Millennium

Author's Note: I haven't decided on whether to include romance or not, it may or may not be in this story but added to a sequel. Also for those wondering, the story title is based on the years each character received an update to his/her look, so it starts in 2003 after Ichigo loses his powers. I may do a prequel series ending at the start of Bleach in 2001 and starting at 1945 but we will see.

Rain, rain came pouring down in Karakura town, people went about their day and things changed. Things have indeed changed in the sleepy portion of Western Tokyo holographic displays displaying advertisements, news, and other information. Robots are seen helping stay at home mothers and the eldery with mundane and simple tasks. A series of flagpoles lined the main street as a common flag flew widely in the wind. Its background was red, with the combined Korean symbol in the top-left and a yellow star in the middle and six smaller yellow stars next to it in a semi-circle formation. The rain came down more and more steady as lightning flashed and thunder boomed in the distance.

In an older section of the now built up futuristic city, sat a small house with a built in clinic on the corner of the main road and a smaller one-way road. This was the Kurosaki clinic, the door opened as a human-sized robot exited the main entrance and looked left and right and opened an umbrella and walked to the mailbox attached to the entrance way wall. The robot then went back inside and closed the door and placed the umbrella into the umbrella holder. The sounds of cooking echoed throughout the house as the robot made its way to the kitchen where a blonde haired girl was busy cooking. "Miss Kurosaki?" The robot said in a friendly and bubbly mechanical tone. The girl turned and looked at him, "Yes Asahi?" she asked as she made her way over to him. "The mail, ma'am." The robot replied as he handed her the mail and stood by awaiting further orders.

"Thank you Asahi, can you set up the table? I'm gonna check on Ichi-nii." the girl ordered/said as she placed the mail in the mail holder. Asahi nodded and obeyed her commands and went about to complete them as the girl rushed up the stairs. She reached a door and knocked on it gently. "Ichi-nii? It's me, dinner is almost ready." She waited patiently as she heard noises from inside the room, and the door opened. There stood Ichigo Kurosaki wearing a military uniform. Inside his room were boxes all packaged and labeled, he yawned. "I will be down in a minute Yuzu, Commander Minamoto will be later on." He said as he rubbed his sister's forehead as she teared up. "I…sniff I will miss you Ichi-nii." Ichigo knelt down and hugged his sister tightly. "Umm..excuse me…" Ichigo sighed and rolled his eyes as he looked and Asahi stood there at the top of the stairs. "A..Commander Akira Minamoto is here also. I have finished preparing the meal, shall I serve him some sake?" Ichigo rubbed the back of his head as he pulled away from his sister. Yuzu took care of it and shoved the robot back down the stairs.

Ichigo checks himself over in the mirror hanging across from his room, and dust his uniform off. He then makes his way downstairs as he passes by a certain picture hanging on the wall. He spots his senior commander sitting down in the living room as the holographic television was on, and the news was playing. His commander was sitting down drinking sake as he was listening attentively to his sister talking. Ichigo smiled softly and passed by a small shrine in the corner of the room with two pictures on it. He clears his throat as Asahi comes and takes Yuzu to another portion of the house. Akira stands up and Ichigo stands to attention but Akira smiles softly and places a hand on his shoulder. "At ease Lieutenant Kurosaki, we are not on the battlefield. I'm just a humble guest of my subordinate and his family." Ichigo nodded and was at ease as the two sat down. Akira motioned for Ichigo to share with him while drinking, as the news continued on.

Female Newscaster: "In other news from the Middle East, peace seems to be shaking between the United Arab Republic and the Arab Federation. The two fractions have been at odds since the first cold war…"

Akira scoffed at that and put his cup down "War….war is on the horizon." He started then he turned to Ichigo. "We must fight honorably…and with dignity and nobility…remember that." Ichigo nodded, "Yes I will…sensei." Akira smiles as the news switches to several destroyed buildings from Seoul, Korea. He narrows his eyes as he waves up his hand a holographic display appeared over the tv. "Turn up…sound." He said and got frustrated as it takes a few minutes for the computer to understand what he was saying. Eventually the sound does rise with the help of Ichigo.

Male Reporter: "..In other news today the number of Hollow attacks have been rising..the Committee for State Security, Division 00 has released information that the number of Shinigami stationed in Korea has been decreasing overtime…The chairman of the PAPWP has no comment, though a spokesperson believes they may possible be preparing for military action of sort."

Ichigo sighs and leans back into the chair, Akira notices this as he takes a sip of his sake. "Any words from your shinigami friends?" Ichigo shakes his head. "I tried asking Kisuke about it but he and Yoruichi kept dodging the subject." Akira hmms and then pours another cup of sake. "Would you like me to try? I have connections…" Ichigo waves his hand and interjects his commander. "No..it's okay I'm happy now, at least now the Soul Society will take Humans more seriously." He says as he accepts the cup of Sake from Akira as the door opens and a female voice calls out. "I'm home!" A black haired girl comes into the room wearing a soccer uniform and holding a soccer ball in her hand. "Ichi-nii!" She cries as she hugs her brother, then she spots Akira and freezes and bows respectively "uh…welcome I'm Karin Kurosaki." Akira chuckles and bows back "And am Commander Akira Minamoto, nice to meet you Karin." He then stands up and extends his hand to which Ichigo's sister shakes it.

The family and their guest settle down for dinner as Ichigo looks outside and sees a familiar butterfly fluttering around. He then turns back as he listens to Karin recounting how her soccer game went. The rain started back up again as the lighting moved away eastward accompanied by the thunder that went along with it. Puddles formed on the ground as a figure stood on a light pole. Rukia Kuchiki breathed in and out the various scents and smells she missed. She missed being in Karakura Town, she doesn't know why the Captain-commander refused to restore Ichigo's powers or why they recalled most Shinigami back to the Soul Society but she was glad to be back.

She looked left and right and suddenly she felt something extremely wrong. The city looked different, it reminded her of the future she had seen in Human sci-fi television shows and movies. She felt like pulling her hair out as she realized the streets she had been accustomed to had either changed or no longer existed. {"Things have changed…I haven't been gone that long? Have I?"} She then jumped and landed but first into a puddle as a holographic screen appeared behind her switching from advertisement, to news both local and international, and something she had never seen before. She stood up and sighed as her uniform was soaked thoroughly. The holographic screen switched to propaganda, now that she thought about it she had seen similar propaganda before but never noticed till now. She shivers as someone throws a coat over her much to her shock.

She whirls around and comes face to face with the former captain of the 12th division. Kisuke Urahara, he tips his hat and gives her a bright smile "Welcome to the Millennium!" He says with giggles. Suddenly sirens are heard as a police car pulls up beside them, Kisuke jumps slightly and hides his face with a fan. The passenger side window lowered down, "Hey you…keep it down there is a noise ordinance in effect." A female officer said as she jerked her thumb toward a sign behind the two shinigami. Kisuke looks at the sign and back at the officer and gives a two-finger salute. The officer then turns to Rukia who blinks in confusion and her eyes widen more. "Nice cosplay…Kid now head on home it's a school night." The police car then drives off leaving a mouth gaping Rukia and Kisuke just standing there. "Oh..boy.." he said as he pulled his hat down and guided the Lieutenant towards his shop.

Next day

Rukia exits the shop as the morning sun beamed all over the city, she pulls at the helm of her Gigai's school uniform dress. Which was different from what she remembered. The dress portion was blue, with a red trim the top portion was white with a red tie and a yellow star on it and a black armband with a red circle and a yellow hammer, sickle, and a paintbrush in the middle. She blushes and finds her resolve and is about to leave when Tessai stops her "Here you need this for the public transportation." He says as he hands her an ID card. Rukia looks it over and thanks him as she makes her way to the school. {"I hope I find Ichigo and apologize for how long I've been gone…..speaking of which Urahara kept dodging anything about Ichigo."}. She makes her way to a bus stop as the bus appears and Rukia gazes at how futuristic it looks as the door melts into the chassis. She boards the bus and finds the student section and sits down with other students and notices holographic magazines and a display that plays different forms of entertainment on the back of each chair in front of the passenger.

The bus finally arrived at Karakura Town High School. She got off the bus with the other students and noticed the school looked the same minus the flags hanging off the building. She entered the building and noticed new faces. She blinked in confusion {"Where is Ichigo and the others?"} She entered the classroom and sat down. She had a feeling that she was being watched but she shrugged it off as the teacher finally entered the room. The teacher looked at the class before her eyes landed on Rukia. "Miss Kuchiki?" Rukia stood up confusioned plastered all over her face due to the look her teacher was giving her.

"Yes Saito-Sensei?" The petite shinigami asked, still wondering where her friends were. The teacher then responded "The principal would like to see you." The class responded indifferently, some whispered low under their breath others paid no attention. Rukia clenched her fist and kept her anger in check. She stood up and exited the classroom and made her way to the principal's office. Thoughts raced through her mind as she eyed the CCTV camera that followed her movement before snapping back in place. Rukia shuddered as she wondered what this strange feeling was in her chest. {"Something is not right….I need to speak to Ichigo about this."} She pushed that thought to the back of her mind as she reached the principal's office. She knocked and heard someone say "Enter" from the other side.

She opened the door only to be grabbed and thrown into a chair. "Hey..what the!" She shouted as she tried to fight whoever was keeping her down. She looked up and she blinked in confusion and terror as she was being held down by three soldiers wearing all black body armor and gas masks. "Is this really necessary?" She heard the principal ask as she turned her head and saw him talking with a man wearing a suit and tie. "Yes Mr. Yamaguchi…we will take it from here. You will not mention this to anybody." The principal threw his hand up. The man nodded at the soldiers and ordered them in Chinese, Rukia had no idea what he said. But actions speak louder than words as the soldiers dragged her out the room and down the stairs and threw her into a van. Prior to entering the van he looked around and narrowed his eyes at a small black cat sitting on a nearby garbage can. He then entered the van after hitting the roof twice and it sped off. The cat narrowed its yellow eyes {"Kisuke was right…they knew all along about us."}. The Van recklessly entered traffic maneuvering in between cars and vehicles as Rukia was tossed around while tied up and gagged. {"What's happening…what is going on?!...Ichigo please save me!"}

Meanwhile in the skies above Karakura Town

A bird flew high as the sun began shining and clouds rolled over ahead. A massive aircraft appeared through one of the clouds as it flew through the sky. Officers walked around on the bridge performing their assigned tasks. In the crew halls of the massive vessel. An orange haired teen sat up quickly. He hit his head on the top bunk and cursed. "Awe damnit" He groaned. {"What the hell…I swore I dreamt…I heard Rukia calling for me…"} He heard curses above him and he sighed and sweatdropped as a black hair teenager lowered his head down.

"What the hell Kurosaki?!" He hissed, "Good Morning to you too….Uryū." Ichigo replied back in a sarcastic manner. This of course pissed Uryū even more but he tried to his anger. "Can't you be a bit quieter?" He demanded as he put his glasses on. Ichigo yawned and replied back with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Yea yea whatever four-eyes." He replied as he got up and exited their shared room.

He turned a corner and bumped into someone, "Owieee.." came a familiar voice. Ichigo looked down and spotted Orhimie sitting on the ground rubbing her head. Ichigo blinked and moved forward to offer to help her up. "Sorry about that Hime…here let me help you up." Orihime looked up at Ichigo and started fantasizing and blushing madly. She then stood up quickly "N..N..N..No everything…is fine…uhhhh…Tatsuki is calling me?!" She blurted as she bolted back to her room leaving Ichigo and some onlookers bewildered and confused.

Orihime's room

The room was decorated much like her old house with stuffed animals and a picture of her older brother Sora. The door hissed as it opened and Orihime stepped in and leaned her back on the door as it closed. She placed her hand on her mouth as her heart race increased and the blush spread all over her face. A beeping sound from her holo computer echoed throughout the room as a holographic figure of a teenage girl with light blue hair and a uniform appeared "Private First Class Orihime Inoue?" The girl walked over to Orihime who was still in fantasy land and waved her hand. Orihime blinked and jumped and did a curtsey "Oh I didn't see you there Mika." Orihime replied in her usually upbeat tone.

Mika nodded "It's okay, I'm here to remind you to have training, also your friend Sergeant Tatsuki Arisawa has attempted to contact you." Orihime eyes brighten up "Oh did she say anything?" Mika's eyes looked sad for a moment and she placed her holographic hand on Orihime's shoulder. "We lost contact with her unit on the Siberian border." Mika said, and Orihime's eyes widened as tears flooded, and she collapsed to her knees.

"It…It…It can't be…"

Siberia, USRE

Byakuya Kuchiki looked around the destroyed forests, and landscape of this remote part of Siberia. {"It seems a battle occurred here…yes…me and Lieutenant Abarai were teaching students when they started fighting…but why?"} He never understood why humanity fought amongst itself, he recalled his adoptive sister telling him of the various and numerous wars she learned in the Human version of an academy. He heard a loud hissing and reacted quickly and placed his hand on his sword as a heavily damaged Ite-type mech hatch opened automatically. Its tundra style camo was chipped and damaged as bullet holes rippled in its arms and legs. Smoke covered the ground as a figure stumbled out and fell 10ft into the mud below with an audible splat.