Title: In Order To Protect

Theme: 1. Tiny Cage for a Golden Bird

Characters/Pairings: Ichigo, Ichigo/Rukia

Rating: PG

Summary: If he has to clip her wings in order to keep her safe from the rest of the world, he will.

Disclaimer: I own nothing besides a headache.

Notes: This takes place in the current arc, after Ichigo has won his first battle, and Rukia has just met Kaien.

Ichigo was slowly going crazy.

He was such an idiot. He should never have agreed for them to split up in five directions. If even he, who had loads more power than most of the Soul Reapers he had met, required the aid of his Hollow, then where did that put Rukia?

When he felt Chad's spirit energy sputter, he had had to restrain himself from turning back for his friend.

I have to believe in him... I have to believe in him... If he kept repeating those words over and over again, maybe he might start believing them.

He ran forward, clutching Nell to him like a lifeline.

It probably made it worse that he could feel Rukia's spirit power through the walls. It was that power that he was headed towards. Fear clung to him. She was like a beacon in a lighthouse, drawing all to her, not just him. Shadowy forms drifted toward her, sharpening their claws in anticipation, intent on swallowing her whole. It made him feel sick to know that their power was not so different from his own. He felt bile rising up at the thought.

He started running faster, pushing himself to the limit. The faster he got to her, the faster he could take her back home and stuff her in his closet. The world was no longer a safe place, and if he had to clip her wings and stuff her in a cage to keep her away from the hungry cats, then he would, no second thoughts.

A part of him knew that she would hate him forever, if he did that. But strangely enough, he didn't care. None of that mattered as long as she was safe and alive. As long as she was safe, he could deal with her hating him forever.

A sudden flare of dark energy exploded in Rukia's direction, and he felt Rukia's spiritual energy spike up in alarm.

He ran past his limit.