-Forenote-

Hello and welcome. This will be my first submitted work to the site, and a bit of a test (also a bit short, as it is just the intro) I haven't actually written anything major for quite some time, so this is to both brush up on my own writing, and to indulge in my own little fantasies. If others enjoy it, that's the bonus.

As far as the story itself, it's based on Bleach. Obviously I do not own it, I am not Tite Kubo. But after reading all of the original manga ages ago and some other stories on this site, I found myself noticing a trend, and I cannot be sure if it's just my luck that I grabbed works that only did this: there are almost no stories that heavily diverge from the plot of the original.

Sure, there are some that take a different approach, or others that radically changed how events happened. But what I saw was that most still held to the main events of the series, just after or slightly altered due to whatever the writer had changed. Which is fine, I still enjoyed lots of them. There are some very interesting works on the site here, and I am very appreciative of anything good to read after I cleared out my local library.

BUT. Almost nothing that I read actually took in how different things would be if this or that happened. Because what is the catalyst and driving factor of Bleach? Ichigo. He is the single most important thing in the entire plot. I saw plenty of works say "oh, what if he did this", or "oh, what if he was like that instead". Which is okay, but it got me thinking.

Which is why I'm here. This will be a very different story from the original, and I will freely admit I drew inspiration for how it starts from several other works on this site. There will still be some major events from canon, as it is still the same universe. But most of my focus is on the catalyst of Ichigo being fundamentally altered (and not around for many things that we've seen from the series), and how exactly that would affect everything else. Altered, not different: at heart, he will he much as we all know. The issue...is when he does not have a heart. As you will see.

In any case, I am sure some here are tired of me talking, but if you read all this: thank you. If you enjoy what you see (or not), please let me know. I'm sure it won't make everyone happy in the long run, but as I am not that much of a masochist, I won't strive to do so.

Let's begin.

-Forenote end-

Chapter 1: Sacrifice

Family.

Such a simple word, and yet the thought of their own would drive some men to great or terrible acts. Acts of love, of kindness, of selflessness; others to those of sin, of murder and betrayal. To many, ones life sadly leads them to one conclusion, their one act when they have exhausted every possibility. When they have nothing left to give...but their own life.

--World of the Living, Karakura Town--

The boys body tumbled down the road, the blood from wounds on his back leaving a trail on the pavement. He finally came to a stop, managing to lever himself up on the one arm that still seemed to be working, orange hair matted with blood.

Damn. That thing is faster than I thought...

He coughed once, painfully, more blood spattering on the ground, only barely visible in the moons light.

Wait...the girl! Visibly straining, he got to one knee, light brown eyes peering back up the road from where he had been, looking for any sign of his rescuer. He finally succeeded in catching a glimpse - just as the monster that had smashed him aside just a moment ago lifted her by the bloodied sword she was desperately holding on to.

She was already small, even to him, but against this creature it was almost impossible to imagine her kind existed to fight things like this. Easily taller than a story, the things long pale arms and intimidating mask covering its head spoke of something unnatural. Even as it lifted the girl higher towards its face, the thing let out an unearthly howl.

The boy grit his teeth, ignoring the pain from the creatures blows as he forced himself to run. Run, at this thing, this hollow.

"OOOOOOAH!" He roared, leaping into a kick to the arm holding that girl, that Soul Reaper. It apparently managed to hit hard enough as the hollow released the girl, who fell to the ground in surprise.

"Ichigo, you fool!" she snapped, scrambling away from the creature. "You should have run!" "Don't give me that crap when I'm saving you. We're even now." He landed again, ducking below a wide sweep from the hollows arm; it smashed into the wall next to him, gouging out a small crater.

"Even?!" She shot him another petulant glare as she raised her blade into readiness, black hair sticking together oddly from blood. She scoffed, barely dodging another heavy blow. "If this is the thanks I get after defending you and your family, you can-agh!" She cringed, deflecting the hollows fist with obvious effort. Her wounds were clearly taking a toll. Ichigo glanced to the side, seeing his sister Yuzu's unconscious form near the hole in his house the hollow had made.

Another terrifying howl from the creature drew his eyes back in time to see it smack the soul reaper away, throwing her into the street with an audible thump. She exhaled sharply, the pooling blood evident on the roadside.The hollow seemed to watch her for a moment - then inexplicably turned and began to move towards the house.

No! With a strangled yell, Ichigo tried to stop it, but any blows he dealt seemed to have no effect. He tried latching on to its arm, but all he got for the effort was another sweep that sent him flying back into a lamp post. He felt several snaps from his ribs as he shuddered in pain, struggling to keep standing.

"I-Ichigo..." The feeble voice made him turn to see the soul reaper girl propped up against a wall, coated in crimson. "We... can't stop it as it is. But I can give you the power to fight," she bit out, her breathing labored. "I can give you...half of my power...to turn you into a shinigami like me for a time."

"Are you serious, soul reaper? I'm only human," he gasped, clutching his chest in pain.

She smirked in exasperation. "It's not 'soul reaper', idiot. I'm Rukia Kuchiki. Now get over here before-" Her eyes widened in horror, looking past him. Ichigo turned to see the hollow, already at the house - looking down at his sister, horrible mouth gaping wide as it bent over. Ichigo felt a surge of white-hot fury rip through his body.

And he ran.

He ran, ignoring the pain from his injuries, ignoring his lifeblood pouring out. He ran, faster than he ever had in his life, faster than he thought possible. With a strength he didn't know he had, he grabbed the top of the hollows mask, wrenching it away from his sister. The beast howled in frustration, and Ichigo felt it begin to shake to free itself.

Ichigo let out a growl of his own, somehow managing to tug it further from his home, away from his family. He'd gotten it back to the street, when suddenly it let out a screech and flailed wildly, throwing him away again. He slammed against a wall, hard - he could hear the soul reaper, Rukia, shouting something. Forcing his eyes open, he looked up-

To see the hollow lunging at him, jaws open.

His vision went black and red, and he couldn't see anything anymore. All he felt was pain.

Then he couldn't even feel that.

He experienced an odd sensation, like falling away into nothing. His body, going numb. He could - ever so faintly - hear Rukia's voice.

All senses went out. Ichigo felt his mind slipping away, as if into sleep.

Yuzu...Karin...

The last thing he felt was hot surge of anger, and something deep in his center flared in response...

And he was gone.

--

Rukia Kuchiki stared in disbelief as the boy, Ichigo, fell from the hollows teeth. A horrible wound covered his torso, and the pool of his lifeblood was already growing. She could see the light fading from his eyes.

She felt sick. Another life, taken in front of her. And what a life. Infuriating, for the short time she had known him, frustrating because he wouldn't listen to her orders.

But brave. So brave in defense of his family that he had fought, so hard it beggared belief, against a monster that he had never even believed in until a short time ago.

His family...

Rukia forced herself to look towards the home, the hole blown through the wall where she could still see the two prone and unconscious forms of Ichigo's sisters. She knew his father lay further in the house, injured but alive.

She shakily managed to stand, grasping her zanpakuto as hard as she could, blood making the grip slick. She assumed as good a stance as she could as the hollow noticed her movements. It seemed to look at her for a moment, possibly wondering how it was that she was still standing. It then slammed its hands on the ground and bellowed at her. Rukia felt a cold hand go down her spine, and she knew this was her final stand. She knew she would either protect what that young man gave his life to, or she would die in the process.

She would not run.

Kaien...

Finding new strength, she mustered all her remaining spiritual energy, the wind whipping up around her form. Normally she would never do something like this and risk interfering with the mortal world - but she would not let this beast simply win.

It charged, leaping at her with all the grace of a freight train, and with just as much power. She couldn't take a blow like that. She dodged to the side, turning her blade to the side and trying to use the hollows momentum against it - to no avail. The skin on its hands proved hard enough to deflect her strike, the force wrenching it from her hands. She cursed and backpedaled, mind racing.

No weapon, so...kido.

She knew any quick spell she could muster would never be enough, not for this hollow. She was always good with the incantations, so that wasnt the worry. The problem was that she didnt know if she had the power for what she wanted.

Another quick dodge and a glance toward the house made up her mind. She whipped her eyes around, looking for an opening away from any innocents - there!

Ducking under another wide blow, she summoned all of her strength, and began chanting.

"Oh Lord! Mask of flesh and bone, the flutter of wings-"

The hollow, giving another howl at being evaded, lunged towards her, arms outstretched. Rukia leapt backwards, planting her feet against the lamp post she found there and pushing off, shooting back towards the damaged home.

"You who bears the name of Man!"

She skid to a stop, almost touching the wreckage of the front wall, and whirled around to face the hollow, who came running back at her, deep in its fury.

"Truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams, unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws!"

The hollow was almost upon her, charging on all fours as if it was some sort of primate, blind to what she was doing as she saw it line up with the street behind it.

Now! She swiftly raised her right hand, palm forward, with her left hand holding to brace it. Focusing all her might, she shouted her final command to the sky.

"Hado thirty-three: Sokatsui!"

One could have said the charging hollow had the intelligence enough to look curious as her palm lit up: it was then blasted away by the explosive force of her spell, taking the form of a huge blue wave of light. The creature's form was lost within the glow, as the attack blazed down the empty street and into the sky, lighting up the entire neighborhood.

Rukia stood in the aftermath, panting for breath. That had taken nearly all of her spirit: any more and her life would be in danger. She lowered her arms wearily. She was just glad it had worked-

A sound at the end of the street froze her thoughts. A shifting of rubble, the heavy thump of a massive form shifting its weight.

A savage and pained howl broke the silence, shattering any last hope Rukia had of winning this battle. If that blast hadn't finished it off, there was nothing more she could do. She had expended every ounce of her energy with that kido.

Rukia collapsed to her knees as the sounds of the approaching hollow slowly shuffled towards her, and as it appeared through the lingering smoke, she had the unpleasant moment of realizing her attack had only just barey left the creature alive. Its pale hide was scorched and burned, and an entire section of its fish-like mask was cracked. One of its legs had been blown away with only a charred stump remaining.

That explains why I'm not already dead, it has to drag itself along. Rukia leaned back on her knees wearily, knowing her time was at an end. The hollow finally managed to reach her, and reared up as best as it could, arms straining to the sky as it howled its victory. She watched them start to come down at her, almost in slow motion. She closed her eyes.

Brother...

She heard an odd metallic rasping sound, and tensed for the creatures fists to kill her, only to realize it hadn't hit her yet. She cautiously looked up, only to stare in amazement at a familiar silhouette standing in front of her; his long, viciously spiked blade retracting to its standard form, the quickly fading body of the dead hollow visible behind him. Red spiky hair tied up in a ponytail and his black clothes completed the ensemble as he rested the weapon on his shoulder and turned around, cocking a tattooed brow in her direction.

"Renji..?" The man cracked a smug grin.

"Yo. What happened to you? A hollow like that shouldn't have been able to give you the time of day," he taunted. Rukia felt her face turn an embarrassed red: Renji Abarai always did have a penchant for pushing her buttons.

"T-there were...extenuating circumstances!" she exclaimed, gesturing wildly at her surroundings. "Clearly, or you wouldn't have fired off a kido like that, even if that was how I managed to find you so quickly." Her friend looked around, his cocky expression falling quickly as he noticed the amount of blood and rubble coating the area. His sharp eyes didnt miss the three unconscious forms just inside the house - or the body laying by the street.

Renji slowly made his way over, picking his way carefully through the rubble. Upon reaching the corpse, he crouched down, a pensive expression crossing his angular features. "From the wreckage around here and his wounds, I can only imagine he gave that hollow quite a fight...for a human."

Rukia managed to stand, wiping the gore off of her zanpakuto and sheathing it, giving a small, bitter smile.

"He was...a very special soul."

--Hueco Mundo, the Menos Forest--

The caverns were silent, save for the slow, heavy footsteps of the Menos Grande. They stood or moved about ponderously through the caves, the monolothic crystal-like trees that held the ceiling up the only defining feature in the area, faint light from small gaps in the roof the only illumination. These colossal hollows were born here, each an amalgamation of countless other hollows and souls. As a result, they were mindless; no cohesive thought came through to the fore, they simply acted on their instincts. Passive until an enemy appears, or if a higher class of hollow gave them orders.

Hundreds of feet tall, they all appeared the same. A large white mask, plain eyes and teeth with an oddly long nose were its only real features. Their entire body shrouded in a black sort of robe, with only the massive feet visible as they moved.

These beings stood, waiting. A distant howl was the only sound for a time, then even that faded.

Silence.

Then, with hardly a noise, another Menos appeared. It seemed to coalesce slowly from a particularly dark corner, slowly gaining height as the creature reared its torso back, mask forming as it straightened. As it finished appearing, it seemed to stand still for a moment, as if to allow this dark place to truly behold its arrival.

It was different.

The robes and general appearance were the same; the mask, however, was where this Menos differed.

Pure white, the same as any hollow, but flat, with only eyes and teeth. The mask was rounded at the top, coming to an angled point at the chin. Three crimson lines came from the left temple, sloping down to a fine point where a nose would be. After a moment, two baleful yellow eyes opened, and the Menos let out an impossibly loud howl, causing the nearby area to shake from the force of its awakening.

Where...are...we...

The creature ceased its scream, massive jaws clicking shut. It turned sluggishly, noticing its Menos kin nearby. They had barely even reacted to it.

The hollows eyes closed.

We...

It's head shook once, violently.

I...am...

The hollow could feel an aching in its body, pulsing out in waves of something it was not familiar with. Its gaze opened once more, settling on the surrounding Menos.

...hungry...