One Goal, Two Ways Chapter 1, a bleach fanfic

My name is Hiroshi Suke. Allow me to tell you about the day I died.

It was a foggy morning. I had always hated fog. I had no idea why. As I did every day, I got ready for school, bade mum and dad a farewell and walked out the door. My bag thudded heavily against my back as I ran to the school. I didn't want to be late for first period again.

School, as usual, was pretty dull. My eyes glanced over to the group sitting across from me. A trouble maker with a semi-permanent scowl, a human brick wall, the top student in the class, that new transfer student… Rukia I think her name was, a girl whose chest had its own gravitational field, the physical embodiment of comic relief and the only normal one among them, Mizuro. The fact that he was the only normal one made him stand out all the more, ironically enough.

I always wondered what that group was up to. The guy with glasses had only joined their group recently. I really don't know why I disliked him so much.

Maybe it was because his grades were so much better than mine.

*v*v*v*

Class continued as it did every day. Well, apart from the weird roar I heard in class. I think a few others heard it too, as a girl's head shot up from her work and stared out the window in shock.

"Tatsuki! Hiroshi! Get back to the test!" the teacher chided

I returned to the test, but I couldn't help wondering what that roar was. Even as I handed up the sheet of paper, I had a nagging feeling in the back of my head.

As I wandered out of classroom, I heard someone run up behind me and grab onto my shoulder "Hey you!"

I turned around and saw it was the girl from earlier! "Tatsuki, right?" I asked

"Yeah. Now tell me if you heard that roaring earlier."

"Yeah I did. It was pretty weird right? I wonder what it was…"

"I think I know."

"You do?" I asked, interest suddenly piqued

"It's some kind of monster. Normal people can't see or hear them, but they're there. One of them attacked me and Orihime once."

"A monster?" I asked "You can't expect me to believe you right?"

"Do you have a better explanation? You saw that nobody else heard the noise!"

"Yeah, that did seem a little strange…" I mumbled, resting my hand on my chin in thought

"There's also Ichigo."

"Who? The guy with orange hair?" I asked. The guy had a reputation for beating people up, but when I dug a little deeper on the story, it seemed he was protecting people, and not like the Mafia 'protection', the genuine 'helping-you-because-I-can' protection.

"Yeah, him. I think he's fighting those monsters."

"Seriously?" I asked "Wait, so he helped you when you were attacked by one of those monsters?"

"Well… I don't know. I only started seeing him after the attack. I couldn't see the monster either back then."

"Okay… So what are we going to do?" I asked "Who are we going to ask for more information?"

"Ichigo'll probably blow us off without explaining anything, the stubborn ass." She said, blowing a strand of hair out of her face "Orihime knows less than I do, and she was attacked with me. I should probably be glad that I know as much as I do, but I can only remember things in sketchy detail, like my mind got wiped or something."

"Mind erasing? This sounds like it's getting pretty weird." I thought aloud "So what are we going to do?"

"Well I don't know anyone who's going to tell us. I think we just need to investigate on our own."

"What, like hunting monsters?"

"Something like that. Though I think we'll just stay out of their way if we can help it."

"This sounds pretty dangerous." I said, taking a hand off my face "Are you sure there's nobody else that can help you?"

"Positive. Nobody's letting us in on what the hell is happening, so our only choice is to find out for ourselves."

I thought for a moment. What she was proposing… It seemed a little odd, sure. But if this was some great secret, I just had to find out. I was always a curious child. Too curious for my own good, some might say.

"Alright. Let's get some stuff together and we'll go monster hunting."

*v*v*v*

Tatsuki had agreed to meet me in the park, a little after midnight I had told my mum and dad I'd be staying with a friend, which was partly true. I had only met Tatsuki a few months ago when I got exchanged into her class. Flipping up the grey hood of my hoodie, I checked my torch to see if the light was working and then stuffed it into my pack. A torch, a camera, a few pens and notebooks, an extending baton and a spare set of underwear. If Tatsuki said these monsters were scary, I wanted to go home in relative comfort.

I was interrupted from my stocktake by the sound of footsteps. I whipped out my baton and spoke into the shadows "Who's there?"

"It's Tatsuki, you moron! Who else would be here this late at night?" she said, stepping out of the darkness, her own black hoodie blending into the night

"I was wondering when you'd get here." I said, lowering my weapon

"Well here I am. Ready to get to work?" she asked

"You've got your camera right?"

"Yeah." She said, taking a digital camera out of her hoodies pocket

"Then let's get going, oh fearless leader."

*v*v*v*

For a good hour we stalked the empty streets of Karakura Town, investigating every crash, bang and shuffling noise. It all proved fruitless. We saw no monsters, no strange occurrences, nothing.

"Let's give it up Tatsuki. We're not going to find anything here." I yawned "Besides, we still have school tomorrow."

"Not just yet! We've got one building left." She said, pointing to an abandoned looking building

"The old theatre? That place was closed down ages ago! It's structurally unsound!"

"Jeez, stop being such a pansy!" she said, punching me in the arm "You didn't think finding monsters would be easy, did you?"

Grumbling, I followed her into the old theatre. I think I might have gotten a bruise.

*v*v*v*

"Dammit Tastsuki, this place gives me the creeps!"

"Keep quiet! You want those things to get away?" she replied in a hushed voice

The wallpaper was hanging off the walls in huge strips, the once vivid red carpet now dull and splotched with grime. Many ceiling panels had also fallen off the roof, many of them breaking on the floor. Old propaganda movie posters were still displayed proudly here, even though the lights around them were all broken and dusty.

"Think we'll find something in here?" she asked, pointing her thumb towards the double doors leading into the screen room

"Maybe. Let's check it out." I said, carefully pushing open the door and walking down the carpeted isles

The theatre was deserted. The rows of soft seats had become moth bitten and frayed, the once proudly displayed silver screen now in shambles, great tears reaching from top to bottom, as if a giant monster had…

"Shit… Tatsuki! I found something!" I shouted

"What is it?" she said, running into the theatre "The screen?"

"It looks like it was torn apart." I said, walking in front of her

"Yeah. But by what?" she asked before gasping in shock "What the..! Hiroshi! Run!"

I whipped around and saw the thing up in one of the corners of the roof. It had a wide frog-like white mask, long scrawny limbs, folded up like springs. I couldn't get a good look at it before it started its attack.

The creature roared horribly and jumped from its corner. Time slowed down as fresh adrenaline pumped through my veins like a torrent of energy. Tatsuki was readying her fists, but I knew she wouldn't last a second against that thing! In a single act of stupidity, I put both of my hands on the side of her shoulder, swept my foot under hers and shoved her onto the floor and into one of the rows of seats. As she fell, I looked back at the monster, two rows of white teeth shining in the blackness of its mouth.

The thing bit into my torso as it collided with me, sending us both hurtling backwards. I let out a scream of agony as we both crashed onto the stage, the monster's two rows of teeth biting even further, splintering my ribs like they were twigs! But nothing compared to the pain I felt when it ripped its teeth through my flesh, dragging a broken chain along with it as it chewed with malicious content.

My body began to spasm. My arms and legs moved of their own accord as I screamed in pain. The last thing I remember seeing in my life was the horrified face of Tatsuki, silenced by shock. As my vision faded to black, my limbs continued to spasm even as the monster ate them, and I could feel my chest… disintegrating. After what seemed like hours, it had ended.

I was finally dead.

But my torment was not yet over.

Not by a long shot.

A/N

Foreshadowing mother***ers!

Hey guys, Snazzy Hat here. Thanks for reading the first chapter of my new story. Be sure to check out my other fanfics and leave a constructive review! Don't be afraid to criticize, that's how people get better. However, it does not work with mortal injuries. Believe me, I've tried.

So anyway, for those who are curious what arc this story takes place in, I'm going waaaaay back to when Ichigo first got his powers. I imagine Hiroshi Suke has hung around the classroom that Ichigo is in long enough to absorb at least enough spirit energy to turn him into a… Whoops! Almost spoiled the secret~! It also appears that Ichigo's Reshi Radiance™ only affects main characters, otherwise all of his classmates would be getting cool powers. Not to mention his teachers, students he's bumped into in the hall, dogs and cats, etc.

"What the hell Snazzy, I'm supposed to be the main character! Why'd you kill me so early?!"

Patience young Padawan, patience!

"How am I going to be the main character as a freaking mutilated corpse?!"

If you don't want to stay a mutilated corpse, you'll shut up now.

"…"

That's what I thought.

So anyway guys, thanks for reading, and please remember to review!