Bleached

Chapter 2: Orientation

Disclaimer: Yada, yada, yada, Tite owns bleach.

Zanpakotou speech

"So, you're telling me that I have somehow travelled back in time, courtesy of my last living friend, and am now laying on some stranger's futon?" Ichigo inquired disbelievingly from his inner spirits.

"Yeah, King." Was Shiro's oh so eloquent answer. Ichigo groaned in frustration.

"Great. Abso-fucking-lutely great. Thanks Kisuke, for making me do this." The hybrid griped. Shiro and Yhwach were quiet. Ichigo sighed loudly and hid his face in his hands. He wanted it to end already. Fifteen long years of fighting had taken their toll on the orange haired man. For him, it was extremely difficult to accept that he had to live through .shit all over again. Inside his mind, Shiro scoffed, annoyed by his wielder's attitude, and even though Yhwach sent him a warning glance, he began to, for lack of a better word, reprimand Ichigo.

"YO,KING! I THOUGHT YOU WERE BETTER THAN THIS! DON'T YOU DARE SIT AND SULK AROUND!" Shiro yelled.

Ichigo, who had not expected the violent outburst, made a sudden movement, and knocked over a ceramic jug, which had apparently been placed there by the mysterious host. Suddenly, there was patter of footsteps hurrying towards Ichigo. The hybrid's eyes widened when the shoji doors were opened by someone who could only be his twin. In turn, the apparent twin of Ichigo began frantically to ask questions at such a rapid pace that Shiro felt compelled to offer him a place in the rapping industry.

"Are you awake? Of course you are, but who are you, where are from, why do you look like me if I had long orange hair? I am Shiba Kaien by the way, the head of the Shiba clan. Could it be that you are a long lost relative we did not know about? And why do you have a Zanpakotou? I checked the Academy records, and there were not any mentions of you, and-" the twin who was now identified as Shiba Kaien, Ichigo's cousin was suddenly cut off his rant by someone smacking him on the head with a frying pan.

"Really, nii-san, you should give the guy a breather before you bombard him with questions. He only woke up!" came the scolding voice of the Kaien's abuser, who Ichigo had identified as his other cousin, Shiba Kuukaku. Kuukaku now turned her gaze towards Ichigo, and began apologizing for her elder brother's behaviour.

"Sorry about that, he has been so hyped up on finding out about you. I will get someone to bring you some soup. Get up, you idiot brother!" she stated while dragging Kaien out the door.

Ichigo, whose mind had short-circuited when he saw his long dead cousins, suddenly decided that something needed to be stated.

" ?" the warrior stated, quite eloquently. Yhwach sighed.

"It seems like we need to find a suitable explanation for your existance, Ichigo." the old man said in obvious exasperation. Ichigo scowled at the subtle jab at his inabilty to adapt to the situation, but did as told

"Yeah, yeah. Let's see, we can't tell them I am from a possible future ridden with three consecutive wars, obviously. From now on, I am Shiba Ichigo, from the 75th Rukon district. My father was a Shiba, and on his deathbed told me about the extended clan since my mother died several years ago. When I was travelling here, I was attacked by some thugs who wanted my zanpakotou. And since we are on this matter, let's say I got my sword from a dying shinigami, don't know his name."

"Did you just come up with that bullshit story?" Shiro sounded impressed despite himself. Ichigo smirked, but it was tinted with bitterness.

"Yeah, 15 years of wars do give a person the experience to bullshit their way to bullshit their way through anything. By the way did I miss anything?"

The answers from his spirits were negative, and the orane haired fellow now waited on the arrival of the promised soup, which he could smell from his futon. 'Ah, when the last time I had a real meal? Three, no, four years ago. Yeah, four years ago on Karin and Yuzu's last birthday before they...were...killed. Oh, fuck, why did I think of that?' The warrior rubbed his face in frustration as the memories of Aizen's words and the twins' mangled bodies came to mind. Suddenly Ichigo didn't feel so hungry anymore.

"Oh, fuck it, King! The bastard will never have the chance to do that to our sisters again. We'll kill him before he even looks at them, that is a vow I take! Now, eat, there is a girl who is standing in front of you with food!" Shiro's comments brought the war-veteran out of his depressing thoughts to confront the female servant who had bought him food.

"Thank you,miss...What is your name?" he told her after he finished eating. The girl's eyes widened.

"Y-Yuki." she stuttered out. Ichigo nodded, and repeated his thanks this time with the girl's name. The poor girl who had never been asked anything personal, blushed and almost ran out of the room, which left Ichigo quite perplexed.

"Was it something I did?" he queried. In response Shiro just laughed.