Two

Doomed to A lifetime of Yesterdays

Have you ever felt like a huge chunk of your life was missing? Like something horribly important happened to you, but you just couldn't put your finger on the memory?

Ichigo Kurosaki could say this about a lot of things.

Technically July 15, 1994 was his birthday, but Ichigo had been struck with amnesia after getting out of his three year coma. The nine years he had already lived vanished and were forgotten. Doctors were stumped; no one could figure out what was happening to him.

So Ichigo lived a normal life and forgot about everything and everyone else but his family. They were the only thing he knew now anyways.

"Ichi-nii, breakfast is ready!" Ichigo's ten year old sister happily exclaimed while setting plates on the table. The soft clink of the china was a familiar sound, and Ichigo walked quietly into the kitchen and sat down in his normal spot - farthest away from the window. His other sister, Karen, was already at the table with her head in her arms as she tried to get a few more minutes of sleep before school.

This was how most days started. Yuzu would cook breakfast and get everyone ready, while Ichigo and Karen did what they could. Their dad was off doing something 'job-related', and most days they woke with him gone. Sometimes he wouldn't come back for days. They were use to it now. Karen put her head up and yawned before rubbing her face in an attempt to wake up better. She blinked her eyes a few times and then groaned and wished for more sleep again.

"Here you go Karen-chan." she placed a plate with bacon, eggs, and toast in front of her twin and the did the same for Ichigo and herself. They all ate in silence, but Ichigo couldn't find his appetite. Instead he pushed the eggs around on his plate over and over again, trying to eat the food as best as he could so he wouldn't upset his sister.

Ichigo finally decided to give up, and instead dumped his remaining food and washed his plate off. After washing both of his sisters' plates, which earned him two very happy smiles, Ichigo shooed his small siblings out the door with their backpacks and lunches. Yuzu gave him a kiss on the cheek and Karen gave a nonchalant wave as they exited the house and started walking towards the middle school down the road. A smile crept on Ichigo's face as he watched them disappear over the bend. They were the only two people he had, really. His dad didn't count.

As Ichigo went to close the front door and get ready for school himself, he found it impossible to close. Glancing back, Ichigo jumped as an unfamiliar face stood inches away with a foot in the door holding it open.

"What the fuck?" Ichigo jumped back to get away from the person, but the other male made no movement as he calculated the area. Ichigo's gulp could have woken the neighbors.

The man's eyes were blood red, the large pupils almost hiding that fact. A few gold speckles were among the crimson, Ichigo only caught this fact because of the glare from the light on his eyes. Silver hair swept over his face, and the unblemished fair skin reminding Ichigo of an albino of sorts. Ichigo's knees gave out as the red eyes locked on him, and a sound of pain came from his mouth as his back hit the linoleum flooring. The silence of the room had to have been the most unpleasant silence Ichigo had the pleasure of sitting through.

"Kurosaki Ichigo." it wasn't a question, it was a statement. A happy sigh blew through the white man's lips as he gazed at Ichigo quivering on the floor. "You look more delicious than I imagined."

Ichigo's eyes widened in shock. What the hell was this guy saying? How did he know his name? If Ichigo hadn't been so terrified, he would have voiced his questions out loud and had them answered. The orange head was pissed with himself; why the hell was he shaking like a girl on her first date? He was a man! Not a submissive little bitch.

"What do you want from me?" Ichigo was proud. His voice hadn't shook like he had thought it would.

"Hm?" the other man swept his hair from in front of his eyes so he could see better. "What do I want from you?" Ichigo cringed as the man laughed fluidly. The sound was ominous and dark, causing Ichigo to tense in fear.

The air seemed to part as the man made his way in and flowed over to his prey on the floor. He had an evil smile, Ichigo thought, and it had to be the scariest looking thing he could ever remember seeing.

"I want what everyone wants from you. I want your blood," he paused as his red eyes rolled back in his eyes as he licked his lips sexually. "I want your power." the man's voice was only a whisper now as he held his self in check. He could smell Ichigo's heartbeat pump the blood in his veins faster in fear, and his canines extended.

"There's a boy. You don't want this nasty ol' blood anyhow, trust me." he let his finger trace the prominent vein on Ichigo's throat. "Just hand it over to me and we all walk away happy."

This time Ichigo knew he wasn't going to be able to move. Even as the man's mouth came centimeters away from his neck, Ichigo just clenched his body tighter and watched with horror as the unthinkable started to unfold. Closing his eyes as tight as possible, Ichigo waited for whatever the man was going to do with him; what he would do with his blood of all things.

"Shirosaki." a new voice this time. Smooth and rich, the sound rang in his ears and the man above him stopped licking his neck. Hesitantly, Ichigo cracked open an eye. How many people were going to invade this morning? Was there some sort of beacon above him saying, HELLO CREEPS! COME TO MINE! If so, he really wanted to switch it off before an army came.

A tall man with messy brown curls stood in his doorway, a large black trench-coat covering his suit underneath. Unlike the other man, this guy had brown eyes like himself, and also looked a little less threatening. A little.

The light haired man leaned away from Ichigo with a smile. "Ah, your guard dog has arrived. Where ya been Coyote, I thought you were just gonna hand him over ta me with the time it took you to get here."

"But I am here nonetheless. If you don't mind, I would rather you remove yourself from Ichigo before something bad happens to you."

The man named Shirosaki stood and cackled. "Protective lil' mate, aren't ya? What will you do now, hm? Since I almost drained your favorite little dog till he was dry. Are you upset?"

Slowly but surely Ichigo released the breath he had been holding. Shirosaki strolled away from him at a pretty slow pace, finally, and Ichigo sighed with relief. Whoever this other man was sure had saved him. Although Ichigo's heart was still beating out of his chest he decided it would be better to ask then to be silent.

"Um..." Ichigo cleared his throat nervously. "What in the world...?" never mind. Ichigo just couldn't muster up enough of his thoughts to produce a legit sentence. Deep inside his mind Ichigo was screaming at himself. To run, to yell, God forbid, to do something! His mouth stayed agape as his body froze completely. He was screwed.

"Ichi-chan?" the tall brunette man cocked his head sideways in confusion, almost as if he were still waiting for the downed man to say something to them. After noticing Ichigo's frozen state, however; he turned his head to the side with a grim look and shot Shirosaki an evil glare. Ichigo's mind flashed.

He had heard that before. His mind reeled as the realization hit him, and then he saw white.

A boat?

His heart stopped, but before Ichigo could look around his memory any longer an angry voice shattered his temporary serenity.

"You have no right to enter this household! You knew I was here, so either you had some balls, or you didn't care. Either way, this is unacceptable. I'm in the right mind to tear you into pieces and burn what's left of you."

"C'mon, Starrky. You sure are scarin' your lil' guy over there. Don't you think headquarters would be a bett'r place for a conversation like this?"

The brunnette looked up and raked his eyes over Ichigo's form for what seemed like the millionth time in the short period he was inside the young man's home. Shirosaki whistled loudly, which caused Ichigo to jump at the sudden sound. He cussed himself for being so weak and scared. The only thing Ichigo wanted right now was to melt into the uncomfortable wooden flooring. To get away in any way possible.

"Sure is terrified. I must'a scared the shit outta him."

Ichigo jumped again as the pale man was shoved roughly into the wall by the other man invading his house. A picture Yuzu had drawn fell from the impact, and the frame shattered on the floor close to Ichigo. The pretty yellow flower fluttered to the ground; Ichigo's eyes almost hypnotized but the swaying movement. The swaying...

A boat...on the ocean?

This time Ichigo saw the large, aggressive waves of the ocean beating at the sides of a boat. He had almost tasted the salt from the water, but was dragged out of the short memory once again when a cold finger touched the center of his forehead.

The brunnette now in front of him, touching him, smiled sincerely as he gazed into Ichigo's cloudy eyes. "You always were bad for daydreaming. I would think now isn't the best time for this however."

The tip of the man's finger started to glow a bright blue color, and Ichigo couldn't hold his fear in. What the hell were these people? What were they doing to him? His mouth moved as if to make a noise of protest, but to no avail. He was still frozen in fear, shock, whatever you wanted to label it as.

"It was nice seeing you again, Ichi-chan. I will be watching over you. Sleep tight."

Ichigo could feel the pull of his memory being sucked from inside of him. It was the worst feeling he could ever remember being put through, having your memory torn from you. The only thing Ichigo wanted to do was to pull the man's hand away from him and demand answers without anyone touching anyone's memory. Of course, complications stopped this from happening.

"How do you know me?" Ichigo spit out in the last seconds of consciousness. The other man's eyes widened in surprise as Ichigo finally spoke, only to have the light teenager pass out in his arms with a frown marring his tan face.

"I'm sorry." he laid Ichigo down on the nearby couch and turned to Shiro, who was looking very smug.

"What a good guardian angel you are."

Starrk flipped the color of his jacket up and gracefully walked over to his friend, who really counted as more of an enemy to him. Without blinking his eyes, Starrk landed a large punch square on the man's jaw, which caused him to recoil and cuss in pain.

"Shit, shit. Why'd ya hit me, motherfucker?" a pale hand massaged the already healing area. He bit his bottom lip. "You suck."

"And you almost drained the single most important person to me; the only thing keeping me alive."

The pale man scoffed. "Sure, sure." he said it as if none of this had been a big deal in the slightest.

Both men pulled their hoods over their heads as they walked into the rays of the rising sun. Shiro hissed and pulled his dark shades over his eyes, noticing Starrk do the same beside him. A few late school boys ran down the sidewalk, not even noticing the two mysterious men walking in the opposite direction. Starrk could have laughed. If he hadn't put Ichi out, the orangette would have been doing the exact same thing now.

Starrk looked into the brightening sky. Ichi-chan...

When Ichigo awoke he was laying on his couch, uncovered, and about six hours too late to make it to school. He wondered what his friends were thinking about his absence. The couch groaned in disapproval as he sat up and scratched his head.

He looked around groggily, and briefly wondered what had kept him from getting to school. He remembered eating with his sisters, well not eating, and seeing Yuzu and Karin out the door, but after that Ichigo couldn't remember anything. An ungentle throbbing took over Ichigo's senses and he grabbed at his temple as the onslaught of pain wracked him suddenly. The bright light in the room only made the migraine worse.

Ichigo gulped two familiar pink pills with a swig of tap water. For as long as he could remember, he had been having these migraines. Doctors said it could be something about his amnesia, but Ichigo really couldn't tell for himself. To him, it wasn't even that big of a deal.

As the pain medication finally began to fight his migraine, Ichigo glanced over at something laying on the floor. Yuzu's picture?

"What in the world happened?" the glass shards reflected some of the light pouring in the window. Carefully, Ichigo swept the pieces up and dumped them, but not before giving Yuzu's picture a nice new place on the fridge.

"Tired..." the young man whispered to himself. For some reason, he felt as if he was being watched. However, the feeling only lasted a moment before he was pretty much dropping from exhaustion. He practically melted into the couch as soon as he lied back down, grabbing a few feather pillows and cuddling them like he always had. They were cool to the touch, and within seconds Ichigo was teetering on the edge of sleep.

To him, nothing important had happened today at all.

Ah yes, the unheard rambles of a tired authoress. I have the right to be tired though. 6:07am, aha I should learn to go to sleep some times. Mmm. This story was pretty well-received. Thanks. See ya next time, I suppose.

Ashley