I resemble a certain strawberry.

I know nothing of my father... nothing of my mother...

I am Karakura's one and only, Kurosaki Ichiro...

And...

Ichiro Kurosaki
Age: 14
Occupation:

"Ichi! Mornin!" A girl laughed, bending over a teenage boy with a mop of orange hair. The girl had short dark brown hair, and brown eyes, blood covering her left eye and dyed her white scrubs. The room was also white, an empty white room with a small white door to the right. In the middle was a small white table, across the wall was a white bed with a small white window above it, metal bars covering it.

"Morning..." Ichiro scowled, rubbing his eyes and shielding them from the sudden bright, white room. He sat up, his orange spiky hair falling into place. He wore a white long sleeve shirt under his short sleeved white scrub. He also had white sweat pants and white socks.

Ichiro Kurosaki
Age: 14
Occupation: Mental patient.

"Oi, Ayu, what's the news for today?" Ichiro asked, opening his now adjusted eyes. His eyes were a unique violet-blue that seemed to be endless pools. His eyes were large too, and he had fine thin eye brows, resembling a certain bunny loving shinigami. "Today the doctors are out, you'll be off the hook today. Plus Miss Miyoka is working the front desk today! We should go to the park Ichi!" The ghostly girl, Ayu stated, her hands waving about.

Ichiro glanced at the door, then under his bed, carefully fishing out a small wooden item. He pulled it out then examined it. It was an odd square shaped item with a skull in the middle. His father once introduced it to him when he was young, often calling it a 'shinigami badge' whatever that was. "Jin is here today though, so he'll be by to give you your check ups." Ayu said, bringing Ichiro back to reality.

Ichiro was known to be crazy, and talk to the 'dead'. Of course, doctors never believed him. He was picked up at age 9, 4 years after his parents, late Ichigo Kurosaki and Rukia Kuchiki disappeared. He was known to have violent rages, that made his mental illness seem more real, and worry some.
Ichiro thought that his violent fits were just. It's what the doctors deserved for putting him in the mental hospital. So what if he saw and talked to ghosts? All he did was exaggerate it a bit when he was younger... nothing major.

"Mr. Kurosaki. It's time to take your medicine." Jin stated, unlocking the white cell door and entering Ichiro's room. Jin walked in with much hesitance, it was Ichiro Kurosaki after all, he was a legend in the asylum. "Mr. Kurosaki?" Jin repeated as he suddenly saw the teen passed out on the bed. Jin repeated Ichiro's name, but no success. He rushed to the orange haired teen and checked his pulse. The teen was dead. "This is Jin! Kurosaki is dead, repeat Kurosaki is dead. Send the medical team down right away." Jin yelled into his walky-talky.

Ichiro began aimlessly walking around the asylum. Ichiro had used the badge and freed his soul, much to his surprise, he had a sword when it this form. It was a sleek black sword with a black ribbon on the end of the handle (like a black sode no shirayuki mixed with zangetsu) He also now wore a black shihakusho with a brace-like neck accessory. A black X was tattooed across his chest, as well as his wrists, like gloves.

He passed many people, poking random nurses and spooking
them often. Finally Ichiro made it to the front of the building. At the circle desk to the left was a woman with long curly black hair. She looked young and had large bright aqua eyes. Her name was Miyoka and she was the first nurse that ever respected Ichiro and actually took care of him. They became quick friends and spent all day doing silly things like playing games that she had often brought. Ichiro often teased and bullied her for fun, but she always came back no matter what Ichiro scared her with. She had guts, Ichiro liked that fact. During the times when she was working at the desk, Ichiro took the opportunity to leave the asylum in his new ghost form. Doing so, he always left a smiley face on Miyoka's note pad, and sometimes chatted with her by writing on it.

Miyoka shifted her aqua eyes down as she suddenly saw the pen move and float about. A smiley face was drawn poorly and left on the corner of her note pad, she found that it was good to leave her note pad open specifically for when Ichiro came by. "Kurosaki-kun! How are you!?" She smiled sweetly at nothing. "Doing fine. Imma be out for a bit. Alright?" Ichiro wrote on the paper in response. "Of course! Enjoy your time out Kurosaki-kun! Visit again!" She waved cheerfully at the door as she watched it suddenly open. Little did Miyoka know.. Kurosaki's doctor happened to see their little chat.

"Miyoka. Who were you talking to?" The doctor asked, narrowing his eyes. "Oh no one." She replied innocently, closing her notebook quickly. The doctor did not miss this though, he grabbed her notebook and began scrolling through the pages. Almost every page had the same smiley face in the top corner, some with long conversations, some with short. The doctor sighed handing her book back to her and heading to the elevator, before saying one more thing to her before he left. "Kurosaki is dead." The statement was cold, his eyes were cold. It sent chill, and sadness straight to Miyoka. "No! I spoke to him! He isn't dead!" She shouted as the elevator door closed.

"It's cold out Ichi." Ayu said, walking closely behind Ichiro. "Yeah, I guess it's fall out. Snow will probably come soon." He responded, holding his hand out as if to catch imaginary snowflakes. He walked through a park, looking at the grey wintery sky, examining the dying trees. The regularly ugly winter scene seemed overly beautiful to the young Kurosaki as he strolled down the empty streets of Karakura town.

In the distance was a woman with a green sweater and a long jean skirt. She had long light brown hair. Her image was hard to see besides the hair and obvious clothing. She glanced towards Ichiro, but he paid no attention. He was a ghost after all, no one could see him.

Ichigo...
...Ichigo!...

"Kurosaki-kun!" The girl cried out, bringing Ichiro back to reality. His head popped up and he stared at her with a scowl that was all too familiar. He was shocked, someone who could see him, and who knew him! But this shock led him to one instinct - run.

"Kurosaki-kun! Wait! Please!" She called out, but Ichiro didn't stop, he continued, turning down streets and running through yards. Finally he returned to the asylum and ran through the front door, shocking Miyoka as he did so. Shocking her even further was the girl barging through the doors suddenly. "Is there a Kurosaki here!?" The brown haired girl asked between breaths. "Y-yes!" Miyoka replied quickly. The girl's eyes widened and she dashed out the door quickly.

"Urahara-san!" The girl with the light brown hair yelled, dashing through the door of the Urahara store. "Inoue-san! Welcome!" He greeted cheerfully, hiding his smile behind his green fan. The man had sandy blonde hair covered by a green bucket hat, he also wore green robes and sandals, he was accompanied by a wooden cane. "I need to get to the Soul Society!" She cried out, her eyes large and watered, her breath ragged. Urahara looked at her and realized her hurried tone. He quickly turned on his heal and led her down to his famous training basement.

"Captain Hitsugaya! You have some news from Orihime Inoue." A messenger said, using a shunpo to appear before the ice captain then disappear once the message ended. "C-Captain Hitsugaya... it's K-Kurosaki-kun... he's alive!" Inoue stated, her voice shaking with disbelief. Hitsugaya's eyes widened and without waiting, he quickly started towards the First Division.

"Kurosaki Ichigo is alive! Orihime Inoue has seen with her own two eyes, and we shall retrieve him soon!" The Captain-Commander shouted across to the other captains as they stood in their parallel lines. He stomped his cane onto the floor and the captains retreated to their stations to prepare for their journey.

-Human World-

"Kurosaki!" Many nurses gasped as the dead teenage body suddenly shot up. "Kurosaki..." his doctor sighed as he rushed down the hall to meet with the young patient. "Doctor Irye!" Many nurses called as they meet with him and followed him down the hall. "Kurosaki!" He shouted, fire in his eyes as they met with the young boy, who looked like a child who's hand was caught in the cookie jar. "You shall be placed in the padded room along with three straight jackets and no human contact!" It was obvious that the doctor now knew of Kurosaki's escape. But what had really happened? It mind boggled the doctor, but he was going to get to the bottom of the problem.

Ichiro sat in the padded room unable to move as he scowled at the security cameras around him. "Ayu." He whispered, much to his delight, the young spirit appeared next to him, her arms wrapped around her knees. "Ichi... you ok?" She asked him, her eyes large and watery. "Yeah. I need my badge. And I need these jackets off." He replied, his eyes filled with determination. Ayu's eyes also changed as she stood and clapped her hands. "I'll get it Ichi! You wait right here!" She ran off through the wall on her mission.

Ichiro felt like Ayu was his only friend. But he knew she had to move on soon. She was dead after all. He couldn't help but chuckle at how life liked spitting at him. Just as he thought things were going well, life decided to pull away his freedom as if it was a game. A sick game.

Three days had gone by and Ichiro had gotten no sleep. Three days locked in a straight jacket had made his muscles ache. Plus it was impossible to lie down and get comfortable with it on. He knew he had looked pathetic, but he couldn't help it. Finally doctor Irye opened the white padded door and released the orange haired teen. Now back at his regular room, Ichiro happily jumped onto the bed and comfortably fell asleep. The usually hard uncomfortable bed seemed like heaven at the moment.

Ichiro...
Ichigo!
Kurosaki!

Ichiro tossed and turned, his badge held tightly. Ichiro's body finally settled down as he regained consciousness, to his surprise his bed felt amazing for once! His neck, back, or muscles didn't ache! Also much to his surprise, he wasn't in the asylum, it wasn't his bed, and there were millions of eyes watching him. At least that's what he thought. He flung his eyes open and quickly sat up, backing up against the wall, trying to remain as far away as possible.

"Kuro...saki...kun..." Inoue gasped half-heartedly as she noticed the minor differences in the boy. In fact, everyone gasped. The boy was not Ichigo! He looked exactly like Ichigo, besides his eyes and the small difference of eyebrow. "Wh-who are you?" Ichiro asked quietly, his voice shaking with uncertainty. "Who are you?" Man did this boy look like Ichigo, heck he even sounded like Ichigo! The scowl was identical, it was shocking. It left the Captains speechless. "Forgive us. We're the 13 guard squads of protection. We are shinigami." The 13th captain, Ukitake explained briefly. "Protection?" Ichiro muttered, his voicing sounding a bit more relieved. "May I ask who you are?" The captained asked, his eyes full of kindness as he smiled with concern. "K-Kurosaki Ichiro." Ichiro stated, unsure if he was really supposed to state his name after the whole crowd gasped once more. His name was so similar to Ichigo's!

The Captains brought the young Kurosaki to the first division and formed their parallel line, with the orange haired teen in the middle. "Kurosaki Ichiro. Tell us about yourself!" The Captain-Commander demanded, his voice full of power and authority. Ichiro simply scowled and remained silent. Suddenly, the 2nd division captain, Sui-feng dropped his shinigami badge on the floor a few feet away from him. Ichiro's eyes widened as he saw his badge 'How'd she get it!?' He wondered. Quickly, he dove for it and snatched it up, holding it closely to his chest. "Could it be that Ichigo Kurosaki and Rukia Kuchiki fused together and became one being?" Captain Hitsugaya asked quietly, allowing himself to remain unheard by the teen.

Quickly, Sui-feng dropped a picture of Rukia Kuchiki in front of Ichiro. Ichiro's eyes widened again as he also snatched the picture, gazing at it with curiosity and love. This perked up Byakuya's interest as he watched the young boy stare at his younger sister. His eyes were just like Rukia's, just like Hisana's. Byakuya couldn't help but feel a small soft spot for the boy. Sui-feng lastly dropped a chappy rabbit in front of Ichiro. "Seriously? A rabbit?" Ichiro asked, his expression changing to a awkward grin and he mocked the captain. "Well he is not a fusion of Kurosaki or Kuchiki." Sui-feng stated, her brow twitching a bit from her annoyance with the teen.

"Tell me boy. Why do you love that badge and picture?" The Captain-Commander asked, his voice still powerful. Ichiro's eyes narrowed as he stood up, his stance was strong and his posture was perfect. His voice suddenly matched the greatness of a Captain as it seemed to mix with Rukia and Ichigo's, yet of his own also. "I am Kurosaki Ichiro. Son and Kurosaki Ichigo and Kuchiki Rukia." Captain of the eighth division Kyoraku looked up from his hat and smirked. Oh how this was about to become interesting.