Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or any of its characters.
Title: in awe of that which cannot be seen
Rating: K+
Summary: Kurosaki Ichigo can't see ghosts like his sisters but he doesn't really mind because at least he could see the old man.
Author's Notes: And now onto to some action! I'm pleased to finally bring in Zabimaru and Senbonzakura, even if Senbonzakura doesn`t say much here. For Zabimaru, I decided to refer to each individual part as `monkey`or `snake` to make it simpler when they talk rather than Zabimaru since both of them are Zabimaru.
Ichigo surveyed the scene before him.
Ishida laid on the ground, barely able to raise his head as blood pooled from his side. Rukia's expression was solemn but Sode no Shirayuki beside her appeared shaken – scared even – and she was mutely shaking her head at him, trying to convey her desire for him to stay back. The two figures beside her watched him stoic silence.
One had the appearance of a large, white baboon and a twisting, white snake for a tail instead. The snake hissed wordlessly while the baboon calmly told it to be quiet. The other figure was a tall man, garbed in an elaborate samurai outfit with his face hidden behind a mask. He was so still that he resembled more of a statue and he didn't bother to look at Ichigo, being more interested in observing Sode no Shirayuki's reaction.
Realizing there were two unseen shinigami before him, Ichigo forced himself to look past the zanpakuto. " Hey Rukia. What are you doing here?" he asked casually. " I got your message about you leaving so I decided to come after you before you do something stupid. And why's Ishida on the ground like that?"
There was a long pause and someone or someones must have been talking because Rukia's head turned between the two empty spaces with flustered tension. This conversation that most likely involved him without really involving him made Ichigo angry.
" Is there a problem here?" he snapped.
Rukia hesitantly answered, with a timid glance at someone towards her right. " I have to leave because I've committed a crime against Soul Society. I've been compromised and I disobeyed direct orders from my superiors. I have to return to stand trial."
" That is bulls–"
" Ichigo, listen to me!" she snapped and he never thought he would hear Rukia sound so uncertain and distraught, even when he was fighting Grand Fisher and she thought he and the old man would be outmatched. " Ichigo," her voice softened. " Take Ishida and bring him to a hospital. He needs your assistance far more than me."
" Don't!" Ishida coughed. " Ichigo ... there are two ..."
He was suddenly cut off with a muffed cry as if someone had kicked him in the face. " Hey!" Ichigo stepped forward, intending to deliver a good punch to whoever it was that hurt Ishida, invisible or not.
" Renji, wait!" Rukia yelled in warning.
He barely had any time to move before the old man appeared with a swish of his black cloak and with his black blade held protectively over Ichigo's head. From the burst of sparks that danced across Ichigo's eyes, something sharp was just inches away from cutting his head.
" Old man," he breathed.
The sparks faded and the old man lowered his sword, his eyes flickering briefly towards Ichigo. Once he was certain that Ichigo was fine, his gaze returned back toward the shinigami that Ichigo still couldn't see. The baboon and snake hybrid raised its hackles, growling and hissing. The masked samurai at last turned to look at Ichigo and the old man, tilting his head in interest.
There must have been someone speaking because the old man then quietly replied, " Ichigo is not a shinigami," repeating his earlier words to Urahara.
Another pause. Ichigo was at a loss to what was said but it was enough to make the old man narrow his eyes. " Whether or not that is true, he is not one of you," he carefully reiterated.
Seconds lengthened and Ichigo wanted to tear his hair at the silence. Rukia continued swiveling her head back and forth like she was watching an intense tennis match. The old man simply pressed his mouth into a deeper frown, defiantly refusing to speak and answer whatever questions that was being pushed upon him. The remaining three zanpakuto were silent.
" I do not care for the girl," the old man finally said, pointedly ignoring Ichigo's furious protests. " However, the moment you lifted your sword against Ichigo, you became my enemy."
Another scathing exchange must have passed and the civil agreement to (temporarily) not fight dissolved because the old man suddenly flung out his arm to shove Ichigo back while simultaneously raising his sword to block another hit.
" Stay behind me," he warned Ichigo before leaping into the air, sword glinting in the shadowed rays of the lampposts.
There was something majestic about the way the old man fought, as he danced and soared through the air, black tendrils of his cloak sweeping behind him like wings. Clangs and screeches of metal against metal resounded in the empty streets. Sometimes, something heavy would shatter the pavement and send bits of concrete flying while the old man's sword would leave ghostly scratches on the walls, evidence of him missing his opponent.
Then, things changed for the worse. The old man wasn't able to move quick enough as his opponent. He grunted as something shot past his right shoulder and drew blood.
Ichigo hissed in pain, immediately grabbing his right shoulder even when he knew there was no physical wound imprinted on his body. His breathing was beginning to catch and sweat trickled down the back of his neck.
It was like the time when they fought against Grand Fisher. In his burning desire for vengeance and rush of adrenaline, Ichigo didn't realize that the longer and harder the old man fought, the more his own energy became depleted. By the time Grand Fisher managed to escape, his knees had given out and he lost consciousness for some time, waking up some time later to the worried voices of Rukia, Sode no Shirayuki and the old man.
Rukia sternly forbade him from overtaxing himself like that again. She hypothesized that since the old man took on a corporeal form, Ichigo's strength was already divided just to maintain his material form and it was further sapped as the old man fought and took on injuries, as if Ichigo himself was fighting against Grand Fisher. If the battle lasted any longer, Rukia feared that Ichigo's own life force would have been drained away and he could have died.
The old man looked so regretful and mortified for unintentionally hurting Ichigo, the one person he swore to protect, that Ichigo hastily promised to make sure he would alert the old man if he was starting to become tired so something like that would never happen.
But this was Rukia and there was someone there trying to take her and Sode no Shirayuki away and he would be damned if he let something like exhaustion stop him.
He was too caught up in trying to wipe away that bead of sweat that lingered on his forehead that he barely had time to notice the snake-monkey suddenly leaping towards him.
With a curse, Ichigo scrambled away until his back hit the pole. The creature landed lightly on the rail next to him and Ichigo realized with dread it never had any intention to attack him. His panic gave himself away.
" So you can see us, boy," it drawled smugly.
A shadow fell over him and Ichigo spun around to see the masked zanpakuto standing right beside him, cutting off any chances at escape.
Swallowing, he chose not to say anything. The old man was busy fighting the shinigami, Rukia appeared to be held back by someone. If the zanpakuto wanted him dead, he was at their mercy.
" Zabimaru-san, Senbonzakura-dono!" Sode no Shirayuki hurried to their side. Stepping in front of Ichigo between the two zanpakuto, she looked resolutely at them as if preparing to fight them, even if she appeared terrified at the thought. " Ichigo means us no harm."
" I would not have imagined you to defend a mere human," the monkey part of the zanpakuto frowned.
" Ichigo is a comrade and friend of Rukia-dono. I would gladly fight on his behalf."
" He doesn't look special," the snake snorted. It eyed Ichigo warily as if trying to size up how much damage he could possibly do.
" Except he can see us," the monkey reminded.
" Ichigo has never abused his ability, Zabimaru-san," Sode no Shirayuki argued.
" Peace, Sode no Shirayuki. We won't judge the boy yet for something he has not yet done," the monkey shrewdly said.
Ichigo would have asked what the zanpakuto meant by that, if the old man hadn't missed a dodge and received a bloody slash over his chest. Pain exploded across Ichigo's own chest, leaving him doubling over and wheezing. His heart hammered maniacally, pounding against his ribcage like a drum, leaving him hunched over, struggling to breath.
" Ichigo!" Sode no Shirayuki knelt down next to him, gripping his shoulders in a gentle yet firm grasp. " Are you all right?"
" You don't look so good." Zabimaru actually had the decency to sound concerned.
" I'm – I'm fine," Ichigo gritted out.
" How strange," the monkey mused. " Every injury that is given to your zanpakuto, you receive as well."
Even in his weakened state, he managed to throw a withered glare at the zanpakuto. " Thanks for the commentary."
" What a weirdo," the snake muttered. " And I thought Renji was the weirdest out of all of them." It paused, slithering to the right and looking deliberately at the masked zanpakuto. " Well, out of humans anyways."
" Renji?" Ichigo managed to ask.
" Our master. The one your zanpakuto is fighting against right now." The monkey paused, glancing keenly at Ichigo. " He is a lot like you."
" Two idiots in the same pot," the snake tittered.
" Renji is an impulsive one, frequently putting himself in danger for the sake of others," the monkey admitted. " But his heart is more often than not in the right place. Perhaps in another lifetime, you two could have been friends."
The very thought of being friends with someone that was trying to take Rukia and Sode no Shirayuki away and harmed Ishida in the process made Ichigo choke back a laugh, even if his chest didn't hurt as much.
" Our apologies."
Ichigo nearly jumped out of his skin. He was surprised that the samurai zanpakuto had abruptly spoken. He was beginning to think he didn't know how to speak. " For what?"
The zanpakuto said no more and he didn't need to because the next thing Ichigo felt was a burning pain cutting deep across his back.
Everything slowed down. Ichigo couldn't feel the ground anymore and he was falling fast. He didn't even have enough time to scream. Someone screamed for him and he couldn't tell if it was the old man, Ishida, Rukia or Sode no Shirayuki or if it was all four of them.
Blinking through the haze, he managed to catch a glimpse of Sode no Shirayuki trying to grab him, help him before he fell. But he slipped through her hands and the darkness completely enveloped him.