Ch. 6

Subbing for an angel… again

The rest of lunch was the same as it was earlier; quiet. Ichigo tried to keep a conversation going with Rukia, but all he got out of her were nods and weak smiles, not that he wasn't pleased by the smiles. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Chad walking towards them; he was a pretty big guy with curly hair that covered his eyes, huge muscles, and darkish skin.

"You're finally here," said Ichigo, "what took you?"

"Construction is going down on my street; I had to take the long way." Chad said in his usual low voice. Ichigo didn't notice Rukia becoming tense.

"That sucks," he said scratching his head, "anyway, Rukia has been through something nasty recently, she's still in shock." Chad immediately felt confused.

Shock? But she's stronger than anyone I know, even more than Ichigo… except in battle. What could have happened to frighten someone like her?

His gaze met hers; she suddenly froze as her eyes grew wide, like she was afraid of him.

"Hey, something's wrong with her, Ichigo." He said. When Ichigo turned to her, he saw that she was about to panic, he could tell by her face.

"Rukia, what's wrong?" he asked. She suddenly scrambled behind him and tried to get out of sight.

"What? What is it?" He looked at her, then Chad, then her again; he realized what was up now.

Chad looks like the attacker, she's freaking out because of him!

"Uh… Chad, mind giving us a minute? I need to talk with her." Said Ichigo. The big guy complied. The deputy Soul Reaper turned so he was facing Rukia.

"Hey, this is Chad, Rukia, he's not going to hurt you." He said. Rukia looked in Chad's direction, and then she looked back to Ichigo and shook her head.

"Chad's my best friend, besides; if he tried anything I'd strangle him with his own intestine." Rukia lowered her head in thought for a moment, she looked back up at him and nodded, relief washed over Ichigo. He wouldn't know what to do if is best dead friend and his best living friend got into an awkward situation. The two Soul Reapers walked back to him, before Ichigo could speak however, Rukia's soul pager went off.

"Great, can you look after her, Chad?" Ichigo asked. The silent Chad nodded as Ichigo got out his replacement badge. He slapped it on his chest, separating his Soul Reaper form from his body, like all Soul Reapers he wore a black kimono and sandals over plain socks, his zanpacuto resembled a massive cleaver blade as long and wide as his body, with a cloth hanging from the hilt; this was Zangetsu. Rukia gave him a look telling him not to go.

"Chad will look after you, I'll be back." He said. Seconds later, he was flash stepping on rooftops.

….

The hollow resembled a scorpion the size of an S.U.V., its tail was caught in a grapple with Zangetsu, Ichigo swung upwards to break the grapple but was rewarded with the tail coming back down hard, he promptly jumped out of the way. While airborne, he swung his weapon which realized a huge and destructive mass of blue spirit energy, the blast (known as Getsuga Tensho) fiercely exploded on contact with the hollow, afterwards, he landed gracefully on his feet. His advisory, or what's left of it, was concealed by thick smoke. Throughout the battle, Ichigo was lost in his own thoughts; thinking about Rukia, her sad look when he left. He didn't even try to fight that hard, it was as if something else was wielding Zangetsu besides him , or maybe the massive blade was doing all the fighting while he was off in la-la land.

Before he could turn to walk home, the hollow's tail flew from the smoke, the deputy Soul Reaper was able to block the blow with Zangetsu but was pushed back into a car, he quickly escaped the wreckage and got back on his feet.

Damn it, I have to stay focused!

The tail lunged again but failed to make contact a second time; he sidestepped, and sliced the tail in half with a fierce slash. The hollow screamed in pain as blood gushed out from the wound like champagne from a bottle. Ichigo charged and brought his sword down to meet the beast's face but it hit one of the powerful claws instead, the other claw moved to crush him but, due to him hitting the dirt, crushed the other claw in its grip instead.

Not too bright, are you?

Zangetsu ripped through the hollow's face in a swift uppercut, a demonic scream echoed through the air as it vanished in the usual manner. Ichigo wrapped up the blade and began flash stepping back to school, on the way, he thought about how unusually difficult the fight was, not that it was a challenge, just a bit more difficult. He held a solid defense, didn't hold back with his attacks, even with thoughts of Rukia distracting him it should have been a breeze.

He then realized it was because Rukia wasn't there, he's so use to having her fight alongside him, that he needs to apply more effort when fighting alone. But he just can't ask her to fight hollows, not in the condition she's in.

I'll just have to kick it up a notch.

….

By the time Ichigo made it back, class had already resumed… without him.

What? Lunch is over already? My body is still on the roof! Damn it!

He looked in the window and saw "himself" sitting at his desk.

Oh, I forgot; Uryu brought Kon back after sewing him up.

Nobody noticed him phasing through the wall except Rukia, Chad, Uryu, Orihime, Renji, and Kon (who is now possessing Ichigo's body); only a few humans who were spiritually aware could see Soul Reapers and hollows. Ichigo leaped into his body and coughed up a green pill, which was discreetly stuffed into a lion doll found in his school bag. Rukia smiled in relief, she was glad her savior had made it back in one piece.

….

The two Soul Reapers were now walking back home, hands locked once more. After what seemed like half an hour, the lion doll from earlier suddenly leaped out of Ichigo's bag and on to his shoulder, looking a bit irritated.

"Okay, carrot-top, I've got a question that's been bugging me ever since you left to fight that hollow; what's up with Rukia?" it asked.

"Well, Kon, someone tried to force himself on her," said Ichigo "I was able to stop him but she's still in shock."

"Orangehairedasshloesayswhat? I'll f***ing murder the guy!" the Mod Soul shouted, "What's his name? Where does he live?" An annoyed Ichigo grabbed Kon and threw him hard into a brick wall off the path.

"I don't know who he is, alright? Just shut up!" he shouted, Kon had a knack for pushing Ichigo's buttons blindly. The lion doll scurried back up to his shoulder.

"You know, since Rukia's like this, you'll have to fight hollows alone for quite some time; it's just like the old days!"

"I know, Kon." Ichigo looked at Rukia as they resumed walking, and remembered when they first met. When she gave him her powers, she could not fulfill her duties, so he had to slay hollows in her place. Her power grew back eventually, and he went from substitute to partner.

Looks like I'll have to play substitute all over again.

….

Author's notes: The reason I'm stating known aspects of Bleach is because I'm showing this to people in my neighborhood who have never heard of the manga/anime.