Introduction

Twilight Marionette: Hello everyone and welcome!

Twilight Puppeteer: Who are you talking to?

Twilight Marionette: Silence!

Twilight Puppeteer: Pfft.

Twilight Marionette: Ahem -coughs-This is my first story and I hope you guys like it.

Twilight Puppeteer: Your confidence is awe inspiring.

Twilight Marionette: Silence!

Authors Note: This is set in a AU Bleach world, the Winter War ended in a stalemate after Kurosaki Ichigo managed to rescue Orihime before Aizen could trap the 4 Captains, forcing him to change his plans. This story will be Ichigo/HollowIchigo x OC for the most part. Paragraphs written in Italic's are dreams/memories and italics within paragraphs are character thoughts.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of its characters, well, except the ones I made of course.

Prologue

Some time in the future-

Ichigo felt the rain fall on to his face, each drop cool and heavy against his skin as his eyes slowly opened. His eyes focused on the storm clouds raging above, cracks of lightning shacking the sky as the heavens roared their anger. Ichigo tried to move but his body wouldn't respond, it felt heavy and tired but there was no pain.

The girl held tightly to him, his back pressed against her body as she held him in her arms as they sat there in the rain. Feeling him try to move she gently tightened her grip around his chest and rested her chin on his shoulder, gentle tears fell from her eyes.

Ichigo turned his bleary eyes to face her, not sure who she was, her face was familiar but he didn't know her. "Who, are you?" he managed to say to her.

Her face had a gentle smile on it, despite the tears falling from her eyes, "You don't know me," as she spoke her fingers curled into fists. "But you did once," her eyes closed as her tears increased, her smile never failing her."And that's all that matters, in the end."

Chapter one: Unexpected kindness

Present day-

Akatsuki slumped against the wall, her left arm wrapped tightly around her stomach, the pain felt like it was burning through her and her breathing had become ragged and hoarse, each breathe felt like it would kill her. Half dragging the left hand side of her body across the wall she made another effort to struggle down the alleyway, her right arm hanging limp at her side. Even in the confined space of the alley the rain felt heavy and she imagined she could feel every drop, her clothes and hair were starting to feel so heavy as she limped slowly towards the street. With concentration and effort she walked out of the alley and into the sudden freedom of the street. Without the alley wall to support her Akatsuki was struggling to stand upright and was vaguely sure she was swaying from side to side. Despite the downpour the street was quite well lit for this time of night and in both directions it looked deserted, at least as far as Akatsuki's blurry vision could tell and she started to limp across the empty road. By now the pain had spread throughout her body and each step brought a whimper of pain from her lips, though she stifled most of the noise as she couldn't afford to be heard by her pursuers, she was too hurt to resist them and if they found her now she knew she wouldn't last long. The sound of footsteps made her panic and turn around fast on her heel but her balance had long since abandoned her and she fell spinning backwards to the ground, the heavy rain assaulting her exposed face washing away the blood from her skin. Wearily she waited but heard no more footsteps, had she imagined them maybe, she wasn't sure, everything was becoming uncertain in her mind. Perhaps it was just a sound from her imagination. She smiled a little to herself and with great effort managed to roll onto her side and rise to her hands and knees, slowly clambering to her feet, using her sheathed sword as a walking stick. However before walking more then another five feet she let out a pained whimper as she felt her legs give out from under her and she toppled to the floor, her body hitting the ground hard. Her wounded arms both laying by her sides and her head on its side, her long pale red hair blowing freely with the wind. All of her strength had abandoned her and she could no longer even struggle to stand up. Her eyes were all but devoid of life and she sighed as her eyes slowly closed, blacking out the world as unconsciousness took her.

The man watched as the girl limped from the alley, her reiatsu had drawn him here from his clinic. He had been asleep when he had first felt it and was surprised that it woke him up at all, it felt so weak and fragile as if it would break like glass. Having got dressed quickly he rushed out into the wind and rain but by the time he had traveled the few streets the reiatsu had all but faded and it was hard for him to follow it. Just as he was about to give up he saw her. Limping from an alley out into the street in a white kimono like outfit, her long red hair hanging down her back from the weight of the rain. She must have heard or sensed him for she seemed to turn and trip before clumsily dragging herself up again. The man started towards her only to see her collapse under her own weight and topple to the ground. Her sword clattered to the ground and traveled a short distance before coming to rest at the mans feet. He reached down and picked up the long sheathed blade, he could tell by just holding it that it was a Zanpakuto, but this was unimportant at the moment. Carrying the sword to the girl he knelt down and lifted her her head onto his outstretched knee. After checking her arm wound he opened her eyes, there was no response and her eyes seemed devoid of any life in them. However, he was sure he could feel some life still in her broken and bleeding body. Making a quick decision he scooped up her surprisingly light body into his arms, her head resting snugly against his left shoulder. Though he had long since severed his ties to Soul Society, he was not going to leave this girl in the street to die, no one was going to die tonight.

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The rain dripped down her hair and across her face, small rivers flowing down from her eyes like tears flowing from those eyes obscured by the shadow from her overhanging hair. She stared down at the sight before her, a young girl slumped down against a half finished brick wall in a lonely construction yard, the rain beating its rhythm on her still body. Her hair was ragged and soaked, as where her torn clothes, she must have been in the rain for quite some time before she stopped moving. She probably wasn't going to start moving again either. The girl crouches down in front of the broken girl and tries to look at her face but no matter how hard she tries to reach out, her arm wont move, her fingers wont unclench. Why am I angry, why am I scared and intimidated of the dead girl she thinks to herself, her heart beating so fast she fears it may burst at any moment. Why do I pity this girl so much, why does she make me want to cry so much. She stands up and tries to call for help but no one comes, no one ever comes, her lips move but the words never escape, they merely hang there, unspoken and unheard.

Akatsuki awoke with a scream as consciousness wove its way into her mind and with it came the pain, she sat upright clutching her right arm defensively. "It was, a dream?" Akatsuki said to herself, "It felt kind of nostalgic though." She rubbed her right arm, noticing that it had been bound in bandages by someone who knew what they were doing. She tried to sit up but every muscle in her body was screaming at her and reluctantly her head came back to rest on the pillow.

"Well maybe it wasn't a dream but a memory?" said a girls voice to Akatsuki's left.

Akatsuki slowly turned her head and saw a raven haired girl sitting there, panic rushed over her, "Ahhhh! Who, who, who are you?!" she said pointing her finger accusingly.

Taken aback by Akatsuki's sudden outburst the raven haired girl nearly jumped out of her skin as well. "Don't just shout like that!" As she sheepishly sat back down she remembered that the girl had every right to be frightened. "Sorry that wasn't very nice of me eh? Don't worry, your safe here," a sneer crossed her face, "Well safe enough, this is our family clinic, my dad found you last night and brought you here."

"Last night?" Akatsuki responded slowly, it didn't sound familiar to her, everything was blurred and hard to see in her mind. She couldn't remember anything about last night at all.

"Yeah, said you were in a pretty bad way, nearly bleed to death apparently," the girl said as she put a thermometer into Akatsuki's mouth and read off the temperature. "Though what he was doing out so late at night isn't something I want to think about." She laughed sarcastically at her own comment.

Akatsuki wasn't quite sure what was going on and wasn't sure how to respond, "Thank you?" was the best she could come up with.

"Not to fast on the uptake eh? Well that's OK I guess, your head was pretty banged up last night," the raven haired girl said to Akatsuki.

Akatsuki looked at the girl properly, enough of her senses returning for her to actually take notice of her surroundings. The girl had shoulder length black hair and although she looked slightly boyish to Akatsuki she was kind of cute, noticing Akatsuki's stare she blushed slightly.

"The names Karin, by the way, whats your name Miss?" Karin said to Akatsuki, breaking Akatsuki's stare.

"Akatsuki," she responded slowly, slightly bewildered by the situation still. Akatsuki looked around the room, it was plain and practical yet it felt safe and warm. Remembering that Karin was still in the room she looked back at her.

"Just Akatsuki? No last name to go with that?" Karin asked sarcastically.

"Akatsuki?" Akatsuki responded, turning her head on its side quizzically.

Karin's face remained emotionless, half expecting the answer, "Akatsuki Akatsuki?" she said in a deadpan voice.

"No, just Akatsuki, I think," Akatsuki responded with a smile, her head still turned slightly on its side.

"OK..." Karin responded, "I'll ask again later when your more with it."

Akatsuki quietly laughed before asking in a more serious tone, "Where am I?"

"I told you, my dads clinic, this is the Kurosaki clinic." Karin got up and walked over to the window and opened it, letting a refreshing cool breeze blow into the room, she turned around to face Akatsuki and realized that she had fainted. Sighing she walked over and laid her back down properly on the bed, pulling the covers over her arms and chest. She brushed some loose hair from her face and quietly left the room, closing the door with a gentle bang. Karin stepped out into the hallway and as if sensing her fathers presence turned to face him, "Girl seems like a real brain donor, had this dopey confused look on her face," she let out a sigh and carried on, "Where did you find her anyway?"

Striking a cool pose, well, at least what Isshin thought was a cool pose, he said in a well practiced macho voice "I rescued the fair maiden from a lonely and cold death. I heard her cry and I came running to her rescue!"

Karin expected this and turned her back to him and walked away, replying sarcastically "Don't do anything, weird, to her while I'm gone OK dad?"

With mock shock he replied "I would never do such a thing, I'm almost insulted Karin-chan!"

Smiling to himself he walked over to his newest patients room and smiled at the sleeping girl. He decided that had gone very well, no one had noticed that the girls body was a gigai, though there was no reason why they should. Ichigo would probably realize he decided but he knew Ichigo would make up his own mind about that himself. Though he knew she was an Arrancar, he wasn't going to leave her to die over something like that. The situation was awkward, he would have taken her to Urahara but at the time he didn't think she would last that long. There was something about her eyes as well, a kind of quiet gentleness that told him his family was in no danger at all from this Akatsuki.

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Akatsuki woke up suddenly again, sweat drops forming on her forehead. It had been the same dream from earlier and she felt sick to her stomach. Sitting up in the bed she took in her surroundings and remembered her earlier conversation with the girl called Karin. 'What kind of place is this?' she wondered to herself, she had been in spiritual form when she had collapsed so whoever found her had either been a spiritual being as well or a human with strong spiritual powers. The girl had said it was her father who had brought her here, 'But why could the girl see me, maybe all of this family have the same gift?' she thought. Akatsuki painfully sat up and turned her body around till her legs were hanging over the side of the bed and gently stood up, wobbly and unsteadily she walked towards a mirror on the door and looked at herself. Her head had been bandaged up as had her right arm and her stomach. Someone had dressed her in a light blue dressing gown after tending to her wounds. Something was wrong though, her body felt strange and unwieldy, 'This must be a gigai that's all, no wonder my wounds don't hurt as much as they should. But who? And why has someone placed me in a gigai?' A puzzled look crossed her face, then she blushed as another thought occurred to her, 'Whoever it was has seen me naked! Someones going to suffer!' Her enthusiasm however made her feel faint and she had to lean against the door for support.

"Well, at least I'm alive," she said to herself. She ran her fingers through her hair and sighed.

Pressing her ear to the door she listened for other noises in this place but only heard a muffled hum of conversation and laughing, 'a television show perhaps?' She knew humans enjoyed that kind of thing for some reason. It might have been the gigai's weak sense's but she couldn't here anyone else in this so called Clinic.

"Its not like I wanted to thank them or anything but should they really leave a patient on her own?" Akatsuki said looking almost insulted, then a realization hit her she hit her clenched left hand into her open right hand. After a few seconds of crying like a little girl from the pain she shook her poor right hand, her thoughts returning to what had prompted such a dumb response, "I should really get out of here."

Akatsuki walked unsteadily back into the center of the room. Once she was satisfied she was standing upright she raised her left hand forwards into the air, then made a circular motion and pushed forward as if she pushing at a wall. Nothing happened, she tried again and again but still nothing happened. She lowered her arm, then with a frustrated sigh fell forwards onto the bed, not only did a gate to Hueco Mundo not open, it had exhausted her even trying. This situation had become most grave indeed.

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Later that day Akatsuki was visited by a kid dressed in blue jeans and a white short sleeved shirt sporting a spiky orange haircut. As he entered the room he waved to her and pulled a chair over to the side of her bed where she was resting, however Akatsuki had already lost interest in him and in five whole seconds had managed to completely forget he was there. She assumed he worked here or something like that and tried to ignore him.

"Whats your name?" said a voice to her left, "Hello? You in there?"

Akatsuki slowly turned to face him as if only just noticing him for the first time. He looked like a human but Akatsuki could feel a great amount of reiatsu coursing through him, even with the dulled senses of the gigai. Akatsuki lost interest again and stared out of the open window.

"You can speak right?" he waited patiently then gave up. "Ah stop spacing out and just answer me," he said as he put his head into his hand in frustration. Ichigo looked at the girl sitting up in the bed, her gaze on something he couldn't see out of the window. Her eyes where a deep shade of gold that Ichigo had rarely seen before and her skin was so smooth and pale that she looked almost like a doll. She had long pale red hair which he realized must reach below her waist when she was standing up. He had to admit that she looked very cute, especially with the light from the open window lighting up her skin even further.

Akatsuki sighed inwardly, until she knew where she was and why she was here, she had to stay here and rest up, which would be much easier if people didn't keep bothering her. "Akatsuki." Akatsuki said flatly.

"You got a last name to go with that?" he said with a slightly stressed tone.

Akatsuki continued to look out the window with a purely uninterested expression, appearing to take a great deal of time to think about the answer, "Akatsuki."

"Your name is Akatsuki Akatsuki?" Ichigo said with little enthusiasm.

Akatsuki suddenly turned to face him, the sudden movement took him slightly off guard. She studied him critically, her stare unnerving Ichigo slightly as her head seemed to be moving ever so slightly closer. "Your sister said the same thing."

"Karin?" Ichigo asked, "How did you know she was my sister?"

Akatsuki smiled as she answered, "You both ask the same things and you both smell the same," just after the words left her mouth Akatsuki realized how bad that sounded, her mouth still agape and her face turning red. She started waving her arms around frantically as she spoke much too fast, "That isn't to say I was smelling you! Or your sister either! Its just that you both have the same odor! Not that I'm saying you both smell or anything!"

Ichigo watched bemused as Akatsuki seemed to be having a nervous breakdown, waving her arms about frantically and talking non stop, her face going redder and redder. Only a moment ago he couldn't get her to talk. Before she completely overloaded he interrupted her.

"I suppose we look kinda similar as well I guess," Ichigo said.

Akatsuki grabbed onto that branch of sanity and went with it, "That's what I meant to say, you say the same things and look the same!" Akatsuki shot him a thumbs up.

Ichigo knew what he had heard but wasn't going to comment on it, anymore of that insane ranting and he would end up with a headache. "How about I just call you Akatsuki?" Ichigo said.

"My name is Akatsuki," Akatsuki replied, an oblivious look on her face.

Ichigo decided to have one last attempt before giving up, "Well then you won't mind if I call you Akatsuki-chan then will you? I mean you obviously don't mind when it comes to names."

Akatsuki was still flustered from her embarrassing rant when she responded, "Akatsuki-chan," she said slowly, then after a break of about three seconds something clicked inside her head and drew her out her thoughts. "Do I like a kid to you?!" she shouted while waving her arms up and down, all flustered and red faced again.

"Hehe Akatsuki-chan is such a cute name though," He said holding back a grin. "If your not a kid stop waving your arms up and down like a idiot!" Ichigo said triumphantly

Akatsuki turned her face back to the window so that Ichigo couldn't see how red it was. "I um don't really use any other name, its kinda like, the only name I've got."

Sensing her sudden discomfort Ichigo let her off the hook for now at least, "Whatever, I'm sure you've got your reasons. The names Ichigo, Kurosaki Ichigo."

Ichigo left the room quietly, though really there seemed little point as Akatsuki had already seemed to forget his existence the moment he got up and walked away from her. Heading down the stairs he rounded the corner and headed towards the kitchen. He was sure she wasn't human, the small amount of reiatsu he could sense from her felt like that of a shinigami. But her eyes, though they looked normal he could see something deep down inside them, something that screamed Arrancar to him. He would confront her, after that he would do what needed doing, one way of the other. Though he to admit, he didn't sense a single drop of malice or anger from her, she seemed kind of, depressed if anything.