A/N: Hey, guys! I hope you like this story! This one will have no OCs in it! If there is, they will be minor. This will focus on canon characters, mainly Toushirou and Ichigo.

Full Summary: What if the duel in Central 46 had ended differently? What if Urahara had a different holder for the Hogyoku in mind?

Toushirou has a hidden past, one that he doesn't know anything about. But once he meets two fellow Shinigami from the Soul Society, his world does a complete 180. He desperately tries to cope with it, but with that one Shinigami at his side all the time...well, that just makes things worse.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. Tite Kubo does. If I did own Bleach, then this version of the story would've happened instead of Tite Kubo's.

Enjoy!

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The Other Side of Me

Chapter 1: The Boy in the Snowstorm

Where am I?

His eyes wouldn't open to find out.

Am I still breathing?

He was so numb, that he couldn't feel a thing.

Who am I?

His head hurt so much that his brain could not figure that out.

The boy with hair as white as the snow falling around him thought of nothing else but those three questions.

He could think of nothing else, for he had nothing else to think about.

He finally managed to open his eyes after hearing a young, faint voice telling him to wake up. He eyesight was very blurry and he could barely see a thing because the snow around him was so white. All he could see was a blotch of orange, if it even was orange. He could also see a smaller blotch of light brown, but he wasn't really sure. He couldn't remember the names of any color at this point. His mind couldn't process anything, except the fact that someone had found him.

Isshin paced back and forth by the front door of Kurosaki Clinic. "Oh, when are they going to get here?"

"Stop worrying Oto-san," Yuzu said from her seat on the couch. "Oka-san and Onii-chan will be back."

"But when? Look, it's snowing!" Isshin complained. "The weather forecast didn't say it would be snowing today."

"Who cares?" Karin said from beside Yuzu. "It's the perfect excuse to stay home from school tomorrow."

"I don't think so, missy," Isshin said. "I'll make you walk to school even if the snow is five feet deep. You're not missing school just because of this kind of weather."

"Isn't that considered child abuse?" Karin asked.

"No, it is not. It is considered part of a father's job. It is my duty to make sure my children get to school," Isshin counter-attacked.

"Umm, did it ever cross your minds that tomorrow is Saturday?" Yuzu interjected.

There was an intense awkward silence after the light-brunette said this. It was only broken by the sound of the front door opening.

"Masaki!" Isshin rushed forward to envelope his wife in a hug, but he stopped when he saw a white-haired boy leaning on Masaki's back. Ichigo was right behind his mom, staring intently, and worriedly, as the young boy.

"Isshin, I believe you have a new patient," Masaki said, setting the boy on the couch and laying him down.

This was Isshin's cue to get serious. He kneeled next to the boy, and checked his vital signs.

"Blood pressure is normal. Heart rate is normal. He's not in any danger," Isshin said.

"His head is bleeding," Yuzu said.

She was right. The boy's forehead had a huge gash on it.

"Right, I see it," Isshin said. He gently lifted the boy's head up, receiving a small moan of pain, the first response out of the boy that they had. Isshin noticed that the pillow on which the boy's head rested on also had blood on it. "He's bleeding from the back of the head too. Masaki, go get a towel from the closet. Karin, go get my medical kit. Hurry, both of you."

"What can I do, Oto-san?" Ichigo asked.

"Answer my questions," Isshin said. "Where did you find him?"

"On the side of the road," Ichigo said. "He was hurt, Oto-san. I couldn't just leave him there."

"I know, Ichigo," Isshin said, as Masaki and Karin returned with the things that Isshin had asked for.

Isshin folded the towel and placed it under the boy's head. he then opened his med kit and brought out some bandages and a bottle of iodine. Without him having to ask her, Masaki went to go get her husband a cotton swab for the iodine. She returned a couple seconds later and asked, "Will he be alright, Isshin?"

After what seemed like forever, the man said, "He will now."

The rest of the family let out the deep breath they all seemed to be holding.

"Now that the boy's alright, that means I can fix dinner now. Karin, Yuzu, Ichigo, would you all like to help me?" Masaki asked.

She got only positive answers. The four left for the kitchen, and Isshin softly said to the unconscious boy, "I never expected you to appear on my doorstep, Hitsugaya Toushirou. I wonder what happened to you." [1]

{Child...wake up...}

The voice sounded from far away.

'Who...who are you?'

{I am -...}

The name was silent to him.

'I can't hear you...'

{My name is -.}

He still couldn't hear a thing.

'I still can't hear you. Do you...do you know who I am?'

{Yes. You are -.}

The boy was slowly being brought out of his unconscious state back to the world of light. The voice was getting weaker and fainter.

'Tell me! Who am I?'

{You are -.}

He was getting desperate.

'Tell me!'

{Toushirou!}

The boy opened his eyes to a strange place. He looked over to the side and saw a man with black hair.

"Eh? Where am I?" His voice sounded raspy. He needed water.

"Kurosaki Clinic," the man said. "Can I get you anything?"

"Water..." the boy croaked out. The man nodded and left the room.

That gave the boy time to think. What happened to him? Did he just suddenly come into existence?

He didn't have a lot of time to think, though, for the man came back a few seconds later with a glass of water in his hand and he was clenching something small in the other.

The boy took a long drink of the water and Isshin helped him back into the position he woke up in. God, his head hurt.

"Are you okay now?"

"I think so," the boy answered. "My head hurts."

"That's because you have two gashes in your head right now. I stopped the bleeding and wrapped the two wounds up after I did so. Don't be surprised if you're in a lot of pain for a while. Do you remember what happened to you?"

The boy shook his head.

'Whatever happened,' Isshin thought, 'it must've been really bad.'

"Do you remember anything? Like your name? Birthday?"

"Toushirou...that's my name..."

"That's the only thing you can remember?"

Toushirou nodded.

"You have what's called amnesia, kid. But don't worry. I'll check with the police at the station to see if there is any missing child report matching your description."

Toushirou painfully nodded.

"Try not to move your head too much, kid. Remember my warning about being in pain for a while. I have a feeling it's going to be a long while. It's not safe to move you into Ichigo's room yet. I'll have you stay on the couch for now, okay?"

"Ok..." Toushirou was drowsing off.

"Go to sleep, okay, kid?"

Isshin didn't have to tell him twice. Toushirou was already out like a light before the man finished his sentence.

'I wonder what happened to him. What could've happened to him that traumatized him this badly to the point of amnesia and a couple of head wounds?'

The next day, Isshin went to the police station to check for a missing child report. There was none. he went back every day of the following week, but still, nothing.

One night, Masaki was cleaning the dishes. Isshin went to check up on her progress.

"Isshin?"

"Yes, Masaki?"

"He must be an orphan, the boy, I mean."

"He must be. Your point?"

"I think we should adopt him."

That stopped Isshin in his tracks. "Are you sure about that?"

"Yes. I mean, think about it. Ichigo turned nine a few months ago [2] and he has gotten very close to Toushirou. They could almost pass for brothers," Masaki said.

"That's true. They are inseparable most of the time. Toushirou won't sleep anywhere now except in Ichigo's room," Isshin said thoughtfully. There was a short pause. "Well, let's give it more thought, okay?"

However, a couple weeks later, on a rainy day, a tragedy struck the Kurosaki family, especially Ichigo. Even Toushirou, who was just staying as a guest at that time, was devastated by Masaki's death. He never had a family, at least one that he could remember, especially a mother. Kurosaki Masaki had filled that post in his life that best that she could. She treated him like her own son.

The entire family was devastated. In honor of Masaki's request, Isshin made Toushirou's name into Kurosaki Toushirou.

Over the next six years, Toushirou helped Yuzu with the household chores, played soccer with Karin, helped his new father with his patients, and spent a lot of his time with Ichigo. The Kurosaki family loved him and accepted him as one of them as if he had been part of their family since birth. He even got a new nickname from Yuzu: Shirou-chan. Isshin called him that too every once in a while, only he said Shirou-kun. However, he hated the name.

Whenever their conversations came to Toushirou's birthday, they always noticed that whenever it snowed, Toushirou was always outside and he was calm. His temper died down a lot during the wintertime. One particular day that this happened was December 20, tens days after Isshin's birthday [3]. One day, they asked Toushirou when he wanted his birthday to be. He said he preferred December 20. Therefore, that was his birthday from then on.

However, when those six years were up, two figures in black shihakushos were standing on telephone poles one night.

We have no form, therefore we fear it.

And because we are formless, we revere it.

"I sense a couple of strong reiatsus nearby," one of them said, before jumping further into the sleeping town of Karakura.

"I sense them as well, but one of them...I felt it before..." The second gasped lightly and breathlessly whispered, "Shirou-chan..." before following the other. [4]

And so fell the sword of fate...

In his sleep, Toushirou sneezed, which he woke up from. He went back to sleep, wondering who would be thinking about him. [5]

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A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed it. Review please! Since I don't like to interrupt the story with my rambling, here are the notes:

[1] I think it's self explanatory. There's no need to tell you that Isshin knows who Toushirou really is.

[2] Ichigo was nine when his mom died, for those of you who didn't know.

[3] Wiki info has it that Isshin's birthday is December 10th. No, not Wikipedia. I mean, Wiki.

[4] No, it's not an OC. It's a canon character.

[5] In Japan, they say that whenever you sneeze, someone is either thinking or talking about you, or both.