Anime Short Stories Collection I

Nightmare [Ichigo Kurosaki One-shot]

Kokoro walked down the streets of Karakura Town, her Zanpakuto drawn by her side. The tip of her blade scraped over the edges of buildings as she passed them, over their windows and their metal pipes, creating an eerie screeching sound that echoed through the heavy veil of silence. Night time was the time humans thought they were safe, that they could just go inside their homes, lock their doors and no one would bother them.

A grin came across the half Arrancar-half Human’s face as that thought crossed her mind. Silly, silly humans. Doors were nothing for others of her kind, for herself. Although there was one door in particular she had her sights set on. It wasn’t far, she knew that, but she was taking her time, letting the adrenaline that was running through her veins build up to excite her more.

It had always been there, in the back of her mind. Soul Reapers hated her. They all wanted her dead and gone. And so, before the vipers could leave their nest and strike, she was going to strike at them while they were at their most vulnerable. It was going to be right where it hurt too, there one tool that kept them out of all kinds of trouble and solved most of their problems.

Ichigo Kurosaki wouldn’t know what was coming to him, coming after him silently in the night as he slept in his comfortable bed down the hall from his sisters’ and father. Ichigo would be gone from their world before they even knew it and Kokoro’s Zanpakuto would be the cause of it all.

Laughing to herself, she jumped onto the roof of a nearby building, hoping to pick up her pace so that she could get to the climax, the really exciting moment of her night here in the World of the Living. She’d already cut down all of those that had gotten in her path on her way to what she called her own personal victory.

The blood of innocents stained her blade, shining in the moonlight against the silver of her Zanpakuto. Drops of blood created a trail behind her, some so old that they had already begun to dry out completely. Light grey eyes were dull as they flicked over her surroundings, looking for anyone else that would get into her path. It was obvious that she had no other care for the lives of others, of no one but herself.

Smiling, she jumped to the next building’s roof, her long black hair flowing out behind her. She didn’t even make a sound as her feet touched the concrete and she continued on her way.

“They’re just so… pathetic,” she said to herself, lifting her blade up and stopping in her tracks, looking over the blood as it slid down the blade towards the hilt and over her hand. The sticky, warm bodily fluid didn’t even elicit a reaction from her. Her face remained stoic and her hand never wavered on the hilt of her Zanpakuto. She truly had no more emotion left to show, except for happiness and glee at the thought of being able to kill a Soul Reaper, someone who meant her nothing but harm and destruction.

“I’ll get him first. I’ll get him while he’s asleep and least expects it. He won’t know,” she muttered, lowering her blade once more before continuing on her way. There were times that she went through patches of light caused by the shine of nearby streetlamps. Whether people saw her or not, she didn’t know and she didn’t care. They were all irrelevant next to her, next to her blade. She silently dared anyone who was near to challenge her; she found that she liked this ‘killing’ that she had discovered.

Looking forward, she continued towards the Kurosaki Clinic, following the feeling of Ichigo Kurosaki’s spiritual pressure. She was close, she could feel it. His spiritual pressure weighed down on her body, making her feel a lot heavier than she actually was, as if gravity had increased around her. But that didn’t matter to her anymore. She knew what she had to do; she had to kill this Soul Reaper before she herself was dead.

Jumping off to another roof, she spotted the clinic in the distance and grinned maniacally. “I’m almost there. My goal has almost been reached,” she stated, picking her pace up to a run. Running towards the front door of Ichigo’s home, she stood in front of the door, seeing if she could sense anyone awake inside of the house. When she could sense no one but herself being awake, she grinned before easily turning and breaking the knob on the front door.

Pushing the wood aside, she opened the door and slipped inside, cloaked by the darkness that filled the Kurosaki home. She knew where to go; she’d been in Ichigo’s home before and she knew exactly where she had to go to get this over and done with quickly.

Reaching Ichigo’s door, she slipped quietly inside and shut the door behind her. She would make her escape through his window, the window that she’d slipped out of countless times before.

‘The time has come’, she thought to herself, walking silently across the floor towards the bed that was placed by the window. When Ichigo shifted underneath his cover, she stopped where she was and continued to watch him for further movements. When she was sure that he’d only been tossing around in his sleep, she stepped closer until she was at the edge of his bed, looking down at him.

‘I shall rid the world of you, Ichigo Kurosaki,’ she thought, lifting her Zanpakuto into the air. At that exact time, Ichigo opened his eyes and sat up to look at her.

“Kokoro, wha-“

Kokoro moved forward and thrust her blade through Ichigo’s chest, causing him to gasp. Reaching up, Ichigo wrapped his hands around the blade, blood beginning to seep from in between his lips as he tried to talk to her.

“W-why?” he asked in shock, looking down at her Zanpakuto then back up at her.

“To rid the world of a Soul Reaper; to save myself,” she returned, pushing hard against the blade to drive it in deeper. Ichigo groaned in pain, shutting his eyes and gritting his teeth.

Kokoro chuckled low in her throat. “You thought you were so strong that I wouldn’t be able to kill you?” she asked before her laughter grew louder.

“What an idiot you are Ichigo Kurosaki! To think that I would let you strike at me before I got the chance to take you out!”

Ichigo stared up at her in confusion, his last breath spent wondering why she would try to kill him. Grabbing onto her Zanpakuto hilt once more, Kokoro pulled it out of the dead teens chest. “Such a fool.”

Jumping onto Ichigo’s bed, she opened the window before fleeing off into the night, the silence covering up her previous actions, laughing extremely loud to herself.

|*|*|*|

The sound of screams woke Ichigo up from his sleep and he rolled over onto his side, looking at the girl who was lying in bed next to him. She was screaming, but there was also a smile on her face.

“Kokoro, wake up!” Ichigo stated, reaching down to put his hands on her shoulders and shaking her to get her to wake up.

Black eyes snapped open quickly, her fist flying up to connect with Ichigo’s jaw.

“Ough! Damn Kokoro, you were having a nightmare!” he stated, rubbing at his now sore jaw.

Kokoro blinked, looking up at Ichigo. “A nightmare?”

Shivering, she reached up and promptly wrapped her arms around Ichigo’s shoulders to pull him closer. She knew where the nightmare had come from and she wanted it to go away, she wanted a life where she didn’t have to worry about hurting those that meant the most to her. Unfortunately, she knew that a life like that would be hard to obtain and that one day, she may be forced to leave this life behind for good.