Bleach
© Hibiki Sakura I DO OWN BLEACH! I own the new characters… hehe
Notes: I watched all until the latest episode so I hope I'll get the story right, please support me

Title: Apples and Oranges
Summary: Kurosaki Riiko's life was almost 'perfect' until her birthday; she was rejected by a 6-years-old crush and was forced to train in the 'Soul Society' and by all people, under Byakuya. Would this Apple and Orange mix together?
Category: Mystery/Romance/Fantasy

Firstly I love to thank:

Bashima Isuhaqu, the Beta Reader
someone
too lazy to sign in
(I apologize for referring you as the names above -.-;;)

Episode 02: Uruhara Shop

Riiko waited impatiently in the kitchen with her head down; feeling depressed while her parents were discussing an important topic in the living room. Apart from that, she remembered the words Akira said her, it repeated in her mind and she balled her fists on her knees, squeezing her eyes, trying to be strong. Tears began to shed from her eyes. Her dinner on the table was untouched; she didn't have the appetite to eat.

An hour ago, Riiko returned at around 6, with Mr. Kisuke behind her. She had sweat drops on her head apologizing to her parents, scratching the back of her head, innocently. She didn't expect her parents to be very worried about her. They were delighted to see Riiko safe and sound. Her mother's eyes trembled and had a slight smile on her lips that Riiko had not seen before. She pulled Riiko's head and pushed her down to her left shoulder, tears streaming down her eyes.

"Idiot…" Ichigo knocked Riiko's left temple and she apologized more. Why are they worried? She thought to herself. Her father's eyes expressed an alien emotion; usually it was either playing or serious. "We were worried sick about you! I told you to be home by 5." She looked down at her.

"She had some errands to do," The middle age old man backed her up. Riiko could see from his face that he was there watching her being a bit offended. She kept silent. "Long time no see, Ichigo! Rukio!"

He took off his hat and smiled at them. "Kisuke-san?"

"I talked to him this afternoon about our Riiko," The old man in the house walked in from the kitchen and Riiko's parents looked at him. 'Everyone know this man?' Riiko asked. She was both lost and curious as she looked at them talking with familiarity with each other. Suddenly she turned into a chibi and started twirling around. The others stopped their conversations and stared at her as they shared the same giant sweat drop.

"How do you guys know this man?" She pointed rudely at Kisuke in chibi with dark red spots on her cheeks and there was a symbol of justice on her fingertip. It was silent and Kisuke began to chuckle. Riiko moved one step back with a crooked look and she stood in a defensive position, "W-w-what are you laughing at?"

"Interesting! Interesting!" He commented and a question mark popped out from the red-headed, "Just like the grandfather said." More question marks popped out from Riiko's head; she tilted her head to one side. They looked very intimate with each other.

Riiko smiled; she doesn't want her mother to see what she did that afternoon through the expression on her face. She could have been killed! Exactly like her father always warned her! She should have listened to them. She was lucky that Mr. Uruhara Kisuke rescued her, she stood up and placed her dinner in the refrigerator. She walked out of the kitchen and her family stopped talking, "I am going to bed, father, mother, Grandpa!"

"Wait!" Her father's serious voice called out to her and she paused. She saw all of them looking dead serious about something. Rukio headed towards her slowly and smiled at her. She pushed her daughter into the living room gently.

"What's the matter?" Her eyebrow shot up, "Did I do something wrong?" All eyes were on her and she sulked. She felt guilty.

"Do you remember the 'Hollow' you saw this afternoon?" She looked at Kisuke who was in one corner of the room sitting with his hat on his knees. He looked a lot more serious than before. Riiko only nodded. "To make it short, you are going to be trained to destroy those things!" Riiko paused with her eyes as huge as saucers and felt a very cold breeze running though her. It was a deathly cold even though it came from the air-conditioner from her left. "It called you 'Shinigami', didn't it?" Kisuke's sharp eyes pierced through hers and into her soul.

"Riiko dear," Her mother's sweet soft voice made Riiko turn to look at her. Her mother held onto her daughter's hands and gave her a satisfied smile, "We decided to send you to 'Soul Society' to train." Riiko stared at her blankly. Soul Society? She kept on wondering what it was.

"Your mother and I are concerned for your life," Riiko turned to look at her father who was leaning his hip against the living room couch. There was a worried look on his face as he shook his head, "We have no choice but to send you 'there' for training and protection." He looked away hoping that his daughter's gaze would stop burning into him. Riiko looked down at the floor and listened to the buzzing of the air-conditioner. She felt like as if they were trying to send her to a boarding school or somewhere far away.

She clenched her hands into tight fists and she turned around violently before dashing off. "Riiko?" Rukio looked up at her, a bit surprised. She followed her and grabbed her wrist making Riiko stop.

Anger filled the red-head's wide eyes, "I have no idea what the so-called 'Hollows' would do! I don't know why it called me a Death God! Send me to Soul Society to train?" She slammed the surface of closest table heavily with a fist, "Train what? This doesn't make sense!" She screamed. The room was silent except for the subtle buzzing of the lights and the rumble of the air-conditioner. Her parents knew that she did nt know anything at all and her grandfather cleared his throat. She looked at the old man and he started to speak.

The next morning, Riiko stared at her wall as she sat on the tidy made-up bed. The sun shone through the window and through the gap a breeze welcomed itself. Her hair was tied up behind her in a ponytail and she was wearing casual clothes which were a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. She bit her lower lip. Last night, the talk had made her realize that it wasn't her parents fault about what was happening to her. Her grandfather had told her what a Death God was and what the God's purpose was. She had no choice but to listen to what they tell her to do. "Go to 'Soul Society' and train well." She repeated a quote from her grandfather in a whisper. Being the daughter of two Death Gods she was bound to inherit something powerful from them. She giggled to herself. That way, she doesn't have to show her shameful face in front of Akira. She tried to force a smile.

"We'll tell the school principal about your transfer, okay, honey?' Rukio was actually unwilling to let go of her daughter especially when she wouldn't be able to see her for a whole year. Rukio knew though that this was the only way to protect her and she had put her foot down when she decided to let her go off. Her eyes trembled; she wished the best for her Riiko. She gave Riiko a very huge and supportive smile, "Keep it up! We will be rooting you from here!" She kissed Riiko's forehead. Riiko nodded punched the air above her head.

"Say hello to everyone for me... especially Kenpachi," Ichigo appeared beside Rukio with his finger in his right ear, rudely. Rukio kicked his leg. "WHAT?" He retorted angrily to his wife. Riiko began to giggle. Ichigo looked at his daughter again, "Just follow Kisuke-san, and don't worry about the money! Kisuke-san will send the bill to us!" He stared at his daughter. He didn't realize it was in fact 16 years already after his first daughter was born. Time flies so fast. "Take care," He turned feeling a bit depressed and distant.

Riiko nodded and bowed, "I'm going. Take care, y'all." She started to walk away. Suddenly a scream shot through her ears and she turned around with widened eyes of surprise. She was not ready for the arms that wrapped around her small body and in her mind she realize that this was the first time he had ever shown any sign of care so emotionally strong. The last hug she had ever received from him was when she was a little girl of seven, "Father? Father…" Tears began to slide down her cheeks. She hated her father's everyday over-protective thinking and believed that he was cold hearted. Ever since she was ten years old her father had stopped playing with her in a boyish kind of way. In fact, he had stopped playing with her at all because he had told her she was a growing girl and soon to be a woman with grace and beauty. He stopped her from doing anything dangerous and scolded her every time she did something unfeminine but she knew, even though only recently, that he was concerned for her safety.

"If you have any problems in 'Soul Society', contact us quickly!" Ichigo wiped a dry tear and hit her back with his palms flat, "We will be there as soon as we can!" He stopped hugging and transformed into chibi, "Don't let them beat you! You are the daughter of the Great Death God Kurosaki Ichigo!" He began to brag, laughing out loud. Riiko had dots while the mother kicked his back from behind and threw him into the living room.

The clock ticked for every second. The house was quiet once Riiko was gone. Kisuke was serious and a sweat drop formed on Riiko's temple when he looked like an old man walking around the way he was. She hugged her fairly huge bag across her chest and she looked around the neighborhood, the surrounding was familiar. She stopped and Kisuke entered a small hut. She looked up and saw the banner 'Uruhara Shop'. One of her eyebrows rose and a question mark popped out from her head. "Uruhara Shop?" She followed him in and looked at Kisuke's back, "Kisuke-san, I thought we were going to 'Soul Society'."

"We are," He turned around to look at her, holding his hat, "But before that, you need to have a 'Soul Slayer'." Riiko stared at the room in wonder. The lights were dim and there were small spotlights shone on small objects on the small racks placed in the corners. They looked like round medicine cases to Riiko. She turned her head to look at Kisuke when his voice caught her attention, "Tessai, are you here?"

"Tessai?" Riiko tilted her head to one side, "Who's Tessai?" They both heard small footsteps from the back and a familiar looking woman with long dark hair appeared. Then louder footsteps followed her and a red-headed man appeared. "AAAH!" She pointed rudely, "Karin Obaa-san (Aunty)? Jinta Ojii-chan(Uncle)! What are you doing here!" She was screaming in chibi, her jaw dropped to the floor as she waved her finger up and down at them with her crooked expression.

The beautifully dressed, long black-haired lady gave Riiko a smile, "Welcome Riiko-chan, we were expecting you." Riiko's eyebrows arched high on her forehead. The red-headed man smiled wickedly and Riiko sensed a 'dangerous' word about to be said.

"Orange Ball, it's been a long time since I last saw you!" A sharp arrow crashed on top of her head. This man will never stop calling her 'Orange Ball' since she met him when she was around five years old when she used to have very short bob cut hair like an Orange Headed Ball. After her father's sister; Karin married Hanakari Jinta, she moved to his place. At the beginning, they couldn't stop fighting and quarrelling. Suddenly, Riiko realized how big his body was built.

"I got everything ready, Kisuke-san," He announced and Kisuke nodded. He turned to look at Riiko, "Follow me, Please, Riiko-chan!" She gulped and nodded.

They walked down a long flight of stairs and Riiko wondered how a huge set of stairs could fit inside the small shop. They reached the foot of the stairs and the area was cut off by sand and some small cliffs. There was nothing around! "I never thought there would be an empty and huge space down here," Kisuke looked around childishly with his right hand placed flat near his forehead and his voice echoed. He turned around and saw Riiko with irritated eyes.

"What are you surprised at? This is under your shop," She pointed bluntly and Kisuke began to sulk. He had a black aura above his head and Tessai tired to calm him down. Riiko observed silently. 'Is this 'Soul Society'?'

"You act like your father," He looked at her sharply and solemnly and the breeze lifted. His eyes were narrowed slits and he pointed his staff at her, a bit pissed of what she said earlier.

"My mother warned me don't get used to a greedy man like you," Chibi-Riiko stuck a raspberry with irritated eyes and pointed a finger at him. The cold wind lifted and Kisuke felt very cold. He shivered and went to the corner again.

"You are very much like your parents," He was depressed once more; squatting down in the corner, "They never appreciated me…" He looked like he was surrounded by cold wind; as if he was abandoned. Tessai began to cry together to him. Riiko had zillions of sweat drops. "Anyhow," He revived, straightening his hair by combing it back with his fingers and looked seriously at the red-head, "Let's find your blade!" She was taken back.

Riiko was getting excited; she saw the picture of her parents with their blades and wondered what hers would be. Her eyes were wide and she felt her heart begin to beat fast. She had never held any sharp blade before; she had only held a stick to defend herself ever since her father forced her to join the Kendo Club. Come to think of it, she just realized why she was forced. Her arms were tightly fisted in front of her chest and she followed Kisuke from behind.

"This is fantastic!" Riiko looked around energized as soon as he saw blades hanging on a long weapon rack. She felt that she was in the matrix world where instead of guns the weapons were blades. And instead of a vast empty white space, they were surrounded with vast desert sands and cliffs, "I never saw real swords before…" She passed by an ordinary stick floating on a golden pedestal. A blue light shone from above it.

"Uruhara Shop has the finest and latest blade," Kisuke bragged, as a successful merchant, he almost got everything from the 'Soul Society'. While Riiko tried to choose her blade, Kisuke walked forward and she paused. "By owning this blade, you are bound to protect yourself…" Riiko had this 'stop-your-bragging-and-show-me-my-blade' face with irritated eyes. Tessai had a sweat drop, she was almost similar to her mother and he could feel the aura in her of her father... somewhere.

"Blablabla," The young girl shrugged with her eyes closed. She composed herself, "I can take care of my self. I want to see my blade." Kisuke smirked and headed towards the center of the blade rack. Riiko turned and followed him once he had passed her. He stopped and faced a light that shone from the sky towards something in the center of the vast sandy space and Riiko had her eyes widened momentarily. "It's glowing!" She was getting more and more exicted.

And there it was. Her blade.

To be continued

Episode 03: Kayu Merah

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B/Reader: Sorry for the delay. My fault entirely.