So, almost eight months after I decided to write this, it's finally complete. It was a pain in the ass, but it's done. I personally enjoy it, but I hope you guys do, as well.
I don't own Bleach, I'm strictly using it for my personal enjoyment.
Also: if this looks odd at all, please let me know. Document Manager was not agreeing with me when I was editing this.
Ichigo hated rain.
If the fact that it was generally cold and made his clothes stick to him in ways that clothes really should wasn't enough, all the bad things that had happened to him in his life had occurred when it rained.
The day his mother died it had been pouring all day. It had started raining on the day of his first fight and therefore his first suspension. The first time he had gotten his butt saved by Tatsuki it had rained.
And now rain was stinging his eyes, skin, face, as black slowly crept over his vision. Distantly he realized that he could no longer feel below his knees and that sensation was quickly disappearing from his fingers. Though there was still enough left to let him know that the sticky blood, his sticky blood, was being washed away by the rain.
The pain was quickly be worn away, replaced by biting numbness. His ears were stuffed, making the distant voices seem muffled and incomprehensible. He had to assume that they were trying to help him, even though he couldn't feel them touching him.
The black was continuing to swallow his vision, and with one final thought on his family, Ichigo Kurosaki closed his eyes and allowed the darkness to swallow him.
Soft hair tickled his cheeks.
With a low grunt, Ichigo attempted to bat the tendrils away though they just swung back into place. After a moment, he realized he could feel his appendages again and that he was warm. He cracked an eye and brown met gray.
"Ohayo, Kurosaki-kun!" The strange girl, clad in incandescent white, chirped cheerfully. "It's great to finally meet you!"
"What do you mean, finally?" He grunted irritably, sitting up and rubbing at his eye with a fist as if tired. "Were you stalking me or something?"
"Something like that," she replied thoughtfully. "You see, Kurosaki-kun...I'm your guardian angel!" She extended her arms in an extravagant movement.
Ichigo stared at her for a moment before snorting. "Nice try. Where am I?" He looked around and all he saw was white. Painfully bright white. No buildings, sidewalks, or even a horizon. Almost like they were suspended in a white sphere.
The girl smiled. "You're In-Between."
"I'm in-between?"
"No, silly. In-Between," she emphasized with another laugh. Now beginning to question this girl's sanity, and his for that matter, Ichigo just looked blank.
"There's a difference?"
"Of course! This In-Between means between two worlds. I think you humans also call it `Linbo'? The girl tapped her chin, nose scrunching as she tried to remember.
"Limbo," Ichigo corrected idly. Then he paused. "Wait a minute! Are you telling me that I'm in Purgatory!"
She shot him an odd look as she plopped down next to him. "This isn't Purgatory. This is In-Between."
"Yeah. I got that," he snapped agitatedly. He rubbed a hand down his face. "So why am I here?"
Now she seemed to hesitate. "Well, you're not actually supposed to be dead."
"What?"
"It was a fluke. An accident," her hands fluttered nervously as she spoke. "That's why you're here. So you can decide if you want to go ahead and or go back to the living."
"Just like that?"
"Just like that," she confirmed with another dazzling smile. Then he realized for the first time just how pretty this absolutely mental girl was. She had long light brown hair, which what must have been irritating his cheeks, and big, bright gray eyes that still seemed naïve. The white, almost gossamer gown didn't quite hide her...attributes, and with it being tied around her neck, it left her shoulders and arms bare.
She was still completely mental, though.
"What's your name, at least?" He asked her, getting his thoughts back on train. Mystery Girl blinked those gray eyes at him, eyebrows furrowing in vague confusion.
"Orihime," she answered brightly after a moment's pause. Fitting.
"What's your last name?" He asked brusquely.
"I don't have one. I've only ever been known as Orihime," she replied, sitting down in front of him and folding her legs underneath her.
"That kinda sucks," Ichigo noted. She smiled again.
"Not really. Everyone I know don't have last names," she answered cheerfully. "But Kurosaki-kun, if you don't hurry, you'll get stuck here." She continued anxiously.
He scowled at her. "Isn't it obvious? I want to go back."
"Okay," she agreed easily, clambering back to her feet noisily. "Take my hand." She extended one finely-boned, delicate hand down to him. After staring at it for a moment as if it was an alien, Ichigo hesitantly took it. With more strength than he thought she possessed, she managed to haul him to his feet. Standing in front of her, he realized that she was several inches shorter than he was. At most, she was 5'2.
She smiled once more. "Sorry, Kurosaki-kun." Before he could ask her to clarify, she slapped her hands against his chest with as much force as she could muster, causing him to reel off balance and fall back, cracking his head on the floor and blacking out.
He woke up to a ceiling of white, though this time it was white tiles and not white nothing. All of the blissful lack of feeling in that in-between place had disappeared, leaving him with an aching head, creaking ribs, bruises that throbbed, and a leg that hurt like a motherfucker wrapped up in a blocky cast under a blanket.
"Where the fuck am I?" He asked out loud, his voice ringing in his ears and causing him to wince.
"Onii-chan!" Yuzu's choked voice was heard through the door before it slammed open, causing him to wince once more, as the familiar blonde hair of one of his younger sisters hurtled towards him. Yuzu, face blotchy and tear streaked, wrapped her arms around him as tightly as he could handle, even though it still made him grunt with pain.
Karin and his father stood at the doorway. They both look wan and tired. Isshin had rather large, dark shadows under his eyes, while Karin looked the same except for her puffy, red eyes. "We thought you'd never wake up," the raven-haired twin greeted in her normal callous way, striving to sound natural.
Ichigo shot her a withering look, and she was unresponsive, though her lips curled up into a smirk.
Awkwardly, he patted the distraught Yuzu's head as a means to comfort, and she proceeded to burrow herself further into his broken ribs, which allotted another pained grunt.
"How many times have I told you to look both ways before you cross the street?" Isshin chided, the normal playfulness gone from his voice as he entered the room to take a seat in the uncomfortable plastic chair. He merely looked downtrodden and weary.
"Shut up, old man," Ichigo grumbled, feeling awkward in the sentimentality that was flooding the room. "How long have I been out?"
"About three days," Isshin answered. "They kept you on a sedative."
No wonder he felt like he was lying in a lake of peanut butter.
"When can I get out of here?" Ichigo rasped, licking his suddenly dry lips.
"In about one week," his father responded, hiding a yawn behind his fist. "Provided a car doesn't smash into you again."
Ichigo glowered at his supposed father and didn't say anything.
Just then, a knock at the door was heard and a nurse appeared. "I'm sorry, but visiting hours are over." She informed his family with a serene smile before disappearing out the door, which closed with a quiet 'click.'
Isshin heaved to his feet a moment later. "C'mon girls. Let's let him rest."
It took some coaxing to remove Yuzu from Ichigo's person but eventually she followed her father and twin out sniffling, Karin's complaint of "He's done nothing but rest!" being the last thing heard before the door clicked shut once more.
With a drawn-out sigh, Ichigo slumped back against the pillows, eyes closing. Even if Karin had been right, he was still tired. His family was so draining sometimes.
"They really missed you, Kurosaki-kun," the chipper voice was suddenly heard, causing his eyes to fly open. He stared at the smiling auburn-haired girl at the foot of his bed.
So he hadn't been hallucinating after all.
He squinted at her. "What are you doing here?"
A blinding smile. "I'm always here."
"What do you mean?"
"Exactly what I said!" She replied cheerfully, swinging her legs under her gossamer gown idly. "I've been your guardian angel since you were born!"
"Oh really?" His expression made it clear that he didn't believe her.
"Mm hm!" She hummed. "I was there the first time you walked, talked. I was there the first time you got into a fight," she paused at this point, tapping her chin, "and when you were subsequently beaten by that girl...what was her name again?" Her eyebrows furrowed as she struggled to remember.
"...Tatsuki," he muttered finally, scowling.
She smiled again. "That was it!" She paused momentarily before picking up her former train of thought. "And I was there when you were pant-"
"Okay, that's enough," he cut in brusquely, the scowl deepening. Unoffended, she smiled again.
Belatedly he realized that even though this girl was sitting on his bed, he didn't feel any pressure from her. "So how come I can see you now, if you've supposedly been here this entire time?"
She looked thoughtful once more, before shrugging her shoulders in a carefree manner. "I don't know. It's probably because you had a near-death experience."
He lifted an eyebrow. "'Probably?'"
"Yup! That's the current hypothesis, anyways." She answered, beaming.
Just then a quiet knock at the door was heard before another nurse poked her head in. "Kurosaki-san? Is everything alright? I could hear you talking from the station."
Casting a curious glance at the obliviously cheerful girl at the foot of the bed who seemed to be counting the tiles on the ceiling, he turned back to the smiling nurse. "Ah, yeah. I was just talking to myself." He told her awkwardly, trying to ignore the amused look on the nurse's face.
"Well, alright," she answered. "You should probably rest, though." She cast him a smile before disappearing with a click of the door.
"She didn't see you," he commented.
The girl abruptly stopped counting tiles and looked back at him, looking confused. "Didn't I mention that?"
"No." He sounded faintly annoyed.
"Oh! I'm sorry!" Her smile grew that much more, her cheek reddening. "Well, other people can't see me." She informed him a moment later helpfully.
He could feel his hair graying. "Is there anything else I should know?" He ground out.
She blinked. She tapped her chin with a slender finger for a moment. "Well, your not supposed to tell anyone about me," she offered.
"Mmm."
"Aaand," she drew out the word as she thought, "I'm not allowed to leave your side, so even if you order me to, I can't."
Ichigo looked faintly amused. "I can order you?"
"To a certain extent," she blinked, mystified as to his amusement. "Oh! Here's the biggie!" She leaned in closer, large gray eyes surprisingly intent. "You must never kiss me."
"How can I kiss you if I can't even touch you?" He asked, faintly irritated as to the stereotypical response. She cocked her head to the side, and then extended an hand towards his own. To his surprise, the fingers that touched the back of his bandaged hand was as real as the sister that had been clinging to him only minutes before.
"Because you know of my existence, I'm corporeal." She retrieved her hand, which returned to its twin in her lap. "But only to you."
"So what would happen if I were to...y'know?" He felt strangely awkward saying the word 'kiss.'
"I'm not sure," she answered thoughtfully. "I've heard that it has happened a couple of times, but the ones that it happened to haven't been seen since. I'd have to assume that the angel would be removed and punished."
"Removed?" He echoed.
"Mm hm. Under certain circumstances, an angel can be removed from whom they were guarding." It sounded like she was reciting something that she'd already recited multiple times.
"Right," he responded, sounding bored. "Listen, I want to sleep. So can you move or whatever?"
Orihime smiled brightly once more. "Absolutely, Kurosaki-kun." As he watched, she seemed to float off of his bed before moving away. "Good night, Kurosaki-kun!"
"...Night," he grunted as an afterthought.
Much to Ichigo's dismay, he continued to see Orihime pretty much all of the time. True to her word, she did follow him everywhere. Nobody else knew she was there, judging by the weird glances he would get whenever he would tell thin air to shut up.
He was seriously considering buying a bluetooth ear piece (or whatever it was called) even if he didn't have a cell phone, just so people would think he was talking to someone through the phone.
"Oooh, it looks so good!" His supposed guardian angel cried right then, face mashed flat against the glass of a small bakery. Ichigo glanced at her out of the corner of his eye with a raised eyebrow.
"Why don't you try one?" He asked her. "It's not like anyone can see you."
She flashed him another blinding smile. "I can't eat."
"At all?"
"Nope! I have no need for it."
"Oh," he finally realized. "You mean, you don't eat. Not that you can't."
She looked confused, cocking her head to the side. "There's a difference?"
He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Obviously."
"Oh," she sounded faintly dubious even as she drifted closer to him as he continued past the bakery. "Why?"
"Why what?" His tone was slightly irritated.
"Why is there a difference?" She asked.
"I don't know. There just is." Ichigo was now seriously beginning to regret his decision to start this conversation.
Apparently Orihime got the hint, because she fell silent and floated along a foot or two in front of him on his right.
Minutes later, he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. That normal, somewhat vacant smile of her's was gone, leaving only behind a thoughtful expression as she looked up at the sky.
"Have you ever tried eating anything?" The words flew out of his mouth without him even thinking about it, and he was pretty sure her surprised expression was only slightly more exaggerated than his own.
"I...no. Maybe," she answered, her eyebrows crumpling as she tried to think. "I don't remember." She finally decided.
"Then you should try," he shrugged. "I'll see if I can sneak some of Yuzu's food for you; she's not bad at cooking."
She shot him a blinding smile. "Thank you, Kurosaki-kun!"
He muttered something only faintly coherent as he ducked his head, feeling the back of his neck warm almost uncomfortably.
A few days later, he finally noticed that another person in his class has another angel-stalker. It was some red-headed punk with an attitude almost as bad as his, with a lot of tattoos. His name was Renge or Rengi or something; Ichigo wasn't sure.
Unlike Orihime, who didn't seem to know how to be mean and always had a sunny smile on, Renge's guardian angel was a short, angry-looking, black-haired girl who immediately upon realizing that he was looking at her tried to moon him.
He looked away, face crimson, but not before he caught the edge of her smirk before she floated away. "Who's she?" He muttered as discreetly as he could to the longhaired angel peering over his shoulder.
"She's Rukia-chan!" She chirped out loudly, and he winced despite the fact nobody else could help him. "She's Renji's guardian angel."
He eyed the black-haired angel. "She looks demonic."
Orihime laughed, lightheaded and bubbly. "She's very nice, really!"
Rukia gave him a rude gesture after noticing him looking at her.
"Uh huh, really nice," he muttered under his breath, slinking down in his seat and looking at his half-finished work.
He suddenly had the feeling that his life was about to get significantly more difficult.
There ends chapter one of My Guardian Angel. I hope to have the next chapter as soon as possible.
I'd love to hear opinions, so please feel free to let me know! 33
-Vampyre Heartbreak