It's at least 100k years in the future.(1) Ichigo has been denied entrance to SS, because of his "right to live." Noone is entirely sure when he died, or how the definitions of death truly apply to him, so he has never had a soul burial. The war has been over for millennia, but SS has decided that he would be of better use on earth. He has lived a thousand lives, had a thousand grandchildren, and lived to see his line die out. But when an accident catches him by surprise in an airport(2), will he finally have a chance for peace?

Caught in a vacuum chamber, I didn't even realize I was dead until I saw the flashing lights, and heard the blaring alarms. I turned to Shirosaki. "So this is how I died."

He snorted. "Yeah. The great Kurosaki died because he got too complacent and was caught by a machine meant to disinfect your luggage. Not your best work ever, King."(4)

I punched him in the shoulder. "Shaddup. Maybe this time we can finally get into Soul Society. Help me look for a Shinigami, I can't do a soul burial on myself, remember?" We had tried many different methods, and obviously, none had worked.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." He wandered off, and I started peeling off the outer layers of my soul-form's outfit. Maybe I can trick one of them, to at least see if it works. I removed the grey hakama and white kisode, along with my tattered one-shoulder cloak(5), and wrapped the whole ensemble around the mask that has taken to hanging on my left shoulder. Shiro says it helps him keep a presence in the world when he's not materialized, but considering the fact that he's almost never not by my side, I wonder why I bother.

"Intimidation." Shiro's voice floated over my left shoulder and I waved my hand absently in his face, shooing him away.

"Hold this," I ordered, shoving the bundled robes into his arms. I bent down to remove my waraji, leaning on him for support. "What do you mean, intimidation?" I asked him absently.

He huffed, not liking his role as my leaning post, but answered anyways. Over the millennia, we had developed a relationship not unlike that between siblings. It had helped when I started materializing him more often, and got even better when we realized he could inhabit a gigai like a soul reaper. "You were wondering why you continue to wear my mask when I don't specifically need it. Intimidation. It's kinda like your calling card. Wouldn't be surprised if you had the name grey demon or something among your enemies, what with that monstrosity hanging off you." He said the word monstrosity with more than a hint of pride, and I didn't blame him. The white and red horned mask scared me sometimes, and I was the one who wore it.

I finished untying my waraji, and slipped on some less traditional shoes over my tabi socks. I wanted to look as nondescript as I could, and hopefully the soul reaper I found would over look my lack of a soul chain. I felt something bop me on the top of the head, and before I could retaliate, Shiro turned me to look at a nearby metallic surface. He had shoved a strange looking hat on my head, and I could almost smack myself for forgetting yet again.

He nodded at me. "Yep, you almost forgot about your primary palette hair again. That, and now you look a little more like you belong here(3)." I looked myself over, trying to see if there was anything else I missed. I was wearing the simple black t-shirt and black jeans I had taken to wearing under my shihakusho, with newer shoes and a strangely shaped mass on my head that Shiro assured me was actually a hat.

I turned back to Shiro, satisfied that I was as nondescript as I was going to get without a soul chain. "Well? Did you find any?" He pulled himself away from the shiny surface I had been using as a mirror, poking at the spikes in his hair a few more times.

"Ah…no, no I didn't. Sorry Ichi." He didn't seem too repentant, but I believed him when he didn't say there wasn't anyone around that was easily identifiable as a Shinigami. They had taken to wearing gigai more and more often, since it had been discovered that they could materialize their zanpakutō while in a gigai. It didn't hurt that those who knew a city better were able to track down the hollow fastest, limiting casualties. They had made that discovery with me, I supposed. And identifying them through reiatsu was practically impossible due to the suppressive nature of the gigai they wore, in order to not attract any unwanted attention.

"Well, when push comes to shove, draw some attention!" I grinned back at Shiro as he faded away into my inner world, after placing the bundle of cloth behind a convenient sign. We doubted I could take it with me to soul society, but I had gotten kinda attached to my rags over the years, and if there was a chance I could come back for them I would. I peered around, looking for a good place to start.

"Can I get a soul burial here?" I hollered. "Anyone?" A few people looked at me, and I made a note of their faces in a small portion of my mind. Spiritually aware people were a lot more common now than they had been when I was a kid, but it was still a good idea to keep an eye on them. The larger part of my mind continued to think of ways to draw a Shinigami to me, without being labeled a menace. "Can I get a Shinigami to the baggage pick up area. I have someone in dire need of a konso, or two." I muttered the last part to myself. "Or a few thousand."

Up for debate. I have no idea how much SS and the real world would change in 100k years, and if Ichi would even be sane…I mean, Yama-jii is only around two thousand years old, and some argue for and against his senility quite often…

Again, up for debate. I doubt that in a hundred thousand years we won't have a better mode of transportation than airplanes. But it was the concept that I was getting.

When worrying about fashion trends, I figure they cycle. They do now, why shouldn't they in the future? So t-shirt and jeans would be the same plain-but-ok they are today, and wouldn't get another glance.

Obviously his body hasn't lasted for 300 years, as I doubt even a gigai would, and accidents do happen. So Ichigo, who has been stuck on Earth for however long, has died many times, in many ways. I am assuming that Shiro would follow him wherever he went, and would be the one witnessing most of his "deaths"

I feel grey/white is better than black, especially if he isn't officially sanctioned by SS, so he would have to clean (bleach!) his shihakusho. *OHNOES*! Although I have heard that the state of his shihakusho is linked to his reiatsu levels. Or is that with his bankai? Could someone plz 'splain that to me? I dunno, somethings don't add up, but hey that's dream land for you~~!

BEWARE THE SPOILERZ! I have read up to 423, whether or not that makes a diff to you matters not to me. BEWARE!

So yeah. This was the dream I had a few nights ago. It kept switching btwn first and third person, so some tenses might be a little weird. I beta'd myself, but I had the damned dream running through my head so I might have missed something. I have a few ideas for this story, and I think 100k years is over the top (considering that Aizen **SPOILERZ ** only got 20k as a punishment. ****) I was thinking…300? I don't' want it over the top, but I do want it to be long enough for possible change and definite desperation. Also, I have been reading fanfiction more than the manga, so if something obviously clashes, plz tell me. And no **SPOILERZ** Ichigo doesn't lose his powers in this timeline, or rather, this is after he gets them back. **** Sooo…this could be a betrayal fic, or an academy fic, or a romance fic, or a reincarnation fic, or all-of-the-above fic, I dunno. If you feel a spark of imagination when you read this (or as me and my sister put it, plot bunnies are born) you can tell me, or this ficlet might be up for adoption if your ideas hold promise! Or I might run with this if only to get my beta status…I just don't know yet!

Beyond the things I have mentioned, if you spot something plz tell me, but plz remember, this WAS a dream, and I had to interpret from there…