Ichigo's Insomnia
IchigoXYoruichi

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.

Chapter One

Shortly after the end of the Thousand-Year Blood War….
Urahara Shop; Yoruichi's Room

Yoruichi was lying in her futon listening to the evening rain. Every now and then a familiar pain would jolt through her. A lingering effect from Kisuke's detoxing treatment. Although Nel had rescued her, Kisuke, Grimmjow and Yushiro from Askin's poison death-trap, it had been difficult for Kisuke to properly remove the poison from everyone's systems when it had been so strong.

Currently Grimmjow and Nel had returned to Hueco Mundo to rebuild Las Noches while Yushiro was given back to the care of the Shihoin Clan, his wounds treated and the poison mostly out of his system while Kisuke and Yoruichi had returned to Urahara Shop, being tended to by Tessai and the kids. Although Yoruichi had recovered, the effects had taken their toll and at times Yoruichi would find herself in tremendous pain. Kisuke had told her that he felt similar bursts of pain but consoled her by telling her that it would fade in time.

Lying in her futon wearing nothing but a white robe, Yoruichi watched the raindrops hit the window and wondered if the madness was finally over. Aizen and Yhwach had been defeated and now maybe peace and tranquility could return to everyone at last.

At least for some of them….

Yoruichi was not surprised in the least when she heard a light tapping on her door. Sitting up, watched as the door opened up, revealing Ichigo Kurosaki. "Hi, Yoruichi…."

Smiling, Yoruichi got out of the futon and walked over to the boy, his clothes wet from the evening rain. "Another bad dream, Ichigo?" she asked, concerned by the forlorn look on the young man's face.

Ichigo looked at the woman with sad eyes, the bags underneath apparent. "Yeah…I'm…I'm sorry, Yoruichi, I know I shouldn't keep coming here every time I have a bad dream." he muttered, feeling terrible for barging into her room in the middle of the night for the umpteenth time this month. He opened his mouth to give another apology only for Yoruichi to put a finger to his lips, silencing him.

"Ichigo, look at me." When Ichigo looked up to stare at her golden eyes he saw her giving him a warm smile. Not a devious or playful one like usual but a warm, gentle smile that told him she understood perfectly. "You've nothing to be ashamed of. I will tell you a thousand times more until it sinks in: my door is always open for you, no matter what."

Shortly after Yhwach's defeat, Ichigo had started to develop Post-Traumatic Stress in the form of terrible nightmares of his past ordeals. To Yoruichi it made sense. Ichigo was only a teenager and yet he had endured so much. She'd noticed about a few weeks ago when Ichigo had stopped by to say hello that it looked like he hadn't gotten a wink of sleep. After some coaxing, Yoruichi had managed to pry what was wrong from him. Once Ichigo had admitted what his problem was, Yoruichi had promised him that if he ever had a nightmare her door was always open, knowing that the boy deserved some form of comfort after all he'd endured.

Glad that his mentor understood, Ichigo hugged her. Yoruichi gently ran her hand through Ichigo's soaked hair before taking him by the hand and leading him to her futon. "Here, Ichigo, let's get you out of those wet clothes. You'll catch a cold." Slowly she stripped him of his clothes, leaving him in nothing but his black boxers. Under normal circumstances Ichigo would've felt embarrassed to be in front of her almost nude but right now he didn't care. As he and Yoruichi lay down on the futon Yoruichi pulled the thick blanket over them before Ichigo wrapped his arms around her and pressed his head against her soft bosom. Yoruichi continued to run her hands through Ichigo's hair soothingly. "What was the bad dream this time?" she asked, wanting to know what was torturing Ichigo so.

Ichigo closed his eyes and shuddered as the memory of the nightmare came back to him….

Ichigo lay on the ground, confused and lost. He thought that everything would be alright but now everything had gone so wrong. Yhwach had been defeated but everything was destroyed. "Orihime!" he called out, seeing her in the distance, recognizing her burnt-orange hair and her white outfit. Struggling to his feet, Ichigo ran over to the girl only for her to turn away. "Orihime, what's wrong?"

"…."

Becoming afraid by her silence, Ichigo put a hand on her shoulder only for her to shake it off as if she was being touched by a demon. "Orihime, why won't you look at me?" Slowly, the teen girl turned around….

…Making Ichigo scream when he saw her skeletal face. "Why?" the dead girl asked, her bony hands reaching for Ichigo. "Why couldn't you save us?" she asked. Ichigo backed away while she reached for him. At her feet were the bodies of Ichigo's friends: Rukia, Renji, Uryu, Chad and Yoruichi.

"But I did!" Ichigo insisted. "I stopped Yhwach!" he defended, only for Orihime to wrap her bony hands around his throat and choke him.

"WHY? WHY DIDN'T YOU SAVE US?!" she screamed. "DID WE MEAN SO LITTLE TO YOU?!"

Ichigo's face turned blue before he suffocated….

"I see…" Yoruichi said as the boy calmed down. As he told her his nightmare he had begun to shake with fear, the idea of being strangled by his dead friend horrifying. "Ichigo, why are you so afraid that you've failed everyone?" she asked, figuring that this was the root of the nightmare. As part of her way of helping Ichigo she tried to think about his night terrors and get to the bottom of what was tormenting him so.

"Yoruichi…during the first invasion…I was trapped in the Garganta while the Wandenreich completely destroyed the Soul Society…" Ichigo admitted, his eyes squeezing shut. "The phone Kisuke gave me was still connected to the Soul Society. I could hear everyone screaming and dying and there was nothing I could do about it. By the time I escaped, I knew I failed."

"No, you didn't," Yoruichi quickly said in a kind, gentle voice.

Ichigo took his face out of her chest and looked up. "But-"

"We're still here, aren't we?" she asked with a smile. "Ichigo, we've been over this. What happened could not have been avoided. You couldn't have known about that Quincy's powers."

"I know that but I should've made sure he was dead before I left!" Ichigo insisted, feeling guilt wrack his mind.

Yoruichi kissed his forehead and held the boy tight, calming him down. "No, Ichigo. You shouldn't bear such guilt on your shoulders. As a captain, there's something that I would always tell my men when a mission has gone south: your actions are just a small link in a chain of events. Kisuke should've realized that the Quincy wasn't dead, just as Orihime and Chad should've known. And you don't know what might've happened if you'd arrived on time. For all we know, Yhwach could've grabbed you and things would've been worse."

Ichigo lay there and let Yoruichi's words sink in. It was times like these that he was glad that he had her guidance, feeling lost without his friend's help. "I…I think I get it…."

Grabbing a pillow from behind her, Yoruichi slipped it underneath Ichigo's head and smiled. "For now, just try to relax and get some sleep. We'll talk about it in the morning."

Ichigo looked at Yoruichi and stared into her eyes. He'd never say it out loud but he always found the most beautiful aspect about her to be her golden eyes. In the darkness of the room they shined like golden stars, comforting Ichigo. Relaxing into Yoruichi's embrace, Ichigo closed his eyes and felt the storm inside him calm down, just like the other times Yoruichi had comforted him.

Yoruichi watched her protégé fall asleep, his breathing becoming steady as the minutes ticked by and he entered into a deep sleep. She kissed his forehead and buried her face in his orange hair. "Ichigo…" she whispered, praying that he could hear her in the depths of the darkness that threatened to ensnare him. "You're never alone. I'll always be here for you."

As the night rolled on Ichigo began to dream again, though this time he dreamt of cats and stars….

The next morning….

Kisuke opened the door and looked down at Yoruichi's futon, a white nightrobe draped over him and a toothbrush dangling from his mouth. "Another nightmare?" he asked softly when he saw Yoruichi sitting with Ichigo's head resting in her lap while the boy slept. "That's the fourth time this week, Yoruichi."

"Can you blame him?" Yoruichi asked, not taking her eyes off Ichigo. "Kisuke. Look what we've put him through. The Soul Society. The Espadas. Aizen. Xcution. Yhwach and the Vandenreich. He's suffered through all of it and he's only so strong."

Kisuke was silent as he watched her. When Yoruichi looked up and stared at him he was looking at the concerned look on her face with intrigued eyes. "I see….So what are you planning to do about it?"

"What are you talking about?"

Gesturing to Ichigo, Kisuke explained. "Yoruichi, I can pinpoint every scar on his body without even needing to lift that blanket. If they were the problem we'd call Orihime, have her fix him and let that be the end of it. But what's hurting him are the scars we can't see. Yes, you're doing a wonderful thing by letting him sleep next to you but that's a symptom. What are you gonna do about the cause?"

Yoruichi looked away, her heart starting to beat harder in her bosom. She looked down at the sleeping Ichigo and frowned. He looked so peaceful, yet she remembered how troubled he looked every time he came to her. "I'll do something. I refuse to see him suffer like this."

Staring at Yoruichi for a few more silent seconds, Kisuke gave a nod of understanding before turning to leave. "Oh, you might want to tie your robe. As much as I enjoy seeing the twins loose, the last thing I need for my morning is Ichigo screaming for you to put some clothes on."

Chuckling, Yoruichi quickly closed her robe before going back to watching Ichigo sleep. Running her hands through Ichigo's orange hair, she smiled at the young man, who lay oblivious to the loving smile on her face. "Ichigo…I promise that no matter what happens, I will be here for you."

To be continued