Title: Asphodel by Lyonia
Disclaimer: Bleach does not belong to me.
Summary: Just something that was in my mind. Ichigo dies trying to save Rukia from the hollow in Chapter 1. Obviously AU. Ichigo will be extremely (ridiculously) strong, but that's canon.
"Shit, I'm late."
A boy with the uniquely orange hair made a sharp, 90 degree turn. His father had set a curfew at seven; it was already ten minutes past that. If it weren't for the stupid delinquents that disturbed the dead girl's resting spot, he would have gotten home on time. But, no, anybody that dishonored the dead (and made the dead bother him in return) had to be punished.
He was almost home... maybe he could sneak in through the window to avoid old goat-face, also known as his father. That meant that he would have to go without dinner, too, and Yuzu, his little sister, would be unhappy about that. (Karin, his other sister, probably wouldn't care as much.)
Alas, this was not meant to be. For in the middle of the street was a monster about to eat a girl in black samurai getup.
"Oi! Watch out!" He pushed the girl away from the monster, taking her place as the beast knocked him away.
Or at least he thought it did.
It was strange, really. He felt himself moving, but he could clearly see his body right where it was before, stationed on the ground before the weird girl. Huh. Was this what it was like being dead?
The weird girl's eyes widened in shock. Then, she seemed to gain herself again as she grabbed her sword (where'd she get that from?) and jumped higher than the boy thought humanly possible.
Ah, so she wasn't human. A spirit? What was the monster, anyways?
The girl's sword sliced through the beast's head. With a final moan, it dispersed.
The girl walked toward him, sword still in hand. The boy looked at it warily, thinking maybe that the insane woman would attack him as well. Instead, she bowed deeply.
"I apologize for not acting quickly enough to prevent your death."
Oh. Oh. So he was dead. Rather than focus on that, he looked at the girl. The girl seemed about his age, but her voice was so uncomfortably formal that it was stifling. It just didn't sound natural. The boy shrugged. "At least it's gone now... And you didn't get hurt. You remind me of my younger sisters, in a way, and I would never let one of them get hurt. What was that thing?"
She took out a notepad. The boy suddenly had a sense of something terrible about to happen.
"You were able to see spirits when you were alive, yes?"
The boy nodded.
"In this world, two kinds of spirits exist. One is called 'plus' and is the most common spirit- these are what you are used to."
She drew something vaguely representing a smiling bunny. The boy wasn't too sure about that- it was mad ugly.
"The other type is called 'hollow' and these attack living beings and dead beings alike and eat their souls. This is what you just encountered, only it did not eat your soul."
The image this time was of a bear-thing with squiggly eyebrows.
"Do you have any questions so far?"
"Why do your drawings abnormally suck?"
Face met ground with a loud thud.
Nonchalantly, the girl went on. "I am a shinigami, and shinigami have two duties- to extinguish hollows, which is why I am in Karakura, and to guide pluses to Soul Society by performing the soul burial. This is what I'll have to do to you."
The mood instantly sobered.
"Soul Society... What is it like?" the boy asked.
The girl gave a tight smile. "It is a peaceful place." She stared at him. "You'd do well in the Shinigami Academy. Your reiatsu level is rather high."
"There's a school for this stuff?"
"Yes, I graduated from there."
"Oh... Alright."
"Now I'll perform the soul burial on you. It's painless, I assure you."
The boy went cross-eyed as he stared at the katana.
"Good-bye." The handle slammed against his head, and the boy disappeared.
Two hours later, a college student would find the body of one Kurosaki Ichigo in the street. The cause was determined to be natural. His family, dysfunctional it may have been, all grieved as they lamented the loss of yet another family member.