Since I don't want to be constantly repeating myself, here it is: Disclaimer: Tite Kubo owns Bleach, not me.

Hey, this is my first fanfic piece. Read and review please :)

Italics are Ichigo's thoughts.

Dying fucking sucks. Ichigo had had a rough day to say the least. After all, he had just died. Officially.

It had been a fire at the school of all things. There had been an explosion in the chemistry lab. Why their teacher had decided it would be a good idea to have high school students experiment with explosive chemicals was beyond him but he had. Ichigo hoped that the idiot professor got fired for killing one of his students. And that lucky student just so happened to be him.

The entire class had heard one of the students curse, quite loudly, before seeing a beaker bubbling viciously. Soon it broke, sending shards of glass across the table it was on and the foam started spreading until it came into contact with something another group had dropped due to the shattering of the beaker. Then all hell broke loose.

The chemicals reacted almost instantly and exploded and sparks flew everywhere and started small fires around them. The alarms started going off and people were running and panicking, trying to get out of the building as fast as they could.

Ichigo had just reached the door when he noticed the teacher laying down unconscious on the floor. He quickly doubled back and picked up the idiot old man and started heading toward the door; all the while cursing the fact that his human body was not as strong as his spiritual one had been. The guy wasn't exactly one to watch his weight.

There was another explosion from the chemistry lab. The shock made Ichigo lose his balance and crash into the side wall and a metal window frame and shards of broken glass. They cut into his neck and the side of his face, causing blood to travel down over his left shoulder and eye. His vision was beginning to blur but he was able to focus until he got himself and the still unconscious teacher into a small unused office. Ichigo leaned his charge against the wall and then slid down next to him. He was becoming delirious and had a hard time keeping his eyes open. The last thing he remembered was hoping that his friends had all gotten out safely.

Amongst the panic outside, Ishida, Chad, and Inoue were running around before eventually finding each other. They hadn't really thought about trying to sense each other's' spiritual pressure, it wouldn't have been productive anyway. There was no way anyone would be able to concentrate in the chaos that had ensued. But they did manage to find each other.

"Inoue-san?" Ishida asked.

"Don't worry, I'm fine. Are you alright?"

"Fine. Chad?" There was merely a nod but it was enough to know he was fine too. Orihime looked around frantically.

"Where's Kurosaki-kun?" They should have noticed that their orange-haired friend wasn't there earlier. Without needing to say anything, the three split up. It wasn't until the crowd had calmed down some that Ishida tried reaching out to sense Ichigo's spiritual pressure, but he couldn't find it. Even after his fight with Aizen where he had lost his spiritual pressure, Ichigo still had this distinct aura that the three could sense, but it was missing. It couldn't be…, Ishida refused to believe it, but there was only one explanation he could think of as to why his rival-turned-comrade couldn't be found, that any modicum of his reiatsu had completely disappeared.

Kurosaki Ichigo was dead.

Ishida hurried back to where he had met the other two and noticed that Orihime was close to tears and Chad's fists were clenched. They knew. As he got closer, Ishida could hear her mumbling his name over and over again under her breath.

"Kurosaki-kun. Kurosaki-kun." Each time sounding more strained than the last. He wanted to reach out and comfort her, but that had never really been his strong suit. Ishida was more intellectual type than the emotional. Still, he did mourn their obnoxious friend with the other two even though they knew just where he was going to be.

"Orihime." It was Tastuki. When she saw the Orihime had a couple tears running down her cheeks she ran over and grabbed her friend's shoulders.

"What is it? What happened? Are you okay?" She asked in a rapid fire assault of questions. Orihime merely shook her head and their spikey-haired friend looked at Chad and Ishida as a way of explanation. Ishida looked away and Chad had his eyes on the ground and his shoulders slumped.

"Ichigo died." Mizuiro and Keigo had appeared behind Tatsuki and heard Chad's words just as the slowed down. All three froze, eyes wide and mouths wide.

Ichigo was dead? The same friend of theirs who had stormed into multiple dangerous situations to help them? Who had fought and defeated Aizen and won the Winter War was…dead?

They couldn't believe it. No one could. Ichigo was the strongest of the group. The one they had expected to outlive the rest of them. They all slowly dropped their heads. No one said anything. There were no words they could say.

Orihime flung herself into Tatsuki's arms and started bawling. Keigo fell to the ground with his head in his hands. Mizuiro had dropped his cell phone. And Tatsuki was fighting back tears of her own.

At the emotional display, their homeroom teacher hurried over to the group. Ishida told her that Ichigo was still in the building, but he couldn't tell her he was dead. They would just have to wait until his body was recovered.

The teacher ran over to the nearest fireman after being told one of her students was still in the building. They didn't have to wait very long though, another fireman was already there telling them he had found a student who had died.

School was cancelled. Immediately.

Ichigo had gotten up onto the roof and was watching his friends. Chad, Inoue, Ishida, Tatsuki, Mizuiro, Keigo…each one of them trying to come to grips with the fact that he had just died. I hope they'll be alright.

"You seem more collected than I would have thought." Rukia appeared behind him with a solemn look on her face.

"It hasn't really sunk in yet." Ichigo fell against the railing. He had been out of his body so many times over the past few years that he was used to the sensation. It also prevented his mind from registering that he wouldn't be returning to his body this time.

Ichigo sighed. He knew what was coming next, but he hadn't been expecting it so soon. The hell, I just turned eighteen for God's sake!

Rukia felt for her friend. He had achieved some many impossible things in just a couple years and had finally gotten a normal life, a life that had been taken from his less than a year later. It wasn't fair and she knew it, but she also knew that even if saving his own life would have meant letting that teacher die, Ichigo probably wouldn't have done anything different. It was just the kind of person he was and always had been. A sad smile graced her lips.

"Are you going to say goodbye?" It took a moment for him to answer.

"No."

"What?! Why not?"

"Because," he said standing up, "it won't be the last time we see each other." Even when he hadn't had his shinigami powers, Ichigo still spoke with such conviction that left people without a shred of doubt about what he said. And now dead, he was still the same way and she knew that he wasn't wrong.

Rukia chuckled under her breath. He will never change. And she didn't ever want him to.

"Come on. Let's get this over with."

"Ah." Rukia walked over to her friend and gently placed the butt of her zanpaktou against his forehead.

"See you on the other side." Rukia laughed. How he could still joke at a time like this didn't make any sense. The shock really hasn't caught up with him, huh?

"Oh, and Rukia," she looked up at her friend's quickly fading form. "Tell my sisters not to worry about me." She only had time to nod before Ichigo disappeared.

When Ichigo opened his eyes he was immediately met by the sun glaring at him. He moaned and covered his eyes but got up anyway. From what he had heard from Rukia and Renji, the Rukongai was a rough place and not one you just wanted to be laying around in. Around him he saw a bunch of food stalls and small shops. The people were dressed in clean yukatas and Ichigo didn't see anyone who looked to be stealing. Must be one of the higher districts.

He stretched, feeling his bones crack as if he had been sitting for a long time. His hand found the back of his neck as he walked through the streets of whatever district he was in. Eventually he got past all the busy streets and found a small clearing. Ichigo sat down under a large tree and closed his eyes, listening to the laughter of children playing on the other side of the clearing. Soon the laughter died and there was a soft crunch of grass under someone's feet.

"um…excuse me." It was a hesitant voice; a boy who looked to be about ten years old, but Ichigo knew enough soul reapers to know that you can't tell someone's age just by their appearance.

"Ah."

"um, you should probably go home now, it's getting dark."

"Why does it matter?"

"Well…because monsters sometimes come and attack people."

"Yeah," another voice piped up. It was a small girl with wavy brown hair who had been hiding behind the boy. "They're really strong. Only the people in black can beat them."

Monsters? People in black? Then it dawned on him. The two kids were talking about hollows and shinigami. Ichigo couldn't help but chuckle under his breath. It was all backwards. Ichigo had always been the one to protect others while he was alive and now these two little kids were trying to do the same to him. They're warning me about Hollows? Oh, the irony.

"Alright, alright I'll go," Ichigo sighed and got up. "But first I'm going to make sure you two get home safe."

The boy gawked. "We can get home by ourselves!" He crossed his arms and puffed out his chest. The girl just straightened and put on a serious face. Ichigo narrowed his eyes and smirked.

"Humor me." With that, the trio took off. As they walked, the girl lost her serious expression and seemed to be more at ease around him. She had introduced herself as Maiha and the boy as Kairi. Ichigo introduced himself and not long after, Maiha came up and took his hand. It caught him by surprise but he held on anyways. The girl reminded him of what Yuzu was like when she was younger.

The two started talking, well it was more listening on Ichigo's part, as they got closer to Maiha and Karir's home. Kairi had fallen a few steps back and stood staring at the two holding hands. Ichigo caught glimpses of the boy from time to time, but didn't stare. He had a feeling that Kairi wouldn't have liked to have been caught looking.

"Onii-chan!" Maiha took off towards the small house and Kairi soon followed. Ichigo turned and began walking away, knowing that they were somewhere safe.

"Wait!" A tall, lanky black-haired man stumbled out of the small house. He latched onto one of Ichigo's arms and caught his breath. He looked up at him before continuing.

"You're the one who brought Maiha and Kairi back aren't you?" The man pulled Ichigo into the house without waiting for an answer. "Please, sit." Ichigo did so and looked around. The house, though small, seemed to be bustling with life. He spotted Kairi and Maiha in the corner with a couple other kids and a puppy barking at their feet.

"Sorry about the noise." The lanky man from before came up and offered Ichigo a cup of tea. "I'm Choukichi by the way."

"Kurosaki Ichigo." After that the two started talking and Ichigo found out that he was in the 42nd district in south Rukongai. It was also how he found out about the shinigami academy entrance exams. There were a couple of kids who overheard their conversation and hurried over. Maiha was one of them and collapsed right next to Ichigo.

"Ne, Onii-chan. Are you telling Ichigo-nii san about the people in black?" Maiha said excitedly. These 'people in black' as she called them seemed to be one of her favorite topics.

"Yeah. I was just telling Kurosaki-san about the shinigami academy." He looked back at Ichigo. "Are you going to apply?" Choukichi, Maiha, Kairi, and the other kids all looked at Ichigo, who became very aware of the sudden attention he was getting.

"Ah." He confirmed. "So, when are the exams?" Those around him smiled and Ichigo couldn't help but give a small smile back. Choukichi went on to explain about what the testing was like. Ichigo couldn't help but wonder how he knew so much unless he applied himself, but every time he brought it up, Choukichi simply waved it off as something he had overheard.

Ichigo was so wrapped up in their conversation that it took Choukichi nearly shoving his face out the door for him to realize that the sun had set. Choukichi got the kids settled down before joining Ichigo outside.

"Are you really going to apply?" There was a hint of sadness creeping into Choukichi's voice that hadn't been there the last time he had asked.

"Yeah. It's just something I have to do." Ichigo said, looking up at the night sky.

"Have to or want to?" Speaking with such heavy tone caught Ichigo off guard. Until now, Choukichi had been speaking light-heartedly, but now the man's voice was grave.

"Don't go looking for recognition or praise or to take a shot at playing hero. There are other ways help people and keep them safe." Ichigo stared at Choukichi who seemed to have aged thirty years from when they first met.

"You tried to become a shinigami." It wasn't a question. Choukichi dropped his head and nodded.

"I made a mistake and paid for it dearly." He stole a brief look at Ichigo. "They like you, you know."

"Who?"

"The children. I've never seen them so comfortable around someone they just met. I mean, it took me two weeks to get them to trust me enough to take care of them." Ichigo sighed and looked up at the sky, noticing how few stars there were.

"They probably opened up since learning to trust you." Choukichi shook his head.

"No. Trust me, that's not it. I've taken them with me before and they still don't talk to people. I think, I think it's you." He looked at Ichigo who by know was quite confused.

"You care." Ichigo's eyes widened slightly and Choukichi shook his head. "I saw how you acted inside. You seemed to watch them protectively from the corner of your eye, apparently unconsciously." Choukichi grabbed his arm and forced Ichigo to look at him. "Don't make my mistake. You don't have to be a war hero to protect those around you. Please."

Ichigo nodded but knew that Choukichi knew it was a lost cause. "I can protect my friends better as a shinigami than I can as I am now. I am going to enter the academy and I am going to get stronger. Strong enough to protect everyone that I care about."

Choukichi saw the determination in the younger man's eyes and sighed. He wasn't going to get through the boy's head but he wasn't saddened by it. Ichigo had this energy about him that made Choukichi believe that the orange-head would stick to his word and would become just as strong as he said he would. And Choukichi prayed that he wouldn't be disappointed.