He Followed Me Home, Can I Keep Him?
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.
To Hollow Ichigo-Ichigo: Hehehehehe... We shall see...
To XxShadowfangxX: Yes, yes it does. As for Shiro, I saw a few stories where he acted like a cat. And to be honest I like the thought, there is something about a giant scary looking hollow purring like a big pussycat that brings me so much amusement. As for Rukia... We'll just have to see...
To darkangel1992 : Thank you! It makes me happy to know that you guys appreciate me updating so quickly. As for your question... You shall see...
Without further ado the next chapter!
Her eyes widened and she can't help but whisper "Ichigo...?"
The hollow in question tilts it's head at her. She examined it closely still in disbelief. But upon spotting the familiar streaks going down it's face, though different in color, she can't help but realize who this hollow is before her. And she can't help but break out into a cold sweat.
"ICHIGO!" She all but yells. 'Is he the cause of the unusual hollow activity...' She can't help but think. 'Then that would mean... He hadn't done anything about it because he was it... NO... NOT AGAIN!' She can't help but remember the incident with Kaien. She also can't help but take on a fighting stance, but she doesn't draw her sword yet. Upon seeing her stance, it starts laughing, and it's the creepiest thing Rukia's ever heard. "Dammit Ichigo! You have to fight it!" At this the hollow bricks out into even more laughter, if that's even possible. And Rukia can't help but twitch getting agitated at it. "Dammit Ichigo! Are you already too far gone?"
Finally, the hollow stops laughing and regarding her again. By now her hand is hovering over her zanpakuto. It's obvious to him that if this doesn't come to a peaceful conclusion soon things could get... Messy... So finally, Shiro decides to take action and very quickly disappears from Rukia's vision. She hears a static sound behind her but she doesn't turn fast enough. Suddenly she feels a tug from her side as well as the absence of a weight. She whirls around and jumps back facing the hollow. Rukia cannot help but gasp upon seeing her zanpakuto being held in the hollow's tail. Within seconds it had disarmed her, but that doesn't mean that she is defenseless.
Rukia eyes the hollow and prepares some kido. She still won't allow herself to believe Ichigo is too far gone and so she'll start off with some binding kido first. But before anything can really even happen, a familiar voice calls out making everything seem to stand still for a moment. "Shiro! Drop it! And get over here!" Almost instantly, the hollow's head snaps that way then it proceeds to toss Rukia's sword towards her feet. It then quickly disappears but nearby she can hear the static sound from a different direction. She turns that way quickly and Rukia can't help but stare in shock at the orange haired human standing just a few feet away. The hollow is now by the teen's side and Rukia can't help but blink greatly when the teenager snacks the hollow in the side of the head. "What do you think your doing?" He questions while looking at the hollow and it just seems to huff in response. "Get your ass inside!" Once again, the hollow seems to let out a huff but turns and heads in through the still open door to the house. Ichigo lets out a soft sigh then looks Rukia. "Sorry about that... He has too much fun teasing others. Anyway, come on in. I figured the Soul Society would send somebody eventually." He rubs the back of his neck glancing to the side in thought for a moment. "Then again, maybe I should have contacted somebody to let them know what was going on..." He looks back to Rukia and almost continues until he sees that she is shaking. "Rukia? Is something wrong?"
"Idiot!" She yells while punching him in the stomach. "How dare you make me worry like that!" She quickly retrieves her sword while he recovers from the blow.
"Ow... Was that really necessary?" She shoots him a death glare. "Look, I'm sorry, all right!"
She stares at him silently for a long moment. Then she sighs and can't help but say. "I thought you had lost control of your inner hollow..." She trails off thinks for a moment then asks. "Why are you keeping a hollow around?"
It is Ichigo's turn to sigh, he rubs at his head. "That's a long story and if you come inside, I'll tell you everything." At that Rukia finally nods and follows him to his room. Upon entering something catches her attention to the side. She looks and freezes, the hollow in question is laying there. When they had entered it had glanced at them slightly but made no movements otherwise. Ichigo pays little attention to the hollow obviously use to it's presence. He moves and set down on his bed, then he gestures to his chair at the desk. "Have a seat, it's a long story."
She quietly walks over to the chair moving past the hollow who in turn just watches her. Then proceeds to take the chair and moves it to the farthest side of the room away from the hollow. Upon hearing Ichigo's voice, Kon looks out from his drawer curious to see what's going on. Instantly he spots Rukia. "Nee-chan!" Kon can't help but cry for joy while jumping at her. Without missing a beat Rukia punches the plush lion sending him flying back across the room. And at this, Shiro can't help but laugh. Rukia winces at the sound and Ichigo can't help but frown. He has a long way to go to get Rukia to accept Shiro. Finally Ichigo sighs and clears his throat to get Rukia's attention. Once he's sure he has it, he starts telling her about everything that's happened.
"And that's about it." Ichigo says finishing his explanation, at the moment Rukia just stare at him wide-eyed trying to take in all this information. "Are you all right Rukia?" He can't help but ask, due to the lack of response.
'Awww... The little Shinigami's in shock...' Shiro can't help but say with some amusement. Ichigo can hear the tired tone in the hollow's voice. Seems like Shiro just about fell asleep during that conversation. Shiro yawns, then says. 'I bet ya the first thin' that comes out of her mouth is idiot.' But before Ichigo can respond, Rukia does.
"Idiot!" Ichigo gets a feeling of amusement from Shiro, turns out the hollow was right. "Why didn't you contact me sooner? I could've helps! And then you wouldn't have to deal with this... This thing!" She says while pointing at Shiro.
'Hey, that's not very nice!' Shiro complains as if she could hear him.
"HE is my friend! My partner!" Ichigo snaps at her but quickly continues. "And before you say anything, I haven't forgotten that a while ago he tried to possess my body. But that's not who he is anymore! I've gotten to know him and I trust him." Rukia scoffs at this, but before she could say a word Ichigo continues again. "I know it's a lot to ask and I know that it will take some time before you can begin to trust him. But trust me. Trust me when I say you can trust him." Rukia can't help but look to Ichigo meeting his gaze. "Just give him a chance, that's all I'm asking for."
She looks at him quietly for a long moment then finally she sighs and replies with. "All right... I can't believe I'm doing this but all right..."
Ichigo can't help but smile at her. "Thanks Rukia..." And Rukia can't help but smile back. Shiro watches the scene in silence, something about it is really bugging him but he keeps it to himself.
The next two days end up having a lot of trials and errors. Of course Rukia wasn't about to leave Ichigo alone with the hollow. So she practically follows him everywhere and Shiro does his best to behave for the little Shinigami. And of course the first time he runs off to kill another hollow, she panics. That is until Ichigo explains what he's doing. To which she relaxes at least a little bit. Upon seeing Shiro purr for the first time, she can't help but watch him with surprise. It was obvious to anyone who saw the scene that she was having mixed emotions about something so scary looking acting rather cute. It seems Rukia is having a hard time getting over what she has been taught about hollows.
School ends on Friday rather peacefully, to which Ichigo and his friends are grateful for. The teenager is hoping to really allow Rukia and Shiro to spend some time together over the weekend in hope of truly breaking the ice between them. As the three of them head to his house he can't help but try to think up ways to do just that. That is until Shiro cuts off his train of thought. 'We're bein' followed...' He glances to the hollow slightly, upon noticing that Shiro isn't reacting he chooses to stay neutral as well, as to not alert the enemy. 'There's a lot of 'em... More than just three or four.' Shiro informs his other half. Ichigo puts his hands in his pockets casually. But in reality he grabs his cell phone in his pocket and carefully opens it. He sends a message to the others. Since they figured that sending an extended text was out of the question in a time of trouble. They had come up with the idea of sending a simple text with just one number and that number was four.
Upon sending the message he begins to chat casually with Rukia. She responds to the conversation easily, she too has notice something off. And has also chosen to remain neutral due to the fact that the ones beside her continue to remain so calm. That is until Shiro quickly but effectively responds to an attack coming up from behind, easily deflecting it. Almost instantly Ichigo pulls out his badge pushing his soul out of his body. And at the same moment Rukia pulls out what appears to be a candy dispenser with a rabbit head and quickly swallows one of the pills inside. Which helps her to easily leave her gigai. She looks to Chappy and says. "Take Ichigo's body somewhere safe." At that Chappy salutes and quickly heads off with the boy's body.
In an instant they're surrounded by what appears to be a group of soldiers. But unlike Lilly and her team, these guys are mostly dressed in black military outfits, they also have helmets on their heads with black visors set into them. "You guys from the Hollow Military?" Ichigo questions them while removing Zangetsu from his back. But instead of answering they move forward as a unit. Ichigo gets on guard but is surprised when their attack seems to focus solely on Shiro. They are quickly trying to separate the hollow from the Shinigami. "Hey!" Ichigo can't help but call out while sending an attack at the closest one.
Almost instantly, those closest to Ichigo turn and send a mixture of different attacks at him. It seems this unit uses a mixture of specialized short swords, energy guns, and it also appeared like they might have some of those energy grenades. Very quickly, Ichigo can't help but get a little disoriented. They are all dressed the same, he can't see their faces, they all use the same weapons, and he can't see any real difference in their fighting styles. It is almost like fighting someone who could duplicate themselves. The only thing that really gives away that they are different individuals is a slight difference in their height and build.
The battle gets very chaotic after that, Shiro is unable to do much in the way of actual fighting, due to the ferocity of the enemy's attacks. So he is more or less forced to dodge around and block most of the time. Ichigo too is having a hard time of it, every time he attacks one, three to four would strike back. They are keeping Ichigo so busy that he is unable keep an eye out to see if his friends are doing okay. And of course because the enemy keeps moving, it's impossible to how many there actually are. Rukia on the other hand, is more or less ignored since she hasn't made any aggressive moves yet. She is taking a moment to actually observe their movements.
Finally she makes her move, binding a number of their soldiers with her kido. But the moment she does, everything seems to slow down has she feels a presence behind her. She tries to turn to block the the attack that she knows is coming. But her body just doesn't seem to want to move fast enough. She finally turns enough to see the soldier in black, sword in hand, high above their head. They swing their arm down and she knows she can't dodge the strike in time. A static sound fills her ears and suddenly she's being pushed to the ground. She hears the sound of steel meeting flesh, Rukia's head snaps up and to the sound. Standing above her protectively, sword embedded deep into his shoulder is Shiro. At that instant, any worries or doubts she had about the hollow evaporate. She no longer sees a monster standing before her, she sees an injured comrade. "Shiro!" It is the first time she has used his name.
A different static sound fills the air as the soldier seems to hit a button on the sword causing electricity to course through Shiro's body. He lets out a hollow wail filled with pain. Shiro's body spasms as electricity shoots through him, but through the pain he somehow manages to grab the sword. And slowly he begins to pull it out. Soon enough he pulls it from his body, the gash quickly heals. And Shiro narrows his eyes at the soldier. The man quickly moves to grab something else from his side but Shiro is quicker and punches him in the stomach sending the soldier flying. Shiro turns his gaze to the sword in his hand, man had lost hold of it. He eyes it for a moment, then proceeds to break it in half. Finally his gaze drifts to Rukia, who is still on the ground where he left her. He holds out one of his clawed hands to her in a friendly gesture.
Rukia can't help but smile up at the hollow taking the hand. "Thanks Shiro." She says as he helps Rukia to her feet. Suddenly Shiro jerks slightly and Rukia can't help but blink up at him. He lifts his hand over his shoulder and when he pulls it back he's holding some sort of empty dark between his fingers. He stares it quietly then looks Rukia and she can certainly see the concern in his eyes. Suddenly there's a figure looming behind Shiro and Rukia can't help but gasp. Upon seeing her expression, he quickly turns just in time to be repeatedly slammed in the stomach by Major Alexander. He ends this lightning chain of attacks with a powerful uppercut sending the hollow flying into the air.
Shiro tries to collect himself from the punishing blows but a movement catches his attention. He looks up, in the air above him is a hollow his never seen before, and it's charging is a Cero which is pointing right at him. All Shiro can do is raise his arms to protect his face as the blast hits him hard. His world flashes blue and he feels weak. He can't tell which way is up and which way down. He hears someone calling for him but he can't tell who. Was this it? Is it all over? Was he dying?
Just as these questions pass through his mind, so to does something else. It is warm and comforting. It is powerful but protective. It feels him with new energy, restoring his strength. But he also feels something else... It almost feels like... Like his body is breaking apart. At that exact moment his body slams into the pavement hard, causing pain to shoot through his entire body.
"Mother fuckin' hell!" Shiro yells at the top of his lungs.
And that's it for this chapter, enjoyed the cliffhanger until I get the next one up.
A quick note, I had picked the number 4 for their text messages because I remember hearing somewhere that the number 4 to those who live in Japan is like our 666. Supposedly the more 4's there are the worst it is.(Note: Thank you Electric Elly for the information.)
Until next time! R&R please!