Author's Note: Yeahh, this starts off pretty boring in all honesty. Hoping to get things picking up to a more interesting pace though.
Soft caramel-colored eyes fluttered open to stare at a plain white ceiling. The teen with untamed spiky orange locks sat up slowly in his bed, rubbing a hand through his hair. Sunshine was coming in through the only window in his room, on the left side of his bed.
He sighed, "What a strange dream."
"Good mooorning, Ichigoooo!"
There was a loud crash as his window was shattered, allowing his crazy jackass of a father to come through with a flying kick. Ichigo ducked under his father's sneak attack before rising with a roundhouse kick to his back, sending the lunatic careening into the closet door. The man cried crocodile tears as he held his head, but Ichigo wasn't having any of it.
Without hesitating, he stomped over and slammed his foot down on his dad's chest and stared him down, "How many times do I have to tell you to quit breaking in through my window every morning?!"
With that part of his routine done, he turned to go to the bathroom. He was in dire need of a morning piss.
"Oh, you're becoming an admirable foe, my son," Isshin praised, then a sneaky grin appeared on his face and a gleam in his eye, "but you should never turn your back on your opponent!"
Isshin's face crashed right into the foot Ichigo picked up to kick him with at the last second. The goat-faced man wobbled a bit before slumping down to the ground, face-down.
Isshin held up a thumb high in the air, "Great work, my son!"
Ichigo just groaned and turned back to continue his venture to the bathroom uninterrupted this time.
He was sure to quickly lock the door behind him, not trusting his father to allow him privacy otherwise. He took his piss and washed his face with some ice cold water.
As he opened his eyes, he jolted. He squinted, staring at his reflection in the mirror, trying to discern if something was different. He couldn't help but feel suspicious. Something seemed to be missing, or different, but he could not pinpoint what it was.
Shrugging it off, he grabbed up his toothbrush. He jammed his toothbrush with ample amounts of toothpaste into the side of his mouth, then opened the door of the bathroom for Karin, who was banging on the door incessantly while demanding that he let her go pee.
He stepped aside, gesturing broadly with a slightly muffled, "Sh'all yoursh."
She ran into the bathroom and slammed the door shut behind her. While idly brushing his teeth, Ichigo wandered back into his bedroom to look through his closet for some clothes to wear.
He only had one uniform left. He'd have to stuff his clothes in the wash tonight, so he'd have something to wear tomorrow. Grabbing some clothes and a fresh pair of underwear, Ichigo returned to the bathroom just in time for Karin to come out. She was just opening the door as she sighed in relief.
Ichigo chuckled, "Shorry."
Karin snapped a glare at him, "I ought to kick you for that," she said, but as she did so she was already walking off down the hallway and down the stairs.
After he was freshened up and dressed, he came downstairs to see Karin at her usual spot watching television, Yuzu busily cooking up a storm at the stove, and his father himself reading a newspaper at the table as if he'd never attacked Ichigo and gotten his ass handed to him.
He grabbed the toast that had just popped up in the toaster, only taking a moment to spread butter on it, and popped it into his mouth.
Ichigo grabbed his school bag, going to put his shoes on, "I'm going to school," he announced to his family.
Yuzu glanced over her shoulder from the pan of bacon she was cooking, "You're not going to have breakfast?"
Ichigo pointed to the toast he'd stuck back in his mouth.
Yuzu pouted, "Fine, big brother, but you're going to be here for your birthday dinner, right?"
When he nodded, his youngest sister cheered and did a little dance.
Karin gave him a brief glance, "Good luck at school, big brother."
Ichigo in return gave his sister the briefest of smiles, "Thanks.
As he turned to open the door, his father called out to him.
"Ichigo."
"Hm?" he looked back curiously. His father was unnaturally serious all of a sudden.
"Be careful out there, and get home before curfew."
The boy quirked a brow, "Why?"
Isshin shook his head, "Just do it, please. I have a bad feeling about today."
Ichigo shrugged, "Yeah, sure," he replied noncommittally.
"Ichigo."
"I will," Ichigo said, a little more loudly. "I'm leaving now."
"Ichigo, buddy!" Keigo cried, throwing his arms around the orangette's shoulders. Hanging off Ichigo's shoulders like some kind of monkey, he asked, "How you been? It's your birthday! Not every day a guy turns seventeen, ah?!"
Ichigo rolled his eyes, pinching the webbing behind Keigo's thumb and forefinger with enough pressure to make him fall. He then kicked Keigo to the side and took his seat.
Keigo didn't stay down for long. The brunette was almost immediately back on his feet and making himself a general nuisance.
"Wow, that was mean," Keigo said with mock hurt, then reverted to his happy-go-lucky self, "I was only trying to be a good friend and be cheerful about the most important day of the year! We should hit the bar, pick up some chicks!"
When Keigo dramatically laid himself out on Ichigo's desk with a forearm over his eyes, Ichigo shoved him off. He fell with a surprised shout and resounding thump.
"Keigo, I think you forget sometimes that we're underage," Ichigo muttered with his characteristic scowl set in place, "I'm turning seventeen, not twenty."
Keigo's face was the epitome of shock, "Whaaat? You mean to tell me that you're not about to be twenty? Stop the press! Ohh, the humanity!"
There was a soft, girly giggle from the doorway. Ichigo looked up just in time to see Orihime walking in, hand poised over her mouth as she laughed at Keigo's antics. Ichigo's face softened ever so slightly at the sight of the girl.
"Good morning, Inoue," he greeted the girl.
"Kurosaki!" the girl cheered, rushing over to take the seat beside him. "How are you today? I just heard it was your birthday! I swear I didn't know, otherwise I would have gotten you a present, oh god, I'm such a bad friend— um, ummm, you know what, you can have my bento!" The girl pulled out the aforementioned bento and thrust it toward him.
"Uh… that's fine, Inoue, honest," Ichigo replied, holding up a hand to decline the offer, "you keep your lunch. You need it more than I do."
"O-Oh, you're right," she said with a blush. She set the bento down with a resigned sigh, but then her face lit up with hope once more. "I'll get you a present tomorrow for sure, though! Promise!"
"Er, you don't really need to…" at the crestfallen expression on the busty girl's face, Ichigo floundered to make amends, "Unless you want to, I mean. By all means, do what makes you happy."
A dopey grin spread across her face, "Of course, Kurosaki! Look forward to it, I'm going to get you the best present ever!"
Orihime ran off to take her assigned seat. Ichigo just shook his head, but there was a fond smile on his face.
Keigo, who'd gone ignored during the exchange, looked back and forth between the two orange-haired people until eventually he stared at Ichigo with a mischievous smile. Ichigo finally noticed this and glared at the brunette.
"What?" he snapped.
"Oh, nothing," Keigo snickered, "just that someone's in lo—"
Then Ichigo kicked Keigo's shin, "No."
"Aw, come on, it's so obvious!" Keigo cried.
Ichigo merely quirked a brow, "What, a boy and a girl can't be friends now?"
Keigo pouted, "Well, no…"
"Good."
Keigo looked like he wanted to protest more, but the teacher had just walked in.
"Everyone in your assigned seats! That means you, Keigo."
"Aww!"
Ichigo was all too relieved to head home when the school bell rang. He ignored Keigo's shouts to wait up as he walked at a brisk pace away from the school building. Sadly, Keigo was running to keep up, which he inevitably did so.
"Ichi, buddy!" Keigo cried, slinging his arm around Ichigo's shoulders, which Ichigo brushed off the moment he did so. "So I was thinking, buddy, ol' pal of mine, that we could do something fun for your birthday. Have a party, you know?"
Ichigo pretended to look as if he cared, "Sorry, Keigo. Spending time with the family, like I always do. You know how it is."
"Aww, alright then… well, I'll see you tomorrow?"
"Sure," Ichigo said dismissively, waving him off. This caused an idiotic smile to spread across Keigo's face before he finally ran off and left Ichigo alone.
Now that the nuisance was out of the way, Ichigo continued walking toward home in peace. The quiet was nice. He could hear birds chirping in the distance, and the even more distant hubbub of commerce and general socialization. He liked being far away from all the noise.
He was walking down an empty street. Normally, it would suit him just fine. Today, it was inexplicably sending a chill down his spine. There was a darkened alley off to the side, and Ichigo had the most random urge to walk into it, though he could not pinpoint why.
He had every intention of continuing his walk home, but before he knew it he'd already stepped foot into the shady alleyway.
As he neared a dead end in the alley, he realized it was not empty as it may have initially appeared from the entrance.
There was a man sitting on the ground, legs crossed and head bowed forward. He wore ragged khaki trousers that were torn and full of holes where they ended just below his knees. A thick cloak of a slightly darker shade of khaki was draped over his shoulders and fastened loosely at his collarbone. The hood of the cloak obscured his face almost entirely.
The stranger appeared to be sleeping, as far as Ichigo could tell. He decided it had gotten creepy enough for his tastes and turned to walk away.
"Wait."
He wasn't sure why, but Ichigo found his body freezing up of its own volition.
"Come closer," the stranger spoke softly, "let me see you."
Again, his body was disobeying him in favor of the stranger. He was already standing before the stranger once more when the thought of why he was obeying so easily popped into his head.
Somehow, the stranger was able to look up at him without revealing his own facial features, it seemed, because that's exactly what he did.
"A beautiful form you've chosen this life," the stranger spoke, "are you ready for what is to come?"
"Wha… what are you—?"
The stranger was gone. As if he'd never been there at all. Ichigo scratched the back of his head, trying to make heads or tails of the situation. Try as he did, he really had no clue whatsoever what just happened.
The rest of his walk home was uneventful. He managed to get home before curfew, and even managed to dodge his father's flying kick sneak attack (an attack that he almost routinely did, whether Ichigo was late or not).
"Haha! You are growing stronger, my son," Isshin complimented him from the floor, "I've teached you all I could!"
Ichigo rolled his eyes and stepped over his dramatic father. Yuzu rushed into the hallway with her oven mitts still on.
"Big brother, you're home!" she cheered, rushing over and jumping at him for a hug.
He managed to catch her and smiled, "I promised, didn't I?" he asked, giving her a kiss on the cheek.
Yuzu giggled as he set her back on her feet, "Happy birthday, Ichigo! Dinner will be ready shortly… and don't peek! The cake is a surprise!"
"Right, right," Ichigo said, shaking his head, but smiled fondly. Following his youngest sister's wishes, Ichigo wandered off into the living room, dropping down on the couch beside Karin. "Yo, Karin. Have a good day?"
"Mm," Karin didn't look away from the television just yet. When the commercials started up, she ripped her gaze away from the TV and gave Ichigo a brief smile, "Happy birthday, Ichigo. How was your day?"
The orange-haired teen shrugged, "It was good. I'm glad it's over, though. Keigo was harassing me about a birthday party again. He knows I spend it with you guys every year."
"Maybe you should humor him one of these days. You don't have that many friends," Karin responded.
Ichigo made a comical face, "Hey, what's that supposed to mean? I do too have friends."
Karin stuck her tongue out at him, "Sure you do, you big dork."
Ichigo crossed his arms with a scowl on his face. That scowl dissipated soon however, when a grin slowly cracked across it. Karin and Ichigo always had a weird sister-brother relationship. Karin would make jabs at Ichigo and Ichigo would do the same in kind, but they both meant well when it really mattered. They both knew the other cared.
Dinner with his family was great. Yuzu made all of Ichigo's favorites, and the cake was no exception. (It was chocolate with chocolate icing, although Ichigo personally could have done without the strawberries all over it.)
His presents consisted of a reasonable sum of money from his dad (who claimed he was not 'up with the times' and had no clue what teens liked these days), an omamori for protection from Yuzu, and some sort of voodoo themed tiny mask accessory attached to a keyring for either his school bag or wallet. He hadn't decided which he'd rather hook that too just yet.
Overall, it was a good night. He humored Yuzu and Karin by playing a few board games that night before hitting the sack. He was so oddly exhausted that he didn't even have time to think about the stranger from the alleyway before his head hit the pillow and he was out like a light.
Ichigo was walking down a dimly lit hallway. Judging by the little to no light peeking in through the windows lining the wall to his right, it was nighttime. He was moving quickly, as if he was in a hurry for some unknown reason.
There was the sound of rushed footsteps from behind him.
"Ichigo!"
He found himself turning at the sound of the voice he vaguely recognized calling his name.
"Shiro," the name easily rolled off his tongue, as if he'd known it his entire life.
The familiar, yet not, pale man was before him now, grabbing his hand in both of his own black nailed hands, "Ya don't have to do this, Ichigo. Please, don't go! We can come up with a better plan, just give me an' the ol' man some time!"
He found himself forcibly pulling his hand away, saying yet more words he was not thinking for reasons unknown, as if his body truly had a mind of its own. "That is where you're wrong, my friend. I must do this. It is the only way."
"Idiot! It is not!" the pale man, Shiro shouted, anger clear in his voice. Anger, but also hurt. Or perhaps betrayal. "Just because we'll come back again doesn't mean we should just eagerly throw our lives away! What about yer friends?! Yer family?! Ya may never have the bonds ya have now with them ever again! Is that okay with ya? Do ya really wanna just throw that away…?"
"You know what he wants, Shiro. It's exactly because we'll come back that I should do this. He won't stop until he has it. If I do this now, the artifact will no longer be on this plane of existence. He'll never get it, he dies of old age or whatever eventually, and can't hurt anyone ever again. We win. Simple. Then we can have the life we always wanted in the next.
Look, Shiro, I'm not doing this because I don't care. I'm doing it because I care a lot. There will be no happy, peaceful ending if we just sit on our asses and twiddle our thumbs, and let that man get his hands on the artifact. Only the end waits for us then. I don't know about you, but I don't wanna be revived over and over only to see a world that he has destroyed. I'd rather give up my life every time to keep that from happening."
Shiro's hands were shaking fists at his sides, "An' what if yer luck runs out? What if I don't see ya in the next life? What if… what if ya don't remember me?"
Ichigo smiled gently, his body moving to hug Shiro, "I could never forget you, Shiro. We'll find each other in the next life. You'll see."
Ichigo woke in a cold sweat, breathing erratic. He held a hand to his rapidly beating heart, waiting for it to begin to steady. There were tears streaming down his face, but he didn't know why he was feeling sad.
"What was that?" he asked the empty air. The air, being the inanimate thing it was, had no response.
Ichigo had no idea why he'd had a dream like that, but he got the feeling it was no ordinary dream.
He sighed, rolling out of bed, "So much for a good night's sleep," he muttered to himself.
Maybe a walk around the block would clear his mind.
Author's Note: By the way! Reviews would be nice, whether you liked it or straight up hated it. As long as the criticism is constructive, I can work with it. Also, let me know if you caught any typos or glaring plot holes, as all my works are un-beta'd.