Title: A Hero in the Making

Series: Bleach

Theme: Have It Your Way

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Character(s)/Pairings: Ichigo; Ichigo/Rukia

Rating: PG-13 (Ichigo has a bit of a language problem)

Summary: Why do you need to have a reason to save someone?

Notes: This is a follow-up piece to Gracious Queen of Deception and Routine. There should be one more piece in this small series. This also takes place just after Ichigo has come to Soul Society, but before he has entered the Court of Souls.

Why should anyone need a reason to save someone?

Do you really need a well thought out reason to save the pitiful little kitty that's mewing its little heart out in the tree? (Besides the fact that it belongs to a little girl with big round eyes, who's about to burst into tears at any moment).

You save someone because they need to be saved. End of story. Period.

Somebody did not give the memo to the freaks in Soul Society.

It's always: "You only knew her for two months. It that really enough time to really get to know someone? Is that enough to lay down your life for them? Blah, blah, blah." Obviously, they have never experienced the joy of having someone live in their closet, and of being forced to do somebody else's work.

And no matter who he talks to, they always get a shocked look on their face when he replies: "I owe her."

And he does owe her.

Ichigo Kurosaki is in huge debt to Rukia Kuchiki.

But it isn't for the reason that most of these freaks think it is. Despite the fact that it was Rukia's blood that hit the cold pavement that night, that now seems so long ago, he doesn't owe her because she was willing to throw away her own life for his. After all, he threw away his own life only a few minutes later.

Nor does he owe her for saving the lives of his sisters and father. Not that he's ungrateful. He is. He just knows that even if he actually does manage to rescue Rukia, he will still never be able to completely express his thanks. She stopped him from killing anyone else in his family.

And he definitely doesn't owe her for discovering the true cause of his mother's death. He knows full well that he is still responsible for what happened, and nothing is ever going to change that fact. However, that aching wound doesn't seem as sharp as it did only a few hours before he met Grand Fisher (and it might become even duller once he avenges the woman who was once the center of the world).

Perhaps, he does owe her for that... but only just a little bit, and only because she told him that when he was ready to talk, she would be there to listen. That's part of the reason he needs to rescue her now. If he doesn't, who else is he supposed to talk to when he's finally ready to move on?

Why do you need a reason to save someone?

How does one become indebted to someone?

That night he confronted Grand Fisher, he asked Rukia for something - something he should never have asked for. He was such an idiot. Such a greedy idiot, who only thought about himself.

He asked Rukia for more time. He asked her to allow him to continue to use her power. All he could think about at that point was the burning need to avenge his mother. He never once thought about Rukia when he made that selfish request. (As he looks back now, he can remember several instances where Rukia had problems moving her limbs because of that stupid gigai she was forced to remain in while he ran around with her powers).

And Rukia had smiled at him. She had smiled at him and nodded her assent. Had the idiot even known what she was agreeing to?

Of course she did. He has to scoff at himself at this point. Of course, Rukia had known the risk she was running. Rukia knew all the rules. Despite her own personal thoughts regarding those rules (which he had never bothered to learn), Rukia had known and followed all of those rules to a T.

Except, she kept breaking them all. It was like she couldn't stop. Like she was getting a rush from bending each rule until it snapped. Passing her powers to a human. Refusing to report back to her superiors. Rescuing Kon. Living as a human among mortals. He wouldn't be surprised if she had broken more rules than he was really aware of. What had made a person like her turn out in such a way?

That's another reason why he needs to rescue her. He needs and wants to know more about Rukia. It is a feeling that has grown since that night in the cemetery, but lately, he's found himself wanting to become that man, the man who Rukia will want to tell her story to. Someone who will listen and not judge. He wants to listen just as much as he wants to tell her.

Why do you need a reason to save someone?

How does one become indebted to someone?

He made a promise to himself after Rukia granted his request.

He promised that he would never allow anyone to go through what he went through. He would destroy Hollows for both themselves and for the loved ones they left behind. He would destroy Hollows for the innocents who had become their food. He would become their protector and live up to his name.

He never told Rukia about this promise. For some reason, he thought that she would laugh at him. He knows now that she never would have laughed. Rukia didn't laugh about those kinds of things. She would have understood.

Rukia was gone now, and it was all his fault. It was like his mother's death all over again. He, the Fool, was protected by first the Empress and the memory of her blood was burned into his skin. He was saved once again, this time by a girl he had only known for two months. And now the sight of Rukia's eyes, when she last spoke to him, is burned into his retinas.

Why do you need a reason to save someone?

How does one become indebted to someone?

Since he's gotten to Soul Society, there have been many assumptions made about him.

"He's bat-shit insane" seems to be a really popular theory among the locals. (Apparently, these loonies haven't looked in a mirror lately).

"He's madly in love with her" is another one. (He doesn't even want to know what those freaky old ladies were on).

"Did she offer you a reward for saving her or something?"... (Ganju's an idiot. Enough said.)

Why?

Why?

Why?

The question rings in his ears.

I owe her.

I owe her.

I owe her.

I owe her.

The answer does too.

Some assume upon hearing his story that his debt revolves around the fact that Rukia shed hot, sticky blood for him. Why else would he have put up with her so long? (These people really didn't know Rukia Kuchiki that well, if they thought that he had had any say in the matter).

What they don't understand was that it wasn't the blood that fell that night so long ago that continues to haunt him. It is the tears in her eyes as she looked down on him. It is the knowledge that she walked right into the hands of her brother (the fucking bastard) who was taking her back home to die. It is the knowledge that she knew all along that this was the path that she was headed towards. It is the fact that she looked back at him as the door closed.

And it all boils down to one essential fact: he failed to protect her when she needed him to. And that is the biggest debt of all.

And Ichigo Kurosaki is not going to rest until he has fulfilled that debt towards the girl who came to be... in his life. Once he's rescued her, then and only then will he figure out what that position is, but until then, he has a reluctant damsel in distress to rescue.

Why do you need a reason to save someone?

How does one become indebted to someone?

You rescue someone because they need to be rescued.

You become indebted to someone because you failed to save them. You failed to reach out a much-needed hand.

You rescue someone because they need to be rescued; but also because you need to rescue them.