Familiar Faces, a bleach fanfic

Attn: Daricio. Good author. Read work now. 'Specially fic called Familiar Faces. I'll put a link in my profile (I don't like doing the 'delete spaces' thing, and I'm sure two clicks and a copy-paste total is worth it.) Also, if you think this chapter is long… don't even bother reading. XD The fic this leads off of has 10k chappies easy.

That said, this is the longest chappie I've ever written. Now, I've never written a Bleach fic before… so… bear with me, I'm sorry if there's any inconsistencies or stuff… sorry. QQ

Ichigo eyed the hair dye uneasily. It was black—the color made sense, considering he wanted to blend in with the Kuchiki family. He blinked a few times and took the dye tentatively. Finally, he shook his head. "No thanks, sorry, Rukia-taichou." He said, handing the dye back to her. "I'll just…" He trailed off, thinking. Rukia just sighed. She'd been doing a lot of that lately.

"I didn't expect you to want to." She paused, "Ichigo would have never dyed his hair either. Even the few times he didn't want to be noticed, he'd still risk it. I guess you don't have to wear it now, but, before we meet your division, you have to dye your hair. It'll wash out." Ichigo nodded slowly, seeing the sense in this… they weren't supposed to know he was him.

"That's all I needed to know." She continued, "You can go, now." Rukia glanced out the window at the kids that had taken to playing nearby, "Play with your friends."

Ichigo nodded again, grinning. "Thanks, Rukia-taichou! I would have never been able to play Ichigo if I dyed my hair." Rukia's sudden stifled laughter followed him out the door.

Things soon settled into a daily routine. Hanatarou would come as the captains left for their daily duties, sometimes staying overnight. He was a babysitter, technically, but he was also a guard, a friend, and, to Ichigo's delight, a good storyteller. It made up for the fact that Ichigo couldn't go explore like the other kids—he had to stay near the Kuchiki household.

The eight year old didn't exactly like being cooped up all day. In fact… sometimes he was bothered by the fact that he was just swept up by a random captain and told he was an extremely important person… not only that, but, a Shinigami.

He had questioned Hanatarou on this one day.

"Ano… Hanatarou-san?" He asked after the shinigami had finished a completely random story about when he was invited to Ichigo's house one Christmas. "I know this is cool and all… but, why me? What if I had wanted to stay in Rukongai?"

Hanatarou shot him a startled look. "D-do you?" He asked in a small voice. Ichigo realized his mistake and quickly backpedaled.

"No, no, I don't! I want to know more about him… me. But, Rukia-taichou didn't give me much choice in the matter, did she?" He wondered if that was how all (or most) shinigami acted. He certainly thought Kuchiki-taichou was used to being on top. Or that Mayuri-taichou person… he hadn't exactly heard the best about him from Hanatarou.

The shinigami had to think about that for second, "I… think that if you wanted to leave, Rukia-san would give you your choice." But he didn't sound too sure.

Ichigo looked a bit unsure himself, but, quickly brightened. "So, wanna go play with the others?" He asked, glancing out the window at the kids playing outside. They had been ecstatic when they found out that not only were they allowed to play in the area, Hanatarou himself (and occasionally Byakuya or Rukia) would come outside. Even though they were from noble or high ranking families themselves, it was like meeting a rock star, being able to meet a captain.

"Of course." Hanatarou replied. Ichigo was back to his normal upbeat self. The previous conversation forgotten, all was right with the world.

"Why didn't you tell us immediately?!" Hiyori yelled, brandishing her shoe threateningly. Urahara Kisuke didn't even look slightly perturbed, but, he had an unusually serious expression on his face. He had located the Vaizard's newest 'home' just recently. It was abandoned, much like the warehouse from the Winter War had been, but, they had taken to fixing this one up, obviously thinking they'd be staying here awhile. At the moment, all of them were gathered around Urahara, some with looks of disbelief on their faces, and some, like Hiyori, already having an issue with the late information.

"I had to find a time to tell you, Soul Society doesn't want to tell anyone." He replied evenly. Hiyori obviously didn't like that answer.

"Well, you can tell Soul Society to shov—"

"How exactly do your expect us to see if he needs more training or not if we don't 'know' about him?" Lisa interrupted, putting down her book, "Plus, even though technically we're allowed back now, not everyone agrees with that… as you well know."

From his spot on a rundown couch, Shinji snorted, "Why would we want to go back there anyway?"

Urahara shrugged to both questions, his infuriating smile back again, "You should just keep an eye on him… as for how…" He shrugged again, "You can open portals yourselves, remember?" With that, he abruptly turned and headed for the door, throwing a cheery 'good luck!' over his shoulder.

There was a few seconds of silence, then Lisa spoke up.

"I'll take first shift."

"So." Rukia explained to the two as she walked. "We figured that taking Ichigo around places he knows might spark a memory or something. Seeing as this is the place where he got his first basic reiatsu training…" Rukia trailed off. Not only that, but, of all the places in Soul Society that she could take Ichigo, she trusted the Shibas not to spread rumors the most.

They didn't even want to get Ichigo anywhere near his division—they would recognize him in a heartbeat, or, if they didn't, they would at least think there was something suspicious with a captain escorting a little boy that looked like Kurosaki around. They'd have to wait for that until later, perhaps she could schedule a meeting with the lieutenant when he got back from his current trip to the human world.

Ichigo had a thoughtful look on his face, "I don't really like Shiba Kukaku." He said after a few seconds. He then blinked up at Rukia. "Wait, did you ever tell me that name?"

Rukia almost smiled. "No, I didn't. Means some facts are getting through." This was great news. Random facts were all they had to hope for so far, but, it was better than nothing. Hanatarou chose this moment to speak up.

"You never really disliked her. She just got on your nerves a lot, and was very hard on you. She always was looking out for you… kind of like you were her brother, too." He looked a bit startled, then flushed a bit, looking down. "You probably say you dislike her 'cause she's like an older sister… I never liked anyone that acted like that around me." He finished, mumbling.

Ichigo stared at him for a moment, before saying happily, "I can't blame you! Thanks for telling me, though." Hanatarou brightened.

Rukia sometimes wondered how much of a 'kid' Ichigo really was, now.

"Wait outside please." Rukia told the pair. She would have let them come with her, had it been any other house, or any other family. But she wanted to go in first-- this was the Shiba family, for god's sake. "Take care of him!" She said to Hanatarou over her shoulder.

"Yes, Rukia-san!" Came the reply, then the doors to the Shiba family home closed behind her.

Five minutes had passed, and Rukia was still not back. That was five minutes too much for 8-year-old Ichigo's patience level. Dragging Hanatarou along with him, he had gone exploring. It was the same district that he had 'grown up' in. Ichigo had no idea why the 'Shiba family' had built their house on the outskirts of this district, nor did he know why they had what looked like two female legs holding up the house. He had a feeling he didn't want to know the answer to either of those.

"Ich-Ichigo-san!" Hanatarou panted, having tripped for what felt like the umpteenth time since being dragged around by Ichigo. The orange-haired boy had figured out that he could still run faster and had more endurance than most of the shinigami around. "Maybe we should stop!"

Ichigo almost ignored that order, but then he remembered what Rukia-taichou had said. He stopped, turning around to face the shinigami. Hanatarou, not expecting the sudden stop, barely missed tripping into Ichigo. "Let's go back!" He said brightly, having seen enough of his former district to know that nothing catastrophic had happened to it in his absence. Hanatarou nodded tiredly. He liked the kid, but, sometimes enough was enough.

Or, enough would have been enough if a sudden yell didn't distract the pair. "You! Freak!" Ichigo edged his way behind Hanatarou immediately, but, it was too late. The man that the other him had beat up long ago was back-- this time with friends.

"So. You found this boy in Rukongai." Kukaku said slowly, "He looks like Ichigo, so you adopted him into the Kuchiki family…" There was a small silence, as the woman scrutinized Rukia carefully. Then she finally said, "You're hiding something about this boy, but, I'll humor you. He can come in and look around if he wants."

Rukia smiled slightly, "Thank you. I'll go get him." With that she left the room, and headed outside to the completely horrible house decoration. At first, she thought Ichigo had dragged Hanatarou around to the back, or behind one of the legs… but he was nowhere. Panic rising, she turned to the guards that had come out with her, "Tell Kukaku-san I'm sorry, but, Ichigo's gone missing." With that she shunpo'd out, heading towards the nearby settlements of Rukongai.

There were at least ten of them. Wonderful. Hanatarou was doing his best, but, between his sword only healing, and not great physical abilities, he was holding his own against only a few, but not all. All the men smelled strongly of alcohol, which probably explained them ignoring the punishment of attacking a shinigami and threatening him anyways.

Ichigo, on the other hand, was scared out of his mind. And none of his 'instinct', as everyone kept putting it, was coming back to him. The man in charge had almost killed him before. It was only thanks to the other him that he even got away last time… but the other him had been uncharacteristically quiet lately, only making a few comments here and there.

"Run, you idiot!" A voice exploded into his head. Ichigo dodged under a man's arm and started to run away-- 'shunpo'?-- but then Ichigo stopped. The 'leader', the one who was obviously seeking revenge on his other self, was in front of him. And behind him, eight men were mobbing Hanatarou, and while he was holding them off, a shinigami wasn't invincible. Ichigo looked around for another place to go-- houses rose up around him. But his only escape route-- an alley to the right-- had more men in it.

The leader stepped forward, cocky, "We've never liked shin'gami 'ere in these parts. Spec'lly you, post'r child of them all. I 'unno who you thin' you are, but, you look like that damned Kur'saki fool. I 'unno what rela'shun you have to him, but…" He took another step forward, grinning threateningly. All escape routes were blocked, and he couldn't just abandon Hanatarou.

"Che. Let me take over, Ichigo." Ichigo, thankful, let his other self take over. The men stepped back in surprise at the sudden eye change and fast forming mask. Then the leader stepped forward again, acting casual, as if they still had the upper hand. "Men! Get the freak!" The other men nearby still had reservations, but, as the eight bothering Hanatarou started forward, so did they.

"Bad choice!" Ichigo's inner self laughed, and then launched into the attack.

Rukia felt the explosion of reiatsu long before she saw the source. It felt like… Ichigo's old Vizard powers was the first thing that came to her mind… except it felt more wild, more uncontrolled. And more deadly. She hadn't felt reiatsu quite like this since the Winter War. She already had a sinking feeling by the time she arrived. Hanatarou was standing in the road; slack jawed, staring at a mass of men-- perhaps twenty. Some looked like they were trying to fight, some were running away, and others were laying on the ground, either unconscious or dead. Then she spotted "Ichigo" weaving through the men, dropping them like flies as they tried to catch him. Rukia even found herself just staring for a minute before she brought herself back to attention.

"ICHIGO! STOP!" She yelled, readying her sword for the inevitable confrontation with the hollow.

…but, she didn't expect Ichigo's hollow to turn to her, wave slightly, and go, "Sorry, Rukia-chan, be with you in a second." Before dodging another punch. She blinked. That was his hollow… right? Wait… did he just call her 'chan'? She realized she was just staring again, and also realized something else-- all the men were on the ground except for one, which, the hollow was advancing on dangerously, and much more serious than Rukia expected, though, still with a smirk.

"Didn't I warn you last time--" He said as the man took another step back.

"Get away from me, freak!"

"-- not to mess with Ichigo?" The man growled as he hit the wall, and then tried to aim a punch at Ichigo's hollow, which he dodged easily. He also was very close to the man, which seemed to be the last straw.

"W-Who are you? What are you?" The man cried, trying to scramble away, his confidence broken.

The hollow laughed. "I aint got a name!" Then he launched forward, covering the distance between him and the running man… only to be stopped by Rukia, her hand cupped around his fist. Before, she would have never been able to stop Ichigo, let alone his hollow, like that. Being reset to a kid really did make a difference.

"Give. Back. Ichigo." Rukia ordered, and the hollow relaxed his posture, which surprised Rukia. And to the girl's absolute astonishment, he sighed. But then he laughed.

"Rukia-chan. Punish him right, okay?" And with that, the mask broke, and Ichigo's eyes returned to normal. The boy stumbled a bit before regaining balance. He looked around him at the fallen people, and his eyes widened marginally, but he didn't look nearly as shocked as he should have…strange. One disaster miraculously averted, Rukia spun around to look for the man she had protected. She had suspected he had run off…what she didn't expect to see was a pale Hanatarou tying him up behind her. At her startled look, the 4th division member replied, "He was the leader of the people that attacked us…I-I figured you were busy, Rukia-san." Neither Rukia nor Ichigo missed the slightly wary look on his face.

"Ichigo, are you okay?" Rukia addressed the boy again, concerned. Ichigo nodded, and then said something that surprised Rukia again.

"Ne… why wouldn't I be, Rukia-taichou? Sorry I ran off… but the other me beat them, it was all alright… right…?" He had trailed off, turning the statement into a question at the horrified look on Rukia's face. He had let the hollow take over? But… working with a hollow… how?

Ichigo looked worried now, "Rukia-taichou…?" But then he trailed off again, this time for an entirely different reason. His eyes unfocused, and after a few seconds he looked back at Rukia. "Oh… sorry…" The captain supposed his hollow had told him something. This was bad. Then Ichigo jumped as one of the men near him groaned and rolled over, looking up at the sky drunkenly. Rukia hadn't even thought about the other men, too busy dealing with a potential catastrophe in the form of Ichigo's hollow.

Time to be a captain. Rukia sighed. "Okay, let's bring them all in for trials. For attacking a Shinigami and a member of the Kuchiki clan." She indicated Ichigo and Hanatarou in turn, and then she spotted a few spectators that had gathered. "Hanatarou, can you go tell Yamamoto-sama that we need some people to clean this up?" She was about to gather everyone up when Ichigo interrupted her in a small voice.

"A-ano… don't kill them." He started, but, his voice became stronger, "The other me listened. He was just going to kill the leader… he said something about 'that fool is too stupid to live.'" After the quote, Ichigo blushed and glanced down at his shoes. Rukia found herself caught between a rock and a hard place. Keeping Ichigo's trust was something of importance to her, regardless of how much she thought those idiots deserved it.

"Why just the leader?" She finally asked.

"Because he attacked me before… and the other me had to save me before." Rukia sighed, and then glanced around for Hanatarou. Good, he had waited when Ichigo spoke up.

"I don't want to hear another mention of this incident. They were in a large drunken fight when Ichigo stumbled into it, and this man recognized him and chased him down, attacking him. I arrived, knocked them all out looking for him, but, found that Hanatarou had already disabled the one attacker." She said, nodding to Hanatarou as the 4th Division shinigami nodded back then rushed off. She then looked around and spotted Ichigo nearby, staring at her nervously and shifting from foot to foot. "And we'll discuss what happened later. Not a mention of it to anyone."

Now to wait.

Kukaku was not a happy Shiba. She had felt the reiatsu explosion even from where she had set up her house. And she could identify it—she wasn't stupid. It felt just like an advanced Hollow's…

Just as she suspected, the brat from before was back. She smirked slightly. Rukia wasn't one to go back on promises—she'd be back. And when she brought the kid with her, Kukaku was going to teach him a lesson for going and disappearing on everyone.

Whatever happened, though, the shinigami could easily mind-wipe any of the weaker souls of Rukongai. She wasn't very concerned for the brat—he could take care of himself.

But until then…

"You idiot, Ganju, that doesn't go there!"

"I hope Rukia has some sense now. I f she takes you to see some idiotic people called the Vaizard, do not listen to them. They were ignorant and afraid-- and fear causes weakness." With that Ichigo's other self retreated from his mind. If Ichigo wanted to contact his other self, he would have to retreat to the place within himself with all the sideways buildings and clouds-- something that he shouldn't do when trying to keep up with Rukia-taichou and Hanatarou-san.

He'd have to save his questions for later. Including a question that had been bothering him since Rukia-taichou had acted so weird. Why were people afraid of him? His other self had made very few comments since he gave control back-- one of them being a muttered "… hollow… fear… stupid…" and then when asked he told Ichigo, "Just tell them sorry or something. They never did like me."

At the time, Ichigo had accepted the 'never did like him' explanation and just said sorry. But the actions since then had confused him. Why were they so afraid of him? That wasn't just dislike. And the word 'hollow' had caught his attention. He had no idea what a hollow was, exactly… just that the word filled him with wariness. More so than Kenpachi did, or flower petals around Byakuya. It bordered on fear. Ichigo tried to shake that off-- his other self always told him that fear caused weakness and hesitation.

Through the run to the heart of Soul Society, Ichigo had tried to shake the foreboding feeling, but it wouldn't go away. He'd have to ask his other self about that too.

After Ichigo had repeated the story of both his encounters with the man to Rukia, she ordered Ichigo to be checked over by Hanatarou then brought back to the Kuchiki house. Hanatarou had been a little shocked that Rukia-san still trusted him. When Hanatarou had questioned her (albeit politely), she just smiled a bit and told him he was doing a good job. Even Rukia's encouragement or Ichigo's… normalcy couldn't help shake his bad feeling about earlier. Ichigo was sharp, though. He noticed Hanatarou keeping his distance, and it seemed to sober him up for a while. When they got to the Kuchiki house, Ichigo excused himself to go back to his room, and the shinigami sighed.

This really wasn't turning out well.

"It's raining." Zangetsu's voice was dull, more monotone than it had ever been. He was huddled on the roof, back against the rain. It wasn't a very heavy rain, but, it made everything look and feel stifling and grey. It might have even made Zangetsu's voice sound so flat. Nobody would like being trapped out in this mess. What's worse was that the two years of relative sunshine had spoiled them, and it just made the rain more depressing.

Ichigo's hollow didn't respond, just sat there and endured the rain with Zangetsu. He had offered the zanpaktou to stay in his mind for a bit, but, Zangetsu had refused, stating that he needed to be as close to Ichigo as possible if he needed to use him again. Apparently it took more energy to start working with a brand new sword, or materialize Zangetsu, than it was to just work with an already there sword. Not like the ones outside understood that-- once they had found out that Ichigo could make his sword appear, they had decided that Ichigo would have the energy and instinct to just make his sword appear anywhere.

Plus, Ichigo's 'instinct', or what remained of it, was poorly trained. It made sense—he had spent all the years since the Winter War hiding from his hollow powers and only learning to access Zangetsu's.

Their mistake. That was part of the reason the kid was caught so flatfooted earlier, and the hollow had to intervene.

It was also the reason that Rukia and that shinigami from the 4th Division now knew about him.

And the reason that Ichigo was getting ready to enter his own mind to get some answers.

But… just as he felt Ichigo appear inside, a loud, annoying voice that the hollow wished he never would have to hear again jolted the kid out of his inner world.

"Wake up! I'm here to escort you to the real world for some much needed training… baldy!"

The Vaizard had arrived.

Ichigo opened his eyes just in time to see the bottom of a shoe coming right towards his head.

Then, suddenly, he had the shoe and part of an arm in his grip, and was staring wide-eyed at a girl just a little older and taller than he was. The girl looked almost as shocked as he felt. He dropped the girl's hand as what he did finally caught up with him. He had dodged the girl's arm, and then caught it, spinning her around so that they were face-to-face with her firmly in his grip. All in the space of a second. Instinct.

Something like this had happened when he was fighting Rukia about a week ago. He blinked at the girl and started to apologize before catching himself, "Why are you in my room?" This time no well-placed instinct helped him—the girl smacked the sandal firmly across his forehead, sending sparks dancing across Ichigo's vision.

"H-hey! What was that for?!" He demanded as his vision cleared. The girl scowled at him, showing an enlarged canine, and Ichigo flinched away from her, expecting another hard smack from the shoe. It never came.

"For forgetting us and making us come and train you again! That's why!" She replied, waving the shoe around to emphasize. Ichigo's eyes widened… his other self had warned him about some people that might come after this afternoon. He hadn't thought they would come so quick, though… what were they? Vaizard? Was this girl one of them?

"Yes." His other self replied to the unspoken question, "Be careful." Something in his other self's voice bothered Ichigo. Was his other self worried…?

"Oi, Baldy!" The girl looked ready to hit Ichigo again. Wait. Did she ever stop looking ready to hit him?

"What's going on here?" Byakuya edged the door open, sword at the ready. He spotted the girl immediately, but didn't relax. "Kid, get away from her." Ichigo backed up immediately, and Byakuya focused again on the girl, "Care to inform me why a Vaizard is in the Kuchiki household?"

"We're getting what's ours." The girl said stubbornly, "Like I said the first time I came and got Kurosaki—you all won't accept him! And he belongs with us!"

Ichigo stared between the girl—the name Hiyori floated into his mind from somewhere—and Byakuya. Won't accept him… what? Why? Wasn't his past self a captain? Ichigo spotted Hanatarou edging around the corner behind the captain, staying out of the way but also looking ready to fight. What was going on here?

"As much as I never got along with Kurosaki—and I'd like to know how you know this child is him—he was still a captain, and his is still my charge now. You will not be taking him without Soul Society's… and Ichigo's consent." Hiyori crossed her arms and growled at this response.

"Do you want to risk it? Losing his mind to a hollow? You've seen it yourself!" Ichigo blinked. His… hollow? Was that… what his other self was? Suddenly, something clicked into place, and he felt like he was entering his inner world again, in that short transition period where you felt, saw, heard nothing… but instead of the sideways buildings of the place, random images assaulted him—

An older version of his other self was staring up at him, and Ichigo realized, horrified, that he had stabbed him. His other self was smirking, though… and then he said something that Ichigo didn't even begin to understand, "But remember… a King and his Horse can change places at any time. If I see even a slight opening, I'll buck you off and crush your skull!"

"So you… finally woke up… huh?" The dark-haired boy panted, and Ichigo's eyes widened. His sword was in the other boy's stomach. With a growing feeling of dread, he heard himself ask…

"That wound… did I do that?" The look on the other boy's face was enough to answer the question.

The mask… felt heavier, somehow.

He was trapped, feeling his body move with no control, blocking attacks, talking—and he knew that he wasn't the one doing it. Laughter. "I aint got a name!" Finally, showing the most emotion he had ever shown…

Kuchiki-san.

– and then Ichigo was in his inner world, the sideways buildings now more familiar to him than ever. But now it carried more of a threat. Or so Ichigo's memories told him. His memories told him to be afraid. To be wary. To kill the hollow before it killed him.

His mind also felt extremely empty, long stretches between the memories involving the hollow. It felt like someone had pumped up his mind with a bunch of air, and let little balloon memories float around, coming in and out at will.

Ichigo the eight year old, on the other hand, was just confused. His other self—his hollow—wasn't a threat. He was a friend. He had saved Ichigo's life on several occasions, one such being today when his 'infallible instinct' decided to fail. Even in some of the memories, it seemed like his other self was trying to help…

…then again, the "crush your skull" comment was a little disturbing. Gulping, Ichigo looked around. His other self was nowhere in sight. He tried to push down the feeling that was bubbling up inside him since the group of memories.

He was afraid of his other self.

"Che. Ichigo, didn't I tell you that fear causes hesitation and weakness?" His hollow—other self—hollow was there, standing across from him, arms crossed. "And very big misunderstandings." He continued almost… Ichigo could barely believe it… fearfully.

The orange-haired boy felt himself drop into a defensive position that he didn't even know how he knew. "I have to beat you again?" From his memories, it had not been a pleasant experience.

The hollow didn't miss a beat. "Only if you want to."

Ichigo blinked, confused, and felt the memories give way. What in the world was he doing? About to fight someone he should be grateful to for helping him so many times… no, what he needed were some answers… that's all.

Ichigo sat down cross-legged, then stared expectantly at his hollow… other self, he corrected himself. "I have memories of you. Nothing else. Please explain? I'm not expecting everything, just, more than what the others out there—Hiyori and Kuchiki-san—could give."

His other self was caught off guard for a second, but then he smirked and started talking.

A/N: Um, would you believe me if I said I got so tired of typing (and developed a headache) that I just quit it right there? :D Tell me if I got anything wrong, please, please, please. Bleach is actually challenging.

That said, I know it's a little… unbelievable…. I tried to make it believable…. QQ I fail.

Also, naming differences… I don't read through my work… for the sole reason that I'd have to read chopped up sentences just to realize anything. And I don't want to wait a few days before rereading… so I'll edit things in a few days… hopefully. Sorry. D:

~iDaun

Post1stEdit: Forgot to mention something earlier-- This leans heavily off the backstory created by Daricio's other fic, Hollow Feelings. Check it out. You don't really need to know much, though. That said... wow, this was riddled with errors. xD Still looking for them-- the best thing to do for self-editors is wait a few days before rereading... so that's what I'm gonna do. ALSO-- This will not be a yaoi fic... actually, it follows all of Daricio's rules (hopefully) in the author's note of her Familiar Faces.