disclaimer: i do not own bleach

just something i made to pass the time...

Prologue, Begining of life

The rain is pouring down, accompanied with the booming thunder from the murky dark clouds above. Citizens of the town has taken refuge on their cozy house or nearby building, muttering and cursing the storm to go away. A young boy with shockingly bright orange hair, walked limply trough the empty alley. The raging winds blows harder. The boy shivered as the wind blows trough his drenched t-shirt and short pants. His hind left leg was scraped. His warm red blood ran trough the wound, changing his snow white socks into blood red. The boy was at his limit. He rested his back on the cold cemented walls. he was panting hard.

The boy didn't have the luxury to find refuge from the heavy rain like the rest of the citizens. He have to keep moving, if they found him, the boy can't even think what horribly sick torture will he goes trough if those nut jobs found him. A realization struck him. He can't stay here doing nothing, he have to run. His breath has gotten lighter, thanks to his short moment of reprieve. And so, the boy started moving, he had to go on, despite the blood loss and the raging storm, despite his fatigue and the roaring pain on his 'now all aching' body.

He was being chased,

And he have to get away fast before his body fails him.

"ah, so here you are" said a pink haired scientist who wears a lab coat. He also bring his soldiers with him. In a glance, they looked like a normal police officer, how ever, they are a special force which members are the best of the best police there is.

The boy was shocked to hear his voice, he doesn't even look back to see the owner of that voice, the boy simply ran away to lose his chaser, because he knew that voice all to well, it was the voice of his chaser. His chocolate brown eyes wide in fear as he was chased by the soldiers and the researcher. he has to find a hiding spot fast.

The boy ran and ran, he ran as fast as he could, as far as his weakened body take him, ignoring the pain and his injured leg. he quickly turned left to find a small garden in the side of the road. He heard the footsteps of the soldiers coming his way fast. He quickly hide behind a tree surrounded by bushes. From his hiding spot, he can hear the frustrated shout from his chaser.

"Find him! He can't go to far!" shouted the pink haired researcher to the soldiers.

The boy sit still on his spot. His heart is pounding so hard that he felt that it's going to burst. The pressure is unbearable for him. He shifted his legs to a more relaxing position. This, however, created a silent sound but loud enough for the soldier whose searching in the area. one of the soldier slowly approached the bush. The boy is so tense that he forgot to breathe. As the soldier walked closer, The boy had to be ready for a fight. He is not going to be captured without a fight. His constantly furrowed eyebrows has furrowed even further. His chocolate brown eyes sparked with resolve. He's just too stubborn to give up with out a fight. Just before he leaped to the soldier, a black cat went past him. It jumped into the bush and burst into the other side.

"what, it's just a cat" muttered the disappointedsoldier.

The boy sit in disbelieve. That cat has actually saved him!. He can't believe how lucky he is. His muscles relaxed but still alert as he quietly observe his surroundings. After a few minutes of searching, the researcher and his cahoots stopped searching in the area, they figured that he was probably went on ahead. After they leave the area, the boy slowly and soundlessly, sneaked out of the area, just in case their retreat was actually a trap.

The boy continues his run, he is now on the residence area. The rain is still pouring hard and the thunder raged on. This time the boy has really reached his limit. his body started to feel warm, then hot, soon burning. The boy was still struggling to walk, however, the aching and burning pain of his body, combined with his blood loss and fatigue, has finally beaten him. The boy's eyes started to blur and after a few small steps, he finally fell to unconsciousness.

Kurosaki isshin and his wife, kurosaki masaki, was a loving parents with two loving children. They own a small clinic in karakura town which is also their home. that day, the storm was raging on and the thunder was roaring and flashed. Isshin was sorting out the medicine, he was checking the supplies of cold medicine. In stormy days like these, he got a lot of patients that infected by the dreaded cold. It's not surprising though, the storm has been quite heavy lately. As he plunders his hand to the supply box, isshin nearly fell on his feet as he sensed a shocking force outside his house. Afraid that there might be possible dangerous beings outside his house, he ran trough the house and smashed his front doors open just to find an unconscious boy, drenched in the storm, his leg was bleeding quite badly as well. Without wasting any time, isshin took the boy to the ward where he could check on him. Masaki was also shocked with the new patient. He was just a boy, barely 7 and he looked like he has been trough a lot.

Masaki placed her twins on their bed in the second floor. She hurriedly ran down the stairs to the ward to help her husband on treating the boy. Slowly, she turns the aluminum doorknob and opened the polished white wooden door silently so that she won't bother her husband in the middle of a treatment.

The room has two beds placed parallel with the other on the side of the room, separated by a white sliding curtain between the beds. The rain has subsided the sun was shining brightly without the shade of the clouds. The warm sunlight passed trough the window at the end of the room, illuminate the whole room with such a warmth.

The sight of the boy's drenched clothes and a blood soaked sock on the left corner of the room made her body shivers. How on earth such a young boy could have such a wound. When she saw the boy, she gasped at the horrid condition the boy's body was in, she can't believe her eyes, the boy's body was full of bruises. There are 3 bruises in his body, there's one below his left shoulder, one on the ribs, and one on his right chest. His arms isn't any better, his small delicate arms is bruised, badly, as if he's taken beating again and again while he used his right hand to defend himself. She quickly offered her help to her husband and join him as he tends the boy's injuries.

The boy were in pain, he was burning, his breath is uncoordinated and unsynchronized. It was so hot that he thought that every single one of his cells were burnt to ashes. The boy can't think of anything else other than wishing the pain to go away.

The doctor and his wife was doing everything they can to help the boy. His unbelievably high temperature also put the doctor to the edge. It isn't a normal cold or fever, it was something that the doctor couldn't interfere with. All he could do is stay by his side, praying that the kid will live on. He silently cursed himself as the boy writhe in agony.

After an hour or so, the boy's condition has finally got better. His temperature steadily decreasing in an attempt to return to his normal temperature. After what it seemed days of agony, the boy finally opened his heavy eyes. At first all he saw was a blur, then it focused revealing a man with black eyes and hair, he also has black thin hair as his beard.

"hey, finally, you're awake!, that some fever you got there!, congratulations on making it alive though. My name is kurosaki isshin and I'm a doctor. So, where did you come from kid?" asked the bearded man casually. His black eyes looked at the boy with such intent that the boy felt uncomfortable. It's as if he was being interrogated.

The boy was mulling over things, he can't tell them about where he came from or they will hand him back to them. He rather die than going back to that hell hole, if the can make the choice. the boy stayed silent, he shifted his body uncomfortably and avoid the doctors deep gaze on him.

"isshin! The child need some rest, save the questions later after he gets better" scolded the blond haired woman. Her brown eyes looked at isshin with such a force.

"but honey, how can we sent him back if we don't know where he came from" said isshin

The boy stammered at the doctor's words. He moved back in a defensive manner, like an injured animal that has its life threatened. His eyes grew wide and his body tremble in fear.

"y...you are giving me back.." said the boy with. his voice was shaken and low in volume, his fear was tightening his lung, he can barely breath.

"isshin! let him! The poor child had been trough a lot!" scolded masaki, again. Isshin was about to protest but was silenced by masaki's piercing gaze. Masaki was extremely protective over children and he knew that it's beter to stop right there.

"y...you're not giving me back, ...will you?" said the boy who was still shaken in fear.

Masaki pat the boy's head in an attempt to relive his fear. "don't worry little one, you don't have to tell us if you don't want to, now get some rest" masaki said as she drag her husband out of the room.

The husband and wife sat silently on a velvet couch and sofa at the living room of the kurosaki clinic. the silence was broken by the doctor as he started to spoke up.

"masaki.."

"it's best to let the boy told us when he's ready"

"I guess... That wound, no doubt that the kid has went trough quite an abuse on where ever he came from, I doubt the kid will ever want to go back, but what worried me is, he's an ability user"

Masaki stunned at her husband's words. That boy, such a fragile and small boy is an ability user. She can't fathom the information. Is it really possible that a child can be an ability user. on such an early age.... Masaki stared at her husband in disbelief.

"he is a user! But he's just a child! You know that a user's powers can only be awaken on adulthood"

"yes, an ability user have special powers because they has strong reiatsu. People with that potential usually wait for their reiatsu to grow until adulthood when their reiatsu are fully grown, where they could finally awaken their power, but one with high reiatsu (spiritual power) will be able to awaken much more early than normal."

"i know that honey, but even then, it awakens on teen age and the boy is far from it, besides i can't feel any reiatsu from him"

"a kido, that kid... Someone placed a powerful kido on him that sealed his reiatsu. The high fever from before was the time when the kid was activated"

Once again Masaki stunned and squealed at her husband's words, but she kept quiet, nevertheless, and allow her husband to continue.

"by someone, I mean, there is only two men that I know were able to use such high level kido... Urahara kisuke and Tsukabishi tessai" finished isshin

This time, masaki was even more shocked by her husbands words, she knows them, tessai and kisuke, kisuke was one of the captain in gotei 13, an army of ability users with their own nation to command, it's called as soul society with it's capital, where the users live, seireitei. The gotei 13 deals with everything 'ability user' related matters. They set laws for users and imprison those who broke the law. In other words, they are the police for the users. The last thing they heard about kisuke and tessai is when they were going to a lab somewhere to research about something. The husband and wife didn't really understand about the matter since it was considered as 'classified information'. But what they didn't understand is how urahara kisuke and his partner tessai is related with that boy in any way.

Isshin sighed in his confusion. It's no use to just mule over things that they will never solve without any more information, so he decided to leave things as it is and do something he can, for now.

"masaki, I'll check on the kid, hopefully, he can tell us what's happening when he's ready" said isshin. Masaki replies with a nod. As isshin went to the ward, masaki went upstairs to check on her daughters.

Isshin opened the door and trod down silently so that he wont waken the boy if he's asleep, but the sight that greeted him was different, the boy was looking out trough the window. The sky is bright and clear with a hint of red and orange. The boy has a scowl placed on his face. He was too deep in thought to realized that the doctor was actually standing beside him.

"so, I see that you're awake, how are you felling kid" asked isshin in his usual carefree tone.

The boy squealed on isshin's voice, and he backed away as he saw isshin is quite close to him.

"hey, relax kid, I'm not gonna eat you or stove you in an oven alright, I'm not a cannibal" he said in a playful tone. Isshin took a seat on a chair beside him, the chair that he used when he treat the boy.

Meanwhile, the boy didn't make any noise, he just sit on his bed looked at isshin with a scowl. Certainly the boy didn't get isshin's plain taste of humor.

"for starters, can you tell me your name, I'm sure you won't like it if I keep calling you 'kid' " isshin wait for a response, after an uncomfortable silent moment, isshin sighed in defeat.

"come on kid, we wont hurt you or anything, and we definitely wont give you back to where ever you came from, just tell me your name and let us help you" he said in frustration, he should at least know the boy's name, he saved him so he should at least have the right to know his name.

The boy shifted uncomfortably for a moment, then he started to let his voice out. "I... I don't have any" his voice was hoarse, probably from lack of drink, so isshin gives him a cup of water to drink.

"you dont have any? You sure about that?" asked isshin in amusement. The boy replies with a silent nod. The boy didn't looked like lying, and he isn't the type either since he choose to stay silent instead of lying to them, so overall the boy is speaking the truth. Isshin sighed once again, it seems the mystery is going deeper.

"really!" exclaimed masaki in disbelief. Both isshin and the boy jumped on her voice "then, we should give one for you"

"masaki... How long have you been there?"

"just before you asked the child his name, both of you seemed so serious that I don't think I should be bothering you"

"I see..."

"so, what do you suggest we name him" said masaki giddily, all of a sudden she becomes one exited high school girl.

"um.. Masaki... Don't you think its up to his parents to name him..."

"then, we will be his parents" said masaki happily. Isshin was stammered on his wife dead on declaration. Just before he even have a chance to argue, masaki continued. "the poor child doesn't have anywhere to go, and we cant send him back either. Its our duty to take care of him since we found him"

"Alright" said isshin in defeat, his wife sure knows how to beat him in conversation. He knew that if masaki is onto something, she will never give up, especially involving people in need and children, which is combined into the current case at hand. "then, are we going to adopt him? If we do, don't you think it will be a problem since the kid didn't have that 'identity certificate' or whatever it called?"

"oh, that's for later, for now, let's give him a name" said masaki back on her hi-spec mode.

Meanwhile, the boy just stare at them without a word. But, he was also quite exited about getting a name of his own. On, that place, no one calls him by his name, that is even if he had any...

"hm... I don't have any ideas..."

"oh!, I got it!, it's ichigo!" exclaimed masaki excitedly. Isshin just can't believe at the word. Seriously, who on their right mind call a boy 'strawberry'

"um.. Honey, I don't think calling a boy 'strawberry' is... Right... It's just wrong..."

"what are you talking about, it does not mean 'strawberry' it means 'he who protects' I'm sure he will use his powers to protect others" said masaki as she give the boy a warm gaze.

The boy gasped on the revelation, he was surprised, they know about him being a user.

"y..you knew..." he stammered, his voice was hoarse, full of fears.

"ah! Please don't be afraid little one, we didn't mean any harm" said masaki as an act to calm the boy.

"yeah, both of us are one, masaki is a healer, and I'm just someone who happens to have some reiatsu"

Upon knowing that the doctor and his wife are an ability user, the boy becomes more restless, he scowled deeper and he became cautious of his surroundings. what if they are a part of them, it will be the end of him. The doctor noticed the change on the young boy, quickly, he tried to ease the boy's distress.

"look kid, we wont hurt you okay, whoever you are and whatever you do with urahara, it doesn't matter to us, yore a part of our family now" said isshin. In the mention of urahara's name, the boy was shocked and relieved at the same time, and if gives him questions as well.

"you know professor urahara?" asked the boy, curious on the fact. The doctor and his wife exchanged looks, it seems they hit right on the spot. but the fact that the boy called urahara as 'professor' is a mystery by it self.

"yes" answered isshin as he return his gaze to the boy "we're... old friends"

"Really" Said the boy in amusement, his eyes soften from the relieve.

"so, kid, mind telling us what happened between you and urahara?"

"um... The professor told me to keep it a secret"

"is that so..." said isshin. He made a mental note to himself that he HAVE to ask kisuke about this later.

"so, will you be a part of our family little one" asked masaki with a warm smile, a smile that could melt even the coldest ice.

This time the boy gladly answers with a smile. "yes" exclaimed the boy

"but masaki, are you sure you're still going to name him ichigo, I mean it usually means 'strawberry' " asked isshin to make sure, which was replied by a deathly glare from masaki that made isshin felt like he was shrinking a few inches. The boy however, was having a time of his live, for a second there, his scowl was erased from his face.

"ichigo... the one who protects... I don't mind, I love it!" Exclaimed ichigo with a big smile on his face.