Story Of a Girl

Summary: Pending. Full summary will be shown next chapter in order not to spoil a few surprises yet ;) Give it a chance please :)

Dissclaimer: *checks in mirror* No, I am in fact not Tite Kubo. Therefore, I do not own Bleach or any of it's awesome characters...But I will ise them all for the purpose of this story and to make my IchiRuki fantasies come true.

Rukia's scowl deepened on her face as yet another person pushed past her and knocked her into someone else, earning her a glare which she most definitely did not deserve. The smell of perspiration, alcohol and assorted illegal substances filled the air around her and made her scrunch up her nose.

Fun.

She resisted the urge to voice her sarcastic thoughts. Still, what else could she do? To say she was having a bad time was an understatement. And the worst part was that she didn't want to come in the first place.

"Watch it, kid!"

Her blood boiled as a tall masked man told her in irritation after bumping into her. Rukia wanted badly to inflict some damage, but resisted the urge for fear that she would cause too much of a scene that would land her a night at the police station.

The glare of colorful pulsating lights made Rukia reach a hand up to attempt to shield her eyes, and in the process accidentally bump someone's arm in the tightly packed space, causing them to spill half of their beverage onto her.

"What the hell?" the person shouted angrily, like Rukia had intentionally bumped her arm and made her spill her drink on herself.

She turned and took a deep breath to make sure she kept her temper in check. She'd take it out on Renji later.

Now if only she could find him…

That stupid baboon had, after weeks of begging and pleading, dragged her to this damned Halloween party, which she never wanted to go to in the first place.

-flashback-

"No."

"Oh, come on Rukia!" the redheaded man with a face full of tribal tattoos whined, contrasting with his supposed 'badass' look.

Rukia met him with folded arms and an even stare. "I already told you, Renji. My answer is 'no'."

"Gah!" he threw his hands up in exasperation, and Rukia could begin to feel the odd stares they where receiving from the tables around them in the small restaurant where they were having lunch. "Just tell me this, why not?"

"You already know why," she started easily. "I'm busy. I have to finish fixing my resume this weekend to send it to the newspaper companies by the end of the weekend. I don't have time to go out to some party."

"You never have time to do anything fun." Renji complained, and Rukia rolled her eyes, thinking that if it wasn't for his freakish height, the tattoos and the bulkiness, he wasn't any different than he was fifteen years ago when they'd first met. "In college it was always study, study, study. Now it's always work, work, work. When is it going to be 'Rukia' time?"

"When I'm living happily in a retirement home." she stated.

Renji groaned. "Okay fine, fine. This isn't going anywhere." her remark on his intelligence for having reached that conclusion so quickly was lost as he went on. "How about I make you a deal?"

She raised a skeptic eyebrow. "I'm listening."

"If you go to Rangiku's party with me, I'll get you that rabbit toy you've been eyeing."

Rukia couldn't stop the childish widening of her eyes and the twinkle in them. She didn't even scold him for calling the limited edition collectible figurine a 'toy'.

"The ballerina edition?" she asked suspiciously.

Renji tried to hide the successful glint in his eyes. "That's the one."

He knew he had her, even before he asked.

"So what do you say?"

-end flashback-

So here she was. Some might call her weak for giving into a bribe; Rukia preferred to think of it as being flexible. And if anyone had seen the gorgeous ballerina Chappy figurine…Well, there was just no choice.

But Renji! After getting to the blasted party, he had the nerve to just disappear! The last time Rukia saw him he had his hand resting dangerously low on some buxom blonde in a witch costume and he threw her a drunken witch and thumbs up from over his shoulder.

Ass hole.

She'd show him. After she was through with him, she'd like to see him even be able to walk long enough to get laid. He better come through with that Chappy.

For now, however, her biggest concern should be trying to find a way to get out from the throbbing crowd of dressed up people drunkenly dancing and jumping to the beat of the music, their wings and masks and antennas all securely stating the Halloween theme.

Rukia hated Halloween. She hated Halloween and she hated parties. So Halloween parties where like a true nightmare to her. She had to get out; Renji could drive himself home.

Determined to at least find some personal space, she tried using her size to her advantage and began weaving through people and under arms and around intertwined couples in search for some exit. However, the packed room full of people way taller than her made it pretty impossible to see over anyone to spot an 'Exit' sign. She kept moving anyway, anything was better than staying put. She pulled uncomfortably at the collar of her black high neck sweater, trying -in vain- to get some ventilation in.

"Sorry- Excuse me-" she muttered as she tried to push past the crowd.

Just as she thought she could make out an empty bit of space, two large people dressed in elaborated dinosaur suits came up on either side of her and basically sandwiched her in between.

"Ack!" she gasped for air as she literally squeezed herself out, stumbled through another small group of people, and finally emerged on a tiny square of space just before a closed door.

Without even thinking about it, she reached for the handle and yanked it open, slipped inside and shut the door again. She leaned against the closed door and let out a sigh of relief.

Her victory was short lived, however, when someone spoke up.

"Oi, get your own closet!"

She looked down in surprise to see the slouched figure of a man, sitting with his back against the wall opposite to her, with one hand resting on a propped up knee.

"Sorry, I didn't know this was occupied-" she mumbled, starting to turn and open the door to leave. She didn't look outside for more than a split second before forcefully closing the door again and turning back to the guy on the floor.

"What's the deal-"

"Can I stay here a minute?" she blurted out, desperate at this point to be away for at least a moment from the wild crowd.

The guy looked up at her from under a frame of orange bangs. "Look, if you want to get wasted or stoned in private, do it somewhere else. I'd like to be left in peace for a moment, okay?"

Rukia stared at him and blinked. "I don't want to get stoned or anything like that!" she exclaimed, feeling utterly insulted that he insinuated such a thing. "I just want to escape the party for a few minutes, just like you." she said, having inferred the last part.

He seemed to consider her for a moment, his brown eyes unusually penetrating in the dim light of the bulb hanging above them. Rukia had to stop herself from fidgeting awkwardly under his gaze.

Finally, he shrugged. "Go ahead, then."

Rukia nodded and immediately flopped down on the floor, right on the spot. The muted sounds of upbeat music and the voices of people reached them vaguely from the other side of the door.

She leaned back against the door and removed her white hockey mask from her face, feeling unspeakable bliss the moment the air hit her face directly. She exhaled loudly and used her hand to fan herself, after having tossed aside the large plastic machete she'd been holding.

She hadn't noticed the orange-haired man looking at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Hockey mask killer?" he piped up. "Original."

The sarcasm in his voice was not lost to her. She shot him a glare. "And what are you supposed to be?" she narrowed her eyes at the man who was clad in average clothing and had a plain black mask that surrounded the area around his eyes and ended on the bridge of his nose.

"I'm a mysterious stranger." he answered evenly.

Rukia snorted a laugh. "More like too-lazy-to-get-an-actual-costume."

"Guilty." he said, allowing for the first time his lips to go upwards in a smirk.

With the black mask and spiky orange hair, when he smiled, Rukia couldn't help but feel her breath catch a little. She hadn't noticed until now how handsome he was.

"So, Mysterious Stranger," she started, using the cheap title like a name and pointedly ignoring her realization. "What does the orange hair entail?"

A hand went automatically up to touch his orange spikes self consciously. "Oh this? This is natural."

At this, Rukia had to lift a thin black eyebrow. "You can't expect me to believe that." Even as she said it, she somehow knew he wasn't lying.

"Believe what you want." he said with an uncaring shrug.

Rukia found herself beginning to be intrigued by the man and his nonchalant attitude. Not to mention his eyes, which she now noticed where closer to amber than brown, something about them pulled her in and made her glad she'd somehow ended up in that small closet.

She was just about to start thinking of something to say after a few minutes of silence, when he beat her to it.

"So how'd you end up in here?"

"I'm hiding from the party." she answered with a shrug of her own, as she gathered her legs to wrap her arms around them and rest her chin on her knees -settling in for a long wait-.

"I'd figured that out on my own." he said. "I meant, how'd you end up in the party in the first place?"

Understanding, Rukia said, "I got dragged here by a so-called friend." she suppressed a sneer of anger as she remembered Renji. Bastard. He would so get it for making her end up hiding in a closet…Though, admittedly, the company wasn't half bad.

The masked man nodded in apparent understanding. "Same." he said, referring to himself. "I can relate."

Rukia smiled despite herself, glad, perhaps, that she wasn't the only one being dragged by peer pressure despite being a grown twenty-two-year-old.

"Great. Misery loves company." she said aloud, earning a grin from the guy. She returned it, surprised at how easy it was to talk to this complete stranger. Which was very surprising considering Rukia wasn't the most social person…And that was an understatement.

They went on talking after that. Like they were lifelong buddies or something. Rukia found it really easy to talk about nothing and everything with him. Despite his constant sarcastic remarks (usually matched by her own) and rude comments, she felt like she could relate to him on a certain level.

Of course, that was to be expected considering they were the only two people hiding in a closet in the middle of what was supposed to be the biggest Halloween party in town.

"Does it sound quieter to you outside?"

"Hm?" Rukia snapped her eyes away from his masked face and towards the closed door. Somehow, at some point in the night as they talked, she'd ended up sitting beside him against the wall, close enough for their arms to brush. Too close for comfort, Rukia might have thought in any other case, but right then she felt no urge to make any distance between them.

"I think the music's lowering…" His face was turned to the door now, focused as if trying to see beyond the faded wood to the outside. Rukia focused for a moment too, and without looking back at him asked,

"Do you think the party is over?" she wondered at how time had flown by while talking to the strange man in the closet.

"…Maybe…" he said uncertainly beside her. "I think we should wait it out a little longer just to be sure."

Rukia thought the statement made little sense. Even if the party wasn't over, by then it should have been emptied just enough to allow them easy access to an exit. Still, it wasn't like she was in any hurry to get away from the guy, who she probably would never see again in her life.

The sudden thought bummed her out a little. Despite having only known him for, what? A couple of hours? She'd found it so natural to be around this guy, easy as breathing. It was very rare for her to feel like that around anyone. Renji, maybe.

No. She immediately corrected. Being with this guy was nothing like being with Renji. It was different…She didn't know exactly how, she just knew it was.

"Okay." she said finally, agreeing to his suggestion.

They talked a little bit more, before it finally became evident that no music was coming from outside.

"I think we should probably leave before someone finds us in here and thinks we were smoking or something." Rukia said, noticing this.

The man snapped his eyes to hers, then back to the door, then back to her. "Yeah, I think you're right." he said, though he didn't make any move to stand up. Instead, he kept his fiery amber gaze locked on hers, making it impossible for her to move even if she'd wanted to.

They stayed like that for what felt like minutes, sitting beside each other with their arms brushing and their eyes locked together. His amber gazing into her violet. Rukia felt her heartbeat quicken and felt as though she could hear it pounding in her ears. Her body ached all of a sudden to inch closer to him, and she had to control herself before she did something she would regret.

"…I better go. My friend will be looking for me by now…" Rukia said, breaking the contact reluctantly and looking away from him, knowing that otherwise she wouldn't be responsible for her actions.

"…Right." his voice came out a little choke, as though he hadn't completely recovered from their previous staring contest.

Rukia heard him get up and didn't notice until his hand was almost under her nose that he was reaching down to help her up. She normally didn't approve of chivalry like that, being used to rougher interactions with all her male friends (Renji). And she certainly didn't expect it from this orange-haired masked man who had made a point to show his rudeness and sarcasm the moment he opened his mouth.

However, Rukia accepted his hand and let him pull her up.

It had been a mistake to do so -at least, from one point of view-.

The moment she felt her skin come into contact with his it was like a jolt of electricity had been released from his touch and shot up her arm. Instead of pulling back though, she kept her small hand in his large tan one, even as he closed it around hers, enveloping it in a warmth that traveled through her body.

Once she was standing beside him, he didn't let their hands drop; he kept holding her hand in his up to her chest level, and his head was tilted slightly to look at her.

Rukia could feel her limbs jellify as she looked at his undeniably handsome face. His strong jaw line, his orange spikes -which she realized truly suited him-, the tan smooth skin, shadowed slightly from the angle at which he stood under the bulb hanging between them…And his eyes.

If she had thought his eyes could be breathtaking before, she had no words to describe them now. The amber orbs had gained a soft, yet intense look as he looked into her eyes and held her gaze; never once did Rukia forget to feel their held hands either. She didn't quite remember if she was breathing; it didn't matter.

Later on, she would wonder how a couple of hours of meaningless, though pleasant, talk would lead to that. She was never the sort of person to just do that after having just met a person; not even on the numbered times when she'd gone out and drank. But one of that mattered then. Because Rukia hadn't been listening to reason; she had just done what felt right.

And kissing that masked man felt too right for words.

It happened in the blink of an eye; he'd leaned down, she'd inched forward. She tilted her head in anticipation; and then his mouth was on hers.

Rukia's free hand slithered around the orange-haired man's neck and she used it to pull herself upwards and more comfortably kiss him at the same time as she pressed their bodies together. She felt his free hand come around her waist -not any lower- and steady her against him as he continued to push against her.

The kiss was gentle and slow, but the intensity of it…

The man moved his lips slowly and sensually in perfect sync with hers, like they'd bee kissing for years instead of having just met. When his lips tentatively started to part and probe hers to open as well, she complied immediately. Rukia allowed him entrance into her mouth, and felt bliss as he slid his tongue and met hers with a caress at first. She'd met him head on and soon he wasn't holding back; they were moving their mouths and tongues in what could have been a dance; a dance that sent pure heated flames through every inch of Rukia's body.

Without either of them noticing, both of Rukia's arms where around his neck and both of his hands had settled on her waist, tightening their grip on her as he pulled her closer, never breaking the kiss for more than a split second of necessary oxygen.

It was the greatest feeling Rukia had ever experienced.

When they finally pulled back, both gasping for air, she looked into his eyes, staying up on the tips of her toes to stay closer to his face. She slid one of her arms from around his neck and reached to touch the side of his face with the tips of her fingers.

He continued to gaze at her with those smoldering eyes that seemed to eat her alive as she carefully went up to his mask, and gingerly started to lift it away from his face; a moment later taking it off and keeping it in her hand as she gazed into his bare face for the first time.

He was beautiful.

Rukia wanted nothing more than to close the small gap left between them, and meet his already open mouth with her eager lips. But the rational side inside her finally decided to speak up (much to her dismay) and reminded him where this was rapidly going if she didn't stop right then.

With almost physical effort, she disengaged herself from him, using her hands to gently push away his hands from her hips. A confused expression settled on his face, making him look almost like a young boy who had a toy taken away.

She almost reached back up to crush him to her.

But she stopped herself in time.

"I have to leave." she said, expecting him to protest.

Instead, he nodded. Beyond her disappointment, she was relieved. "I understand. Will you tell me your name?"

Rukia met his amber orbs and shook her head sadly. "I think it would be better if I didn't."

A grin broke out into his face, though there was disappointment in his eyes. "I guess you're right."

They stared at each other for another long moment, unmoving.

To break the silence and do something before they ended up lip-wrestling again, Rukia reached up to give him his mask back. "Here, this is yo-"

"Keep it." he stopped her, gently pushing her hand back and closing her fingers around the black material.

"But-" she started to protest, but was cut off by his smile.

"I don't need it." With a final smile, he slid his hands off of hers and turned around, reaching for the doorknob.

"I'll see you around." Rukia instantly scolded herself for the slight hopeful and eager note in her voice. She didn't even know why she said that; it wasn't like she would ever see that orange-headed man again…Right?

The man looked at her over his shoulder, already half out of the closet. "Maybe."

And then he was gone, leaving Rukia alone in a closet with a black mask.

Almost subconsciously, she looked down at the mask in her hand and ran her fingers over the black material as she muttered to herself.

"Yeah, maybe…"

A/N: I know...ANOTHER story. My third (or fourth) one actually...Why another new story? Simple. I have many ideas that I don't want to go to waste, and since my other story have barely had any repsonse at all, I'll keep starting other works in order to see which one gets a lot of response. That's the one I'll focus my attention on from then on (though I'm not dropping my other stories for now, they'll just be...only occasionally updated) . So, let me know if this is the one you want ;)

About the IchiRuki interactions this chapter, I know they seemed too fast and easy, but fear not! That was just the beginning, I'll make the road to love pretty uphill for them from the next chapter up. I hope you enjoyed that kiss because there won't be another for a while...Oops! *has said too much*

Anyway, just know that you'll get to see the love/hate old-married-couple bickering that we all know and love in the upcoming chapters. The actual serious romance will happen gradually and...*shuts up* Okay I'll stop spoiling now.

Facts you should know: Rukia is 22 years old (fresh out of college) and looking for a job as a journalist. Ichigo is...A mysterious stranger for now ;)

So, tell me your thoughts, like? love? indifference? dislike? hate? burn it? xD Your reviews will decide. ^.^