Note: Inspired by Prize of Victory by Nova Alexandria on Adult Fan Fiction

Note*: Kubo could never seem to decide what colour eyes Tatsuki had, so I'm going to go with blue since that's what I've seen her have most of the time anyways!

Chapter 1: A Surprising Death

Tatsuki Arisawa ruffled Kazui's hair before he sprinted into his mother's arms. He reminded her of Ichigo that way; the absolute dedication to his mother was astounding. Orihime giggled as the orange-haired boy hugged her tightly.

"How did practice go?" Her friend questioned both her and her son, sending concerned looks Tatsuki's way. Despite the fact that the kid was a fourth soul reaper, a fourth Quincy, and half whatever the hell Orihime was, their parents still insisted that he take classes from her to learn how to fight hand to hand, just in case he ever got caught without his weapon. The sapphire-eyed female suspected that it was more paranoia about bullying on Ichigo's part that had pushed the parents to paying their long-time friend for one-on-one classes, even if she had tried her best to refuse payment. They had made their point, however, when they insisted that a world-renowned karate champion should get paid her dues. Since winning the championship, her business had been booming despite the fact that her coach frowned upon her teaching in her freetime. It was about time for her to retire anyway, though. She had to have a back up plan, just in case.

"He did well. Soon enough, he'll be able to take my title away from me," she joked. Kazui was doing well. Half of it was probably due to the Shinigami training Ichigo had been teaching him since he could walk. The rest was probably just due to a natural, unfortunate result of avoiding his grandfather's "surprise attacks" whenever he could. Yuzu and Karin had been convinced that he would stop his tricks with the birth of his first grandson, but the pranks had increased once the kid had shown any sign of above average spiritual pressure. At least the kid thought of it more as a game than an annoyance, though the same couldn't be said for Ichigo.

Soon enough, she was waving goodbye as her friend took her son's hand and began the walk home. She'd see them later in the day for another one of Chad's competitions, something that became a get-together for all of the friends that had been through the hell of Ichigo saving the planet two or three times.

She was still watching her friend's retreating back when the noise of a horn blaring caught her attention. As she turned to glare at the offending truck, her eyes widened. Time slowed as she watched the driver move towards her. It had been trying to avoid a dog on the street and had driven into the sidewalk she was standing on, she absently noted, as her body screamed for her to move faster than physically possible. She was able to hear her friend scream just as she felt the warm metal of the vehicle collide into her arm. It made a sickening crunch and her mouth opened to let out a scream, only to find that she was staring at the white metal up close as it raced towards her head. Her sight was cut off as she felt herself hit the ground, tires screeching around her. She tried to scream in agony, but she couldn't; her throat was closed and wouldn't open, wouldn't let her breathe.

"Tatsuki, honey, it's time to wake up! If you don't hurry, you'll be late for practice," her mother's voice called from behind the door. She shot up like a bullet, her entire body still aching in pain as she turned her head to the door, letting out a grunt as her neck cracked, which her mother took for acknowledgement. Her throat seemed to open up, and she managed managed a deep breath as she felt her body, checking automatically for injury as the raven haired female investigated her surroundings. The walls were covered with scribbles and horrible attempts of writing. There were action figures strewn across the room and clothes in a hamper in the corner. The walls were still pink, a colour they had been long before middle school even began when her mom had hoped for a girly girl and had gotten her instead. As a matter of a fact, she had moved out long ago. The last time she'd seen her room with her stuff in it was a good seven years ago, and none of it had looked like the childish stuff that was in it right now.

Dazed, Tatsuki hesitantly started to get dressed, convinced that she was in some sort of dream, that none of this could be real. She rifled through dozens of drawers before finally finding what she needed. She winced at the reminder that her mother was still clearly buying her clothing; the neon pink underwear was atrocious by itself. As she finished tying the bright white belt of her karate uniform around her waist, she paused. There was no way it was real, right? She made her way to the bathroom and stopped short at the sight in the mirror. She was a kid again, no older than 10 at most. Her hair was in its short, spiky style instead of the long, smoother style she favoured as she got older. She was much shorter, too. She could actually barely see her own face in the reflection of the mirror. As a kid, she'd always hoped that she would grow tall; it would never be the case, unfortunately, as her height stopped at a measly five one. She patted her hair gently, shocked when she could feel the hairs under her fingertips bend and spring back in place.

"Tatsuki, hurry up and get down here!" Her mother called, more impatiently this time. Out of habit, the girl complied, brushing her teeth quickly before making her way down stairs. She was surprised to see a booster seat of sorts on her seat at the table. She hesitated for a brief second before making herself comfortable on it, eating the breakfast automatically as she studied her parents. Her father was reading the newspaper, like he did every morning growing up, and her mother was humming as she ate her own meal. They both looked… much younger. The wrinkles around her mom's eyes were gone, and the streaks of grey in her dad's hair were replaced with that dark raven tone her own took after.

"What day is it?" She managed to ask, voice trembling. Her parents each gave her confused looks, her dad's amused while her mom's was more concerned.

"It's a Saturday, honey," the woman replied steadily, though her tenor voice showed just how strange her question seemed.

"I-I meant… what's the date?"

"June 17th, dear," she replied in the same tone.

"And how old am I?"

Her father gave her an amused snort. "You're 9, goober. Now stop pestering us and eat your breakfast. You have karate practice today. You wouldn't want to miss it, would you?"

Her eyes widened. Hands under the table, she pinched the skin of her left wrist. Hard. She flinched and watched as her skin turned red, marks from her nails denting the skin. How is this possible? I should be dead or at least hospitalized. Maybe I'm just reliving my past? People do that when they die, right? Sorta like a last moment type of thing. As she sat, lost in her thoughts, she missed the concerned looks between her parents. She did notice, however, when her mom started to wring her hands. "Tatsuki," it was her father that spoke, surprisingly enough. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine!" She reassured, not wanting to cause her parents any more stress. She practically shoveled her breakfast into her mouth, earning amused looks from her parents, which she ignored. They were, of course, not surprised by her enthusiasm. She didn't remember too much of her childhood, but she knew from stories that threatening her precious karate practice pretty much made her do anything they wanted her to. Hopefully, they thought the delay was just her contemplating the horrors of missing practice. Her thoughts, however, continued to wander. The 17th, huh… She sat up straight. Her best friend of many, many years suffered a great deal of pain because his mom died too soon to protect him from a hollow. But this time, if this wasn't just some weird dream, maybe she could stop it. She could stop his mom from dying.

As her mom escorted her to practice, she tested out her so-called powers. She was still able to hide her reiatsu, thank kami, which would keep her from attracting the attention of any hollows. Much to her relief, she could also sense Orihime around a presence that felt like hers; her brother's, she absently realized. Keigo and Mizuiro, the idiots, were also fine as far as she could tell. Chad she couldn't feel at all, but that was expected; he was probably still in Mexico with his grandpa, if she was remembering correctly. Any of the soul reapers she knew she had no chance of sensing since they were probably in the soul society. She had no idea how soul reaper training worked, but she did know that Rukia probably was one already. She had bragged to Ichigo that she had been one for hundreds of years, after all.

There was something she sensed about herself, though, that seemed at hit… off. It was almost like her spiritual pressure had changed this time around. She wasn't sure if it was because, well, she should be dead or because she was younger and more aware this time around. Either way, there was nothing she could do about it now. Ichigo's mom had powers, right? Though that quincy guy sealed them away before he was born, according to Ichigo. Even so, she might be able to help her figure out what was going on, why her own spiritual pressure felt so different. Ichigo's father would be as useful as a sack of potatoes anyway; it would be best to ask his mom instead. She tried her best to shove her worry into the back of her mind as she entered the studio. Sensei began lessons like he always did, and she found that despite the fact that this body had no "muscle memory" of her many years of karate, her brain did. So, she took the chance to look at the other students as they practiced, but, mostly, she looked at Ichigo. His spiritual pressure was… barely higher than the other kids. For so long it had been super high and distorted by his inner hollow, it was strange to see it so clean and… weak. It also relieved her. Sure, it was high enough for hollows to notice, but not high enough for them to chase after him. Not unless he did something stupid, which would happen sooner rather than later even if she did save his mom, knowing the kid.

At the end of the session came the one on one battles. She faced off against Ichigo, as was common at this age. She held herself back as best as she could, but dodging his attacks was second nature to her at this point. She couldn't help all the side stepping moves she used, even the ones that were much more advanced than what she should know at this point. It just took a simple swipe of his feet to bring him down, and he was crying all over again. The sight itself seemed to strike something in her as she clenched her hands in fists and gazed at them. This was real, wasn't it? She was really back in her 9-year-old body, fighting Ichigo and making him cry. He hadn't saved the world a time or two yet. He was just a normal kid.

Once Sensei dismissed them, he ran to his mom like he always did, tears being replaced by smiles, so she sprinted to hers. "Mom, can I go home with Ichigo-kun today?" Her mom gave her the look which meant "no," but before she could open her mouth, the raven-haired female continued, "I wanna apologize for hurting him. I'm scared he won't be my friend if I don't, and I don't want to embarrass him." She let the worry and fear she was feeling, granted for entirely different reasons, flow into her voice to make a more convincing argument. As far as she knew, she never cared for that sort of thing growing up, so, predictably, her mom's reaction softened. She was soon nodding her head, saying that she could as long as Kurosaki-san said it was alright.

Sapphire eyes blinked back tears as she raced towards the mother and son pair, barely stopping them before they left to ask for permission. Masaki took one look at the girl and agreed, much to her son's chagrin, and Arisawa waved at her mother as the three began the trek to the Kurosaki home. Once they were out of earshot of the others, Tatsuki actually did apologize to Ichigo for hurting him. After all, she didn't mean to, and her skills were so far above his own that it felt like she had been beating up on him the entire match, even if she hadn't done anything besides swipe his legs out from underneath him. The orange-haired boy was surprised but accepted her apology, chattering eagerly to his mother as they walked home. As much as she wanted to, Tatsuki wasn't able to relax on the walk home. Something involving a hollow would happen today, and that something would end up with Ichigo covered in his mom's blood. Though her best friend rarely talked about the event, she knew that it still hurt him that his son would never know his grandmother. The air crackled with negative energy as the trio walked towards the bridge that crossed the main and only river in Karakura. A hollow was close by, that was for sure, and she couldn't sense the distinct flavour of a soul reaper nearby either. Ichigo couldn't save them this time, and she was useless. She scanned the bank of the river as they reached the bridge. Blue eyes watched as a black-haired ghost appeared and shivered. No, that wasn't a ghost. It jumped into the river, and Tatsuki had to forcibly grab Ichigo to keep him from running towards the hollow. The boy yelled in protest, but Tatsuki simply looked up at his brunette mother before saying, "hollow," and shoving her son at her in explanation. Masaki visibly paled, eyes widening as her gaze ran over Tatsuki, almost like she couldn't believe what the girl had heard. Brown eyes stared into blue as the girl held her gaze before the woman abruptly turned and held onto Ichigo's hand so tightly he yelped as she picked up the pace to hurry home. Once they were behind closed doors, she visibly relaxed as the twins toddled towards her, sweeping them up in her arms to kiss their cheeks. Even if they were basically toddlers at this point, they still seemed to love her very much. Masaki sent them to the living room with their brother before turning a serious expression to her husband, causing him to cut off in the middle of his long rant professing his love to her.

"Tatsuki-chan," the woman began.

"Kurosaki-san, I need to talk to both of you immediately. It's… important."

Her best friend's parents' eyes widened, but they didn't say anything, moving into the kitchen where they could still keep an eye on their children without being heard.

"What's wrong, Tatsuki-chan," Isshin finally spoke, eyes not focused on her but rather his wife, whose complexion was now paling.

"You said 'hollow' earlier. What did you mean by that?" His mother all but demanded, her usual cheery attitude that reminded the black-haired girl so much of Orihime gone. Her husband shot her a look mixed with confusion and concern.

"It's a long story," Tatsuki admitted with a sigh, "but here's the short version. I'm from the future. Or, I guess a different version of it. I've already changed it by keeping Ichigo from running towards a hollow today. You," she looked up to Masaki, "were supposed to die today. You were supposed to get eaten by a hollow." She winced as the expressions of horror, disbelief, and outrage overtook each adults' face. She'd always been blunt, but maybe she'd taken it a bit too far this time. She didn't really know of any better way to explain what happened, though.

Isshin's expression turned grimmer, a feat she would have deemed impossible if she hadn't glimpsed the man in combat before. "Tatsuki-chan, you can't expect us to believe you," he said gently though she could tell his mind was racing.

"Aizen," she spit out, not using any honorifics which let the parents know that she was disgusted, "is planning on using Urahara's hogyoku to create the Oken by sacrificing the souls here in Karakura to get to the Soul King and kill him. He created the Vizards like Hiyori-san and Lisa-san by doing some twisted experiment, but he needs the hogyoku to create hollows called Arrancar which are much more powerful than your everyday hollow." That seemed to leave Isshin dumbstruck while she turned to the brunette, eyes narrowing. "And am I correct in assuming Yhwach has already sealed your powers at this point?"

Isshin grabbed a chair from the table and sat down heavily while Masaki leaned against the counter. Both stared at the child, a girl that stood little more than four feet, in absolute shock and even fear. Finally, the former taichou spoke. "Tatsuki-chan… You'd better tell us everything. From the beginning."