Hello everyone:) So, this is the second story I've written for this website, and the only good one (according to me at least). It hasn't been beta'ed even though I would have liked it to be, so if you find ANY spelling mistakes you are welcome to write to me. This story came to me after having watched Hachiko one evening (and DAMN did I cry), and I started wondering how it would be if Ichigo had a dog.
Enjoy!;)
#
It was in the middle of summer in Karakura and a rather lovely evening. The two youngest of the Kurosaki-family was getting ready to go to bed, while their father was in the kitchen with a mug of coffee gone cold a long time ago. He was waiting to hear even the slightest sound from the front door. The tall man scratched his beard and sighed. His son had spent many of his evenings out the last couple of days, much to his dad's dismay.
Isshin knew why but it really was a blow to his conscience that he didn't know what to do about it. Ichigo barely even spoke to him these days, and it wasn't just normal puberty behavior. Other than a good morning and a bye his son avoided most interactions with his family and it tore his dad up inside. Ichigo was clearly trying to deal with the upcoming anniversary of Masaki's passing but if there was one thing Isshin knew then it was that withdrawal wouldn't help his eldest child. When his wife had just died Isshin himself, would coop up in the bedroom and do nothing for hours even though he knew it scared his family, but at the time, he had been too deep in his own mourning to think about his own children. Isshin was still ashamed of his behavior from that time and honestly, if it hadn't been for Kisuke and Yoruichi's (rather violent but necessary) interference it wouldn't only have been Masaki's death that tore his family apart.
The sound of the front door startled him out of his thoughts.
He waited patiently for his boy to turn around the corner and when Isshin finally saw that familiar orange hair, his eyes widened in shock. His son's school uniform was torn up and covered in dirt. Ichigos hair were sticking out in every direction and was just as dirty as his uniform, but the biggest concern was most definitely his injuries. Ichigo's knuckles were bloody and dripping slightly on the floor, he had a cut on his lip and the bruise underneath his right eye was swelling and turning from a painful red into a deep purple
When Ichigo saw his dad in the kitchen, he stilled. Their eyes met after Isshin was done examining his son and their mini starring competition was first broken by Ichigo. The teen averted his eyes and mumbled a quick "night'" before he turned to escape up the stairs.
Isshin watched the back of his bruised up son with a pinch of panic in his chest, when he finally got his mouth to work up a croaked: "wait!"
The retreating figure froze again and after a few seconds, turned his head a bit, mindful of not showing his newly formed black eye. The oldest Kurosaki just stood at the foot of the staircase trying to find the right thing to say. He wanted to voice his worries and his fear; worries for his obviously unhappy son and his young twin daughters who continued to ask when Ichi-nii was gonna come home, and the nervousness he had in his body whenever the clock struck nine and his son wasn't home yet. He wanted to say that he understood but he didn't know what to do; he wanted to say that he was sorry, that he could help, that it would get better, but in the end all the emotions balled up in his throat and noting came out.
After a few tense minutes, Ichigo turned to walk upstairs again and Isshin finally pulled himself together.
"W-wait! Let me take a look at those". His voice was almost pleading and he winched at the crack. With a bit more resolution he continued.
"Let me look at your injuries. Come with me into the clinic". He attempted to keep eye contact with Ichigo, but goddamn did his son's eyes seem emotionless! They were so dull and seemed so uncaring that Isshin could barely look into them.
Ichigo simple stared back but yet again broke eye contact before giving a calming smile, or at least that was what he was going for.
"It's fine pops, I'll take care of it before I go to bed". The smile didn't last long though when Ichigo stretched his already split lip. A drop of blood ran from the newly opened cut and down the thirteen year olds chin before he whipped it off with the back of his hand. This only led to him hissing lowly in pain when he put pressure on his injured hand.
Isshin simply smiled amused at his sons attempt to brush the current state of his body off, but his mind was filled with worry.
"Right. Come on, I'll patch you up" he said and turned around. Ichigo stood on the steps a few moments longer before rolling his eyes (which was stupid since it made his bruised eye throb in pain. He really should stop moving his face so much), and followed his dad into the clinic.
Ichigo sat down on one of the beds, there was no one else but the two of them in the room, since Isshin had sent the last of his patients home the previous day.
Isshin brought some bandaging, something to clean the wounds with and an ice package for the eye. He held out the ice package for Ichigo to take, before he examined the swelling. He saw no signs of a broken cheekbone luckily.
"It will probably hurt for a couple of days, but it'll heal fine. Now keep the ice on it for the next 10 minutes".
Ichigo looked up at him and mumbled, "I know… thanks dad". Isshin was surprised to hear his son say that, and idly wondered when he had last heard his son call him "dad". His lips twitched a in a small smile, while he proceeded to clean the wounds on the knuckles for any debris. The smile quickly dropped however when his tweezers took a hold of something white and bone-like. After staring at the object for a good 15 seconds and getting over the initial shock, he sighed and threw the little piece of tooth in the trash bin. He glanced up from the hand he was holding to Ichigo's face only to see a slightly guilty expression. Ichigo was looking to the side, avoiding his father's gaze and readjusted the icepack on his eye a bit. Isshin decided to let the fact that Ichigo had punched somebody so hard that he still had some teeth stuck in his hand slide; the thought made him shudder a bit though. His son had been a fighter since his mother's death but Isshin certainly didn't want his son to be in fights this violent.
Instead, he chose to say "We missed you at dinner".
After a few seconds, Ichigo answered quitly "I was with Chad and we… we got hold up. Ran into some guys". He then shrugged and continued, "They were being jerks to this kid so we had to step in".
Isshin looked at Ichigo waiting to see if he continued but apparently, there was nothing more to say. He almost sighed again but honestly, he had been doing that way to much the last two hours. He just kept cleaning his son's hands thinking about what he should say. He worried that he would say the wrong thing and make Ichigo shut him out again. This was the first real talk they had had in four days.
In the end he said "just try to be home at dinnertime a bit more from now on, ok?"
Ichigo just nodded and hummed. Isshin washed the wounds on both hands and the one on the lip before he looked into the one of his son's eyes that weren't covered up. It looked a bit more alive, but very very tired and he decided to let his son go. For now. He still had to find a way to get Ichigo out of his depressed funk. For now he had to settle with bandaging him up.
"Alright, all done. Come to me again if there is any problems. And maybe lay of the fights for a while" he said smiling (trying to convey his concerns to his son). Ichigo just scoffed and answered with a not at all serious "sure", before he got up and walked towards the door.
Right before his son reached the door handle Isshin felt like he should say more. Anything really.
"You're not…" he cut himself off, not sure of how he should continue. "Not… invincible Ichigo. Take care of yourself more, okay?" he finished less sternly than he started.
His son just turned and looked at him. He looked a bit pensive at what his father had just said. So he just decided to answer; "I know pops… no one is". He then smiled sadly, turned, and walked in to the house.
Isshin were left alone on the hospital bed trying to swallow the newly formed lump in his throat.
It was a few days later when Isshin was at the Urahara Shoten, venting his frustrations with his two best friends. They sat across from him both drinking their second cup of sake, while he probably was on his fourth. His talk with his son a few days before hadn't changed a lot. Ichigo was home a bit earlier and not as beaten up but he still avoided too much interaction with his father and sisters. It was especially hard on Yuzu and Karin. The youngest of his girls would try to keep them at the dinner table for as long as possible before she had to give up on Ichigo making it on time, and then had to put an extra plate with food in the refrigerator with a note. She couldn't hide her disappointment every time it happened.
Karin on the other hand tried to act uncaring and make Yuzu think of something else, but Isshin had caught her in the bathroom forty minutes past her bedtime waiting up for her brother to come home. This had happened two days ago and Isshin finally decided to go get some help. Maybe Yoruichi and Kisuke weren't the best advisers on this particular area but they were his friends, and had both dealt with the sorrow of loss before.
"I have no idea what to do". He drank the last of his sake before putting his cup down. "He doesn't speak to me or his sisters and honestly I don't know what we should speak about. I've tried to start a conversation with him about the trip to the graveyard but he just bolted as soon as he could".
"I've tried initiating a talk about every single topic I could think off. I've even had to try to get him to go pick up his sisters from school, and he does without much complaining, but then they get home and he's straight up to his room, and then out the door half an hour later".
Kisuke and Yoruichi glanced at each other.
"Ne Isshin-san! It'll probably get better right? I'm sure you had your own emo-rebel-punk years when you were that age!" Kisuke said pulling out his blasted fan. Yoruichi grabbed said fan and stabbed its owner in the forehead with it. She then leaned forward over the table while her victim was withering in pain behind her, smoke rising from behind his hands he held to his bruised forehead.
"Ignoring the idiot comment he's probably right Isshin. Perhaps all Ichigo needs is time".
Isshin ran a hand through his hair.
"Perhaps. However, every day I see his sisters getting more and more frustrated and no improvement in him. I really need to do something". Isshin knew is son was good at heart, he saw it more times than Ichigo probably knew when he would act like the stereotypical independent teenager. But Ichigo's behavior was straining his family more than Isshin would accept anymore.
Kisuke finally decided to stop whining and sat up. He had reclaimed his beloved fan and was now fanning his sore forehead with it.
"He runs around because he has nothing else to do, right? It is what keeps him distracted from thinking about his mother, and he doesn't have any hobbies anymore does he?"
The room's other occupants looked at the blonde-haired man. Isshin scratched his beard and sighed:
"No, not really. Ichigo quit karate right after the attack but who can blame him. It was always his mother who picked him up, it would only bring back bad memories if he had continued.
He never really picked up any other sport after that. At least he has a friend he hangs out with, and he doesn't seem like a bad kid".
"Yasutora Sado? You mentioned him before" incurred Kisuke.
"Yeah. He's a bit on the quite side but certainly not bad for Ichigo. I wish Ichigo would bring him home so I could meet him though and not just hear about him from Ichigo and Yoruichi".
Kisuke looked surprised at the last part and flickered his eyes to his companion. Yoruichi noticed the affronted gaze and simple crossed her arms and scoffed:
"It was Isshin who asked me to tail the kid a little. How else were he supposed to know if this Sado kid was a bad influence on Ichi-kun? Sado is a nice kid"
She then looked quite pleased with herself.
"He doesn't have half bad taste either. He told me my fur was very beautiful," she said smirking thanking about the tall boy who apparently had a soft spot for cute animals.
Isshin and Kisuke sweatdropped and shared a look before shrugging.
"Maybe that's what he needs Isshin. A pet?" Before Kisuke could say any more he had a pair of sharp eyes drilling a hole in the side of his head.
"Who are you calling a pet Kisuke?" a menacing voice questioned. Kisuke snapped his fan shut, held both hands up in a surrendering pose and started formulating an apology. Before they could get any further though Isshin hummed loudly. Yoruichi loosened her hold on Kisuke's collar and Kisuke stopped praying for mercy.
Isshin sat on the other side of the round table with his legs crossed, striking a thinking-pose with one hand on his chin.
"A pet? That's actually not a bad idea," he said quietly to himself. Kisuke quickly jumped in.
"Of course it is! A pet is a wonderful idea. It would give young Kurosaki-san something to do and it would most certainly also make your daughters happier!"
Yoruichi looked from one goof to the other who were know talking enthusiastically about how great an addition a pet would be to the Kurosaki family. She attempted to reign them in.
"Hey back up a bit! Do you even know if Ichigo would want a pet? Moreover, it's a big responsibility too! What if he neglects it or-"but she was quickly cut off by a beaming Isshin. The smile on his face completely caught her by surprise. Since the eldest Kurosaki had arrived, he hadn't offered more than a greeting smile. Now he was like a giddy, overexcited five year old; so being himself basically.
"That won't happen! My son is way too protective and AWESOME to do that! He would never neglect a small cute animal that's under his care!"
Isshin went back to discussing with Kisuke what animal would be the best choice. Yoruichi examined her friend a bit longer. She could see a lot of complications with just suddenly buying a pet for a kid like Ichigo who already had a lot of other things on his mind. But one look on Isshin's face and her worries lessened. Even if Ichigo didn't warm up to his pet Isshin already had.
Therefore, she decided to join in on the discussion with the obviously best choice of furry friend.
"Well a cat would be the best animal young Ichigo could ever get, now wouldn't it?" she said puffing out her chest with a big grin on her face.
Isshin and Kisuke stopped talking and looked at her, then back at each other. The silence stretched for a few moments before Kisuke stated:
"Perhaps something less aggresive, yes?"
The birds on the buildings surrounding the Shoten took flight at the terrified scream coming from the neighboring building. The birds on top of the Shoten however, jumped in fear and one of them even slipped and fell.
#
Isshin whistled a small tune as he closed the car door. He grabbed the box in the trunk and walked up to the house.
Yoruichi had sulked a bit at the choice, since a kitten clearly would be better than a smelly dog. Nevertheless, Isshin was sure of his choice and the little cutie he was bringing home was absolutely adorable. Now he just hoped Ichigo wouldn't throw a fit.
Ichigo's shoes in the hallway was a clear sign that his son was home. Perfect.
Isshin shifted the cardboard box in his arms and walked into the living room. The puppy shuffling around in there gave a small whimper saying she wanted to come out. Not yet pup, first when Ichigo is here.
He sat the box down on the couch table, walked to the stairs and took a deep breath…
"KIDS COME DOWN HERE! Daddy has something EXCITING to show you!"
He heard thumbing from their rooms and then the sounds of doors opening.
"What is it dad? Can't it wait a bit?" sounded Karin's voice. Isshin smiled and put his hands in his sides.
"NOPE. It's family meeting time!"
Then after a few moments he shouted for good measure-
"You TOO Ichigo!"
There were some more grumbling and then Yuzu and Karin came down.
"What now goat-chin? We were doing our homework," said Karin.
Isshin snorted.
"Pfft homework. THIS is way more exciting!"
His voice practically bounced with giddiness. He then stretched out his arm and pointed.
"Now, go to the living room, sit down and DON'T touch the box!" he commanded.
They walked past him and then he focused on the last person coming down the stairs. Ichigo had healed fine as he always did and he didn't need any bandages on his hands anymore. The black eye was also getting better.
"What's up Goat-Chin? Why are you yelling like that?"
Isshin simply grinned.
"Come come! Go into your sisters and open your present!".
Ichigo's eyes widened in surprise for a second and then narrowed in suspicion.
"My present?"
"Yep!" Isshin beamed, turned around and ran into the living room where he jumped over the couch table, twisted in the air and landed in between the twins. Next, he put his arms around their shoulders and squeezed them close.
Karin growled, "watch it!" and tried to escape while Yuzu was startled but didn't complain and even broke out a small little. Then Ichigo walked in and everyone grew quite. He studied the box before he walked up to it and pointed at it with one hand and the other in his pocket.
"My present?" he asked deadpanning at his eager looking dad. Isshin almost squeezed the life out of his daughters in his excitement.
"Yes! Open it, open it!"
Ichigo looked at him a bit longer before he focused on the box before him. It was a pretty big, normal looking cardboard box but with a father like his you couldn't know what to expect.
On guard, he put his hands on the box and opened it. Two small brown eyes met his and his jaw dropped.
What. The. Heck?
He looked up at his father again.
"A dog" he said, not quiet believing it. Was this seriously happening?
Yuzu squealed and leapt up from the couch. Karin stayed in place equally as surprised as her big brother. Isshin just sat on the couch with his arms now crossed in front of his broad chest and practically shined.
Ichigo looking from his father down to the small brown puppy. It took way longer than it should before he could muster up the ability to talk.
"You… you bought me… a dog? For real?" He glanced back down at the fur ball that was now wagging its tail trying to climb out of the box. "Why?"
Isshin continued to smile and looked his son in the eye.
"I think it would be good for you! Having a pet is a wonderful experience and now there is always somebody home when you get back from school!"
Ichigo just looked even more surprised and started to get a little annoyed.
"But YOU'RE always home anyways. You work here!" His attention quickly snapped back to the dog again when it finally got over the edge of the box and almost tumbled of the table. Ichigo snatched it in the air before it hit the ground and held it to his chest. It was big enough for him to having to use both hands to hold it so it wouldn't wag itself out of his grip. The little thing looked up at him and then apparently thought it would be a good idea to attack his face with its tongue. He quickly held it in place so it couldn't reach.
He then looked back at his father.
"How the hell am I supposed to take care of a dog?!" he yelled. His sister's attention was on the pelt of fur in his arms but his father's gaze locked with his.
Isshin toned his smile a tad down and explained seriously yet gently.
"You haven't been happy in a long time Ichigo. I really believe that she would be good for you. Give you something else to do other than school and homework". He then looked guiltily at his son and added with a sad smile "And fighting".
Ichigo jolted at the last part, surprised that his Goat-Chin would bring that up now with his sisters around and then looked slightly to the side feeling a bit bashful. He had been away and getting in a lot more fights recently. He could say that he had reasons to jump into those fights but really, he could have avoided most of them. It was because he sought out the fights that he ended up in them. He knew that yet it hadn't really stopped him.
He looked back down at the puppy. It was wagging its tail almost uncontrollably while his sister scratched it behind it's ears. Karin had gotten up and was now petting it's soft fur.
Ichigo sighed and asked.
"But dad. A dog? Really?" he now looked a bit uncertain not sure how he should proceed from here.
Isshin just waved his hand totally unconcerned.
"Eh it'll be fine" he reassured his son.
"You just have to feed her, bath her, walk her, clean up after her, play with her and all that other stuff. Piece of cake" – he shrugged.
Ichigo got seriously anxious now. "You're gonna help right? You, Yuzu and Karin".
Isshin crossed his arms in a x in front of his chest and exclaimed
"Hell no!" – Yuzu berated him for swearing – "I am not going to help you, it's your dog now Ichigo!"
His son stared furiously at him.
"But you bought him! I didn't ask for a dog!"
Isshin just closed his eyes and sighed theatrically.
"My my. Here I bring home a pal for my lovely son and he won't even thank me! Truly what have I deserved to get such an ungrateful child" he wept, one fake tear falling from his eye.
Ichigo was ready to pop a vessel and would have kicked his idiotic father if he hadn't still been holding the puppy. Before he could attempt to yell some sense into the bearded fool, said fool opened his eyes and said with a grin.
"And it's a she Ichigo." He ruffled his son's hair not having to worry about getting punched since his son was unable to do anything with his arms other than holding on to the wriggling bundle of happiness. "Take good care of her" was Isshin's parting words before he went into the kitchen to start dinner.
Ichigo and his sisters was left behind in a stunned silence. Ichigo was starring after his father and had half a mind on following him when Yuzu asked:
"What are you going to name her Onii-chan?"
Ichigo looked at her still not sure, if this really just happened and then sighed:
"I have no clue".
#
Ichigo had been a dog owner for less than six hours and he was already damn tired of it! He meant that literally. It was 2 am and the puppy was howling like crazy down in the kitchen. Before going to bed, Ichigo had made sure that the dog had all it needed. Water, extra blankets in the dog basket his dad had bought at the pet store and he had taking it out to relieve its "urges" so they wouldn't wake up to a wet mess in the morning. He even gave it an old shoe it could chew on! But alas the puppy was adamant about no one in the neighborhood needing their sleep that night.
Ichigo twisted and turned trying to block out the miserable howling with a pillow to each ear, still debating whether he should go down there.
What really did him in was his neighbor Mrs. Takahata yelling through her window to "shut the damn creature up".
He got up with a sigh and tiredly dragged himself down the stairs supporting himself against the wall. He walked into the kitchen with a yawn and looked down at the source of noise. The puppy sat with its back to him keeping up with its howling not having heard Ichigo come up behind it.
Isshin had said that the puppy was a female brown Labrador. As far as Ichigo knew, it would be a pretty big dog when it grew up. For now though the pup was still little and not too happy with its predicament in the kitchen.
With another sigh Ichigo stepped over the premature wall, they had built of chairs and a thin wooden board to prevent the puppy from running all around the house.
First then did the dog hear him and stop its howls in favor of coming over and licking his hands. Ichigo sat down beside the puppy and it happily climbed up on his lab. It put its paws on his chest and tried to lick him in the face again but Ichigo wasn't so tired that he would let that happen just yet. He opted for petting it and calming it down. Eventually after a good 20 minutes, the dog had fallen asleep and he could finally catch some shut-eye. Slowly he placed the puppy in the basket careful not to wake it. Tiptoeing out of the kitchen it was first when he reached the stairs that he took a relieved breathe. The sweet sweet silence was however short-lived.
No more than five steps up the stairs did the whimpering start and two seconds later was the howling back.
He almost banged his damn head against the wall!
Walking back into the kitchen he just stood there looking at his dog. He still didn't think it was a good idea for him to have a pet and his sleep deprived brain wasn't exactly ecstatic about the idea either.
The puppy had stopped its howling again as soon as it saw Ichigo. Now it was just sitting on the floor not at all bothered by the glare thrown at it.
They stared at each other for a full thirty seconds before Ichigo slumped in defeat and picked it up. The puppy tried to reach his face yet again … this time he just let it happen not mustering up the energy to deny the licks.
He walked down the hall to his room trying not to make too much noise. After closing the door behind him, he sat the dog down on the floor, threw himself on his bed and was then finally back under his warm covers.
He was almost sleeping when a yelp jerked him awake. The puppy was in front of the bed staring at him. When Ichigo didn't do anything but stare back it shuffled its feet and whimpered expectantly. Big begging brown eyes stared at him unrelentingly.
With a resigned grumble, Ichigo stuck his right hand out and lifted the dog onto the bed. It licked the healed cuts on his knuckles in the process.
The puppy sniffed around the bed.
"If you pee in my bed it's right back to the kitchen. Hell I'll make sure dad gets you a doghouse outside you can stay in," warned Ichigo.
The puppy didn't react to the threat other than walking down to the end of the bed. It sniffed around a bit more, pawed a little at Ichigo's feet before it spun around in a few circles and laid down.
Ichigo didn't dare to move. He laid still for a few minutes until he heard the steady breathing from the small body in the foot of the bed.
When he had gotten comfortable and closed his eyes, he mumbled a tired:
"Good girl".
#
The little Labrador had now been in the Kurosaki household for three days and Ichigo was having fleeting emotions about the dog.
Half the time she was a joy and the other a downright pain. Ichigo had taken care of his sisters before but they understood what he told them and they didn't chew on everything. Just this morning she had ruined a pair of Yuzu's sandals and yesterday she bit her way through two couch pillows. There were still some feathers lying around the living room.
He had tried to give it all the chewing toys he could think of but they just served as a tripping source. And his dad blamed Ichigo for all the things the damn dog did!
The part of Isshin's plan about getting Ichigo home more often was definitely working. Ichigo woke up early in the morning, took the puppy out, fed it then went to school and immediately after school was over, he went home, walked the dog again fed it some more, did his homework and other chores he might have and before bed he took the dog out again. His sisters were nice enough to do some of the chores when they had the time (in Karin's case, when she felt like it), and both his dad and his sisters would play with the puppy. Isshin was more of an equal playmate in terms of goofiness; he would run away from the puppy and it would give chase with eager, and then they would switch places.
Sometimes the puppy came up to Ichigo with a ball or the blanket it had recently gotten fond of (it had now been chewed on so much that no one deemed it clean to use), with big puppy-eyes and wagging tail. And Ichigo would play with her for a time but he wasn't as into it as is dad or Yuzu and he certainly didn't talk to her; it seemed weird to talk to her when she couldn't respond.
And there was no way he was doing the baby-talk!
The matter of a name was still undecided too. Ichigo had tried to come up with something but nothing really seemed to fit. He believed it was appropriate to pick a fitting good name since they were going to have to yell it in public when the puppy thought it would be a good idea to chase birds. And "puppy" and "pup-pup" as Isshin said were not happening. His family had brought up many different name suggestions such as Fang, Saber (Karin's suggestions), Daisy, Uma (Yuzu's) and Buttercup or Masaki the Second (His dads, which weren't even on the top ten of bad names the man, came up with). But they did have to decide on a name eventually, and luckily Ichigo were the one who had to decide the name, so he wouldn't have to go around calling for fricking Buttercup.
It was in the afternoon on a Saturday and Ichigo was walking the dog. His dog to be exact; still not quite ecstatic about that idea.
The weather was sunny so Ichigo wanted to go the park and let the pup run around without a leash for a bit.
He then heard a small sniffling coming from around the corner. Peering around it, he saw the spirit of a girl around nine or ten years old. She had short, blondish hair and was wearing a sundress. The yellow color of the dress turned increasingly redder towards the center of her chest were her chain was located.
Ichigo stepped closer to the crying girl.
"Hello, what's wrong?"
The girl snapped her head up, surprised that someone spoke so close to her. When she saw that Ichigo indeed was speaking to her and not someone else her eyes started to get teary again.
"I- I d-don't know what I'm su-supposed to do. No one can hear or see me a-and I miss my mom and dad" she sniffled with a quivering voice whipping away some of the tears on her cheeks.
Ichigo looked at her kindly, eased up on the scowl a bit.
"I can hear and see you just fine. I'm sorry about your parents but the only thing I can do is help you cross over to the other side". A bit more uncertain he continued.
"You do know what's happened to you right?"
The girl kept sniffling and the raised her eyes to meet his.
"I died, didn't I?" she asked looking a little afraid of the answer she might get.
"I remember feeling cold and then darkness, b-but not what happened after that. Mom and dad weren't with me either".
She had folded her arms around herself as if trying to gain some warmth and the tears were now falling freely down her face.
Ichigo felt a tug on the dog leash when the puppy tried to jump up the girl.
"Hey! Don't do that!" he yelled and pulled the leash gently trying to pry the dog off the crying spirit. However, she had stopped crying and was now looking at the puppy in wonder. Then her teary face light up.
"PUPPY!"
Ichigo rolled his eyes. Figures
#
The fur ball was happily wagging her tail while the ghost girl scratched her stomach. Ichigo watched them play from the bench beside them. They were the only ones in the park at the moment since the sun was setting and most people were at home.
Seeing the girl – whose name he found out was Yume – and the dog interact, Ichigo thought if it was weird that the animal could see supernatural beings. He shrugged internally and decided not to worry about it too much.
"What's her name?" asked the spirit.
Ichigo looked at them.
"I haven't thought of a good name yet".
Yume hummed and looked bleak and nostalgic for a moment – which was a queer expression on a ten year old.
"We used to have a dog. She was a small, white, fluffy dog," Yume said quietly still petting the puppy. She then looked up at Ichigo with joy.
"Her name was Mana! She was the most cutest thing ever!"
Ichigo chuckled. "Mana? Like… "love"? He teased with a raised eyebrow, shooting the girl a humorous look.
Yume puffed up her cheeks and crossed her arms.
"Yeah! What's wrong with calling your pet "love"? It's cute," she said defensively slightly blushing.
Ichigo held up his hands.
"Nothing at all". He then looked down at the puppy who had now taking up the chase against its own tail. Ichigo reached down and petted the pups head. She looked up at him with her tongue hanging out, pressing her head against his palm. Her fur was ridiculously soft.
Ichigo hummed to himself – "Not a bad name at all".
Yume looked at him no longer blushing but still with her arms crossed. She then pouted her mouth slightly and said, "If you like, you can have it".
Ichigo snapped his eyes up to hers not quite following.
"Mmhh? Have what?"
Yume looked at him slightly embarrassed and pounded the ground lightly with her fist.
"Her name! You can have her name!" She then looked away with a slight flush in her cheeks.
"You said it yourself it's a good name! And I wouldn't mind you having it, it would suit your Labrador fine".
Still petting his dog Ichigo incurred – "Mana? You're giving me your old dog's name?"
The spirit folded her arms and were silent for a few seconds before giving a slight nod. Looking back down at the puppy by his feet who was now playfully biting one of his fingers, he pondered.
"Mana huh? Well that's as good a name as any I suppose," he mumbled.
Yume was just about to berate him of his indifference to the fact that she just gave him such a nice name for his dog when Ichigo looked up at her flashing a little smile.
"Thanks Yume" he said gratefully. She starred back at him with wide eyes before a full-blown grin took over her face.
"You're welcome!" she said rather pleased with herself before she looked around the park. The sun was nearly set and it colored the sky a beautiful ray of oranges, yellows and light pink.
Standing up she brushed of any dirt that might have gotten on her dress and looked at the teen in front of her.
When noticing Yume looking at him Ichigo stopped petting the newly named puppy. The little girl stood there with her hands in fists by her side with a determined look on her face.
"Help me cross over to the other side Ichigo? I-I'm still not sure of to do it but I think I'm ready to – to at least try". Ichigo was silent for a few moments before giving a small smile.
"Sure"
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Ichigo ran a hand through his hair after Yume had faded away completely. He sat on his haunches beside the dog for a couple of moments to collect his thoughts. Then Ichigo stood up and tugged a bit on the dog leash.
"Come on Mana. Let's get home before it gets dark". Mana followed him happily, her tail wagging behind her.
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Aaaand that's it! I hope you liked it. I havent written a new chapter yet, but have some ideas so maybe there will be another chapter(?). Depends on the feedback from you guys.
Thank you for reading:)