Bleach Fan Fiction ❯ Ai Suru ❯ Prologue: Irony ( Prologue )

Ai Suru

Vb., to love; the action of loving someone or something.

 

Prologue - Irony

 

-Ai Suru-

 

Irony was not a thing he'd paid much attention to. So on that fateful day - March 17, a Saturday - he never knew how very cruel irony was when 23-year-old Kurosaki Ichigo died in a car wreck. He only knew that he was dead. This was an entirely unsettling thing in and of itself, as he was floating, staring at the police putting his own body in a body bag. He had just been walking home, to his little apartment and his cat, Kon, when the car driven by a drunken middle-aged man had careened into him. Ichigo knew he had been overworking himself, but he hadn't thought he was so tired as to have not seen that car. He sighed and walked the rest of the way to his apartment. Kon was there, taking a nap. He shook the mod-soul-in-a-cat's-body awake, silently wondering how it was that he could still touch the feline. Kon yawned.

 

“There you are, onii-san, I was beginning to get worried…” he trailed off when he saw the clearly broken chain attached to his chest. “Nii-san… what happened?” He asked, feline throat choking slightly.

 

“Hey, Kon… I'm sorry. I messed up again, only this time I actually died. When do you suppose they'll come to konso me?” Ichigo said softly, a self-depreciating smile adorning his lips. Kon looked stricken. “Don't worry. I'm going to wait for Karin, tell her she needs to take you home. I'll probably come to visit once I get myself sorted out as a shinigami. I don't think I can transform until I get a konso though.” He trailed off into a murmur, mechanically stroking Kon. Ichigo wondered idly when the police were going to notify his family. Then a rush of cold air signified the arrival of another. He turned his head from where he was staring at Kon's ginger fur to where a solemn, if short, figure clad in black samurai gear stood.

 

“Hey, look Kon, it's Toshiro-kun.” Ichigo said. The cat looked mournfully up at the shinigami. The white-haired boy looked slightly shocked.

 

“I was wondering why the hell they were sending me to perform a konso, but now everything is clear.” He said with a sigh. “I'm sorry, Kurosaki-san.” Ichigo shook his head.

 

“'S not your fault. The stupid, drunk driver's fault. That and my own habitual refusal to get a car come to bite me in the ass.” He looked out the window. “I knew I was working maybe a little too hard, but this,” he shook his head. “This is ridiculous. Or should I say it was ridiculous?” Hitsugaya did not know how to answer, so he stayed silent. “Death by overworking and not paying attention… pft, pathetic.” Ichigo murmured, still gazing out the window. Hitsugaya ran a hand through his unruly white spikes and stared through hooded blue-green eyes at the orange-haired youth before him.

 

“Are you coming?” He asked, disliking the way Ichigo was acting. The other jumped, provoking a disapproving sound from Kon, and flashed a small smile at Hitsugaya.

 

“She's almost here. Can we wait?” He requested softly. Hitsugaya inclined his head and sat, kneeling on the old, worn tatami. He did not speak further, not even to inquire whom they were waiting for; and Ichigo was grateful. The two sat in silence until the harsh grating of a key in the door-lock alerted them to someone's arrival. The door was, in short order, flung open, and a black-haired teen girl stood framed there, eyes locked on Ichigo. A choked breath escaped her lungs and she collapsed to her knees. Ichigo stood, shifting Kon to his arms and walked to stand in front of her. “Hey, imoto-chan, get up.” She looked up at him, desperation in her eyes along with barely-kept-in-check tears. Hitsugaya looked on in silence, as the two seemed to have a wordless conversation. Finally the girl hiccuped and then stood up.

 

“Ichigo, what am I gonna tell Yuzu and oto-san?” She asked in a frail-sounding voice. “It's gonna break their hearts. First `ka-san, now you…” Ichigo smiled a smile that had Hitsugaya thinking that maybe his death wasn't hitting him quite so hard now.

 

“Tell them I'll miss them. I'm sorry I died this way, but I'm not gonna dwell on it. There's no sense in that. Tell them I'll come to visit - and I will; it just might take a while. Then tell them to take good care of my talking cat, okay, Karin?” Karin looked utterly flabbergasted.

 

“The cat talks?” She asked, confusion evident in her voice as well as her face. Ichigo grinned.

 

“Yep. Meet Kon, the soul who used to take my place sometimes when I had to perform duties. Make sure he doesn't get fat and make especially sure he doesn't talk in front of anybody but Chad and Orihime - and you guys, of course.” He gave the cat to Karin and dropped a phantom kiss to her cheek. “I'll be going now. Don't hold a grudge against him, either.” He said, indicating the short white-haired figure that had gone unnoticed by the girl. Karin nodded hesitantly. Hitsugaya stood, drawing his zanpaku-to. Both of the others could feel the power buzzing through the blade. Ichigo sat down and grinned at the boy. “C'mon, don't want to keep them waiting!” he said. The corners of Hitsugaya's mouth curved in a half-smile, and he gently brought the seal adorning the end of his hilt to Ichigo's forehead and pressed lightly. Bright blue light filled the room, and when it cleared, Ichigo was no longer there. Karin sat down with a thump as Hitsugaya sheathed Hyorinmaru and walked towards her.

 

“It will be a year or two before you meet again. The council will no doubt want him to take remedial courses at the academy to learn kido and proper zanjutsu. He will need to be settled and there is a year-limit on him exiting the Seireitei after his studies are finished. Be at peace, you will see him again.” His voice was soft, barely disturbing the still air as a blue portal opened behind him, and he turned. “Good-bye, Kurosaki Karin-san.” He stepped through, and all evidence that anything supernatural had happened vanished, leaving the black-haired girl to sit in the apartment till her father and her sister arrived.

 

-Ai Suru-

 

CS: There we have the prologue of my newest epic. I'm sorry about the pitiful length, and I swear the next one will be longer. The mood will be different also, because this part was supposed to be all solemn and dramatic. Did I succeed?

 

I was reading it over, and I noticed that I have Toshiro saying some things that he wouldn't have known. Let's pretend that while Ichigo was being contemplative about his death, Toshiro was receiving a briefing via spiritual-cell-phone, ok? Yay.

 

A side note… this is indeed the companion piece to `25 Ways To Say I Love You!' I will give you hints about the sentences I used in the chapter, and you can tell me which ones they were! I didn't use any of them in this one, but that's because it's the Prologue. La. -CS <3