Strawberry Genius Chapter 1: Episode 1: To be a Shinigami, a bleach fanfic

Hey guys. Ok, so I was working on the next chapters for Shingeki no RWBY and Bleach Retold, which would've been done by now if I hadn't hit a writers block for each of them and had to go to work 5 days a week, so I had to put them on hold for a bit. While thinking of ways to use my ideas for my stories in a good way, this kinda popped into my head. Hope you guys enjoy the story!

Inspired by Pokepika's Haunt's Shinigami Death.

Episode 1 - To be a Shinigami.

(District 1 of West Rukongai: Junrinan…)

The autumn sun was warm to the skin as the small village bustled with the noise of a busy day.

As a soft breeze danced across the streets, a small girl, no older than nine at most, sat on the low branch of a weeping willow on top of a hill, her little legs swinging carelessly in the wind as she observed the whole world go by with bored, sea-blue eyes; short, unruly, orange hair that fell to the base of her neck in the back and past her shoulders in the front getting pulled and nipped at by the passing breeze before they finally died down. Coiled around her tiny body was a thick brown belt that held a katana tightly on her back. Expression unchanging as ever, the girl raised her hand up to her face, staring at it in false curiosity before allowing the peach limb to fall limply into her lap again, the soft cloth of her dark gray Yukata resulting in her vacant, unexpressive gaze dropping down to stare at it instead.

"This place is so boring…" she gave a small frown at the town of Junrinan below her.

"Oi!" the girl looked up in barely noticeable surprise at the voice, having not expected for somebody to call out to her. Her eyes landed on the form of a girl with rich brown hair in high pigtails and wide, green doe-eyes; a wide, friendly smile on the girl's face as she waved at her. The 9-year old stared for a moment, hand lifting up in a slow wave as she watched the girl run up to her, almost tripping over her own two feet twice, before she finally reached the base of the giant tree.

"Oi, Oi, Oi! I couldn't help but notice that you were all by yourself." At the statement, the 9-year old couldn't help but quirk an eyebrow in confusion, wondering why such a thing was so important to her that it garnered the attention of a person she had never met before.

"My name's Mariko Cherri. What's yours?" the brunette girl asked; the bright smile still on her face as she stared up at her hopefully. The girl stared at her for a moment before finally to answer.

"Kurosaki… Ichigo" she stated in return, staring in puzzlement. The girl's smile seemed to grow even further in size if possible at the new information, looking almost proud of herself that she had gotten an answer, as if it were some sort of amazing feat that no other could even hope to accomplish.

"Nice to meet you Ichigo-chan!" the girl said, taking a step back to bow in greeting before immediately righting herself just as quickly. She was about to say something else when a voice, this one definitely male in origin, called out the brown-haired girl's name.

"Mariko!" Ichigo looked up, head tilting at the sight of a couple of boys and one other girl running up to them. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh! Hey Toho-kun, Mira-chan, Yuse-kun!" Mariko greeted, turning to smile at the two boys and girl, obviously her friends. "I was just talking to Ichigo-san here."

"Who?" the boy standing to the left with brown hair asked as he stared at the girl as if she had grown a second head, not seeing anybody else here besides them. "Wait. Don't tell me you actually named the tree."

At the accusation, Kisehana hmphed in indignation, crossing her arms over her chest as she turned away with cheeks puffed out in a textbook perfect pout that made Ichigo think of chipmunks more than anything else.

"No! Ichigo-chan!" she said, jabbing a finger up to the low tree branch and subsequently where Ichigo was sitting, in which she raised her hand and gave a 'What's 'Sup' greeting with her trademark scowl. Following the thin limb up, the whole groups' eyes widened in fear as they seemed to recognize her from somewhere, though Ichigo hadn't faintest idea where they might have.

"Mariko" one of the boys began, tone warning as he slowly edged toward the other girl.

"What is it Toho-kun?" she asked the blonde boy in genuine confusion, bewildered by her friend's sudden strange behavior.

"Come on" he said with unease in his voice, pulling at the girl's arm to follow him as they all slowly began to walk away. "W-We should get out of here…" he suggested slowly.

"Huh? Why? Toho-kun, what's the matter?"

"Baka, just shut up and come on!" the other boy, obviously Yuse, snapped at her, helping to get her moving along by pushing her away while the other boy, Toho, pulled.

"O-Okay!" the girl finally agreed, shocked by her friends sudden, very strange behavior and urgency. "I-I guess I'll see ya later! Bye Ichigo-san!" the girl called as she finally disappeared with the rest of her friends.

Ichigo sighed as she watched her go. She knew full well that if the other girl's friends could help it and actually had a say in the matter, then she'd never be seeing that Mariko girl ever again. Ever since she came to District 1 most had given her a wide berth, even the adults.

"Well, I guess it's not that unusual…" she thought as she stared off into the distance for a few minutes before finally leaping out of the tree, landing on the ground with a soft thud before heading in the direction of the village. She was hungry and if she remembered correctly, she probably had enough money to buy a small snack, maybe even a whole loaf of bread if she was lucky.

xxxx

(3 days later…)

People parted like the Red Sea for Moses as Ichigo walked down the dirt road, faces filled with apprehension and even fear as the 9-year old passed them by, some even going so far as to run away.

"Why are they scared of me? It's always been like this. Since as far as I can remember, everyone has always avoided me. I'm not sure why though" she thought with her trademark frown on her face. "I haven't done anything to them."

Eventually she stopped, sandaled-feet having brought her to a local bread store she commonly shopped at, the only place that sold things cheap enough for an orphan to buy with what little money they could gather on their own. "Is it my orange hair? Nah, I've seen a few with the same colour as mine and they fit in just fine. Maybe it's because of that scowl I always have on my face. Is it that? Or is it because I'm not from around here? A stranger from the outer districts that carries a sword everywhere she goes. I guess that's it."

It hadn't long since Ichigo died and was sent to the Soul Society. It's a place where everybody here had died. They're all spirits, given a second chance of sorts, though none of them could remember what their lives were like before arriving here. That was something that had bothered Ichigo ever since she got there.

Also, it may have been a coincidence but more people had been distancing themselves her ever since she had those weird dreams.

She walked up to the counter, digging in her pockets as she pulled out a small cloth bag, opening it to pull out several bronze coins before pointing at a loaf of bread.

"Here you go, kid" the man sitting behind the counter said, trading the loaf of bread for the coins as she proceeded to walk out of the store. The man rudely dumped the coins just a centimeter short of her open hand causing the orangette to 'Tch' in irritation before leaving off in a huff.

Is this how they treat paying customers around here? Just because she was a child doesn't mean he had the right to disrespect her!

The Soul Society is mostly made up of 320 Districts than as Rukongai. It's not the heaven most had imagined, far from it really. But it could be worse. A lot had seen worse, far beyond the 1st District she settled in a week ago.

"I'm just lucky I was able to make it to one of the districts closest to Seireitei" at the thought her eyes drifted over to the huge white walls that lay in the center of Rukongai and its 320 districts. The farther you get from those huge walls, the more dangerous and lawless it gets. The less likely you are to survive. That was where Ichigo ended up and fought tooth and nail to get here. She had to grow up fast because no one was there to protect her.

As her mind began to wander elsewhere, a sudden round of noise drew her attention to the center of the large, dirt road, a small group of four men and a woman walking down the street, unbothered despite the loads of attention, mainly angry, vindictive glares, they were getting. Clad in basically the same black uniform, with only one of them; a short boy that was probably only two or three years older than her with messy, snow-white hair and wearing a white haori, the girl snorted in detest as she recognized the group almost immediately and took a bite out of her bread.

"Shinigami. They live within the walls of Seireitei and usually only come out to either drink themselves silly or hunt down Hollows that snuck into the Soul Society. At least that's what I heard. I think some of them have families living in Rukongai, so they probably come out to visit as well."

Her thoughts were once again interrupted as a fight suddenly broke out between one of the Shinigami, a tall man with strange tattoos and long, red hair pulled up into a ponytail that made him look like a pineapple and a drunk bystander that had probably said something to piss the man off.

"What? You want to say that again you dumbass?!" the redhead hollered loudly, tone challenging as he got in the other man's face without any hesitation.

Ichigo couldn't help but sigh when she realized that the direction she intended to go was the same as where the fight was about to break out. She blinked as her worries were abated when the white-haired kid intervened, eyes glaring at the back of the older man's head in silent warning as he motioned for the group to continue onwards and to ignore the abrasive idiot that had tried to pick a fight he had no chance of winning in the first place. The redhead huffed slightly; looking almost mutinous but otherwise did as instructed, continuing to walk with the group as told.

"What? You think you're better than me?!" the arrogant drunkard yelled out, trying to rile one of them up and coax them into attacking him. When none of them acknowledged his jibe, the man; bulky and almost as hairy as a gorilla, growled in irritation. "Well?"

Again, the man went ignored, none of the Shinigami even turning or pausing slightly to show that they had even heard the man as they walked past Ichigo and continued on. Eye now twitching and fairly close to popping a blood vessel, the man charged at them, fist cocked high in what would be a very sloppy, very poor punch to the back of the head.

"I'll show you!" he called out in anger, fist about to descend on the red man's head, only for the man's eyes to widen in shock as he found himself tripping over Ichigo who had accidently bumped into him. Though this mishap may have saved him a more humiliating defeat by the hands of a much more skilled and experienced opponent.

All of the Shinigami turned back, except the boy. They hadn't expected it when the man landed face first on the ground with a heavy thud. One of the older men in the group, a guy with short, spiky black hair and the number 69 tattooed onto his left cheek, looked towards the commoners, staring at what happened, though his expression dropped from his face as he turned to talk to the white-haired boy.

"Hitsugaya-taicho…" the boy known as Hitsugaya gave him a look that said 'it's time to leave, now'.

He was cut off as the bulky man suddenly stood up, immediately turning to lash out at Ichigo for having tripped him earlier.

"You little brat! Watch where you're going!" the man yelled in anger, immediately reaching out and grabbed her.

"Why don't YOU watch where you're going, fatso?!" she snapped back, as wriggled out of her grip. "Ewww! You reek of booze!"

The enormous man tried to lash out at her when one of the Shinigami grabbed his arm and stopped him.

"You know that's not very nice" the Shinigami, a man with pale blonde hair, stated; tone warning and serious as he easily held off the bigger man's and pushing the brute back. He stared down at the man. "She's just a kid."

He went unheard though as the flush-faced man got his bearings, glaring death at him as his fist curled into a tight fist.

"First the brat gets in my way and now the Shinigami scum is looking down on me" the brute stated with a sneer, as he slowly circled around the Shinigami. The blonde man barely moved an inch from his position; seemingly to keep at least one eye on Ichigo herself as while keeping an eye on his opponent as well. "What does it matter to you anyways? She's just some nameless kid off the streets. Nothin' important."

"That maybe so but that doesn't mean that we'll just sit back and watch while you attack her" the blonde man answered; expression unchanging from its seriousness.

Suddenly and without warning...

"Ichi-chan!" the orange-haired, 9-year old blinked for a few seconds as she recognised that voice.

"Mariko?"

The little bruntte was so fixed on talking to her again that she brushed past the annoyed drunk. The bulky man growled, seeming to lung for the newcomer in an attack of pure and raw strength to satisfy his frustration.

But the attack never hit. A flash of orange shot forward, suddenly taking ahold of the man's arm in a surprisingly strong grip. The redhead gave the fool a death glare sending shivers down his spine.

Exerting more energy than what may have been expected, she only paused for a second before delivering a powerful punch. The force created a shockwave that sent the man cartwheeling over Mariko's head, the man's eyes widening in shock as he suddenly found himself lying on his back and in pain on the other end of the street.

"I can't stand drunk idiots" she commented darkly, as she proceeded to brush the imaginary dust particles from her hands, her arms falling limply to her sides as her whole form appeared to relax once again. "For a big guy you sure are light" Ichigo said as she bent down. "But I've beaten up bigger jerks than you."

"I-Ichigo...?"

It was when hearing Mariko's voice in awe brought her mind back to reality.

She stood back up to notice the stunned silence and shock as she turned to face the crowd of witnesses to the scene. If the masses were afraid of her before, then now they were downright terrified. The Shinigami were also surprised, though the red ponytail also looked amused as well.

Not wanting this kind of attention, Ichigo gritted her teeth before running off without another word to anyone, taking off in the direction of the wall before suddenly turning down an alleyway and disappearing. She missed however, when the blonde-haired man's eyes seemed to widen at something just as she disappeared.

"Um... Guys?" the gloomy guy started. "Is it me or did the amount of reiatsu in the air plummet?"

"Yeah" the red man responsed, for once sounding serious. "I noticed, too."

He was about to go after the little hell raiser before a small hand grabbed his sleeve. "Its fine, Renji" he said, his usual serious voice. "I will take care of this."

xxxx

(That night…)

Ichigo blinked as she forced herself to sit up; at first she thought she was still in the abandoned house she fell asleep in. But then she realized the wooden floor under her was made of glass, noticing this she immediately looked up with her sapphire orbs to appreciate a sea of endless dark sky dotted with twinkling stars and a giant full moon shining down directly above her. It made the glass shine elegantly. When the orangette saw a few clouds among the stars, she detected something odd.

"Are the clouds going up?"

A landscape was of sideways skyscrapers and vertical black skies as far as the eye could see. It was bizarre but at the same time beautiful.

"It's the same dream again" she thought. "W-Where… am I?"

"Ichigo" said girl's eyes widen as she heard a voice echoed. The sound of her name being called, Ichigo turned around, surprised gaze landing on the figure of a middle-aged man clad in black, had ragged hair and yellow sunglasses reflecting the sunlight that was keeping his eyes hidden.

"W-Wha-What's going on?!" the child asked, fearfully. "W-Who are you?!"

"What an odd question. There is nobody in the world who should know me better than you after all" he said, somehow standing on a flagpole sideways. "But then again, this is our first time meeting that you can remember."

"We've met before?" the little redhead, blinked in confusion. "Just who are you?" Ichigo forced herself to say, the man was silent for a few seconds before he opened in mouth to answer.

"My name is… ********" he finished, leaving the strawberry just as bewildered as before.

"What? I can't hear you! What are you saying?!" this response caused the old man to sigh.

"Hm… You are still unable to hear my voice completely" he spoke, as he walked away. "Hopefully you will hear my name soon, Ichigo" he stated seriously before he left.

"Hey, wait! What are you talking about?" Suddenly the jungle of metal and glass began fading, the twilight turning into a black abyss of nothingness.

"Wait a minute-!"

xxxx

"As I thought" Ichigo's eyes opened to the sight of turquoise eyes and pure white hair. Letting out a yelp, the 9-year old almost jumping out of her skin as her brain finally caught up to the fact that there was a stranger in her house. It took her brain only a few seconds longer to realize that she remembered seeing this boy in town. "He's one of those Shinigami guys from this afternoon…"

"This is worse than I thought" the captain voiced, in concern. The girl's brow twitched as her mind registered the fact that the Shinigami from earlier today was currently in her house, as if it was completely normal thing to pop in uninvited and without prior warning at somebody else's home.

The sounding of his voice perplexed and unnerved her by whatever he was talking about. The boy's eyes drifted towards katana next to her and picked it, much to the redhead's chagrin. "Hey! What are you doing?! Put that down!"

Ignoring the girl's continuing protests as though she didn't exist, the Death God unsheathed the blade and studied it with narrowed eyes. Other than its rather large size, the katana looked pretty ordinary with a purple hilt and oval guard with no noticeable distinguished features. But the trained soldier knew there was more to it than meets the eye. "There's no mistaking it. This is definitely a-"

"Give it back!"

"Oof!"

The reaper's thoughts were cut off when the orangette decided to jump him. Latching onto him like a koala to a eucalyptus tree, Ichigo comically tried to get her sword away from the boy in black.

"What are doing?!" he asked, in annoyance. "Unhand me, you brat!"

"No! Not until you gimme back my sword, baka-yaro!" she retorted, with an angry face-fault.

"Just let me go, kid!" the boy bared his fangs. "You don't know what you are dealing with!"

"Who do you think you are threatening me, punk?!" she demanded. "Are you a thief? You better not be or you're gonna get it!"

The kids struggled towards the doorway and out of the house, both throwing insults at each other. It was only until they made their way into the middle of the street that the Shinigami got a decent grip on the little hell-raiser and threw her off.

"What the heck are you doing here any-?" before she could finish she was cut short, the boy locked his cold gaze with her and caused her to fall completely silent, freezing in place.

"Where did you get this Zanpakuto?" he demanded for answer. She shifted a bit under his voice before bringing up the courage to answer.

"I-I'm not sure, really but I didn't steal it that's what you're-" she stopped for a moment, with a couple a question marks appearing. "Wait a minute. What's a Zanpakuto?"

"It's a weapon used only by Shinigami" he answered. "At least it should be."

"Well, I didn't know that until you told me just now" she defended.

The taicho studied the fiery redhead, who wasn't much shorter than him. This was District 1 but he could she wasn't from around here. Her dark blue eyes told of innocence about her but had also experience true battle. Less noticeable were a couple of healed bruises on her cheeks, hands and limbs, suggesting numerous fights in the past. He'd bet his haori she could use her sword to at least defend herself against lowly thugs.

Sick of him staring at her, she asked the question he never answered. "Why are you here?"

"You should get that reiatsu of yours under control, you know" the boy suddenly stated, motion with his head to where a small family lay sleeping in their futon, next-door to her house. "At the way things are going, you may wind up making all the neighbours disappear."

Ichigo's eyes widened as she looked in the direction of the sleeping denizens in their homes, horror coming upon her face as she finally noticed the large, fearsome shadow that resembled a grinning, bull-horned monster. It seemed to slowly be devouring them.

"You-You mean I did that" she whispered in disbelief.

"I'm going to tell you the same thing a friend of mine told me a long time ago: You should become a Shinigami."

"Huh?"

"You don't want to kill everyone around you, right?" this time he spoke in a softer tone, still looking pretty serious, despite his age. "The best way to prevent that is to join the Shino Academy and become a Shinigami. Luckily, for you the new year starts in 3 days." Suddenly he walked forward, digging into his sleeve as he pulled out some sort of bracelet. "Until then, this should keep your reiatsu under control for now but it won't supress it forever" he said, not even giving the 9-year old a chance to object as he placed it around her wrist.

"Why would I join the Shinigami?" Ichigo finally managed to get out without getting interrupted, struggling to keep her voice down, as she glared at the Death God. "I heard some things about you guys when I travelled and to be frank, they don't paint a pretty picture of you lot. I don't want be feared and hated."

The white-haired boy snorted slightly before replying. "You don't want to accidently kill everyone around you, do you? Besides" he suddenly tapped her forehead with his index finger, applying only a small amount of pressure as he pushed her back slightly. "You can hear it, can't you? A voice that refuses to leave you alone, right? Find that voice and you'll learn how to control those unruly powers of yours. The best and quickest way to do that is to join the Shino Academy, don't worry. You'll still be able to see any friends you have in Rukon" the albino hedgehog said, with a surprising small smile on his face as he stood back.

Ichigo sat there stock still now, not even saying a word as she stared at him in wonder and amazement. At her expression, he looked dryly at her as he gave her back her Zanpakuto. This child had so much to learn.

"Food for thought, it's you choice what you do in the end. When a child is strong like you are, they need to learn how to control their powers" the white-haired boy said, drawing her out of her shocked silence.

"H-How did you…?"

"I can just tell. I used to be like you. A kid with too much power and not enough knowledge on how to control it. Take my advice as one who's been through it, join the academy, it'll save you a lot of trouble in the end" he turned away to leave, before looking back. "Oh and by the way. My name is Toshiro Hitsugaya the Captain of the 10th Division."

With that final statement, the little Shinigami left disappearing in a large burst of speed that kicked up a small breeze and caused Ichigo's hair to whip around her slightly before finally settling down again.

"Toshiro… Hitsugaya."

So what do you guys think? If you're wondering why Ichigo has blue eyes in this story well its because in this version its a trademark of the Shiba Clan members, not cannon but why not?

Question for this Chapter: Should I have Kaien survive the hollow attack in this story? Shall I stick to cannon story where he dies or go crazy and write about how his presence will make a difference and how he interacts with Ichigo?

I hope you enjoyed the chapter and thanks for reading! Review, follow and favourite this shit!