AN: soooo... I'm breaking into the Bleach world. (and neglecting stories that deserve my attention far more than this one, but nevermind that.)

Well. Whatever. In case it wasn't obvious, this story is a simple (and hardly original) concept: swap out Ichigo Kurosaki for another character, and play the story out from there, with a new protagonist.

I actually have a whole list of characters I could do this with, which I may or may not publish later. Two of those characters already have a story in progress, although I'm not uploading them anytime soon - they're much shorter as yet.

My favorite character, and thus the story I've worked on the most, is the striking snake - Gin Ichimaru.

Enjoy.

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Bleach: The Striking Snake

ch1

The Heart of Battle

X-X-X

Karakura town was relatively wealthy, on average; as far as Japanese cities went, it was usually considered a pretty great place to live. That said, just like any other large city, there were districts on the outskirts which were considered somewhat less than 'uptown.'

It was places like these where groups of shiftless adolescents tended to loiter, usually with nothing better to do than cause trouble or break things.

Such was the case for a gang of skateboarders that had halted by a bent telephone pole. Their primary source of entertainment was disrupting traffic and harassing pedestrians, but they weren't above kicking random bottles just to hear the glass break.

In all honesty, it would have been foolish to expect them to notice the flowers in this one.

"My, my, my..."

Though the voice wasn't loud, the boisterous conversation of the gang died instantly. Something about the sing-song tone suggested a world of pain for those who did not pay attention.

"What's all this, then?"

The skaters turned to see a tall-ish, skinny boy of perhaps fifteen years. His hair was a strange silver, with the merest hint of purple highlight to it; but what truly marked him apart was his expression. His eyes were narrow slits and he wore a wide grin, giving off all the warmth and congeniality of a loaded gun.

"Huh? What are you talking about, punk?"

The boy cocked his head, extending his arm and pointing. "I spy, with my little ey-ee, something beginning with 'broken glass...' " his voice had a creepy sing-song quality to it.

The biggest skater, presumably the leader, looked at the broken bottle that the boy had pointed to. Then he looked back up. "Yeah, so wh - "

The boy had crossed fifteen feet in a frighteningly short second. He now stood with one hand on the shoulder of the leader, and in his other hand, a sparkling fragment of glass twirled between his fingers.

"Such a safety hazard. Broken glass is... so sharp. After all, we wouldn't want anyone getting... " His hand closed around the shard, and his slits met the other boy's eyes. "... cut."

Sweat began to roll down the skater's forehead.

"That wasn't just a bottle you broke, you know." The silver-haired boy purred. "It was a shrine. To the soul of the girl who was killed here."

He looked away for a brief second - and when he looked back, he was no longer grinning. His face was set in a glare, and his terrifying carmine eyes were wide open, boiling with barely contained scorn.

"Did ya think about that before ya broke it?" He almost growled.

"I - I'm sorry, sir - er - mister - "

"Gin. Ichimaru Gin. But why are you apologizing to me?" He said, his booby-trapped playful tone back. "It's her shrine you defiled. She's standing right behind youuu -"

The skaters turned, and saw nothing but empty air. But the alternative was standing up to the inexplicably terrifying boy who had made their knees shake without even raising a fist...

"G- gomen!" The punks bowed deeply at the empty air. Then they picked up their skateboards and ran.

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Gin watched them go, his eternal grin back on his face. "I guess they probably won't bother you again," he said.

The bloodied phantasm smiled. "Thanks, mister! I thought you were kinda weird, but you're nice after all!"

For a moment, Gin's smile seemed almost genuine. "I'll see if I can replace your flowers soon. But ya really should hurry on up to heaven soon, kid. I can't keep visiting you forever."

She giggled happily. "I'll be going soon. Thanks for the flowers, even if the mean guys broke the vase."

"Yer welcome, kid." Gin sauntered casually away.

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Gin reached for the handle of the door of his house... and hesitated.

His father didn't attack him every day... but then again, there had been no ambush yesterday. The odds were pretty good that Isshin Ichimaru was lurking behind the door waiting for it to open.

So he let go of the door handle, and climbed up the windowsills on the front of the house. It was a stretch, but his fingers found the edge of the second-story window to his own room. The window was not latched, and he slipped in easily.

He kicked off his shoes and sauntered out of his room. "Hey, Karin, Yuzu. Don't mind me. I'm gonna make dad jump out of his skin."

"See if you can't give him a heart attack while you're at it," said Karin callously. "He deserves it after all those times he's almost given me one. Maybe it'll even get him to slow down a little."

Gin crept silently down the stairs, seeking out his father. Attacking him as soon as he opened the door was a relatively new trick for Isshin - he probably hadn't done it more than ten times so far. However, Gin was fairly sure he simply hid behind the corner in the hallway.

Sure enough, still waiting for the front door to open, one Isshin Ichimaru was lurking at the corner, constantly peeking out furtively.

"Lookin' for someone, old man?"

Isshin hit his head on the ceiling.

"My son!" He yelled wildly. "You have outsmarted me! Oh, I feel the joy the master feels when his student surpasses him!"

Gin raised an eyebrow at 'master,' but he let it slide. "Yeah, yeah. Let's just go eat dinner, okay?"

"Ah-HAH!" Isshin shouted. "You returned late! That means - "

" - that nobody else has eaten dinner, and they're likely as hungry as I am?"

Isshin looked shocked.

"Sorry, I saw the girls already. Karin's never that grouchy if she's eaten recently. You ain't got a leg to stand on."

The man's shoulders slumped in defeat. "Oh, Masaki," he moaned. "My children are so cru-ell to meee! Did I not raise them properly?"

Gin's grin threatened to remove the top of his head as he heard Karin's voice shout something to the effect of "not even close!" Down the stairs.

X-X-X

Gin lay on his bed, his eyes almost closed. It was different, however, than his vulpine mask. Instead of the creepy squint, his eyes were peaceful, and while his grin was much less wide, it was also much more genuine.

He had finished his homework for tomorrow, and he had elicited such a beautiful reaction from his father that the memory would keep him warm at night for years to come. Oh, beating him at his own game was reward enough, but making him jump high enough to hit the ceiling? Priceless!

Abruptly, one blood-red eye shot open. A butterfly was flitting through his room, its wings and body both as black as anthracite. Gin was no expert on lepidoptera, but he was pretty sure that butterflies like that couldn't be found in any academic compendium. Besides, how had it gotten in here? The door was closed, and the window -

Was sliding open. Served him right for always leaving it unlocked. He narrowed his eye again, deciding to surprise the intruder.

The window opened fully, and the uninvited guest stepped silently into the room. To say Gin was surprised would be an understatement.

She was very short, almost small enough to be a child, but her build and her stature suggested she was at least as old as Gin. Her dark hair was cropped about halfway down the neck and her eyes were purple, but those were the least of her oddities; she was dressed in almost medieval clothing. Her heavy black kimono, white undergarment and straw sandals were matched in their antiquity only by the disturbingly realistic katana sheathed in her kimono obi.

"It's nearby," she whispered to herself. "Where did it go...?"

"Lose somethin', did you?" Gin said, with sincere curiosity in his voice.

The girl almost screamed, and turned around so fast Gin was sure she should have snapped her neck. The sight she turned to see - a pair of slitted, crimson eyes mere inches from her own - did little to improve her immediate temperament, and she jumped back as if stung.

Gin straightened, smirking; it was times like this that he really appreciated having practiced moving quickly and quietly. "Ya know, burglars really shouldn't talk to themselves. Kinda defeats the purpose of stealthily entering."

"I'm not a burglar!" She said indignantly. "Wait... you can see me?"

Gin's smile almost dropped in confusion. "Why wouldn' I be able ta see ya?" Then his grin returned, wider than ever. "Are you tellin' me you're a ghost? Ya sure don't look like any ghost I've ever seen - no soul chain, even. Did ya die at a fancy dress party or somethin'?"

"I'm no lost soul, human!" She snapped. "I'm a Death God. Shi-ni-gami! Get it right!"

Gin actually blinked. "Fine, fine, you're a, uh, Shinigami. By the way, just so ya know, I'm the emperor of Japan - "

"Gin?"

Both figures looked, to see Karin Ichimaru standing in the doorway of Gin's room.

"Who're you talking to, Gin?"

Gin's eyebrows raised. "What do ya mean? She's right... there..."

Karin gave her brother a funny look. "Gin, I may not see ghosts as clearly as you do, but I still see when they're there. There's no-one there, Gin."

Gin looked back at the black-clad 'Death God,' who was standing right where he left her, solid and opaque as anything.

"They can't see me," she said casually. "Or hear me. A fair few humans can see ghosts, but none can see Shinigami. Until now, that is. Why can you see me, I wonder? You must have an immense reiatsu, for a human..."

Karin looked slightly worried. "Gin, I know the ghosts sometimes stress you out. Maybe you should just get some rest tonight, 'kay?"

She left quickly, closing the door behind her.

Gin turned back to the Shinigami. "Well, this is a pretty pickle," he said, holding up his hands and counting on his fingers. "One, ya broke into my house..."

He began slowly advancing on her. "Two, ya spout some drivel about being a death god... three, I can see ya but my family can't... four, ya made me look like a madman in front of my sister. Really, I ought to - "

The girl rolled her eyes, bringing her hand up. "Bakudõ 1: Restraint!"

Gin's mask-like expression turned to one of surprise and menace as his arms were abruptly twisted behind his back and he was shoved to the floor by an unknown force. The Shinigami almost jumped when she caught sight of his open, glowing eyes, but she quickly composed herself.

"Well... this is unexpected," he said, his grin and squint returning. "I suppose I should have realized you'd be into that kinda stuff by the funky outfit. Just go gently; it's my first time - "

"What?!" The girl seethed. "I'm not a rapist, you fool! I told you, I'm a death god. I happen to be on a mission here, you know! I wasn't counting on meeting a random human who could see me! I'm hunting a hollow who's been evading me for days."

Gin raised an eyebrow. "More spirit-beings I've never seen before?" He looked skeptical.

"Actually, I would be willing to bet you have seen hollows, or traces of them, before," she said. "You may not have known at the time. Regardless. Hollows are what ghosts become when they can't pass on - bloodthirsty monsters than eat other ghosts."

" 'can't pass on'?" Said Gin. "What - so the little girl on the corner's gonna become a 'hollow'?"

"Please pay attention," said the Shinigami wearily. "Some people die at peace, yes? Their accounts settled, their minds at peace with their lives. They pass quickly on to Soul Society. But death waits for no-one's convenience, and many die with regret in their hearts. They linger in the mortal world; and few can make their peace with life while they are ghosts. That is the reason the Shinigami exist."

She tapped the hilt of her sword. "This blade has two functions. The hilt carries the seal of Konsõ, and touching it to the forehead of a lingering soul sends them on when they cannot go themselves. And opposite the hilt is the soul-cutter blade; the weapon that can absolve a corrupt soul by its strike. That is the other function of the Shinigami: to kill hollows, purifying their spirit and protecting their would-be victims."

Gin looked raptly attentive. He nodded twice, and said... "That's the biggest pile of bullshit I've ever heard."

"It's the truth, idiot!" She practically shrieked. "I was tracking a hollow here! Even your family could be at risk. I almost had it, but my reiatsu sense started filling with... ugh, it's hard to describe. Noise. Static. Never felt anything like it before, but I need to get back to hunting that thing."

Gin's vermillion eyes shot open as an unearthly howl filled the air. "Jeez! Tha fuck was that?"

The Shinigami looked at him curiously. "What? Did you hear something?"

Gin cocked an eyebrow. "Okay, that's a bit much, even for a joker like me. You seriously didn't hear the anguished scream just now?"

"I don't know what - "

And the howl returned, carrying the bitterness and grief of a damned soul with it.

The Shinigami paled. "How... how could you have heard it before me?" She gasped. "Nevermind. Stay here! I'll deal with it; there's nothing you can do anyway."

The Shinigami raced out of the room and down the stairs.

"Huh." Gin considered his position, and came to the conclusion that there was no harm in trying. Besides, he'd be damned if he trusted the safety of his family to a stranger. He flexed his arms, braced his legs under him as much as he could, and pushed.

The strange magical bindings snapped like rotten string. Funny, he expected them to be tougher. Well, maybe he was more resistant to magic than a normal human? After all, he could see her when his family couldn't.

He had no more time to waste. He immediately gave chase to the Shinigami. The sight that greeted him at the bottom of the stairs, however, was enough to make even Gin drop his fox-face for a second.

A hulking, masked monster, easily twelve feet tall at the shoulder and only barely humanoid, had literally smashed its way through the living room wall. Isshin lay apparently incapacitated on the floor. One of its hands was striking at the Shinigami, and in the other, it held the weakly struggling form of Yuzu Ichimaru.

Gin didn't hesitate. His mask back on, he stepped up to the kitchen counter and grabbed a short knife. "Oh, monsterrr!" he sang.

The creature paused to look at him, and Gin threw the knife. The blade gleamed as it pinwheeled through the air, sinking into the hollow's huge wrist.

Although the wound was shallow, the beast roared and dropped Gin's sister. The death god made use of the distraction, shouting another spell, and a massive blast of blue light cannoned into the hollow. The impact literally knocked it off its feet, blasting it backwards and out into the street, and the tiny woman raced after it, her sword drawn.

Gin, however, never left off a fight until he was sure his enemy would never be a threat again. He picked up another knife - too long to throw, but a nasty enough weapon in a melee - and put on his best silent-dash after the Shinigami.

"Hey, ugly!"

The monster was once again distracted from its intended target by a knife sinking into its flesh. The blade snapped when Gin tried to pull it free, and he cursed under his breath; the hollow had skin like chain mail.

"I'm the one with a powerful soul, right? I'm the delicious one! Why don't you snack on me instead of my bland ol' family?" He stabbed again, hoping to deal some damage with the broken tip.

The hollow swung its arm, knocking Gin flat on his back. He tried to push himself up, felt his head swimming from the blow, and collapsed again.

"You fool!"

There was a booming noise almost like thunder. Gin finally managed to raise his head, only to see the Shinigami standing over him with her arm stuck into the hollow's mouth up to the shoulder - the blade of her sword protruding from the bottom of its chin. She had paid for the strike, though; the hollow's huge teeth were embedded deep in her torso.

The hollow coughed, then shrieked at the pain of the blade jammed through its jaw. It violently spat out the Shinigami's arm and shook its head.

Gin's guardian raised her other hand, and recited another spell with perfect poise, blasting the hollow backwards once more. Then she staggered, dropping to one knee.

Gin finally overcame the dizziness, ironically getting up just in time to catch the death god as she fell. She was bleeding quite heavily from the two semicircles of toothmarks.

"Idiot," she gasped. "Hollows can't be sated. It would just... eat you, then eat your family as well. They're always... hungry."

She tried to stand. "Dance... Sode no... Shirayuki..." The sword gleamed for a second, but nothing happened. "Damn... I can't focus my reiatsu enough to even shikai-release... no way I can stop it now..."

Gin gritted his teeth. "I'll stop it," he said, his grin shifting from insincere to outright menacing. "There has ta be a way. That freak's after my family. I'll kill it no matter what it takes."

The death god shifted in his arms. "Really...? You'll risk... anything... to save your family?"

His voice was like steel. "Anythin' at all."

She gripped her sword. "Then... take this zanpakutõ," she said, "this embodiment of my power and will to fight... take it, and stab it into your chest, and I can... give you power; enough to win at least. It may kill you... but it's the only way I can think of."

Gin didn't hesitate, even for a second. Putting her injured form down gently, he picked up the sword. "Right through the chest?"

"Dead center."

He reversed his grip, placing the tip of the blade at the center of his sternum.

"Oh, by the way," he said languidly. "Just in case I don't make it, m'name's Ichimaru Gin."

"Kuchiki... Rukia," the Shinigami replied. "Nice to... meet you."

With a hiss, Gin sucked his breath in and stabbed the blade into his flesh.

For a moment, the street was lit as brightly as the noonday sun in a frightening flash of emerald energy.

X-X-X

Rukia gasped as she felt it - the hurricane of energy being ripped from her body with terrifying force. She had meant to give him a fraction of her power, just barely enough to kill the hollow, but he was like a black hole - the more power he drank in, the greater his soul's thirst became.

Finally, she had no more power left to give, and the flow ceased. She could already feel the gnawing ache in her gut; if she went unaided, her soul would collapse before long.

However, as the light vanished and the dust settled, her attention was drawn elsewhere.

Gin Ichimaru stood in the street, now clad in the black shihakusõ of a death god. Unlike the usual Shinigami uniform, his obi sash was a brilliant green; a similar emerald strap ran from his right hip to his left shoulder, this one decorated with a diamond pattern.

"My, my," he said flippantly. "This is interesting." His hand went to his obi, and he unsheathed a wakizashi blade, its handguard forming a stylized barred S.

Rukia's eyes widened. His reiatsu was an unholy thing, so strong and overbearing that in her weakened state she could barely breathe beneath it - with no restraint, his sword should have been massive to match the power of his reiatsu. And yet the wakizashi was barely a foot and a half in length, if that.

The hollow had gotten back to its feet, and was lumbering towards Gin. It swiped at him with its massive arms, but Gin dodged them with inhuman speed, his body seeming to flow like water around the strikes.

"So sorry to disappoint ya," said Gin, "but yer party's over."

With a final dodge and a jump, Gin was in the air beside the hollow's head. He spun almost lazily, his sword held casually in one hand and outstretched.

The blade sliced through the monster's mask like butter, and Gin landed gracefully, facing away from the beast. He checked the blade for any liquids. Satisfied there were none, he sheathed it and turned back to look at the hollow.

His grin widened, his teeth showing through. "Bye bye now!" He waved.

The creature fell to its knees, its body beginning to dissolve.

"That was... easier than I thought it would be," Gin idly mused. "I wonder if - "

A sharp pain exploded through his skull as the high of the reiatsu absorption wore off. He dropped to his knees, his breath catching in his chest.

"Bloody... woman," he groaned. "Ya didn't warn me about... this part..."

He slumped sideways, the world going dark. The last sound his mind registered was the distant clacking noise of... wooden platform sandals?

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