Unbound

Chapter 1

Hey guys! It's been a while since I've posted anything on here, as I've transitioned to writing only on AO3. Recently people have been asking me to post my stores here, so I've come to deliver! Hope this little AU is enjoyable for anyone out there who ships Ulquiorra and Ichigo!

Btw, Ulquiorra and Grimmjow still go by their usual names, they're just using stage names for the sake of the performance and such. Don't expect Grimm to continue going by 'Excision' nor Ulquiorra by 'Sullivan King.'

Also, there are two main songs that inspire this chapter. I'll drop the names below! I highly recommend listening along while reading :)

"Your Fault" by Excision

"Unbound" by Excision and Sullivan King

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"C'mon Ichigo!" Renji shouted, pulling the other man without a care by his hand. "We're gonna miss all of the good standing spots!"

Ichigo struggled to maintain Renji's fast paced maneuvering through the hoards of people gathered at the entrance to the venue. He kept bumping into teenage girls along the way, who would initially react quite aggressively, but immediately changed their tune when facing Ichigo. They'd proceed to blush profusely and apologize in Ichigo's place. This usually would've seemed endearing to him, but lately Ichigo has found his interest in girls, or just people in general, fading.

Ichigo had always equated this to his growingly hectic schedule, as he recently had to learn to balance college with his lifelong hobby of music.

Ever since the orange haired man could remember, music has been his number one passion. As a kid, he begged his dad to allow him to enroll in piano lessons. He didn't just stop at piano though, soon after he learned to read sheet music; Ichigo continued on to pick up percussion, guitar, and eventually singing. Music consumed his life, Isshin would always tease the boy for his lackluster grades due to Ichigo spending so much time practicing.

It didn't take very long for Ichigo to get good, like really good. At school, he gained recognition from the band and chorus teachers. They would shower Ichigo in praise after hearing him play whatever song he was working on at the moment in the school practice rooms. Ichigo was never one to get blindsided by praise however. He didn't play instruments for anyone else's pleasure but his.

Playing music, piano specifically, reminded Ichigo of his late mother. She was a wonderful pianist, Ichigo used to spend his sunday afternoons listening to her effortlessly play Chopin and Debussy on the piano in their study. He remembers watching her fingers glide from key to key, so gracefully, making it look almost like she never touched the keys at all. The best part though, was the emotion she was able to evoke from the piano. It was visible how into the song his mother was, from the animated hand movements, to the slight way she would lean into the crescendos with her whole body. Ichigo loved watching his mother play, it made him so happy to see her enjoy something that much.

After she passed however, Ichigo was devastated. It never really got easier with time, his mom was his entire life. He loved her so dearly, and to have someone that important taken away from you that young imparts you with a lifetime of pain and guilt. Probably the worst part of it all though was coming downstairs every morning to see the piano she once loved so much, gradually collecting dust.

Ichigo wanted so badly to carry on his mother's craft, so with that in mind he enrolled in piano lessons, with his dad's approval of course. That hadn't been that hard in all honesty, Isshin was more than happy to see the dusty baby grand getting some use again. His dad also would tell him it's no surprise Ichigo picked up piano so quickly, "you must've inherited your mothers musical genes."