Ok hi everybody. This is the squeal to Spring is Coming, but that's gonna be on hold for now. So I hope you can forgive me for that. Not much to say really but im on a role and I think this is the longest chapter I have ever wrote so far since I became a member of Fanfiction. 12 pages (wow lol) so I hope you enjoy .

I don't own Bleach

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A young boy was running as fast as he could, something was chasing him, something only he seemed to be able to see and hear. That terrible roar was engraved into his mind. He was running out of breath. He wasn't sure how much longer he could go on. He wanted to cry, he was scared, but he knew if he did cry, it would show that he was weak. He didn't want that, he wanted to prove he was strong. We was just about to stop running when he suddenly tripped over his own feet. He crashed into the ground. Scraping his hands and knees on the rough ground. He tried to get up but his body felt heavy. He got onto his knees painfully but stopped there. He could feel it. Its breath on the back of his neck. His eyes widen as he slowly turned his head to see his chaser. He saw red eyes and heard a scream.

Everything went black.

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A young boy jumped up in his bed, covered in sweat and breathing heavily. He wiped his forehead with a sigh.

"Another one of those dreams," he whispered to himself in the one-room apartment. He got up, walked into the bathroom, and turned on the light. Squinting from the sudden brightness he turned on the shower and waited for it to heat up. He looked himself in the mirror, his eyes bloodshot with dark circles under them.

"Ever since those dreams I can't even get a good nights sleep." he said to himself again. He took of his sweat covered nightwear and slipped into the warm water. A nice hot shower always calmed his nerves after one of those dreams. After about an hour and a half in the shower he turned the water off. He stood there for a minute, letting the water flow down his body, then he got out and grabbed a towel. After drying off he got in his school uniform and looked at the clock.

4:34 AM.

'School doesn't start in another three and a half hours,' he thought. He was used to this, waking up hours before school. He doesn't even know why he always set his alarm clock. Ever since these dreams his been falling asleep around 7 pm and wakes up about three times during the night. He took a seat on his bed and looked out the window. It was quite. Maybe a few cars on the street, but that was all. He missed his old house where he used to live, bit ever since...

His eyes widened.

He heard it.

That roar.

Like the one in his dream.

He was frozen stiff, his body won't move. Then he jumped. The alarm clock went off. He looked at the clock.

7:30 AM it said.

He moved his arm to turn it off. His body was stiff from sitting in that position for so long. He got up and grabbed what he needed. Keys, school bag, wallet, and his cell phone. He looked at the cell phone in his hands which was off. He placed it back down on the table and walked out without eating breakfast and locked the door behind him. No one was on the porch, which wasn't unusual, a lot of old people lived there anyway maybe one or two couples but there were no other kids there. The only one he ever really talked to was the landlord. Who was out sweeping the leaves from the opening.

"Good morning Kurosaki-chan." He said as he waved to her.

"Oh, good morning honey and how many times must I tell you, you are my special little boy and can call me Yuzu-chan." The landlord said with a sweet smile on her face.

"Heh, sorry I keep forgetting, I'm just so used to the formality is all." He said as he opened the gate to leave. "Bye."

"Bye, and be careful, look both ways when you cross the street!" Yuzu said as she waved good-bye. After he was out of her view her smile faded. "Poor boy, living all by himself at 15, so young." she said sadly as she continued her sweeping.

School was as usual, get there 5 minutes early, morning classes, lunch, more classes, then go home. Maybe once in a while someone would talk to him or say hi, but very rarely. He had no friends and his family life basically didn't exist.

He sighed as he walked home. He was quite hungry he really didn't have much for lunch, only some bread and butter. He didn't even eat breakfast either. He was to tired though to stop at a place and get some food, he wanted sleep more then anything. As he was walking he heard a commotion going on in front of the apartments. There were ambulances, police and a crowd of people in front of the building. He pushed his way to the front of the crowd to see a covered stretcher with blood stains being placed in the back of the ambulance.

"What happened?" he said to himself but loud enough for someone to hear.

"Someone broke into an apartment, just some guy I think with a gun. He's been in there for about half an hour. He's got three hostages. From what I heard it was an old couple and their grandson was visiting. Apparently...he killed the grandfather. He flung his body over the porch a few minutes ago," said the young man who looked to be in his late twenties. "And it also seems, the landlord is in there, too."

His eyes widened.

'Kurosaki-chan...no." He wasn't just gonna stand there and let her get killed by some maniac. He lifted the Do Not Cross police tape and ran to the apartment door that had blood smeared on it.

"Hey, kid come back! Are you crazy!" One of the policemen yelled. Shouts of "get him", "someone stop him" and "do you wanna die" were heard within the crowd of people. He didn't know why but he was never afraid of dying. Maybe it was because of what he's been through with his family, who knows. The only thing on his mind was saving Kurosaki-chan and that child. He wasn't sure what he was going to do to stop this guy but he knew some type of action had to be done. He reached the door the crowed got quite, he reached for the door knob, turned it and opened the door. He entered quickly and shut the door behind him. Leaning up against the door he took in the sight in front of him.

Kurosaki-chan was hold the young boy that looked about 6 maybe 7, was crying in her arms, one of her arms was bleeding where she was obviously shot, and the grandmother, was dead. Her still body laying in a pool of blood. The man was a little surprised to see this boy just suddenly enter. He lifted his gun away from Kurosaki-chan and pointed it at him.

"Whater' ya doin' ere boy?" the man asked.

'...is he drunk?' he thought to himself.

"I said whater ya doin ere ya little punk?" he repeated swinging his gun.

He still didn't reply, he was trying to come up with a plan to get out of this alive with the boy and Kurosaki-chan. He was shaken out of his thoughts when he heard a loud bang and felt pain in his arm. He looked down to see blood flowing from his wrist.

"Tha's what ya git fer ignorin' me punk." The man said with a sick smile on his face.

'Shit.' He said to himself.

"No! Don't hurt him!" he heard Kurosaki-chan scream.

"You keep quite ya bitch," said the man as he smacked her across the face. This was his chance. He grabbed a vase and hit the man right on the head, unfortunately it wasn't enough to knock him out, but enough to leave him dazed and to drop his gun.

"Run Kurosaki-chan!" he yelled as he bent down and picked up the gun. Kurosaki-chan ran to the door with the child in her hands. She turned around to face him. He saw her face and yelled again.

"Get out of here!"

She closed her eyes and ran out the door.

"Ay! Come ack ere!" the man yelled. He turned to face the boy who had the gun pointed at him.

"You!" He shouted as he pulled a knife out of his boot. The man charged at him. He hesitated, he never killed anyone before. The gun was shaking in his hands.

'Shoot him.'

'What was that-that voice?' He thought. He saw the man was right on top of him. He felt the knife rip into his chest. Out of instinct he finger pulled on the trigger. The man shouted in pain as the bullet lodged its self into the mans shoulder. Blood spilled onto him.

"Ya...ya fuckin boy." the man said as he clutched his shoulder still onto of him, but suddenly he was pulled off by a group of men.

'The police.' he thought. He could feel his blood on his chest as it started to slide down his side. A medic was over him now.

"Get a stretcher in here now!" the man yelled. "Hang in there kid."

His vision was staring to get blurry from the blood lost. He felt himself get lifted from the ground and let out a small grunt. The next thing he knew he was in an ambulance with the sirens going speeding down the streets with the medics examining him.

"Age around 14 to 15, height around 133cm, wei-" He didn't hear the rest. When he awoke he was being rushed down a white corridor.

"He was shot in the wrist and stabbed in the chest which tore a lot of muscle and pierced a lung. Also has three broken ribs." said one of the doctors.

"Alright, get him into the OR stat!"

The last thing he saw was a mask go onto his face, then he feel into a deep sleep. Just what he needed.

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"Where am I?" he said as he walked on a plain of grass. He couldn't really remember what happened.

"Am I dead?" he asked himself. He walked on looking at all the flowers and the trees all around. If this was a dream he definitely wasn't used to them being so peaceful. He seat down at the top of a hill and leaned against a boulder that was there. He looked over the grassy field. He smiled. A real smile which hasn't been on his face in a long time. He wanted to stay here forever. If he was dead he was happy, if it was a dream he never wanted to wake up. He wasn't sure how long he sat there, but suddenly a sharp pain came from within his chest. As he lurched foreword he closed his eyes tightly, wanting the pain to go away. When the pain lessened a bit, he opened his eyes and found himself looking at a white ceiling. He tried to turn his head to the left only to find out that he couldn't due to the oxygen mask on his face. He knew he was in the hospital. He couldn't remember exactly what got him here, but he does remember the drunk man.

'Kurosaki-chan!' he suddenly remembered that she was shot in the arm. 'I hope she's ok.'

"Ah, so I see you're finally awake." said a feminine voice. He tried to see who was there when she stood over him and smiled. A young lady, with black hair. To him, she looked tomboyish from he face. She was wearing a lab coat.

'Must be my doctor,' he thought.

"I'm Dr. Kurosaki." she said with a warm smile.

'Kurosaki?' he thought. She saw the slight confusion in his face.

"Oh, I guess my sister never mentioned me huh? My names Karin Kurosaki, I'm Yuzu's sister, her fraternal twin." she said.

"Ah she di-," he was cut off.

"Wait, wait. Let me take this off you don't it anymore." she said as she reached for the mask and removed it.

"There." she placed it down on a near by table.

"Kurosaki-chan did mention you several times."

"Ah, I see. So now I don't need to bug her."

"Is she ok?"

"Hmm?"

"Kurosaki-chan, she was hurt."

"Oh, that. Yes she fine and so is the boy. His parents picked him up earlier. There's going to be a funeral for the grandparents tomorrow."

"I see." he said as he looked down at the sheets.

"Thank you."

"Eh?"

"For saving my sister. It was brave of you."

"Thanks, I'm glad she's ok, and the boy, too."

"She's been worried about you, too. You've been asleep for three days. She visited you a lot." she said then suddenly her beeper went off.

"Oh, excuse me, I have to go." she said as she got up.

"Ok." he said as he looked up and watched her leave and close the door behind him. If he remembered anything from that day it would be what frightened him the most. He saw them, the grandparents, there, standing up, with chains hanging from their chest.

'I think I'm going mad,' he thought as he put his hand to his head. Outside his door, Dr. Karin stood there, leaning against the wall. Whispering to her self.

"It's him, it's really him." A small tear ran down her face. She quickly whipped it away and headed to where she had to go.

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"Home finally." he said to himself as he entered his lone apartment. It was difficult to get past everyone who was waiting for him in the front, especially Yuzu. She hugged him so tight he thought he went blue permanently. Summer was here. Meant no more school to distract him. He flung his bag over to the side grabbed the remote and put the tv on. He liked the background noise, it comforted him in a way. As he walked towards his bedroom he glanced at his cell phone. He hesitated for a bit, then grabbed it and turned it on. It took about a minute for it to fully turn on. The screen read 27 new voice mails. He knew who they were from. They were from her.

His mother.

He didn't bother to listen to any of them, they were always the same. He's not home, come visit for a little, I miss you. The same shit all the time. After he went back the last time, he swore to never step foot in that house again. He sighed, turned off the phone and laid down on the couch. His stomach growled. Hospital wasn't very appetizing so he only ate a little while he was there. He got up and grabbed his keys and wallet and headed out.

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Eating at the deli was always his favorite. Close and good food. He always went there as a last resort. He felt like taking a detour today instead of going through the busy streets like always. As he was walking he pasted an alleyway. He took a glace in then continued walking, but stopped suddenly. He walked backwards and looked into the alleyway again. There was a black cat. It was looking at him in the eyes, which kinda freaked him out a little. He looked down towards its legs. It's leg was bleeding.

'Must've gotten into a fight,' he thought. He got down onto his knees and put out he hand.

"Come on little guy I won't hurt you." The cat slowly approached, sniffed his hand. The cat slowly walked around him. Then he heard a sudden jingle. When the cat was back in front of him in its mouth were his keys. He started at the cat blankly. The cat suddenly took off.

"Oi! Come back I need those!" he shouted as he chased the cat. 'This cat sure runs fast with a hurt leg,' he thought as he followed the cat to a small shop. The cat stopped suddenly and in order not to topple over the cat he skidded to a halt but lost his balance in the progress and fell on the hard concrete, scraping the palms of his hands in the progress. As he looked as his hands, which burned real bad, he saw the cat come up to him and drop his keys.

"Sure, get me lost and hurt, then give me my keys. Stupid cat." he said as he went to grab his keys, the cat bit him. Shouting at the cat he didn't even notice a man coming out of the shop.

"My, my such a commotion." said the man waving a fan. The cat let go and walked over to the man. Getting up, he dusted himself off and looked at the man. He wore a hat that was green woth white stripes, had a fan, and wore clogs.

"Sorry sir. This cat just grabbed my keys and ran off, so I had to follow it." he explained as he looked up to the man.

"Hm, I see. Well, come lets get those hands cleaned up and get you some fresh clothes." the man said as he turned and walked back towards the small shop. He looked down at his hands and saw they were bloody, along with his shirt and pants, when he cleaned the dust off he wasn't aware his hands were bleeding. He sighed and followed this strange man. He saw the cat go around and towards the back. Before going in he took a look at the name of the shop.

Urahara Shop.

Walking in he looked around, seemed like a normal knick kanck shop.

"By the way, my name's Kisuke Urahara. Im the owner of this shop." he said as he stopped walking and turned around.

"Oh, sorry. My name's Toushiro, Hitsugaya Toushiro." he said.

'Just as I thought." Urahara thought as he looked at the boy. 'He an exact match.'

"Well, my boy come this way." Urahara said as he smiled and lead the boy into a backroom.

"Wait here and I'll get a first aid kit and some clothes." he said as he left.

Toushiro took a seat on the floor. Staring blankly at the floor, a few minutes later Urahara came back.

"Here we go!" he said as he tossed clothes next to Toushiro, took a seat on the ground, and opened the first aid kit.

"Hand please." Urahara said as he reached out halfway waiting for Toushiro to give him his hand. Toushiro held out his hand. As he watched Urahara bandage up his hands he wonder what type of man this guy was.

"All done," Urahara said with a smile. "Now why don't you go and change your clothes. The bathroom's down the hall, the door on you're left. You'll see it."

"Huh, oh, thank you." Toushiro said as he rose from the ground and head down the hall. Toushiro looked around the bathroom. It was an ordinary bathroom.

'Well, he doesn't seem like anything but a guy who owns a store.' he thought as he took his shirt off. When he tired around to look into the mirror what he saw frightened him.

'Wha- what is this?' he thought as he stared at his reflection. Scars, long, deep scars were all across his chest. He couldn't remember what these were or when they happened. He looked down to his chest.

They were gone.

Then he looked into the mirror again, they weren't there either.

"I must be seeing things," he muttered to himself as he shakily took his pants off and placed the new clothes on. He took one last glance into the mirror before he left. As he walked down the hall back to where Urahara was he couldn't help but feel as if this place was different from the usual stores.

"Ah, I see the clothes fit well."

"Huh, um, yeah they fit pretty good." He said as he looked down at the store manager. 'What's he doing with clothes this size anyway?' he thought.

"Toushiro, I have a little something to ask you." Urahara said as he rose from the ground.

"What is it?" Toushiro was a little worried about what this guy wanted, wondering if he was a pedophile.

"How would you like to work at my store?" he said as a smile spread across his face.

"Work?" he asked.

"Yup, it's summer, no? So how would a job sound. Make a little money, I mean of course you;d have to check with your parents and all."

"Ah, no, no. It sounds great. I kinda was looking for a job and well, my parents won't mind." Toushiro said with a smile.

"Excellent!" Urahara said in a sing-song voice. "You can start right now!" he said as he grabbed Toushiro by the shoulder and dragged him to the opening of the shop.

"This is where you'll be working. Cashier and you'll be keeping it clean with that broom over there, and...that's all! Your shift ends at 6. See ya later." Urahara said as he left a very confused Toushiro standing in the center of the store. He watched as he saw a small tumblewed pass him on the ground.

"..." Toushiro grabbed the broom and started to swipe the dust floor. After an hour of cleaning Toushiro took a seat on the chair behind the cash register.

'Wonder how much I'm gonna get paid. I better get paid...Note to self, make sure this isn't volunteer work.' he thought as he balanced on the back two legs of the chair. He did that for about 30 minutes, then a loud bang made him lose his balance and fall flat on his back, banging his head hard on the ground.

"URAHARA!!!!!" he heard a loud voice scream the store managers name. The person stormed into the back of the store, oblivious of Toushiro's presents.

"Ah, why hello there - " Urahara wasn't able to finish his sentence before getting hit in the face.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!" yelled the angry voice.

"Why, what might you be talking about?"

"Urahara..."

"Alright, alright. But looked, can't really talk now, you see - "

"Oh no, were gonna talk right now!"

"Urahara-sama?" said Toushiro as he crawled to the doorway rubbing his head. He was able to get a good look at the intruder. The first thing he noticed was the bright orange hair. As he looked a this person he noticed him staring at him wide eyed. Just as the carrot top was gonna say something his mouth was quickly covered by Urahara.

"Toushiro, Ichigo. Ichigo, Toushiro. Look we have some business to take care of, please continue watching the shop." Urahara said as he dragged Ichigo down the hall and into a room.

"...um...ok" Toushiro said as he got up and picked up the chair as sat back behind the counter. This time not balancing on his chair, not wanting to fall again incase another person stormed in like that. He sighed and place his head down on the counter, thinking about what hi saw in the bathroom mirror, while rubbing his head.

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"Urahara what the hell? What's Toushiro doing here?" Ichigo asked the moment he was released from Urahara's grasp.

"Listen to me Ichigo and listen closely. I'm sure you've felt and I'm sure all of Soul Society is feeling it as well." Urahara said in a serious tone.

"Yea, it's been weird and you can't really describe it. That's why Soul Society sent me here." Ichigo said.

"Yes and I'm afraid what I'm about to tell you is true. The powers of the Hōgyoku reside in him. In other words he has the power of the Hōgyoku."

"Soul Society won't like this, you know what they're gonna want to do, even if it is his reincarnation, but we can't keep this a secret either." Ichigo said as he looked towards the doorway, his eyes widened.

Toushiro was standing there, hearing every single word.

"What...what is the Hōgyoku? And it's in me? What's Soul Society. What's going on!?" Questions just kept pouring out. He knew there was something weird about this place.

"Toushiro..." Ichigo said as he rose from his seat.

"No, stay away!" Toushiro yelled at him as he ran outside.

"Oi! Toushiro wait!" Ichigo yelled as he chased after Toushiro, Urahara right behind him. A yell was heard from outside. When they made it outside they saw a huge premature arrancar, (like how Grandfisher was in chapter 187) with Toushiro struggling in its grasp.

"Finally! I've finally found the Hōgyoku!" The arrancar yelled as his voice shook the earth.

"Ichigo!" Urahara shouted.

"Hai!" Ichigo said as Urahara pushed his cane through his head, allowing his soul reaper form to emerge. Ichigo charge straight towards the arrancar.

"Now, how to remove it?" The arrancar said as he pulled Toushiro closer to his face. All he could do was stare into its eyes, it was like the entire world stopped around him. The next thing he knew he heard the arrancar screamed and he feel from the grasp of the monster. He crashed to the ground and heard a big crack as he felt his arm go numb. He clutched his broken arm as he hissed in pain. He opened his eyes to take a look at the scene. The carrot top was charging straight at the monster who was gripping its bleeding arm. What he saw next amazed him, the monster was cut cleanly in half and disintegrated right from the scene.

"Oi, Toushiro, are you alright?" asked Ichigo as he kneeled down next to the boy.

"What was that thing?" Toushiro asked as he sat up with the help of Ichigo.

"Oh, that...well.."

"That was an arrancar." Urahara said.

"Arrancar?"

"Yes, it's when a hollow removes its mask and gains shinigami powers." Urahara explained.

"Hollow, shinigami." Toushiro laughed. "You expect me to believe that?"

"You saw it with your own eyes." Ichigo said as he help Toushiro to his feet.

"I've seen a lot of things in my life that weren't real." he said as he clutched his arm and looked at the ground.

"But, Toushiro—" Ichigo started but was cut off.

"And how do you know me and what are you wearing?" Toushiro asked as he took a step away form Ichigo to take a better look at him.

"Look, why don't we take you to the hospital to get your arm fixed and then I promise I'll explain everything." Ichigo said as he went back into his body, which caused Toushiro to back up more.

"No, I just got out of the hospital. I'm not going back." he said, his voice demanding.

"Just got out? What happened?" Ichigo asked.

"The was a robber and I, wait, I don't need to tell you!" Toushiro said as he yelled at Ichigo.

"Alright, Alright."

"There's no need to go to the hospital, it doesn't seem that serious." Urahara said as he placed a hand on Toushiro's shoulder.

"..."

"Come on, Toushiro. There's something that you have to know." Ichigo said as he looked at Toushiro seriously.

"...fine." Toushiro said as Urahara lead him and Ichigo into the store.