Better Description: One day Ichigo asks a sorcerer to help him claim his love, but he instead angers the sorcerer and is cursed. Now a hollow he is forced to live in the forest on the outskirts of the Karakura Town Kingdom. Rukia Kuchiki is a young Princess. Bored and tired with being kept inside all day by the King, her brother, Byakuya; so she sneaks out into the forest. There she meets Ichigo, now reluctant and solitary, he befriends her, but the more they stay together the closer they become. But when tragedy strikes and Ichigo is captured, Rukia will stop at nothing to save him.

responses for reviews on 'The Blond Haired Kujaku': Thank you everyone who read it and put it in their favorites. And thank you for all the constructive criticism, it was and is still very helpful!

Prologue

ran through the forest, and down a path. He had found all the items that the sorcerer had asked him to find- except for a white rose- the only colors he had found were red, orange, pink, yellow, and blue; but hopefully the sorcerer wouldn't mind. He came to a stop in a small clearing where he laid his findings in front of his feet and called:

"I'm back; I brought the things you asked me to find!" His voice echoed then wavered to silence.

Ichigo stood there for what seemed like forever, until the sorcerer appeared.

"So you completed the task I asked of you?"

Ichigo nodded his head vigorously. The sorcerer examined the roses and herbs then looked up.

"There's no white rose."

Ichigo fidgeted his thumbs nervously and replied "I couldn't find one. I'm sorry…"

The sorcerer glared at him then stood up.

"Since you did not complete the task, I will not do as you asked of me."

Ichigo's head shot up.

"Wait, you're not going to help me get her?! But you promised and I did all you said! So what if I couldn't find a white rose! You promised!"

The sorcerer glared at him enraged.

"For your troubles, I was going to give you a love potion to help you claim your love, but now I curse you for your rudeness and insolence!" The sorcerer boomed.

Ichigo backed away frightened and the sorcerer smacked him on the head with his cane. The world began to spin and Ichigo felt the sensation of falling then blacked out.

It was dusk when He awoke again. Ichigo sat up shakily and rubbed his head. He felt-odd, somehow, like he was different, so he shakily stood up and walked (more so stumbled) around until he came across a small creek he could peer into. Expecting to see some kind of animal ears that could easily, but painfully be cut off, but instead he found he was a hollow; a creature that roamed the forest devouring the souls of all who were unlucky to come across one. Ichigo stared at his reflection. That couldn't be him. His short spiky orange hair now reached his lower back and was falling over his shoulders. His skin was now a light grey and some kind of fur or fluff was growing out of his wrists and heels and above the large hole in his chest. His once beautiful brown eyes were now golden yellow and drowned in black.

His curious face saddened and he turned away from the creek. He certainly was cursed and most likely stuck like that forever. He sighed and stood up, realizing if he ever tried to return to Karakura Town; he would be killed instantly.

Chpt 1

Princess Rukia stared out of the window in her room. Oh, how she grew tired of being locked inside all day, -of course- her older brother, Byakuya, wouldn't allow her to go anywhere unsupervised. Just because he was the king, didn't mean he could tell her what to do. Rukia sighed; her brother wasn't the only thing bothering her. It was all the guys flocking around her asking for her hand in marriage, but she wouldn't have it. It didn't matter what boy came to her, she would shoot them down. Byakuya by now was very annoyed by all of this.

"Rukia, you are going to marry one of these men who keep flocking about you!" Byakuya boomed as he flung open the doors to her chamber.

Rukia turned around and huffily replied "None of these boys are to my liking."

Byakuya sighed and walked over to her.

"Listen, Rukia," he said "You must marry! It doesn't matter if you like the guy or not!"

"It does to me! I don't want to be stuck with a complete slob!" she shot back.

Byakuya's shoulder slumped and he sighed annoyed then replied "Fine. When you find the right man tell me." Then walked out of her room.

Rukia turned back to the window and stared out at the forest that lied on the out skirts of Karakura Town. She would often sneak out to the forest and walk around for a while, and then she would sneak back; in fact, she felt like doing that now. She ran to her closet and undressed into her civilian clothes then tip toed to her door then peered out. No one was guarding her, so she ran down the halls and stairs until she reached a secret passage way that she had discovered a month ago. Once she was outside she ran into the forest. She looked above her head at all of the trees and birds that she saw, marveling at every sight. It was dusk when she finally came to a log and sat down.

"Phew! Walking through here sure wears you out quickly!" She breathed stretching.

Rukia looked around for a minute then gasped jumping up from the log.

"Uh-oh," she muttered "This isn't good......I'm farther into the woods than I wanted to be."

She sat back down on the stump trying to think back to the way she came, but little did she know, a pair of curious eyes was watching her.

Ichigo's eyes followed the girl as she paced deep in thought.

"She must be lost," he thought "for I have never seen a human out this far."

Of course he could care less. If she saw him, she would probably tell someone with a sword and he would meet a painful death. It'd be better if he kept his distance and let her be, so he turned and quietly walked off.

Rukia whipped her head around once she heard the rustling of the bushes behind her. She stared at the spot before running into the bushes to follow whatever was watching her.

"Well where'd it go?" she muttered.

Rukia stood there for a moment longer until she heard someone humming fairly loudly. Curious, she followed the sound until she came to a small pond. She strained her eyes for a better look then realized the humming was coming from a boy her age swimming in the pond. She watched quietly as the boy dipped in and out of the water washing himself, and his long orange hair.

"Wow," she thought "he's pretty handsome."

She continued to quietly watch him until she thought she'd better say hello.

Ichigo hummed loudly as he thoroughly enjoyed his bath. The water was so crisp and cool that he could have just fallen asleep then and there. It was only when he heard some of the rocks on the shore being disturbed that he stopped.

"Hello!" Rukia yelled as she waved.

Ichigo spun around his golden yellow eyes meeting her purple ones. Rukia's smiling face faded and she lowered her hand. A hollow?! She ran into one of the monsters that roamed the woods!

Ichigo recognized her as the girl he had seen earlier.

"Who are you?" He asked holding her gaze.

"Rukia Kuchiki," she called back "who are you?"

Ichigo was hesitant at first,but then called back "Ichigo Kurosaki!"

"It has a name?" She thought as she watched him swim back to shore.

Ichigo stood up and began to wring his hair out. Rukia stared at him, examined him until Ichigo cleared his throat.

"Stop staring. It's embarrassing."

Rukia jumped startled then replied "Sorry, I'm not used to hollows looking so-human. You know wearing shorts and having names…"

Ichigo snorted insulted.

"Well excuse me for not wanting to run around naked, and of course I have a name! I, like you, am a person."

Rukia looked at him confused. It called its self a person- but it was a hollow.

"You're a hollow, not a person." She replied.

Ichigo looked at her sourly.

"I am to a person. I have feelings just as you do."

"Since when do hollows have feelings? They don't have hearts to begin with." She said back.

Ichigo flinched and didn't reply. He had forgotten that to a normal human he was a monster that devoured the souls of whoever was unlucky enough to come across one. After a long pause he replied "I do to have feelings and a-"He stopped tasting the word in his mouth. A "heart"......if he was honest with himself he'd say he didn't have a heart. He had lost all feelings of love and yearning. If fact he no longer felt anything for the girl he asked the sorcerer to help him claim. Orihime was her name, and even then he felt nothing towards her. Rukia's voice snapped him back to reality.

"You were saying….?" She asked.

"Nothing, forget about it." He said as he turned around and began to walk away.

"Wait, where are you going?!" Rukia asked grabbing his wrist.

Ichigo turned around and slapped her hand away.

"Home," he replied "Why do you care anyway? You're a human and I'm a hollow. So why don't you go back to your little village and do whatever you humans do and leave me be." He then turned and began to walk away. Rukia grabbed his wrist again and annoyed, Ichigo turned around again.

"What is it now?"

"Hold on, you can't leave me out here! I'm lost and I was wondering if you could show me the way out hollow-"

Ichigo hissed cutting her off, and then slapped her hand away again.

"My name is Ichigo, not hollow!"

"Sorry- could you show me the way out, Ichigo?" She asked again.

"No. Its dusk and hollows are more active at this time of day and throughout the night." He replied.

"And you're just gonna leave me here?!" Rukia yelled at him.

Ichigo chuckled then replied "Of course not. Though it would be one hell of a laugh to see you take on a hollow!"

Rukia glared at him angrily.

"Just kidding, just kidding. Follow me though; you can stay with me at home until sunrise."

Rukia nodded and followed him away from the lake and deeper into the forest. It was dark by the time Ichigo had stopped at the mouth of a small cave.

"Well, here we are." He said motioning to the mouth of the cave.

Rukia looked past Ichigo curiously, and then she looked back to him.

"You live here?" She asked.

Ichigo nodded and then replied walking inside "Yep, for about a year now."

Rukia followed him inside and examined her surroundings. She looked at the cave floor and noticed that there weren't any beds.

"You have nothing to lie on."

Ichigo cracked his neck and twisted his torso then replied "Well, it doesn't really matter. The ground isn't that hard."

Rukia gave him a look and sat down trying to ignore the many pops and cracks of Ichigo's stretching.

"Oh-my god. Will you stop that, it's disgusting!" She said watching him pop his elbow.

Ichigo cracked his arm then looked at her and said "I'm more active in a day then you are in a month. I need to stretch and pop my bones, otherwise they'll seize up on me and something stronger will kill me, and we don't want that, now do we?"

Rukia rolled her eyes and mumbled "pft, god forbid."

Ichigo sat down on the rocky floor and yawned. Then he scratched his head.

"This is rather awkward…." He thought putting his hands in his lap.

Rukia eyed him and admired his light grey skin that seemed to shine in the pale moonlight. His orange hair also shown in the pale moonlight, but so bright it looked ablaze. The two sat there not speaking until a low grumble echoed through the cave.

Ichigo turned to her and a smile spread across his face.

"Hungry are we?" He asked noticing how red her face was.

"Er.....y-yes. I haven't eaten anything all day." She replied sheepishly.

Ichigo stood up and turned to her then said "Now that I think about it, I'm hungry myself. I'll go get us something to eat, and you stay here and don't go anywhere. I'll be back in a little bit." And with that, Ichigo jumped out into the night.