Bright World [Bleach fanfic]

Casual treason all the time

***So I'm late on my once a month update and I have no one to blame but myself. Another chapter will be coming out this month for July, this chapter is technically for June. Hopefully I'll have made up my broken deadline with a 18K chapter, damn I'm not good at pacing myself at all. I actually counted and this is Chapter 22, that was a surprising realization of how many chapters into this story I got. Hope everyone is enjoying the summer weather or doing something they enjoy!***

The sound of cicadas and the heat of the sun permeated the air. Otherwise the general surroundings only gave the impression of an average neighborhood on a sunny summer day. The only aspect that ruined that image was the dying body sitting on the side of the neighborhood walk ways. A haggard body was propped up against the concrete wall, their shoulders flinching every so often and black particles seemingly floating out from their body. No one acknowledged the person there, as if they were invincible, but at the same time everyone felt the intrinsic need to avoid that area, all humans and animals choosing to take another path for reasons unknown to them. The body stayed in their spot, unmoving. The sound of light foot steps started approaching the lonely path. The person made an effort to lift their head partially so a side view of their face was visible to whoever was brave enough to ignore their intuition to approach.

The steps stopped only a short distance. What greeting the dying spirit was a young child crouching and watching them with curious eyes. The child was clearly human, which made it all the more surprising that they could see the spirit. The child couldn't be more than three or four in age, with short curly brown hair and large brown eyes. Dressed in blue shorts, a cartoon character designed shirt, velco sneakers, a side bag filled with money, and a small list clutched in their small hand, the child was obviously on a small errand for their family. They must have stopped out of curiosity, not realizing the danger they were putting themselves in.

"No napping outside," a clear and young voice reprimanded the spirit. "Mama says it'sa bad." The child held out a hand. "Wanna come nap on my bed?" The innocent suggestion almost made the spirit laugh. What a stupid child, being able to see spirits yet unable to understand the spirit in front of them was dying not sleeping.

"Kid, I'm not sleeping out here for fun." The spirit spoke for the first time, their voice sounded deep and gravely from strain. "Get lost, I'll be gone soon enough." Almost as an afterthought, the spirit added, "And don't go inviting adults back to your house. You'll give your parents a heart attack."

"Oh," a sound of realization caused the child to drop their outstretched hand at the rejection but they didn't move away like the spirit thought they would. "You going away?" The spirit's one eye looked towards the child. They stared back with a matter of fact expression that hinted at their awareness of life and death that the spirit originally thought the child didn't understand. "I can stay for you." The child shifted from crouching to sitting on their bottom and started scooching closer to the spirit. "Wanna hold?" They offered their hand out again in a gesture of comfort.

The spirit seemed to almost consider saying yes but then a violent ripple from inside themselves had them snarling out another answer. "No. Don't touch me." Taking in a shuddering breath, they turned their entire head to fully face the child. Upon full exposure to the spirit's face, a crumbling white mask could be seen falling off the previously hidden side of their face. The uncovered eye was normal, but the masked eye was different with slit pupils and black sclera. "You need to leave. I will hurt you if you don't." A second voice intertwined with the spirit's original voice in warning.

The child's eyes widened a little in surprise but they were not scared off by the threat. The spirit grit their teeth and curled their fists in frustration. "You look sad so I can stay here and you won't be lonely. My name's Oshiro Jun and Imma gonna be 4 years old soon and my big brother loves me lots. What's your name? We can be friends." Jun rambled on with a look of strong conviction, putting their all into convincing the spirit to become friends. At the abrupt dismissal from the spirit's warning, they huffed in slight bewilderment and replied with an air of ironic humor.