Bleach 1. Dreaming

_A/N: So maybe it's a bit like the actual anime in appearance, somewhat, but they storyline is different, and such. Yeah I know there's parts that are basically like parts in the anime, but that's because I wanted to try and keep it tied to it SOMEHOW. That's it though ._._

_Don't hate if you haven't read yet! No sipping haterade while reading, it's not nice :I -haha lame I know xD-_

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><p><strong>Chapter 1<strong>**: **_**Dreaming**_

_Sigh_. Ichigo continued to walk down the sidewalk, his bag slung over his shoulder and his free one in his pocket. '_It's happening even more than usual.'_ He thought to himself as he turned away from a bright light that descended from the sky mere moments ago, and was now beginning to slim to nothing.

For all his life, Ichigo was able to see these ghosts, or spirits. They never harmed him, or his family who is also able to see these spirits as well. Even if his dad keeps this fact a secret from them, in truth he has the ability of sight, too. Though there is the exception of one of his younger sisters, Karin's fraternal twin, Yuzu, who is only able to grasp their presence ever so slightly, and when she does they appear as heatwaves at the most. Karin on the other hand can see them; just is in what she claims is "permanent denial," on their existence

Nowadays the Kurosaki boy has been lacking any interest in these lights. When he was younger, however, his curiosity got the better of him. Racing towards one of the streaks, he arrived to find nothing aside from the grass that grew; but on the grass was a single white feather. The feather was soft, and smoother than anything he's ever come across in his life. When he held it in his hand, the silky texture seemed so unworldly that he couldn't believe that something so pure in color, and light in weight existed. Even today he remembers that feather. Not just because he keeps it in a glass bottle that he's hidden in his desk drawer, or that the fact it looks like it gets brighter and brighter with each passing day; but instead because that was the first time he himself has ever felt so unpressurized. As if the feather took away gravity itself and could have lifted him off the ground after only the tiniest jump.

Snapping back to reality, he looked up when he heard a familiar voice of a female calling out, "Ichigo!"

"Oh, Orihime. What's wrong?" He asked, finding it strange for one of his companions from school, who he never really associated himself with, suddenly calling out to him.

She approached him. Hesitantly at first, but then found herself easing into a steady walk. The girl shifted from where she stood as his eyes focused on her. As if trying to find the reason to her sudden outburst, she said as she looked up sheepishly, "You see… I was wondering—"

_Bzzzt. Bzzzt._

"Ah, my bad. Sorry," apologized Ichigo as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out his phone, "It's my sister." He announced to Orihime before turning away. "Yo, Yuzu, what is it?" he paused as she spoke, "Okay, I'll pick it up on my way home." Another pause, "Yeah, I'll hurry." He said while hanging up. Looking back at Orihime who was patiently waiting, "I need to go. She needs some things for dinner."

Nodding, she responded with a smile that seemed somewhat disappointed, "N-No that's fine."

"See ya." He said waving to her as he walked by, oblivious to her tone.

Orihime gave an inward sigh, "Bye…"

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

"I'm home." Announced Ichigo as he kicked the door shut with one foot, seeing as one hand held his school bag, and the other groceries.

"Wel—" Yuzu's voice was cut off by his father's frontal assault.

Isshin continued where his daughter left off, "—come home, Ichigo!" he greeted while he did a baseball slide to his sons legs.

Ichigo fell back, throwing his bag into the air along with the groceries, "W—erugh!"

The schoolbag went crashing down to the floor, and Karin caught the groceries with a hopeless sigh, "You two are at it already?" she asked, bringing the saved ingredients to her counterpart, who was just giving a light giggle.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

"Thanks for the food." Thanked Ichigo as he rose from his seat, picking up his empty dishes as he brought them to the sink.

The other three looked up. "Done already?" questioned Karin.

"Yeah," said Ichigo, "Have some things to do for school." He lied, preparing himself to wash them until he stopped to listen to his father.

Isshin took a sip from his tea, then placed it down and asked sternly while fire rose in the background for some sort of effect he tried to pull off, "Where exactly do you think you're going?"

"My room," stated Ichigo as he brought his foot down on his dads head, ruining the so-called "cool" act completely and extinguishing the nonexistent flames in the process, "Quit fooling around!"

"Ah—" Isshin was silenced by Yuzu.

His sibling said, "Just leave your dish in the sink and I'll do them."

Ichigo looked up, "Uh... If that's okay then, thanks." he said as he released his father from underneath his foot.

While Ichigo was walking away, Yuzu looked at her dad and asked, "Why do you always do that to him?"

"B-B-But Yuzu, it's his fault for always being so distant~!" complained the oldest man with *anime* tears streaming down his face, "I need to bond with my son _someway!_"

Karin then scolded as she slapped the back of his head, "You're a grown man dad, act like it for once!"

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

_Click._ Ichigo shut his door and then flopped down on his bed with a sigh.

"_B-B-But Yuzu, it's his fault for always being so distant~!" _echoed in his mind as he pictured his father doing some strange gesture like flopping onto the table, or reaching out to Yuzu while Karin held him at arm's length from her while Yuzu wore an awkward smile.

Ichigo turned onto his side and stared at the blue sheets that covered his bed, "Don't make it sound like I completely enjoy this…" said the orange-haired boy to his pillow. When he closed his eyes, he tried to think properly. Lately, he's felt like his mind was plagued with a thick, impenetrable fog which corrupted his thoughts and turned them into unexplainable anger and stress.

It was only when he slept that this fog relieved him of its presence and disappeared into what seemed like oblivion. Sleep. The only cure for this ailment of his, and he isn't even conscious to indulge in this blissful state of mind.

The carrot-topped Ichigo squeezed his eyes shut, hoping to at least get the slightest hint of the feeling he received ever so faintly upon awakening. A few minutes later, to his dismay, he opened his eyes with no prevail.

With great reluctance, and a headache, he found himself wandering to the desk and removing the bottled prize. Looking at it, he swore it was _floating_ inside the bottle itself. _'Ichigo: you're losing it.'_ he told himself, _'You're tired, it's getting late, and you're stressed. It's only an illusion that the bottle's giving, nothing more.'_ Once he confirmed that he was indeed half-asleep, he figured that now would be a better time as any to do some actual homework. Being half-asleep and doing homework? Doesn't sound like the best idea, but he knows that when he's fully aware of his actions, he wouldn't even consider touching the homework more than an hour before class starts.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

_Ah... My head..._ His thoughts were echoing in the air. _This place... Have I... been here before?_ It was as if he was watching a movie, or having an out-of-body experience or _something_ of the sort. Honestly he had no idea.

The surrounding area had long, opulent green grass that looked like its own ocean with its own waves when the wind blew a fine, familiar, breeze. The sky. Clouded, but not to the point where it completely got rid of the viewers sight of it, rather the puffs of white were scattered here and there. A forest stood behind him and the person next to him. They were perched atop a cliff, talking. The conversation was not audible, but he could see their lips moving. _Out of all the times not to be able to read lips._ He thought annoyingly to himself.

Standing next to them was short girl. Roughly five foot at the most, but it looked more like a four-foot-seven to a four-foot-nine if anything. It was a raven haired girl, she smiled as they spoke. Wearer of a black kimono with a white cloth wrapped around the waist, tied in a neat bow in the front. Straw sandals secured to her properly by wrapping around her ankles and white socks were in view. Her eyes... They went unseen to him himself, being mysteriously shaded and such. It was clear that the one standing next to her could see them perfectly fine, however.

_It's this dream again... But who is this girl? I feel like I've seen here before; from where is the question._

As she tucked some hair behind her ear and appeared to laugh, probably enjoying the conversation a great deal. Surprisingly, she wasn't the only one judging by the smile the physical dream Ichigo was holding on his lips. There was most likely a noise behind them, or at least that's what he assumed since he still couldn't hear a thing, but by the way she turned her body around, it seemed like she was surprised by something. The direction the mystery girl looked was that the of which the out-of-body Ichigo had. Her surprised expression, eyes still shaded, turned into a mischievous one; when it did, everything was engulfed in an overly-familiar flash of white.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

His eyes flickered open, widening as soon as they had grasped the current situation. Shooting up from his bed, he looked down at his sheets and saw that the bottle was resting with him. The feather inside was shining as brightly as ever. _"How did I get to my bed?"_ he muttered while rubbing his eyes which were sore not only from sleeping, but from the light radiating off his prized-possession. With a sigh he decided not to strain himself by trying to remember what happened.

Leaving his room and unfinished homework, Ichigo walked down the hallway and descended the stairs coming to his senses more and more with each step. When he began to wonder how long he's been out, coincidentally he passed the wall clock, which told him it was, two thirty-eight. Ichigo shook his head and decided to get a drink since his throat was feeling a bit try and raspy. As if he'd been screaming to the top of his lungs, which for some reason hurt a little, too. A silent scream perhaps? It's possible that someone could indeed let a silent scream during their slumber. Especially for Ichigo Kurosaki who was in the lead when it came to the competition for going through abnormalities, or doing strange things.

The corridors were dark, but the moon lit up all through the windows, giving it an odd glow that was somehow comforting, despite the slightly creepy appearance of it all. His steps against the wood floor were light, but still made soft thumps which sounded softly through the eerie atmosphere that filled the still place he called home.

Stepping into the kitchen, he made his way to the fridge and poured himself a glass of water. Upon sipping, he stopped when a thought struck him; set the quarter-full glass down and walked back to his room without a single notable thought, word, or action. All that he did then seemed so controlled, and stiff, not to mention sudden.

Without minding his noise, the door to his room shut abruptly, closing out any and all without any hesitation whatsoever.

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><p><em>AN: So how was it? Opinion? R&R to help me make it better please :D! I'll give you a cookie... two cookies? Three... Four... Five... Okay ten! Twenty?... Fine the whole box ;-;... -cries because is now cookie-less and 98% of the readers probably wont R&R as requested-_


	2. Outsiders

_A/N: Sorry everyone I know it's been a while... I got caught up in packing and now school and homework and I'm about ready to drown in my own thoughts T-T... I haven't had much time for anything other than the physical world, which really sucks some serious arse -.-..._

_I'm moving this week, and it'll be some time until I get everything settled internet-wise. I'll work on the upcoming chapters on the road and whenever I have a chance. Promise _

_Also sorry this chapter is a bit boring... I wanted to let you all get a peek into the minds of the ones around the star of our story ;D._

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><p><strong><em><strong> Outsiders<strong>_**

Over the course of the next few days, things seemed to of settled down once more. For the most part, that is.

With each passing day, the fog in Ichigo's mind seemed to grow even thicker than it was the previous. Headaches began the third day in, he ran a fever on the fifth, recovered the seventh; even when he was in school, his mind seemed to be elsewhere. Lost in the mysterious fog that moved itself in some time ago.

"Ichi~go~!" chimed his decently good friend Keigo as he approached him in a more hyperactive way than their mutual friend Mizuiro. Though they see him as a friend, lately Ichigo's barely seen anyone at all. Even his own family, he stays in his room all day daydreaming about his dream over and over. Trying to make sense of it all, but to no prevail.

"It doesn't look like he notices you." stated Keigo's calm companion walking up to the statue-still Keigo who seemed to be overreacting to Ichigo's accidental cold shoulder by turning away and walking without even looking back the moment they stepped into the hall. The gentle spoken boy put his phone away and looked passed his frozen friend and at Ichigo, "I wonder what's with him. He hasn't seemed himself lately."

Keigo turned and ran back down the hall while crying out, "It doesn't matter, Ichigo obviously doesn't want to talk to us anymore~!"

"Wait, Keigo our class is the other way." called out Mizuiro in a volume barely above his usual. He sighed and stood there for a little. Not even a minute later the brown-haired boy came back down the hall in the same motion, repeating what he'd said as if he were doing a take-two for a scene in some sort of nonexistent movie.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

"So then I decided to add some soy sauce to the annin dofu, which ended up falling onto my rice ball, so then I accidentally knocked over the-!" Orihime stopped her story of how today's lunch came to be, which she was mercilessly explaining to her best friend Tatsuki who was grinning and bearing the highly disturbing details of a meal she wasn't even sure was edible.

"Eh? Orihime, is something wrong?" asked the tomboy who, although was thankful for the break in story, was concerned about the sudden silence from her usually talkative buddy.

Orihime's reason for stopping walked by and took his seat by the window. He put it bag down without even giving the area around him a second look and rested his cheek on his fist; gazing out the clear surface while doing so.

She made a slight fist as she held her hand against her chest, "I wonder..." she started saying, "If Ichigo is okay..." Tatsuki turned to look at him. "Lately, he hasn't been himself, and it's worrying me... I was going to go visit him when he was sick; I didn't want to be a bother, though..."

Tatsuki frowned at the boy she'd known for so long and then turned back to the concerned person off to her side, "Hey, I'm sure he's fine. Ichigo isn't some kid anymore, maybe he's just feeling off."

"I... guess your right." she submitted, seeing nothing for her to do at the moment.

The fighter grinned, "Don't look so down, Orihime." her attention went back to Ichigo, "Whatever he's going through, he'll pull through eventually. Just watch. For as long as I've known him, there hasn't been anything that kept him down for, too long." then she added as she turned back around, _'With the exception of that single incident...'_ Her eyes opened a bit more, _'Ichigo didn't... Someone didn't... again...'_ her broken thoughts said.

When Orihime began to tell her tale of toxic-sounding meals which still concerned Tatsuki greatly, it was suddenly cut short once more when the teacher entered the room to begin.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

_After School_

As the two girls from Ichigo's class walked out the gates to Karakura High, Tatsuki couldn't get her mind off what happened earlier.

Halfway Through Class:

_The lesson progressed at a slower pace than anyone could have ever thought of, which brought down a depressing atmosphere in the room. Out of nowhere, Ichigo's eyes widened, and he stood up abruptly. Eyes wide, his chair screeching against the tiled floors of the classroom._

"_Ichigo, what's wrong?" asked the teacher._

_No response._

"_If nothing is wrong please sit- Hey Ichigo, wait! Where are you going? Ichigo!"_

Present Time:

_'He never came back after that... Suddenly leaving class and defying a teacher... Ichigo I know you can be smart, but sometimes, okay a lot of times, you seem to slack off, but this is out of character, even for you...'_ thought his old karate-partner.

"Hey, Tatsuki..." called Orihime's wandering voice, "Do you really think Ichigo is okay? He hasn't seemed... himself, and then today..." She continued mentally, _'He really seemed to of changed...'_

"What are you talking about?" asked Tatsuki pulling of a reassuring grin, "Ichigo is Ichigo. Like I've been saying: he can take care of himself!"

"Even though Tatsuki says that..." said Orihime looking away, "Ichigo... wouldn't normally do that if he was really okay..." Letting her eyes fall to the cement ground which they were walking on to go to the orange-haired girls house, _'It's almost like he's losing himself...'_

Tatsuki looked at her thoughtfully and said, "Listen, Orihime, I've known Ichigo for years, trust me: things will look up for him in no time."

Orihime smiled, or did her best to with the thought of someone she cares about, even if she doesn't really know him, too well, hurt on her mind, "If you say so then it has to be true. You'd never lie to me, right, Tatsuki? After all, I don't want you saying things just to make me feel better if they're not true..."

"Of course not Orihime, don't even think that!" said Tatsuki a little breath-taken that something like that would even cross her closest friend's mind, "Never, Orihime, have I or will I lie to you."

Without hesitation, Orihime nodded without forcing a smile, "That makes me really happy to hear. I guess you're right, I might just being worrying, too much since things seemed rough for him." a giggle, "Silly me."

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

"So what do you think happened with him today?" asked Keigo as him and the boyish faced Mizuiro walked down the sidewalk to the convenience store.

Mizuiro shook his head, "Who knows?"

"Maybe he's going through some sort of secret withdrawal, like a sudden MMORPG ban was put on him!" exclaimed the over-imaginative boy.

His shorter friend tilted his head slightly, "Does Ichigo even play those?"

"I don't know, that's why it's secret!" he pointed out, "Or maybe there are some family issues going on?"

Another head shake as Mizuiro said, "Ichigo doesn't seem like one to play MMORPG's. His family doesn't seem like the arguing type either. I can't see a reason for him to have any problems with them."

As he looked around in what seemed like a panic, Keigo suggested, "W-Well, what if it's... a relationship problem? Yes that's it! Ichigo is having girl troubles!"

"Ichigo doesn't have a girlfriend, nor has he shown any signs of having one any time, recently." stated the boy going through his phone.

A little while later another idea formed in his near-empty head, "That's it! It's _because_ he doesn't have a girlfriend that's he's depressed!"

"I don't think that's it either," he said while putting his phone away, "Never has he ever complained about anything even remotely close to being lonely."

The two of them stopped in front of the store as Keigo inserted money into a vending machine. It rumbled a bit before dropping his bottled juice. "C'mon aren't you at least _curious_ about what's got him so down?" asked Keigo in a whining voice, "Don't you care about what's wrong with him?"

"Well why wouldn't I?" asked Mizuiro looking up and down the street, "We're his friends which is exactly why I'm _not_ worrying. Ichigo will tell us when he finds a suitable time, until then let him think to himself." A car pulled up in front of the boy and waited for him. When he got inside he rolled down the window in the back and advised, "Go see him and ask him yourself if you're that concerned." Then with that said, the car went off and the window rose.

"Ask him... myself...?" repeated the loner kid. Keigo thought about how it'd all go down if he did take Mizuiro's advice and started streaming tears as the different forms of rejection came to mind. "I can't do it~!" he sobbed out loud, catching the attention of some other pedestrians who only gave him strange looks.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

Ichigo walked into his house and up the stairs without even alerting anyone of his return. Karin saw him walking up the stairs, "Ichigo-" the door closing cut her off.

"What's the matter with Ichigo?" asked Yuzu who was drying her damp hands while Karin walked into the kitchen shrugging.

Karin sighed as she looked around and picked up her soccer ball, "Who knows? He's been like that for like a week."

"A week!" exclaimed Yuzu in shock.

Her sister looked at her with her rarely-changing expression, "What? You haven't noticed?"

Yuzu looked around as she said, "W-Well... I mean, it's not like I didn't notice, but I just didn't know _how_ off he seemed. That's all."

She shook her head and made her way to the door, "Ichigo will get out of whatever mess he's gotten himself in to."

"I guess you have a point..." said Yuzu, "But I still have to worry. You should be worrying, too Karin! He's your brother as much as he is mine!"

"Hmm... I care, I care. I'm off to the park though. I'll be back before dinner, see 'ya. The guys are waiting, apparently they lost their ball so I need to bring mine." said the black haired girl walking out.

The brunette complied and then walked to the base of the stairs, "Ichigo? Ichigo? If you can hear me, I'm going out to check on something. Karin went to play soccer with her friends, and Dad is down in the clinic!" called Yuzu trying her best not to sound worried about her brother. "Uh... Well if you need something just call me! Okay? "

Only silence answered. Defeated by the unspoken reply, she continued on with her own business to make sure that she didn't bother him.

The house was empty now with the exception of Ichigo and the poster of his deceased mother which Isshin still refused to dismount. Them along with the occasional spirit wandering here and there, soon fading out as soon as they'd become visible.


End file.

Bleach, Fantasy, Romance