Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or anyone of anything from Bleach. It's as simple as that. Everything else, however, is mine. :D

Chapter 1: A New Uniform

My name is Taylor Smithson and I'm 14 years old. Ever since my near-death experience 5 years ago I've been able to sense the spirits of the dead. Ghosts, poltergeists, phantoms-whatever you want to call them. I can't say I've ever seen one, but when one's nearby I get a strange feeling, like a cold chill running up and down my spine, and I often hear strange noises in the middle of the night. Not that I've ever stayed in one place long enough to find out what exactly I'm sensing or hearing. My mom hasn't been able to hold a steady job in years so we move around a lot. But, after our most recent move…well let's just say things are about to get a little weird.

…

"Remember, it's a gray jacket and skirt with a red bow"

"Yea, yea mom. I got it."

"Don't forget the bow!"

"Alright mom! Enough already! I got it!" I swear that woman's trying to kill me. She just keeps nagging all the time. I'm not deaf. I do hear what she says the first time. Just most of the time I choose not to act on her initial instructions.

This is third school uniform I've had to buy since I started high school. Why? Because, we've moved to three different towns. And I'm only in 9th grade. Needless to say, none of those uniforms, including this new one, are brand new. My mom spends most of the money she makes on booze, so it's the thrift shop for me. It's also the reason why my mom gets fired and we have to move every 6 months or so. No employer is going to pay an employee who comes to work either drunk or hung-over every other day.

As I walk down the busy city sidewalk I notice that my bangs have gotten free from under my hat. Irritably I shove them back up. I don't look Japanese with my blonde hair (naturally blonde I'm proud to say) and blue eyes but I've lived in Japan all my life. However, my appearance often attracts weird looks, so I do my best to avoid inviting extra attention.

I pause on the street corner, standing on the edge of the curb to keep from being jostled. Glancing up and down the busy street I spy a thrift shop.

"Finally…" I mutter as I join the throng of humanity in the crosswalk.

…In a park across town…

A feral roar split the silence of the empty park, the bird songs having stopped long before. A much more human roar followed as well as a shout of "Look out!"

"Ichigo stop fooling around! We don't have a lot of time to waste here!" Rukia was on the verge of an angry meltdown as Ichigo was forced to retreat, again, without being able to get a shot in.

"Well if you're such a big hurry you can come over hear deal with this damn Hollow!" Ichigo replied irritably. He was pissed that he had yet to even put a scratch on the Hollow and Rukia's impatience was not helping his mood. "Why the hell are you in such a hurry anyways? Do you have a bunch of homework to do or something?"

"I do actually, but that's not the point. Two more Hollows have appeared in much more populated areas. We need to deal with them quickly."

"Damn it." Ichigo swore under his breath as he charged the Hollow again, zanpakuto raised high. This Hollow was particularly ugly. Shaped like a lizard, it had six legs, each ending with three long, sharp toes, and a long tail. It was very large, easily 20 feet from nose to tip, and it was also very fast. The mask that covered the fallen soul's human face was strangely elongated, making its face look very pointy and adding to its lizard-like appearance.

Ichigo roared again as he brought his zanpakuto down with intent of slicing the Hollow's head in two. The Hallow backed away in time and Ichigo missed, burying his zanpakuto in the ground. Ichigo tugged at the sword so he could attack again and realized that it was stuck. He began to pull more frantically, knowing he was completely open to attack.

"Come…on…!"

The Hollow roared again, as if it was going to strike, but it suddenly disappeared, fading away into the bleak world, the Hueco Mundo, that was the Hollow's home between the Living World and the Soul Society. Ichigo stood blinking stupidly for a second before Rukia's shout woke him from his surprised daze.

"What are you waiting for Ichigo? We've gotten a reprieve, but we needed to be across town 5 minutes ago! Get back in your body and let's go!"

"R-right!" Ichigo pulled his zanpakuto out of the ground and sheathed it, racing to join Rukia. However, he couldn't help but think that it was extremely suspicious that the Hollow had retreated right when Ichigo was most vulnerable.

There's something not right here. Ichigo thought as he and Rukia left the park and sprinted towards downtown. That Hollow's up to something and I'm afraid that we're going to find out what sooner rather than later.

…Back across town, and hour or so later…

It is late afternoon, the setting sun casting long shadows and bouncing off the river that runs through the edge of town. I pause to look down the long, grassy slope that runs from the road down to the concrete that lines the streambed. The river is awash with gold, the sunlight reflecting off the water so brightly that I can't help but wish I had sunglasses.

"So this is home for now is it? I guess it's not so bad." I glance at my watch, nearly dropping the thrift store uniform in the process. 5:12. I better get home. Maybe I can catch my mom before she heads for the nearest bar and convince her to stay home tonight.

…

"I just know I'm gonna get lost tomorrow," I pant, pausing to regain my breath at the top of yet another stair case. This town is full to bursting with stairs. It's a nice town, but seriously, come on!

The neighborhood our new apartment is in is actually quite pleasant. Clean and seemingly safe, the only problem is the five staircases. Our apartment complex is set on top of a steep hill that overlooks the river and the road that runs parallel to it. The road then winds its way back and forth up the hill to empty out in the complex parking lot. I suppose I could walk along the road to get to the top of the hill, but it would take twice as long as climbing the five sets of stairs that connect each winding section of road as it ascends the hill. It's faster to drag my ass up each step, but why does it have to be stairs? Why couldn't they have put an escalator in? Or an elevator? Yea, an elevator would be nice.

I've reached the top of the third flight of steps. "Just two more left," I heave. Even though it's the middle of spring and the air has started to get chilly with the sun gone, I'm drenched in sweat. "I'm sooo out of shape," I groan, slinging my newly bought (bought being the key word) uniform across my shoulder and heading across the street to resume my climb.

As I reach the middle of the road I hear indistinct shouting and the sound of feet pounding on the road higher up the hill. Before I can register what is happening someone comes whipping around the curve in the road running, faster than I would have thought possible, towards the river. Unable to slow their momentum (if they even noticed I was there) the person slams into me and we go down, rolling several hundred feet down the steep incline until friction brings us to an unceremonious stop.

"What the hell?" My head is pounding from the little "trip" down the hill. My uniform is laying in a crumpled heap farther up the hill, my hat a little further down having been knocked from my head. I'm bleeding from several cuts and scrapes and I am definitely going to feel my bruises in the morning. The person, no the boy, who ran into me doesn't seem to be in much better shape. That's when I realize the he's still laying sprawled on top of me.

"Get off!"

"Gladly," the boy groans and complies. Now that he is standing, rubbing his obviously painful skull, I can get a better look at him. He is tall, about a head taller than me, somewhere around my age, and has bright, orange hair. I raise my eyebrows. Something tells me that he is not your typical teenage boy. He is also quite attractive I notice, blushing faintly. For the time being, however, he seems to have forgotten me. Yea right. Like I'm gonna let him get away with that!

"Hey you jerk! What the hell was that about?" I shout, scowling. He looks down, his expression slightly dazed. His mind is clearly somewhere else.

"Oh. Sorry."

"Sorry? Is that all you can say?" I push myself up, ready to get in his face about our little "accident".

I'm interrupted as a short, black-haired girl runs by. "What are you doing Ichigo? Let's go!" Then she is gone, darting around the next bend.

"Coming!" he answers and begins to take off after her.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going? You jerk! You owe me a new uniform!" I pause, glancing back up the road as a gentle breeze blows my hair into my face, reminding me of its color. "And I new hat!" But I'm too late. Even the sound of his footsteps on the road has faded. "You bastard! Get back here!" Now it seems I'm only ranting to the darkening sky. I'm definitely not gonna forget that guy though. Ichigo was it? Well, I will make him pay. He owes me a new hat dammit!

Author's Note:

Thank you for reading the first chapter of "The Natural Blonde". I hope you enjoyed it!

This is my first Bleach fanfic, as well as my first multi-chapter fanfic (I wrote a FMA one shot lost November, It's titled "A Son's Love" if you're interested). I'm not entirely sure where this one is going yet because I haven't gotten very far into the anime or manga yet. I do plan to make it quite long though. I have many ideas of what I would like to happen but they all could change depending on what actually happens in Bleach, because this story is set inside the actual anime/manga. I will, of course, change things around to suit my purposes and those of my character, but the basic plot of Bleach will remain (however, my plan is to only follow it until the end of the Soul Society Arc).

As for my actual writing…if I made any catastrophic mistakes please correct me! And reviews are always appreciated, but I will not demand them.

So, once again, I hope you enjoyed my story and I hope you look forward to Chapter 2: The (Weird) Morning After!

imagination junkie