(July 25, 4:05 pm)

Well, obviously, it wouldn't be one of my fics if there wasn't a hint of Bleach involved, now would it? ...What? ...Not all of my fics are about Bleach? ...Oh. Nevermind then. Heh..

disclaimer: Yeah. Don't own Bleach. Praise be Tite Kubo.

chapter 2

Ichigo could not believe what he was seeing. Byakuya Kuchiki, captain of the 6th Division of the Gotei 13, and brother of his (very) good friend Rukia, was, simply put, having the crap beaten out of him by a gigantic hollow. And while most would rush into action and help the poor guy... Ichigo just stood there and blinked a couple times.

"What is wrong with you?!" squeaked a sudden voice. Ichigo looked around, but saw no one. "Over here, you idiot," the voice went on.

He looked down and saw a small (well, smaller) Rukia perched on his shoulder in a white dress. Ichigo rose an eyebrow at the sight. "'The hell are you doing?" he asked.

Rukia rolled her eyes. "I'm trying to convince you to help him, but apparently you're not quite getting the message, are ya?"

Again, Ichigo blinked. "...Why should I help him?"

Suddenly, he heard a small poof on his other shoulder. He turned his head toward the sound and found an itty-bitty form of Kon, sporting horns, a tail, and a red jumpsuit (most likely made by an itty-bitty Yuzu). "My thoughts exactly!" he replied to Ichigo's question. "What did he ever do for you?"

"He promised to leave me alone so I wouldn't get killed!" cried Rukia.

Kon blinked. "Oh... Why didn't I know that?"

Rukia stared at him curiously. "Yeah, aren't you his conscience? I mean if he knew that, you'd have to know, too."

"Weird."

"Yeah..."

"Guys!" Ichigo shouted. "Your point?"

"Help him out!" shouted Rukia.

"No, it's not worth it!" exclaimed Kon.

"Ichigo, I will hate you if you let my brother die. Do you want me to hate you? Hm?"

"Well... I'll hate you if you help him out!"

The lightbulb finally turned on above Ichigo's head. "Oh. Well, that settles it."

"Really?" Kon asked, a little surprised that it had been so easy to persuade him.

"Yeah, thanks." With that, the two disappeared, and Ichigo unsheathed his sword and rushed over to slay the hollow, which he did in a matter of seconds.

Let's just say Byakuya was less that ecstatic about this.

After a rather obnoxious death glare, the captain walked away, leaving Ichigo to let his head fall back and sigh. And for a moment, things were peaceful for the teenage shinigami... until Kon and Rukia reappeared on his shoulders. Rukia smiled, while Kon's jaw was planted nicely on Ichigo's left shoulder. "How could you?!" he wailed.

Rukia's smile turned into more of a smirk. "Well obviously he couldn't bear the fact that I might hate him. Seems you like me more than I thought, huh, Ichigo?"

Ichigo shook his head. "Nah, I'd just prefer if Kon hated me. At least that way he wouldn't talk to me as much."

The teeny-tiny shinigami's face fell. "Fine then." Two poofs later, Ichigo was once again alone.

And that was exactly how he wanted it for now.

--

Heheh. "Teeny-tiny shinigami." That's fun to say. I know it's kind of illogical that Ichigo would have no trouble beating someone Byakuya can't, but isn't that what fanfics are all about? An occasional total lack of logic?