What the hell was wrong with this day?
First I slept in and almost came to late for the graduation ceremony and then when I took the shortcut through the park I saw a man chilling on a bench and enjoying the sun like he hasn't been out in a long time.
I tell you, I really would believe it his skin was so pale it glowed like a floodlight in the sun.
After I passed the guy, the feeling of being followed crawled up along my spine and I practically felt a pair of eyes bore into the back of my skull.
The feeling didn't leave me until my classmate Ishida also stared at me from the podium, like I grew another head, or something similar.

When I got home again even my sisters acted weird, telling me I seemed off somehow and made them feel funny.
I can't resent them, because I also felt strange.
Now, when it's gotten late and outside finally the sky was darkened, the boring feeling of being watched came back.
Immediately the image of the pale guy came back to me.
Something must really be wrong with me, maybe I finally lost it and got paranoia.
Why couldn't life be normal, just once for me, huh?

What I mean is that I haven't been normal, compared to other kids my age, since the day my mother died.
After she passed away, because of an accident, I have been damn serious, you could say I turned into a embittered old man caught in a child's body, constantly frowning.

Fighting off bullies got to be a daily routine, enduring them calling me a punk, or freak.
Their favorite phrase always is:
"You're a ginger with no soul."
No soul my ass.
The only ones who have no soul are the ones who get off on torturing other living beings.
That I am a ginger I can't and don't want to deny, because it is what I've inherited from my mother and the only thing I have left from her, except for the memories and the over sized memorial poster in our living room.
But enough of my rambling, I still haven't introduced myself.

My name is Kurosaki Ichigo, I'm 17, tomorrow I'll turn 18 and have just yet graduated from high school.
I have two little sisters, Karin and Yuzu, who a fraternal twins and my dad runs the local clinic, which I plan to take over after passing my medical studies.

I open my window to let a light breeze in, before I lay down and get some sleep.
Tomorrow would be a long and possibly strenuous day, with my father goofing around and all my friends coming to congratulate me and make it into a big party.
Oh how I wished they just would let me pass the day in peace.

3rd person POV

The albino Vampire, Shiro had gone out for a nightly walk to think over the happenings of this day.
Subconsciously, his nose and feet led him toward the home of the boy that refused to leave his mind.
Now he stood in front of the house with and adjoined clinic, under the ray of a streetlight, finally noticing where he had gone.

Shiros POV

'Funny.'
I thought to myself.
Really it was almost hilarious, that of all places I came out at this boys home.

'Must have hit you hard.'

I heard Grimmjows words repeat themselves in my head and answered them with a snort.
Still, his words held some truth, I have to admit that, again.
I use to live from blood bags, since our kind invented the blood banks, and that's already some centuries ago.
It's far easier and inconspicuous, than going on a hunt and leaving a row of anemic people behind.
So it's strange for me to be hunting after a human, now after I lived so long from 'fast-food'.

Humans are like cows.
They don't fear their master as long as he treats them well and so they let themselves be milked by him day for day, for day.
It's only the butcher they fear, when he stands right in front of them and humans by far, don't need us for that role.
There are plenty enough of their own kind who fit in the role.

Many share this opinion an live like I do, but there are still some who still hunt, using excuses like cooled or stored blood tastes bad or doesn't nourish them.
In reality they just like hunting too much to give it up.
But there also were some of us, who had found a way in between.
They drank the blood just from one or two humans, who accepted them as what they were and weren't afraid and willing to share their life with them.
We often call them our pets, bur sometimes they are more than that.
They are lovers and it hurts to know that we have to let them go some day, when the grim reaper claims their lives.
I had some pets myself, long ago, but I always have made sure to keep them at arms length so they wouldn't creep upon my heart.
Anyway, with the invention of the blood banks, all humans feed us on their free will, even if they don't know, that they do it.

I sniffed the air, catching the orangettes scent, as well as three other strong ones.
What made me nervous, was the lingering odor of two slayers that seemed to visit one time or the other.
I knew I wanted the boy, wanted him from the moment I caught his special scent and I knew that with slayers being so close to him I could either kill two birds with one stone or get myself killed.
First of all I needed to find a way to get in contact with him, without possibly scaring the shit out of him.
I let my mind wander and brush against his, catching a few stray thoughts, one of them that he would turn eighteen tomorrow, which would be in a minute and his name.

Normal POV

Shiro smirked to himself, getting this little piece of information about Ichigo.
He voiced a husky, 'Happy birthday, Ichi.', just two mere seconds before midnight, than turned around and walked back toward his mansion.

The night went by and a sunny morning came after it.
Inside of the Kurosaki household, an orange haired boy stretched on his bed, scaring the sleep from his muscles and was attacked by his father, flying into his room, right after that.
Loud yelling and the sound of breaking glass could be heard out on the street, when the two male residents clashed in their morning waking ritual.

Ichigos POV

Damn it!
Not a single time my stupid dad could wake me like a normal person.
Always, and I mean always he comes into my room with a flying kick and yelling.
'Good moorning, I~chi~go!'
To say it's annoying is an understatement.
So like every other day, I kick him square in the face and send him crashing back into my closet.
He starts to whine about a cruel son, not accepting his love-kick and runs down to the over sized memorial poster of my mom, crying at the picture of her smiling face.

I sigh and get up to dress myself and be ready for my friends that would soon stand at my porch.
I was sure, the day wouldn't be any better than the last, rather he would be worse.
When I was ready and just down the stairs, the doorbell rung and I went over to get the door, not even having the time to try and sit down at the breakfast table.
As I opened I found myself faced with someone I hadn't reckoned with at all.
"Ishida? What are you doing here? And so early."
He pushed his lenses up at my question, a sign that he thought it was a stupid one, I learned that over time.
"It's your birthday, so I came to bring you a present, obviously. I would have given it to you yesterday and congratulated you, but I had something urgent to do."
Ishida pushed a small box into my hands and brushed past me into the house.
"Even if you had have the time, you shouldn't have done it yesterday anyway. It brings bad luck, you know."
I tell him, following behind after I closed the door and placed his present on the table dad had set up for them.

Ishida stayed for some minutes, asking me about my plans for the future, since we hadn't have the time for that yesterday and them he left wishing me a good day.
It was strange, he seemed to be in a hurry since yesterday, I didn't get what was going on with him.
I mean, we are friends since Junior high, or something close to friends, but still I didn't fully understand him.
So, after he left my other friends came one after another and we had a rather nice and funny day.
The girls pulled a prank on me, with giving me condoms as a present.
I turned as red as a tomato and was happy that my sisters hadn't been in the room at that time.
The other presents were normal, a book, a CD and such things.
It was around 10 in the evening when I was left alone again and dropped dead on my bed, falling asleep almost instantly.

Chapter 4
End