The woman headed towards the door. There was a chill in the air and a certain eerie feeling the closer she had went. The woman looked at the caramel colored envelope in her hand and proceeded to open the door.

The woman's eyes grew wide; her body grew stiff with fear. Her body felt like an anchor holding her down, not allowing her to move from her spot in the room. Her eyes couldn't free its grip on the sight in front of her, an image that would forever plague her dreams.

A blood curdling cry pierced the morning air.


The raven haired woman looked at her watch and was growing impatient; her foot tapped the marble floor.


"Do you know where a woman named Rukia is?" the ginger asked, but was ignored by yet another person. Everyone seemed to be in a rush.

"How the hell am I supposed to find her now?" The ginger scratched the back of his head and continued to walk through the marble floored room


"Where are they?" the woman mumbled to herself as she looked around the room

"Oi, Kuchiki!" A familiar voice called out.

Rukia turned to see who it was, "Oh, there you are," she sighed in relief to the person running towards her.

"I'm sorry for being late, Ms. Kuchiki," the raven haired woman's new companion bowed.

"It's okay Kiyone, no need for formality; just call me Rukia." The raven haired woman politely smiled

"Okay, Rukia. I'm sorry for being late. The captain had fallen ill again."

"Is he straining himself again," Rukia shook her head, "The captain needs to learn how to take it easy."

The woman with short dark-blonde hair nodded

"I thought captain Kyouraku's easy-go-lucky attitude would rub off onto the captain, considering they're good friends." The raven haired woman tapped her chin

"Um, Ms. Kuchi- I mean Rukia, here is your new case," the girl handed Rukia a vanilla colored file, "Captain Yamamoto assigned this to you himself."

"This must be very important then," Rukia nodded and took the offered file, "Thank you for this Kiyone." She smiled

"You very welcome, Rukia."

Both women bowed and parted ways


Ichigo scanned the room, since asking around wasn't working. His lips curved into a grin when he found what, more like whom, he was looking for.


As the raven haired girl walked; she felt a sudden presence appear behind her. The raven haired woman turned to see her yet another companion

"Rukia! You have got to see this," The tangerine haired woman bubbled

"What is it Rangiku?" she didn't know what her friend was going to say, but she knew it would be something silly.

"You know that guy you threaten to shoot."

"Yea…" Rukia drawled 'The Arrogant Asshole? Yea I remember him," she added in her mind.

"Well he's here!" Rangiku grinned

"What?!" Rukia's eyes slightly widened in surprise, "What is he doing here?!"

"He's looking for you!" the tangerine haired woman giggled, "You have to talk to him."

"What?! Why?!" Rukia put her hands on her hips, "I have nothing to say to him."


The orange haired man walked in long strides, watching as the figure of the woman grew closer and closer.


The tangerine haired woman's grin grew wider when she saw said man walking towards them, "Speak of the devil…" she mumbled, "Well, Rukia I have to go now, I have a lot of work to do."

"What work? You just nap in the squad 10 barracks!" Rukia jested, but her companion simply turned and walked away, "Rangiku!"

The tangerine haired woman didn't turn, she waved her hand dismissively.

"What the hell was that all about?" the raven haired woman mumbled to herself.

Rukia felt a hand grip her shoulder unexpectedly. Instinct kicked in, without looking behind her the raven haired woman grabbed the wrist of the hand gripping her shoulder and with one swift movement flipped the aggressor over her shoulder and onto the marble floor in front of her. "You got a lot of nerve." She snarled.


The orange haired man was dazed. One moment he was about to greet the raven haired woman, the next he's on the ground looking up into those amethyst eyes, "Damn you're strong," he laughed, " It's no wonder they call you 'The Hell Butterfly'."

It took the raven haired woman a moment to process what happened and who she had thrown to the ground. "What the hell do you want." She scowled

"Aw geez, this was my new suit too," the orange haired man smiled and continued to look up at the raven haired woman who had her hands on her hips and a scowl on her face 'So cute,' he thought , "I'm fine, thank you for asking. What about you?" he said sarcastically

"Are you fucking kidding me? What the hell do you think you're doing?" She snapped

Ichigo surveyed the raven haired woman from head-to-toe.

She was dressed more casually then all the other SS officers he'd seen, her hair hanging loosely above her shoulders, a simple black undershirt with her SS badge hanging on a long chain around her neck, black jeans, a pair of black and white All Star converse, and her gun holstered to her hip completing the look. Considering her size and if you took away her gun and badge she would look like an ordinary high school student.

Rukia's violet orbs narrowed as she glared downward at the orange haired man waiting for an answer, "Well?" she said impatiently

"Have you ever thought of being a narcotics officer?" the ginger bluntly asked slightly tilting his head

"I don't have time for this," Rukia rolled her eyes; "You need to go to an insane asylum."

Ichigo continued to stare at the raven haired woman, and then something caught his eye.

Rukia almost jumped when the ginger suddenly sat up and faced her.

"Is that our new case?" the ginger wondered aloud as he took the vanilla folder out of the woman's grasp. Rukia had almost forgotten that she had it.

It took all that Rukia had not to punch the ginger, "What do you mean our case?" she growled

"Oh, they didn't tell you? Well, I'm your new partner," Ichigo smirked

"No shit!" she barked, "I won't believe you until I see some proof." The raven haired woman crossed her arms over her chest, "You know, I never would have thought that the SS would hire psycho paths."

"Haha, you're a comedian," Ichigo mocked as he fished said item out of the pocket of his suite jacket, "here, look."

Rukia snatched the item out of his hand

'Name: Ichigo Kurosaki

Hair color: Orange

Eye color: Amber

Day of birth: July 15th…" It was just the mandatory stuff, height, weight and… 'Wait a minute…' Rukia thought as she scanned the card, 'His birthday is what?' she squinted at the text written on the card, making sure her eyes were not playing tricks on her.

As Ichigo watched the woman, his eyes drifted to the number 13 and butterfly that was inked onto her right shoulder. 'This woman. She looks so small and fragile to the eye, but so strong and mysterious in truth.' He's train of thought ended when he saw a smug look appear on the woman's face.

"What's with the face?" he scowled in confusion

"The Head Captain was so desperate to find me a partner he ends up hiring a kid," the raven hared woman scoffed

"Who ya calling a kid, you little brat," snapped the ginger

"What did you say?" the raven haired woman barked

"You heard me, midget!"

"Say that again," the woman challenged as the blood boiled through her body, "I DARE you."

The orange haired man stood up from his spot on the marble floor, "Mig—e" Ichigo couldn't finish the word, for he had a mouth full of 'midget' foot in it. The ginger man crouched to the ground holding his mouth.

"Why you little bitc-"

"Learn to treat those who are older than you with respect, got it you little brat." Rukia interrupted

"I don't see why you're the one telling me this. You're like what..." the ginger did a quick head-to-toe scan of the raven haired woman, "21?"

"Nice try," she scoffed, "So I have a kid name strawberry as a partner, that's…interesting"

"My name is not strawberry," the ginger said through clenched teeth.

The raven haired woman ignored the man, "You know, I always thought that if I ever met a person with the name strawberry they would be a woman and a hippie," the woman tapped her chin as if in deep thought, "Although I was right about the orange hair." She teased

Ichigo felt his eye twitch in annoyance and clenched his fist, "My name is not STRAWBERRY! It's ONE WHO PROTECTS! 'Ichi' as in one and 'go' as in protect!" the ginger roared

"Okay, okay don't need to turn into the Hulk on me now," The raven hared woman chuckled in amusement.

Ichigo was struck by the woman's change in mood as a light blushed that ran on his features, "H-how old are you anyway?"

"Me? I'm 27," the raven haired woman smirked

The gap in Ichigo's mouth was the size of a dinner plate, "Wah, we're the same age, idiot!" he growled, the blush on his face grew into a deep pink.

"I was born January 14 ," the smirk on the small woman's face became more prominent.

"That is only seven months, can't you count?!" The ginger was applauded at the absurdity of the raven haired woman, but his blush still resumed its spot on his face

"Seven months is still seven months," Rukia said, her arms crossed over her modest chest, "So start showing me some respect."

"Oh, yeah?" the ginger moved closer to the raven haired woman pinning her against the wall with her arms bent over her head, her wrist held together with one of his hands, his face ever so close to hers, "Just because you're older doesn't mean anything, there will come a day when you're not the strongest…" Rukia felt his hot breath against her skin, "Rukia…"

"Tch," the raven haired woman growled and with no effort at all upper cut the ginger with her knee, lifted herself up, and in one quick motion launched the ginger to the ground with one strong kick.

A wave of shock hit Ichigo as an 'uff' escaped his lips as he felt his back hit the hard marble floor with a thud, and the sting from a hard trust of a knee ran through his jaw. He was now, and once again, looking up back at the raven haired woman.

"That day has not come," she chided, "I am 'The Hell Butterfly' and don't you forget that."

Ichigo just stared at the woman.

Rukia rolled her eyes, "Get up, we have work to do."

Rukia took the vanilla folder out of Ichigo's hand. In that moment Ichigo saw a fraction of a smile appear on the woman's face

"This is our case after all." She added