Chapter One: The Beginning of a Façade≪ファサードの始め≫

"Tch… this town sucks. I can't believe this was the best place to go."

A girl stood on the top of what used to be a hospital. Her long black hair was moving hysterically from the wind, and her eyebrows were furrowed. She moved her right hand and held some of her hair down against her head to keep it from moving so much. Her blue eyes looked down upon the meager town surrounding the building in disgrace, and possibly a hint of disbelief.

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"My name is… uhh… my name is Sakaibara… Sakaibara Miyako. It's nice to meet you all." Miyako tilted her head, smiled, then bowed.

"All right. You'll be sitting next to Inoue Orihime. Inoue-san is right over there." The teacher pointed at a smiling girl with long orange hair.

Miyako walked over to the lonely desk next to Orihime. She pulled the chair out, bowed, and then sat down. Orihime gave her a friendly smile and waved and Miyako returned the gesture.

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Throughout the day, various papers were passed out and things were taught. Miyako didn't make an effort to do those papers, nor pay attention. All she honestly did was try to look like she was paying attention and working.

A bell rung, but Miyako ignored it. She had heard various bells throughout the day, but they didn't mean anything to her. To the other students they meant it was time to begin another subject, but that didn't matter to her. The only movement caused by these bells was the swapping of notebooks from each student's desk to their bag, and back. It was quite mundane. She pondered how people could stand to do this every single day, when she was already bored of it after a few classes.

This time, however, was different. Students around her stood up, and a few left the room. She was a bit confused until she felt something tap on her shoulder.

"That was the bell for lunch," Orihime told her.

"Oh… I see… Thanks." Miyako stood up, took her bag, and tried to walk out of the classroom appearing to have destination. Orihime messed that plan up, though.

"Do you have anybody to sit with at lunch?"

Miyako sat her bag down, sighed under her breath, and turned around. "No, not really."

"You can eat with me and my friends if you want. They're a little strange, but they're nice…" She scratched her head, fearing she sounded a bit strange.

"Actually, I-" She was cut off.

"Yo! Inoue! Are you gonna come to the rooftop with us or not?"

Miyako became tense after she saw who was shouting. She quickly tried to relax herself as to not seem suspicious.

"Who's that? She looks familiar… but I don't think I've seen her before."

"She's the new girl in our class, weren't you paying attention when she was introduced? Sakaibara Miyako, this is Kurosaki Ichigo. Kurosaki Ichigo; Sakaibara Miyako."

She knew who he was. She looked at Orihime again, and this time remembered her. She wasn't sure if this would make things worse or not.

"N-Nice to meet you." She held back her thoughts, or at least masked them with a smile and kind words.

"Same."

"So, Kurosaki-kun, is it okay if she eats lunch with us? She doesn't have anybody else to eat lunch with."

"Yeah, sure, that's fine."

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"So, Sakaibara, where are you living right now?" Ichigo pulled out his chopsticks and started eating the neatly made obentou that his sister had prepared for him this morning.

"Right now… I'm living… uh… actually, I don't really have a place yet." She laughed, but it didn't really bother her.

"WHAT?! Why'd you move here if you don't even have a house?" Ichigo dropped his chopsticks in the process of being surprised.

It's not like I really need an apartment or anything Miyako thought. "I'm just staying in a… hotel for now." Guess I shouldn't say I'm living in what used to be a hospital.

"That's terrible! You can't do something like that if you're going to live here! And it'll get so expensive! Is that what it is? You don't have any money?" Orihime stood up out of concern.

"Well… not exactly… actually, I guess that's exactly what it is…" She didn't have any money nor did she have a job.

"Does anybody have a room Sakaibara-san could stay in for a while?" Orihime asked the group.

"I'm already hiding… a person in my closet. I'm having enough trouble hiding that from my two sisters."

"What about your dad?" A short teenager with boy-like features came over. "Kojima Mizuiro, nice to meet you."

"Sa-Sakaibara Miyako," she replied, assuming the introduction was to her.

"My dad's such an idiot he probably wouldn't even notice Rukia lived with us if she stood right in front of him."

"Ru-Rukia?!" The group had given her shock an odd look. "I mean… What is… What is Rukia-san's full name? I used to know somebody named Rukia. She… went to my elementary school!" Miyako nodded, trying to convince the others of her story.

"Kuchiki Rukia. I don't think it's the person you're thinking of though," Ichigo replied.

But that was the problem. She did know who it was. She knew exactly who it was. And what surprised her the most was that so many people were residing in this town that had seen her before, some more than others. Rukia had seen her the most out of all the people that lived her, unless there were more she was unaware of. Rukia would also probably notice who she was if they made contact. Even if they weren't friends or even companions, she was probably smart enough. Even not knowing too much about her, Miyako was sure she was much more intelligent than Ichigo.

"You're right, the name doesn't ring a bell."

The group ate for a few minutes without having anything to talk about, but Orihime had an idea.

"I got it!" A few people jumped from the silence being broken so suddenly, but Miyako stayed where she had been for the past ten minutes. "What about the shop?"

"The shop? You mean…" Miyako looked at Ichigo and Orihime in confusion. "No way! That's completely impossible!"

"But I'm sure he has plenty of rooms…" Orihime leaned over to whisper. "And if he has one far enough back… she won't find anything out, I think."

"You think?!" Orihime flinched from Ichigo shouting before moving away from a whisper position.

"What are you talking about?"

"Well… there's a guy we know that owns a store, and he has plenty of rooms, but… uh… it's a bad neighborhood, sort of… somewhat…"

"I'm sure I'd be fine there..." They didn't know just how fine she would be in the event somebody tried to pull a knife on her.

"See, Kurosaki-kun! She said she'd be fine there! And it's better than having her waste her money on a hotel!" Orihime persisted.

"But… urgh… fine! But if anything happens it's all your fault!"

"Let's take her there after school so she knows where it is, and then she can get the rest of her belongings later."

Great. Just what I need – somebody to live with.