The Blue Bird's Song {Bleach}

Chapter One {The New Protector}

Making an excuse at the end of the day, I rushed off in search of the hollow, but not a trace remained. It must have hidden between our two worlds, meaning that there was no possible way for me to sense the horrid creature. An exasperated sigh escaped me in the midst of my hurried breaths. I heard on the news about the explosion this morning; not many people would know the true cause of the carnage.

On the way home, I managed to bump into Ichigo as he fought some hoons that live around the area. It turned out that they knocked over a vase that was left in memory of a young girl just a few years younger than ourselves. These things always managed to push Ichigo over the edge; he took these matters very seriously. The young spirit remained standing by a light post the entire time, observing the disagreement. I offered a curt smile, and she returned the gesture.

Ichigo was unaware that I knew of his secret, and he didn't know of mine. I wanted it to stay that way; for his own sake, he needed to stay away from soul reapers and hollows. It's wasn't likely that he'd find out about me. It seemed that he can only see the weaker spirits, which was something I was grateful for.

I walked ahead of Ichigo once he was finished with his business, but not so far ahead that I couldn't hear him comforting the spirit girl. It was rarity to see him show his kinder side, so I wasn't going to miss him perform his speech.

Once I arrived home, I decide to enjoy myself and relax on one of my rare nights off. Well, that's what I had planned before I remembered about the pile of maths homework sitting on my desk. I hated the thought of the effort this would take immensely, but was somewhat comforted by the packet of pocky sitting by the papers.

There was no sign of the hollow anywhere, which had me on my guard. It could easily strike whilst I was asleep, but I hadn't been as worried as I normally was. There was a new spiritual pressure roaming around the area; soul reaper spiritual pressure. I didn't need to be as cautious of hollows, but I can't let them find out about me. The Soul Society doesn't take kindly to humans intervening with their affairs.

For the night, I confined myself to my house and tried to somewhat block out the racket the Kurosaki family rang out. I silently laughed at their silliness; no matter how often I heard them, they were still just as entertaining as ever.

"For high school, a seven o'clock curfew is totally uncool!" Ichigo yelled out at his father.

"Speaking of uncool Ichigo, you have a new one." I looked out my window to see the shadow of a spirit fly around the kitchen.

"How long have you been here? Take a hike you damn pest!" Ichigo tried swatting the man away but it didn't seem to do anything. I chuckled at his useless attempts; watching him trying to deal with spirits could be very entertaining. He was actually quite good with them, but there were times where he lost his patience and his composure. This was one of those times.

As it normally did, the argument continued for another few moments before Ichigo stormed off to his room. I did feel sorry for him; all he wanted was some peace and quiet after a long day.

I worked on the questions for a couple of hours, patting the ragdoll kitten that slept on my lap. Princess was my company here, and I loved her to pieces. She was there for me, and that's all I could ask.

Once I had attempted most of the answers and eaten all of the snacks at my disposal, I put the books away and turned the television on. The news had the same story on regarding the explosion which it had this morning. It confused me as to why they constantly replayed their stories when there are no developments; it put me off watching the news.

I peered over at the table clock and realised I should have gone to bed long ago. It didn't matter too much; I'd be tired anyway when I wake up. Though I had some studying to do for the midterms coming up, I wasn't too worried. I'd made sure to prepare in between my duties as a soul reaper.