Ready or Not

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.

It wasn't something she had asked for. And quite frankly, now that it had been bestowed upon her, she would have been more than willing to give it away. Love was a human emotion, unnecessary to a shinigami like herself. But it wasn't so much the actual emotion that was bothering her as the person she was feeling it towards.

He was a human. Sure, a human that was half shinigami, but still a human. And she was a shinigami through and through. He belonged on Earth, and she belonged in the Sereitei. He had a family to take care of, and she had a duty to fulfill.

Rukia Kuchiki did not enjoy being in love. Maybe it was the fact that the one she was in love with would never return her feelings. Or maybe it was simply due to the fact that emotions were a nuisance, or the fact that being in love with him was just plain wrong. But no matter what the reason, she was in love. And it wasn't exactly something she could change. So she hid it. She disguised her feelings of affections, masking them with insults and cold, harsh words. And she tried to convince herself that the emotion was just a phase that would blow over in time.

But instead of dying down, her love seemed to develop further. At first it had started out as only a spark, and had grown into a greedy fire that danced and roared hungrily. A blue flame, swallowing the world around it and threatening the sanity of the mind it belonged to.

She hadn't intended for it to come at all, and in truth, it had appeared all too soon.

It happened on a Monday. A regular, boring school day. It went by in the same fashion as everyone that had come before it. The same exact monotonous routine. The same exact classes, the same hyper friends… It had been cloudy that day, and a few moments after they walked into his house, her phone had started beeping. It was just another Hollow alert, and wasn't putting off a strong signal anyway. But still, it had to be taken care of.

So, as usual, they went and hunted it down. Other than the fact that it was one of the most hideous Hollows ever, it was no different from the others. Weak, annoying, and hardly worth the effort. It took only three minutes for the boy to slash through its skull. And as usual, they turned and headed home.

The sky seemed to be growing darker with every step they took. Far away, they could hear the distant engines of cars, but that was it. The Hollow had been far away from the city, so they had a long way to go.

Ichigo sighed. "They're getting weaker every day…" he said, shoving his fists in his pockets. She rolled her eyes.

"Don't complain. You don't want them to be too strong, now do you?"

"No." He groaned. "Still…"

"Hey, Ichigo, I was wondering…" her voice trailed off when she felt something cold and wet hit her cheek. Silently, her violet orbs found their way to the sky, and she stared blankly at the grey clouds above.

He looked first at her, and then averted his own gaze to the clouds, cursing when a raindrop hit him directly in the eye. She laughed, and then shrieked as the drops doubled in velocity. Exchanging glances, they quickly began darting towards the forest far ahead of them.

By the time they reached the safety of the trees and the canopy of branches above them, they were already soaked to the bone. Their clothes clung to their skin, uncomfortable and damp. She was shivering in her short school skirt.

The rain was now falling in heavy blankets, too thick to see three feet outside of the forest. Everything beyond them was a blur. "You ok?" he asked, seeing her trembling as she curled up at the base of a tree. She wrapped her arms around her legs and nodded, resting her chin on her knees.

"Yeah… just cold, is all."

He came up and sat down beside her, so close their skin was practically touching. And that was the first time she felt that feeling. The tingling in her stomach and the crawling sensation that stretched along her skin. Immediately, she felt her cheeks grow hot and wondered if she was sick.

Suddenly, a loud rumbling sound echoed through the air, and she squeaked. "Ichigo… I… think we should get home," she said. He nodded and stood up.

"We're gonna get soaked, ya know."

She sighed. "We're already soaked." Rolling his eyes, he started running, aware of her fear of thunder. She ran at an equally fast pace, remaining a few feet away from him after their recent closeness.

As soon as they emerged from beneath the shelter of the trees, the rain poured down on them, cold and wet. She let out a shrill cry of surprise, even though she had known it was coming. And then her pace slowed as she remembered the feeling that had shot through her only minutes ago. What was that? Why had she felt so… she couldn't think of a word to describe it.

"Hey, hurry up."

She looked up to find that he had stopped, and she was walking through the grass slowly. "Huh?"

"Stop spacing out, let's get going."

Without another word, they started off again, and within minutes they were dashing along the sidewalk and passing through the streets.

Yes, love was a troublesome emotion, and one hardly worth feeling. It was confusing, heart-warming, cold. Sometimes it was at a complete stand-still, waiting to strike at the most unexpected times. Other times it flowed freely, coursing through the world without any care who it hurt. One day it was sweet and rapturous, the next it was cold and foreboding. Sometimes it could blind you, and other times it could make you see things all too clearly.

It makes you laugh, it makes you hurt, it makes you cry, it makes you burn, it makes you happy, and it makes you sad. And it has no mercy whatsoever. And it seemed that everyone had the misfortune of feeling it.

Some wanted it. Some savored it. Some prayed for it. Some cursed it. Some hated it. Some even feared it.

For some people, it came free and easy. And for those who were less fortunate, it came at a price and could tear you apart from the inside out.

Sometimes Hell, sometimes heaven. Sometimes kept secret, and sometimes obvious.

Love was a thousand things all at once, and it came too early for her taste. It came early and without any warning whatsoever. And the worst part was, she didn't know how to handle it. She could continue scolding herself and trying to fight it, or, since she was already playing the game, she could try and enjoy it.

The universe had thrust it upon her, and she was at a life-changing decision. Embrace it, or shove it away? Oh, she wasn't ready to make that kind of decision. It wasn't fair that it had come so fast. She wasn't mature enough, and wasn't strong enough for it.

Yet it had come, and either way, she would have to deal with it.