"You only live Twice"

By Quick-n-Popular

Disclaimer: "Bleach" and its characters are properties of Tite Kubo.

Author's Note: This little idea of mine came from reading stories to where Ichigo either inhabited Kaien's memories/soul or was the reincarnation of him. Hopefully mine will seem different by comparison.

There'll be teasers but I have yet to decide upon an actual pairing.

"Talking"

'thinking'

"Zanpaktou spirit talking"

Now, on with the story…

Chapter One: Nowhere Man

At first there was pain, immense pain, excruciating, even; then, there was relief. Thereafter, there was panic and a surge of confusion, followed shortly after by a need to escape. Then, there was nothing, an empty void. The black veil soon parted and the senses became alive once more….

In a grassy plane, next to a lake just east of the Rukon District of a place called Soul Society, a figure, lying face down on the ground; twitched before it began to stir and slowly rose itself up off the ground. This person clutched its head as it groaned, wearily. It looked around before it noticed the lake and then began a slow walk till it fell on its knees out of sudden exhaustion and then peered at the water's surface.

In the water's reflection, it revealed itself to be a young man, roughly between the age of sixteen and eighteen. He had a slender face viewed upon by a different pair of eyes, one amber, the other black. His hair, spiky and long in the back, was also different as it was both orange and black giving it a punk-style look. He wore a black shihakshou with a white undershirt underneath along with a black hakama. However, that wasn't all he wore. Attached by a black and blue straps, were a pair of katanas.

The boy's heterochromiac-eyes stared at the blades in confusion and wonder. Placing his hands on the hilts, however, caused his entire world to go black…

When his eyes opened, he was in unique world. From what he could see, he was situated on an odd structure that had multiple windows on the surface. Further along ahead of him was a wall of water that was flowing freely with lotus', blossoming as they passed, floating. The place was quiet and somehow eerie but not at all unpleasant as it had a sort of familiarity to it.

"At last you've come."

The black and orange haired boy turned to see two figures standing on two poles that seemed to be jutting out of the weird surface. One was a man with long, scraggily, dark hair with a goutee and wearing shades and a long trench coat that was billowing from a silent wind. The figure beside him was an impeccably beautiful woman with turquoise-colored hair wearing a similarly colored kimono. She had soft amber-colored eyes that were half-lidded. Unlike her companion, who had an impassive look, she smiled warmly.

"At last you've come, Shiba-san."

The man also spoke.

"This world has changed dramatically, Kurosaki-san. We have a lot to discuss, the three of us. But before that can happen, you need to remember."

"Remember?" The voice coming from the boy was coarse, like he hadn't used it in ages. However, his mind focused on the names they used.

'Shiba…Kurosaki…'

It was then that his mind turned into a torrent of pain and imagery. He watched the life of a man, who was raised in a prominent family and soon became a Soul Reaper in the Gotei Thirteen. The boy watched the life of the man, named Kaien Shiba as he rose in status as a Lieutenant of the Thirteenth Squad and fell in love with a woman in the third seating, which was soon followed by an engagement. However, the scenes changed to the horrific as he witnessed Kaien incensed by revenge against a hollow that had killed and controlled his betrothed. The images played out up until Kaien himself was possessed and then was stopped by a young Shinigami girl he had helped and trained in the squad. His last words before the imagery stopped were, "Thank you Rukia."

A new set of imagery followed shortly after of a young boy with orange hair in a city of some sorts along with his family. The images seemed happy and peaceful but that changed as the scenes showed the boy with his mother walking home only to stop when the boy noticed something peculiar over by the shore. It appeared to be a young girl drowning, by the boy's perspective. However, the mother's cries of warning were left on deaf ears and soon it all changed with the boy next to the body of his dead mother. The boy, Ichigo Kurosaki, changed dramatically thereafter. He became stoic and antisocial, only being friendly and warm to those close to him and the spirits that he met on the way to school; one spirit in particular whose memorial shrine was constantly becoming vandalized by locals. This spirit was soon in danger from a hollow hunting in the area. Ichigo tried his best in stopping the creature before his life was ended when his body was severely damaged. As Ichigo was staring at his body, an odd occurrence happened where the girl, Rukia Kuchiki, from the other life appeared and introduced herself and what she was doing there. She was apologizing for her tardiness which cost him his life. After a brief discussion and the orange haired boy asking her to look after his family, she performed the Konso technique and then everything went white.

All the images soon stopped after that, along with the pain in his head. Blinking, the multi-colored haired youth opened his eyes and stood up straight, looking at the two odd individuals in front of him.

"Why do I have those memories of two different lives?" He asked, his voice still coarse.

"You are a unique individual, Kaien." The woman paused and closed her eyes before opening them; "You're now the combination of two souls, Ichigo Kurosaki and Kaien Shiba. Whatever happens from here on in, though, shall make you something else entirely."

The boy nodded at the woman, known as Nejibana, Kaien Shiba's zanpaktou's spirit, from what he remembered from the memories, part of the memories; he obtained. However, the other man had yet to be named or recognized.

The stoic man seemed to pick up on the unsaid question.

We have never met in either life. However, I've been with you, Ichigo, and I hope, now, you'll be able to hear my voice and call out my name. I'm…

The multi-colored haired young man opened his eyes, returning to the grassy plane next to the lake. He stood up and rested his hands on the hilts of his blades as he took in a deep breath.

'Nejibana…Zangetsu…I'm glad that the two of you are with me. I still don't know what I should call myself. Ichigo, Kaien, both are me and both are two individuals who no longer exist. Perhaps I'll find an answer soon.

His eyes soon set onto the Rukon district and he started walking towards an unknown future.


A/N: I'm not sure what response I'll be given for this story's intro as its just the beginning and chalk full of errors but, hopefully, in time it can be appreciated and those willing to go on this journey will reap the benefits that are sure to come.

Please Read and Review. I'm working on the next chapter and, hopefully, I'll get some good responses.

Q-n-P