Brown.

Curled locks of hair fell in front of Chad's eyes, obscuring his view.

Granted, the view wasn't very pretty, so perhaps it was for the best that the giant couldn't see anything.

The sound of metal hitting flesh could be heard echoing out from under one of the bridges going across the river in the middle of Karakura.

"Gh!" Chad doubled over as he was hit once again by a hand covered in brass knuckles. However, he couldn't go very far; he was held in place by the ropes that had tied his chest to the back of an old, dirty chair. It wasn't very comfortable, but Chad figured that such a thing was the least of his worries.

Brown.

"Why won't you just give up the tough guy act, already!" A man with mud-colored hair yelled indignantly, "I'm getting sick of this. Maybe I should just throw this useless thing into the river!"

Chad's eyes widened as the man before him brandished the cause of this entire situation: His abuelo's gold coin.

Chad had been walking back home from the store when he had been accosted by six grungy-looking men. The giant teen had assumed that they were the usual thugs that wanted to beat him up for looking foreign. Instead, the man that seemed to be the leader had walked right up to him and suddenly grabbed the chain hanging around his neck—yanking it right off. Chad was stunned into the strangled silence of inactivity. No one had ever done such a thing before, and his brain needed a moment to process what had just happened. Unfortunately, this gave the thugs the opportunity to form a barrier around him as the leader backed away with his most precious possession. The man with his coin told Chad that if he wanted it back, then he should let them wail on him until they were satisfied. Of course, Chad agreed. It was just like the usual, after all.

Now, this man was threatening to break that deal. Although it wasn't below them to do so, Chad had hoped that they would just beat him up, give him back the coin, and then leave. It seemed that wouldn't be the case. The large teen struggled to get out of his entanglement as the man reared back the arm with the coin and prepared to throw it.

Brown. The color of the dirt in the churning river in front of them.

Some of the ropes snapped from his frantic means to escape, but it wouldn't be enough to get the coin before it was lost to the watery depths.

Suddenly, there was the sound of rushing footsteps.

A blur slammed right into the leader before his arm could come forward, and his resulting tumble took out two of the people standing next to him. Whatever had slammed into the mud-haired man didn't even slow down before it was wrapping itself around the neck of a thug who was filming the beatdown on his phone. Then the blur flung itself backwards onto its hands and swung its legs down—the neck of the thug still between its thighs. As a result, the man was smashed into the ground face-first, and the blur finally paused a moment to gather itself.

Brown.

The light of the sun glinted off sunset-colored hair and chocolate eyes flecked with gold.

"Hey, Chad. Looks like you're in a bit of trouble, huh?" A confident smirk was spread across boyish features, and Chad straightened in shock. It was the teen he had meet a few days before summer started. He had been wondering whether the other had made it home alright but hadn't seen him again since the boy had disappeared around that corner about a week ago. Looks like he had worried for nothing, though. In fact, the smaller teen looked better than ever.

Chad figured that was probably because the boy wasn't beaten up and dealing with a concussion this time around.

As the two remaining thugs cried out in outrage, the orange-haired teen picked up the phone that had just been dropped and stopped the ongoing recording. He tapped a few buttons and then held the cell up to his ear.

"Hello, 911?" The lanky teen waited, listening for a moment. After a pause, his gaze took in the group of men in varying states of disarray, "How many ambulances? I'd say six, probably."

As the last pair of thugs stiffened in horror and turned to run away, the teen narrowed his eyes and launched himself after them; dropping the phone and the questioning voice of the operator.

They never stood a chance.

Once Ichigo was done with the two, Chad watched as the other boy stalked over to the leader of the group. The man was crawling on his hands and knees, trying to get away from the scowling kid. It was quite comical.

The orange-haired teen easily caught up with the man and mercilessly stomped on his back, deflating the leader like a balloon. Then, he pried the coin out of the man's grasp and cleaned it off with his shirt.

Chad found his gaze captured by the other's as the teen looked up and ambled toward him.

"This is yours, isn't it?" A light tenor spilled from pouty lips. Chad nodded, looking up in wonder. The orange-haired male had held out a hand with delicate-looking pianist fingers; cradled gently in his palm was the gold coin. The teen appeared to be waiting for Chad to take the coin, and then finally seemed to realize the giant's predicament, "Oh, uh, here. Let me help—" but before he could make a move, Chad grunted and all the ropes that had held him to the chair snapped at once. The tall teen groaned in pain as he stood and felt all his injuries ache in protest.

"Easy there, big guy," The orange-haired teen braced himself and held up his arms just in case Chad felt like falling over. "You alright?"

Chad took a moment to steady himself, and then glanced down so that he could make eye contact with the boy, "Yes, thank you," he mumbled. Then, he held up a large hand and gave the teen a thumbs up.

The other male stared in disbelief, and then shook his head in amusement, "You're really something else, Chad."

Ichigo brought the hand with the coin up again, and this time Chad was able to take it back and safely put it in his breast pocket. He would have to get another chain for it, though; the other one had been brutally broken.

Chad glanced down again when the lanky teen rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"I just realized that I never introduced myself: I'm Kurosaki Ichigo," The boy grinned, and held out his hand to shake. Chad clasped his hand over the other's, completely enveloping it. Ichigo, Chad thought with surprise, what a cute name…

Oblivious to Chad's thoughts, Ichigo pulled away a bit and glanced at where the coin was concealed in the pocket of the taller teen's shirt.

"If you don't mind my asking, why didn't you fight back against those guys? That coin seems important to you, and you had enough strength break out of the ropes to take all of them down, so why?" Ichigo questioned, his eyebrows furrowed, and head tilted in confusion. Chad sighed and put his hand over the coin in his pocket. It looked as though the giant was putting a hand over his heart.

"My abuelo made me promise—on this coin—that I would never selfishly fight in anger with these fists. He taught me patience," Chad's voice rumbled through the air between them, and the hand over his chest clenched into a fist, "He was the greatest man that I have ever known."

Ichigo had no idea what an abu-whatsit was, and it must have shown on his face, because Chad explained: "Abuelo is Spanish for grandfather," and then everything made more sense. The orange-haired teen's scowl softened in understanding.

"Yeah, he sounds like he was an awesome guy," Ichigo agreed sincerely. "What about this, then? I don't want to see you getting smacked around without at least doing something in retaliation, so why don't you raise your fists for me, instead of yourself? You fight for me, and I'll fight for you. That way we can both protect what we want, and those street rats can't walk all over you." After the last sentence, Ichigo grinned in triumph at his brilliant idea.

Chad once more found himself staring at the teen in wonder. Before his brain could even fully process the words, he was already agreeing. Ichigo's grin widened and he patted Chad on the arm (his shoulder was too high).

"It's a deal then, Chad!" To an outsider, it looked as though Ichigo was plotting the demise of an empire—what with his scrunched-up eyebrows and wicked grin—but Chad recognized the genuine excitement in his eyes, and it was incredibly endearing to see. The tall teen never would've thought that someone could ever be so happy at the idea of being his partner, and so his own gaze brightened considerably. Ichigo's grin slowly disappeared, though, as he looked down and saw the blood staining his new friend's shirt, "Hey, you need help patching up? My dad works in a clinic attached to our house, so I know a thing or two about treating wounds." Chad thought about it for a moment.

Before he could answer, the sound of sirens could be heard coming closer to their location.

Ichigo cursed and grabbed Chad's wrist, "Shit, the ambulances! Quick, my old man'll flay me alive if he has to bail me out of jail!" The giant's eyes widened comically as he was suddenly pulled along by this thin teen much shorter than he was. Where the hell is all this strength coming from?

Chad finally straightened out his footing and Ichigo let go of his arm as the giant sprinted next to him. The two locked gazes and Ichigo suddenly burst out laughing while Chad smiled to himself. They just formally met not 10 minutes ago, and now they were running from being questioned by the cops that were likely to be following the paramedics.

Chad figured this was probably some kind of precursor to how his friendship with Ichigo was going to go.

Ichigo finally slowed to a stop in front of a modern two-story house that did, indeed, have a glass-windowed clinic attached to it. Chad jogged up to him, amazed that he had fallen a little behind the lithe teen: Ichigo was quite a bit faster than the giant. Said teen turned to Chad with a blush of exertion dusting his cheeks, "Ah, sorry for just pulling you along all this way. I wasn't really thinking. You probably wanted to go home, huh?"

Chad was already shaking his head, "No, it is alright. There is not much for me there." Again, Ichigo seemed to understand without the taller teen having to say anything else. He just accepted it quietly and gestured for Chad to follow him into the clinic.

The inside of both the clinic and house was dark; not a single noise beside their own slight panting and light footfalls could be heard.

"I guess no one's home," Ichigo shrugged, "My dad must've taken my sisters out somewhere." Instead of asking about the lack of mentioning a mother, Chad decided to inquire about Ichigo's sisters. The teen looked relieved and launched into a conversation about his little sisters. There was Yuzu, who was a sweet little girl that took it upon herself to do most of the housework, and her twin Karin, a spitfire and tomboy who liked to play sports. They were about 4 years younger than he was, and Chad could tell without Ichigo having to say anything that the lithe teen seriously loved them.

As they talked about various inane topics ("What language do you think in; Spanish or Japanese?" "I honestly have no idea."), Ichigo expertly disinfected and wrapped Chad's wounds.

"Thank you, Ichigo. You are good at handling wounds," Chad rumbled quietly, tilting his head in deference. Ichigo lightly flushed at the praise and seemed to fidget for a moment, unsure how to respond.

"A-Aa, no problem, Chad. That's what friends do, right?" Ichigo smiled shakily, and now it was Chad's turn to blush. Hearing Ichigo call them friends was very pleasing. "Do you want to exchange numbers? It would make it easier to get in contact with you," Ichigo suggested, rubbing the back of his neck and looking out at the darkening sky.

"Yes, that would be a good idea," Chad agreed as they exchanged phones and input their contact info. The giant teen hadn't even realized it was getting so late that the sun had started to set, but he couldn't find it in himself to care, because the sky was turning orange, and it cast an other-worldly glow over Ichigo's features. His hair looked like fire itself, and his eyes seemed to emit their own golden light.

Chad had to force himself to focus, and he thanked Ichigo again as they both made their way to the front door.

"Perhaps I should host you the next time we meet?" Came Chad's deep baritone as he stepped onto the walkway outside. Ichigo smirked at him from his spot leaning on the door frame.

"Sounds like a plan," The teen replied, and waved Chad off. He didn't go back inside until the giant male had disappeared down the street.

Ichigo sighed and closed the door behind him. Now he was reminded of all the homework he had to get done, and he couldn't hold back a groan of annoyance. Even though it was summer, he just couldn't catch a break.

The teen grabbed his bag from his room and then seated himself at the kitchen table: Ichigo liked the atmosphere and openness of the living room better than his own room, sometimes.

But that was only when Isshin wasn't there it was quiet.

Ichigo really wasn't a sit-down-and-work-for-hours kind of guy—though he's sure no teen really was—but even though it was excruciating, he managed to finish the math packet and book that he was assigned for his summer work.

The orange-haired teen planted his arms on the table and used them to pillow his head. It was incredibly satisfying to have all his summer work out of the way. No need to worry about it, anymore.

The summer heat soothed his tense muscles, and Ichigo's lids fell over his eyes. He would just rest for a moment, because he had been looking at the small print of his book for the past two hours. That's right… just a short resting of the eyes, Ichigo thought slowly as he drifted into a world of salt-scented air, and wavy orange hair—so much like his own—enveloping him in an untouchable cocoon of smiles and laughter, the sound of waves crashing on the shore in the background.

A gentle breeze came through the open window, ruffling soft, orange locks of hair. Quiet, even breaths escaped from parted lips, and Ichigo's stone-cold features finally melted away to reveal the child underneath.

The front door of the Kurosaki household was thrown open approximately 3 hours after Ichigo had succumbed to the idea of resting his eyes.

"We're home, my delinquent son!" Isshin Kurosaki shouted as he held open the door for his two daughters to pass by with their arms full of candy, random toys, and stuffed animals.

The Kurosaki family—minus Ichigo, of course—had just gone to the fair that had been set up a few days ago near the outskirts of town. Karin and Yuzu had asked why Ichigo didn't come with them, but Isshin had only responded that Ichigo would've just ruined all the fun with his sour expressions. When the twins weren't satisfied with that statement, he then told them that their brother was getting hormonal and probably wouldn't want to go to a fair that he must consider 'too childish'. The twins seemed saddened that their brother didn't seem to want to spend time with them, but they forgot about such things as they laughed and cheered at all the activities to be done at the fair.

It was only when Yuzu and Karin started to become too tired to walk that the three headed home.

Isshin closed and locked the door behind them for the night and stomped his way to the bottom of the stairs, about to shout again to get his son's attention. Ichigo should greet us properly when we've just come home! The man huffed. However, Yuzu peeked around the doorway to the living room and put a finger to her lips.

"Shh! Ichi-nii is sleeping, you shouldn't wake him, daddy!" The little girl chided. Isshin ruffled his darling's hair as he walked past her into the living room.

"My lazy son must be woken so he can welcome his precious family home!" The burly man cried.

Ichigo seemed to twitch, and his eyebrows furrowed. He burrowed further into his arms and made a soft protesting noise, almost as if he was trying to stop himself from waking. Karin and Yuzu practically melted at the sight, but Isshin puffed his chest out indignantly and marched over to the teen. The black-haired twin leveled a glare at her father.

"Oi, goat-face, chill out and let him sleep! He's been super tired lately because of the job that you made him get!" Karin raised her voice in irritation and brandished a fist menacingly.

"No son of mine will slack off just because it's summer!" Isshin shouted as he reached the chair that Ichigo was sleeping on. Their arguing finally woke Ichigo up as the boy quickly jumped to his feet and whirled around. The chair clattered to the ground and Ichigo fixed wild, unfocused eyes on his father. The teen managed to dodge the first grab made for his arm, but due to the extreme disorientation of waking up to immediate action, he couldn't get away from the hand that fisted in his shirt collar. "What are you doing, my rambunctious offspring? Daddy just needed to wake you so that you could welcome us home and then get your lazy self to bed!"

"D-Dad? Wha-!" Ichigo managed to calm down enough to recognize where he was and who had woken him up, but before he could do anything else Isshin tightened the grip on his shirt and threw him into the kitchen counters. Ichigo coughed as his back cracked a bit against the marble and hard wood of the cabinets. The teen then slid onto the ground right onto his shoulder, "What the hell is wrong with you, you old coot?" Ichigo shouted hoarsely as he lifted his upper-half off the floor with a harsh glare directed towards his father.

Isshin walked over and loomed over his son, his arms crossed and his large frame blocking out the overhead light, "Oh my poor, poor Ichigo. You've forgotten your basic manners! Now," Here, Isshin's countenance darkened, and Ichigo suddenly felt very, very small, "welcome your sisters and I home."

Ichigo rubbed his sore shoulder as shifted his legs under him and kneeled on the floor. The teen's lips thinned, and he turned his head to the side—his eyes shifting to the floor.

"Welcome home; Pop, Karin, Yuzu," Ichigo spoke tonelessly.

Isshin put his hands on his hips triumphantly and a wide smile spread across his face, "Very good, my son! Looks like you didn't forget your manners after all! You may go up to your room, now." Ichigo swiftly got to his feet and stalked past his father. He paused in the doorway to the stairs, seeming to finally realize that there were other people in the room.

"Goodnight Karin, Yuzu," Ichigo spoke softly, taking in the tired-but-overall-sated look on their faces. His gaze shifted to the various kick-knacks that they were holding: Cute stuffed animals and many types of colorful candy filled their arms. Ah, they must've gone to the fair, Ichigo thought dispassionately. His sisters watched with some trepidation as his eyes seemed to dull and darken, but quietly called a goodnight back to their brother.

Ichigo went around the corner and up the stairs without a second glance.

Once she figured that her brother had gone into his room, Karin rounded on their father.

"You stupid idiot! Look at what you did!" The 10-year-old then proceeded to kick her large father in the shin, as it was the only thing she could effectively reach.

"Ow! Karin-chan, please don't hurt daddy!" Isshin cried as he crawled away from his cute little menace.

"Karin, you shouldn't kick daddy," At this Isshin sobbed in relief and spread his arms in the direction of his sweet Yuzu, "but you should apologize to Ichi-nii, tou-san!" The man immediately shrunk away from her and dragged himself over to the large photo of his deceased wife.

"My dear Masaki, our children don't love me anymore; what am I to do without your guidance?" The grown man wailed as he slumped against the wall.

Ichigo listened, the commotion downstairs finally subsiding as the twins made haste towards their room. Now, only Isshin's quiet sobs were left. The orange-haired teen turned bleary eyes towards his alarm clock. It's 11:30 p.m.? Ichigo groaned and turned onto his side, only to wince as he jostled his hurt shoulder. Great. I can't sleep on my back or my right side, the teen griped as he turned to face the rest of the room. Now my left side will be sore in the morning because it's the only thing I can sleep on, and this mattress is older than I am.

Ichigo clenched his eyes shut and stopped his train of thought in its tracks. Now the teen just sounded whiny and pathetic, and he hated to sound that way even in his own mind.

Despite all that just happened, and the abysmal way that Ichigo had been awoken from sleep thirty minutes ago, the teen tried once more to fall into unconsciousness. Unfortunately, he needed to feel as though he was in a stable environment to be able to relax, and so sleep eluded him.

Instead of the merciful reprieve of a dream that made no sense, Ichigo was treated to memories of laughter and balloon animals. A smile so beautiful that it lit up the world around him; so kind that he always wanted to see it. He remembered doing his best with the ring-tosses and the goldfish-catching so that he could win prizes for her. For his mother. His world. The fair on the outskirts of town that the Kurosaki family went to every year used to be one of his favorite places, because having little Yuzu and Karin stumbling around and his father and mother laughing together made his heart swell in happiness. He remembered feeling as if he couldn't possibly contain so much joy in his small body, so he shared it with his family as well. He smiled as much as possible, all the time. His mother even smiled back at him! Ichigo knew he had to be doing it right, if that was the case.

Then, he had ruined it. Just like he ruined everything else.

He didn't go to the fair on the year of his ninth birthday.

As Chad lay awake the night after meeting Ichigo for the second time, he wondered what his new friends was doing. He wondered about Ichigo's family, too. The lithe teen had really seemed to love his sisters, and Chad had to admit that he was also curious about the other's father. Did they eat breakfast together in the morning, or watch movies after eating dinner? Were Yuzu and Karin tucked in at night? It must've been a warm and happy place, Chad figured.

The gentle giant couldn't wait to see him again. He finally had someone to talk to in Karakura, and it was such an interesting boy. He'd never met anyone like Ichigo before; that much he could tell after meeting the teen for the very first time. Their second encounter only cemented the fact in his mind.

Finally, Chad closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

The sight of Ichigo running ahead of him came into existence. The teen looked over his shoulder and smiled so brightly at him that Chad felt as though he had just stood in the sun for an entire day and yet hadn't gotten burned. There was a bright blush on the boy's face that was in stark contrast with his hair.

Chad really liked this dream.

Suddenly, Ichigo stumbled. Chad wondered what the problem was as he jogged up to the smaller teen.

Ichigo crumpled to the ground before Chad could catch him, and as the large teen knelt in worry, he could see a large bruise forming along the other's spine where his shirt had ridden up during the fall. Chad was now very concerned, and he pulled the boy up to rest his forehead on the larger teen's shoulder so that he could get a better look. Then, Ichigo groaned softly, and Chad could see another purple bruise blossoming on his friend's right shoulder.

Ichigo started shaking in Chad's arms, and the larger teen could feel cold drops of water start to fall around him. It's…raining? Chad realized, eyes widening. Then, in stark contrast to the sudden downpour, the body in his arms started becoming scorching-hot.

Chad looked down and visibly paled. The bruises on Ichigo's skin had gone from a normal, discolored purple to a burnt-looking black, and it was beginning to spread. Like an old reel of film that was set on fire, Chad watched as Ichigo disintegrated right in front of his eyes.

It was beyond unsettling and the giant teen woke up in a cold sweat, breathing heavily.

There was no way he was going to bed, now.

Will I always end my chapters with sleep? Idk, will I ever stop writing these entire chapters in one day while longing for the blissful darkness myself? Not even god himself can say.

I don't know if any of you were here back in the day when I still had my other two fanfics posted (One Piece and Blue Exorcist: god, what dark times) but they were pretty morbid. Now, this isn't going to be nearly as bad (or cringe-worthy) but I want it to reflect real fears and problems that the Bleach kids should've had instead of… what they actually worried about? Idk man. Sometimes they just went against their prior character development, I think.

I'm getting down and dirty, and nothing is going to get in my way.

Anyhow, I think I know where I'm going with this shit-storm, so stay-tuned.