Bleach Bleach Fairy Tales

**Bleach Fairy Tales**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Bleach**_

**Sleeping Rukia**

_Once upon a time…_

Shiba Kukaku was a woman scorned. She had been the perfect noble her whole life and all she ever wanted was a little attention. Kukaku specialized in her special fireworks that put on a beautiful display that would leave any sane man speechless. However the other nobles didn't see it that way. They saw her as loud and annoying.

Before her parents passed away they had promised her to the heir of the Kuchiki Clan. Kuchiki Byakuya. Kukaku thought Byakuya was a bit of a suck-up but she didn't want to go against her parents' wishes. She did everything she could to attract the handsome heir but he never so much as bat an eyelash in her direction. It was difficult for her to show her feeling to him but he continued to trample all over them.

Then one day, over a year ago, Byakuya committed the ultimate offense. He married a commoner. Kukaku was outraged and insulted, how dare she be passed up for a commoner?

Kuchiki Hisana, everyone absolutely loved her. She had big purple doe eyes and a gentle temperament; anyone who met her fell in love with her instantly.

Kukaku was furious. All of her attempts to talk to the Kuchiki elders were thwarted. To make matters worse it wasn't long until Hisana became pregnant.

Everyone fawned over Hisana. What maternity clothes was she wearing? Who was she using as her midwives? What was she going to name the baby? Would it be a boy or a girl? It was all anyone talked about for nine months.

Kukaku hoped that Seireitei would get over it. Surely something else big would happen and everyone would forget all about the Kuchikis. Despite her wishes, that never happened. Everyone was obsessed with Kuchikis.

When the little critter was born things got worse. All everyone talked about was the young heir.

"Rukia is so pretty, she has her mother's eyes you know."

"The maids say she never cries, she's such a calm baby."

"Did you know Byakuya-sama sings to her every night, isn't that the sweetest thing?"

Kukaku wondered what kind of name is Rukia. She had expected something more grand for the most talked about baby of the century.

"Onee-sama, you got a message" called one of Kukaku's younger brother's Kaien.

Kukaku went to the door where the messenger handed her a thick scroll. She noticed the Kuchiki emblem and quickly opened the message. Her eyes scanned over the words in disbelief.

They wanted her to give a gift to their daughter. Of course it was tradition that the heads of each noble family would bless newborn nobles and bring gifts, but the Shiba clan had been ignored for so long she didn't think she'd get a letter. Kukaku would love nothing more than to send the Kuchiki's a giant stink bomb or maybe just a bomb, but she'd be arrested immediately by the guardian corps.

However they were expecting her to make an appearance, and she was going to make a damn good one.

ルキア

Kuchiki Hisana couldn't believe her luck. A little over a year ago she was just another starving girl roaming Rukongai with nowhere to go. Now she was married and a mother. Most people saw her husband, Byakuya, as a stiff and uncaring, but they didn't know the real Byakuya. He was unbelievable kind and generous, he even had a bit of a funny side when it came to his drawings.

Hisana was so blessed. The best day of her life was when she married Byakuya, or at least that is what she thought until she gave birth to their daughter. When everyone saw Rukia they said she looked just like Hisana. What they didn't see what how much she acted like Byakuya.

Well today would be the day for the whole world to see since it would be her official entry into the world. It was the day of the nobles' blessing. For most nobles this would be their first time seeing Rukia and it made Hisana a little nervous. She was nervous at first that they wouldn't accept her into their ranks, but they were all very kind to her. She could only hope they behaved the same way with her daughter.

The grand hall was decorated beautifully.

One by one noble families started showing up. The heads of the families were usually carried in on a norimono, and they came with their whole clan and lots of gifts.

This was a big culture shock for Hisana who still wasn't quite used to all of the noble's traditions. Nevertheless she appreciated it all.

The pregnancy wasn't easy on Hisana and her mid-wife Unohana had advised her to stay off her feet. So, Hisana would be sitting in her throne like chair for most of the night. Next to her sat her husband. Byakuya was currently holding Rukia as she giggled and gurgled in his lap. Hisana smiled, but she knew that soon Byakuya would have to socialize and she'd be the one holding Rukia.

After an hour it seemed like everyone had arrived so the blessings began. As they showered the Kuchikis with dazzling gifts like diamonds pearls they blessed her with eternal beauty, happiness, and the like.

A woman in a flamboyant red dress and wild black hair was suddenly at the front of the queue. Hisana didn't recognize her but she noticed that the woman was wearing swirly earrings and figured she was from the Shiba clan.

"To Kuchiki Rukia, the Shiba clan sends this lovely display of fireworks. One day while watching a firework show she'll suddenly drop dead" Kukaku said with a twisted smile.

Hisana gasped, how could anyone wish that upon her innocent daughter?

Byakuya pulled out his sword but before he could retaliate the Kuchiki's private guard took Kukaku down. There was a small uproar within the hall. Everyone was appalled at Kukaku's actions. Everyone knew that the wishes heard on blessing day would come true.

Hisana began crying uncontrollably.

It took a moment to settle every one down.

"I still have my blessing" a dark woman with long black hair and cat eyes spoke up. Hisana recognized her immediately as Shihōin Yoruichi, one of her closest friends.

Yoruichi brushed the hair of the now sleeping Rukia. "You poor child. I can't undo Kukaku's curse however I can try to make it less extreme. When you see a fireworks show you shall not die instead go to sleep and only your true love's first kiss shall awake you."

Byakuya didn't think this blessing was much better. He didn't want to think of some snot nosed kid pressing his lips against his precious Rukia. However sleep was better than death.

The night ended on that sour note.

ルキア

"Come on Renji!" Rukia called behind her.

Abarai Renji was a servant boy the in the Kuchiki's retainer. He had no parents and all of his brothers passed away at a young age. He was taken in by the Kuchiki's in order to clean the mansion, but most of his time was spent giving in to Rukia's whims. Renji would deny it but he had been in love with Rukia from the moment he met her. He knew it would never happen. Rukia was a noble and nobles don't marry commoners. But he did have a small inkling of hope. After all Rukia's mother, Hisana was a commoner. She was the only commoner in history to marry into a noble family.

"Where are we going?" Renji asked.

"It's a secret" Rukia shouted.

Renji rolled his eyes, if it was a secret, why was she shouting it?

Together the two of them snuck out of Seireitei.

Rukia had inherited her father's shunpo skills making it hard for Renji to keep up. She finally stopped when they got to a crowded street.

"What's going on here?" Renji asked.

"Spring festival" Rukia replied. "Isn't it awesome?"

Renji had never been to a festival before so he could hardly say if it was awesome or not. There were so many people and it was making him feel jumpy. They should have left with a guard, what if someone tried to kidnap Rukia? Renji was quite certain she didn't have permission to be here.

As if she were reading his mind Rukia said "Don't be a party pooper. We're here to have fun."

Rukia ran to the nearest booth and immediately began to try and catch gold fish. She was making more of a mess than anything but her laugh of infectious so no one complained.

Renji carried around Rukia's gold fish while she played the ring shooting game. Together they watched a re-enactment show about how Genryusai SouTaichou defeated the Quincies.

It was getting dark out. The two had completely forgotten all about returning to Kuchiki manor because they were so busy having fun. They ate Takoyaki and listened to folk singers and watched little children dance. They waited anxiously wondering what could possibly come next when a rush of murmurs went throughout the crowd.

Rukia thought she heard someone say her name so she began to eavesdrop.

"I thought the Kuchiki's banned fireworks?"

"Those nobles think they can ban things just because their nobles. Fireworks are a long standing tradition. It's been too many years since we've seen a good show. I say we don't tell them."

"Besides, it's not like we're in Seireitei. Nobles have no control over what goes on in Rukongai."

"True, it's not like they're monitoring us."

Rukia looked to Renji. "What are fireworks?"

"I don't know" Renji replied. "Let's stick around and find out."

Suddenly there was a loud bang and a shooting light. Both Rukia and Renji looked to the sky as firecrackers began to explode into different colors.

"It's so cool, have you ever seen anything like it?" Renji asked.

He was still looking at the sky dazzled he hadn't realized Rukia fainted.

"Rukia, isn't this cool? Whoa, did you see that one? Amazing right, Rukia? Rukia?"

Renji finally looked down.

"RUKIA!"

She was lying on the ground looking lifeless.

Renji bent over and felt for a plus. It was there but faint. Frantic Renji lifted Rukia and ran. He carried her all the way back to seireitei. At first the guards didn't want to let him in. it wasn't until they realized he was carrying the young Kuchiki heir that they finally opened the gate.

There had been an uproar in their absence. The Kuchiki's noticed Rukia's disappearance and had sent out search parties for her.

Renji ran all the way to the fourth division's squad barracks.

"Help her, something's wrong" Renji said.

"Oh my, what happened?" Unohana Taichou asked.

"We were watching the fireworks show in Rukongai when all of a sudden—"

"Fireworks? I thought fireworks were banned" Unohana commented.

Renji's reply was cut off by the sudden commotion coming from another room. they all listened in to what sounded like a fight and then Byakuya appeared.

"I heard my daughter is here" Byakuya said. He took one look at Rukia's prone figure and got mad. "What happened?!" he demanded.

Without waiting for an answer Byakuya stormed into the room. His dark eyes fell upon Renji, "You did this didn't you? I told Hisana we should've left you on the streets to die. What did you do to my daughter.?!"

"N-n-nothing. I didn't-t-t do anything-g-g. I swear" Renji was so nervous he almost peed himself.

"There was a fireworks show" Unohana explained.

"Firework? I banned all fireworks in Seireitei!" Byakuya roared.

"W-w-we were in Rukongai" Renji said quietly.

Byakuya was outraged. It took twenty healers to calm him down. Upon Hisana's arrival she took one look at her prone daughter and fainted.

Everyone was highly stressed out.

Unohana tried everything she could think off but nothing would awaken Rukia. She was in a comma.

ルキア

Whispered gossip traveled around Soul Society like wild fire.

Poor young Kuchiki Rukia was stuffed into a glass coffin and currently resting in Senzaikyu. While that place was usually used to house prisoners set to be executed it was the only place the Kuchiki's could've put her. Hisana would stress herself until the point of fainting whenever she saw her lifeless daughter. Hisana was getting worse by the day and Byakuya didn't want to lose her too. That's why he sent Rukia away. As painful as it was, Byakuya couldn't lose anyone else important to him.

How people found out that only true love's first kiss could awaken her, no one knows, but suddenly a lot of men were breaking into Senzaikyu vying for a chance to kiss a noble heiress.

The place had many booby traps and out of the dozens that tried no one had reached the top of the tower.

"Are you really going to do this?" Shiba Ganju asked his older brother.

"I've got to try" Kaien replied.

"Why?" Ganju pleaded. "First they banished Uncle Isshin. Then the Kuchiki's had Kukaku-Neechan arrested. We got kicked out of Seireitei. Now you want to go save that royal brat. It makes no sense."

"Kukaku was the one who set that curse upon Rukia. I've got to try. Maybe it'll restore our clan's name" Kaien said as he strapped on his Zanpakuto and slipped into his shoes. "I'm curious where the Hyuugas got the fireworks when I could've sworn we were the only people who still had some from after the purge."

"Okay, they were mine" Ganju admitted. "I needed to get you a birthday gift so I sold the fireworks in exchange for Bonnie-chan."

Kaien raised an eyebrow "You traded fireworks for a boar?"

"Yes. Happy birthday" the last part was said innocently.

Kaien sighed. "Thank you for Bonnie-chan. She's amazing. But this just confirms more than ever that I have to do this. It's the Shiba's fault she ended up in that state, so I'm going to save her."

"Or die trying?"

"No one is going to die" Kaien said. He rubbed his brother's head. "Have some faith in me. Once upon a time I was considered a child genius."

"And then you became an adult" Ganju snickered.

Kaien through a playful punch at Ganju, which he dodged. The two horsed around for a bit, but then Kaien got serious.

"I'll be back so soon you won't have time to miss me" Kaien said.

Getting into Seireitei was easy. The Shibas might have been a fallen clan but there was still a certain level of respect that they were given. Especially since Kaien used to be the vice-captain of squad 13.

It was a long way up to Sōkyoku hill.  
While Kaien didn't believe he would fail, he also didn't want anyone else to find out he was trying to awaken the Kuchiki Heiress. Kaien had met Byakuya quite a few times and the two never clicked. Now Byakuya held a grudge against anyone with the name Shiba. So Kaien masked his spiritual pressure as he traveled.

Kaien had never been inside Senzaikyu before so he didn't know what to expect.

The door was sealed shut with kido. It was easy enough for him to get by. Once inside the door shut behind him plunging him into darkness. Not panicking at all Kaien used kido of his own to summon a red orb. I hovered over his shoulder giving him light. He walked for quite a ways when he suddenly noticed the ground below him become unstable. Kaien jumped just as the floor below him crumbled into a pit of stakes.

Kaien managed to land a few feet away. He took a moment to catch his breath. Getting back to his feet shakily Kaien continued his quest forward. Soon he came upon a set of spiraling stairs. The stairs looked like they were infinite. Kaien knew that was impossible so he began the trek upwards.

After about twenty steps Kaien's foot suddenly got stuck in a step. He looked down at his foot. A shadow passed over him and Kaien ducked just in time as a giant cleaver swung down and missed Kaien's head by centimeters. It was at this moment that he realized, holy crap, he could really die. Kaien pulled on his foot until it came out of the trick step. He knew it would take him longer, but Kaien could no longer afford to rush up the stairs. He had to be careful to watch out for traps.

An hour later Kaien had dodged four more traps and made it to the top of the stairs. There was a single door at the top. Thinking he made it Kaien opened the door and stepped inside.

The room was lit by candles. Kaien put out his floating orb. The room was relatively plain. There were about twenty or so hell butterflies flying around and another door at the other end of the room.

Kaien started to walk towards the door when suddenly all of the butterflies started flying towards him. This was odd behavior for a hell butterfly. Kaien batted away the first butterfly that got in his range and it burned his hand. Yeah, these definitely weren't normal hell butterflies. The rest began to pummel into him. Kaien swatted away as many as he could but they were relentless and he was getting burnt all over.

This left him with little choice, Kaien pulled out his sword. "_Suiten sakamake Nejibana._"

Kaien twirled his sword and it glowed and transformed. Kaien wasted no time in sending great waves of water towards the butterflies. Once they were all taken care of Kaien moved on to the next room. Like the last room, this one seemed plain. There were no butterflies. In fact the room looked completely empty except for the ladder at the end of the room.

Kaien was still cautious, he knew better than to get his guard down.

He made his way slowly across the room on the lookout for booby traps when suddenly he sensed a shadow over his shoulder.

He turned around using his sword to block a hit. It was a good thing he still had it out. Regardless Kaien still flew across the room from the attack.

Kaien got to his feet and looked at his attacker. He had to do a double take.

"A hollow? You've got to be kidding me!"

It was a big green monster walking on it's hands and feet. There flame-like orange spots around its eyes and wild red hair coming from its back.

"You smell like shinigami" the hollow said.

"Yeah? Well you reak of hollow" Kaien countered.

The two began to fight. The hollow using it's hair as if it were tails to attack. Kaien was mostly dodging attacks at first looking for an opening. When he found the perfect opening he took it slicing off half of the hollow's tentacles.

Much to Kaien's surprise the hollow laughed.

"What's so funny?" Kaien asked.

"That!"

Suddenly Kaien's zanpakuto disappeared.

"When you touch me, you lose your sword. Have fun trying to beat me now!"

ルキア

"I did it!" Renji shouted.

Next to him Kira Izuru and Hinamori Momo rolled their eyes.

"We know" Momo said, "We all graduated."

It took a decade after being tossed out by the Kuchiki's but Renji was proud of his recent accomplishment. He had lived on the streets again for five years before he finally got accepted into the shinigami academy. Not only that, but once he got there he excelled in most of his classed and here he graduated as salutatorian. It only took him five years when it took most seven.

"It's not just that. The fact that I graduated means I'm ready" Renji said.

"Ready for what?" Kira asked.

"To rescue Rukia. She's been waiting for me for long enough" Renji replied.

Kira and Momo exchanged glances.

"A lot of people have tried to save Kuchiki-san and a lot of them were ranked officers" Momo pointed out. "Even ex-vice captain Shiba Kaien couldn't—"

"So" Renji interrupted. "Who care about those other guys who failed? I'm not them."

"I think what Momo is trying to say is that you still might be under experienced" Kira said.

"To hell with that. I'm ready. It's my fault. If I hadn't snuck out with her to that festival we wouldn't have seen the fireworks and she'd be fine" Renji said.

"It wasn't your fault" Momo exclaimed.

"It was! And I'm going to save her."

"But—"

Kira shook his head at Momo. He knew that there was nothing they could say that would change Renji's mind. He was incredibly hard headed, but he was noble and once he had his mind set on doing something, he did it.

"Well, what are you waiting for, go save the damsel in distress" Kira asked.

Renji smiled glad he had his friends support.

"I'm going. When I come back you two had better be sorted into awesome squads."

"It shouldn't take that long" Momo muttered but Renji didn't hear her.

Many things had happened in the past decade. Renji always felt guilt for what happened, not just to Rukia but to the Kuchiki's as well. So heartbroken over the lost of her child Hisana passed away just a couple of months after Rukia's incident. At the lost of his wife Byakuya became a cold ruthless bastard. He currently ran the sixth squad with an iron fist. It was not wise to get on Byakuya's bad side; and these days it didn't take much to get on his bad side. Rumor has it that Byakuya used his bankai on a kid who looked at him weirdly.

Cracking his neck, Renji adjusted his shades and headed towards the fabled Sōkyoku hill. So many people disappeared on the quest to save Rukia that it's become a sort of legend. Of course not everyone who goes there disappears. Some people run out scared out of their wits. Byakuya is rumored to visit his daughter once a year on her birthday and he always seems to make it out without a scratch. Then again he's probably the person who set up all the traps there so of course he would know the way out.

Renji got to the hill and he looked up at the towering Senzaikyu. It was defiantly intimidating from up close. Renji wondered how long it would take to reach the top. He had filled his pockets with snacks just in case it took more than a day. The place used to be a prison so Renji was sure if he needed to relieve himself there would be a toilet somewhere in the building.

With those worries out of his mind Renji walked up to the door. There wasn't a door knob. He tried just pushing it open but he knew that wouldn't work. While Renji is a good warrior he always was bad at kido.

"_You have to be calm in order for kido to work. Take a deep breath, focus on what you want to happen. Visualize it, and then say the incantation while focusing your spiritual pressure and it will work. I guarantee it." _Renji heard Momo say in his head. She was the best kido user he knew. He was quite certain he wouldn't have passed the kido class at the academy if she hadn't helped him out so much.

Renji followed her instructions and used kido to open the door.

First task: get inside Senzaikyu. Complete.

Renji went inside and the door slammed behind him. Renji was plunged into darkness.

"Great" Renji muttered, "more Kido."

Renji tried to summon an orb of light, it got to be about as big as his finger and then it exploded in his took Renji three more tries until he was finally able to cast a decent amount of light in the room.

Parts of the floor were missing. Renji had a feeling they dropped as people were walking by. He had no idea if all the trap floors already fell so he was careful as he made his way across the room.

Renji was halfway throughout the room when suddenly two people jumped out at him. There was something odd about them, they weren't shinigami but they were pluses either. Whatever they were Renji didn't have enough time to contemplate it because they began to attack him. Renji didn't have time to pull out his sword instead he engaged them in hand to hand combat.

The fight was fast and dangerous, but that was mostly because the tiles on the floor kept dropping to revel stake pits and they had to keep changing locations. After five minutes Renji finally managed to pull out his sword. He didn't want to kill his attackers since they weren't hollows but he figured it would be easier to subdue them with his sword.

Renji hit one of his attackers with the butt of his sword and the strangest thing happened the guy fell to the ground and a pill popped out of his mouth.

Soul candy! He was fighting mod souls in gigais. Once he realized this Renji quickly eliminated his other opponent.

The fighting tired him out a bit and he lost his concentration and his kido orb disappeared plunging him in darkness.

Renji took that moment to sit down and gather his strength. A lot of people didn't know it but mediation was very essential for every shinigami; well every shinigami who planned on becoming highly ranked.

After he cooled down Renji was able to produce the red orb of light. He continued to the end of the room where the stairs waited for him. Renji put his sword away as he began to climb the stairs.

As he climbed the stairs Renji thought that this was too easy. Sure giant cleavers fell from the sky and shuriken flew out from the walls. Those were easy to dodge. If anything the steep climb was getting to Renji. The higher he climbed the tinier the steps got and the steeper they became. Renji couldn't see the top and it felt like they'd go on forever. Still this was easy, simply a matter of endurance.

Renji had passed many endurance test back at the academy. The academy. Man, how the time flies. Renji couldn't believe he finished already. He always dreamed of attending the academy and becoming a shinigami one day. Of course in his dreams Rukia was always right beside him.

Renji took a deep breath. It didn't matter. Nothing in the past did. He would save Rukia today and never look back again. Everything would be the way it was supposed to be.

Renji was so caught up in his inner ramblings as he climbed the stairs that he hadn't realized he walked right into a trap. A soon as he stepped on a stair a stream of hot water came shooting out with so much force it knocked Renji off the stairs.

Panicking Renji failed about trying to hold on to something, anything. His fingers touched an edge, barely. But it was enough. Renji gripped the stair as tightly as he could with his right arm.

He heard a pop and screamed out in pain.

Renji was still hanging on, barely. Using his left arm he fumbled around until he found leverage. He pulled himself up while trying to ignore the pain in his right shoulder.

It was dislocated, he knew, but Renji couldn't stop. He hadn't made it this far for nothing. With his teeth he ripped of the edges of his sleeves and created a sling.

It sucked that he dislocated his sword arm. At the academy they taught him to be ready for anything. It was always a possibility that something might happen to his right arm so Renji trained with his left just for situations like this.

From his pocket Renji pulled out a box of Pocky. He needed to eat in order to regain his energy.

After he ate Renji continued to climb up the stairs. He must've fell at least two stories and it made him feel like he was setback greatly. He hastened his pace as he climbed now that he already knew what lay ahead.

Renji was panting and dripping in sweat by the time he reached the top of the stairs. Well, some of it was sweat, most of it was water.

He pushed open the door and was glad to see the room was filled with lit candles. There were hell butterflies as well just flapping around.

Before Renji could take another step into the room a door on the other side opened.

Renji tensed grabbing the hilt of his sword.

To say he was shocked was more than an understatement. A person he had not seen in a decade stood before him.

Byakuya Kuchiki.

Eyes met across the room and the room became heavy with spiritual pressure.

"What do you think you're doing here?" Byakuya asked calmly. Nothing in his voice showed his disdain. But that was just the kind of man Byakuya was. He never showed his feelings. Rumor has it that he hasn't smiled since his wife's death.

"I'm here to save Rukia" Renji boldly declared.

"You won't make it past this room."

There was only one way to settle this. Renji pulled out his sword.

Byakuya raised an eyebrow. "You seek to fight me?"

"If you do not move out of the way, then you leave me with no other choice" Renji replied. In his eyes it made no sense for Byakuya to stop him. They wanted the same thing.

"You just graduated from the academy today. You don't know your Zanpakuto's name. Try again in a hundred years and maybe you'll have an inkling of a chance."

"I can't" Renji replied. "I promised."

"Promised?"

"I promised to my soul that I'll save Rukia. So that's what I'm going to do!"

It happened so fast Renji barely knew what happened. One second Byakuya was standing at the other end of the room and in the next second he was standing near the entrance sheathing his sword.

"You shouldn't make promises you can't keep" Byakuya said as blood splattered from Renji's torso.

Renji fell to the ground in what seemed like slow motion. A pool of blood was growing as quickly as Renji was losing consciousness. He couldn't feel a thing; not his dislocated shoulder, not the gaping wound on his chest. There were only the pinpricks behind his eyes that felt akin to tears.

He failed.

ルキア

Snow fell thickly all around him. For miles and miles all he could see was whiteness. There was a flicker of something beyond a tree.

The teen strained his eyes and made out the figure of a woman. He couldn't tell if she was translucent or if her skin really was as white as snow.

"Who are you?" he called.

The woman just stared with her diamond hard eyes. It sent a chill throughout his body.

Kurosaki Ichigo woke up with a gasp. He was freezing cold despite it being in the middle of spring.

Ichigo had seen many weird things in his fifteen years of life, but nothing had given him a chill like the woman in his dream. He knew who she was, everyone did. She was Yuki-Onna, the spirit who killed men travelling in snowstorms. She was a fairy tale, a fable told to children so they wouldn't go play in the snow at night. Ichigo knew this, but still….Something told him that the woman was very much real.

Ichigo shook his head trying to shake away the dream.

Every since he was a young boy Ichigo has had the ability to see spirits. It took him years to realize the difference between the living and the dead. At the age of fifteen Ichigo found out the shocking truth. His father used to be a Shinigami and that's why he could see spirits of the dead.

It's a long story one that would take ages to tell but basically a bad spirit called a hollow attacked the Kurosaki family. In his desperation to save his family the young man found himself leaving his body. His spirit form wore black robes and wielded a huge sword. Not only did Ichigo manage to save his family but he met a man named Urahara who trained him in the way of Shinigami.

So Ichigo was quite used to seeing spirits. One had never visited him in his dreams though.

"Good Morrrnnnnnning Ichhiiiiiiiiiiiiiggggggoooooooooooooo!"

Ichigo ducked to dodge a kick to the face from his frivolous father.

"Seriously old man? Your wake up attacks are getting old" Ichigo criticized.

After taking a shower and eating breakfast Ichigo began walking to school. He took the long way today so he could drop off flowers to the little girl who was hit by a car the day before. Her spirit still lingered even though Ichigo tried to send her on. She was just too scared of the so called Soul Society.

Just as Ichigo sat down a set of yellow flowers a black cat appeared around the corner. It grinned, if cats are able to do that, and then leaped onto Ichigo's back, bit down on his backpack and then ran.

"Oi! Get back here" Ichigo called as the cat took off with his backpack.

Naturally the cat didn't listen.

Ichigo gave chase. It was bad enough he was known around the neighborhood as the freak who saw ghost he didn't need to be known as the weirdo who cased cats either.

The cat led him into a familiar neighborhood. The cat tore in between houses dragging the backpack along.

Ichigo knew he should be in school. School supplies are easily replaced, but he didn't like the idea of being out smarted by a cat.

When the cat entered a shop Ichigo followed nearly knocking over a girl with pigtails and a boy with pointed red hair. Ignoring their protest Ichigo followed the cat down a trap door and into….

It was like he stepped into the twilight zone. Ichigo appeared to be standing in a mini desert. He blinked a few times to make sure he wasn't hallucinating.

A loud meow caught his attention. The cat was standing in front of a huge archway. It grinned evilly and then ran inside the arch disappearing from view.

Ichigo had two choices: go home and forget this happened or follow the cat through the portal. He figured the day couldn't possibly get any weirder. So he ran into the portal. Upon entrance his spirit left his body and he was standing there in full shinigami garb.

The black cat was there, still with his backpack, running as if his life depended on it.

Ichigo frowned and looked behind him to see a huge white train coming his way. He had no doubt the train wasn't going to stop for him so Ichigo began running as well.

Ichigo ran for a long time until he finally saw a light at the end of the tunnel. He charged right into it and found himself falling from the sky.

Luckily for him, Ichigo seemed to have landed in a large pile of sand.

Relieved and momentarily stunned Ichigo got to his feet. He noticed the black cat was sitting atop a house holding his bag in it's teeth.

Ichigo sighed. "What do you want from me stupid cat?"

A huge puff of smoke clocked the cat and Ichigo waited impatiently for it to clear.

As it cleared a dark skinned woman with long black hair was reveled.

"It's not nice to call people names" the woman said.

Ichigo felt blood run from his nose as he stared at the woman's naked form.

"If you want to see your school bag again, meet me at the top of the white tower in the center of Seireitei" the woman called and quick as a flash she disappeared.

Ichigo was lost in a foreign land with no way home. He knew today was going to be a bad day. He had no idea what Seireitei was but he began traveling in the direction he thought was the center of town.

After three hours of searching. Ichigo got into a fight with a punk named Ganju. When he won Ganju pointed out Seireitei. It wasn't easy for him to enter the city. There was a giant holding twin axes blocking his entrance. Ichigo destroyed the axes causing the giant to cry and open up the gates to the city.

Seireitei seemed to be a city of shinigami.

Ichigo did his best not to look too suspicious. He didn't want to get arrested in this town. Something told him their prison sentences were ridiculously long. The white tower was easily visible from all over the town. It sat atop a huge cliff.

On his way there Ichigo ran into quite a few people including a drunk bald guy wearing eyeliner and a crazy man with bells in his hair who insisted they have an all out fight.

Ichigo was never a person to back away from a challenge so he fought the bell wearing man and regretted immediately. Ichigo had never faced anyone so fierce in his life. He had to hide in the sewers after his fight to recover. The weird thing was he fell asleep in the sewers and when he woke up his wounds were partially healed and he was bandaged. Ichigo didn't know how long he slept for but he knew he had been in this world a long time and he need to hurry and get to the tower so he could go home before his sisters had a chance to worry.

Ichigo couldn't believe his luck when he got to the top of the tower. The door was slightly cracked open. He entered the room and the door slammed shut behind him.

Ichigo didn't freak out when he was plunged into darkness. He was a bit used to it. Ichigo spent many nights awake in his room staring out at the moon like he was waiting for something.

After a few minutes Ichigo's eyes began to adjust to the darkness.

Ichigo was anxious. He hated waiting. Once his eyes were properly adjusted to the dark Ichigo began making his way through the room. There were several well placed pitfalls all over like land mines but Ichigo carefully avoided falling into them. When two creatures jumped out at him from nowhere Ichigo swung his blade and an arching white light came out slicing the creatures in half.

"That was easy" Ichigo muttered.

Soon Ichigo found himself at a set of stairs. He sighed. All this just to get his backpack back. He knew that climbing the stairs would be a long winding task, so Ichigo decided to do it at a run. The quicker he got up the stairs the quicker this would all be over.

Ichigo moved so fast up the stairs it was like his feet barely touched each step. In fact his footsteps were so light that it didn't trigger any of the traps. Steps didn't go missing, cleavers didn't fall from the sky, shuriken didn't come shooting out of the walls, and hot water never came streaming out either.

At the top of the stairs Ichigo take to take a pause. One of the wounds he received from the bell guy had reopened. Ichigo didn't want to aggravate any more wounds but at the same time he knew the only reason why he didn't feel any pain was because he was surviving on adrenaline. If the adrenaline faded he'd be in trouble.

So Ichigo pushed forward.

He entered a room lit by candles. There were a lot of strange butterflies flapping around. Ichigo had never seen butterflies like these before. They were pure black except for a little red outline at the bottom.

As he walked into the room the butterflies began to attack him. Ichigo swung at them wildly as they attacked from all over. Ichigo didn't want to kill the bugs because butterflies are symbols for departed souls but he couldn't continue to let them burn the crap out of him either.

Ichigo grabbed his sword and let off another high pressured force of energy that sent the butterflies scrambling away. Ichigo rushed forward while they were distracted and entered the next room.

Ichigo shut the door firmly behind him. A huge gust of wind hit him knocking snow into his face.

Ichigo sneezed and covered his nose. He wondered why his shinigami robes couldn't have been thicker. Then he blinked.

Ichigo stood in the center of a frozen tundra, just like in his dream.

Every step he took sent chills down his spine. Not only was he cold but he was starting to freak out. Ichigo didn't believe in coincidences. This had been a trap all along.

There was a sudden gust of wind shaking up more snow. Ichigo covered his face with his arm. The onslaught was so strong it pushed him back a few inches.

When the wind stopped Ichigo dropped his arm.

There she was, the woman from his dream only this time she looked more solid. Maybe it was because she was actually wearing clothes unlike in his dream.

Ichigo's hands gripped his sword. His fingers felt frozen, but he didn't care. There was no way he was going to let himself be killed by a woman of legends.

"She's waiting for you" the woman said in a surprisingly gentle voice. "Weather the storm. She's just beyond those doors."

Now Ichigo was thinking that maybe this woman was his guardian angel. She didn't seem violent at all. And the woman she spoke of must be the cat lady who stole his backpack.

With renewed vigor Ichigo continued his trek through the winter storm. Every time he stopped to guard his face against flying snow Ichigo felt like his toes would freeze and fall off. It was like his bones were frozen, his muscles stiff and sore. What was worse was that the tundra seemed to be never ending. From the outside the tower seemed quite small, but being inside of it Ichigo knew differently.

Hours past. Ichigo's stomach rumbled. His orange hair was frozen stiff. He was quite sure that his toes had bygone blue and were now purple with frostbite.

Finally he saw it. Just ten yards ahead was a golden door.

Summoning all the energy he could muster Ichigo practically dragged himself to the door. As soon as he turned the knob he fell through into the warmness of the next room.

Ichigo slammed the door shut and curled into a ball to regain his body heat. He didn't bother looking around the room. he was in warmth, that was all he currently care about. His toes burned, his earlier injuries stung, and his head was pounding.

Ichigo didn't know how long he stayed like that until all the cold left his body.

He began to take in his surroundings. There was a single light in the room and it hung over a bed of sorts. Ichigo stood up and began walking forward to get a closer look. It wasn't a bed, but a glass coffin.

Inside the coffin was the most breath taking girl Ichigo had ever laid eyes upon. Sure she didn't look like the girls from his school but there was something special about her, she glowed.

She had thick dark hair with a strand falling perfectly between her closed eyes.

Ichigo wondered if she was dead. She didn't look dead, but this hardly seemed to be the best place to sleep.

He couldn't help himself he reach out and touched her cheek. It was unbelievably soft. So she wasn't dead after all. Ichigo's eyes moved to her lips and he wondered just how soft they'd been. He shook his head trying to dismiss the perverted thought.

No matter how much he tried to fight the thought it just wouldn't leave his head. What the hell, it wasn't like anyone was around to watch.

Ichigo leaned down and pressed his lips very gently against the sleeping beauty. To his surprise her lips parted on contact.

Ichigo pulled back and his eyes met the most dazzling set of purple eyes. They were so deep and expressive. It was almost as if he could see into her soul. The way she stare at him made him sure that she felt the same.

"My name is Ichigo, Kurosaki Ichigo."

"Kuchiki, Rukia. I think. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Rukia smiled brazenly and suddenly nothing else mattered. The whole world could be falling around them, but Ichigo didn't care. He just knew he had to touch her again, kiss her, love her, and be with her forever. So he did just that.

And they live happily ever after.  
_The End._

_ Up next: Rangiku is Breaking & Entering_


End file.

Bleach