Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or anyone or anything from Bleach. It's as simple as that. Everything else, however, is mine. :D

Chapter 4: The Sword and the Soul Reaper

"There!" Rukia shouted as the high school came into view. Ichigo looked ahead to see the dark shape of the Hollow in the schoolyard.

"I'll take care of this…" he growled, leaping forward. He heard Rukia shout 'Be careful!' at his back.

Ichigo glanced down as he jumped over the twisted metal remains of what had been the school's gate. School's going to be interesting tomorrow… Slightly exasperated, Ichigo paused in his approach. The Hollow looked like it was stalking something. He could just make out its gravely voice, though he couldn't understand what it was saying. Suddenly the Hollow rushed forward and a horrified Ichigo realized that there is a figure- a person- at its feet.

"Damn it!" Ichigo swore, drawing his zanpakuto and sprinting towards them. WHAM! Ichigo heaved an inner sigh of relief as his sword and the Hollow's face collided. He had gotten there in time.

Ichigo and the Hollow were at a stalemate for a moment, their muscles straining as they tried to overpower each other. Then with a grunt and a great amount of effort, Ichigo pushed the Hollow back, leaving a large cut in its shoulder in the process. The Hollow pulled back, thrashing at the pain in its shoulder, and gave the substitute Soul Reaper a chance to catch his breath.

"I-Ichigo?!"

The name was hardly more than a whisper but he heard it anyways. Ichigo turned slightly to glance at whomever he had rescued and was so shocked that he almost cried out. Taylor?!? The person he had rescued was the same girl he had run into the day before. The same girl who had confronted him in class that morning. The girl who (apparently) hated his guts. Why in hell would a Hollow be chasing her?!

Taylor sat crouched behind Ichigo. Her eyes were wide and her face blank in a daze that Ichigo recognized from his family's clinic as shock. Her face and body were covered in cuts and bruises. An old fashioned katana was clutched tightly in her gasp, her knuckles white against the black scabbard. A chain protruded from a small hole in her chest. Ichigo frowned as he traced the chain with his eyes, finding another body, identical to the one sitting behind him among the wreckage of a destroyed building. The chain was the Chain of Fate, meaning that Taylor's soul had been expelled from her physical body. She was now a spiritual entity and in more danger than she probably realized.

"What the hell are you doing just sitting there?" Ichigo shouted angrily, turning to face her. "Get back in your body and get the hell out of here!"

Taylor blinked and her shock induced stupor evaporated. Ichigo was taken aback as she began to tremble. She had been so fierce that morning…I suppose it's to be expected though. I was terrified the first time I saw a Hollow too…

"What…what's going on?" she mumbled, turning confused and frightened eyes on Ichigo. She was obviously still deeply shaken.

Ichigo froze, feeling awkward for a moment. Then his expression softened slightly. "Don't worry. I'll take care of the Hollow. I promise I won't let it kill you."

Taylor's shaking slowed as her eyes gained a glimmer of hope and relief. A howl broke through the short-lived calm and as Ichigo turned to face it, realizing his mistake, he silently cursed his moment of softness. The monstrous beast pounced on Ichigo, pinning him to the ground with one large foot. Ichigo's zanpakuto was knocked from his hand and landed some ten feet away. Ichigo was trapped and unable to reach his only real weapon.

"Ichigo!" Rukia ran forward, bringing her hands up into a spell-casting position. Dodging around the girl, Rukia's surprised eyes followed Taylor as they passed each other, running in opposite directions. Why would this Hollow want to attack her? She does have unusually high spirit energy for a human, but not enough to attract the attention of a strong Hollow like this one.

Rukia's distraction became her downfall. As soon as she came into range the Hollow whipped its tail, striking Rukia in the side and smashing her into the side of the school building.

"Rukia!" Ichigo yelled, watching her fall to the ground. She didn't rise. Rukia had been knocked out. "You bastard…" Ichigo snarled, turning a livid glare on the Hollow. "You'll pay for that!"

The Hollow cackled, its tongue whipping gleefully back and forth. "You fool. Your concern for others will be your demise. However, I'm afraid your death will have to wait. That delicious smelling soul of the blonde girl is the first one I want to devour!" And with that the Hollow stomped on Ichigo's chest, grinding his body in to the hard-packed dirt of the schoolyard.

Ichigo gasped, choking on his own blood as he felt several ribs break. Damn it! He knew he wants going anywhere anytime soon. Wordlessly he hoped that Taylor got away. Still laughing, the Hollow turned to chase her down.

Fighting the pain that shot throughout his torso, Ichigo managed to push himself up enough to see what was going. Taylor was halfway back to her body and the Hollow was already bearing down on her. She would never get away in time. No…!

…

"Look out!"

The shout almost made me jump out my skin. But I can't stop running. I'm so close now...the monster's feral roar, however, stops me in my tracks. My body is stiff with fear and I find it difficult to turn, knowing what I must be about to see.

My scream dies in my throat. The monster has abandoned its fight with Ichigo and is nearly upon me. The girl, Rukia, is lying against the wall of the school building, apparently unconscious. Blood drips sluggishly from a cut above her eyebrow. Ichigo is lying in a small, broken crater. A line of blood traces its way down his chin as he struggles to push himself up. He promised he would save me. So much for that. I knew I shouldn't have dared to hope that he would help me.

My mind goes blank as the monster looms above me, mouth wide and eager for the kill. On pure instinct I draw the sword I am carrying, the rusty steel screeching in protest as it exits its sheath. With a yell I bring the blade up to meet my attacker.

WHAM! My mind goes blank as a blinding white light fills my vision and an unearthly hum fills my ears.

…

Ichigo's vision had recovered…at least he thought so. What he was seeing was so far beyond belief that he couldn't help but wonder if he was hallucinating. Rukia, who had just awakened with a hideous headache and a minor concussion, was thinking the same thing. The word 'impossible' kept running through her head, like her brain was stuck in a loop. There was just no way…

Taylor had managed to stop the Hollow's strike by becoming a Soul Reaper. She wore the full uniform, right down to the socks and sandals on her feet. Her sword, no longer the rusty blade she had drawn from the scabbard, had become a zanpakuto, the spiritual pressure seeping from the weapon identifying it as such. It was lodged in a crack in the Hollow's mask that was a long as the mask itself. And Taylor's spiritual pressure was no longer that of an unusually strong human. It was now that of a Soul Reaper, the kind that made those sensitive to spirits feel like their bodies were being pressed into the earth.

With another yell, Taylor forced her zanpakuto through the Hollow's mask, freeing the weapon and making the fracture twice as wide. Without pausing to flip the blade around Taylor then cut upward, slicing the Hollow's head in two. With a final tormented wail, the Hollow disintegrated into nothing and vanished.

With the Hollow exorcized Ichigo and Rukia were able to get a better look at Taylor's zanpakuto. The oval guard was elaborately styled with cutouts shaped like feathers wrapping around the blade's base and the hilt was long, wrapped in glinting, gold thread. But the blade itself was the most unusual characteristic of the sword. At first glance, Taylor's zanpakto looked like a normal sword. Upon closer inspection however, Ichigo and Rukia saw that the sides of the blade had been switched: the long side of the blade was dull while the short side gleamed with deadly precision.

I've never seen a zanpakuto like that before. Rukia thought, shocked and awed at the same time. The blade…it's reversed. There was something very strange and unusual about Taylor. The shape of her zanpakuto confirmed that fact. Rukia frowned deeply as she saw the mystery of who Taylor was deepen.

How the hell did she make such a big break in that Hollow's mask with the dull side of that freaky sword?! Ichigo thought incredulously. There was no way. There was just no way! But, whether he liked it or not, Taylor had stopped and destroyed the Hollow. Secretly, he was relieved. When Ichigo had agreed to help Rukia by being a Soul Reaper he had sworn to protect innocent souls and to help the fallen souls that were the Hollows pass on to the Soul Society. If a Hollow ate a soul and he couldn't stop it…well, Ichigo knew it would weigh heavily on his conscience. Ichigo also felt a little guilty. After all, he had promised to help Taylor and Ichigo always kept his promises, even if they were to people that he disliked.

A sudden fit of coughing drew Ichigo's attention back to his injuries and Rukia's attention back to Ichigo. Rising swiftly, Rukia hurried over to make sure that Ichigo was treated.

…

HUFF…HUFFF…HUFF…

All I can do is pant, my shoulder's heaving. I feel kind of stiff: like how you feel the day after you work out way more than you're used to. Slowly, I stand and study myself.

I am dressed in a black men's kimono. The sword Urahara gave me is no longer old and rusty. It has become shiny and like new, the sharp side of the blade reflecting the moonlight. It still hums faintly in my grasp, but the sound has become sweeter, almost like a purr. I am overcome by a strong sense of déjà vu or some sort of strange nostalgia. My dream, I realize, suddenly feeling lightheaded. It's just like in my dream. Again, the question of who or what is inside me rises into my consciousness. I can feel power pulsing inside me, but I don't know where it comes from.

I look up to see Rukia crouched over Ichigo, her hands glowing slightly. She keeps glancing over at me, apparently perplexed. Ichigo, on the other hand, is blatantly staring, watching me. They both seem to be okay. Rukia finishes whatever she's doing and Ichigo sits up.

"You OK?" he calls.

I nod. "Yea. You guys?" Ichigo and Rukia both nod in return.

I look down at the sword again and slowly, deliberately, sheath it. Urahara's words keep running through my mind…"Either you learn how to use that sword or…you die."… I guess this means that I learned how to use it. But, now what? I may have saved myself, but I'm trapped like this. That monster, the Hollow, said that if the chain in my chest broke then I was a goner. It's vanished now I see, double-checking. Does this mean I'm dead?

Slowly, almost lethargically, I move over to where my body is laying. I can feel Ichigo and Rukia at my back. I frown. My body sure is in a sorry state. I'm covered with bruises and cuts, not to mention my clothes are covered in dirt. Cleaning up when I get home won't be fun. If I go home.

"Am I…am I dead?" There. I said it. I managed to voice the question that was burning a hole in my throat.

"I don't know." Rukia's answer makes my stomach sink. "Try to get back into your body."

I glance back at her. She nods in affirmation. Returning my gaze to the soulless figure in front of me I hesitantly reach one wavering hand forward. As soon as I touch my body the point of contact glows brightly and I get the sensation that I am being sucked into a vacuum. Everything goes dark…

I open my eyes to find that I am laying facedown, my cheek against the ground. Slowly I sit up, groaning slightly as my body complains. There is one particular bruise somewhere in the middle of my back that is especially sore. But, looking down, I realize (to my elation) that I am back in my body. I am dressed in a regular t-shirt and jeans. There's no kimono, no weird sword. I'm not dead after all: I'm alive. I'm alive!

Fighting the urge to jump around singing, my attention is drawn to Ichigo and Rukia who are deep in their own conversation. Ichigo looks as happy as clam (the bastard), but Rukia is more reserved.

"She really is a Soul Reaper! This is fantastic!"

"I don't know Ichigo. There's still something strange about all of this."

"So what? Who cares? I'm not the only one anymore!"

"What I don't understand is where her power came from. She did have unusually strong spirit energy for a human, but that doesn't make her a Soul Reaper. And where did she get the zanpakuto from?"

"Finally! No more late nights! This week's been killin' me, but I can finally get some actual sleep cause there's someone else who can fight the Hollows!" Wait…What? I may not have understood most of what they were talking about, but I definitely understood that!

"What?" I interrupt, voicing my concerns. Ichigo and Rukia both quiet down and look at me, confused. "Are you thinking that I am actually going to be fighting those…those…monsters?!"

They both blink. "Well, if you have become a Soul Reaper…" Rukia begins.

"Yes" Ichigo is decisive. "You're a Soul Reaper now so you have to fight Hollows. It's your job."

"No." Now they looked surprised. "I won't do it. I'm enough of a freak already without swinging a sword around at invisible monsters!" I'm slightly surprised that I'm getting so worked up. Nevertheless, I don't want any part of this. There is no way in hell that I'm gonna be whatever a "Soul Reaper" is!

Ichigo's characteristic scowl has returned. "Yes you will. You're a Soul Reaper now and it's a Soul Reaper's job to protect innocent souls and to help all souls pass on!" He's getting worked up now too.

"I didn't ask for this! I don't to be a Soul Reaper or whatever!" I'm screaming now, my clenched fists shaking partly from anger and partly from fear. "I don't even know what in hell is going on, but I don't want any part of it! I don't want to fight monsters and protect stupid souls! I don't want to make promises that I can't keep!!" That's not really fair and I know it. But, I don't care! I'm…I'm ashamed to admit it, but I'm scared. Terrified. Terrified of this power…and I don't have enough guts to try and figure out where it's coming from.

Ichigo stiffens and I am startled to see guilt in his eyes. He drops his head, refusing to meet my gaze, but I can see his hands clenched in frustration. Maybe I went too far…

Dismissing my regret, I turn on my heel, intent on leaving.

"Wait…" Rukia tries to stop me.

Ignoring her, I shout over my shoulder "Leave me alone! I am not going to help you guys do whatever the hell it is you do! Don't ever talk to me about this again!!" My fear…I just can't fight it. Does that make me a coward? A weakling? I suppose so.

And with that I am gone, taking my own guilt and shame with me and leaving a troubled Rukia and a remorseful and angry Ichigo in my wake.

Author's Note:

Well, that's Chapter 4. Some parts of it I like and some parts I don't, but I wanted to post something soon (since everyone has been so patient) so…ta da! And I also would like to apologize for all the awful typos I made in the last chapter…hopefully this one isn't as bad --'

Ahem. Anyways…my trip was great, even if I didn't get any writing done (it was a vacation after all…). Though this chapter was kind of short I promise that the next chapter will be longer and will be filled with juicy, ploty goodness. Basically, in the next chapter A LOT about Taylor's past will be revealed and some other stuff will be explained. It will be good…I hope.

Ok, shout outs to DX Fan, Draegan88, and Hailey-Stone who have all reviewed! And ANOTHER shout out to dnite'07 who reviewed a second time! Wow, I feel loved - See…you show appreciation to me, I show I appreciation to you!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I hope you look forward to the next one!

imagination junkie

Oh and P.S. Taylor's zanpakuto is supposed to be like Kenshin's sword in Rurouni Kenshin (if you've seen that show/ read the manga).