A/N- I'm pretty sure some of you who have read my other works are screaming at me for producing ANOTHER fanfic. Sorry. I cannot control my muse. I just want you to know that, though I'm posting new works, none of them will be abandoned unless noted. Anyways, here I bring you a new pairing I'm experimenting with: HichiRuki! Of course, this is AU because that's all I write. Shiro is a bit OOC, but that's only because he is human in this, so he does indeed have human emotions. He's not as crazy as he is in canon. Gomens. However, I am trying to keep him as IC as possible. Stick with me.

Sorry if you despise IchiRuki. You might as well stop reading this right now if you do because there's gonna be a lot of that at the beginning.

Enjoy!

Warnings: None.

She Saved Me- Prologue

When my older brother explained to my family that he was bringing his new girlfriend over, I was as lethargic as ever. I didn't care about his love life. Why should I? On the contrary, my two younger sisters and my annoying, crazy-ass father were ecstatic. Of course they were. My older brother, of only two minutes, was the perfect son. Good grades, popular throughout the school, great social skills, and, of course, Ichigo had the good looks.

I, however, got the short end of the stick.

I was the son with all the problems. I was known to get into many fights, struggled with my grades due to my lazy and procrastinating attitude, was practically anti-social, and always buried myself in books. It also didn't help that I was born with some deformity with a long name that I can't spell, and because of it, I had abnormal pallid skin and couldn't tan, my hair is snow white, and my eyes...

Heh. Never mind, I actually like those. I scared people off and they strayed. I preferred to be alone in solitude. People were annoying as it was.

Now, enough about me, let's get back to the main problem.

So there I lay in my messy room, lying on my bed and reading my current favorite novel of the week. This time it was horror, which I loved. The gory and gruesome descriptions were simply delightful. Just as I was reading about some poor girl getting her eye lodged out of her skull with the killer's dirtied hands, a knock at my bedroom door sounded.

"What?" I uttered loud enough for the intruder to hear. I knew who it was anyways.

"You don't want to meet her?" My brother, Ichigo, asked, walking in and closing the door behind him. I huffed and closed my book, rolling my eyes. I rolled onto my side, facing the wall and turning away from him as he sat on the edge of my own bed.

"Why should I? She's yer girlfriend, not mine. I don' give a shit 'bout how yer head-over-heels in love with this chick," I mumbled. "Ya said tha' last time an' look wha' happened."

I could hear Ichigo scowling in anger. I always loved ticking him off for some reason, and I couldn't help the chuckle that escaped my lips. I expected Ichigo to blow up like he usually did, but instead he only sighed.

"Please, Shiro? I really want you to meet her. She's different from Inoue," he egged on. "I-I really think she's the one this time."

Pursing my lips in a small pout, I thought for a moment. It couldn't be that bad, right? Plus, it's not like I'd have to stay down there long. It was just a small introduction, and then I could be off on my way back to my safe haven that was my room. No problem.

"Fine," I sighed loudly and sat up. Ichigo gave me one of his rare smiles and stood, motioning for me to follow. I tied my long snowy locks into a loose ponytail as I followed him, trying to look decent in my dark jeans and white sweater. Walking down the stairs, I heard my twin say something along the lines of "I got him" and my sisters giggling.

When I turned into the living room, I saw someone I was not ever expecting to see again. My eyes widened to an immeasurable size as her eyes met mine. No, no way.

"Ah, Rukia, this is Ogichi, but we call him 'Shiro'. Shiro, this is Rukia," Ichigo beamed, gesturing to the both of us. Rukia only smiled politely and reached out to shake my hand.

"Nice to meet you," she said.

I couldn't believe it. No, I just couldn't. She didn't remember me. She didn't remember me at all. Her eyes suggested her meeting of a new person. I remembered those eyes, they were like windows. I could easily catch her in a lie."Nice ta meet ya," I mumbled, not bothering to shake her hand.

My brother coughed awkwardly, probably embarrassed that my anti-social personality was still in play. It was then that Yuzu chirped from the kitchen, "Dinner's ready!"

I reluctantly followed, longing to return to my room and my gory novel. I sat down next to Yuzu, across from Ichigo and Rukia, watching them hold hands. I gritted my teeth and looked down at my lap.

Why? Why did it have to be her? Why didn't she remember me?

Memories flooded into my mind and I gripped my jeans tightly.

"Shiro-nii?" Yuzu questioned, staring at me with concerned eyes. She had my mother's eyes, just like Ichigo. "Are you alright? You don't feel ill, do you?" My younger sister raised a hand to my forehead, feeling my temperature. I was pretty sure it was normal. However, I instinctively lied.

"I, uh, actually don' feel too good, Yuzu," I gave a tired smile. "I think I feel a lil' sick. I-I'm gonna go lie down." I immediately stood and made my way out of the kitchen and up the stairs. Unlike Ichigo, I was an excellent liar. I doubted that they would come looking for me.

Reaching my room, I locked the door and dived beneath the covers of my bed. The room was dark, as it was now in the evening and the lights were off. The darkness provided reassurance somehow, but also reminded me of that night-that night where I was ready to commit, or so I thought at the time, but she stopped me. She somehow knew that I wasn't ready; she had that ability.

I'd only talked to that raven-haired fourteen year-old girl for two hours, forty-two minutes and twenty-six seconds that day, but I'd felt like I'd known her for years. That girl was able to calm the storm in me that no one was able to tame at the time. After chatting with her, I wasn't as rebellious against my family and had found new confidence. That girl had changed my world.

I fell in love with that girl from the sea-side city of Okinawa.

That girl was Kuchiki Rukia.