A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed and/or subscribed; it means a ton! Sorry I haven't updated, my internet has been botched for a few days. Anywhoo, I'll now be writing which song I'm using pre-chapter up here. And some warnings as to what occurs per chapter as well. Prologue was "Love the Way You Lie" - Eminem ft. Rhianna. Chapter 1 is "Oblivion" by Wintersleep. I kinda wanted to use "Learn to Fly" by the Foo Fighters but thought it too cheesy. The story is named after the song "The Catalyst" by Linkin Park. Can't wait for the new album! So excited. Another thing to mention: not all of the songs will have to do with the chapter. It's whatever I feel is in regards to the story. But I digress. tried to write from an Ichigo-ish perspective.

Warnings: TYPOS! Though I rather wish there weren't any, I tried my best. I'm kinda looking for a beta.

The Catalyst

Chapter One: Welcome to the Night Sky

"Breathe in, breathe in; oblivion."

Some say flying is the most frightening form of travel. Turbulence is of course the inevitable and immediate consequence that comes to mind when considering the risks of flight, even though in most cases it isn't fatal. There was also the chance of crashing, whether nose diving into the ocean of ground, or into the clear deep cerulean of the ocean. Tumbling out of the sky, gracefully delving into the gaping mouth of the earth from the seemingly endless sky, was not what brought fear to the young man. Nor was it the shaking of the aircraft that came with the turbulence. It was the feeling of not being grounded. The young man loathed being up in the air; to him it felt as if he had no more control over his life, as if being on the ground literally kept him grounded to his ideals. Although the young man always booked his seat for the wondrous comforts of first class, he was never at ease. But for once, the young man was excited to fly. He was finally coming home. He had completed his internship at Tokyo's most prestigious writing magazine, Kuroi Namida. But he had to go home first, visit his psychotic old man and his twin sisters. Two years was a long time not to see your family; and the one visit was not nearly long enough. The young man had to admit to himself that he even missed his crazy father attacking him every morning or whenever he entered the house. He even missed how embarrassing his father could be about the smallest thing, although he'd be very hard pressed to admit that. He missed his friends as well, although they came to visit more often because of the great nightlife in Tokyo.

Before the young man knew it, they were already landing at the Karakura International Airport. After he collected his luggage, he hailed a cab and went straight to Renji Abarai's house. Nobody knew he was coming back today, with the exception of his family. His friends all thought he was going to arrive next Tuesday. He wanted to surprise them all; a slight revenge for whenever his friends would come over unbidden to his tiny apartment in Tokyo. Renji's house was where everyone went on Saturday nights to hang out. The young man couldn't wait to see their shocked faces when he popped in.

Ichigo silently opened the front door, slipping in and leaving his suitcase in the hallway and shutting the door silently behind him. He quickly made his way over to the kitchen, grabbing a beer from the fridge before sneaking into the living room where everyone was currently hanging out. Ichigo crouched behind a couch where Byakuya Kuchiki and Renji, from what he could judge from the hair of course, were making out.

"Some things never change," Ichigo chuckled.

He proceeded to vault himself over the couch and land in a very surprised Renji's lap, whose eyes were bulging and mouth was forming into a very comical "O" shape. Ichigo couldn't help but laugh, especially at the cold condescending stare Byakuya was giving him. Shrieking pierced Ichigo's ears, and he plugged them with his fingers after several other loud screams joined the first.

"YOU'RE BACK KUROSAKI-KUN!" Orihime Inoue gushed.

"ICHIGO! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME YOU WERE COMING BACK TODAY? I'M GONNA KICK YOUR ASS FOR NOT TELLING ME!" screamed both Rukia Kuchki and Tatsuki Arisawa at the same time.

From across the room, Ichigo's best friend Yasutora Chad gave him a pitying look while Uryu Ishida just smirked, being his usual condescending self.

"Uhh hey guys..." Ichigo said while scratching his head and giving a half grin. "I'm back?"

"BAKA!"

"Umm Rukia? I think we've already established that you think I'm an idioit."

"SHUT UP!" Rukia continued yelling at him. "You could have at least told us that you were coming back! We missed you Ichigo..." Rukia's voice softened at her last words.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys. I just wanted to surprise you is all."

"Apology accepted Ichi. Now get over here for some hugs!" Renji yelled, thumping his chest like the gorilla-man he was. Ichigo could count on Renji to lighten up any situation.

Ichigo and the rest of the group exchanged hugs, with the exclusion of Byakuya who politely, well as polite as he could be to Ichigo, declined and Ishida who just mumbled "Why should I hug the likes of you?".

"Byakuya and Uryu should just get matching "I HATE KUROSAKI" tattoos on their foreheads." Ichigo thought, shaking his head. "Well at least everyone else missed me."

Soon after, Renji brought out the Stolichnaya* and declared a drinking game contest of "I Never". They all sat in a circle, Renji in Byakuya's lap between Ichigo and Ishida, Orihime next to Rukia and Tatsuki, Ishida next to Chad who was seated next to Tatsuki with Rukia sitting next to Ichigo. Byakuya, being the prude he was, refused to participate.

"I START!" yelled Renji, who was already more drunk than the rest of them. "I never put on makeup!"

The girls glared at Renji, raising their glasses to down their shots. But to all of their surprise, Ishida took a shot as well, blushing furiously as he did.

At the inquisitive looks, and sputtering of Tatsuki who rarely wore makeup, Ishida mumbled something about getting in character when trying on his sowing. This earned a round of laughter from the group, including Byakuya who gave a small chuckle. Ishida, if possible turned redder, his neck now burning a bright dark red.

"Well now it's my turn. I never slept with someone of the same sex."

Renji and Ichigo chuckled, both taking down their shots while the girls giggled. "That didn't work as planned, eh Ishida? I'm surprised, does this mean you're still a virgin?" Ichigo leered while Renji maniacally laughed. Said bespectacled man just pushed his glasses higher up his nose and made a dignified "hmpf" sound.

The game continued on for the next half hour with such statements as "I never had a threesome" "I never cheated on my boyfriend/girlfriend" "I never kissed a boy" and the like. Finally the last of the vodka was distributed and it was Tatsuki's turn to finish off the game. She directed a smirk and then a knowing glance at Ichigo. "I never got my tongue pierced... and hid it from my friends."

Everyone turned to look at Ichigo who was slightly blushing while downing his shot. "That wasn't fair Tats, you got one too."

"At least I didn't hide it for three months! You shoulda told everyone else Ichi." At this everyone started barraging Ichigo with questions of when and why he got it pierced and also why he didn't tell them. He wished they would all just leave him alone about it, it wasn't that big of a deal.

"As Tatsuki just not so subtly let you know," Ichigo spat with menace, "I got it pierced three months ago. She came with me, and I got it cause I felt like it. Now just leave me alone about it, I was gonna tell you guys tonight."

That shut everyone up for about a minute, until they started yelling at him to open his mouth and stick his tongue out to show them the piercing. After several minutes of arguing with them, and only after Rukia punched him in the head and Renji pinned him to the floor, Ichigo obliged. Sticking his tongue out, he revealed a black barbell with a white skull and crossbones logo on it. The girls oohed and ahhed over it while Ishida called him an idiot who didn't respect his body. "At least I'm not the one cross-dressing baka." Ishida shut up and made some excuse about leaving. Chad also said he had to leave, complimenting Ichigo about the piercing before he left. Byakuya ignored the whole exchange, being his usual stoic self. Ichigo silently wondered what Renji saw in the emotionless man.

After finally finally getting pissed of everyone ogling his tongue in wonder, Ichigo made up an excuse to leave. He was drunk, slightly annoyed at all the squealing that was ringing in his head and he was content. He was happy he showed up at Renji's, but he had to get to his apartment, it was already past midnight and he had been there since around eight thirty. He had to visit his family tomorrow, and his father would sense his weakness if he was too hungover. "Stupid bastard never gives me a break." He bid goodbye to all his friends, even giving Inoue an awkward hug. He hailed a cab downtown, paying the man and stumbling into his apartment building, ignoring the disapproving gaze of the doorman. Ichigo wobbled into the elevator with his suitcase in tow and pressed the button to get up to his floor. As he got up to the tenth floor, he rummaged around in his pants pockets for his house key, finding it and opening the door. He dropped his suitcase in front of his bed, then collapsed onto it himself without changing or even going under the blankets.

"Home sweet home." Ichigo thought before turning his head into the pillow and drifting slowly to sleep.

*Very Russian vodka.

A/N: I swear, later chapters will be longer. Please review! Spelling of names taken from the bleach wiki page. Except I changed the spelling for Jaegerjaquez to Jaggerjaques cause the former sounds like "Yager-ya-quez". It doesn't fit his hollow mask at all and is too Spanish-y in comparison to his German first name. Oh and WOOT! Over 1000 words. Haha I'll try to make the next at least 2000. Otherwise I'll feel bad. Thanks for waiting so patiently lovely readers! .noyes signing off...