Beyond the Bounds Chapter 1: The Nightmare, a bleach fanfic

This is a semi-canon alternate universe that will eventually feature severe deviations from lore and important events that occur throughout the canon storyline.

No matter how quickly she ran, it always seemed to be just a few steps behind her.

Flinching harshly as a roar cut through the air, the little girl stumbled as she ran, sobbing as she struggling to stay on her feet. This had to be a bad dream, some kind of horrible nightmare, it just had to be.

The roar sounded again and she could taste the blood from her bitten lip and the salt of her own tears. The sun had gone down long ago and she wished feverently that she'd listened to her father and not strayed so far from home. Something was hunting her and she knew without a doubt in her mind that it wanted to eat her.

It reminded her of one of the stories her mother used to read to her before bedtime.

The monster was getting closer with each passing second and she knew that if she ever wanted to make it home she would need to keep running, so she did. She ran until the muscles in her legs burned from the strain. Until her eyes watered and tears streamed down her flushed cheeks.

Her lungs ached in her chest, but she refused to slow down, couldn't slow down, she just couldn't. Just steps behind, she could hear it laughing at her, taunting her. "I'm going to eat you up," It said. "I'm going to eat you."

The sickeningly gleeful words made her breath rattle in her chest and she lost her footing in the dark, blinded by her own tears. The girl landed face-first at the base of an old tree and she was just lucky that her head missed the bare roots peeking out from the dirt by a few inches.

It was only a matter of time before it caught up but she was unable to lift herself. Exhausted, the little girl remained on the ground, shivering in fear and pain and wishing that it would all just stop. She cried out for her mother, for anyone to come and save her even though she knew that it was probably beyond anyone's power to save her.

The monster's footsteps drew closer, shaking the earth and sent tremors through her little body like small earthquakes. They made her heart stutter in her chest and in an act of pure desperation, she attempted to clamber to her feet one more time, but it was already too late.

Something wrapped itself around her ankle and suddenly the world was upside-down. Her tears dripped sluggishly down her grimy cheeks as the creature's face drew unbearably close. It peered at her with its big red eyes before its face split in a parody of a grin, clearly amused by her fear. The mere sight of its teeth made her stomach roll dangerously.

"Tasty," it rumbled, right before its jaw unhinged and it prepared to swallow her whole.

The inside of its mouth was cavernous in appearance and coated with a thick layer of saliva that glistened in what little light was available. The child's arms hung useless and limp like a ragdoll as it tugged her closer, dangling her over its gaping maw.

It's really going to eat me, she thought. It was the only comprehensible thing on her mind. She was going to get gobbled up by a monster and no one would ever find out how or why she was gone. It was all too much for her young mind and she shut her eyes, screaming shrilly into the darkness.

With her eyes shut tight, she screamed, screamed, screamed until suddenly the monster began to scream with her and a bright red light lit up the darkness.

Chiori awoke with a jolt at the sound of her name being called from across the room. The teacher was calling her name and though the woman wasn't particularly loud about it, at that moment to Chiori it was like nails on a chalkboard.

Sighing deeply, Chiori raked a hand through her black hair in an attempt to organize her frazzled thoughts and calm her raging heart. Still clutched in her hand was a pencil and before upon the pages of her sketchbook lay a partially finished drawing.

The teacher called her name once again, a bit more softly than before, but Chiori ignored it in favor of taking stock of her surroundings. Some of her classmates were staring again, but she pointedly ignored them.

Apparently, she'd fallen asleep in class again Typical Chiori, always dosing. Her two best friends were staring at her too and she could tell that they knew that she'd just had another nightmare. It wasn't like that was anything new either. She couldn't even remember if she finished the drawing before she fell asleep or during the dream and quite frankly that wasn't even the disturbing part.

Chiori stared at the unfinished drawing on her desk with trepidation until a hand gently placed itself atop her own. She didn't even notice the teacher had gotten up from her desk. On reflex she snatched her hand away and looked up into the concerned gaze of her homeroom teacher.

Ms. Akita frowned briefly in worry, but knew better than to try and question Chiori about anything. She wouldn't get an answer. Honestly, Chiori could appreciate the concern, but all of the attention was extremely embarrassing. "Chiori, are you alright?" she asked. Chiori answered with a nod, massaging the bridge of her nose with her fingertips in an attempt to will away a sudden headache.

"Please, try to refrain from falling asleep in my class." she continued with a sigh. "I know that you have trouble sleeping, but you have to try and stay awake." Chiori knew that the older woman probably wanted to ask if everything was 'okay' at home, but she didn't and Chiori was glad for that.

Ms. Akita had probably been wondering for months, but it did her little good if Chiori was unwilling to answer any of her indebt questions. Whatever the case, Chiori decided at that moment to ignore everyone and everything until the bell finally rang to signal the end of class. When it did, her friends went to her side almost immediately.

"Oooh." Inori cooed, picking up Chiori's sketchbook. She looked the drawing over quickly before handing it back when Chiori held out her hand for it.

"You feelin' okay, Chiori?" Keiji asked, still looking concerned despite how adamantly Chiori seemed about dismissing her most recent nightmare.

"Oh, chill out Keiji, she's fine." Inori reached out to pinch his right ear as if to reprimand a child and Keiji batted futilely at her hands. When she finally let go, Keiji covered his ear and rubbed the redness away with a scowl. "You guys go ahead without me," said Inori. "I've got chalkboard duty."

She grinned with mischief shining in her green eyes before skipping off to bother their poor teacher. Both Chiori and Keiji stared after her for a moment before shaking their heads and moving to gather their things from their desks.

Chiori shoved her sketchbook into her messenger bag, too preoccupied with what she was doing to notice the pointed looks her friends were giving one another from across the room. They stopped when she lifted her head and together Chiori and Keiji left the classroom to begin their walk home.

The three of them made for an interesting trio whenever they were together. Chiori was rendered mute after an incident when she was only eight years old, while Inori's fiery disposition and Keiji's generally quiet and well-mannered demeanor more than made up for anything that might be lacking in their dynamic.

Inori was adept at making Keiji lose his temper though and as a result they occasionally clashed with sometimes explosive results. Though their behavior was initially much worse when they were all still new to one another, Chiori still often got stuck playing referee when things got out of hand. Somehow, she managed to mediate despite the fact that her only forms of communication were Sign Language and visual cues like writing or drawing.

Keiji and Inori had learned to understand Chiori over the years, but Chiori had never been very interested with interacting with anyone that wasn't them or her family. Sometimes her silence made people uncomfortable around her.

Keiji and Chiori took a longer route on the way from school that evening to give themselves more time to talk. Finally, after a long stretch of silence, Keiji managed to ask the question that had been on his mind since they left school. "So, what did you dream about this time?"

Chiori didn't answer right away, but Keiji was patient. He bumped her shoulder gently with his own and gave her a reassuring grin that she could not help but return. She brushed her bangs from her eyes and reached for the messenger bag hanging against her left hip while Keiji waited for her to find the page. "Wow," he mumbled, leaning closer to get a better look.

The drawing was of some type of monster with large red eyes set in a ghostly white face. Its body was made up of deep, inky, blackness that ate up nearly the entirety of the page on which it had been drawn. It was significant to both Chiori and Keiji because it was the first monster she'd drawn in a very long time with a completely discernible face.

Drawing monsters was a common hobby for Chiori. They were often large masses of black much like shadows, but their faces were almost always white and distorted beyond recognition. It was almost like they'd been rubbed out with a cloth or piece of tissue paper.

Some of them were left unfinished, but that didn't stop Chiori from hanging them all over her bedroom walls. This particular beast was frozen mid-roar. Its mouth was split open so wide it looked like the thick white flesh of what passed for its cheeks would tear clean apart. It was gruesome and unnatural.

Seeing it again outside of her dream gave Chiori chills and she hurriedly closed the sketchbook after deciding that they'd both stared at it long enough. "You okay?" Keiji asked her, seeming to notice her distress. It was difficult to maintain eye contact and she pointedly ignored his gaze until he finally stopped scrutinizing her so intensely. He changed the subject then and she was grateful; content to listen to Keiji talk about whatever came to mind until they eventually reached her street.

A chilly gust of wind blew her hair out of place from where she'd tucked the long strands behind her ear and she swept it back with a frown. It was a surprisingly icy breeze considering the nice weather. Chiori carded a hand through her hair and shared an odd look with keiji who shrugged in return. Apparently he'd felt it too but didn't see the point in commenting on it.

"I'll see you later, Chiori" he said, smiling toward her. She returned the smile with one of her own and waved goodbye as he turned to walk away. He paused and said to her over his shoulder: "Try not to stay up too late you owl!" before disappearing around a corner. Chiori rolled her eyes in reply before pushing the gate in front of her house open with her keys already in hand.

The keys jingled musically as she worked the doorknob and she shouldered the door open, whistling shrilly as she toed off her shoes to let her family know that she was home.

It was typical that she'd be home before her older brother. Trouble always seemed to find him no matter where he went, but as long as he came home at the end of the day it was alright. The only one who seemed to worry was Yuzu, but she worried about everyone.

"Chiori, is that you?"

Yuzu's voice carried down to her from upstairs and Chiori smiled unconsciously. Yuzu was almost always there to greet her when she got home. "I'll be down to start dinner in a little bit!" There was a muffled thump followed by what sounded suspiciously like Karin cursing before another voice greeted Chiori from the kitchen.

"There you are!"

At that moment, Isshin came barreling around the corner. He looked as chipper as always, babbling away about something or another and flitting in that way he usually did when he got worked up about something.

It was like watching a four-year-old in a grown man's body and as exasperating as it was at times, she knew that it meant he was in good spirits. The corners of her mouth twitched upwards in a smile and she made her way over to the fridge to find herself something to snack on until dinner.

"You'll spoil your dinner!" Yuzu cried as she came down the stairs, already wearing her apron.

Chiori shrugged, munching away on a cookie without a care. "All of my beautiful girls are home!" Isshin cried excitedly. "The only one still out and about is my irresponsible son Ichigo and his room's a mess to boot! He'll be late for dinner again so I'll just have to greet him at the door."

He had this odd look in his eye and Chiori made sure to send out a prayer for her brother for when he finally got home. Thoroughly amused, Chiori waved to Yuzu before sneaking up the stairs to wait for dinner alone.

A short, narrow set of stairs at the end of the second-floor hallway lead up to what was technically considered the attic. It was a combination between a bedroom and storage space, and it wasn't very big, but none of the other rooms in their house were either. Most importantly it was a warm and cozy place to be.

Part of the ceiling slanted sharply downward and a number of small windows lined the very top of the low wall beneath it. The head of her bed rested just beneath the slant with the foot-end near the doorway.

There were extra dressers pre-built into the boxing of her bed to make up for the dresser and nightstand that she didn't have. It was extremely convenient and the farthest wall to the left from the doorway hid storage space. Isshin took advantage of it when necessary by boxing away extra supplies, nick-knacks, and even some of Chiori's own belongings that weren't readily needed.

Of course the clinic had plenty of storage space, but that didn't stop some things from winding up in her room anyway. Not that Chiori was complaining. She was more than content as long as she had her sketchbook and her mp3.

She set her messenger bag down on the floor and dug through it for her sketchbook before settling on her bed and flipping to the page with the monster from class. It really was an ugly thing, just perfect for her collection.

The sight of the monster's teeth sent blood rushing loudly in her ears along with the beat of her own heart. She wanted to tear the drawing to pieces, but she couldn't bring herself to. Instead, she taped it to the wall alongside all the others. Monsters weren't the only things decorating the walls of her bedroom. There were other pictures strung up all over the space, suspended by lines of wire, clothespins, and tape.

Some of them were photographs of people and places and things, but most of them were drawn by hand. A few of the sketches were even of family and friends, smiling, laughing, and sleeping.

Chiori backed away from the newest addition to her wall and stared at the picture for a time before moving towards it again to smooth a rumpled edge. Careful not to smudge anything, she did not stop until it was 'perfect'. After a moment of quiet contemplation she realized that the room was much too quiet. Pulling her mp3 player from her bag, Chiori plugged a pair of old speakers into the headphone jack and hit shuffle.

The music filtered out into the room and Chiori smiled, swaying slightly with the beat as she realized which song was starting to play. Mouthing the words, she stripped out of her uniform and pulled her hair back into a messy bun at the base of her neck before settling on her mattress with her sketchbook balanced on her knee. The music always managed to relax her after a long day and she grabbed a pencil from her bag and began to draw.

By the time she came back to reality an hour or two had already passed and she could hear voices coming from downstairs. Yuzu was probably already done making dinner and she sighed before getting up from her bed. The act of standing took way more effort than she was comfortable admitting and her spine popped as she grudgingly found herself a pair of shorts and a T-shirt to pull on before making her way downstairs

She would not acknowledge either of the men in the house until she had some food in her hands and made her way to the table where Karin and Yuzu were already sitting. Greeting her sisters with a wave, they watched as Isshin and Ichigo argued by the front door.

She didn't even bother to sit down as she grabbed a bowl and spooned rice into her mouth, huffing under her breath as Ichigo sent their dad flying with the usual hit to the face. It probably seemed like a violent thing to do to one's own father, but it was just how they were.

"First of all, making a healthy high school student come home at seven every night is-!"Ichigo's rant was cut off by Karin informing him of another spirit hanging over his shoulder. Apparently he hadn't noticed the entity until that particular moment.

It seemed that everyone in the house, except Isshin and Chiori of course, could detect spirits on some level. Even Yuzu could minutely sense their presence and was able to point out the spirit that was apparently hovering somewhere around Ichigo when he came in the door.

At least I'm not the odd one out, Chiori thought as she watched her brother leave the kitchen in a huff and head to his room. Yuzu attempted to call him back down, but her words fell on deaf ears. "It's your fault, dad." said Karin, mostly indifferent while Chiori and Yuzu nodded in agreement.

"He's been having a tough time lately." Yuzu continued and Karin picked up again where she left off after a moment of staring at their father in a mix of exasperation and mild disapproval.

"Now that you mention it, he said he's seeing them a lot more lately." Isshin looked surprised. Really the man was in his forties and still behaved like a child. Whatever the reason, Isshin didn't seem to take well to that fact that Ichigo wouldn't come to him with his problems.

He ran off to the livingroom to complain and cry dramatically before the large poster of their mother pinned to the wall. Chiori rolled her eyes at the sight of him before finishing off her food and bidding everyone goodnight

She returned to her room for the night, but instead of actually sleeping she went to work on some of her drawings knowing that she might not get any sleep at all if she didn't. Her playlist had switched to another song long before she returned to her room, but the beat was just as soothing as before. She tossed herself bodily onto her bed and resigned herself to the possibility that she would be awake until early morning.

It was something that had long since become the norm for her. Thankfully at some point during the night she did eventually fall asleep at the edge of her bed. Her pencil was still clutched tightly in her hand and the eye of another strange beast much like the one from class that day, peered out from the page of her sketchbook...watching.

Despite having significantly less sleep than she wanted, Chiori still managed to wake up, eat breakfast, and leave the house a bit earlier than usual. Keiji sent her a text while she was getting ready saying he wanted her to meet up with him. He said that there was an explosion near Kamakura Station and he wanted to go check it out before school. Chiori grudgingly agreed to come along out of curiosity.

The two of them met up at the station and tried to get a decent look at the destruction, but there were just too many people. Perhaps it's for the best, Chiori thought. She wasn't even truly sure why she had even agreed to come in the first place. It was difficult to see much of anything other than smoke and part of the damaged building.

Eventually, both Keiji and Chiori went on their way to school. "What do you think caused the explosion?" Keiji wondered, glancing over his shoulder at the people who were slowly growing farther and farther away. Suddenly, Chiori felt a tremble beneath her feet and she stumbled only for Keiji to catch her arm. "Are you alright?" he asked.

Chiori didn't hear him right away, distracted by the heavy feeling of sickness settling in her stomach. She tried to keep herself steady, but it was little use. All she wanted at that moment was to get as far away from Kamakura station as possible. The sound of Keiji calling her name and the urgency of his tone eventually brought her back to reality and she shook her head in an attempt to clear it.

Gasping, she pulled away from Keiji's hands and smoothed the navy-blue skirt of her uniform, wiping the sweat from her palms in the process. "Are you alright?" Keiji repeated, placing a hand on her shoulder. Chiori nodded in reply and began to walk forward once again. She was not completely sure what happened to her, but something told her that they were better off leaving the area as soon as they possibly could.

(A/N)

I no longer care what you do or do not know and it does not matter whether you are canon-savvy or completely fandom-blind. Brace yourselves and know that this is a slightly experimental work and no one is completely safe.

The song playing in Chiori's bedroom the first time: 'Dream Today'- Joydrop

The second song: 'How Am I supposed to Die' - Civil Twilight