Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach since everything belongs to Tite Kubo and the Viz media company.
A/N: Oh! Sorry, sorry! There are a few things that I like to mention before you actually start the story. There are three pairings within this story, Byakuya and Ichigo; Senbonzakura and young Zangetsu (see Tensa Zangetsu's image), and I just added Renji and Rukia because I like them. In later chapters you'll see the zanpakuto pairing taking the spotlight off of the Byakuya and Ichigo pairing but there's a reason for this. I'll explain this once you've enjoyed the chapter. Please enjoy!
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Chapter 1: Catch That Kid!
The hot rays of the sun his face and he groaned as he tossed himself in bed. Wait? A bed? Wasn't he-
"Captain Unohana what happened to Ichigo?" he heard a voice say frantically. His brown eyes fluttered open and said boy sat up in bed.
"Calm down you two Ichigo is fine, just unconscious," the boy assumed that was suppose to be "Captain Unohana".
Where was he? Where was his-
" How long do you think he'll be passed out Captain Unohana?" a different voice asked.
"Hard to say. We'll just have to wait for a while until then we should probably have a break," Unohana suggested. After hearing them leave he slipped out of bed. Looking around he was surrounded by empty beds and then scratched his head. He started heading for the door when something back at the bedside caught his eye. Rushing over it looked like a big butcher knife maybe? It was as tall as him in height and he blinked at it. Was this his? He touched it and his eyes widened. He heard a voice in his head.
"Ichigo…" it called out to himThe boy looked around and gripped the 'knife' tightly. He held it in front of him using it as a shield when the voice laughed.
"Don't be afraid Ichigo…" it tried to sooth him."Who are you?" he questioned. The voiced sounded deep like a teen's would.
"A friend…" the voice answered."A friend?" he looked around trying to search where the voice was coming from.
"Yes, I am not here to harm you," it informed.
"Where are you?"
"I'm the sword you have in your hands," it answered.
Ichigo looked at the blade in his hands. This was a sword? Where was the guard? The hilt?
"As you can see I am unique. I was born without a hilt or a blade. I am what they call a zanpakuto," the sword replied as if reading his thoughts.
"Zanpakuto?" Ichigo repeated confused, "What's that?"
The voice chuckled and he felt the presence disappear. Wait! He didn't even catch his name!
Well if he was going to get some answers it would best to start looking around. He decided to take the sword with him just in case. The small boy assumed that if he had a sword the people around here must have carried around swords as well. Opening the door he saw a hall of doorways; peeking into them he saw more empty beds and some of them were even occupied with people.
"This must be the hospital…wait if I'm here then where's mom?" he thought frantically. Checking every doorway and room there was no sign of his mother. Where was she? All he could remember was walking home from the dojo then…then…
The young boy slowed down his step.
Blank…it was all blank…
No…wait; there was something he remembered! They were walking along the sidewalk when he saw a girl jump in the river. That's where his memory completely stopped afterwards. What happened to his mom though? Maybe she was somewhere else…
Running back to the exit he found earlier he slipped out there and his eyes widened at the sight before him. This was not Karakura town. There were big walls everywhere. Just where was he?
"Hey? Sword?" he asked the blade that was strapped behind him.
My name isn't 'sword'," the voice informed him.
"I forgot to ask your name earlier, I'm sorry," he apologized.
That's all right Ichigo. My name is Zangetsu," the sword spirit introduced.
"Zangetsu, do you know where we are?" he asked as he started to wander around the place.
"I do but I think it will only confuse you," Zangetsu replied.
"Could you say it anyway?" he asked as he turned the corner and saw a dead end. He scowled before walking off again. This place was a maze!
"This is the Soul Society a place where the departed go after dieing and right now we are currently in the capital called the Seireitei," he answered.
Ichigo stopped dead in his tracks, "Wait so I'm…"
"Technically, yes…" Zangetsu was hesitant upon saying it.
"W-What about Karin and Yuzu? What about Dad and what happened to Mom?" he started to panic. His zanpakuto felt the young boy's distress.
"Ichigo calm down, your family is fine and you're okay. I assumed that you remembered that much," he tried to soothe the young lad.
"I had to ask for you're name," Ichigo bluntly muttered as he rubbed away the tears.
"True but I had expected that it would spark your memory," the sword countered with an excuse.
"Memory?" the boy echoed. This wasn't good. Too much information and the boy would pass out in the middle of the street! He searched for a way to get answers while stride from the question.
"Ichigo what was the last thing you remembered?" he inquired the boy.
"Umm…I was walking with my mom from the dojo…then there was a girl that jumped into the river and that's where it stops," the orange head answered.
"Nothing else?" he asked just to make sure.
"Umm, nope that's all I remember," he chirped.
The zanpakuto thought inwardly, "Looks like his memory ends with him jumping into the river. I better play along for now…even if it means…"
"Zangetsu… am I really dead?" Ichigo sighed and sat down. He'd been wandering around and he was getting nowhere.
"Yes…you are Ichigo I'm sorry…" Zangetsu apologized.
"Will I never get to see my family again?" he sniffed. Ichigo tried to wipe his eyes. He couldn't cry! He had to be strong!
"You will Ichigo," the spirit answered as a way to compensate.
"Really? Will we all be together?" he asked after being assured. The sword chuckled.
"Your family may not be here but you have friends that treat you like family. You may not remember them but they remember you," Zangetsu informed.
"Friends?" Ichigo tried to remember when a voice caught his attention.
"Hey! You!" his head darted to three men who were walking up to him. "What's a little kid doing here in the Seireitei?"
"Must have snuck in," the other one suggested.
"Look he's wearing a shihakusho," one pointed out.
Ichigo blinked, "Are they my friends?"
"I don't think they are…" Zangetsu replied with worry.
They must have been new; they didn't seem to recognize the orange hair or the notice the sword on his back. He was about to warn Ichigo when one of them picked him up by the back of his collar.
"Hey! Put me down!" Ichigo flailed as he tried to loosen from the grip.
"Look that kid has some sort of weapon," one of the men took Zangetsu from him and he flailed even more.
"Put it down!" he shouted. The men snickered and passed the sword to each other while teasing him.
"Terrorism is a crime kid, how you managed to get here we don't know but there's going to be punishment," the one holding him chuckled darkly. Ichigo gulped as Zangetsu's blade touched his cheek. "Consider this a warning kid!"
He felt something scrape his cheek and he opened his eyes again. No blood.
"What the hell? Must be blunt," the man muttered as he passed the sword to his comrade. Zangetsu scoffed, the man was stupid enough to think of using him to hurt Ichigo. When the man slid back his sleeve he saw this as an opportunity for a little payback.
They watched and smirked as he was going to mock the kid afterward with how dull the sword was. The man lifted the blade and brought it down to only produce a small fake cut. Once the blade touched the skin blood splattered and the cut was deeper and wider than he intended. It barely even touched his skin!
"Ah! What the hell is this?" the man shouted as he dropped the demonic sword to the ground. The two other men rushed to him and the one holding Ichigo dropped him. Seeing this as a chance to escape Ichigo quickly picked up Zangetsu but a foot stepped on his sword.
"Where do you think you're going?"
With all his force he lifted up Zangetsu with ease and the man flew back and smacked his head on the ground.
"Why you little!" one of the men dived for him. Ichigo jumped up and his foot landed on his face. He bounced off of the man's face and started running away.
"Stop that kid!" they shouted after him.
"What was that Zangetsu?" the young boy panted as he ran for his life.
"Payback!" the sword answered, "They tried to use me to hurt you and they got what they deserved. Now turn to the left twice and don't make a sound!
Ichigo nodded and did what he was told. Rushing around the corner twice he quickly covered his mouth and listened as the men rushed by.
"You see him?"
"He can't have gotten that far!"
"That kid is dead!"
After hearing their footsteps vanish the young boy sighed in relief. Great now he was in trouble. How were these people his friends?
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"Man that was a good lunch break!" Renji yawned as he stretched.
Rukia nodded, "Captain Unohana you're a wonderful cook."
"Oh, thank you Miss Kuchiki how about we check on Ichigo now?" she offered. They agreed and were led to the door. Only they found no one there!
"Ichigo!" Rukia yelled as she and Renji ran into the room. He was nowhere to be seen!
"Zangetsu is missing as well. He must have taken him with him," Renji muttered.
"Renji what if someone tries to hurt him?" Rukia panicked.
"Don't worry Rukia no one's going to hurt him," he patted her head at her silliness.
"Renji we have new recruits today! Some of them may not be able to recognize Ichigo!" she yelled.
"Crap," he paled, "you're right…plus I don't think anyone would recognize him as a kid."
Captain Unohana sighed, "We shouldn't panic. Ichigo should be all right as long as…"
"As long as what?" the pair repeated after her.
"He doesn't have memory loss," she tapped her cheek.
"We gotta go after him!" they both ran out of the barracks. Unohana sighed as she watched the pair dashing away to find the teen- young boy. She might as well join them later but right now she had patients to attend to.
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"Wha? A little kid did this?" the lieutenant of squad eight gawked as she pushed up her glasses.
"That's right Lieutenant he was running around with a sword too!" the man with a bruise on his head confirmed what they said.
"Well don't just stand there! Go catch him! This boy need to be taken into questioning!" she ordered.
"Yes ma'am!" they saluted and went off to catch the said child.
"How could a kid enter the Soul Society without anyone noticing?" she thought, may as well go warn the rest of her squad.
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"Zangetsu it's hot I think I'm gonna stop walking for a bit," Ichigo thought directly to his zanpakuto. During the past few minutes he learned he could talk through his zanpakuto through his head. That's pretty convenient when you're throat is dry.
"Good idea. Try to regain some energy and we'll go search for your friends," Zangetsu agreed. Ichigo sat himself down in a small corner with some shade and sighed.
"Zangetsu, why did those bullies attack me?" he mumbled out loud, "I thought you said I had friends here."
"You do, they must be new so they couldn't have recognized you," Zangetsu answered.
Ichigo yawned as he closed his eyes, "So who are my friends?"
"Well there's Rukia Kuchiki, Renji Abarai, Junshiro Ukitake is more of a person you look up to but still a friend. There's Shunsui Kyoraku, Ikkaku Madarame along with-," he stopped and smiled as the boy dozed off. He heard voices and quickly alerted the boy. Brown eyes flickered open and looked around as he heard one of the voices from earlier.
"Do whatever to catch this kid! Don't let him escape! We must bring him to the Captains for questioning!"
"Yes sir!"
"Captains? As in pirates?" Ichigo wondered innocently as he daydreamed about pirates giving orders to the people here.
Zangetsu chuckled at his master. He had such an innocent heart when he was young. "No Ichigo a captain here is a person who's ranking is higher than the rest and commands his squad."
"Still sounds like a pirate to me," the boy bluntly stated.
Zangetsu muffled his laughter. Well now that Ichigo was younger things would get interesting. "There are thirteen squads together they make up the Gotei 13. They have ranks in each squad such as seated officers, lieutenants, and the highest ranking within the squad is a captain," the zanpakuto explained, "Captains have to wear a haori which look like a white robe with short sleeves and a number on the back. Do you follow?"
"Yeah, but pirates are cooler," Ichigo stated.
Zangetsu laughed and lowered it to a minor chuckle, "Well they are not pirates they are called soul reapers. They help and protect souls here in the Soul Society and the World of the Living."
"Well they aren't helping me much," he pouted.
"Must be because I injured one of them…" Zangetsu replied.
"Don't worry Zangetsu. We'll find one of my friends," he patted the sword and started running off.
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"Hey guys!"
"Rangiku you haven't seen a boy about this high and running around with a sword have you?" Rukia asked the tenth squad's lieutenant. Both Rukia and Renji decided to spare the details to Rangiku later since no one would believe them if they said Ichigo turned into a young boy.
"Oh! I've heard of him! He managed to beat up three soul reapers in one blow!" Rangiku stated in amazement.
"That sounds like Ichigo," Renji muttered to his childhood friend.
"Why would Ichigo attack them though?" she whispered back.
"Maybe it's like Unohana said he may have lost his memories and don't know who we are," Renji answered.
"Hey~ what are you guys talking about I wanna know!" Rangiku whined.
"Rangiku tell everyone that if they find him they can't threaten him or hurt him, he's harmless. We've got to run, we'll see you later!" they waved off.
Hm, a kid with a ton of power and managed to outsmart three soul reapers then runs away. That kind of power reminded her of-
"Rangiku what are you doing slacking around!" she whipped her head and smiled as she saw her captain.
"Hey captain! Have you heard? There's a kid running around in the Seireitei that managed to outsmart three soul reapers and leave without a scratch," Rangiku informed him.
Her captain found interest in the new. "A kid here? What would a little kid be doing in the Seireitei? How did he manage to get in?" the snowy haired captain pondered as he tried to come up with an answer.
"I dunno but Rukia and Renji told me to go look for this kid. See you later captain!" she waved and left with a flash step.
"Rangiku! You're still not free from your duties!" he yelled after her. Still this sounded serious; a young boy that could defeat three soul reapers single handily. This he had to see.
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Word gets around quick in the Sou Society. Soon the word spread of the boy running around Seireitei causing destruction and chaos (more like it was them causing chaos but blamed it on poor little Ichi). Some say that he was sent by a group of enemies to take over the Soul Society, others say that he was actually a boy in disguise and was really some evil mastermind, while others claimed it had escaped from the twelfth division and wanted revenge for all the experiments done to it. All this lead to one thing, capture him alive or kill him if necessary. Hearing this news made Rukia want to faint.
"Rukia don't worry we'll find him," Renji tried to assure the young girl.
"What if someone attacks him? He might get hurt! He's just a kid!" she panicked.
Renji chuckled, "Come Rukia this is Ichigo we're talking about he'll turn up eventually. Plus he had Zangetsu with him if he ever need it."
"Well we should get looking," Rukia sighed as she stood back up again.
"Oi! Renji!" they looked towards the voice to see Ikkaku and Yumichika walked up towards them.
"Hey guys!" Renji waved back.
"Heard some rumors flying around about some kid. This true?" Ikkaku asked.
"Hmph," the man beside him flipped his hair, "Treating a kid with such brutality how ugly."
"Renji, do you think we should tell them?" Rukia whispered. The red head nodded and then faced his two friends.
"Guys…truth is…the little guy is Ichigo," Renji answered.
"Well that explains a lot!" Ikkaku laughed.
"You believe us?" Rukia said.
"Of course, lot of crazy things happen in the Soul Society why would we believe it?" Yumichika answered.
"Like the time Renji turned into-," Ikkaku recalled but was interrupted.
"I thought everyone all ready forgot about that!" Renji's face flushed as he yelled.
"We'll keep an eye out for him," Ikkaku offered.
"Thanks to the both of you," Rukia bowed.
"No problem I wouldn't have anyone to spar with afterwards if anything happened Ichigo," he said then they walked off.
"See Rukia? Things are better all ready," Renji patted her back.
"Let's just hope we find him in time," Rukia muttered.
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A/N: All right so here is my further explanation if you are still with me. Reason why I would tend to lean more to the zanpakuto pairing is because they are capable of having a romantic relationship. I can't exactly have a nine-year-old version of Ichigo having a romantic relationship with Byakuya! Who thinks I am that insane (rhetorical question)? So for the fans that want a romantic Byakuya and Ichigo relationship I suggest reading on and when you stumble upon Ichigo in his regular age again that's where things are going to build. For now there are going to be fluffy moments between those two, which is sort of like a guardian and child relationship, and those who are looking for romance might sway a little to the fluff side…just a warning there. Anyway, this is ShadowWolf XIII logging off!