Rebirth: Sternenprinz

by RamenSpice20

"Eyes glued on the water, Ichigo waited as a car passed to move closer to the edge before climbing the railing. Wind tugging at his hair, Ichigo closed his eyes and slowly raised his arms out to feel the last rays of sun on him. Taking a deep breath, Ichigo stepped off the bridge." Rebirth has always been a tricky business, and fate is far crueler to Ichigo in his second life.

1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.

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Other Places You Can Find Me:

AO3: RamenSpice20

Tumblr: ramenspice - here you can find fanart for Rebirth, bonus material, and can ask me anything!

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Notes:

Since in this version of the ending to Bleach (you'll have to find out through this story how and why everyone was reborn after Bleach supposedly had a happy ending) Ichigo's soul ends up being reborn to the wrong Shinigami-quincy pair in a world vastly different to the one we know thanks to the changes made by mysterious past events, his last name and mother are German. That also means that there will be a lot of german terms and actual german spoken ('cause Ichigo speaks german), but I don't speak any german, so I have to do something unforgivable. I must use google translate. I know. I'm disgusting. There will be so many errors, but please bear with me - I will put translations at the bottom of each chapter if you don't want to look up translations or trust our drunken google boi.

I ain't kidding when I say this fic is dark. Be aware that this story deals with dark subjects like depression, anxiety, PTSD, suicide and suicidal thoughts, self harm, abuse, rape, and torture. If any of these subjects are sensitive to you, be advised.

Ew, "Godebert," I know, but it's old German and it means "god" and "bright" and it was the only thing I could find under German last names fitting the criteria I wanted.

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Inner thoughts/speech

Prologue: Of Cleaning and Blackmail

-x-

Ichigo Godebert

Ichigo sighed. He wished he could stay here forever, watching the lazy water flow beneath him from his spot on the bridge as the sun started to sink behind the horizon to leave the sky washed with an orange as bright as his hair. He usually paid more attention to the river, but today the sunset was especially pretty. Something about sunsets just made him feel calmer, like he was finally getting to rest after a long and exhausting battle. In a way, he was resting after a long battle - his entire day was nothing but fighting. Fighting to get out of the house, fighting through school, fighting through work, and well, the actual fighting. Ichigo sighed again. He was not looking forward to having to walk home after his last shift. He could do without aforementioned fight from one of the wannabe punks that waited for him at this bridge before work every night, it just made working so much more difficult. He supposed it was a convenient excuse for what he was already dealing with, but still. It didn't make him any happier about it.

If I don't get myself moving soon, I'm gonna get yelled at again for being late. Let's just get this over with...

Ichigo pushed off from the railing where he'd been leaning and took a deep breath before heading to the end of the bridge at a brisk pace. Sure enough, when he reached the end, a group of thuggish looking young men stepped out from behind the same concrete bridge marker that gangs wanting a fight always waited for him at.

"Where do you think you're going, punk? My boys and I have been waitin' all damn day just to catch your sorry ass for a little conversation..." The leader sporting a deep purple jumpsuit and greasy black hair slicked back (or at least what was left of it) said with a malicious grin.

If it wasn't for how tired he was, Ichgio would have rolled his eyes. This guy looked a few pounds short of a street lamp. No way was a string bean like him gonna beat him. The five guys behind him seemed a lot more fit, so Ichigo was guessing that this guy was the leader because he had some sort of monetary hold over the others. A seedy rich guy like him was bound to attract some low-lives looking for a fight and some good pay, so Ichigo figured all he had to do was take out Greasy Toothpick and maybe one other guy and the others would cut and run. You can't buy loyalty...

"Which one are you, you're brothers or cousins or something with one of the guys I beat up yesterday and want revenge, you're here to test my reputation, you're here to teach me some respect for you low-lives, or what?" Ichigo asked with arms crossed and eyes half-lidded. The leader twitched.

"What, you don't know who we are and what we're here for after what you did?!" The leader exclaimed and pulled out a wooden sword.

"Uh, post-liposuction teletubby looking for the rest of his hair?" Ichigo deadpanned. One of the thugs almost snickered to his boss' ire. He didn't really need to egg him on, but he'd been doing that a lot lately.

"Why you snotnosed ass-wipe! Don't just stand there, GET HIM!" The leader motioned wildly at Ichigo, face beet red and furious. His thugs immediately stopped laughing and came at Ichigo.

Ichigo just sighed and dodged a punch from a tattooed behemoth before using his momentum to drive his knee into his gut, ducking just in time to feel the swish of a wooden sword above his head. Quickly jumping back up, Ichigo moved out of the way from another sword strike to plant his foot in the nearest goon's face, a red-haired man with thick side burns. Feeling his foot connect, Ichigo bit back a cry of pain from antagonizing the twisted ankle he had gained from yesterday's late return home. Pushing through the pain from his ankle and various other places of soreness, Ichigo whipped around as fast as he could to sucker punch a man with blue shades into the ground.

Ignoring the panicked cries of the henchmen, Ichigo let the lunging leader's sword slide past him as he grabbed his stunned face to force his legs and sword to fly forwards, face remaining in his hand. Doubled over and crying out from the pain of having had Ichigo's hand mashed into his face, the leader didn't yet register the foot flying straight for his greasy, balding head.

Hissing in pain, Ichigo resisted the urge to reach down and rub his ankle as he stood over the unconscious man, opting instead to glare ominously at the remaining thugs trying to drag their wounded friends away.

"SHIT! This freak's crazy - RUN!"

Forgetting their supposed boss, the five goons turned tail and ran. Guess I was right about their loyalty... As soon as they were out of sight, Ichigo stumbled back and leaned down to gingerly massage his throbbing ankle. Shit, this really hurts... No time to stop and check it out though, gotta keep moving. Stepping over the unconscious man, Ichigo started jogging down the concrete path ignoring his ankle's painful protesting. He had a long way to go if he wanted to make it across town in time, even if this fight had been fairly quick. It didn't help that his running anymore that he had almost a chronic cough that made physical activity hard on his lungs. He just hoped for once no one would notice his tardiness...

x

"Can anyone tell me what time it is?"

Silence.

"Ichigo, do you know what time it is?"

Ichigo swallowed.

"Sir, I'm sorr-"

"What. Time. Is. It."

Ichigo kept his head down with his arms stiff at his side.

"It's 7:28 pm, sir." Ichigo muttered just loud enough for his boss to hear.

"Louder."

Ichigo cleared his throat and clenched his fists. He wanted to fight, to run, to do something, but he needed this job more than anything.

"It is 7:28 pm, sir." Ichigo said, louder. His coworker Kaiya snickered behind him.

"Since Ichigo obviously doesn't know when his night shift starts, who else can tell me?" His boss, Daimo, asked the ring of workers gathered around Ichigo for his punishment. Ichigo shut his eyes when he heard Kaiya speak up from behind him.

"7:20 pm, Daimo-sama, after Yumi's night shift ends and I take on the cash register right on time." Kaiya gave a sickly sweet smile to her boss.

"Very good, Kaiya, maybe a wonderful employee like you should take Ichigo's job." Daimo said as Kaiya beamed. Kaiya, raven haired, venomous, squeaky clean Kaiya. She absolutely hated Ichigo for some reason, and had been pining after his job ever since he got it. Anytime she could make Ichgio miserable or her fellow workers laugh at his expense, she would. It was like some low budget high school movie, complete with oblivious higher-ups and social cliques.

"Wait, please, sir I can explain. I was on my way here when -" Daimo held up a hand to silence Ichigo.

"No one cares why you were late. I've heard more excuses from you than I can count, so you can stop pretending to limp and just own up to your tardiness." Daimo said. Ichigo's heart dropped. He normally didn't try to hide his injuries or weak coughing since no one really said anything or seemed to care, but it looked like this time he should have. Now his boss thought he was trying to trick him or something - did no one really trust him?

"Yes sir. I promise it won't happen again." Ichigo said dejectedly. Daimo glared at him.

"You had better. The only reason I let a delinquent like you work at my store is thanks to my incredible generosity. I should have fired your worthless ass a long time ago." Turning to his employees, Daimo waved his hand in dismissal. "Show's over, get back to work!"

As his coworkers dispersed, Ichigo thanked his lucky stars that the convenience store was empty at this time of night. Pulling his dark green beanie lower on his head to further cover his "unprofessional" hair, Ichigo quickly slipped on his night janitor vest and grabbed a mop to start cleaning.

He'd been working here since he was 12 (having lied about his age at the time), as opposed to the other workers who had only been there a year, but had never been offered a promotion because of a couple reasons... Daimo was not an idiot and could recognize a preteen when he saw one, but had a reputation for hiring underage workers off the record in exchange for personal errands. That was the whole reason Ichigo was working at this particular convenience store over half an hour away from where he lived - it was one of the only places that would hire him. But now that Ichigo was 15 and he was legal to work and receive better pay if he was to include his records and time of work, doing so would reveal that he was clearly underage when he had begun working.

Another, more obvious reason that he wasn't getting promoted, was that Daimo seemed to hate him as much as his coworkers. They always acted like it was because of his weary, dismal attitude, but Ichigo was pretty sure it was just because they didn't have to treat him like a normal employee and he was easy to blame. "Daimo sir, I wouldn't have spilled if Ichgio hadn't been distracting me" "Daimo-sama, I didn't work on this yet because I was waiting for Ichigo to arrive" "I thought Ichigo was taking care of this, sir" No one ever questioned if it was really his fault or not, it just was. He was a screw-up, a delinquent. He was always showing up late and covered in bruises, winded from having to run just to make it across town for work, exhausted from his morning shift and school, and scruffy from his dirty old, worn out clothes. In short, he looked almost as much of a mess as he felt.

"Missed a spot, hobo-boy." Kaiya said without looking up from her magazine at the cash register. Ichigo tried to growl but it came out as shaky bout of coughing instead.

Hobo-boy, how original. I wouldn't even be mad if you could just stand to be creative...

It wasn't like he wanted to look like this, he just couldn't afford anything else with his mother Lena constantly confiscating all his money. It had cost him nearly an arm and a leg just to get himself a school uniform with his spending money (whatever he could stash without Lena finding it). The rest he spent on textbooks and crappy fast food since he wasn't allowed to eat at home (not that there was really anything there for him to eat).

Oh, food... He was pretty skilled at ignoring his hunger, and most days he didn't even notice it anymore, but today his stomach protested. He'd managed to eat something he found that some wasteful bastard just left on a bench - an entire sandwich! He'd scarfed it down, not caring that he was getting stares and weird looks. He was hungry, and he'd take anything he could get. His money stash he hid from Lena was too small to steadily feed him, so he had to consistently save up money and space out all his meals.

Hearing the tell-tale jingle of a customer coming through the door, Ichigo looked up to see a group of high school age students walk in, too engrossed with their conversation to notice him.

"No way! Why would they be sending another scout to our school so soon? You don't think they're finally gonna take one of those part-time students into their program, are they?" A boy with medium brown hair asked his raven-haired companion. Ichigo frowned, he knew these two boys from school. Keigo and Mizuiro were their names, if he was recalling correctly.

"Well, they are kind of unpredictable when it comes to the time they take in students, so maybe they got a new recommendation they're looking into from the school. Or they found out a student is related to one of the school clans." Mizuiro answered. Ichigo frowned again.

They must be talking about one of the private schools for gifted students.

Every year they sent out scouts to different schools to see if any students applied to any of their programs. What the criteria was for these programs, no one seemed to know. Some said it was for secret prodigies and generally unique academics while others said it was for students with a special heritage and lineage to the school clans. If Ichigo remembered right, the father of a classmate of his was of direct lineage to one of the Echt Quincy Academy's family clans. For some reason, anyone related to certain families only attended that school and studied their heritage and other unknown topics along with the standard school curriculum. Despite being exclusively for those of "pure" heritage, the school was widely considered the best of the best. Apparently it was a hot topic at school as to why this classmate chose to attend Karakura High instead of the prestigious Echt Quincy Academy. Rumor was that his mother wasn't of pure lineage. Ichigo himself was indifferent to that rumor as he'd had many a rumor spun about him, though his were a lot more negative.

"It can't be the Gemischt Quincy Academy again?" A third student with long black hair asked. The Gemischt Quincy Academy was the sister school to the Echt Quincy Academy and was a bit looser with it's heritage policy, almost exclusively taking in students only partially or distantly related to their school clans if they matched the rest of the criteria. Ichigo remembered Lena telling him to stay away from that school and it's scouts for some reason, but he hadn't paid too much attention since Lena seemed to hate all Quincy families.

"Probably not. I mean, do you know anybody left at our school with any German names?" Mizuiro asked. It was well known that the two quincy academies were founded and run by their German and German-Japanese family clans, and that their head school was even in Germany. There were only a couple of family clans that held Japanese names that were still related to the schools.

"Well, other than Ichigo, no. But it's pretty obvious from his records that not even Shin'ō Outreach will accept him." The long haired girl said.

Shin'ō Outreach was a global outreach program for students with centers all around the world, unlike the quincy academies that only placed schools in areas with the proper families. For some reason, they dealt more in foreign exchange programs from schools no one had heard of like their mother school, Shin'ō Academy. No one even knew where it was located, just that it supported Shin'ō Outreach in partnership with a small group of unknown aristocrats. Karakura town was lucky enough to have both quincy academies and a Shin'ō Outreach Center.

The only complaint about having a center in Karakura was the strange foreign students that it brought with it. Many of the students looked far too old to be in school and spent most of their time exploring the town stumbling around like they didn't understand how the modern world worked, marveling at street lights and nearly getting run over by cars. There were even rumors that students were sometimes found unconscious and unresponsive in the strangest locations only to miraculously wake up again. Ichigo had never personally seen these occurrences, so he wrote it off as just another rumor started by somebody with too much time on their hands.

"Maybe not - I heard he gets pretty good grades 'cause he cheats, but nobody can prove it or put it on his record. Scouts wouldn't know about it unless they asked his teachers." Keigo said.

Ichigo gripped his mop handle tightly. He wasn't cheating. Everyone thought that he was just some stupid delinquent, that he didn't care about school because he arrived late every day and often stepped out of class. They never knew just how hard he worked, busting his ass day and night to study and keep up with work. That was the reason he was late to school every day, he had a morning shift here and no matter how short it was, it always caused him to miss his first period class, P.E. Despite all of this, he worked hard to keep his grades up by studying and doing extra credit every second he wasn't at home.

He even skipped lunch to work on homework in the library where no one would bother him. Sure, he wasn't the best in school, he wasn't even the best in his class, but he could only do so much. It was a struggle just to get average marks.

To be truthful, Ichigo wasn't actually all that angry. He had given up on being angry a long time ago. He had given up in general. He couldn't control what people thought of him, but he could control what he did. So he kept his head down and tried to ignore the whispers, the stares, and the distrust. If they wanted to gawk at him and keep their distance, fine. He didn't need friends, all he needed was his job and his education. At one point when he was much younger, he'd had a plan to work hard and make his way into a good college so he could get a good job and buy a good house to live in with his mother, but that dream had been abruptly stolen from him. Now it was a struggle just to get through each day. He didn't see a direction anymore, just an endless expanse of struggling and school and work. The most he hoped for now was to make it through the week, maybe even high school if he was lucky.

"I really don't think scouts are going to pick him - hey, Tatsuki, didn't you say that Orihime's new neighbor had a scout come see him?" Mizuiro asked.

"I didn't say that, but Orihime thinks she saw a scout knocking on his apartment door once. She's talked with him a couple times and found out that he's transferring from another school to Karakura High in the middle of the year. She freaked out and insisted that he have dinner with her so she can tell him all about the school and catch him up on what we've been learning." The girl Mizuiro had called "Tatsuki" rolled her eyes.

"I told her there was no way she should be inviting some stranger to have dinner with her, but she insisted that 'he's really sweet once you look past the super-macho silent intimidation-ess.' She thinks that the reason he moved to her apartments is because it's right next to the Gemischt Quincy Academy, and if she just talks up our school to him for long enough he'll ignore that scout and stay with us." She said, shaking her head.

"Is that why you're picking up snacks for Orihime?" Mizuiro asked. Tatsuki nodded.

"I haven't met him yet, so I made Orihime promise to let me bring her some snacks as an excuse to meet him halfway through their evening. I can't believe she's spent so long with him, though. It's already way past dinner." Tatsuki said. Keigo let out a wail, causing his two friends to look at him.

"That stupid transfer student's gone and stolen Orihime from me! He's probably making out with her right no - OW!" Keigo was interrupted by Tatsuki smacking him.

"Orihime was never yours to begin with, and she's not making out with him! They're just talking about school, dumbass!" Tatasuki yelled before checking her volume.

Keigo continued to cry dramatically on the floor as the other two pretended like they didn't know him and finished picking out snacks.

"Well, if this mystery man is going to be going to our school, why don't Keigo and I stop by with you to say hi?" Mizuiro asked. Keigo shot up from the ground.

"Yes! Show him Orihime already has a man looking after her!" Keigo cried. Tatsuki hit him again.

"You aren't going to say anything to him! If you guys wanna come, that's fine, but you have to behave yourselves." She said with a pointed look at Keigo.

Having reached an agreement, the three paid for their snacks and left.

Ducking out of his classmates' way, Ichigo continued to mop and hide his face as he masked his coughing. Just because he worked hard didn't mean his classmates had to know, no matter how nice that would be. Someone might start to ask him questions he couldn't answer if they knew that he was working, and he couldn't have anyone meddling in his personal life. It only ever made things worse.

-x-

Karakura Town - 7:30 pm

A cool breeze wafted across the darkened streets of Karakura town as the moon glowed in the dark night sky. Stars freckling the night sky disappeared briefly as a dark blur flashed into sight before quickly disappearing again. A second blur followed close behind as the pair silently made their way across town, unnoticeable to even the most alert agent of stealth.

Barely a whisper of wind was heard as the two blurs leaped across rooftops before coming to a stop at the edge of a park. Silently sliding down the side of the house, the two quickly disappeared into the trees. Not even the bushes gave hint of their movements as they made their way towards a certain spot. Once arriving, the two stopped.

"Are you sure it needs repairing?" A deep, masculine voice asked.

"Maa~ You wound my pride." The other said.

"I'm going to wound a lot more of you if you brought me out here for nothing." The first warned with a growl. A yelp from the second was heard as the first further affirmed their threat.

"Alright, alright. You can scratch me all you want if I am wrong, but can you please just undo the Kido already?" The second said, whining slightly.

"Why do I even put up with you…" The first muttered.

Muted chanting was heard right before a small flash of light briefly illuminated an object the size of an apple. A little bit of scuffling commenced as the second figure bent down and began fiddling with the device, occasionally muttering to himself.

"Well?" The first said as they paced around impatiently.

"I was right - it was damaged. But it doesn't appear to be intentional as I've already fixed it, so I think it's more than likely some child playing hide and seek had the misfortune of stumbling into it." The crouching figure replied.

"Or playing soccer."

Still crouching, he turned to his companion curiously to see them perched in front of a busted soccer ball. Taking a closer look at the ball, he picked it up to see that it had writing scrawled in sharpie on it. Grinning, he turned the ball for both of them to see.

"My my, it seems we know the owner of this here sensor-wrecker. I shall just have to return it to them." He said in a sing-song voice. The other snorted.

"Oh I'm sure they'll be glad to see you again so soon." They said.

"Maa~ Are you saying they don't enjoy my visits?" Whined the second.

"Two thirds of the time you visit them, it's to tell them someone is conspiring to kill them." Said the first.

Just as the other was about to argue that point, the sensor in his hand began beeping and whirring. Sharing a look, the two quickly reapplied the sensor to the ground, muttered another chant and sped off back over the rooftops of their town.

-xx-

Kurosaki Godebert - Convenience Store Restroom

1... 2... 3... breathe in...

1... 2... 3... breathe out...

Shaky breaths filled the small bathroom as Ichigo screwed his eyes shut and rocked himself slowly back and forth atop the toilet seat he was perched on. He was trying to slow his breathing down, but it wasn't really working.

Shallow breaths escaped him faster than he could suck them back in, making his chest heave quickly as his shaking hands clawed at his shoulders, raking down his upper arms over his sweatshirt hard enough to wear down the fabric where similar marks existed. He could feel his chest spasming slightly as his rapid breathing interfered with his usual slight coughing. His chest felt tight and like it was collapsing, but he paid it no mind as he opened his eyes again. They watered, but he wouldn't cry. He wouldn't cry, he wouldn't cry, he wouldn't cry, he'd never cry -

They'd never make him cry again, he'd never cry for them again.

- they didn't deserve his tears. He'd already used them all up for the ones that did deserve them, and now he didn't have any left.

Terrible images assaulted him as he felt hands touching from everywhere, voices whispering all the terrible things they were going to do to him, and oh god the blood. He didn't know what was his or what wasn't, but - he knew he was dying. Over and over and over again they'd kill him, each time a new way until there was nothing left. Each time he'd despair, and then he'd fight inside himself to be again, and he would. He'd be - He'd be him. He wouldn't be theirs' and he wouldn't let them do this to him again.

And then they would.

And he'd be so broken and -

And then they'd start all over again.

Ichigo let out a soundless sob. The hands were running over his body over and over again, they were everywhere and he wanted to vomit. He was being sliced, diced, dissected, bisected and he couldn't stop it, they wouldn't stop god why won't they stop.

He had to stop thinking, stop remembering but he couldn't. His glassy eyes could only see blood and death and them smiling at him, and his body could only feel those damned hands and horrible agony and their breath on his skin and oh god he wished he could stop. He didn't even know what had set it off anymore and he didn't care.

It was always something little, like a certain phrase or the way someone looks at him and oh is he gone, gone into his head of horrors. Back into a place where there's nothing but death and pain, and it goes on and on because he hops from the one specific memory that came loose to all of them.

Ichigo's hands were tearing at himself now, but he was too engrossed in his nightmare to notice. He needed to distract himself, but it was too late now to remember the relief he carried in his pocket, so instead he found his hands in his hair, beanie knocked to the ground as he yanked and tore and scratched and gouged at the angry bees in his brain until something bled. He continued to rock and yank his hair, resisting the urge to start banging his head like he did when he was alone and it was really bad. He continued like this for what felt like forever.

Seconds ticked by and still he rocked, breathing heavy and eyes far away.

Slowly the physical pain grounded him, scalp burning and fingers red from his scratches. Bit by agonizing bit, his breathing slowed down and his chest loosened. Once his breathing was mostly normal and his memories were safely shoved back into the deepest part of him, Ichigo let his knees drop. Panic finally receding, he loosened his hold on his hair and slowly brought his hands down, small clumps of hair stuck to the blood and sweat on his hands.

Feeling a bit of blood creep down his forehead, Ichigo got up and looked in the dingy mirror above the sink. He wasn't bleeding too badly, but it was a bit obvious what he'd been doing to himself from his hair (or random lack of it in places).

Turning on the sink, Ichigo wet some paper towels and wiped away the blood in his hair and on his hands. He'd put his head in the sink, but that was far too similar to something he had experienced before and would bring him right back to where he'd just been. He could put his hands under the water though, so long as he focused on washing them. Ichigo looked away as he did just that, knowing the sight of his blood swirling down the drain would upset him.

Taking a deep breath, Ichigo found his beanie and put it on his head again to hide what he'd done to his hair. He hadn't slipped and hurt himself in that way in a long time. He let himself scratch at his arms since no one would see those marks, but ripping at his hair was pretty obvious, so he tried not to do it. That and he'd rather not go bald after he just turned 15...

Looking around, Ichigo found his mop and bucket by the toilet. He'd taken them in here on habit when he'd started panicking to make it look like he was in here cleaning instead of trying to calm himself down. If any of his coworkers discovered that he was freaking out like this, he'd end up fired.

God, of all nights to freak out...

After doing a hasty cleaning and quickly checking the paper towels and toilet paper, Ichigo slipped out of the bathroom to look at the time. He'd been in there for a good twenty minutes, fairly long for what he was used to. Ichigo just hoped that meant he wouldn't have any freak outs later.

Looking around, Ichigo sighed when he saw that Daimo was gone. If Daimo had been here, he surely would have noticed Ichigo's absence.

Ichigo suddenly tensed and turned around to see Kaiya a good ways behind him. Freezing mid-step, she schooled her shocked expression and crossed her arms.

"Never can sneak up on you, huh." She said. It was true. Ichigo had tried to convince himself that he wasn't doing what he thought he was doing, but it really was as if he could sense people. Kaiya had tried many times to scare him, but he always sensed where she was.

"No... Do you ne-" Ichigo was interrupted by Kaiya.

"Sure took your time cleaning that bathroom."

Ichigo was sweating, but didn't let his fear show. He was unbelievably good at hiding his emotions.

"Yeah, looked like a war zone in there. I'd suggest giving it a couple minutes before going in." Ichigo said casually.

"Oh it did, did it?" Kaiya moved closer to Ichigo. She knew he hated people being too close to him. "'Cause I was the last one in there to restock the paper towels, and I don't recall anything being dirty in that bathroom." She said in a low voice, eyes narrowed. Ichigo mentally cursed.

"Somebody must have gone in when you didn't notice." Ichigo said quickly.

"No one's been in this store since before I went in there. We all would have heard the door jingle." Kaiya said. She took a step closer and Ichigo backed away.

"See, I've got this theory that you go in there so often to keep up with those delinquent activities that have you working here in the first place..." Kaiya leaned in to whisper to Ichigo. "It'd be awfully tragic if somebody were to mention to their beloved boss how terribly concerned they are about their dear coworker struggling with certain... substances."

Ichigo nearly choked. Was she blackmailing him?! Surely Daimo would have to have more evidence of him possibly using drugs than the word of just one employee? One employee he'd known for years and was liked by everyone...

"What do you want." Ichigo growled.

"Oh I don't want anything... much. Just a small favor, really. You see, I had a boyfriend who was real sweet, but then I found out that he went and cheated on me. Things turned sour real quick and he took some stuff of mine. I've been trying to get it back ever since, even went to his house to try and get it. Turns out he knew I'd come looking for my stuff and started keeping it at his stupid private school, the Gemischt Quincy Academy. I need you to break in there after your shift tonight and get my stuff back for me, or else the only thing you'll be addicted to is unemployment." Kaiya said. Ichigo blanched. He knew Kaiya was manipulative and sneaky, but he never took her to be this sort of person.

He'd had this job for three years, if he lost it now, Lena would kill him. He needed this job as much as he needed food and water.

"Just what kind of stuff am I looking for?" Ichigo gritted through his teeth.

Kaiya gave him a smug smile.

-x-

Sōgen Apartments

"-And that's why I think even though Karakura High isn't a private school, it's still one of the best!" A girl with burnt orange hair finished.

Next to her sat Tatsuki and Mizuiro on one side and Keigo on the other. Across from her sat a rather large dark-skinned teenager with wavy brown hair nervously shifting in his seat. Tatsuki didn't blame him - she hadn't been here for the full speech, but she had an idea of how it had went.

"Um, sounds great..." The teenager said in a surprisingly deep voice. He hadn't said a single word since Orihime had started her speech other than to grunt or hum in response to whatever Orihime was saying. Tatsuki hadn't quite believed Orihime's description of him at first, but now she saw that he was indeed "super-macho silent intimidating." That was what was keeping Keigo from causing any trouble so far. He had actually looked a little ill when he first saw Orihime's new neighbor.

"..." Orihime fiddled with her hands, suddenly looking a little nervous.

"... It's okay if you still don't want to stay at Karakura High, Chad. I understand how great of an opportunity going to one of the private schools is - I was just at the Gemischt Quincy Academy today looking at their programs." Orihime said with a sad smile. Chad looked slightly panicked.

"Oh, um - please don't feel bad Orihime, you misunderstand. I don't have any reason to go to one of Karakura's private schools..." Chad explained uncomfortably. It was obvious that he wasn't used to having to talk this much.

"But I thought I saw one of their scouts go to your apartment." Orihime said. Chad shook his head.

"That was a school counselor dropping off some transfer forms." Chad said. Orihime turned beat red. She'd just spent all this time trying to convince her neighbor to go to a school he was already planning on going to!? Seeing Orihime's embarrassment, Chad tried to make her feel better.

"It was really nice of you to invite me over and tell me about everything - now I'll know what to expect in school." Chad said. Orihime brightened a little, but was still a little red. She really hoped Chad didn't think she was silly for going through all this - she knew all her schoolmates already thought she was a bit ditzy.

Tatsuki cleared her throat a little to diffuse some of the awkwardness.

"What programs were you checking out at the Academy today?" She asked. Orihime smiled at her, grateful for the change in subject.

"Oh, well I'd heard that they had a study group that met after school, but it turns out it's for academy members only. I was really hoping to get some help with my English from one of their professors - Mrs. Yamori keeps saying she'll help me, but she never does." Orihime said with a frown.

"Were there any programs that weren't exclusive to academy students?" Mizuiro asked. Orihime thought for a minute.

"The only thing I saw there was this weird flyer advertising special merchandise at some sort of convenience store. It said that it had special student discounts, but it looked like it had been torn down several times. It was actually stapled to the wall when I last saw it." Orihime said. Tatsuki pulled a face. That was certainly weird.

"Well that seems str - wait what happened to your hair?" Keigo asked suddenly. Orihime immediately felt her hair as Tatsukis smacked Keigo.

"What? What's wrong with my hair?" Orihime asked, patting at her head. Before anyone could answer, Orihime suddenly squeaked.

"My hairclip! One of my hairclips is missing!" Orihime said in a panicked voice. Keigo sniffed as he rubbed his shoulder.

"See - I wasn't being rude! I was just trying to help." He said with a pout.

"Oh no, I can't believe I lost them! I've never lost them before!" Orihime panicked. Patting the floor beside her and frantically looking around, Orihime got on her hands and knees and started looking around the apartment.

"Don't worry Orihime, they've got to be here somewhere - I'm sure they just fell out." Mizuiro said as he knelt down to help Orihime search. Eventually they were all on their hands and knees to help Orihime look. The longer they went without finding them, the more upset Orihime became.

"Are you sure you didn't take them off somewhere and forget?" Tatsuki asked. Orihime shook her head as she checked under the table for the thousandth time.

"No, and we've checked all over the apartment. I had them on after school and the only place I went today was- " Orihime paled.

"What is it?" Mizuiro asked.

"I-I went to the academy today... I accidentally ran into somebody and my hair got caught in this weird cross-thingy they were wearing. I didn't think anything of it then, but what if my hairpin came out because of it?" Orihime said. Orihime dropped her face into her hands and shook her head in worry.

"Don't worry Orihime, we'll get it back - it's not like the janitor's gonna accidentally sweep it up and throw it away." Keigo said.

"I hadn't even thought of that!" Orihime wailed before breaking down and crying. Tatsuki went to punch Keigo, but was stopped by Chad.

"I'm sure that won't happen, Orihime. Even if you can't find it, maybe you can just buy another one?" Chad asked. Orihime vigorously shook her head, crying harder.

"My brother gave those to me the day he died - I've worn them ever since." She said. Chad stopped restraining Tatsuki.

"Maybe somebody's still at the school and can let us in..." Mizuiro said.

"I don't think we're getting in unless we break in..." Orihime said miserably. Keigo shot up from where he'd been hiding from Tatsuki.

"Then break in we shall! I'll save your hairclip!" Keigo yelled dramatically before sprinting to the door.

"That's not a good -" Chad was interrupted by by Keigo dashing through the door. Sighing, Chad ran out the door with the other three shouting Keigo's name, but it was too late. Once outside, Keigo had already scrambled over the fence and was running towards the academy.

This was not how Chad imagined his evening going.

-xxx-

Ichigo Godebert

Ichigo slid down against the front of a freezer to sit on the floor. He'd finally finished stocking the entire thing. Technically he wasn't supposed to be doing that right now, but the new freezer had come in early, and he wanted a distraction from his newest problem. Said problem was staring at him now.

Kaiya looked like she was trying to burn holes into him with her eyes. She'd been watching him like that ever since the last hour of his shift.

Probably making sure I don't try to escape.

Sighing, Ichigo looked at the clock and groaned. He only had five more minutes left until he had to go do something very illegal.

Despite what everyone thought, Ichigo had never broken the law before, at least not seriously. Sure he had jaywalked and trespassed when he thought no one would care, but he'd never broken into anywhere, especially a prestigious school.

Why couldn't her ex just be a normal student going to a normal school?

If it was a matter of breaking into Karakura High, Ichigo probably could have done it fairly easily, but Gemischt Quincy Academy was a private school. Apparently others had tried before to get into the school, but security was surprisingly tight. That and the teachers were scary accurate at finding those that weren't meant to be there.

Glancing at the clock again, Ichigo winced. He couldn't delay it anymore.

"I'll see you tomorrow Kaiya..." Ichigo said as he passed the cash register.

He would need to be quick to get in and out unnoticed, but hey, at least nobody else was going to the school...

-x-

Gemischt Quincy Academy

Dim lights flickered eerily in the corridor, empty halls silent.

This part of the school was usually empty at this time of night, but if you had the mind to listen closely, you could hear shallow breathing coming from one of the darkened classrooms beneath the teacher's desk.

Ears straining to hear movement and eyes wide open in fear, the woman beneath her desk desperately fumbled around with a strange small device, hands shaking. Pressing the small device like a sticker onto the small hollow right behind her ear and jaw, she started whispering into it.

"This is Mrs. Baar, requesting help and the immediate evacuation of -" A skittering noise cut her off. Words caught in her throat, Mrs. Baar at least had the good sense to cover her mouth to mask her breathing and slowly reach into her pocket. Pulling out a strange cross, she held it directly in front of her and gripped it tight enough to leave marks. She held it at the ready, waiting in tense silence.

Not yet. Not yet not yet not yet. She couldn't see it, but she knew she wasn't alone.

Not yet not yet not yet not yet. Something scratching against tile made her jump.

Not yet not yet not yet not yet. Not yet? Heavy silence made her heart beat loud in her ears.

Was it gone? It had to still be there - just because she couldn't sense it didn't mean it wasn't there.

Something knocked into the wastebasket with a metallic ping. She clamped her hand over her mouth - it was looking for her.

Something skittered to her left, then back to her right. If she ran now, it would just run her down and kill her. Speed wasn't even her class subject - history was.

Listening intently, Mrs. Baar considered her options. Running was certain death, but staying didn't seem any better. She could try and warn the school again, but that would alert the creature to where she was. So far, it didn't seem to know where she was as it hadn't killed her yet. Alerting it would be a truly terrible idea, so maybe she could try and take it by surprise?

"Mrs. Baar?"

Mrs. Baar felt cold sweat run down her back as she heard the voice call out from the doorway. Oh god, it was a student. What was a student doing here so late at night?! She was only here this late because she'd forgotten something in her class.

She had to do something, and now.

Rushing out from under her desk ready to defend the student, Mrs. Baar frantically whirled around. She found no student.

But something had found her.

-xxxx-

Ichigo Godebert - Gemischt Quincy Academy

This wasn't even the most dangerous thing Ichigo had done, but that wasn't saying much considering some of the experiences he'd had. Even so, his task was more than a little daunting.

Crouching at the edge of the academy fence, Ichigo checked that none of his hair peeked out from beneath his beanie. His hair was a dead give-away if anyone saw him, and he could not get caught.

Something like breaking into a private school would definitely go down on his permanent record and solidify his reputation as a delinquent, getting him fired and consequently screwed. That was why he was so unbelievably glad that he was already wearing dark colors and had practice from years of trying to make himself small and unnoticeable.

Feeling his way along the fence, Ichigo made sure to hide himself in the already deep shadows of the night as he searched for any openings or angles to climb over the fence. Supposedly the fence was electrical, but Ichigo had already been touching the fence and found nothing dangerous about it.

Shifting in the darkness, Ichigo slithered along the outskirts of the fence, peering at the school as he did so. For a moment he thought he saw movement over by the apartment complexes, but it was gone when he blinked. Nevertheless, it put him on edge and made him extra cautious. He tried his best to stop himself from coughing just in case anybody came along.

Ichigo pulled back his hand suddenly as he felt the fence become rough and sharp. Gingerly feeling along, he found that the fence had been torn and bent apart like something had ripped it's way in. Frowning, Ichigo moved further and saw something glittering in the dark. Taking a closer look, Ichigo was glad that he was used to having to see in darkness.

Part of an electrical box had been torn apart and lay next to the fence, wires sticking out and metal glinting in the moonlight. One of the wires led Ichigo to a part of the fence where it had once been attached.

So this thing was electrical...

Why wasn't it now? Who had torn it like this? Was someone else trying to get into the school?...Why did this have to remind him so much of, of -

Ichigo shook his head. As much as this scared him, he was running out of time to get in and take Kaiya's stuff. He didn't have any time to go tomorrow (which would be even worse considering the school would be full), and Kaiya had insisted she get her things back by tomorrow. There was no way this was what he was thinking of. Everything reminded him of all of ...that...so he was just being paranoid again. He ignored his instinct and shook himself out. Everything would be fine.

Slipping through the jagged hole, Ichigo quickly looked around before sprinting to the school. Running his hands along each window that he came across, Ichigo fervently hoped that somebody had left at least one of them open. He couldn't very well go through the front as it was probably locked, but he didn't want to smash any windows in either.

It took him a good eight minutes before he finally found something. One of the windows had been pried open from the outside, old fashioned window crank snapped from the exertion of forcing the window open. How the hell did somebody manage to do this - this window looked like it had been locked. Even Ichigo wasn't quite that strong... It was almost as if something inhuman had opened this... Something like...

Ichigo shook his head. He was being paranoid, dammit. It wasn't real and he knew it. Those things weren't real and he'd never been though that. Somebody had probably gotten a crowbar or something, that was why the window was like this. The twist in his gut was just 'cause he was nervous.

Climbing through the window, Ichigo let himself silently drop to the ground. Looking around, Ichigo found a strand of burnt orange hair hanging from the window, like somebody had gotten caught halfway through. Ichigo sighed in relief. So it was a person that had opened this window. Why else was this here? He should probably be worried about the fact that somebody else was in the school, but Ichigo didn't really care. He knew he should, but he'd picked up a strange habit of ignoring self-preservation. He tended to push his luck a lot more than was good for his health. A small part of him realized that his strong instincts were the only thing making sure he wasn't dead yet...

Moving around desks, Ichigo opened the classroom door to peek around. Seeing no one, Ichigo slipped out of the classroom into the dimly lit hallway. He was looking for locker 37 on the first floor...

Checking the lockers in front of him, Ichigo followed the numbers past closed doors until he finally found the right one. Taking out a paperclip, Ichigo gave a silent prayer that this trick would actually work. He'd never picked locks before, but he heard this was the way to do it.

Fiddling around with the lock, Ichigo nearly missed the creak of a door opening in the distance. He did however, miss the dark blur that disappeared around a corner. Whirling around, Ichigo saw a classroom door open a good ways away from him. What if it was the other B and E - or worse, a teacher?!

Ichigo frantically jammed the paperclip into the lock, wiggling it around until he finally heard it click. It wasn't opening all the way since he hadn't done it quite right, but that was good enough. He ripped the lock off and swung the locker open, locating a dark blue bag amongst some textbooks. Bingo.

Snatching it, Ichigo turned to get the hell out of dodge, but froze when he heard a shrill scream. Whoever had screamed sounded terrified.

He had the stuff he needed, he could just leave now... But what if someone was in real trouble? What if whoever else had broken into the school had come here to do something far more sinister than just steal a bag? Ichigo stood stiff in indecision. If he tried to help there was a good chance that he'd be recognized and caught, but if he left, then there was the potential that somebody would get seriously hurt. Or worse that paranoid part whispered in the back of his head.

Ichigo's mind was made up for him when he heard another bone-chilling scream, this time louder and edged with pain.

Looping the bag's handle over his shoulder, Ichigo ran off in the direction of the scream, past the open door and around a corner into a completely dark hallway. Slowing down to make sure he didn't run into anything, Ichigo felt glass crunching beneath his feet and realized the lights in this hallway had been blown out. A different scream made Ichigo forget caution as he reached the end of the hallway, nearly running into a rather large teenager barreling past him.

"Hey! What's going on?!" Ichigo called, but was ignored. Growling, Ichigo ran after through another dark hallway, crunching on glass and straining to see. All he could hear was frantic screaming, yelling and crashing.

Skidding into a brighter hallway, Ichigo nearly screamed himself. Blood smeared the walls and floor, bloody drag marks leading into a classroom near the end of the hall where all the screaming was coming from. Oh god, this felt so familiar... He felt so sick and stiff, trapped in a twisted deja vu.

Ichigo forced himself to start breathing again, adrenaline kicking in.

Legs finally working again, he bolted towards the classroom, barely stopping in time as someone was flung out of the classroom to crash into the wall. Ichigo had no time to check if they were okay as he finally saw what was in the classroom.

Dark twisted limbs too long for it's own body, skeletal spine skewed impossibly to the right, the thing that crouched inches from him stained in blood was stalking a girl and one of the boys Ichigo had seen at the convenience store.

Ichigo felt like time had slowed, frozen in terrible recognition. Cold familiarity crept up with his rising horror and he found he couldn't move or even scream. Oh how familiar... Everything had become so slow and muted, making Ichigo forget that he'd come here to help. His chest felt unbelievably tight as he struggled to breathe.

Blood pounding in his ears, Ichigo nearly missed a fourth figure moving from the shadows to attack the prowling creature, but he knew it wouldn't work. He watched from behind glass as the girl swung a chair at it's head, briefly making contact before it dodged, letting loose a warbled human scream that was piercing even through his shock. The sheer volume of it's scream made everyone but Ichigo cover their ears as it finally noticed him, shooting towards him to sink it's teeth in his shoulder and throw him into the hallway.

Ichigo didn't get a chance to scream as he crashed to the ground with the creature savagely digging into his flesh. The two girls and boy rushed out of the classroom in slow motion to scream as they saw the creature unlatch it's jaw from Ichigo to pull back and raise it's arm to strike. Ichigo's heart beat loudly as time stopped and for a moment the aching in his chest outranked the terror of certain death.

He watched as the creature's arm swung slowly down at him, bloody claws glinting wickedly.

He felt something in him break and he shuddered, the oppressive tightness releasing into a scream that tore itself up from his chest to his throat out his open mouth, drowning out the creature above him as the dim lights wildly flickered. One by one the lights burst throughout the hallway, unseen force rippling like a shockwave to throw the creature back from Ichigo to crash into the end of the hallway with a sickening crack.

Ichigo continued to scream as the others around him collapsed and the world went dark.

.

.

.

-x-

Karakura Town

Beeping and whirring filled the small room as a man with a green and white striped bucket hat moved around, quickly checking the various machines outputting information.

"My, my my..." He muttered to himself in a deceptively calm voice.

While he was calmly and efficiently checking his instruments, on the inside it was a whirlwind of excitement and curiosity. Rarely had his machines been thrown into such a tizzy before, and he was loving it. He'd been waiting a long time to get reactions and recordings like this, so he was hoping that whatever was happening would continue to happen so he could get some proper readings.

The other figure in the room watched from a distance in a dark corner as the scientist conducted scientific readings and functions in a flurry of motion and computing. Watching him work, the other couldn't help but smile a little. They knew very well just how excited their friend was and that this was the most fun he'd had in weeks. It almost made them forget that a potentially massive disaster was under way.

Snatching a piece of paper that just finished printing from one of the machines, the scientist's eyes glinted as he hid a dark smile with a fan.

"It seems like we finally have a location..." He said.

The other perked up. A location? For all the man's prowess and scientific genius, he hadn't ever been able to get a location of the events that he'd been chasing after for so long.

"Do you think we'll actually find the source?" They asked. The other shook his head sadly, but nonetheless looked absolutely delighted.

"Maa~ I'm flattered, but even my abilities won't lead us directly to the source, especially considering the amount of special souls in the area. We will however, be finally taking the first step to finding it; narrowing down suspects." The man said. The other was shocked. No progress for years, and suddenly they're on the way to closing in on the source?

"You said the area was full of special souls, what is the location?" They asked.

"The Gemischt Quincy Academy." The man said. The other stiffened. They could guess what their part was going to be in this, that manipulative bastard.

"Oh no, don't think I can just waltz in there because I have an official status - those quincies already suspect I have some less than honorable dealings." They said.

"Maaaaa~ You don't think I'm honorable?" The man pouted with a whine. The other snorted and resisted the urge to scratch him.

"I doubt an exiled and highly wanted criminal could be considered honorable." They said. The man sniffed in mock hurt and continued.

"While I have no doubt the quincies are suspicious of such an auspicious shinigami instructor, I doubt they'll look twice at this form..." The man said. The other growled slightly. He was right of course, but that didn't make it any better.

"You owe me..." The other said before slipping silently out of the room.

"Always..." The man said with a mischievous smile.

---

Echt - pure

Gemischt - mixed

Lichtreich - light empire

Schutzstaffel - protective echelon

---

National Alliance on Mental Health I tried to put links in for everything, but I don't think I'm allowed to put links in since they always get deleted...
- 1-800-950-6264
Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance
- 1-800-826-3632
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
- 1-877-SAMHSA-7
National Suicide Prevention Hotline
- 1-800-273-8255
Crisis Text Line
- Text "Start" 741-741
S.A.F.E. Alternatives
- 1-800-DONTCUT
The Trevor Project
- 1-866-488-7386 (24/7)
- Text "Trevor" 1-202-304-1200 (F 4pm - 8pm EST)
Disaster Distress Helpline
- 1-800-985-5990
- Text "TalkWithUs" 66746
National Sexual Violence Resource Center
- 1-877-739-3895
RAINN- Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network
- 1-800-656-4673
National Sexual Assault Hotline
- 1-800-656-4673
The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence
- 303-839-1852
The National Domestic Violence Hotline
- 1-800-799-SAFE
The National Resource Center on Domestic Violence
- 1-800-537-2238
USA National Child Abuse Hotline
- 1-800-422-4453 (24/7)
National Safe Place
- Text SAFE and your current location to the number 69866 (24/7)

---

So I hope you can already sort of see how this version of the world differs from the first and find it intriguing, 'cause I've always wondered what Bleach would be like if the Soul Society took more interest in the World of the Living and decided not to wipe out the quincies (spoiler if you didn't recognize that change from the existence of Quincy schools and large family clans). I'm still going to give some hints in future chapters about why this world is the way it is and how.

You can probably tell already that Ichigo lives a pretty tough life, and that's due in large part to not being born to Isshin and Masaki with two little sisters. Instead he's left with Lena, who you can already guess is a toxic parent. He obviously has serious issues from something that happened to him in the past, and unfortunately deals with these issues in an unhealthy way (hurting himself).

The next chapter will show the kind of relationship Ichigo has with his mother and a lot more about Ichigo's life and what he has to deal with.

So as I've said in the previous notes, this story takes place after some mysterious event takes our favorite cast of characters from sitting around with their families at the end of the Bleach manga to being teenagers again living in a vastly different version of their world. Spoiler alert, the "mysterious event" is pretty horrible, so strap in. I've got a sort of prequel in the works explaining what happened and filling in all the different plot holes left by the ending of Bleach with what I do best; gratuitous amounts of pain and death. From there the story has a couple of different options as far as resolutions and will lead to this story and maybe a few others. I still have to find out if anybody's even interested in this one.

I'd love to hear what you guys think about this hot mess and any ideas about what's going on mystery-wise. What is this creature, and why does Ichigo recognize it? If Ichigo's parents aren't Masaki and Isshin, then why is he basically still the same soul and person? Does he have the same powers? What's happened to Ichigo to leave him so guarded and clearly haunted and why does he think it isn't real?