PROLOGUE

~x~

He ran, terrified face streaked with hot tears.

The monster roared behind him, pursuing relentlessly.

What is that thing? Even though he was frightened, he looked behind.

The creature was not ten feet behind him, its white-masked face contorted, a hideous arm reaching out for him.

Please!

"SOMEONE HELP ME!"

"Mae, Sode no Shirayuki."

Before he knew it, he saw a woman jump between him and the monster, a white sword in one hand, her black clothes fluttering. She spun her sword-arm in a circle, the tip of the blade leaving a pale line in the air.

"Some no mae, Tsukishiro!"

The monster's roar went mute as a pillar of clear ice grew to the sky, trapping the creature within its circumference. The ice began to crack and slowly fell in chunks, killing the beast.

The woman turned to him, who had frozen in his spot as he watched her defeat the creature. She was pretty and demure, though her eyes had a hard edge to it.

"Are you alright, child?" she asked, crouching when she stood before him.

He nodded, sobbing, "Yes…"

The woman gave a quick glance to the middle of his chest. "You're not a spirit."

"What do you mean?"

She shook her head. "Nothing." Ruffling his hair, she stood up. "You've got strong spiritual powers."

"Spiritual…powers?"

She nodded. "You can see me and the monster just now, couldn't you? Ordinary human cannot see us."

"B-but the monster was so obvious!"

"Not to normal humans." Her voice softened a little. "Those monsters are called 'Hollows' and are bad spirits. They attack spirits and humans who possess high levels of spiritual powers to eat them."

The boy trembled. "So…what are you?"

"Me?" The woman smirked slightly. "I am a Shinigami. My job is to kill Hollows."

"Kill…them?"

"Yes. So that they don't attack innocent people."

By then, his tears had dried and his fears slowly removed. Seeing this woman before him, protecting him from the monster, made him feel safe.

"You should go home, child." The woman blinked at him with her beautiful, violet-blue eyes. She turned and was about to leave when he called her back.

"Sh-shinigami-san!" He stood straight, smiling. "Arigatou!"

"Aa. It's no problem." She started to move but was stopped again.

"What's your name, Shinigami-san?"

She looked curiously at him. "Kuchiki Rukia da."

"Oh! That's a nice name, Rukia-san. My name is Kurosaki Ichigo." He grinned widely. "Let's hope that this won't be our last meeting!"

Surprise flickered over the woman's eyes. Kuchiki Rukia wondered, Why do you say that, child?

"Ja naa, Rukia-san! And thank you, again!" The young boy waved at her before dashing off.

Kuchiki Rukia was rooted to the spot, unsure of what had just happened.

Kurosaki Ichigo ka? She smiled.

What an intriguing boy.

~x~

And so fell the sword

of Fate

~ x ~

A/N: This fic will mostly be very short chapters. So, because of the shortness, I'll post two or three chapters at once except for several chapters, which will only be posted on its own. Frankly, I've never written a chaptered story with really short paragraphs. But it really makes for an easier read, and I like that.

Please review here! I want to know if there are readers for this fic and your opinions (obviously).

I had my cousin read the story. The first thing she said to me was: 'L, can you, just for once, give me something to read that will not make me cry?' I was like: 'You cried?' She's a bit of a softie anyway, so I want to know what others think of this story when I finish.

Again, R&R yeah?