2012 update; just editing things in author's notes, nothing big.
This story is dedicated to star-gazing-in-LA- She requested that I write something of how Ichigo and Rukia would meet, but not in modern day way. It was freakishly hard, since all my ideas were modern day-related. I finally figured one out, though it's not as good as I thought it would be. But that's my fault, so blegh. I personally, don't like how this turned out, but it was all I had and could think of, so I apologize if it's not ... amazing or something. I'm learning though.
A Different Beginning
An IchiRuki Story
Written by request from star-gazing-in-LA-
Ichigo Kurosaki heard the cruel laughter mocking him behind as he walked on home from the Hell of school. He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth as he tried to contain his anger, their bitter voices echoing in his head. No, don't do anything, He thought to himself. He didn't want to start a massive scene now, even though they just wouldn't leave him alone and well, he figured that they probably never would.
"Hey Kurosaki," A voice that belonged to someone whom Ichigo could not recognize called out in a teasing tone, "What's up with that pathetic hair of yours?" Several people laughed as though they had just heard the funniest joke ever. To them, it most likely was, even though they repeated the same words every day. They never seemed to grow bored of it, unfortunately.
Ichigo huffed. "Damn, when the hell are they going to let it go already?" Ichigo muttered angrily and reached up with his hand to slap his forehead in frustration.
His hair was natural, dammit. But would they ever believe it? No, they certainly didn't, as they continued making fun of his hair, no matter how many times Ichigo had told them that it was completely natural. "Sure," They'd snicker and continue on with their bullying. But they didn't stop there; they made jokes and hateful insults about nearly everything about Ichigo. Even though he received excellent grades that any parent would be overly proud of, they had dared to mock that as well. They tore apart his very being and laughed at everything and anything that they possibly could about him. Not a day would go by without people trying to make him feel like the dirt on the ground.
Ichigo learned to accept the fact that he was just a plain nobody and ignored their comments now. It was pretty much a normal everyday routine. After all, no one in his school seemed to care about what happened to him; he was sure that the entire school population was against him, for nothing that he did. Ichigo found it incredibly lucky how he managed through the first few days without beating the crap out of the people around him. Oh how lucky those bastards were.
As he walked on farther from the school, he no longer heard their laughter, much to his relief. Their taunts had given him a tremendous headache. Slowing down his pace from the feeling of tiredness, he turned the corner to where his house would be.
Then he saw something that made him stop breathing for a moment.
There, leaning against the lamppost right outside the garage of his house, was of what seemed to be a girl who looked around to be his age in black ragged robes, her blood dripping on the hard cement, which formed a pool of the red liquid. The blood tainted her pale skin and raven hair as well. Her eyes flickered for a brief moment before she closed them completely. As she did so, her head fell forward, strands of her hair circling her face and creating a curtain for her forehead.
Ichigo abandoned his school bag and rushed to the girl to aid her.
"Oi, hey! Are you okay?"
The girl didn't respond, which deeply worried Ichigo. He kneeled down and, in panic, shook her shoulders, hoping that that would somehow wake her up.
"Hey! Come on, say something!" He continued shaking her, even though it was quite foolish, since it obviously wasn't working. Oh, how much he wanted this girl to somehow signal to him that she was alive, but once again, there came not an ounce of sound or movement from her.
"Crap," Ichigo muttered, beads of sweat forming on his forehead. He looked around the street, hoping that someone might be near to help. However, not a single soul was in sight. Ichigo cursed. How could someone not have seen this earlier?
Ichigo ignored his thoughts and gently, as to not hurt the unconscious girl, placed one arm on her back and one arm under her legs, and rose up. Thankfully, he saw her chest slightly rise for air, but didn't dare put his worries aside, for there could be more danger.
"You're going to be fine," Ichigo whispered to her, assuring himself more than the girl.
Ichigo then carried her into his house, after some struggle to open the front door without dropping her, placed her gently onto the living room couch. He didn't care that blood then soiled the furniture; the girl was more important. He could just explain to his father that someone was deeply injured. Ichigo was sure he'd understand; His dad was a doctor after all.
Frantically running around for the proper medical equipment to patch the girl up, he couldn't help but think that her face features were somewhat pretty and graceful, even with that blood and all splattered on her face.
Ichigo shook his head; there was no time to be thinking such things like this.
After finding the items that he required, he sat on the edge of the couch slowly and started to roll up the sleeves of the girl's…kimono? He wasn't sure what she was wearing, let alone why she was wearing something like this, but brushed that aside and began to work on healing her.
For some reason, Ichigo was extra careful with her, unlike with the other patients he had helped his father with. He then began to become really curious about her; who she was, how she ended up so horribly injured. Her position earlier didn't give him a clue as to what could have possibly happened.
"Nnn."
Ichigo's hands froze on the arm that he was bandaging with as he heard a soft voice murmur. He looked down on the girl's face and saw her eyes twitch. His heart began to beat at an abnormal speed. And suddenly, without warning, the girl's eyes opened. Her dark violet eyes hinted with blue stared at Ichigo's amber ones.
His heart nearly stopped.
The girl immediately sat up, but flinched as the pain from her wounds erupted inside and let out a sharp breath. She placed one of her hands on the injury on her stomach and noticed some blood squeeze out under the bandage.
"Slow down… You're- You're not fully healed yet," Ichigo managed to say in a calm voice. He began to gently push her back for her to lie back down, but she rejected the action politely.
"I'm-I'm fine…Thank you." The girl murmured before looking at her surroundings with curious eyes, but was cautious. She didn't think the person who just healed and cleaned up her wounds would actually hurt her (What would be the point of fixing her up in the first place?), but she didn't dare let her guard down, especially after what happened. Remembering so, she cursed herself silently (so that the boy wouldn't hear) for being incredibly careless at such a simple task.
Her soft and clear voice enchanted Ichigo for a moment, even though he heard the weakness in it. He never gave a single thought as to how she sounded but…He liked the sound of her voice. It reminded him of gentle music, which calmed him. Wait, no. That wasn't the point.
Ichigo knew for sure that she was not fine, despite what she told him.
"No, you're not. Trust me, I can tell."
Slightly angered, the girl's eyes stared at Ichigo, almost making it look like as though she was glaring at him instead, which was exactly her purpose. She then directed her focus somewhere else, realizing why she was here in the first place.
"I'm fine, really. I'm grateful to you for healing me, but I need to-"
Suddenly, her eyes widened and she stared at Ichigo again, only with shock this time. What…The…Hell? An obvious thought crossed her mind that surprised her.
Ichigo slightly jumped back; stunned that she had suddenly looked at him like that. He had to claw at the couch's arms so that he would not fall on the floor.
"Are you alri-"
"How can you see me?" The girl demanded hastily.
Boy did that sound confusing to Ichigo. He didn't understand as to what she meant by that. Was he not supposed to be able to see her? The question made no sense whatsoever. Did she think that he was blind? How in the world did she think he healed her then?
Ichigo coughed and looked away. "Well, I do have eyes…"
The girl's eyes twitched in slight annoyance. Did he think she was stupid?
"No, that's not what I meant. You're not supposed to have the ability to see me. No normal human being should, so how can you…?"
Right, Ichigo almost forgot one little important fact about himself: He could see the souls of deceased people, so no; he was not just any "normal human being," as the girl had declared.
Wait, if she was telling him that he shouldn't be able to see her, then was she saying that she was…
She was dead?
The thought of this girl being "dead" really made Ichigo uneasy and…sad? Sure they had just met and all, but somehow, Ichigo thought that they could be more than strangers. And no, it is not what you're thinking. What he meant was friends; yes, he was sure that they could somehow be friends.
"Well, I'm not normal, unfortunately for you. I can see spirits and ghosts…stuff like that," Ichigo explained to the girl, focusing his eyes somewhere besides her.
The girl stared at him for a few moments as though she didn't believe him.
"Is that so… I've never met anyone like you before then. That's quite interesting. If you don't mind, may you tell me your name?" She asked in curiosity. Before she left, she wanted to at least know the identity of the person who had helped her recover.
"Uh…Sure. I'm Ichigo. Ichigo Kurosaki," Ichigo replied, reaching out his hand for a friendly shake.
However, the girl was too busy trying not to burst into laughter to notice. She covered her mouth with her hands, but the giggling could still be heard. Oh to hell with it. The girl simply couldn't hold it in anymore and straight out laughed. It pained her to do because of her injuries, but she managed to ignore them.
Ichigo frowned and narrowed his eyes at her. "And just what the hell is so funny?"
"I'm- I'm sorry, but…" She struggled to control her laughter, which just made Ichigo become annoyed even more. Glaring, he waited for her reply. "Your name is Ichigo? ICHIGO? Really?" The girl began to laugh all over again, little tears soon sliding down her blushed cheeks. She brushed away them and deeply breathed, stopping her wild laughter for a moment.
"I'm sorry," She apologized with a smile still on her face. "But that's just the funniest thing I have ever heard." I've never laughed so hard before…
"Pft, let's hear your name then," Ichigo muttered back, insulted that she had laughed so hard because of his name. And surprisingly, he didn't mind too much.
"Rukia Kuchiki," She replied without hesitation and held out her hand for Ichigo to shake, determined that he could not somehow make fun of her name. Hers was at least better than "Strawberry Kurosaki," right?
Ichigo smirked and placed his hand in hers and lightly shook. "Rotten Wood, eh? Never heard of that one before."
Rukia gave Ichigo a deathly glare and quickly removed her hand from his grasp. "It is at least a noble name, unlike yours, Strawberry."
"Rotten Wood is a noble name?"
"Would you just shut it already?"
"Rotten Wood is better than Strawberry? You sure about that?"
"Shut up, human."
"Oh, now she's making fun of me for being human."
"Are you- Are you mocking me?"
"Oh no! I pissed off Lady Rotten Wood! Whatever should I do?"
"YOU BASTARD!"
And then, a pillow was angrily thrown right at Ichigo's face, though causing him no harm. He laughed at her desperate try to hurt him physically.
Rukia held up another pillow, as if threatening him with it if he dared to make fun of her and her name again. Her glare with how she was holding the pillow made her seem all the more frightening.
"That pillow's not going to do anything to me, you know," Ichigo smirked.
Ignoring the remark, Rukia threw the pillow anyway, to which Ichigo easily dodged. He then picked it up and threw it right back at her.
"Hey! You can't hurt an injured being!"
Ichigo chuckled. "Well, the injured being shouldn't be attacking the one who fixed them up."
Rukia crossed her arms, knowing that he was correct about that fact, though she didn't want to admit it. How stubborn she was.
"I did thank you for that, did I not?"
"And you're welcome, Lady Rotten Wood."
"…I take my thank you back, Mister Orange Strawberry."
Ichigo scowled, not appreciating that comment on both his hair colour and name. He obviously received more than enough about it at school; he certainly did not need another person to mock his appearance and name as well. However, the tone Rukia had used sounded somewhat playful, as though she didn't mean what she said. All the other people at school had clearly emphasized hatred and feelings of resentment towards him.
Rukia raised an eyebrow at the sudden silence. She had expected him with another comeback not this. Had she gone too far? After all, it was a simple joke; nothing to take too seriously. Wait- Joke? She never ever joked during duty. Her job was too serious and important for any. She didn't want to get easily distracted. Okay, so she wasn't exactly "not-distracted" earlier, but her enemy was more powerful than usual, mind you. It wasn't because she was "weak" or anything. No, it certainly was not that. Speaking of which…
"Aren't you curious to know who I am?"
Ichigo gave her an odd, confused look. "Didn't you just tell me that you're R-"
"No. I meant what I am." Rukia's expression suddenly became all serious-like, which surprised Ichigo.
He scratched his head and mumbled, "It doesn't really matter, now does it? You were all wounded in several places, bleeding a whole lot and unconscious too. What matters is that…You're alive and breathing. Well, at least…I think you are. I mean, ghosts are supposed to be dead, so…Wait, I don't get it. If you're a ghost, how can you-"
Rukia let out a little laugh and slightly smiled. "I'll tell you who I am the next time we met." She began to get up, but a large hand rested on hers to stop her from doing so.
A concerned Ichigo frowned at her. "Wait, you're leaving now? Shouldn't you at least rest here until you're fully healed?"
"I'm afraid so. I can't waste any more time. Anyway, I feel just fine. You're quite the healer, I'll give you that."
A sudden feeling of dread and loneliness filled Ichigo's heart as he watched the smaller girl slowly stand up, a little shaky at first, but she quickly recovered as his hands reached out to support her frame. He regretfully led her to the door, but didn't open it.
Rukia turned around to face Ichigo. What was this odd sensation that lay in her heart? She felt as though…As though she didn't want to leave. Rukia shook her thoughts away. She couldn't possibly feel sad after meeting someone for such a short period of time. What was this?
"Once again, thanks for everything, Strawberry."
Ichigo nodded and, he didn't notice it himself, but he smiled.
Just as Rukia turned the door knob, Ichigo called out, "You'll keep your promise, right?"
Rukia didn't have a clue as to what he was talking about at first, but realized it after remembering what he had said to her earlier. She knew that there was very little chance of them ever meeting again in the future, but nodded anyway. A promise was a promise, after all.
"I will, don't worry."
And with one last smirk, Rukia dashed out of Ichigo's sight. He tried to follow her, but was stunned when he saw nothing in the distance. Except…For a small violet butterfly that fluttered with the wind. It then disappeared as quickly as it had arrived.
Ichigo looked up to the blue sky, thinking about the events that had just happened. Perhaps…Life wasn't as bad as he thought it was.
The two weren't sure of it at the time, but Rukia did keep her promise to him.
I'm not fond of the end but euh, I tried.