A/N - Disclaimer- Bleach belongs to the genius that is Kubo-sensei!

Zombie Powder also belongs to Kubo-sensei.

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CHAPTER 2: The Discovery

As Ichigo returned from his internship training at Karakura Hospital he was trying to relax and began to ponder that following in his Father's footsteps was going to be a lot of work. Even though he was not oblivious to the fact that becoming a doctor would require a lot of work and sacrifice, sometimes he wondered if it was all worth at the end. As he took a shower to unwind of a day full of lectures, blood and body parts, his mind wandered off to his favorite manga "Zombie Powder" by the ever ingenious creator Kubo Tite. He truly enjoyed his work and the main star of the manga whom had a very secret dark past...Ichigo scoffed "hmmm so obvious" and the main hero was really heroic and a bit full of himself, and even through that tough exterior, he managed to posses a kind heart towards individuals whom life had been unfair to, just like himself. He pondered about how cool it would be to be just like him, but that reality only existed in fantasy and in the creative recess of his mind.

He figured that being a doctor was the closes thing to being able to save people from dangerous situations. I mean, it does not get any more serious than life and death situations, right? As he entered his bedroom he wanted to ask Rukia if she had made up her mind about going with him to the Children Pediatric ward in Karakura to share one of her new children books and consider assisting the new director in having a monthly training session with the interns in Artistic Therapy. Rukia was very talented in the arts; from writing, acting and dancing and according to some "weird" people (according to Ichigo) drawing/painting. She loved children as much as she loved her favorite character in the whole universe: Chappy the rabbit.

Ichigo always laughed silently whenever he thought of how obsessed Rukia was with Chappy. And you better make sure not to call it a bunny or all hell would break lose. Whenever Ichigo thought about it , he swore his shins would tremble in fear of Rukia's painful kicks.

Once he drifted back to reality, he noticed that his room was kind of quiet. He also noticed that his favorite stuffed Lion, whom Ichigo named Kon was missing. Ichigo figured Yuzu had Kon since she had previously tried to take it away from him.

Yuzu knocked at Ichigo's door. "Ichigo dinner's ready. By the way, have you seen Rukia? I have not seen her all day, and her Chappy the rabbit is gone from her bed?"Ichigo looked at Yuzu and began to wonder why was Chappy missing? "Is it that time of the month already? Truth be told, Ichigo knew Rukia had a secret ritual she did with Chappy the rabbit doll twice a month. She "secretly" took Chappy to the cleaners to be steamed cleaned. Then she would take him to her weekend job to tell stories at the local library here in Karakura. Who would have thought Chappy would be so popular? Although to Ichigo's ingenuity, "Saturday reading with Chappy" was popular among 1 to 6 year old children.

You might be wondering how did Ichigo come to get a hold of such a precious "secret'? One word: Yuzu. Yes, that is correct, Yuzu was one of the non-1 to 6 year old individuals (besides Rukia) whom enjoyed Saturday reading with with Chappy! One year ago, on a sunny Saturday afternoon Yuzu had come home thoroughly excited from the local library with a flyer that was announcing a new program that would begin in two weeks She was flapping the piece of paper up and down as she was sharing the news with her Father, whom (not surprisingly) had been as excited with the news as Yuzu.

Please do not make me describe my Father. You only need one word: Insane. Enough about him... So I happened to walk by as Yuzu was excitedly sharing the news to the insane "adult" in our family. While I was overhearing the news I grabbed the piece of paper from Yuzu's hand to see what she was so excited about. As soon as I saw the doodles on the paper I knew who had made the fliers.

There is only one person that doodles like a kinder-gardener, and it was obvious when I saw the grinning rabbit. No doubt about it, it looked like Rukia's doodles. So I asked, "So Yuzu, when is this new program beginning?"

"It starts next Saturday. I have to share this with Rukia!" Yuzu ran upstairs to look for Rukia and share the "wonderful" news.

Oh those were good memories. I have to remind Rukia about that. I do hope she considers helping out with the children. She would be a tremendous help for insight in helping draft a proposal to the board of directors at the hospital to assist the psychologist and therapist in developing a derivative tool to assist them in working with the children. Al thought I am a bit scare to think that the children to become miniature maniac fans of Chappy the bunny. His mind wandered of as he pictured Rukia explaining how to mix black and red to make pink to color Chappy. She would have pain on her hands and her cheeks as she would giggle along with the children. A warmth began to grow in Ichigo's center and it began to spread across his body. The more he thought of Rukia, the more the warmth spread. Ichigo snapped out of his daydreaming haze. "Why am I so warm? It's not hot in here. Hmmm... okay..."

He sat down on his desk and began reviewing the cases he had taken care of today. As he continued reading Yuzu came in to his room to bring him a cup of black coffee and cookies. Yuzu had tried futilely for years for Ichigo to consider having his coffee with either a bit of coffee creamer or half & half, but he would not hear or do anything to mess with the strong flavor of his coffee.

"So Ichigo do you know where Rukia is? I wanted to ask her if she would go shopping with me for tomorrow's dinner."

"No I do not know where she is, I will call her once I finish reviewing my files. Thank you for the coffee Yuzu."

"No problem. Oh yes don't forget dinner will be ready in a few minutes."

Once Yuzu left, Ichigo returned to reviewing his file when his cell phone rang. While trying to get his cellphone he dropped one of his files on the floor. Ichigo answered his phone while he looked at the floor. "Ichigooooo where are you? Why are you avoiding my calls?" Ichigo rolled his eyes as he listened to Keigo go on, as usual about avoiding him and his call. Even though they had already graduated high school and moved on with their lives, Keigo continued to be Keigo. Always trying to come off as a happy go lucky guy, when in reality he was full of insecurities and wanting to spend time with Ichigo as much as possible. Ever since Ichigo began his internship at Karakura Hospital, it had become literary impossible for him to spend time with anyone, including Rukia.

Becoming a doctor was a lot harder once you began practicing theories. Yet to Ichigo it was all worth it. To save a life, was well worth all the stolen hours of sleep and headaches that he was going through as he began his journey on becoming a doctor. Ichigo's mind drifted to wonder where Rukia might be since it was 5:15pm and she was not back home yet. He was brought back to reality when Keigo began screaming in his ear "Hello Hello are you there Ichigo? Are you still ignoring me? What a cruel friend you are! Your long time friend is calling to see how you are doing and this is the thanks that I get? Ichiiigooooooo"chigo sighed "Keigo I have been really busy, you know going to school and becoming a doctor? What have you been up to?"He heard Keigo cry "Ichigo you are so cruel, why must you rub it in my face that you are becoming a doctor when I am still deciding what to do with the rest of my life. Not all of us have a plan like you, you know?" Ichigo rolled his eyes once more, and the file that had fallen from his hands earlier came in to view. He got down to pick up the field from the floor that had fallen behind his chair, when he noticed a piece of paper that had fallen to the side of the waste basket. As he was about to reach for it Yuzu screamed "Ichigo dinner is ready." So Ichigo grabbed his file and put it on his desk. "Keigo I got to go, dinner is ready and if I don't go Yuzu will get upset and take away my food. So I will talk to you later and think about your future" Keigo responded "But but you have not even talked to me, why do you do this? why" *Click* Ichigo shut his cell phone off and left it on his desk as he went down for dinner.

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A/N - I have seen a lot of people read the story. Please take the time to hit that green button that says Review. You can leave one word or longer. Positive criticism is always appreciated. Next chapter in the works, so please review so I can magically become inspired by your reviews.