A/N: Alright, I'm giving this fanfic writing business another go! I haven't completely given up on "Lessons Learned" but I haven't figured out how to continue it yet. And real life has been very chaotic... in a good way :). I've had this idea in my head for a while and I HAD to do it with Rukia and Orihime! They're my Bleach BFF OTP and I'm tired of seeing them pitted against each other when they're clearly friends. But whatever, I'll get off my soapbox and get on with my story.
Summary: Rukia is an agent with the Public Security Intelligence Agency who has been investigating some rather bizarre activity. Her partner, Ichigo Kurosaki, has mysteriously vanished and has been replaced by Orihime Inoue, a woman haunted by her past. AU, heavily influenced by Fringe and The X Files. There may be some blood, guts and some rather disturbing creatures. There will be some RenRuki and most likely some slight IchiHime, because I can't help myself XD.
A few quick notes:
PSIA= Public Security Intelligence Agency. It's the closest thing Japan has to the CIA.
NPA= National Police Agency. Japan's police force.
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or any of it's characters.
The sun had not even risen when Rukia Kuchiki's screeching alarm tore through her quiet apartment. The petite woman managed to pry her eyelids apart and slowly sat up. She glared at her alarm clock, which continued to crank out what she swore was the most ungodly sound in existence, before finally turning it off with a sigh.
"Coffee…."
Rukia brushed her short dark hair out of her eyes and hesitantly got out of her warm bed. She mused at memories of her first years with PSIA when she rushed to the office every morning, eager stop terrorists in their tracks. But over the last year her cases had been getting stranger and stranger. Animals with human body parts and DNA. People who had died years ago showing up alive and well. And the rise of mysterious disappearances, one of which was her partner, Agent Ichigo Kurosaki, Rukia knew in her gut that these bizarre occurrences were connected. There was no possible way they could be random occurrences. But the "how" continued to elude her. Every time she thought she was making progress her lead turned out to be a dead end. And now she had to do it without her best friend.
As she made breakfast and packed her bento box for later, Rukia glanced at the calendar and felt her chest tighten.
Has it been two months already? She thought sadly.
She remembered the last time she saw Ichigo, sitting at his desk wearing his usual scowl. She had just finished up for the day and stopped by his office.
"You should go home, Ichigo. You've been working late all week."
"I think I've found something, Rukia," Ichigo said, his eyes glued to his computer screen.
"What is it?"
"Remember that symbol we found burned into Sakamoto Hideki's underarm?"
"That weird skull thing?"
"Yeah. I sent a rendering of it to a friend of mine who teaches Symbology at the University of Tokyo-"
"That Yasutora guy?"
"Yeah, Chad. He faxed over a bunch of information on it," Ichigo waved his hand toward a rather large pile of papers. "Anyway, it was mentioned in connection with something called Hueco Mundo."
"Hueco what? Is that some sort of organization?"
"Either that or a project being run by a company or government agency. I haven't been able to find much on it so far."
"So why can't this wait until tomorrow?"
Ichigo chuckled, "Because I've got nothing better to do. Don't you have girl's night out or something like that tonight?"
"Yeah, as a matter of fact I do. You should try having a life sometime, Ichigo. Maybe you'd meet someone who could wipe that scowl off your face."
Ichigo rolled his eyes. "Whatever, midget."
" See you tomorrow, baka. Don't pull an all nighter."
"Later. And I'm not promising anything."
The next day Ichigo and all of the information on the skull symbol were gone. Both his desk and apartment were neat as a pin, with no indication of a struggle. It was as if he'd vanished into thin air. His symbologist friend, Sado Yasutora, was reported missing several days later. Rukia tried doing search after search on Hueco Mundo, but any information in the database relating to it had vanished as well. Whatever Ichigo had discovered, it was worth silencing him and Sado over.
After following every lead possible and coming up with nothing, the search for Ichigo Kurosaki was put on hold. Rukia's commanding officer, Captain Jushiro Ukitake, fought the decision with every ounce of clout he could muster but ultimately it came down to funds, which the Diet was unwilling to give them to keep the case open. Rukia was still bitter about it, especially now that she was being assigned a new partner. But Ukitake promised that his division would continue the search, with or without the head of the agency's approval.
Rukia glanced over at a couple of papers sitting on her fax machine. Ukitake wanted to brief her before meeting her new partner this morning. She looked at the fax as if it was a poisonous snake. She held no ill will against her new partner, but his or her very presence served as confirmation that Ichigo was not coming back. Rukia continued to get ready for work, returning to the fax machine as she packed her briefcase. With a sigh she picked up the fax and looked it over. The coversheet read:
"Kuchiki-san
Just a few things you might want to know before meeting Agent Inoue tomorrow morning. I understand how you feel about this, but please understand that we need more than just the two of us to find Kurosaki. I'm sure you'll understand why I've partnered you and Inoue together after reading the following information.
Regards,
Ukitake Taicho"
Rukia flipped to the first page.
"Name: Inoue Orihime
DOB: September 3, 1983
Age: 27
Marital Status: Single"
Rukia admitted she was a little delighted over being able to work with another woman, especially one her age. There were so few of them in the department.
"Completed training with NPA in 2003. Worked as a police officer in Tokyo until 2005 when she began PSIA training."
Interesting, thought Rukia. I don't remember an Inoue Orihime when I was on the police force. I wonder which district she was in.
"Has been in the United States working with the CIA since February of 2008."
A memory of tattoos and bright scarlet hair threatened to come to the surface but Rukia quickly repressed it. Now was not the time to think of him.
"No known living relatives. Brother Inoue Sora was a victim of the Tokyo subway gas attack in 1995, dying several days after exposure to sarin gas."
About a thousand red flags went up in Rukia's mind as she read the last sentence.
Inoue Sora… why do I know that name?
She frowned at the kitchen counter as she tried to make the connection. And then it dawned on her. The first animal/human hybrid she and Ichigo found was a giant python with human eyes outside Fukuoka. When the lab returned with the DNA test results, the human genes that had been spliced with the snake's belonged to an Inoue Sora, who had been pronounced dead more than ten years prior. That was perhaps the first time in Rukia's life where she had felt genuinely shaken. Rukia looked warily at the paper in her hand. What would it be like to work with the sister of the man whose DNA had irrevocably changed her life?
Rukia put the fax in her briefcase and headed out to her car. As she pulled out of the parking structure she glanced back up at her apartment one last time before peeling out onto the street. Something in her gut told her that after today nothing would ever be normal again.