Chapter 1 - A Normal Life

-Shinpi City - Japan - Winter - 7:58pm-

The vast city of Shinpi was as lively as it was for this time of night, which wasn't very much at all. Tall skyscrapers littered the centre of the city with a vast expansion of of office buildings and complexes going in all directions. At the very outskirts of the city the smaller residential areas housed the people of the city. The people of the city had long since finished their busy day and now were tucked away into their homes, relaxing and recovering for the next day ahead of them.

The cold winds gently blew through the quiet backstreets of the city. The day was gone and replaced by the cold and darkness of the night. All the lit up the streets were the lamp posts that dotted the street. The ground was covered by a thin layer of snow making it slippery to walk in some areas. The snow continued to fall from the sky, landing gently across the ground. The roads icy and mostly deserted on this frigid night, most had turned into their homes to seek shelter from the harsh weather.

However one person was out in this weather. This young man was of a more muscular build, he stood at six foot one inch. He had bright red hair and yellow eyes. He wore a jacket but one not really suited for the cold weather, black and brown hiking boots, black combats, a scarf and gloves and a leather bush hat. On his back he carried a plain cream colored pack and over his shoulder he had a dark red duffle bag. This young man continued to march through the cold and snowy weather without a care. This choice of attire wasn't particularly the best for the weather at hand but he dealt with it anyway.

This young man was Rob Kasai. A twenty one year old university student of Arukatorazu university.

The young man had just finished his evening activities, that had not gone so well, and was now heading back to his apartment. Not that it was much of an apartment. It was a medium sized apartment, that awaited him, in an area that was a little too close for comfort to the rough side of the city. But what could be done about that, he couldn't afford anything better, not that Rob really cared all that much. An apartment was an apartment, no big deal.

All in all his life was pretty average. College life, studying for exams or assignments to be done, trying to keep a roof over his head and keep himself fed with what little money he has sometimes and juggle the responsibilities and daily situations that come his way.

A normal life right?

Well, except for the fact he could see spirits and ghosts. I think that qualifies as not so normal.

Ever since he was young Rob has been able to see spirits and ghosts. Nobody else he has ever met has had the same ability. He always felt like an outcast with this gift of his, the only person to believe him was his father but he was always trying to avoid the topic when ever Rob brought it up with him, asking for advice or trying to explain why he does things. Rob was suspicious of his father that he knew something more than he was letting on even when he was just a kid but never approached him on it and now that he and his father lived in different countries it wouldn't be so easy to get answers anyway.

Growing up seeing spirits had gotten him into a few situations over the years. From teachers telling him to see a psychiatrist or a doctor to other kids making fun of him or calling him weird when Rob spoke to these spirits or ghosts.

Regardless Rob refused to ever turn his back on these spirits. They'd always seem so lost or scared. Rob had seen some gruesome looking spirits over the years. Some drenched in blood while others were slightly disfigured from how their body was destroyed in some manner. From older people to even children, Rob had seen it all and because of this he grew to be rather used to the sight of blood. Not much could horrify him anymore, he'd grown past that. Still, even as a kid Rob always did everything in his power to help them. Whether it was guide them to where they were looking to return to or just comfort those that needed it.

It was difficult to balance at times but of course it would be. He was a man of two worlds. One humans and the other of spirits.

Rob just soldiered on wading through the snow back to his apartment, the snow crunching underfoot as he did. Today had been a bit of a nightmare. He had finished college earlier due to finish his days work and went off to train which he was delighted he could but his training was disturbed however due to a rather upset spirit lingering in the area near the dojo he trained at. Not being able to leave the spirit in such distress Rob had to help them without seeming crazy to the others that trained around him but was caught several times acting strange and odd such as talking or arguing to himself or holding onto something that wasn't there or talking about spirits. So his already poor image had only gotten worse and he missed his krav maga training because of it.

Rob sighed from exasperation. 'Why do I have to deal with all this shit?' he questioned himself. He honestly didn't have an answer to that question but he felt like it needed to be said.

Unfortunately, the world answered him. And now it's going to show him how bad it can get.

Rob stopped in his tracks and stiffened slightly, he shivered slightly, feeling an ominous aura pass through the area. He turned behind him and looked for the source of this aura. Rob slowly looked around, confused as to what he had just felt. Looking around he didn't notice anything out of the ordinary so he moved on. He still felt as if something was off, there was a lingering presence even his gut was telling him something was about to happen. Rob was cautious of his surroundings but he pressed on through the snow despite this. He moved quicker than he had been before the snow underfoot snow doing nothing to slow him. As Rob neared the end of the street he turned down a side street, one that he knew was a shortcut back to his apartment.

As Rob neared the other end of the side street two figures stepped out from either side. He stopped and turned to look over his shoulder, two other figures had followed him into the street behind him. Rob couldn't make out any of facial features of any of the figures but he didn't have to. Rob knew damn well what they wanted.

Rob grunted in exasperation, 'I've had a bad day already but sure! Why the fuck not! Lets add a mugging to the mix.' He stood perfectly upright, turned sideways so he could glance between both ends of the street.

As they all slowly closed in one of the figures spoke to him, "No sudden movements pal! We just came to collect a few things, don't make this any harder than needs be." The voice was low and rough sounding but Rob could tell by how he spoke he was both smiling and enjoying the moment. What kind of bastard enjoys mugging people?

"Tsk, bastard…" muttered Rob, his muttering was caught by one of his muggers however.

"What did you say you little prick?" Robs eyes glanced to the source of the voice, the voice was clearly that of a man. The man was unidentifiable due to the darkness but he stood slightly taller than the rest of his group.

All the men had surround Rob by now, they were only a few feet away from him in all directions. Even in the darkness Rob could still make out their clothes, they all wore some kind of scarves and hoods to cover their faces, dark colored trench coats and trousers, gloves and boots but what Rob picked up on was the weapons. In each of their hands was some kind of weapon. Two had knives, big and flashy. Clearly trying to intimidate him, another had some kind of metal baton. This one seemed a bit more sophisticated, normally thugs would only have rust iron bars or bats but that wasn't the case. The last one was very suspicious, he had one hand inside the trench coat, this could mean he had a gun but didn't want to draw it or he was bluffing and was trying to give that illusion. He was seemingly the smallest of the group so if anyone even had a gun it would be him.

Rob dropped his duffle bag on the ground, he was in a bad mood already so he spoke without thinking. "You heard me…" Stupid move to piss off armed attackers but the foul mood had gotten the best of him. Shit.

"Stupid move you little bastard." The big guy said as he took a step forward ahead of his pals, 'Great, I made the big guy mad.' thought Rob frustrated with himself for the blatantly stupid act. Seeing as the big guy of the guy moved closer so did the rest of the scum. They were only a foot or two away from him now.

"Do you want to die punk?" The big guy grabbed Rob by the collar, with his left hand, baton in his right. Bad move. As soon as Rob felt his hand grasp his collar Rob sprung into action. Rob grabbed the hand holding onto him with his left hand and slammed his right hand into the elbow of the man. Rob twisted the arm up and over itself, causing the guy to bend over from pain being forced to or has his arm broken if he resisted.

"Ahh fuck!" He yelled before Rob kneed him in the face and released his grip on him causing him to slump face first into the ground. Rob turned to see one of the knife holders thrust low toward his stomach. Rob crossed his arms and slammed his forearms into the arm holding the knife in an x shape. The force behind the strike cause the man to lose grip of the knife, the knife landed harmlessly on the ground at their feet, with the knife gone Rob quickly swung his leg and kicked the guy in the nuts for his troubles.

"Ahh!" Grabbing him by the collar and swinging him around, Rob threw the guy toward the other guy with the knife, temporally stunning him as he tried to push his friend out of the way to get to Rob quicker. Rob used the opportunity to rush toward these two. Once he was right beside them Rob palm strike the guy still holding his blade, his head rocked backwards from the force.

"Ahh!" He groaned as he fell onto his back, his friend being dragged down with him, they landed on the ground in a mess. Rob turned around to face the big guy knowing he'd be back up any second. Rob ran toward the big guy who was on his hands and knees and kicked him in the face causing blood to spew across his face from his forehead as he rolled across the ground, the bonus of having all your boots with steel-toe.

The big guy swore a few times but Rob didn't stop there, Rob stomped on his wrist full force. He heard a snap, "Ahh fuck!" The big guy rolled over and hunched over his hand and gripped it with his still good hand. His hand and wrist had been broken in several places.

Turning back to the other two on the ground, they had both gotten up but only one of them charged him. The one still grasping the knife. The guy went for a straight thrust with the knife only for Rob to slammed the arm with his and lean the other way causing the knife to sail safely past him. Rob closed the distance and stepped in grabbing his arm and wrapping it so it can't move and kneed him in the leg.

The leg went numb for a moment but Rob quickly used the time to grab the guy across the face and slam his head into the ground covered with ice. The impact was hard and loud even with the snow. The snow turned red slightly around where Rob had slammed the guys head indicating he was bleeding nor this he move much.

The other guy now charged Rob but he had already been disarmed. The guy swung a right hook only to be blocked by Rob's arm and than he threw a straight jab but once again Rob sidestepped the punch and latched onto his arm. Sweeping the leg the guy dropped and arm lined the guys arm across his chest, bending the elbow with his chest with one swift push of his arm and chest Rob snapped the guys elbow.

"AAAAHHH!" Rob let him go as he dropped to the ground clutching his broken arm. Rob stood back and quickly glanced between the three fallen men. One was unconscious the other two clutched their broken limb trying to sooth the pain.

'Wait, there was four…' Rob glanced around him and back the way he had come from was the guy who had held his hand in his trench coat. He stood there, both Rob and the guy were silent and motionless. 'Please don't have a fucking gun.' Rob could only hope, Rob slowly turned to face his body to him but as soon as he did the guy took his hand out of his coat and put his hands up. The guy took a few steps back. Rob released a breath he didn't even know he was holding, 'My luck just improved.' he thought to himself. Rob walked over to his duffle bag and slung it over his shoulder. "Get out of here." said Rob, he was done with this. He could still sense that ominous presence but luckily the guy was too scared to do anything. Clearly intimidated by how someone like Rob jus took down three grown men quickly and without much issue.

The guy back further way keeping his eyes on Rob before moving quickly back down the street. Rob released a sigh, what a day.

"Ahhh!" Robs eyes widened at the sound of the scream. Rob looked back down the street only to see the guy had been about to flee the area landing harshly across the ground. From here it was difficult to make out but he had been slashed on the chest. There was blood from the wound all over his chest slowly seeping on to the ground. Rob quickly dropped the his bags and looked around.

"Who's there?!" he yelled into the darkness of the side street. The ominous feeling had grown tenfold in a mere second. Rob thought it had been his gut warning him about the mugging but there was someone or something else here with him. "Show yourself?!"

"Hehehe." Rob spun to search for the laughter, but he couldn't find the source through the darkness.

"You're a tasty looking morsel!" Rob barely had time to even register what happened as he felt something huge slam into his back as he was sent flying down the street in a tumble. The snow had cushioned his fall but only slightly. Rob rolled to his knees to stop himself and gazed down the street. The impact had made him dizzy for a moment but when it cleared he was shocked to see some kind of creature standing dead centre of the street.

"What the fuck is that…" Rob stared at the creature, it stood a couple of feet taller than he did but was much wider, the creatures skin was a dark green with spikes protruding out on his elbows and knees. Fur covered its arms and legs but its chest and back were left exposed. A snake like tail twitched on the ground behind it. Huge claws extended from its hands, razor sharp but one had blood dripping from it. Rob didn't need to be told whos blood that was but still this wasn't good. Rob had never seen anything like before, spirits were one thing but monsters too? He could feel the soreness from impact of the creature, his back throbbed slightly but luckily it was somewhat manageable. This thing was big, strong and out for blood was what went through Robs mind as he stood up.

The creature went onto all fours and started to crawl toward him with a sinister grin on its face. The beast let out a fierce roar before looking directly toward Rob.

"Ah shit…"

His bad day had gotten much worse.

Well, what did yous think of the chapter? Good? Bad? Or Acceptable?

Now let me explain something about this story. In this story it's as if the Manga/Anime never happened. It's a full remake of sorts so to speak. Original Characters take over. The storyline and characters of the Manga/Anime never happened/existed. In this story it's my OCs and yours (The Readers) that will make up this story. My story might have some similarities to the original but it will be changed drastically at times as well.

This is of course a SYOC so feel free to message me with your OC. I have a form on my profile that you can use to help guide you but ultimately it's up to you. I'd prefer if you used some of it as it would help me really get to know the character. Title the Submission something like 'Bleach SYOC'. Just so I can find it when I go through my inbox.

Submit characters through PM and NOT review. Please keep reviews and submissions separate.

If you have any questions about the story please ask as I'm happy to help in any way I can. You can submit any kind of character you please. Captains, LTs, 3rd Seats and so on. Quincy, Hollows, Fullbringers, Arrancars. You can make your OC however you please for the most part.

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AlcatrazDGold - Till next time…