AN: Ok, a new story that I had muse for a while ago but never actually wrote ^^; I wanted to clarify some things before you begin (Thank you so much for reading by the way) This story revolves around two different storylines (I-G and K-A) that happen consecutively and each one is considered as a "main character group"
So that you don't get confused as to which storyline the chapter is for I will put it in at the top of each chapter, and once again thank you for taking the time to read this! Oh, and don't be afraid to tell me if something is off, In which case I'm sorry I'll fix it up ASAP
Chapter 1 - Let the Nightmare Begin
Character Storyline: Ichigo Kurosaki (I-G)
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or it's characters, all characters are intellectual property of Tite Kubo
The minute hands moved slowly as seconds agonizingly ticked past for the irritated red-haired teen. His deep brown eyes were unmoving from the clock as the surrounding noise faded to a droning hum while his mind cycled through tired thoughts. Today had been the worst day ever, the exams, the assignments. School had become a mass of paperwork and study lately as it was end of term, he just couldn't wait for today to end.
After the abysmally long history class the bell finally rang. He let slip a sigh of relief before slinging his bag over his shoulder and trudging out into the hall, mindlessly avoiding the afternoon rush of people. He wasn't the only one desperate to leave. "Hey Ichigo!" He broke out of his blank thoughts as he heard his name, turning to see a tall, brown-haired teen running towards him before he instinctively held his arm out making harsh contact with the overly happy teen's stomach and making him crumple to the ground. "Ah, I should expect that by now..." He mumbled into the floor as another person approached. This one was slim with jet black hair "I told you to wait up, Keigo." He mumbled as he addressed the fallen brunette, his eyes barely leaving the screen of his phone except to look up at Ichigo before removing his earphones and stuffing them into his pocket. "Hey Ichigo, how's it going?" He smiled as he finished though it seemed all too forced. "Oh hey Mizuiro...Hey Keigo." Ichigo replied with a dull tone as he helped the over-reactive brunette up from his fixation on the ground.
Mizuiro glanced towards them, an inquisitive expression was plastered across his face as he didn't receive an answer to his question. He casually walked over to the two who were now brushing themselves off. "What's with the reply, Ichigo? Something wrong?" Ichigo cringed inwardly at the question, it was the same one he'd been barraged with for the past week. He was completely over it by now, only answering with the same fake reply. "No, I'm fine..." He paused in brief thought deciding not to worry them, they had exactly the same problems...Well that's what they believed anyway. "It's just, all this work is really getting to me I guess." He finished, clumsily brushing off the topic.
Failure. Both Keigo and Mizuiro shot worried glances at each other. He always had been a terrible liar, people around him could always tell when something wasn't right, if that was good or bad he didn't care. Right now it was just repetitive. The three of them glanced around at the rapidly emptying hall "We should get going then..." Ichigo sighed as they moved out into the courtyard.
After waving each other off and saying their goodbyes Ichigo glanced to the sky, shielding his eyes from the harsh light with a trembling hand. The clouds were strange, they looked like messy strokes of paint smeared across a bright blue canvas with only slight flickers and gaps in them allowing the sunlight to pour through in golden rays. He exhaled slowly, the sickening feeling rising slowly within him. Something didn't feel right, in fact it felt like the polar opposite of "right".
He traveled the near empty streets, only the wavering figure of his shadow walking before him. Slight patches of humanity swarmed around houses, their chatter accompanied by the roar of distant engines as cars traveled by, filling the chilled air with grey fumes that quickly carried off in the wind along with stray dead leaves from the sidewalk. He eventually arrived before his home labeled clearly with the name "Kurosaki clinic".
He opened the door slowly, barely dragging himself inside. "I'm home!" He called absently into the house before he was greeted by his younger sister. "Welcome home Ichi." Yuzu smiled as she peered around the corner, she was already busily cooking dinner, the pleasant scent had quickly began filling the room. "Where's Karin?" He lazily questioned while dropping his bag to the floor in a rough movement of exhaustion. "Oh yeah, Dad wanted me to tell you that he and Karin went to go pick up a few things, they'll be back later." She called from the other room, the small clinks of tableware disrupting her sentence.
He let slip a noise akin to a grunt and sigh rolled into one before leisurely walking upstairs. The impending thoughts of his exam tomorrow lingering in his mind. He pulled out a few maths books and dropped them on the desk making a dull thud as they hit the thick wood. He glared at them, studying was the last thing he wanted to do. Sighing he pulled out his earphones and placed them in his ears before turning up a fast beat rock song and picking up his pen, opening the first of many books he had to revise.
Almost half an hour later his book was covered in illegible numbers and equations. He'd been rushing to finish, now he just sat there absent-mindedly tapping his pen to the rhythm of the song playing before deciding to get a drink. He pulled back in the chair, reversing it so he could stand and once again travel downstairs. The sound of the TV was filling the kitchen, he glanced up to see brief flashes of the report, some guy was getting attacked. Just another stupid fight. He thought as he opened the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water. He took a quick sip before closing the fridge and heading back to his room. He stopped part way out of the kitchen, quickly glancing back to the TV seeing an ambulance and flashing lights, the camera angle thrown off as if it were being filmed by an amateur cameraman, he couldn't stop shaking by the looks of it. Well, I guess it's cold outside. The red-head thought before dismissing the topic "There's never anything that's interesting on the news..." He mumbled in a disgruntled tone before trudging back up to his room.
He was part way through another book before he heard a megaphone screech, making his ears ring painfully. "Please stay calm, this is an evacuation procedure, come outside quickly. I repeat this is an evacuation." His gaze focused on the movement outside, noticing that the street was flooded with people. His attention shifted to the ones covered head to toe in black hazmat suits accompanied by numerous heavily armed cars. Helicopters were roaring overhead and being motioned to land at the end of the street. "What the..?" He rasped as he stood up, dropping his pen in shock when he heard the downstairs door being forced open with a sonorous crash. His reflexes snapped lightning quick, he ran downstairs to meet a tall muscular man standing over him. "Are you deaf?! Get out of here!" The man yelled over the chaotic noise. Ichigo pushed past as he saw Yuzu being guided out to the rest of the family, both Isshin and Karin were standing outside, frozen in place while desperately trying to take in the situation.
Ichigo forced his way over to them, annoyance and anger building within as people continuously bashed into him. He was frantically trying to reach his family through the sea of people, each one of them wearing an expression of fear or confusion, their skin cold and covered in sweat making his frown deepen in disgust. "Dad, Karin, Yuzu!" He yelled over the noise, his calls remaining unheard over the ear-splitting surroundings. He finally made it to them before the muscular man caught up with him, his spiked black hair waving in the harsh wind, flinging what looked like bells attached to the ends of the dark spikes back and forth. "Hey! You!" He called at Ichigo before he was once again lost in the moving masses. Ichigo and his family were quickly being swept to one of the makeshift helicopter landing pads and before he knew it people were being brought in, his own family included. After the piling ceased only he and a little girl were left with only one space vacant in the helicopter.
The girl was crying, tears were streaming down her face as her parents were calling out to her. Ichigo turned to the nearby guard, he wasn't going to split up that family. "Hey, do all these evacuation helicopters go to the same place?" He inquired while tapping the nearby officer on the shoulder. "What do ya want?" The man questioned irritably as he turned, revealing deep blue eyes with strange markings under the edges, the blue of his sharp glare matching the messy hair only barely contained by his headgear.
"I was asking if..." He was cut off by the angry-looking guard, a frown constantly plastered across his face depicting he'd rather be anywhere but among all this. "Not enough space?" He questioned in a disgruntled tone. "Doesn't matter they all head to similar areas anyway, Come on." He growled impatiently answering the red-head's questions all at once while dragging him to another nearby helicopter. "Don't worry, I'll meet up with you later!" He yelled back to the family he was leaving, a deep pang of fear rose within him making his chest tighten painfully. No, I will see them again. He reassured himself before following the blue-haired guard.
"Ah, so you finally hauled your ass back here, Grimmjow." The man from before laughed, he was even more intimidating close up. "Hey, you're that kid. What gave you the idea to run from me?" The dark-haired man leaned in, making it obvious he'd been through a lot of fights and tough times. A scar ran down across his brow before meeting with an eye-patch and continuing under it. Ichigo shifted uncomfortably before him, this was not the kind of guy you want to mess with... "Hey, Kenpachi, give the kid a break he just got separated from his family." Grimmjow called out while throwing some supply bags into the helicopter. Kenpachi eyed him carefully, everything about him screamed his affection for fights and by the looks of it, he hadn't lost many. "Yeah, whatever." He replied before climbing into the helicopter and motioning for Ichigo to follow. "Come on, unless you got the guts to stay here long enough to see why we're evacuating."
Ichigo shot a concerned glance to the other helicopter taking off, he hoped they'd be safe. His attention was brought back to the situation before him, negative thoughts weren't going to help now. He changed his focus to asking questions as he was grabbed by the blue-haired officer and pulled into the helicopter before it quickly started up, lifting them off the ground in less than a minute. He glanced up to Kenpachi, it looked like he was the one in charge around here. Now he just needed some answers.