(A/N): Hi there. This is my second story. My first was about Ichigo and Rukia going to high school together, and over the past week, I thought that it was too typical of an IchiRuki fanfic. So, I'm going to try to write a new, different story, hopefully something someone hasn't already written about yet.

Just a warning… This won't be a story where Ichigo and Rukia get together within the first couple of chapters. But, it will be about romance and it'll have action, and some humor here and there. And some OC's, because I don't want Ichigo to nail every female in the Bleach series. Haha.

Rukia's hair in this story is longer than it is in the series. It stops just below her chest. Also, she is a little taller and has a more feminine build. Her body is more developed and she looks more like a woman than a midget. However, she is still considered petite and shorter than most of the Bleach characters, so it'll make sense when/if they throw height slams at her.

Ichigo can fight in this story. He's strong but is just a regular adult. When he and Rukia first meet, their fighting abilities are on the same level as when Rukia first steps foot into Ichigo's room (before he got his Shinigami powers).

And I guess Rukia will be like Spiderman in this story, haha.

Summary: Kurosaki Ichigo is a young, attractive womanizer. He is looking for one thing and one thing only: A private place where he can bring home his dates. His family, especially his father and sister Karin, constantly bothers him when he brings home a woman, and he's getting tired of it—up to the point where he holds a grudge against his family. When Kuchiki Rukia, a seemingly average woman opens her home for rent with a price Ichigo couldn't turn down, Ichigo takes advantage of the opportunity. At first, living with her seemed easy, but as the days go on, they find themselves at each others' throats. During his stay with her, Ichigo finds out Rukia's secret, which brings them closer than they thought they'd ever be.

I hope you enjoy reading. Here goes my crappy story…

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or its characters.

Chapter 1 – Savior

A young man with bright orange hair guided his date through the dark of the night to the front door of the Kurosaki residence. He turned the key in the lock and jiggled the knob open, leading her into the lighted living room of his home.

"My dad and sisters might bother us," he informed his date as he rolled his eyes. "Sorry I can't find a more.. private place for us to hang."

She twirled a lock of her purple hair around her finger and giggled. "It's fine, Ichigo-kun." She hesitantly took a seat on the living room couch, as this was her first date with him.

Ichigo gave her his signature smug smile and took a seat next to her after closing the door. So far, neither Isshin, Yuzu, nor Karin have gone down the stairs, and usually they would by now. This is my chance, the young man thought. Now I can make a move on this chick and nail her before she even realizes it.

He took the young woman's hand in his and kissed the back of it. "You comfortable, Sen?"

She blushed lightly and nodded. "U-Uh huh! V-Very!" She could feel her body tense up at the feel of his lips against her skin. They'd just gone out for dinner, but she never thought he'd invite her to come home with him.

Just as his trail of kisses reached her shoulders, his crazy father came running down the stairs. "GIRLS, THERE'S ANOTHER ONE!" he yelled to his daughters upstairs, who quickly followed after him. Isshin pointed at Ichigo and his date, who scowled in return, and hopped over to the couple.

He extended his hand to Senna Shinenju, one of the girls that he knew was, unfortunately, a part of Ichigo's game. "Hello there, young lady! My name is Isshin and –" A strong punch cut him off, sending him flying into the kitchen.

"Otou-san!" Yuzu cried, running towards her father to see if anything was the matter.

Ichigo stood and clenched his fist. "Everyone. Get out. Now," he ordered, pointing towards the stairs. "I'm tired of you guys ruining my dates!"

Karin ignored him and took a seat next to Senna, resting her feet on the coffee table next to Senna's purse. "So, where'd Ichi-nii pick you up? Near a dumpster? 'Cause the way you dress makes you look trashy."

Senna sat up straight, appalled by how someone younger could insult her like that. "No, you brat," she spat back. "I work at the club, where a real woman would work. Who needs to be a teacher or a doctor? We have men for that."

"Karin, leave her alone," Ichigo demanded. "She's only been here, what, 10 minutes? And you're already throwing insults at her? Just stay out of it."

Ignoring him again, Karin stared Senna right in the eyes. "No, you idiot. A real woman would go around and fight crime like Soul Rider-san, or be the commander of the Omnitsukido like Shihoin-san."

Senna couldn't help but scoff at the 15 year old. "You kids are so immature nowadays. That Soul Rider chick doesn't even exist. It's probably some tactic the Japanese government is using to trick us into thinking it's safe to go out at night. No woman in her right mind would be able to fight crime at night—it's just so unlikely," she stated as a matter-of-factly.

Karin could feel her head about to explode. Her cheeks puffed up and her face turned red. "That's not true! Soul Rider-san protects us at night! She's always on the news! There is absolutely no way she's fake!"

"Both of you calm down right now!" Ichigo ran a hand through his hair and scowled. "Senna, just get out. Go home. Maybe we can try again some other time."

She shrugged and stood, picking up her purse. "Fine. Whenever you're ready," she said as she walked out the door.

Karin scowled back at her brother. "Why were you defending her? I bet you don't even like her."

Ichigo shrugged and grabbed a soda from the fridge. "Doesn't matter if I don't like her. I don't like any of the girls I date."

Yuzu helped Isshin up from the ground. She gave her brother a disapproving look and sighed. "That's terrible, Ichi-nii… What would Okaa—"

"You know what? Why don't you guys all just leave me alone! I'm tired of hearing about what Mom would do or say to me if she was still alive today!" he barked at them, slightly crushing his soda can. "If you need me, I'll be in my room—and please, try not to need me."

"I liked it better when you actually cared about this family! You're not even our brother anymore! You're just some stupid idiot who wastes his time on women!" Karin screamed, but Ichigo ignored her and continued up the stairs.

Isshin put a hand on Karin's shoulder. "Don't waste your breath, kiddo. He won't listen, and it looks like he never will. I don't approve of you two talking to each other that way, and I know you miss how he used to be, but you also have to understand that the way he copes with Masaki's death is by getting with women."

"…I just don't understand how that helps him cope with it…" Yuzu shared. "It just gives him less time to hang out with us…"

Karin angrily dropped her body on the couch and turned on the TV, which last left off on the news channel.

"The Soul Rider has made her nightly appearance again. She cruised right by on her aircycle, stopping a bank robbery just in the niche of time. Again, we are grateful to her and are in debt for the last 2 years she's given us. We still have yet to discover who she really is under that helmet."

The ebony-haired girl's eyes instantly glued to the television screen. The Soul Rider was a woman who rode a white motorcycle that ran on air. She wore a white leather body suit with black knee-high boots, black gloves, and a white motorcycle helmet. A skull buckle decorated her black belt, along with various types of guns with special ammunition. During the day, the police would fight crime; but during the night, the Soul Rider would cruise around the streets of Karakura City and hand criminals' asses to them. Karin had always looked up to the Soul Rider and wished to fight like she did one day. It made her want to drop kick Senna when she accused Soul Rider-san of being fake.

"Whoa! Did you see that?" the young girl mused as she watched Soul Rider's every move on-screen. Isshin and Yuzu turned to watch Soul Rider front flip off of her aircycle towards the entrance of the bank, stopping the robber dead in his tracks. She squatted down on her legs and turned with her leg stretched out, tripping him and sending him to the ground. She stood and grabbed one of the guns from her belt and pointed it at the rest of the robbers. Pulling the trigger, a mass of snow flooded around their feet and soon solidified into ice, rendering them unable to move.

Just as Soul Rider got to her feet, one robber tried to strike her down with a crow bar from behind, but on reflex, she turned around and grabbed it before it could make contact with her body. She pulled the bar out of his hand, yanking him forward towards her in the process, and kneed him hard in the stomach, making him double over in pain. Police sirens could be heard in the distance, and Soul Rider took it as her cue to leave. She was sure they would take them into custody, and that was all she needed to know.

She hopped on her aircycle and sped off into the night, waving at the police officers who stood by to thank her as she left.

"That was so cool!" Yuzu cheered. "Wasn't it, Otou-sama?"

Isshin pumped his fist into the air. "Of course! She is Karakura City's savior!"

Karin smirked. "I told that girl Ichi-nii brought home that Soul Rider was real!" The three continued to watch TV together, still in awe over the Soul Rider.

-X-X-X-X-X-

Ichigo took a seat in front of his laptop and started typing away on Google. Man, I need to find a place to stay… My stupid family is driving me nuts! He searched for rooms for rent, but most of the results were from all the way across town.

Ichigo was 23 years old. When his mother died 9 years ago, he felt like his life was over. He felt crushed and alone. He pushed his family away because every time he looked at them, it reminded him of his mother. He and his mother were extremely close, and the loss of her just made him feel like shit. She was his everything, and she was the only person he wanted to protect. He couldn't forgive himself for not being able to push her out of the way in time. Why couldn't it have been me that got hit?

So when Jaegerjaquez Grimmjow, one of Ichigo's closest friends, suggested he started playing girls, he was skeptical at first. The first girl he ever played was Tatsuki Arisawa, and when he crushed her heart, it somehow made him feel good. The world took away the person most important to him, so as revenge, he crushed the hearts of innocent young women. Why women? He didn't know. He guessed it was just the satisfaction of seeing someone cry and wonder what they ever did to deserve having their heart crushed. Well, that was exactly how he felt.

It was cynical. It wasn't good at all. Ichigo had a heart, but the death of his mother shrouded it behind hatred for the world. He loved his friends. He loved his family. But for the past 9 years, all his family reminded him of was his mother. And that only left his friends—the only people he treated with respect.

Women couldn't see passed Ichigo's looks. All they saw was a handsome, tall, muscular man who knew how to smooth talk any woman into doing anything. They didn't know he would step all over them the minute he got them in bed. It was all a part of his game plan: Have dinner, take them to a motel, and once they agreed to have sex with him, he'd dump them and leave them there crying, covering their naked bodies up with sheets. The motel plan would have worked up until this day, had Ichigo had a job that could pay for the rooms. Motels nowadays were expensive, and the only cheap ones were on the other side of town—he already had to pay for gas for his car.

So there he was, searching up a cheap place to rent to get away from his annoying family and to finally crush some hearts. Just as he was about to give up, a new result blinked on his screen, and it was the answer to all of his prayers.

"Room up for rent. Very cheap. Located at 0114 Shirayuki St. 71588. Must have cooking skills, cell phone, and car in case of emergency visits to the hospital. Contact Miss Kuchiki Rukia at this number for your interview."

It was perfect. Ichigo learned so many cooking tips from Yuzu that he didn't even need her to prepare his meals anymore. The picture provided was of a peaceful looking, white, two-story home. The garage could fit two cars, the lawn was perfect and healthy, it was located in a friendly neighborhood, and the house looked sturdy. By the description, Ichigo figured this "Kuchiki Rukia" person must be over 50 years old if she lived alone and needed someone available to take her to the hospital when she needed to be there. Great. She'll probably be so old, she won't even notice my dates, let alone notice me walk through the front door.

He called the number provided, to which a man answered, "Urahara Kisuke, a close friend of Kuchiki Rukia's, at your service! She can't get to the phone right now. How may I help you?"

Ichigo leaned back in his seat. "Yeah, uh… I just saw the ad she put online and I was wondering if I could stop by tomorrow and check out the place."

"Alright! What's your name?" Kisuke asked, grabbing a pen and a notepad.

"Kurosaki Ichigo. What time will Rukia be free?"

Kisuke crinkled his nose at how rude and informally Ichigo addressed his close friend. "Well, Kurosaki-san, does 12 PM work out for you?"

"I'll be there. Thanks, man. See you." Before Kisuke could say anything else, Ichigo quickly ended the call. He hated rambling on and on after saying bye; it was annoying.

He got up and stripped off his clothing, replacing it with his sleeping attire. He fell backwards onto his bed and closed his eyes. He couldn't wait for tomorrow; he was just one step closer to getting out of the house.

-X-X-X-X-X-

A woman in a white leather body suit, black knee-high boots, black gloves and a white helmet pulled up in the driveway of a white home on her white aircycle. She quickly got off of the vehicle and made a fist with her left hand, pointing a ring in the shape of a skull towards it. The ring emitted a white light, engulfing the aircycle and sucking it into the vicinity of the ring, leaving it nowhere in sight. She pulled out keys and selected the correct one, opening the front door of the home.

"Urahara-san, I'm home!" she called. "Did I get any messages?" She closed the door behind her and threw the keys on a nearby desk, taking off her helmet as she did so. Long, ebony locks of hair fell out of the helmet, and one lone bang hung smack-dab in between the woman's beautiful violet eyes. She was young, about 22 years old, and was tired from her nightly duties. She was Kuchiki Rukia, the Soul Rider of Karakura City.

An older man descended down the stairs with a smile on his face. "Welcome home, Kuchiki-san!" he picked up his cane and pointed it towards the phone. "You got a call earlier. A rather rude man is coming at 12 PM tomorrow to be interviewed. Are you sure you want to put up the extra room for rent?"

Rukia shook out the tangles in her hair and set her helmet on the living room table. "Yeah. Living alone is boring during the day. Byakuya-Nii-sama lives all the way across the city, Jinta and Ururu's room is cramped, and I need someone to house sit when I'm gone at night. That way, you don't have to house sit anymore. You can enjoy your time with Yoruichi-san and the kids."

Kisuke smiled again. "Well, that does sound nice. Yoruichi-san has been pestering me about spending time with the kids… Thank you, Kuchiki-san."

She smiled back at him. "Don't worry about it. Once I meet someone suitable for the job, you'll be free to spend time with your family."

Kisuke and Rukia were close friends. They met 5 years ago on the streets of Karakura City. After promising Byakuya that she would do fine without him in a big city like this, her life went downhill. She didn't want to be a burden to him anymore after Hisana was murdered. He wanted to protect his little sister, but when Rukia turned 17, she assured him she'd be fine, and so he allowed her to move to the other side of town. Having already graduated college at such a young age, she roamed around looking for a job, but no one would hire her because she seemed like such a weak, small girl. So, that left her on the streets. She had no money and no way of contacting Byakuya, and even if she did have a way, she didn't have the heart to tell him she couldn't make it on her own.

That's when Kisuke found her. He saw potential in her. He saw how she fought off men who would gawk at her or try to take her home with them. Kisuke was a scientist, and he was working on artificial bodies called Gigai, memory-loss devices, a motorcycle that ran on air, special cell phones, guns with special ammunition—from the regular bullets to snow and ice, and other crazy things. He made her an offer she couldn't resist: to be his test subject, and in return, he'd give her a place to stay and provide for her.

At first, his wife, Shihoin Yoruichi, was skeptical about the whole thing, but being the head of the military organization Omnitsukido and being a risk-taker herself, she decided to take Rukia in as well. Rukia got along with their adopted kids, Jinta and Ururu, and helped Tessai, the Shihoin-Urahara's butler, with the chores as well. Yoruichi considered her a daughter.

For 3 years, Rukia helped Kisuke perfect his inventions by trying them out in an underground training facility he and Yoruichi built themselves, and for the past 2 years, she's been fighting crime at night as the Soul Rider, a nickname given to her by the citizens of Karakura.

Kisuke even helped her get a job as a waitress at a popular family restaurant called Sweet Tea. Aside from protecting the lives of innocent people at night, Rukia was just an average woman by day just getting by with a decent-paying job. She finally got promoted to assistant manager at the restaurant after working her ass off for 4 years, and she finally had enough money to get her own place. She just needed someone to house sit for her when she was gone at night, and she was tired of asking Kisuke. She already felt like she had a debt to repay him. Because of him, she had a job, she kept in contact with Byakuya, and she was able to save the lives of many people—something she wanted to do in honor of her sister.

"Kuchiki-san, you know you can come back any time you like," Kisuke offered, but she shook his head at him.

"Urahara-san, you've already done so much for me. Just let me take care of things now. You just sit back and hang with Yoruichi-san and your kids, okay?" She ascended up the stairs, intending to get ready for bed. "I'll meet everyone who wants to rent tomorrow. Thanks for house sitting again."

Kisuke scratched the stubble on his chin and sighed. "Any time, Kuchiki-san. Make sure you visit the kids soon. They miss you." He turned and made his way towards the door before saying goodbye.

Rukia whipped out a special phone Kisuke invented and pressed a few buttons, and within seconds, her Soul Rider clothing turned into her sleeping attire. She yawned and pulled off her ring—Kisuke called it the Soul Ring—and dropped it into the drawer of the bedside table. Switching off the lights, she let her heavy eyelids fall and drifted off into a comfortable sleep after a stressful night.

(A/N): Eh, I don't really think I'm cut out for writing action, but it's worth a shot! I hope you liked the first chapter of The Soul Rider. Hopefully it caught your interest.

Until next time,

KawaiiShofu