Lenne was, she thought, a normal girl living in Rukongai. She was by herself, had no money…absolutely nothing. But, she was happy. She happily stayed on the rooftops, or in trees watching people go on with their daily lives.
That was what she was currently doing, when her stomach rumbled. She frowned slightly. She shouldn't have been hungry. Hadn't before this unless…. Her eyes widened, as she mentally added 'find food' to her daily list of things to do, realizing that she was starting to develop spiritual powers. Pursing her lips, she sat back against the tree trunk.
That would begin a whole new set of problems. She could get attacked by a hollow, or even find someone who wanted to use her for their own gain. She contemplated the next steps she would surely have to take as she hopped down from the tree. Finding food would be relatively easy. She'd scoped out the area for a long time now, and knew who was an easy mark.
A few years had past. Lenne was taller, her russet colored were sharper, and she taught herself how to suppress her spiritual power to an extent. If she was caught unawares, the shock would drop her concentration, causing it to explode out. She was walking down the street, looking for easy prey for lunch. Then she spotted a vendor wrapped up in conversation with a customer. She gave a lop-sided grin as she sauntered over, slipping an apple in her yukata.
"You shouldn't steal from these hard working people miss." Came a voice from over her shoulder. She let out a surprised squeal, her guards coming crashing around her. Spinning around, she came face to face with steel grey eyes, narrowing as they watched her. She took in his messy raven colored hair and his uniform. It was a shinigami! Crap! Now what? He raised up to his full height which had to be two feet taller than her, and placed his hands on his hips. He was lean, muscular, and had scars down one side of his face. Even with those, the shinigami wasn't too imposing, but when her eyes slid over and caught the badge on his arm, she got worried. He was a Lieutenant. Double crap.
"I….ah…" She stammered, her face burning with a blush. She saw his features soften for an instant.
"You're hungry, I get that. Here." He called the vendor over, talking to him a bit, then looked back to Lenne. "I paid for that apple, as well as a whole bag. Ration them accordingly."
"But I…." He pulled out a book and a few pamphlets, handing them to her along with the bag.
"Just promise me one thing Miss." She bit her lip in thought for a moment, then nodded slightly.
"Promise what?" As she nervously took the items from him.
"Read that material, and consider going to the academy." He smiled for the first time. "That sort of Spiritual power is sought after." He turned to leave, when Lenne stopped him for some reason. She was quite confused herself when she did it.
"Ah….I will just…" He looked back over his shoulder at her. "Is…is that a poppy on your badge?" She asked lamely, though she did love all sorts of flowers, poppies were some of her favorites. He grinned and nodded once.
"9th Squad. Read that and check into the academy." He said, waving over his shoulder as he walked away. She just stared after him, blinking a few times. A lieutenant just told her to try to become a shinigami. She blushed furiously and glanced around as some villagers were talking about her in hushed tones.
"That girl was talking to Lieutenant Hisagi of 9th squad?"
"That's Lenne. She's just a street rat… Don't know why he would lower himself."
"Lieutenant Abarai and Rukia Kuchiki started off as street rats too you know? Now look at them." Someone chimed in. Oh..Lenne had to get out of there. She was feeling all kinds of uncomfortable right now. She backed up a few paces, and ran off to her favorite hiding place, in a clump of trees. She sat down, setting everything down in front of her, and looked at it. She heard from some of the other kids that Shinigami were really mean for the most part. You were a lucky one if you came across one that cared about street rats like herself. Apparently, she got lucky, though she wouldn't consider herself a street rat. She wasn't a child after all, though not quite an adult just yet. She pulled out an apple, taking a bite, and picked up the book. She opened it up, and inscribed in there was a note.
"To strengthen one's body, one should also strengthen their mind. With that being said, always challenge yourself and strive to learn something new every day." It was hand written and not signed. She sighed softly. This had to be sentimental for the Shinigami. It definantly looked well worn. Holding the apple in her teeth, she opened it to the first page. It was a book of poetry? She snorted, taking a bite of her apple, and reading as she chewed. A big, bad lieutenant of the 13 Court Squads carried around a book of poetry.
It was a month or so later and Lenne kept her word that she would ration her food as well as she possibly could. Also, the pamphlets that the shinigami gave her were for the academy, and a few of the different squads. She read them over, but was unsure about how to get in. She didn't think they would allow her to just stroll up to the front door and walk in. Schools usually required money, which was something she didn't have. They required skill. She had some skills, but she doubted it was what they were looking for.
But, a promise was a promise. Though, it had been weeks, and she hadn't seen him again. She was able to find other books to read, along with finding a 9th squad member who was willing to bring the book back to their lieutenant, without hounding her on how she acquired such a thing. There were a few times she had to run away and lay low for a few days. She took a deep breath, setting down her current book, and made herself a promise that the next day, she would do just what she thought…walk right up to the academy doors, and at least ask what she needed to do. She would probably have to let her spirit power show, so they didn't think she was full of hot air.
The next day, she was good to her word and strolled up to the academy doors, not suppressing anything, and inquired about attending. She was ushered in almost instantly. That went easier than she thought. She hoped school wasn't as hard as she thought it was going to be…
As Lenne soon found out, those were famous last words. She was generally socially awkward, but was good at many things left to her own devices. She just kind of crumbled around other people. She tried to stay under the radar, keeping to the back of classes and to the shadows in the halls. When she was required to have a partner, she didn't actively go looking for one. Most of the other students kept their distance when they weren't taunting her, her kido classes literally blew up in her face. She was learning and applying what she learned, especially in the area of controlling her spiritual power. That was always a good thing. Her instructors told her she was doing well with the physical aspects too. Of that she wasn't so sure. She didn't like to fight, at all. It scared her, and she didn't know if she was ready or if she'd ever be ready to be a shinigami.
A/N: I hope you guys like it. My first try at a Bleach Fic. I'm not too sure how I feel about it yet. :/ It's got some action elements later. I'm not too good with that usually, but I've been doing a bit more with it recently and think it's getting better. Well, let me know what you think! I always appreciate hearing from readers!