Chapter One

Rukia Kuchiki was in a bad mood. She'd been kicked out of her already run-down apartment because she failed to pay the rent on time. The reason of this had been because she'd been busy studying and reading instead of her usual hobbies of begging for jobs (and money). She'd had the epiphany of focusing on her studies for once.

Besides that, she had been pulled into the forefront of the group that had dubbed themselves 'The Soul Society'. It was a gang that consisted of a variety of teenagers who had little money or nowhere else to go. They were mainly joined together by each of them claiming to have supernatural powers such as seeing the future or feeling the deceased's presence. The few people that had heard of the gang knew that they were nothing more than outcasts who pick pocketed, looted and graffiti-ed. Not so much a cut throat gang as misfit kids that were desperate, wanting to be special and seen as no more than a nuisance.

It was a while ago that Rukia had started running with them. She had been thirteen at the time and, finding her family unbearable, had started her life on her own. It was something that all kids that age wanted to do and she had spontaneously made this happen. Much to Rukia's displeasure, this was harder than she had first thought, but the Soul Society had slipped her information to help her out. They had found her because of her classmate's whispers that she could see the shapes of the deceased, which she had just insisted her mind was playing tricks on her.

The jobs they assigned her were simple and easy. Steal that woman's jewelry, or break into that shop for the instant ramen. All the money she earnt she could keep, providing they receive their cut.

As she grew older, she did less and less 'favours' for the gang, her morals telling her that it was wrong to do so. She focused on getting a decent job, not causing adolescent trouble. Unfortunately, it wasn't that easy for Rukia to get away. Now, the 'elders' of the group demanded that she take an active role, being the age that they were when they started out. The younger ones that had foolishly signed up recently needed help in getting the money to survive.

Therefore, today they had demanded that Rukia steal some money for the benefit of them all. The knowing way they added that she needed it too made her suspicious that they had something to do with her eviction. She had been doing rather well for herself and was actually working up the guts to leave when the eviction happened. She started to wonder if the group had ulterior motives. She never had found out where the money they reaped went.

It wasn't her place to start asking and getting in trouble though. She was reasonable at fighting and quick to get away, but she knew she wouldn't be able to take them on if things got rough. Things certainly would if they found out how disloyal she really was. She'd had no choice but to accept the job, pulled back into the thug life again.

Now, perched on a short pillar, Rukia peered at the passersby in search of a target. The Soul Society didn't just need the money, she did to buy a dinner and find a decent place to sleep. She'd been thrown out of her apartment in such a rush that she had only what she could grab in five minutes, leaving her with the dark hoodie and jeans she'd been dressed in and a backpack that contained bare essentials, a couple of books and her favourite blanket. There was no food that she had scavenged.

She fiddled absentmindedly with the rabbit shaped hair slide in her hands whilst she waited, brooding with her own self-pity. Then, her violet coloured eyes narrowed as she spotted a suitable victim.

The 'target' was a boy of her age, wearing a grey high school uniform and a grumpy expression. The most eye-catching thing about him was his bright orange, spiky hair, which made him stand out like a traffic cone. Despite this, Rukia had noticed him because his nose was buried in a black wallet filled to the brim with notes. That was just the kind of money that she needed.

Pushing off the post, Rukia sidled over to him, putting on her best act. She had done this a hundred times before and was confident that she could put on a show.

"Hiya!" she chirped in her flirtiest voice, noticing with slight annoyance that she barely reached his shoulder. Just how gargantuan did one person need to be?

"What do you want, kid?" came the moody response from him. The boy's eyes had barely flickered towards her, like she wasn't worth his time. He obviously thought she was younger than she really was, which, although it had its perks, was a pet peeve of hers. Not to be discouraged, Rukia hopped around so that she was in front of him, her beaming smile still in place. He didn't stop his pace, which meant she had to start walking backwards so she wasn't trampled by him.

"I was just wondering," she had to pause for half a second to come up with a believable lie. Since she was so out of touch with this, she hadn't even thought this through a little bit more. "If you wanted to grab a pizza?"

It was a terrible lie, especially since there were no pizza places vaguely nearby, but it was the first thing that Rukia had thought of. With years of experience, she knew that high school guys never passed down an opportunity to take a young girl to dinner.

It was actually the perfect plan. Woo them into buying her pizza, get free food and when they get their wallet out all it took was a well-placed pinch to a pressure point and the money was hers. They were held up on giving chase by having to pay for their food, which allowed her a quick getaway. They'd never see the mysterious dark haired girl again.

"No, thanks." The ginger guy replied grumpily as he was forced to looked at her. Yeesh, his glare was as sharp as his tone. "I've got places to be."

Not to be deterred so easily, her life was on the line after all, Rukia faked a girlish pout and blinked her eyelashes. This was going to be harder than she first thought. With no opportunity to ready herself, she probably did look like a homeless girl begging for food. People didn't trust others that looked like that.

"Meeting a pretty girl?" she asked, pretending to be disappointed at the prospect. This had happened before and it was nothing the puppy dog eyes couldn't fix. Now though, she just needed a way of keeping him talking long enough to obtain the money. Her mind was running circles and she tried not to look panicked at the prospect of losing.

"No, now leave me alone!" he snapped-obviously his attitude matched his hair. He pushed her angrily out of the way. She gave a cry when his hand collided with her breast, though she couldn't tell if that was part of the act or not. Rukia grabbed his wrist on instinct to right herself so that she didn't fall backwards. She knew that she couldn't give up this easily. This was the opportunity that could fix her life-sort of. He had stopped at her contact, probably ready to throw a punch.

She needed a distraction. Anything. Anything that took long enough to get into his back pocket and run without him knowing what he'd lost. Rukia's eyes darted around as she tried to think of something adequate to say. The old 'that's a funny place to put a piano' normally scored high, but this guy would likely not even look and just hit her instead. She needed something different-something shocking.

Rukia was faintly aware of him yelling questions at her further when the idea hit her. She'd always been one to read too much romance and though every bone in her body told her not to do it, it seemed like the only option she had. Leaping up onto her tiptoes and hoping she wouldn't gag too badly from this experience, she jammed her lips into his.

His open mouth was silenced immediately, his eyes probably bulging with the shock, but she didn't know. Her own eyes were squeezed shut to try and block out what she was doing. This was a terrible, horrible, stupid idea. Yet it was too late to back out now.

Rukia wrapped an arm around his neck as she returned her feet to solid ground. He was lurched over her. It had appeared to work however, as their lips started to move against one another's. Slowly, as though searching the shape of each other's lips to see if they met their own. His lips tasted of soda and hers probably of candy, since it was the main part of her diet. She was aware of the tingling sensation that his touch caused, that one of his hands was on the back of her head. Her free hand reached his jean's pockets. It had to be in one of them.

His other hand was on her waist as she found her way to the back pocket of his jeans. It seemed that he was completely entranced with her. The old Kuchiki charm strikes again, even if it was in a less than dignified way. Groping for the wallet, she tried to keep her lips moving so that he wouldn't be suspicious.

There! she found the familiar bulge of a wallet and carefully slipped it out. Once she had a secure grip on it, clenching it in her fist, she slowly released her grip on the tall boy. He was staring at her dumb-founded as she smiled sweetly.

"I have to go," she whispered, then sidestepped behind a walker. Now was the time to dodge through the crowd.

Rukia was running now, skillfully avoiding the other passersby as she shoved the wallet into her bra and ducked down an alley. From there, she was able to navigate the maze until she was sure the boy wouldn't follow her.

As soon as she had started running, he called after her, still as angry as he had been before. He must have only had two moods, angry and angrier. Then it seemed that he had noticed the missing money as he cried out 'my wallet!' Hopefully he had stopped to retrace his steps, thinking that he had dropped it at one point, so that he wouldn't see which direction she went in.

Now, Rukia sat on a dumpster, counting through the notes in her loot. She wiped a hand across her mouth to try to rid herself of the taste. She had no real problem with kissing, but manipulating someone like that made her feel bad and had left a sour taste. Overall though, it had left a buzz throughout her lips and mind. One that she was sure was down to her morals being manipulated and nothing to do with her target.

Surely.