"Shh, it's okay Orihime, your big brother is fine, it's just a little cut," I say with a thin smile as I show the bandaged-up finger.

Orihime's body shook and shivered so small and young,

Why did they abandon her? So young and innocent? My mind wandered for a minute as Orihime wiped away her tears as looked up at me.

"I-It's my f-fault I-I sh-sh-" she desperately tried to wring the sentence out of her lips but the tears, and warbles in her voice stopped her each time. How could anyone leave her alone…

"Orihime accidents happen, the best thing is to learn from them okay?" I say slowly and as cheerful as I could…I wouldn't ever be like them…

"B-B-But-"

"But nothing, it's fine, and now you know not to play around the kitchen while I am cooking okay?" I say patting her head

WRONG

I let out another sigh, it was another boring day of working at that hellscape…would life ever get interesting?

WRONG

These memories...

"Ich…sub…due…them…"

W…h..o?

"Subdue"

Almost as if someone was pulling my invisible puppet strings, I pushed images of an orange-haired boy which at some sort of level I knew was me to the forefront pushing the other..mes no…other…things down further and further until only small specks of them could be seen

Ichigo's eyes flashed open, blinking rapidly as the sun of his room invaded his eyes, and the strange dredges of that dream shook off his mind.

"What was that? Was it just another dream or something more?" Ichigo muttered as he stared at the ceiling, his long hair warping around him.

Lethargically Ichigo moved his palm over and gripped his mint green hair and slowly moved it in front of his face.

"He, I guess, the past two days wasn't dreams either, I am not sure what I expected. Maybe this is some sort of coma from those gang guys? Pft no way," Ichigo huffed out before standing up, doing some light stretches before yawning.

"Hey Rukia, you need to hurry up there, I need to grab my uniform," Ichigo said raising his pale hand up to his closet and knocking lightly.

'Wonder if Uryu will also make me PJs, though, with his rather…eccentric love for tailoring, I am not too sure if I want that,' Ichigo thought as he looked down at his baggy clothing.

"Yeah, Yeah give me a minute you foal," Rukia shouted back from the other side of the door.

Ichigo simply nodded for a second but suddenly stopped as what Rukia said just hit him.

"What did you call me!?" He yelled banging on the door.

"I am not sure what you mean. I just told you I'd be out in a minute," Rukia's calm voice responded, there was only a slight taint of mirth within it as she opened the door.

She jumped out of the higher level of the closet and then walked over to the window.

"Well, I see you at school, stead," she said before jumping out of the window.

"That damned midget, she's making fun of me now! She's going to pay for this! Next time she jumps on my back…" Ichigo grumbled to himself, making ever more complex plans on how to deal with the vertically challenged Shinigami.

Ichigo pulled up the seat at the kitchen table, it was a rare event when Ichigo actually woke up early enough to eat breakfast with his family, though there were reasons for that…

"BWAHAHA! Behold my mighty bacon stache!" Ichigo's father yelled having a just severed piece of bacon balancing on his lip.

"Daddy, you need to stop playing with your food," Yuzu said lightly waving the spatula at her father from the kitchen.

"Give up sis, you knew better than give him bacon," Karen muttered as shoved another egg into her mouth.

"I knew I should have skipped today…" Ichigo muttered as he kept whacking a bang that got in the way every time he tried to take a bite.

"How dare you even think of purposely skipping breakfast with your family!" Isshin said, finally eating the two pieces of bacon he'd used as a mustache.

"You haven't noticed till now that he's been skipping any mealtime events with us for a while?" Karin huffed while drinking some orange juice Yuzu made herself.

"Masaki, why doesn't our child want to hang out anymore!?" Isshin yelled, running to the giant Maskai portrait.

Karin made another pointed joke, while Yuzu covered for their imbecile father.

Ichigo thought was on another matter, he'd finally finished eating leaving his plate clean…but yet…

'My plate is empty, my stomach feels full…yet it doesn't…as if there were two stomachs within me…this was the reason I stopped eating with them…it never ends…it…calls…for something…else' Ichigo thought as he put his hand on his forehead leaning against the table.

"Ichigo..are you feeling okay?" Karin's voice bounced off his skull.

His eyes flashed up towards her-prey prey prey prey- "Y-Yeah, I am fine, Yuzu's cooking just filled me up a bit too much," Ichigo let out a small hollow laugh before standing up.

'It's getting worse…it feels connected…could it truly be?'

Ichigo grabbed his book bag and headed toward the school.

'No! It can't be…even if it was…I'd be a monster, I would have no one to turn to, as soon as Rukia got her powers back either she'd cleanse me, or she'd call her Shinigami pals to…Uryu, though he sees me as a fellow Quincy, I'd doubt he'd stand with me…so it must not be true…it's that one thing… a… placebo effect…only bad or whatever? Right?' So distracted by his thoughts Ichigo didn't realize he arrived at the school.

It was such pointless small talk.

It was lunch now, and he decided to invite Uryu, who accepted even with complaints from Keigo, and now they are standing together, what started with the shinigami- Rukia needing help with her juice box evolved into Keigo trying to swoon her.

"Tch at this point Keigo, I would have thought Ichigo beat that flirty nature out of you," Mizuiro said with a small chuckle.

"Ah, Ichigo's got a great kick, and I worried that I would never have children, and she did teach me a valuable lesson, don't go for the strong or masculine ones," Keigo joked before looking back at Rukia.

"It's so strange seeing how things changed just because they believe you're a girl," the bespectacled prey- Uryumuttered quietly as he ate a small sandwich.

"What do you mean?" Ichigo huffed while taking a bite of the packed lunch Yuzu made.

"It's nothing,"

Ichigo's eyebrow twitched at that.

"You can't-" before Ichigo could continue his rant a large shadow covered the group.

"Yo," the gentle giant, Chad who was missing the entire day was right next to them…covered in bandages, and in his hand was a bird cage-

COMPETITOR COMPETITOR COMPETITOR COMPETITOR COMPETITOR COMPETITOR


A/N:I was planning on this chapter being longer, but life stuff got in the way, and I wanted to still release it on Monday so my apologizes it came out late.

Good news I have a pretty large break in school, so I hopefully provide a much bigger chapter next Monday, I also have plans for doing a True Vampire chapter finally, though unclear when that will be done, hopefully with this break it should be finished.

As always give your thoughts and opinions in the comments below!