Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach and its characters.

Note: So now officially begins the new version of Take A Sad Song. You will notice that throughout this story, I won't be using any romanized japanese honorifics, especially since I don't speak it - therefore I have no right no actually use them. I really don't want to butcher the language any more than it already is being. So any name you think should have -san/-chan/-dono etc., I am going to use Mr./Miss/Ms. enter name here or simply the first or last name of the character.

There will be some words in Japanese, such as reiatsu in italics, but the explanations to those will be given in the Author's Note below that specific chapter.

That's all for now.

Beta'd by: -

Word Count: 578


Prologue:

The moment the doorbell rang – multiple times and rather urgently - Keigo knew, somewhere at the back of his subconscious, that he was in for another supernatural shit-show baring its ugly face right upon his doorstep. The fact that it came in the form of Madarame and Ayasegawa's bruised and battered forms did little to ease the tense line of his shoulders as he opened the door.

Glancing at the large bundle of something red (Keigo hoped it wasn't blood – please don't be blood, please don't be bloo- oh that was definitely blood), his mind immediately jumped to the conclusion that Kurosaki was involved somehow. In fact, ever since that long haired alienated bastard hijacked his town and almost killed his friends, Keigo figured that every unnatural occurrence in Karakura lead to Kurosaki and his stupid black shinigami robes.

Keigo refused to acknowledge the carrot top by his first name nowadays. He hadn't shown up at school for a long time now; far too long for Keigo to even keep count. So he stopped worrying (No. That was a lie. He would never stop worrying). Ever since Tall, Dark and Flowers with an eye-patch told him, Mizuiro and Tatsuki that their strawberry idiot won't be coming back – ever – Keigo, after a bout of rage and denial that almost got his head severed from his body, decided to let fate deal with Kurosaki and simply… let go. Kurosaki was a tough guy; he made it back last time, despite all odds.

"Funny, it's literally the devil's hour and you come knocking," Keigo began groggily. He was allowed to be an asshole.

The other two remained silent, the… thing in their arms unmoving. Keigo knew it was wishful thinking for it to remain that way. Finally, Ikkaku spoke. "Let us in and we'll explain." His voice sounded like it had gone through a cheese grater and Keigo was too tired to hold back a flinch.

He recovered quickly enough and raised an eyebrow, "What? No please an' thank you? Then again, didn't expect you to be courteous enough to ring the bell in the first place. Must be hard to follow basic social etiquette, with your old age n' all."

Madarame clenching his jaw sent a spark of sick pleasure down Keigo's spine. He let his face morph into a cruel smirk, something he learnt to throw people off over the past seventeen months and leaned against the door. The shinigami took one step forward - Keigo was sure he'd be nursing a severe bruise on his face – but was stopped by Yumichika, who shook his head before turning to him.

"Please," was all he said, and that made Keigo stop short. No remarks of it being not graceful to fight in the middle of the night, no taunts on the lack of beauty in Keigo's Baby Metal pyjama pants (they were limited edition after all), just pure, simple urgency laced with worry that he never though he'd hear from a shinigami.

Luckily, his parents were away again, so that was one thing less to worry about. Mizuho was still asleep, far too tired from President work and University applications - thank God - or else she would have kicked him into next year for making yet another stupid decision that could potentially put his entire family at risk (they don't talk about the Aquarium incident in '04).

Sighing in defeat, Asano Keigo opened the door and let them in.


A/N: Okay, new and improved version of the prologue is up. Just a notice: before and after each new chapter I will be adding disclaimers and notes about that chapter in order to draw parallels with the older version of the story. I will be explaining (to the older readers) why I changed certain things and what to expect in terms of characterizations, especially Keigo's POV.

Remember, this story not only deals with Keigo's trials and tribulations during the Quincy war, but also focuses on how his lifestyle changed over the seventeen months without the others knowing. This a story that shows both the actions taking place in the present and the growth in Keigo's maturity over the past year and a half that compel him to make certain decisions in the now.

Thank you guys for given this story another chance (although I, as a writer don't feel like I deserve it).

The next update will be posted tomorrow.

-SA