A/N: And the Agent of Shinigami Arc has officially begun! I will gloss over some things as in the end there is not much that changes when it comes to Ichigo's battles against hollows. Mostly this is about Rukia's observations on Ichigo and Mirai. But I hope you like this anyways.

And like in pre-canon timeline, this will repeat things and events a bit when I jump from character to character.

Created Life from Death 13
Kuchiki Rukia

The assignment at Karakura town had begun normally. She had been slaying some small hollows and sent plus souls to Soul Society via konso.

But then things went wrong. She really, really wanted to blame the boy or even the eerie violin music in the night, but honestly, she was as much at fault.

Kuchiki Rukia sat at the desk of her new school where she'd infiltrated in order to be closer to Kurosaki Ichigo, the boy she'd given her Shinigami powers to, and reminisced the previous night. Everything had just happened so fast. The boy had kicked her, she had been forced to explain the function of spirits in order to be let go and do her work in peace, he had broken through the bakudo she'd placed on him, the boy's family was in danger thus he'd rushed to fight the hollow that had been approaching the house.

"I wonder which one of us was the suicidal one?" The Shinigami thought ruefully. The boy who tried to take on the hollow with a bat of some sort. Or her who had stepped between him and the jaws of the hollow.

In the end she'd given her powers to the boy. More than she planned and now she was stuck in a gigai, in a school that she could care less about(but she didn't because humans were in a way fascinating) and waiting for the boy that she would have to persuade to do her work while she recovered.

"Now where is he?"

Kurosaki arrived around in time for the third period. Apparently, he had been helping his family to clean up the mess that the hollow had caused. Or alternatively a truck as the family had been made to believe.

When the boy was talking with his friends and taking a seat next to her, Rukia made her move.

"You're… Are you Kurosaki-kun?" She smiled at the orange-head. "Nice to meet you!"

The boy was naturally shocked and thus Rukia was not surprised to be led behind the school so they could talk. Persuading him was not surprising either but she had not expected the boy being against it so much. Wielding the power of a Shinigami and doing their work should be an honor!

"It seems someone punctured a waterballoon…" A girl mused nearby. Rukia turned to the speaker's direction in the mid-motion of pulling on gokon tekko glove. The girl was crouched in the ground and petting a black cat, with her back towards the duo. "Nee, Kanzo-iro-kun, do you think you can keep track of it now?"

Surprisingly, Kurosaki answered.

"It won't be easy but I'll try."

So strange. What was that girl talking about?

"Well, good luck in that endeavor." The other girl straightened up and the cat slinked away. She turned around to face them. "You're Kuchiki-san, right? Nice to meet you. I'm Kotobuki Mirai. I hope you enjoy your stay in Karakura-cho."

"Thank you." Rukia replied stiffly. Had the other girl heard their conversation? She observed as Kurosaki and Kotobuki talked and took the opportunity to scrutinize the girl.

Straight black hair with faint waviness in it reaching past her shoulders. Bangs parted at the right an nearly falling on her left eye. Faintly tanned skin. Grey eyes. Slim build and taller than her. Dressed in Karakura High School's uniform though with some pants underneath the skirt.

All in all she seemed perfectly normal with slight spiritual pressure herself, but nothing major.

"Are you going to call Shironeri-san?" Kurosaki asked the girl then. His previous frown and scowl had lessened in her presence and… He really looked like Kaien-dono. Rukia hadn't paid attention to it previously with everything going on and the boy's general expressions being so different… No matter. She needed to concentrate.

"I have to." Kotobuki replied. "Have fun with Kuchiki-san. Make sure to show her the best sights for Karakura."

The girl gave a short bow to her and went inside then. Rukia acted and pushed the boy out of his body while he was still distracted.

In the end, Kurosaki agreed to help her. It was difficult and the boy was stubborn but… It paid off. They were a team now. Now, she needed to start training him.

And find a place to stay. Because she was definitely not staying at that shop with its pervert of a shopkeeper.

Once the school was over for the day, Rukia would drag Kurosaki – Ichigo – with her to the nearby park. There she would train him how to take down hollows properly.

And there they one day met up with one Inoue Orihime who was very, very likely to be attacked by a hollow soon.

She was. But Ichigo handled it. And that eerie violin music was back too. It seemed to be everywhere in Karakura town at once, not really diminishing in volume no matter how far they went. It was only during nights though. Daytime when they went to slay hollows, there was no background music and for some reason… Ichigo wasn't bothered even when there was.

"Oh, it has been going on for a while. Thus far only people who can see ghosts, have mentioned it to me." The boy replied when she asked.

"So it could be a plus soul causing it then?"

"…In a manner of speaking." He said in an evasive manner, obviously reluctant to say more. Rukia let the matter be. For now.

Next they had a case of cursed parakeet with Ichigo's friend Sado Yasutora. It was a strange one with many mysteries until they managed to track down the hollow responsible of it all.

Witnessing the Gates of Hell wasn't something Rukia ever wanted to experience herself but well, at least Ichigo was getting comprehensive look into the work of a Shinigami.

At it seemed like he was adjusting too despite all his grumbling and whining indicating otherwise. Not to mention that he'd managed to sense reiraku ribbons and use them to track down the parakeet and the Sado boy. It was impressive yet… it was like Ichigo was holding back. But that was impossible, right?

"Kuchiki-san? Could I please talk privately with Kanzo-iro-kun? Without you listening in?" Kotobuki asked her one day after school.

"I'm not his keeper." Rukia stated, heedless of the other girl's smile. Kotobuki Mirai was a strange one. The rumors surrounding her and her reputation as a 'revenge-seller' painted a whole different picture than the way she behaved at school. The girl was polite and always smiling at her classmates. Everyone seemed to like her even though they kept distance from her.

"No, you are not. But ever since you arrived, you've been hogging Kanzo-iro all to yourself." The gentle demeanor vanished. "While it's great that you are settling in, acting like a possessive girlfriend is not the way to go on here. I've known Kanzo-iro since we were three years old and lately I've barely had a chance to spend time with him."

Rukia wanted to snap at the ignorant human that she needed to stay close to Ichigo so she could tell him about the hollows nearby, but she bit her tongue. She knew what it was like to miss a friend. The young Shinigami hadn't seen Renji since she'd graduated and been adopted and… No time for reminiscence.

"Alright. I understand. I might need to see him later though. I hope you are done by then." Rukia didn't really like Kotobuki. Something about her made her skin crawl.

She ended up eavesdropping. And she wished she hadn't. It only raised so many questions that she wanted answers for but if she asked anyone, then Kotobuki would know that she'd been listening in and… Rukia really didn't want to know what sort of revenge would be enacted upon her.

"How is it going Ichigo?" The other girl asked the orange-head when they sat down to eat lunch on top of the roof.

"Fine… Exhausted. I have barely any time for myself now." Ichigo sighed.

"How so?"

"She lives in my closet." They were talking about her? Rukia huffed in indignation. Why? Why had Ichigo told that girl about this all?

"Oh? And drags you around with a superior expression on her face?" Kotobuki chuckled.

"Yes…" Ichigo bit out. "I'm tired… And as fulfilling as slaying hollows is, it interferes with my regular life."

"Well, just a few weeks or something and she'll get her powers back and life goes back to normal." Kotobuki comforted the boy. "Think positively. Maybe this will kickstart what naturally is there."

"You think so?"

"It's entirely possible. But you really need to get your reiatsu under control."

"It was manageable before, alright? It's not my fault I'm so overloaded with it now that I can't even sense the edges of it."

Edges? Just what did they think to know about reiatsu?

"And concentration of it would be detrimental for everyone."

"Karin complained last night that it was causing headache for her when I tried to reign it in. So I gave up." Ichigo sighed. "What did Shironeri-san say when you called?"

"To keep an eye on situation and give reports once a week. He hoped that everything will normalize before the deadline and nothing needs to be done about it at his end." Kotobuki shrugged. Who was Shironeri then? "But hey, how have you found your soul form then? Is it easier to work with?"

"Yes." Ichigo smiled. And why didn't he smile like that at Rukia? Just smirked like the cocky kid he was. "I've been limiting myself so Rukia won't ask questions but everything is so much easier without my body. It's no wonder you learnt everything so fast from Bara-san and Neko-san!"

"Yeah… It's an amazing feeling, isn't it?" The girl smiled back. "Hey do you think you could stop by dojo someday soon? We could have a match."

"Sure." Ichigo got up to leave. "Thank you for giving me class notes again, Asagi."

"No problem. I'll keep watching out for you." Kotobuki smiled and they parted ways. But what Rukia didn't know, was that Mirai had been aware the entire time of their eavesdropper.

Her gigai was malfunctioning. It was stiff and she was running out of the… well, drugs to synchronize it with her. Soumafixers were nasty but unfortunately necessary. Moreover, her power didn't seem to be returning and it had already been a week and half since the incident. She needed to get more. And check if her order was ready to be picked up.

Infuriating shopkeeper! And the order wasn't even Chappy the Bunny. No matter, it was for Ichigo anyways. Next time she'd make sure to get Chappy though.

"Do take care, Kuchiki-san!" Urahara grinned. "Please come back…" The man's gaze sharpened to something on top of a building nearby but when Rukia turned around to look, there was nothing. "…soon."

"Was there something?" She frowned. The shopkeeper flapped open his fan and covered the bottom of his face.

"Nope. Not a thing." He said cheerily. But if Rukia had seen his eyes, she'd noticed them being anything but.

Once again, she was not surprised that Ichigo complained about using the Soul Candy. But the mess the konpaku… kaizou konpaku caused was almost not worth the effort to catch it. But they had to. Ichigo needed his body back and quickly. As for the mess at school…

"Kotobuki-san… I have a favor to ask." Rukia didn't want to ask her help but…

"Fire away. It seems you are on a time-limit." The other girl smiled whilst righting one of the desks that Arisawa Tatsuki had been tossing around at the mod-soul.

"Can you do damage control here? I'm sure you already know what Ichigo had been doing these past days and…" She could try and persuade the girl. Preferably with threats.

"Sure." Kotobuki interrupted, breaking Rukia's flow.

"I-…What?"

"I said sure. Now go and catch that wayward body. I'll collect my due eventually."

Rukia really didn't like the grin Kotobuki had on her face but she had no time to think about it. She had a mission.

During their run both Ichigo's phone and Rukia's denreishinki rang. The denreishinki announced a new hollow nearby. The phone call…

"Thanks, Shinbashi-san, you didn't need to." Ichigo ended the call.

"Who was that?"

"Asagi's friend. Apparently she asked her to keep an eye for someone who looked like me but behaved otherwise." The boy replied. "My body is near."

"But the hollow!" The midget protested.

"In the same direction!" And he dashed off.

Really now, this was getting annoying.

Not as annoying as Ichigo apparently already knowing Urahara.

"Wait a minute! You can see me?! You, a candy store owner! What the hell are you?!" The orange-head pointed at the man. "Though considering that it's a 'Soul Candy' why am I surprised…" The boy added under his breath.

Well, Rukia would take a distraction as it was offered.

"K-Kuchiki-san! Don't take that!" Urahara protested when the kaizou konpaku was snatched from his hand.

"What, Urahara? Does your store take items you sold to customer without compensation?" Rukia asked.

"Oh… Well then, I'll pay…"

"No need. I'm satisfied with the product." Rukia dismissed. Having a konpaku that could take care of himself would become handy. Rukongai taught her to exploit everything she could. "Plus, you guys are working outside that law anyway. You don't have any responsibility to recover him."

"…We're not responsible then?" Urahara asked. "If trouble comes, we'll play dumb."

"Don't worry. I'm getting used to trouble lately."

They made their way back to Kurosaki clinic in order to patch up Ichigo's body.

"So… How do you know Urahara?" Rukia asked.

"Geta-boushi? I visited his shop once as a kid with Asagi and Tatsuki. Annoying guy…" Ichigo muttered. It seemed like his mind was elsewhere though.

"What are you thinking?"

"…We should give Kon a body to use." A viable idea but not what was burdening Ichigo.

"Kon?"

"Kon like kaizou konpaku."

"I see. And I agree. But it must be something… non-human."

"Yeah, yeah… I thought about a stray cat or something…"

In the end they found an abandoned lion plushie. Innocent enough to have around. And easy to carry or hide when needed.

Then June 17th rolled around. And Rukia got to see another side of Ichigo. And discover more about Kotobuki Mirai.

A/N: Writing this chapter gave me an opportunity to reread the first chapters of manga as I use that in this fic as a reference instead of anime.(unless it's filler arc) Damn, I never realized how different anime was from manga. When I was writing Gotei 13 watches anime - Pendulum cast, I had the opportunity to rewatch anime and... I can only say wow.

And can I just say how hard it was to try and stretch the events covered in manga to cover about a month of a time when they are written like they happened on consecutive days... Hard. Very hard. But as I don't write up every single detail of canon here, I have more room to move.

Urahara made an appearance again! And Ichigo is trying to protect Mirai from Rukia. And Ukitake knows what has happened to Rukia! The tension is gathering!

Next chapter will have Tatsuki again with observation of everything from 'outsider' perspective. And then Ichigo since that one has Grand Fisher.

()

Replies to Reviews:

-xenocanaan:
He didn't. But they need to keep distance from each other just in case. Considering how Rukia hogged Ichigo's attention in canon without any worry what it and shinigami duties in general would do to his social and school life... Yeah. Though that will change soon.

-Girl-luvs-manga:
Yes, it does.

-Queen Mo-Freakin:
Yes, it has! \o/

-Boyy2k:
She pays back by hitting and punching Ichigo so I think they're even.

-nanox876:
Hmm... I haven't read Bleach light novels so no. As for TYBW... I pick some details (like Masaki being Quincy) and use them as needed (Yhwach wasn't the cause of her Quincy powers malfunctioning).

-General zod:
Thank you! Actually, I've planned on giving Mirai a fan. I like handfans and own myself several so... And the fan will even have purpose.

-DragonClanMaster:
Yep.

-Silverlined Phoenix:
Yes, Rukia is here.
The question mostly had do with Mizuiro's name. I don't know about kanji but mizu = water, iro = color, so technically he could already be nicknamed Mizu-iro = Water-colored. And considering his personality, it fits him quite well.

-AnimemetSoul:
I have some pairings in my mind but I think that this fic will be pairing free in the end. The alternative version of Ichigo and Mirai's adventures with bunch of OCs would have more romance and canon divergence in general.
But thank you for your opinion anyways. Glad to hear that someone like IchigoMirai pairing. I'm quite fond of it myself too.

-Antex -The Legendary Zoroark:
Thank you. Ukitake isn't exactly hiding something. More like he was surprised of what Mirai said... And frankly quite disturbed by what she though about her own fate. While he might've been blackmailing Tomo, he was willing to assess the situation first before making any final decision. So Mirai's behavior towards him... Well, Mirai is scared and the level of fear stunned him thus he was taken off-guard.
Yup, I hope you liked this chapter too. :)