(Just reposting the chapters with the paragraph breaks that had misteriously vanished)

Title: Bleach: Undercover

Summary: They wanted him to forget he ever was a Shinigami. He made them believe they succeded, then entered Soul Society under a new identity: Kasshoku Kaito from Rukongai, deceased for fifteen years, freshman at the Spiritual Arts Academy.

Setting: one year after the Winter War. Since I'm not really up to date with the anime/manga, this is mostly AU, but I've also been majorly spoilered and I think it'll show here and there!

Pairing: Ichiruki

Rating: hmm…"Teens"? There's some swearing, some graphic violence, maybe some sexual situations later on.

Betareader: any volunteers?

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.

PROLOGUE

The Winter War lasted much longer than its name suggests. It took eleven months of pain and bloodshed, the losses were great among both parties but, in the end, Soul Society won.

Or to be more exact, Kurosaki Ichigo won, as without their leader the remaining Arrancars had no further interest in battling together, but rather disappeared back in Hueco Mundo, where maybe one day one of them would rise to be the new general.

Many witnessed (but mostly from a great distance) Kurosaki's battle to the death with the Traitor Aizen Sousuke, many had a hard time believing that such powerful beings could exist.

When both giants fell, everybody held their breath. But then, Aizen's body dissolved into invisible spirit particles.

And that was it.

The end of the War.

They feared (but some hoped) that Kurosaki would meet the same end, but thanks to a miracle, namely Inoue Orihime (but some also reported seeing his wounds cover up in a white substance and heal on their own), he survived.

Now, a year after the end of the War, the Great Hero and Saviour of Soul Society still lives in his hometown, Karakura, respected and admired by many in the Spirit World, feared and envied by others.

CHAPTER 1

Ichigo was walking home from school, his trademark scowl set even deeper than usual due to some disturbing intel from the local Shinigami expert.

That morning Urahara had pulled him and his friends out of school for an emergency meeting, getting them a severe scolding when they got back - since the finals were just a few weeks away - but that was beside the point. The point was that that uneasy feeling that had been gnawing at his gut for days had been right. According to Hat-n-Clogs -and he usually was even more right than his gut- things were about to get nasty.

And Rukia wasn't here to tell her, which Urahara said was better anyway, but still…he frowned I don't care what he says, I can't let her think –

Suddenly he sensed several Shinigami reiatsus appearing quite close to him. His sensing abilities had somehow improved, so he could tell that two of them belonged to captains, but not those he was most familiar with.

A moment later twelve figures appeared in front of him.

"Soi Fon and… Komamura-taicho ? What are you doing here?" he asked quite perplexed. It was a well-known fact that the fox-like Captain hardly ever came to the World of the Living. Ichigo studied the other Shinigamis and his eyes narrowed when he recognized the Kido Corps emblem on their uniforms.

Nobody answerd him directly, but Captain Soi Fon reached inside her uniform and produced an official looking parchment. With her face impassive as ever, she opened it and started reading.

" ' Kurosaki Ichigo, Substitute Shinigami of Karakura town, Soul Society acknowledges and is grateful for your assistance in the past war against the Traitor Aizen Sousuke. Unfortunately it is also aware that your involvement with the World of the Dead, as long as you are of the Living, goes against the natural order of both Worlds. Such involvement was tolerated in times of extraordinary need and danger, but those circumstances no longer apply. For these reasons, by order of Central 46, your Shinigami powers are to be sealed until the time of your natural death, and your memories of anything concerning Soul Society are to be erased to allow you to live out your natural life, as it was meant to be. ' "

§I§

As Soi Fon finished reading, she saw Kurosaki's eyes widening in shock. He recovered quickly reaching for his Substitute Badge, but before he could even touch it, Komamura-taicho was behind him, restraining him with a formidable hold, that the boy in his human body had no hope of breaking.

As they had expected, the soon to be ex-Substitute started yelling and thrashing with all his might, but the fox-like Captain was quick to knee him in the back and slam him into the ground front chest first, leaving Ichigo wheezing for his breath -he was sure he'd cracked at least a rib or two- , while Komamura continued keeping the hold on the arms behind his back.

"Shit-" Ichigo got out coughing into the asphalt "you know this isn't right. I saved your fucking asses and this is how you repay me ?!" he said angrily "you should at least have the decency to let me go to Soul Society and plead my case!" he added.

"We have orders" the 7th Division Captain simply replied.

Ichigo peered up at him "Loyal to a fault, aren't you?" Like the dog you are, he added in his mind, I bet that's why they sent you.

Meanwhile the Kido Corps had taken their positions around the fallen Substitute and started waving a binding Kido around him. Komamura's hold was quickly replaced by an extremely powerful 'Bakudo N.4 – Hainawa' but soon something even stronger started weighting on him.

Ichigo couldn't recognize the Kido, since the Shinigami were just murmuring the words, but thanks to Soi Fon's very informative parchment, he had a pretty good idea of what it was for. Soon his ears started ringing, his eyes started unfocusing and the heat and pressure on his chest grew to the point where that was the only thing he could feel.

§I§

It took a great deal of time and spiritual energy, which was expected since they were dealing with a being with beyond Captain level reiatsu, but finally the Kido Corps completed their task. They stepped back, exhausted, letting the Captains near the trembling and sweating form on the ground.

Komamura turned the boy over and studied him. He looked really out of it, he was pale and his eyes were glazed over, but they didn't care about that. Both Captains extended their senses to analyze Kurosaki's spiritual energy. While before he had been leaking that 'strange' kind of shinigami reiatsu like a broken faucet turned on full-blast, know he felt just human, a-run-of-the-mill human.

Komamura took the Substitute badge that he'd ripped from Ichigo before and pressed it against the boy's body. Nothing happened. His eyes met those of his fellow Captain and they nodded to each other. The sealing was complete.

Soi Fon reached inside the left sleeve of her uniform and took out a Memory Modifier made specially by the 12th Division, then she flashed it over Ichigo's half open eyes. A moment later he was out cold.

§I§

After half an hour Kurosaki finally started regaining his consciousness. They watched him stumble to his feet, then frown as he checked his aching ribs and the minor scratches on his face. They heard him mumble then curse. He thought he'd had a run in with one of the gangs that used to bother him. Good.

They observed carefully every one of his facial expressions, every movement he made. They saw him checking his surroundings, but he looked right through them. Soi Fon-taicho attempted a sudden move in his direction, but he didn't react in any way. He couldn't see them anymore.

They followed him home, watched him greet his sisters and weird father, heard his confused response when one of the girls asked if he'd heard from Rukia-chan. A member of the Kido Corps suggested they wipe the family's memory of the petite Shinigami. Soi Fon replied she would take care of it.

They left Kurosaki's house and returned to one of Karakura's parks where they met up with three other Kido Corps squads. All of them reported success in their missions.

Their tasks completed, the Shinigami opened a Senkaimon and left surrounded by a flutter of Hell Butterflies. From here on 12th Division's Monitoring System would be in charge of controlling the situation in Karakura town and keeping an eye on the former Substitute.

"Goodnight Ichi-nii !"

"'Night Yuzu" Ichigo mumbled back and trudged into his room. As soon as he closed the door, his arms wrapped around his ribs and he grimaced in pain. His back leaned against the door, then he slowly slid down in a crouched position.

Fuck, it hurts like a bitch!

Sitting through dinner had been a sheer torture, but he really didn't want to worry his sisters, especially Yuzu. She'd almost started crying when she'd seen the couple scratches on the side of his face.

"That was an award-winning performance, Ichigo"

Ichigo looked up and saw a black cat sitting on his desk "You mean during dinner or before ?" He asked with a smirk, that soon turned into another grimace of pain.

Yoruichi didn't reply right away, but tilted her head and studied her former student. "Glad to see it worked. How are you feeling?"

"Like shit. Urahara forgot to mention this part" he growled.

"But you've had much worse ! What's some yanking on your Chain of Fate ?" she teased.

Ichigo glared up at her "Yeah, but this time all the quick ways to fix it are out".

"Oh, I'm sure you'll survive" she replied, and Ichigo was sure she would be smirking if she were in human form, so he glared at her some more, but stayed silent. Even arguing worsened the pain.

"So what now ?" he asked in a business-like tone.

"We do as we agreed to this morning. You'll have to lie low until me or Kisuke get in touch with you. 12th Division is going to be monitoring you very closely" she explained.

"Most important, Ichigo-kun, you must ignore any spiritual being that crosses your path, even if it's Rukia-chan or a Hollow about to eat a soul in front of you" she added in a grave tone.

Ichigo clenched his jaw, but nodded in agreement. They'd already discussed that in depth that morning. "As long as you keep your word and take care of all the Hollows that incompetent Shinigami misses".

The cat nodded, then jumped down on the floor. She apprached the still crouching Substitute, hopped on his lap then placed a paw on his chest.

"What–"a very soft glow started emitting from her paw. He raised an eyebrow. Huh, that's new. She can heal in her cat form?

A few minutes later he was already feeling better, not healed, but not in excruciating pain anymore. "Thank you, Yoruichi-san".

The cat nodded and half a second later was already back on the desk and about to exit through the window.

"Say thanks to Urahara and Tessai too" he added. Without them I would have lost everything. The image of violet eyes flashed through his mind, but too quick for his conscious to grasp it.

Yoruichi nodded once again, then disappeared into the night.

TBC

A/N:

Please, let me know what you liked and what you didn't, so I can make it better for YOU!

I'm trying to stay mostly in-character with everybody, but, as I said, I'm way behind with the anime/manga, so if you're reading and think "s/he would never do that!", please tell me.

Also, since English isn't my mother language, I would REALLY appreciate if you told me if anything sounds weird. Thanks!

BTW, you may wonder why I chose Komamura as one of the Captains to go after Ichigo. As the prologue suggests, the war strengthened the bonds between Ichigo and many Shinigami, so it'd be only careful on Central 46's part to choose, for this kind of mission, somebody who doesn't have a personal relationship with him.