The heat of the afternoon sun bore down on Ichigo's exposed back and sweat darkened the teen's hair as he balanced on his knees and the balls of his feet. His right arm raised and lowered methodically; the sound of hammering echoed down the street.

Wiping the sweat from his brow, Ichigo rocked back onto his heels and surveyed his work. The weak roof tiles of his client's house were fully replaced, and now they should have no problem with any leaks or drafts. Ichigo grabbed the tool box that had been provided by his boss, and skillfully climbed down the side of the house. Mrs. Nakamura—the kind old lady who had called for his service—was waiting for him on her porch. She held out a cold glass of lemonade, and the teen quickly pulled on his white work t-shirt before gratefully gulping down the offered drink.

"Thank you for the refreshment, Nakamura-san," Ichigo grinned, letting the woman take the now-empty glass back from his aching hands. "I've finished replacing the tiles on your roof, so you shouldn't be waking up to puddles on the floor after a storm, anymore. If you do then don't hesitate to let Unagiya-san know, and we'll fix them again—free of charge."

The old woman smiled brightly, "Why thank you, young man! You're very dependable, I have no worries that I'll need to call about any leaks. Send my regards to your boss and have a nice day!" Mrs. Nakamura handed him an envelope filled with his payment and then waved him off as he walked to the front gate.

"It's no problem, Nakamura-san. I will tell Unagiya-san that you said hello, and I hope you have a nice day, as well!" Ichigo called out, heading down the street and waving behind his shoulder.

As the teen walked out the cramps in his legs on the way back to his job, he thought back on the past 12 months.

A year had gone by since his first meeting with Chad—the summer after his second year of middle school—and their friendship had gone a long way since then. A week after cleaning Chad's wounds from his tussle under the bridge, the giant had texted Ichigo and asked if he wanted to hang out. The orange-haired teen hadn't even hesitated to agree.

Ichigo found out that Chad was living in an apartment, all by himself, about a 20-minute walk from the clinic. The large teen didn't seem to be bothered by his lack of housemates, but Ichigo resolved to never let his new friend feel lonely if he could help it.

They were a perfect match: Ichigo finally got some peace and quiet, while Chad could let someone else do the talking. In fact, Chad rather liked to hear the lithe teen speak; his tenor filled the giant's empty apartment with warmth. After finding out that they both played guitar, the two teens delighted in practicing with each other, and Chad was even more entranced to find out that the other teen sang as well. It took a lot of quiet (but intense) convincing from Chad before Ichigo finally conceded to sing him a song. The giant teen had watched as, red-faced, Ichigo softened his voice and glided through a beautiful melody. It was one of the most incredible things that Chad had ever heard, and it seemed like he conveyed as much through his eyes, because when Ichigo had looked up at him after singing the last note, he had immediately ducked his head and brought up a hand to rub shyly at the back of his neck.

The days they spent with each other were filled with quiet amusement, and the nights with hushed contemplation. Neither were very loud, and that was just fine with them.

Weirdly enough, however, Ichigo had started having dreams about Chad two days after he had gone to the giant's house for the first time. They weren't normal ones, either.

Usually, dreams are jumbled up memories of places and things that someone has already experienced, but Ichigo swore he had never experienced anything like the city he often found himself in when he fell asleep. It was arid, crowded, and filled with smoke; closed in by the mountains around it. In these dreams, Chad was much younger, and almost always covered in bruises. His silence was strangled instead of peaceful, and he picked fights with any faceless thug that crossed him. Ichigo nearly got whiplash from how different this version of his friend was. The only similarities that could be found between the Chad that Ichigo knew and the Chad in his dreams, was the quiet strength that seemed to emanate from the male. Ichigo had stewed over these strange dreams for two months. During this time, there were no significant changes to what the lithe teen witnessed: alley fights, dusty streets, and the perpetual toxic fog that settled over the city like a blanket. Then, on the third month of having these consistent dreams of his friend, Ichigo met someone unusual.

Ichigo watched as dream Chad took down another group of street rats in the back of an alley. The young boy was panting with anger and exertion, fists clenched tightly. The last thug had already fallen a while ago, and it worried Ichigo to see his friend so shaken. However, nearly right out of the fog, an incredibly tall and muscular old man walked up to the boy and settled a hand on his shoulder. Chad turned around with wide eyes, and then calmed immediately upon seeing who was behind him. Ichigo took careful note of this, because anyone who was trusted by Chad was incredibly important.

Curious, Ichigo walked closer to get a good look at the newcomer.

A strong but kind face, a bushy, white mustache, a newsboy cap that hid the man's eyes, and a pair of suspenders adorned the man's body. The orange-haired teen was fascinated. He watched as the man chastised Chad for fighting selfishly and told him to instead use his large fists for good. There was a niggling feeling in the back of Ichigo's head that the scenario seemed awfully familiar, and then it clicked into place when he saw the old man give his necklace to Chad: It was the same golden coin on a chain that Ichigo's friend treasured more than anything else. The orange-haired teen realized that Chad had told him about this same scenario a while back. Terrifyingly enough, however, once Ichigo made the connection the old man's head had slowly turned his way. Immediately, Ichigo started to sweat nervously. A sickly yellow eye peered out at him from the dark shadow that the cap cast over the man's face.

"So, you've figured it out, have you?" The deep baritone filled his head, and Ichigo backed away slowly. The teen panicked; no one had ever acknowledged his presence during the entire two months that he had been having dreams of the mysterious city. "There is no need for alarm. I am Oscar Joaquín de la Rosa, but you may know me better as Sado's abuelo."

Ichigo, understandably, was not entirely calmed by la Rosa's words.

"You… you're Chad's grandpa? You seem so real, this isn't like a dream at all." The orange-haired teen's brows furrowed, eyes scrutinizing the man in front of him, "What are you doing here?"

The old man's demeanor seemed to lessen in severity when Ichigo naively tilted his head in confusion.

"Ah, niño pequeño, it's a wonder why you think this is even a dream in the first place," Came the gravelly, but not unkind, response. He sighed when Ichigo merely scrunched his face up further. "The real question is what you are doing here, Ichigo."

All the teen's defenses dropped, he had no idea what was going on, "What does that even mean, isn't this just a figment of my imagination?" Ichigo stiffened once more when he registered what else the man had said. "How do you know my name?"

The shaded streets of the city promptly darkened to an apocalyptic red, and the figure of Chad's grandfather seemed to grow larger. The old man slowly turned to face the teen completely, and his glowing, pale yellow gaze burned through the shadows. "Surely it would make sense for everyone to know your name in your own dream, yes?"

Ichigo backed away as the tall, bulky man stalked closer. The teen jerked as his back hit the hard wall of the alley behind him. There was no escape. "I-I don't know… If this isn't a dream, then what could it be?"

At this, la Rosa halted his advance.

"You and Sado are now irrevocably entwined together. When meeting him for the first time, the both of you connected on a deep level that is nigh unheard of. Ichigo, you awakened Sado's soul—" La Rosa's next words were lost in the scream that erupted from behind him. Startled, Ichigo slid out from behind the old man's large frame and took in the scene in front of him.

The young version of Chad, nearly forgotten, was sitting on his knees and staring at his wet hands. Ichigo was immensely confused: everything was tinted red, so it was hard to tell what was on the boy's hands—oh. Oh. In growing horror, the orange-haired teen noticed that more bodies than just the downed thugs' started piling up around them. The streets were covered in the fluid that was pouring out of them.

Ichigo kind of wanted to scream, himself.

Instead, the lithe teen ran to his friend's side and got onto his knees beside him, "Chad… Chad! It's fine, it'll be okay!" Chad turned his head and peered up at Ichigo with wide eyes. In turn, the teen tried to reassuringly pat his friend on the shoulder. Unfortunately, instead of everything returning to normal the perpetual smog of the city lowered to cover the ground, and shrouded everything in a noxious, red-tinted veil. Ichigo could barely see Chad, who was not even a foot in front of him.

"You must understand, Ichigo; you and Sado are more alike than you may think," Came the rough voice of Chad's abuelo, from directly behind him. Ichigo nearly screeched in fright but managed to contain himself and instead turned to look the man in the eye. La Rosa's pale-yellow irises were the only clearly visible part of him. They glowed sickeningly in the dim surroundings. "This is not a dream. It is the world that resides in Sado's soul, chico," The old man explained. Unfortunately, Ichigo did not understand what la Rosa meant.

"Everything will make sense soon enough," Were the last words that the orange-haired teen heard from the weird, old man as everything faded to black and he woke up in a cold sweat on Chad's bedroom floor. Chad was only four feet away on another futon and looked to be settling down from a nightmare of his own.

Defeated, Ichigo laid awake the rest of the night.

He would not deal with that toxic city nor Oscar Joaquín de la Rosa again for a long time.

Now, it had been ten months since Ichigo experienced that strange nightmare. He was still consistently dreaming about his friend, but no longer was it of unfamiliar faces and people. Currently, it was just visions of he and Chad hanging out in the park, at a café, or at each other's houses.

Simple, light-hearted stuff that didn't add to Ichigo's already-fucked-up sleep cycles.

Ichigo turned right onto the street that housed his workplace. Never had he been so happy to see the sign of Unagiya's odd-job services; his whole body was incredibly sore from doing four non-stop hours of work on a hot, summer day. Sometimes he wished that Isshin hadn't signed him up for such a demanding job without his consent. It was even illegal for him to be working, and they were lying to the boss about his age. However, it paid well for his needs and the owner was lenient, so he couldn't really complain. Even if Goat-Face was forcing him to help pay the bills by getting a job ("It'll make you into a responsible young adult, my son!") it was a nice excuse to stay away from the enigmatic man, anyway.

The lithe teen trudged up the stairs of the small building, lugging the toolbox behind him. He used a spare key to unlock the door, and let it softly shut behind him. It felt eerily silent in the place compared to the usual noise, and that's when Ichigo remembered that Unagiya-san was running errands with her son. Well, that explains why it's so quiet, Ichigo thought, heading to the rooms in the back of the building. He was glad that the boss allowed him to use her extra utilities. The jobs were so physically demanding sometimes that he couldn't, in good conscience, grace the public with his presence without taking a shower. He didn't like walking home feeling as if he'd just swapped occupations with a pig farmer.

So, yeah.

Shower: Clean, feels good. Change into comfy clothes: Nice, icing on the cake.

After scrubbing away his aches and pains with a pink loofah (provided by his boss) and strawberry-scented shampoo/body-wash (…also provided by his boss), Ichigo tidied up the bathroom and the office-space where they took costumers. The teen figured it would be the nice thing to do, because his boss was always too busy to properly organize everything.

…It might also get him a bit of extra money for a day at the arcade with Chad: his friend deserved to be treated to something fun.

Once the teen was done cleaning up, he sat down on the couch they had near the door and finished drying off his hair with the orange towel around his neck (his boss really was such a… jokester). Ichigo left the towel draped over his head and relaxed into the cushions. His worries melted away as the black leather of Unagiya's couch sucked him into the abyss.

Ichigo had felt so harassed the past week because his first day of high school was Monday, and Isshin just would not stop pestering him about it. The man's attacks had been getting more frequent, underhanded, and damaging; Ichigo was impressed he hadn't snapped yet and just thrown the goat-face into oncoming traffic.

None of that mattered, however, because right then Ichigo was settling onto his side and resting his head on the armrest of the couch. Ah, gotta wait for Unagiya-san to come back… to confirm that... the job... was done… can't sleep now... Were the teen's last coherent thoughts before he curled up, unconsciously bringing his knees up to his chest for warmth.

Unagiya Ikumi smiled gently at her son as they walked up the stairs to the front door of her house/office, "Did you enjoy the fair, Kaoru?" The boy held up the stuffed koi fish that he had won at one of the stalls and beamed.

"Yes, mama!"

Ikumi nodded, convinced, and reached for the door handle. It's unlocked? The woman thought confusedly, there's no way Ichigo could've finished all his jobs so fast, right? She pulled the door open cautiously, and peered in. Her eyes widened in surprise when she noticed that the living room was sparkling clean, and all the papers that had been scattered across the kitchen table were put into neat piles. Thoroughly pleased, Ikumi walked in and closed the door behind her son, ready to praise her employee for his hard work. The odd-jobs owner turned to face the room and froze at the sight that greeted her.

"Kaa-san?" Kaoru asked, wondering why his mother had suddenly stopped right in front of him. He stepped out from behind her and followed her gaze to the couch.

There, laying in a loose fetal position on the black, leather cushions, was Kurosaki Ichigo.

Ikumi practically squealed with delight, a satisfied flush coming to her cheeks. "Shh, don't wake him Kaoru, sweetie: Ichi-nii is probably very tired. Why don't you go play with your new toy?" The woman whispered, guiding her son out of the room and closing the door to the hall behind him. Then, she quickly fumbled to grab the camera she always left on the table and settled closer to the young boy. He lowered his guard, yes! There was the quick shutter of a camera as Ikumi took a photo of the first time she had ever seen her young charge so relaxed during the entire year that she'd known Ichigo. The sound of the camera going off must've roused the teen a bit, because he scrunched up his nose. So cute! The mother thought, quickly bringing up her camera to capture that moment as well. This time, Ichigo curled in on himself a little more, and dragged a hand up to his face to hide behind a little bit. The pleased flush on the shop-owner's face deepened and more photos were taken. Just when Ikumi thought it couldn't get any better, the orange-haired teen breathed out lightly and nibbled gently on the knuckle of the hand that he brought up to his face.

A high-pitched 'kya' resounded throughout the room, followed by the sound of the camera going off. Unfortunately, her fascination was Unagiya's downfall, as the loud noise woke Ichigo up completely. The boy's scowl firmly settled into place, and he sat up while groggily rubbing his eyes. Ikumi had already evacuated to the other side of the room and tried to look casual as she safely put away the camera in a drawer.

"Good morning, Ichigo! Sleep well?" The woman taunted, pasting a cocky smirk on her face. Ichigo's scowl deepened momentarily with mild confusion, but then he seemed to remember what he was trying to do before he passed out.

"Oh, it's you, Unagiya-san. I didn't mean to fall asleep on the couch. I was waiting for you to come back so that I could reliably deliver the payment I received today," The fiery-haired youth grumbled, still trying to rid himself of the lingering effects of his nap. Ikumi used his distraction to compose herself in the aftermath of the images that had assaulted her mind at her employee's words. The idea of Ichigo waiting patiently for her, but being unable to resist the pull of sleep, was just too adorable. It reminded her of a puppy waiting for their owner to come home, tail and ears drooping in exhaustion as the minutes ticked by. The woman cleared her throat roughly.

"It's quite alright, Ichigo. I'm impressed you managed to get all your work done in so little time, I think you deserve a little rest," Ikumi smiled reassuringly, walking over to the couch and gently ruffling the teen's hair. The smell of strawberries wafted up to her nose, and her smile turned teasing, "The shampoo suits you."

Ichigo growled as he pushed away his boss's hand and stood up, trying to fix his crazy spikes, "Yeah, yeah. Anyway, here's the payment from all six jobs, I gotta go home." The teen grabbed a bag by the couch that held his dirty work clothes and tiredly stumbled to the door.

"Text me when you get home so I can let you know your earnings for today, okay?" Ikumi spoke firmly, hands on her hips.

"Okay…" The teen yawned, waving to her without turning around, and opened the door. Ichigo swung the bag over his shoulders and disappeared down the stairs.

After the lock clicked shut in her employee's wake, Ikumi deflated. Just what am I going to do with you, boy? The woman thought worriedly, pondering over just how exhausted Ichigo seemed to look. Honestly, she was surprised she hadn't found him passed out on her couch before this. He worked himself too hard, and Ikumi figured it was pure willpower that was keeping the lithe teen on his feet during the day.

Truthfully, the woman wanted Ichigo to text her so she could know that the boy had just made it home safely. There was no logical reason for her to worry—Ichigo was quite strong and capable—but her mother's intuition always sent her red alerts whenever the young employee was out of her sight.

And her instincts as a mother had never failed her, before.

Ichigo stumbled down the pathway to his front door, exhausted and ready to take a long nap. His small bout of shut-eye on Unagiya's couch had been more trouble than it was worth. Now, the teen was groggier than before, and the awkward sleeping position had caused a crick in his neck.

Rubbing an eye with the back of his knuckles, Ichigo opened the front door and stepped inside.

"I'm home," the lithe teen called out while toeing off his shoes. He turned to face the rest of the house and was greeted to a foot in the sternum, "Guh!" All the air was pushed out of Ichigo's lungs in one move, and his chest muscles spasmed. There was a moment in which the teen simply couldn't get his lungs to move and take in a breath.

Ichigo fell back into the door, disoriented from the sudden rush of adrenaline that flooded his body. Usually such a thing would give him the boost he needed to finish a fight, but paired with his exhaustion and shock, only caused his body to become limp. A flight response instead of the usual fight.

"Welcome home, my son! How was your job? I'm sure you worked hard again, today. I'm so proud," Isshin gushed, bringing his leg down and straightening up, "and yet oh-so disappointed, Ichigo." The man walked up to the slouched form of his son and kneeled in front of him. "Why didn't you dodge that? Is something the matter, my boy?"

Ah, Ichigo thought despondently, guess I was more out of it than I thought.

The orange-haired teen berated himself for forgetting about Isshin's new type of surprise attack. They had started just last week and were meant to 'prepare him for the dangers of high school'. Basically, the difference between the man's regular attacks and these new ones was the fact that Isshin didn't announce himself in any way. Horrifyingly, Ichigo's father could be silent even when in the middle of executing an attack. As such, the teen had somewhat learned to 'feel' when someone was going to strike at him.

Turns out that newfound ability doesn't work very well if he's too tired.

"Everything's fine, Goat-face," Ichigo grunted, pulling himself upright with the assistance of the wall behind him, "I was just a bit distracted." Isshin swooped in and wrapped his arms around his son's middle. The teen struggled to get out of the man's bear hold.

"Oh, my poor, delinquent son: Have I taught you nothing? You must always be on your guard," The older Kurosaki continued, proceeding to throw Ichigo over his shoulder. The teen protested, using his elbows and fists to beat against his father's back, but that didn't stop the man from reopening the front door and tossing him back out onto the cement pathway leading to the house. "Here, let's try this again! It won't be the same because it's not quite a surprise, but it's the thought that counts!" And with that, the front door slammed shut.

Ichigo pushed himself into a sitting position, wincing as the aftershocks of hitting the concrete washed over him. He gathered himself quickly, rubbing his arms and secretly relishing in the human warmth that lingered on his body from his brief contact with Isshin's own furnace-like skin. These days, even though he still perspired under the summer heat, his core still felt so very cold. Frozen solid, even. The frost only seemed to melt with the help of other's body heat. Ichigo didn't understand what was going on or why it was happening, but it constantly caused him grief.

Thankfully, Isshin provided a reprieve whenever they were close enough. For this reason, Ichigo somewhat appreciated the goat face's strange displays of affection: Bruises and scrapes where familiar and inconsequential to him, but the cold was unbearable. The teen didn't mind the choke holds and the brief, crushing hugs before being thrown if Isshin would just spare a bit of the limitless heat that seemed to emanate from him.

Ichigo stumbled to his feet and tried to shake off the lingering exhaustion. It didn't work, naturally, but it gave the teen the confidence to make his way to the door and get rid of the cold the only way he knew how.

Chad sat on the living room floor of his quiet apartment, working on the homework that had been assigned over the summer. It was mostly a review of what he had learned in middle school, but there were hints of harder material that would be taught in his first year of high school. The monotony of solving equations over and over again, however, soon caused the teen's mind to wander.

Naturally, his thoughts drifted to the fiery young teen that had captured his attention from day one. It was with fondness that Chad recalled his first run-in with Ichigo, and all the moments they'd experienced together since then. One moment stood out starkly against the warm haze of their friendship, though: The two had ended up in the same class, luckily, after meeting the summer before their second year of middle school. Chad had been very pleased to see his friend's bright head of hair when he walked into the room filled with the low murmurs of young teens. Ichigo had immediately taken notice of him, as well, and they converged in the middle of the classroom to chat for a bit before homeroom started. Roll had been called and the students directed to their assigned seats. What had amused Chad, however, was the shocked look Ichigo had given him when the giant teen responded to the call of 'Yasutora Sado' from the teacher. The orange-haired teen had been forced to turn back around lest he draw attention to himself, but his eyes said that they would talk about it later.

After class Ichigo had stepped up to him, flushed slightly in embarrassment. "You didn't tell me your name was Sado! Why did you let me call you Chad this entire time? I don't even remember calling you that in the first place," He griped, putting his head in his hands.

Chad had only let out a small chuckle, "It grew on me." Then, a half-hearted shrug of large shoulders, "You weren't exactly in the right state of mind, anyway." Ichigo had peeked up at him through a gap in his fingers and, seeing the glint of amusement in his friend's visible eye, groaned tiredly and closed his fingers again.

Chad had cataloged that moment deep in his mind. Not because Ichigo had melted him on the inside with his pink cheeks and the embarrassed look in golden-flecked, chocolate eyes. No, it was for… some other reason, probably.

Something else stood out to the tall teen, however: That interesting dream about Ichigo burning away in his arms the night after they had met for the second time was only the start to a long line of similar instances. Luckily not all these dreams were of the same horrifying standard, but there always seemed to be an underlying theme to them.

For instance, one night had Chad spending his time with Ichigo on a sunny beach. The waves were a gentle lull in the background, and the sun seemed to kiss his friend's tan skin. After a particularly strong breeze blew by, Ichigo stretched and stood up. He smiled, beckoning Chad to join him for a swim. The large teen had no reason to refuse and figured getting in the ocean would be refreshing.

The two walked to the water, Ichigo taking the lead. However, instead of sinking under the waves, the lithe teen's feet had stepped on top of them as if they were solid. Surprised but not thinking anything of it, Chad cautiously followed. His feet also stayed above the water, and awe ruled out his suspicions as he followed Ichigo away from the beach.

Soon enough, the shore became a distant blip on the horizon.

Ichigo suddenly decided to stop, and Chad waited a few feet behind him—wondering what they were doing. Ripples spread out from where Ichigo planted his feet on the surface of the water, and they grew larger the further away from him they traveled. From where the larger teen was standing, the ripples weren't even close to the bottom of his red trunks, but with a glance behind him Chad saw that the ripples eventually formed monstrous waves about five times his size. Thoroughly confused, the dark-skinned teen took a step toward Ichigo's back and reached out. Before he could get very close, though, the tops of concrete buildings burst out from the disturbed surface of the ocean around them and continued to grow towards the sky. Looking down at the solid layer of water beneath him, Chad noticed something unusual. The surface of the water looked like that of a mirror, and he could almost perfectly see his features even through the distortion.

When observing Ichigo's reflection, his skin seemed to be very pale. White, even.

Worried, Chad closed the distance between himself and the orange-haired teen, enclosing his shoulder with a firm grip. It's… cold? The giant tried to observe his friend's facial expression in the window of the skyscraper that had emerged from the ripples of water in front of them. Golden eyes surrounded in a void of black greeted his gaze.

Chad jerked back out of instinct. He couldn't seem to look away from that piercing stare; it rooted him in place.

Soon though, the giant teen began to take in the larger picture: pale skin, white hair, and dark red trunks the opposite of Ichigo's own made up the inverted reflection in the window. Chad had to do a double-take. There, in the middle of the inverted reflection's chest, was a black hole that Chad could probably fit his entire fist through. It didn't appear to bother the other too much, though, so the large teen hastily shook it from his mind. The intense eyes that had rooted him to the spot before, now only seemed to glance at him in a bored manner. Assured that this was just one of those weird dreams, Chad once more reached out to Ichigo's bare shoulder. Again, the teen noted that the boy's tan skin seemed much too cold for the sunny weather. As his hand met the bare flesh of his friend's shoulder, Chad noticed a small flinch from the reflection of Ichigo in the window and looked up to see what the problem was.

There, right where Chad had his grip on the actual Ichigo, was a hand-shaped spot of color on the pale countenance of the reflection. The stark difference of white skin being taken over by a light tan was obvious, and the reflection looked as if they were freaked out about it. Eyeing the spreading tan warily, the golden-eyed, pale Ichigo suddenly clutched at the hole over their sternum. In front of Chad's astonished stare, the void slowly closed and more tan shade spread from the now-unbroken skin. In no time all the white skin had been colored in, as well as the hair. Now, the reflection looked nearly the same as the person it was supposed to be modeling. All that remained different were the dark red trunks, and those predatory eyes.

Chad noted that Ichigo's skin had warmed considerably, and the boy had relaxed under his touch.

The large teen watched nervously as the colored in reflection reached for their side of the window's surface. For a moment its hand was stuck, but then it phased through—followed by its forearm—with some difficulty. Chad tensed and fixed his grip on Ichigo's shoulder, ready to grab the other teen and push him back to safety.

However, before any more of the reflection's body could pass through the window that separated them, a shadow rose from behind it. The shadow grew into the shape of a tall, dark-haired man swathed in writhing darkness. Covered in a large mustache that merged with his sideburns, the man gripped not-Ichigo's shoulder, and dragged him back. Not-Ichigo's gold-on-black eyes widened and conveyed an obvious plea to Chad before their body was rapidly devoured in the shadows that emanated from the man looming over them.

Chad's uneasiness grew to great levels as he locked in a stare with cold, blue eyes. Danger oozed from the man and his cloak of void, but soon he was devoured by inky blackness as well and disappeared back into the water's reflection from whence he came.

An unsettling quiet descended upon the vast sea of skyscrapers. Slowly, Chad's grip on his friend's shoulder slipped as the other turned to face him. One icy blue and one shimmering gold-on-black eye gazed into his soul.

"Chad," Ichigo breathed, taking a step forward, "it's cold." The lithe teen reached up to his sternum with a trembling hand, just in time to cover up the small nothingness that had begun to open over his heart. The earlier memory of a similar void on the not-Ichigo jumped to the giant's mind. That one had closed, but how?

All he had done was… touch Ichigo on the shoulder?

Chad's eyes widened in understanding. Ichigo had been freezing before, as well, but warmed up the longer that Chad had been in contact with him: He had been too distracted at the time to notice, but now that he thought about it, that's how not-Ichigo's void had disappeared as well. So, Chad met Ichigo in the middle and enveloped the other's smaller frame in his arms. Sure enough, the lithe teen's skin was frigid, and he was shivering minutely. Chad only held on tighter, willing for Ichigo to gain some of his own warmth. At the thought, a golden glow covered Chad's skin, and flowed to cover Ichigo as well. Soon the orange-haired teen's shivers abated, and the golden glow vanished back into Chad's body. The large teen leaned back and grabbed the wrist of the hand covering his friend's chest. He gently pulled it away and examined the once-more unblemished area with his fingers. Chad let out a rumbling sigh of relief.

"…Chad?" Came the uncertain tone of Ichigo's voice. The giant snapped back to reality and tried to meet the other's gaze, only to find it fixed to where Chad had placed his large hand on Ichigo's bare chest. A light blush dusted over both teen's cheeks. Ichigo quickly averted his gaze, and Chad pulled his hand back as though he had been burned. However, the larger teen was silently relieved to see that the color of his friend's eyes had returned to normal.

There was a momentary silence that descended upon the still waters and concrete buildings, before Ichigo looked back at Chad with a hesitant grin and a glint in his eye. The orange-haired teen suddenly crouched down and then leaped forward. Chad instinctively spread his arms, finding them full of lanky teen in no time at all. However, Ichigo's momentum tipped them both backwards and into the water that had previously held them aloft.

It was surprisingly warm.

The last thing that Chad saw of that dream was the view of the light from the surface shining behind Ichigo's hair and lighting it up like a halo as they floated further into the depths.

That dream was the only one that had clearly featured those two mysterious figures. After that one interesting situation, the dreams went back to 'normal'. Chad didn't confront Ichigo about it, and he could sense that Ichigo had something that he wasn't confronting Chad about, either. Anyway, it was just a figment of his imagination, and he shouldn't put so much weight on what happened in them.

Chad quickly shook himself out of his musings and tried to concentrate on the summer work due the next day. The teen couldn't believe that tomorrow was the first day of high school, and he hoped that he would get into class with Ichigo again.

High school will bring good things, Chad thought, knowing somewhere in his gut that those would be his famous last words.

Ichigo smashed a fist onto the screaming contraption on his bedside table and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. It was only after wrenching his hand from the remains of his alarm clock that the teen realized what he'd done. Oh…. Shit, the orange-haired teen thought with dismay. A frown settled itself onto Ichigo's face in disappointment; he'll have to get a new one. Fortunately, the machine had served its purpose until the very end, and now he had woken up ten minutes before Isshin was scheduled to kick him awake. Grateful that his day had already started off ten times better than normal, Ichigo groggily stumbled across the floor to his closet to get dressed in his new uniform.

The teen had just finished buttoning up his shirt when Isshin threw open the bedroom door and landed on the empty bed.

"Good morning, my boy! You truly have grown up so well to plan ahead for my surprise attack—!" The man was cut off as his son kicked him through the open window. "Gah! Even opening the window, what an intelligent young man we've raised, Masaki!" Isshin wailed, before stopping once more as he hit the grass below with a dull thud.

"Will that old geezer never leave me alone?" Ichigo grouched, making his way downstairs and into the kitchen. Karin was already seated at the table, and Yuzu was finishing up that morning's breakfast. The light, brown-haired girl turned around at the sound of her brother's steady gait coming closer.

"Good morning, nii-san! I made crepes today, because it's your first day in a new school! I hope you like them," The girl smiled sweetly, handing Ichigo a plate full of raspberries, blueberries, and strawberries covered in whipped cream and chocolate sauce; all wrapped in a thin, sweet layer of dough. The orange-haired teen's eyes lit up at the sight. A small smile smoothed out previously dour features.

"Thank you, Yuzu. It looks and smells delicious," Ichigo praised, giving his younger sibling a one-armed hug. The girl practically preened at the attention, turning back around to the stove with a hum. Ichigo chuckled lightly at the sight and went to sit down next to Karin. The dark-haired girl pretended to glance at him disinterestedly, and then proceeded to ignore him. Ichigo huffed good-naturedly, and pulled the girl into a hug as well, "Good morning, Karin." Karin put up the front of a struggle, but settled into the embrace with no problems, a light flush to her cheeks.

"'Morning, Ichi-nii," She groused. Ichigo once more found himself smiling slightly as he turned to his meal.

Five minutes later, Isshin trudged through the front door and slumped into his chair across from Ichigo. The man was covered in grass and dirt stains. It was the greatest sight that Ichigo could've ever been gifted at ass-o'clock in the morning.

Ichigo quickly finished his crepe and checked the time as he gathered his things. "I gotta go, see you later Karin, Yuzu!" The teen called while slipping his feet into his shoes. The two responded in kind from their place at the dining table. Isshin wailed something like 'don't forget about your dear old dad!' but Ichigo ignored him with practiced ease and slipped out the front door.

About halfway to the school, Ichigo met Chad. They both fell into pace, chatting about everything and nothing. It was comfortable, it was peaceful, and it was everything that Chad and Ichigo needed. Their walk continued along those lines the entire way to the campus.

The front of the school was packed with kids, old and new, checking out clubs and seeing which classes they would be attending. Ichigo and Chad decided to find out what their home room was, first, and were pleased to see that they had the same one once again.

"Mrs. Ochi, huh? I wonder what she'll be like," Ichigo drawled, and Chad nodded in acknowledgment.

There was the distinct sound of a high-pitched scream coming from behind them, and the two turned to see a group of gang members looming over another pair of freshmen. One freshman was lanky with medium-length brown hair that parted down the middle, and the other was short and unassuming with dark blue hair sticking up in opposite directions on each side.

"Where are they!" The gang member that seemed to be the leader yelled in the pair's faces. The brown-haired one seemed to cower, but the other only looked up from his phone for a moment to ask who the man was talking about. "Why, Kurosaki and Yasutora, of course! Now tell me where the hell they are!" The muscular leader at the front demanded. Quickly, Ichigo and Chad stepped between the two groups, protecting the two fellow freshmen.

"Here we are, now what do you want?" Ichigo growled, cracking his knuckles. Chad stood in silent, but intimidating vigil behind him. The large gang leader huffed indignantly and took a step forward.

"You took out one of our boys, so why don't you let us give you some pay back?" The lug grinned, stepping forward and throwing a right hook at the orange-haired teen. Ichigo didn't even flinch as Chad caught it ten centimeters from his face. After that it was a blur of kicks and punches from the duo, and the thugs dropped like flies. The two teens finished in no time and dusted themselves off as they turned to face the two other freshmen that had gotten caught in their mess.

"Sorry about that," Ichigo said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head, "we didn't mean to get you guys caught up in our mess." Chad grunted an affirmation beside him. The quivering brunette in front of them looked like he just wanted to run off and never look back, but the boy at his side only smiled politely and told them not to worry about it.

"I'm Kojima Mizuiro, and this is my acquaintance Asano Keigo," The small teen with the dark blue hair explained, "we'll be in Mrs. Ochi's freshman class this year." Ichigo grinned, exchanging a glance with Chad.

"What a coincidence, we're in that class as well! Nice to meet you two. I'm Kurosaki Ichigo, and this is my friend Chad." Ichigo brandished an arm at the tall, muscular teen, who nodded.

"Yasutora Sado," The male clarified.

"I'm sure we'll be great friends, Kurosaki-kun, Yasutora-kun," Mizuiro stated politely. The orange-haired teen smirked and agreed.

The brunette, Keigo, looked as though he wanted to cry.

I'm FINALLY DONE. Jesus, that took forever. Sorry about that my guys, I just couldn't find the time to work on it. In return, this chapter is almost 2x the length it normally is! I hope you enjoyed, and don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions!

P.S. This story can now be found on AO3, if you prefer that sort of thing lol.