This whole fan fiction is dedicated to WarriorofAnime, because they are amazing.

I'm schizophrenic...

… and so am I

'Heh heh. So now it's your turn.'

I open my eyes and realise I'm having the Dream again. I'm standing on a great blue skyscraper, which would be sort of normal if it wasn't sideways. Everything in this world except us is sideways, unless we're the ones that are out of place instead. Off in the distance, there is a jungle. I know that it is a memory of Lorien that I must have or something. Every so often, I have the Dream and I come here, to this place. Zangetsu told me it is normal for the Garde to have dreams like this.

However, it's not so normal for the other me to be here.

'What are you doing here again?' I ask. I feel slightly irritated that he's shown up in the Dream again, but there's not much I can do about it. He looks the same as me, wearing the same clothes I'm wearing, but everything about him is white. White clothes, albino white skin and hair, black sclera and yellow irises. Plus, I don't exactly grin like that, all the damn time too.

'Just interested. Three's dead, huh?'

'Yes. They'll be after me next,' I reply.

He looks thoughtful. 'So it's finally gonna get eventful?'

'You make it sound like a good thing. If I'm next, I'm in even more danger than ever. I don't know why I'm telling this to you, though.'

He smiles. 'Why not? So what's your new name, Four?'

'Ichigo Kurosaki.'

'Strawberry?'

'Argh. You're just like Zangetsu.'

He's been here for as long as I can remember. I often had dreams of Lorien when I first arrived on Earth, and of course I had nightmares about the Hollows capturing and killing me. Whenever I came into the Dream I would often catch glimpses of a second me, similar in every detail except colour and facial expression. I've often though that maybe he's just an illusion that I created myself so I'd have someone other than Zangetsu to talk to and I wouldn't be so alone. But he seems to have a personality of his own. He doesn't have a name, as I've never given him one. Why should I? I've never had a proper name, never kept one for more than a few months. Aside from my number, Four. So what should he be, then? Four ½?

He's not just a figment of my imagination, though. I know that now. Sometimes, when I'm awake, I hear his voice in my head. He can be pretty annoying, and I've come to dislike him quite a lot. Sometimes I wish he'd just go away, which means that he should have just disappeared if he was just an illusion of mine.

'I'm going to win where they failed,' I vow, talking about the other three Loric children that were murdered. 'I'm not going to die. I'm going to find the other Loric five and together we're going to beat the Hollows.'

'I'm sure the other three promised the same things,' the other me says quietly, but with a menacing grin.

'Do you want me to die or something?' I ask.

He laughs. 'Of course not. If you die, I die, and that would be a bit of a problem!'

I've asked a lot over the years, but I decide it's time for the question again. 'Who are you? You're not quite me, but at the same time...'

'It's not time for you to know yet, Four,' he says, his eyes half-closed as he gives me a half-smile. 'I'll tell you... when you've developed your first Legacy.'

I blink. 'Are you... are you tied down to my Legacies, then?'

He whistles. 'That's about the brightest thing you've ever said, Four.'

'I told you, my name is Ichigo now.'

'Okay, Strawberry.'

'… Hey!'

.

Our new home is nothing like the old one. For starters, there are only two floors and it is surrounded by other houses. I figure this to be a bit of a problem, because my Legacies should be coming along any week now and we need somewhere for me to train. When I mention this to Zangetsu, he just shrugs and says we'll find somewhere.

When I'm sitting in the living room and Zangetsu is in the joined on kitchen getting some food ready for us, I say, 'Hey, Zangetsu. I was talking to the other me on the car journey-'

'Ichigo. He doesn't really exist,' Zangetsu says, not looking up from the pasta he's pouring out of a saucepan into a bowl.

'Yeah, well, anyway, he said he was tied down to my Legacies,' I say, ignoring Zangetsu.

He freezes, then turns to face me. 'Ichigo... I...'

'He said that he'd explain everything when I develop my first Legacy,' I continue. 'But I want to know now.'

Zangetsu sighs. 'No... you should find out at that time. It's too soon right now...'

'No way!' I shout, outraged. 'You've always tried to convince me that he didn't really exist, and now you're agreeing with him?!'

'Look... your first Legacy should be coming really soon, so you won't be deprived of the truth for long. It's... hard to explain. In any case, I don't think you should bother with school here in Karakura Town.'

'What part of 'normal teen experience' did you not get?' I growl. 'I want to go to school, it'll give me something to do! It's certainly better than just sitting at home all day!'

He frowns. '… I'll think about it.'

'No, that's not how this is going to work,' I reply. 'I'm going to go to Karakura High tomorrow and join that school. I don't care what you have to say.'

'You're in more danger than ever now, and we know the amount of Hollows on Earth has increased-'

'I'm still going to school,' I say firmly. 'No buts.'

He gives a half-hearted smile. 'It seems you've made up your mind.'

'I have.'

'Well... okay, then. But you have to take your emergency kit, and keep your cell phone on you at all times-'

'When have I never done that?' I ask, smiling. 'I've always been in danger, even before I was next in line. I know what to do.'

'I hope so.'

.

After dinner, Zangetsu goes back to staring at the various computers and monitors he's already set up in his new office, so I go to my room. Luckily, there's a desk in here so I sit down at it and pull a sheet of paper and a pen out of my bag and begin to write.

My new name is Ichigo Kurosaki.

My previous name was Sakebe Kashiwaba.

My Cêpan is Zangetsu.

I have moved to a new home called Karakura Town, in Western Tokyo, and I know that the Hollows will be looking for me next.

Number One, whoever he or she was, died when I was nine.

Number Two also suffered the same fate when I was twelve.

Number Three was murdered just a few hours ago.

I am Number Four, so they'll try and find me next.

If there is any sort of order to this, given that it has been a death every three years since they found One, they should catch me when I'm eighteen. That's what I predict.

But I'm not going to let them catch me, because soon I'll have my Legacies and I'll be able to fight them.

The Hollows came from the planet Mogadore. We Loric came from the planet Lorien. The Hollows destroyed our planet after they trashed their own. As a last resort, the ten elders of our planet placed a spell on ten young Garde so that we all have special numbers. They then sent us to Earth along with ten Cêpans.

The last child and their Cêpan didn't make it in time.

The Hollows followed us to Earth, and they can only kill us in order.

There really is no point in writing this, because if it were to fall into the wrong hands I would be in a lot of trouble. So I'm going to have to burn this.

A waste of ink, really.

But it kind of helps to get my feelings out, and I do this every so often to remind me of my situation. I prefer writing to talking to my other self inside my head.

I always thought I'm schizophrenic but apparently the other me is tied down to my Legacies.

Somehow.