And so officially begins my story entitled 'Steadfast Maiden'. The title will be explained later, I promise. I will do my best not to keep my readers in the dark. For each story, I pick a song that i think best describes a particular chapter. This chapter was inspired by several pieces, including the cover of Under the Milky Way by Sia, Ordinary Day by Vanessa Carlton to name a few.

P.S. Sorry if she seems like a Mary-Sue, I assure you that that's not what I was going for.

Again, I do not own anything of 'Bleach'- except for Raine! All rights for that go to Kubo.

Chapter 1: Sight

I awoke groggily to the obnoxious sound of my phone going off. Sitting up, I waited for it to finish ringing; I was not in a 'people-person' kind of mood today. And, shocker, I was right not to be. My mother's voice- as sickly sweet as poisoned honey- rang like bells in my native French, pleading with me to come home and forget this foolishness. I rolled my eyes and murmured to myself in French. What would it take for her to get the hint that I did not want to come home? It was her fault that I had moved out to begin with. I constantly thanked my father for helping me pay for lodging here in Karakura Town, but that proved to be a double-edged sword. He insisted on calling me every couple of days. I kept insisting to him that his second wife would not appreciate the numbers that featured themselves on the phone bill because of all the international calling, not to mention that my wallet was suffering because of it, too.

I pouted as I looked in my fridge to find it bare. I had told myself to go grocery shopping- why the hell didn't I listen to myself? Oh, right. Wednesday night- my usual night for grocery shopping- had been occupied with my sudden inspiration. I closed the appliance and leaned my head against the door.

'Well,' I told myself, 'now's a better time than any." I thought retreated to my bedroom and dressed myself in my usual calf-length skirt and long-sleeved black t-shirt. I next placed on my pendant, an antique silver Cross of Lorraine that had been in my family for generations. I rarely ever took it off; after all, it made me feel proud to wear such a symbol around my neck. I had the bad fortune of looking outside to find it pouring. I grimaced, but I knew that if I wanted breakfast, I would have to suck it up and deal with it. I pulled my thick curls of dark red hair into a low ponytail and then put my heavy, double-layered jacket on and slipped my feet into galoshes as I opened up my apartment door.

The wind howled outside as it never had before. I held onto my hood as I marched through the puddles. It was cold and wet; I did not like it.

Finally, I reached the convenience store and opened the door. I looked like something the cat dragged in, but I really didn't care. The clerk, a nervous-looking boy with dark, jaw-length hair that was tied back into a ponytail, was startled by my appearance. I had started shopping here a few weeks ago, around the same he started working there. He always had a smile, albeit a nervous one, for me. "Oh, oh my," he stammered, his eyes shifting from me to the horrid weather outside and back to me. "You walked here… in that?"

"I didn't have much of a choice." I said as I took off my rectangular-framed glasses and wiped them with a clean cloth I had stowed away in my pocket. "I had no food because I forgot to go shopping the other day."

"I was wondering where you went." he said nervously. "I thought that something had happened to you."

"Either than a sudden burst of inspiration," I said as I carefully replaced my glasses and smiled at him, "no worries."

"W-Well that's good to hear." he said with a nervous laugh.

"What about you?" I asked.

"M-Me? What about me?" I could see the light pink sprout on his face.

"How have you been?"

"Oh, well I'm good, I guess." he replied nervously. "Life goes on and all that."

"I guess." I said with a sigh. I smiled and nodded to him as I left him to attend to my grocery shopping. It was the usual ramen noodles, yakisoba, et cetera. Simple, easy things, as well as the basics: milk, eggs and bread. I sighed, wishing that they had things for more complex recipes, like the ones I had inherited from my grandmother- but those required friends who could come over for dinner parties. When I moved out of my mother's house to Japan- the furthest I thought I could get away from her- I left all of my old friends behind, trying to make a clean break. It was hard and heartbreaking for me, and I cried for a couple of days, but I forced myself to get over it. In the meantime, I went by with my groceries to the counter and nearly dropped them as I turned…

I don't know whether I had really gone round the bend or if it was still my fatigue talking but there he was—standing on the wall. He was tall and lean, at least from what I could see, dressed in a button-up shirt and tie and slacks. He held over his straight, jaw length blond hair a gray newsboy cap and his arm obstructed any view I had of his face. I knew that it was rude to stare, but…

'Rude to stare at what,' a voice inside me asked incredulously, 'a figment of our imagination? The man is standing on the wall! How is this possible? Are you high? Are you drunk? Are you all of the above?'

The clerk seemed to have noticed that I was staring off, and I could have sworn that I heard him give out a gasp, but I was too enamored by this stranger to even really pay attention. The man on the wall looked up, straight at me. My eyes met the most beautiful light brown eyes I had ever seen. I almost forgot how to breathe, but turned away with a blush.

"I-If you're ready miss…" the clerk said, drawing my attention back to him. I looked back to him, my mind searching for a response, until I finally just nodded the affirmative. I turned back for a moment and, much to my chagrin, the stranger had disappeared.

"He's gone…" I thought aloud.

"M-Miss?" he asked, arching a brow.

"The man… who was standing on the wall, didn't you see him?"

'Great Lorraine. Now you're going to look like the crazy cat lady who talks to her cats and thinks that she hears their voices reply in her head.' the voice said.

'Okay, for one thing, that's a major hyperbole because I hate cats. For another thing, where did you come from, anyway?' my mind mentally argued.

'That's my business.'

'What a load of bull-honky.' I thought.

"I'm sorry miss," the clerk said as he let out a small laugh, "but that does seem kind of silly."

I was about to retort that I heard him gasp earlier when I was looking at the stranger, but soon decided against it and reached into my bag to retrieve my 'allowance.'

"So," I began as I put my wallet away again, "since this might be my new shopping place, and since I have a feeling I'll be seeing you every week, can I have your name?"

"M-My name?" he asked.

"Yeah," I replied, "that way we're not so awkward with each other."

"Oh, well miss, I'm Hanataro Yamada."

I smiled warmly. "Nice to officially meet you, Hanataro. I'm Lorraine Delacroix. You can call me 'Raine' for short if you would like."

"O-Of course, Miss Raine." he said nervously.

"We'll work on it." I told him with a smile and a wink. "Thanks for everything, Hanataro. See you in a few days."

I entered into my apartment and set my things down. Once everything was in its proper place, I sat down with a hot cup of tea- something for the nerves. I mentally filed through my usual agenda: seven o'clock- up and at 'em; seven-fifteen- breakfast; seven-forty-five- shower and wardrobe; nine o'clock to noon- thumbnails; twelve-thirty- lunch; one o'clock to five-thirty- major projects (priority first) and clean up; seven o'clock- dinner and clean up; eight o'clock- get ready for bed; eight-thirty to nine-forty-five- read library book; ten o'clock- bed. In essence, I had a nonexistent social life, but I could live with it.

Today, though, called for a change in the routine. I was still thinking back to the stranger from the convenience store. Imaginary or not, those addicting eyes of honey brown would not leave my mind. I shook my head and set my tea down; from the armoire in which I kept all of my art supplies, I withdrew a sketchpad and my set of pastels. I turned on my music and gently set the ear buds in as I began drawing.

By the time Wednesday rolled around, I had already finished several pieces, but there was one in particular that I was extremely fond of. I held the paper before me, looking back into the eyes of the stranger that I had recreated. Why had I done that? Was it impulsive? Was it for wish-fulfillment? Who knows? This was the umpteenth time that I had looked into those eyes; I wanted to drown in them, but then again that was crazy talk. I slipped it into an accordion file that I kept all of my important and personal pieces in. I sighed; in addition to it being grocery day, it was also laundry day. Fun…

After I started a load of darks, I locked up my apartment as I left for the convenience store. Compared to last week, the weather was fairly pleasant for early March. The sun shone down on my face and showered me with its warmth. I couldn't wait for spring, when everything would wake from its death-like winter sleep. I was ready for green again. I wasn't, though, ready for my impending twenty-third birthday; it just signified that I wasn't aging any slower.

Hanataro was acting incredibly strange today; I'd even say more nervous than usual. When I asked him if he was okay, he mumbled something about 'being close'. I asked him what he meant, but he politely excused himself and let one of his co-workers take over with helping me. I promptly thanked him and then rushed out, hoping I could catch Hanataro. As I hurried off in the direction I had seen him run, I felt something sticking out in front of my foot. I tripped, dropping my groceries. I felt my glasses fall from my face, but I couldn't see just where they had skittered to. Suddenly, I felt something cold grab my ankle and begin to drag me backward. I fought with whatever it was, getting a firm grip on anything I could grab onto. I heard a shrill, animalistic roar and I scrambled to find my glasses. One hand was lightly searching over the pavement for them; the other was searching for something to hold onto. Finally, I felt my hand hit the plastic rims and I placed them on. Whatever it was that had a hold on my ankle- which turned out to be a black, clawed hand- let go and pulled back to the gaping black hole from whence it came. A second hand joined it at the edge of the hole and they pushed at the edges, stretching the entrance. I was soon met with the ruby red stare of a giant, horrid looking creature I had never seen before. Its entire body- minus its face, which looked like a mask made of bony material with a long pointed nose-, was made out of a black substance.

"Your soul looks good enough to eat, my dear." the thing said in a very shrill, nasally voice. I shook with fear, unable to find it in myself to even scream. I scrambled back until it got a grasp on my leg. It pulled me back to it slowly, like it was going to play with its food before consuming it.

A sudden yellow flash came out of the corner of my eye and severed the creature's arm off. The thing shrieked in pain and attempted to grasp at me with the other one when its mask-face was slashed in half. It disappeared in black wisps of smoke. A smell of death and ashes filled my nostrils and made me nauseous. I looked up after a moment to find the blonde angel from a few days ago staring back at me. He smirked at me, showing almost his entire row of upper teeth and then disappeared. I couldn't take the smell anymore and started hyperventilating; I knew that I couldn't take much more of this. My mind was telling me to get far away, but the body soon couldn't take it, and I fainted. My hearing wasn't gone as quickly, though; I heard footsteps approach me.

"Miss Raine, are you okay?" I heard Hanataro's voice ask me. I fought with my eyelids and tried to make a coherent answer, but it was futile. My mind was already asleep. Hanataro continued to mumble something that I couldn't quite comprehend. I felt arms wrap around my shoulders and the underside of my knees and heard Hanataro begging me not to wake and hit him before I completely blacked out.

I felt like my head was in a vice as I awakened again. I realized within moments that I was not in my apartment. This was not good. Had that really happened? If not, then it was one hell of a "monster" dream. I had not had one of those since I was five. I sat up slowly feeling small patches on my knees and elbows. Someone had been kind enough to bandage them for me and let me stay in their home. Super, but that still didn't explain where I was, or why I was here. Feeling like I was being watched, I looked over at the back, where two sets of eyes- one pair belonging to a small boy with wild red hair and the other belonging to a girl with long black pigtails- were staring at me.

"Hey, boss," the boy yelled, looking over into an adjacent room, "she's awake!"

"OOOOOWWWWWW…." I groaned. This kid's voice was drilling into my skull, making everything worse.

"Maybe you shouldn't be so loud, Jinta." the little girl said timidly.

"Shut up, Ururu! Don't tell me what to do." Jinta said, pulling at the little girl's pigtails.

"You should listen to her." I grumbled, still clutching at my head in pain.

"You're one to talk, moocher." the little boy said. All of a sudden, almost out of nowhere, a giant of a man appeared and put little Jinta in a headlock.

"That is not how we treat guests, Jinta." he said harshly. "I apologize for his behavior, miss."

"Um, really, it's no problem." I said, waving my hands in my insistence. "Where am I?"

"The Urahara Shoten." said a new voice. I turned around to see a man dressed head to foot in green robes. Tufts of his white-blonde hair stuck out from under his green and white-striped bucket hat and kept his eyes shadowed. "I'm Kisuke Urahara. And you are…"

"Lorraine Delacroix, sir, but you can just call me 'Raine'."

"Raine it is, then." Urahara said, withdrawing a fan from the sleeve of his robe. "You must be hungry."

"Actually, I really want to know more about… whatever that thing was that attacked me."

"Attacked you?" an intrigued Urahara asked from behind his fan. "Are you sure you weren't dreaming, Raine-chan? You did hit your head pretty hard."

"I'm not sure. I mean, I may have dreamt it up…"

"Just out of curiosity, what did this thing look like?"

"It was as big as a two-story house and ugly, had a black… body, I guess and a face that looked like a skull with dozens of sharp teeth and red glints for eyes. When it wrapped its hand around my ankle, the skin was cold… and then when he defeated it…"

"He?"

"A man saved me."

"What did he look like?"

"That's the weird thing; I could've sworn that I had seen him before. He had long-ish blond hair and he wore a newsboy cap." I started cringing as the pain settled in my head again.

Urahara was silent for a moment. I couldn't tell his expression as he still kept his face hidden behind the fan.

'Great. Now he really thinks that I'm crazy." I thought.

"I'm sure it was just a dream, Raine-chan." he said. The words were sympathetic, but the tone sounded almost unsure. I looked down to my lap, trying to overcome my own confusion. I only ended up making my headache worse. "Perhaps you need to lie down."

"You could be right, Urahara-san." I agreed.

"Please, Raine-chan, call me Kisuke."

"Okay, Kisuke." The name still sounded wrong on my tongue. "And thank you for your hospitality."

"Not a problem at all." he said with a wave of his fan. "If you need anything, then simply ask Tessai, here." He motioned to the giant of a man who stood silently at the foot of the couch. Tessai nodded to me. I couldn't help being a little intimidated, but still nodded back politely. I made myself as comfortable as possible and soon felt my eyelids drifting shut.

I felt myself regaining consciousness as I felt a light weight on my waist. I opened my eyes to Kisuke's darkened living room. I groaned with realization that it was nightfall and sat up. I jumped as something fell from my waist onto the floor. I grabbed my glasses and looked over the edge of the couch to find a lump of cloth. It was some kind of strange stuffed rabbit that looked like it could have doubled as a little girl's purse, with the ears having buckles on the ends. I picked it up and examined it; it must've been one of Ururu's toys. I looked around for the little girl, but then realized that she must've been elsewhere. What I did find were two other little stuffed animals. The first was a little yellow bird dressed in a blue hooded cape and little blue boots. The second was a turtle with ruby-colored eyes dressed in gray pants and a dressy shirt with a red bow tie. I looked to the rabbit and smiled.

"You got left behind, didn't you?" I asked, forgetting myself. I placed the animal with the others on the coffee table and then stretched… until I froze. As if on its own, the rabbit stood and dusted itself off with its ears. Then it looked up to me, its red-lined mouth in a huge grin.

"Thank you very much, miss." it said.

"You idiot!" the bird said in a little girl's voice, jumping and kicking at the rabbit. The turtle just watched as if this wasn't anything new. I was rendered speechless still by the fact that they could walk and move like normal people. I shot backward; I don't even recall screaming, but soon Kisuke, Tessai, Jinta and Ururu were in the room with me.

"I told you guys to stay out of her sight." Kisuke said in an annoyed tone.

"Urahara-san, w-what are they?" I asked.

Kisuke was silent for a moment. "I don't suppose you would buy that you're still dreaming." he suggested.

"Not this time!" I said. "Something's going on here and I demand an explanation."

Kisuke sighed. "Come into the kitchen. Looks like I have a lot to explain to you."

"So let me see if I have this right: there are Soul Reapers- a.k.a. the Good Guys- and Hollows, those ugly, demon looking things."

"That's right, and it's the Soul Reaper's job to protect the souls of the living from being consumed by Hollows."

"And there's a whole… society of them?" I asked, unsure.

"Yep."

"And where do you fit in all of this?"

"I was once one of them, approximately a hundred and ten years ago."

"And you're how old?"

"Hmmm, can't really say. I guess you could say I stopped counting a while ago."

"Oh lalala…" I said, holding my head in one hand.

"It's a lot to take in, isn't it, Raine-chan?" Kisuke said with a smile.

"That's the understatement of the millennium. Where's an aspirin when I need one?"

'You wanted to know.' the voice inside my head told me.

'I didn't expect this! This is… too much.'

"Do you have any questions, Raine-chan?" Kisuke asked me.

"Well, now that you mention it…" I paused as I tried to find the right way to put it. "I actually have a few, if you don't mind."

"Fire away."

"Well, you said that Soul Reapers and Hollows can't be seen nor heard by humans, so… why can I?"

"That's something that has been bothering me as well." Kisuke said, once more unfolding his fan. "You said that up until fairly recently, you hadn't been able to see spirits, so I wonder if there was some kind of connection that you unwittingly made to make you spiritually aware. Anyway… your next question."

"This actually has nothing to do with what you've told me, but it's been bugging me for a while: How did I get here?"

"Oh, well, Hanataro Yamada brought you here after he found you…" Kisuke paused. "Well, that would explain things."

"That would explain what?" I asked concernedly.

"Tessai, would you go find him? If I didn't know better, I'm sure he's on his way over here." Tessai nodded and then disappeared.

"Kisuke, I don't understand."

"Not to worry, Raine-chan." he said in a sing-song voice. "I have a feeling that everything will be explained soon enough." I arched a brow at him. A moment later, Tessai reappeared in the room, carrying Hanataro. The boy looked different- even that was a gross understatement; he wore his hair long, and it looked weird to me. He had on dark robes and sandals with socks. Around his shoulder and chest, he wore a thick belt that held a pouch on the back and he had a katana at his waist. His eyes widened when he saw me.

"Miss Raine," he said, running to me. "I'm so glad you're okay. I had thought that you really had been hurt, and I never would've forgiven myself."

"I'm fine, Hanataro-san." I looked back to Kisuke. "Is he one of them?"

"Urahara-san, you told her?"

"I really didn't have much of a choice, Yamada-san. She was already able to see the Gillian."

"The what?" I asked.

"The thing that attacked you is known as a Gillian, the lowest form of a Menos Grande."

"Which is a type of Hollow?"

"You learn fast." He turned to Hanataro. "She was able to see it because of contact she had with you."

"B-but how?" Hanataro asked. "I must deal with hundreds of customers a day."

Kisuke seemed to be processing this information. "That's true, in which case she must've had some power sealed away within her. In any case, this could make her a target."

"A target?" I asked.

"There are only a few humans with spiritual awareness, which makes you a liability. You could be hunted, Raine." I felt a chill at how deadly serious Kisuke's voice had become in a matter of seconds.

"Wh-What should I do?" I asked, frightened.

"Well, there are a number of things we can do." Kisuke paused and looked up at me. His dark eyes met mine and I felt a chill run through my blood. "But, I think it best if I had a little time to decide the best option." His voice had returned to its normal, goofy self, but I was still weary. I bit my lip and then looked back up to him.

"Kisuke, I still have a question for you."

"Then please, Raine-chan, don't be shy. Ask me."

I lowered my head.

"If the… Hollow was real, then he must have been, too."

Hanataro looked confusedly at Kisuke. "He? I didn't see anyone else when I found her."

"He disappeared before I passed out."

"That's oddly merciful of him."

"You know him?"

"Yes, I do. Why are you so interested, Raine-chan?"

"He… he saved my life. I owe him more than thanks. Kisuke, please, where can I find him?"

"Not so fast, Raine-chan. I'm not letting you go anywhere tonight. You've already had one heck of a day; I don't need you overwhelmed."

"Please, Kisuke." I asked softly.

"Do you think you'll last five minutes out there at night?"

"I can try." I started for the door, but Hanataro was suddenly in front of me with his arms stretched over the exit.

"I'm sorry, Miss Raine, but I'm not gonna let you go out there by yourself."

"Then can I at least go back to my apartment?"

Kisuke looked at Tessai.

"I don't see why that would be a problem, as long as…"

"I can do it." Tessai said before Kisuke could finish.

"Do what, exactly?" I asked.

"He's going to put a barrier around your apartment. Nothing can get in."

"Is that really necessary?"

"Do you think a bolted door and locked windows will be enough to stop these things?" he asked, his voice getting gravely serious again. I shuddered as I remembered the gaping hole that the Gillian had appeared out of.

"I suppose you do have a point." I grumbled.

"Excellent." Kisuke said. "In the meantime, Yamada-san, I don't believe that you are supposed to be off of your patrol."

"I know. I was only coming in for a moment to check on Miss Raine."

"Well, I believe that she's going to be just fine now." Kisuke said.

"Right. Th-Thank you, Urahara-san." he said, giving a polite bow before disappearing.

"It is time I returned you home as well, miss." Tessai said. I looked to Kisuke.

"Would it be alright if I came back tomorrow?" I asked.

"Of course, Raine-chan." Kisuke said. "I'll look forward to your visit."

"Thank you for everything, Kisuke." I said. Kisuke nodded. I looked to Tessai.

"Please pardon me, miss." he said as he scooped me up effortlessly. I was somewhat uncomfortable, but I also felt somewhat secure. "Take a deep breath and close your eyes." he told me softly.