Prologue
A white Victorian style mansion stood behind a huge imposing gate. A young Kuchiki Rukia had no idea why the person who lived behind the gates would call for her. There's nothing truly special about the petite girl. Still, curiosity gnawed at her insides, itching to know the reason for the call.
While Rukia was admiring the scenery of the mansion, a man had come up to gates. He didn't acknowledge the girl standing in front of him, only remained silent. It was a few seconds before the young Kuchiki noticed him. Somehow, the man was able to sense that the girl knew he was there. With a motion of his hand, the gates opened, allowing for Rukia to come in. The two walked in silence up to the mansion. Questions were on the tip of Rukia's tongue, waiting to be asked but something told her this was not the person to ask, for he would only ignore her until the time came. So, for now, she admired the gardens of the mansion.
The gardens were tremendously filled with different types of flowers; from roses to tulips to asters of all different colors and shapes. 'So pretty.' The young girl thought as the pair walked to the door of the mansion.
Before they even got to the door, it opened to reveal a man in a white tux with silver hair and a very noticeable smirk on his face. His eyes were squinted, not revealing the emotions of the man but his smile told everything about him. He stood quite a few centimeters above Rukia. "Why, Kuchiki-san, we've been expecting you. Come in, come in." The man said as he guided Rukia into the foyer and closed the door, leaving the previous person outside. "I'm Ichimaru Gin, Kuchiki-san."
Rukia shivered slightly. The voice of this person seemed to crawl over her like a snake but he kept the composure of a wicked fox. She slowly turned to meet his gaze. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Ichimaru-san."
Gin bent slightly and took Rukia's hand, placing a kiss on it. "The pleasure is all mine, Kuchiki-san." He purred before smirking once more. This caused Rukia to pull her hand away and turn away from the silver haired man. A chuckle rang out among the foyer. "Please, follow me." Then Gin turned and walked down a long hallway.
Rukia reluctantly followed the foxlike man in silence. He asked her question as if to scope her out but she only answered in one word answers. Something about this man didn't feel right, heck, something about this entire situation didn't feel right to the young Kuchiki. Everything seemed sketchy but she couldn't tell what it was.
After a while, Gin and Rukia came to a large wooden door. Gin knocked on the door and everything remained still for a few seconds. "Come in." A commanding voice said from the other side. Gin smirked at Rukia one more time before leading her into the room behind the doors. The room was study. Bookshelves with tons of books liked the west and east walls while a fireplace occupied most of the north wall. A sitting area sat in a corner just to the right of the wall and desk sat in front of the fireplace. The room was barely light with the only light coming from the fire in the fire place. "Kuchiki-san." Someone called. Rukia looked towards the fireplace. Someone sat in a chair facing the fireplace. Gin ushered Rukia up to the desk. A few silent moments passed with only the sounds of a rushed heartbeat coming from the young Kuchiki.
Finally, the person in the chair turned. Rukia could barely make out his features in the dim light. They stood and walked around the desk, over to Rukia. The person stood high above Rukia. His hair was brown and combed back with a single piece of hair falling beside his right eye. No emotion seemed to cross his eyes while he looked down at Rukia, examining her. "Hello, Kuchiki-san. Welcome." The person said with a slight bow. Rukia nodded slightly, not knowing what exactly to do. "My name is Aizen Souske. I'm the one who called you here."
So, this is the mystery man who called for Rukia. She didn't know exactly what to think of him but he did seem arrogant to her; like someone who would use anyone to get what they wanted. Rukia watched Aizen Souske as he walked back behind his desk and sat down. He motioned for Rukia to sit in a nearby chair that sat close to the desk. "I believe you are wondering why you were called here." He said before the young girl could get a word in. A nod was received as his answer. A smile crossed his lips. "I will answer all your questions after we have finishes our…discussion."
He received a confused look from Rukia, who didn't have any idea about what he was thinking. The only thing she could at the moment is wait and see what Aizen was talking about.
"Kuchiki-san, have you ever heard of the Legend of the Crystal Skeleton?" The brown hair man asked the young girl sitting in front of her. She shook her head. His smile grew bigger. "Well, the Crystal Skeleton is a very powerful device. It has the power to grant one wish before it is scattered among the globe once more. My plan is to find and complete the skeleton. I want to clean the world of corruption and make a peaceful world for future generations to come."
"What does that have to do with me?" Rukia finally said.
"Oh my, she finally spoke, Aizen-sama. What a cute voice, I might add." Gin cut in with grin firm on his face. "Do you mind if I keep her?" This statement caused Rukia to push herself as far away from the silver haired man as possible.
"Gin, please." Aizen said before turning to Rukia. "You see, Kuchiki-san, the pieces of the Skeleton don't just show up to whomever. It has to be a special person. And you, Kuchiki-san, meet the requirements that need to be met in order for the pieces to be found."
A question popped up into Rukia's mind. "H-How would you find the pieces?"
"I'm glad you asked." Aizen said. He pressed a button on his desk and a white screen and projector appeared on the west wall of the room. "A special 'ritual' must happen in order to find the pieces. This ritual is called 'The Game.' Players and protectors are tasked with finding the pieces. You will have several people tasked with the same objective and the goal is to complete your objective before anyone else."
"And if you don't complete your objective before the other person?" Rukia asked.
"Nothing from what I've seen. They don't remember anything of The Game and continue life as if it never happened."
"And to the person who completes the objective?"
Aizen chuckled a little. "Now, that is a question for another day. And now, time for some other information. You Kuchiki-san, should you choose to participate in The Game, will be a Player. You will have people called 'Protectors' who will protect you from other people who have the same objective from doing anything to you. Protectors and players, of course, are granted special powers based on the power of the Player. But, if the Protector uses his or her powers too long it will drain energy from the Player and send them into a coma."
"And this can kill them?" Rukia asked.
"I'm afraid so. A Player's energy is replenished over time, if not in a coma. Now, on to something else," Aizen turned the projector on and pulled up a picture with 3 guys. The 1st had spikey orange hair with amber eyes and a permanent scowl set into his face. The second had light blue hair with light blue eyes. He smiled a wicked grin. And the last one had white hair with turquoise eyes. He looked short from what Rukia could tell. "Kurosaki Ichigo, Jaegerjaquez Grimmjow, and Hitsugaya Toshiro will be your protectors. Very powerful men, from what I have seen. And now for you competition," Another picture flashed on the screen when Aizen pressed a button. This picture was of a guy with both purple hair and eyes. He seemed to smile but grin at the same time. "Terada Kotaro is tasked with the same goal in which you will be trusted with. He has one protector and that is Cifer Ulquiorra." Then one last picture flashed onto the screen. This time, it was of woman who had long strawberry blonde hair and a very big chest. "Matsumoto Rangiku, she can either be your enemy or your ally. Your choice on that one. Her protector is Hisagi Shuhei." Aizen said before he pressed another button and the room returned to dim light once again.
Rukia truly didn't know what to make of what Aizen Souske was saying. He was employing her to find some piece of some skeleton that had nothing to do with her. But, it all sounded so tempting. It was a chance to have an adventure, something that she had been dreaming of since forever. And even if she lost, everything would turn to normal, wouldn't it?
Aizen got up from his chair and walked around the desk, over to Rukia. "Kuchiki-san, our time is running short. So I will give you the final piece of information that you need." Rukia sat up in her chair and listened very carefully to what the brown hair man had to say. "I already have most pieces for the skeleton. I just need 2 last things."
"A-And what are they?"
"You only have to worry about the objective I give you. And that Kuchiki-san, is to find the head of the Crystal Skeleton. The head is the most difficult part to find but I trust that you will be the one to find it." Aizen said, trying to coax the young girl into joining.
"Just one question….how do you expect to find the head?"
"Monsters, known as hollows, will come to attack you. Some of these monster will drop stones and these stones will help you find the piece you are seeking but only when it is close. And lucky you, the skull just happens to be here in Japan."
"How do you know that?"
"I do my research very well, Kuchiki-san." Aizen looked at his watch for a moment. "The time has come for us to part, Kuchiki-san. But before you go, please get down on one knee." Aizen commanded from Rukia.
Rukia did as she was told.
"You are tasked with finding the Skull of the Crystal Skeleton. Your protectors shall be Kurosaki Ichigo, Jaegerjaquez Grimmjow, and Hitsugaya Toshiro. You will also be fighting many enemies." A smile appeared on the brown hair man's face. "So, do you accept the challenge, Kuchiki Rukia?" Aizen Sosuke called out to a young black hair girl. The girl looked up from her kneeling position. Her violet eyes, cold and hard; her lips opened slightly.
"I accept."
"Then welcome to….The Game."
(A/N): So what do you guys think? Bad, good, horrible, great? I've been wanting to do a story with my fave character in Bleach and I just think this is the one. And yea,I put my own male character in as well, Kotaro. You can find out about him on my profile when I put his info up. Also, Rukia's harem will consist of 5 guys. Let's see if you can guess who they are.
For now, I'm going to see how well this story prologue and chapter 1 will play out. If they're not so hot, I won't really continue the story. And if it gets a couple of reviews or faves or follows, I'll definitely continue.
So please give some feedback on what you thought and we can go from there. Bye for now~!
Update: 6/17/2014