~Smile For Me~

-PROLOGUE-

The Kunoichi and Kurosaki

CHAPTER 00

Guess what?

I'm back to writing BLEACH IchiRuki rom/com fics!

After a few months of thinking, I'll admit I was confused and lazy. That's when I actually checked the poll on my profile, sitting there idly for months. Since, like, April.

Should I start writing the Kunoichi and Kurosaki (Now 'Smile for Me')

Around 60-ish responses.

Over half for Yes.

1/4th for No.

1/4th for Chicken, which was supposed to be a joke option. LOL. XD

Well, I'm actually writing it.

As a hobby.

I guess I need to start ranting my emotions again. *Sigh*

Well, 'ere it goes.

This story is dedicated to

-The Laptop I am Writing this On.-

You've served me well, even when you are almost dying.

-My Heart, Which Broke A Few Months Ago-

…it is what it says. It is in the fragile process of rebuilding itself.

-The One Who's Repairing My Heart-

He doesn't know he is. He probably will never know. All I know is that he's slowly fixing my heart up by patching little band-aids and stapling staples in the cracks. He's helping me change.

-My Scratched Up Gibson Acoustic-

You make screaming out my feelings an actual song. Thanks for making the heartbreak easier to bear.

And –This World—

I guess that even though this is a pretty crappy world, I'm gonna be living here all my life, so I might as well give it credit for letting me take up space.

Oh, and –This World- includes you, reader.

Have you ever fallen helplessly in love?

…I guess that's a really general statement, isn't it?

I mean, I'm pretty sure everybody has. I've always wondered why people tend to fall head-over-heels in love with somebody that is either so out of their league or picture themselves in unrealistic love stories with people highly unlikely to even see you in real life. Love is part of the human psyche, whether you like it or not.

Jeez, I thought life was pretty simple before I discovered the concept of romantic love.

In around the 8th Grade, my family went on a camping trip with my best friend Arisawa Tatsuki's family. I'd known Tatsuki since kindergarten before then, and I was pretty used to her. We'd been flinging mud at each other for 8 years. She was like a bro to me. Her family willingly took me and my sisters out a lot, knowing our family's condition. During the trip, one of my family's tent sides ripped. I couldn't bunk with my sisters because it was a 2-person junior tent, and that forced me to bunk with Tatsuki. I was a pretty innocent kid. Tatsuki never touched me, and I never touched her, but we told each other hilarious stories and stuff. The majority I honestly knew about girls was the fact they had cooties (according to elementary school), and that they cried a lot and were horrible.

When we got back from the camping trip, for the first time since my mother died I was happy and pumped, telling my classmates about my adventures.

"Man, it felt great to go back to the tent and spend a night with Tatsuki every day for a whole week!" I said enthusiastically. Automatically, several, actually, all of the boys were intrigued.

"Seriously, Kurosaki?" They said, all at the same time. I nodded.

They dragged me away and asked me several questions in which I really didn't understand.

"Do you think she enjoyed it?"

"I hope she did. I mean, she was spending time with me."

"Did… it ever get super hard?"

"Hell no. I mean, being around Tatsuki… it's already hard sometimes, if you get what I mean." I scoffed. Women.

"How many days again?"

"Six days."

"Wow!"

The boys gave me looks of what seemed like respect.

"Man, Kurosaki," Some guy hooted. "I had no idea you were so advanced when it came to love."

I was so totally confused then.

Okay, okay, you get it.

I was exposed right then and there. The whole concept was described to me in breathtaking, ordeal description by my classmates. Suddenly, my view on girls changed. I realized that every so often, I found myself wanting to just talk with a girl that used to sit in the corner of the classroom. She had beautiful brown eyes that made me want to melt. I realized then that I had a crush. I was in love for the first time in my life. Now, I wasn't too bad looking myself, but man… I feel stupid just by thinking about it now. I was too innocent, not even understanding the simple chocolates that were given to me by the bagful on Valentines Day.

Suddenly, I was a man. It's kind of painful, still, thinking about it. That girl with the brown eyes was the first girl that ever truly intrigued me. She was the type that volunteered at animal shelters and did her homework every day, but she was still painstakingly beautiful. I found out several of my classmates liked her too, and it made me cringe. She wasn't just mine. I had to share.

Soon, that girl found a boyfriend. I was devastated. Well, not really, because we only ever small-talked in public. Nothing else. I barely knew her. All I know is that in a week, you can fall in love and then have your heart broken in the next.

Let me give you a little recap of my pathetic freshman year in high school:

I was put in Class 1-A, the smart class. I was an honor student after the first semester. All throughout the year since junior high I was (and am) part of a rock band called HeartbreakHOUR, which could've been a good band, if we had amps that didn't crack every-so-often, an actual drum set instead of a tambourine, and if we actually practiced. All our songs were about sad love stories and about pretty girls, which technically, was too common.

I discovered the fact that my puberty had come in full-swing that year. I'll admit that pimples were sprouting just at my hair line, forcing me to mousse my hair in such a way that it covered my acne. It looked absolutely retarded. Manhood had taken its toll on me by making hair sprout in… numerous… places on my body, which initially freaked the hell out of me.

I asked out a girl named Isogai Hitomi, who said yes, and we dated for about 2 months. She was my 3rd ever girlfriend, whom of which I lasted longest with. We fooled around in my basement and I wrote her corny love songs. The last week of our relationship, I found out that this hot chick really liked me, and I sort of kissed her even though I was dating Hitomi. We broke up at the school festival's cafe, which, in my humble opinion, is the worst place possible to break up to begin with. She threw a cup of hot chrysanthemum tea in my face. The relationship with the hot girl didn't even work out.

I received only about an armful of Valentines chocolate that year, one pack from Tatsuki that was obviously store-bought, another package from her friend Inoue Orihime, and another big bag from a scary girl that stalked me for about a month. Her chocolate tasted like bullcrap.

HeartbreakHOUR actually landed a gig at a small pub in a crappy ghetto, which actually had a drum kit. Too bad that the rhythm guitarist/vocals, yours truly, slipped on a puddle of what could've been piss or beer or God knows what before the show, canceling it and leaving him in a cast for 3 months.

I got 5 jobs and never lasted more than 2 weeks for any of them. I was totally broke and bummed out, unable to afford even buying an energy drink with the money I had in total.

One good thing that happened to me that year was that I made the swim team, which I loved. Swimming was like walking to me. I almost made nationals, but I was .02 seconds too slow to make it, which really sucked.

At the end of the year ceremony, I accidentally pierced myself when I put on the school rose pin and I bled through my nipple all over my best white shirt. I could tell even the headmaster was ready to laugh at me when I was congratulating one of my senpais on graduating on stage, shaking his hand with one hand and holding my bleeding nipple with other.

Well, that was freshman year.

Over the summer, I dicked around and basically did nothing. I picked a few notes on my old Gibson acoustic every once in a while and went out for food, but nothing else, basically.

Man, my love life and life in general was a freaking no-man's land. It was pathetic.

Before my 2nd Year in high school, I promised myself I was going to finally hold a job, get a real gig…

…and really, truly fall in love.

Oh… the irony.

That DAY

I was sitting on the school roof, eating lunch with my buddies/band mates Uryu and Chad, when I got the call. That roof was and is one of my most favorite places. The beautiful cerulean sky and opaque, fluffy clouds were breathtaking to me. Although at times the wind became strong and icy, staring into that sky, grey or blue, gave me a twisted sense of hope.

"Hey, Kurosaki!"

I turned my head to see a girl running to me, smiling.

"What is it, Inoue?" I said, chomping on my sandwich.

"Remember Hotori-chan?" Inoue chirped, excited. "You know how much she likes you, and it's her birthday today, sooo…" She paused, smiling and turning a light shade of pink. "Everybody was wondering if you could play a song for her tonight at her party."

My eyebrow raised. "Wait… Sato Hotori-san likes me?" I said, flabbergasted.

Chad and Uryu facepalmed simultaneously as Inoue stared at me blankly.

"You mean… you haven't noticed?" She said, surprised.

"Nope," I said, telling the truth.

Then I had a sudden realization.

The times when she tried to get me to dance with her at the dance, how she frequently tried to talk to me, how she always invited me out and stuff. I realized how she always smiled at me and how she even tried to hold my hand. Talk about idiocy at its best, Ichigo.

"Whoa…" I murmured, enlightened.

"Well, will you do it?" Inoue asked, shrugging off my incompetence. "I mean, if you don't have swimming practice."

I thought for a moment. "I don't have practice."

I thought again.

"…yeah, sure." I said firmly.

HeartbreakHOUR wasn't going anywhere, so I figured starting with Hotori's party, I could start making a name for myself as a solo artist. I could picture it already: I play a song at her party and get discovered by her dad, who is actually a record producer. I would become internationally famous, and girls would fall for me in every direction.

Kurosaki Ichigo: Smexy Playboy JPop Billionaire.

I smiled cunningly to myself.

"That's great!" Inoue said, smiling widely. "Hotori-chan with be so happy!" She ran up to me and pressed a small Post-It with the details on my palm. When I looked at Inoue, I noticed that her cheeks had turned pink when our eyes made contact.

"Ehhhh….~!" Inoue said, looking embarrassed. "Um… see you later, Kurosaki-kun."

I nodded, not thinking about it. I sipped nonchalantly at my juice box as she skipped away. I looked into the sky, which was turning grey. My eyes trailed to an airplane flying across the sky, intervening with my roaming thoughts. A banner attached to it flew noticeably around. The giant face of Mayoral Candidate Kurosaki Osamu slowly became subliminal reminder to legal adults who viewed it to vote for him by the second.

I rolled my eyes and finished my juice box.

Vote for Uncle Oz!

I gritted my teeth and stared at the banner, my hand's grip tightening on the juice box.

"Kurosaki," Uryu said, breaking my train of dwelling thoughts. "Have you decided what you're going to play at Sato-san's house tonight?"

I nodded at him dismissively and threw my juice box into the trash.

I stood at the door, my ear pressed against it.

Tears welled in my eyes as the voices of my father and Uncle Oz became increasingly louder. I knew it was wrong to listen to them, but I needed to know the truth about my mother.

"It's your fault for getting involved in this mess!" My father accused.

"Don't go there, Isshin. You meddled with everything," Uncle Oz spat.

I cringed as I heard a glass object break on the floor.

"Isshin, you know who killed your wife!"

My dad slammed his fist on a table.

"You know it was-"

"Jeez, Ichigo…" Tatsuki murmured, hitting my shoulder with her book bag. "Why are you spacing out so much today?"

I snapped awake from my strange day dream and nodded.

I arrived 'home' too early for my liking.

I usually wandered around for a while after walking Tatsuki home, but I had to pick up my song binder and my guitar. I never really wanted to be home when my Dad was awake. It was never a good idea to be near my Dad when he was awake.

I stood at my doorstep, gritting my teeth, my hands feeling particularly clammy as I gripped my house key. I stood there for a while, my hand sweating and shaking as the key seemed to refuse to insert into the keyhole. I was quite frankly having too good of a day to go through the shit I knew was yet to come.

I took a deep breath and opened the door.

The undeniable stench of alcohol filled my nostrils, too familiar to forget, too familiar to find unnatural. The lights were dim and blinking. I quickly made a mental note to change all the lights when Dad was gone. I slipped off the shoes I wore by the doorstep as quickly and quietly as I could, because I could hear the disheartening heavy footsteps and groans I knew belonged to my Dad. I hurried down the hall and up the stairs, trying not to step on any of his cursed beer bottles and hemorrhage my foot.

I could hear his voice. I closed my eyes in anger and continued running.

"Ichigo…? 'Izat you?" He drabbled.

I slid into my bedroom and shut and locked the door behind me before he could come in. I took a deep breath and slid down the door with my back, staring at the ceiling.

Dad was ruined. He was never truly awake. Not after Mom died.

I stood up and quietly walked towards my open Song Binder on the floor, which was overfilled and stuffed. I made a mental note that I should really buy a new binder as I picked it up. The red binder was broken falling apart, with the three hiragana for 'Ichigo' carelessly scribbled on the cover. Random things were stuck on the front, including a band aid and a candy wrapper. It was filled with songs about family and hope and perfect relationships with perfect girls. It was filled with epic, unrealistic crap.

I sighed and dug through the songs, looking for a few I knew I felt inspired by.

That's when I saw my song 'Smile for Me'.

I pulled out the lyrics and stared.

I thought my life was tough

I could never be happy enough

But then I met that girl

Who promptly changed my world

At first I was the same

I thought she was insane

Always positive, never discouraged

Always letting her confidence flourish

But she told me she was human

And eventually, she did frown

I realized that I liked it better

When her frown was upside down…

So I asked her to

'Smile for me,

And I'll smile for you. I don't know if I could ever smile

Without knowing you could too.'

The song was left completely unfinished, but I let myself linger at it. That girl in the song was completely fiction. I could never think of meeting a girl like that in real life. I promised myself then I'd sing that song for her if I ever did. Hell, I'd do anything to make her smile.

My eyes softened at the thought. I proceeded in promptly choosing to sing that song at Hotori's party.

Let me introduce you to my favorite guitar. Ever.

It's a Gibson, not even full size. It's a ¾ size guitar, only a little bit longer then my arm. It has a red finish to it, still polished looking in the spots that weren't covered in stickers or cracked. Numerous stickers covered the front, all from concerts I had attended. I smiled, amused at the long scratch mark running along the side of neck, which was the fault of one of my Ex's anger towards me. I let my thoughts linger as I saw the hiragana characters for 'I love you', or 'daisuki', engraved into my black pick guard, done by the heartbroken yours truly.

I smiled at my guitar. It was my escape from the world, and it would always be.

After I had changed into a comfortable red t-shirt, jeans, and leather jacket, I decided it would be a good idea to start walking to Hotori's house, as it was about 4 kilometers away from mine. Thankfully, my father had retreated to his room, which, admittedly, I hadn't been to in years. I was grateful that I could get out of the house without having to see him.

So, with my old Gibson acoustic slung behind me in its breaking back, with my bulging song binder in my arm, and with a pink Post-It on my palm, and my emergency gym bag slung around my shoulder, I started walking to Hotori's house, not even nearly realizing that my life was going to change forever. I stared into the grey sky, not even knowing that I was already writing out a destiny that I never could've imagined.

I stood outside Hotori's house, amazed.

It was HUMONGOUS. Well, I really shouldn't have been surprised. It was on the West side of town, which already said a lot. I wasn't expecting something like a mini-mansion, though. What the hell was she doing at a crappy public school?

I shrugged and rang the doorbell at her door. Her house was really western-style, looking like a house straight from the USA. I could hear loud music behind the door, proving the party had already started. I could hear girls giggling and people stomping as they danced.

I was pressing my ear against the door in fascination when Sato Hotori-san opened the door.

"Whoa!" I gasped, almost falling over.

"Kurosaki-kun!" Sato said, sounding quite happy. "You made it!"

I regained my balance and smiled at her. "I promised I'd make it."

"Please, come in!" Sato said, uber-excited.

I nodded at her and walked into… a hellhole.

Every corner of her spacious living room was occupied by girls. Not another man was in that room with me. I could see girls sitting on the designer couches, girls standing by the lengthy food table, and girls sitting by a makeshift stage with a pink stool in the center. I knew a few of the girls in the crowd, such as Tatsuki, Inoue, and a few others, but the rest were complete strangers. I died a little inside as Sato grabbed my arm and stood close to me. She was obviously very into my being there as she walked into the middle of the room.

"The Main Attraction is here!" Sato yelled at the top of her lungs, her grip on my arm a very tight squeeze then. At once, all of the eyes in the room landed upon me. I swore my heart stopped beating.

The pheromone level in that room was outrageous. I felt like I was in a complete Harem Fest, standing there within a sea of hormonal high school girls and being watched by them. Whispers filled the room as I shyly scurried on over to the small stage in the center of the room, feeling very nervous and frightened. I laid my guitar case on the side of the stool and gently took out the Gibson. Sato smiled at me and gave a thumbs-up.

"Everybody, Kurosaki's going to play a song just for me now!" She said, confidently smiling.

I blinked. Why the hell did she think the song was just for her? God, did she think I wrote her a song just for the occasion, on such short notice? I was so very anxious then. I was so anxious I'm sure everybody felt it, because the room fell silent.

I took a deep breath and spoke.

"Well, I guess this song's about a girl I have yet to meet." I said truthfully.

Wait… did that sound very romantic of me? Or dark? Or mysterious? Chicks like mysterious guys who sing, right?

I started the song nervously, the feeling of my fingers sliding across the cold metal frets making me almost lose my concentration. I started to sing.

"What the hell were you thinking, Ichigo?" Tatsuki asked me, half-laughing as we walked down the street in the drizzle.

I frowned at her carefree expression. That night was not a very good one so far. I had just been kicked out of Sato's house for singing a song at her party that was supposedly 'written for another girl, so you can just leave, you two-timing son of a'. Tatsuki had graciously taken the liberty of walking me halfway home just to temper down my embarrassment a little.

"I just sang one of my favorite songs, that's all." I muttered, running a hand through my soaked hair.

Puddles were forming on the ground, and the rain was getting slightly harder. Streetlights started turning on, and soon, it was dark. I sighed and dragged my feet as I walked.

"Ichigo, you're such a romantic." Tatsuki groaned. "You shouldn't have sung such a… lovey-dovey song at Sato's unless you wrote it for her. I mean, 'this is for a girl I have yet to met.' Bleah."

"Tatsuki, feel free to leave me." I said, seriously feeling down.

Tatsuki looked at me for a second. She stopped walking and smiled at me.

"Promise me you won't jump a bridge on the way home, okay?" She said. "You can crash at my place if you need to. You have your emergency gym bag."

I nodded. "I promise."

Tatsuki ran off and left me in the drizzle, which was forming quickly into rain.

I had decided to take the longer route home, which involved walking through a park. That park, the Akayama park, was my favorite place to sit and stare at the sky. The best part was a long walk that stretched in between two rows of tall, skinny trees. The paths weren't really maintained well, so the walk was old and jagged, with a cobblestone kind of feel to it. There was a small lake in a clearing by the trees, which had a bridge stretching over it.

The bridge was a good 20 feet long. It was built after a recent earthquake, in which the land spilt right near the lake. There was once a connecting piece of land that joined the two sides of the lake together, but it crumbled during the earthquake. That bridge was the only part of the park that was truly maintained. It was beautiful and strong, with what looked like a polished brass arch over the top. It's known in town as a great place to walk.

That evening, Akayama Park was very quiet. I had sat myself down on a bench by the lake and the bridge, laying my guitar case and gym bag down. The world was almost still, and the only sound I could hear was the gentle splashing of water against the shore, slowly eroding the rocks.

This is about a girl I have yet to meet. Tatsuki was right, what was I thinking? I held my head in my hands and sighed as the rain died down. It was really stupid of me. As if I would ever know I wrote that song about.

Suddenly, I heard the hum of an engine. That of a car, specifically.

I looked into a thick clearing of trees turning into the bridge and saw what looked like a black car speed up towards the bridge. I looked closer, and as it came closer, I realized it was not just a car, but a limo. I wasn't sure what to think as the limo zoomed through the bridge.

Suddenly, I could hear the hum of another car. Or more.

I stood up, very confused.

I saw two red cars speed towards the bridge. They seemed to be pursuing the black limousine, and they were being dangerous about it. I was really anxious. Both cars had all their windows tinted, which I'm pretty sure is supposed to be illegal. Also, the same calligraphic 'H' was embedded on the hoods of the cars.

I saw the second car's passenger door open.

It looked like there was a fight going on within the car, as it was swerving unnaturally, unlike its partner, which had already zoomed on ahead. The door was only slightly open as the car entered the bridge. That's when I saw the girl.

I saw a messy mop of raven black hair stick out of the car door, which was now open the whole way. The girl who possessed the hair was struggling; I could hear her yells of frustration. The person she was tangling with was winning.

That's when I saw the girl fall. My eyes widened as I saw her small figure get pushed out of the car and over the bridge railing. It was almost in slow motion. I started running in a panic as the car zoomed out of sight.

I heard a sickening splash.

Without another thought, I ran up to the lakeside and dove into the water. The current was surprisingly strong, and the water was deeper then what I had speculated it to be. I looked around, desperately wanting to see the raven black haired girl. I spotted her, struggling to keep her breath just a few meters from me.

I swam as fast as I could and grabbed onto her frail body. I saw that the guy she was fighting had punched the oxygen out of her system, and a bloody cut ran across her cheek. I swam up to the shore and laid her there.

It was only then I really saw what she was wearing.

It surprised me. The girl was in shinobi shozoku. She was wearing the clothes of those who practiced ninjutsu. She wore jika-tabi, or split-toed tabi boots, a pair of dark blue trousers, arm and hand sleeves that looked reinforced with metal, a navy blue shinobi jacket, and a scarf that was loosely wrapped around her chin and neck. The number '13' (in Japanese) was engraved into a gauntlet she wore, and was sewn into the front of her jacket.

Her hair was messy and flyaway, and she looked about 4'8. I was so confused and shocked.

That's when her eyes popped open.

It was for a split second I stared into her eyes, but they were the most beautiful color I had ever laid my eyes upon. Her pupils were purple and bright, shining like newly polished amethysts. The way the purple eyes matched with her raven hair was unexplainable, perfect for each other in some mysterious way. I could tell that her eyes were what people noticed of her first... those beautiful amethyst eyes.

That's when my split-second admiration ended.

Another split-second later, the girl had sat up and restrained me, my face on the muddy ground. She had turned from a calm, beautiful sleeping girl to a complete brute. I shuddered as I felt her chicken wing my arm behind my back and twist my knee so I couldn't move.

"What the hell?" I yelled, completely thrown off guard. The girl responded by pressing the back of my knee in a weird, extremely painful way.

"What's going on, Hollow?" She asked accusingly. "Did you really think this would shirk me from my duty of protecting my master? Did you think you could really kill me?"

Her voice was serious. It was a voice that I could tell could be calm and gentle or chaotic and rough like a hurricane. It was a voice I could never forget.

"I just saved you!" I yelled. "Some guy pushed you out of a suspicious vehicle into the lake, and you looked like you were drowning! I'm not a hollow, whatever the hell those are!"

The girl's grip on my limbs weakened and released. Her eyes looked at me, panicked.

"No…" She whispered. "No… I need to get to that limousine." Just as I had suspected, her voice softened tenfold.

"Why?" I asked, completely confused.

Her eyes locked with mine. "My name is Kuchiki Rukia. I am 16 years old. It is my sworn duty under the 13 that I protect Kurosaki Osamu, the man in that limousine."

My eyes widened. "…uncle Oz?"

Rukia's eyes widened too. "What? He's your uncle?"

Suddenly, I saw it. A red car similar to the ones that were pursuing the limousine a while ago had driven extremely near the lakeside. It honked at Rukia and me long and loud. I stared in disbelief. I saw four figures emerge from the vehicle, and each of them had a katana in hand.

"Shit, shit, shit…" I mumbled. "This isn't happening."

Rukia got in front of me. "Damn… dammit. This wasn't supposed to happen."

The 4 figures approached us, and their faces were visible. Rather, they weren't. Each man wore a mask over his face different from the rest. I stared in horror at the sight. It was so damn freaky. I noticed Rukia pulled something out of her sleeve as she watched them carefully.

I saw what it was almost immediately. Each of her sleeves concealed a semi-circle assassin's blade. She looked really dangerous… and mysteriously beautiful.

The four men charged after her.

Rukia was quicker than I could ever imagine. Her footsteps were almost impossible to hear. You could tell she was completely serious. Rukia was little more than a flash as she maneuvered near one of the men, avoiding the careless swing of his blade without error. To my surprise, she stuck the man on the temple with the handle of one of her blades, and he collapsed. Rukia had struck a critical pressure point and he was down. I stared. Only someone who was really good with shiatsu could possibly get a strike that clean.

Suddenly, one of the men charged at Rukia from behind, trying to get a cheap slash at her neck. It pissed me off greatly. Without thinking, I ran up to him and judo kicked the back of his neck with my heel, knocking him down. Soon, Rukia and I were standing back to back.

"I ask that you assist me," Rukia said.

I smiled at her, although she couldn't see my face. "I was going to, anyway. I need to vent out some emotions right now."

The next two men were considerably larger than the other two, and their swords were dangerously large. These men fought like samurai, but lived with no bushido. Rukia was like a ninja with honor. I nodded and she seemed to understand.

The two men were charged at us, making my eyes widen. These men had no pity for us whatsoever. Rukia disappeared from behind me and I put up my fists. It felt good to beat the crap out of somebody after the strange, rough night I'd been having.

These two men were way tougher than the first. They had bulging muscles and deep, terrifying battle screams. I smiled for myself and charged at one recklessly, feeling adrenaline pump through my system. I don't mean to scare you, but…

…it felt so freaking good, the feeling of winning.

I saw Rukia dodge several accurate slashes from one of the guys. Her speed was incredible. I marveled at her as she slammed a heel into the guy's face, possibly smashing a cheekbone with the amount of power she concentrated into that kick. I felt confident. I smiled at the guy who I was going to fight. He was larger than Rukia's guy, and he had an aura of leadership about him. He was the boss of the other three, their superior. I took what I learnt from judo and stopped charging back at him midway, so that he would come to me.

It was legitimate self defense, right?

I dodged his slow but fatal sword blows as we danced upon the lakeside, partners in the dance of death. His footwork was incredible, and sometimes I couldn't fully read it. He slashed at me and tore my clothes, but never did the blade touch my skin. As we maneuvered around the environment, I noticed the fact that Rukia was watching me intently, even as she fought her own opponent away. I felt a warm sensation fill throughout my body.

I smiled and slammed a fist into the guy's stomach. I could feel him cringe under the blow, as his stomach muscles tightened and his body curled inwards. I watched as his fist flew up, catching me at the jaw. My eyesight blurred drastically, and I felt like I couldn't breathe.

It all felt very nostalgic.

I gritted my teeth and spat out a revolting mixture of blood and phlegm as I tried to recollect myself. My opponent was trying to do the same, but he kept falling to his knees because of the powerful punch I had slammed into his torso. I could see Rukia and her own opponent spar, watching the lightning fast movements in wonder. He managed to knee her in the stomach, making Rukia moan. I wretched at the sight of Rukia falling to her knees; I almost felt like I needed to vomit.

Instead I stood strong and dashed at my own opponent and kneed him in the face.

He collapsed. I tried to grin, although I could feel my left cheek swell and it probably came out like a pedophilic smile. If this was an RPG…

150 XP Gained. Ichigo gained the bonuses of Contentment, which gives him triple the heal points for the time he rests. He also loses the bad memories of the day.

I watched as Rukia overpowered her opponent, slamming multiple kicks in his face. It all looked very painful for the poor bastard, as he screamed in utter horror. I was surprised the police weren't there to witness it already: they could learn a thing or two from this girl about taking an opponent down barehanded. Her opponent was down in a matter of seconds.

That's when I saw my own opponent, which I had foolishly declared down. He was behind Rukia, and I stared in horror as he swiftly backhanded the back of her head. I couldn't see very well, as my cheek was swelling and making my eyes water. Everything was so blurry, but I crawled my way through the dirt towards them, as I saw the man stand over Rukia triumphantly, in her terrible pain.

"This is the Great White Shadow?" The man laughed, kicking Rukia's limp body. "This is the pain we've been going through?"

I smiled sadly as I crept behind him. Rukia noticed me and cracked me a small smile as I tripped him backwards with a quick jab to the back of his knee, which broke it. He screamed and fell backwards, hitting his head on a rock. He was silent then, and so were Rukia and I.

"Ehehehe…" I chuckled, not knowing what to say after a long, awkward silence.

The rain started again, soaking me to the bone. My clothes were covered in a thick layer of mud, and Rukia and I lay there for about 3 minutes, but it felt like forever. Forever and a day.

I sat up and stretched. Something was invigorating about fighting those guys and assisting Rukia. There's something about the feeling of adrenaline pumping through your system and using that strength to channel your holed up emotions. There's something about the feeling of successfully defending someone.

I walked over and dropped on my knees next to Rukia.

"My name is Kurosaki Ichigo. I'm a 16-year old sophomore at Karakura High." I reached out my hand for a handshake. "Nice to meet you."

AN:

So the story has begun!

This chapter was really serious. A lot of the chapters following this will continue the exposition, and then the first main arc will begin. I plan for this story to be a good one, one I will focus on, along with either a Haruhi Suzumiya story or a K-ON! Story.

Anyways, I'm going to be introducing a series of OCs to the story, one of which is based on my personality (I'm basically making a cameo appearance. How vain of me…~).

Please stay in tune to find out what becomes of Ichigo Kurosaki and Rukia Kuchiki!

Please review, constructive criticism is strongly accepted! I ask that you please spam the review section with reviews galore! :D It's what inspires me to write, like 'Writer's Steroids' XD.

Next Chapter:

CHAPTER 1: Humble Beginnings at a Hotspring