Disclaimer: The only kind of Bleach I own is for the laundry.
Story: When Rukia comes to Karakura, Gin tags along for supervision (and because he made some nobles angry). How will Ichigo deal with both of them, while they adjust to a surprising human that could do things she shouldn't? Especially given the odd things that keep happening around her. Fem!Ichigo AU.
Set as a genderbent AU.
Spoilers: Yes, most definitely.
Pairings: Ryuuken Ishida/Ichigo, Gin/Ichigo, Urahara/Ichigo, Aizen/Ichigo, Ukitake/Ichigo, Kyouraku, Byakuya/Ichigo, and maybe one-sided Others/Ichigo, Grimmjow/Ichigo, Ulquirrora/Ichigo…
Warnings: My usual crap…crazy writing, some perverseness every now and then, drama, angst, wild humor, drama, romance, drama, and that kind of thing…

Bleach It Orange!
Chapter One: A Destined Path

Rain. It was always raining since that day. Even when it was just inside of her, the rain was a constant presence that never stopped. She was always going to be stuck in this rain. She hated it.

Ichigo

Her world was a desolate ruin, gray and shattered remains with glass and rubble floating everywhere. Rain continued to pour down on her world and nothing could escape it. She knew it and she could feel it. The skies would remain colorless and she would be stuck in this cold, callous monochrome world.

Ichigo…

The day Ichigo's mother died, a part of her died as well.

Ichigo!

Isshin, with heavy steps, trudged up the stairs of his home to where he knew his oldest daughter would be, quiet and alone like she had been since the day his wife and her mother had died. He missed Masaki, but so did the girls, and he knew there was an empty hole in their family and an absence they all were feeling. Sighing, he stood before Ichigo's door, wondering if he should just let his daughter be. Shaking his head, he opened the door and looked into the darkened room, flinching at the sight of his daughter sitting on a chair placed next to the window, where she continued to look out of it quietly.

Her usually vibrant sienna-brown eyes were dulled, not lively and happy as hers should be. Neither her father nor anyone else could reach her. He knew she was thinking 'Why should they though? It was her fault her mother was dead.' He didn't believe or think that at all, but he didn't know how to get Ichigo to believe that also.

"Ichi-chan?" Isshin looked in on his daughter hesitantly. "Do you want your daddy to tuck you in?"

"No thank you," she said quietly, gripping the porcelain mask on her lap tightly. Her dad glanced at it before looking away. That thing had always been with Ichigo…

Isshin stayed a moment longer by the door, but left his oldest when one of the twins began to cry. As he grabbed onto Yuzu, he thought about the meeting he had just had earlier.

One of the Quincy Elders had approached him.

Three days ago, when his beloved Masaki had died, so did Ryuken Ishida's wife. It was a strange…coincidence. In any case, they had propositioned Isshin with an offer that was both tempting and not. Given the death of Ryuken's wife, they had proposed an arranged marriage between Ryuken and Isshin's eldest daughter, in exchange for protection –what with Isshin's lack of powers and Ichigo's already high spiritual power. Isshin had balked at first, before considering it. He wanted his family safe and protected. He tried to ask about Ryuken's son Uryuu instead, since he and Ichigo were at least around the same age, but the Quincy Elders refused. Uryuu was a "mixed-blood," according to them. Ryuken was considered their "last"; Ichigo may have been only "50%" pure-blood, but she had no "mixed-blood" in her and they were curious about a child with Quincy and Shinigami heritage.

In the end, Isshin told them he'd think about it.

Now though, even if he still wasn't sure about his answer, at least he had an answer.

"Hou-chan, why did Mamma die?" Ichigo's small hands clenched around the mask.

The spirit of a small boy that had haunted her from the beginning smiled at her and patted her hands, black hair like ink and eyes so dark that they looked like voids. He never spoke, but he was always there.

"Ichigo."

She looked away from the window and at the tall, dark-haired man that stood solemnly and like a sentinel behind her.

"Zangetsu," she murmured.

And then she found herself breaking down and crying into her hands. It wasn't long until one of his hands settled onto her head, and he gazed down at her sorrowfully.

"One day you will stop crying and it will stop raining. Until then, I will wait in the rain for you."

As soon as Isshin had given his answer, a reluctant yes, they had wanted the two to meet. Isshin felt it was too soon, but they insisted. They had also wanted to see if Ichigo had any potential in learning the Quincy arts, which Isshin had wrinkled his nose at. But, they said, if she did, they wanted her to learn and train as much as possible and as early as possible.

Ryuken would be her teacher.

That was why the two of them were now face to face, meeting in Isshin's living room and quietly discussing this new turn of events with apprehensive demeanors. Isshin was especially worried though, as he didn't want to push Ichigo so soon after Masaki had died.

"I think it best I do not physically be in her presence until she is older," Ryuken told him uncertainly, personally unsure about the whole thing. "It will make things easier on her with the arranged marriage. Our age difference is already an issue; there's no need to exacerbate it by having my presence in her childhood and confusing my role."

Isshin agreed, but he was still disgruntled about the future relationship anyway. Ryuken was around his age and had previously been engaged to Masaki, Ichigo's mother, in the first place. The Quincy Elders were really pushing this blood thing.

And besides that, Ichigo was too young to be promised to someone right now. Especially to someone like Ryuken.

"How older?" he asked in resignation.

"…At least 13?" Ryuken hesitantly suggested.

Isshin nodded slowly. "I think Ichigo will be old enough to understand then. How do you plan on teaching her though?"

"I will leave her with instructions and assignments every week," Ryuken decided. "You can watch over her and correct her."

Isshin frowned. "But she can't know who I am –"

Ryuken interrupted him. "She will be learning the Quincy arts and about Quincies. There's no way you can avoid telling her about Soul Reapers and in extension yourself."

He wanted to protest, but he knew Ryuken was right. So he led the other man into the kitchen, where Ichigo (after snapping out of her depression –well mostly) had taken to doing more and more of Masaki's duties and was currently furiously washing dishes, eyes still sadly dull.

"Ichigo, I want you to meet someone. This is an old friend of your father's –Ryuken Ishida."

Ichigo stopped what she was doing and turned from the sink to look at him shyly, not sure what to make of the unknown man she was being introduced to.

"H-hello…"

Ryuken, to Isshin's surprise, actually smiled, if wanly. He started to pull up his sleeves and cautiously headed over to Ichigo, conscious of worrying or scaring her.

"Hello, Ichigo. Would you like some help?"

And as Ryuken dried dishes and stood by Ichigo while she washed them, Isshin was already contemplating how to give his daughter the talk about his past. It wasn't going to be easy, especially having gone on so long without talking about it or going back to past in any way. He had chosen Masaki and then his girls, and refused to look back.

Therefore, later on that night, as Ichigo helped him put the twins to bed, he sat her down on a couch after. Ryuken was right and there was no avoiding this.

"Ichigo, I need to talk to you about something very important. You see, there was this place called Soul Society…"

And he continued, explaining about where he had come from, about Hollows and Soul Reapers, how he had been a Soul Reaper, then about her mother being a Quincy and how she was going to have to learn some things about her mother's side in the coming years, and that he would also be teaching her all he could about Shinigami arts at the same time.

She had two different heritages after all, and he wasn't going to just let her Quincy side dominate her life.

Years later, when Ichigo turned thirteen, her father sat her down and told her yet another thing she hadn't known about. She also learned about the arranged marriage with the man she vaguely remembered having met, who had kindly stood by her side and helped her clean dishes and somehow allowing her to feel calmed and soothed after living in days of apathy or turmoil. It was awkward to know that though, and their second meeting had initially been very awkward as well, given that she now knew the truth and understood a little more of things. But then, learning that he was also her mentor in the Quincy arts, they found a more common and stable ground to stand on and she decided that they could eventually work through the rest as it came to them and time passed. Though it strangely seemed like he disliked talking about Quincies and the like, him being personally there had helped her a lot.

Ryuken Ishida had ended up reintroducing himself, this time adding in his role of being her fiancé, and Ichigo had politely (if uncertainly) returned back the introduction. They then started to talk about things, getting into the talk slowly as they kept on talking and getting used to the other.

"Your ability in the Quincy arts are adequate," he told her, when her learning and progress was brought up. "You've got a good grasp on the basics, if maybe never progressing to the more advanced techniques. This is all speculation, mind you. Maybe you could probably pick one or two of those techniques and be able to master them, while keeping the others average until you have time to work on them as well. Your reiatsu is so massive that it becomes a bit of a problem for some of those techniques. However…" Here, she saw him look fond and amused. "Vein Blut came naturally to you, so by now, you've gotten such a mastery over it. Like your mother actually."

A pang of hurt and longing hit her and she intently leaned forward, towards him.

"Can you tell me about her?" she asked tentatively, not sure if he would be willing to, even if he did know anything at all about her mother.

He looked caught off guard, but then he nodded. Ichigo found herself brightening up, happy to know she would be ending up hearing about her mother and that her new fiancé would be able to tell her so much more about Masaki.

So as he talked, she listened closely and was enraptured by what she heard, wanting so bad to know and hear more about her mother. She loved her mom so much, and it hurt not being able to hear her call Ichigo's name again, or feel her warm and tender hugs, or even see her loving, bright smiles that Ichigo craved and would never be able to have again. And when she found herself having to separate from Ryuken, who had to leave, she felt a strange oddness about it.

He was her fiancé and that was still a strange concept, no matter what kindness managed to give her.

In the end, Ichigo still felt too young and a little odd about the arranged marriage. But she was really grateful to have Ryuken in her life.

Started – Completed (Can't remember the dates since I wrote this handwritten and didn't note the dates)
Typed/Edited: 9/23/16 -9/23/16

A/n: Ahhhh, another story, damn it! But I've been marathoning Bleach, so that's my fault. I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and please remember to review!

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