It's been a while, huh? Anyway, in celebration of Halloween, I'm posting the next chapter. Am I off hiatus? Nope. Have I written the next chapter? Nope. Am I going to get my shit together anytime soon? Nope.

Chapter 21

Ichigo let out a long, long, long sigh. It wasn't an irritated sigh, or a tired sigh, or even a sigh for the sake of sighing; no, it was a contented sigh.

Because he was content.

He could hear the crashing of the waves on the beach, feel the breeze in his hair, smell the salt in the air, and see the bright blue sky meeting the dark blue ocean in the distance. The view was incredible, and the beach chair he was sitting in was the perfect seat to watch it from.

He was still slightly sweaty from the volleyball game he'd played a few minutes ago, but the sun was doing an admirable job of drying him off.

"Ichigo!"

He glanced up, smiled slightly. "Hey, Orihime." His eyes drifted down to the drinks she held in both hands, allowing him to look away from her furiously blushing face. "What's up?"

"I-I thought you might be thirsty, so I brought you a drink!" She smiled brightly and handed it to Ichigo. The orange-haired boy accepted it, saying thanks as he did. He was, in fact, thirsty—he blamed Uryū and, to a lesser extent, Chad. The Quincy boy had taken the volleyball game very seriously, forcing Ichigo to compete just as furiously or risk losing.

He knew, deep down, that it was his own fault, but he decided to ignore that fact. Blaming Uryū was more fun, anyway.

As for Chad, the guy was so ridiculously strong that his spikes simply weren't fair.

Ichigo and Orihime made small talk for a minute before Rukia snatched Orihime's attention. Ichigo let them go do whatever it was they were doing—sand castles, apparently—and went back to relaxing.

He decided to do some thinking, which he had been doing off and on the entire trip. Zangetsu—both spirits, really—had made it abundantly clear that this vacation was for Ichigo to unwind, and the teen was more than happy to do exactly that. Already, that strange, suffocating pressure that had lurked on his shoulders and chest since Soul Society had eased. He almost couldn't feel it anymore, and it was only the third day.

Speaking of the two Zanpakutō, they had been curiously quiet the entire trip. Ichigo appreciated the rare moment of peace; they seemed to be giving him some space. At first, he'd tried to go into his inner world to investigate, only to get booted out. Far from being annoyed or worried, Ichigo had accepted the message for what it was and moved on.

He took a sip of his drink and savored the flavor.

Yes, Ichigo was well aware that he'd been way too . . . tense recently. He knew it as well as he knew anything else about himself. The problem was, he hadn't been able to stop. He'd been snapping at his family before he even fully understood what had set him off in the first place, and the apologies had come out unwillingly or simply gotten stuck in his throat.

Hell, one or two nights, he'd felt as though he was being suffocated. The nightmares—Murumasa turning his spirits against him, Kōga winning, his mother (always his mother) dying but now he could see the hollow—

They didn't stop. Sometimes, when he looked down, he had to blink several times to clear the image of blood on his hands, staining his skin.

Sometimes it took longer than that.

But now—

Now, he was feeling better. Not relieved, not absolved, but better. Looser. More relaxed. And he got the feeling that this relaxation was exactly what he needed. Not having to worry about hollow attacks, not constantly being under pressure to save a world he didn't even know about two years ago, not endlessly worrying about the safety of his own friends and family—

It was liberating. Kisuke had been explicitly clear when he said that he'd keep Karakura Town safe, and Ichigo trusted him on that.

He took another sip of the drink Orihime had given him (good, he noted mentally) and just let himself relax.

His mind wandered. He found himself thinking about his Zanpakutō and his soul as a whole. Just what was he? Ichigo knew that he was part hollow, part human, and part Shinigami. The hollow part came from . . . somewhere, the Shinigami part from his Dad, and his human part from his mom. He was a balance of three parts.

Zangetsu was split into two blades; the cleaver and the trench knife. The hollow reflection of his soul was clearly the source of the cleaver, while the Shinigami portion (well, they were both Shinigami, but Ichigo was focusing on the dominant traits) was the source of the trench knife. The blades certainly fit their personalities; the hollowfied Zangetsu was bloodthirsty, sometimes cruel, and merciless when it came to battle. He fought with offense being the only objective.

As for the calmer, older Zangetsu, his style was more . . . refined. Yeah, refined. He focused on planning and taking advantage of an opponents' weakness.

Yet, both blades could work together. Getsuga Jūjishō was a good example of that teamwork; when combined, the daishō pair was certainly deadly.

What confused Ichigo was the way the two interacted. It wasn't that they were hostile; no, there was just something off about the way they talked. A slight shift in Zangetsu's tone of voice, an even subtler shift in the older Zangetsu's posture. Ichigo couldn't put his finger on it, but it was there.

And it was driving him nuts.

Still, he trusted his Zanpakutō. He knew beyond doubt that those arrows (blue, glowing arrows, just like Uryū's) had something to do with that strange dissonance, but Ichigo wasn't going to press it. Zangetsu had said clearly that it wasn't his place to say.

So, for now, Ichigo would focus on the troubles he could fix, not the ones he couldn't.

Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and let the sound of the waves carry him off to sleep.

A/N Fun and very short. Very, very short.

Reviews:

enjali: Unfortunately, it seems that a vacation is the best he's gonna get.

Zivyx: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

castielshumanheart: I actually didn't plan on Quincy Zangetsu being such a large part in this story; he kind of just...appeared.

grandshadowseal: I'm honestly not a huge fan of Kon's character. If he does appear, it'll be a short little thing. And Zangetsu? Talking to someone? Admitting he's fucked up to someone that's not literally just a reflection of himself? Yeah, when it rains broken glass, maybe.

Guest: The bankai in the Fullbringer Arc...if you don't read the manga, SPOILER ALERT, that's not Ichigo's real bankai. It's...modified? I don't know the best way to put it.

To everyone else: Thank you, and I hope you continue to put up with my horrible updating habits!

-RoR

Please review.