Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or anyone or anything from Bleach. Nor do I own the city of Nagasaki. It's as simple as that. Everything else, however, is mine. :D

Chapter 1: First Encounter

"Hey mom! I'm home!" Sachi shouted as she kicked off her shoes by the door next to where she had dropped her backpack. Her mother popped her head around the corner of the kitchen.

"Welcome home dear. Dinner will be ready in a bit."

"Oh it's not done yet?" Sachi asked coming into the kitchen. There were several pots on the stove, knives and vegetables strewn across the counter, and a plate of rice balls already on the dinner table.

"I'm afraid not," her mother replied turning back to the stove and stirring a pot.

"That's alright," Sachi said, grabbing a rice ball. "I'll be back before dinner."

"Wait Sachi!" her mother shouted as she ran out of the kitchen. She had her shoes on before her mother could stop her, and just as quickly she was out the door with a wave.

Sachi's mother sighed and shook her head. "That girl…everyday she's more like her father."

…

Sachi Kurosaki was 15 years old and in her freshman year of high school. She was tall, had a willowy build, and her hair was chin length, messy, and bright orange. Her mother used to tell her that she looked just like her dad. While her mother didn't say this anymore, it was still true. Sachi was always quick to smile and laugh, and had a tight group of friends at school.

All of this, besides her hair, did not make her particularly special. But there was one trait that made Sachi Kurosaki unique: she could see ghosts, and had been able to as long as she could remember.

Sachi stood in the back of a dark alley, beside a little incense burner. She had picked a few flowers on the way, but it was obvious that it wasn't really necessary as there was a large bouquet lying beside the incense burner.

"You're back." Sachi looked up at the voice and smiled. It was the ghost of young man, just a few years older than her, standing at the very end of the alley.

"Of course," she replied. "But I feel kinda of silly with these flowers now. I guess your girlfriend came by again?"

The ghost of the young man nodded sadly. He had been murdered in this alley a few weeks ago. He had said he wouldn't pass on until he found out who had done it and helped the police arrest him. Sachi had no idea how the ghost was going to do this, but she would come visit him everyday until he passed on. His girlfriend, who had been devastated by his death from what he had said, came by often and Sachi wondered if that was the real reason he didn't want to pass on.

In any case it didn't matter. She placed her poor excuse for a bouquet beside the real one and bent her head in a quick prayer for man. "Sorry I can't stay longer," she apologized, looking back to the ghost. "My mom's almost done with dinner and she'll be mad if I'm late."

"It's alright. Thank you for coming here," the ghost replied gratefully, his expression more peaceful than it had been when she had come. He smiled at her and then began to fade as ghosts did when they weren't interacting with anything.

Sachi smiled back at him and walked out of the alley, back into the throng of life that moved through downtown Nagasaki.

…

Sachi and her friends came out into the bright sunlight shining down on the roof of the school building in a burst of laughter. Her friend Kenta was the class clown and had been entertaining her and her other friends with a story about his most recent date.

This was normal for Sachi's lunches. Her high school was in one of the large residential areas within Nagasaki and therefore it didn't have much of a yard. That left either having lunch in a classroom or on the roof, and unless it was too cold or raining Sachi and her friends usually had lunch on the roof. They weren't the only ones, but they tended to make the most noise, mainly because of Kenta.

Today, instead of following her friends forward, Sachi paused by the door. On the far side of the roof there was a figure dressed in all black, with a ponytail of very red hair crouched down. What looked like a sword strapped to the figure's waist stuck out behind them. Sachi frowned. Human or ghost?

"You alright, Sachi?" Sachi's friend Yuzuki had stopped when she had realized Sachi wasn't with them and was now looking at her friend, concerned.

"Yea I'm fine," Sachi said with a smile. "You go on ahead. I'll catch up."

Yuzuki shrugged and walked off. Sachi's friends were used to her randomly going off to look at things by herself. They didn't know why she did it, but they never questioned it anymore.

Sachi turned again to the figure on the other side of the roof. Yuzuki couldn't see them, so it had to be a ghost. But, Sachi had never seen a ghost like that before.

…

Renji Abarai, Lieutenant of Squad Six of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, was annoyed. Very annoyed.

He had been sent to the World of the Living in order to investigate a strange spiritual pressure reading. While this usually would have been a task for a lower ranking officer, Renji had been sent as punishment for slacking too much on his paperwork. While the punishment was unusually harsh, even for Captain Kuchiki, Renji really had been slacking on his paperwork for the past decade or so and his captain had had enough.

The mission really wouldn't have been that big of a hassle, but Renji was having a hell of a time tracking the spiritual pressure. He had managed to track it here, which looked like a high school from Renji's limited experience, but his Soul Pager couldn't locate it more precisely than that and he was dreading having to search the entire school.

Renji was currently squatting on the roof messing with the Soul Pager and mentally cursing himself for not bringing better equipment. "Stupid…thing!" Renji growled under his breath, randomly pressing buttons in his frustration.

"Um, excuse me."

Renji flinched and jumped a foot in the air in surprise. He spun around to find himself facing a teenage girl. She was nearly as tall as he was, had bright orange hair, and was peering at him inquisitively.

"Y-you can see me?" Renji half-gasped, trying to regain his breath and slow his heartbeat.

"Yep," the girl told him with a smile. "You're a ghost right? But, you're not like one I've ever seen."

Well that explains the odd spiritual pressure readings. A girl with enough spiritual pressure to see a Soul Reaper would definitely have enough to be picked up by the Soul Society's sensors.

"That's cause I'm not an ordinary ghost. I'm a Soul Reaper." Renji said proudly, having regained his breath.

The girl blinked at him, confused, for a minute and then did the last thing he expected: she laughed. "There's no such thing!" she said after she had gotten herself under control.

Renji couldn't help but scowl. "Well obviously there are. I'm right in front of you."

The girl considered him for a moment, barely able to keep herself from grinning in amusement. "Whatever you say, Soul Reaper." The emphasis on the title was obviously sarcastic, but the girl's lighthearted tone took away any real bite that her comment carried. "I'm afraid I need to go eat before lunch is over, but let me know if you need any help getting a soul to pass on."

The girl gave Renji a cheeky wave and then walked off with a last giggle. Renji stood there gaping incredulously for a second before shaking his head. How she didn't believe him when he was standing right in front of her he didn't know, but now that he had found her he would have to stay and observe her for a while. Renji jumped off the roof to go find a better vantage point to watch the whole school from.

…

Renji Abarai was not an idiot. He just had a tendency to act first and think later. And as the afternoon wore on and Renji observed the girl and thought about what had happened on the roof, the more suspicious about her he became.

A human with the ability to see spirits wasn't really that unusual. Even a human that could see Soul Reapers wasn't a complete novelty. And, as she had said, if she had never seen a Soul Reaper before it really wasn't all the unreasonable that she hadn't believed him. But, she had known what a Soul Reaper does and there was no way that she could know that without someone telling her if she had never seen a Soul Reaper before.

What really tipped him off though was the way she looked. There was only one other being, human or otherwise, that he had seen who had that shade of bright orange hair. Ichigo Kurosaki. And the more he observed the girl the more it made sense. She had the same tall, slender build as Ichigo. And there was definitely a similarity between them in the confidence in her eyes and the surety in the set of her mouth.

She had to be related to him. She had to be. But, how Renji didn't know. Her eyes were a darker brown than he remembered Ichigo's being. And her face was rounder and softer than his. And where Ichigo's go-to expression had been a scowl, the girl's was a smile. She was quick to smile and laugh, and even when she wasn't her expression remained pleasant.

Renji was baffled. He had some clues about this girl, but not enough to make any sense of. It kind of blew his mind a bit. As Renji watched the girl's class was dismissed from their last class and everyone began to leave. Renji stood too. He would have to keep watching her if he was going to learn anymore and be able to fit the pieces together.

…

Sachi stood at a corner. She was going one way and her friends were going another.

"So you're up for a movie tonight, right?" Sachi's friend Mao asked.

"Of course," Sachi replied with a smile. "Just let me go home and change. I'll meet you guys at the theater." Sachi and her friends said their goodbyes, and with a final wave she headed for home. However, after walking only a few blocks she stopped.

"I'd appreciate it if you'd stop following me. If you have something you want to say to me, just come out and say it." At first there was no response, and Sachi might have well have been talking to the air. But after a moment there was a wooshing sound and a soft thump as a pair of feet collided with the retaining wall Sachi was walking beside.

Sachi turned and looked up at the man. This time, however, she was wearing an uncharacteristic frown in her annoyance. She took more time to examine the man here than she had on the roof. He was dressed all in black, with a sword strapped to his waist. His hair was a vibrant red color and pulled back into a messy ponytail. He had two lines of tattoos on either side of his neck and she could she hints of them on his forehead, but a white bandanna that he had tied around his head obscured them. He was quite tall and looked to be lean, but still muscular.

He was fairly good looking all together, but his hostile expression ruined the picture. But, there was a great deal of curiosity there too as he measured her with his eyes.

"What do you want?" she asked him, quickly starting to loose her patience. The man only stared at her, as if somehow his penetrating gaze could reveal something. Just as Sachi was about to turn away in exasperation the man spoke.

"Have you ever seen any strange monsters? Or heard any horrible sounds at night?"

Sachi blinked in confusion at the man. But, the way he had said it…it sent a shiver running down her spine. "No. I haven't," she said softly, trying hard to remember if she ever had.

Still his eyes bored into her. "That's good," the man said, his voice deadly serious. "But if you ever do you need to run away from it. Run for your life." Sachi shivered again, the warning in his voice ominous.

"Thanks," she said turning away hastily. "I'll keep that advice in mind." And Sachi walked away as quickly as she could without running. For some reason she couldn't understand the man's words had terrified her.

Renji watched the girl go with apprehension. He sincerely hoped that she would heed his warning. He had a bad, bad feeling about this.

Author's Note:

Hey everyone! This is my second multi-chapter fic! Yay! And I'd thought I try something different, which is why it's all 3rd person instead of having 1st person. I came up with the idea for this story a while ago and decided to write it down and I think I'm going to roll with it. I guess it isn't really completely thought out yet, but we'll see where its goes.

Anyways the basic premise for this story is that Ichigo never got his powers back and had a normal life and went on to marry and have a kid (Sachi) and stuff. Sachi will ultimately be paired with Renji mainly because he's one of my favorite characters and I think it sucks that he's probably never going to get Rukia. There will also be IchiRuki in the future and a few other pairings. The plot will be similar to the actual Bleach plot, but I'm hoping that it will be different enough to still be exciting.

Oh and the story is set in Nagasaki, which I know little about, so I apologize for any inaccuracies.

Anyways, I'd really appreciate some reviews to let me know how people feel about this story!

Thanks for reading!

imagination junkie