He floated through a realm of white light. He couldn't see very far beyond his own hands. Was this a dream? Was it reality? He couldn't really tell; it felt both real and false at the same time. He looked around. Yep, everything was still an empty white space. He sighed.

"Hello?" he called. No response. Louder, he called again. "Hello?" Again, nothing. But after several seconds, as he was considering calling out again, the world slowly turned dark. In the distance, he saw a large, lumbering figure about the size of a skyscraper.

It looked familiar to him. A Menos Grande, perhaps? No. This... thing was much more heavily muscled. And far more intimidating. It seemed to be growling as it inched closer and closer.

"Kill... you... all..." it snarled in a deep, booming voice. It raised one enormous hand. "Kill..." It swung down at him.

"GOOOOOD MORNIIIIIING, ICHIGOOOOO!" Ichigo woke up to the all-too-familiar sound of his father's voice. Before his dad could land a blow, Ichigo slammed his foot into his face. Isshin fell over, holding his half-broken nose. "Great reflexes, son!"

"Seriously, Dad," Ichigo said, mildly annoyed at his father's ignorance. "You've gotta stop trying to wake me up like that! You know it's never going to work! Besides, it's getting old."

"You're calling your father old!" Isshin said in an over-dramatic pose. "That hurts me inside, son! It really does!"

"Whatever," Ichigo said as he scratched his head. "Now... GET THE HELL OUT OF MY ROOM!" He then literally kicked Isshin out of his bedroom. How can a former Soul Reaper captain possibly be that idiotic? he thought to himself.

It had been about a year since Aizen's defeat. Ichigo had lost his Soul Reaper powers that day, but could still see spirits. He did whatever he could to help the wholes, the good spirits, to pass on. He would usually just help them find a Soul Reaper to perform konso on the ghosts, but those spirits were always grateful to him... except for the ones that were sent to hell. Those guys would usually curse his name and say that he had tricked them in some way. But that didn't really bother him.

As he was getting ready to go to school for the day, his mind wandered back to that dream he had had. He usually didn't dream about anything. Sleeping would just be a simple, dark thing that he woke up from. But this one... it shook him.

The monster in that darkness. What could it have been? Could it have been Yammy's released form? But what about the voice? It was far deeper, more monstrous, and seemed to reverberate against itself. Yammy was a loudmouthed baritone, but he at least had some level of humanity in his voice. The monster from Ichigo's dream seemed to growl as it spoke.

Ichigo was actually beginning to get the feeling that that dream was actually something more. It felt more like a vision than anything else. Definitely not a memory.

"Ichigo!" called Yuzu's voice. "Chad, Orihime, and Mizuiro are here! You'd better hurry up!"

"I'll be down in a second!" Ichigo called back. He went over to his window and saw his friends waiting for him. "Just give me a minute, guys!"

"No rush!" Orihime called out in her usual cheerful voice. "But hurry up! We don't want to be late for school!"

Ichigo nodded as he pulled on the shirt for his school uniform. And then...

"Take me with you!" shouted Kon. The little stuffed lion pounced onto Ichigo's head, with over-dramatic tears streaming from his eyes. "Please, Ichigo! I promise I'll be good! I just wanna see the ladies!"

"Hell no, you stupid plushy!" Ichigo yelled with finality. He grabbed Kon and tossed him into a wall. "The last time you came to my school, I spent three weeks in detention for peeping into the girls' locker room!"

"C'mon! Give a guy a break! At least let me cuddle Orihime's magnificent bosom before you go!"

"NO!" Ichigo then started stomping on Kon, who screamed in pain.

Outside, Orihime couldn't help but giggle. "It sounds like Ichigo is giving Kon a rough time again."

"It sure does," Mizuiro agreed. Chad simply grunted in response.

After about ten minutes, Ichigo came out with a piece of toast hanging out of his mouth. "Sorry it took so long, guys. My dad was being annoying again."

"You should be happy that your dad is so enthusiastic all the time," Orihime said with a happy smile. "Personally, I'd love to have a dad like that!"

"Only you would," Ichigo said as he munched his toast. The four of them walked off to school together, as they normally did.

A few houses down the street, on a roof, was a man clad in some sort of armor. He frowned at the sight of Ichigo Kurosaki and his friends.

That is the boy we have been seeking out for two years? He shook his head. Clearly we have been greatly misled. I sense none of the great power he has been renowned for. Despite his thoughts, he continued to follow the orange-haired teen and company. His superiors needed Ichigo Kurosaki. And he would complete his mission, no matter what.

Ichigo sat with his head in his hand, looking out the window. Ms. Ochi's class was as boring as ever. He was about ready to fall asleep when Ms. Ochi started tapping the chalkboard with a ruler.

"Attention, class," she said. "Listen up. We have a new student today. And he's a foreign exchange student, so be nice!"

Exchange student? Ichigo thought. He hadn't known that there was a foreign exchange program going on. Maybe Uryu could fill him in later.

"All right, come on in." Ms. Ochi ordered. And in walked a boy of about sixteen-years-old. He had a handsome face that made most of the girls in the room swoon, and long, dark that gave him a sort of "tough guy" look. "Go ahead and introduce yourself."

"Hello," he said in perfect Japanese, without even the slightest trace of an accent. "I'm Perseus Nicodemus, and I'm from Greece. Japanese culture has always intrigued me, and I hope to learn as much about it as I can here. I also hope that I can become good friends with as many of you as possible." A lot of the girls started swooning again as Perseus spoke.

"Thank you, Perseus," Ms. Ochi said with smile. "Now, go ahead and take a seat. There's an empty seat next to Ichigo. Ichigo?"

Ichigo raised his hand nonchalantly. Perseus went over and sat down next to him.

"Hello," Perseus greeted. "You're Ichigo, right?"

"Yeah," Ichigo replied.

"Well, I hope we can become good friends, Ichigo."

"Sure. Whatever."

Perseus raised an eyebrow. "You're not the enthusiastic type, are you?"

"Eh, Ichigo's always like that!" said Keigo, who was eager to introduce himself. He threw hand out to Perseus for a hand shake. "I'm Keigo Asano! Nice to meet you!" Perseus smiled and shook Keigo's hand.

"It's nice to meet you, too."

"Hey! Why don't you join me and Ichigo and the others for lunch? We could show you the ropes so that you can actually survive here at Karakura High!"

"Sure." Perseus answered. "I'd love to."

Ichigo sighed. He could tell that this was going to be a LONG day.

Later, on the roof, Ichigo, his friends, and that new kid, Perseus, were enjoying lunch.

"Wow!" Orihime blurted out gleefully as she tried a bite of Perseus's lunch. "Greek food is amazing!"

"Yes. It is good, isn't it?" Perseus said with that smile that bugged Ichigo a little. "And the food that you prepared for your own lunch is positively ambrosial."

Tatsuki looked at him with a raised eyebrow. Wow. His taste buds must be made of steel.

"Er... thanks, I guess," Orihime stammered a little. She turned to Uryu and whispered, "What does 'ambrosial' mean?"

"Basically," Uryu said in some astonishment. "He just said that your cooking is superb."

"Oh." She quickly turned back to Perseus. "Thanks for the compliment, Perseus!" Perseus nodded, still smiling warmly.

"By the way, Perseus," Mizuiro said. "You have a pretty interesting name. I guess your parents are big fans of Greek myths." Everyone's ears perked up at that.

"Yes," Perseus said rather reluctantly. "I... suppose you could say that. My parents-"

Before Perseus could finish his sentence, they all felt a presence. A spiritual pressure that, to Ichigo and his friends, could only belong to a Hollow.

Uh-oh, they all thought. Orihime stood up and said, "Sorry, Perseus! Me, Uryu, and Chad have to go!"

"That's all right," Perseus said. He stood as well and began to leave. "I have to go as well. I hope I'll to see you guys again." He went to the door and left the group.

When Perseus was gone, Ichigo stood and said, "I'm coming, too."

"What?" said Orihime. "But, Ichigo, you won't be able to fight! What if you get hurt?"

"Orihime's right," said Uryu with his usual stoic mannerism. "You're pretty much nothing more than a hindrance to us without your Soul Reaper powers."

"Don't you trust us, Ichigo?" Chad asked.

"Of course I do," Ichigo said. "I just... I have to help somehow."

"Ichigo," Orihime said with a pleading look. "Please. Stay here. We don't want you getting hurt."

"I do," Uryu said bluntly. Ichigo glared at him. "But I don't want you getting killed."

Ichigo sighed. Like him, all of his friends were each stubborn in their own unique ways. He just couldn't beat them when they all ganged up on him like this. Finally, and reluctantly, he said, "Fine. Just don't get yourselves hurt."

"Don't worry," Chad said. "It's just one hollow. We can take it." And with that, Chad, Uryu, and Orihime ran off to fight the hollow. When they were gone, Ichigo felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Keigo.

"Don't worry Ichigo," he said with a stupid look on his face. "They're all really strong! I'm sure they'll take care of it and be back before you know it! And besides..." His face then actually looked dead serious. "Who knows? Someday, you might just get your powers back. Then you'll be able to fight again."

Ichigo stared at his friend. Normally, Keigo had this habit of saying the stupidest possible things at the stupidest possible times. But right now, for once, he was being serious about something.

"Right," Ichigo said. "I hope so." He then picked up his food tray and started for the door.

"Ichigo, where are you going?" Tatsuki asked.

"I'm going back to the classroom," he replied. "I'll see you there." He shut the door behind him. Then he thought to himself, If they think I'm going to just sit back, they're wrong. He dropped his tray into the nearest trash can and sprinted off. He wasn't about to let his friends fight alone.