A/N: Well… back in action right now. As I type this, I'm currently going over what I know about this story, which is to say… not a whole lot on my end. I mean, come on, I'm the flippin' author! How am I supposed to clear the plan up on this if I don't even know what the plan is?!

…*ahem* sorry about that. Now then… shall we get to the story?

Bleach ~Amantes amentes~
by Xamusel

Chapter 2

It has been about a whole month since I first encountered Sakurai Kei that day. There were times when I wondered if Mercurius had cursed me to live an interesting life, especially if I was supposed to meet all of Ren's canonical associates and members of her legion. For example, Kei-san, who I didn't know if she was supposed to be staying with my family or not. As to why I say that?

"Ichigo! Kei-chan! Time for breakfast!"

…case in point, if I do say so myself.

I got up out of my bed, got some decent clothes on, and headed to the restroom to wash up for breakfast. I didn't want to believe that Kei-san was still here, but I saw her as soon as I stepped downstairs, as she had gotten herself ready for breakfast at this point in time. What did I do to deserve her living under the same roof as me? Oh, wait…

"You mean to say that your brother and his friend need to be out of the house for work purposes?" Isshin-tou-san asked Kei-san a short time after she arrived at our house, the evening after I first met her.

"Yes, that's right," Kei-san answered. "I'm hoping onii-sama and Beatrice-nee will return safe and sound, but…"

There was a distinct pause in the discussion. I couldn't help but wonder what was going to happen any time soon. Ugh…

"Well, I don't see a problem with it," Isshin-tou-san said, before turning his attention to Masaki-kaa-san. "What about you, dear Masaki?"

Masaki-kaa-san shook her head. "I'm in agreement with you, honey," she said. Turning her gaze to Kei-san, she said, "I'm glad you don't have to be alone for any length of time now."

I coughed into my fist at that point. "Uh, Kei-san?" I began speaking.

"Yes?" she asked me.

"What did your brother tell you about why you're here?"

To wit, I still didn't get an answer to that question I asked her at the end of that conversation. I wonder what Sakurai Kai told her about this mess? Anything important?

Soon, Kei-san and I were at the table where our meal was served for the day. Ironically enough, Masaki-kaa-san and Isshin-tou-san discovered that I had food restrictions that were much like my normal life's dietary issues. This meant I wasn't allowed to drink milk that came from the cow… and the year didn't help anything. I'd been alive for a little over 28 years from the year 1991, and it was not nearly as hard in my home world and time to get stuff like Rice Milk, or even Coconut Milk… ugh.

Granted, I knew this was a catastrophe in the making, so I had to make do with water and fruit juice. It certainly helped that I could eat my meal better than most kids my calendar age. Even still… this was a disaster in the making.

Now… I needed to figure out what was going to occur if I had Kei-san living with me in my parents' house. This Is Gonna Suck.

Still, I needed to be ready for later on today… apparently, there was a field trip to Namimori coming up that the preschool was going on, and I mean the whole preschool. How they managed to pull this off, I've no idea.

Wait… didn't Ren come from Namimori? If it's the same Namimori that is featured in Katekyo Hitman Reborn! of all things… ugh. I reserve full rights to blame Mercurius for this one. I mean, really, what did that snake do to make a mess of my life now?

"Ah, Ichigo," Isshin-tou-san said to me. "I have something to show you when you're done with breakfast."

I was about to open my mouth to ask him what he meant, but then I remembered that I was eating my rice… and how ironic of me to actually eat rice of all things. I was a picky eater when I was still in my prior body, all things considered, and I did not like eating rice for any reason. How strange that living in Japan as Kurosaki Ichigo changed my taste buds… ugh. I swallowed my food, then I asked, "Daddy, what do you want to show me?"

"Well," Isshin-tou-san said, holding his newspaper in one hand, "it's got to do with this newspaper article that I'm sure you know what to make of."

I nodded, before I finished eating my breakfast. When I put my tableware down, I said, "Thank you for the meal." After that, I walked over to Isshin-tou-san's spot at the table, where he had the newspaper unfurled and ready for me to read with him. When I got over to him, he placed the newspaper on the table and pointed at the appropriate article… which was beyond belief for someone like me.

Twenty-Fifth Major Yakuza Base Taken Out This Month

While this reporter has no love for the Yakuza, it seems to be excessive that someone would take out a good majority of people who could be reformed of their criminal ways, even by use of poisoning people the way that the Yakuza had been. Not only that, a good portion of them seem to have been electrocuted as well… this reporter prays for the souls of the deceased. There is no other way this reporter can express what's going on here.

I had to stop reading at that point. I have no idea what Sakurai Kai and Beatrice Waltrud von Kircheisen were up to with this stunt, but it seems to be a thing that they plan to destroy the criminal underworld here in Japan. Ugh…

"Aw, how cute," Masaki-kaa-san squealed at us. "The men of the house are reading the newspaper together!"

Oddly enough, Isshin-tou-san and I groaned at the same time. "Momma…" I groused.

"Whose bright idea was it for Valkyrie and Tubal Cain II to take out the Yakuza?"

"I believe that was Kristoff Lohengrin's fault," Mercurius answered. "I will admit that my Law has been somewhat tampered with, but only because I don't know for a fact who was responsible for this."

"I suppose I better remind him that I am not above punishing him for this transgression…"

"Actually, it might be better to see where this goes in this timeline," Mercurius said, holding up a hand to forestall what was about to be said. "After all, this is a perfect opportunity to see how the Law of Eternal Recurrence ends without my death."

"I hope you're right…"

"I believe I am, my dear friend…" Mercurius answered.

Half an hour later, the whole preschool was gathered at the bus stop… and Kei-san and I were almost too late to make it to the field trip. As for why that was the case? I had to toilet heavily… what a great joy.

Yes, I was being sarcastic. What other explanation was there to have?

Anyway, we got onto the bus with everyone else, although our teachers needed to make sure that we understood what we were supposed to do when we got to where we were headed to. Apparently, we were headed to a museum of all places… how in the Nine Layers of Hell did they expect us to behave in a museum?!

'King, I hate to break it to you, but…' Zangetsu said in my head.

Wait, you mean we can't?

'Not without a lot of skill in keeping others calm somehow…'

…shit.

'My thoughts exactly.'

I think I'll have to find a way to escape this mess…

As soon as we arrived at the museum, I took care to look at the exhibits that were featured… wait a second. Whose bright idea was it for us to see the Swords of the World exhibition?! Mercurius? Or Valeria Trifa?

…wait. Why do I feel like I know this more than I have any right to? Please tell me that Mercurius didn't inflict me with déjà vu… please?

'King, déjà vu? Seriously?'

Yes, seriously, Zangetsu… I think this is a problem that needs solving before we die…

As if Mercurius was listening in on me, I heard a howl from within the museum… uh-oh.

'Yep… a Hollow. How did it enter here without us knowing that it came by?'

Aizen was, in a word, unamused. Why wouldn't he be? Someone sent a Hollow to attack a soul who was under his 'protection', and said soul was in Namimori. This was a disaster in the making!

"Ugh…" he groused. "Why is it that Hollows refuse to accept logical thinking into their beings?"

"What's wrong, Aizen-taicho?" a man said to the Fifth Squad Captain.

Without looking at the man in question, Aizen said, "Ichimaru Gin-taicho, someone is more than likely going to be killed if we're not careful in preserving this poor soul."

"And you care… why?" Gin asked.

"It's a matter of White, Ichimaru-taicho," Aizen answered.

Gin stood ramrod straight. "Oho, so that's what you mean," he said, before he relaxed his posture. "Alright, I'll go take a look at the situation. Be back in a few hours."

"Make sure you aren't waylaid, Ichimaru-taicho," Aizen warned the foxy Captain of Third Squad, even as the latter headed off to the Senkaimon. "I don't want you to lose track of what you're doing."

Gin stopped when he heard that. "Don't worry, I know," he said. "I'll just need to make sure the kid who inherited White stays safe, no questions asked." With that, he headed off to the Senkaimon.

I was unfortunate enough to be within range of the Hollow, as my inconsiderate power of Foreknowledge told me, but I also knew that the Hollow wasn't going to kill me… how come, or even why? I didn't know.

'I thought your déjà vu was stronger than that, King?' Zangetsu asked me.

Apparently not, I told Zangetsu. I can't seem to tell what the definite route this Hollow will take is. I mean, you know how Hollows are, right?

'…point taken, King. Hollows don't follow logic, just pure instinct. Not like I'm much different, but you know that already, right?'

"Alright, children," the sensei of our class called out to us. "We're going to be witnessing valuable artifacts from all over the world. Please refrain from disturbing the exhibits on display for us to see."

From the perspective of someone who was a lot older than his physical age would ever say, I thought this would be an exercise in futility, but then I felt something wash over us… huh? A sense of Harmony? Okay, it's official. I'm blaming Mercurius for this one.

As the rest of the children agreed to follow along with the instructions given, I kept my silence for the time being. I didn't know whether or not the Hollow would go after a fellow child… and I was beginning to regret leaving my Asauchi at home… with… hey, wait a minute!

'Huh?' Zangetsu asked dumbly.

If I got an Asauchi for you to reside in, then why in the Nine Layers of Hell did you not go into the blade? I asked him.

'I don't know if that's how this works, King,' Zangetsu told me. 'There has to be a precedent for you to not access me as an Asauchi on your person…'

I felt like slapping whoever was responsible for this mess… Mercurius seemed to be the likely one responsible. Even so, was he?

…nah, probably not even close. Good grief… what did I do to deserve this? Oh well… time to get going, I think. Now, how am I supposed to find the Hollow without giving myself away?

It took me half an hour before I got to the point where I could safely sneak away from the rest of the class. Thankfully, I told the sensei that I needed to use the toilet (though not quite in grown-up talk), and needed directions to get to where I was going… which was true on all counts. However, after using the toilet, I plan to hurry up with finding that stray Hollow that was here. Simple plan to follow, right?

Well… you know what they say back in America? "The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry really fast," or something like that.

For starters, the sensei found it really odd that I would need to use the toilet on my own, thus they had a security guard watch me to make sure I returned to my class almost immediately. Right after that, I had to find a way to sneak past the guard, which… was going to get on my nerves if I didn't know how to make a successful distraction. Who in their right mind would let a kid make a distraction like, say, a bomb threat inside the museum?

…wait. Bomb threat…

'King, what are you planning now?' Zangetsu asked me.

Looking in the mirror, I deployed what I figured was a Slasher Smile. Tell me, Zangetsu… did you know that the masses call Hollow Attacks and their spilled blood bomb explosions? I asked in return.

'…King? You… are… evil. Sign me up already!' Zangetsu declared.

With pleasure.

Fishbone-A was the oldest of the Hollows with the Fishbone name, having been around a few centuries before the first of his little siblings was made. All told, his formation into a Hollow was about forty thousand years ago, and he had some faint memories of who he was as a human being. He was viciously protective of his family in life, and that trait didn't stop when he became a Hollow… but that didn't matter when he couldn't remember his name at all.

I promised the other Fishbone Hollows that I'd be back, he thought, and I intend to keep that promise. I don't want to fail them… not at all.

Still, he had a personal mission to carry out. He needed to find the one named Kurosaki Ichigo and fight the son of a Shinigami. He didn't know why he had that mission, but he would carry it out with such extreme prejudice.

Let's see how he deals with my power…!

A few minutes of searching inside what was called a museum later, the Hollow managed to find a trace of Kurosaki Ichigo… his scent was at the latrine.

Get ready to die…

I was ready to begin my ploy. The Hollow wouldn't… no, more like couldn't… resist the unimaginable amount of Reiryoku I had ready to flare at a moment's notice, which was a highly impressive amount on my end. After all, how many human children would be able to flare Reiryoku at all?

Anyway, the plan was to tell the security guard that a bomb was about to go off, while flaring my aura for a brief period of time… probably a couple seconds at most. That way, the Hollow would be able to go after me, and I could safely get people out of here while I looked for Marie's spirit… hopefully her Guillotine blade is around here.

'King, is Marie a Zanpakuto spirit of some sort, exactly?'

No, she's not a Zanpakuto spirit, she's a former human who was cursed to never embrace a normal human properly. Her corpse should have the same curse instilled within.

'What sort of curse are we talking about? Actually, why is she inside a Guillotine blade to begin with?'

If I recall correctly, souls aren't supposed to stick around long after death under the Law of Eternal Recurrence. They tend to go back to when they were born, in a loop of birth, life, death and rebirth. Simply put, this means that Marie's an anomaly. Her soul is inside the Guillotine blade that decapitated her because she transcended.

'…I'm afraid to ask, but what did Marie do to warrant this fate?'

You mean her death by Guillotine? Her curse was such that she couldn't talk until she was 17, then she began singing creepy songs about how the Guillotine would drink people's blood… and, as the cherry on top, she killed people who touched her, and vice versa, as if by the same execution device.

'…King, now you're making me sick. Please tell me what Marie did to warrant being stuck inside the blade, so that I can get rid of this queasy feeling.'

Oh, that's what you meant… in short, Marie has the qualifications of a Goddess in this world.

'…a Goddess?'

I'll explain later. With that, I began channeling my Reiryoku into the world around me, flaring it for a second before shutting it off. After I did that, I opened the door to the bathroom and said to the guard on duty, "Uh, mister, I thought I saw something flash under one of the sinks."

The guard looked at me dubiously, but before he could try calling me out on my ploy, the wall with the sinks exploded outward! For some completely odd reason, the explosion didn't do anything to me other than knock me to the ground from the shockwave. The guard, on the other hand… I don't know how I know it, but he died.

'I guess that was distraction enough, right, King?' Zangetsu asked.

Bad… timing… let's get to see where Marie is now.

'Oh, alright, King.'

Before I could do anything as I had planned, however, there was a rather ominous chuckling that reverberated around the bathroom. "Well… talk about lucky," the one who chuckled, a male that I couldn't recognize, mused out loud. "You have ten seconds to begin running away from me, starting after you get a good look at your killer, boy. Try to put up a good chase away from me."

Uh-oh… I got up off the ground, pushing off against the tile flooring, before turning to see the one that killed the security guard. It was… alright, who thought it was a good idea to shrink Fishbone-D into the size of a grown man?! He was dressed in a deep burgundy outfit, to boot… and he had a meat cleaver on his back? "Who… who are you?" I asked him.

"I am Fishbone-A, otherwise known as your hunter," the humanoid Hollow grinned in such a way that it looked like a Getter Smirk. "Now… I'll begin counting down how much time you have left… after one last question from you."

Awfully generous of him… I thought. "Are you what is called a Menos Grande?" I asked without realizing what I was asking.

"What the—" Fishbone-A gaped at that. "How did you know that?!"

"I didn't," I answered, my mouth on autopilot. "I'm just that lucky in getting this right."

"…okay, you got me," Fishbone-A answered. "I'm a Vasto Lorde-type Menos Grande, and the one who will end you in this hunt. Now, on the count of ten, the hunt will begin. Get ready."

I didn't need any further encouragement. I ran to find Marie's soul stuck in the Bois de Justice.

A Senkaimon opened up a few hundred meters above the roof of the Namimori museum, ejecting Ichimaru Gin to look at the building. "Hmm…" he mused. "I wonder what this building is for?" He lowered himself to the ground, looking at the signs outside the building. "A museum? What is a museum supposed to do?" He then took a closer look at the signs. "Aha! An exhibition of all the swords of the World of the Living! Does this include the Zanpakuto of a Soul Reaper?"

"Mama, who's that samurai-like man staring at the signs in front of the museum?"

Gin stood ramrod straight in shock. Please ignore me, little one…

"Tsu-chan, there's nobody there," a woman chided her daughter.

"What are you saying, Mama?" 'Tsu-chan' asked. "I see someone right there!"

The mother sighed. "Tsu-chan, look me in the eye for a bit."

Eh? Gin looked behind him to see the child turn to face her mother. What now?

The mother looked like a stereotypical Japanese woman, but with short chocolate brown hair and eyes, while her daughter had long and fluffy golden-brown hair that reached the middle of her back. "Tsu-chan, can you look me in the eye and say with authority that a samurai-like man is really in front of the museum signs right now?" Upon seeing 'Tsu-chan' nod, the mother sighed again. "Okay, then… I believe you, Tsu-chan."

Uh-oh… Aizen said to avoid being waylaid, and here I am, being waylaid. I have to get on with the mission immediately. With that, he headed into the museum—

"Mister, could you please explain why you're carrying a sword out in the open?" 'Tsu-chan' asked him, holding onto his haori with her right hand.

—only for that to happen. "It isn't a crime to carry a sword out in public, little one," he said, moving to pat her on the head in an attempt to soothe her fears.

"Yes, it is," 'Tsu-chan' argued. "It's been that way since the reign of Emperor Meiji started, back in the latter half of the 19th century of the western calendar."

Gin stopped in mid-motion. "Really?" he asked. "Man, have we been behind the times of the land…"

"What do you mean by 'we', mister?"

"Er… I feel like I can't explain…"

"Does this have to do with what you said earlier? Something about a 'soru riipa'?" 'Tsu-chan' asked.

Gin facepalmed. Shit… he thought. Should've been silent there. Now I have to explain about the Soul Society and Shinigami as a whole…

"Mister?"

"The correct wording is 'Shinigami', little one. I'm one of many Shinigami in the world right now."

'Tsu-chan' opened her mouth to speak at that—

"Setsuna-chan!"

—only for another girl to rush up to her from within the museum.

"Kasumi-chan?" Setsuna asked. "What's the matter?"

"Someone put bombs in the museum!" Ayase Kasumi, a girl with auburn-brown hair and brown eyes, exclaimed. "Everyone's leaving in a hurry because of it!"

This piqued Gin's interest. Oho… so a Hollow's attacking the museum? Better investigate. Before he could Shunpo into the museum, however, he noticed that Kasumi was looking at him oddly. Uh-oh…

"Setsuna-chan, who's that man?" Kasumi asked.

Oh, brother… "My name's Ichimaru, kids… Ichimaru Gin."

"Are you going to protect us, Ichimaru-san?" Kasumi asked.

"Yep, he will," Setsuna answered for Gin. "Grab my hand," she added, holding out her left hand to Kasumi.

Just as Kasumi did so, Gin Shunpo'd inside.

I had managed to evade the well-meaning adults that would want me to leave the museum proper, even as I looked all over for the possible entryway to Marie's little hideaway. I was certain that the ten seconds were up, mind you, but that did nothing to help me out here. I needed to find Marie; it was my only way of surviving what was coming up!

'King, why not call for your Asauchi?' Zangetsu asked me.

Are you out of your MIND?! I mentally roared at Zangetsu. How in the bloody HELL am I supposed to call for my Asauchi?! It's still back at the Kurosaki Clinic!

'…okay, you need to learn something about this, King. So long as it's bonded to you, which it is, you can summon it to your side at any time it leaves. You can even have it go back to the place you left it at intentionally.'

…you've gotta be kidding me.

'I kid you not.'

With that, I prepared to summon my Asauchi from within my bedroom in the Kurosaki Clinic—

Your gift is waiting for you down the corridor to your right, thou who replaced Zarathustra Übermensch.

—!

I stopped a split second after hearing that voice, which sounded suspiciously like Mercurius' voice, before I turned to face my right. Sure enough, there was a corridor that led somewhere important, and I figure it's where Marie lives now. I headed down the corridor to find the Bois de Justice.

'King, I thought you were going to summon your Asauchi?'

As a backup weapon, Zangetsu, as a backup weapon…

Eventually, I found my way to in front of the blade of the Bois de Justice, the same Guillotine that beheaded so many people during the French Revolution… Marie included. I had to be careful, obviously, because I didn't want to get beheaded just by touching her spectral form.

'So, she's a Plus spirit?'

If, by that, you mean a transcended spirit who has the capability of replacing the very nature of the multiverse with her very own force of will…

'…question retracted, King.'

Thanks for understanding.

I looked in the direction of the blade of the Guillotine, feeling that there was supposed to be something here… for all of five seconds. Nothing happened during those five seconds.

I turned to face the entrance to the room—

"You're… the same…"

—!

Spinning back to face the Bois de Justice, I saw Marie's spectral form floating from the Guillotine, floating down to me. I was transfixed by what I saw of her… primarily I was transfixed with horror, to be honest, but a small part of me thought she looked beautiful. It was much like Mama in this life.

Either way, Marie floated on down to me, though she stopped just shy of touching my face with her hands. Why would she stop—?

"Well, well…" a man's voice called out. "I never would've expected a Plus spirit to lure a child to such a disturbing blade."

—oh, brother… I turned around slowly to face the speaker in question… and then gaped. Ichimaru Gin?! What the hell?!

"Hoh?" he tilted his head to his right. "You can see me, then, boy?" He then shrugged. "Well, no matter. Better do my duty to the Soul Society and the balance of souls as a whole." With that, he walked over to Marie and I, pulling out his Zanpakuto and preparing to Konso Marie—

"You've been a very elusive child, boy, to not go outside the museum when everyone else is supposed to be there."

—uh-oh! It's Fishbone-A!

Before Gin could react, Fishbone-A knocked the Captain-class Shinigami aside, his Zanpakuto flung into a wall and sticking out from thirty centimeters within. I had to wince when I heard the crash against the wall… ouch.

A/N: Time to end this chapter. Sorry about the cliffhanger, the chapter was dragging on longer than I'd have liked it to, and I needed a place to stop it for now.

By the way, for those of you who want to know, I intended for Mercurius' line to SI!Ichigo to be in the color red, much like it was in the original Dies Irae visual novel when he talks to Ren for much of the time. However, due to the formatting issue on FFN, I'm incapable of doing so, so I'm stuck with what it turns out to be later on… when the chapter's already uploaded to the site. My apologies.

Before I forget, though, here's the review corner again:

"Well, this is looking good! Not really much in terms of action, but the setup more than makes up for it. Let's see what happens when the mess starts for real. Nice chapter!"
~Lily Nadesico

Thank you, pal! In fact, you get to see the result of that action in this chapter and coming up ASAP.

"OH, thank goodness. Finally Dies Irae fic, cuz so far we only saw works from Shidou Haruka and fic with Muzan in Familiar of Zero."
~Tsunashi777 (in the prologue)

I could've sworn that there were more fics by other authors that crossed over with the Masadaverse… but they might have been taken down. Oh, wait, IRUn's fic is a Nasuverse crossover with Dies Irae. I just wish the guy (full username is It's A Random Username) would update it again.

"Now this is actually interesting…

How the freaking hell person with sane mindset will survive here. And manage to use Die Ewigkeit cuz… if we use logic of Nasuverse, then u have to be insane to attain Briah."
~Tsunashi777 (in Chapter 1)

Now, that? That's a secret that I intend to reveal as soon as humanly possible… over the course of the series.