Bleach Would Have Been, Wouldn't Have Been

**Woohoo! Hajimemashite, minna-san! This is C.S.F.! This my first fanfic ever uploaded here! I thought of putting the characters in a modern setting, and I came up with this idea. This chapter is really long, but I'm not sure if the other chapters will be the same. Hopefully, it'll carry out like how I had it planned, and please enjoy! Oh yeah, and I uploaded it today on purpose because it's Renji-kun's birthday, so I consider it to be like my present to him [August 31 (2009)]. Otanjoubi omedetou gozaimasu, Renji-kun! (Happy birthday, Renji-kun!)**

**I do not own Bleach AT ALL (unfortunately).**

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_Even when you go in one direction, love can hit you from another, and just when you think it'll fall apart in your hands, it will grow stronger than anything._

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If there was one word to describe that day, then it would have been normal. The sun was shining. People were bustling in the streets on their ways to work. Horns could be heard being honked by impatient, angry drivers. Students were walking to school. (Not to mention it was a Wednesday.) It was like any other typical morning in Tokyo.

However, in Rukia Kuchiki's case, the day would have had to have been described in _four_ words: _would have been _normal. And that _would have been_ part was what changed her life forever.

Here's how it all began.

* * *

Rukia Kuchiki stepped out through the front door of her house without a word. There was no one there to say "See you later," or, "Have a nice day," to, since her older adoptive brother Byakuya Kuchiki had already left for work. She shut and locked the door behind her, then turned and began walking to school. Glancing at her watch, she realized how late she was going to be if she took the normal route (which would have been about ten minutes late), so after walking down about one block from her house, she made a right turn towards a back alley.

Even though Byakuya had told her a _million_ times to not go through that alley to the street at the other end, she'd still do it anyway. Somehow he _always_ knew when she did it, too, as if he had cameras all over the place that revealed to him what she was up to at every second of the day. Byakuya told her that it was just an extra sense he had as an older brother, but Rukia still kept her eyes and ears out for suspicious flashes and clicks. Success, however, managed to evade her. She knew he couldn't be following her because of his rigorous job as a writing professor at Tokyo University, which sometimes required him to be out from early in the morning until late in the afternoon, sometimes even later. (Byakuya wasn't exactly an easy professor. He gave out _a lot _of work, so there was _a lot_ of correcting and going over to do.)

Perhaps he had hired spies...

Regardless, Rukia had decided to only use this route when she knew she'd be late, even though she was aware of the mountains of scoldings that awaited her at the end of the day at home with formidable Byakuya. Honestly though, it wasn't even her fault. She was forced to stay up late the previous night to finish an extra homework assignment that was due _that morning_. And because Byakuya had to leave so early part of the time, he couldn't always be there to wake her up, like this morning, so she really couldn't depend on him for that. Plus, the fact that her alarm clock was faulty didn't help either. (Rukia wasn't a super hard sleeper, so she knew that it couldn't be because she didn't hear the alarm. She even did a few test runs and found that part of the time it didn't go off.) Someday, she'd remember to go and get it fixed.

Besides, nothing ever happened to her here before. In fact, it was _much_ more peaceful here than the normal route through the main part of the city, or at least in the morning, anyway. After passing through the alley, Rukia would turn left onto a dirt street that was lined with shops and stands. Children played in the road. Elderly people could be seen going for morning strolls. Nearby stands were scented with the delicious, mouth-watering smells of steaming, homemade oden and freshly prepared rice. Even the air felt fresher.

Of course, there were the occassional rumors of crime and fights at this place here and there, but the most aggression that Rukia had ever come to witness here was children throwing mud pies at each other or sword-fighting with sticks they found on the dusty road.

In other words, it was completely harmless...

...or so she thought.

After walking down to where the street ended, Rukia turned left. All she had to do now was walk toward the old lamppost that was about forty feet away, make a right, and there was the high school. Easy enough.

Well, it _would_ have been easy, if not for the sight she saw taking place about twenty feet away. Two guys, it appeared, were apparently duking it out in a fight. Rukia froze. What was she supposed to do? She couldn't turn around, or else she would have been late (which is the whole reason she came the way she did), but she couldn't walk past them, either. What if she got caught up in it?

Shivering at the thought, Rukia glanced at her watch again. Her eyes widened as she realized that she had five minutes before the school bell rang. Even more scared now, she decided that the best thing to do was to hide behind the corner she just made a left on and wait it out.

They were wearing school uniforms from her high school, but that didn't necessarily mean that they'd stop just to get to class on time. Rukia began to feel anxious and even more nervous. What if they didn't stop? She'd never been in a situation like this before! Should she have risked it and waited, or should she have just ran back and gone the way Byakuya wanted her to go, the normal route?

Rukia shivered at the thought of Byakuya and what he'd make out of this mess. Would he know about this too? But of course.

Rukia had been late before, a couple of times, actually, but her homeroom teacher had warned her the last unfortunate time she hadn't shown up on time that if she was late again, she'd get afterschool detention. How would she explain this? Well, what with her brother's paranormal sixth sense, she wouldn't have to.

But luck returned to Rukia's side just in time. As she fretted and pondered over possible results of her current situation, she noticed that the sounds of punching, slamming, and muffled cursing faded away. Peeking around the corner, she saw one of the guys was lying on the ground and the other, who was heavily panting, was still standing.

Rukia didn't breathe. She just hoped that he'd walk away so she could get by. Still watching, she noticed that both of them had ended up nearer to her location than before, due to the fight, giving her a clearer view. The winner had long red hair, probably the reddest she'd ever seen, that was pulled back into a spikey ponytail, which for some odd reason reminded her of pineapple leaves. He had tribal-style tattoos on his forehead and eyebrows, and also on his upper arms. One could have been blind and been able to tell he was a punk.

The loser, who was still lying on the ground, looked _a little_ more normal. He had plain, short black hair and had a tattoo on each arm, the Japanese kanji for "samurai" on his right arm and the kanji for "power" on his left. He was also quite large, possibly even larger than the winner himself. He looked like he was pretty tall, and appeared to be pretty buff. Yet _he_ was the one lying exhausted and beat up on the ground.

_Hm... Maybe he's not that smart, or something,_ Rukia thought as she gazed at the sight before her. Blinking, she realized how distracted she had become and shook her head. She had to get to school! That was the important thing at the moment. Focusing, she stared, ready to move when she got the chance. No one moved, until the loser moaned, began to roll over, and tried to get up. Rukia backed herself a little further behind the corner.

Just when she thought things would be dragged out even further, Pineapple Head gave Power Samurai a hard kick in the abdomen, making him hug his stomach and roll back over, moaning even more. Rukia flinched.

_THAT had to hurt,_ she commented mentally.

"Now listen here, you sorry excuse for trash," Pineapple finally said. "Next time you come trying to pick a fight with me, you won't know what hit you until you've already woken up five thousand years later, you hear?!"

"Urrrrrgh... Uuugh... Oooohh... Aaaah..." Power moaned. It was as if he forgot how to speak.

"Answer me!!"

"Uugh... Ye... I c...er yo..." Power mumbled.

"Answer me properly, you cow-brained dumbass!!!"

Rukia shivered. She wanted more than anything to get away from there and within the safe confinement of her classroom.

"Y-yes, I can hear you! Urgh..."

"Good, then I'm done here," Pineapple said as he turned and walked down towards the old lamppost. Rukia quietly sighed with relief, but she knew she had to hurry. The little scene that just occurred before her had costed her a lot of time. She waited until Pineapple had already made that right turn toward the school, then quickly followed, while making sure that she stayed as far away as she could from Power Samurai, who was still moaning on the ground.

By the time she reached the old lamppost, Rukia was panting, exhausted from power-walking.

_I should start working out more, or at least try a little harder in P.E.,_ Rukia noted as she placed her right hand on the lamppost and leaned against it. But her break lasted shortly, as she began walking again, knowing she couldn't stop. Turning right, she sped towards the high school. Walking up to the entrance, she noticed that Pineapple Head was nowhere to be seen. _Not that I care, anyway,_ she thought as she headed towards the shoe lockers.

Changing her shoes at the speed of light, she grabbed her stuff and headed to class as if her life depended on it. She didn't even look at her watch, as she didn't need any extra distractions. There weren't even that many students left in the halls. Rukia began to run. The classroom felt so far away, but she knew she couldn't let that stop her. At least it was only up one flight of stairs.

_Stairs...! Oh, this cannot be happening! _Rukia felt like crying. This whole morning was a total disaster, let alone the rest of the day. Even if she had taken the normal route, she still would have been late. At least this way, she would have a chance of getting to class on time. What else could she have done? Fate truly had turned on her that day.

Hoping that at least the rest of the school day would go smoothly, Rukia finally reached the door to her classroom. She couldn't have felt more relieved. Maybe things would fill out smoothly for the rest of the day...

...or so she hoped.

Sliding open the door, Rukia stepped in. She looked like she just finished running for a marathon. She was too tired to even care that half of the class was staring at her.

"You made it just in time, Miss Kuchiki," her teacher said after looking over to see who arrived. She was sitting at her desk, going over the day's lesson. "Now, please take a seat."

Without thinking much about it, Rukia nodded and headed over to her seat in the back of the classroom. It was a comfortable area where one wouldn't be surrounded by a bunch of people or have things thrown at the back of his or her head. She sat in the seat right next to the window seat in the back right-hand corner (when you face the class), which no one even sat in. No big deal.

Well, okay, it _used_ to be no big deal. But with who Rukia saw there, it just became a big deal. Sitting there in the previously vacant spot she was so used to seeing was none other than the redheaded, tattooed Pinapple Head! The very same one! She dropped her bag and froze. Blinking, she hoped that she'd gone crazy and was hallucinating. How could _he_ be _here?!_ Here was some strange punk teenager who was just out fighting some guy in the back of an alley only minutes ago, and now he was sitting next to her in class?! The pieces simply didn't fit in Rukia's mind. Still dumbfounded, she picked up her bag and walked over to her seat. All thoughts of hurrying no longer existed. She set her bag down by her desk and sat down slowly and cautiously, as if her new neighbor was some kind of wild animal that would attack after hearing the slightest sound.

Looking at her watch, she realized that she had barely made it just in time. _At least I wasn't late, _she noted as she pulled out last night's homework and placed it on her desk. _So, he's the new guy now?_ Rukia glanced over to where he sat. He was gazing out the window he sat next to, with his right elbow propped up on the desk and his head resting on his right palm. She noticed that he had some scratches on both arms, and his shirt looked a little dirty.

_He must have tried to clean himself off before entering class,_ Rukia observed. Catching herself staring, she quickly directed her attention to the front of the class. _I've got enough problems as it is, and I don't need more, especially in school,_ she reminded herself.

* * *

_Later..._

"Wow, Kuchiki-san, I can't believe your luck!"

Rukia looked up. "Huh? What do you mean?" It was break, and Rukia was sitting at her desk as three of her friends Orihime Inoue, Momo Hinamori, and Tatsuki Arisawa approached her (Orihime first).

"'What do you mean?' You sat down _right_ when class started," Tatsuki answered.

"Yeah. Why did you come so late, anyway?" Momo asked.

Rukia didn't know how to answer this one, as the images from this morning's fight flashed through her mind. "Um, I, uh... Well, you see..."

All three of her friends were observing her quizzically, especially Miss Inoue.

"Well... I had to stay up later than usual last night because of that extra homework assignment we had to do," Rukia answered with a smile. Easy enough. Plus, it really wasn't a lie either. She was just leaving out some details, which _wouldn't have been_ there if it weren't for said homework assignment.

"Ah, that's right," Orihime stated.

"That took me a while to finish as well," Momo added.

"Yeah, and we _wouldn't_ have had to do it if it weren't for those _morons_ over there," Tatsuki mentioned as she pointed her right thumb in the direction of Ichigo Kurosaki, Ikkaku Madarame, Shuuhei Hisagi, Keigo Asano, Mizuiro Kojima, Izuru Kira, and Yasutora "Chad" Sado (who, by the way, was the only one of the aforementioned who wasn't one of the causers of the extra homework assignment). "Honestly, don't they get that throwing water ballons filled with soy sauce at each other during class is only going to result in punishment? Geez, I mean, Ichigo threw one on sensei's face! Even if it was an accident..."

"I'm just amazed that all six of them got it all cleaned up by today. Or, well, at least most of it," Momo pointed out as she looked around the room and saw a spot that they missed.

"Well, it wasn't Kurosaki-kun's fault. I mean, he only threw one after Keigo-san hit him with one, and Keigo-san dodged it," Orihime defended.

"Orihime, just because you're going out with the oaf doesn't mean you have to stand up for him all the time, even when you know he's done something wrong," Tatsuki countered.

Orihime blushed. "Th-that's not why..."

She and Ichigo had been going out for about three months, after he had _finally_ asked her out. It wasn't too much of a surprise to everyone else.

"And how about you, Hinamori?" Tatsuki asked, changing the subject. "How're things going on your end, with Hitsugaya?"

"Oh, well, things are going fine between us," Momo answered. She and Toshiro Hitsugaya had been going out for about a month. Both had skipped a grade or two.

"You sure like picking them ripe, don't ya?" Tatsuki asked, nodding over to where Hitsugaya was sitting across the classroom, reading a book.

Now it was Momo's turn to blush. "W-we're not _that_ far apart in age!"

Tatsuki laughed. Rukia and Orihime giggled. "I'm just messing with you, Hinamori," Tatsuki reassured her.

"Yeah, and you two do make an adorable couple," Orihime commented.

"Thank you, Orihime," Momo replied. She seemed to relax a little.

"But Rukia," Orihime said to her friend, randomly directing all their attention onto her, "I thought you told us before that you used a shortcut when you knew you'd be late."

Rukia gulped. Not so easy. "Um, well, I guess I woke up a little later than I usually do, even later than on days when I'm running late."

"Well, it's not like we get that much homework every day, you know. And speaking of things that don't happen every day," Tatsuki began to whisper, "check out the new guy." All four looked over to see Ichigo, Ikkaku, Hisagi, and Izuru all over by the new student's desk, introducing themselves and trying to learn a bit more about him. "One look at him and already I smell trouble."

"He certainly does have an interesting appearance," Momo added.

"He looks like he's from one of those movies. You know, those western ones about the tough underdogs that people always undermine, but then they prove themselves to the rest of the world in the end?" Orihime informed. All three of them just stared at her. "What?" she asked innocently.

"I think you've been watching a bit too many movies, Orihime," Tatsuki stated.

"Well, at least she's imaginative," Momo remarked.

"Yeah, that's true. It's always good to..."

All three of her friends' voices faded from Rukia's hearing. She was looking at Pineapple Head as he was speaking to and laughing with Ichigo and his friends that were with him. _I wonder what his name is,_ she thought as she looked him over from where she was sitting at. Then something caught her eye, something on his left arm.

_What is that?_ she wondered. Her thoughts, and eyesight, were interrupted by Orihime's waving hand.

"Kuchiki-san! Kuchiki-san!"

"Huh? Oh, I'm sorry. I must have blanked out," she reassured her friends with another smile.

"...So, you were blanking out in _their_ direction, eh?" Tatsuki asked as she aimed her left pointer finger in the direction of the boys.

"Eh?! Wow! Rukia, is there someone over there that you like?," Orihime asked eagerly.

"W-what?! N-no, of course not! I have no interest in dating at the moment. Besides, if I was in a relationship, my brother would find out about it, and _who knows_ what he'd do!" Rukia defended.

"Eh, really? I know your older brother is good at figuring out what you're up to, but he could even tell about something like that?" Momo inquired.

"W-well, I'm not sure exactly, because I've never done anything like that before, but I'm assuming yes, since he's been able to somehow read everything else I've done," Rukia answered.

"Then how would you know what your brother would do if he found out you were dating someone?" Orihime interrogated.

"Like I said, _who knows_ what he'd do," she repeated.

"Well, I think it'd be good for you to enter a relationship with someone else," Orihime stated. "It really gives you a sense of purpose in life, and suddenly you begin to understand things you never would have even considered before. Someone can become the center of your world, and you can be the center of someone else's world. And if you think about how many people are on this earth, it seems pretty amazing."

Well, Rukia _would_ have responded to her statement, but break just so happened to end right then. Their teacher walked into class and called all the students to attention. Her friends started walking back to their seats.

"We'll talk to you later, Rukia," Tatsuki told her as she walked back over to her seat. Orihime and Momo waved as they returned to their seats.

She lightly waved her hand back at them.

_"It really gives you a sense of purpose in life..."_

Orihime's words, from the moment they made their little exits from her mouth and flew into Rukia's ears, nagged at her. She'd never thought about relationships like that before, and she never would have guessed if it weren't for her scatterbrained buddy.

Realizing how seriously she was taking this, she shook her head.

_I don't have time for things like relationships and dating anyway,_ she reminded herself. The effect was weak, however, as she found her eyesight moving towards her left, to where the newcomer was sitting in the next seat over.

Now, if special events need triggers, then this could have been very well classified as one. Rukia was facing forward, but her eyes weren't. Instead, she discovered them locked in eye contact with another pair of eyes. Said pair of eyes belonged to said newcomer.

Normally in these kinds of situations, Rukia would have immediately withdrawn herself and focused on something somewhere else, ashamed of being caught staring. But, strangely enough, she didn't. Maybe it was because he didn't look ticked off or scary like she thought he would. Sure, he appeared to be an interesting character, but that didn't seem to change anything.

He, too, was facing forward, like her, but his eyes, on the contrary, were facing Rukia. He had his left elbow propped up on his desk and his cheek resting on his left palm.

Rukia, all her attention focused on him, began to get curious.

_Did he see me watching him this morning?_ she wondered. _I'm tempted to ask, but I know I'm not going to._

After about ten more seconds of eye contact, she remembered where she was and what she was doing. Feeling her face warm up, she transitioned her eyes back to the front of the classroom. She waited about three seconds before glancing back at him. He had already refocused his eyes to the front of the class.

Rukia sighed.

_Why is this bothering me so much?_

Deciding not to think about it, she opened up her history book and found the page her teacher was telling everyone to open up to.

_Wait, WHAT IS IT__that's bothering me in the first place?! _"Operation: Deciding-not-to-think-about-it" failed. Epically.

_This just isn't my day. I think I'll go out for some food afterschool,_ she told herself.

* * *

Class time dragged on and lunch flew by, followed by more sluggish class time. One second felt like one minute. If it weren't for the fact that she was so tired and wanted to fall asleep, she probably would have been happy that the day was dragging on, because she would have to wait even later to see Byakuya, although she did want to get it over with.

Finally, their teacher dismissed the class and the school day was finally _over_. Rukia sighed as the other students got up and walked out of the classroom. Even Pineapple didn't seem to waste any time while walking out.

_Well, I guess I'll go grab something to eat, then. I'm not really in the mood for anything I have at home, anyway. _She double-checked to see if her things were inside her bag, got up, and left.

While walking off of the school grounds, Rukia stopped. _Where am I going to go to?_ she wondered as she reached into her bag for her coin purse (which _did_ have a bunny on it). Her eyebrows lowered after she looked inside it, her fingers toying with the money as she counted through it, and found that she didn't have much. She had just enough for a little fast food, but those places were usually crowded afterschool, and she wanted to get home and get started on her homework before Byakuya returned from work.

Remembering the food stands she passed on her way to school, she sighed and headed toward the old lamppost that signaled where the old street was.

_I'm already in trouble for coming here in the first place. Eh, what difference will it make? _she asked herself mentally.

Looking around once she reached it, she saw that there were no fights happening anywhere around her. She walked to the corner and turned right, so that the old street came into her view, along with the same sights she always saw there.

_Honestly, why does Nii-sama dislike this place so much? _Remembering the incident this morning, Rukia tossed that thought. _Never mind..._

Her sense of smell distracted her from those previous thoughts as she picked up on smells of food from a nearby stand.

_A place like that couldn't be TOO expensive, and I have wanted to try it for a while now, _she thought as she stepped up to the traditional Japanese food stand. Lifting up one of the banners hanging over the entrance, she saw that it already had one customer.

Now, if fate was a naughty child that bullied others, then it had scheduled for poor little Rukia's torture that day. Said customer was Pineapple.

_Why is HE here?! _Rukia gulped and was about to turn away when she heard someone speak.

"Hello, would you like something today?" the stand owner asked. Pineapple didn't bother to look over to see who it was.

"Um..." She couldn't really walk away now. "Y-yes, I would, actually," she replied with her best smile.

After she sat down in the left seat (facing the owner), the owner asked, "What will you have today?"

"Let's see... I'll have..." she started as she looked up at the menu. "I'll have a bowl of rice, please," she stated with a smile.

"Of course. Coming right up," the owner, who by the way was a plump lady who looked like she was in about her early fifties. "And, here you are, sir," she said as she handed Pineapple a plate of taiyaki. There were two on the plate.

The owner then turned and picked up a half-filled bag of rice and started right away on Rukia's order. Meanwhile, even though she probably wasn't even aware of it, there was an awkward feeling made of silence between her two customers. Rukia wasn't sure if he felt it, but she certainly did.

Finally, after about two minutes of torture, Pineapple swallowed his bite of food and spoke up. "I don't bite, you know."

Rukia practically flew out of her socks and rocketed up into the sky. She certainly wasn't expecting him to give her his attention, let alone _actually speak_ to her!

"Huh?" she asked dumbfoundedly.

"You don't need to act all scared of me," he continued.

"Um, I'm not..."

"Don't argue. You get all uptight whenever you're around me." He sighed. "Look, I know you saw me fighting that asshole this morning, so it's understandable. But I'm not one of those fighting freaks* either."

Rukia was speechless. What could she say to that?

"...Okay," she replied timidly.

"What were you doing over here this morning anyway?" he interrogated.

"Um, I was going to be late, and this way is faster, so..." Rukia stopped. Why was she telling him all this anyway? "Wait, why should I be telling you my business anyway? I don't even know you!"

He was shocked at the sudden change in attitude. Where did _this_ come from? Was it something he said?

"Uh, okay... Sorry," he replied. Now it was his turn. "Wait, why am _I_ saying sorry? I didn't say anything wrong!"

She didn't back down, but she didn't say anything either. Things suddenly went from awkward to fierce. Their subtle glances at each other transformed into a flaming staring contest. After a few minutes, the owner broke the tension.

"Here you go, Miss. Please enjoy," she stated as she handed Rukia a bowl of steaming rice.

"Oh, thank you," she replied as she took the bowl. Both she and Pineapple went back to their food.

Their meals were finished in silence. Pineapple finished his food first. After paying, he started getting up to leave. Rukia didn't seem to mind, but he wasn't finished yet.

"I'm Renji."

She turned around to look at him. He was lifting one of the banners from the stand up with his left arm, making the afternoon sun shine through. "Renji Abarai."

After a moment of surprise, instinctively she responded with, "I'm Rukia Kuchiki."

A cool, gentle breeze began to blow. After staring at each other for another moment, he finally made his leave, dropping the banner.

Rukia was frozen solid in her position for about five seconds before turning back to her unfinished bowl of rice. After swallowing the last grain, she set the bowl down. Leaving the owner the money for the food and a small tip, she said, "Thank you for the delicious food."

The owner smiled. "Thank _you _for the business."

Rukia started heading home. It had been a strange day. Hopefully things would be better tomorrow, although she was seriously starting to doubt that.

Meanwhile, back at the stand, the owner took Rukia's empty bowl, beginning to shake her head and chuckle a bit. She already saw things coming.

* * *

* (I meant people like Kenpachi. ^_^U)

* * *

**So, that's the first chapter. (Sorry if I made Tatsuki sound like a jerk. I really wasn't trying to. T_T) Hopefully the characters didn't sound OOC or anything. I was really pushing to make them sound like themselves. Review please, and thanks for reading! =D**


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Bleach, Hurt-Comfort, Romance