I don't own Bleach...

Mizu's Bla: Wow, It's been a while huh? It seems my muses went for a walk in the park and decided to stay there. At least one of them paid me a visit. Anyways, here's this little thing I wrote in a whim, I hope you guys enjoy it! Some IchiRuki interaction at the end!!

File#6-Past and Present

The teacher sighed as she stood before the blackboard, chalk in hand. She started tracing on the board slowly, making sure the traces were defined and straight. She glanced at the nervous student next to her and sighed again.

“Yamada Hanatarou. It’s an honor to be of your acquaintance” he said, rather enthusiastically, and bowed at the students. The light sounds of giggles and chuckles drifted through the room and caused the sweat to roll down his forehead as he stood straight again. He smiled ruefully and placed a hand behind his head. The teacher rolled her eyes

“Yamada Hanatarou huh? That’s quite the complicated name you got there” Said student looked at her worriedly, shaking his head

“Ah, no, no, my name is nice and simple and easy to remember…at least, that was what I was told” he added as an afterthought.

The raven haired kid looked around the students, his eyes searching the sea of students frantically. His search was short though, since there was only one student in the classroom-and probably the whole school-with that kind of hair color. Hanatarou waved his arms enthusiastically at said orange-head, trying to catch his attention.

“Ah, good morning Ichigo-san!” he literally screamed, causing the whole student body to look back at said kid. Ichigo groaned and slid further under his chair, hoping it would help him become less noticeable. Next to him two girls giggled and chuckled.

“Oh Yamada-san, you know Kurosaki?” The teacher asked intrigued that someone would be acquainted with the orange-haired punk. Hanatarou nodded energetically and continued waving at his newly appointed hunter. The teacher smiled and returned to her desk, picking up her attendance book

“Very well Yamada-san, luckily for you there’s an available seat behind Kurosaki-san, so go ahead and take a seat” she gestured with her hand at said place, her eyes never leaving the book. Hanatarou smiled and bowed, thanking the teacher for her hospitality and sprinted to the seat, causing his hunter to cringe

“Isn’t this lucky Ichigo-san?! We get to sit close to each other! That’s so cool! I’m so excited! And I’m near Kuchiki-san and Inoue-san!” Hanatarou squeaked, his eyes watering at the prospect of being so close to such elites. The girls grinned at him empathetically while Ichigo merely continued to growl and grump in his chair.

Lunchtime came and Ichigo couldn’t have darted out of the classroom sooner. The ambient of the room had suddenly become suffocating with the presence of a perky healer, a grumpy midget of a hunter and a crazy overenthusiastic partner. He walked out into the grounds, but turned around and headed for the stairs instead, thinking that it was less likely for people to harass him in the roof. He sat down and leaned against the fence, closing his eyes briefly reveling in the warm breeze around him and the tranquility of the lonely roof. He sighed…which was cut short by a soft thump next to him

“Were you trying to run away Ichigo?” He cracked open one eye to find himself sitting next to Rukia who was digging into her small bento, Inoue who was happily sipping her juice and Hanatarou, who was dreamily staring at Ichigo with an open onigiri in his hands. Ichigo grunted and sat straight, frowning

“What are you guys stalking me or something?” he grunted, scratching the back of his head. Rukia cast him a sideways glance as she chewed a fried shrimp.

“Ichigo, we need to deal with this issue” she said sternly, looking at the daydreaming kid in front of them, who was currently sampling some of Inoue’s cooking. Ichigo sighed, grabbing his own bento

“What do you mean ‘we’? This kid is one of you so, you deal with him” he replied nonchalantly. Rukia sighed

“You’re one of us to Ichigo, remember? Besides, the whole reason he’s here is because of you. Apparently he’s your healer”

Ichigo sat silently chewing his lunch, looking at the short-haired kid, who was now gagging at Inoue’s cooking. This scrawny little thing was his healer? How could that be? Furthermore, he wasn’t an actual hunter, so how could he have a healer?

“Was he sent by the agency? How would they know about me?” Rukia slowed her chewing as she thought about this, then resumed her pace as she answered

“Healers normally are connected to their hunters. The base simply recognizes this connection and pairs them up. Since you do not belong to the agency, I assume Hanatarou searched for you by himself” Ichigo forcefully swallowed the food in his mouth and darted forward, startling the healers before him

“You came looking for me by yourself? What are you insane?! What if those people come looking after you? Or me?!”

“Ah? Oh don’t worry Ichigo-kun, it’s all right. I’m under the surveillance of Captain Unohana Retsu, so you have nothing to worry about” Hanatarou quipped, sipping his juice. Ichigo’s brow twitched

“And who the hell is Unohana whatshername?!”

“Unohana Retsu” came the calm voice of Inoue “Is the captain in charge of the healers. She’s the one that looks into the reiatsu connections between healers and hunters. We healers have to report everything we do to her”

“Hmm…since its Unohana taichou then I guess we’re ok for now” Rukia muttered, her chin cupped between her fingers as she thought. Ichigo scowled

“We’re ok for now? What do you mean? Isn’t it a bad thing that your base knows about me?” Ichigo bellowed, still confused by these people’s calm attitude.

“It’s ok because Unohana taichou is the only reasonable captain there, so she may cut us some slack” Rukia mused

“She may?” Ichigo asked incredulous. The petit hunter was about to reply when she was interrupted by the tell-tale scream of a nearby hollow. The four of them turned to look at the source of the noise which was coming from a nearby empty lot. The girls immediately switched to their black outfits and darted towards the hollow. Hanatarou followed suit, but stayed behind, looking at Ichigo worriedly

“Come on Ichigo-san, hurry up and change” he said. Ichigo blinked

“Uhh…I don’t know how to. I don’t have that skull thingy they have”

“You…you don’t?” Hanatarou asked incredulously, eyeing him worriedly. Ichigo shook his head. The hollow screeched once again and they heard Inoue’s voice from the distance

“Kurosaki-kun!! Please. Help! Rukia-san…Rukia-san is…”

Without thinking about it twice, Ichigo darted down the stairs and out the school. At the thought of Rukia being in danger, something inside him stirred in anger and desperation. He skidded to a halt behind the auburn haired healer, who jumped slightly at his presence

“Kurosaki-kun!”

“Where is she? Where’s Rukia?” he nearly screamed. The girl pointed towards the raised dust. Without a second glance to the girl next to him, Ichigo bounded towards the battlefield.

Rukia was on one bended knee, putting her weight against her snowy blade. A thin film of sweat covered her forehead and she was panting heavily. The hollow was a few feet away from her, withered in pain and howling agonizingly. It seemed that she was able to hurt him

“Rukia!” Ichigo darted towards her and helped her up. Her face seemed paler than usual and her breathing was ragged. She grabbed onto his sleeve for support as she steadied herself

“I’m…I’m fine, I’ll handle it”

“What are you stupid? You can barely stand!”

“Do you have a better idea fool?”

They stared at each other for a moment before Ichigo rolled to the side with Rukia to prevent a blow from the hollow. Rukia opened her eyes to find Ichigo standing before her with a defiant stance.

“Ichigo!” she called out

“You’re still week from that last time so just stay there and stop being so annoying” he looked back at her with a smoldering look that caused her eyes to widen

“I’ll take care of it”

Rukia’s eyes soften as she nodded. Ichigo turned back to the hollow and closed his eyes, searching for that power from within him like the last time. That overwhelming sense of being able to do whatever he wanted. He felt the cold pommel forming around his clenched fist and the gentle swish of the black coat around him

--

The feel of the dark steel in his hands was overwhelming. It was everything he had wanted and yet, everything he dreaded. He knew that, by gaining this power, war would ensue, and he would have to face the one he would die for

“So, you finally have it”

Her voice was soft and melodious like that of the wind that drifted through the window. She wore white silk that glowed against the black of her long hair. Her sharp azure eyes were narrowed at his back and the white blade glistened in her hands.

“Yes” He answered simply, not turning to see her. The soft wind picked up and rustled the transparent curtains, along with their hair and attire. Her soft sigh was lost within the incoming wind. She closed her eyes

“It’s starting isn’t it? The battle that will end all battles”

In a swift movement, the tip of his black blade caressed the milky contour of her neck-an action that didn’t cause even a flinch from the snow lady. Their piercing gazes locked with one another, their eyes speaking more than words ever could

“With this blade I swear to protect you until my last breath” he suddenly whispered. Her eyes widened a little, but softened immediately followed by a small smile. Her hand enveloped his as the both grasped the black blade

“Fool, you’ll be murdered for uttering such words” she whispered. He leaned closer

“Then I shall receive such consequence with open arms”

--

It felt as if he had just woken up from a daydream or a coma. He had no memory of how or when he defeated the hollow, all he could register at the moment was the fact that he was crouching before Rukia, her hand tightly grasped in his and they were close. Too close

“I…Ichigo” she called out softly, her breath tickling his cheek. He blinked once, twice, took a couple of breaths that were accompanied with Rukia ragged ones. Their lips were parted slightly and it would only take a small movement to close the distance between them.

“Ichigo-san, Rukia-san! Are you alright?”

Hanatarou’s voice shook Ichigo out of his reverie with a gasp and he lurched back, landing on his behind. He let go of Rukia’s hand who took it back immediately. They were both blushing furiously and weren’t looking at each other as the healers approached them. Inoue started checking over Rukia immediately while Hanatarou helped Ichigo to his feet

“Wow Ichigo-san that was amazing! You’re reiatsu is huge and very powerful. It does need some tweaking but nothing we can’t work with. And the way you took out that hollow…it was just…just…”

“Yeah” he said absentmindedly, looking after the petit raven haired girl that was currently being taken home by her friend. He sighed and went to scratch an itchy spot in his neck, when he felt something under his shirt. It was a chain with a skull charm, the same Rukia and Inoue had.

He stared at Rukia’s direction again, wondering what the hell had that vision been, and if she had seen the same thing.

Well there you have it. A little cliffy. There's a lot of stuff I need to go over with this one, but for now I have to focus on getting back to You Think You Know and Chronicles of a Secret...Oh God I've neglected those for so long...hehe well let me know what ya'll think alright!