Disclaimer: I don't own bleach.

Lost in Love

Chapter 3: Two New Beginnings

"Ha… Ha… Ha…" A boy with long blazing red hair was panting in a very dark alley, hidden from everyone who passes by. He was sitting on the ground and was trying to rest even for a little while. He was careful not to make any sound and not to be caught.

"Find him! He's just here somewhere! No one will rest until he is found! That son of a bitch won't get away! I need you all to find him! Look everywhere even in the sewage!" An angry man's voice was shouting at his company. He was tall with dark hair and scarred face. He looked like he can kill the person they were looking for. They were searching for him in every corner, alleys and even dumpsters. And in their eyes you can see thirst for blood, blood of a past friend.

The boy hiding heard every word that the man said. He heard footsteps approaching his hiding place so he crawled under a shiny black car parked nearby. Under the car he can see the feet of a man wearing pants and a long wooden bat which was used at him a moment ago and would have been the cause of his death if he didn't run away. The feet were walking around the car when they suddenly stopped in front of the car and the man kneeled.

The red haired boy was holding a long metal rod he picked up a while ago. He was hanging onto it as if his life depended on it. He saw the man kneeled in front of him and could feel that the end of his life is near.

"What are you doing there?" another voice shouted. This time it was deep, rough and sounded a little bit old. It belonged to a man in late 30's. He was wearing a black suit that looks like a uniform.

"I said, what are you doing there? That car is very expensive! If I see one scratch on it I will take you to the police! Why are you holding a bat? Were you going to hit it with that? Why you… Move away if you don't want me to take you to the cops!"

The teen ran away after the man shouted. "Kids these days, they don't get scared easily as they used to be. It was a good thing nothing happened to the car." The man said aloud little did he know that there was someone hiding under the car listening intently at what was happening.

"Is something wrong? I heard you shouting on my way here. I also saw a boy carrying a wooden bat. Are you okay Mr. Kenpachi?"

"Why Miss. Kuchiki! Yes, I'm fine nothing happened. I just saw a boy beside the car and thought that he was gonna hit it with a bat" Kenpachi replied. He looked at Rukia and can see that she was carrying a lot of stuff. "Are those the only things that we need? Or there are still more boxes inside?" He asked Rukia.

"Yes, please help me get them and out then put them all in the trunk." Rukia asked for some help because obviously she was too small to carry large boxes.

The boy hiding was so tired that he couldn't comprehend what was happening. He wanted to sleep and rest. He had wounds all over his body and they were aching making him suffer a lot. When he saw two feet moving away he was convinced that no one's around. He crawled out and tried to stand straight. He stretched his arms and legs to see if their numb but he felt pain and almost fall to the ground again. It was a good thing that the car was just beside him so he leaned on it for support. Unfortunately the alarm went on.

He doesn't know what to do. His mind said to move and run but his body had other plans. He knew that someone walked towards him, heard a girl talking and calling his name but his eyes were closed from the pain so he couldn't see who it was. The girl touched his arms and was trying to make him look at her. But the blood flowing on his head was too much that he couldn't bare it anymore. He held the girl's arms and tried to open his eyes to see who she was. He saw a set of very familiar violet eyes staring back at him with worried look.

"Rukia…"

"Abarai! Are you okay? Abarai! Talk to me. Please wake up." Rukia kept on calling Renji to see if he will be conscious already. She was surprised to see him crawling under the car and was covered with blood. She called his name twice and touched his arms to tell him that she was beside him. When she saw him passed out she immediately shouted for help. Luckily, Mr. Kenpachi her driver came back fast and they took Renji to the hospital.

"Hhhhmmm… Where am I? Rukia is that you? What are you doing here?" Renji woke up and saw Rukia staring at him.

"Abarai! Thank God you're awake! I was so worried that something happened to you!" Rukia saw Renji trying to sit up so she stopped him all of a sudden.

"Don't move yet. It will be bad for your wounds. They might open again if you'll do that. How are you feeling?" Rukia asked with a worried tone. She helped him lay down again on the bed.

"I'm Fine. Thank you for caring. Am I at the hospital?"

"Yes I was the one who saw you. Why were you wounded? You looked like you were going to die." Rukia informed Renji. She wondered what happened because obviously this was something that needed attention.

Renji dreaded that question. He didn't want to involve Rukia. He is a man and not a boy so he can face his own problems now.

"Don't worry about me. What's important is that I'm safe now thanks to you. If you didn't find me I might be dead by now. I owe my life to you."

Rukia saw that he was not gonna tell her what happened. She respected that because she had the same personality like him. She too didn't want anyone minding her business. She wanted to be left alone and think about all of her problems. Rukia understood Renji so she looked down and spoke to him.

"I understand. I'm not in the position to force you to tell me what happened. I'm sorry I asked." She sighed and then looked at him with a huge grin."Well then since I saved you, it is only natural to pay me back! How are you going to do that?"

Renji was surprised. He stared at Rukia for a long time. He couldn't believe that she didn't push her question and left her alone. He smiled at her that Rukia saw how grateful he was. He looked away and answered her. "Che! If you're asking for some date I'm sorry but I can't do that. I have very high taste when it comes to women. And to tell you the truth, you don't make the cut." He jested while trying to sound serious.

"Excuse me? For your information, I'm Rukia Kuchiki! I'm the most sought after girl back in my school. How dare you to tell me that! Rukia acted as though she was really hurt.

"Well if you didn't know miss most-sought-after-girl, you don't actually have any friends. No one actually hangs out with you. Not only that, they know you as a beautiful but lonely girl in… Ah! For… forget what I said. That's not true." Renji stuttered when he just called Rukia beautiful. He blushed and looked away from her. Just a moment ago he didn't want to tell her that she's beautiful but it just slipped out of his mouth.

"ahhhh… Se… see! You do acknowledge that I'm pretty! I'm very flattered that you find me attractive. Thank you so much! Rukia said sarcastically. "Why can't you just admit it to me in a nice way? Huh?"

"Sh… Shut up! I didn't say you're attractive! I said you're beautiful" Renji thought of a comeback but couldn't think of any.

"Hey! There's no difference between attractive and beautiful!" Rukia smiled at him that made Renji blushed even more.

"Yes there is! Stop arguing with me! Can't you see that I'm wounded?" He looked away to hide his face that was burning from her.

"Miss, we need to go now. Your brother already called he's worried. He said he needs you to call him as soon as you get back home safely." Kenpachi opened the door and the look of disappointment can be seen on his face. He didn't catch Rukia and Renji doing anything. "I'm sorry to interrupt your 'ahem' but we need to get going."

"Alright, please wait for me in the car." She turned to renji when her driver followed her instruction. "I'm sorry about that. He's always on guard to catch me doing any unnecessary things. Kind of creepy if you ask me. But I got used to it."

"I see. It's okay. No harm done." Renji told her.

"I'll see you tomorrow. The doctor said you can go home after two days. I'll come back to check on you." Rukia stood up and looked at Renji.

"Rukia…"

"Hmmm?"

"Thank you, for everything." He looked away from her.

"…"

Rukia didn't speak yet. She waited for Renji to look at her again. And when he did she smiled lovingly at him that made Renji's heart melt.

"No problem. It's my pleasure Abar…"

"Renji! Call me Renji." Renji said cutting her off.

Rukia smiled.

"Thank you Renji."

Rukia left and closed the door. She didn't hear the next words that Renji uttered quietly.

"You are beautiful." He muttered.

It was Friday. One week had passed since Rukia moved to Karakura. One week had passed since she and Ichigo talked. She has been avoiding him as much as she can. Last Monday she saw him in a corridor at school. Ichigo smiled at her but she only nodded at him. He was on the doorway of their room and she was about to enter it but she turned to the bathroom door instead which was located beside their room. She waited inside for some time to pass. Rukia didn't know what to say to him when she'll face him.

There was a day when Ichigo was approaching Rukia when the bell rang for lunch. It was a good thing that she saw Renji passed by. She called his name and Renji smiled at her.

(Flashback: Wednesday 12nn)

Rukia was packing up her bento and was preparing for lunch. The bell just rang and she's looking forward to a good meal.

"Ichigo! Where are we going to eat?" A bubbly voice called out. It belonged to Inoue.

"Uhm… Inoue, will it be okay if we invite someone to join us? I hope you won't mind." Ichigo asked her. He wanted to talk to Rukia. It has been a long time since they've chatted. He was worried that maybe he said something wrong to her that made her feel bad.

He saw Rukia at her desk and walked towards her.

"Hey"! Obviously Rukia didn't expect Ichigo at all. She jumped a little bit when he called her but regained her composure fast enough.

"Uhm… Kurosaki. Hi! Is something wrong?" she said out loud.

Ichigo felt uneasy when she called him Kurosaki without any kind of emotion. He wanted to know why but couldn't figure it out. "Well it's lunch time so would you like to join us? Then maybe we can talk about our plans to Inoue. What do you think?" Ichigo looked at Rukia and could tell that she was uncomfortable.

"Uhm.. I'm sorry but I can't. I… I… I… promised someone that I will join him for lunch." Rukia was so nervous. She didn't have any Idea how to escape.

"Oh really? Well then if you said 'him' would you mind telling me who this lucky guy is?" Ichigo inquired. He didn't believe that she was joining some guy. 'That's impossible. Huh! She's lying! She doesn't talk to anyone at all and just listens to music! Let's see how she will make her way out of this one. ' Ichigo thought.

"Uhm… you see… We uhm… Ahh… RENJI!"

Rukia saw Renji through the door passing by. And relief washed through her body. His hands were on his pockets and he was not caring about the other students looking at his hair.

"Renji! " Rukia waved her hand when Renji turned his head. She smiled at him and felt good to see him out of the hospital and looking well. It was a good thing that Renji didn't feel shy smiling at her and he even waved at his hand motioning her to come to him.

"I'm sorry Ichigo, but Renji's here now. I think I should leave. He's waiting for me." She looked at Renji again and saw that he too was looking at her and was waiting at the door.

Ichigo leaned over Rukia's ear and whispered. This made Rukia blush a little bit. "Rukia, are you sure you should be friends with that guy? I know him. He's always in trouble and has a bad reputation here at school. He's also always at the principal's office because of his behavior. You should think twice hanging out with him." Ichigo voiced out his concern.

Inoue saw Ichigo's action and felt uncomfortable. She knew that he doesn't like having physical contact with anyone especially with girls. She couldn't understand why she was feeling that way. 'Relax. He was just whispering something to her. They're not doing anything.' She convinced herself but somehow she felt weird so she made her way to where Ichigo was.

"Ichigo!" Inoue encircled her arms around Ichigo's but the said boy took them off and settled in just holding her hand. He's not the one for public display of affection. Inoue continued talking as if she didn't feel hurt of what Ichigo did. "Are you ready? I'm hungry so can we eat now? Oh! Kuchiki! Are you going to join us?

"I would love to but I promised someone that I will go with him. I'm sorry."

"Oh! Is he the one standing outside waiting? He looks really handsome. I think you two look really good together. When and where did you meet him?" Inoue took a peek at Ichigo and saw that his eyes were fixed at Rukia.

"No! Renji is just my friend. We always eat together during lunch. I'm really sorry but he has been waiting for quite some time now. I should go." She picked up her bento and looked at ichigo. He was still staring at her like he was contemplating on something. She looked at him in the eyes intensively and said, "I'm sorry. I'm busy. I'll talk to you next time."

Ichigo was dumbstruck. He doesn't know why Rukia was acting that way. And she won't tell him. He followed Rukia with his eyes and saw that the guy, Renji, has took her arms and dragged her away. It made Ichigo scowl hard.

"They look good together don't they?"

Ichigo's eyes were still on Rukia's disappearing form. When Inoue spoke, it woke him up and he looked at her.

"I suppose so. But I don't know if he's the right one for her. I mean, look at him. He looks like a good-for-nothing-person. I don't like him." He answered Inoue.

"Even if you don't like him we cannot interfere with their relationship. Rukia's NOT our friend. We don't have the right to intercept things that are about to happen." Inoue emphasized the words to make Ichigo realize that he's thinking too much of someone he just met for a week. She was starting to feel irritated.

Hearing Inoue say that made Ichigo realized that she was right. 'Inoue's right. I should leave them alone. It's not my duty to look out for her.' He thought. Then he looked at Inoue and nodded. "Let's go. I'm starving. Let's just eat."

Inoue smiled when Ichigo's attention was back at her.

(Present time)

Rukia looked at Ichigo. He has stopped trying to talk to her. She didn't know whether to be happy about it because that's what she wanted or to be sad because she really liked him.

'I suppose this is how it should be. He showed me kindness and was fun to hang around. I really thought that we could be friends. I felt like we were meant to meet but why did it turn out like this? Did I just assume that he didn't really like me? No! If he wanted to be friends he would have kept on approaching me until now. He didn't like me.' Rukia thought and moved her eyes away from Ichigo.

"It has been a week living here in Karakura, and still nothing is happening. I want to move back toTokyo. Byakuya is still not coming home. The only good thing that happened here is making friends with Renji. I like him. He listens when I talk and doesn't interfere too much. He even respects me. But I still don't feel happy."

Rukia was so lonely being alone. Although she likes it more than with someone but right now she felt completely lost. She walked out of school and went back to the river where Ichigo spotted her before. She lied on the grass and looked up at the sky. She put on her music and listened to some songs. While day dreaming, her eyes slowly drifted off to sleep.

Ichigo was on his way home. He passed by the river bank because it was the shortest way to get to his house. 'I wonder what's for dinner. I'm starving.' He was walking, thinking and even kicking some stones on his way. His gaze shifted to the river. It looked so beautiful. It's very clear and looked very clean like you can actually drink it. He was about to leave when he spotted something or rather someone. There were three people, two boys and one girl. They looked like teenagers. The girl was held by one boy. Ichigo saw him twisted the girl's arms and then pulled her hair. The other guy was holding the girl's bag.

Rukia was being held by a boy who's so much taller and bigger than her. She couldn't do anything but comply with what the boys were telling her. When the guy pulled her hair and twisted her arms, she felt pain. It was a stupid mistake to fall asleep alone in an open area. Now, she's in a situation where she doesn't know what to do. She was so afraid that something might happen. "Don't worry. We won't hurt you. Just do what we say and everything will be fine. Do you get it?" The boy who was in front of Rukiatold her while running his index finger on Rukia's cheeks. She tried turning sideways but to no avail. The guy holding her was strong and was pulling her hair with great force.

"Hey, look at her face. Isn't she pretty? I think it will be nice to play with her. Haha!" the guy holding Rukia even pulled her closer to his face. The other one was about to touch Rukia again when they heard a rough voice commanding them.

"Let go of her! Leave her alone!" Ichigo yelled with anger. He went closer to the guy in front of Rukia and was ready to hit him with his fist.

"Who're you? Get away from here if you don't want to be involved. If you DON'T want to get hurt." The guy replied.

"Arrrrgghhhh! What the fuck are you doing? You'll regret hitting me!" the boy was hit by Ichigo on his jaw and was preparing to attack him.

Before the guy's fist landed on Ichigo he was punched again by him. This time Ichigo's punch was so hard that it made the guy fall back to the ground. Ichigo quickly pulled his collar and hit him on the face continuously while the man was still on the ground.

The other one got really angry that he threw Rukia. She got hurt but did her best to stand up to help Ichigo. So she grabbed the guy's arm to stop him from helping his friend but when the boy felt her he quickly slapped her hard that almost made her unconscious. The guy didn't see Ichigo coming to him because he was busy hurting Rukia. Ichigo was finished with the first one because he ran away without calling or helping his friend. When the other boy saw Ichigo he got scared of the look that Ichigo gave him. Ichigo was about to punch him on the face but stopped about an inch from before the contact.

"Get going! Move now!" Ichigo shouted that made the guy quiver with fear. He ran away and didn't even look back.

Ichigo looked at Rukia who's still stunned at what happened. She couldn't even look at him straight. She was so embarrassed because she did everything to avoid him but he didn't even hesitate to help her. She was so ashamed of this that her tears started falling. She wiped them away with her hands and then she felt strong muscular hands touched her on shoulders. She looked at him in the eyes and guilt was written all over her face.

Ichigo looked at Rukia and he thought that she was crying because she was still scared of what happened. He felt sorry for her. It was a good thing that he saw her before anything happened. She was shaking terribly. He couldn't do anything for her but just hold her. So he slowly touched her on her shoulders and made her look at him. He saw that her tears were falling and he couldn't bare the sight. Realization started to hit him. She wasn't crying because she was scared but rather felt guilt towards him for the way she acted. He went closer to Rukia who was sitting on the grass, closer and closer, put his arms around her back and hugged her.

"Stop it. It's okay. I'm here. I'll protect you. Shhhh…. Nothing will ever happen again. I forgive you. Let's forget about everything. Please, stop crying." Those were Ichigo's comfort words to her but instead of making her feel better she felt more ashamed of herself for pushing him away. She didn't know what to say. In return, Rukia encircled her arms around his waist and cried even harder.

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry… I'm sorry…"

She kept on repeating the same words over and over but when she looked up she could see Ichigo staring at her. He smiled. Through his smile she saw the start of a new beginning.