A/N: Here we are again, another chapter that's super-packed in 2.5k words for you! And as I said from the last chapter, this one does have IchiRuki action!

Disclaimer: Bleach characters by Kubo Tite, the title Lost Angels is from said song by Gackt. It fits well with the story, you should try listening to it!
This chapter has some violence!

Enjoy everyone!


Chapter four: Demons

Kurosaki Ichigo was different from other living souls.

He had come back after their first encounter, and stayed with her asking so many questions.

Anyone else seeing an angel would go and announce to society, despite most never believing them and call them crazy. Very few actually believed, even little saw an angel before.

But those who met an angel never thought that everything they were sharing to the world was all a lie.

"Rukia." His voice called behind her. She opened her eyes and looked up to see the boy again- walking up to the tree where she sat for a third time.

"Ichigo…" She answered him. She could feel the corners of her lips tug upwards in a ghost of a smile.

"What is it?" He asked, noticing the smile.

"It is nothing- you're the one who called my name first." She turned away, not noticing a pink tinge of his face. Both were silent for a minute before Ichigo started.

"…Rukia, I have a question." She looked back at him to see a serious look on his face, something she had not seen from the boy.

"…" She said nothing, letting him continue. He remained silent for a couple of minutes, but she waited patiently.

"If someone is killed, do they have a choice of becoming an angel?" He asked her. Rukia gave him a questioning look.

"You wouldn't become an angel." She answered truthfully.

"Why?" Ichigo asked a second later. Her eyes widened, a little surprised.

"Why are you asking this?" Rukia asked, not answering him. Ichigo looked away from her, and remained silent. Rukia waited patiently until he started again.

"I used to have a mom." He said out loud. Rukia stiffened, hearing something different in Ichigo's voice, and she knew that tone of voice, remembering hearing that same tone from Kaien.

A voice of mourning for that loved one.

"When I was eight, we were walking home in the rain at night. We were almost to our street until we came down the street here." Ichigo looked over at the street. Rukia remained silent, not interrupting with any comments or questions.

"This street is usually deserted since of some murder here years ago-" Rukia cringed inwardly of the mention, "-but it was the fastest way home. When we were walking, this man appeared out of the shadows. He threatened her for money. She told me to stay behind her, and all I could do was stand there, frozen to that spot all afraid. When she was handing him the money, he grabbed her wrist and was trying to drag her away. More men appeared, and she was yelling for me to run away. I wanted to, but I wouldn't leave her alone, I wanted to protect her."

Rukia's eyes kept her focus ahead of her, not looking at Ichigo.

"Before I could do anything though, one of the bastards knocked me out. When I came back around, I was in the middle of the road still, soaked from the rain. I ran around for any sign of the guys or my mom until I came down the end of an alley and saw blood on the ground- her blood." Ichigo had abruptly stood up and walked forward out of the shelter of the tree, where rain drops were threatening to fall now.

"They killed her for no reason, and I did nothing to protect her. It's my fault." He ground out.

"Ichigo, it wasn't your fault." Rukia was up from the grass and walked toward him, stopping a foot away. "Those men- they were all possessed."

"What are you talking about?" Ichigo grunted, glancing over his shoulder at her. She sighed, preparing to explain the long-winded story.

"As there is Society Above with angels, there is a place with demons- souls that have done immoral crimes. It's always a constant battle against the two, and the demons are always outnumbered. Because of that, they will come to the living world and possess living souls. Once possessed, those souls will cause harm until the body is to be disposed of, or taken back to Hades Terrain with the rest of the demon population. In short, those men were all possessed to ruin the world, and they did their job. " She explained to him, her voice chilled.

"But I could've stopped them, possessed or not!" Ichigo's voice rang with a sharp retort at her, making her wince slightly.

"Very few living souls can stop a possessed soul because demons are more powerful than any living soul can be. If they do stand a chance, they'd only die in the process." Rukia replied with an icy voice. She regretted it as the retching feeling formed when she glanced over at his house. Ichigo remained silent, slightly taken aback by her bitter answer.

"But…" He started to testify, but Rukia turned around.

"It had happened, Ichigo. Thousands, millions of souls have been killed or affected by demons. Your mother's death and the murder that took place here years ago the effects of the possessed. We angels try to do something, but we can only take on a demon lesser than us or we become demons ourselves, ending up in purgatory." Rukia said. She turned towards the tree, ignoring Ichigo's scrutiny.

"That's bull shit! There has to be more to stop those things!" Ichigo yelled. Rukia remained silent, standing still. Silence again fell between the two as Ichigo calmed down a bit.

"Rukia, do you regret failing to save a life by a demon?" Ichigo asked, with a level tone. She stiffened to a board, her eyes set in front of his house.

"…Ah…" She murmured.

"'Ah' what?" Ichigo challenged, wanting a direct answer. Rukia looked over with a cold stare.

"Yes, I have. Every angel experiences a mission where they couldn't help a soul, when it was out of their hands." She muttered.

"Rukia…" He muttered- in anguish? She couldn't tell as he said no more, and the two stayed in an awkward silence. Rukia dropped to the ground, tired. The silence loomed over them for a few moments until Ichigo spoke up again, sounding tense.

"Did you hear that?!" He questioned, shifting to look behind him.

"I heard nothing." She answered curtly. She glanced back at him and noticed he was very agitated.

"What's wrong-?" She asked, but froze when she heard alien footsteps and felt a threatening presence. She turned and saw a figure come out of the shadows, bringing the light to a haggard-looking man, with a deadly glint.

"I'm so lucky… A defenseless angel for my taking! It's unbelievable to think you've been here for who knows how long without someone finding you." He twisted his smile in a cynical image, with a homeless man's appearance. Rukia jumped up in alarm, taking steps away from the man.

"Rukia, what's going on?" Ichigo asked his voice laced with apprehension.

"Demon." She hissed, having to say no more.

"Ooh, so you can still tell without any powers?" He giggled, still advancing towards her. Neither took notice of Ichigo, giving him an opportunity as he ran and punched the demon, sending him backwards onto the ground.

"Ichigo, get away from here!" Rukia yelled, running towards him. She didn't see she had run out of the tree's shelter. She grabbed his arm and pulled him away as the demon was staggering back up and trying to understand what had just happened. She tried to pull him, but he wouldn't budge.

"Ichigo, get away-"

"No, I'm not going to leave you with him." He spoke out, making Rukia freeze.

"Ichigo…" She murmured.

"Ne ne, are you two done having a moment?" Ichigo's head snapped back at the demon, which was now standing up again, waiting to gain their attention. "How foolish- a stupid human thinks he can go up against a demon?" He laughed at Ichigo. "Let me just see how much you can handle wrath down in Hades Terrain!" Rukia gasped as he pulled out a knife from his worn jacket. He dashed towards the two as he held the knife to strike. Rukia released Ichigo and stepped back to avoid the attack, as Ichigo tried to dodge the knife. It caught onto his sleeve, cutting a slim opening in Ichigo's arm.

He was caught off guard when he felt a painful shock go through his veins. He dropped to the ground, grating his teeth.

Anger pulsed through him.

"You feel the wrath? I only find the pathetic souls with the most anger, and inflict it upon others. Just a mere touch of the blade is still quite effective. I just need some of your blood to make it boil and send you down with the rest of them." The demon laughed as he loomed over Ichigo. The knife glinted as it shook in his hands from his bellowing, Ichigo seeing his reflection in the blade for a second.

"Ichigo!" Rukia was by his side in an instant, squeezing his arm. Her hand felt chilling cold against his burning skin as Ichigo tried to control the anger of everything from his life. All he could think of was ripping everything to shreds

"All that anger you probably bottled up for years is all coming out now, isn't it nostalgic?" The demon's voice echoed through his head. "If you have no more, I'll just make some more-!" He lurched forward to catch him, but Rukia pulled him back. He stared with a disgruntled look at the angel as she tried to snap Ichigo back from his trance.

"You think you can save the stupid boy from the deadly sins of the world? Look at you. You're a fallen angel now- you yourself have sinned, that's why you're here like a rabbit with its leg in a trap. I'll save you any more years of exile and punishment, and bring you to purgatory." He tried to persuade, but Rukia could see the lust in his eyes, betraying his voice and words of comfort- if the thought of purgatory was at all comforting.

"Of course, souls will always sin- but the difference between the angels and demons is we do not indulge in it, and we apologize for it!" Rukia muttered darkly, squeezing Ichigo tightly.

"That doesn't seem fair for you, then- if you apologized for whatever you did, why are you here with wings that can never take you back up to Society Above? It seems angels are quite vindictive." He pointed at her wings that lay on the ground. Rukia could only glare at the demon, she couldn't say anything else since what he had said was true.

"Are you done talking?" Rukia looked down in surprise as Ichigo spoke out. He slowly stood up with the help of Rukia, and then turned towards the demon.

"Oh, you heard our little conversation?" He questioned, surprised.

"Yeah, and are you done talking?" He demanded. He placed a hand in front of Rukia, who was about to protest. She closed her mouth and stepped back, wary of what was going to happen.

"Whenever you're ready to face the wrath." He chuckled. He brought knife back up, ready to attack again. He ran towards Ichigo once again, slicing the air as Ichigo evaded the blade. The demon continued missing Ichigo, making him peevish.

"Damn brat, you think just running away will work? I can just go find you anywhere- but first I'll take the little trapped rabbit over there for myself back to Hades Terrain!" He barked. Ichigo stiffened at the last part, long enough for him to graze the blade on his arm again. Ichigo's body convulsed as the shock went through once again. He couldn't breathe as the anger choked him- The demons that killed his mother, the demons that corrupted the world. The memory made him want to keel over again, but he remained standing.

"Y-you f…fucking bastard!" He grounded out. The demon stared in disbelief that he was still standing. He turned toward the demon and punched him in his face.

"He's using the wrath to fight back…" Rukia whispered, staring at Ichigo. She couldn't help but be slightly awed by the ingenious move, if Ichigo actually realized his feat. The demon fell to the ground by the force as Ichigo followed. He smacked the knife out of the demon's grasp, and landed another hiton the other side of the demon's face.

"I wouldn't hide from a piece of shit like you, because protecting someone like her would be completely useless!" Ichigo bellowed as he continued hitting the demon.

Rukia watched intently, waiting for the blow that would kill the body, rendering it useless and crushing the demon inside the shell. She saw with the last punch to the stomach, blood dripped from the body's mouth. The demon's lips moved, but couldn't make a sound with Ichigo sending blood up out of the mouth. The hands that were trying to make Ichigo stopped dropped to the ground and the body lay still under Ichigo.

"Ichigo!" Rukia called, dashing towards him. He continued punching the body until Rukia grabbed his arm in mid swing. Her icy touch went through his boiling veins as he turned towards her, panting heavily.

"It's enough- you finished it." She said. He looked down and noticed the body wasn't moving anymore.

"And the human that was…?" He muttered.

"The demon sent the soul to Hades Terrain a while ago; there was no saving the soul." She answered. How strange her voice sounded softer than before as she talked about such a matter. Ichigo stared back at Rukia, noticing her angelic features seemed to shine brightly- especially her large irises.

"Rukia…" He couldn't say anymore as he fell forward. His eyes closed in exhaustion, expecting to meet the cold body make contact, but he did not feel it. He opened one eye to see raven hair tickle his cheek. He heard a small grunt from the angel- an angel grunting, what a funny thing, he thought- as she pushed him back off her and the corpse and onto the grass.

"Just rest for a moment, Ichigo." She instructed him.

"Rukia…" Ichigo muttered, staring at the small form above him.

"What is it?" She asked. She sat back to give him space as he continued panting, calming down.

"Why are your wings like that?" Even through blurred eyes, he could see her figure stiffen. She didn't say anything at first but he heard her answer a moment later.

"I… was suspected of committing one of the laws." She muttered.

"Did you really?" He asked. He tried to focus on her face, but everything was still hazy.

"No." She answered straight. She did not say anymore, so he did not ask any further. His eyes slowly closed as he fell asleep. She lifted his head up onto her lap, leaving him to rest of a while.

She remained quiet, staring at his calm complexion. Only once did her eyes leave from the sleeping figure, when she glanced over to the tree several meters away, the tree she had sat under since she came down to Earth.


A/N: So, did you enjoy this chapter? If you did, please review with 1 character or more about on how much you liked it! If you didn't like the chapter, please review with 1 character or more on how you didn't!

Just PLEASE review! The reviews I get for the story really make me happy, knowing that writing this story made other's happy to read it.

'Til next time!