BREATH OF LIFE
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or Tokyo Ghoul. Or the songs mentioned from this point onwards. Kudos to people who recognize the songs, though.
Shout Out: I won't update this series this weekend, so I uploaded those two in advance. This will likely be irregularly updated for some time, looking at the schedule I am having right now, so the chapters may pop at any times of the day or night, wherever you receive them.
Warnings: AU-verse, SLASH; flash-forward, this time with Ichigo and Arima. Yes, yes, yes, was on a rain binge.
009 – Who Will Stop The Rain
The return home was quiet.
Well, as quiet as it could be, when traveling on the train.
Ichigo looked at Arima. The bespectacled teen was currently writing a report, as if the episode behind them was just a short holiday and not life-changing experience it had turned out to be.
The soft noises of the train speeding through the night almost lulled him back into sleep again, but he resisted.
There was so much to ponder.
Karin had found herself in a royal amount of trouble. Ichigo still wasn't convinced that his stubborn little sister wasn't intending to get back to doing the Shinigami duties the moment his back was turned, but if nothing else, he managed to extract a promise from that Urahara idiot to train her properly.
Not that it lessened his concerns any, but the other possibility - taking them to Tokyo into his flat - was simply unfeasible. It was bad enough he had been wounded to the point his regeneration was just shy of not kicking in automatically.
He winced at the thought of him having to take a chunk out of Arima's shoulder to kick start it to its usual speed. It was bad enough that he had used kagune when combating through the Seireitei and when saving the two girls, he was thankful that the mask had held on so that no one could get a good look on his face and subsequently, his eyes.
Being a half-ghoul sucked just as much as it was a hidden blessing in disguise when he had to get cross any of the RC scanners.
"You're thinking too much, Kurosaki." Arima's voice jolted him out of his dark thoughts.
"How many times do I have to tell you, call me Ichigo, Arima!" He grouched back, glaring at his friend with half-exasperation.
Arima gave him a minuscule smile.
"As many as it takes for you to call me by my given name." Ichigo felt his cheeks heat at the tease.
"Not going to happen." He bit back, glaring at the smug CCG bastard. He had been friends with the bastard for a year, and he still called him by his surname, and Arima did likewise. It was an old joke between the two of them.
Huffing, he crossed his arms on his chest.
"They will be fine." Arima's voice caused his eyes to flicker in the Investigator's way. Platinum colored eyes slid in their deeper, softer mercury shade that made his gut involuntarily warm.
"Yeah, I suppose." He looked back to the window, looking at the steadily brightening morning sky. "And now, we are getting back to the old hell."
"It was inevitable." Arima's placid voice held a trace of aggravation within, and Ichigo smirked. He knew that his friend was no big fan of paperwork, and their week-long absence was guaranteed to produce nightmarish amounts of the cursed stuff.
"All the joys to you." He couldn't help but snark, and Arima glared at him.
"If I'm going down, I am taking you with me."
Ichigo grinned. "That's the spirit."
When he looked back through the window, he failed to notice Arima's gaze soften even further when his friend watched him.
They may be returning back to the danger and bloodshed, but they were going back together.
Outside, the rain slowly petered off into drizzle, leaving the air mellow and clear and with something like hope hanging in the air.
/To Be Continued/