Summary: It's never a good idea to keep burning secrets to yourself. Hichigo learns that lesson the hard way.
Disclaimer: Tite Kubo owns the rights to all Bleach characters
Why can't I breathe?
Ichigo looked at Hichigo, his half smile in place. It was a quick look, not really forced or meant to show anything. In that instant however, all thought left the pale boy. His eyes drifted from the broken stare, down Ichigo's figure and sinfully down to his bum. His face turned red, his eyes denying him command to look away. His whole body sat rigid in his wooden school chair, his breathing light.
Though this happened many times before, Hichigo could not explain this phenomenon. Perhaps he was naïve; his classmates gave him a variety of explanations for such an event. Or maybe he was in denial. The subject of this denial remained unknown.
"Alright students, let's begin..." rang the voice of their Instructor. The albino sighed, finally able to tear his eyes away from the Angel that sat feet away in the other row. Dipping into a sudden feeling of depression, he resumed class a quiet, unmoved character. The rest of the class moved by slowly, the Instructor consumed with the text book. With his back to the students as he wrote on the board, Hichigo occupied himself with his notebook. He would never show Ichigo this book, inside having been consumed with hundreds of pictures of the boy. Other pages were letters never sent, notes never passed. Hichigo smiled inwardly. Before, he was constantly looking at Ichigo whenever he felt like drawing him. But ever since he was told the two looked the same, he resorted to sitting in front of his mirror at home everyday and draw what was reflected. Still, he didn't like to think about that fact. It made dreaming about Ichigo all the more awkward.
The next morning, Hichigo found himself walking down the familiar path from his home, to school. It was incidental his home was a few blocks from the Kurosaki Family Clinic, though he tried to ignore this fact. Instead, he would keep his eyes on the cement walkway, taking the necessary turns and shortcuts to avoid arriving to school late. For some reason, he was never early to school. He would always wake up 20 minutes after his alarm went off, making him rush to get ready in the morning. It was possible, his dreams kept him from waking up early. A particular turn caused his heart to beat faster than normal, his hands suddenly clammy.
Why is my heart beating so fast?
The answer arrived in a pair of skinny gray jeans and a crisp white school uniform top.
"Good morning, Hichigo"
That same, friendly greeting. The same, close proximity as the orange haired teen walked right up next to him. The same lump in his throat as Hichigo tried to respond. But like many mornings before, he could not and instead settled for a small wave. His eyes would not change direction, his other hand busy trying to hold a small textbook in a shaking grip. Ichigo responded the same way as he had always done; he walked on ahead after he was acknowledge. With his footsteps heavy, Hichigo began to somewhat relax, his beating heart slowing down considerably. Slowing down to the point of stopping.
Why couldn't I answer him?
Hichigo was a ghost, that was certain. But he was not the kind from the Saturday morning cartoons. He could not defy gravity. He could not go through walls as if they were not there. He did not easily scare those around him.
He was simply invisible.
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Schoolwork kept him busy and occupied most of the afternoon. His mind would eventually drift off to other things, but for now he was concentrating on getting home before nightfall. So, sitting alone in the large classroom, Hichigo rushed to finish his assigned pages for that night. Hichigo was the type to never want to be busy at home. He wanted to have free time and free will to do what he pleased. His choice would be to spend his time dreaming. Dreaming that one day, he would finally be seen and be heard, not as a ghost, but as another human. He smiled to himself, the hour wearing thin.
Finally, at 5:30 PM, he was able to close his workbook. Hastily putting his things in his bag, he rushed out of the room and onto the familiar streets, the sky darkening. He looked up, frowning. The sky was getting darker faster than usual. Even some of the streetlights began to turn on, a stray wind picking up around him. Rubbing his upper arms, he picked up his pace, determined not to be caught in the middle of the night by himself. Looking around, he tried to find someone else to walk close to, or even with. It wasn't that he was afraid of the dark, he was simply a little claustrophobic. The darkness heightened his fear of being closed in and the darker it got, the more afraid he became. Almost to the point of running, Hichigo began to take unfamiliar turns, crossing streets with odd names and in the end, forcing himself in an unknown area. After running into a dead end, he finally realized he was lost. Taking a few deep breaths, he walked back out into the open, trying to assess the situation.
He was at an intersection, the streets were deserted and the sky was almost completely dark. Abandoning his books long ago, he began to walk, trying to remember where he came from. Trying to find something familiar.
For 30 minutes, there was nothing. At this point, he had to strain to see through darkness, his heart racing uncomfortably, unlike before. The air was bitter cold and he was absent minded enough to forget his coat that morning. Sticking his hands under his arms, he trudged on, looking for something, anything, that would be able to lead him home.
Approaching footsteps distracted him from his current mission minutes later. Turning towards them, he squinted to see if he could identify the person. Then, his heart skipped a beat.
Across the street from him, running at high speed, was Ichigo. But something was different about him. He was wearing a black Kimono and Hakama, traditional sandals pounding against the ground. Hichigo's eyes widened as he noticed the large, cleaver like sword on the man's back being drawn in a flash. Hichigo watched in awe as the boy ran towards him, Ichigo's face extremely distressed. A sudden wind picked up around him, causing Hichigo to jump from surprise.
Then, it hit him.
Pain shot up his back, his eyes dilating. Before he could register what was going on, his entire body hit the ground hard, bones breaking.
"NO!"
His back was drenched in blood, a trail following him from his original spot, 50 feet to where he lay now. Clenching his teeth, the shock soon dulled away and was replaced with a searing amount of pain. Trying to clear his blurred vision, he began to feel his cracked skull, his broken ribs and leg and his torn back. Blood oozed from his throat, coating his teeth as he struggled to moved. His head pounded, deafening his good ear, his other already damaged. Looking to his left, he saw the sky and to his right, the ground. He was on his side, shaking and in pain. Far off in another direction, he could feel the pounding of large feet, coming towards him.
Whatever hit him wasn't finished.
A large tail swept down, pushing his limp body further down the sidewalk and rolling him painfully on his back. His chest felt compressed, the blood in his mouth having nowhere to go now, forcing him to try to swallow. He was suffocating and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't breathe. Everything seemed to become darker around him, all his senses gone. His whole body stopped shaking as it could no longer feel the pain, his destroyed nervous system shutting down. Beyond him, a battle commenced against a Shinigami and a Hollow. One mercilessly destroyed lives, while the other fought to protect them. How long the battle went was unknown, but a pair of shaky hands grasped Hichigo's body.
"Hichigo..." Ichigo murmured, cradling the boy's head in the crook of his arm. He looked into the eyes that would not see, held the body that could not feel, called to the ears that could not listen. Tilting his head to he side, Ichigo watched the collected blood ooze out, staining his uniform. But even as he did so, he received no response. Any struggling breath he saw before was gone.
Whatever was to become of Hichigo, he knew he would never make it home. He would never see his family again. He would never hear Kurosaki Ichigo greet him and see him for who he was.
Even as the pain of regret stung him for the first time, he knew that maybe one day their paths would cross again and a second chance would be given.
Why didn't I tell him...I loved him?
Even if all his memories were to be a mere shadow of who he was in the world of the living.
...Who?
THE END