Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of its characters
Strawberries are Best Eaten Frozen: Arrival
It was another beautiful day in Karakura Town, and Kanzo(1) Plaza was bustling with weekend shoppers as usual. Teenage Ariel was talking to her friend on a cell phone—both of her hands free thanks to her boyfriend's impressive carrying abilities—when it happened. A few people heard the sound first, but a few seconds later everyone noticed something was amiss when a three square meter tile blew up in a cloud of smoke. Ariel mimicked the crowd and crouched down for safety, looking around wildly for the cause. With everyone seemingly mute and paralyzed, she took the opportunity to squint into the dissipating dust. Later she would pass it off as a trauma-induced hallucination, but at that time she could have sworn there was an enormous blurry thing within the cloud. No sooner had she spotted the faint outline than it was gone, or rather it seemed to disintegrate.
The remaining citizens who did not flee were evacuated by the police, but not before a good number saw the giant footprint crushed into the concrete tiles. What not one person saw however, was the black-and-orange blur that sped away from the site.
Ichigo heaved a sigh of relief when he crossed the threshold of his window, he was home. His contentment ended as soon as a small lion plushie stomped up to him. "Ichigo! You just left me alone again to fight a Hollow. Why can't I be your replacement?"
Ichigo scowled with disinterest and stepped on Kon's face, causing him to squeak against the floor. "Because last time I let you cover for me, I got weird stares for weeks. You perv."
Kon's foot-imprinted face had dual dramatic rivers of tears running down it. "So cruel…"
"Just go to sleep already." Ichigo responded unsympathetically as he re-merged with his corporal self.
Ichigo was ready to go to sleep himself. Knowing about late-night Hollow attacks he had taken to brushing his teeth and changing an hour earlier. With a flick of a switch the light in the room went out, and the young substitute shinigami drifted off to slumber. Kon, grumbling softly to himself, hopped onto the bed to sleep in his regular spot: strewn over Ichigo's chest.
No one in the Kurosaki residence was awake when a black butterfly flew past the window. Atop a telephone pole stood a shadowed figure clad in a black kimono, covered by a white haori(2) with the character for ten stenciled on the back.
My first Bleach fanfic, second fanfic ever. It's going to be Ichigo/Hitsugaya, I swear!
1. Totally made up the name Kanzo
2. That's what Wikipedia calls the white overcloak-thingy captains have
Constructive criticism is welcomed