The Sound of Silence

Hello everyone. This is a one-shot I put together fairly quickly, taking place during the seventeen month timeskip. It's based off of Simon and Garfunkel's "The Sound of Silence." If you want to listen to it while you read is up to you, but the song does fit this story well! This will probably have some IchiRuki. Enjoy and please review!

"Ah, dammit! Why the hell am I doing this again?!"

Ichigo angrily kicked a trash can that was on the sidewalk where he was walking and watched as it rolled down the street, disappearing from his view. It had been just over a year since he had lost his Soul Reaper powers, and every day since then he would take a walk around town. He didn't know why he took walks every day, but it just became routine for Ichigo, and every night around 8:00 he would leave his home and just walk the streets until he realized it was close to midnight, and he would head home again. This happened every day, and Ichigo silently asked himself why he always walked, musing that it was just something he did to pass the time. However, Ichigo knew deep down that this wasn't the real reason he did this. He just didn't know exactly what it was. He just felt as if a small part of himself had died the day he lost his Soul Reaper powers, but he didn't know why, as he always wanted to live the life of a normal human, without ghosts or spirits.

As Ichigo resumed walking, he passed by a small shop that had a neon sign on the outside. Noticing that it was just a small café that went by the name of Chad's, he continued on until a strong gust of wind hit him in the face, and he had to turn his collar toward the cold and damp wind. The weather forecasters had predicted rain sometime tonight, and Ichigo noticed that there were dark storm clouds gathering overhead, but he still wanted to continue his routine even though there was a strong possibility that he would get soaked and most likely sick if he stayed out in this wind and coming rain for long.

Ichigo then came to a stop under a bridge and sat down to take a breather, and as he pulled his collar up again, he came to a realization about this routine of his.

'Maybe I do this because I miss Rukia?'

Ichigo scoffed at the idea immediately. There was no way that he took walks every single day just to get his mind off of Rukia of all people, but his conscience was telling him otherwise. Maybe that was the small part of himself that died over a year ago. Ichigo knew that he had shared a close bond with Rukia, and she was one of his closest friends. He always denied it to himself that there was something more between them, and he refused to believe anything of the sort. As Ichigo continued his musing, he heard footsteps approaching him from behind and, turning his head, he recognized the person coming towards him was his good friend Chad.

"Ichigo. What are you doing here? Didn't you hear, there's supposed to be a downpour coming any minute now. Why are you here of all places?"

"Ah, I was just taking a walk and I ended up here. I heard about the weather, but I just wanted to continue my routine of walking every day."

Chad nodded slightly and sat down next to Ichigo.

"Hey Chad, do you own a café now? I saw a place a little ways back called Chad's and was wondering if it was yours."

"Yeah, I just opened that place a couple of months ago. My old job just didn't suit me anymore, and besides, I'm bringing in more money now."

"Well, good for you Chad."

"I noticed you walking by earlier Ichigo and just before that I saw a trash can go rolling down the street. Were you the one who kicked it?"

Ichigo then smiled nervously and nodded his head, not sure of what to say.

"Ichigo, why have you been doing these walks every day? I walk every day to my café, but I have a reason to. I just see you walking without a destination."

"Well, I just started doing it a year ago and it just became routine for me, you know? I really don't know why I continue to do it."

"It's because you miss Rukia, isn't it Ichigo?"

"What?! No! I don't miss Rukia at all! She's been gone for over a year now, Chad. Why would I be thinking of her now?"

Chad then put a hand on Ichigo's shoulder, and Ichigo looked at him with confusion until he spoke up.

"Ichigo, everyone knows about the close bond that you and Rukia shared. It's okay to admit that you miss her."

Ichigo just nodded and then, in a voice barely above a whisper, said to Chad.

"I guess I do miss Rukia, Chad, more than I'd like to admit. I really don't know if I love her or not, but as you said, we did and I guess always will have a close bond, even though we won't see each other again."

"Ichigo, there's still a chance Rukia might come back. There'a always a hollow to be fought, and I'm sure she'll need your help one day."

"Yeah, well, thanks for the help, Chad. It means a lot."

The two friends then got up and shared a quick handshake, after which both went their separate ways, Chad back to his house, and Ichigo to his.

When Ichigo arrived back home, he went up to his room and shut the door. He walked over to his desk just to make sure everything was in order before he turned in for the night, but as he was looking something caught his eye. It was a piece of paper, but what was drawn on it was what Ichigo noticed. When he picked it up, he saw a horribly drawn picture of Rukia's favorite character, a bunny named Chappy. Ichigo was wondering where this had come from, as he recalled that Rukia had taken all of her belongings with her back to the Soul Society, even all of her drawings. He was about to crumple it up and throw it out, but before he could he heard a voice in the back of his head.

'Why would you want to throw it out? You know that this is the only thing you have left of her.'

Ichigo, wondering what had came over him, folded the piece of paper up and put it in one of his desk drawers. As Ichigo shut his desk drawer and was about to turn off the light to go to sleep, he could have sworn he saw a lock of raven hair by his window, but he knew that he could not see Rukia anymore since he lost his powers, so he assumed it was his imagination playing tricks on him. As he slowly drifted off to sleep, a single tear made its way down Ichigo's cheek and hit the floor, creating a small, insignificant wet spot on the floor. Even though he still refused to admit that he loved her, Ichigo knew that, deep down, maybe he did love her after all.

I hope everyone enjoyed this one-shot. Kind of a sappy ending I know, but I hope it didn't put a damper on the story. Please review!