#5. Did you fall from Heaven?

''Your human needs you, Ichigo''

''WHOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH, AHHHHHHHHHHHH, IMGONNADIE IMGONNADIE!'' Ichigo screamed his lungs out painfully and tears prickled at the corners of his Earth brown eyes while the wind worked against his body in a failed attempt to push him upwards as he continued his rather emotionally torturous fall from the sky.

Yes.

That is not an unfortunate typo.

You read right. Congratulations.

He is, in fact falling from the sky, because Ichigo is a guardian angel.

But Ichigo never left heaven before and he wasn't familiar with the process of 'landing' on Earth. He was surprised when the higher ups had told him that his human was in need of his help and promptly pushed him off of the highest standing cloud. The pressure on his body was so intense as he got pulled down by uncle gravity's unwanted love that his wings just couldn't adjust to the unfamiliar pace of things. Still, he tried to move his fluffy white appendages in hopes of surviving the fall to even get to meet his human much less actually begin helping him but it didn't help and fear started building up in the orange haired angel's tummy when one after another, his feathers started getting plucked out by the wind and now, he only had half of each wings of the pair on his back.

It would be an understatement if he said he was scared to death.

He really didn't understand anything going on and wished for his survival, but the gradual loss of his wings' body, the only thing he knew capable of saving him, only managed to make him panic beyond hope.

Through his tears, Ichigo watched as the last of the clouds parted, grazing his fair and pure body and a beautiful, green meadow filled his line of foggy vision. He braced himself by barricading his front by crossing his arms across it with clenched fists and shutting his tearful eyes tightly. He knew he was nearing the meadow. He knew he was near the ground now and he clenched his jaw, afraid of the impact, yet trying to be ready for it.

It never came.

When he opened his eye lids, his brown eyes widened and his lips parted in amazement when he saw pure white feathers float around in his line of vision. He realized a little too late that those were his feathers and he looked down where he was sitting on the grassy ground to see the remaining of his feathers cushioning his butt. He turned his neck and looked at his back as best as he could only to find it bare of his wings. He concluded that somehow, the remaining of his wings cushioned his fall.

His eyes perked up when he remembered his senior, Abarai Renji, speak about his experience of 'landing' and how his wings just disappeared to make him look human. He thought it was absurd. How can an organ just disappear? And so, Ichigo had concluded that the red head was bluffing because even plucking one feather hurt a lot. It was similar to plucking off your entire nail off your finger.

But then again, this time, it didn't hurt. His back wasn't hurting and his toes weren't curling in pain.

Huh.

However, Ichigo was an angel of priorities. He quickly gets up and dusts off his black ripped skinny jeans.

What. Can't angels be interested in looking fashionable too?

Ichigo straightens his shirt, then wipes at the wet corners of his eyes and clicks his boots on the slightly wet ground scattered with his white feathers as he takes in his surroundings. It appears he is surrounded by trees. He doesn't even know if this is a forest or what and he has no clue as to where he must go in order to find his human.

He realizes he shouldn't have slept during his 'Learn about Earth!' classes even when his teacher Keigo was being extremely excited. But then again, it might be precisely because of Keigo-sensei's gross excitement that he decided to sleep during a relatively important class.

He wants to sigh, a human gesture. But angels can't sigh because when a human does it, it has purpose as it is a call for his or her guardian angel. When an angel does it, it only reduces a day of their human's life. The old man really wanted for his angels to be happy and not give into the need for help so much that he made these rules apparently.

Ichigo inhales deeply and looks at the sky.

Where should he go? Just where is his human?

Grimmjow woke up yet again feeling like he shouldn't have. Despite this, he robotically gets up and gets in his school uniform. His mother calls him for breakfast and his family eats silently yet another morning with his father reading his newspaper and his mother glancing around tensely all the while with a worried frown on her lips. He grits his jaw at this, hating his mornings at home even further. He especially hates being treated like a fragile object who might break at any moment under very little pressure.

The eighteen year old teenager gets up and hurries to his school. The falling petals of bright Sakura blossoms do not lift his spirits or lighten his heart like it has done to several other people taking the same path as him. He trudges past the student body and then enters his class. He sits at his desk then he falls asleep.

Because nothing is worth staying awake for.

Okay! Ichigo has managed to find civilization. But it's still very early in the morning and there are very few people around, that is until hoards of people start attacking the streets. Ichigo misses the quiet of heaven right then, but decides with determination that he is not there for a vacation so his discomfort or his longing doesn't matter right now.

Then it occurs to him how extremely hard it will be to find his human among all these humans. His shoulders don't slump despite this. He only has hope. He is an angel after all. So all he does is wish for his dear human to sigh. He wishes for his human to call for him.

Ichigo still wanders through the streets in search. He admits he is a bit anxious because he has no idea how he will recognize his human even if he does find him. Ichigo was born fifteen days before his human. This is how it always works, a guardian angel is born before his human does and for those angels who fail to come into existence, their human will not be born either. It is like the angel protects their human even before their birth and without their existence, the human won't even be able to step into this world.

Even Ichigo's name pertains to this; Ichi – One and go – Five.

However, despite this deep connection between two beings who have never met, it is precisely that: They have never met. Ichigo doesn't know anything about his human. All he does know, is that his human is a he and that Ichigo exists only for him.

Ichigo doesn't get tired, but he does decide to get some alone time from the busy streets so he can calm his mind. Everybody here is so busy to even spare a glance towards anything other than ahead. Ichigo enters a park with beautiful pink leafed trees and slumps on a wooden bench. He stares at the falling petals with simple adoration in his eyes. He can practically hear the happy cheers of the trees with his presence. A pretty petal falls on his lap and he softly touches it, making it glow for a brief second.

Then he hears it. A soft scream that tugs his head towards it's source.

''What is that?'' He mutters softly looking at the small, grey creature clawing at a tall branch, making the tree scream in pain. A cat, a cat, a cat- poor soul- it climbed her- oh no- a cat!

Ichigo heard the various murmurs overlapping each other and stood up. He walked to the pained tree and put a warm hand on her trunk, ''It's okay, I will help you. Please bear with it for a minute.'' He says with his most charming smile and all the other trees giggle and chuckle pleasantly.

''An angel is among us~'' One particular tree sing-songs.

School ended for the day and Grimmjow stands up after packing his bag. He walks out of the classroom, his gaze fixed on nothing in particular while his mind bangs at the doors present at all the dark corners of his mind. He mentally shakes his head and tugs his bag over his shoulder as he exits the building.

A loud shout promptly stops him in his tracks and his eyes flicker to the familiar sound of bat hitting a ball. His eyes widen as the ball flies high into the sky and loud cheers bring his attention back to their school's baseball field, where several kids his age belonging to the baseball club to which he himself formerly belong to rejoice in excitement at the homerun.

But seeing their smiles and crinkling eyes only managed to make the corner of his lips turn down and managed to make his young heart to be filled incredible longing to the point of bleeding. The pain was unbearable, especially when only months ago, he would have been the one to hit that homerun. He would have been the one to win the National championship. He would have been the one to make his parents proud. He would have been the one to smile as his heart swelled with incredible happiness instead of- instead of this self-loathing and longing and Hopelessness!

They ate away at his young and pure heart, making him feel ugly about himself. He was self-destructing and he couldn't do anything about it when he felt that doing so was the only right thing about his pathetic, pathetic life.

Uncharacteristic wetness grazed his eyes and he ran. His legs worked and he ran as fast as he could. His heart was beating rapidly and his lungs burned with the lack of air. His body still hasn't recovered completely and he shouldn't be running but to hell with it all! He needs to run and he will damn well run his life out!

However, he can't do that. So his legs finally stop in the middle of the Sakura park he always passes through to get home these days. Only because other students don't go through here while going home, instead choosing to go through the streets filled with arcades and pastry shops.

He pants and huffs to gather oxygen into his lungs. It had been a long while since he last ran like that. It cleared his mind somewhat and he feels like he's finally breathing, although physically, he's certainly having some trouble.

Grimmjow brings both of his hands in front of him, as if asking someone for something and gazes at both of them. They used to be so efficient, and a single mistake ruined it all. If only he hadn't gone in front of that car. If only he had waited a little longer, he would still be playing baseball, dreaming of becoming a National level player. But now, these hands are useless. He clenches his hands into fists.

The refreshing feeling his heart got filled with just now transforms into something heavy and ugly again. He feels absolutely disgusted with himself. But hating oneself, no matter how comforting it feels during times of grief, hurts. It hurts.

He tries to exhale the bad feelings before it consumes him. Before he does something he further regrets….but what is left for him to even regret about? Every thought leads to this one fact. To a person who has always dreamed about one single thing his entirelife, when that one single thing is ripped away from him, what is he left with?

The bad feelings twirling in his stomach make him nauseated and he sighs deeply in an attempt to let them out.

In that next instant, something heavy falls into his outreached arms from above and he almost falls with it;s weight on him but he tries to balance it out by placing his weight on his calves while is arms reflexively contracted towards himself, unintentionally bringing the heavy thing in his arms closer to his torso. He falls to his knees and a bunch of Sakura petals fall on him like a mini shower.

''What in the world-'' Grimmjow breathes out and his eyes falls on the thing-man in his arms who in turn has a soft mewling cat in his. The man's eyes are closed shut and lips are drawn into a thin line. His skin glows while his cheeks are flustered into a shade of pink. And….

He has orange hair.

Ichigo somehow climbed the tall tree and clung to the heavy branch using all four of his limbs. He slowly made his way toward the cat and called out to it. It continued scratching and digging his claws into the tree's branch while the tree whined in pain. ''Shush…It will be okay'' Ichigo reassured the tree and placed his hands on the cat's warm back covered in soft fur. The cat halts it's actions and Ichigo rejoices. He moves more to the cat and finally grabs his tummy with both his hands lifting him up to his chest while he cradles the branch. The tree gasps and thanks him again and again. Ichigo only smiles and stands up bravely on the branch clearly forgetting something amidst the relief he feels. He takes one step into the mid-air out of habit and his other foot slips behind him. Then he remembers that crucial detail.

I don't have my wings.

Ichigo expects to fall harshly into the ground and hugs the cat into his chest, not wanting the little creature to get hurt. What he doesn't expect is to fall into a pair of arms and so when he opens his eyes and his gaze fixes onto blue ones staring back at him, he freezes and his eyes are wide.

Oh.

Ichigo just knows. Unmistakably, the loud beating of his own heart, the strangely Familiar warmth that he feels from this human and the way his body unconsciously inches closer to the human's chest. He knows. The ringing in his ears tells him. The tingling in his toes tell him and the almost deafening silence of the trees tell him. He has met his Human.

And he's so beautiful.

Grimmjow's only snaps out of it when his arms begin to hurt. The brown of the male in his arms' eyes made him forget himself for a moment. His heart was pacing softly while he found himself lost for a few moments but now, it resumed it's erratic and loud thumping yet again. But strangely, Grimmjow felt at peace. His mind wasn't frantic like it was before and the constant anxiousness gnawing away at his insides subsided for a bit. He's breathing again and he can't look away from the boy in his arms.

However, he can't hold onto him any longer as his shoulder screamed at him in pain and he decides to slowly set the boy on the floor only to stop his movements when the boy's features grimaced in pain as his foot touches the ground. He hisses in pain, closing his eyes shut. Grimmjow frowns. He realizes that the boy might have sprained his ankle. Also, he wanted to look at his eyes again.

So, despite the killing pain, he managed to bring himself to stand up while bringing the boy up with him in his arms and he paced towards a wooden bench. 'Just a few more seconds' He told himself and bit his lips to contain the pain before he set the boy down carefully on the bench, grey cat still in his arms.

The boy opens his eyes and looks up at Grimmjow. He might be reading too much into this but Grimmjow thinks that that has to be adoration in the other's eyes. It felt like it and the teenager feels himself relaxing under the boy's warm gaze until a smaller hand grabs his and blue eyes widen. He tried to snatch his hand back but the boy's grip only tightens around his hand.

''What is your name?'' The boy whispers and Grimmjow thinks for a few moments before he finally answers, deciding, what's the harm?

''Grimmjow.'' He says and in the next second, the orange haired male's lips stretch as an extraordinarily beautiful smile blooms across his face. At that moment, Grimmjow felt secure. He felt like he could stop worrying and being frustrated and sorrowful if only he could see that smile embraced in purity ever again.

''I'm Ichigo. Nice to finally meet you, Grimmjow.''

Grimmjow doesn't even notice the word 'finally'

''And thank you, for catching me. It would have hurt a lot if I fell from there.''

Then it hits Grimmjow.

''Oh right, what the hel-'' A finger lands on his moving lips, making him freeze yet again.

''Don't say that word.''

What the hell?

''What were you doing that you fell from above?'' Grimmjow tries again when Ichigo removes his finger from his lips.

Ichigo smiles again. Grimmjow melts a little.

''I was trying to bring this little one down.'' He says and I glance at the fur ball in his lap. Curled comfortably and nuzzling it's face languidly into Ichigo's belly.

How reckless.

Just then Grimmjow's phone starts to ring. He wishes to take it but then, his hand his being held down by the other's. So he motions towards it, asking him to release it. Ichigo gasps and releases his hold on Grimmjow's hand mumbling an apology and Grimmjow refused to acknowledge his disappointment at the loss of contact because they have just met for God's sake!

He shouldn't be feeling the way he is right now.

But he can't help it.

Ichigo stares at his human- Grimmjow, with awe as he brings his phone to his ears and speaks to the person on the other end. He finally met him. He finally met him!

Ichigo watches as the expression on Grimmjow's face turns into something sour and he frowns sadly. It breaks the guardian angel's heart.

He starts to wonder the reason he was called here. What happened to Grimmjow that he actually needed his angel to land on Earth for him? He had to find out somehow. But to his disappointment, when Grimmjow ends the call, he looks at his angel one more time, pinning him with an exhausted look before turning on his heel as he sprints away, even before Ichigo can call him to stop him. His leg isn't making this any better.

It takes just a minute before the trees start gossiping.

It's that kid- the sad one- Oh no- The one who looks like walking dead- worst luck-Poor kid- I pity him- Is it true?- He's always sad- I saw him crying once- How horrible-

''Wait!'' Ichigo almost yells, and the murmuring stops.

''Do you guys know something about him?'' He asks the trees who were his only hope at this point.

The trees whisper among themselves before he gets an answer from the one who he had just helped.

All we know is that he started going through this place for the past two months. He doesn't have any friends. He looks lonely and sad. So very sad. We always shower him with extra petals but he doesn't even notice. He looks at his hands longingly for some reason.

The tree whispers softly and Ichigo's heart sinks further. He has an almost desperate urge to run after his human and help him in anyway and every way that he has to.

Are you going to help him, Angel-san?

A child like voice interrupts him and he smiles softly.

''Yes. That is what I exist for. I'm his guardian angel after all.'' Ichigo replies confidently.

Sooo. What do you guys think? And yes, I will write another chapter some time later so please don't ask me to write one in the comments. I just don't have any ideas yet. I would appreciate it a LOT if you could leave a review after reading this. Gives a girl hope you know! And I got the inspiration to use the different font styles after reading one beautiful author's beautiful works on Asianfanfics. Do you guys like it? It was done in my own style.

P.S. I love long reviews. Seriously.