Kurosaki Masaki, mother of three, was the absolute center of Ichigo's entire universe. Her mother was a silver light in a black void, the full moon on a dark night.

For the first four years of her life, Ichigo attached herself to her mother and no one else. In faded memories and hazy dreams of moments too old to vividly remember, Ichigo remembers the secret nights of hushed tones, of whispered stories, of silent lessons with no spoken names, of the promise she had made to not tell her father anything that is said.

Ichigo never thought it odd, never thought it abnormal until she went to an actual public school for the first time, that she was only truly connected to her mother. No one else. Not even Kurosaki Isshin. At least, not to the extent that a child should be connected to her father. Even then, it was only a passing thought. Masaki was her light, her anchor to the living.

Ichigo was too young to truly understand, but she knows what she feels with every fiber of her being, of her soul. If Masaki wasn't there, Ichigo wouldn't be here.

Ichigo heard the whispers that quickly spread in hushed conversations between teachers, between older kids, between parents. Her love for her mother wasn't normal. Too obsessive. Too sharp. Too unnerving.

They were ignored and forgotten. Until her mother told her to change, to be different, she would continue the way she always was. Her devoted love was for her mother and her alone.

Then, her younger sisters were brought into the world of the living.


15 year old Kurosaki Ichigo clicks her tongue as she tosses her book onto her desk. She's been reading the same line for five minutes.

Ichigo rubs her neck, leaning back with a heavy sigh. This day couldn't get any more inconvenient. All because of a feeling that something will happen.

"I'm not going to get any work done." Ichigo rubs her eyes before standing up from her chair. "Goat-face should be back in that godforsaken clinic again."

She turns around, about to leave her room when a black swallowtail butterfly flutters past her nose. Ichigo watches as it backtracks, not moving a muscle when it lands on her nose.

She blinks before slowly turning her head to face her closed window. How did it get in?

A young female, appearing around Ichigo's age suddenly materializes through the wall, landing silently with an elegance Ichigo doesn't see often anymore. Ichigo suddenly gets the feeling that she's much older than how she appears.

Her inky black hair fell in waves around her upper shoulders. Her amethyst eyes glanced over Ichigo, giving everything a cursory glance. She had a round face and softer pale features than most noble women, yet still exuded the air of an aristocrat. Possibly adopted into some noble family.

"It is near," The female speaks up in a determined, but reserved tone. Ichigo narrows her eyes and leans back against her desk.

"What's near?" Ichigo asks suspiciously. The female doesn't give her another glance, clearly ignoring her.

Ichigo narrows her eyes even further and stands away from her desk. She stalks forward until she stands right in front of the female and flicks her forehead.

The black haired female stumbles back with a surprised squeak, quickly reaching to cover her forehead. Ichigo stares down at her with a hand on her hip.

"I asked you a question. What is near?" Ichigo asks once more. She can tolerate someone not answering her questions, but she tolerates people ignoring her even less.

"I–you, you can see me? You–you flicked my forehead?" The female asks incredulously. Ichigo raises an eyebrow, slightly easing away her irritation.

She suddenly leans forward, staring right into the female's eyes. "Oh, you're a spirit."

"I'm not just any spirit. I'm a Shinigami," The female speaks with a small frown. Ichigo tilts her head before her mouth sets in a confused frown.

"Shinigami? Never heard of it."

The female blinks rapidly, taking a small step back when Ichigo turns her head. She glares up at the orange haired teenager with an arrogance that Ichigo has half a mind to punch out of her.

"Plus Souls in the Living World do not know of them and Shinigami business is kept to Seireitei in Soul Society. We Shinigami help Plus Souls, Humans who have died, pass over to Soul Society. You Humans would call it heaven. We also help protect the Plus Souls and Humans from Hollows, evil spirits," The spirit explains, making Ichigo stare down at her. Ichigo snorts with an eye roll and turns around.

"Whatever. Get going, little spirit and stop trespassing people's rooms," Ichigo speaks, taking the explanation with a grain of salt. "I'm too tired and hungry to try and get involved with any of this. I'm busy as it is."

"Little spirit? I am not little, Human! I am over five times your age," The black haired female exclaims with an icy glare. Ichigo turns around, pausing right before her bedroom door.

"I was talking about your height. My sisters will be taller than you in less than a year," Ichigo clarifies with a hand on her hip. Her mouth twitches at the slight flush that faintly spreads across the spirit's cheeks.

"Actually," Ichigo cocks her head to the side, staring straight into the spirits eyes, "I'm quite curious. I've always been able to see spirits, but I've never come across a Shinigami. Is there anything else you do?"


If Masaki was the light and anchor for Ichigo, Kurosaki Yuzu and Kurosaki Karin were her reason and her duty in life and death. It was the beginning of Ichigo's understanding of her name and what it means.

First Protector. Confused with the common meaning of strawberry, but meaning every piece of Ichigo's soul in its chosen definition. The same could be said for the twins and even Masaki herself.

Help Someone Good. Confused with citrus fruit.

Calm Eclipse. Confused with summer pear, or summer bell.

True Hope. Confused with ten thousand bloom, or real bloom.

The single moment she laid eyes on her sisters, her love grew to encompass them as well. No one would harm them. No one would touch them. Nothing bad would ever make it a foot in their vicinity.

They were all hers and hers alone. Which is why, Ichigo dissolved the argument between her parents by agreeing with Isshin in taking karate lessons.

She needed ways to protect those that were hers. And this was the perfect way to start.


Kuchiki Rukia stares at the Human girl in front of her with a certain sense of apprehension she hasn't truly felt since her days in Rukongai.

The girl felt like the old souls of the Rukongai. The ones who had enough reiatsu to apply for Shin'ō Academy, yet declined to go because they thrived in the chaos of the slums and the order they themselves gave. Yet, she held a certain kindness inside of her that Rukia knows with all of her soul it is not often seen, and even more rarely given.

It didn't help that she looked incredibly familiar. Unnervingly familiar. And yet, completely and utterly different at the same time.

If Rukia didn't know any better, she would think this girl was of high noble descent. Probably even from one of the Four Great Noble Families.

Beautiful, bright burning hair that seemed to come from the literal sunset itself. It flowed like a river of fire and lava, coiled around each other like snakes sleeping, loosely entangled in each other. It ended at her lower back, brushed back and out of the Human's face with some sort of gel.

Warm eyes filled with carefully held secrets and hidden mischief. Dark chocolate browns mixing in glittering golds to shimmer in the light of the moon. A certain grounded determination that Rukia's rarely seen, and has only seen in the much, much older souls she's been lucky enough to meet.

Pale skin with freckles scattered across the Human's high cheekbones like stars. A sharp jaw and barely there dimples shown because of the slight smile on her face.

A tall height offset by an athletic build with no oddly long limbs or abnormally thin appearance. Straightened posture and self-confidence in strength and power.

"We Shinigami help protect the souls of the living and of the dead from Hollows. We send the dead, which we call Plus Souls, to Soul Society through a soul burial. Our second duty is to defeat and cleanse Hollows," Rukia speaks as she breaks away from her thoughts.

"Is that all you do? Were you hunting a Hollow?" Ichigo asks, stuffing her hands into her jean pockets.

Rukia glances off to the side with a frown and a narrowed gaze. "Yes, but for some reason I can't sense it now. Something is... muffling my senses."


Ichigo had just turned five years old, the twins barely a month old, when she met Masaki's family for the first time. Masaki decided her grown enough to come with her to her "part-time job" which wasn't really a job at all.

Ichigo could tell that her mother's family wasn't by blood. She could almost smell it, sometimes she thought she literally could. It was a family by choice, a sworn family with Masaki as its leader. It was... a pack.

The family was big. Very big. It controlled all of Karakura Town and even the outskirts of Yokohama. It even had a small foothold in Tokyo. But, the pack, the pack was small. Very small.

With Masaki as its leader, it only had two other members.

The very moment Ichigo had laid eyes on them, she knew her love grew around them too. Fujibayashi Sun-mi, Masaki's sworn sister, and Foster Yasuki, Masaki's sworn brother. Her aunt and uncle in every single thing, but blood.

She found a name to what her family meant to her. Because, it was closer than family. It was pack. Her pack.

It was the day that Ichigo first realized that the beautifully breathtaking irezumi painted across her mother's skin was something incredibly important, and something incredibly dangerous if it got out that she had it. It was the day Ichigo swore to herself to take on the mantle of whatever her mother was doing if–no, when–it was passed down to her.

There were no words spoken in the first meeting, that Ichigo remembers. No words needed to be spoken.

The synced bows and the greeting title "Imōto-san" was all that Ichigo needed to know. Especially when they called her mother their own "Hahaue".

It was too late for anything of them to turn back to whatever they had caused, even Ichigo.


"Come on, we need to go," Ichigo speaks with a barely hidden order in her tone. The Shinigami tenses and stares at her with incredulity before Ichigo sighs and stalks forward.

"Hey! Let me–"

"I have two younger sisters downstairs." Ichigo tilts her head as she walks out of her bedroom with the Shinigami's arm held tightly in her grip. "And that good for nothing man as my father. We're going outside."

She doesn't notice the heavily tense posture of the spirit while they walk out of the bedroom. The Shinigami stares back at the room with wide eyes before glancing at Ichigo.

Ichigo freezes when she hears a blood-curdling howl just outside her home. She breaks into a sprint, barely having half a mind to release the Shinigami's arm.

"Ichi-nē? What's wrong?" Yuzu questions as she looks up when she hears the rapid footsteps of her big sister.

"You and Karin stay inside!" Ichigo orders loudly before she slams her way through the front door.

Ichigo stumbles to a stop when she sees a huge monstrosity looming over her home. Her eyes widened, a rare icy feeling of absolute terror filling her veins. What... what is that?

"You fool! Look out!" Ichigo watches in a hysterical calm as the Shinigami blocks a large claw-like hand from grabbing her with a sword.


The summer rain felt like ice against her skin. Yet, something warmer drenched her. She slowly blinks and looks down at the suffocating weight on top of her.

The auburn red hair stood out against the murky surroundings, covered in a brighter red. Ichigo's breath hitches as she stares into the dead eyes of her mother.

"K-Kāsan...?"


"ICHI-NĒ!" Ichigo startles at the scream and reacts instinctively. She leaps forward and dodges another attempt to hit her, landing in a summersault.

"Don't come near this house, you asshole!" Ichigo shouts in a rarely felt rage, glaring at the Hollow in a protective fury.

"Get inside and let me handle this, Human!" The Shinigami shouts, struggling to block the Hollow once more.

"Well, it doesn't look like you're handling it very well!" Ichigo snarls back before she stands. She looks around frantically before finding her crowbar sitting innocently against the wall next to the front door.

Ichigo grabs her crowbar before facing the Hollow and the Shinigami once again. She narrows her eyes as the spirit leaps back, slicing the arm off of the Hollow.

"Strong... she didn't expect this Hollow to be this strong..." Ichigo widens her stance and grips the crowbar tightly. "The least I can do is distract it. Then, she may be able to kill it. Cleanse it? What did she say?"

Ichigo takes a dead sprint towards the howling Hollow, her mind transferring control to her battle instincts. She sprints past the Shinigami and raises her crowbar.

"Fool, what are you doing?! A Human can't hit a Hollow! You'll get yourself killed!" The Shinigami exclaims reaching out to try and grab the orange haired teenager. Ichigo slides underneath the Hollow's arm and slams her crowbar down.

The Hollow screeches as it digs into its arm.

"You shouldn't have fucking messed with me, bitch! I'm gonna fuck you up!" Ichigo yells as she forcefully pulls down on the crowbar. It cuts through tendons and bone with unnerving ease.

The Hollow screeches even louder as the blood spurts out. It swings its arm and makes Ichigo go flying.

She feels weightless for only a moment before her back slams into a telephone pole, snapping it in half. Ichigo flies back a bit further before landing on her side. She sighs the crowbar into the ground, forcing herself to stop with a harsh pull.

"Stop it, Human! The Hollow is after you! This isn't your job!"

Ichigo spits out bloodied spit and slowly stands up. She rolls back her shoulders and hunches over at the sharp pain that travels up her back.

She can still feel everything. Nothing important was broken.

"...after me? What are you talking about?" Ichigo asks, glancing around for the Hollow. It disappeared.

"I should've realized. Your reiatsu was what kept me from sensing the Hollow," The Shinigami states, wiping away some blood from her cheek.

Ichigo freezes and stares down at the Shinigami. "It was... It was my fault it came to the house?"


The day that Masaki was killed, was the day that a part of Ichigo shattered into thousands of glass shards. She didn't know if it was irreparable or not.

Her light, her anchor was brutally ripped away from her. The light in her sisters' lives was taken. The leader of her family disappeared. The one thing that kept her father alive had died.

Isshin died that day. And the man that replaced him, Ichigo doesn't even really believe it is one. More of a monster. A monster Ichigo wishes with every piece of her broken soul was dead.

But, the twins still needed him. Ichigo did too. At least until she could get a house of her own. No matter how little he did for their well-being and health, Ichigo needed a place to live, even if it was with the monster that Ichigo hates the most.

It was... okay. Ichigo needed to learn how to save money anyways. She just learned really early. Learned how to cook, learned how to clean the house, learned how to pay bills, learned how to dress wounds, learned how to run the clinic, learned how to take care of two five year olds who were too young to understand why their mother wasn't coming home again.

Ichigo took care of it all. And everything was doing okay, until Ichigo realized that Isshin wouldn't give them any money for food when they started to run out. It didn't take long for desperation to take hold.


The Shinigami stares at the orange haired teenager with a sudden realization. "Wait, I did not mean it like–"

Rukia whirls around, raising her sword to block the attack from behind. The Hollow's attack hits before she could fully protect herself.

"Shinigami!" Rukia flies back and crashes into a cement wall. She watches as the Human attacks and lands what should be an impossible hit against the Hollow's mask. It screeches loudly when the mask cracks.

"She's–she's only a human... How–how is it possible for her to harm the Hollow?" Rukia falls forward, catching herself with her hands as she tries to take in some air.

The Human jumps back, avoiding slash from the Hollow's claws. It suddenly reaches out with its newly healed hand and swipes the crowbar out of the Human's hands, slicing into her hands.

"Save her... She's going to die. Save her!" Rukia forces herself to stand and manages to shunpo in front of the Human. The Hollow snaps its jaws, almost biting completely through Rukia's body.

The Hollow screeches the loudest it's ever screeched and roughly pulls back, Rukia's zanpakutō sliding out of the top of its mouth. Rukia falls, almost completely limp from the pain.

"Shit!" Rukia bites back the whimper of pain when she's immediately rolled over. The orange haired teenager states down at her with solemn eyes filled with anger and worry.

"Idiot... you are just... Human. You can't fight a... Hollow." Rukia struggles to speak, already feeling the blood well up in her throat. Compared to other injuries, this wasn't so bad. It didn't take away the fact that she couldn't fight anymore.

"I'd say I held up pretty well against a Hollow for the first time," The Human states with a tight smile. Rukia chuckles and glances back at the Hollow as it screeches again.

"I am not able to fight this Hollow anymore. And you won't be able to defeat it," Rukia speaks with a slight daze in her eyes. "We'll be killed by it soon."

"Like hell I'll roll over and let that thing kill me. Not without leaving something permanent," The other female immediately denies with vehement spite. Rukia smiles slightly, her amused huff devolving into a coughing fit.

"You want to protect your family, yes?"

"Is there a way to keep my sisters safe? How? What do I need to do?" The orange haired teenager asks, leaning forward with wide eyes.

"...we don't have much time, and you may not even survive it... but there is a way." Rukia breathes in deeply, swallowing the blood welling in her mouth. She slowly lifts her zanpakutō and holds it out.

"You must stab yourself with my zanpakutō. I will lend you half of my Shinigami power for you to defeat the Hollow..." Rukia tightens her grip on her zanpakutō and stares up at the orange haired teenager.

"Your power? What will that do to you?"

"I... I will be fine. We don't have much time. It might not even work, but this is the only way for you to have even a chance at defeating that Hollow." Rukia shakes her head before staring straight into the Human's eyes. She stares back, only for a short moment.

The Hollow howls once more and faces the two females. The Human glances back at it before huffing and wraps her hands around Rukia's over her zanpakutō.

"If it means keeping you and my sisters alive, I'll do it. This better not kill you, Shinigami," She states with steely resolve.

Rukia rolls her eyes with a painful chuckle. "It... is not Shinigami. I am Kuchiki Rukia."

The Hollow starts to charge forward with a growl.

"Kurosaki Ichigo." The orange haired teenager smirks down at the spirit. "Let's do this. See you soon, Rukia."

"Ichigo? A strange name for a female." Rukia smirks back and nods her head.

"See you soon, Ichigo."

The zanpakutō is thrust into Ichigo's chest. A blinding flash of light fills the entire street.


"Ichigo, look at this," Masaki speaks softly, holding up a Tatzenkreuz. Seven year old Ichigo stares up at it with wide eyes filled with awe.

"Pretty!" Ichigo exclaims quietly, smiling brightly as she reaches up to touch it.

"It's a Tatzenkreuz. My family specialized with this type of cross," Masaki clarifies in hushed whispers. Ichigo gasps in delight when a faint blue glow appears on her fingertips touching the cross.

Ichigo looks up, smiling brightly. "Will I get one?"

"Mmhmm! Yuzu and Karin too. I'll teach you how to control your powers with mine, Ichigo. You must remember." Masaki smiles down at her eldest daughter as she tilts her head.

"Powers? Daddy's powers or Mama's powers?"

"Mama's powers, but the control will help you with Daddy's powers when you grow up," Masaki answers softly, slipping the cross back onto her wrist. Ichigo wraps her arms around her mother's and giggles quietly.

"Wanna be like Mama! Teach me now?" Ichigo asks as she fidgets. Masaki giggles and runs a hand through Ichigo's hair, calming her down.

"Tomorrow night. When Daddy's asleep, okay?" Masaki relents with a soft voice. Ichigo pouts before nodding her head.

"Okay... tomorrow night..."

Masaki laughs again and hugs her daughter closer to her chest. "Little beastie, you're too cute."


Ichigo only felt pain for a moment before a complete rush of power invades her veins, almost like a parasite. A scream almost escapes her throat at her instinctive reaction to wrench away from the unknown power.

"Rukia..." Everything that happened in the past 10 minutes bulldozes through the panic and Ichigo quickly allows the power to continue its invasion. Even if it felt so wrong.

"I will lend you half of my Shinigami power for you to defeat the Hollow..."

"Too much! I'm taking too much!" Ichigo tries to force the foreign power to stop. "I am taking too much. Stop. I SAID STOP!"

Ichigo gasps at the wrench in her gut, successfully stopping the flow of power. She stumbles back, barely feeling an ache in her chest.

Danger.

Ichigo pulls up her hands and blocks the incoming claws with a shriek of metal. She blinks back into reality and stares at the Hollow growling in front of her, blocked by two swords held by her own hands.

"Fucking–" Ichigo isn't given any time to inspect the weapons before she kicks back the Hollow. She distractedly notes the black hakama pants she wore as she holds out the swords.

"You made a big mistake coming after me, asshole. And you're gonna regret it," She snarls angrily, her icy glare piercing the Hollow.

Ichigo charges forward with a snarl and holds out her arms on her right side, the swords parallel to each other. The Hollow swipes one of its claws towards Ichigo as she runs.

She easily slices through the hand and arm, leaping up and over the Hollow. It screeches in pain as Ichigo flips over its head, slicing through the mask.

"...Ichi-nē? Ichi-nē!" Ichigo snaps her head up at the scream coming from the front door. She watches as Karin and Yuzu race out of the house and towards her limp body.

"Nēsan? Nēsan, wake up! Don't leave us! Nēsan!" Yuzu cries out, desperately shaking the orange haired teenager.

"I'm here. I'm here. I'm not dead," Ichigo speaks quickly as she rushes over. Karin startles and looks up with wide eyes. Her skin turns pallid, tears welling up in her eyes.

"N-Nēsan? Why... why do you look like that?" Karin's broken voice makes Ichigo's hands twitch to hold her. Yuzu sobs loudly as the wrong realization sets in.

"Rukia. Rukia! How do I go back into my body? Tell me!" Ichigo demands, desperate to comfort her children.

Rukia snaps out of whatever stupor she was stuck in. "You–just touch your body. It–it may hurt."

"Who are you? What did you do to Nēsan?!" Karin shouts angrily, her tears threatening to fall.

Ichigo grabs her limp wrist and suddenly has the air in her lungs punched out. Her eyesight sees both her own body and the sky for only a moment before she's sucked back into her body.

She takes a giant breath of air, her eyes snapping open.

"NĒSAN!" Yuzu weeps in relief, wrapping her arms around Ichigo. Ichigo instinctively wraps her own arm around the 11 year old in case she falls.

"Y-Yuzu. 'm–I'm–" Ichigo clears her throat, jaw slow to work "–fine. Fine. I'm fine. Didn't die. Didn't leave you."

"Nēsan! Nēsan, don't do that again!" Karin shouts as she tackles her sisters with a horribly held back sob. Ichigo wraps her other arm around the black haired girl and pulls them close.

"I–I didn't have a choice. Protect you–had to protect you. Sorry. 'm sorry," Ichigo whispers, her limbs incredibly slow as if she had pushed her limits for two hours straight. She pulls her sisters into a suffocating hold, her body starting to shake.

"Wh-what–what–you–who." The orange haired teenager gently shushes Yuzu, nuzzling her head with her own. Yuzu continues to hyperventilate and presses her head into Ichigo's neck.

"You took almost all of my powers..." Rukia's statement makes Ichigo look towards her. The spirit was sitting up, staring at Ichigo like she had done the impossible.

"You took almost all of them... and then you gave back almost half. How... How did you do that?" She continues, her voice slowly trailing off.

"I didn't want all of them. That would've been bad for you, right? So, I just... I just handed it back," Ichigo explains with a slight smile on her face. She focuses back on her sisters and rests her head on top of theirs.

"I'm sorry for scaring you two. I'm okay, I promise..." Ichigo's words start to slur together, her eyelids growing heavier by the second. "'re you two okay? Safe?"

"Nēsan? Nēsan, you need to stay awake," Karin states, pulling back her head. Ichigo slowly blinks down at her and struggles to keep herself upright.

"My my, I'm surprised she's still awake after being forced out of her body!" A new and sudden voice makes Karin whirl around with a dark sneer, protectively crouched in front of her two sisters.

Ichigo struggles to see through her blurry vision, faintly hearing something wooden echo each time it hits the ground. She blinks rapidly and watches a blurred man come into view.

His facial features were blurry, but Ichigo quickly took note of the appearance she could see. A green and white striped bucket hat, geta sandals, and pale blonde hair.

"St-stay... Stay 'way..." Ichigo forces her body to move, ignoring the alarm bells in her head.

"No need to be–fensive Kurosaki-chan!" The man's voice cuts in and out of Ichigo's hearing.

"Tessai, get them he–chan should be very tired and–" Ichigo falls forward, quickly being held up by Yuzu and Karin. She loses the fight to stay awake and falls into the void of unconsciousness.


Hey! Hope you all like the new story! So, I know I keep making Ichigo feral in my stories, but I fully believe canon Ichigo is so much more feral than we have seen.

I mean (AND SPOILERS FOR THOSE WHO ONLY WATCHED THE ANIME), his zanpakutō is literally a modified Hollow that was able to defeat Isshin in his prime, and a fragment of a manipulative sociopath with no moral compass. Like, come on.

Now, I don't intend to make this Angst galore. That will not be the focal point of this story. Not by a long shot. That doesn't mean I'm not going to have a few chapters here and there with angst.

I'm going to try and do the same amount of angst, or MAYBE just a bit more than, canon Bleach angst.

Haven't decided on pairings, or if I'll have any pairings.

Also, everyone should check out "Mad World" by 2WEI, Tommee Profitt,and Fleurie. One of my favorite cinematic covers of all time.

I hope the ending wasn't too rushed. But even if it is or not, I hope you all enjoy it nonetheless!

A Tatzenkreuz is another name for a cross pattée.

Irezumi is Japanese for tattoo and is what English uses as the name for the distinctive Japanese tattoos.

Updates will be posted on Thursdays. I hope you all will enjoy this story! Bye.

WhovianWhoudini