Finally got this Bleach plot bunny beaten out of my skull monkey. It's been a while since I wrote anything for Bleach that wasn't published, so have this little project. So read on and tell me what you think about it.

The world was strange, inverted, backwards. There were buildings and there was a sky, but there wasn't a sun. "How strange," she whispered.

"You don't belong here."

The voice was cold, coming from behind her. She could feel the chill going down her spine, but she felt no fear. She turned around, her dark blue eyes finding a figure standing there, with a haughty expression stamped across his face. His hair, skin, and attire were pure white—his eyes were the most unusual. The whites of his eyes were pitch black, his irises gold. Those golden orbs scanned her body with some kind of interest before rising to meet her own eyes. "Usually it'd just be me and the King here," he said. "I'd never seen anyone else coming here."

"Where is here?" the girl asked softly, no trace of fear in her voice or expression.

The barest flicker of a smirk graced his lips. "Nowhere that you should know, really."

"Are you going to tell me who you are?"

"Nah."

"Why not?"

"There's nothing for you to know and I don't have to tell you a damn thing."

What strange logic, this male had. There was still something familiar about him, something she couldn't place right then. He approached her with the leisure of a cat stalking up to its prey. When they were the barest of centimeters apart, he placed his thumb and index finger beneath her chin, gripping it tightly. "There's something weird about you, girl. Dunno what kind of thing you are to come in here with a face like that; I don't like the look in your eyes."

"What do my eyes look like?" she asked.

His eyes narrowed dangerously. "That defiant look in your eye. It pisses me off."

She jerked her face from his grip, feeling her long hair swing over her shoulders, her bangs blocking him from her periphery. "Sorry I couldn't be more accommodating, Your Majesty," she spat.

The laugh that broke from him—it was mirthless. "You got the wrong guy, girl. The King isn't me—of course, if the King starts getting weak, I'm gonna take my chance and take the crown."

She turned her head, her eyes meeting his. "If you're so strong, what do you plan to do with me?"

The smirk on his face was malicious. "I think I'll keep you alive. For now."

Minako's eyes flew open as she took in a sharp breath, rising in her bed. Her skin felt cold, her heart racing despite of her not feeling any fear. This was the first time her "ability" sent her somewhere unfamiliar, somewhere that felt like she entered the soul of someone else. She pressed a hand against her chest to try and calm her erratic heart.

That being…he had the guise of a human, but she could feel it—he was nowhere near human, nowhere near pure; he was sinister, malicious. Exhaling a breath she didn't realize she was holding, Minako slowly pushed herself out of bed to get ready for school. As she buttoned up her shirt, she felt the chill rush down her spine, and she had the distinct feeling that she had met the devil last night.

There was something weird about the girl that sat one chair up beside Ichigo. There was weird buzz of familiarity coursing through him, but for the life of him he'd never even talked to her before. As he considered this, Ichigo felt a familiar stirring inside him. His Inner Hollow was particularly antsy, and Ichigo had no idea what the source could be until his eyes flew back to the black-haired girl he'd never really spoke to. He flinched at the sudden burst of energy his Hollow exuded from within, accompanied with his voice, saying one thing and one thing only: "Mine."

What the hell was the thing going on about? What was his? When the bell rang for the lunch period, jolting him from his thoughts, Ichigo's friends made their way over to him and the girl had stood up, gathering her books and walking out of the door.

"Ichigo?" Orihime's voice called his attention back and she looked almost concerned. "Is something wrong?"

"No," Ichigo answered, before thinking. "Orihime, the girl who sits there" –He jabbed his thumb over to the desk that the mystery girl had occupied—"do you know her?"

"That's Minako Kazuya," Tatsuki answered tersely. "She doesn't really talk to anyone, she's really quiet. Why?"

"Just curious." Extremely curious, as his Hollow was suddenly dormant after she had left to do whatever she planned to do. "We gonna head to the roof, then?"

"Yeah," Mizuiro said. "We should head up now since it's a pretty nice day outside."

They weren't alone. Once Ichigo and his friends had gotten up to the roof, the girl—Minako—was occupying the corner, sitting with her legs together and a book open on her lap. She was extremely focused on whatever she was reading that she barely noticed Tatsuki calling out to her until she jumped at being addressed.

"Hey, Minako-san! Care to join us?" Tatsuki asked her. Minako blinked, her eyes a dark enough blue to be considered violet staring at Tatsuki before they scanned everyone else, finally stopping on Ichigo. The jolt of energy that passed was sharp, painful, and Ichigo felt his Hollow bang away excitedly. He tried not to frown, but his Hollow's behavior was unusual—it was usually excited during a battle, always insane and sadistic. The energy over eye contact with this girl was freaking him out.

"Arisawa-san, that's really nice of you to offer," Minako said, her voice soft. "But I'll have to decline." She smiled politely and returned to reading her book, her dark hair hiding her face like a curtain. Tatsuki shrugged, looking at everyone else. "Told you she's used to being alone," she murmured as they ambled over to their usual spot, not even noticing how Minako sudden froze, eyes wide.

"So that's who you are, huh, girl?"

Minako's blood ran cold, her heart suddenly slowly to the point where it seemed as though it barely pulsed. The voice from last night, the voice belonging to the devil, rang in her head. Her hand shook slightly, her index finger hovering at the corner of her book.

"How are you here?"

"I told you, didn't I?"

He wasn't going to tell her anything. Minako bit her lip, her hand curling into a loose fist. "Where are you?"

He gave a wild laugh that rang in her head, giving her a pounding headache. "Closer than you think, Minako."

His voice faded away and Minako's body slowly regained heat from her feet to the top of her head. He was close, he had said, closer than she realized. Which meant if he was inside someone's soul, then that someone was here in her school. There was something about how he sounded when they spoke just now—he was elated, like he won a prize, and decisive underlying in his tone. Minako slowly closed her book and stood up, holding the book close to her chest as she went to the door to go back to the classroom. If he could see her from wherever he was hiding, then sooner or later he was going to wind his energy around her own until they coiled together tightly, to the point where she wouldn't be able to tell where his began and she ended.

"She got out of here fast," Keigo muttered, pointing out Minako leaving the roof back into the halls of the school.

"How many times am I going to have to tell you?" sighed Tatsuki irritably. "Minako likes to be by herself, reading those dream oracle kind of books."

"She's into that stuff?" Ichigo asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I think her family runs a fortune-telling store, but Kazuya-san—from what I hear—is the only member of the family who's actually legit, but she's more of walking dream oracle," Mizuiro said. "I know you don't like all that fortune-telling stuff, Ichigo, but-"

"You think she's legit without really seeing for yourself?"

"I actually decided to see for myself. And the rumors are quite true. Kazuya-san actually managed to find things about my past that she couldn't know about. And that was with her awake."

"What do you mean?" Orihime asked. "With her awake?"

Mizuiro looked at Orihime. "Kazuya-san reads about translating dreams, and, as far as the rumors go, her type of prophesizing requires that she's asleep. Her being awake and being whatever she is to do that is quite exhausting for her."

Ichigo gave a halfhearted shrug. "I don't like fortune-tellers for a reason. If she does it for money-"

"She doesn't, that's the weird part about it!" Mizuiro exclaimed. "She doesn't accept any payment for doing her freaky psychic thing; she just goes on like it's what she's been doing her whole life!"

Ichigo took in Mizuiro's words. He didn't like fortune-tellers because most of them were fake and doing it to make money. But if Mizuiro managed to go so far as to figure out Minako Kazuya from the outsider's perspective, as he would normally do, than her being exact and not accepting money would probably trigger another possibility: that she was really good at guessing.

And if she was actually legitimate, just how far does this uncanny "ability" of hers go? Before he could go deeper in thought about it, he felt a surge of extremely negative energy. It was a possessive anger that wasn't stemming from his psyche.

"I told you, King. She's mine," his Hollow growled in his head right as the bell rang to signal the end of the lunch period.

When school finally ended, everyone was out in front of the school to part ways until the next day. Ichigo, however, had to run back inside because he had forgotten something.

Had he realized the events that were to unfold, he'd have not gone back.

He slid the door open and barreled right into Minako Kazuya, who gasped and jolted back, her eyes wide.

They spent a few minutes staring at each other in shock before Ichigo managed to grasp that he had just bumped into the very girl he and his friends were discussing at lunch. "Minako…right?" he asked.

Minako blinked at being addressed, almost surprised that he'd even done so. She nodded. "Right…Kurosaki-san," she murmured, her right hand rubbing her left arm, her bag held in her left hand. "I was just finishing helping sensei with something."

Ichigo nodded. "I forgot something," he said, heading to his desk to retrieve what he needed. When he turned, Minako was still standing there. The look in her eyes was curious, as though she were studying him. "Are you okay?" he asked.

She nodded. "Yes, I'm fine. I just…" She glanced away, biting her lip, before glancing back at him. "Have we…met before?"

It was his turn to stare at her. "Not that I remember."

The studying expression came back onto her face. "I feel as though I met you before…" She shrugged. "Maybe in a past life," she sighed, turning and walking out of the classroom. Ichigo rushed after her, surprised that he would, but there was something weird about this girl—he could sense it. When he caught up with her, she looked surprised again. "Your friends must be waiting for you, Kurosaki-san."

"I told them to go on without me," replied Ichigo with a shrug of his shoulders. "Besides, it's gonna be late and I don't feel great about having you walk home alone."

"You just offered to walk me home in your own way," she laughed softly once they reached the outside. "I suppose it's all right. We've never really spoken to each other before. It's kind of nice."

"You're not at all freaked about that?"

"Why would I be?"

That was a good question he did not have a ready response for and didn't want to respond with what he heard from Mizuiro via rumors so they passed the gates in silence.

Minako seemed to guess what he was struggling with. "I know there are rumors of me being a fortune teller," she said the words like they were acidic on her tongue. "You think because I declined to join you and your friends I like to be alone?"

"I didn't think that at all!" Ichigo replied defensively before stopping himself. Yes, he had, because she seemed to always be alone. "I'm sorry if I seemed to think that you did."

"It's quite all right." Minako gave a shrug of her own. "I can see how you got the impression. I'm sorry for that."

"Why are you apologizing?"

"You started it."

Point for her. "Which way are you headed?" he asked. If he was going to walk her home, he was going to see if he could at least make it seem he was going in that direction. Minako gestured in the direction where his place was; so they probably lived in the same neighborhood.

"Let's go. I'm sure your parents want you home," Ichigo told her. She frowned slightly at him. "I don't want to appear ungrateful for your kindness, Kurosaki-san, but wouldn't your family be wondering where you are?" she asked him.

"My family's used to me coming home late. My dad gets annoying about it, but it's nothing you need to worry about. Really," he added, seeing concern and disbelief mixing in her eyes. She sighed, but she wasn't going to argue as they walked in the same direction in silence.

This was slightly awkward for Ichigo. While he wasn't comfortable with a girl walking home alone at night, he was equally uncomfortable with what a guy would talk to a girl about when they were heading the same way together. The fact that Minako was usually quiet in school didn't help either and even knowing she was into the "unknown" stuff would spark an uncomfortable conversation for them both.

"Kurosaki-san," Minako's voice was so soft, it sounded like it came from inside his head. He glanced at her. "What?"

"Why are you thinking too hard right now?"

How did she know I was thinking? "It's nothing important."

"It is important, otherwise you wouldn't have the expression of someone who was so invested in the thought."

"Is this a lucky guess or are you really psychic?"

"Lucky guess."

At least she admitted it was a lucky guess. Minako smiled slightly. "I know what you're thinking," she told him. "You think because I read about dreams, to investigate their meaning, and because my family runs a fortune-telling business that I'm a phony psychic."

"Am I that obvious?" Ichigo muttered.

"You're so transparent, it's like looking into your soul," she replied before looking at one of the houses. "This one's my place."

Ichigo stopped. "See you at school tomorrow," he said, giving her a slight wave, preparing to head on to his route home.

"Kurosaki-san."

He turned to look at her. Minako held out a hand, the expression in her eyes mysterious, blank. It made him nervous. "Minako…?"

"Just give me your hand," she whispered. Ichigo frowned, but complied, reaching for her hand. Their fingertips merely grazed each other before something burned at the contact. The sensation was intense and Minako jerked her hand back, her eyes wide as though she just realized something. "It's you…" she whispered before suddenly running inside her house, pushing the door open and closing it with a loud slam. Ichigo jolted at the sound before he lowered his eyes to his own hand, to the fingers that made contact with Minako's as her words rang around in his skull.

"It's you…" What exactly did she mean?

Minako slid onto the floor once she shut her door, her heart beating so loud she thought it would burst.

The energy belonging to him…she didn't realize she'd find it bonded with Kurosaki Ichigo's energy. All she wanted was to sense Ichigo's energy, to see if he was kind as he had been to her, only to be shocked at what she found.

Kurosaki was kind, all right, but there was the demon's own energy interlocked with his. Trying to calm the erratic beating of her heart, Minako released a breath. "So that's why he was so familiar," she whispered.

"Minako-chan, is that you?" Minako's mother called from the living room. Minako pushed herself up. "Yes, mama, it's me," she called back, removing her shoes. "I've got a lot of homework, so I can't help in the store tonight," she added, before running up the stairs. I have a feeling I'll be seeing the devil again…

She didn't care whether he killed her in her dreams; she was going to get answers out of the devil in her dreams.