Disclaimer: Bleach and Shin Megami Tensei are the property of Tite Kubo and Altus.

Chapter 1: A Strange New City

April 6th 2009

"Attention passengers, the train bound for Iwatodai will be leaving in thirty minutes. Passengers heading for Iwatodai should make their way towards the platform. Passengers heading for Sumaru City and Ayanagi City should head towards…" Ichigo ignored the rest of the bulletin since it didn't really concern him that much. Having just got off the train from Karakura Town and now waiting around for another one wasn't the most exciting of experiences. Having nothing better to do right now, his mind wondered into his memories of the past few months.

It was April now and several months had passed since the end of Winter War, and several months since he lost his spiritual powers. At first it hadn't really bothered him much. For the first time in sixteen years he could finally say he had a normal life for once, and he would no longer be bothered by any of the Soul Society's problems or random sprits bothering him at every interval of the day.

Well I guess the old saying of be careful what you wish for existed for a reason, because right now, he completely hated his life. He hated the feeling of powerlessness, he hated the idea of his friends risking their life's fighting hollows while he stood on the side lines, and most of all, he hated the fact that he could no longer protect those close to him anymore.

No. It went far beyond even that. It felt like he lost more than just his powers, it was more like he lost any purpose in his life. The experiences he went through, everything he had seen and accomplished, all of that was gone and he detested it. He tried to fill the void by joining sports clubs at school. He joined every single one, became the star player on every team and it still wasn't enough. After a while certain clubs started paying him to be on their team. The money was nice and all, but it still wasn't enough. It could never replace that hole in his life.

It got to the point where he stopped going to school all together. He'd just lock himself in his room for hours on end, or wonder down to the arcade and waste away any money he happened to have on him at the time. Or on some days, he'd just spend them by his mother's grave, remembering that time in his life when she was still alive. His friends and sisters would occasionally try to get him to go back to school, but he would usually just brush them off and tell them to stop bothering him.

All in all, his life sucked at the moment.

So to get him out of his so called 'funk', his father, Isshin, in his infinite wisdom packed up all of his stuff and sent him to a private school on the other side of the country. Some city he'd never heard of before called Iwatodai. No…that was wrong, there was something about that name that just seemed familiar to him for some reason, but he couldn't quite put his mind on it… It didn't really mater right now anyway. What really mattered was what he was going to do to kill these thirty minutes before his train arrived. With nothing better to do, Ichigo decided to look around the area he was in.

There wasn't anything really interesting that grabbed his attention. It was no different than any other train station in Japan. Deciding to grab a snack before heading back towards the platform, Ichigo began to make his way towards a nearby store that was close by.

Grabbing some various snacks and paying the cashier, Ichigo headed back towards where his train would soon be arriving. "It'll probably be night by the time I get there at this rate" Ichigo thought to himself. It was already late in the afternoon at the moment so that was a real possibility.

Because he was lost in his own thoughts, he missed the oddly dressed man eyeing him up curiously.

"Care to have your fortune told?" a voice spoke to him. Ichigo looked to his left hand side, surprised that he had passed somebody without noticing them. It was a man sitting at a simple table covered by a blue cloth, lined up next to a wall, obviously tempting to gain people's attention as they passed by. Since the blue cloth on the table masked most of his lower body, Ichigo couldn't really get much of a good look at the man. But from what he could see, the man was wearing a black turtleneck shirt, a butterfly mask that covered most of his face and possessed brown hair tied up in sideways ponytail. The guy seemed completely surreal if he had to say.

Not to seem rude or anything to this complete stranger, Ichigo decided to replay to oddly dressed man. "I'll pass. I'm not much of a fortune telling kind of guy". It wasn't a lie or anything. He simply didn't believe in things like fortune telling. Rather an odd thing to say for someone who spent the better part of sixteen years conversing with the spirits of the dead.

"Are you sure? I'm surprised you of all people would say that, Ichigo Kurosaki" the masked man smirked, knowing full well that by using Ichigo's name he was sure to get his full attention.

"What! Just how do you know my name? We met before or something?" Ichigo openly wondered. It wasn't impossible that he couldn't have met this guy before. Given his tendency to forget people and his low opinion of fortune tellers that was a real possibility. But still, how did this man know his name?

"I know many things about everyone. I can tell whether they possess the capability for divine love, or the capability for demonic cruelty" The masked man spoke cryptically. "Are you sure I can't tempt you into a quick fortune telling?"

"That doesn't explain how you know me…but…fine whatever" Ichigo sat down at the table and put the bas he was curtly holding on the floor along with his luggage. "It's not like I've got anything better to do right now anyway."

"Good." The man smiled, delighted by the fact the boy had taken him up on his offer.

The masked man pulled a deck of cards from his pocket and placed them on the center of the table. "Are you familiar with how fortune telling works?" the fortune teller asked.

"You use tarot cards don't you?" While Ichigo didn't much care for the trade, he dis possess a basic understanding of how it all worked and what was involved with it.

"That's right. It's interesting you see, each reading is performed with the same cards each time, but the result is always different." The fortune teller placed his hand on top of the cards, and suddenly they each instantly moved across the table into position.

"How did you do that?" Ichigo questioned. This single act proved that the man wasn't normal by any shadow of a doubt. Ichigo had his suspicions of the man since he already knew his name. Maybe he was one of Hat and Clogs friends, or his old man or something. If he still had his spiritual powers he could know in a second by checking to see if this guy had any spiritual pressure.

"That was nothing really" the masked man spoke humbly. "Shall we begin" the man flicked his wrist over one of the cards, almost like he was gesturing to it to flip over. Low and behold it actual did. On the card that was flipped over was the image of a skull in front of a door. Strangely enough the card was upside down. It also posed the Roman numeral XIII at the top of the card.

"Interesting, Death, in the reversed position" the masked man smiled as he read out the card.

"What's that supposed to mean. Am I going to die or something" Ichigo joked. He found it rather hard to take this all seriously, but the fact that this man could move the cards without physically touching them was putting him on edge slightly.

There was also the fact, that even with him doing all these magic tricks, people were simply walking past the two of them, completely ignoring that they were even there! Did this guy do this kind of thing all the time or something? Or were people in this town really that ignorant.

"Contrary to the name of the card, the death Arcana does not in fact refer to the death of anybody. But in fact it refers to the physical and spiritual change that can occur in a person's life" the masked man explained. "At your destination, you will no doubt experience a great change that will affect the life's of you and those around you."

Ichigo didn't like the sound of that. While the card didn't necessarily mean he was going to die, in his experience, great change was usually accompanied by great pain, trouble and annoyances he didn't need nor care for. "Alright what's next then" Ichigo motioned for the fortune teller to carry on. "You do know I have a train to catch, right?"

"Of course" the man nodded politely. He motioned for the next card to flip other. This time the card was upright, with the roman numeral of XVI on the bottom. The card depicted a lightning bolt striking a crumbling tower with black figures falling off of the sides of the tower. "Hmm…the Tower in the upright position. Interesting"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ichigo asked annoyed, wondering just what was so damn interesting about the card.

"It seems that you'll no doubt encounter a great mystery at your destination" the masked man said cryptically. The masked man donned a smirk again and looked directly at Ichigo. "I wonder what actions you will take in the coming days."

"What are you talking about?" Ichigo asked. What the hell was that masked guy talking about, what mystery? Maybe this was just Hat and Clogs in a disguise, or did he hire a fortune teller to screw with him for old times sake. "Hey, you don't happen to know a guy called Kisuke Urahara do you?"

"I have never once encountered a man with that name" the masked man shook his head as he replied.

"Figured as much" Ichigo thought. Maybe he was just being paranoid. Maybe this was just your average fortune teller, who also possessed telekinesis, and you know, not someone who could actual predict the future. "So we done here?" Ichigo didn't wait for a replay as he stood up and grabbed his bags.

"Yes, but before you go, please listen to what I have to say."

"Alright, go on then" another minute so wouldn't hurt him he thought. He guessed it would also be kind of rude of him to just take off, as this guy had been nothing but polite to him since they first met.

The masked man stood up from behind to table and looked straight at Ichigo. "Time never waits, It delivers all equally to the same end. You, who wish to safeguard the future, however limited it may be…You will be given one year, so go forth without falter, with your heart as your guide."

The man's words seemed odd to Ichigo, like they weren't really addressing him. He had no idea what he was talking about either. What did he mean by all of it? "Err…Ok. I'm not really sure what you mean by all of that though."

The masked man slightly chuckled "Don't worry; in time you'll come to understand the meaning of those words."

"Ok, but you still haven't told me how you know my name? Also who are you anyway? You never did tell me" Ichigo pointed out. He hated having information kept from him. Kisuke and his old man had done it enough to him over the past year.

"I know your name because you have a grand role to play in this world's near future" the masked man answered honestly. "As to my identity… I am Philemon, the one who seeks man's enlightenment and guides them towards it."

"What do you mean grand role? And also…" Ichigo was cut off by a small high pitched voice he heard from behind him. He looked towards the direction of the voice and he saw a small girl with what appeared to be her mother walking by.

"Mommy who's that man talking to?" the young girl asked as she pointed towards Ichigo.

"Shush dear, he's probably just crazy, don't look" the mother grabbed her daughters hand and dragged her child along at a brisk pace as they walked quickly away from Ichigo. Probably trying to put as much distance between themselves and the crazy person as possible.

"Huh…déjà vu" Ichigo smiled as he remembered a time in his life fondly. He remembered years ago, people would think he was crazy when he talked to sprits in the middle of the day. From there point of view, it would have looked like he was talking to himself. What he wouldn't do for the old days.

Wait! They thought he was talking to himself!? But he was just talking to that fortune teller.

Ichigo immediately turned on the spot to face the masked man, but to his surprise, the man had disappeared. Not only had he disappeared, the tables and the two chairs they were just sitting on had disappeared as well.

"But he was just here! Where the hell could he have gone?" Ichigo tried racking his brain for an answer. The only solutions he could think of, is that the man could turn himself invisible and nearby objects as well. That wouldn't be completely out of the question as he had heard and seen much stranger things in his life.

The second possible answer is that he was an acquaintance of Kisuke's sent to annoy him. If that was the case, then he could have picked up the table and chairs when he wasn't looking and flash stepped away. The only other explanation is that he really was crazy.

That was always a strong possibility.

"Living with that nut job for sixteen years was bound to make me crazy. It was going to happen eventually I guess" Ichigo sighed to himself. He never could have an easy life could he? The only thing he could do was hope he never runs into the crazy fortune teller again.

"Shit, the train" Ichigo suddenly just remembered about the train he was waiting for.

He quickly began running towards the station, hoping he wouldn't miss the train. It was probably a bad idea to miss his first day at a new school. He's been told that kind of thing tends to leave a bad impression on some people. Not like he cared or anything. He just didn't want to miss the train and have to spend several hours waiting around for another one, that's all.

"We apologize for any delays to you might have encountered. There seemed to be an accident at the station up a head. We hope this hasn't inconvenienced you in anyway" an announcer's voice echoed over the speakers. It was pretty much almost midnight right now and Ichigo had almost made it to Iwatodai.

"About damn time" Ichigo grumbled as he stared out of the window out into the city. It was nothing spectacular or anything, just your average Japanese city. Usual houses, usual dull grey buildings. No different from what you would normally expect to see in any large town or city. From what he heard from Ishida, this school he was going to was built on an artificial island or something. Not that he really cared. A school was a school really.

The view of the city was soon obscured by the darkness of the underground as the train no doubt passed through a tunnel. Ichigo was just about to reach for his phone to check what time it currently was when he noticed something out of the corner of his eye.

A glowing blue butterfly!

"What" Ichigo said surprised. He quickly focused his full attention on what he just saw. But as just as soon as he'd saw it, it had already disappeared.

"Just what the hell was that? I've never seen a blue butterfly before. Or even one that glows!" Ichigo thought to himself. There was also the possible fact that he could just be tired and was seeing things that weren't really there.

With nothing better to do, Ichigo's mind drifted to just a few days ago to when his old man was telling him that he would be attending some private school here in Iwatodai.

One Week Ago

March 31st 2009

His first year of Highschool had just finished, and even with all the time he had taken off because of his job as a substitute soul reaper or the time after that when he just didn't feel like going in, he still managed to pass, and not only that, pass in the top twenty best students of the year. They couldn't really complain about him taken time of if he did all the work and passed with high grades.

After arriving home one day from spending time visiting his mother's grave, and preventing the usually assault from his father, he was stopped by him by before he even placed one foot on the stairs.

"Hang on a minute Ichigo, I need to have a word with you" Isshin said in a rather serous tone. It was rare for Isshin to act like this, most of the time he acted like an overgrown child who never seemed to have grown up. But when he did, it always got Ichigo's full attention.

"What do you want" Ichigo asked, curious as to why he was speaking to him in that tone of voice.

"We need to talk about something" Isshin said as he walked into the living room. Ichigo followed behind him. He noticed that there weren't alone. Karin and Yuzu were also here as well. Both of them were sat down on the couch. No doubt wanting to know just what had their father in such a serious mood.

"Hey goat chin what's this all about" Karin asked wondering why she and Yuzu were dragged into whatever trouble Ichigo had done to get there old man so serious.

"What this is all about is simple Karin…" Isshin paused for dramatic effect as he jumped up and pointed right at Ichigo. "…You're good for nothing brother is wasting his time moping around and feeling sorry for himself." and just like that it was over. Isshin's serious persona disappeared as quickly as it appeared and his goofy childlike nature returned once more.

"I'm not mopping around" Ichigo mumbled to himself.

He was lying of course. Everyone who knew him could tell that he wasn't being himself at the moment. Although his usually self wasn't energetic or anything to begin with, at least he still attended school and interacted with people he knew. Know though, it seemed like he'd simply given up on even that most of the time.

"Yes you are Ichigo" a concerned Yuzu cried out. "You've stopped going to school, you rarely come out of your room, you spend most of your time at an arcade or at mom's grave and you barley talk to us or any of your friends anymore."

Yuzu's words stung Ichigo. He dint want to admit it but everything she said was the truth, he just didn't want to accept that she was right. But really, how was he supposed to move on, from everything he had done. Did people really expect him to just move on and forget everything that had happened? How could he possibly do that? How could anyone do that?

"…what is this, an intervention or something?" He could see quite clearly what they were trying to do for him. He appreciated it, really. It was comforting and heartwarming to know that his entire family, even his father cared about his wellbeing, but personally, he'd prefer to be left alone if possible right now.

"Of course it is Ichi" Karin shouted. This surprised Ichigo as Karin was never one to get this emotional about something. The only time he remembered when she was like this was when she found out about that boys soul stuck in that parakeet. "Yuzu's not the only one that's worried, we all are. I, Yuzu, goat chin and all of your friends are worried about you. We want to help you, but you keep pushing us away"

Ichigo didn't think trying to distance himself from them would have this kind of effect on them. It made him feel like such as ass when he thought about it.

"…I…I'm sorry Karin, Yuzu…I'm sorry. But how do you expect me to just move on with my life after everything that's happened?" Ichigo didn't know what to think about right know. Just what was he supposed to do?

"Well, at least your man enough to admit your problems" Isshin said as he stood up from the couch and stood in front of everyone. "Attention, your amazing and handsomely beautiful father has an announcement to make" Ichigo face palmed himself after that declaration. Leave it to his old man to act like his usually annoying self during a serious moment like this.

"What the hell are you going on about now" Ichigo asked annoyed. Just when they were actually getting somewhere with his problems, his old man had to pull a stunt like this.

"What I'm talking about my ungrateful son, is that I have the solution to your problems" Isshin declared triumphantly liked he'd just won a war or something of equal importance. "As of this moment Ichigo is no longer enrolled in Karakura Highschool."

"What! How exactly does that help my situation?" Ichigo shouted angrily, he wanted to know what right his old man had to remove from his school without even consulting with him first.

"Simple really, this town holds too many memories for you. So I believe it would be best for you to leave for a while, while you sort out yourself out" Isshin said in a moment of logic that he rarely displays.

"Yeah, and just where do you think I should go then?" Ichigo asked still annoyed by his father's previous declaration.

Isshin smirked and reached into his coat pocket and removed a pamphlet of some kind. "To here" Isshin through the pamphlet into Ichigo's face.

Ichigo quickly grabbed the pamphlet so it didn't hit him in the face. While he no longer possessed any spiritual ability's what so ever, all those months of fighting had bolstered his reaction time to near superhuman levels. There was a reason just about every sports team at Karakura High had wanted a piece of him for their team at some point.

The pamphlet seemed to be advertising some private school he'd never heard of before. Some place in a city called Iwatodai. The name of the school was called…"Gekkoukan Highschool…huh"

"That's right. I had to call in a favor somebody owed me, but I have already…" Isshin was interrupted by the pamphlet, crumbled up into a ball, hitting him square in the face.

"I'll pass, I'm fine here you know" Ichigo was halfway getting up when a hand grabbed hold of his arm in an attempt to stop him from moving. It was Yuzu trying to stop him from leaving the room.

"Ichigo listen, never me or Karin want you to leave, but this is for your own good" Yuzu had an expression on her face that could only be described as a mixture of about to cry and annoyed, an expression she showed as much as Karin cried.

"Even you're all for this" He couldn't believe Yuzu was taking his old man's side. He thought she'd be the one most vocal about Ichigo staying. "What about you Karin. What do you think I should do?"

"I think you should go Ichigo. Like dad said, everything here is only going to remind you of everything you used to have. I think some time away in another city will do you some good" Her answer surprised Ichigo but it wasn't a shock. Karin was far more mature than her appearance suggested and he had a feeling that would be her answer.

It looks like everyone was dead set on him attending this school. "Hey, old man" Ichigo shouted towards his father who was standing of to the side of the room rubbing his face. "When exactly do I have to leave?"

"In three days, so you bet…" Isshin didn't get the chance to finish his sentence as he was punched right in the face by a very pissed of Ichigo.

"I have to leave in three days and you're only telling me now!" Ichigo shouted at a now crying Isshin as he rocked backwards and forwards on the floor while cradling his broken nose. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"I-I wanted to surprise you" Isshin stuttered as he stood back up on two feat.

"Yeah well I'm surprised. You happy" Ichigo asked rhetorically as he headed upstairs to pack most of his stuff. It was just like his dad to just spring something on him like this at that.

A few days later, after his friends found out he was leaving; they decided to throw him a going away party. Chad, Orihime, Tatsuki, Keigo, Mizuiro and surprisingly Uryu had arrived as well. They understood Isshin's reasoning for sending Ichigo to another city for a while. What surprised them most, was that this was all Isshin's idea to begin with.

"You know, when you mentioned your father was…hyperactive, I thought you were exaggerating quite a bit" Ishida had to admit. He never expected Isshin would have acted this childish. "But actually meeting him…"

"Yeah, that's most people's reaction to meeting him for the first time" Ichigo shrugged, he wasn't going to make any excuses for his old man. "By the way, way did you show up anyway?"

"I wasn't planning on to" Ishida mentioned. "It's just that your father can be very… persuasive"

"He dragged you here didn't he" Ichigo guessed as he slipped on a drink. That would be the only reason as to why Ishida actually decided to show up. The two of them never really got along with each over. But he supposed that had to do with the fact he possessed the powers of a Soul Reaper back then.

"O-Of course not, like I'd allow myself to be manhandled by your father. I came here because the others asked me two" Ishida quickly tried to cover up the truth of what actual happened with the first thing he thought of.

"No we didn't" Keigo shouted from the other side of the room as he was talking to Mizuiro.

Ichigo smirked at Ishida after just hearing Keigo's outburst. "Shut up" he quickly tried to control and prevent Ichigo from making a joke at his expense. He decided to move the conversation into a much more serious topic. "By the way Ichigo, have you ever heard of something called Apathy Syndrome?"

"No I haven't. Is that some kind of new disease or something?" He wasn't lying. He hadn't heard of this disease before then. It was probably because he hadn't really be paying attention to anything lately.

"Technically yes, but no one knows quite sure how it's contracted. I'm only telling you this because as of now, the only city in the world that has this disease is Iwatodai" Ishida said ominously.

"Seriously, figures" Ichigo moaned. It was just like this to happen wherever he seemed to go.

"I have no doubt your father is aware of this, yet he still decided to send you to school in this city regardless of that." Ishida pointed out.

He had a feeling there had to be some reason as to why Isshin was sending Ichigo's to this city in particular. His father, Ryūken, once mentioned something about Ichigo's father, and that was not to underestimate the man. It was clear there was some history between their parents. But what that history pertained to was a complete mystery.

When he first encountered Ichigo in High school and noticed his rather high level of Spirit Energy, he decided to do some research into his family's history. To his surprise, there was mention of a Quincy family with the name Kurosaki. Whether or not that Ichigo's family is what the text was referring to, it would certainly spread some like on the enigma that was Isshin Kurosaki of it was true.

"Doesn't really matter" Ichigo brushed of Ishida's concern for him. "It's not like I'll actually catch this disease or anything."

"But still, you should try to be more mindful of what's going on" Ishida cautioned. Ichigo would have responded to him, if he hadn't seen someone approaching him.

"Yo, what are you guy's talking about?" Tatsuki asked as she walked towards the two of them.

"Not much" Ichigo shrugged. "He's just crying about how much he's going to miss me, that's all."

"No I'm not" Ishida tried to defend himself.

"Hey what are you guys talking about, and why's Ishida shouting?" Mizuiro asked as he, Keigo, Chad and Orihime walked towards the group.

"I'm not shouting" Ishida was getting tired of this. He was only trying to make Ichigo aware of the dangers of where he was heading and know everyone was heckling him. "Forget this…" Ishida had enough and left the room, trying to get away from everyone else.

"What's his problem?" Keigo asked, wondering just what had pissed Ishida of so much that he decided to get away from all of them.

"No idea" Ichigo said innocently enough, trying to feign any accusation that might be thrown his way.

"Well were goanna miss you Ichigo. Nobody was able to keep Keigo inline like you" Mizuiro said, only for Keigo to get a pained look on his face.

"What! What's that supposed to mean?" Keigo shouted. Ichigo chuckled, he was going miss Keigo's usually antics. Even if he didn't admit, Keigo was still a friend of his.

Because of Keigo's complaining that nobody cared about him, he wasn't able to doge out of the way of Tatsuki as she punched Ichigo in the arm.

"Ow, dammit, what the hell was that for?" Ichigo asked, surprised that Tatsuki would punch him for no reason. He was sure he hadn't done anything to piss her of…yet.

"That was for changing schools without telling us" Tatsuki shouted.

Ichigo sighed. Why was everyone shouting at him tonight? "Hey I didn't even know about it until the other day. So if you want to have a go at somebody then take your anger out on the bastard in the corner over there" Ichigo pointed to his father who was currently in the corner of the room, tied to chair, gagged and blindfolded so he couldn't speak or move.

"I already did before. Remember" Tatsuki was referring to about half an hour ago when Isshin suggested she and Orihime should sleep with Ichigo as a going away gift. Surfeit to say, he wasn't exactly in the state of mind to say much after that. Or walk for that matter either.

"Yeah…I'm trying to forget that conversation ever happened" Ichigo said as he rubbed the sides of his head. Over the years, he'd gotten accustomed to his old man saying stupid and embarrassing shit, so he really should have seen something like this coming from miles away.

"So Ichigo, how long are you planning on staying at this school for?" Orihime asked curious. Like the other's she knew Ichigo wasn't really happy at the moment. They all agreed that Ichigo leaving Karakura Town for a while was the best solution for him.

"I don't know, a year probably" Ichigo shrugged. He really didn't know himself. He thought he'd just see how it goes for a while and make a decision at a later date.

"I think you should stay for as long as you feel is needed, Ichigo" Chad said.

"You think?" Ichigo asked. Chad had always been good at reading people and figuring out there emotions. He was probably the first person to realize how miserable he really was.

"That's right. You should stay as long as you want. After all, I've already taken care of everything. So you should be grateful towards me for everything I've done for you" Isshin said proudly with so much enthusiasm, it was almost suffering.

"…How'd you get out of the chair?" Ichigo asked the number one question that was on everyone's mind currently.

"Nonsense" Isshin shouted at the top of his lungs. "No amount of ropes can hold your amazing father now."

Ichigo kicked Isshin in his stomach sending him to the floor crying. "Will you be quiet. It's nine a clock at night and your goanna wake the neighbors again" Ichigo complained. "I'm goanna step outside a minute. I think I have a headache coming on again."

Ichigo ignored his father crying about how his own son didn't love him as left the house for a minute. Tonight was one annoyance after another, all thanks to his old man. The prospect of leaving Karakura Town was looking better every second, since he would be miles away from his old man.

"Well I see your father is as lively as ever" a voice came from just beside him. It was a man that most would probably assume to be a bum of some kind. It was a blond haired man wearing a striped bucket hat, a green robe and pants, a black haori, clogs on his feet and wielding a cane. These features all belong to Karakura's resident candy shop owner and all around annoyance, Kisuke Urahara.

"Huh, what are you doing here, Hat and Clogs?" he was surprised to see Kisuke here. It's not like he invited him or anything. Word probably got out he was having a going away party, and knowing Kisuke, he was probably going to show up even if no one invited him.

"What! Can't I come see you before you leave tomorrow?" Kisuke asked, looking hurt that Ichigo hadn't even invited him to the party.

"Sure I guess. It's just that I haven't heard from you in several months" Ichigo said. He hadn't seen Kisuke since he awoke from his coma after using the Saigo no Getsuga Tenshou. So why was he now?

"Well I've been busy helping the Soul Society mop up the rest of Aizen's Arrancar's. It was probably less time consuming dealing with Aizen himself than the amount of time it's taking to clean up after him" Kisuke complained. Although most of the time, Kisuke was occupied with other things he didn't wish Ichigo to know about, so he just lied to him.

"Is that so" Ichigo sighed. He didn't really want to know what Kisuke was up to. Because no doubt it would bring up memories he would rather not think about. Ever that or he was probably of doing something illegal. He'd put his money on the latter. "So why are you hear? And this time I want the truth."

"Well I came here to give you your going away present" Kisuke smirked as he pulled out a phone from one of the packets in his haori. He throw it towards Ichigo who caught it without any problem. It was a smartphone. Probably a better version of the same one he already had. Ichigo took one look at it and deduced Kisuke had probably modified it for some reason. It's the only reason why Kisuke would give him something like this. He was kind of annoying like that.

"So what did you do to it?" Ichigo asked.

"What makes you think I've done anything to it to begin with?" Kisuke questioned. Why did Ichigo always question him? Couldn't he ever do anything without people questioning his every motive?

"You never give away anything without making some sort of motive or modification to it. So I'm goanna ask again, what did you do to it?" Ichigo asked with his trademark scowl. Knowing Kisuke it was probably a gag gift. One that explodes in your face the moment you turn it on.

"Nothing I promise" Kisuke said while hiding his face behind his fan. Because of that, Ichigo couldn't determine what his facial expressions were really saying about him at that moment.

"Right" Ichigo said sarcastically while he pocketed the phone. Looking back, Kisuke never did anything without a reason behind it. And he doubted giving him a phone was part of some big master plan or something.

The rest of the night went by un-eventfully, besides the occasional embarrassing outburst from Isshin that was. The next day his family and friends gathered to see him off at the train station. From what his father told him, he would have to get another train at the next stop that would take him the rest of the way.

He had already put on his new uniform that was already waiting for him. It was pretty simple. A black blazer and pants and a white shirt. The only part of it that he wasn't wearing was the stupid string tie. No way was he wearing that thing, it looked ridicules in his opinion.

"Don't' worry Yuzu, Karin, I'll be fine. I'll make sure to stay in touch" Ichigo reassured his sisters that he was going to be okay and that he would try to keep in contact with him.

"I'm not worried" Karin reassured Ichigo. "I just wish you would take him with you" Karin gestured towards his father.

"I can't believe my own daughter wants to get rid of me" Isshin cried, looking betrayed at the thought of his own flesh and blood was trying to get rid of him.

"Can't say I'm going to miss him much" Ichigo said sarcastically at his father's expense.

"I'd tell you to be careful, but I'm sure you already know that" Ishida said in usual caring way.

"Didn't expect you to actually show up" Ichigo admitted. Ichigo looked at Keigo and Mizuiro. "No one dragged him here this time did they?"

"No. Actually he was here before any of us" Mizuiro pointed out. When he and Keigo showed up at the station, the only person they recognized there was Ishida.

"S-Shut up" Ishida quickly tried to cover up his outburst. "Besides, not showing up would have probably been considered rude."

"Hey Ichigo try not to put to many thugs in the hospital while you're there, your dad can't bail you out while you're in another part of the country" Tatsuki called out. "That kind of thing tends to give people the wrong impression about you." It was true, most people at Karakura High were wary of the orange haired teen because of his tendency to attract trouble from local delinquents. Because of that he had a reputation as a trouble maker and a delinquent. His natural orange hair didn't help matters either.

"Don't blame me if someone try's attacking me" Ichigo saw the need to defend himself. He had never once gone looking for a fight. Most of the fights he got into where either caused by idiots trying to bully him or idiots bullying others in his sights.

"She kind of has a point Ichigo" Keigo pointed out. He remembered his first day of highschool and how terrified he was when he learnt he was going to the same school as Ichigo and Chad. Later on he found out they were actually nothing like the rumors had mentioned them to be.

"Yeah, I'll keep that in mind." Ichigo said.

"Try to stay safe Ichigo" Orihime said in her usual bubbly voice. The orange haired healer never liked seeing her friends hurt. So it was natural for her to say something like this.

"Don't worry I will. Besides what could I possibly get up to anyway" Ichigo mentioned. He unfortunately no longer had any of his powers, which acted as a magnet for trouble to begin with, so there wasn't much he could get up to anyway.

"Please try to stay out of trouble Ichigo. I don't think your sisters would appreciate you going to a new city and falling back into your old ways" Chad said, worried that Ichigo might find himself in trouble somehow.

"Why is everyone worried I'm going to get into some kind of trouble" Ichigo questioned everybody present. Everyone there shared a look between themselves.

"That's because trouble always seems to follow you Kurosaki" Ishida said, pointing out something he thought was obvious.

"He does have a point Ichigo. Most of the time you were involved with whatever trouble was plaguing the town." Chad had to agree with Ishida on that one. Trouble always seemed to have a certain interest in one orange hared individual.

"Yeah well I don't think that's going to happen anymore" Ichigo would have continued on, but the sound of the train arriving made it almost impossible to think. "Well looks like this is it. I'll see you guys around."

Everyone said there goodbye's to Ichigo as he boarded the train. As the train departed from the station, he took one last look back at the people he was leaving behind. He wouldn't see them for a while, but like they said, that town had too many memories for him currently. Going to school in another city was probably for the best and they all agreed on that. Ichigo stowed his luggage in the overhead compartment and took a seat while flicking through the phone Kisuke gave him the other day.

Looking back, he hoped nothing actual happened to him. His friends were right about one thing; trouble always did have a way of finding him sooner or later. He just hoped it happened later that sooner in his opinion.

April 6th 2009

Iwatodai Station

The sound of the train slowing down broke Ichigo out of his thoughts, it looked like he was almost at his destination.

"Attention passengers…We sincerely apologize for any delays we might have caused you…if you have any complaints please…" Ichigo ignored the rest of the guys' massage as he noticed the train was coming to a complete stop.

"Well, looks like this is it" he thought to himself. Ichigo picked up his luggage from the floor and made his way towards the front of the train. Ichigo pulled out a piece of paper out of his pocket as he made his way off of the train. It was showing him the directions to the dorm he would be staying at.

From the glass hole in the ceiling of the station, Ichigo realized it must be the middle of the night. He pulled out his phone to check what time it was, it turned out it was almost midnight. Sighing at what time it was, Ichigo put his phone away and carried on walking out of the station. Then it happened. All the electricity in the station went out, and everything went silent. No sound of machines running and no sound of any panicked voices. Just absolute silence.

"A power outage! Seriously" he thought out loud. No, that wasn't it. It wasn't just the power, there were no emergency lights either, and they would usually switch on in the case of a blackout. But more importantly, there was none of the typical pancaking you would normally expect when the modern world was inevitably brought to a grinding halt.

Ichigo quickly looked around and came to the realization as to why he didn't hear anybody else. That was because he was the only one really there to begin with. The people that were walking behind him and to the side of him were replaced by black coffins standing upright.

"What the fuck is going on" Ichigo couldn't help but swear. Sure he'd seen some odd things in his life, but how was anyone meant to respond to something like…this? All he could do now was leave the station and head out into the city.

April 6th 2009

Iwatodai

The city was no different either. Actual it was far more disturbing out here than it was inside of the station. The entire city seemed to be bathed in a green glow. The white glow of the moon, now replaced with a sickly green hue, blanketed the city almost depressingly, and most disturbingly of all, a lot of the ground was covered in puddles of blood. A fountain that he had just passed by had a pool of blood in it. It was like somebody had converted the entire world's water supply into blood or something!

Ichigo couldn't help but think that this was all one elaborate joke somebody was playing on him. Not even five minutes had passed in this new city and already something was fucked up.

"I fucking swear the universe just hates me" Why was it always him and not somebody else, why not Ishida instead. He was born with spiritual energy, and he still possessed it. So why was it that the universe seemed to have designated him as its resident bitch? Ichigo decided to check what time it was again, mostly out of comfort really than any real obligation to check what time it was.

Thankfully his phone still worked when nothing else did. It was those small things in life that can brighten up any depressing situation. The clock on his phone said it was exactly midnight. He was sure several minutes had already passed in between when he last looked and now. With nothing better to do, Ichigo decided to head on to this dorm he would be staying in for the next year or so.

While following the directions laid out on the map he was given, he couldn't help but think back to what that fortune teller, Philemon was saying earlier. "It seems that you'll no doubt encounter a great mystery at your destination" Philemon's voice echoed through his mind. Was this the mystery he was talking about?

As he was walking, he couldn't help but be reminded of Hueco Mundo. The eeriness of where he currently was remained him to much of that dimension. It was because of the absolute silence that they both had in common. Both of them lacked any human presence what so ever or the typical sounds of life in modern day Japan. Ichigo couldn't help but think, was he the only person not in a coffin right now? And why was it that he had never experienced this before? Was this strangeness limited to this specific city or anywhere else and why?

Right now Ichigo couldn't answer any of those questions that were plaguing his mind. All he could do was hope that whatever was going on ended soon.

After a while Ichigo made it to the dorm. At least he thought it was the dorm. It matched the picture and the address on the paper he had, so it must be it. Surprisingly, this was the only building that still had the lights on. Ichigo walked up to the door and entered the building.

April 6th 2009

Dorms

The place seemed to be deserted. It didn't look like anyone was here, just to be safe, Ichigo decided to call out and see if anyone was here. "Hey anyone here" he shouted.

"Welcome" a voice called out. Ichigo quickly looked in the direction of the voice. It belonged to a small boy, probably a year or two younger than Yuzu or Karin. The kid was dressed in a black and white striped shirt and pants and blue sandals on his feet. He also had black hair, blue eyes and a beauty mark under his left eye. The kid's outfit kind of reminded him of the uniform inmates used to wear in prison decades ago. "Your late you know. I've been waiting a long time"

The kid's word's made Ichigo feel like an asshole. Here he was complying about his problems when this ten year old kid was awake at midnight waiting for him to show up. "Sorry about that. There was a delay with the train" Ichigo sheepishly apologized to the kid. He didn't know whether or not to mention everything that was going on outside. For now, he thought it would probably be best to keep that information to himself.

"That's fine. But if you want to proceed you're going to have to sign a contract" the boy gestured to the counter just to the left of where Ichigo was currently standing. The boy walked over to it and opened it up, showing Ichigo the contents of the contract. "Don't worry about it, all it says it that you will accept full responsibility for your actions. You know, the usually stuff."

Ichigo walked over towards the counter where the contract laid. "I thought that my old man already took care of all the school related stuff?" Ichigo asked confused, he was never told he had to sign a contract himself. He never did at his old school anyway. Maybe it was different.

"This one has to be signed by you exactly. No else is allowed to sign their name" the kid spoke as Ichigo picked up a nearby pen and read through the contract.

It looked pretty standard and there was nothing odd written in it. The only thing that stood out about it was the line that said "I choose this fate of my own free will." Was it saying that no matter what he did, he couldn't blame anyone else except himself? That seemed fair enough. He didn't think he had ever blamed anyone else for his problems in his life before, and he certainly wasn't going to start now anyway. Ichigo quickly signed his name on the contract and handed it to the boy.

The small boy took hold of the contract and held it close to his chest. "No one can escape time. It delivers us all to the same end" the boy spoke ominously as the shadows of the room began to cover him. "You can't plug your ears and wish it will go away" the boy chuckled as he disappeared into the darkness. "And so it begins…"

Yet again he was alone in the room, and now confused as to what the hell just happened. "I can never have easy life, can I" Ichigo complained to himself. In hindsight, the fact that he even encountered somebody when everybody else seemed to be in those coffins should have made him suspicious. Maybe it was because he was just tired and not thinking straight. He was about to complain some more until he was interrupted by someone.

"…Who's there?" another voice rang out. This time it belonged to a girl. Probably around his age if he had to guess from her appearance. She had shoulder length brown hair and brown eyes. She was wearing a pink cardigan over what he assumed was her school uniform. She had a very short skirt and knee high socks. But the most striking feature about her was the gun strapped to her right thigh. The gun she was about to reach for.

Admittedly Ichigo had very little to no experience dealing with people that had guns. Either because the thugs he occasionally ran into weren't connected enough to get their hands on weapons like that. Or the other type of people he used to deal with, who were simply too fast to be hit by a bullet, and too strong for a bullet to even be able to penetrate there skin. But that didn't mean he was helpless.

If it came down to it, he might have to somehow disarm her somehow. Given her current stance, Ichigo couldn't help but notice she was scared. It looked like she'd never used that weapon before. That evened the odds a bit in his favor. He was no expert in firearms obviously, but he knew quite well that any weapon in the wrong hand's in more likely to hurt the wielder than the one on the receiving end.

But before Ichigo could put any plan into action, another voice rang out. "Takeba wait!" the voice that called out seemed to have calmed the girl down. It seemed to have come from some redhead. As soon as she walked into the room, the electricity came back on. Did that mean all that weirdness outside was over? Too bad he couldn't go out and check right now.

"I didn't think you'd arrive so late" the redhead said to him. Getting a better look now the power was back on, the girl had long red hair that covered a portion of her face and obscured her left red eye. She wore a white school shirt with a red bow and was wearing a knee length skirt with high heels. Ichigo was starting to get the impression that this school was relatively lax with its dress code considering what these two girls were wearing.

"Sorry about that, the train was running a bit late" Ichigo explained to the redhead. He supposed he should be thankful for the fact that if she hadn't shown up just then, then he might have had to try to disarm that girl somehow.

"That's fine. These things tend to happen now and then" the redhead said understandingly. "My name is Mitsuru Kirijo. I'm one of the students who lives in this dorm" Mitsuru said, putting a name to a face.

"…Who's he?" the crazy gun girl asked Mitsuru, probably wanting to know just who the hell he was.

"His name's Ichigo Kurosaki. He's the transfer Student I told you about. It was…a last minute decision to assign him here. He'll eventually be moved to a room in the boy's dorm" Wait, boy's dorm. Then what the hell was this. Wait don't tell me it's…

"Wait a minute, don't tell me this is the girl's dorm or something" Ichigo blurted out. Damn you old man. He just knew something like this was going to happen. It was just like that perverted basted to pull something like this. Favors my ass….

"What! No it isn't, but I can understand your confusion. This is a coed dorm" Mitsuru cleared up that little understanding. Ichigo really needed to stop blaming these little misunderstandings on his father. But given his father's tract record, he was bound to be right one of these days.

Mitsuru gestured to the brown haired girl standing next to her "By the way, this is Yukari Takeba. She'll be a junior this spring, just like you"

"…Hey" Yukari said almost uncaringly. He was starting to get the feeling she didn't care much for his presence here. We'll if she wanted to play awkward so could he.

"Hey. Quick question, why do you have a gun? Just seems strange for a random teenage girl in this country to be walking around with a gun" Ichigo asked, just waiting to see what kind of answer he got.

"Um, well it's sort of a hobby" Yukari quickly thought up an answer. "We'll not a real hobby but…"

"Hey don't worry, it's cool. Some people have weird hobby's, it's you know, totally normal" Ichigo said in the most deadpanned voice he could muster.

"…Thanks, I think" Yukari couldn't help but notice that this guy was kind of messing with her. Probably because from his perspective, she almost shot him before. So she decided to let him of this time.

"It's getting late, so you should probably get some rest. Your room is on the second floor at the end of the hallway. Your things should already be there" Mitsuru said as she pointed toward the stairs.

"…Oh, I'll show you the way. So follow me" Yukari offered to show him the way to his room. It wasn't like he couldn't have found it himself; the redhead already told him where it was. But I guess he shouldn't turn down her hospitality right after meeting her.

"Sure lead the way" Ichigo said as he picked his back of the floor and followed Yukari up the stairs to the next floor. There seemed to be six rooms on the second floor and a small area with a table and vending machine near the stairs. Yukari took him to the door at the far end of the hallway. His room was the one at the fair end of the hallway on the right-hand side.

"So this is it. Pretty easy to remember right" She gestured to the door.

"I think I can remember where my own room is" Ichigo mentioned. Seriously, what did this girl take him for, an idiot? Just who in their right mind would forget where there room was. Well besides somebody who was drunk that was.

"Hey stranger things have happened" Yukari shrugged. "So do you have any questions you'd like to ask?"

Several actually, but he decided to stick with the one that was bothering him the most. "There was some weird kid back in the lobby, made me sign some sort of contract. Know anything about that" It was a long shot, but since she seemed to awake when everyone else was in a coffin, he thought she might have seen him before.

"What kid? What are you talking about? There aren't any kids that live here" Yukari answered almost visually scared for some reason. Did she know something, or was she just scared at the prospect of some mystery kid?

"You know what. Just forget I asked" Ichigo sighed as he took a hold of the doorknob. He was about to enter his room, but before he could, Yukari spoke to him.

"Hey, did anything strange happen to you on your way form the train station" Yukari asked, getting Ichigo's full attention.

"What do you know about that" Ichigo spoke in his most serious tone while glaring at her. He might as well see what she knows about what just happened outside before.

"No-nothing, it doesn't matter. I-I'll see you tomorrow then. Goodnight" Yukari panicked when Ichigo asked her that. She didn't know how to respond to his answer. So all she could do was walkway and see what Mitsuru thinks.

"Goodnight, I guess" Ichigo said as he watched Yukari walk away, no, better make that ran away. Maybe that wasn't the best idea he ever came up with. If she really did know something, then she'll now doubly tell that redhead friend of hers that he knew something was up.

"I'll deal with it tomorrow" Ichigo said as he entered his new room. It was pretty basic, a sink near the door, a desk near the window and a bed in the corner. After everything that happened today, Ichigo just wanted a goodnight's sleep for a change. He hadn't realized just how tired he really was up until now. He didn't bother even changing out of his uniform. He just fell right on the bed and fell blissfully asleep, unaware of the conversation that was currently going on right now.

"So, did you find anything out?" Mitsuru asked as she slipped on a cup of tea she made while Yukari was escorting Ichigo to his room.

"He defiantly knows about the dark hour" Yukari confirmed her suspicions about him. Mitsuru thought this was the case, but now she had actual proof, not just wild theories.

"I already had my suppositions about him, but the fact he arrived at the dorm during the dark hour proves he has the potential" Mitsuru said.

"How come you were already suspicious about him? We only just met him" Yukari wondered. Sure he appeared during the dark hour, which was one thing. But what else did she know about him.

"Remember when I said that it was a 'last minute decision' to place him here in this dorm" Mitsuru used air quotes to get here point across.

"Yeah" Yukari remembered back to there earlier discussion with Ichigo.

"I lied" Mitsuru said surprising Yukari in the process. "In actuality, it was my father's decision to place him here" she said uncomfortably.

"Why would he do that? Does he know he can see the dark hour?" Yukari asked confused.

"I don't know. There's quite a lot my father still hasn't told me regarding the dark hour" Mitsuru said in an unsure voice.

"So there's stuff even she doesn't know" Yukari thought. She had her own suspicions regarding Mitsuru keeping secrets from her, but know it turns out her own father was keeping secrets from even her! Did her entire family not trust anyone or something?

"Hey, I'm back" a young man walked through the door looking tired. He was wearing some variation of the school uniform, with a red vest over a white shirt and black pants. Oddly enough he had silver hair of all things and a bandage over his left eye.

"Ah, Akihiko, your back" Mitsuru smiled as Akihiko closed the front door behind him and walked towards the two girls siting by the table. "I thought you would've been back sooner" she wondered.

"Sorry about that. I didn't run into any shadows while I was out, so I waited around until the dark hour ended to grab some ramen" Akihko apologized, as he rubbed the back of his neck. "So, anything happen while I was away?"

"Why yes. It seems our potential new member arrived while you were away" Mitsuru said, to Akihiko's astonishment.

"Seriously! At this hour" Akihiko said surprised.

"He said the train was running late" Mitsuru explained. "But more importantly, he arrived during the dark hour."

"Really? So your theory about him was right after all" Akihiko smirked at the prospect of recruiting a new member for the group. "So, do you plan on explaining everything to him?" Akihiko asked.

"Not right now" Mitsuru shook her head as she replied. "We'll continue to observe him some more to see if it wasn't a fluke. After that, then we'll see if he can actual summon a persona."

"Cool. I'm tired so I'll see you two tomorrow then" Akihiko waived behind him as he headed up stairs to his room.

"I'm going to go to bed as well Senpai" Yukari said as she headed of the bed as well.

"Of course, goodnight you two" Mitsuru said as she continued to drink her tea. And reflect on what happened today. Or more specifically she was thinking about their new transfer student in particular.

She was surprised to hear from her father the other day that he was sending somebody to their dorm. Somebody he believed could be of use to them. There really wasn't anything out of the ordinary about Kurosaki. The only odd thing about him, is that between the months of May and October last year, he had taken a substantial amount of time off from school. All though according to his records, that was mainly due to medical reasons with several doctor's backing up these claims.

Despite that though, he still seemed to do well academically, despite the amount of time he had seemed to have taken off. What seemed to stand out the most however, was his father. Isshin Kurosaki. The man, for all intents and purposes, was a complete enigma. It was like somebody had completely erased his entire background, either that or it never existed to begin with, but that was unlikely. She had asked her father to take a look into him, but he had refused to do so. She had no idea as to why her father would have refused, if it was about a new potential member of the group, but she knew he must have his reasons and trusted his judgment. Hopefully it was nothing, but she'd was going to have Takeba take him to school tomorrow. Maybe she could try to get some more information from him.

Well this came out of nowhere. This is mostly something I decided to write on a whim. Doesn't mean I won't put much effort into it, but don't expect to many updates since my life is quite busy at the moment. All though I will try to update this story as soon as I have any free time.