Bleach Fan Fiction ❯ The Cycle of Souls ❯ Relatively Normal ( Chapter 1 )

A/N: This fic came about for two reasons, 1. It sucks greatly that he died the very moment he began to understand Orimhime and emotions…..sucks…badly. 2. Really some of the Arrancar were just absolutely amazing and so I'm very sad to see them go, so I wanted to give them a “new life” so to say.

 

Disclaimer: Tite Kubo owns Bleach and all that pertains to it…not me.

 

Note: //////-this refers to a word that is spoken or heard but not understood.

 

 

The Cycle of Souls

 

Prologue

 

I wanted to sigh aloud. The familiarity of my dreamscape was becoming a nuisance. It was the same dream every night. The white desert plain was both well-known and unfamiliar to me. Its shifting sands were in sharp contrast to the eternal night sky. I'd have frowned if I could have. How did I know that it never changed?

 

There wasn't much to see here in ///// /////…, but I knew this was a place of death, despite its harmless yet strange appearance. I don't know how I know, just that I do. It frustrated me to no end to be here. Wherever here was.

 

It was always quiet at first, but soon enough the screams would start. Truth be told they were more like the senseless roars of mindless beasts, but somehow, somewhere deep within I knew them for what they were; The cries of the hungry, the tired, the lonely, and the desperate; The cries of the weak.

 

I don't recall moving, but soon the white sands of the desert are gone, replaced by tall, spindly trees who hold their branches as if to embrace one in their wicked grasp. It was here that I saw. I know not what I saw, but its image has haunted me every night. Its proportions were odd; logic told me that it shouldn't be able to function. But as I stared at its white plated body and monstrously wide mouth, I knew that this creature…whatever it was…

 

...//////….

 

…defied logic. Logic? I wondered as I always did in my dreams, did such a thing exist here? Could it? After all logic told me I should fear this creature with its pale body and hollowed torso, but instinct…Instinct said that it should fear me. Why? I pondered as I studied its empty stomach…that hole…it was important, I knew, but I didn't. I grew agitated, but I was never given the chance to linger on it.

 

As per usual, the forest along with the creature faded out and a white palace came into view, it's long, winding, maze-like corridors and shortly afterwards, a room, one that I knew very well. In its center was a long table that was currently occupied by 11 figures. I knew them, as I glanced at their strange but recognizable faces, their names would come and go. At the head sat a man that I would never forget. There were two men who flanked either side of him, but it wasn't them who I found important, no, it was this man. For even if his name was lost to me, his face, that smirk, never would be; Aizen-sama. That familiar smirk; in that familiar room of that familiar palace; in that familiar place. It all seem to say, “Welcome home…/////////”

 

It was always there that I would rise from my slumber, drenched in a cold sweat, despite the muggy warmth of my room. My name is Tomoe. I'm 17 years old, somewhat popular, and people seem to like me. I don't consider myself to be much different from anyone else in Karakura town or in Japan for that matter.

My name is Kanzenkiba Tomoe, however at night, under the guise of sleep…a different name surfaces. That name that claws from the depths of my subconscious is…Ulquiorra Cifer.

 

 

 

Ch.1 Relatively Normal

 

He hated this. Every night the dream would come, as if it wanted to tell him something. He let out a harsh sigh as he ran his hand through his bedraggled hair. Really, he was tired of it. It had been five years; if it wanted to tell him something it should just come out and say it. But he knew that wasn't going to happen, after all, it was his subconscious to blame for his maddening dreams. Some part of him knew something that the rest of him didn't; he knew that it wouldn't rest until he found out. However at this point he could really do without. It was depriving him of a good night's rest. Not that he wasn't used to it by now, he just wished his mind would spare him when there were exams to be taken, but that was quite unlikely.

Sighing one last time, he glanced out his frosted window, where the dim light of sunrise shown through. It would seem the time to ponder his predicament was gone as daybreak waits for no one. Getting out of bed he made his way to the bathroom, where his belongings were neat and orderly and cleaned himself up. Twenty minutes later he was dressing himself in the grey slacks, white button-up, and tan sweater that composed his school uniform. Taking a few moments to correct his appearance in the mirror, one could observe his features. He wasn't particularly tall or extremely short for that matter, he stood at a balanced height of Five feet, Six inches. His skin was still slightly tan from his summer activities, despite it being deep into fall, evidence of his mother's decision to make him work at the beach, claiming she was tired of his pale complexion. He snorted at the memory and continued to tweak his hair into place, there wasn't anything particular about his hair color, dark obsidian as it was, the most unusual thing about it were the spikes that he'd gelled into it, although his bangs had been combed to the side. He'd never put much thought into his hair before, but when he'd started high school, his mother had been adamant in letting him keep his usual appearance, claiming that he needed a change. He rolled his light brown eyes at the image of his mother lecturing him. So doing his hair had become habit, one that he neither hated nor liked, he simply did it.

He wasn't one for jewelry, but when he'd seen the ring he had to have it. Sterling silver, a simple band, its center piece was an intricate carving of a bat. Independent as he was he refused to let his mother buy it for him and worked until he'd gotten the money to afford it. It rested on the ring finger of his left hand; he wasn't sure why he'd wanted it so much just that it reminded him of something that he still couldn't recall. Not one to waste time, he snatched up his large black noise proof headphones and made his way down stairs.

She was already sitting at the table, when he stepped into the family room, eyes glued to the television. She wasn't his real mother, she'd found him when he was 12 years old, unconscious in the middle of the street. He'd had no memory of who he was or how he got there. Years later when he thought back on it, he decided that the reason that she took him in was because she was lonely. It made sense when you considered the spelling of his name. He sat down at the table, snapping his chopsticks apart, he began to eat.

 

“You shouldn't stare at the television like that.” He told her as he ate his breakfast.

“Shh!” she hushed him as she frowned at anchorwoman's speech. His mother was far more unusual in appearance than him; she'd told him she while she had foreigner blood in her, her family had lived in Japan for decades. He still wasn't sure whether to believe her or not as he watched her stare zombie like at the TV. She was tall for a woman in Japan, Five feet, Ten inches, her hair was deep black like his own, but her eyes, her eyes were a soft amethyst color. Combined with her tanned complexion she had an exotic appearance.

 

He sighed as he finished his breakfast, “Kaa-san.” He called to her. “At this rate your eyes will rot and fall out and I'll have a blind woman for a mother.” He stood and walked to the door, “And to think your cooking was already questionable when you could see.”

 

“OI!” She called out to him angrily, but it was too late, he'd left the house already. She glared; she'd get him back later.

 

He allowed a small smirk to grace his face at the thought of his raging mother, she was normally impervious to insults, but for some reason it always got under her skin, when her precious son was the one to do it. With his headphones secured over his ears and the sounds of well composed music to block out the sounds of traffic and the like, he made his way to school. He always gave himself ample time to get to class on early as he didn't like to rush; he took his time with most everything he did. Not to say that he wasn't capable of hurrying, he could recall several times when his so called mother had purposely made him late in an attempt to ruin his perfect attendance. He paused; the woman was a nuisance, why did he care for her well-being again? He couldn't recall. He rid his mind of such thoughts when the school gates came into view, he nearly sighed in gratitude. He'd made his was to school without running into the imbecile. Scratch that he thought as he felt his headphones be snatched off his head.

“So what do we have today?” he heard the imbecile's voice behind him.

Turning to coldly stare at him, Tomoe couldn't help the slight irritation of having to stare up at him. Kobushi Tsume, he was an imposing height of Six feet, a fact that he enjoyed very much considering he was the younger of the two. His hair was dark brown, almost black and he had grey hazel eyes. The only thing more unusual was his smile it was feral and predatory like, it was heavily suspected that he was of mixed heritage, but it couldn't be proven as he much like Tomoe, was found unconscious on a river bank with no memory. However unlike Tomoe, he didn't have someone to take him in, instead he was housed in an orphanage. They expected him to leave this year as he was 16, perfectly capable of working and surviving on his own now.

Tsume brought the headphones to his ears only for his expression to go blank as he ripped them back off as though they had offended him, “Not this shit again! Don't you ever listen to anything good?”

Rolling his eyes, he leapt up and snatched the headphones from his grasp. “Your definition of good is the equivalent of baboons banging on trash cans; forgive me if I'm not up to par.” Calmly he turned on his heel and walked towards the building, headphones replaced on his ear. Momentarily he wondered if he should sanitize them, but decided against it, Tsume was annoying not dirty.

“Oi!” Tsume caught up to him, “So you know we're getting a new teacher right?”

Had the imbecile gone blind? Was it not apparent that he couldn't hear him? He inwardly sighed, he was in no mood to tell him, besides he was probably babbling some idiotic nonsense.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Having finally ditched his moronic acquaintance, he'd arrived in class and taken his seat.

He had 15 minutes to spare before class started, perfect for a small nap. However his momentary peace was ruined by a repetitive knocking on his desk. Keeping his annoyance to himself, he lifted his head from his desk to stare blandly at the intruder. It was a classmate, one who sat across the room from him.

“Hey sorry to bother you, but I was just wondering, where'd you get those headphones?”

“The mall.” He stated blankly.

“Oh. What store?”

Frowning now, “Sony.” Was it not obvious from the label on the side of them?

“Oh, cool. So why are you wearing them in class?”

And with that his patience was gone, “So that I can block out the nonsensical chatter of trash like you out.” He then laid his head back down, assured that no one would bother him again.

The boy was stunned, he made his way back to his chair, looking back to glare at Tomoe. He thought he'd been unnecessarily rude.

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Tomoe's peace was short lived however.

“Ummm…..ano…”there was presence very close to him; he felt a hand gently, hesitantly touching his back. Opening his eyes he looked up, the classroom was full and the students seated were all staring at him. A slight frown marred his face as he noticed a name written on the board. He looked around the room, as he processed the kanji he'd seen, only for his face to turn into a pair of plush, pillow-like forms.

He moved away slowly to stare up into a blushing face. She had long orange hair and warm grey eyes, but her most noticeable feature was staring him right in the face. He fought the urge to raise an eyebrow at them.

“Headphones aren't allowed in class. Please remove them.”

Blinking in surprise, as he'd forgotten he even had them on, he did as she asked, mentally recalling her name…Inoue Orihime.

 

A/N: And yes I'm sure it's obvious that Tsume is really Grimmjow. Now I am only assuming that Grimmjow is dead, as his body or rather his actual death is never seen. So if he isn't then let's just assume he is for the sake of this fic.

 

Notes: About their names.

 

Kanzenkiba- is written with the kanji for perfect, complete, & fang. It belongs to the woman who adopted him, but I think it still fits nonetheless.

 

Tomoe- Is written with the kanji for Friend/companion and wise. In this case she gave him the name tomo when she first met him, because she was lonely, but after actually talking to him and learning his personality she added the e for wise.

 

Kobushi Tsume- Simple enough, Kobushi means Fist & Tsume means Claw, a rather fitting name for Grimmjow I think.