WAY BACK HOME

"Kurosaki-kun!" Upon hearing her voice, he stopped to look up at the tower where he made her wait until this battle is over.

"I-noue…"

"You don't have to win…" her voice was trembling from preventing the tears to escape her eyes. "Ju-just don't get hurt anymore." She said it, though in a weakening tone, she finally said the words he needed to hear. As fast as the wind can take the sand he is stepping on, the battle was over. Aizen is dead. That is a good thing for everybody, at least for everybody.

Summary

Aizen Sosuke is dead. Soul Society is focusing all their efforts into reconstructing infrastructures not just at seretei but also at the real world and hueco mundo, that is right after the war. Ten years later, Kurosaki Ichigo and his friends were no longer allowed to meddle with soul society business unless ordered to. They are now part of the human reserve forces. Ten years cradles too much change as well. Now 25, Kurosaki finds himself bored with his life...how he wanted to turn all shinigami again, slay hollows, protect the world and his friends and most especially fight side by side with the person who changed his life.

Disclaimer: Of course, I don't own BLEACH. i wish i do, though. And wait, if I did, maybe it will turn all crappy.

"My name is Kurosaki Ichigo, 25 years old. I work at a nearby school as a literature teacher." He said in his thoughts.

Ten years have passed since the winter war. Everyone was glad the traitorous captain, who does not even deserved to be called one, Aizen Sosuke is dead. In some way, they got rid of him.

Even if it had been ten years, Kurosaki Ichigo felt nothing had changed. In fact, he is starting to feel bored. He is no longer allowed to draw his sword or even leave his human body unless he is ordered to do so. If by chance he is targeted for food by some low-level hollow, he has to wait for the town shinigami to do his job. So if he is about to get eaten, he had to run his ass out, is that what they want?! He asked himself several times. Soul Society's laws have a way of pissing him off.

He reached for the shinigami badge in his pocket. So what if he is not allowed to turn all shinigami again, he can still keep some souvenir, eh? He looked at it, studied every corners of the skull engraved on it. He was not able to look at it this long before. He missed the feeling of reiatsu firing out of his body. He had longed to say bankai again.

He looked at his shinigami badge one more time and took one deep breath.

"My name is Kurosaki Ichigo and I am 25 years old. I don't know why the 'protector' never leaves my introduction. I used to live in Karakura town with my father and twin sisters but time does bring big change." He said as he took the first step toward his house' garage.

"This is my house. It is two stories high, three rooms and two bathrooms, a guest room on the first floor, a living room, kitchen, dinning room and a 100-square-meter garden where a 6-feet deep pool is built. It's not a mansion but it is larger than an average house. My friend Chad designed it for me; he finished architecture in Tokyo University. The interiors were done by Ishida Uryuu, he did well with the fabrics. Uryuu is the head of the nearby Ishida Hospital and the reason behind doing my house' interior is for fun. He wanted to get back at me which reminds me of his evil plan and that is to turn everything orange if not, pink and flood the furniture with flowers. To sum it all up, this thing can house up to 6 persons."

He turned the knob of the door which led to the kitchen.

"Welcome back, Kurosaki-kun! Why won't you enter the front door?" greeted a girl with auburn hair and wearing an insanely cheerful smile.

"Oh. And she is my wife." he thought while he reasoned, "Maybe I want to be reminded of how I slip through the windows of my room when I was 15."

NOTES

Ichigo - common term for straberries though he claims that 'ichigo' meant 'one protector' ICHI=ONE GO=PROTECTOR

15 or in japanese jyuu go. 15 years old = jyuu go sai. 25 = ni jyuu go. see that 'go' never leaves his intro. go - protector. the prevailing question is: Is he really a protector? Find out and keep reading.

WAIT!!! i know. i know. i really planned this chapter to be an introduction so Rukia is not yet to appear...REVIEW AND SHE WILL BE right in, in no time. I promise. 'till then. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE CRITICIZE MY WORK. comments/suggestions are very welcome.