Chapter 1

His bright orange hair was not like anyone else's. It made him stick out from the crowd, and he had quickly learned from experience that this was not a good thing to do. Everywhere he went in the Rukongai, people tended to ignore him. And those who didn't, more often than not stared at him.

There were of course, those who didn't opt for either. More often than not, this small group of people chose to heckle him directly, or refer to him as a thing.

"I've heard a lot about you…" some would say.

"That's not your real hair color…stop trying to be different!" others had said. Majority of the time, the people who did this were young brats within his age range, who didn't know a thing about him except from what they heard from someone else.

"My dad said he killed a Shinigami, and Sereitei marked him with that stupid hair so others could recognize him right away!" some fat and husky kid bragged rather loudly. The "dad" he mentioned probably wasn't even his real one from life, anyways. It was rare for people to find their actual flesh and blood family from when they were alive, despite the Shinigami's promising to reunite them once they crossed over.

Families were usually formed by people from all eras, forming bonds for those who had lost all hope of finding their kin. They would be able to share their experiences and stories, and perhaps pass down traditions from what they had in life. Unfortunately though, preconceived notions tended to be passed down as well.

"Hey fatty, why don't you bad mouth me in my face instead of hiding with your cronies!" the orange haired boy yelled out. He scowled toward the four other boys, who armed themselves with objects like wooden sticks and rocks.

"Screw you! Why don't you come over here!?" the fat boy called back. "You definitely won't cause you're scared, and-" bored, the orange haired boy had already began to walk away from the group of boys, who now stood around, dumbfounded. "Uh…yeah…you better run away!"

Still, over the course of time he had spent in Rukongai, Ichigo learned that no matter how many people of that type there was—who either ignored him, stared at him, or heckled him—there would always be a minority few who had the ability to look past those kinds of notions and would form a family with him. There were three in particular who for reasons beyond him didn't mind him, maybe because he had helped them against those brats from before. He walked a few houses down from where he encountered the boys, and walked up to the third house immediate on his left.

Although it was smaller than most of the houses on this street, and perhaps a little flimsier, he was proud and relieved to have a place to call home. "Ichigo-ni-san! Welcome home!" a cheery dirty blonde girl greeted him as he pushed open the door. "Just sit down; dinner's going to be ready soon…" Already at the table, a raven haired girl nodded to him.

"Hey Ichi-ni, you give those dumbasses what they deserved today?"

"Nah, they weren't worth my time…" the orange haired boy sighed, and readily jumped to sit at a chair.

Yuzu and Karin.

A while back, Ichigo had saved them from the concerted efforts of those troublesome boys who didn't know how to treat girls properly. And so, not minding the excuse to crack a few skulls, he more than happily jumped into the middle of the fray and did just that.

The many other residents of Rukongai however didn't of it as a rescue at all, and had complained about him and his "reckless behavior" and "impudent personality". Still, the two girls were grateful, and happily invited him back home with them.

"Here you go." The blonde Yuzu placed a bowl of porridge on the table in front of him. "It's a new recipe I'm trying…tell me if you like it…" she told him and sat at the table next to her 'sister'.

Ichigo stared hungrily at the bowl, and immediately—and loudly—began to feast on what his younger 'sister' provided him with. Just as he was about to finish however, the small voice at the back of his head finally managed to say a word. "Aren't you guys going to have some, too?" Ichigo said with his mouth still full of food.

"You're the only one that gets hungry around here, remember?" Karin scoffed, "...and even if we did, I think I'd lose my appetite after watching you eat…" She smirked over her snarky remark. Karin had been saving that one for a while.

Scowling, Ichigo decided to clear his mouth before speaking. "Yeah…that was really funny…right Yuzu?" Glancing to the blonde girl, he noticed her face turning a slight shade of blue, and her cheeks puffed up. She let out a snort, until finally giving into full blown laughter. "…oh…" Ichigo scowled even more. "…thanks a lot, Yuzu…"

"Hello my beautiful daughters, Daddy's home!!" the door slammed open loudly, and with such force that the flimsy wood of the house literally shook. Parading around like a madman, the tall raven haired, bearded chinned man smiled ridiculously at Yuzu and Karin, almost like at some points drunkenly. "Hmmm, what smells so good!? Yuzu, you know I don't…" he moved to hug her, but paused and glanced over to the orange haired boy, somehow freezing in his one leg standing position. "…what are you doing here…?"

"What do you mean, 'what am I doing here'?" Ichigo repeated incredulously, "you adopted me, remember, you drunken bastard…?" he scowled.

"Yes well…If you must know, I'm drunk not from alcohol, but off my daughters' extremely pretty f-" Kicked in the face, he did not fly backwards, but instead was only held back by the smaller raven haired girl's outstretched leg. "Come, Karin, let me tickle your tummy with my beard!" his voice, though now muffled, cooed stupidly.

"I really wonder how you tricked us into joining your family sometimes, Goat Man…right Yuzu?" She glanced back to her sister. Watching from next to the orange haired boy, the blonde snorted loudly, until finally giving into full blown laughter. "…thanks a lot, Yuzu…"

--

As night had finally fallen over Rukongai, and the crazy antics of the old man and his daughters finally died down, things had gotten calmer. Most people would take this opportunity to sleep, but sneaking out through the single door, Ichigo took this opportunity for an entirely different reason.

One benefit had to be the lack of people walking around. And with no people around to see him travel through the streets, Ichigo wouldn't have to worry about the people who stared at him, or hecklers. At least those who ignored him kept to their own business. The second would have to be the serene peacefulness of night, itself. Unlike the hustle and bustle of the streets during the day, at night, Ichigo was able to think without all of the noise.

As he hopped over a wooden fence, the third reason was standing beyond him. Nearby a lake, the darkly clothed man turned as he approached, and smiled with a wide grin. "H-Hey there, ni-san!" Ichigo called out happily. Though running for nearly fifteen minutes, Ichigo had no need to pause to breathe. But perhaps if Yuzu was around, and she could cook something up really quick…

"…hungry, I see." The man chuckled, "…or I mean 'hear'…" the man ruffled Ichigo's orange hair strongly, and laughed as the boy fell to the ground. He smirked and lowered a hand to pick him up. "So, have you been practicing what I taught you last time?" In his other hand was a stick, which he immediately tossed to the boy and crossed his arms.

Catching the stick, which was fashioned to look like a sword, Ichigo twirled the makeshift weapon with his fingers until grasping the handle end with both hands. "What did you think of that, Taraude-ni-san?" Ichigo smirked. Playfully twirling it again, he yelped in surprise from suddenly tripping on something. The taller man laughed again as he retracted his sheathed sword, which had been swung behind the boy's legs. "Come on!!" Ichigo called out angrily, and pitched the blunt wooden sword straight at the man's face.

"Damnit!" he yelped in pain, as a stream of red flew through the sky.

"That's for tripping me, you jerk!" Ichigo screamed out, careless of the man's pain. Despite the throbbing in his nose however, the man smirked toward the boy, while holding his nostrils closed to hold back the bleeding.

"I guess I did deserve that," he said amidst his own laughter. Plopping down to the ground, he laid back and glanced upwards to the night sky. Opposite him, the orange haired boy joined. The moon shone down, its light reflective of the sun's own along with the billions of tiny twinkling lights of the sky. Although there was a cloud or two, none of them blocked them their chance to bask in the magnificent moonlight.

"Say, Taraude-ni-san…" Ichigo was the first to speak out.

"Hmmm?"

"What's it like…you know, in Sereitei?"

"Huh…" the man thought loudly, "…what's it like…?" He made thinking sounds now, like groans and 'uhs' and 'hmms', but Ichigo was sure he was only trying to irk him. Finally losing patience, Ichigo was ready to grab the wooden sword again when the man finally answered. "…It's expansive…" he began, "…all manner of souls reside there. There are thirteen squads that make up a main force, along with the Special Forces, the Research Institute, the-"

"-how do I become one?" Ichigo interrupted. Looking upwards, the man was startled by the orange haired boy suddenly looking down on him.

"Become what? A researcher? I doubt you'd enjoy that at all, kid…"

"No! How do I become a Shinigami? Like you?"

"Well, first off you have to apply to the Shinigami Academy, but I don't think-"

"Alright!" Ichigo ignored him, "when can I apply?" Staring at the boy incredulously, Taraude rubbed his nose bridge.

'Geez…they're just too similar…' He counted using his fingers, then glanced back at Ichigo, "You're kidding, right? Enrollment starts tomorrow…and you don't even know the first thing about Kido, or Shunpo…"

"Well you taught me a bunch about sword fighting already, right?" Ichigo said confidently, "I can just learn the rest of that stuff at the Academy." Smirking, Ichigo got to his feet, and walked over to where the wooden sword had landed. Picking it up with both hands, he went into a defensive stance, pointing the wooden tip toward the Shinigami. "I know you have your own reasons for being friends with me, Taraude-ni-san…but I have my own reasons to become a Shinigami…"

"Really, and what's that?" Taraude was surprisingly intrigued, as he picked himself up from the ground.

"Can it wait? I really need to get started for enrollment tomorrow…"

The Shinigami shook his head with a smile, knowing full well the boy wouldn't back down once he made up his mind, nor ever want to ruin a surprise. He closed the distance between them stood next to the boy, unsheathing his sword into a similar posture to him. "Alright…let's get started…"


Author's note: turns out this was a wee bit tougher to write than I thought...oh well, at least I've started working on the third chapter now...all I have to do now is get back to my other stories, haha

Acknowledgments: loosely based off of the works by Tite Kubo