I've been thinking of a long Bleach fanfiction with, again, my Taruna Rei OC. I'm actually not too sure how this is going to turn out in the end. *haha* Anyway, hope this prologue isn't too confusing or something-it's suppose to be a huge pile of mush that kinda shows what the rest of the story is gonna be like. (Actually, this is a pretty good representation of what's to come-but not as confusing n' stuff)

Whatever, please enjoy and keep up with it!

"I want to be loved…"

"What was that?"

"Huh!? O-oh, nothing!"

"Taruna-chan had this thoughtful look, though."

"Hime-san, it was nothing, really!"

Rei panicked, waving her hands in front of her face. Fending off Orihime's curious stare, she directed the conversation to the thing farthest from her mind-class. All in the meanwhile thoughts raced through her head. Sitting on the roof with her new friend during lunch was a natural thing, so what was it that made that moment seem like the right time to bring it out? Maybe she was reaching out for some help, but what could she expect? Her love life was her own problem. Why did I come out with that!? I-I guess…she sighed and stared across the school courtyard…it has really been bothering me…

…and I hate it…

"Ah, class already started!"

"Let's hurry! I've already been late this week."

Taruna Rei started attending Kurakara High School a month ago. Average grades, a little introverted, and can't decide on a club to join. Nothing about her stood out. She somehow managed to befriend a group of girls in her class, including Orihime. Through her, she was somewhat acquainted with an Ichigo, Ishida, Sado, and Rukia. Knowingly avoiding the guys, she only talked to them in passing. Why?

Rei sighed again on the walk home by herself.

It was probably because she wanted so much to have a boyfriend. Didn't make sense in avoiding them in that case, but then again, she herself didn't seem to make much sense anymore. She gave up long ago trying to figure everything out. Rei turned into a park, deciding to take the long route home.

Her eyes widened. Senses catching up to her, she dodged behind the nearest bush. The leaves were a little dry from the recent drought and they crunched under her sudden dive. The sky was a beautiful palette of colors ranging from bright yellow hues to dull pinks and purple. The sinking sun cast long shadows across the children's' playground that immediately met one at the entrance of the park. Rei's breath was cut short due to not the everyday beauty of the place, but of what stood in the middle of the scene-

A tall masked monster staring down hungrily at a shivering child. OK, Rei calmed herself down. This is NOT the first time you've seen a hollow. This is a normal thing. I shouldn't be scared. Her nerves died down, but she couldn't help her surprise. This was the first time she'd seen one in Kurakara. Rei moved there hoping that there wouldn't be that many, and she was almost convinced that the closest thing to a hollow that the town had was maybe a mistreated stray dog or two. Ah well…maybe they just rarely had any. She waited patiently for the residential shinigami as she continued to watch the soul of a boy frantically scramble to his feet.

The hollow was too fast. By the time the boy got to his feet again, the beast was already towering in front of him. It took a swing but barely missed the running kid. The thought occurred to Rei that she must look unfeeling, but when the boy tripped again near the swings, she started getting nervous. The missing shinigami wasn't in sight. At that rate…

Cursing, she reached into her bag. Hopefully chance was on her side again. Hopefully no one would see this…

Kurosaki Ichigo's feet pounded the pavement as he neared the blinking light on his cell phone screen. Slightly annoyed, he thought back to the time the hollow first appeared. Really, why did it decide to show up the moment he started relieving himself? He hoped the poor soul it was chasing was ok. He could only imagine what he'd have to say if the soul got eaten. "Ah~ Sorry about that. Was on the toilet." Yeah…

"Rukia would TOTALLY understand,"

"Understand what?"

"That I was-WAIT," Ichigo stopped and looked to his side to see Ishida standing there. By the looks of the plastic bag in his hand, probably just finished his hobby shopping. "It has nothing to do with you."

"Is that so? It wouldn't have anything to do with your lateness to killing that hollow, would it?"

So he knew! Just my luck… "I don't have time for this!" the orange haired boy returned to running. He glanced back at his cell phone. As suddenly as the hollow had appeared, the dot on the map disappeared. Did someone else get it? He rounded the corner to find a familiar person standing there, her back turned to him. Where was it that he saw that hair before…?

"Taruna…?"

The girl turned her head suddenly at the outburst. She froze up,

"Ichigo-san! You're a-," Rei immediately stopped mid-sentence.

"Taruna!? Did you just kill that-HEY!" Ichigo chased after the fleeing girl. The boy soul needed attending to, but he could wait for a little longer now that he wasn't in danger anymore.

"I'm sorry! I don't know who you're talking about!"

"It's obviously you!" Why was she running? "Hey! Stop already!" The two exited the park the way Ichigo had come in. He was suddenly reminded of this when they started gaining on Ishida, "Ishida!" The boy in glasses turned around. "Stop her! She's the one that killed that hollow!" Ishida already figured as much and already ran into the middle of the street before Ichigo finished his sentence.

Ishida-san too!? Rei wondered just how many of her classmates knew about shinigami-or was one themselves. She was dead meat…When Rei reached Ishida, he was ready to roughly grab her. Just as he started reaching for her, she sidestepped under his arms and ran home free. The two boys stood there watching her fleeting figure. Ichigo was the first to say anything,

"Who is she?"

Ishida pushed his glasses up in thought. After a moment he mentioned, " I've been wondering this for a while but she's wearing a dog collar, isn't she?"

"Yeah, so? Isn't that supposed to be a trend or something?"

"…You're right…but I wonder…"

Taruna didn't look back once until she was safely locked in her apartment. Still huffing and puffing, she slid down onto the floor. Her pounding heart reflected the chaos and disaster that just took place. What am I going to do? She didn't have enough money to move again so suddenly. If she suddenly disappeared the next day, it would be obvious that it was her they saw…and just when she started making a life for herself again. What am I going to do…?

Her thoughts started to slip back to an earlier time…

"So that's one of them? She looks so normal though…"

Rei was used to such comments, so she acted like she didn't hear it. The long hallway was crowded with academy students. Some now full fledged shinigami, others not so fortunate. She was nervous herself. Did she pass? If so, what squad did they stick her? It was hard not to turn around and run back up the hall. She shivered when she saw the bustling group of students crowding the large board that had the results of the last test posted on it.

Now, it didn't sound like a big deal, but the test had a high rate of students graduating if they did well on it. In other words-it was like an entrance exam. Squeezing her way in between two disheartened classmates, she searched the long list.

Taruna…Taruna…Taruna-AH! There I am!

Alright, she passed the test, but now here was the scary part-if there was a squad number next to it-that meant she finally graduated into that squad. If not…there were other opportunities. Rei traced her name…,

"…6th squad…"

She couldn't believe it. Maybe Byakuya-taichou saw something in me!? She doubted it but she was too happy to care. She wanted to scream loudly, to dance around, but it would be pointless if no one was around to share it with. The happiness slowly shrunk as she stared at the number six.

Alright, she decided, this is goodbye to the old Rei. From now on…her hand clenched into a fist…I'm going to make friends, and rise in the ranks. I'll show everyone that we're just like any other shinigami.

My life starts now.

Rei hugged her legs closer to herself. How naïve she was…how unfair everything was…she looked up to push back the tears. She regretted waiting so long to kill that hollow. If only she'd done it earlier, no one would've seen her. Then there would be no need to run again. Rei got up and shuffled to her bedroom for a quick nap.

There would be no need to run if Soul Society hadn't kicked them out…

Mm, please comment on what you think so far-I want this story to turn out real nice.

Thank you for reading the prologue~