After reading a large amount of fanfictions, it occurred to me that many of them did not turn out how I would have liked, or were discontinued just when they began to get good. To an avid reader like me, this was frustrating. Therefore, I was inspired to create my own fanfiction, with a set of original characters and the pairings that I would like to see. This was the result.
So, I hope you'll read on, and give me some valuable feedback on my first fanfiction.
Disclaimer 1: I do not own Bleach or anything associated with it. I am merely an avid fan who wishes to tell my own story of the world that Kubo invented.
Disclaimer 2: I could not have finished this story without the help of my amazing beta reader, BlackFirelight. I humbly request that you address your reviews to both of us.
After a long day of school and destroying hollows, sleep was welcome. Ichigo sighed and turned over in his sleep, the morning sunlight trickling in through his window. His alarm clock was set to go off in a few minutes so he could get up and ready in time for school. For once, Ichigo thought he was going to be able to get up like a normal human being.
No such luck. Ichigo was rudely awakened from slumber by the sound of his bedroom door slamming open. He had just enough time to identify his attacker as his father, Kurosaki Isshin, before he was forced to react.
"GOOOOOOOD MOOORNINGGGG, ICHIGOOOOO!" His father yelled, throwing himself at the prone figure of Ichigo. The orange-haired teen was used to being woken like this, so he reacted accordingly – by slamming his foot into his father's face and sending him flying into the wall. Isshin groaned and sat up, holding his face.
"Ouch, you're getting good, son!" He said, though Ichigo was used to hearing the statement. Now that he was awake, Ichigo let out a yawn and hopped out of bed.
"You say that every morning. Get some new material, you old fart," he replied in an uncaring tone. Isshin looked hurt.
"You should be grateful you even have a father that cares enough to wa-" he started to protest, but was interrupted by Ichigo throwing a shoe at him.
"GET THE HELL OUT OF MY ROOM SO I CAN GET DRESSED!" He hollered at him, causing the older man to cower against the wall.
"Well hurry up then! Yuzu is making breakfast," Isshin shot back, exiting Ichigo's room and shutting the door.
Ichigo looked surprised. His father never left him alone that easily. He usually ended up fighting with him, wasting the rest of the morning. Ichigo shrugged as he began getting dressed in his school uniform. Perhaps the old man was just having an off day.
"Rukia, you can come out now," Ichigo said after his father was safely downstairs. Rukia had taken to sleeping in his closet again, since she insisted that it was the only way she could get a good night's sleep. That's why Ichigo was hiding her. After all, Isshin obviously didn't care if she stayed here. Ichigo just didn't want the incessant questions from him if he ever discovered his self-proclaimed "third daughter" in the closet.
Ichigo finished dressing, but then noticed that there was silence in the room. He quizzically looked over at the closet, where it was innocently shut.
"Hey, Rukia! Wake up!" The teen called, knocking on the closet door. When he still received nothing but silence in return, an anger mark appeared on his forehead. He threw open the closet door. "OI! MIDGET! WAKE YOUR LITTLE ASS …Wha?"
Rukia's makeshift bed was neatly made and empty, suggesting she had been gone for quite sometime. Ichigo sighed, wondering where the hell she had gone now.
Ichigo left his room, shutting the door after him. His father was probably going to assault him again, so Ichigo braced himself. No attack came though, as he walked into the kitchen.
Ichigo inhaled the warm aroma of what must have been an omelet, and he let small smile cross his face. Yuzu really did know how to cook. He glanced at his younger sister as she finished up at the stove. She really had grown in the past five years.
He remembered the day when she had changed her hairstyle. Three years ago, Yuzu's hair had grown pretty long, so she put them into pigtails. That lasted for a while, until inexplicably she had started to wear her hair down, so that it cascaded down her back. Ichigo didn't really know why she did, but he though it looked better this way.
"Ohayo, Ichi-nii," Karin called from the table, where she was eating her own omelet. Ichigo deduced that Yuzu probably knew to make his omelet last, since he usually slept pretty late.
"Ohayo," Ichigo replied, sitting down at the table across from her. He looked up to see Yuzu walking over to him holding another steaming plate of omelet.
Ichigo gratefully took it from her, setting it down on the table in front of him. He was just about to slice into it when he noticed Karin staring at him strangely.
"What? Is there something on my face?" Ichigo asked. He finally cut into his omelet while waiting for her response.
"That's not it. I'm just surprised you actually stayed for breakfast today," Karin quipped. Ichigo sighed, and then stuck a piece of omelet in his mouth.
"That's because SOMEONE over there woke me up thirty minutes earlier than usual today!" Ichigo snapped, glaring at his father. Isshin rose to the challenge and walked up to his son.
"I've told you time and time again that you should be waking up at seven every morning! It's only right that I should deprive you of your sleep!" he shot back. Ichigo's jaw dropped at what he considered to be a horrible fate, and he shot up from his seat.
"That's ridiculous! Why should I wake up that early when school starts at nine?" he protested. Karin deadpanned and kept eating her breakfast, while Yuzu walked up to Ichigo and tugged on his sleeve, a pitiful look on her face.
"Nii-chan, your breakfast will get cold," she whimpered. Ichigo sighed and sat back down, surprising her. She hadn't expected him to actually back down.
"Aha! So you've at last accepted my rules for this household! Now you shall-" Isshin began, but was promptly punched in the chest by Ichigo and sent hurtling into a wall.
"Don't get so cocky," Ichigo retorted. Finally, he began to eat the breakfast that Yuzu had diligently made for him. The younger teen smiled as her family enjoyed her cooking. It wasn't often that the entire family was able to eat together in "relative" peace.
A few minutes passed before Ichigo was able to finally finish his breakfast. He handed his dishes to Yuzu and stood up. School would be starting soon, and therefore his friends Mizuiro and Keigo would be here soon to pick him up. Ichigo sighed as he remembered his friends. No doubt Keigo would assault him with some pointless questions about who knows what.
As if on cue, the doorbell rang. Ichigo slung his bag over his shoulder and walked towards the door. It seemed louder than it usually did out there though. As she usually did, Yuzu opened the door to reveal his two friends and one other person that Ichigo did not recognize.
"Ohayo, Ichigo," Mizuiro called from the front door. Ichigo bid goodbye to his family before stepping outside and shutting the door.
"Ohayo, Mizuiro," Ichigo replied, glancing curiously at the new face. He and Keigo were whispering something to each other with comical looks on their faces. Mizuiro noticed Ichigo's quizzical glance and decided to clear things up for him.
"I see you've noticed Asano-kun's new friend," he observed. Ichigo turned to look at the raven-haired teen as he spoke.
"Aa. Who is he?" He asked, taking in the figure of the new arrival. He was fairly tall, and dressed in a pair of jeans and a black sleeveless shirt. It was very plain, and it was also not the school uniform, which Ichigo noticed with a raised eyebrow.
"That's Terry-kun. Apparently he's a new transfer student to our school. Asano-kun took a liking to him almost immediately. They…act very similar," Mizuiro commented. Ichigo let out a groan at the teen's last comment.
"Great, another Keigo," he muttered, causing Mizuiro to chuckle.
"AHA!" Terry yelled abruptly, startling Ichigo.
"YOU'RE ON!" Keigo yelled about a second after Terry opened his mouth. The two began to sprint in the direction of the school. Ichigo and Mizuiro turned their heads to follow them in silence, a dumbfounded look on their faces.
"What the hell?" Ichigo finally said when they were out of sight.
"I honestly don't know," Mizuiro replied, flipping open his phone and starting to type a message.
Orihime, her eyes wide, watched as his wings began to fade and turn to dust. His green eyes glanced at them for a second before returning his gaze to the front.
"…Soukka. So I am that far gone?" he asked himself, while she looked on helplessly. She should hate him, yet she just couldn't bring herself to when she saw the sad, lonely look in his dying eyes.
"You must hurry. You will never finish the fight if you do not kill me now." He said. As his wings fully disappeared, the atmosphere in the clearing grew somber, so that now Orihime was not the only one wishing that he would not have to die like this. She could hear someone speaking, but she could no longer comprehend it. She could not take her eyes off of the man in front of her. He turned and caught her gaze with his emerald eyes, and she felt her heart jump in her chest.
"Right as I was growing interested with you people," he said. His legs soon disappeared from existence, and Orihime could feel that his time was almost up. She watched with conflicting emotions as the man reached out for her with his pale white hand.
"Do I scare you, woman?" he asked, finally speaking to her directly. Orihime could not remove her eyes from his. It was as if he was drawing her in, trapping her with his emerald orbs. Orihime couldn't bear to see him leave the world like this.
"I'm not afraid," she said honestly, her eyes shining with unshed tears. She gasped softly as she saw his strength dwindle and his hand began to draw back.
"…Soukka," he said softly. Orihime reached for his hand, determined not to let him die alone. Just when she was about to clasp his fingers, his hand disappeared into ash, and she let out a cry of despair. In just a few more seconds, he was gone. He was scattered to the four winds like he had never been.
"ULQUIORRA!" Orihime screamed, and she abruptly woke up screaming, the tears that she had been holding in streaming down her cheeks. She sat up in the bed and sniffed, realizing that she had been dreaming again.
Orihime remained still for several moments, as she could not bring herself to move, for fear that his memory might slip away from her. She lifted one shaking hand to her eyes and wiped away her tears, though they continued to flow.
After a few minutes of trying to regain her bearings, Orihime forced herself to move. She climbed off of the bed and walked into the bathroom, intending to wash up. She found it much harder to focus than usual, since the vivid images from her dream continued to haunt her.
"Why can't I stop dreaming about you?" Orihime whispered to the air as she showered. This wasn't like her, and she knew it. Ever since things had begun to calm down from the Winter War, images from her time in Las Noches had begun to haunt her. In particular, the times where she interacted with Ulquiorra, the fourth Espada, had frequently been the ones she had been seeing. Last night's dream had been the most emotionally troubling to her.
Orihime stepped out of the shower and tidied herself up in the mirror, applying the proper hygiene products that served to keep her looking nice and clean. She knew that she should be glad that Ulquiorra was gone, but she just couldn't bring herself to hate him. He seemed like he finally discovered what a heart was, but it was too late for him to act on that information, and it was this that made Orihime the saddest.
She looked at the school uniform in her closet and sighed. She was really acting unlike herself right now. She needed to cheer herself up. Quickly, Orihime dressed and packed up for school and then fixed herself something for breakfast. She turned on some soft music in an attempt to take her mind off of him, which succeeded for a while. Soon, she was ready to leave. Tatsuki would be here soon, and Orihime didn't want to trouble her with her own problems. With that, she put on a smile and waited for her best friend.
When the doorbell rang, Orihime opened it immediately to see her friend Tatsuki, who was clearly in a good mood judging by the bright smile on her face. Tatsuki wasn't usually a morning person, so Orihime was surprised to see her so awake.
"Ohayo, Tatsuki-chan! You are looking happy today!" Orihime observed, smiling at her spiky-haired friend.
"Ohayo, Orihime. Come on, we don't have much time before class starts," Tatsuki replied. Orihime nodded and the two friends began to walk towards the school, conversing eagerly about what the new day would bring.
Ishida Uryu didn't budge as the alarm on his phone went off; informing him helpfully that school was going to begin in thirty minutes. Usually, he would be awakened by this alarm, but today he had been awake since six this morning, as he had an assignment to complete. He hadn't been able to complete it yesterday since a Hollow had intruded far too close to his house. He knew he couldn't count on Ichigo to get his lazy ass up in time to save the group of girls that had been passing by.
So he had spent his night taking care of this nuisance. Ishida had underestimated it at first, and had ended up taking a nasty hit to his shoulder, which still hurt when he tried to move it. He ended up killing it rather easily with Ginrei Kojaku after he started analyzing its attacks and predicting them.
Saving the girls had given him the satisfaction that came from protecting someone, but it hadn't completed his essay.
Sighing, Ishida decided that now would be a good time to get moving. Punctuality was one of his strong points after all. He didn't want to screw that up. He was already clean and dressed, as that was the first thing he did when he woke this morning.
He grabbed his bag and stepped outside of his door, making sure to lock it. The weather was warm, but not hot. That was one of the reasons why Ishida liked this season. He hated being too hot or too cold, which made autumn and spring his favorite seasons.
Ishida began his walk to school, wondering what the sensei had in mind for them today. As he turned the corner, he instantly began to feel the presence of a Hollow nearby. He was just about to give up his punctuality for today and go destroy it, but he also noticed that Rukia's reiatsu was moving swiftly towards it. It wasn't that strong of a Hollow, so Ishida decided that he could let her handle it today.
When Ishida passed a fork in the road, he saw a familiar teen come into view, his height casting a long shadow in the early morning. When the new arrival noticed Ishida, he redirected his path until they were walking side-by side.
"Ohayo, Sado-kun," Ishida greeted the new arrival, his eyes focused on the road in front of him.
"Ohayo, Ishida-kun," Sado replied in his own deep voice. With that, the two walked towards the school together, enjoying the silence. It wasn't an awkward silence, but one of understanding. They both knew that they were too tired to form a rational conversation, so they simply enjoyed the early morning and attempted to wake themselves up in time for the school day ahead.
The sensei was alone in her classroom, minutes before she knew the first students would be trickling in. She had big plans for the class today, and she was quite excited. In particular, she wanted to see how the new arrivals would fit into the class.
The sensei considered her class to be the most "unique" of the all in terms of variety of character. It went from the quietest of the quiet Sado Yasutora to the loudest one in the class, Keigo. It was quite a contrast, and it was one that made this class worth teaching, in her opinion.
She looked up from her work as the first bell rang, signaling all of the students milling outside the gates or in the courtyard to head to their respective classrooms. As she expected, Ishida and Sado were the first ones in the room. They took their respective seats after bidding a good morning to the sensei, and then they took out their textbooks and prepared for the first class of the day.
The sensei expected Ichigo and his friends to be next, but to her surprise, it was Orihime and Tatsuki, followed by Ryo, Chizuru, and the other girls. They were chatting as usual, and the room that had once been empty became full of life once again.
The room became crowded as more and more students filed inside and began to take their seats and talk with their friends that they hadn't seen since yesterday. Finally, Ichigo, Mizuiro, Keigo, and Terry walked in. The last two were covered in a thin film of sweat and were panting hard, as if they had just ran a marathon.
"Ohayo, Kurosaki-kun! You are a bit later than usual," the sensei observed, raising an eyebrow at Keigo and Terry.
"Gomenasai, Sensei," Ichigo said, walking to his seat and sitting down. Mizuiro, his eyes glued to his phone, did the same, leaving Keigo and Terry to gripe at one another.
"All because you forgot your stupid uniform! HOW CAN YOU FORGET A UNIFORM!" Keigo complained to the raven-haired teen, who glanced back at him with a look of mock anger on his face.
"Skill! Pure and adulterated SKILL! ACCEPT IT!" Terry spouted senselessly, causing everyone who heard him to glance at him strangely, wondering who this moron was.
"Terry-san, can I ask you to sit down in the chair in front of my desk, please?" The sensei asked. Keigo seemed to think that Terry was in trouble, and thus spent the next few moments sniggering at his expense. Then he took his seat.
The next person to walk in was an unfamiliar face. She was startlingly pretty and there seemed to be something alluring about her. That feeling was so intense that Keigo wrenched his attention from his conversation with Orihime about French bread and began to stare, his mouth falling open.
"She's sooo hot!" Keigo whispered, causing Ichigo-who was next to him-to sigh and rest his head in his palm.
The new arrival was told to sit next to Terry in the other empty seat. When she sat, Terry glanced over at her in an attempt to start conversation. What he got in return was a blistering glare that made him blanch and look away.
"Kurosaki-kun, do you know where Kuchiki-san is?" Orihime asked the almost asleep teen, who jerked up at her voice and looked around. It was true. Rukia was nowhere in sight.
"I don't know. She wasn't in her usual spot this morning," Ichigo replied, just as confused as the redhead was.
Ishida looked over at them and realized they were talking about Rukia's absence. He knew exactly where she was, and he was about to speak up when the Death God in question ran in through the door seconds before the last bell rang.
Rukia took her seat near Ichigo and sighed in relief. She quickly picked up her schoolgirl act again and replied to all of the greetings sent her way.
"Gomen, I had to get up early this morning to take care of an incursion of Hollows," Rukia explained, answering the question that she was sure Ichigo was going to ask.
"An incursion? Just how many were there?" Ichigo asked curiously, wondering why it had taken her so long just to kill a few Hollows.
"More than I expected. There were around twelve of them in a group, so I had to pick them off one by one," Rukia answered, causing Ichigo's eyes to widen in surprise.
"In a group? Since when do Hollows work together?" he demanded.
"I don't know. We can talk about this more after class," Rukia finished, her words causing Ichigo to worriedly look out the window.
The sensei soon called for the attention of the class, as was customary. However, after the room was silent, everyone's eyes went to the two unfamiliar faces in the front of the room. Terry seemed to thrive under the attention, while the girl shifted uncomfortably and looked down at the floor.
"As you have noticed, today we have two new transfer students here to join our class!" the sensei announced happily. Whispers abounded as students wondered what these new arrivals would be like. Chizuru and Keigo-as expected-were both drooling over the female arrival. "I'll let them introduce themselves! If you would?"
"I am Terry Shrike! Nice to meet everyone! I'm sure we'll get on just fine!" Terry responded eagerly. Everyone in the room was able to get a clear look at him now. His eyes were a deep green color, which contrasted nicely with his short black hair. Happiness and good humor radiated from his face. At the direction of the sensei, he went to sit down in an empty desk on the other side of Keigo. All eyes were now on the other girl.
"M…my name is Bailey Farrington," she said quietly, a slight stammer evident in her voice. Her long blonde hair extended to the middle of her back, and her bangs hung over her face as she spoke, so she was constantly peering through them.
"That's everyone! I hope you'll accept them into your social circles and all that," the sensei concluded, and then began to teach class.
Bailey sat next to Chizuru, who thought that it was Christmas and began shooting the new student glances over her shoulder. Bailey seemed to be ignorant of them, as she made no indication that she had seen them at all.
Over in his desk, Ichigo was interested to see how the next couple of days would go. Terry seemed to be energetic enough, and he felt himself drawn to Bailey. There was just something about her that caught his attention. After realizing this, he did a double take. What did he care what the new girl looked like? Perturbed at his own behavior, Ichigo turned his gaze away from her.
It seemed that to the students of Karakura High, it was going to be an interesting year.
I want to thank you for taking the time to read my first attempt at a story. We worked hard on this, and it really is a pleasure to see reviews on the story. Because I value them so much, I will post shoutouts for each review that I receive on the next chapter, in which I will comment and answer any questions that you may have posed.
With that, I'll sign off.
DarkSeducer8