Chapter 4

Kurosaki Ichigo slowly approached the battered shed. There were many cops surrounding it and then he saw him. Grimmjow. He walked straight up to him and the other cops. "He's the one who did this."

The cops looked at him and scoffed. "Watch wacha say kid. This is a captain yer speakin' of."

Ichigo's eyes widened and shock pumped through his veins. "C-captain?"

Grimmjow's cocky grin was evident. "Yeah, kid! Don't speak shit if you don't know what's going on."

Ichigo wasn't backing away, yet. "Why the hell did you attack my family, Captain?"

Grimmjow shrugged his shoulders, still smiling. "I have no idea what yer talkin' 'bout."

"Yeah, right! You sure as hell do!" He stopped as he saw some cops coming out of the shed wtih pieces of glass in bags. They're going to turn the shed upside down to find a possible suspect. Grimmjow's gonna probably frame me for killing that Agent and destroying her house. "What happened to the girl that you called Agent?"

Now the surrounding cops stopped whatever they were doing to stare at Grimmjow, whose facial expressions had turned cold. "I dunno what the hell you are spitting out, but if you know what's good for you, you'd scat away like the annoying rat you are."

For some reason, Ichigo didn't feel intimidated anymore. "I asked what happened to the girl and why in hell you attacked my family"

"I said get out of my sight!" Grimmjow yelled, grabbing Ichigo's shoulder and pushing him away.

Ichigo scoffed. "What type of captain does that to a civillian?" He began walking away, but stopped to say something to a cop with black hair and green eyes. "Now I know what type of people are protecting my friends and family, I feel insecure. We should get new captains, you know?"

The emerald eyed cop said nothing as Ichigo walked away, but once out of sight he turned to Grimmjow. "That's him?"

"Yep, that's the punk."

Ichigo walked home, slowly, thinking about what was going on. Aren't cops supposed to be good? He shook his head and stopped walking. He looked at the left pocket of his cargos, which was illuminated. What the hell? He took out the gun and found it glowing an icy blue color.

His eyebrows knotted together. It was almost like the gun wanted to communicate with him. It was like it was telling him where to go. He turned his head slightly towards the left, where many trees and shrubs were. That's a no-enter zone. The gun glowed even brighter. Hesitantly, he began approaching it, but stopped when he noticed blood stains on the ground. The gun was now shining so bright, it illuminated the dark place as he walked in deeper. Suddenly, something caught his eyes. He pushed away shrubs and tree branches.

"Don't move."

It was a command. Coming from a voice. A voice he recognized. "Agent?"

Then, there were two violet eyes staring at him. "Hey! You're that Kurosaki kid!"

He nodded and noticed that her forehead was bandaged. "What happened yesterday?"

"How are your sisters?"

"They are fine, but what the heck happened to your face?" Now he noticed that her left cheek was bruised and her chin was scraped.

She looked at him curiously. Ichigo's eyes narrowed. "Didja hit your head or something? I fought with someone"

"Grimmjow?"

"Yeah, genius!"

"Is the A.P.D. really bad?"

Rukia looked down and sighed. "No. Forty years ago it was the complete opposite. It was called S.S.P.D. but then," she paused. "Someone betrayed us and kicked us out. Renamed it the A.P.D. and since then, has been trying to take over Japan."

"Oh." He stayed silent. "You belong to S.S.P.D.?"

"No, I belong to the Triple S.A. Or the Soul Society Secret Agency. We are trying to help people from falling victims to the Arrancars. Families whose relatives used to work for us are targeted. I believe your dad might have been part of our agency, but there are no records under 'Kurosaki'."

Ichigo scoffed. "My dad wasn't agent. He's just a senile doctor."

Rukia looked at him and stood up. He noticed she was wearing a medium-sized, gray skirt, a white t-shirt, and holding grey backpack. "Anyways, I need a place to stay and I'm staying at your house."

"What?"

"Let's go to your house."

"Did you suffer some major trauma or something? I can't bring you to my house!"

"Yeah, sure. I'll find somewhere else to stay."

Ichigo thought for a moment. "Why don't ya contact the Triple S.A.?"

"After all that I told you?" Rukia smirked. "No! They'll find me on their own."

"Stop being stubborn and just contact them!"

"Gimme my gun." She extended her hand.

He gave it to her but once she held it, with her left hand, it stopped glowing. "What happened, Agent?"

Her mouth formed a frown. "It's mine, but it formed a connection with you." A sigh. "You," a pregnant pause as she handed him back her gun, "must help me."

"To do what?"

"To protect Karakura Town. I have four days left here, and I need you."

Ichigo stared at her in disbelief. "That's your job, Agent. I protect my family and friends. That is it. Go find a way to protect the town yourself." With that, he got up and began walking away.

"So that means if you see someone else in danger, you won't stop to help him or her?" He stopped. "No matter how much they beg for assistance you won't help them?"

He turned around. "Why the hell can't you protect Karakura Town?"

She swallowed saliva and looked at her right hand. That's when he noticed, what had happened.

Flashback

"Nice try, but I don't use one plan too many times." With that, he swung her into her table and punched her multiple times in her face. The girl was helpless. Punch after punch. Blood trickled down her nose and lip. Then he kicked her in the stomach and grabbed her hair. Lifting her up, that way their eyes would meet, he said, "Now remember, Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez killed ya." He pointed the gun to her head and smirked. "Bye-bye, Agent." A gun shot.

At the moment he had pulled the trigger, Rukia had kicked Grimmjow in his gut. He let her go and she crashed into the floor.

"Why, you-"

She managed to grab her backpack from under her desk, and take out something. Just as she was about to activate whatever she had gotten, Grimmjow crushed her right hand with his foot. Now Rukia scram bloody murder. Grimmjow pressed harder then noticed something. There was steam coming from her hand. He sniffed the air and coughed.

"Another gas bomb?" He covered his nosed and leaned more weight into her hand. "That should burn." He turned around and threw a circular shaped device on the floor. "Burn to death, Agent." With that he left.

Rukia looked at her hand and swallowed tears. Red. Raw. Bloody. Burned. Ugly.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

She looked at the gas bomb he had planted and shook her head. She would not go down and got up, but tripped, scraping her chin against the ground. She got up again and ran towards the room were the Kurosakis had been. Good they are safe. Then she jumped through the window Ichigo had broke and ran in the shadows of the trees and walls. She ran until her legs gave off amd then she hid.

End of Flashback

"Due to my current condition, I can't so in my stupidity, I believed that perhaps, you could be of service. Seems not, since all you care about are the people you know."

Ichigo felt a tad bit guilty as he saw her run off. It was his fault that she was going through this. He looked at her hand and shuddered. What could he do? He wasn't going to go around in a black jumpsuit saving Karakura Town whenever he could. He shook his head and began walking towards his friend, Tatsuki's, house. After a while, he found her outside with her younger brother playing kendo.

"Oi, Tatsuki!"

She turned around, taking off her head gear, but still holding on to her shinai. "Oi, Ichigo! What's up?"

He looked up for a long time and then to her.

"Idiot! You know what the heck I'm talking about."

"Yeah, I guess I do. Can I play a game with ya?"

"Sure, but just know that you're gonna get one hell of an a-"

"Sorry, Tatsuki, but I'm winning."

Tatsuki's younger brother laughed. "Ichigo-Nii, you've been trying since you were nine." He gave his shinai and head protector to Ichigo. "Good luck."

"Yeah, thanks!"

Tatsuki and Ichigo played kendo for an hour or so. They played two games in which the first, Ichigo won and the second, Tatsuki won.

"'Kay, Ichigo, you have gotten hella good!" Tatsuki said, as she threw her shinai and headgear on the floor.

"I know that already." He did the same. "So what's up?"

She looked up and then at him, smirking. "Whatchu think?"

"That's not nice, ya idiot. Ya copied me."

"Yep and that's the way I play." He shrugged and looked up at the sky. Tatsuki sighed."Ya know, Ichigo, I haven't seen ya happy since you were nine."

Ichigo didn't respond. Tatsuki was his childhood friend and he was cool talking with her, but he hated how she would always bug him about being depressing.

"You are soooo depressing."

There it was.

"Always with that annoying scoff."

He got up. "See ya later, Tats."

"Seriously, Ichigo." She grabbed his shoulder. "Find something you love to do. Hang out with your friends. Come to the club with us on Friday nights. Just do something and smile."

"Tatsuki."

"She wouldn't want to see you this way."

That got to him. "Bye, Tatsuki."

Walking home, he thought about something he enjoyed. Other than hanging out with Tatsuki and Chad, he didn't do anything else but studying and reading. He entered his house.

"Ichi-Nii," Karin called from the living room.

He entered the living room and sat next to her on the sofa. "Karin, how are you feeling?"

"Fine, but I have to ask you something." He nodded. "Did we really go to the park and do all the shit Dad said we did."

His eyes widened. Did the injection not work on her. "Yeah, why, Karin?"

"'Cause I can't believe we went on a picninc. I hate picnincs since," she trailed off. "Anyways, I just don't remember."

"Maybe you were too tired." He ruffled her hair and began getting up, but paused when he saw breaking news.

"Apparently, the bank was robbed and the owner was killed. No sign of anyone attempting to help him and there was no one in the bank at that time. This surprises many, because it is the only bank in that part of Karakura Town. Speculations are rising and many are wondering, 'Where were the police?'. Back to you, Hirako."

"No, heck. What the hell were the police doing? The bank didn't have cameras?" Karin was enraged.

Ichigo shrugged his shoulders, but he knew. That agent wasn't able to use the gun properly. "I'm going upstairs, okay."

Once he entered his room, he knew something was wierd. It smelled like dirt and blood. He looked at his open window. There was blood splattered on the sill. He looked at the bed sheet and saw dirt all over. He hadn't left it that way. He started undusting it and cleaning up. He got his school uniform, which Yuzu must've washed and sewed, and hung it. When he opened his closet, the sight almost made him jump.

Kuchiki Rukia, was inside of his closet, laying down. "Close the door, wouldja?"

"W-what the hell are you doing here?"

"I asked you to close the door." Rukia shut the door with her left foot.

He quickly opened it again and stared at the teenage girl. "What. The. Hell. Are. You. Doing. Here?"

The girl sighed and suddenly her phone started beeping. With her left hand she took it out. She clicked a blue button and smiled. "Ready for your first mission?"

He twitched. "Listen I can't do-"

"Do you still have the gun?"

"Yeah, bu-"

With that Kuchiki Rukia stood up, and using her left hand, grabbed Ichigo by his t-shirt. "Let's go." The next thing he knew, that crazy girl had thrown him out the window and jumped down herself.

His whole back felt like crap, but the girl took hold of his shirt arm and began running.

"Sorry, I should've let you put on some appropriate shoes for jumping those heights. Our location isn't far. It's a-"

They arrived and saw what was going on. A young child, about six, about six was being cornered by a man in an alley.

"Save her."

"What?"

"Take out your gun, kick the guy senseless, I don't care just save her. Don't worry. I'll modify the girl's memory so she won't tell anyone about you."

Ichigo looked at the scared girl and then at the man approaching her with a knife. His hands gripped and then he ran at the guy, throwing his body on top of the the assaulter. While Ichigo assaulted the man with quick punches and ocassional kicks, Rukia grabbed the girl's hand, who was whimpering, and took her out of the alley.

"I need ya to do something for me." The girl shook her head, her eyes glossy. "Please, I have to save you." The girl's grey eyes met with Rukia and she hesitantly nodded. "Swallow this pill." Rukia gave the girl a green pill.

Tears streamed down the girl's face, but she swallowed it anyways. Immediately the girl seemed to become dizzy and fainted. Rukia sighed, as she caught her. "You're safe now."

Ichigo came by her side. "I knocked him out. What do I do know?"

"Leave him there. His friends will either pick him up or kill him."

Ichigo's eyes widened, but he said nothing. "And that girl."

"What about her?"

"Where are we going to drop her off?"

"I know where. Hold her and follow me. Stick to the roofs to avoid any-"

"How the hell am I going to get on the roof?" Ichigo asked as he grabbed the girl and slung her over his back.

"Put these on." She threw him boots and sock-like shoes. "Shoes go first and then boots." With that said, Kuchiki Rukia jumped and landed ontop of the roof.

Cussing in surprise, Ichigo quickly put them on and jumped. There was a sudden surge of energy from the bottom of the boot and the next thing he was aware of, was that he was on top of a roof.

"Those shoes will give you a boost for every jump. The more force you put on it, the higher you'll jump."

He nodded and they began jumping from roof to roof everytime, landing somewhere that was shaded from the sun. "Do we have to stick to the shadows?"

"You wanna have eighteen cops and a bunch of staring people after us?"

He nodded understanding and they silently dropped off the girl in her backyard. "How did you know where she lived?"

"The Triple S.A. sent me coordinates."

"And how do they know?"

"We have a spy, Hinamori Momo, in the A.P.D."

They returned to Ichigo's room in under two minutes. Rukia turned around, so that Ichigo, who was sitting on his bed, was face to face with her. "Now, tell me, why did you help me save that girl." Ichigo was silent. "Tell me, boy, why did you save that girl?"

Looking up to her, he responded, "I'm not the type of guy who will see someone in danger and not help them. I'm not that person."

"Then you'll help me?"

He looked at her now bandaged right hand and sighed. "Yeah, I'll help you, Agent."

Rukia smiled and began walking to his closet, but then paused for a moment. "Where did you learn to fight like that, Ichigo?"

Ichigo's eyes widened. In Japan, a person uses honorifics for everyone except close friends. "My dad is quite abusive. You'll see tomorrow morning, Agent." He wanted to make it clear that they were not friends, but accomplices.

"My name is Kuchiki Rukia." Her eyes gazed at his. "Don't call me 'Agent'."

Something about the way she said it. Painfully confident, and with an edge of grief. "That's fine with me, Rukia."

(A/N This is the last update for Bulletproof for this week. I have two questions for anyone who reads this story:

Are Ichigo and Rukia in character? When I ask this, I am wondering if you guys can really see them doing and speaking what they do and speak in this story.

Is there enough details? Can you picture the surroundings and Ichi or Ruki's feelings?

In the next chappie, I'll introduce Inoue Orihime and we'll have more on Ichi's school friends.

Thank you: AgentBlast101, Rukia Heart, and Evolutionary for following my story!

Thank you: Hitsugaya Taicho, Hisana Kuchiki, Karin Hitsugay, and Kuchiki Fucotaic for the reviews.

Hisana: Yep, I know. I love that place, man! I'm RK1998. How about you?

Till next Friday everyone!)