A/N: My second Bleach fanfic! Yay! This was inspired by a certain Bleach Manga Chapter (hint: it has a 7 on its number) and I just decided to write this.

I'm making this story as canon as I can, and I know one way or another, I'll slip up and cause a contradiction on the main storyline. So, please point those out to me so I'll stand, corrected by none other than you. :D

This will only be a few chapters, and will mainly focus on Isshin. Enjoy! Reviews are highly appreciated. Constructive criticisms are very much welcome, and I don't really like flames.

Disclaimer: I want to own Bleach, but I can't, really. I wish I could.

Kurosaki Origins

by

Levan

Chapter 1:

----------------------------------------------Something Amiss----------------------------------------------

Blood poured.

A hollow, in its dying form, reached out to its killer. A crescent-shaped Zanpakuto was what it could discern over its fading vision – almost as if, figuratively, had the form of a moon, and the edge was stained by its own blood. Its next meal was nothing more than the pivotal factor for its demise.

Isshin had been appointed to Karakura Town that day. And surprisingly, he was also one of the few people who actually adored going to the real world – the place was nothing more than a pigsty for most. The living world was a haven for the hollows, but not for Shinigami. Else, it's that factor which most Shinigami despise upon.

But no, not for Isshin. He was more than happy to be here after so long – being a captain, it's not common to be appointed to the living world. But with the strange upheaval of the reiatsu in the area had attracted the most vicious of Hollows, and appointing just any Shinigami besides Vice-Captains or Captains would just be plain suicide. So with a little constrained effort, he managed to convince his grandfather to station him into Karakura town.

The Hollow he had encountered here was mere child's play. It does, however, prove to be quite stronger than most other Hollows he had encountered before, but like the rest of them, they were the cannon fodder of Hueco Mundo – just simple pawns under the order of higher classes of Hollows.

Isshin dug into his sleeve and pulled out a rag. With the small cloth, he wiped the blood off of his Zanpakuto with a single stroke and returned it into its holster once it reverted back into its original form.

"Thank you."

He had forgotten completely that he had saved someone from that Hollow, being too distracted by the anticipation of another kill. He turned around and faced the direction of the voice.

Like what he previously observed, the victim was a woman. She had long, curly orange hair tied that extended down her back. Her eyes glazed with a fiery shade, possibly due to the adrenaline that was brought up when she was chased by that Hollow. Those two eyes retained its oddly sparkling, dark brown eyes, and her face was of the purest of features – people say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but Isshin was guaranteed that no one would ever think of her as an unattractive woman.

He knew of course, she was a soul of a formerly living human being, and he had to perform Konso on her immediately before she attracted any more Hollow. Yet, he noticed her chest, and the Chain of Fate was nowhere to be found.

What the hell...?

"Thanks a lot for helping me. I... I thought me and my brother were the only ones who can see these things!"

He rubbed his chin and thought about the situation, ignoring her completely.

She's dead, isn't she? But if she were, the Chain of Fate, broken or not, would still be attached to her chest, but... What the hell is going on here?

"Umm... Mister...?"

Oh what the heck. I'll just perform Konso on her anyway.

"Are you a –"

Her phrase was cut short when Isshin unsheathed his sword.

"W-what are you going to do with that...?"

"Don't worry. It'll be painless, I promise."

Taking a deep breath, Isshin raised his Zanpakuto and aimed directly at her forehead.

Here goes nothing...

He pummelled the hilt of his sword onto her forehead as forceful as he can, thinking that it would help if she was somehow resistant to a Konso, and closed his eyes. This was followed by a heavy thud and the noise of someone plummeting down on the ground.

He opened his eyes.

Oh shit.

Isshin kneeled down and tried to wake the unconscious woman. Her forehead was bleeding, and more or less, the guilt inside of him had already started flowing.

"Lady, you alright?"

No response.

"Goddamit! What the hell did I just do?!"

He looked around – fortunately no one was present. Not that he worried about being seen by anyone, practically because he was invisible to everyone around him, but it was probably best to look first before carrying her, else she'll look like she's floating in the air.

With his shunpo, he glided down the town blocks in a fairly low amount of time, and sought after shelter. Looks like he had to put his healing prowess to the test – if he would be lucky enough not to worsen it, at the least.

-

The sky grew dim and after a while's worth of waiting, the sun finally settled down and the moon became dominant over the evening sky – Isshin stared at the wonder of the sight and praised the cosmic heavens for such a beauty to his eyes. The trail of the streams of sunlight had faded dead away and the stars hovered once again. Unlike the Soul Society, perhaps one of the most intriguing features of the living world was the city lights that dawned over the horizon – at the height of the building he was in, he could see a mile away from his position, hundreds of different illuminations scattered about across the suburbia, as well as the streets and mall centers. He liked the sight as opposed to the dull and unappealing torch lights of Seireitei.

But still, no matter how relaxing the night was, he was still stricken with an unfortunate dilemma that practically had his job as a Shinigami near to its demise. Attacking a living human being was against the law, and no matter how obviously easy it is to follow this rule, he had broken it. Well, so much for the chance of taking a sweet vacation in the living world – it just twisted into a nightmare with a simple, yet very dumb mistake.

Over the course of her recovery, he had gazed at her, and wondered. Besides her untarnished beauty, she possessed an incredible amount of reiatsu unlike ordinary humans. It was probably due to her reiatsu that she had inadvertently attracted that Hollow a while ago, and could also be the probable reason on why how the hell she could see him. There was something about her that he wanted to find out, but she had to recover first. Questions could probably come later.

During that glance, she motioned in her improvised bed. She was waking up already, and Isshin was pretty much surprised that she could sit up after a hit in the head like that – he knew he had at least an ample amount of healing power, but it wasn't that great.

"W-where am I...?"

"You're in an abandoned building a few blocks away from where we were."

She touched her forehead and felt the cloth that was wrapped on her head to close her wound.

"I'm very sorry about that. I thought you were a soul, and I had to perform Konso."

"Umm... It's okay." She stretched her arms widely and returned her gaze to him.

" What's a Konso, anyway?"

"It's something we Shinigami do to send living souls to the Soul Society."

As far as he knows, someone like her would eventually lead to another question, but astonishingly, she didn't. She stared down, and the darkness eluded him from observing her face. He had an odd feeling about it – there was something she wasn't telling, and one thing's for sure, something he said had an impact on her.

"I... I need to leave. I need to leave, right now."

"You have to stay here for the night; you can't walk easily with that condition. Besides, it's late already."

"I'm sorry but... Please, Mr. Shinigami. You have to let me leave, right now."

The uneasiness he perceived in her brown eyes was more than enough to tell him that there really was something she was hiding from him.

"What's the big hurry then?"

"It's my brother. He's –"

She was then again interrupted, when a shimmering arrow of a fluorescent blue shade pierced Isshin's shoulder.