Author's Note: Hey! This is gonna be my first Bleach fic, and I hope that it's a good one. The first chapter might seem like a Karin-centric, but that's only for the first few chapters. I think that in this situation, she would be the easiest to explain it through and would be clearer headed than Yuzu. Well, please no flames but criticism is appreciated. The English/grammar rules have changed so much, I can't keep up lol. Enjoy!

Rating: T but may change later.

Warning: Angst, language, violence, and gore. Flames are not accepted. Criticism is appreciated. If you don't like this fic, don't be a moron an keep reviewing and reading saying you don't like it. Move on with your meaningless lives and bug someone else who is willing to deal with it. 'kay? Thanks.

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. If I did, Ichigo would be getting screwed by Renji and Grimmjow…all the time.

Summary: After a near-fatal accident, Ichigo is left with no memories of being a Shinigami or Soul Society. Yamato decides to keep it that way as a sort of reward seeing as Sereitei is finally at peace despite many protests. Soon after, Ichigo and the remaining shards of the Hogyoku disappear followed by the discovery of a new and possibly worse threat than Aizen. How is Soul Society supposed to fight without their greatest warrior? A better question would be, how could they fight against him?

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Prologue: Preparation

"Ichi-nii, I have another football game on Thursday. We're goin against those punks that tried to fight us before and I want you to see us wipe the floor with them!" Karin exclaimed, pumping her fist in anticipation with an excited fire burning in her eyes.

Ichigo chuckled but nodded nonetheless. It'd kill some time to see his talented little sister kick the crap outta the other team, "Yeah, I'll definitely be there." Ichigo hesitated when the street crosswalk turned green, a horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach making him feel a bit queasy. This feeling reminded him of…

"I'll be there too, Karin-chan!" Yuzu chirped happily, laughing and smiling as she held onto her brothers hand – the one that wasn't holding the vegetables for dinner later – as she carried a bag of groceries in the other, abruptly pulling the orange haired teen out of his thoughts.

Karin gave them a rare small smile, her dark eyes twinkling with gratitude and pride despite the sudden chill she felt crawl up her spine.

She held onto Ichigo's pant leg, still holding the bag that had her and Yuzu's secret gift for their brother's birthday next week. The poor boy thought it was 'girl stuff' and kept his nose out of it.

"Karin! Yuzu!" someone yelled in panic.

A loud shriek of tires was the only warning either sister got before they felt their brother hold them to his chest, wrapping his arms around them tightly, and soar through the air after a distinctive impact only to land painfully again.

Karin gasped as she felt the wind get knocked out of her, holding back tears when her body collide with her brothers as they crashed into the pavement. After the blinding pain receded to the point where she could open her eyes, she did and refused to believe what she saw.

She was still in Ichigo's tight grip, as was an unconscious Yuzu, and they were starting to get surrounded by a crowd of people.

Glancing up and down the street, she could see the car that was speeding had stopped with a man who started to cry hysterically, "I didn't mean to hit them! I swear I didn't mean to! I don't know what happened I swear! The car did it all on it's own, I-"

"Do you hear this guy? Says the car drove itself into those poor kids. Cuff 'im and get him outta my sight." One officer said in disgust.

Did…did they get hit by a car? Karin wondered why it didn't hurt as much as she thought a car accident would. As soon as she thought that, she regretted it after seeing her brother and sister.

Yuzu seemed fine besides her pale complexion and a small cut on her head, her small hands tightly grasping Ichigo's shirt. Her brows were furrowed in fear as the girl subconsciously tried to get closer to their brother for protection.

Then her sights landed on the orange haired teen.

Ichigo – her big, strong, goofy, dependable, stubborn, big-hearted, scowling, loving brother – was unconscious with a large gash on his forehead that bled so much, it nearly died his hair red and didn't seem like it would stop anytime soon without medical help. He looked pale as well, if not more so than Yuzu and his breathing seemed shallow and strained.

Slowly, she pulled herself out of his grasp, realizing he used his body as a shield for both the car and the ground, and was able to see the full extent of his injuries. They were quite a ways from the walkway and Ichigo's shirt was torn only to reveal more cuts and bleeding. They must've skidded a few feet because she could see blood trails from the front of the car and the asphalt behind her.

"Little girl…little girl! Are you alright?" she heard someone ask.

Karin brushed off the 'little girl' comment and wanted to snap at them and tell them, "No! My brother almost died trying to protect me and Yuzu from a car accident! I'm not alright you idiot!" But she didn't. She count comprehend that something like this – something only seen on T.V. – had happened to them.

Instead, she reached out to lightly shake her sisters shoulder. "Yuzu…" she whispered hoarsely. "Yuzu…wake up…come on, wake up…" she murmured quietly, timidly, completely unlike her normal demeanor.

When she received no reply, she turned to her brother whose eyes were tightly shut, no doubt from pain. "Ichi-nii…" she called, desperation leaking into her voice. "Ichi-nii, wake up!" She felt a hand on her shoulder but shook it off, using both hands to shake her brother awake, "Ichi-nii! Ichi-nii wake up! Please! Ichi-nii!" she yelled, tears burning her eyes when she, again, received no form of acknowledgment.

She grabbed his shirt and buried her face in his chest, subconsciously relieved to find a heart beat no matter how weak along with his familiar smell, and let the tears fall along with her panic.

"Ichi-nii!" she cried, trying to get closer to him and away from the people trying to take him away from her. "No! No, no, no! Ichi-nii, please wake up! Please…" Her heartfelt pleas were enough to get people to give her some space.

'Get a hold of yourself Karin! Ichi-nii's gonna be fine…he's strong. He'll pull through! He's the guy that saved Rukia and Soul Society and defeated Aizen for Kami's sake! He can handle some stupid little car!' an encouraging and chiding voice told her.

She felt a bit better, but still couldn't stop the flow of tears.

'He needs help! Him and Yuzu!'

That snapped her out of her grief-stricken and shocked daze.

Abruptly, she whirled around and started shouting almost hysterically, "Somebody call an ambulance!" She was relieved when she saw multiple people pulling out their phones and the flashing lights in the distance, but it still didn't quell the raging worry and fear.

'If the cops are here, why is it taking so long to get a freaking ambulance?' she mentally screamed in frustration and annoyance. 'Why did it take me so long to call for one?'

Annoyance. That was good. Keep thinking of that. Annoyance was something she was familiar with, not the crushing weight of fear and panic and – no, don't go back to that train of thought. Concentrate on helping Yuzu and Ichigo and worry later.

Karin didn't have to wait long before the paramedics arrived and stabilized her brother and sister. She barely heard what they said or asked, merely staring at the still forms of her siblings, oblivious to the blanket draped over her shoulders.

"We're taking you three to the hospital, which ambulance do you want to ride in?" the young man asked. He was about thirty, young but his eyes revealed his experience. His tone was kind and didn't speak to her like a child. If he did she would've decked him and he would've needed an ambulance as well.

Shakily, she looked to Yuzu and Ichigo and noticed the younger of the two was starting to stir. "Yuzu. I'll go with Yuzu. She'll start to cry if me or Ichi-nii aren't there." She stated, receiving a nod from the paramedic. She desperately wanted to stay with both, but Ichi-nii wasn't waking up anytime soon, and Yuzu needed someone to be strong for them both.

He led her to the vehicle and made sure she was secure next to her sister and left to take care of some things. A moment later, large chocolate brown eyes opened blearily, confusion and fear etched onto the small girls features, "Onii-chan? Karin-chan? Where…?" she winced when the movement of her head aggravated her newly bandaged wound.

Karin grasped her hand and held it tightly, drawing the other girls attention, a worried expression on her face. Was Yuzu more injured that she looked? Was she going to be okay? What about Ichi-nii…?

"Karin-chan? Where am I and where's Onii-chan? What's going-"

"Shh, Yuzu. Calm down. We were in an accident. Ichi-nii protected us but we still got a little hurt. We're okay though and Ichi-nii is just riding in a different ambulance." Karin informed, keeping things clear but tried to be reassuring at the same time, like Ichigo when either girl was worried or scared.

Seeing the calm look on her twins face, Yuzu relaxed a bit but still alarmed about her brothers condition. "Okay…" she whispered, feeling extremely tired again. She drifted off to sleep with her brows furrowed.

Karin sighed deeply, feeling much too old for her age right then. She had the same questions she saw in her sister's eyes, questions that she didn't have answers to, which led to frustration which led to seeing her brothers broken body on the asphalt-

"Breathe."

Startled, Karin looked up, unconsciously losing the scowl that had crept onto her face and loosened the tightening grip on Yuzu's hand. She didn't even realize she was shaking until she did what he said and calmed down.

The same man from earlier smiled calmly, climbing into the car after reporting to the driver and calling the hospital. "You were starting to look a little tense. Just wanted to let you know your brother's on his way to the hospital and we're about to leave as well."

She nodded and looked down at her unoccupied hand, lost in thought. She was curious about her brothers condition, but did she really want to know? What if what she saw was as bad as his real condition?

The man checked over her sister carefully, making notes on some of the less noticeable scrapes and putting in an IV and antibiotics to fight any infection that may occur.

He sighed inaudibly, glancing at the two pre-teens again and hoping beyond hope that they would be able to pull through and that their beloved brother got better quickly.

Seeing the raw terror in the girls eye when she shrugged someone's hand off and started to cry into her brothers shirt was one of the most painful things he had to endure and hoped to never witness that again.

Girls that young shouldn't have to see something so horrible, especially when their brother was involved – he prayed for the poor soul that had to tell such a close-knit family the bad news…

As the ambulance left with a somewhat tense and gloomy aura, accompanied by several wailing police cars, Karin didn't notice a malevolent reiatsu flare before disappearing completely as if it were never there.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~BLEACH*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Authors Note: Okay, that was the first chapter! I probably wont be able to update much for the next week seeing as how I'm heading off to Korea for the summer, not to mention the homework I have to do for AP classes. Ugh. I'll try to update for those who enjoy this fic. It'll get better, promise! Things won't be as vague in the next chapter.

Oh and IDK about the whole ambulance/paramedic. I just wrote what I think they would do :P

P.S. How do I put in those line thingys? You know, the grayish lines that that some people use to separate their author's notes from the rest of the fic? I feel stupid for not knowing but it's killing me now lol. Some help is much appreciated!