.the power to protect

"I-Ichigo-kun!" - the girl called out his name, in shock to see him there. The boy glanced at her with a little smirk.

"Yo. I wasn't expecting you too see me like this, but-" - he jumped, and then finished off the creature with one attack right in the middle of its mask - "I guess you found out my... Secret." - he admitted, while still avoiding to look at her directly; Ichigo did not wanted Tsubasa to find out about his shinigami powers that way.

He walked towards the girl and the little boy she was protecting, and kneeled down to talk with the kid.

"Hey, what made you walk around here? It's dangerous, you know? I barely made it in time." - the orange-haired boy said, not actually scolding the younger one - "What are you doing in here, all by yourself?"

"I got lost from my mom." - it was all he could say, with a crying, still scared expression.

"And your mom has a chain in the chest like yours?" - Ichigo asked, trying to smile at the kid, and the little boy seemed to be at ease, even though he had a running nose by now.

"Yeah. But she was not here with me today, and I looked for her everywhere, but..."

"Calm down. Don't cry now. I promise you I'll search for your mom, okay? But first..." - Ichigo showed him the bottom of his sword's handle, and pressed gently towards the kid's forehead - "... You will be in a better place while I look for her, right?" - and the boy smiled before disappearing.

Tsubasa watched the whole scene in awe, still surprised with what just happened.

Then she called to him, in a soft voice.

"Ichigo-kun..."

"Hey, Tsubasa..." - he gave her a small, shy smile.

They just knew they had a lot to talk after this event.

They stayed in the park, sitting on the swings while watching the sunset.

Then Ichigo finally got to talk to her about what he had been doing the past weeks; About how the whole mess started, about his shinigami substitute work, about the hollows and the plus souls.

Tsubasa heard the whole thing from him, not really surprised by now, thinking back about her dreams with Ichigo fighting monsters.

So those visions really happened... - she thought, remembring what Tomoyo-hime had said. Tsubasa didn't talked about those dreams, though. Like the princess told her: even the little things could change the future, and she was uncertain about what could happen to Ichigo if she tell him.

She couldn't help but smile everytime he mentioned how many people he had saved these past weeks, even though he complained about how much time consuming that 'job' was, and how much he had to made excuses to his teacher to get off the classroom.

Tsubasa knew by his voice how he sounded so... Happy, somehow, when he talked about his "shinigami substitute" work.

And she was proud of him; Proud that he was feeling fullfiled, in a way. Unlike the boy she saw, not many months ago, who was used to feel sad and pained to see all those spirits go away without an explanation.

And of course, Tsubasa was happy for him, too. But worried about the risks he was taking with this new 'job' of his.

She wanted so much to tell Ichigo about her dreams and find out if some of those events did really happened, especially the last one she saw, where he fought a hollow bigger and crueler than any of the others he defeated. Even though Tsubasa wanted to tell him about it there was something holding her back, and it was Tomoyo-hime's words.

It's strange... How he can tell me about these things and I just... Can't. I feel I can't say a word about my dreams. Because it could change his future. - she thought, closing her eyes for a while, thinking about what she should do now - I have yet to see the extention of this dreams. And if Ichigo-kun will get hurt... By that one 'hollow'. The one who used a bait to lure him out.

Without realizing, she was frowning, looking deeply lost in thought, which warned Ichigo a bit.

"Oi, Tsubasa." - he called, his expression growing worried - "Did I said something wrong?" - and she finally opened her eyes, glancing back at him.

"A-Ah! I'm sorry!" - she blushed, looking startled - "I was just... Thinking."

"About what?"

"Nothing special! Really!" - Tsubasa tried to smile to avoid an explanation, but it seemed he wasn't going to buy it.

"Are you sure?" - he insisted, one last time. Her expression reminded him when he did smiled to pretend that everything was alright, and by the look of the things, she was probably doing the same.

"Un! I'm sure. Thank you for worrying about me, Ichigo-kun, but really, it's not necessary."

"Heh, if you say so." - Ichigo wasn't going to push her any further. He didn't wanted her to feel more uneasy about whatever she had in mind.

Then they resumed to look at the sunset in silence. A strange, confortable silence.

That is, until he reminded himself that he was still in his shinigami attire, with his body left behind not too far from there.

"Oh shit!"

"Eh!"

"I forgot my body somewhere near here! Damn it!" - he jumped from the swings, startling the girl - "Wait here, I'll be back in a second!" - then he started to run, looking troubled.

Tsubasa let out a sigh, and smiled at him.

When he was back, he was carrying with him a stuffed lion plushie - who was talking, much to the girl's surprise - and with Rukia behind him, scolding Ichigo for letting his body carelessly behind again.

"You know, you have Kon to stay on your body while you're away taking the hollows, and yet you still manage to mess up! I had to carry you all this way in my back so the people around wouldn't be startled with your 'dead body' on the floor!"

"I didn't asked you to carry me, damnit!"

"And why didn't you used Kon again?" - the petite woman insisted.

"Last time he was the one who messed up while he was in my body. Only God knows what the fuck he could do while I'm away!"

"Like what, search for girls to kiss them?"

"YEAH! Pretty much that!"

"I knew you're a prude."

"Shut up!"

"Hey, are you two going to ignore me?" - Kon asked, while being hold by Rukia.

"Yes." - and Ichigo stepped forward to reach Tsubasa before them - "Hey, sorry to make you wait like that."

"It's alright." - she closed her eyes briefly and smiled brightly to the orange-haired boy.

"Rukia." - he said before turning back to the petite woman - "Can you go home first? I will walk Tsubasa home from here, so you don't need to wait for me."

"What if a hollow appears again?" - she asked, worried.

"I guess I'll have to figure out what to do, and you'll come, won't you?"

"Yes. Be careful."

"Thanks." - and the woman left with the stuffed lion.

"So, Tsubasa... Let's go?"

"Un!"

They were at her home, and before she could enter in the house, Tsubasa reached out for him, taking one of his hands between hers.

"Ichigo-kun... You promise me you will be careful while fighting the hollows? That you won't be hurt again?"

"Well... I can try. I don't know how these things will work out, really, but I'm not planning to lose. I will... Get stronger, you'll see." - he added with a smirk, holding one of her hands back, and she smiled back at him, even though she couldn't shake that weird feeling in her chest away. The feeling that something bad was still going to happen.

Rain. It was raining heavier that day.

The scent of wet earth and grass. The scent of the blood splattered all around the floor.

The scent of death.

He couldn't sleep well the whole week.

Because it was getting closer to that day.

Summer had already started, and with it, the beginning of Ichigo's nightmares.

Author's notes:
So... this is the chapter six! And yeah, it took a lot more time than I expected, but really, my internet connection fucked up really bad the timming I had planned. It should be better by now, and chapter seven is on its way! Also, I'm writing the chapters in english now instead of translating since it took a lot of my time aaand it was a lot harder. Sorry for making you guys wait for so long. And also thank you A LOT for the comments. I think the best compliment a ficwriter can get is when someone says they are keeping the characters IC. Especially when one is writing a crossover fic. So thank you! See you guys next time!