Author's Disclaimer:

Bleach is the trademark of Viz Media, and all of the Bleach characters are the creation of Tite Kubo, who has yet to will me Ichigo and the gang *pouts*. Also the title and basic premise of this piece was inspired by the NCIS fic, A Breed Apart, and from reading one too many related stories.

-Azteka

~Prologue~

"IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-" A high pitched squeal echoed in the hallway as students automatically gave the manic young man a wide birth as he ran down the hall toward a tawny-haired youth, "-CHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-"

Out of reflex, the tawny-haired teen flexed his left arm out while stepping slightly to the side as the manic auburn-haired teen collided into the stretched out arm.

"-GO!"

"Hey." The tawny-haired youth casually greeted, giving no thought at all to the other teen laying helpless and twitching on the floor.

"Hi Ichigo!" Greeted a petite raven-haired teen, which was answered by a mumbled 'Hey, Mizuiro' as the tawny-haired young man continued onto class.

Kurosaki Ichigo, by casual glance, looked hardly like your average high school student. He was tall and had a light tanned complexion. And of recent, the young man had developed nicely into a lean and lithe physique, which unconsciously showed that the teen had physical prowess. A prowess that the young man, more often than not, had to use against school bullies and local street thugs due to his unique hair… The tawny colored hair at first glance looked orange as if the young man had a bad bleach-job done to his hair. However, at a closer inspection, one would be amazed that the unique tawny color was natural. Especially when the sun shined upon the short tresses to reveal a myriad colors of reds, browns and golds… It was as if he had all the colors of autumn combined to create his unique hair. And it was not just his hair that was unique in color, but his eyes as well… The ocher-colored orbs instinctively scanned the classroom for his three friends.

To those who did not know Ichigo, those reddish-brown orbs were hard, unforgiving and constantly angry, but in reality, the warm-hued colored gems were just watchful. They were the eyes of a protector. They watched out for friends and family. They sought for any signs of a threat to those that the young man held dear. And they did something else that none really was aware of… The reddish-hues within the brown would lighten or darken depending on the teen's mood, making his eyes either appear crimson or golden.

To the casual observer, Ichigo hardly looked like your average high school student…

"HOLLOW! HOLLOW!" Shrieked a horrified sound from a tiny little badge that had looked as if it had seen better days…

And that casual observer would be correct; however, for not the reasons they would believe, for you see, Kurosaki Ichigo was a Shinigami, a Soul Reaper, a Death God…

#15#

"Ugh… damn freaking Hollows…" Ichigo grumbled as he leaned against the chain-link fence that surrounded his school's rooftop.

"It is your own fault." Commented a quiet voice to Ichigo's right.

The tawny-haired teen rolled his head to the side and glared at the European descendent.

"And how the hell is it my fault?"

"Your reiatsu is leaking out." The teen's comrade stated bluntly, "It's like a big neon sign saying: Here I am. Come and eat me."

Ichigo felt his brow twitch in annoyance… Annoyance mostly because his companion was absolutely right; however, it did not mean that his comrade had to be so smug about it.

"Shuddup, Uryu." Ichigo grumbled once more as he laid his head back and bathed in the sun's afternoon glow.

Ishida Uryu just snorted as he pushed his rectangular-shaped glasses higher up on his nose, which only caused them to slide back down to their original position. Uryu was not by any means a 'friend' of Ichigo's, or so he had claimed numerous of times in the past. The raven-haired teen had even begun his companionship with the tawny-haired Shinigami through a challenge… A challenge to see who was superior… The Shinigami or the Quincy, Ichigo or Uryu…

Uryu was a Quincy, an ancient sect of people who had the ability to summon and command reishi, the natural spiritual particles that surrounded all living beings and things. The Quincy mastered this unique ability in order to help protect themselves and other humans from monsters called the Hollows. In the beginning of their existence, the Quincy and the Shinigami had a tentative alliance; however, when it became apparent that the Quincy ability of destroying Hollows was threatening the balance of the afterlife, a feud broke out between the Shinigami and the Quincy. A feud which decimated the Quincy people, however…

This feud was not what fueled Uryu's distrust and disdain for the Shinigami. It was the fact that the Shinigami was responsible for the death of his beloved sensei and grandfather…

Uryu bowed his head, hiding his expression behind the thick tresses of raven-black hair. His hair was so black that in the sunlight, highlights of blue could be seen. The teen clenched his jaw tightly as he remembered painfully who was responsible for his Opa's death, and how he had failed at killing the monster…

"OW!" Uryu suddenly yelped as he felt a painful kick to his knee.

Oceanic blue orbs glowed with righteous indignation at Ichigo, who only had one eye open, revealing a soft chocolate-hued orb.

"Stop it." Ichigo simply commanded.

A slight rouge tinted the raven-haired teen's lighter European complexion as he looked away.

"I don't know what you're yapping about." Uryu lied.

They both knew it but neither commented on it. After all, it was an understanding between them… An understanding that was the real basis of their friendship, no matter how much they both deny it.

A comfortable silence fell over them as Ichigo returned to his nap, and Uryu returned to his sewing kit, mentally making a note that he was out of his favorite shade of blue… Quincy blue as their mutual friend had dubbed it.

"IIIII-" The silence was suddenly broken by an annoyingly familiar screech, "-CHIIIII-"

Instinctively Ichigo lifted a leg up.

"-GO-OPF!"

"Your friend never learns." Uryu mumbled as he eyed the twitching auburn-haired teen.

"My friend?" Ichigo questioned, "Don't you mean our friend?"

"I never associate myself with the likes of him." Uryu stated as a matter of fact.

"Here you go." A sudden quiet baritone voice rumbled over Ichigo and Uryu.

The massive shadow from the quiet giant of a friend had blocked out the warm sunshine, causing the would-be-arguing comrades to look up. Standing in front of them and over them was Yasutora 'Chad' Sado. The quiet Mexican-Japanese teen held out two bags, each containing a bread pastry and a bottle of tea. Earlier Ichigo and Uryu each had given Chad some money in order for their giant friend could buy lunch at the cafeteria.

"Thanks." The two teens mumbled as they accepted their lunch.

Ocher gems quickly scanned over the group of friends for any signs of injury. Chad remained standing, knowing what his smaller friend was doing. It did not bother the towering youth that the smaller Shinigami felt the need to do such a thing. In fact, it made the bronze-tanned teen feel welcomed. When Chad's abuelo had passed away and the young man had moved back to Japan to live with his father's relatives, Chad had always been viewed as an outsider… His dark skin and massive size always drew the attention of others onto him, and never in a positive way. His thick and wavy dark brown hair with its natural red highlights hid Chad's cocoa-brown eyes as he too observed his friend for injuries. The gentle giant was pleased to see that Ichigo was without injury, but a slight twitch of his thick lips downward was the only sign he gave of his displeasure at seeing the faint shadows around the tawny-haired teen's eyes.

The gold coin-medallion around Chad's neck warmed up in reflection of Chad's displeasure.

The ancient gold coin was their pledge to protect one another. While Chad promised his abuelo to never raise his fists in anger, Ichigo had promised to be the Mexican youth from the Sacred Heart grotto's fist as long as Chad had promised to protect the lithe teen's back. It was a promise and a pledge that Chad took to heart, and yet at that moment he felt helpless that he could not help his friend.

"I'm alright." Ichigo quietly stated as he scanned the rest of their friends.

Keigo, the manic auburn-haired teen, was back on his feet, rambling about this or that. Ichigo did not really care, but was relieved that the brat was all right. The tawny-haired teen would forget from time-to-time to check his strength. Mizuiro, a raven-haired teen, was busy texting to one of his many girlfriends while he occasionally nodded and gave verbal cues that he was listening to the hyper Keigo, but in reality, he was not.

They were safe and free from the knowledge of things going bump in the night, and Ichigo preferred it that way.

"ORIHIME!" A feminine shrill cried out as the named chestnut-brown haired girl was manhandled from behind before the shrilling offender received a vicious kick to the chin by the school's residential tomboy.

Chizuru, the shrilling offender, just laid on the ground, bemoaning her fate at being denied her love by the beautiful and yet vicious Tatsuki, which set Tatsuki off into another fit while blushing a bright shade of red. Ichigo just watched as Tatsuki continued to beat Chizuru. The tawny-haired teen knew that his childhood friend was not really beating the overly flirtatious girl in anger. It was that the raven-haired tomboy did not know how to handle compliments. After all, she was the only girl out of a family of seven brothers.

As Tatsuki and Chizuru continued their usually row, Orihime tried to stop her defending dragon from causing too much damage.

Inoue Orihime was an odd girl. Her long tresses of chestnut-brown were held back by a pair of flower-hairclips, which her brother had given her and held an awesome power. Her stormy-grey eyes reflected only her honest emotions. She was incapable of lying, and despite her busty physique and airhead tendency, the chestnut-brown haired orphaned was quite smart and wise. She had a presence about her that made the three warrior-males very protective of her. She was the Healer of their mix-matched group, while Chad was the Shield, Uryu was the Brains and Ichigo himself was the Sword.

…must be really tried if ya thinkin' like tha'… A voice cooed in Ichigo's mind, causing the young Shinigami to choke on his tea.

"Kurosaki-san!" Orihime suddenly cried once she heard her friend coughing.

"I'm fine…" Ichigo dismissed as his coughing fit subsided, "… went down the wrong way…"

"Idiot…" Uryu grumbled as he took a sip of his tea.

"Shuddup…" Ichigo replied then rubbed his face as he felt a wave of wariness wash over him.

"Ichigo…" Chad's voice pulled the tired teen back to the land of wakefulness, unaware that he began to slip into the land of nod.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Ichigo answered his friend's unasked questioned, "I'm just tired, is all…"

"Uhn…"

Suddenly ocher eyes narrowed as he realized something…

"It's quiet…" He whispered as he realized that he no longer heard Keigo's ramblings.

"You're right…" Chad replied.

THUD…

Immediately they looked up to see Tatsuki suddenly collapse.

"TATSUKI!" Orihime cried as she rushed over to her fallen friend.

As the chestnut-brown haired girl had moved away, it was then that Ichigo saw Keigo and Mizuiro on the ground.

"KEIGO! MIZUIRO!" The young Shinigami cried as he attempted to get to his feet.

His vision instantly faded, leaving speckles of darkness and causing his knees to buckle. Staggering backwards Ichigo caught himself against the chain-link fence.

…Aibou! Someone shouted, but their voice was muffled as if Ichigo had cotton in his ears.

His vision had partially returned but only to reveal that his other friends had too fallen.

… wha - Ichigo could not think clearly. His head lulled to the side, hoping to catch someone's attention from below, but his eyes widened as he saw some of the other students, who would eat in front of the school, had also collapsed.

… AIBOU! RUN!The voice screamed, causing Ichigo to turn his attention back to his fallen friends.

The tawny-haired took a weak and shaky step forward, only to drop to his knees. His body was numb. He did not feel the pain of slamming his knee on the rooftop. Forcefully he crawled toward Uryu.

"Uryu…" Ichigo weakly called out as his mouth felt dry and as he shook the unconscious Quincy, "… wake… up…"

… AIBOU! STAY AWAKE! LE' ME OUT!

"… out… out where…" Ichigo whispered between pants.

It was getting difficult to stay awake and breathe.

"I knew it." Another voice stated, causing Ichigo to snap around but only to collapse onto his side.

AIBOU! STAY WIT' ME! The voice panicked.

"… who…" Ichigo tried to ask who the voice was but everything was fading faster and deeper into darkness.

"I knew you would be prefect." The sinister voice murmured.

Vaguely Ichigo was aware that someone was touching him… touching his face… his hair… no one touched him, save for his sisters or when he needed healing from his many battles… weakly he batted the offender away, but it only caused the bastard to laugh.

"I put enough sedative in the food and drink to put down a bear and yet you still fight…" The dangerous voice gloated.

AIBOU! FIGHT! YA MUS' FIGHT! The good voice commanded.

"… can't… S'rry… s'avy…" Ichigo whispered after each exhaled.

"Marvelous! Just simply marvelous!" The evil voice cooed, "You'll be my crowning masterpiece!"

GE' AWAY FROM 'IM! YA BASTARD! H'S MINE! The good voice roared, instinctively giving Ichigo strength to move.

Painfully the tawny-haired Shinigami attempted to crawl away from the bad voice, but the sedatives that the bastard had spoken of had already dug its poisonous grip into him.

"HA! HA! Wonderful! Wonderful!" The bad voice cheered, "You're everything I expect you to be, and when I'm done perfecting you, you'll be the ultimate weapon! Take him! And don't forget to take a few others as well. We don't want to draw any immediate attention… just yet…"

"…no-oh…" Ichigo weakly whimpered as he felt himself being lifted up.

… S'rry… guys… Ichigo mentally whimpered as the darkness engulfed him completely.

Shh, Aibou, ya not alone. I'm 'ere… The good voice promised.