Summary: He was the new Yakuza leader and she is a simple kindergarten teacher. They fell in love but she was too shy to tell and he was too stubborn to admit. My first Bleach fic, and it is Ichihime (because I love them so much), AU. Flame it if you don't want it, I'll delete it for you… :)

Disclaimer: Bleach is not mine, will never be mine…

THANKS TO MY BETA-READER SYLMARIEN

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1. The Beginning

He looked at the old man's body unbelievingly. He'd just talked to him that morning. Not even 24 hours ago he'd joked about 'the young orange haired man who needed to find himself a girl'. Said young man blinked his eyes. The body was still there, this was not a dream. He sighed, the old man was the only blood relative he knew and now he was dead. Not only dead, murdered.

He gritted his teeth, who dared to do this? The old man was not an ordinary man, messing with him could mean death. Whoever dared to kill him was either they too brave or too stupid for their own good. Maybe both, he decided as his eyes once again went to the body. He still couldn't believe it. The old man had been strong. He'd known him his whole life and knew how strong he was for an old man. Kurosaki Reiichirou was, the leader of the Kurosaki group—his grandfather.

He clenched his fist, his eyes still locked to the body, "Who did it."

The red-headed tattooed man behind him took a step closer, "We don't know." He said, "When we found him, he was already–"

"Somebody killed him." The orange head cut him off, "Somebody shot him in his room. In our damn own house! Find the killer." He ordered, "I will kill him with my own hands."

The tattooed man nodded, "I'll tell the others to find everyone who met Boss today…" he paused but then continued, worry in his voice, "But, Ichigo… I mean young master… Since Reiichirou-sama was killed, from now on, you're the new leader of Kurosaki group…"

Ichigo turned around to face the other man, an eyebrow raised in question, "So?"

"I mean, you are the only blood relative of Reichirou-sama and…"

Ichigo growled, "What is this about, Renji? Spit it out! I don't have time for this bullshit."

Renji sighed, his friend really had a short temper, "Whoever killed the Boss, they must bear a grudge against our group or the Kurosaki family. Now that you are our new boss, they'll probably try to kill you as well. I think you'd better be more careful and take more guards with you. At least until we find the killer."

Ichigo snorted. Renji was his best friend but he didn't think he'd worry that much about him. He was stronger than his grandfather, "Don't worry, I don't need guard."

"But.."

Ichigo waved his hand, "Stop it. Now I want you to tell the others to start finding the killer. And don't worry about me," He added with a grin, "I'm strong enough to take on anyone brave enough to try."

Renji let out a heavy sigh, he'd known Ichigo for years now and he knew how stubborn the orange haired guy was, "Fine… But please don't do anything stupid"

Ichigo rolled his eyes, look who's talking; he thought but didn't say it out loud. "Don't worry, I won't."

She woke up drenched with sweat once again, the nightmare still strong in her waking mind. She bit her lip—it was the same nightmare that had haunted her for the last ten years. She thought it had finally gone but lately it had started coming back, reminding her of all that happened in the distant past, everything too painful to want to be remembered.

She looked at the clock hanging on the wall. The arrows were glowing in the dark but she still had to narrow her eyes to read it. It was three in the morning. The auburn haired girl sighed. She wouldn't be able to sleep anymore, not after that, she was always too scared to dare falling asleep and seeing it again.

The girl rubbed her gray eyes as she sat up. She yawned once before slipping out of the bed. She hadn't slept properly lately. She would wake up in the middle of the night and would stay away until the dawn. She felt restless but it didn't matter to her. She preferred to stay awake.Because the more she slept the more she would dream. That thought brought a frown to her face but she shook the negative thought off with practiced determination.

Grabbing her jacket to cover the t-shirt she wore to bed she decided that some fresh air would clear her mind and so headed out to take a walk. It would be dawn soon and people would be out jogging so it should be safe enough. At least that was what she thought.

They sky was still completely dark and the moon was still there as the twenty-some girl left her apartment. She tilted her pretty face to look at the dark sky. Sora…. She closed her eyes as a man's face came to mind. She opened her eyes again only to find that were now filled with tears. She wiped them away and sighed. No, Sora wouldn't be happy if I cried again… she thought as she continued her walk toward a nearby park, I mustn't cry anymore. For Sora…

"You're gonna die, Kurosaki Ichigo! Nobody stays alive after touching Jirou-sama's woman!"

The man called Kurosaki Ichigo scowled at the raven haired man accusing him, "First, I don't know who your damn Jirou-sama is, second, I didn't touch ANY woman, THAT woman touched me, and third, I ain't gonna die. You are."

The leader of the four men spat on the ground as Ichigo eyed him, "Che! Don't be so proud of yourself just because you're the leader of the Kurosaki group! With the old bastard Reiichirou dead, your group is nothing but rubbish." he smirked, "I don't really like the woman anyway, so I'll let you off if you kneel before me."

Oh, so he's Jirou-sama. Ichigo thought, giving him cool glance."hah! The only thing that my knees will be doing is kneeing you in your groin, you Bastard!" Nobody got away after saying something bad about his grandfather. Not that he'd ever admit it.

"Fine if that's the way you want it," Jirou jerked his head at Ichigo, "Finish him."

Ichigo snorted as the three men with baseball bats in hand came at him together, all swinging the heavy things wildly. They were outclassed from the start. They tried to hit him but the bats were too heavy for them and he was simply too fast. It amused the scowling orange head at first, seeing the men try madly to beat him but having their bats hit nothing but empty air but soon he got bored and decided to finish things quickly.

"Tsk, you're hopeless…" Ichigo said as swung his fist into a one man's jaw. The man fell to the ground like a stone and tried to get but Ichigo kicked him back down hard enough to leave him a groaning pile of useless muscle.

"Watch your back!"

Ichigo reacted as someone shouted a warning. He dodged to the right as a man tried to hit him from behind. He narrowed his eyes, that was close and coming from behind was a low tactic, it certainly suited these low class thugs. The man who had fallen to the ground got himself together enough to stand and pulled out a small knife from his pocket. Ichigo kept an eye on Jirou as he did so, Jirou had gotten out a knife too and looked to be joining in the fight pretty soon.

He was thinking about how to handle him when he heard another shout, "Stop the fight! I already called the police!"

Ichigo and the men looked at around, Ichigo spotting her first. The girl stood bravely a few meters away and across the street behind him. She was holding her phone tightly with both of her hands. Ichigo frowned, what was a girl doing here?! He knew Jirou and his fellows—they wouldn't care whether she was a girl or not.

"I already called the cops." She repeated, her voice was trembling but her eyes steely with determination, "They'll come in any minute. Stop the fight."

Instinctively Ichigo used the distraction she provided to make his move. Before anyone could react, including the girl he'd sprinted to where she was, grabbed her hand and dragged her after him.

"Uh?" was her surprised utterance as she tried to keep up with him.

Luckily Jirou and his men believed her threat about the cops and chose to run the other way, deciding to get back at Ichigo another day, however Ichigo didn't stop running for until he was sure they'd lost all chance of being followed just in case. After he felt that they were far enough away Ichigo stopped and turned around to look at the auburn haired girl who was breathing heavily now, clearly exhausted after the confrontation and subsequent getaway.

"What were you thinking?!" he demanded, when she'd caught her breath.

Confused by his apparent anger, she looked at him with startlingly clear pure gray eyes. "Um.. What?"

"That was dangerous!" He scowled, they were so close she could feel his hot breath on her face, "You shouldn't go involving yourself in dangerous fights like that you got it?"

She bit her lower lip, but didn't look away from him "But… You were in dangerous…"

"No buts!"

She didn't answer but looked down at her hand which she only just realised was still being held in a firm grip by her antagonistic saviour.

Following her gaze Ichigo realised what he was doing and quickly released her hand, "Sorry.."

She smiled, "That's okay…"

Ichigo frowned at the smile. Somehow, he seemed familiar with the girl, "Have we ever met before?"

The girl put her index finger in her chin. She made a face like she was trying to remember something, "Errr I don't think so…" She was sure she'd remember it if she'd ever met someone like him before. She felt her face became red at the thought. She did not want to admit it but he looked quite handsome up close.

Ichigo nodded, sure he would have remembered her too if he had met her before. He'd never admit it even to himself, but holding her hand and running with this girl had been …nice, almost…fun now that he thought about it. Except…

"Ah…" Ichigo realized it now.

"What?" the girl tilted her head, looked at him curiously.

"No.. nothing…" he said quickly and put his hands in his pockets as he looked at the sky, it was almost dawn, "Hm… Let me take you home."

"Eh, what?" the girl waved her hands in a negative gesture, her face blushing pink, "No… Thank you but you don't have to… My apartment isn't far…I can go on my own."

He scowled again, "I will take you home." His tone warning that this was the last word on the subject.

She opened her mouth to say something but he narrowed his eyes as if daring her to make a big deal of it. "Ok then" she gave in. "Thank you…"

"That's ok. Which way?"

The girl pointed, "That way…"

"Ok, Let's go."

But she didn't move.

Ichigo stopped his walk and looked at the girl. He growled, "What now?"

She shook her head, "My big brother taught me not to follow strangers."

Ichigo slapped his forehead, what's with this woman? When he looked at her again she found that she was smiling sweetly at him, what the hell.

"I am Inoue Orihime…" She said still smiling, "And you are?"

Ichigo finally understood her logic, "Ah, sorry, Kurosaki Ichigo." He cleared his throat, "Ok, now we've got to know each other, let's go." He hesitated for a second but then he grabbed her hand and pulled her forward to walk with him in the direction she pointed.