Fireworks

Disclaimer: Bleach and its characters belong to Kubo Tite, not me. If they did belong to me, Aizen never would have become so horrible to look at! (Yup, bad attempt at humour there. See? This is why Bleach can never and will never belong to me!)

Author's Notes: Here is the one shot promised for review 500 of my 100 Romantic Bleach Drabbles! Forgive me for any OoC-ness, but since it is AU I believe I'm entitled certain liberties with the characters. It's short and fluffy. And it was totally way more epic in my mind (mostly because, you know, I was visualizing the more dramatic events of this story!)

Dedicated to ZareenBlack! Please enjoy!

She had no what had actually happened that day. Most of the events that had lead up to the event had been pretty standard. They were not things that really stood out in her mind. She had been going about her business as usual. She had gotten to the display site early and had set up everything perfectly. The she had gone off to check in on her younger brother/assistant. Everything had been fine then, too. She had milled around, speaking to various guests and to her employer, trying to sell her services to anyone who seemed interested. She was young and at the top of her game. The fireworks display she had put together for that evening would be the icing on the cake. It would mark the moment that Shiba Kuukaku became the top name in pyrotechnics. The twenty-year-old woman was hours away from becoming the best of the best.

But something had gone terribly wrong. By the time anyone realized it, it was too late to stop it from happening. Kuukaku remembered the rush of adrenaline and the desire to save a young boy who had gotten too close. After that she remembered nothing but searing pain through her right arm.

"Why is it so important for this interview that I go into such great detail about that day?" the now twenty-eight-year-old Kuukaku asked, bringing herself back to her present surroundings – her home office, where she lounged comfortable on a leather couch. Across from her sat a young reporter who had being trying for a year to get an exclusive interview with her for some magazine. She wasn't sure which one nor did she really care.

"Wouldn't you agree that your unfortunate accident has defined your career to this point?" the reporter asked.

"Yeah, being the world's only one-armed fireworks expert has really made me even more popular," Kuukaku replied dryly. It was true that she was still highly sought out, but for a few years after the accident no one wanted to work around her.

"I meant you no offence, Ms. Shiba," the young man said quickly, raising his hands up in front of him in surrender. "I was only twelve at the time it happened, so I was curious to get your side of the story."

Kuukaku raised an eyebrow at the reporter. "What's your name again kid?"

"Shuuhei Hisagi."

Kuukaku frowned and ran her hand through her hair. The name sounded vaguely familiar to her but she could not place why. It wasn't like she ever bothered to read magazines, so she knew it wasn't from his work. "Were you ever a model or something?" she questioned. He definitely had the looks to be a male model. Short but spiked black hair and a lean and toned figure; Kuukaku couldn't imagine him not being one. Even his tattoos gave him a dangerous but sexy sort of look.

Shuuhei just laughed and turned his head to the side. "Nah. Not with these scars," he said.

Her eyes widened at the sight of the three long scars on the side of his face. "Where did you get those scars?" she asked quickly. Something about the scars and the boy she had saved was starting to come back to her. 'Wasn't I told that he'd be scared for life?' she thought as she stared intently at his face. Surely if she stared at him long enough everything would click for her.

"Ah, Ms. Shiba, you look so intense," he murmured, blushing faintly under her gaze.

"Who the Hell are you kid? You better tell me now or I'll toss you out on your ass!" the one-armed woman threatened.

"I told you that already," Shuuhei said, turning to look at her, hiding his scars.

"You're hiding something from me."

Shuuhei took a deep breath. "When I was twelve, the most beautiful woman I had ever seen in my life risked her life and career to save me from a fireworks display gone wrong. I struck my face on something sharp and she lost her arm as a result," he began slowly, watching her face for her reaction.

Kuukaku's eye twitched slightly. "So what? You came back to write a slander piece for revenge or something?" she demanded, already on the offensive.

"I became a writer so that I could see you again, obviously. But slander? I don't write trash like that. I'd rather be a respectable writer," Shuuhei replied defensively.

"Sure. Then why?"

"Because I fell in love with that strong and brave woman who saved my life. I did everything in my power to track you down again to finally confess to you," Shuuhei replied, getting up.

Kuukaku rose to her feet as well. "What are you going on about?"

Hisagi reached over and took hold of her hand before tugging her over to him. "Kuukaku Shiba, I've wanted to do this for eight years. You're not getting away from me anymore," he told her before kissing her hard on the mouth.

Kuukaku let out a playful sort of growl and kissed him back just as hard, warring for the dominance. There was no way she would let some young punk just up and kiss her like she was some submissive girl.

"I love that about you, you're so feisty," he said in a husky voice.

"Kid, I'll make you see fireworks with the things I can do to you," Kuukaku said in an equally husky voice before kissing him again.