Author's Notes: Thank you for all the reviews! I feel so loved. X)) Two new characters in this chapter! Hope all of you will enjoy it.
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Whiteout.
Reaching Out.
Somehow, Rukia had managed to settle down rather comfortably in Ichigo's house, much to his annoyance. After the first incident, he had been forced to sleep on the incredibly short and hard couch while his new "room-mate" dominated the queen-sized bed they had shared on the night of their first meeting. By the time they'd sorted out their territorial space within his apartment, it was already half past noon. Clad in one of Ichigo's smallest shirts (it was a lucky thing that he liked to wear tight clothing) and the pair of jeans she'd managed to save from the other day, Rukia picked his wallet from the table swiftly and sauntered out of the door.
"Let's go for lunch. Your treat, of course," she said as she sailed past the orange-head. He scowled and swore to himself that he would never ever bring a woman back to his house again. Especially if she was small, fair, dark-haired, and had a kick-ass gun strapped to her thigh. Fully loaded.
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"Why the hell are you so poor?" Rukia asked, peering into his wallet. It was rather empty, besides the single 1000 yen note and a few 100 yen coins, which she believed was all he had at the moment.
"Freeloaders should just shut up and be happy with what they have," Ichigo retorted, expecting a whole string of piercing answers from his companion. Surprisingly, he got none. The girl was standing, fixated onto one spot, her swallow-tail-like hair billowing out behind her. Ichigo frowned and followed her gaze, wondering what was making her stare so intently.
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A huge blinking signboard (in broad daylight?) with a blue bunny symbol bore the words: Urahara's Candy Shop. In addition to that, a plastic blue bunny statue stood before the sliding glass doors, holding a sign with the slogan: Get our favorite candy here! Ichigo glanced at Rukia, whose eyes were currently sparkling with delight. He sighed and stepped through the threshold, holding out a hand to her. "Stop standing there like an idiot. Get inside," he said gruffly.
Her eyes still gleaming with glee, she smiled and took his hand, without a single clue about what she was doing besides the fact that she was stepping into a candy shop. All that was in her mind was: A candy shop! In six whole years!
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The inside of the shop wasn't as spectacular as she'd thought it would be, but the sight of jarred up candy of all shapes and sizes in a whole colorful row before her was enough to make her start grinning like a moron. Licorice, mints, lollipops and more. This was her idea of heaven.
Ichigo glanced sideways at the deliriously happy girl next to him. Just a minute ago, she had been that scheming, devilish bitch who got her way in everything that she did. The next moment, she was staring at candy greedily like a five-year-old. He was oblivious of the fact that he, in turn, couldn't stop being fascinated by the way her facial features lit up when she smiled genuinely, with a whole childish touch to it. Both their thoughts were cut short by the crisp sound of heels and the click of a fan being opened.
"May I help you?" a man dressed in a plain yukata asked. His sandy-blond hair stuck out from underneath a queer straw hat, which concealed the top half of his face rather well. Following closely behind him was a slim and tanned woman, who bore a strange resemblance to a black cat, complete with the piercing yellow eyes.
There was silence as Ichigo scrutinized the suspicious-looking people behind the counter while Rukia scrutinized the glass jars containing candy behind the couple.
Shortly after, she broke the silence by asking, almost in a whisper, "Do you happen to have… jelly beans?"
Ichigo snorted.
And regretted it, as he felt something cold against his abdomen. Damn, he hated that gun.
The straw-hat guy's face broke into a smile as he ushered the small girl over to the left end of the counter, where he showed her Urahara's Candy Shop's own collection of jelly beans from all over the world, leaving the rather uncomfortable orange-haired male to deal with the scantily-clad tanned female. Despite the fact that Rangiku's breasts were possibly many times bigger than this woman's, he couldn't help but feel embarrassed next to her.
"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" the lady questioned, leaning over the counter, most probably on purpose. Ichigo edged away warily.
It all happened in one swift move. She grabbed him by the collar with surprisingly strong arms, and said clearly into his ear, "You're going to need our help in the future, Kurosaki, so get used to it."
After which she began to start a conversation any salesgirl would hold with a new customer. "Isn't the weather great today? My name is Yoruichi, by the way, and the guy over there is Urahara. He owns the shop, as you can see from the name. We never had a thing for uniforms. That idiot wanted to dress me up in a blue bunny suit but I told him it would never work…"
But Ichigo wasn't listening. His brows were currently knitted together. How'd she know his name? He didn't even know this Yoruichi person, or Urahara, for that matter. Come to think of it, he'd never even seen this candy shop in the 2 years he'd spent in this town! Before he could ponder any further, the dark-skinned lady stuffed a paper bag in his arms and showered him with coins as change. Distracted, he found himself thinking about how stupid Rukia was to use his thousand yen note to pay for mere candy. As they walked out, one contented and the other confused, Urahara lifted his striped hat and waved goodbye.
"Hope to see you soon!" he said, almost mockingly. Then he turned to Yoruichi and muttered rather grimly, "Perhaps a little too soon, and for different reasons." She merely shrugged and capped the jelly bean jar shut.
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She was humming. No words, just a weird tuneless melody, hanging eerily in the air.
He would rather die than admit that he actually liked it. And so, he told her to shut up. After which he had to face the wrath of her amazingly strong kicks and cold metal glinting threateningly in the sunlight again. And then, he realized that the cold metal had suddenly multiplied, and a whole horde of men dressed in black, complete with sunglasses, came together with the increase in guns as a squeaking clean package.
"RUN!" was all he heard before he broke into a run, with Rukia sprinting ahead of him.
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They ran like they never did before. Well, Rukia just ran like she'd always been doing and Ichigo just ran like the time the police was after him for taking some drug. In other words, they ran pretty fast, in order to get rid of those black-suited men.
Panting heavily, both of them slumped down against a wall in a dark alley, feeling a sense of déjà vu, except that the orange-head was actually a victim this time, and not the savior of a damsel in distress. To correct that: A bleeding damsel in distress that went unconscious on him.
"Who (pant) the hell (pant) were they?" Ichigo wheezed. His companion made no move to reply, her small hands still gripping her paper package of jelly beans tightly. Under her steady gaze, he suddenly felt very vulnerable. Here he was, running from god knows what, just because he'd taken in a poor little girl who could've died if he hadn't bandaged her wounds. Except that this dangerous woman was not a "poor little girl". She had a gun strapped to her thigh (which normal person does that?) and an unusual fetish for candy. And running away from Men in Black seemed to be a norm for her as well.
"I change my statement." Ichigo began, his voice harsh as he looked straight into Rukia's violet eyes. "Who the hell are you?"
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After what seemed to be like eternity, she looked away. His stare was penetrating. Like daggers. She stole a glance at his face and saw that he was still waiting for an answer. No, she was not prepared to tell him about her whole history. She was not prepared to drag him into any of the fucking shit she was in right now.
"I don't know. I don't know, Ichigo," she said with outright honesty. Her knuckles were white from clutching the paper bag with blue bunny prints on it. She didn't dare to look at his face, at the way his expression would contort into one of anger, she was sure.
Instead, he got up and sighed.
"Whatever you say, princess. Get your ass off the floor. It's freaking dirty in here," Ichigo said dryly, holding out his hand to her once more. Her eyes widened in astonishment as she took it, and was hauled up to her feet rather gently.
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Perhaps, Rukia would remember how it was to trust someone, with the aid of this queer orange-head. Meanwhile, she would just have to keep escaping from those irritating men in black suits sent by her dearest elder brother, who was probably currently sitting in some expensive limousine, giving out orders to bring her back home, dead or alive.
To be continued.
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To readers: I tried to make it longer. Honestly. But I can't seem to go over two thousand words. Apologies if this chapter was too boring. Can't give all the goodies at one go, can I? Urahara and scantily-clad Yoruichi is enough for one chapter, I think. A certain silver-haired kid with issues will probably appear in the next chapter. X))
AdventWing: Thank you for your long review! I have moved the rating up, as you can see.
darkspryte: Thanks! I hope I didn't disappoint you with this chapter.
Higarashi: Well, this is the second chapter! I hope this one's pretty good too.
boopkit: I'm keeping on!
Ann: I know what you feel about AU fics. I sincerely pray that mine won't end up like the crappy ones! There are really good ones out there, though. Ichigo and Rukia are still yelling at each other in this chapter. Hope they're still in character.
golden shadow: Here you go. More!
give me food: I hope I didn't make you wait too long!
Mimi-san: I've read some of your fics, and they're wonderful! So it's not a crime to write well because you do too.
Jia Xi: This is it, the "more" you were asking for! X))
bianca s: I tried to make it longer! Really!
Kylara: Glad that Rukia's dialogue is into character! Hope she was IC in this chapter too.
Black Mistress: I am happy that you appreciate my use of the term Whiteout as the title. And yes, I would like Yachiru and Zaraki as my neighbors very badly as well. X))
(Happy Face, might not show up on FF page): Yes, I intend to make this story much darker than Bleach itself, but this chapter seems kinda fluffy to me. Next chapter will be darker, I promise.
disillusiond: I shall tell you as soon as I see you online. XD
immortalrin: Updated!
Chelissamow: Glad you liked it!
kurenoharu: I updated "the untold stories"! Good that I've converted you into a Ichigo X Rukia fan. XDD
As usual, please review!