Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or its amazing characters. I only own Ayumi, Hisashi and Hiryū.
A special thanks to all those for favoriting, following and reviewing my story. It means a lot to me. And I thank all my silent readers and hope you will enjoy this story.
And yes, this is a Ichigo/OC story. If you don't like it, then why are you reading it.
-bows-
A small groan escaped her lips as she slowly came to, her vision slightly blurred, her eyebrows pushed together as she found herself sprawled on her bedroom floor. Pushing herself from the floor, she blinked at her surroundings.
Something didn't feel right. Shaking her head, she blinked before standing up, stumbling a little before composing herself.
A small groan escaped her lips as her head throbbed before running a hand threw her hair. She pinched the brink of her nose as last night's dream returned to her memories. "Was it a dream or was it real?" She questioned herself as she slowly glanced around the room, nothing out of place.
Shrugging her shoulders, she rubbed the back of her head before sauntering towards her wardrobe. Staring at her school uniform, she quickly stripped from her pajamas and got dressed in her uniform, tugging slightly at the grey skirt and huffed.
Grabbing her bag from the floor, she was met with an eery silence and frowned. "Hisashi must still be at work."She muttered to herself as she grabbed an apple from the kitchen counter before heading out the front door, closing it behind her.
"I wonder if Ichigo is alright?" She inquired curiously as she rounded the corner, her eyebrows furrowing as she spotted the whole Kurosaki family standing outside their house.
And she soon found the reason. They were all huddled together, gaping at a large hole that obscured their house. "What happened?" She asked wide-eyed, not missing the look Ichigo had on his face.
Ichigo's father, Isshin Kurosaki placed a hand on her shoulder as Yuzu and Karin stood aside. "Its a miracle! A truck plows right into our house and none of us get so much as a single scratch." Isshin exclaimed and Karin glanced up at her father.
"What's even more miraculous that none of us even woke up when it happened?" Ayumi glanced at Ichigo and frowned.
'I don't get it. Their wounds are completely gone. They think that a truck did all this? Could this have been the work of that Soul Reaper?' Ichigo wondered as he stared at the hole in their house, Yuzu and Karin passing by him.
Yuzu turned towards him. "Ichigo, you better hurry up and eat breakfast or you are going to be late." He blinked as he continued staring at it.
"Yeah." Flashes of the Soul Reaper, Rukia Kuchiki flashed threw his mind as his eyes widened. 'I wonder if she went back to that place she was talking about. The Soul Society.' His head snapped to the side as a hand was placed on his shoulder.
"Ichigo? Are you alright?" Ayumi!
He turned around and stared at her, his eyes taking in her form and sighed in relief, she didn't know. "Yeah, I'm fine. Come on." She could see that he wasn't fine, but didn't push the subject and followed him in the house.
She glanced around the house, a unwanted feeling forming in the pit of her stomach. The air was filled with negative energy. "Come on. Let's go." She nodded her head as she waved at Yuzu and Karin before following Ichigo out the house. She jogged beside him, before keeping up with his pace.
There was unusual silence between them, a certain tension that she didn't like. It seemed as though Ichigo was having a inner battle with his thoughts. "Ichigo?" He blinked slightly as he glanced down at her. "You know you can tell me anything right?" Ichigo stared at her, and sighed debating whether he should tell her or not? Could he risk her getting involved and end up regretting it?
He shook his head and shrugged. "I know." Seeing his expression, she knew that she wouldn't get anything out of him and sighed leaving it at that. She glanced at her watch and groaned.
"It's lunch already."She stated as they entered the Karakura High. Ichigo nodded his head and glanced at Ayumi, seeing that worried expression still plastered across her face.
Rounding the corner, the silver haired girl watched on with amusement as Ichigo stumbled into Orihime and Tatsuki, sending the girl tumbling to the floor. "Oh, it's you. Hey, Orihime." Ayumi glared at Ichigo and lightly punched his shoulder.
"That wasn't nice of you Kurosaki." Ayumi stated as Orihime's head snapped towards Ichigo.
"Oh I'm sorry." Orihime stumbled around her words as Tatsuki glared up at him, her fists balled as she raised it at him.
"Ichigo! You knock her down and that's all you gotta say! What the hell is the matter with you?" Ichigo seemed unfazed by Tatsuki's as he apologized and looked at Orihime.
"Sorry about that? Are you gonna be alright?"He questioned and she nodded her head. Ichigo leaned down as he offered her his hand.
"Here." She glanced up with a confused 'huh' and saw Ichigo's hand before quickly jumping to her feet backing away.
"Oh no! That's alright, really," she waved her hands slightly and stumbled on her words. "I have volleyball. Yeah that's right. Volleyball."Ayumi raised a eyebrow as Orihime turned around before heading in the opposite direction.
Ichigo watched her with furrowed brows. "What's wrong with her?"Ichigo questioned as Tatsuki closed her eyes.
"What could it be?" She questioned in a sweet voice. "Maybe it was your ugly mug?" She opened her eyes and glanced at them. "By the way, why are you two so late? I mean it's lunch already?"She inquired.
Ichigo shrugged. "Yeah don't worry about it. I'll tell you later." Ayumi shrugged as Tatsuki glanced at her before following Ichigo into class.
Placing her bag on the desk, they were instantly surrounded by the familiar faces of their friends. "Hey, Ichigo. I heard a truck crashed into your place last night, dude." Ichigo glanced at Ayumi briefly and shoved his hands in his pockets.
"Pretty much." He replied.
"So did you clean it all up, yet?" Mizuiro questioned as Ichigo in return glanced at his black haired friend.
"What are you kidding? It's going to take forever."He said dully.
"You need any help?" Ayumi smiled as Ichigo glanced up at the tall mexican, his eyes slightly widening as he shook his head.
"Nah, that's alright." Ichigo exclaimed as Keigo glanced up at their friend.
"Yeah, Chad-"a figure walking towards them caught her attention and the silver haired girl glanced up and her eyes widened as she spotted a raven haired girl heading their way.
'It's that girl from before! The same one that killed that hollow.' She thought as she observed the girl. What was she doing here?
"Hey your Ichigo right?" said girl raised a eyebrow. How did this girl know her name?
Ichigo turned his head towards the voice, his eyes widening as he looked at the familiar face of that Soul Reaper, Rukia Kuchiki. "I would be sitting next to you from now on. My name is Rukia." Rukia? Why did that name sound so familiar.
She raised a eyebrow as Ichigo literally jumped out his seat and pointed a finger at her. "It-it's you!" Ayumi glanced between the two, a horrified expression on his face as he stared at Rukia in disbelief.
"Ichigo, what's wrong with you?" Keigo questioned as Chad simply asked, "Do you three know each other?"
Rukia shook her head as she glanced from Ichigo to Ayumi, a flicker of familiarity flashing threw them and smiled. "Course not. We've never met before, isn't that right, Ichigo?"
Mizuiro leaned towards them. "Rukia's a brand new transfer student..." Keigo being Keigo replied with a, "Nice to meet cha'."
Rukia extended her hand towards them. "It's a pleasure," glancing down at her palm, Ayumi sweat-dropped as she stared at the scribbling and gulped.
Rukia seemed to love their expressions as she grinned at them. "Yeah, pleasure." Ayumi laughed as she shook Rukia's hand, smiling slightly.
Ichigo seemed to snap out of it and much to Ayumi's surprise, she found herself being dragged out the classroom, Rukia following silently behind. "Ichigo-" she whined under her breath as he continued to drag her down the stairs and towards the back end of the High School, away from prying ears she guessed.
Stopping, he dropped her hand, not noticing the small flush on his friend's face and turned towards Rukia. "Alright you freaky little nutjob! What the hell do you think you're doing?!"
Rukia smiled lightly. "How scary, you big brute. Jeepers, your not going to hurt me are you?" Rukia exclaimed in a sickly sweet voice making her cringe. That was a tone she decided did not fit the raven haired girl.
Ichigo seemed just as unconvinced as he pointed a finger at her. "First of all, you can knock it off with that goodie two shoe's act, okay." Ayumi crossed her arms as she stood aside, watching the two closely.
"Well I think its pretty good, considering I learned it over night." Rukia replied as Ichigo threw his head back, placing his hands on his hips.
"Alright forget it. So tell me just what your doing here now anyway. Weren't you suppose to go back to your Soul Society or whatever it was?" Even though she didn't know what was going, she certainly didn't like the idea of Ichigo talking that way to Rukia.
"Ichigo", that seemed to draw Rukia's attention as the raven haired girl glanced at Ayumi. "That's not very nice."
Rukia raised a eyebrow as she stared at the girl. Something about her seemed so familiar but the Soul Reaper couldn't place her finger on it. She remembered seeing this girl with Ichigo on the street the other day, but did that mean that this girl could possibly be like Ichigo? Could she also see spirits? "And you are?" Rukia tried to sound polite, but the question came out with suspition.
Ayumi simply smiled. "Ayumi Tsuzuki." She replied as Rukia hummed under her breath, nodding. She glanced between them. "I don't honestly know what's going on, but can I please know what the hell are you two talking about?"
'So much for keeping this from her,' Ichigo thought to himself as Rukia explained everything she told Ichigo and what happened last night, all the while trying to avoid the flickering stares Ayumi sent his way and he half expected her to freak out like he did but to his utter surprise, she sighed.
"Well I'm glad everyone is safe, and thank you Rukia for what you did. That was really brave." The raven haired girl simply blinked. "But why aren't you back to the Soul Society?" She questioned curiously and Rukia sighed sadly.
"I can't. Only Soul Reapers can go back to the Soul Society. I haven't to return anymore." Ichigo's eyebrows pushed together as he looked at Rukia.
"What do you mean?"
"Last night I lost almost all of my powers as a Soul Reaper. I'm afraid they have been all absorbed into you, Ichigo."
"Huh? I wouldn't know anything about that." Ayumi narrowed her eyes as she slapped Ichigo's shoulder, glaring dangerously at him.
Rukia narrowed her eyes. "And thanks to you for this time being, I'm stuck in this riduculous Gigai form." Ichigo raised a eyebrow. "What do you mean by Gigai?"
Rukia pointed at herself. "Its a temporary body that serves as a vessle in an emergency. If a Soul Reaper is drastically weakened, they reside inside of a Gigai until their powers come back." Ichigo nodded his head. "Oh now I get it. That's why everyone could see you."
Rukia nodded her head. "Precisely. And so...", Rukia extended her palm towards Ichigo and smiled. "Until all of my powers come back, it is up to you, Ichigo to perform the duties of a Soul Reaper." Ichigo made a small 'huh' sound under his breath as his eyebrows pushed together, his eyes widening comically as question marks popped around his head. "It's only natural that you now possess the strength of a Soul Reaper. You do not have the right to refuse your ca-"
Throwing his hands in an 'X' form, Ichigo stared at her in disbelief. "No way!"
Rukia stopped and stared at him in disbelief. "What?" Ichigo simply shook his head. "My monster fighting days are over. That was a one time deal."
Rukia shook her head. "Don't be riduculous, Ichigo. You did just fine yesterday." His demeanor quickly changed as he dropped his hands beside him. "That's because my family was in danger. But it's not like I'm ready to go and fight for complete strangers or anything. Sorry to dissapoint you." He turned around, glancing at Ayumi. "Come on Ayumi."
Sending a apologetic look at Rukia, she followed behind Ichigo. "That wasn't very nice, Ichigo." She told him as she heard Rukia mumble something behind them.
"-I guess there's no other choice then." Turning around, Ayumi's eyes widened as she Rukia running towards Ichigo. "Hey!" Ichigo turned around, his eyes widening as he spotted Rukia sprinting towards him and before he could react, her hand shot out and connected with his chin, and much to Ayumi's surprise, the glove arround Rukia's hand seemed to seperate Ichigo's soul from his body.
She now stared at her friend wide-eyed as he stood there, clad in a standard Shihakushō uniform, a rather large sword swung over his back, staring horrified at his body laying on the floor. "Ha, crap! What happened to my body?" Ichigo glanced at himself. "What in the world did you do to me?!" Rukia simply turned around.
"Follow me." The raven haired girl glanced at Ayumi, her previous observation being affirmed when she saw the silver haired girl gaping at Ichigo. So she could see them.
Ichigo simply followed silently behind Rukia and turned towards Ayumi. "Uh, sorry about that. Would you look after my uh," he glanced at his body sprawled on the ground. "Body." She nodded her head and threw him a thumbs up.
"Go get em'."
Sighing under her breath, she simply sat down beside her friend's body and stared ahead. She chuckled lighlty. How could someone's life change so drastically over one night? It seems everything that she grew up to believe wasn't real anymore. There was a whole other world out there that she didn't know about.
But yet she was confused, even though this all felt unreal to her, everything that Rukia had explained to her felt so familiar.
Her thoughts drifted towards the dream she had experienced last night. "Hiryū." She murmured, remembering the name. A warm feeling snuggled her heart as she smiled. "Hiryū." The name felt so familiar, it rolled of her tongue like it was meant to be.
The name fit the Dragon well from her dreams. But somehow, something told her that it wasn't a dream, and that her once normal life would never be normal again.