Bleach is owned by Tite Kubo, meaning it does not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Bleach storyline (such as Anzu) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.
"Anzu, open up!"
I ignored Shinji as he pounded on the door to his room, laying back on his bed and staring at the ceiling.
It was easy to ignore him… I was confused as hell and completely occupied with thinking.
When I had been younger I'd liked Shinji… As I'd gotten older that had faded and became something closer to trust… Once I'd come here I'd started hating him, but now…
…It was pretty pointless to deny it.
I liked him.
A lot.
I pinched the bridge of my nose, clenching my eyes shut and sighing. Aww, crap…
Great.
Now I'd admitted it.
Now I'd gone and done it.
Now it was going to be a bitch to tear myself away later…
"Anzu Kimura, open this door now!" Shinji bellowed, pounding on the door.
I stood with a sigh, dragging my feet as I walked to the door and opening it.
Shinji glared down at me, huffing, "It's about ti—"
I cut him off, grabbing his shoulder and pulling him down into a quick kiss before brushing passed him, shoving my phone into my pocket and heading for the main door of the warehouse.
All behind me was silent for a moment, and then there were shuffles and footsteps that followed me outside.
I sighed heavily, smirking slightly.
"Where're ya gooooin'?" Shinji drawled in a suggestive tone, a smirk so painfully obvious in his voice it nearly made me wince. While I didn't wince, though, my smirk did grow a bit before dying.
"Home." I winced when his thin, bony hand shot out and latched onto my arm.
"Like hell ya are."
I sighed heavily, glancing over my shoulder, "Shinji, I want to go home for the evening. I haven't been on the brunt end of an attack for a while, and I want to stay in my bed for one night."
"Anzu, I'm no—"
"Shinji," I turned back to him, standing squarely in front of him and looking up into his eyes flatly, "I want to sleep in my bed tonight."
Shinji blinked down at me, then ceded, letting my arm go. "Yer not stayin' in that house alone."
"Fine." I turned on my heel, heading back towards town, "You can sleep on the sofa."
For the first length of the walk we were silent, me walking a bit in front and my gaze set ahead but not really seeing and Shinji about a step and a half behind me. The night was still fairly young, a smudge of dark reddish-purple still visible off in the distance and the stars barely discernible. A cool wind was blowing through the town…
I sighed. "September and it's already getting chilly… Winter will be coming early."
"Yeah…" Shinji agreed, sounding particularly grim.
I glanced over my shoulder at him, blinking, "Is that bad?"
Shinji shrugged, looking away and saying nothing.
…He was avoiding the subject. Something bad was coming… And there was only one thing I could think of that would make Shinji so tense.
"It's got something with that Aizen guy, doesn't it?" When Shinji's cheek twitched and his eyes narrowed slightly, I looked ahead and sighed.
"…Possibly." He admitted at length, making me wince.
"This guy is pretty powerful isn't he?" I asked, sighing, "I mean, controlling Arrancars, going against the Seireitei, getting away with all of everything he's done…" I glanced at Shinji, "He's even got you nervous…"
"I'm ain't nervous." Shinji snapped.
I winced slightly, taking a step away from him and looking back ahead.
"…But yes," Shinji continued after a moment, tone contrite as he sped up to walk beside me, "He is powerful. And yes, my reaction to the comin' winter does have to do with him…"
"…Are you gonna fight him?" I asked after a few minute's pause, still looking ahead.
"…Probably…"
I dropped the subject at that. There really wasn't anything to say… I had never met this 'Aizen', personally, and even if his lackeys had hurt my father, it was indirect, not a strike against me. This fight wasn't any of my business, and like I had the power to fight, anyway. All I could do was protect… and if and when the time came, I would use that protection to shield my father.
"…Hey, Anzu."
My train of thought vanished from my mind and I glanced over at Shinji, "Yeah?"
"I gotta question…" When I nodded for him to go on, Shinji glanced over at me with a slightly smirk, "Does all of this makin'-out recently mean we're an item now?"
I froze, my mind jolting as it tried to process the information. I stared at Shinji's back as he sauntered forward a few more steps before he turned back, smirking. "Wh-What…?"
His smirk widened, "I asked if you'n me were datin'. So? Are we?"
After staring at him for a moment in cold shock, my eyes wide, my heart started to race and my face heated up quickly, the sudden warmth jerking me back to reality. I stumbled forward, brushing passed him and continuing home, "N-No."
"Oh, no?" Shinji chuckled, following, "You need me to ask ya properly?"
"No…" Though it wouldn't hurt. While I was slapping myself for thinking this, at this point if he asked I would probably say 'yes'.
"Che, fine." Shinji looked away, pouting, "Then I won't ask. Only means you can't get angry at me when I snog other chicks."
I ground my teeth, my nails digging into my palms as I stormed ahead. That cheeky son of a bitch!
And I only got angrier when he laughed loudly and caught up with me, throwing his arm around my shoulders and grinning down at me cheekily, "Aww, did I make Anzu jealous?"
Needless to say, I left him nursing a bruised section of ribcage and an electrical burn snaking up the hand that had tried to squeeze my boob.
When we got back to my house and I opened the shop, I walked inside and looked around with a frown, my nose wrinkling at all of the dust that had collected, and in such a short amount of time…
"Why're we stoppin'?" Shinji whispered loudly in my ear.
I snorted and ignored him, locking the door before letting it go and walking inside, heading to the other side of the register counter to unlock the door to the house.
"Aww, c'mon!" Shinji whined, dragging his feet as he followed, "Don't tell me I've pissed ya off again!"
Still ignoring him, I headed up the stairs and into the house, turning on the lights and looking around. Everything seemed to be normal…
"Fuck, yer such a child…" Shinji growled, stomping up beside me and crossing his arms over his chest, "Ignorin' me when I piss ya off, throwin' tantrums…"
"I am being a child, as opposed to you being a petulant 'adult'?" I asked, glancing over at him with a smirk.
Shinji pursed his lips, twitching.
I snickered, then waved towards the direction of the living room, "You take the couch. Don't try to come into my room." That said, I locked the door behind us and headed down the hall to my room.
My room…
Still in its usual dirty state with clothes tossed over the back of the chair, the desk littered with messy stacks of papers, socks and cords from the radio, my cell phone charger, and a stereo scattered across the floor…
My room.
My same old, messy old, boring old room.
God, I'd missed it.
Without bothering to change out of my clothes I walked over to my bed and fell down on top of it, a wide grin spreading across my face as I pulled a pillow to my chest and hugged it.
My bedroom… My bed… My smell… My environment.
Finally, I was back in my element. Even with the knowledge that Shinji was just down the hall, I felt so at ease and calm…
And for the first time in almost a week, the blue I had nearly forgotten about faded from my mind's eye and I felt my barrier dissipate completely. Even my paranoid subconscious was at ease…
My grin faded slightly until it was an easy smile, and I buried my face into my pillow, relaxing and thanking myself for not turning the bedroom light on. It wasn't long before my mind started to numb and my eyes closed.
Finally… Peace…
What seemed seconds later I jolted awake, a cold sweat on the back of my neck and my breath hot in my mouth as I panted.
There was a sharp pain in my chest as my heart thudded far too fast, and my mind was reeling as it tried to process the shadows that stretched across my bed from the window like so man jagged, spidery fingers of bone, burnt black and crawling.
A streak of blue flashed across my vision and my body froze as those shadow suddenly became irrationally horrifying… My breath froze in my chest and my head swam as the bony finger-like shadows suddenly spiraled up, condensing and molding together to become a tall, shadowed figure.
The figure leaned over, clawed hands reaching out for me…
I could just barely make out their features; ramrod-straight, jaw length hair, glowing golden eyes, a large, sinister smile…
A broken keen rose in the back of my throat, though it was unable to get passed the thick lump that had formed just in the back of my mouth…
Just then the door burst open and light flooded in, making the shadow man break apart and melt into the air, the shadows that had made him disappearing.
My thudding heart was practically humming with how fast it was beating when a new figure, this one wreathed in gold light, walked in. I flushed, shaking as the figure reached out and cupped my face.
"Anzu…? Are you ok—"
I went limp and everything went black.
Shinji stared down at her as Anzu passed out, catching her as she flopped over and nearly fell off of her bed.
Picking her up and holding her close, Shinji looked around the room, frowning.
He'd woken when her reiatsu, which had been gradually calming to a normal, human state ever since they had stepped into her home, had spiked dramatically, staying spiked for several minutes.
As soon as he'd opened the door, though, and she'd seen him, it had dropped back down… Which was probably he reason she had passed out; rapidly fluctuating ones reiatsu over and over wasn't healthy.
As Shinji inspected her room carefully, looking for what had frightened her, he frowned upon realizing something…
There were traces of a powerful spiritual pressure by her window that was, decidedly, not Anzu.
The traces were fading fast, too fast for him to be able to tell the exact nature or power level of whoever it had been. One thing was certain, though; someone had been here, and they had scared the shit out of Anzu.
Shinji heaved a heavy sigh and turned back to the bed, setting Anzu down on it. When she wined and clung to him, a wide smirk spread across his face.
The sofa in the living room sucked.
He would much rather… say… sleep in her bed, with her.
Besides, she needed a guardian to keep an eye on her, right? It seemed like every time she was left alone lately, someone/thing attacked her…
And Shinji was more than happy to oblige her begging whine, which had just screamed "Don't leave me alone! Sleep in my comfy bed with me! Please, hold me in your arms and make me feel safe!"…
Shinji snickered, then slipped into the bed next to her, his grin widening when Anzu turned to him and pressed close to his chest.
His grin faded a bit when he felt her shaking…
Sighing, he lifted one hand and set it on her back, glancing over his shoulder at the window. Whoever had been there was long gone; not even the previous traces remained… And he didn't feel anything of any immediate danger for miles…
So, there was nothing to worry about.
Grinning, Shinji turned back to Anzu and held her close, stroking her back slowly. His grin actually got painful as it spread when she nuzzled his neck.
Hehehe, he could sooooo get used to this…
…If only for a while. Shinji clenched his jaw as the inevitable thoughts that he had been trying to keep at bay came forth… The thoughts that made it perfectly clear that, eventually, he would have to push her away. Eventually he would have to deny her…
Winter would be coming soon.
And with winter, the war.
A war he refused to let her be part of.
And while he had tired to ignore the facts, he couldn't deny them much longer. He didn't know when it would happen… A day? A week? A month or so from now?
…Whenever it would happen, he would have to push her away.
But for now, Shinji would be selfish. For now he would pretend like everything would stay the same and do what he did best; piss her off and use that to draw out her reluctant but present affection.
For now, they would pretend nothing would change… all while the imminent war drew closer and closer…
In my dream, the figure wreathed in gold only stayed long enough to make the shadows go away for a moment…
And then the golden man shut the door and the shadows came back.
The shadow man formed again and he leaned over, and once again all I could make out in the dark was his straight, jaw length hair, his golden eyes, and his large smile made of teeth that seemed too white, the incisors too sharp and stained faintly at the tips with blood.
The shadow man reached out, his long, bony fingers gripping my neck and pulling me up with inhuman ease and strength.
I gasped and wheezed, my fingers scraping weakly at the hand latched onto my throat.
That inhumanly large grin stretched and stretched until the edges disappeared around the other side of the shadow man's face, all the way around to the back of his head…
I'm gonna die…
Someone… help… please…
I'm gonna die…
I'm gonna die…
Help me…!
I'm gonna die!
I'm not ready to die!
Help!
Someone!
HELP!!
Then the door burst open again and the shadow man and I looked…
This time, it wasn't the golden man. There was someone else there. Someone taller… Someone grander…
The air around the new man sparkled and snapped, shimmering with a light of ever-changing colors…
The shimmering man stepped into the room, slowly raising his hand in the direction of the shadow man.
That was all he had to do…
As soon as the shimmering man raised his hand, the shadow man disappeared, this time violently torn apart by a force I could not see but instinctively knew was generated by the shimmering man…
When the shadow man was gone, I fell to my feet, then to my knees and leaned forward, clutching at my throat and gasping in air.
Then the shimmering man was next to me, pulling me into his arms. The moment he touched me I became intensely frightened, but he was so gentle and careful, cradling me against his chest.
He scared me… but he had protected me. He was still protecting me.
A gentle, soft hand cupped my jaw and tilted my head up, making me look into soft brown eyes…
And a smile…
That smile…
Gentle, but somehow condescending…
As if the shimmering man felt he was better than me…
No… no, he was right.
He didn't just think he was better than me; he was better than me.
The gentle, condescending smile widened slightly, and then the shimmering man vanished.