Welcome to a story that's supposed to be "light horror". That means things will be weird, a bit grotesque, uncanny, and uncomfortable—though hopefully without being dark, grim or depressing. That's the plan, anyways; I won't pretend to be a particularly talented writer.

As of summer 2023, this is version 1.1, where I went back and fixed various things I really didn't like about the original, including some truly bad writing. There will also be two additional chapters compared to the original which I should have up in a couple of days.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, nor make any money from this fan-made fiction.

1. A Strange Clinic

Yuki Shiraki stepped into a clinic... and did her best to not be noticed. She didn't want to be seen here since the clientele had a reputation of not being quite normal. With her hood draped over her head, she approached the reception desk.

"Urahara Clinic, have you been here before?" The person asking was an attractive young man with bright orange hair, and that only made her feel more insecure.

"Uh, no." She waited for the judgmental stare: the same one she had given some of the 'freaks' who came to be treated here. They had to have done something wrong for the universe to give them weird conditions like her classmate whom had a mushroom growing out of his head. Everyone had treated him terribly and even after being cured he was an outcast. Now she was here, in a similar position and hoping to be cured without anyone finding out.

Surprisingly, there was neither judgment nor glare. There wasn't even a look of pity. The young man simply nodded and gave her a clipboard with a form on it. "Just fill this out and bring it here when you're done."

Walking past a middle-aged man trying to hide a third arm under his shirt and jacket and a woman who was holding what should have been a baby, Yuki sat down in the far corner, as far away from the window as she could and began to fill out the form.

Name: Yuki Shiraki

Age: 15

Address: 378 Sakura Street, Hakura District, Tokyo.

Symptoms: Eye problems and hallucinations.

It had started when one day as she looked into the mirror and noticed the iris of her left eye had turned electric blue. She covered it up when in school, citing a fake accident, and that had worked for a small while, but now people were asking questions. Worse yet, she was losing vision in it and seeing ghosts and apparitions with chains hanging from their chests. One of them was the neighbour that died last month.

Returning the now complete form, Yuki sat back down and waited until she was called into the doctor's office. Time was unkind with how much it slowed as she repeatedly glanced at the clock before she was called two hours later. Inside the office she saw both the receptionist and a blonde man in a green and white striped bucket hat with messy hair. Both were in lab coats.

"Good morning, Miss Shiraki, I see from your form that you're here about your eye and possible mental health issues. Please sit down and we can get started." The blonde doctor seemed like the type to scheme, which put her on edge.

Regardless, following the doctor's instructions, she sat down and watched as the orange-haired receptionist—who was apparently a doctor in training—picked up an ophthalmoscope to to look into her eye. "That's not normal; it doesn't seem organic," he said to the blonde doctor, "Maybe another case of crystallization?" Then, looking into her normal eye, he basically confirmed his initial statement. "Alright," he said to her, "I'm going to use the potato scanner. It looks weird, but it's harmless."

"Ichigo," the blonde doctor explained, "it has a technical name."

"Yeah, but as soon as this all clears out I'm doing normal stuff with normal equipment. Besides, it looks like a potato."

Yuki couldn't help the giggle that left her lips as the orange-haired doctor in training placed the ophthalmoscope down and picked up something that, indeed, looked like a small potato with a screen implanted into it.

"Keep your eye open, this won't hurt," he said.

She did, and he got the scan, which set the computer monitor beside them ablaze with graphics and numbers. The blonde doctor pointed out certain numbers, asking "Ichigo" what they meant and what ranges to look for. Ichigo seemed to answer satisfactorily.

"Well done, you're learning quickly. I'll get the new eye and see how you do the replacement."

"Y-you're taking my eye out?" As bad as her eye was, Yuki was still attached to it in both the sentimental and literal sense.

Ichigo was treating it like a common cold. "Don't worry about it too much, this has happened a few times already. Your new eye will be as good as your old eye, and you won't be able to tell the difference. You'll also be asleep during this, so it won't hurt."

Despite the scowl Ichigo held—which may or may not have been attractive—he acted entirely in a professional manner. And maybe it was the promise of a cure freeing her mind to wander, but Yuki might have imagined something less than professional taking place between them. Shaking her head of the thought, she was just in time to hear his next instructions and laid down on the examination table he pulled away from the wall. A moment later he placed a breathing mask on her and asked her to count backwards from ten.

"Nine, eight, seven, six, fi—" And she was out.

Yuki woke up—noticing clear vision in both eyes—and realized she was now in a recovery room. There was a mirror and she got up to look into it, seeing that her eyes were normal. Going to leave the room, she saw a sign on the back of the door that read: "Stop. If you are a patient, please wait for a doctor to come and give you further instructions."

Going back to the bed, which looked more like the examination table than a bed, she sat and waited. It wasn't too long before a young teen with red hair entered her room and said he would get a doctor. Soon after, the doctor with blonde hair walked into her room.

"I hope the results are to your satisfaction. Is there any discomfort or pain?"

She blinked, rotated and moved it about, trying to find a flaw, and nothing felt bad or uncomfortable. "Not really."

"Good," he said, seemingly pulling a clipboard out of thin air. Just sign this form and you're good to go."

Yuki read the paper; it was a record and receipt of some kind. "I'm paying you with my old eye?"

"Yes, research material is incredibly valuable, so there's no need for any extra payment." He seemed too happy at the prospect of getting her old eye, but she was no longer a 'freak' so she would deal with the man's eccentric attitude without complaint.

"So what about seeing things like ghosts?" She asked.

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that. The crystal that your eye was turning into was letting some particles into your bloodstream; this produced the side-effect of causing hallucinations. By removing it, you won't be getting any more. You're back to healthy."

Satisfied with the answer, Yuki pulled her hood over her head and took the elevator down to the lobby where she left as stealthily as she could. She would also be sure not to take part in giving her classmate, or any others, as much of a hard time.

A/N:

You know, Bleach was usually one or two steps away from being a full horror story at any given time; sometimes only half a step. This is why I think everything written in this story is canon compliant (that is, plausible within canon) even though it takes place in an alternate universe.

I hope you have a great 'until next time' and may God bless you,

SomethingAncient