Disclaimer: Bleach is Tite Kubo's work, not mine.


Prologue - Normal is to Not Normal

Dark and light. Love and hate. Joy and sorrow. Up and down.

Everything has an opposite.

If I was happy, he was not. If I was depressed, he would be laughing with glee. If I was tired, he would be brimming with energy. And if I would grow to love something, he would grow to hate that something.

'Everything has an opposite'... it is surely one of the most undeniable truths in this and their world.

But just because we were of the same person doesn't mean we know everything about each other. As we are each others' counterpart we are different from the other. And we can't exactly say what our differences are.


My hands and my forehead are sweating as I was cooking meat patties, while preparing the burger buns.

I'm a cook in a fast food restaurant as my first part-time job. My second part-time job is being the janitor of the apartment. I do these so that I can afford my apartment and my school tuition.

Right now, since a house fire almost a year ago, me and my family are going in a financial crisis so I tried to not burden them by doing a lot of work while keeping my grades high so that I can be the one to provide for them, not them being the ones to provide for me.

"Good work! You can take your leave now, Ichigo. You still have homework to do, right?"

I nodded at Urahara, who is my boss. I removed my uniform and changed to my casual clothes before leaving. I ran home instead of spending my money on bus fare, and went to the fourth floor where my apartment was waiting for me.

Unlocking the door, I went in. I stopped when I saw a few envelopes on the floor and I picked my mail up while going to the bed to read it.

First was my pay from the landlord for last week's work. Second was a letter from Yuzu to how I'm doing right now. And the last letter was from Rukia, a classmate of mine.

She could have texted me if she wanted to give me a message, but I read her letter nonetheless.

Both of us are in a group project. She told me that my task is to buy an antique bracelet from this shop called 'Naciente Mystil'. I sighed that I have to spend my savings again, but she assured me at the P.S. part of the letter that the owner of the shop is a friend of hers so I'll be given a discount.

I thought that it was a relief, but soon it will become nothing but cold comfort.


"Another, please..." I slurred after finishing my thirteenth bottle of beer. The bartender seemed reluctant to give me another shot but he did what I told him too and I waited for the next horse-necked drink.

Despite my young age, I did the things forbidden for teenagers like me. I do drugs, I drink, I even sleep with some sluts. I earn money by either clever pickpocketing or beating up thugs in the street to please a gang or two.

"Byakuro, ya trying to break the record to how much one can drink in a day?" The man sitting beside me teased with a playful grin, but I merely scoffed and said nothing as I got what I asked for.

And after downing it all I decided to leave and go to my home, that home being an abandoned condominium. It wasn't much, but it's better than being in the streets.

As I walked inside, the lights in the hallway were blinking for they were running out of power but I couldn't care less as I went to the nearest room and dropped my wallet at a corner where the bed as also at. I let my body collapse at the flat cushion as I started to feel sleepy.

I wasn't expecting tomorrow to be different than all the other days I spent as a wild brat.

= To be continued =