Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, nor any of the characters, nor the plot. Only the crazy little situations they get themselves into. Also, for this chapter, one line belongs to the musical "Into the Woods." I'll trust you to find it.
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ONESHOT / 003: "Rooftops"
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Shibata is afraid.Because the bright-haired ryoka boy, who just stumbled into Rukongai along with Mister, is sitting high up.
Too high.
Chad carries the slight boy on his shoulders, his large brown hands grasping his ankles. It feels strange, to be carrying around the soul of what he had believed to be a parakeet. But that was a stupid idea.
Then again, he had just come out of a series of lessons from a talking black cat.
Things did not surprise him anymore.
"Mister," Shibata chirps. He still sounds like a little bird, Chad thinks with a smile, despite the fact he's shed that form. "Why is the orange-haired boy on the rooftop?"
Chad doesn't answer for a moment. He sees the wind blowing Ichigo's shihakusho; it catches on one of the small pointed turrets along the pinnacle of the terracotta roofing. He's staring ahead, his brow furrowed. As usual.
Shibata senses hesitation, and looks curiously down at the man carrying him.
Chad can see a tall white cliff an immeasurable distance to the east, glowing like some eerie kind of diamond in the sun's waning light. The Sereitei--and the white tower.
"Well...he's looking for something," Chad says slowly, his deep voice careful.
"What will he find up so high?" the little boy asks, confused, his little hands resting on top of Chad's head. "What if he falls?"
Chad can't surpress a small chuckle. Considering the answer, he knows that the little boy does not know the gravity of the question he has just asked.
"He won't fall."
The one with the bright orange hair shifts, sitting back to lean on his hands. They curl into fists, his knuckles turning white. His face is so contorted and stern, Shibata is afraid it will shatter into a million pieces from the tension.
If you know what you want, then you go and you find it and you get it.
"What is he looking for, Mister?" the boy asks, leaning down to look upside down at Chad's face. "Will he find it up there?"
Chad smiles at the boy's bemused eyes, staring at his from the wrong direction.
"Yeah. I think he will."
END
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