Chapter One: Empty
My alarm clock went off out of no where, the last thing I was expecting at that point in my dream. Mom was there, and she was just about to reach down and take my hand in hers...For some reason, I felt a sense of loss as her image drifted away.
"Darn..." I grumbled, barely coherent as I slammed my fist down on the clock to stop its incessant beeping. That was better...
"ICHIGO!!! GET UP, IT'S TIME FOR SCHOOL!!! YOU'RE GOING TO BE LATE, ICHIGO!!!" Dad burst through the door, continuing to yell variations of this, and jolting me into awareness. Let me be late, better than being tired. Curse that fool for rushing in here and screaming like that...
"DON'T JUST RUN IN HERE LIKE THAT AND IMMEDIATELY START INSULTING YOUR SON!!! WHOA I'M GONNA BE LATE!!!!" At first I was all business, but glancing at my watch was a definite distraction. I had ten minutes to get my butt on over to the school.
"We'll wait for you out here, Ichigo!" Mizuiro called from the sidewalk outside of my window, Keigo waving up at me at his side. A small smile lit up my face for a moment before I recalled my predicament. In one hasty rush, I threw on my uniform, grabbed my briefcase, and...searched for my shoes.
"Aaah! Where the heck did they go?!" I growled, tugging at my bright orange hair in frustration. That same hair was usually the first thing people noticed about me. Teachers and kids alike automatically assumed it marked me as a troublemaker. After all, what Japanese citizen has orange hair? Well, me, for one. All natural, vibrant orange hair, sometimes earning me the nickname, "Strawberry," along with my name, Ichigo. It could translate as strawberry, fifteen, or my preferred translation: protector, or gaurdian.
"C'mon Ichigo, run for it!" Keigo yelled, by now far ahead of me. I'd finally found my shoes (turns out Rukia "accidentally" hid them, but how can you hide something by accident?!), and the three of us were making a run for the school...
*After school (we go through it every day; I don't feel like going into too much detail)*
"See you later!" I called back at Keigo and Mizuiro. Chad was with them too, and I was pretty sure I'd spotted Orihime hiding behind him for no apparent reason. I sighed quietly to myself, thinking of the homework that awaited me...and all the Hollows I'd have to take care of before, during, and after the homework. Wrapped up in all these gloomy speculations, I wasn't exactly watching where I was going, and as such didn't notice the strange lump of flesh on the ground. "Ack!" I cried out as I fell towards the ground, catching myself at the last minute. My attention (and anger) was immediately directed towards the thing I'd tripped over. "Hey! Don't just lie there in the middle of the road like that, idiot!" I shouted at it, finally realizing "it" was in fact a girl, around my age. She didn't respond, neither by yelling back at me nor even twitching. I was starting to get a little concerned. This girl was really strange looking; neon green hair in a hairstyle I'd never seen before, on girls and guys alike. Weird green markings surrounded her eyes, like neon eye-liner. Kinda familiar looking actually...
"Ey! Get outta da way, kiddie!" an obviously drunk truck driver yelled at me, waving his hand around. In it was the incriminating evidence; an empty bottle of beer. Not this again...
"Girl! Wake up, we gotta move! Wake up!" I was growing steadily more impatient as the girl failed to awaken, and I finally had to pick her up and carry her off the road myself as the driver sped by. All this wasn't getting me--
"Do I know you?" the girl asked, finally waking up. I turned to deliver a scathing remark, but I stopped moments after opening my mouth. I had seen her before! Well, not her exactly, but someone oh-so-similar. The hollow mask covering her cheek was identical, only on her right side instead of her left. Those neon green eyes and the matching hair...Then there was that hollow hole, in her upper abdomen...she had to be an Arrancar! And...who was it that her looks brought to mind?! Well, whatever, she was obviously not a Soul Reaper.
Normal POV
I woke up in the arms of some strange boy I didn't recognize. Then I again, I didn't recognize anything or anyone...What was my name again?
"Do I know you?" I asked, my brow furrowing as I tried without much success to remember something, anything.
"You...you look just like...augh, who was it again?!" He shouted, tugging at his spikey orange hair in obvious frustration. My only response was to continue staring at him, hoping my bright green eyes could stare some sense into him.
"I..." I began, not really sure of what I was going to say. But before I could finish, a short, black-haired girl ran up to the kid, seemingly in a hurry.
"Ichigo there's a--an Arrancar! What's she doing here?!" The girl cut herself off mid-sentence to make her demand, and I bit my lip nervously. If this was a stranger's reaction, whoever, or whatever I was must not be very good.
"I dunno. She was lying in the middle of the road, and I picked her up just in time to prevent some drunk dude from running her over." The kid, 'Ichigo' answered, turning his steady gaze from the girl to me. For the first time since I'd awakened, I studied him carefully. The bright orange hair (easy to find him in a crowd) was probably his most distinct feature. But when I tore my eyes away from his carrot-topped head, they were held by a new, slightly less abnormal feautre. Deep brown eyes, their depths seemingly endless. Behind the simple curiousity and slight annoyance, I saw a rather strong hostility. Whatever the connection between us actually was, it seemed to be some form of hatred.
"Sorry to disappoint you, but I don't know what an Arrancar is." I told them, and then watched as their faces fell a little. Whether their thoughts were of battle or comradarie was not certain. Either way, I wasn't helping to make up their minds with my lack of information on myself.
"But...that mask, on your face. Only an Arrancar, or even an Espada, would have a Hollow mask fragment like that." The girl insisted, reaching out to touch the right side of my face. It tickled, and I burst out laughing, nearly in tears.
"S-stop...tickling...me!" I gasped out, pulling away from the girl. She continued to stare suspiciously at me, her hand still in the air from reaching up to touch my face.
"Ichigo...I don't think she'll tell us anything. We should take her to Urahara..." She told him, not breaking eye-contact with me. It was starting to frighten me, actually, all this talk of me not remembering anything...What did it matter to them if I didn't know who or what I was? That was my responsibility...wasn't it?
I poked Ichigo's shoulder to get his attention. It worked, and his thoughtful brown eyes looked down at me, meeting my own bright green eyes. Well, I was pretty sure they were green..."Um, Ichigo-san, Girl-sa--"
"My name is Rukia Kuchiki, for your--"
"Right, right, Rukia-san, I would rather not go to this 'Urahara' person. See, I don't remember much, except for maybe a few things, and I don't want to be tortured without cause." I explained, albeit a little vaguely. Yes, torture was not on my To-Go-Through List, not today. Speaking of today..."What day is it?" I asked, my brow furrowing thoughtfully. I had a feeling this was important.
"December 31st, almost New Years." Ichigo replied absent-mindedly. That date...
"OH! It's my birthday!" I realized, a happy smile alighting my face. Well, that was one memory I wouldn't have to worry about, though my age escaped me...
"Really? That's a start. Do you, maybe, remember anything else?" Ichigo asked hopefully, interrupting my thought process. I thought harder, pushing at the blank walls of my mind. Nothing happened, but my head was starting to hurt a little. But I didn't want to disappoint Ichigo. He seemed like such a nice person, y'know?
For a moment, there was silence, as I tried harder and harder to get past the invisible barrier that seperated me from my memories. My head was pounding at that point, and my legs were trembling from the exertion. However, just as I was on the brink of collapsing, I remembered...
"Yui! That name...I remember that name!" I cheered jovially, ready to celebrate with renewed vigour. When I looked at Ichigo, though, he didn't seem to share my happiness. Although, upon noticing me staring at him, he managed to force a smile.
"I guess that's what we'll call you, then...And, for now, you can stay at my place." He said, sighing with what seemed to be exhaustion. I was so exuberant, though, that I hardly noticed his and Rukia's glum expressions. I had a name, a birthday, and a place to stay! Life was lookin' good!
Subject: Grieving For The Forgotten (an Ichigo Kurosaki story) Chapter One: Empty 
