Alright, everyone. Here are the facts: Harry Potter was born on 7/31/1980. Kurosaki Ichigo was born on 7/15/85. I will be working with a five year difference. These are not birthdays made up for my convenience, if you look it up these are the actual dates you will find for their birthdays.

Also, the prologue was a flashback to when Harry was four. The first and second chapters were during the summer after Sirius went through the Veil, when Harry is a 5th going on 6th year student. This chapter is one year later, in case that is not clear.

Basically, in the prologue, Ichigo hasn't been born yet. In the first and second chapters, Ichigo has turned 11 and Harry has turned 16 that July. In the third chapter, Ichigo has turned 12 and Harry has turned 17. Proper Bleach storyline involving Ichigo does not start until Ichigo is 15, which means more time skipping, though I will explain the ages when necessary. We will get Soul Society backstory for the next 'three years', starting in Chapter 5, though I have no plans for Ichigo to be involved until the proper appointed time unless there ends up being other considerations. I plan on tinkering with canon for Bleach, but at least have this based on it.

Sorry for not responding to all my reviews, I'll get to that soon. It's just been a busy week.

Chapter 3: A Summer Horror

It had taken much longer of a time to prepare than Snape would have liked, but finally he had decided that they were ready to finally kill Voldemort. He doubted that there had been any horcrux that he had missed. Between the final death of Nagini just a week ago and the others they had perilously obtained and subsequently destroyed he was sure that the Dark Lord was too weak to make another.

It was with great surprise and equal parts suspicion that he reflected on just how easy it had been. In fact he was sure that the Dark Lord held far to much by mere reputation, and was truly a mere shadow of his former power. Which was bad for him, because people went out of their way to avoid his place of residence if they could which made security minimal.

"Well, that was anticlimactic!" the brat chirped from beside him as they stepped around one of the stunned bodies of the death eaters, of which there were practically none. He had come to terms with the idea of killing long before, both Voldemort in particular and the act in general after he was forced to admit that while Voldemort would probably have left Quirrel at one point, likely killing him, Harry had been the cause of the timing, and the actual injury that caused the death.

"Shut up." Snape growled back.

"I mean, really," the younger ignored him. "After all the trouble he went through to make all those horcruxes, and to protect them, you would think that his security would be a little better. I mean,"

"Harry, shut up." The man repeated, idly wondering if his former master had hit his apprentice with a cheering charm before his death, before drowning the image and the resulting need to laugh.

"We practically walked in. If a ton of people want you dead and you have crappy security, you're just asking to be killed! I mean," Harry prattled on, continuing to cheerfully irritate his companion.

"Harry." Snape's voice held a warning tone, one that would have stopped Harry in his tracks just the year before but was inexplicably ineffectual these days. It wasn't like he acted like this often, but when the boy was actually unconditionally happy, he was undeterrable.

"You would think that it would be much harder to kill the most homicidal, feared person-thing in modern history! He was so enamoured of his power, and it came to practically nothing! I mean," Harry was wondering how much longer it would be before his Sensei forcibly forced him to comply. He'd pay for it later, but the feeling of the release of responsibility and blessed freedom was euphoric; he was dancing on clouds. He was high on his feelings of relief. He was also likely quite high from the refreshing lack of mental weight of the scar, it was no longer under Voldemort's ghostly influence and he had never noticed how heavy it had always been.

"Potter, be silent." Harry could feel the capitals of the words 'silent', ostentatiously un-Snape-like. With the tic the man had going, he was sure to break soon.

"We just had to lop off his head, really, and do that little ritual. And you didn't have any trouble slipping him those potions, either!" Harry sneaked a look over at his Shishou, cackling inwardly. This was probably the only time he'd get away with something like this and not be silenced immediately, and to say he was slightly giddy at the thought of Voldemort's menace finally being finished was more than mere understatement. It might have overridden the controls on his suicidal tendencies in the process.

"Mr. Potter." Snape finally broke.

"Yeah?" Harry replied cheerfully, possibly suicidally. He reflected that that was probably not the best response, especially with his familiarity with Snape's long-term preferences.

"Silencio." And then there was blessed silence.

Three days later, an owl winged itself over to Japan, and the Master and apprentice pair started to pack away their little hideout.

Most of the time, Urahara loved the summertime. Summer meant that it was warm enough to relax outside, that he would be surrounded by life, and that he could contemplate the world at his leisure. It meant more revenue for the non-soul parts of his shop, given that without school there were more children buying candy all the time. Summer was delicate but untouched. Summer was generally headache free. That, unfortunately, did not apply to this summer in particular.

Snape Severus was coming to Japan this summer, moving right next door. It had been nearly a year since that first letter, the one where Snape-san had first told him that he and his apprentice were coming to Japan, and he had felt the clock ticking down ever since. The cute little apprentice he had first mentioned had had daily exposure to Snape-san's rather caustic wit and sarcasm for a whole year! The poor thing had had to deal with the man's over-perfectionism for a year! All to learn the 'fine art of potions' from the man. He pitied the apprentice, truly. Snape-san was someone who was best dealt with in small doses with a great deal of recovery time. A year, for example. Perhaps two. And the man was to be his neighbor for the foreseeable future-he pitied himself.

Not to say he didn't appreciate the art or the potions themselves, because he truly did. Sobriety potions, calming draughts and headache relief draughts in particular, though muscle relaxants and general healing types didn't go amiss after training or a long day of inventing stooped over a table. That was the point at which he was thankful for what Snape-san did.

Casting around for something positive, anything at all, he remembered the antagonism between Snape-san and Isshin. Well, not exactly antagonism given that Snape despised Isshin for his usual attitude, and Isshin feared Snape for his. He couldn't wait to see what happened when the pair met again. He wouldn't be telling Isshin about this after all.

Bleakly, he glared again at the paper before him, hoping that he had truly misread it and knowing he hadn't. He was too young to be dealing with this sort of stress! He might be several centuries old, yes, but he was most definitely too young!

Kisuke,

My apprentice and I will be arriving in Japan tomorrow afternoon. I appreciate and anticipate a dinner between old friends. Bring the cat, I fear she will get along with the boy.

Severus

The letter was just as cryptic as the first time he read it. He idly wondered if Snape-san had to work to get it that way as a child, or if it came naturally, worrying about the final quiver-inducing sentence.

"Kisuke?" The voice was masculine, and easily recognizable as cat-Yoruichi.

Urahara smiled in his usual mysterious way. "Yoruichi-just who I was thinking about. Care to join me for tea?"

Yoruichi poofed back into human form before throwing on some clothes and sitting down across from him. "What do you want this time, Kisuke?"

"I? Nothing, truly." Yoruichi glared at him, Urahara looked back bemusedly before his voice became serious. "Snape-san is finally coming to Japan, and he is going to be over for dinner tonight. He has also specifically requested your attendance. He apparently believes that you'll find his apprentice interesting, to sat the least of the matter."

There was a loud thunk as Yoruichi hit the table with her hand, and Urahara spared a moment of thanks for its structural integrity. Yoruichi grinned as she taunted him. "What's this? The old bat's actually taken an apprentice? You poor, poor man, you must be dreading the experience! Just that information alone is interesting, but-"

"Yoruichi." He warned her, stopping her excited babble. "He wants us to train his apprentice in his free time."

"Train him?" Yoruichi wet her lips. "The apprentice has reiatsu?"

Urahara folded his hands in front of him and nodded. "Indeed, he has noticed a rather large reiatsu coming from the boy, one he feels is being partially blocked by the boy's body and will be abnormally large should the boy leave it. He wishes the boy trained and seems to think that it will eventually become necessary for the boy to be able to fight that way." Urahara paused in the ensuing silence. "He even told me, in confidence, that if he had not known both of the boy's parents from his own school days he would have said that the boy was shinketsu."

Yoruichi threw him a disbelieving look. "Shinketsu? Really? I know that Sev wouldn't exaggerate about these things, but does he really think it would be possible for the boy to be shinketsu?"

"Shinketsu or a reincarnation, though how the latter would work I don't really know. Maybe something different entirely, you know how the Research Department gets at times. The boy...frustrates him. He won't explain further about that, so I expect we will find out when they arrive. Mayhap, the facts are that the boy can see hollows, and has apparently always seen them if 'not being able to remember not seeing them' means anything." Urahara looked up pensively. "The odd thing, no, the disturbing thing is that the boy said that the hollows had not been able to see him if he didn't want them to."

Yoruichi contemplated this, intelligence flashing through her eyes. For all her earlier brevity, she could comprehend the enormity of the issue at hand. "And no one has ever encountered him? Seen him, even?" She shook her head. "With reiatsu, hollows would most definitely flock to the area, even in Britain. It's impossible that there has been no one."

Kisuke held her eyes for a moment as he solemnly replied, "I never said that he didn't encounter them, I said that they didn't encounter him, or don't remember it. The boy could hide himself from them rather thoroughly."

Yoruichi groaned as she processed all of the implications. "I've a headache coming on. When are they expected, anyway?"

"Soon." Urahara smiled. "On the downside, we don't have any more headache relief draughts. On the upside, we've got a Potions Master moving in next door!"

"Who will probably charge full price, Kisuke." Yoruichi replied dryly. "And cause as many headaches as he fixes as far as you're concerned. They'll be fresher, but not much else."

"My poor wallet!" Urahara cried pitifully. "He is going to bankrupt me, and laugh while he does it!"

Yoruichi spared a look of disbelief before shaking her head and going downstairs to train awhile. It wouldn't do to be rusty when training a newbie.

Snape had timed the owl well, and the pair had arrived in Japan on the day that Urahara expected them to. He was sure the man was quaking in his noisy clogs, and likely jumping at every small noise. The imagined image was amusing enough.

He had to admit, muggles were amusing at times. More than amusing, really. A small shine of mischief had made its way to his eyes as he caught sight of one particularly odd, though too annoyingly loud to be amusing, somewhat-muggle. It didn't help that Kurosaki Isshin, the goofy patriarch and general pain in the arse was quite terrified of him. It was the man's only redeeming quality, unless he had a true emergency on his hands. He briefly imagined the man's reaction to seeing him here, and revised his travel plans. It seemed that he and Harry would be making a pitstop before they reached the Urahara Shoten and their little apothecary.

Snape snickered under his breath in a rare outward show of mirth, much to the amusement of his apprentice. And apprehension, given that Harry didn't know what they were walking into. "Sir?" He inquired.

Snape straightened and made a little unconscious movement that would have straightened his robes if he had been wearing them (they were in a muggle town, after all) and replied, "Brat, imitate me to the best of your limited abilities for the next person we are going to meet." Seeing the sly look in Harry's eyes right next to the curious countenance, he continued, "If it is a credible imitation, you will have a weekend to yourself." The sly look disappeared, and Snape was not going to slake his curiosity given the proximity to Kurosaki. He could see how well Harry would have done in Slytherin had the fool boy not borne the ridiculous title of 'The Boy Who Lived' in a house comprised of many second and third generation death eaters to be.

Harry smirked nastily and straightened his pace what little he could. "As you wish, Potions Master Snape."

"Good brat." He contemplated patting the boy on the head, but decided that the action was more suited to the boy's dogfather than the boy and stayed his hand. Snape felt Harry follow him closely as he entered into the clinic.

A set of bells rang as they passed through the door. "Just a minute!" A voice called back at them. He recognized the man's voice as coming from a back room, perhaps a storage area. The man appeared moments later, a wide grin adorning his face. Snape assumed that it was for the undoubtedly nervous kids who came in here; the man did have a degree in pediatrics. "Welcome to the Kurosaki Clinic! What can I help you wi-ih..." That was the moment that the man, Kurosaki Isshin, caught sight of exactly who his visitors were and abruptly erupted into stutters that would have made Quirrel proud. Snape basked briefly in the man's fear and horror.

Fear and horror always have a different taste when it comes from sources other than his being a death eater, a committer of atrocities. No, this man was afraid of him because of his temper, and possibly the pranks he had subjected the man to, and even that was underlaid by other emotions-a bit of respect perhaps, or trust. This man did not feel the same fear of him as England did, as he had once needed England to. If things got serious, this man would not be stuttering in his presence. He knew about needing to put up a front, after all. Kurosaki Isshin had once been a very different man. He also understood grief.

For now, the conversation was relatively light. "Good afternoon, Kurosaki-san." Snape drawled out, "I thought it wise that my apprentice know of your clinic in case of emergencies during which neither Urahara-san nor I can be reached or are unable to assist in solving." He beckoned Harry forward a couple steps. "Apprentice, introduce yourself."

Harry met Isshin's wide-eyed look dispassionately as the man swiveled to take him in. "Good Afternoon, Kurosaki-san, was it?" At the man's nod, he continued. "I am Potions Apprentice Potter Harry. It is a...pleasure to make your acquaintance, Kurosaki-san." Harry spoke smoothly in an extremely credible imitation of Snape's tone, to the man's utmost horror.

Isshin nodded weakly as the younger dark-haired figure menace made a quick show of surveying the room. The two of them shared identical smirks that further discomfited him. "We will be seeing you another time, Kurosaki-san." Snape's lips quirked as the man hastily stammered a farewell and the pair departed from the place, much to Isshin's relief.

As Snape continued, he decided to pay another old friend a visit. Kurosaki had undoubtedly called Urahara to inform the man of the coming horrors, and Snape was content to let Urahara stew for a while. Thus, he led Harry out towards the Karakura General Hospital, in which Ishida Ryuuken worked.

Back in the Kurosaki Clinic, Isshin did exactly as Snape had predicted he would. After waiting a few moments to be certain that his visitors were gone for now, he made a mad dash for the phone. He had to attempt to dial three times because he was pushing buttons so quickly that they were barely registering in the machine. The phone rang twice, three times, four, before Urahara picked it up on the other side. "Isshin, what-"

Isshin cut the other man off. "Kisuke," he half-moaned painfully, half-whined, "Why didn't you mention that Snape and a mini-Snape clone were coming to torture me?" Realizing as he complained that there was no good answer to his question, he hung up with an unnecessarily loud thunk and sank to the ground. He was trying in vain to forget the events that had transpired in his front room that afternoon. He soon realized that however much he feared that man's temper, and with good reason, his kids were coming home soon. Soon enough he'd have another patient to take care of.

He immersed himself in his work to get Snape out of his head.

On the other side of the now-closed phone line, Urahara stared at the walls in unseeing horror. His worst nightmares were coming true. He had tried to imagine Snape's apprentice as an innocent who could be saved from Snape's manner, not one who emulated his mentor's clipped tones and irony. Now these two people were coming to be his neighbors for the summer at least, likely much longer.

It suddenly occurred to him that if Severus had introduced his apprentice to Isshin, it was possible (and, indeed, quite likely) that he would also introduce his apprentice to Ryuuken. He might even have the boy learn from the often cool man, furthering the threat to the boy. Urahara made a quick call to an Isshin who was bravely pulling himself back together. The thump that indicated a person falling from the other side was not very reassuring. Urahara closed the connection and decided that it might be a good idea to pray before the Potions Master arrived.

He would need the favor of any god he could scrounge up to survive two of them.