Chapter 1
Saved By A Girl
Kuchiki Rukia isn't just an average woman, she's had a lot of life experience for a young lady. She is already rich, due to inheriting half of her family's estate when her parents died, and that had happened shortly after her eighteenth birthday.
Her brother runs the Kuchiki Group, but Rukia doesn't work there, she just lets her brother earn the profit and she takes in her share. They both seem to prefer it this way, since he was raised to run the company, and she was raised as the princess of the household, being able to do whatever she wanted to do.
Rukia's interests have always been in a different area from business. She is a top notch martial arts expert. She believes it is her duty to make the world a better place. It was one of the promises that she made to her friend Kaien, at his grave.
Then she has her gamer side, thanks to Kaien and Renji. She absolutely loves video games and has at least seven different types of game systems that she plays regularly. It's great for unwinding after a long day of martial arts training.
The training never stops, she doesn't see her instructors as often as she did before her last big job, but she still takes lessons, and has visited with a group of monks, in order to polish her kung fu techniques.
Everything she's done though, she's always had Kaien in the back of her mind.
For him, she will definitely make the world a better place. Kaien had been killed by a couple of criminals, when she was only thirteen years old. He was sixteen at the time. The girl who had been killed had been named Miyako, and Rukia had always sensed that people weren't telling her something about the girl, but she'd never figured out what. Even though Kaien's death was years ago, it feels to Rukia like it just happened recently.
If only he had taken me with him! I could have stopped him from being killed!
Medical help hadn't arrived in time to save him and at the young age of sixteen, and he died in her arms. It left a remarkable impression on her that she's sure will never go away. To add insult to injury, the criminals had never been identified or caught, and the eyewitness accounts hadn't been enough to close the case by identifying the scum who killed her friend.
Kaien only knew what she had showed him in terms of self defense, but he just hadn't been prepared for the man to sink a knife into his gut. He hadn't developed the automatic sense of defense, through deeper awareness, like she had mastered at an extremely young age.
Rukia can easily win in a match, blindfolded. She is that aware of her surroundings, and her training is that advanced. It's as though she's a natural born fighter.
She finished school, then spent the last two years traveling, learning about more martial arts styles, and spent a lot of time, making the world a better place.
She did this by making bad situations right. For instance, she purposely rode the subways when the young girls would be getting on, to head for school, and she severely punished any men she caught trying to sneak a feel on the young girls, a disgusting habit that seemed to have developed among the perverts in Japan.
It's long since become common knowledge that little girls get accosted on the subways, yet mothers and fathers are discouraged from accompanying their children to school.
Rukia doesn't give a rat's ass about what society thinks…she only cares about making things better. No little girls should have to endure the pain that she had to endure, when she watched Kaien-dono die.
That wasn't all she had done either, she traveled to America and assisted in bringing down several sex slave operations, where young girls were being kidnapped and forced to endure being raped by one strange man after another. She accompanied an FBI agent who acted like he'd kidnapped her and wanted to sell her to the (illegal) sex slave organization. In exchange, all he wanted was "cash, to support his crack habit."
The moment the sale was made, arrests were made as well. Rukia's martial arts background ended up proving a valuable asset, because the man had attempted to snatch her up when agents filed into the room, with their aura of intimidation filling up the space so soundly, that it moved Rukia deep in her heart. When the man's arm came at her, she quickly ducked and elbowed him hard in the groin.
He went down, and the agents swarmed upon him. It had been so liberating that she told them to let her know, anytime they wanted to do it again. She told them she'd even be willing to pay her own travel expenses, in exchange for the opportunity to help take down evil people such as the one they were dragging off into custody. She was told she'd always be welcomed in America by the FBI before she parted from them.
Her name, Kuchiki, had a startling effect on the police officers all around the world. Only one man had ever called the police because she beat the living snot out of him on the subway. One look at her tiny figure, and they ended up taking him off in cuffs instead, all because she said she was Kuchiki Rukia, and he touched her inappropriately.
Rukia likes to travel, to make the world a better place, but now she wants to settle down, and take small breaks from constant traveling, to have a place she really calls home, since the mansion her brother lives in, would mean dealing with her brother more regularly.
Rukia and Byakuya aren't the same type of people at all, they constantly clash. Living with him doesn't appeal to her in the least bit. He doesn't care much for her attitude to make the world a better place, since he thinks it's a childish fantasy, and has said as much. It's not only that, he also doesn't approve of her video games…not that she'd allow his opinion to change her mind on the issue either.
She is riding through a town that feels very much like it could become her new home.
"Karakura Town." Rukia says, and she likes the way it sounds on her lips so she smiles. "Kuchiki Rukia in Karakura Town."
She has a silver sporty Nissan Maxima, and she pulls over and parks, to walk around the area. She wonders if she should just look online, but then she decides to look around the old fashioned way. She decides to walk around and see for herself if anything is available and what the town itself is like.
Later, after noticed some listings, she decides to walk around, since she doesn't know the streets that well, and see if she happens across any of the places that may one day be her home. She sees a bridge, that leads over to a residential area, and she decides to walk over it, but halfway across, she hears what sounds like a fight, even though she can't see it.
She realizes it's happening under the bridge and she doesn't even think about it, she flips over the guard rail and drops the four meter drop to the ground to see what in the hell is going on.
She lands as securely as a cat and takes in the situation very quickly.
An orange haired man, about her age has a large group of men surrounding him, with weapons, knives, and obvious deadly intent. Rukia's eyes widen as she looks at the man being targeted. He looks so much like Kaien, that it's not even funny.
A very angry feeling fills her entire heart, how dare these freaks try to kill someone who reminds her so much of her precious friend Kaien?!
None of the thugs or the man they're intent on attacking have even noticed the tiny woman landing to witness the brutal assault, and she is not able to make it to him quickly enough as they all charge in on him.
She can tell immediately that he's a talented martial artist, and a strong man, but it seems they managed to catch him off guard with their sheer numbers, not something that Rukia stops to consider for even a moment.
"Die, Kurosaki!" The men are chanting gleefully…until Rukia's foot connects with the back of one of their heads.
Her victim falls forward, causing a bit of confusion amongst his buddies, since Rukia immediately ducked after landing from making her kick, so she was not visible as he went down. Then she sneaks up on another man from behind and jams her knee up in between his legs, getting the most tender area on his body that the man knows.
Ichigo doesn't know who in the hell came to help him, since he can't see Sado anywhere, but whoever it is, they're really doing him a big favor, since he was pretty sure he wasn't going to escape all of them with his life.
When one of his attackers, stabs him in the gut, Ichigo grabs the handle of the knife so that the guy can't yank it out and kicks him in the chin, before falling backwards himself, and breathing nervously. He was hit in a real bad spot, he knows that much. He also worries he'll be attacked again while in his delicate state.
He still uses his legs to kick at the men's ankles or knees to try to help whoever came to help him out. It sends pain flying up and down his body since the movement affects where he was stabbed, but he doesn't want to see his helper get hurt on his behalf.
He doesn't expect what happens next, but he can finally see the person who decided to lend him a hand, since she flies through the air kicking one man and immediately turning quite gracefully to punch another.
Ichigo can hardly believe she's able to dodge every hit they aim at her, and within a couple of moments, all of his would be attackers, are laying on the ground, taken out by him or her.
She hurries over to his side, and drops there, then she looks at him with worry and panic evident in her eyes.
"Are you okay? Why in the hell did they all attack you?" She looks so frantic, so concerned, and he wonders why she's so upset.
It can't be over me…I'm nobody to her.
One of the attackers is able to move, and he moves away from the dangerous woman as quickly as his injured body will allow him, but pretty much everyone else that attacked has broken bones or is unconscious.
"It's my hair. It's always been like this, except I never got in this much trouble before." Ichigo says in a pained voice, and he realizes he cannot walk, he can't even stand.
"Shit! I'm not from around here! Is there someone you want me to call, or should I just place an emergency call for an ambulance?!" Rukia asks him with concern, and he groans.
"In my pocket is my phone...call my dad. He's a doctor. It's listed as home." Ichigo says, even as he starts to feel dizzy, and he realizes, that even though he's holding the knife in place, blood is still oozing down, probably why he feels so dizzy. The pain is steadily getting worse too. He fears he might have moved too much in his attempt to help her out.
Rukia blushes as she sticks her hand in his pocket to dig around. Even injured, he's handsome, and even though she's terrified, she is still aware of him as a man. She quickly locates his phone and starts to search through his contacts.
"Don't go to sleep! What is your name?!" Rukia asks him frantically as she finally finds his number, listed just as he said, as home.
"Kurosaki Ichigo." He watches her face carefully, to see her reaction to his name, but she's far more concerned about his life and injury to show any condescending reaction to his name.
She grabs his hand and stares at him in the eyes, and for the life of him he can't look away, because they're the most beautiful blue eyes he's ever seen.
"You have to stay with me, Ichigo." She tells him, and then she gets an answer on his phone.
"Ichigo! You're late!" A loud voice screams into her ear, and Rukia yanks the phone away from her ear and glares at it before putting it back up to her ear.
"If this is the father of Kurosaki Ichigo, then I suggest you come to the bridge....shit...where in the hell are we?" Rukia asks Ichigo, who is blinking rapidly.
"The bridge on the third block." Ichigo mutters, and Rukia shouts into the phone at his father.
"The bridge on the third block! Hurry, he's been stabbed!" Rukia tells him, before she simply hangs up.
She squeezes Ichigo's hand tightly and looks at him with worry etched into her features.
"What is your name, pretty lady?" Ichigo asks, even though his head is spinning, and he can't rid himself of the dizziness.
"I am Kuchiki Rukia." She tells him, and then she sees his eyes begin to close. "Ichigo! Don't fall asleep yet! You have to stay awake and wait to be treated!" She shouts before she not so gently uses his phone to bonk him over the head.
He opens his eyes and glares at her as best he can, but he's seeing two of her, so it's kind of hard to manage that feat.
"Didn't anyone ever tell you not to hit an injured man, when he's down?" Ichigo asks her, and Rukia feels tears starting to pour down her face since...
This feels too damned familiar! I can't watch him die like I watched Kaien die!
"You're not allowed to die! You got that, Ichigo?!" Rukia demands into his face, and Ichigo lets out a weak laugh.
"Who am I to argue with the woman who saved me?" Ichigo asks her, and she squeezes his hand even tighter.
She keeps her eyes on him, and stares at him intensely, as though she's trying to keep him awake, on will alone.
Ichigo wonders if he's losing it. First of all, the only girl outside of his family to call him by his given name of Ichigo is Tatsuki, his long time friend, and even she would never consider grabbing his hand and squeezing it. They're friends, and that's it.
Second of all, girls have always run from him, or been too afraid of being made fun of, for liking him, and so even though he's had a few secret encounters with some girls in his teenage years, he's never had a serious girlfriend, and he turned down the couple of offers made to him, to be secret fuck buddies.
As unmanly as it is, Ichigo didn't want to lose his virginity unless it was a girl he cared about. He never cared about any of the girls he fooled around with, and they certainly didn't care about him, if they didn't want to be seen in public with him, but now this amazing girl just appears out of the blue.
Maybe I've already died… because this can't actually be happening.
She's calling him by his given name, holding his hand, and there is more caring in her eyes, than any girl he's ever looked at before. He can't understand why she's like this, and he wishes he had met her under different circumstances, as she has tears streaking down her face, staring at him, like she knows him.
There is something about the woman in front of him, that makes him want to know her better, and know all of her. He wonders if he's passed out and begun dreaming, when she sets the phone down and reaches out with her other hand, to run her fingers through his brightly colored hair.
"Hang on, Ichigo. Don't you dare die on me." Rukia tells him, and he manages a weak nod.
"Ichigo!" Isshin yells loudly, and Rukia presumes it is his father, since the yelling sounded nearly identical to when he had answered the phone.
"Down here!" Rukia shouts loudly, and Isshin darts down to where they're at very quickly.
His eyes widen when he sees the placement of the knife, and he gives his son a nod of approval.
"It's a good thing you held that knife in place." Isshin says, and Ichigo just groans. Rukia lets go of Ichigo gets on his cell phone for an ambulance. "We have to get him to the hospital. This is too serious for my clinic, he'll probably need surgery. These other people probably need ambulances too." Isshin tells Rukia, and she immediately nods.
"I'll stay with him." Rukia says, and Isshin wonders if Ichigo has a secret girlfriend that he didn't tell him about.
"I'm Kurosaki Isshin." He tells her, and Rukia ducks her head.
"I'm Kuchiki Rukia." She tells him, and his eyes widen.
"The Kuchiki Rukia?!" Isshin asks wide eyed, and Rukia blushes.
"The one and only." Rukia replies, and Isshin can hardly believe it.
Ichigo got himself Kuchiki Rukia for a girlfriend?
They wait in silence for the ambulance, but Isshin can't stop glancing at the adorable petite woman who seems so focused on his son. He never expected the rich heiress to be like this, not that he had any preconceived notions, but still, she surprised him.
The ride in the ambulance turns out to be rather interesting, since one of the emergency medical technicians looks at Rukia, and asks her if she wants to hold his hand.
Ichigo looked at her curiously with a bit of hope when she was asked that, but she didn't even look at him as she answered, and she didn't hesitate for an instant.
"Of course I want to hold his hand…don't let him die, okay?" Rukia says, before they let her into a spot that won't get in their way, yet she can still take his hand.
Ichigo doesn't know what to make of it. He's glad she said that she wanted to hold his hand, but he doesn't understand why she is acting like he is so important to her. Her hand is strangely comforting, and her worried gaze is even more so.
His father is following behind them in his car as they rush to the hospital, and Ichigo looks at Rukia smiling weakly at her.
"Thanks for staying with me." He tells her, and she looks even more worried.
"Don't talk…we'll talk after you're out of the woods. Just be strong." Rukia tells him, and he gives her weak nod.
It's not like I'm going to die now, not when the most interesting person I've ever come across, has just walked into my life.
He does his best to concentrate on the feeling of her holding his hand, and not the pain from being stabbed. He just keeps looking into her eyes, and he can't get over how much he just wants to know who in the hell she is.
She is a complete mystery.