- Heart to Heart -
A name is written on a polished rock,
A broken heart that the world forgot.
- - -
"Hey, mom!!" A small boy with unruly orange yelled, waving one hand around happily.
A small black umbrella was clutched in the other one.
Suddenly, a truck whizzed by, sending a huge wave of water upon the smiling child, whose grin turned into a frown as soon as the water made contact with his face.
"Ah!" He cried, as he attempted to wipe the water off himself, which would never work, considering that as soon as he squeezed out some water from his hair, more of it fell onto his body from the cloudy grey sky above.
"Ichigo!" His mum laughed, pulling out her handkerchief and wiping the water from his face.
"I'll take the side close to the road, you won't get wet that way."
"No mum, I can handle it!" Ichigo pouted.
"I'll protect you!"
His mother laughed.
- - -
They were nearing home now, with only a single bridge to cross, before they would arrive at their doorstep, and be welcomed into the warmth of their house.
But that single bridge played a huge role in his life.
Ichigo saw a lonely figure at the bank of the river, and overcome by his childish curiosity, began to pelt down the green grass, towards the ghostly figure.
"Ichigo, NO!!" His mum had yelled.
The only thing he remembered was briefly making contact with the spirits clothing, before his world went black.
He woke to see the dead figure of his mother, sprawled on top of him, and in what was obviously a last attempt to save him from what he didn't know existed.
Even if it was at the cost of her own life.
"No…" Ichigo wailed, not believing his eyes.
"MUM!!"
In the next few minutes, ambulances and police officers arrived at the scene.
Apparently, a resident of that area had sworn she heard a boy moaning like a ghost.
She couldn't have been more correct.
His mother, the person who was the most important to him, was dead.
The faces of Karin, Yuzu, and his dad when they arrived at the scene still haunted him to this day.
But at that time, he wasn't bothered with them.
A sentence, one that he had uttered himself was repeating in his head.
"I'll protect you…"
Ichigo gave a wail of anger.
He had promised to protect her, but it was he who had caused her death.
- - -
Kurosaki Ichigo awoke in cold sweat.
The nightmares of the day that his cherished mother had left the earth continued to plague him, along with the faces of his two sisters, and even his stupid old dad.
But their level of pain was primary compared to the torture triggered by that single sentence.
"I'll protect you."
A promise, to which he had done the exact opposite.
He had put her in danger. And his stupidity had caused his mother her life.
And he, as the guilty son, had to live with those nightmares, every single night, for six years.
He would have much rather died.
But he had no more time to think, as a clear and exaggeratingly confident voice rang out, destroying the silence that had gathered while he was contemplating.
"Oh good, I didn't have to use this."
Ichigo's eyes widened.
For there, at the side of his bed, stood a freakishly short shinigami with cropped black hair, wearing a pair of what was obviously a pair of Yuzu's pyjamas.
But the sight of Kuchiki Rukia at the side of his bed, wearing his sister's pyjamas, did not capture his attention.
It was the fact that he was holding a saucepan.
Yes, a saucepan.
Then it registered to his angst-filled mind.
She was gonna bash me on the head with that…Thank god I woke up.
"Rukia…wuh?" He asked groggily.
"You were loud."
"…" He waited for her to elaborate, which she usually did after one of her short sentences.
"Honestly, I could hear you from Karin's room, across the hall!" She said, folding her arms across her chest.
Ichigo groaned inwardly.
Had the rest of his family heard him too?
"Yea… right, sorry."
"That's okay," She turned to walk out of the room when she abruptly stopped.
"You've been doing this for a while now, what are you dreaming of?"
Ichigo was taken aback at the touch of concern in her voice.
Kuchiki Rukia lectured, shouted and was even sorry a few times, but never was she concerned.
Well, not for him at least.
"Nothing much…"
"You're lying."
"…"
Rukia sighed.
"Look Ichigo, even if I may not be from this world I'm sure that hearing a teenage guy moaning in his sleep, and watching him wake up panting is not good.
"So what are you dreaming about?"
Ichigo recognised the firmness in her voice and realised that she wasn't going to let this matter rest.
"Just stuff… and the day that my mother died…"
At this, Rukia was quiet.
Ichigo took it as his queue to speak again.
"It was raining…we were walking home from the dojo and I remember getting wet by water, promising my mum that I would protect her from something.
"At that time…it felt so easy to just say it, but…
"I saw something at the bank of the river, when she and I were standing near the railway tracks. I ran towards the thing and my mum tried to stop me from going near it, but I didn't listen.
"All I remember is the sound of a train…
"And the weight of her dead body."
Ichigo's voice shook.
"I killed her. I didn't listen when she told me not to go near it…
"And I did exactly the opposite of what I promised."
A long silence ensued, after Ichigo finished his story.
He had a feeling that the shinigami was lost for words, and honestly, he couldn't blame her.
I mean, how often does someone you thought you knew well turn out to be a monster who killed his mother?
They both spiralled off into their thoughts, and it was a while before Rukia spoke.
"It's not your fault."
"It is. I killed her."
"No you didn't."
Ichigo felt himself get angry.
"Who are you to tell me that? You don't understand!"
"I do."
"Yea right. Last time I checked, your record of killing your parents was perfectly clear."
Another silence ensued. Rukia seemed to be debating with herself.
Finally, she spoke again.
"I...I didn't kill any of my parents, but I killed the one person who was my friend at that time."
Ichigo was confused.
"You killed Renji?"
He had remembered seeing Renji just hours before, complaining about his hunger and freeloading off Uruhara.
Rukias eyes flashed at his stupidity.
"No, not Renji, dumbarse, Kaien.
"Shiba Kaien."
"Shiba? As in, Ganju and Kukaku's…"
"Brother? Yes."
"…"
Rukia sighed.
Ichigo had told her his story, now it was time for her to tell him hers.
"It was also a rainy night. A hollow attacked his wife's squad, and they were all annihilated immediately.
"Kaien-dono rushed off to meet the hollow, but lost his Zanpakutoh(sp?) due to some powers the hollow had.
"However, he continued fighting, until in the end, he became the hollow."
Rukia's voice wavered slightly, but she managed to keep herself from crying.
"He was racing towards me…I panicked…and stabbed my Zanpakutoh in his direction.
"The next thing I knew, my sword was protruding from his back."
Rukia closed her eyes.
"I had killed him. He died in my arms."
For the next hour or so, they both remained silent, reminiscing over their pasts, and drowning in their regrets.
When first signs of daylight approached, Rukia shattered the silence.
"You know, there was something that Kaien-dono told me…"
"Yeah?"
"You should never die alone."
At Ichigo's questioning expression, she explained.
"Because when you die, you pass your heart to the person who is closest to you…"
"…"
"When Kaien-dono died, he passed his heart to me.
"When your mother died, I'm sure that she passed her heart to you as well."
Ichigo was surprised. That was about the most gentle thing she had ever said.
Maybe there was another side to Kuchiki Rukia?
"Well, thanks Rukia."
She flushed, as if just realising how soft she sounded.
Well, that just wouldn't do.
"Anything to get you to stop your moaning, jerkface."
Ichigo grinned.
Another side to Rukia?
As if.
Owari –
Dun!
First Bleach Fanfic ever…
Please review, constructive criticism is always needed!
Ja!
Nori-chanxx/Eternity.Isn't.Forever