The Protector's Temptation.

Good to know that you're still enjoying the story and thanks to everyone that reviewed the last chapter. I have nothing I want to address this time, since most questions will be answered as we go along…that and I like to tease you guys.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.

"Normal speech"

'Thoughts/Inner Speech'

"Kido/Zanpakuto release"

"Zanpakuto speech"

XXX

Chapter 6:

Just as she said they would, Ichigo was conscious of the appreciative looks that he was getting from the school's female population. Honestly it was times like this that he was glad that he had greater restraint than some of his peers, since some of them would take full advantage of this increase in popularity.

'So tell me again how this is positive attention,' he grumbled inwardly to Kyoka, feeling his zanpakuto spirit lounging on her bed in his inner world.

"Well if you were the type to date a girl, then this would be very positive indeed," she quipped back, snuggling back under her covers. "Now leave me alone, I'm still sleepy."

Feeling her presence withdraw from him, he sighed and went about his day, trying to ignore the stares he got.

XXX

"So…ready to admit I was right?" Tatsuki asked him, a grin plastered on her face as they walked past the small audience that they had for practice today, consisting mainly of the younger girls of the school, girls that wouldn't know much of his history.

"Zip it Tatsuki," he growled at her, fuming at the idea that he was being ogled and there really wasn't much he could do about it. All through the day he had been subject to stares and even more surprisingly to him, some of them were from people he had known for most of his high school life, like Orihime or Mahana. Hell even Ryo was looking at him over the top of her book.

As they walked out of the school grounds, a shrill voice rang out through the air. "Michiru wait!" they heard Ryo yell, causing them to stop and turn to face her direction. As they looked back, Michiru pushed past them with a haunted expression on her face, shoving the two martial artists out the way.

"Hey watch it!" Ichigo yelled after her, watching as she disappeared around the corner. Turning back once again, he and Tatsuki headed back to where Ryo stood in her track uniform with her bag in hand. Kneeling down, she picked up Michiru's discarded cell phone and bag.

"Sorry about that Mr Ogawa," she spoke into the phone, "but Michiru just dropped her stuff and ran off. What…" Watching the track star's eyes, they could see them widen in worry before softening. "Of course sir, I understand. Don't worry I'll make sure she gets home safely." Ending the call, she looked up to see Ichigo and Tatsuki in front of her.

"So what was that all about Ryo?" Tatsuki asked, watching the girl's shoulders slump.

"That was Michiru's dad," she answered hesitantly. "Her mother was in a car accident and was taken to the hospital in a critical condition." At her words, a worried look crossed Tatsuki's face, while Ichigo frowned.

"When she heard that, she just dropped everything and ran off. I can get in contact with Mahana and Chizuru, do you think you can get in contact with Orihime?" Ryo asked. "We're going to need all the help we can get if we want to find her."

"Yeah sure," Tatsuki replied, reaching for her phone. "Think you can start looking for her Ichigo?" she asked, turning to face the orange haired teen.

"Yeah, of course," he said, turning away from them and running over to the corner he had seen her disappear down. 'Just need to get far enough away from them so that I can find her ribbon and follow it,' he thought as he ran, trying to remember what hers felt like. Finding himself in a secluded spot, he concentrated on materialising the ribbons around him, snatching the one he recognised as Michiru's out of the myriad amount of them.

"Impressive Ichigo," Kyoka said from within his inner world. "To be able to use such a high level technique is quite astounding."

'It's an old technique to me,' he replied, rushing down the road after the ribbon. 'I used it to find a soul trapped in a parakeet once before.'

As he kept running, he found himself stopping as the trail cut through one of the many parks in Karakura. Looking down, he could see shoe prints roughly the size of Michiru's in the dirt. Following it, he soon found some skid marks down a rocky embankment, as if someone had fallen. Seeing the little droplets of blood, he followed them to find his classmate clutching her knees to her chest tightly, her arms and legs bleeding from her fall.

"Michiru," he said out loud, not wanting to startle the girl by walking up to her.

Looking up at him, the girl sniffled and hastily rubbed her forearm across her face, trying to hide the evidence of her tears.

"What do you want Kurosaki?" she choked out, still struggling to stop herself from breaking down into sobs.

"I was just checking to make sure that you're okay. Your father and the others are quite worried about you," he said soothingly, taking a few hesitant steps closer.

"I…I was just trying to get to the hospital," she whispered, her hands tightening around her body even tighter. "But I slipped and got these scratches," she said showing him her torn palms and knees, making Ichigo wince at how hard she must have fallen.

"Come on, let's get you somewhere we can fix you up," he said, placing his hand on her shoulder, only to have her throw it off and back away from him.

"I c-can do it myself," she stuttered, tears pouring from her eyes from the pain, as she tried and failed to get up.

"No you can't," he chided her. "And the others are still quite far away. You need to get somewhere so that we can clean those wounds and stop the bleeding. After all you're not doing anyone any favours by making them worry about you and your mother." Instead of calming her though, this seemed to make the normally timid girl all the more agitated and wrathful.

"What would you know about it?!" she shouted back at him, tears flowing freely while her voice broke under the strain. "How could you possibly know what my family's going through right now?!" she continued yelling at him, trying in vain to get past him. Making a mad dash past his left, she soon found her wrists caught in his tight grip. "LET ME GO!"

"You're feeling as if your entire world is falling apart around you," he said, pinning her arms at her side as she continued to struggle against him. "You're looking for any light in the darkness, praying beyond belief that this is all a nightmare that you're going to wake up from soon," he finished, feeling her stop struggling and look up at him again.

"I know what you're going through; because I went through something similar. When I was nine, I woke up with my mother's bleeding body on top of me and I shut out the rest of the world until someone knocked some sense into me," he whispered. "You can't run from it though, you just need to let it all out okay?"

Feeling the girl's shoulders shake, he could feel her grip his gi tighter as she let her tears fall again, her cries muffled against his body. 'God I didn't mean against me!' he wanted to yell, but instead wrapped his arms around her in a hug, stroking her back as she cried. Slipping his arms underneath her legs, he lifted her up so that her head was resting on his shoulder, while her arms wrapped around his neck, looking like he was carrying a rather large child.

'Please let Tatsuki be the only person we run into,' he thought, heading back up the hill he had followed her down and emerging back in the park. Knowing his father's clinic was closer and having no idea where she lived to begin with, he started to make his way towards it, struggling to text Tatsuki his destination while supporting Michiru.

Half way there, Tatsuki ran into them, raising an eyebrow at their position. Seeing that Michiru was passed out though, she silently joined him and took his bag from him so that he could focus on carrying her.

"And this happened how?" she whispered to him, trying not to wake the girl up.

"Long story," he whispered back as Ryo and Mahana rounded the corner. "For now can we just get her to my dad's before we continue with the interrogation?"

Nodding her head in agreement, they continued on the way there, collecting Orihime and Chizuru on the way.

"You know that bad boy image you tried to maintain?" Kyoka asked, appearing a few feet in front of him, skipping about.

'Yeah, what about it?' he asked while paying little heed to the others as Tatsuki held their questions off.

"Well you can take it, run it through a shredder. Take the scraps and put it in a blender. Take the mulch left over and set it alight and scatter the ashes to the wind, since it is beyond maintaining after every one hears about this," she teased, watching as a tick mark appeared on his forehead.

'You're enjoying this aren't you?' he asked.

"Yup," she replied with a grin, flashing him a wide smile.

'Remind me again how you're one of the most feared zanpakuto in existence?' he asked sarcastically, seeing her pout.

"I don't know, my bubbly personality is just too much for them?" she replied with her finger pressed to her lips, making him roll his eyes at her.

'Clearly that's all it is,' he muttered, seeing the clinic come into sight at long last. Watching as Tatsuki opened the door for him, he stepped into the clinic proper.

Looking up from where she sat at the front desk, Yuzu's eyes popped open as her brother carried in a young girl, while Tatsuki, Orihime and some others she didn't recognise trailed after him.

"What happened, Onii-chan?" she asked as Ichigo walked past her into one of the examination rooms.

"She took a nasty fall down an embankment not far from here," he replied, setting the girl down on the bed and struggling to pry her hands from his gi. Abandoning the idea of keeping it on, he shrugged his arms out of it, exposing his nude torso to the rest of the girls in the room, who, with the exception of Yuzu and Chizuru, felt their faces rapidly heat up. "Can you ask dad to come in and see her?" he asked, seeing his sister nod and disappear. Seeing the blushing faces before him though, he supressed his own blush and hastily left the room, intent on getting a shirt from his room.

When he finally returned a few minutes later, he could see his father already cleaning the wounds, a look of intense concentration on his face.

"How bad is it?" he asked, watching as his father reached for some needle and thread.

"She'll need stitches and bandages over some of these cuts, but she should be able to go home tonight," Isshin replied calmly, working with precision as he started stitching the wounds shut. "Take your friends out please; it's getting a bit crowded in here."

Nodding his head at the man, he began to usher the others out.

"So how did you get her to trust you like that Ichigo?" Mahana asked once they were all in the waiting room again. "She was always awfully timid around you from what I remember."

"I just knew what she was going through," he said with a shrug, turning away from them.

"What did he mean by that?" Mahana asked once he was gone, causing everyone to turn and face Tatsuki for an answer. Feeling Michiru's phone ring again, Ryo stepped outside to answer it.

"If you want an answer, you're going to have to ask him," Tatsuki replied, looking at the hallway he had disappeared down. "But that is the one part of him that he rarely ever shares with anyone else.

XXX

Entering the exam room again, Ichigo waited as his father finished stitching up her cuts, before tucking her under a blanket. While he cleaned up the supplies he used, Ichigo watched as the girl's chest rose and fell with steady breaths. Seeing his bloody gi in a corner, he dropped it in the bag to have it washed separately.

"I'm guessing that Ryo's already told her dad where she is, so I suspect that he might show up here sooner or later," he said as his father approached him.

"That's good. Physically, she won't even have to worry about scars along her arms and legs, so that's one good thing," Isshin replied, ushering his son out of the room again. "As for her mental state…I think you've helped that quite a bit too. So what is she, your girlfriend or something?" he joked; only to let out a pained yell as Ichigo sent him flying with a punch.

"Can't you be serious for two freaking minutes old man!" he hissed in anger, watching as the waiting girls looked at him curiously. "She'll be fine. Did her dad say anything about when he'd be here?"

"He was leaving the hospital to head here when I last spoke to him, so he should be here soon," Ryo replied.

"Alright. Do any of you want something to eat or drink?" he offered. "I'd be a poor host if I didn't at least offer you something."

"Oh Ichigo, you're finally showing interest in the opposite sex!" Isshin hollered at the top of his lungs, earning looks of disgust from Ichigo, Tatsuki and Chizuru, while Orihime, Mahana and Ryo looked uncomfortable.

"Just shut up already, she's still trying to rest after all!" Ichigo snapped, knocking him out again.

As the rest of them accepted his offer, he led them to the kitchen in the attached house and poured them some coke, while Yuzu worked on creating a quick platter of sandwiches. Twenty minutes later and they were back in the clinic with a frantic Mr Ogawa, his face deathly pale after the day he was having. Ichigo almost wanted to glare at Ryo, since after hearing that he was the one to find her and bring her back for treatment, the man had damn near taken his arm off as he shook it in thanks.

Hearing the commotion, Michiru had woken up and was now subject to a tight hug, both she and her father bawling their eyes out. Soon afterwards though, the pair of them left the exam room with Michiru being supported by her father and left with their thanks once again. The rest of the girls left soon afterwards much to Isshin's dismay, citing the need to get home before it got too dark. Before the man could offer to let them stay the night, Ichigo had once again knocked him out and dragged him back into the house.

XXX

"Thank god that's over," Ichigo sighed as he walked into his room and collapsed onto his bed later that evening.

Taking note of his exhaustion, Nova reduced the volume on his movie, trying to give the teen some quiet. It was not to last however, as he soon felt himself dragged into his inner world. Looking up, he could see Kyoka staring down at him with a blank look on her face, practice sword held ready.

"Do we have too?" he groaned, yelping as she brought her blade down where his head used to be.

"Yes, because you're more likely to remember it if you actually feel it happen to you," she smirked, lashing out again.

"You're a real slave driver, you know that?" he growled at her, grabbing the spare blade and clashing with her again.

Mercifully the session was kept short, with her spending just as much time taking him through the forms with slow, rigorous instruction as well as fast paced, learn as you go experience. When he returned to his body, he grimaced and turned his attention to his school work, thankful that it was relatively light load. Before he could begin though, his phone rang, showing an unknown number.

"Hello?" he answered supressing a yawn.

"Ichigo-san, it's Michiru," he heard her say; her voice stronger than when he last spoke to her.

"Oh, nice to hear from you again," he answered, surprised that the timid girl had called him, especially since he hadn't given her his number before. 'Must've gotten it from Tatsuki or Orihime,' he thought. "So how's your mother doing?"

"She's going to be fine. They say she'll make a full recovery, but the coming weeks will be hard on her," she answered, her tone showing that while saddened, the news had given her the reassurance she desperately needed.

"That's good to hear," he said, rubbing the back of his neck to relieve it of some of the strain.

"Thank you…but that's not why I called," she replied, her tone becoming hesitant. "I…I just wanted to say thank you for everything that you did for me today. And I'm sorry for shouting at you like I did…it was rude and hurtful on my part."

"Don't worry about it. You were going through a rough time and needed someone to be there to vent at. Just remember not to bottle it up, okay?" he asked, waiting as he heard her sniffle on the other side of the line.

"I will, thank you again Ichigo. I'll see you at school tomorrow," she replied, her voice gaining some strength again.

"Yeah, see ya," he said, ending the call.

"Some one's getting lucky soon," Kyoka teased him again, conjuring several illusions of his female classmates all blushing and looking at him with doe-like eyes.

'ENOUGH!' he growled back, shattering the illusion, much to his surprise.

"A sharp and determined mind Ichigo, that's one half of what you need to truly master my powers," she said with a smile as she appeared in front of him.

'And the other half?" he asked curiously, watching as she smirked and walked up to him, bending over to reveal even more of her cleavage to him

"That, you need to find out on your own," she laughed, flicking him on his nose and disappearing once again.

XXX

The following morning after his jog, Ichigo found himself faced with a smirking Karin and blushing Yuzu.

"Okay, what exactly is on your minds that you're fidgeting so much around me?" he asked, settling into his chair while Yuzu set a plate of food in front of him.

"Oh nothing at all Ichi-nii," Karin said with a grin. "Yuzu and dad were simply telling me how you heroically rescued the damsel in distress, moving her so much that she absolutely refused to let go of you. Not to mention the other girls that couldn't help but drool as you stripped in front of them."

Supressing the urge to rant and rave about doing no such thing, he took a deep breath to calm himself down, before smirking back at Karin.

"Yes she refused to let go of me, but of course I couldn't blame her for that. And can you blame the others for wanting more of this," he quipped, gesturing to his torso and watching as Karin blanched at him, while Yuzu squeaked and rushed back into the kitchen.

"You need to move out of here soon," Karin mumbled at him. "Dad's beginning to rub off on you."

'If only it was dad that was the cause of this,' he said inwardly, noticing that Kyoka was still asleep.

XXX

Walking onto the school grounds half an hour later, he could already hear the low buzz of conversation that followed him. Not surprised that most of them had heard of what he did, he sent several heated glares at the guys as they sniggered at him and tried his best to ignore the looks of adoration he was receiving from the girls. Thankfully none of them had the courage to talk to him still, so he managed to get to class without too much hassle. Entering it though, he almost wished that he was still outside it.

"ICHIGO!" Keigo yelled at him, rushing headfirst into his arm and collapsing to the ground in a weeping heap. "Do you have any idea what you've done? All around the school girls are talking about asking you out and not anyone else. There's even some seniors interested in you!"

Looking around his class and seeing the interested looks, he scoffed and took his seat.

"Then let them, it's not like I'm interested anyway," he mumbled, flipping through a manga he had brought with him.

"Morning Kurosaki-kun," Orihime said, drawing his attention to the ditsy healer. Seeing her standing with a nervous look on her face, he could only guess that it was because of his increasing fan base.

"Hey Inoue," he greeted her casually, while she continued to fidget around him. "Is there something you wanted?"

"Oh no, I…I was just wondering how you're doing today," she squeaked out.

"Just fine thanks. Have you spoken to Michiru today?" he asked, noticing her breath hitch at his question.

"Oh no I completely forgot!" she half shouted, grabbing her head in panic. "Do you think she'll be mad that I didn't check on her after everything that happened yesterday? What if she doesn't want to be friends with me anymore? Or will she give me the silent treatment for the rest of my life?!" Unknown to her, said girl in question had just walked into class.

"Good morning Orihime," she greeted her in a friendly tone, causing Orihime to nearly jump out of her skin in surprise. "Morning Ichigo," she said, turning her attention to him.

"Michiru," he replied, seeing that she was wearing a long sleeved jersey to hide the bandages. "How're you feeling today?"

"I'm better," she replied with a smile. "I…I wanted to give you this," she said, reaching into her bag and withdrawing a small box. Opening it, he saw a silver chain with a large obsidian gemstone attached to it. Looking carefully at it, he could see the kanji for protector carved into it. "My aunt runs a crafts shop and she came by last night to help keep my mind of worrying about my mother. When she heard the story, she thought that it fit you," she explained, watching as he carefully lifted it from the box.

"It's great, but are you sure that you want me to have this?" he asked as he held the silver chain between his fingers.

"It…it's just a small thank you for what you did yesterday," she said, rocking on the heels of her feet.

"Just accept it and be done with it," Kyoka called out to him. "You're making her self-conscious about it, which isn't helping."

'Fine,' he shot back, slipping the chain onto his wrist as Michiru watched. 'I just didn't want people to think this means something when she clearly doesn't mean anything by it.'

"Bit late for that now, especially since you've slipped it on in front of everyone. God, how can you be so hopeless around girls at your age?" she asked with a sigh, while he grumbled at her.

'Hey I didn't ask for this, remember!' he replied, hearing the whispering die down as Ms Ochi walked into the class.

"You didn't ask for it, but it will happen to you nonetheless," she said with a tired yawn. "Anyway, here's some good news for you. I should be done helping your soul refine your powers by tomorrow. Meaning that it will soon replenish your reserves just as fast, if not more so than when you wielded Zangetsu."

'Why do I get the feeling that, that also spells bad news for me?' he asked, hearing her chuckle from within his inner world.

"Because after it's done…I'm going to focus my complete attention on you," she said in a sultry tone, making a shiver run down his spine. "If you thought I was bad before, you haven't seen anything yet."

Swallowing the lump in his throat, he grimaced in anticipation of the days to come, praying that it was nothing he couldn't handle.

XXX

So, I just placed another nail in unsociable Ichigo's coffin. I don't think it's particularly out of character for him to do something like this, but I wonder whether I got the initial aftermath spot on. The action picks up in the next chapter, so look forward to that.

So what did you like, love or hate? Let me know please.