Hi Everyone! Thank you for following Ichigo and Kyoko! I was having some trouble thinking of this chapter but it's up now! Oh, and the usual disclaimer: I don't own bleach or any of its characters except Kyoko.

"blah" talking

'blah' thinking

:blah: time/setting

Blah dream/flashback

"blah" Kyoko talking/thinking

Chapter 2: Starter

Ichigo was still in his new Shinigami uniform when he heard his name being called.

"Ow… What's going on… Ichigo…" It was Ishin, his coat was ripped up and he was bleeding all over.

"It hurts… brother…" Yuzu was in the same state as their father.

"If you became a Shinigami… weren't you going to protect us?" Ishin yelled, as if Ichigo failed.

"OWWWW' Yuzu was even crying

'I don't understand… I defeated the hollow thing didn't I?' Ichigo turned to the Rukia.

"Sorry. It was too late." She looked as if she really couldn't care less.

"What? -" Ichigo couldn't hear what he was about to say cause something was louder.

"GOOOOODDD MOOOORRRNING!" Ishin started yelling as he was about to do his usual kick to wake Ichigo up "IIIIICHIIIIGOOOOO"

Ichigo woke up in time to beat him up for trying. "You bastard. You got a lot of guts attacking your son while he sleeps."

"GUAA… not… bad… my son…" he had a bit of a hard time talking with Ichigo's hand over his mouth. "I… have nothing… left… to teach you…" That's when Ichigo noticed something.

"Hey… what happened to your injuries?"

Ishin just looked at his son like he was crazy. "Injuries? What injuries? When did I get hurt?"

"What?"

Ishin took Ichigo outside and he was introduced (or reintroduced) to the gaping hole in their house "But it sure is a miracle! For a truck to crash into the house and for nobody to be injured!"

"What's more miraculous is that none of us even woke up…" Ichigo sweat dropped

"Oh! Brother, breakfast is ready!" Yuzu said, ignoring the gaping hole in their house

"Yeah, some miracle. Because of that the criminal got away. Jeez, what's with this family?" Karin muttered

'What's going on? Everyone's injuries are healed… and they think the damage was an accident. Is this Shinigami style damage control?' Then Ichigo thought of Rukia, 'Did she go back to the soul society place?'

:Karakura High School:

A girl with long orange hair yawns with a spaced out look on her face.

"Hey! Your mouth is wide open! You're too young to be zoning out like that!" A girl with short somewhat spiked black hair stated in an almost lecturing tone.

"Tatsuki-chan." The orange head said

"Ichigo sure is late." Tatsuki stated almost randomly, but she knew what her best friend was thinking anyway.

"Huh?" The statement had caught the girl by surprise. Her best friend normally doesn't talk about the scowling boy in their school.

"You were worried about Ichigo, weren't you?"

"No I wasn't!" the orange head was almost embarrassed by the thought.

Tatsuki honestly couldn't understand why. "Hey Orihime, why are you so interested in him? He's cold, a brat, has a weird hair color and an even shorter temper than me."

"He's funny!" Orihime replied with a big smile on her face.

Now Tatsuki was really confused. "Huh?"

"I just imagine his indifferent face and…" In her mind Ichigo's face would have bizarre additions and suddenly turn into the face of a famous movie star. "Pfft! It's the best!" Orihime could not contain her laughter anymore.

"…Really…?" Tatsuki decided to just change the topic, sometimes her best friend was just weird.

"He might not come today. Ichigo, that is." A boy with black hair that sticks out at the ends stated.

"What do you mean? Oh yeah, you always come to school with Ichigo…"

"Yup. I went by there this morning and there was a huge hole in the side of his house. His dad said a truck crashed into it last night." Kojima stated it so casually as if it were an everyday occurrence.

"A TRUCK! IS HE INJURED? OR EVEN… DEA-!" Tatsuki never got to finish her sentence since a school bag hit her on the head lightly.

"I'm not dead." Ichigo stated calmly. "Sorry to disappoint, but no one was injured."

"Kurosaki-san!" Orihime was excited after seeing him. "goo… goo… GOOD MORNING!"

"y-Yeah. You're happy as always Inoue." Ichigo replied, surprised by Orihime's loud voice

"So you came? I thought you were helping with repairs…" Kojima stated

"I still need to come to school. What's 3rd?"

"Social Studies."

"Ochi-san eh? Good, he won't bother me much about it."

But as Ichigo was about to sit in her seat… "You're Ichigo Kurosaki right?" an unknown yet somewhat familiar voice stated.

When Ichigo turned to see who it was he was more than shocked "Nice to meet you!" She makes it sound like the two never met.

"Oh, this is Kuchiki-san. She transferred today. It's a weird time, but her family was in a situation where they had to move suddenly." Kojima filled Ichgio in on 'why' she was here.

"Y-You… why?" Ichigo couldn't even think properly.

"What's wrong?" Kojima asked

"Kurosaki-san, I don't have my textbooks yet. May I look at yours?" Ichigo ignored Rukia's question for the message on her hand: 'Say something and I'll kill you'

'What the hell? What is she up to?'

:Later that day:

Ichigo had led Rukia to a place where their conversation wouldn't be heard. By then, Kyoko had joined them from Ichigo's mind after resting from yesterday. "I wonder what Rukia-san is still doing here for?"

"Leading me to such a solitary place, what dost thou intend of me?" Rukia asked

"Stop talking like that. It's weird." Ichigo told her "More archaic than anything…"

"Weird? How rude, it's pretty good for someone who learned in one day."

"Fine. Now will you tell me what's going on?" She looked confused. "Isn't your job over? Why are you in my class? And why aren't you back at that Soul Society place you spoke of?"

"Only Shinigami can return to the Soul Society. Right now, I can't." "Oh no…"

Now I'm confused. "Why?"

"Because, I lost my powers." "Please don't say what I think you're going to say…"

"…What? But I'm not a Shinigami either. Where did your powers go to?"

"Inside you. Your soul became that of a Shinigami. Last night you almost stole all of my powers. I only have a few of my abilities. I'm even forced to use this artificial body" "Oops… That's my fault…"

"Did you just say artificial?"

"The other body of Shinigami, it is to be used in emergencies. A weakened Shinigami would enter it and wait for their powers to be restored."

"So, that's this body… so it's basically your human form?"

"Yes, weakened Shinigami are targets for Hollows, so we pretend to be humans."

"So, what does a weakened Shinigami want with me?"

"Until my powers return, I want you to take over my responsibilities."

"Hah?"

"Well, you're the one with Shinigami powers now. I'll assist you. And you have no right to refuse, since you were…"

Ichigo didn't let her finish that sentence "I refuse." Ichigo even used his arms to show an 'x'.

"…What?" "…Ichigo?"

"I said I refuse. I have no intention of fighting those monsters again."

"Wait! But you…!"

Ichigo interrupted her again."Yesterday, I was only able to fight because my family was in danger. Unfortunately, I'm not so nice as to fight those things for total strangers. Sorry to disappoint." "Liar…"

"I see…" a dark aura started coming from Rukia's body "Then I have no choice!" She put on a red glove with a skull on fire on the back.

"What the…?" Rukia hit Ichigo on his forehead and he literally split apart. "What! My soul separated from my body." "Ichigo! …Why are there two of you?"

"Hey. Follow me." Rukia told him

:20 min later at a park:

"….Hey…." Ichigo was getting really impatient

"Wait, it will be here soon."

"What soon? We've been here for nearly 20 min…"

"Does a spirit come here often?"

"Yeah, a 5-year-old kid, he comes here around 12"

"Your friend?"

"No, I've only seen him three maybe four times. I've never even spoke to him. What about it…?" Rukia suddenly took out a cell phone that had a bunch of information on it. "What's this?" Ichigo asked

"An order from the Soul Society. It means, within 15min of 12, 20-meter vicinity of Yumizawa Children's park… a hollow will appear. Most likely that child will be attacked."

"UWAAAAAA!" The little boy's voice was frantic, as if he would die if no one heard

Then Ichigo saw the kid. He's being chased by a hollow. Only this time it looks more like a spider. But more importantly, he's terrified. Ichigo was about to go and save him when Rukia stopped him. "Wait! You're going to help him? Isn't he a stranger?"

"So what? How can I not help him when he's right in front of me?" "Rukia-san… What are you planning…?"

"Whether it happens in front of you or far away, it doesn't change the fact that he's being attacked."

"Oww!" he tripped, the hollow hot on his tail. Ichgio made another move towards him but Rukia interrupted him again.

"DON'T HELP HIM! Even if you save him now, nothing will matter unless you become a Shinigami! You want to save him because he's in front of you? Don't be naïve. A Shinigami has to treat all spirits equally! You can't just conveniently save those you can see, those you can reach. Don't you dare save him with such half-heartedness! If you want to save him now, then accept that you have to save them all. To go anywhere, to do anything, to risk even your life to save them, make that commitment!"

'… Give your life… Like she did for me?' "Rukia-san… You don't really know Ichigo very well…" Kyoko thought with a smile.

"Who are you?" The hollow asked as Ichigo walked up to it. Ichigo ignored its question to slice

"Ichigo… have you accepted?"

"Shut the fuck up." Ichigo ended up stabbing his sword to the ground WAY too close to the child's arm. "I saved him because I wanted to, is there something wrong with that?" Kyoko giggled behind him "I knew he'd answer like that."

"Wha…?"

"Are you any different! You sacrificed your life to save me yesterday! When you did, were you thinking of something as complicated as 'this is my Shinigami duty'? That's not what sacrificing your life means! At the very least…." The hollow was coming back up and was about to attack Ichigo. Ichigo just put his blade in front of its mask. "I'm different! I don't accept any commitment… if things get bad I might run away… since I'm not good enough a person to give up my life for strangers…. But, I'm also not trash that can live happily without paying back her depts. I'll help you with this Shinigami thing."

Finally a real smile on her face, not like those fake ones for Ichigo's classmates. "Yeah… thanks…"

"It'll work out…" Kyoko thought as she watched the two, then she thought of what her mother told her "I wonder if mother knew Ichigo would end up a substitute Shinigami…"