Author's Note: 10/12/2022

Hello everyone!

It has been quite some time since I've been on FanFiction but I am back and won't leave you all on a 5+ year hiatus again (sorry!).

This fic is one I started many years ago and I always planned to finish it but life happened and my inspiration dwindled. Anyway, if you are an old reader, I highly suggest you re-read from the beginning as I've changed a ton of things (as I always do). However, if you're a new reader, welcome! I hope you enjoy the ride.

Now, I am in no way a professional writer, I write FanFiction as a creative outlet so let's not get too nitpicky with things and enjoy the content that randomly fills my head haha.

I am currently in the midst of going over and rewriting what I originally had posted so while I still have some "old" content to go through, I hope to post new chapters more frequently!

Just a quick note, there are a lot of OCs in here but it's mostly to just fill a role that I would otherwise fill with a Bleach character if we had more background and side characters to choose from haha.

Thank you for sticking with me!

The events of this fic, for sake of timeline and characters, occur just right after the Aizen arc. I am so happy TYBW is finally getting animated after reading the arc many years ago, hope you're all enjoying it!

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Bleach in any way, shape, or form. All rights belong to Tite Kubo et al.


Welcome to the seven o'clock news. Our top story tonight: a serial killer is running rampant in our town, and it is imperative that everyone stays in the safety of their homes as best as they can by nightfall. The police force currently has no leads on the whereabouts of the killer and is strongly encouraging folks to stay indoors as much as possible. If you must leave, do not walk alone. I repeat, do NOT walk alone.

If you are out in the neighborhood and feel that you are not safe, immediately call the police force or the help hotline whose number we list below.

Wait, what is this—We have just received an update, there appears to be a witness to the latest murderer. It appears the murderer—

The television broadcast was abruptly turned off and the small white-haired child turned her attention to the person behind her.

"What did I say about watching TV without me around?" His voice was rough and gritty. The child could pick up on the menacing tone beneath his words.

"Papa…" she whispered, as she was too frightened to speak.

"Where's your mother?" He asked, or rather demanded to know.

"Mama… I-I don't know."

Silence. Then there was a loud bang as he whipped the remote at the floor, breaking it open.

"You… You dare lie to me?" His tone grew more menacing. "You think I'm stupid?" He walked closer to the child, who was frantically shaking her head, trying to appease her father. "You think I haven't noticed her disappearing almost every night for the past two weeks? You know where she is. Tell me. Now!" His voice boomed, causing the child to flinch in fear. "I see. Not going to talk? Okay, the box it is."

The man pulled a large crate from the nearby closet, and as he opened the latch, there were visible scratch marks inside. He no longer spoke to his daughter; simply glared at her. She picked at her fingers and made her way inside the box. As she sat against the box, the man locked her inside and pushed the box back into the closet, and proceeded to bed. The creaking of the stairs grew faint and when she knew no one would hear her, the child cried herself to sleep that night.

. . .

The next morning, the man left for his garbage disposal job and left his daughter in the closet. Not too long after, a woman entered the house.

"Hajime? Hajime, you're going to be late for school, quickly come and get ready!" The woman waited for a response but heard nothing. As she got closer to the stairs, she heard a soft banging coming from the closet. "Oh, Hajime!" The woman immediately ran upstairs, grabbed the key the man placed in his bedside drawer, and released her child from that prison.

With the click of the lock, the child immediately dropped into her mother's arms, who embraced her deeply.

"I'm sorry I couldn't make it back home sooner, Hajime. I'm so sorry, my dear child," she whimpered as she cupped her daughter's face in her hands.

Hajime's mother, Aiko, was a beautiful woman; she possessed long, silky black hair and silver eyes that sparkled like diamonds. Hajime, too, possessed her mother's eyes.

"I got careless these past couple of days going out for so long, I didn't think he'd be home this weekend. I know it's tough Hajime but with this new side job I picked up, I'm making nearly triple my desk job. The boss gave me the week off but next week, I have high-profile clients requesting to work with me, so we are almost there. We're almost to freedom and I'll do my very best to protect you as best I can until then, okay?"

"Mama… I will protect mama too." Hajime grabbed hold of her mother's hand and tightly squeezed it.

"That's right," Aiko said with a smile. "We only have each other. We need to look out for one another. Now, it's almost time for school. We can't have you be late; they'll call your father. Let's get you dressed, and you can eat breakfast on the way. Come, quickly!"

Aiko and Hajime quickly got themselves freshened up and changed just in time to make it to the school bus that arrived in front of their house. Aiko grabbed her briefcase while Hajime grabbed her lunchbox and decided to skip breakfast. They ran towards the bus, and they bid one another farewell.

"Have fun in school today," Aiko said while kissing her daughter's forehead.

Hajime quickly made her way on the bus and the bus departed. Aiko made her way to her neighbor's house, which also happened to be her close friend, and they both made their way to work together.

On the school bus, Hajime took a seat next to her red-headed best friend named Akashi. Akashi had brown eyes and crimson-red hair that was placed into a ponytail. He was Hajime's only friend and would always look out for her as he saw a couple of her bruises one time at school. Hajime tried to hide it, but he saw.

"Morning, Hajime!" he greeted her with an enormous grin.

"Morning, Akashi." She greeted with a gentle smile.

It took about 15 minutes for the bus to arrive at the school and the two friends quickly made their way to their homeroom class and sat next to each other as they have since they were little.

As the day went on and it was finally lunchtime, Akashi handed over a small yellow gift box to Hajime. Today was Hajime's 8th birthday.

"Hm? Akashi, what's this?" Hajime questioned as she looked at the box, confused.

"It's your birthday present, what else?" He replied with a smile. "Open it! It may not be much, but it was all my mom let me get you."

Hajime put down her chopstick and slowly motioned over the box to her. While looking at Akashi with a smile, she opened the box and to her surprise, there was a lavender hair ribbon inside.

"So… Do you like it?"

Her gaze softened at the ribbon. It was the first gift she has ever received (her father says it's a waste of money to buy such things for her) and she felt a sense of overflowing happiness.

"It's beautiful, I love it!" She said with a smile.

"Here, I'll help you put it on!" He took the ribbon from Hajime and secured her hair into a ponytail, with the ribbon tied into a bow. "Perfect! Happy birthday, Hajime!"

"Thank you, Akashi!"

. . .

The bus made its first stop at Hajime's house and Akashi decided that since it was her birthday, they should spend more time together today. Before she could say anything, Akashi got off at her stop with her and it was too late to convince him otherwise, the bus was already leaving.

"Akashi! What're you doing? My Papa… Papa doesn't like visitors in the house, and I have chores to do at home. You have to leave!" She yelled as she was frantically pushing him away.

"Whoa, what's the matter? It's your birthday! Also, we've been friends forever and I still haven't been able to come over to your house. Can't we celebrate a little?"

She was hesitant, but after last night's punishment, she didn't want to be alone. They cautiously entered the house, as Hajime feared her father might be home early. However, there was not a soul in sight, and she let out a sigh of relief.

"So, where's your room?" Akashi asked as he was excited to finally pay a visit to his friend's house.

"Up here. Follow me." Hajime instructed in her usual gentle tone.

Hajime's room was quite plain for an eight-year-old girl's room. Bland beige walls, no visible toys, or forms of entertainment in the room; the only splash of color was her lavender bed set. It was neat, almost too neat. Akashi looked around the room and was baffled.

Suddenly, the two heard a slam downstairs. Hajime froze in her tracks, and it felt like the hairs on her neck were standing. She quickly and quietly made her way to the top of the stairs and saw her father taking a seat on the couch with a can of beer in his hands.

Papa?! What is he doing home so early? This is bad. I must get Akashi out of here somehow!

Hajime quickly ran back into her room and closed the door as quietly as she could. "Akashi," she whispered, "you have to go. My Papa's home and he doesn't seem to be in a good mood."

"Eh? But I just got here and why isn't he in a good mood? Shouldn't he be happy and celebrate your birthday with you?"

"Papa probably had a long day at work. You can't leave through the front door; you're going to have to climb out through the window."

"The window?!" Akashi exclaimed, a little too loud for Hajime's liking.

"Shh!" She warned as she covered his mouth with her hand. "I've made a rope from my old pants that I've kept. You can climb down using that but please, you must keep quiet."

"Hajime…"

"Akashi… Please." Her wavering silver eyes sparkled as she looked Akashi in his eyes.

"I understand. I'll do my best to keep my mouth shut."

As she grabbed the rope she had made, she quietly opened the window and tied one end to the end of her bed stand.

"Then, I guess I'll see you tomorrow at school."

"See you tomorrow. Now go!"

Akashi took hold of the rope and climbed down. He tried to go as quickly as instructed, but when he reached the living room window, he couldn't help but observe Hajime's father. There were four empty beer cans on the table and as he gulped down another can, he threw it on the table, along with the rest. He then, suddenly, got up from his seat and that caught Akashi off guard, causing him to lose his grip on the rope and fall with a loud thud.

Hajime immediately froze in fear. Run.

Hajime's father hurried to the kitchen drawer and took out a handgun. He ran to the front lawn and saw Akashi sprawled out on the floor, as well as the rope that hung from Hajime's window. He knew exactly what was going on and with his mind in a drunken haze, any word, any action, would be dangerous.

"Kisumoto Hajime! You get down here this instant!" His voice boomed in the neighborhood, and as they usually did, the neighbors looked the other way and did not get involved.

As ordered, Hajime ran down to where her father was and could not face him.

"Why is there a stranger in my house?" her father asked angrily.

Hajime did not answer. She was too afraid.

With no hesitation, he shot his gun and the sound of the bullet firing echoed. He aimed it at the ground near Hajime's feet. Both Hajime and Akashi froze in fear.

"Answer me now, or I promise you, this next bullet won't miss." Her father warned as he aimed the pistol at Akashi.

Hajime quickly rushed in front of Akashi and spread out her arms to protect him. "He's a friend! He wanted to come over and celebrate my birthday with me!"

"Who are you to allow people to come to MY house? And you say he's your friend? Is he the one that gave you that stupid ribbon?!" Hajime's father grasped onto Hajime's hair ribbon and forcefully ripped it off her hair, tugging her hair along with it.

"Ahh!" She yelped in pain.

"Sir…" Akashi began as he kneeled in front of Hajime's father. "Please, it's my fault. I'm the one that asked Hajime if I could come over. Don't punish her, punish me instead."

Hajime's father took the bait and aimed his gun at Akashi once again. Fear struck Hajime since she knew what was going to happen next, as did Akashi.

"No, Papa, please! Please, it was me, he didn't do anything wrong!" Akashi gave a last glance at Hajime and greeted her farewell with his usual teeth-revealing smile, "Please, no-!" and a gunshot echoed throughout the neighborhood once again.

Blood stained the grass, and Akashi's lifeless body fell to the ground with a thud.

"No…" was all Hajime could let out. With widened eyes, Hajime slowly walked over to her friend, but her father stopped her.

"And where the hell do you think you're going? Don't think that you're not getting punished either. Do you want to know something? You were a mistake. Your mother and I never planned on starting a family, and I tried to kill you with every chance I got. If you weren't born, your mother and I would live somewhere nicer than this trash of a neighborhood. I never liked you and I never will. You're ugly, you're useless, and you are a waste of human life!" Hajime's father once again pointed the gun at his daughter and as she stared down its dark barrel, she felt a sense of fear and a sense of… relief. Will she finally be free from this life?

With the click of the chamber, Hajime's only seconds away from her destiny of life or death.

"Stop right there! Drop the gun! NOW!" A mysterious voice yelled.

Police officers who all had their guns aimed at Hajime's father surrounded the house. As Hajime's father grew panicked, he dropped the gun and immediately ran away but as a result; he got shot in the leg and fell to the ground. The surrounding officers made their way to apprehend him.

"You did this, didn't you?!" He yelled as he glared at his daughter, "I promise you, I'll come back and punish you, Hajime!" While continuing to yell at his daughter under his breath, his voice faded as the officers placed him in the car.

Hajime, who had been silently watching the scene unfold before her eyes were only concerned about one thing: Akashi. She hurriedly made her way to Akashi, and even though she knew he was dead, she continued to call his name.

"Akashi? Akashi… I'm so sorry! Akashi!" She spoke between her tears.

Then, the sound of footsteps on the grass approached Hajime, and she saw a pair of waraji's (straw sandals) coming into view. As she motioned her head upwards at the visitor, she knew he was not a normal being. The man had short, bright teal hair and piercing green eyes. He wore a black Shihakusho and wielded a Katana. The man possessed a rough appearance, yet there was a subtle hint of kindness behind his eyes.

"Who… who are you?" Hajime asked as she looked at the man with tearful eyes.

"You can see me? Well, your spiritual pressure is advanced compared to the normal humans now that I think about it."

"Spiritual pressure? What… do you mean? Am I… the only one that can see you?" Hajime asked as she looked at her surroundings and noticed that everyone else was focusing on their own tasks. "You're different from the spirits I see occasionally. Are you a spirit?"

"Spirit? No, I'm a Shinigami and I'm here for this boy's soul."

"What? Shinigami? So he's… he's really…?."

"Listen here, little one," the man said as he kneeled to face Hajime. "Your friend's soul is gone. I'm here to send him to the land after death."

"The land after death?"

"You'll uncover that when it's time for you to know but he'll be at peace." The man then unsheathed his Katana and performed Konso on Akashi. His spirit was released from his body and went to Soul Society. "Now, it's time I get going. It was a pleasure to meet you, Kisumoto Hajime. I hope I don't have to see you soon." The man then disappeared with the gust of the wind.

He knew my name? Who was he? Shinigami? Like the Grim Reaper? But… what happened to Akashi? I don't understand…

Officers interrupted Hajime's thoughts as they covered Akashi's body with a tarp and tried to move her away from the scene.

"Hajime!" a woman's voice yelled out.

As Hajime turned to the location of the voice, she saw her mother running toward her. As they greeted each other with deep embracing hugs, tears filled both their eyes.

"Mama! Mama!"

"I know, I know. Oh, I am so sorry. Are you okay?" Aiko scanned her daughter from head to toe and only noticed that her hair was a mess, and her eyes were red and puffy from crying.

"Hajime, I quit my desk job and kept the night job that I recently picked up. But we're going to have to move, okay? We're going to move to a town called Karakura Town and you'll be starting a new year at a new school. Since I'm going to be working full time, they paid me in advance and we're able to afford a small house for the two of us. Come on, let's pack what we absolutely need and get out of this hellish house."

As Aiko led Hajime to the house, she couldn't help but look back at her friend's lifeless body. With the limited number of possessions they had, they packed quickly.

Aiko talked to the police officers, and they were told that they had everything they needed to ensure he gets locked up. Aiko thanked the police for their hard work and said her goodbyes to Mei.

Hajime and Aiko then took a bus to Karakura Town and started to try and build their lives over again. On the bus ride to Karakura Town, Aiko fixed the ribbon in Hajime's hair and Hajime was able to mourn and cry over Akashi's death.