Hey pups! Before we start with the story, there is a very VERY important announcement at the end of this chapter. I want as many of you as possible to read that announcement. Also, I wanted to let you all know that I am so very sorry for not updating during the summer like I said I would. I'm currently in Puerto Rico so I haven't had much time to work on this. Also, this chapter is very special so I made it much longer then the rest of my chapters. I hope you guys love this and forgive me for not keeping up with my promise. Now, on to the story.
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Ichigo's POV:

A few hours after I fell asleep with Shiro, I was stirred awake by a hand gently passing through my orange hair. I was about to snuggle into my pillow when I noticed my pillow was harder than usual. I opened my eyes to see a gown and feel that cool hand pass through my hair again. I looked up and saw Shiro with a beautiful smile, his hand being the one to pass through my hair. He was looking out the window. I smiled a little seeing how Shiro didn't seem to realize I was awake yet.

I heard him start to hum a rhythemless toon and close his eyes. That's when I decided to 'wake up'. After a few more times of his hand passing through my hair, I let out a yawn and reached my hand up to rub my eyes. As soon as I pulled my small act, Shiro froze completely. His hand stopped moving halfway through my hair, his eyes shot open, and his humming stopped abruptly. I was very amused and let my hand rest on the gown before nuzzling his chest and hand. He let out a huge sigh of relief thinking I was still asleep and finished passing his hand through my hair.

"That feels, really nice." Shiro froze again at my words and I looked up to see his eyes open wide, shock written across his features. He had a dark blue blush growing quickly across his face and I couldn't help but laugh at the sight. "I-I'm sorry! I-I d-didnt mean to d-do that! I j-just s-saw the position w-we were i-in so I just th-thought..... I-I'm s-sorry...." He looked at me with a bit of fear in his eyes and I just laughed a little more. He grew confused at my laughter but I could see a small smile forming on his lips, probably due to my laughter.

"Don't worry about it, Shiro. I was awake for a little longer than that but I wasn't lying when I said that felt nice." It also felt very comfortable laying on you like that... His blush grew even darker and he looked surprised at my statement. "W-what?!" I chuckled and restated what I said. "Why didn't you show you were awake earlier?! How long were you awake for?"

I made a thoughtful look while Shiro gaped at me. "I woke up to you caressing my hair not too long ago. I saw you looking out the window and you started to hum some sort of toon before I decided to 'wake up'." He seemed to sigh in relief and mumbled to himself.

"Hm? What was that?" He snapped out of his own thoughts and looked at me before blushing again. "N-nothing.... Can uh... Can you get off now?" I smirked to myself and nuzzled his chest again before wrapping my arms around his waist. "Nah, I wanna stay like this for a little while longer." Shiro let out a little sigh but complied anyways. "Say, can you keep caressing my hair?" Shiro got a little flustered at the request but nodded. "U-uh okay." After he said that, I could feel his hand passing through my hair again. He seemed nervous by the movement of his hand now compared to earlier but I shrugged it off knowing it's probably because I'm awake now.

I let out a satisfied sigh and closed my eyes embracing the feeling of Shiro under me and his hand passing through my hair. Within a few minutes, I was already slipping in and out of conscience. "Are you still awake Ichi?" I hummed softly and sat up, rubbing my eyes and yawning once more before stretching. "Yeah. I almost fell asleep again. Also what was that nickname?" I looked at him and smirked slightly quirking a brow. He started to blush again and looked away. "N-nothing..." I just chuckled and crossed my arms.

"I like it when you call me that." His blush grew darker and he looked at me in shock. "R-really? I thought you h-hated when people c-called you th-that." I thought about it and recalled yelling at people for the small nickname. "Yeah. I usually do but when you say it, it's different, I just like it." I shrugged dismissively and sat next to Shiro.

"So how long have you been awake for?" He made a thoughtful look that was pretty cute before responding. "I'd say about an hour ago or so. I'm used to not sleeping much in the first place, but when I tried to move away from you so you wouldn't get mad at me, you wrapped your arms around my waist and put your head on my chest..."

He blushed yet again but much lighter this time when he said those words. "...So I just left you alone and got curious on how your hair felt. So I started to pass my hand through it and since you weren't waking up I just kept doing it. Heh, I got pretty scared whenever you moved or your breathing pattern changed."

He let out a nervous laugh and rubbed the back of his head. "I didn't know you'd like it in the first place..."I shrugged. "Like I said earlier, it felt really nice." Shiro simply nodded and we stayed there for a few minutes in silence. "You shouldn't have come up here like that. You aren't in really good condition and your body needs rest." Shiro looked down and began to mess with the blanket.

"I know... I was just worried." I gave him a look of confusion. "You didn't come back for a while so I thought you hated the drawings or left without me..." He admitted. I thought it was cute for him to get worried so easily and gave him a hug. "Don't worry Shiro, I won't ever leave without telling you something first and I loved your drawings." I gave him a small reassuring smile. He hugged me back a gave a smile of his own. "Thank you Ichi..." I nodded in response to his thanks and we stayed there, hugging, for a little while longer.

~Time Skip brought to you by me writing different parts of the story and not knowing how else to connect them~

I brought Shiro back to his room and we did random things until night time came. I ushered him to sleep since he was way too active for his body in the past two days. I wasn't tired in the slightest so I was just sitting in my chair, watching Shiro sleep. I know it seems creepy but there was nothing else l could do. I looked around the room with boredom when my eyes landed on Shiro's notepad. It was so tempting to grab it at that moment.

My hand reached out for it but I reeled it back, remembering my promise to Shiro. My mind started a conflict at that moment. Yes, I had promised Shiro that I wouldn't look inside unless he wanted me to but... Shiro was asleep. It would just be a quick peek. It would be back in its' place before Shiro even knew I took it. I slowly began to convince myself and nodded in agreement before quietly grabbing the notepad. I was still slightly nervous he would wake up and I felt bad for breaking my promise but my curiousity was flaring at that moment.

I gently and quietly opened the small notepad. The very first thing I saw was a drawing. The drawing had four people. One of them was lying on the floor, beaten with scars and bruises all over their body. The other three were mostly in the shadows, a pair of glowing eyes representing each of them. Their eyes were at different levels to show the three people and overall, the drawing was creepy. It sent shivers down my spine, the more I observed the drawing. Written under it was a small piece of poem that read,

Everyone has demons.

Everyone says you should fight and drown your demons,

But I can't drown my own...

I flipped the page, knowing the poem was a runoff and looked at the second part of the drawing sequence. This drawing was very similar to the last.
The only changes were that the figure that was laying on the floor was curled up now. Bright, creepy smiles also seemed to appear under the eyes of the figures. The figures' bodies were beginning to show as the dark imagery continued. Under it, was the continuation to the poem.

My demons are in my reality,

And I can't control them.

I can't fight back...

I flipped the page again, looking at the third drawing in the sequence. My mind was bustling, trying to find the hidden message in all of this. In this drawing, the first thing noticed were the little jagged lines over the beaten figure along with a pool of what seemed to be blood surrounding it.

The figure seemed to be shaking, like it was scared of the things that were once in the shadows. The shadowed figures were now shown completely. Their appearances were that of a young girl, a mother, and a father. They all had innocent looks on their faces and the mother and the girl had sundresses while the father had a dress shirt and jeans. The thing that was a set off to their innocent looks was the stains along the dresses and shirt.

Streaks and blotches were scattered along their clothes, the same color as the blood pooling under the shaking figure. Another part of the poem showed just under the somewhat disturbing picture.

For they are the ones who I should love,

And the ones,

Who should love me...

I turned the page to look at what seemed to be the last drawing in the small series. This drawing showed a framed photo. The photo was of the family shown before, except the boy was now smiling happily, not a single mark on his body. The girl was much younger and the features of the couple seemed younger as well.

The glass that protected the picture was cracked, especially around the boy. Overall, the drawing was nice and innocent. However, my mind knew of the deception as soon as I read the last bit of the poem.

My demons,

Are ones I can't escape,

Ones I can't fight back,

Nor are they ones I can drown.

Because my demons,

Are My Family.

My eyes widened in realization then. The figure that was the little boy and constantly shown beaten was Shiro. The family was his own. They all played a part in his abused past and it made me angry. Sure, I can see a mother and father abusing their child, but to have a younger sibling pitch in, was even more messed up then I expected.

None of it was right. Siblings are supposed to protect each other and families are supposed to love each other. What was happening to Shiro wasn't right and it makes me want to keep Shiro away from his family. He didn't deserve to get hurt because he didn't do anything wrong.

He doesn't deserve to be afraid of people because of what his family did to him. He deserves acceptance, friends, and love. Shiro is such an amazing guy but he always has all this shit being thrown at him and it isn't right. Then and there I was determined to fix Shiro. "I swear, I'll protect you, no matter what." I whispered softly, glancing at his sleeping figure. I continued to look through the notepad. Some pages consisted of notes or drabbles and others had little doodles on them.

I mostly just skipped those pages until I got to around half of the little notepad. I noticed how a lot of pages were ripped out or carelessly torn. I mostly dismissed them, thinkng they were the usual note fuck ups or something. Then I saw it, it was me... A drawing of myself looking out the window like I usually do, my eyes widened. Could Shiro have been stalking me this entire time? There was a surprising amount of detail and a small bit of writing under it.

Look at me...

It was another run off. The next page had another facial expression. It was my usual scowl. Again, the details were uncanny. There was even more writing under it.

Be my salvation...

The more pages I turned, the more expressions and words there were.

Help me...

Fix me...

Save me...

Love me...

I'm alone...

Please...

So many more words with every drawing. It was overwhelming, I wasn't mad though. I knew he needed someone to help him and I was the only one he had hope for. I promised I would help him and just because he drew me so many times, doesn't mean I would stop helping him.

I really liked Shiro and I wouldn't let a few drawings of me change that. He was calling out for help while I was avoiding his calls, but I'm here now.  I'll take every single call just to help him without any hesitation.

After passing through several pages consisting of different face positions that were all still surprisingly detailed, I saw a certain drawing that pulled my attention. The drawing had a title that read Broken Soul.

It was of me smiling, not a genuine happy smile, but one that I only gave on that day... The day my mom died. I was surprised to see such obvious hurting in my expressions but it was also so well hidden. Anyone who didn't know me, would think I was just fine.

Why would he draw me with such a hurt expression? Why did it have to be that one smile from that one day? That's when I saw the poem written below it. It was written in small handwriting but it was still legible and was a pretty big paragraph as the sentences weren't spaced out like usual.

He smiles, but I could tell he's broken. On this day, he lost someone dear to him. Someone who he deeply cares about and simply cannot be replaced.

He's smiling but inside the pain is driving him insane. He wants to keep his pain hidden so he won't worry anyone else, but he's struggling.

He doesn't want to be a burden in anyone else's life when it comes to this day, but he's screaming for help. For someone to hold him and simply be there.

He needs someone... Could I be that someone? Could I be the one to make his pains go away? To make him genuinely happy, so he can smile freely and without restraint?

He has friends, people who can help, but he won't let them in. He'll always wave them off to the point where they simply dismiss it. But I can see his cries for help.

So... Could I be that special someone who can mend your broken heart? Even if... I have a broken soul...?

I felt like crying then and there. He captured me exactly without me even noticing. How could he know so many things just from that one look? That one look I gave everyone on that day. Every word written was insanely accurate and I couldn't help but re-read the last bit of the poem.

He's so broken down by everything in his life but he still has the will to help me? He wants to heal that one space in my heart even if I don't heal his entire being. I felt a few tears drip down my face but that's when I heard him stirring around.

"W-what are you doing with that...?" He sounded terrified. He knew I had looked through it and he knew I read every single word written, especially on that page. I turned to him, tear tracks on my face. His eyes widened in that instant and his fear seemed to grow. He backed away and let out a soft whimper before looking down. "I-I'm so s-s-sorry... I knew you would be m-mad."

I shook my head and let out a strained laugh. I quickly made my way to him, a bit too quickly for his sensitive mind, seeing as he flinched and let out a loud yelp. I embraced him in a hug and hid my face in his neck. He was surprised, to say the least, and didn't respond until a few minutes had gone by. He shakily wrapped his arms around me and my hold on him tightened. "In the poem, you said that you could be the one to fix my broken heart..." He nodded hesitently in response. "If that's what you want then I'll let you but... only if I get to fix your broken soul." I looked up at him and waited for his response. Tears slowly began to stream down his face at my words.

"P-please...." It was all the response I needed before I gently grabbed a hold of his chin and brought our lips together in a passionate kiss. His eyes closed the instant our lips touched and I watched as he slowly grabbed a hold of the hand that was holding his chin. He made a movement that allowed our fingers to intertwine and I held his hand as tightly as he held mine. Our lips moved together in sync but the kiss was never made into a heated one. It kept its' innocent passion throughout and when we separated, I connected out foreheads.

We both panted softly and Shiro opened his eyes to look into my own. "Shiro, you expressed yourself as an angel that was broken and shattered. You asked the question of being able to mend my broken heart. Could it be that you're my Shattered Angel?" He seemed to understand the meaning I hid behind the question but I wanted to hear his response. I wanted to say what was really on my mind.

So I did.

"Will you be mine, Shiro?" A shocked expression crossed his features before he smiled a small, genuine smile. "I would love to Ichi." Tears pricked the edges of his eyes and I grinned. The grin wasn't the same as the one drawn. No, this grin, was one of undying happiness. "Then from today on, it's official. You are mine and I am yours. No one will be able to change that." I promised him that and we hugged each other again.

"I'm sorry, by the way, about breaking my promise and looking through your notepad." Shiro just giggled and rested his body against my own. "Baka Ichi...that broken promise is what brought us closer together. Don't appologize for that." I could only smile as Shiro was right.

I kissed the top of his head and laid back with him, both of us drifting back to sleep. The only thought left on my mind was one I would always replay. I can't wait for the day that I can finally say, I have fixed my Shattered Angel.

THE END

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Story Word Count: 3224

Total Word Count: 3502

First off, I would love to give a huge huge thank you to everyone who has read my story and shown support. Yes, Shattered Angel has come to an end. BUUTTTTT fear not, this book will turn into a series. The reason being is that my story would easily be atleast 40 chapters long. I, myself, love long stories but I feel weird in a position to write something that has that many chapters. So, in order to try and help that problem, I am creating a small series out of this book consiting of 20-29 chapters, not including A/Ns or special chapters. The series will basically be called The Shattered Series since every title will contain the word shattered. The next book to this series will be called Shattered Soul. I hope you guys aren't mad at me for giving you a little scare. But, as always, cya next time pups! In another book :3