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Summary: After losing his mother and suffering a crushing defeat, Ichigo turned his back on ice skating. Years later when a video surfaces online of him performing his rendition of Russian skating pro Rukia Kuchiki's 'Life Is Like A Boat', she shows up at his door (err..hot springs) telling him she's going to be his coach and lead him to victory at the Grand Prix Final!

Pairings: Ichigo x Rukia. Toushiro x Momo are also in here.

Rating: PG.

Note(s): Character's are gonna be OOC. I will try my hardest however. I will use the excuse of 'Well hey, Rukia didn't grow up in the Rukon District' for her character though, lol. As for my boii, I'm trying to tie down Ichigo's backstory as much as I can so I can retain his personality. (My best efforts, anyway.) This is my first time writing a Bleach fic so don't be too hard on me -w- okie thx!

Even in her condition she was smiling for him. In her pain, her end knocking on the door, she smiled for him.

"I want you to go Ichigo, this is very important, isn't it?," Masaki tried to remind, her dimples tried to ease the wetness streaming from her heartbroken son's cheeks. "I'll be waiting for you when you come back. Have fun and know mother is always right ..here." Her finger tips softly pushed into his chest, earning his soft grin.

Through his tears he forced a stronger smile, holding his dear mother's hands.

"I'll be back momma. With a gold medal too!"

He could remember it.

It was hard because the memories were scattered, maybe even hidden. The ones he managed not to lose however were arbitrary. It ranged from something so little as the chill in the air or the lack of rhythm his skates made as they carved the ice shakily. If Ichigo wanted to put himself through that much misery and really sat down to think about it, the missing pieces would eventually reveal themselves. It would flash in his mind, it would ring in his ears and it would tingle his skin.

The cheering, the judges on the speakers, the aggravation his skin had from that costume - it would come rushing in.

Ichigo could even remember how it felt standing before everyone. So many feelings, the ones that came with competing.. they were dreadful. For a twelve year old kid at the time however, it shouldn't of been. Exciting, amazing, jittery even.

Not exhausting. Not ugly. Not shameful.

Ichigo Kurosaki, a young kid who smiled too much was at the very place he wanted to be.

The ice.

His mother, a once pro female ice skater herself, was by him every step of the way. The first fall, the first triple axel, even the first medal. He was at the finals for the children's division. It would make him smile thinking about such an accomplishment. All because of her.

But then his smile would fade.

Masaki wasn't there.

The performance was excruciating to watch. You could see a young boy fall apart in front of your very eyes. His heart was dying and everything else was with it. The reality of his mother's critical condition and anxiety of everyone watching came crashing against him all at once.

Once it was over however, he didn't feel the true weight of his despair and no one else had never really seen it until his father had told him of the news.

No one questioned when they heard crying in the stall that day as Isshin Kurosaki scattered the entire arena for his son.

Ichigo Kurosaki was an up and comer with great potential. After that however, no one questioned when he disappeared from the ice skating scene neither.

A russian ice skater was taking the world by storm. She had captured the hearts of many and took multiple gold medals while at it. The young woman started at a even younger age, gaining world-wide recognition at just fifteen years old. Her father, Byakuya Kuchiki, once named Forbe's most richest man, had the Jushiro Ukitake as her ice skating coach at only eight years old. It was no wonder she had took the highest spot on every podium.

However, now a days, Rukia Kuchiki was getting .. bored.

The couch of the penthouse wasn't as comfortable. The wine wasn't as tasteful..Her friends were practically non-existent. Not to mention her interest in skating..

It wasn't that she wanted to retire like the tabloids tried to convince, but the young champion had just been doing it for eighteen years. Her love for the ice wasn't gone nor had it diminished over time. It just.. needed something.

Grand Prix Final win after win was getting gullible. No - she wasn't cocky, but the competition was just so lacking. Rukia wanted a challenge, she needed something to get her blood rushing and her heart thumping.

Like it used to..

Karakura, Japan had forgiving summers. The sun didn't seem to bake you like it did in California, nor did it kiss Ichigo's skin as much. He found himself missing the cool air as he studied abroad. The overly annoying cherry blossom scent filling his too-sensitive nose even made the ginger reminiscent. Yuzu, much to Karin's aggravation, always forgot the second and last ingredient on her list, making her brother take her down the path of Cherry Blossom hill to the grocery store once more. Smiling wasn't necessarily a close friend with Ichigo, but it visited every once in a while.

Everyone was so excited to see their favorite scowler, Ichigo Kurosaki, California boy. He was on break now, only back in Japan to visit for a bit. No way in hell was he spending his whole vacation with his father..He of course visited while he was in CA, Urahara, his uncle who he lived with for quite a few years loved to get rid of him when he could.

The first few hours helping with the Inn & Hotsprings however was actually nice. He'd never admit it but..he missed it.

Just like he missed Rukchan's funeral..

They made a damn shrine for the bunny? He questioned, not even that surprised as he headed for his old room. Isshin had mentioned he needed to clean it since they were using his bedroom for storage space. Why use the storage shed for storage space? Makes sense. Ichigo irritatedly complained, kicking his half open door wider as his hands were occupied with boxes.

Once everything was put aside or trashed, he was surprised to see his old things still in place. After his mother died he rarely stood in the hotsprings & inn. But apart from the dust it was exactly how he left it. Even the posters.

Even the posters.

He cringed a bit inside. Ichigo's neck suddenly became itchy as he stared at..what? 35? 45? pictures and posters of his favorite skater.

The Russian champion, Rukia Kuchiki.

He was twelve when he put them up. No, he didn't have a crush on the eighteen year old at the time, he was just ..inspired by her. Masaki loved her too, *was inspired by her as well. She even told her son she helped trained the young russian girl. He never got to meet Rukia but he always wanted to.

He could remember it.

All of it.

The cheering his sisters and he started, the judges on the speakers, the chill in the air, the way his heart raced - everything. But those feelings? The ones that come with competing.. they were amazing. For a ten year old kid at the time however, it shouldn't of been. All the others waiting for their division watching the teens were..jealous. Impatient. Uninterested.

Ichigo though..he was exhilarated. He was amazed by the way she glided on the rink, excited when she looked up into the crowd and felt something he couldn't explain as she nailed every jump he struggled with or gave up on. The Russian captured his heart just like everyone else's. She owned the entire audience. Her grace even as she recovered from a fall was something that made people cheer. She was beautiful on the ice.

She was beautiful.

It was strange to some, being a male skater and looking up not to Evgeni Plushenko
or Viktor Nikiforov, but Rukia Kuchiki, a female skater. That didn't bothered him though. She had amazing talent and once as a child, he promised himself he would compete against her. It wasn't out of envy or proving who's better, it was genuine admiration. To share the same ice as her..it was a dream.

Ichigo Kurosaki hadn't touched the ice in years but when he'd watch the finals growing up and even now, he found himself rooting for her. After everything, even if he was weirded out at the obsessed amount of pictures he owned of the Russian skater (he was 12), she really was the last string of any interest he held for ice skating.

As the ginger went to take a poster down, he suddenly stopped from doing so. They were old and his room didn't need to have clean white squares on the now off white wall..right? It wasn't as if anyone stayed in there beside him anyways.

His first week back in Japan went okay. It was suppose to be better but then Karin had to talk with her big brother and it all went down hill from there. He was helping her with check out, counting money and assorting.

He thought they couldn't tell but they could.

Ichigo wasn't happy.

"What are planning to do after college? Any plans? You can't just come back here with that depressed look on your face all the time. Figure something out, you idiot." His younger sister sighed. It was her brother and for some reason she just didn't know what to say. "Don't just..mellow in your sadness, ya got it? What's got you down so much anyway?"

It was his sister and for some reason he just didn't know what to say. So he told he that before walking away, leaving her confused and feeling bad as he left for his room.

The truth was, he really didn't know. He hadn't been happy in a long time. California didn't fix it. New friends didn't fix it. Food didn't fix it. Nothing fixed it.

He just..

Needed something.

It was 6:30 AM. Another hour before they opened. Ichigo couldn't beat insomnia so he found himself going through old things in his room. His attention was currently withheld by an old magazine, the cover sporting a certain Russian skater.

He was reading a portion of an interview he saw on TV once. It felt like deja-vu and nostalgia, being at such a hard spot in life while understanding what she's saying and being taken back to when you were so young.

Her own mother had died when she was six years old. The Kuchiki never mentioned her but during her 19th birthday, which was on the day she one her 4th consecutive Grand Prix Final, she opened up about the heartache of losing such an important person. As a child Ichigo had only lost his own mother a year prior to seeing that speech on television and he could remember losing the fight of holding back his tears. He promised not to in front of his family but she.. started to talk about hating the ice. She explained how the ice brought her misery like it did for Ichigo. But she needed to remember how much joy it brought her, because even though she may not be able to make new memories with the people she held in her heart, she had amazing ones on the ice with them.

"I - I don't want to disappoint him," She exclaimed, a bit teary-eyed.

Ichigo closed it and threw it on the side of his bed. His throat wasn't dry but he swallowed anyway. After that he remembered picking up skating once again. The young heartbroken, angry kid didn't hate it as much as he did anymore. Ichigo was never in tune with it as he once was but he managed to not block it out of his life entirely. He wasn't doing it for competitions either, simply himself. It only lasted for a few years however, once reaching his late teens and once again abandoning it.

The ice.

Everywhere he looked he saw it but he denied it. He denied how much he missed it. It crawled up and down his spine. The chill inside the arena that kept everything frozen, the sound of the blades ruining the smooth ice, the satisfaction of nailing your jump..

"Kurosaki?"

"Toushiro? You own the ice skating rink?" Ichigo puzzled, pulling his scarf around. He hadn't seen him since middle school.

"Hitsugaya, Kurosaki." Toushiro reminded, never too fond of Ichigo's comfortable nature with his name. "Why are you at the rink? Coming back to skating?"

Silence started to speak instead. Ichigo pretended to be interested at the board behind his old friend's head, but honestly the prices weren't that compelling. He just wasn't going to answer that.

"Ichigo?" A somewhat familiar voice called out, prompting the ginger to turn.

"Momo? ..Woah, hi." He was surprised but not too surprised of the three children hiding behind his old friend's legs. All little girls with white hair and momo's eyes. He hoped they didn't have their father's big attitude. He got on a knee, poking his head out further as he waved. "Hey there. I know your mom, Momo. She used to be my friend. Your dad was too short for me to ever notice though."

One of them laughed. Then the other two followed.

"Girls.." Toushiro scolded, already tired of the jokes. "So are you skating or not, Kurosaki?" He quizzed, pulling out shelfs that held viable sizes of skates for his old right hand man. He watched Ichigo struggle a bit before answering, evening chewing on the inside of his cheek. Toushiro wondered how long it been?

It's been years since Ichigo Kurosaki skated. But it's been even longer since he's smiled like that.

Momo finally came back in the bedroom after managing to pull off putting her lovely, too energetic, never sleeping daughters to bed.

Toushiro sat impressed, praising his wife of such a feat.

She laughed, getting ready for bed as she began to talk about the day.

"I was so surprised to see Ichigo skate like that. I think even he was."

Toushiro wondered if it was like riding a bike.

"It was nice to see him in a good mood. I wonder if he was doing that freely or was it apart of a routine?."

"Oh, as if he could come up with something like that," He scoffed. "Remember that woman he loved? The russian skater, Rukia Kuchiki? - He was simply copying her routine. I'll admit, it was a nice rendition. I'm also impressed he remembered it. It was quite long ago."

Momo began to giggle. "The girls certainly loved it. Don't tell Ichigo but they recorded him!"

Suddenly intense giggling could be heard from down the hallway. Momo didn't pull off such a feat after all. "I'll take care of it," Chivalry was very much alive as Toushiro informed, getting out of bed and heading for his daughters' room. When he entered however they were all magically asleep, earning a 'not-buying-it' grin from the white haired father. "Girls, you better be asleep by the time I leave this room," Toushiro demanded, voice loud and clear. "You all get ten more minutes.." He whispered, flicking the light off as he walked back down the hallway.

The girls cheered among themselves, thanking their naive, mushy father for letting them stay up and post a certain little video..

She refreshed the page. The views were climbing, the comments were being added and the like bar was growing.

Her eyes remained the same though.

On him.

Rukia Kuchiki for the first time in a long time, was exhilarated. She was amazed by the way this boy glided on the rink, excited even, felt something she couldn't explain even as he nailed every jump like she had. Even the way he executed the biellmann spin, the skater loved it. It was her routine. No one had dared done their own rendition of 'Life Is Like A Boat' like that. It was hard, not just on the body but the self. It was easy to lose your composure, allow yourself to sink emotionally and end up locking your muscles and ultimately having a bad performance. There was a reason that performance won that championship, it was extremely difficult to pull off.

The rendition of his..it spoke volumes. As corny as it may seem Rukia had only saw a few have their own versions of her performance and the reason, that she believes it lacked, was they didn't have emotion like she had. They never felt that pain of losing someone, which was what the performance was based off.

Ichigo Kurosaki, in Karakura, Japan did. Rukia could feel it as much as she could see it.

Watching him, as sloppy as he may of been..

It made her blood rush. It made the Russian skater's heart thump. But more importantly, she was finally met with a challenge.

It was the end of the week now, Ichigo came back with groceries for Isshin, heading to the front desk to meet his overly annoying father. But he wasn't greeted by that..

"What the - what the FUCK?!" He shrieked, tackled by a extremely if not horrifyingly sized rabbit. The milk, the eggs and bread went everywhere but the fridge as Ichigo struggled on the ground and away from bunny kisses. He didn't wanna hurt the thing, but it was a monster - case closed.

"Calm down son, you're acting like a child. It's just a little bunny...a horrifying, death bringing, possibly man eating bunny. Cute!"

Is this..Ruuchan? I thought you died?

" - Came in with a even better looking foreign guest. A woman." His father added, picking up the spilled goods and offering no help to his struggling son.

Everything seemed to die out then though. All sound, even his father's ramblings, the thing pissing on the floor and on his hand..

Big rabbit. A foreign guest. A woman. An attractive woman..

Ichigo finally managed to get free from the creature and his father, one orange brow perking curiously as he walked past the guests giggling.

No. It can't be. It isn't.

With his hands in his pockets searching for something that wasn't there, he found himself walking up and down. The rabbit, it had a black spot on it's back too. Like..

There's no reason to even think about it. I don't think she'd come to a lousy, cheap Hotsprings & Inn..

Speaking of Hotsprings.

Ichigo suddenly wound up in it, outside suddenly looking out at the steaming hot water, surrounded by chakra balancing stones and being swimmed in!

His eyes nearly threatened to pop out of his head and his cheeks flushed strawberry red at the sight of bare plump ass!

"Ru..Rukia Kuchiki?!"

He stammered, suddenly embarrassed at the fact he just said that out loud and by the fact he was in the women's hot springs!

The Russian skater shockingly turned, instantly covering up as she yelled out, "You.. pervert! Stop staring at me!"

The poor ginger instantly did a 160, unfortunately running face first into the entrance and knocking flat on his head. He was out.

Rukia got up and out of the pool, wrapping a towel around her body as she slowly approached the peeping tom. A somewhat not surprising breath escaped her lips as she realized who he was.

Her foot tapped his chest, prompting him to wake up.

Ichigo awoke slowly, feeling a pressure on his chest. He just had the most..interesting and amazing dream..

"Wait a minute - what!?" The young man struggled, looking up at the very woman he somehow was seeing.

"Ichigo Kurosaki? I'm Rukia Kuchiki," She announced, humble head on her shoulders. With a hand extended and a heavy foot still pressing down onto the pervert, "You're going to win the Grand Prix Final..and I'm going to be your coach."

He blinked, not once, not twice, not three times.

It had to be a dream.

Rukia suddenly took her hand away though, crossing them as her face scrunched up suspiciously. "Wait a minute..how did you know it was me by just seeing my..?"

Thanks for reading part 1! Hope you liked the ending, lol.