Hello, my wonderful readers! XD As promised, here's the first request fic. This was requested by Hollow Ichigo-Ichigo. I hope I did well enough for them, it's been a while since I did a Shiro/Ichigo fic. I didn't forget my GrimmIchi fans, however... I may have thrown in a bit of that for them (and me, if I'm completely honest ;p). Anyway, here's the first chapter. Enjoy XD

Chapter 1

The world isn't as nice as everyone thinks it is. The things of nightmares everyone thought were just fairytales are real and came out of the woodwork around ten years ago, tired of hiding within the throngs of humans. It took a couple years, but eventually treaties were made and now those nightmares live alongside the humans they used to hunt. Granted there are a few that continue to kill, rogues that despise the treaties and fall back on the old ways... traditionalists. Those clans are kept track of like pedophiles, forced to register as rogues and turn in any address changes should there be one. They normally stay within the same old territories, the rich snobs of the nightmare community. One such clan lives in Karakura.

Ichigo Kurosaki never really feared the dark, never feared the things that slither around within it, and stands up to Nightmares just like he would humans. Sometimes his family things he doesn't have the capacity to fear. Within his college a large group of Nightmares thrives and he walks among them with his head held high. They try their damnedest to scare him, to threaten his life and watch him break at the very thought of what they can do, but every attempt is a fail on their part.

He's a lithely muscled nineteen year old, stands around five foot nine, and has the most vibrant orange hair anyone has ever seen. That's what draws the Nightmares aside from his attitude. Because he's been picked on all his life, Ichigo's grown a tough exterior that throws a punch at the drop of a pin. They can literally see the fire in his amber eyes before it happens. Normally he's pretty passive, an excellent student looking to gain a physical therapy degree, but once that fire is lit he's a dangerous person to go up against. His friends can vouch for that.

"Hey, Kurosaki!" a familiar voice calls out.

"Hey, Renji," the orange head answers with a smile.

Renji is a Nightmare, though you'd never know it just looking at him. The redhead has a love of seventies clothing, tribal tattoos, and lame jokes. His red locks are long and always pulled back in a ponytail. Though he looks formidable, the guy is really just a clumsy idiot and Ichigo just loves him. He couldn't ask for a better best friend.

"Did you hear about the transfer student?" the redhead wonders.

"No, I didn't. But I haven't really been paying attention to the gossip lately," Ichigo remarks. "It's usually about me and what Nightmare wants to hurt me next."

"Yeah... they really don't like you."

"Thanks, Renji, I hadn't a clue," the orange head scoffs. "Speaking of Nightmares, how was your hunt last night?"

"I took down a deer," he states proudly. "Biggest one of the bunch! The other werewolves were so jealous. I might even have a damn good chance of impressing the leader's sister!"

Ichigo withholds his laughter. Renji's been trying to impress Rukia Kuchiki for years, probably ever since they were pups. Byakuya is the leader of the local werewolf pack and no one holds themselves quite like him. When Ichigo first met the guy, he pegged him for a vampire. He's all arrogance and importance, dark beauty and cold harshness. He seems perfect for the stereotype given to vampires. His sister isn't much different, though she can be more fun to hang out with when her brother isn't around.

"Anyway, this transfer student is an Ancient," Renji continues. "Don't know why he wants to come to college, but apparently he's quite young... like... in his twenties physically. I heard a lot of shit about him. I guess the traditionalists here don't like him at all, he's some kind of serious threat."

"Isn't he part of their clan?"

"Hell no, he's a pure blood! He was born a vamp!"

Amber eyes grow wide at that, it's extremely rare for a vamp to be born. Though many of the rumors of their weaknesses are false, that particular one is quite true. For a vampire to give birth, they have to be blessed by an angel. The only other way for a Nightmare to be born a vampire is to come from a cursed Nightmare of another species. Neither of those are typical things, as angels despise vampires and any cursed Nightmares kill their children before their first breath. Not to mention, a curse is a hard thing to come by nowadays.

Ichigo hums to himself, thinking that over. He doesn't know much about Nightmares, but he knows the basics. His family, after all, has the genetic for Nightmares in their bloodline... they were the species called 'Hunters'. They used their mutated genetic to kill anything unnatural that fed off humans. All those past teachings are passed down as tradition. His best chance of figuring out this transfer student before they meet, to prepare himself for any hostility he might encounter, is to speak to a vampire. He's only on good terms with one, though... and they're still locked in a pretty heated fight.

Classes pass quickly, the orange head barely having to try as he keeps his mind on other things. Once lunch comes around, he knows exactly where to find his vampire acquaintance. Up on the roof of the main building, Shuuhei Hisagi sits to eat lunch every day. The college provides blood bags for vampires and other foods for the rest of the Nightmares that attend classes there. Though they've established a non-judgment sort of outlook, many students are still grossed out or uneasy around lunchtime. Because of this a lot of the Nightmares retreat to secluded places to feed.

"Hey, Shuuhei," Ichigo greets.

"... Have you come to apologize?" the vampire murmurs before biting into his blood bag.

The younger male growls quietly, watching a couple rivulets of crimson liquid trickle down Shuuhei's chin. He forces down his snappish comment, instead sitting across from the other. He pulls out his lunch and starts eating quietly. Ichigo is probably one of the only students that can stomach eating with a Nightmare, though he's never thought about it. His one friend Orihime is likely the reason for this quirk, as eating with her is more horrifying than anything he'd see with a Nightmare.

"Okay, first off I don't see why I have to apologize," Ichigo remarks.

"You punched me!"

"You tried to bite me, you ass!"

"... Okay, I see your point. But you should know better than to let a vampire check any open wound on you," he argues.

"... Granted it didn't make sense at the time," Ichigo comments in a slight drawl. "But it could've hit an artery and you were the only one around. I think it was a good call on my account, you're not going to use survival instinct against me."

Shuuhei rolls his sharp eyes, the wind blowing through his short spiky black hair. Ichigo and he had a rough start, just like he and Renji did. When they first met, Shuuhei was looking to make a name for himself... Ichigo was only thirteen. Not knowing the history of the Kurosaki bloodline, the vampire tried to claim Ichigo as his human servant. That didn't go over well with the youth and he basically beat the shit out of Shuuhei. Their feud went on for a while, until it was a rivalry... and then friendly picking. When they were seniors in high school, the two tried dating. It would've gone well if not for the fact Shuuhei belonged to that damn traditionalist clan. They sent other vampires to kill Ichigo and he eventually had enough.

"How about we both admit we were wrong at some point and put it behind us?" Ichigo suggests. "The apologies will be assumed... does that help?"

"... What do you want?" Shuuhei sighs in relent.

"A transfer student is coming here, they say he's a pure blood," Ichigo remarks. "I was just wondering how that's even possible. I know that a couple ways to get a pure blood vamp are when an angel blesses a female vamp, or when another Nightmare species is cursed..."

"You humans and your stupidity," Shuuhei snorts in humor. "You've got it all wrong. You see, there's only one pure blood vamp. He was born to a cursed angel... he wasn't the first, but he was the first to be born. Legend has it that the angel owed a debt to God for the consent He gave on her union with a Hunter. The balance was being destroyed by overzealous vampires, all of them spreading their disease among the humans... slowly eradicating the species. God went to the angel to collect the debt owed. She gave birth to twins, one of them the pure blood vampire. He was born to keep the balance between Nightmares and humans. He was so very close to his twin that they became his mate, but they were only human and died soon after."

"That's horrible... and sort of wrong," Ichigo muses.

"Hey, vamps take a mate where we can find them," Shuuhei shrugs. "It's extremely rare to feel that connection. Besides, they were designed like that. They balanced one another out. Anyway, when their mate died, the vamp went to God and pleaded for them back. God told the vamp that his mate was an angel and would always return to earth and to him, it's a vicious cycle. They find one another, the angel dies and returns to Heaven for a time, the vamp goes into hibernation... and then they start all over. The balance started shifting a while ago, which means the pure blood woke to fix it. He's likely been searching for his mate for years."

"So... he's basically the only thing standing between humans and their extinction," Ichigo sums up.

"Basically."

"... We're so fucked."

Shuuhei shrugs to that, not confirming or denying it. Since this Nightmare has pretty much saved the humans countless times before, he highly doubts he'll shirk his duties now. He just needs to locate his mate and everything will be set right again. The two finish up their lunch quietly, neither really knowing what to say now. It's been a long while, at least three weeks, since last they spoke without throwing punches.

After school, Ichigo heads home. His home is a strange place, to be sure. Not every house is equipped with a secret door in the basement, nor do they have a training room and dungeon. Then again, not every house was built by Kisuke Urahara. Ichigo's lived with Kisuke since he was five. Apparently, he was in a terrible accident that killed his mother and had amnesia. The blonde man took care of him when his father couldn't. He loves that man like a father and Kisuke treats him like his own. Which works out great, because the blonde can never have children and Isshin is so busy he's rarely around.

Kisuke Urahara is an eccentric man that lives in a modern world warped with the past. It's like time-lines collided here. Ichigo has been his pride and joy since the day he took him in. he trained him as he would any Hunter, the Urahara clan being the second largest clan of Hunters. Kisuke abandoned them, however, for a normal life among humans. In hindsight, he should've known the word 'normal' doesn't apply to him. Ichigo sighs and sets down his bag, deciding to search out his caretaker and discuss the new vampire that's emerged. Perhaps he knows more than he lets on about the legends.