"Aah…"

Ichigo looked at his hand through dazed and blurry eyes. His ears violently ringing, his body screaming in mute pain.

"Blood?" His voice was hoarse and quiet, barely above a whisper. "That's right, it's mine…" It hit him, the sudden realization of what just happened. A hollow had just attacked him. Well he couldn't tell for sure since he wasn't able to see anything.

But his instincts screamed it. Like a violent roar from the back of his soul and from past experiences, he knew his instincts never wrong.

He moved his eyes, just a little. He could see deep imprints in the ground, slowly making its way towards him. "So this is how I die huh?" Ichigo thought, almost serenely. He was frustrated, more than he was letting on, but what could he do in this kind of situation?

Ten months ago he had lost all his Shinigami powers, and resigned himself back to the life of a normal human being. He was content at first, only wanting to live out his life as quietly as he could.

He soon realized, that was just a lie, a lie that he had told himself, over and over again.

In reality, he enjoyed being a Shinigami, He enjoyed the rush of a good fight, he enjoyed the company of his fellow Shinigami companions and most of all he enjoyed protecting all those he cared about.

With those feelings of deep regret, Ichigo's eyes became heavy, succumbing to unconsciousness.

Crying…

He could hear someone crying. It was such a sad sound. A quiet, faint whimper in fact. The sound reverberated through Ichigo, causing his eyes to snap wide open.

"Where am I?" The orange haired Shinigami thought to himself. All he saw was a never ending blackness. A cold unforgiving, lonely blackness. His eyes wandered the empty world, trying to find the source of where the crying was coming from.

After a moment, his brown eyes landed on her.

She was lying on the ground, her long, straight, silver, reflective hair sprawled out around her, a sizable stream of tears cascaded down her ivory skin. Her eyes were a beautiful shade of crimson red a stark contrast to her white kimono that had intricate red flower designs decorated all over.

Ichigo frowned, silently making his way over to her. "Are you ok?" Ichigo asked quietly, kneeling down her to her.

As soon as those words left ichigo's lips, she sat up, almost instantly, a look of complete shock plastered on her snow white face. She tried to speak, but words didn't come out of her mouth.

She reached up and touched his face, pinching his cheek a little, causing him to wince in pain at the sudden contact, then she pinch her own arm.

"I'm not dreaming?" She croaked out. Her soft voice sounded like it hadn't been used in a lifetime.

"Well, I can't really say for sure. I was about to be eaten by a Hollow, then I suddenly ended up here," Ichigo explained bluntly, not quite sure what to make of the current situation. "Wherever here is…"

"You know of the term Hollow?" She questioned, with slightly wide yet hopeful eyes.

"Yeah," Ichigo replied simply, not quite understanding the big deal.

"Then you must be a Shinigami!" Her face lit up, as if she were the sun. A childlike happiness now covered the sad expression he had seen just a moment ago.

"I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but I'm not anymore," Ichigo told her regretfully. Her face instantly dropped and she adopted the sad look once more. "I lost my Shinigami powers using a technique against a man called Sousuke Aizen. Now I'm just a regular Human again."

"So you were a human with Shinigami powers?" She guessed intellectually. Ichigo was surprised, did she know about Human Shinigami hybrids? Or was she just making an educated guess? He couldn't tell for sure, but he decided to leave that thought for now and instead opted to just nod in confirmation.

"Why were you crying?" Ichigo asked, it wasn't a demand. It was more Ichigo trying to comfort the white haired woman.

"I'm so very lonely…" She whispered out, tears threatening to breach the surface of her blood stained eyes once more. "I've been alone ever since I was created."

"Created?" Ichigo questioned with a raised brow. She nodded sadly, wiping a few stray tears of her skin using her sleeves of her kimono.

"I'm a Zanpakutō after all," Ichigo's eyes went wide at the revelation. She gently lifted her hand, allowing a physical manifestation of her sword form to appear, as if to prove her point.

It was a simple sword, one with a white hilt, an oval guard and a blade on the slightly shorter end of Katana standards.

"Wait, aren't Zanpakutō born from the soul of the Shinigami? If you've been alone ever since you've been created, that would be mean you had no Shinigami to begin with, how is that possible?" Ichigo questioned with a quizzical look, turning to face her once more.

"I was created personally by Nimaya Ōetsu, the creator of the Zanpakutō, a Captain of the Royal Guards, the personal protectors of the Reiō and his dimension, The Spirit Palace." She told him with a small smile. "When he had finished creating me, he looked at me with such a heart broken expression, it was as if he was pitying me. He said, "I'm so sorry," before he put me in a container, floating in some sort of liquid. And that was the very last time I ever saw him."

"Why would he do such a thing?!" Ichigo spat angrily, he knew that Shinigami and Zanpakutō had to have a healthy relationship. They looked after each other, they were partners- no greater than that, it was a relationship so closely tied, not even after an infinite amount of time passing could the bond be broken.

Then why did Nimaiya just throw her aside just like that?

"It's ok, you do not have to get angry for me, I fully know the reason behind why he did what he did." She said with a soothing voice, despite her emotional state, she tried to calm the young ex-Shinigami down despite her own inner turmoil. "I am a blade too dangerous to wield…If anyone got a hold of me, it would surely end in eternal bloodshed, for everyone around the wielder and the wielder too."

"What do you mean?" Ichigo asked, his anger subsiding just a little.

"I am a blade that can cut through anything. I believe Nimaya refereed to me as "The One Hit, One Kill Sword." There isn't a single thing in this universe that can escape this truth." She whispered on the verge of tears again. "I am a blade that can never be damage, I am a blade that is never stained in blood and I am a blade that can't be held within a sheath, therefore he didn't recognize me as a Zanpakutō, a true Sword…" And that did it, she started to weep once more, letting her tears flow unrestrained.

Ichigo was shocked. Completely flabbergasted in fact. This poor girl had been branded as a failure by her own creator and left to spend an eternity in complete solitude, all because he feared her ability? This did not sit right with Ichigo at all. No, it damn right pissed him off!

"E-erm-"Ichigo began but the moment his mouth opened it instantly became useless. "How the heck do I comfort people? I'm not exactly good at it, shit!" Ichigo was about to start panicking when he suddenly realized all the times his twin sisters, Yuzu and Karin would come to him crying, needing comforting. It couldn't be that much different right?

He gently placed a hand on her head and slowly brought it towards his chest. The unnamed Zanpakutō was completely shocked at this action, having never felt such contact before.

"I was wondering…"Ichigo looked away a little embarrassedly scratching the side of his cheek with his free hand as he did. "Would you do me the honour of becoming my Zanpakutō?"

The abandoned Zanpakutö's head instantly looked up, she had a look of complete disbelief on her face. She looked for any signs of deceit in Ichigo's eyes. She found none, just a pure determination and un-ending resolve and compassion.

"I-If we become Shinigami and Zanpakutō, we'll be bound for eternity, you'll most likely never be able to be reunited with your previous Zanpakutō." She choked out trying to suppress the sobs that threatened to escape from her. After all there was no way a Shinigami would abandon their own Zanpakutō that they had spent their entire lives with.

"Zangetsu would want this…"Ichigo replied with a sad smile. "He would want me to continue living for as long as possible, even if it meant it was at the cost of his own existence, he's just that kinda guy." Ichigo could only smile at the fond memories he and Zangetsu shared, all the experiences that they had been through, the hardships, the pain and victories. "Well? What do you say?" Ichigo stood up and lowered his hand down, inviting her to take it.

"A-are you sure you want such a disgrace of a Zanpakutō?" She sniffled looking down slightly in shame. That was it, Ichigo had had enough.

"Hey listen right here! Who wouldn't want a Zanpakutō like you? You're amazing! I think this Nimaya guy needs to be kick off his high horse for doing what he did to you!" Ichigo stated, a voice full of conviction. "And also I don't want you to be alone anymore, I know how hard it can be."

The white clad woman could only stare at him in complete shock. She had been disowned by the creator of all Zanpakutō, cast away as a failure and now this boy would willingly throw away any chance of meeting his original Zanpakutō, one whom he must have shared countless hardships and fond memories with, just to save her from eternal solitude?

"T-then since it's ok with you, please allow me to be your Zanpakutō!" She quickly stuttered, not wanting to miss this once in a life time chance. They both stood up and faced each other, both smiling as they did, one more so than the other.

"My name is, Kurosaki Ichigo." Ichigo said in a strong yet, kind voice, deciding to lead off with the obligatory introductions.

As if by pure ingrained instinct, her name came to her, bursting from her Ruby coloured lips.

"And my name is Sayafushi," She couldn't help let loose a few tears of pure happiness roll down her face."I've finally found my Shinigami."

And the world went completely white, shining with the brilliance of a Thousand Stars.

The Real World.

A pillar of blinding white light erupt from Ichigo's seemingly lifeless body, parting the clouds as it did. A blindingly fast streak of sliver rocketed its way out of the smoke and flying debris, effortlessly cleaving through the solid concrete ground as it did.

Before the unsuspecting Hollow could register what had come its way, the string of silver sliced its way through the Hollow's body, perfectly down the middle.

Nothing happened at first. The hollow deciding it was safe took a cautious step forward, but it was already late. Its black body split cleanly in two pieces, blood gushing out from its innards and all.

After Ichigo made sure the Hollow was properly dispatched, he looked down at his new blade and when he did, his breath hitched. "Beautiful," was all that came to his mind.

Sayafushi looked considerably different from what he had first seen when she showed him her Zanpakutō forme for the first time.

Now her hilt seemed almost transparent, like a crystal gem, it carried a familiar chain too, reminiscent to that of Tensa Zangetsu which mirrored the colour of her hilt.

Her guard hadn't changed much, the only difference being it was a little thinner and more narrow. The part which had changed the most, was undoubtedly the blade. Instead of being a black blade with a silver edge, it was now completely black and had become far thinner. He had also noticed the length of the blade had nearly double too.

"This is my Shikai," Ichigo heard from within his mind.

"It's really beautiful," Ichigo complimented, brandishing it in the sunlight, admiring how the Sun's rays refracted from the blade in several different directions.

Sayafushi's cheeks flushed slightly at the sudden praise, she had never been complimented before in her entire life, only ever being called a failure.

Ichigo stumbled slightly, suddenly feeling like his entire body weighed ten times more than it actually did.

"What's going on?" Ichigo questioned, gasping for air.

"Reiryōku exhaustion, your body hasn't had any Reiryōku flow through for a very long time, so your reserves are quite low, you must rest Ichigo." Sayafushi explained, through their mental link.

"Makes sense, I might as well head home and get some sleep." Ichigo was about to make his way back when he noticed a familiar Reiatsu signature heading his way.

"Ichigo! You ok?!" Came the worried yell of Isshin Kurosaki, donning his Shinigami garb.

"You're late, you old fart," Ichigo smirked slightly, turning his sore body to face his Father.

"Ichigo, what on earth happened here? And how did you get your Shinigami powers back?!" Isshin instantly questioned, after looking around at the devastation landscape and Ichigo's form. Isshin had also noticed Ichigo's Reiatsu was very different from what it was before, but decided not to dwell on that for now.

"Well as you can see, I got my ass handed to me by a Hollow," Ichigo pointed his thumb behind him at his still bleeding human body. "And as for me gaining back my Shinigami powers, I have no idea either."

After that quick little chat with his father, Ichigo had asked him to take his body to Orihime and ask if she could heal it for him, while he'd head home and get some much needed rest.

"So tired…" Ichigo mumbled into his pillow. Despite his sore body and aching mind, Ichigo couldn't help but smile. He had regained his Shinigami powers and with it he could now protect everyone he held dear to him.

With content sigh he drifted off to sleep.

"Ichigo, wake up Ichigo," Sayafushi called out, shaking his body gently as she did.

"Huh?" Ichigo groggily answered, blinking the sleep out of his eyes.

"I'm sorry for waking you, but I was wondering if we could talk just a little bit more." The white Zanpakutō spirit asked shyly, with a hopeful expression.

"Sure thing, I don't mind." Ichigo paused after he had finished his sentence, something was very, very different. "What the hell happened to my Inner World?" Ichigo looked on in a mixture of shock and awe.

His once matte blue coloured Skyscrapers, were now completely see through and different in design. Before being quite chunky, they had become slimmer and each building was slightly different of one another. In the reflection of each building was a direct mirror imagine of his town. Ichigo had also noticed the sky was almost completely black, save for a few specks of white which were without a doubt stars and there also was a three-quarter moon looming over them, shining brightly as it did.

"This is the by-product of our souls merging." Sayafushi explained, sweeping her hand across the scenic view. "It's quite the sight to behold, isn't it?" She said with a soft smile.

"Yeah, it's a lot different from what it used it to be, that's for sure." Ichigo added, reminiscing as he did. "Speaking of changes, you a little look different too," He said, inspecting her with curious eyes.

True to his word Sayafushi had changed indeed. Her eyes had gone from a deep crimson, to a bright amber, her Kimono sleeves were now longer, gliding across the floor with each movement and the once blood soaked flowers that decorated it were now pitch black.

Ichigo couldn't help but noticed a white crescent-moon shaped hairpin firmly placed on the left side of her head. It seemed to be made of the same material as the hilt Sayafushi's Zanpaktou forme held.

"Since I am now a physical manifestation of your power, it's only natural I changed," She explained smiling at him. "Ah, Ichigo, I almost forgot, would you like me to train you from now on? Of course I'm not going to force you or anything!" The flustered Zanpakutō asked, nervously looking at her new partner.

Ichigo could only chuckle at her shyness. "Sayafushi, you don't need to be so formal with you know? We're Shinigami and Zanpakutō, bound together till the day we die after all," Ichigo reminded her with a small smile. "And of course, I'd really appreciate it if you did train me, I only have about 5 days' worth of formal training under my belt anyway, I could definitely use a lot more."

"That's great! Then how about we start tomorrow?" Sayafushi chirped happily.

"Yeah, that'd be fine with me, I've got no school tomorrow anyway," Ichigo responded with a nod.

"Oh! I can even teach you Kidō!" Sayafushi added with a hopeful smile.

"Kidō? I've never really had the chance to get to learn that at all, and if I'm anything like Renji, I'll probably suck really badly at it," Ichigo admitted with an embarrassed situation.

"I'll try my best to teach you Reiatsu control, manipulation and awareness, so that practicing Kidō will become easier for you," Sayafushi almost pleaded, clasping his hands with her own.

"Alright, fine, fine, I guess it couldn't hurt to learn some Kidō, but how do you even know Kidō anyway? I thought Zanpakutō were limited by what they knew about themselves and their wielder?" Ichigo questioned confusedly.

"Have you forgotten Ichigo? I was crafted with a fragment of Nimaiya Öetsu's Soul, His knowledge of Kidō is very expansive, and one of the other Captains of the Royal Guards is a master at Reiatsu control and awareness, she can even strengthen other people's with hers," She explained with a matter-of-factly-tone.

"Well then, I guess I'm in your care from now on," Ichigo conceded, knowing he was eventually going to have to learn it, whether he liked it or not. How hard could Kidō be anyway? Renji could fire a few mid-level Hadō's without incantations pretty convincingly, so if he had Sayafushi teach him with all her knowledge, he surely could become fairly adept at it with some hard work right?

Sayafushi noticed Ichigo trying his best to keep himself awake, but failing terribly to do so. She couldn't help but smile, he was trying his best for her since she had selfishly asked for him to stay awake just a little while longer despite knowing he was exhausted.

"Ichigo, come," She instructed, patting her lap motioning him to lay down on it, he blushed slightly and was about to refuse, but seeing her hopeful look, he hesitantly obliged. "I'm terribly sorry for keeping you awake," She apologized sincerely, running her fingers through his dishevelled hair.

"Nah, it's alright, you don't have to apologize," Ichigo dismissed her apology with a tired yawn. "It must have been hard being alone for so long."

"It was," She replied sombrely, before gazing down at him. "But I'm not alone any-more," She finished with a cheerful smile, looking down at him.

"Yeah, you're right," Ichigo respond in-kind, sighing contently, fixing his posture to a more comfortable one, before closing his already heavy eye-lids and drifting off to a peaceful slumber.

"Goodnight Ichigo."

"Nimaiya."

"Yo! What's shakin' my main man Ichibë?!" Nimaya jovially yelled spinning around on his heel to face the Monk.

"Why did you do that?" Ichibei Hyösube questioned with a raised brow, making his way over to the progenitor of all Zanpakutō.

"Why did I do what? ~" Nimaiya innocently responded with a large toothy grin, this intern caused the large man to sigh at his antics.

"You know what I mean Nimaiya, why did you give Kurosaki Ichigo 'that' Zanpakutō?" The bearded Monk clarified.

"Ichi-Chan seemed like he was in a bit of a pickle, so I decided to help a brotha' out! What's so bad about that?" Nimaiya exclaimed striking an eccentric pose.

"Of all the Zanpakutō you could have given him…" Ichibei could only sigh, he shouldn't have been surprised, really. This was the most random and eccentric member of the Royal Guards after all, there was no changing that.

"Also, two incomplete and lonely souls coming together, don't you think it's just poetic?" Nimaiya added, with a melancholic expression hidden behind his bright shades.

"Ah, so that's the reason." Ichibei realized, with slightly wide eyes. "You just couldn't stand to see her like that could you?" Ichibei let out a large toothy grin before putting an arm around his fellow Zero Squad member. "You can be quite the compassionate individual when you want to be, eh' Nimaiya?"

Nimaiya only smiled in response with a knowing look. "I guess so."

Well this is the first sort-of official Ichigo x Sayafushi Fanfiction! Woop!

Ever since I read the chapter where Sayafushi was introduced, I just fell in love with her concept, but I didn't have the time to write a story about it, until now that is!

EDIT: I forgot to mention something, this story here is a ONESHOT, I just wrote this to get my concept on 'paper' if you will, I didn't want it to be sitting in my head for too long.

I am currently revising the entire thing, writing multiple drafts and such. I'll be uploading another story- fully revised and with a lot of changes soon.

WeirdoKen