Chapter Text

Chat Rooms and Chat Rumours

Chapter One

Crime Watch

Light exploded into the vast expanse which he had yet to name, blindingly bright, forcing his eyes to seal themselves before dimming down to a just-about-bearable level. Isolation was all that he associated with the place. Isolation and nothingness. For that was all that it was, a blank, empty void where he was alone. The colour was indescribable, like none he ever saw elsewhere, incredibly frustrating since it allowed him no sense of spacial awareness. It was all seamless, no end nor start within sight.

He walked, as he always did. Then that walk developed into a jog and eventually transformed into a run. A run of desperation. It felt as though he wasn't even moving, no indication of a change in the terrain, no signs of any differences at all. It drove him insane. That's what he concluded anyway, if that fact that he had begun to hear a shrill cackling despite being so alone didn't connote that he'd gone loopy, then he had no clue as to what could.

He looked up, or at least looked in the direction that was presumably upwards, and noticed that the fading had begun. He had a name for that at least, the fading. The area above him now appeared to have a limit, a long way away from him, but it existed none the less. He could tell as a deep black was seeping across it like ink spilling across an unusually coloured canvas. He made an effort to take caution when this happened, he dropped his guard the first and paid a fortune for it. One slick blob of black dripped down, almost in slow motion, slapping the floor a couple of inches away from his bare foot. He no longer flinched as he used to, he had calculated the impact point with almost perfect precision, there was no need to doubt himself as well as those around him.

More droplets flew down, however, the centre of the black splatter above him had stabilised now, resulting in the remaining droplets to fall further and further away from him, out of harm's way. It wasn't long before the darkness had enveloped the entire area regardless of how large it had appeared to him when he ran, reinforcing the concept that he hadn't even moved at all. He sighed while settling down into a seated position, cross-legged on the ground. It was madness, but it'd be over soon.

Ichigo jolted awake, almost falling over and becoming a mushy mess on the road below. After steadying himself and swiping disobedient, orange strands of hair out of his eyes, he scanned his surroundings. He was situated in a rather awkward position, dangling precariously over the edge of his balcony on the 26th floor of the run down apartment building he resided within. The only thing between him and imminent death was a pair of handcuffs, clamping one of his wrists to the railing while the rest of his body was draped against the bars.

”Fuck...” he whispered while his brows tightly knitted themselves in response to the rest of his body, it protested against this ridiculous arrangement through the means of aches and pangs.

“Hey” A familiar voice sounded behind him.

Ichigo craned his neck in order to get a glimpse at the presence above him. A rather muscular man who wore baggy joggers combined with a much tighter tank top had walked over the balcony and rested a pair of crossed arms upon it. While these features all distinguished him from most people in the streets of Karakura, the most distinctive look about him was his bright red hair of which he wore knotted up in such a strange fashion that he had earned the nick name “Pine Apple Head” from Ichigo. He spared no time before he lit a new cigarette, tossing the ashen remains of his last stick into the depths of the city streets below.

“That's illegal you know” Was the first thing Ichigo blurted out, still groggy.
“Says you” The red head smirked, reaching into a back pocket to reveal a small tablet which flickered on at his touch. Holding the cigarette between two fingers, he swiped a few times before holding it in front of Ichigo's face, having to bend down to make such a feat. Ichigo turned his attention to the bright screen before him.

“Yet again, we have our chrome masked frenzied friend darting across rooftops with another stolen fortune in his palms. The diamond casket is a...”
A female reporter commentated on the scene which lay before Ichigo, a chase sequence following a paper white character who was dashing across rooftops as the reporter had mentioned, holding what seemed to be a rather large, transparent case of some sort at his side. The figure turned to the camera, displaying his mask which, from what Ichigo could make out, appeared to be grey with red, manic features. Two eyes and a menacing smile. The image switched, replaced by the female reporters own.
“That's all we have time for tonight, tune in tomorrow morning for any developments on the white swordsman's case. You've been watching CrimeWatch, see you again tomorrow morning.” Once the clip had ended, the red head retracted his tablet and replaced it back in his back pocket.

“Well fuck me then!” Ichigo smiled sarcastically. “I've still got to find where on earth he puts all of his collectables too, I don't want police storming my apartment and finding them in a bloody cupboard I didn't know existed” He exclaimed, swinging slightly, frustration was extremely evident in his tone.
“They won't be anywhere near here mate, don't worry about it. He's smart, unlike you” the red head responded, still smirking.
Ichigo frowned “What?”
“Well, I dunno know about you but I don't like to spend my hours helplessly dangling from a balcony”
Ichigo flushed red with anger, the reason why he hadn't sorted himself out yet was because he was tired, he had no will to lift himself out of his current predicament.
“Well why have you left me hangin' hey? You're my mate right? Help a brother out!” Ichigo demanded.
The red head let out a sigh and shrugged purposefully to wind Ichigo up.
“Renji!” Ichigo shouted at him, clearly annoyed.
“Okay, okay, if you insist. God, why can't he dump your body in, well, more normal places? Like, I dunno, your bed?” Renji pondered aloud as he clasped onto Ichigo's free arm with an iron grip while simultaneously releasing the handcuff. It wasn't too much of an ordeal for him, Ichigo only had a slim frame and the handcuff was fake, it didn't require a key. Not long had passed before he was able to gently rest Ichigo on the floor of the balcony. He could tell he didn't like the way he did it all for him, Ichigo even complained when Renji insisted on placing him even after he had gotten Ichigo mostly over. Regardless, Renji ignored him and did as he pleased.

Ichigo huffed with exasperation while early rays of sunshine coloured him and his friend with a golden haze, tinting his usually bright orange hair with flecks of glowing yellow. Their shadows were plastered against the faded wall and yellow stained glass door, a silhouette of a proud, upright man looking down upon an unstable figure, which seemed to flicker ever so slightly.

“You should go already, look at the time. I've work in like, four hours and I haven't slept. Not really” Ichigo suggested, though Renji knew he was trying to make an order.
“Sure” Renji complied this time. “I'll be darned if I don't see you online though”
“True” Ichigo agreed, turning to gaze upon the sun licked apartment buildings behind his own. There were no more words to be said and Renji soon found himself leaving the boy in peace. Although, he stopped at the door, a thought playing on his mind. After a few moments of silence followed by the sounding of a noisy Ichigo entering the room across from him, he dismissed the idea and left the residence.

17/09/3007

Strawbzy joined the chat

Strabzy: hey guys :)
EmoTheKidd: Hey
Strabzy: hows life?
EmoTheKidd: Melancholic... you?
Strabzy: ehhhh pretty crap but hey wud i be on here otherwise? :P
EmoTheKidd: Most likely not. Now, If I can recall correctly, you have a half decent PC?
Strabzy: i guess so
EmoTheKidd: Well, I've found a video game you might like. It's good to have a distraction when everything gets to be at least moderately overwhealming. It's called “FootBall Coach”, you might like it, I'll give you a link, one minute.
Strabzy: cool, thx
EmoTheKidd: I saw it and thought of you. Footballcoach.org/download
Strawbzy: im gonna check it out, c u in a min
EmoTheKidd: See you later.

Strabzy left the chat
SnekFire joined the chat

SnekFire: Yo, guys, did you see the news?
EmoTheKidd: About the earthquake?
SnekFire: Nah, there's always earthquakes. I meant the undergound news!
EmoTheKidd: Oh, okay. The war?
SnekFire: You chill on the underground emo?
EmoTheKidd: I have a lot of spare time.
SnekFire: Okay. Well, what d'yah think?
EmoTheKidd: It's quite simply absurd.
SnekFire: Nahhhhh, you don't know the undergound like I do!

Strawbzy joined the chat

EmoTheKidd: What's there to know?
Strawbzy: 1 min, lemme read the chat
SnekFire: When stuff like this catches fire like that, it is real!
EmoTheKidd: How so?
Strawbzy: wat kinda sites u guys been on
EmoTheKidd: The illegal kind.
Strawbzy: wat? no i got work dam it :( c u guys later
SnekFire: See yah Strawbz
EmoTheKidd: See you later.

Strawbzy left the chat

Ichigo arched his back and popped a few of his joints once he had withdrawn from his computer screen, what on earth were Renji and that emo kid on about? He knew of the underground, it used to be known as the deep web and that was the extent of his knowledge on the subject. A war? Like emo had said, it all sounded a bit absurd. Nevertheless, Ichigo was going to be late for work if he continued to absent-mindedly dawdle on topics which had essentially nothing relating him. Banishing his curiosity as he did so, Ichigo dashed into the kitchen and grabbed the now burnt piece of toast he had left in the toaster while he chatted and then went on to hurriedly slip on his football gear. After a minute or so, he barged out of the door, hair ruffled and collar undone but he would be damned if he didn't make it on time. Money makes the world go around and oh boy was Ichigo short of it. He wasn't about to be fired. Again.