I DO NOT OWN BLEACH
KUBO TITE DOES!

Normality Façade

& Overwhelming Sweetness

It's bright…
The sun that came from outside the window, shining on Ichigo's face, was bothering him. He opened one eye, squinting, unwillingly straightened and sat up. Stretching his limbs, his body felt unbearably stiff. Even though he was so tired last night he couldn't get a descent sleep, he could feel it in his neck and back, and mostly in his head… it's definitely going to be a long day.

As he came to his senses he got a strange feeling, an unwelcome shiver went down his spine. He didn't dislike it, but didn't quite understand what it meant. The room wasn't colder than usual, the air not thicker than usual, everything was just as it was any other day. It seemed to be just another normal morning following a normal night that followed a normal day in a normal life that was his for a period of timed that looked longer than eternity.

Ichigo took a minute to look around his room; there was nothing different from yesterday. He stood up and turned around, looking outside the window, the scenery was also the same as it always was. Ichigo, still not quite awake, stared blankly outside his window. As the seconds passed he came to think all the greenery at the foot of his house was somewhat greener than it has usually been; the flowers had a color more vivid than he could remember having before; the sun was brighter than it usually was in this ridiculously early time of the day, or so he thought. He dismissed it, thinking he couldn't remembered the last time he was so engrossed with the view outside his room, but it surly was a nice day outside.

Ichigo went out of his room to the bathroom as he always did, brushed his teeth and washed his face like in every other morning. He looked in the mirror and moved three fingers along his jaw line to his chin and grimaced to the feel of it.
What a pain…
He opened the medicine cabinet, reluctantly grabbing his razor, and then closed it with a sigh. He brought his face closer to the mirror to have a better look; it wasn't so bad, actually, his stubble could wait for tomorrow, it was a Saturday anyways. He opened the cabinet again and put the razor back in its place.

He went out of the bathroom and started pacing back to his room. Again, he felt that same strange vibe as his right foot stepped across the threshold. Scratching the back of his head and feeling rather confused, he couldn't decipher what it was or where it came from. Once again he walked to the window; the view was so colorful and vivid in a manner that seemed odd to him. Ichigo reached to it, turning the handle to open.

A fog of sweet breeze rushed in, he instinctively closed his eyes and let his entire being be wrapped in it, breathing it to the depth of his lungs and holding the tingle of sweetness for a few seconds, then letting it out in what was only but a tormented sigh. A fine day indeed.

This strangely sweet air made his unexplainable sensation only stronger, he felt it in every part of his body, even the tips of this fingers. He looked at his palm silently and closed his fingers in a tight fist, then opening it again. This strange air made him somewhat energetic, forgetting his fatigue almost completely. He stripped to his underwear, putting on black pants, a white T-shirt and a gray hoodie. He closed the window, feeling the refreshing air fading all at once as he did so, and went out of the room quietly; it was too early for anyone of his family members to be awake on a Saturday. He went downstairs and put on his snickers, thinking this is a nice chance to jog.

Stepping outside and closing the door behind him, Ichigo felt the sweet air surrounding him, it felt nice everywhere it touched his bare skin, an almost invisible smile formed on his lips, and he started running. As he raised the speed and worked out a pant the air that filled his entire body pushed him to run faster, so he would consume as much of it as he could in each gasp. He kept running and running, wishing he could go on forever. As he ran along he noticed not only the greenery and flowers he saw from his window were so much more lively than they usually are, everything he passed by gave him the same impression; delicate petals seemed like they were freshly painted the perfect color overnight; leaves covering tall trees- the greenest green he ever saw, full of vitality. Even the skies were the gentlest blue he witnessed, and the clouds were a shade of creamy white, as soft as cotton. He felt like he was looking at his surroundings, that he passed by every single day, for the first time.

Ichigo came to a halt as he passed by a small meadow; the lawn was so green that he wanted to touch it, to know the feel of it. As he thought it was unimaginably soft.
What the heck, just a while wouldn't hurt.
Ichigo lay on the grass and spread his legs and arms, watching the beautiful blue of the sky, letting the sweet breeze cool his damp skin. Not a minute passed and he had already drifted into a deep sleep.


"oi… oi!"

What the…
Ichigo opened his eyes; it was no longer bright outside.

"Hey, you awake? I thought you were dead." a familiar voice said, Ichigo couldn't decide if his tone was insulting or merely amused.

"Shut up." He said, still drowsy, while sitting up reluctantly. "What time is it?"

"It's 17:30. You slept so soundly, I really wanted to kick you." The voice said in a taunting tone. Ichigo could only imagine the smug patronizing grin this person might have plastered on his face.

17:30?
Ichigo ignored the commentary, too shocked to realize he has been sleeping on the lawn for about 10 hours. He stood on his feet, brushing away grass and dirt that stuck to his clothes. He looked at the spot he occupied and was amazed to discover a dent in his form, he didn't even move from the position he was in when he first lay there. He never stayed still while sleeping, always tossing and turning.
"Yeah, well. I'm off now." He said dryly as he started walking away.
"Hey! What's that suppose…" he was cut off mid sentence.
"Bye, Jinta." Ichigo waved briefly, not turning to meet the other's eyes, leaving Jinta standing there to watch his back while he was getting farther away in hurried steps.

Though quite inevitable, Ichigo wished to keep somewhat of a distance from people who had anything to do with his past. Karakura was a rather small town; there was no helping undesirable meeting such as this. Unfortunate as it was, it wasn't so hard to deal with it as it was for him to share school with students that once considered him their nakama. That person was no more, the thought of that was too painful, a pain he couldn't completely ignore or forget as his family also possessed powers he once had, and now desired more than anything. Never admitting this pain to anyone, sticking to the façade of normality, pretending to be fine as he is, this is a show he was going to keep for a long time, and it was tiring.

Walking back home Ichigo noticed something was different, all the colors went back to being the dull color they were before; the sweet air that gave him so much energy was no more. Everything was back to normal, and he didn't care much for that.

"I'm home", he opened the door and walked in, getting out of his snickers. The house was unusually quite for this hour of the day, not a sound came from the kitchen, living room or bedrooms upstairs. There was no one there. He didn't think much of that and climbed up the stairs, the only thing he wanted to do was get a shower. He opened the door to his room and it hit him. This strange felling never left his room. It was weird to think a "feeling" possess his room, but he couldn't explain the fact that it resides only in his room in any other way.

This thought was also dismissed. Ichigo could no longer participate in games of haunted houses; it was ridiculous thinking over it after so long. He blamed it on the weird day he had, it must have been one of those days nothing goes quite as it should. There's nothing much to think of it.

He sat on the floor besides his bed; much like the sweet air this "feeling" had an effect on him, it was hard to compare the two, since the one in his room was so much more condensed while the air outside was freely twirling, having no walls to restrict it. The strange feeling made him somewhat relaxed; he just wanted to lie down, as if he did not sleep for 10 hours shortly after waking up. He took a pillow off his bed and placed it on the floor, putting his head on top of it. Much like before, it hasn't been even a minute and he was already dozing off. It felt good, his entire body going numb as if great force pressed down on it, obliging him to stay put and get a rest. Strange as it was, since he heard no noise but his own leveled breathing, he felt as if there was someone right next to him. He opened his eyes to make sure he was just imagining thing, and as he thought there was no one there. He closed his eyes and the sweetest fog attacked his nose, filled his lungs entirely with this passionate gentle sweetness as he drafted into deep calm sleep.


It's bright…

He thought as gentle rays caressed his face.

Ichigo opened his eyes to discover another day has come. It was quite early in the morning and it took him some time to come to the conclusion that he has been awake for no longer than 3 hours the day before. This was too bizarre, usually he would sleep merely 6 hours a night, and it was never the rest he'd hoped for, nevertheless he could never catch up to his missing hours, not even on weekends. He sat up on the hard surface, unbelievable as it was, to top it all, he was sleeping on the floor. He turned to pick up the pillow as he discovered it was covered with dirt and random pieces of grass. He ran his fingers through his hair and sure enough, that's where it came from. He got up on his feet and paced to the closet to get a new cover for the pillow. He slid the door open as a wave of immense force brought him to his knees, almost gasping for air as it thickened and made it nearly impossible to breath.

N…no way…
This force was similar to something he once knew, something that he was never meant to feel again, something he once possessed and missed miserably.
It was a tingle of reiatsu he sensed, engulfed with the now too thick strange sweet air that took over the room the day before, and one that he could never forget, or so he thought.

No freaking way…impossible
His eyes were staring holes in the floor as he sank deep in confusion. It was hard to breath and so much harder to move, yet he gathered every bit of strength that he had to shut that door closed. The air in the room lightened a bit, but Ichigo couldn't bring himself to move, like he was glued to his place on the floor, bending over his knees. He shook with dread, there was no way, and there really was no way. He gulped, his fingers formed tight fists, he shut his eyes and took a deep breath, knowing how he would regret what he was about to say, one name he hadn't said for months over months, a name with too many painful memories that were nothing but that.

"Rukia…?"


may the gods bring Rukia-sama back to us as soon as possible.

:)