Chapter 2: Ichigo's POV

I stopped after a time. Not because I wanted to stop running, but because I finally admitted I had nowhere to go. I collapsed amidst a stand of pines in the park, Tatsuki resting in my lap. There was a sort of familiar comfort with having my long-time friend near, for all that we had drifted somewhat in recent times. But that comfort was but a drop against the ocean of despair I felt at what had befallen her.

Where was I to go now? What place did the world have for someone like me? This wasn't like before, it wasn't a temporary separation from my body; I was truly dead. Would a true rather than substitute shinigami come to send me off to Soul Society as I had done that boy's soul, or would I be left to linger in this world, unseen and unheard. My life as I knew it was over. School, a normal life, it was all beyond me now. All that was left was to spend my days killing monsters, perhaps for eternity if shinigami lived so long.

Bitterly I wondered if this hadn't been what Rukia had planned all along. The more I learned of her the more unscrupulous she seemed. Despite her innocent face, she was no innocent. I no longer doubted her claim that she was over a hundred years old.

Tatsuki stirred, releasing me from my grim thoughts. I gently shifted her head onto the loam before stealing away like the spirit I was. I waited behind a tree just long enough to see her wake before I departed the park. I was far from calm, but I had now found a path to travel. I'd spoken too soon when I said the world had no place for me now. There was yet one place that I might stand and have purpose.

I was not the only one in my family that could see spirits. Yuzu could at least sense the presence of spirits, and Karin could often see them, though not hear them. There was a chance though, a chance that someday I could interact with them as if I were still alive, still human. After all, my own ability to see spirits had grown with age, so why not theirs? Though, that would bring its own dangers. If they awakened the same inner power I had, the hollows would come flocking like flies. At least now I had ability to protect them.

Much as it pained me to go anywhere near the shinigami, I would have to talk to Rukia again about the subject of hollows. I had no idea whether by dying I had ceased luring hollows to myself. If not, then I would likely do more harm than good to stay at home. For now, I would watch over them from afar.

Though my heart was still heavy, my steps were lighter than air. It took hardly any effort to move from the streets to the rooftops. It was more peaceful above the streets. I didn't have to mingle with the living, watch as their eyes slid past me unseeing and uncaring. Up above the world I could feel the wind beat lightly against my face and almost forget I wasn't alive. At least as long as I ignored the obvious superhuman abilities.

Such was my speed that I reached my house all too soon. I could have used more time to mentally prepare myself, but was it even possible to prepare for something like this? If they hadn't already gotten a call from the school I'd have to explain to them that I was dead, but still with them in spirit. I wasn't even sure Karin could see or hear me since I was a shinigami rather than a normal ghost. At least that meant I could interact with the world and write them messages if all else failed.

Instinctively I grabbed at the air as I jumped from the roof. Small crimson streaks trailed through the air from my fingertips as I fell, turning my jump to a slow, graceful descent. 'Neat.'

I hesitated outside the door of my home, suddenly feeling like a stranger. Should I knock, or try my hand at sinking through the door. '…' I decided I'd check on the mood first. I stalked around to the side of the house, standing on tiptoes to peer through the kitchen window.

It was then that I saw the impossible.

End chapter 2

Wow. Hadn't thought it had been so long since my last update on this site. Well, here's a short one.