So I had this story idea in my head for a couple of days and thought, what the hell.

Hope you enjoy!

A cool gentle breeze passed through short, jet black hair, as the owner, a fifteen year-old boy, groggily opened his eyes. Grabbing at his head as a wave of dizziness hits him, he slowly sat up, looking around. What happened? His memory was a little foggy. He remembers crossing the road and the headlights of a car then, nothing. Looking around, he notices immediately the blue and red lights of police cruisers in the middle of the road, as well as lights from an ambulance. Standing up, he walks from the sidewalk, where he had woken up, to the street where the cruisers were parked.

Yellow tape surrounded what appeared to be a crime scene. Some police officers were talking close by, with a couple of onlookers beside him, trying to find out what happened. He looked to the man next to him.

"Hey, you know what happened here?" he asked. The man did not seem to hear him so he repeated his question several times, with increasing ire. "What the hell man stop ignoring me!" he yells out as he steps in front of him, flailing his arms to get the stranger's attention, to no avail. Finally, he reaches out to touch the man and, surprisingly and worryingly, his hand passes straight through the man.

Standing in shock, the young teen's mind worked a mile a minute, trying to understand his current situation. But no matter how long he thought, he always came to the same conclusion. Am I dead? At this point, it was the only probable explanation. With growing fear and anxiety, he slowly turned around to the crime scene, not having noticed that the onlooker was now long gone, and noticed the limp body lying on the pavement, surrounded by a pool of viscous liquid. Blood. It's blood. He thought, as he ducked under the yellow tape, walking closer to the body.

The body was mangled, the limbs not all attached to the body and some organs having spilled out. Despite all that, he could not help but to recognize the same face he saw in the mirror every morning. I'm dead. He tried to fully understand what that meant, but his mind kept rejecting the idea. I'm dead. He stood immobile, still staring unflinchingly at his cooling body. I'm dead. Closing his eyes, he let tears roll down his cheeks. What now? What was the afterlife like? Would he be doomed to roam the earth forever, watching as people lived their lives?

Opening his eyes, he couldn't help but to think of his favorite show, Bleach. It would be so much simpler if he understood the world as he understood the bleach universe. Turning around and walking away from the scene, he played with the idea in his head. Well, it certainly wouldn't help to try. And if there really is some kind of 'reaper' that will take me to the afterlife, I might as well just hang around and wait for him. Walking to a bench in front of the bakery, he sat down and closed his eyes. He had meditated several times in the past, and while he was no expert, he at least knew somewhat what he was doing.

Relaxing his breath, he let his mind wander for a while, until it came to a natural rest. At that point, he felt something different, a soft pressure building in the center of his chest. The longer he focused on this pressure, the more warmth spread through his body, energizing him in ways he never felt before. Letting go of his focus he felt the strange warmth and pressure disappear. "Well, if this is 'spiritual energy', then technically, I should be able to do the same moves as a Shinigami!" he spoke to himself excitedly. "Although, I shouldn't get excited for nothing" he pondered. Thinking that he could do the same things as a cartoon seemed childish now, even stupid. But then again, "Well it's not like I have better things to do." He refused to think of seeing his family, how they would mourn him, and how his little brother would now have to take a large amount of responsibility.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, he focused on meditating again. This time around, the feeling came to him much faster, now that he knew what he was looking for. "Alright, let's try shunpo. I've always wanted to run really fast." Standing up, he tried to focus on his legs and, strangely enough, most of the warm feeling migrated south and pooled at his legs and feet. Bending his knees, he jumped forward, hoping to get some distance. However, while the feeling was still there, he did not go farther than in his human body. "Damn, well that didn't work." Disappointed but not discouraged, he suddenly had another idea.

Bending his knees, this time he tried to 'throw' the energy outside of his feet, like kicking off sand when running. The world disappeared for a moment, and reappeared in the form of a brick wall, on which he ran into full speed. "Ow! What the hell?!" he grabbed at his nose, trying to comprehend what just happened. Looking behind him, he noticed the bench he was seated at only moments ago, across the street from where he was at the moment. In a split second, he was able to cross the road and slam into the wall of the opposite shop.

In a second, his whole demeanor changed. Eyes bright, heart beating furiously, he marveled at what he was just able to accomplish. His inner thoughts were however interrupted by a loud howl in the distance. His smile fell as his thoughts caught up to him. Hollow. Of course! If I can do what the bleach characters can do, then the other creatures must also be real! Now starting to panic, he started running in the opposite direction, hoping to get some distance between him and the monstrous creature. Shit! If I'm right, then me activating any small amount of spiritual energy may have alerted that thing to my presence! Stupid! He chastised himself.

Wracking his brain for a solution, he could only find three options. Either he keeps running and hiding, in the hopes that the creature doesn't find him. He could also stand and fight the thing, though he highly doubted he stood a chance. His third, most viable option, was to find a Shinigami. But where do I even start?! Vancouver was a big city, he couldn't waste time by searching everywhere, he needed a smarter solution.

Stopping suddenly, he had a revelation. Spiritual energy! Sure he had just awakened his a couple of minutes ago, but if he wanted a chance of survival, the Shinigami would be his only shot. Running towards an intersection, he hid behind a corner, and closed his eyes.

Calling upon his own energy, he tried to look outward for a similar sensation. He almost jumped out of his skin when he 'felt' a very dark, and ominous looking one. That one must be the hollow. Shaking himself out of his stupor, he kept looking. After what felt like hours, he noticed an energy, not much unlike his own, but much stronger and much less ominous than that of the hollow. That's him!

Quickly resuming his run, he moved towards the supposed shinigami's presence. Even if it isn't a Shinigami, anything's better than whatever made that awful howl! He thought as he sprinted towards his only hope. At the same time, he felt the ominous presence close in, as he cursed. There was no way he could outrun the thing. Gathering whatever energy he had left, he tried to pool his spiritual energy towards his legs again and kick off towards a close-by roof. This time, he successfully landed, and kept running, now jumping from roof to roof, with shunpo to aid him. It wasn't perfect, and sometimes he would almost trip and land on his face, but it certainly gave him some much needed speed.

With growing worry, he noticed the pressure in the middle of his chest start to diminish, as his shunpo started to get sloppier. He was running out of reiatsu. Shit! Just a little farther! Just as he thought he had reached the supposed Shinigami, a terrible pain ripped through the right side of his body, as he stopped in his tracks. Looking over his shoulder, body shaking, all he saw were huge teeth and empty, large eyes inside a bone-white mask. No! He thought in despair.

The hollow started to move its teeth, trying to eat him, when a slice suddenly appeared on the creature's mask. Howling in agony, it let him go abruptly, dropping him towards a near-by roof. This time, he saw a man wearing black and wielding a katana appear in front of the beast and slash his mask cleanly through the middle.

As the hollow dissolved, the man turned towards him, walking slowly. Groaning in pain, he tried to sit up, now seeing that blood was pouring from his wounds. Huh, so the dead do bleed. He absurdly thought.

Arriving in front of him, the Shinigami kneeled. He was a middle aged man, with small streaks of graying hair among dark brown. His eyes were a steely grey, looking calm and steady despite the dire situation.

"What's your name, kid?" he heard him ask. Looking up in slight awe, his reply was so low that he thought the older man didn't hear him. "Takeo, my name's Takeo." Nodding his head, the man took out his blade, and pointed the hilt towards the teen. "Well Takeo, staying here is not safe for you, as you can see. I'm going to send you to soul society, where you will be safe." Staring dumfounded and still reeling from the surreal experience, Takeo could only nod numbly to the older man.

When the cold hilt touched his forehead, he felt a shiver run through him, and a sense of calm and comfort set in. Closing his eyes in peace, the last thing he heard was the Shinigami re-sheathing his sword. Zanpaktou. He corrected himself. It's a Zanpaktou…