A/N: Aggggghh! Sorry for the slightly long wait! I was moving out of my family's little cookie-cutter house in over-crowded ol' Phoenix to the middle of the freaking desert in Carefree. It's a big house too and has lots of nature...! My dog killed a scorpion, we saw a Gila Monster, almost ran over a few quails and a bunny (don't worry; I saved Chappy!)
So yeah. Updates might be a little late here soon seeing as we still need to get all our crap organized... ^^;
evewolf123: Thank god for that. I love surprises. And toes. Maybe I should get my grandma that for Christmas. Or not. Happy birthday! *throws cake at face*
Happy birthday to all!
Here I stand
Waiting for this silhouette
To become a shadow
Ganju was getting antsy.
Foot-tapping, paranoid, eye-twitching antsy.
"That's it! I can't take it any more! I gotta get outta here!"
The other three looked up at him; Hayato jumped a bit at his outburst.
She stood up from where she'd been sitting at the wall.
"I'm gonna go scout ahead," she muttered, annoyed.
Ganju paused.
"No."
"What? You wanna come with, or-"
"You're not going."
Green eyes narrowed dangerously.
"And why would that be, Bathboy?"
Ganju ignored her death glare. "How do we know you won't rat us out?"
She scoffed. "Tch. Like I would do that. Even if I did tell 'em where you guys are, I already betrayed them. I'd get in trouble too, asshole. I may be a masochist, but I really don't wanna get my ass whooped by Yama-jii."
"I don't believe you."
"Then come with me and I can prove you wrong."
"Fat chance, bitch."
"Or maybe you can come with me and I'll lead you down a wrong end and kill you silently."
"You wouldn't."
"Try me," she snarled. "I'll spank you like the child you are!"
"G-guys..." Hanataro stuttered nervously, afraid to get between the two, who were hissing and spitting like cats.
"Now if you excuse me," she spat, "I have some scouting to do."
"Tch. A weakling like you? What would you get done? You just tag along to get attention. I've seen bitches like you before. I know what you do. You tag along and act all sweet and dumb. But all you want is to play the game."
She stopped dead.
He continued.
"You seduce men and fuck them like the whore you are, panting and moaning and begging for more, call us your master and-"
A hand grabbed his throat and slammed him against the wall. Hayato grabbed him by his collar and held him a few feet of the ground.
"Teme!" she hissed furiously, bristling. "I am lenient with most things, but there is a line that must never be crossed. And you, Shiba Ganju, have crossed the line!"
Green eyes blazed, and her nails dug into his skin.
"I swear to god, if you ever call me that again, you fucking man-whore, you'll wish that when I threw you in, you had drowned when you had a chance!"
The stocky man gulped at the murderous look in her eyes. He looked at Ichigo, who was beginning to get up, reaching for Zangetsu.
And then, he could breathe again. He gasped and sank down, eyeing her warily.
She plopped down with sigh.
"If it really upsets you that much, I won't go," she said quietly. "But you need to respect the fact that I have boundaries. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to take a nap."
"Got anything?" Ganju asked shakily once she was asleep, still not quite over the fact that he had looked death in the eyes.
"Yeah..."
Ganju and Hanataro listened quietly while he told them about his fight with Madarame.
Ganju whistled when he was done. "Sounds like one tough guy."
"Yeah... Did you get anything out of the feather guy?"
"Him? No... What about you?"
Ichigo paused hesitantly.
"He told me to watch out for someone... He goes by the name of Kenpachi apparently."
Hanataro opened his mouth to speak, but someone beat him to it.
"That's advice to live by. Zaraki's a brute of a man."
Ichigo jumped a few feet at the voice.
"Wha- You're supposed to be asleep!"
Hayato looked at him with one green eye open and shrugged. "I'm a light sleeper."
Ganju eyed her.
"How much of that did you hear?"
Another shrug.
"Enough to know that you guys are gonna need a shitload of help. And luck."
A determined voice spoke up.
"So be our luck."
She stared at him not sure whether he was insinuating a hot, steamy coitus, which she would in no way be participating in, or was being purely serious in a completely non-sexual way.
"What?"
"Be. Our. Luck."
Brown eyes met green.
"Tell us everything you know. Be our guide. Be our luck."
She nodded once, a bit reluctantly.
"Who is Kenpachi?"
"Like I said before, he's a monster of a man. He lives to fight and loves a good bloodbath. If you fight him, chances are you'll die. But if even Kenpachi is getting in on this... That isn't good at all. I was going to see if I could go make some alliances up there with a few of the more lenient Captains, but it seems like they're all in on this one. I mean, Kenpachi loves a good fight and all, but he never pushes himself to do what Yama-jii wants. If he's joining the fight...well, then we're royally fucked to put it lightly."
"You're talking about this guy like you know him," Ganju commented. "Are you in his Division?"
Hanataro looked at her nervously, well aware of her odd request before. She mentally cursed.
"No," she said quickly, hoping they would leave it at that. "I'm not."
There was a short silence.
"Whose Division are you in then?" Ichigo asked.
She cursed again, thinking fast, and thanking all the years she had spent making different identities for herself.
"Sixth Division, under Kuchiki Byakuya."
The ginger visibly tensed at the name.
"Are you seated?" Hanataro asked.
She glanced at him gratefully for keeping her secret and playing along.
"Nah," she said. "Apparently I'm too 'immature' for that."
"I can see why," Ichigo muttered.
He got a foot in the face for that one.
A leg wrapped around his neck as she slammed him onto the ground.
"One!...two!...three!..."
"Tap out! Tap out!" he cried.
She let go of him smirking.
He took the chance to leap at her, pinning her with his weight.
"Not so strong now, eh?"
"Not fair!" she hissed. "You're ten times my size!"
He stuck his tongue out.
"I will bite that tongue, Ichigo Kurosaki, so help me God..."
His face turned beet red and he let go of her hastily.
She kicked him in the groin and laughed as he fell back yelping.
"Fuck you!"
"Tch. I already knew you wanted to."
"W-wait! No I just- I mean you kicked me so hard I just had to fuck you! I mean- Aaaaagggh!"
She snickered.
"Well I wouldn't blame you for wanting some of this-"
She leaned down.
"Sweet."
Her face was inches from his, a lazy smile on her face.
"Ass."
Her face then became all childish excitement and innocence as she smooshed his nose with a loud, happy "Boop!"
The three of them burst out laughing as Ichigo's face got even redder.
"It's so fucking hot down here," I growled.
We'd been travelling for less than an hour and had made about as much progress as a sedated snail due to the heat.
And it wasn't just hot. It was sticky and humid, too.
So by the time our makeshift camp was out of sight, we were already sweating buckets.
If my tail had been out, it would've been drooping. I was seriously weighing the pro's and con's of jumping into the river.
There was an irritated "God dammit!" in front of me, and I looked up to see a very shirtless Ichigo in front of me.
"What?" I asked.
"It's so hot!"
"Tell me something we don't know," the other two muttered while I gave a very sarcastic, "Well no shit, Sherlock." much to the amusement of the others.
I sighed, slipping back into my thoughts. Which was hard when every part of me wanted to get the hell out of there.
Hayate made fun of my aversion towards sex all the time. Even mildly sexual acts like kissing or just taking your shirt off made me uncomfortable. I mean, to be honest, it was kind of hard not to notice how much I hated it when people talked about sex.
What Hayate didn't know is that after years of being sexually assaulted and almost raped, I had come to fear sex and everything to do with it.
I mean, don't get me wrong, Ichigo had a, erm...good body.
It's just a bit hard being around someone who's half-naked without being reminded of why I was so opposed to the human body in the first place.
... Unless it happens to be my brother. I mean, come on, when's the guy not at least partly naked. I've mostly squished down my fear of his body at least.
So we were merrily walking along, with me in mid-thought.
That was when my foot decided to be retarded and trip. Sending me flying right into Ichigo.
And sending the both of us flying towards the river yet again.
He managed to stop himself.
I, on the other hand, went flying in, getting soaked by the warm water.
I cursed loudly and clung to the wall, managing to heave myself out of the water.
I glared at Ganju.
"Say one word, and I'll lasso you with your own intestines."
He decided to keep his mouth shut.
I hissed angrily.
Great. Now I was hot and soaked.
I began to tug my shirt off. No reason in trying to be modest any more.
"Wait! What are you-"
All three of the blushed as I yanked my shirt off, tossing it over my shoulder.
Great, even my bandages were wet. But hey at least they weren't see-through.
I wrang out my short hair and looked up at the blushing ginger.
"Problem?"
"Ehhhh...ummmm...uhhh...er..."
"Well, now we know you're a girl, though just barely it looks like. I mean that's really pitiful! What a sham!" Ganju said.
I punched him in the face.
All three of them blushed as Hayato threw her shirt over her shoulder.
Hanataro looked away with a yelp while Ichigo and Ganju just stared.
Ichigo because he was unable to look away, and Ganju because he was a pervert.
Smooth pale skin stretched over her slightly-toned(ish?), flat stomach and lead to bandages wrapped tightly from her ribs to the top of her chest. Her pants clung to her hips, showing off a good portion of her stomach.
And for the first time, they got a good look at her armguards.
The one on her left arm was a light coppery color with layers of scales going down it, like the skin of a fish or a lizard while the one on her right was a mix of silver and light sage, ridges going down it like ripples, getting smaller in diameter as they went down.
Mismatched.
They clashed violently and yet matched perfectly. Contradictory.
Much like the wielder herself.
Ichigo finally willed his eyes to meet hers, ready to get slapped upside the face, only to find mild irritation.
"C'mon! Let's go; we don't have all the time in the world!"
Her smirk was bright, but her eyes were dull.
He felt that connection again, that he'd been feeling since he'd first met her.
That pull deep inside of him, like he knew her from somewhere.
He simply nodded, dumbfounded.
He knew that he shouldn't trust her so easily.
Or at least his mind did.
Because his body followed her like she was a well-known path.
Followed her deeper into the tunnels.
Deeper into the darkness that had forever cloaked her.
And before he knew it, he was deeply immersed in the world trapped inside a person that was Hayato Niigata.
I couldn't sleep.
Whenever I tried to close my eyes, they'd just open up again.
It was going to be another sleepless night.
I tried to focus on anything else, everything else...how much we'd traveled (quite a lot actually) and how annoying Ganju was... I couldn't do it.
My head hurt and my whole body was killing me. My lungs felt like they were filling with water. My back ached, my throat was raw. The sharp, metallic taste of blood filled my mouth.
It hurt.
Dear god, it hurt.
But the memories were the worst part. Every little bit and piece of my lives were being forced into my mind, like a fucking knife, breaking down all my barriers.
Different nights had different memories.
Tonight was no different.
But it was.
Because it was about Alignak.
I had never remembered before...
The pain was never caused by that lifetime.
That damn boy...
I sighed. It wasn't Ichigo's fault.
It was mine for following him.
I closed my eyes, and when I opened them, I was looking through the pure, northern sea, kelp and fish stirring gently in the current. I slammed my eyes shut again and shook my head quickly.
I sucked in a breath and it was all there again, zooming in and zooming out, like a camera that refused to focus.
Body, a body, that's my body in his arms, my waterlogged body in his arms and he's kneeling down he's saying something what is he saying I can't breath oh my god I can't breathe what's happening what's going on no no no no no please god please what is he saying-
"Hayato! Hayato!"
Someone murmuring telling him to calm down and-
"No! Hayato come on wake up wake up Hayato, kitty, my sweet little kitty come on wake up please. Please."
And then I was raising my mitten clad hand to his face and breathing out gently and dying I was dying and it was happening so fast right in his arms right whee I always wanted to be and I was smiling so gently and my eyes were barely open and I wanted to cry because I felt the walls closing in around me and this is what a panic attack felt like and then-
I felt myself gasping in and the sharp northern air pierced me and suddenly the whole picture cleared and I could see the whole thing clearly now I could feel it all happening and-
I struggled to open my eyes as the oh-so-familiar darkness threatened to overcome me. I met my teacher- Alignak's(1)- eyes and opened my mouth to speak, but all that came out was a watery gurgle.
Don't worry, I tried to say. I'm not afraid. Not that much any more. After all, I'm used to this. So don't be too sad. After all, I'll come back again. I'm not afraid.
His chocolate brown eyes were so sad.
I felt the tears filling my eyes. I didn't want to leave him. He made me feel safe. He made me feel whole.
All the color began to slowly fade from my world. All except his. His beautiful, vibrant color.
The tears froze on my cheeks.
And in that moment, everything was perfect. Yes, that moment, when I was in his arms...it was perfect. But everything, even perfection, has to end eventually.
I felt my consciousness slipping as my world began to fade to black.
And I felt something wet on my face. His tears. Alignak's tears. Our leader- my leader- was crying. Over me. Who was I to deserve this? After all, I was just a girl.
I remembered the first time we met. Him destined to be the tribe leader, me destined to be just a girl. But he changed that. He saw the abuse I took and offered me a place in his heart. He was only two years older than me, and yet he was my idol. He was like me. An old soul amongst a world of infant spirits.
I guess he was the first- and only- man I have ever loved.
I wanted so much to stay awake, to comfort him. To tell him not to cry. To not be sad. Do not be sad over me...
But the darkness was coming faster. The pain was long gone- now in its place was warmth. Such gentle warmth.
But I knew that after the warmth would come numbness and the lethargy that comes with sleeping for a long time.
The murky black shrouded me with its gentle caress, warm and dark and beautiful, surrounding me on all sides.
I gave in; fighting was too tiring.
Sudden panick overcame me; I couldn't see him anymore.
I cast out for him, wanting to see him one more time. One last time.
I wanted his face to be the last thing I saw.
But I couldn't make me eyes open.
I tired...so, so tired... Surely...he would understand.
Of course he would. He always did.
And so as the life faded from my little body, he held me and whispered one final thing before they sank me in the ocean, dull green eyes still half-open.
"Sleep well, Pitsiark Hayato(1)."
They were the last words he ever spoke to me.
And then I snapped out of it as suddenly as being pulled out of that icy ocean itself. And then I ran.
And here I was, far from where we had camped for the night, deciding on whether to leave or not. To get away from the pain.
Fate is a fickle thing. It chooses at random, but, at the same time, it chooses with a reason. Fate is not something to be messed with.
I was the exception, the opposite of fate.
I couldn't be accepted.
It was impossible.
All the others, every other creature living and dead, could sense it. They did their best to stay away from me. Even my own brother had to get away from me sometimes.
I had never let my guard down with anyone, not even Alignak, though he did come the closest. No, I had never let my guard down.
And Kurosaki Ichigo wasn't going to be the exception.
I was different than him.
I felt my chest heaving as I fought to control the panic attack that was quickly overcoming me and my mental barriers. But panic listens to no one. It was my mind after all. It was all in my head.
Or something.
I shut my eyes tightly, clamping my hands over my ears- my human ears- and curled up into a ball, rocking slightly to try and calm myself down. I was alone in this after all.
I was fighting tears and a scream of... Something. It was just all too much this time. This was it. This was going to kill me.
My tightly closed eyes flew open when something warm brushed up against me, only to close again tightly in shame and fear.
"You're still up, eh?"
I stiffened and didn't answer.
"I saw you running out of there pretty looking pretty scared."
I remained silent, not trusting myself to speak or even move, and silently willing him to go away and just leave me alone.
I didn't have to see to know that his brows were creased and he was looking at me worriedly.
"Hayato?"
I shook my head stiffly, and shuddered, hugging myself tightly, all the while keeping my hands clamped over my head.
"Hey."
I felt his hand take my wrist.
"What's wrong?"
No answer.
"Look at me."
His voice was firm. The slightest noise escaped me and I felt him stiffen in panic.
"What's wrong? Are you hurt?!"
"...Why?" I choked through gritted teeth. "Why are you doing this?"
I felt him push his worry back for a moment.
"Because I trust you," he answered solemnly.
"How?" my voice was small and stiff. "How can you trust people? I can't-"
My shivering increased.
"I'm going to get Hanataro," he said, panic edging his voice.
I whimpered and curled in tighter on myself when I felt his warmth leave my side.
Pathetic, a tiny voice hissed at the back of my mind.
Shut up! I wanted to scream.
I felt him stop and then gently grasp my hands and pry them away from my ears.
"Look at me."
I blinked twice before slowly looking up, locking my eyes with his fearfully.
He was worried.
About me.
I breathed out shakily.
"It hadn't even gotten bad, yet," I whispered hoarsely. "And here I was supposed to be the stoic hero."
He gave a small worried smile at that.
"Couldn't sleep?" I finally managed, expertly blocking out thew surprise in my eyes.
"Nah. Couldn't get my eyes to stay shut. Nervous, I guess. What was that?" Ichigo asked.
I gave a strained laugh. "I could ask you the same thing."
He leaned closer to me, brown eyes burning intensely.
"Yeah, but I asked first didn't I?"
I looked at him, wanting so badly to trust those brown eyes.
"I-"
I looked at the ground, fists clenching.
"I don't like to talk about it."
His eyes softened.
I looked at him again.
He looked so much like...
"I remember my life," I said before I could stop myself.
It was a very obvious change of subject and a stupid thing to blurt out. After all it was only a half truth, but it was still too close to being true to my secret for comfort.
A confused look crossed his face.
"What do you mean?"
"I- I can remember my human life."
"Is that bad?"
"...Yes."
He was silent for a few minutes.
"Would you tell me about it?" he whispered quietly.
I stiffened.
"I would like to...know more about you."
I looked at him uncertainly, but he just sat there and waited for me to begin.
"I...I lived with an Inuit tribe. There was this guy...My friend."
I hugged my knees around my chest.
"H-he...he was very kind to me...and he... He was my best friend. We went everywhere together... But...um, then...well, then I died. I loved him lots. I really did," I whispered, my voice small. "I still look for him, you know. He was the nicest person I've ever met...and...and he'd tell me jokes..."
'Kay so two penguins are in a tub in shallow water and one of 'em says 'Can ya pass the salt?' and the other says 'What'dya think I am, a walrus?!' Isn't that funny, Hayato?
"...and stories..."
It's just a storm, silly. There's no reason to be afraid. It's just the World Spirit stirring. Do you know the story of Creation, Hayato?
"...and he was always there for me..."
Hey, Hayato! Would you like to be my vassal?!
Get off of my Hayato.
C'mon Hayato!
Silly kitty. Silly little Hayato.
Hayato!
No...God dammit! Don't you go dying on me, Hayato!
Hayato...
Hayato...!
Hayato!
Beautiful Hayato.
Kind Hayato.
My Hayato.
Hayato.
I felt the tears threatening to spill over.
"What was his name?" he asked gently.
I smiled bitterly.
That was a question for another day.
Morning.
Light.
I fucking hated it.
It was too bright to be someone's funeral.
That's where we were headed after all. Our own fucking funeral, just waiting for us to drop by. And drop dead, consequently.
Ganju stretched.
"Ahhh, it feels good to be out of that stinking hole."
"Keep your guard up," I warned. I had already surprised him once today when he was taking too long to get out of the sewer by forcefully pushing his ass out.
"Tch. Yeah, yeah," Ganju said dismissively.
I glanced around us warily.
It was too quiet.
Something was going to happen.
That's when the crushing reiatsu hit us. Which, of course, didn't affect me, being at Captain level power too, but I can't say the same for the others.
Hanataro cried out as his body buckled underneath him.
"Hanataro-chan!" I cried, running towards the small boy.
"H-Hayato-sama..." he gasped desperately.
"This reiatsu...is...incredible!" Ganju panted.
I narrowed my eyes.
"Dammit... This is..."
So he's here already...
Damn.
Ichigo growled as he was pressed down.
"Sh-shit...!"
He turned suddenly, eyes blazing with...
Fear?
Determination?
No it was a bit of both, mixed with pure willpower.
"We've gotta run!" he shouted. "I don't know what the hell is going on, but whoever's reiatsu this is..."
He trailed off, trusting us to understand.
"We've got to move!"
"Right!" Ganju choked through gritted teeth.
"I'll...try!" Hanataro gasped.
I grabbed on to the boy and practically dragged him along.
We had only made it a few feet when the tinkling of a bell reached my ears.
Dammit! Just a little farther...!
I strained to hear anything else, any other sign that he might've been close.
A low, gravelly voice reached my ears.
I felt an invisible blade press against my throat.
Hanataro fell to the ground.
"I...can't...move...I can't...run anymore... I've got no strength left..."
I reached down to pick him up but was blocked by Ganju.
"I'll get him," he said, trying his best to grin, before addressing Hanataro. "You sure can be troublesome, ya know that kid?"
With that he hoisted the small boy up and set him on his feet.
We kept running, running, running.
But then...Ichigo stopped.
And cried out as the invisible blade went through his chest.
He clutched at his robes, eyes wide.
The gravelly voice reached me again:
"I've found you."
Ichigo spun around.
The huge man grinned insanely.
For such a huge guy, he was good at sneaking up on people.
"Who...?"
"Surely Ikkaku must have told you!" the man laughed. "And little Haya-chan too."
His brown eyes widened even more, processing his words.
"You're..."
"I'm the Eleventh Division Captain... Zaraki Kenpachi! And I'm here...to fight you to the death!"
Ichigo just stared at the ground, his mind racing.
"What are you deaf? I just challenged you to a fight to the death."
No answer.
Zaraki grinned insanely.
"I assume since you won't answer me, it's alright if I make the first move."
"I-I-Ichigo...san..." Hanataro whimpered.
Both of us turned towards him, to find both Ganju and the kid laying on the ground.
"B-baka!" Ganju growled. "Focus on the matter at hand. We just got the wind knocked out of us is all..."
A small pink-haired girl popped up from Kenpachi's shoulder.
"Woaaaaahhh! Look at all that drool!"
She leaped onto Ichigo's shoulder.
"You musta scared that guy really bad to make him do that, ne Ken-chan?"
I blinked.
That was probably the most adorable thing I'd ever seen.
To think that Kenpachi would have a kid like that hanging around...
I tensed again. No matter how weak she looked, if Kenpachi had her around, she was strong. I could tell that much for sure.
Ichigo threw her off, and she landed back near the taicho.
"Uh-oh...I think I made him mad."
"Tch. What did you think was gonna happen? That was just stupid."
Ichigo looked back and forth between them.
"And stupid is what stupid does, right?!" she retorted.
"You said it, not me."
"Hey, twerp with the pink hair," Ichigo called.
"Huh?"
"Who are you? Or maybe I should say, what are you?"
She giggled.
"My name's Yachiru Kusajishi. I'm also the Eleventh Division fukutaicho! Thanks for asking mister! It's very nice to meet you!"
The candy girl grinned sweetly.
Fukutaicho, huh... That explains why she isn't affected by his reiatsu.
I looked at Ichigo, who looked like he could use a year's worth of sleep by the expression on his face.
"Shiba-san," I called, not once looking behind me. Always keeping my eyes trained on Kenpachi.
I heard him stand up straight.
"Get Hanataro out of here. Try to get to Rukia."
"What about-"
"Ichigo and I will stay here and fight."
Ichigo started to interrupt me.
I silenced him with a glance.
"But-" he began to protest.
"Now!" I snapped.
Ganju nodded and picked up the smaller boy.
"And Shiba-san..."
He turned around.
"That'll the last time I'm saying your name. Got it...Bathboy?"
He smiled grimly and took off, leaving Ichigo and I there to face the Beast.
"Oh wow," Yachiru murmured, looking at Ganju's retreating figure. "Now you guys are all alone."
I said nothing, just watched the Captain in front of me.
"Sorry," Ichigo said, "But I can't let you go after them."
"You just don't get it do you? I've been waiting for a while for you to get here. I don't care about your friends or your quest to save Kuchiki's sister."
The orange-haired shinigami growled lowly, grabbing his zanpaku-to.
Before he could react, Kenpachi swung toward him, though his sword never did reach it's destination.
"Ohoho, look at Haya here, playing the hero."
I glared at him coolly holding his fist up in the air to keep him from striking the young soul reaper, who was looking at me in shock. I gazed at the insane man calmly. Still, my arm trembled a bit with the force his fist was putting out.
"Tch. You say that you despise us Captains. And to think that you don't even know the company you're keepin'. Ain't that right, Kenpachi?"
I stiffened at his words and my glare deepened. The man laughed.
Ichigo paused. "What do you mean?"
His fist pressed lower and I moved my hand to grasp his sword.
A slight 'nng' of not necessarily pain, but discomfort escaped me, and I leapt away.
"You go against the Captains yet you're ignorant to the fact that one is standing right next to you!"
I saw the surprise and horror on Ichigo's face.
"This girl next to you...the one you claim to know so well...is Hayato Niigata, former Eleventh Division Taicho, Kenpachi, Kidsohu Soshi, and current Protector."
Have you ever seen someone get shot?
Their body immediately tenses as the shot sounds and goes stick-straight as the bullet pierces their skin. Their face is a mixture of shock and horror.
Not pain though.
The pain comes later.
That was how Ichigo looked.
Disbelieving brown eyes turned towards me, asking if that was true.
I forced myself to look away and instead focused coldly on the Captain standing in front of me.
My reiatsu raised as I took off the limitations I had put on it.
I looked at Kenpachi.
"How impressive," I drawled boredly. "A complete sentence from the ape."
His smirk faded, replaced by a snarl.
"Would you like to say that again?"
I stepped forward only to be stopped by a zanpaku-to.
"This is my fight," Ichigo said.
Hardened eyes pierced through me.
"I don't care who you are. We can settle that later. Right now, that's not important."
I held his gaze for a moment before nodding and leaping up onto the nearest building. Even I had respect for the rules of a fight.
The candy girl was already up there.
"Hiya, Kitty-chan!"
When I didn't respond, she frowned.
"It'll be okay, Kitty-chan. Both of 'em are strong. Berry-kun will be okay! Then Ken-chan can fight him again!"
I gave her a soft, worried smile.
"Truth be told, I'm more worried that Ichigo'll be mad at me than if he's strong enough to fight Kenpachi," I said distantly. "I know it's selfish of me, but I can't help it. He seems like a genuinely good guy. That's hard to find in someone... In anyone these days. Hell knows I'm not a good person. I...I like him. I want to be friends with him."
The last part was stated determinedly as I looked forward past the roofs of the Sereitei.
Yachiru looked at me, the usually present smile gone from her face and replaced with an unreadable, slightly concerned look.
And so we sat there, waiting for the silhouette to become a shadow.
A/N: (1): Pitsiark: an Inuit name meaning "beautiful".
Silhouette=shadow. That's the irony of it. Oh deep philosophicalness, how I love you.
Went a bit too fast for my liking but...
Loved it? Hated it? Cheese?
~ KAi
