Disclaimer: Bleach and all its characters belong to Kubo Tite.


Strange Occurrences in Karakura

Chapter 1

The Mission


Lieutenant of the10th Division, Hitsugaya Tōshirō, was standing on a pole in the middle of a town called Karakura. It was a long time since he had been to the world of the living. Normally, they wouldn't send a lieutenant on a mission like this, but the situation had called for an exception. Strange things were happening in this town. All the Shinigami who was stationed in Karakura Town before him had mysteriously died. It had been going on for months.

They had had a Captains Meeting about it, and decided to send a higher-ranking officer to investigate. Matsumoto-taichō had told him about it. They hadn't planned on sending a lieutenant, but Hitsugaya had (for some mysterious reason) volunteered. He wasn't sure why he had done it. Unlike his captain, Hitsugaya didn't have any interest in the World of the Living.

And yet here he was. A part of him regretted it – this was quite boring – but another part of him was genuinely curious about the Human World. Everything here was so different from what he was used to in Soul Society. He watched all the people, as they passed by. They all had different things to worry about, unaware of all the trouble in the Spiritual World. Karakura Town was a town with a spiritual activity above average, and yet everything seemed so normal.

It was getting late, and the number of people down on the street was decreasing. Hitsugaya jumped to a rooftop. Nothing out of the ordinary had happened so far. He had been here for a few weeks now, but everything seemed fine. He had come across a couple of average Hollows, but nothing more serious than that. He didn't mind taking care of those. He was a Shinigami after all, even though cutting down Hollows wasn't one of his usual tasks, as a lieutenant.

Hitsugaya jumped to the next building. He didn't bother using shunpo. He wasn't exactly in a hurry. On the contrary, there was nothing he could do right now, other than roaming around town. He couldn't feel any other spiritual pressures in the area anyway, other than his own. At least none worth mentioning. There was a couple of people in this town with lesser spiritual powers, but not many.

The sun was setting and the sky was orange. When he looked up, he could see stars in the sky. He finished his round, before he slowed down and settled on a rooftop nearby the high school. He wrote his daily report, which he sent to Soul Society. Nothing out of the ordinary had happened today either.


Kurosaki Karin walked down the street in Karakura Town. She carried a bag with her, which contained her football. She and her friends had just finished a game. They lost big time. Her team wasn't exactly the best. In fact, she was their best player, and the team they had played against consisted of players as good as or better than her. So it wasn't a surprise that they had lost.

Karin became a student at Mashiba Middle School not long ago, along with her twin sister Yuzu. And of course she had managed to get in a fight with some of the older students. She and her team had reserved the football field, but the older boys didn't care. They decided to play a match about it, and Karin's team lost. So they had to leave.

She didn't know why she had insisted on it. Everyone could see that they were doomed to fail. It just wasn't in her nature to give up. She didn't want to look like a coward, and even though they lost, Karin didn't regret it. After all, it was better than not trying at all. It didn't bother her that they had lost. Playing had been a lot of fun anyway. At least they got to play at all, before they had to leave.

It was getting late, and the sky was coloured orange. She and her friends had parted not long ago, and each went their way. Karin walked another couple of minutes before she spotted the familiar sign saying "Kurosaki Clinic". Her father, Kurosaki Isshin, was a doctor. Not that she could understand how he ever managed to become a doctor. Her father was an idiot.

She went inside and the first thing her father did was to run towards her and shout: "Kariiiiiiin!" An idiot indeed, she thought as she struck him down.

"Karin-chan!" Yuzu said, standing by the stove cooking. After their mother died 6 years ago, Yuzu had been doing most of the chores. "Don't be like that! We were just worrying about you!"

"Well, you don't greet people with the elbow," Karin replied annoyed, referring to the way Isshin had come running with his elbow directed at her face.

"Onee-chan!" another voice shouted. Her little brother Ichigo ran towards her, and she gladly embraced him. While Yuzu had taken the role as a mother, Karin had taken the role as protective older sister. She considered it her responsibility to watch out for her twin sister and younger brother.

"You're late," the nine-year-old said. "Where have you been?" His voice was worried.

"I'm sorry I wasn't home earlier, something came up," she explained, trying to comfort him. Ichigo had only been three when the accident occurred, so he didn't he didn't have many memories of their mother. Still, neither Karin nor Yuzu had been able to fill the hole in his heart. It was hard to say how it had affected him since he was so young, but it definitely had.

Yuzu and Karin had holes of their own. Their mother's death had changed them all. Well, maybe not their father, who still was an idiot. Their personalities had changed. Some would say the twins were opposites. While Yuzu was emotional and varied between cheerfulness and crying, Karin barely showed emotions at all. At least when her family wasn't involved.

Isshin made a disappointed sound. "Why can't Karin show her dad some of that fondness too?" she heard him complain in a rather childish manner. Karin had to fight the temptation to strike him down again.

"I'll be in my room," she said and patted Ichigo's head before she went upstairs. The last thing she saw before the living room disappeared out of her sight was her father crying to the memorial poster of her mother: "Masaki! My daughter hates me! I have failed as a father!" Karin sighed. Why couldn't her father be a little more normal?

She lay down on her bed and stared at the sealing. She was tired. It was late, and the game had drained her for energy. Maybe she would just go to bed without eating supper. Karin sighed and closed her eyes.

Neither Hitsugaya nor Karin experienced any abnormalities that evening. The night passed like every other night would have. It wasn't until the next day things were going to become really bad.


A/N: That was the first chapter! Hope you liked it!

If you are not familiar with the Japanese terms, here are some word explanations:

- ~chan – Japanese honorific, informal

- Onee~ – big sister

- ~taichō – captain

- Shinigami – soul reaper (but I assume you all knew this one)

- Shunpo – flash step