Author's Note: This story follows the manga/anime Bleach. If you don't know anything about Bleach, I'd recommend checking it out. I try to explain as much as possible as far as terminology and stuff like that. This is pretty long, so bear with me. Here is the link to a Bleach Wiki if you have questions about anything:

wiki/Bleach_Wiki

Also, this story was originally published on the website Quizilla. There are a few characters in this story that do not belong to me. I had asked the author's permission to use them. Since Quizilla doesn't exist anymore, if any of those other authors are reading this I promise nothing changed.

Night. During the day, the Sun reigns supreme, but when he goes to bed, the Moon is ruler. Moon casts her pale light upon a sleeping world. Moon is Earth's night light when Earth is sleeping. Therefore, I believe Moon is the ultimate protector. Moon says, "I shall watch over you while you rest your weary body." I would think the Moon gets lonely being up when everyone else is resting peacefully. Moon has no one to keep her company except for the few animals that play at night. Therefore, I have taken it upon myself to keep Moon company.

I find the night so peaceful. I believe that is the only time that Earth is completely still, at rest. With Moon watching all, Earth sleeps. I enjoy the solitude that comes with. I find it gives me time to think and let my mind wander as it will. During my time alone with Moon, I have been thinking of these strange times and the events that led up to them...

"My apologies Captain, but you want me to do what?" he asked.

It was just after morning meal when the young Shinigami (Death God) was called to the captain's quarters. He sat kneeling before a middle-aged man with shoulder length white hair. The white haired man lay reclined on a pad on the floor.

"I have sent Rukia Kuchiki to the Living World for a short assignment. As a personal favor to me...and a certain someone, I want you to go and observe her," the white haired man explained.

"You don't think Kuchiki can handle things herself?" the young man asked. He sighed and cleaned his glasses on his robe.

"I have every confidence in my subordinate's abilities," the man explained. "As I said, this would be a personal favor. Your orders are to observe Rukia Kuchiki and make reports only to me about her progress."

The young Shinigami scowled and put his glasses back on. He then folded his arms and thought for a moment.

"With all due respect Captain, why did you pick me for this mission?" the young man asked.

"You came to me from the Secret Mobile Corps. The purpose of this mission is for you to observe without being noticed," the captain replied. "Didn't you used to have missions like this in the SMC?"

As the young man was about to ask another question, someone smacked him on the back of the head.

"Idiot! Why are you questioning the Captain?" a girl with short blonde hair shouted. "When the Captain gives you orders, you say 'Aye Captain! I will carry out your orders!'"

The young man rubbed his head and mumbled to himself.

"What was that?" the girl shouted.

"Third Seat Kiyone Kotetsu, I shall take your words and remember them always," the young man said loudly and rather unconvincingly.

"Make preparations to leave immediately. Rukia Kuchiki has already departed for her assignment," the white haired man said.

"Captain Ukitake, I am honored you have chosen me for this mission. I am to observe Rukia Kuchiki and report to you on her progress," the young man bowed, then stood and left. When he was gone, Captain Ukitake sighed and laid back. Before long, he was asleep.

The young Shinigami walked back to his room to prepare his things. He stopped in front of a mirror to regard his appearance. He ran his hand through his short brown hair and adjusted his glasses on his face. The young man locked stares with his reflection, noting every detail of his pale blue-green eyes. The young man smoothed out his shinigami uniform and adjusted his sash. He shook his head and finished getting ready.

As he was walking down the hallway, he noticed a familiar person walking toward him. "Good morning, Lieutenant Abarai," he said.

"Hm? Where are you going in such a hurry?" Lieutenant Abarai asked. The young man bowed and replied, "Captain Ukitake has given me orders to the Living World."

"The Living World, eh?" Lieutenant Abarai said. "Well, don't die and try to come back in one piece. I'd hate to have to drag your body back to Soul Society."

"Understood, Lieutentant Abarai. No dragging will be required," the young Shinigami replied. Lieutenant Abarai went on his way, and the young man ran on.

I still don't understand my orders, he thought. I know I used to be with the Secret Mobile Corps., but still, isn't there someone else with a higher rank than me that Captain Ukitake can send? Now that I think about it, why was I transfered to Squad 13 of the 13 Court Guard Squads? Did I do something wrong? Is Captain Soifon mad at me? Why am I doing all this thinking? My head hurts...

He walked though the portal and found himself in the real world.

For the next few days, he did exactly as he was asked. He remained hidden from Rukia Kuchiki and hid his sprit force output so even if he was seen, she wouldn't know he was a shinigami. He also wore his old SMC uniform which was a mask, tight fitting robe and pants, shin guards, gloves, and split toed sandals.

Watching Rukia, the young shinigami came to realize how good she really was. He remembered overhearing someone say Rukia was strong enough to be a ranked officer with the 13th squad, but she wasn't for some reason. He made regular reports back to Captain Ukitake, who was also impressed with Rukia's progress. "I shouldn't have worried," Captain Ukitake replied after a report.

"Would you like me to come back to Soul Society now?" the young shinigami asked.

"Not yet," was the reply. "Keep watching for just a few more days."

The next day, he was following Rukia when a hollow (human spirits that aren't sent to Soul Society before being corrupted) attacked a downtown area in the middle of the day. There was an explosion with people running scared. The young shinigami noticed a high school boy with bright orange hair running toward the explosion, then turned around and ran away with a young girl's spirit.

That's strange, the shinigami thought. He made a note of it and continued watching. Rukia arrived and dispatched the hollow. The boy with orange hair was stunned. He said something to Rukia, but the young shinigami didn't catch it. Rukia disappeared and everything went back to normal.

That night, he watched Rukia patrol the city, looking for hollows. She arrived at a small building with a sign that said "Kurosaki Clinic" while he watched unnoticed from the other side of the street. She walked through the wall and into a room on the second floor. There was a loud CRASH then the room light came on. The young shinigami heard arguing in the room, so he went to the window and peeked inside. He saw Rukia Kuchiki and the orange haired boy talking and arguing. This is very strange, he thought. The orange haired boy put his hand on Rukia's head and said something to her. Whatever he had said clearly upset Rukia, so she made a wave of the hand and as if by magic, the orange haired boy's arms were pulled behind him and he fell on the floor.

"A binding spell," the young shinigami thought. Just then, Rukia pulled out her sword and struck a ghost on the head with the hilt. The ghost disappeared in a flash of light. "Soul Burial," he heard Rukia explain. Suddenly, he heard a voice that belonged to neither human, animal or shinigami. "A hollow?" he thought out loud. There was a loud CRASH and the young shinigami jumped away from the window through the cloud of smoke. When the cloud cleared, he saw a Hollow and it was holding a young girl with dark hair.

From his vantage point, the young shinigami saw Rukia appear in the kitchen through the hole the hollow had made in the wall. He watched as the orange haired boy fell down the stairs and landed at Rukia's feet. He stood up, and when he saw what was happening, he started to groan and strain against the binding spell Rukia put on him. He heard Rukia frantically tell him to stop, but to her amazement, the boy broke the binding spell.

The young shinigami was also surprised. He made a note to put the incident in his next report. The boy grabbed a folding chair and foolishly ran at the hollow. The hollow simply batted him aside with its other hand. The hollow then tried to crush the boy, but Rukia cut its arm and it dropped the girl it had been holding. The boy rushed forward and caught her before she hit the ground. The hollow then disappeared.

"Don't worry," Rukia said, "Your sister's weren't eaten by the hollow." Rukia stayed on guard and went on to explain the hollow was after souls with high spiritual power. That meant the hollow from earlier that day, and the one just now were after him. The hollow then reappeared. Enraged, the orange haired boy ran out into the street to face the monster.

"Hey!" Rukia called after him. You fool, the young shinigami thought to himself.

The hollow lunged at the boy, and at the last second, Rukia jumped in front of the hollow. The hollow ended up biting Rukia on the left shoulder. Blood spattered on the pavement. The hollow reared back in pain and Rukia collapsed on the ground. The orange haired boy stared in shock. The young shinigami felt his anger rising against the stupid boy for getting Rukia hurt.

Rukia crawled to a telephone pole and sat up against it. "Do you want to save your family?" she asked.

"Of course!" the boy hastily agreed. "How do I do it?"

Rukia took a deep breath. "You must become a Shinigami (aka Death God)." the boy's eyes went wide. Rukia pointed her sword at him. "Thrust my Soul Slayer (what the shinigami's swords are called) through your heart and I will give you some of my power." Rukia took another breath. "I don't know if this will work."

Don't do it Rukia, the young shinigami pleaded. Rukia pointed the sword at the boy's chest. He grabbed the blade and thrust it through his heart.

"NO!" the young shinigami cried out. His voice was drowned out by a bright flash of light and howling wind. When the light and dust cleared, the hollow was missing an arm and Ichigo was wearing shinigami robes and was carrying a Soul Slayer as tall as he was. On his back was the sheath for the large sword. The young shinigami glanced back to Rukia who wearing her white under robe, which had blood on it. She looked stunned. The young shinigami guessed that Rukia had accidently given Ichigo all her spirit power. He looked back as Ichigo defeated the hollow. Unnoticed by Ichigo, a man wearing a green and white stripped had and sandals appeared and spoke to Rukia. The man gave the young shinigami a funny feeling, so he jumped away, landing a few blocks over.

"Man oh man," the young shinigami thought, reaching for his phone. "What have you gotten yourself into, Rukia Kuchiki?" He dialed a number and listened to it ring. When he heard someone pick up the phone, he simply said, "We have a bit of a problem, Captain Ukitake."