Disclaimer: Bleach belongs to Kubo.

She was late. Oh god was she late.

She, Rukia Ukitake, was the epitome of grace, nobility and punctuality. She looked the picture too. She was short. One could easily take her for a middle school student, unless they look closely. She had silky black hair up to her waist. It was such a dark glossy mane, that it shimmered in the sun, making beautiful blue highlights appear in them. And it was in perfect contrast with her creamy shiny smooth skin. There wasn't a blemish anywhere across that vast expanse of skin. It made men want to search for them, and women scratch her skin for its flawless perfection. As if that weren't enough to be targeted by public at large, her heavily lashed eyelids would open to reveal the most beautiful violet eyes ever seen. It would change colour depending on her mood. A dark blue when she was lazing around to a turbulent violet when she was angry, surprised, excited, or scared. She wasn't overly endowed. But everything seemed to be designed to her short stature. She did have a killer, beautifully filled, heart shaped ass though. It usually made boob-obsessed men change their preference after one look at it. But, her innocence was apparent despite her face and body. All in all she was a beautiful exotic package with an aura of innocence. One look at her, men and women alike felt an overwhelming need to protect her.

Today, she was wearing a knee length black formal skirt with a pristine white, long sleeved shirt tucked into it. The outfit would have knocked any man cold, with its form fitting and stretchable material, had she not covered it with a coat, 2 sizes large. She had tied her hair into a neat bun and held it up with a clip after much wrestling, for her hair was too silky to be held up like that. She wore her hair in a ponytail all the time, as it felt neat and stopped her hair from flowing all over her face. But a ponytail to an interview? That's an absolute no-no. Now, with her grandma hair-do and coat and a tattered leather bag, she looked more like a schoolmarm, than a beautiful twenty-two year old intelligent woman she was. But she didn't care about admiring looks and vanity was alien to her. She thought she was appropriately dressed for a formal interview.

Rukia couldn't afford to lose this job opportunity. Rukia thought about her wonderful adoptive father. Juushiro Ukitake. He was truly a most beautiful man, both inside and out. She recalled their first meeting….

12 years ago...

She was all alone now. Nobody would ever care about her, she thought to herself. She looked about her from her sitting position on one of the dilapidated roof surrounding her; all she could see was poverty and despair. Rukongai was infamous for it's poverty ridden residents, unimaginable living conditions and the low life scum who made it hell for the residents there. Rukia watched the dirty streets below, while not really seeing it. She thought life was at least bearable with Ashido at her side. He held the position of someone between a brother and a father. He was a few years older than her, and always looked out for her.

It was he who found her in a dumpster. He was horrified to find a baby in the dumpster while looking for food. Being seven and orphaned at 5, he had absolutely no clue what to do. He himself had a hard time surviving, as people picked on him everyday. But he was a determined young boy who wanted to live. He knew the baby would be killed if he left it there. He picked it up and carried it to his shack in the outskirts. He had got the baby inside the poorly furnished place and placed it on one of the two narrow cots. The shack contained just two cots, and a stove. There was just one window with broken panes. He looked down at the baby. He had seen some of the women with children change diapers and feed milk on the streets. He would learn to take care of the baby. He promised himself that he wouldn't let it die and vowed to protect it. He wouldn't abandon the baby like his parents abandoned him, after killing each other in a drunken rage. He named the baby Rukia after finding out it was a girl. And he raised her. And he always protected her.

Now he was gone. She recalled last week's events. Some men had come into their shack and grabbed them both. Ashido began beating them to a pulp. He would have killed them all, if one of those assholes hadn't held a gun to Rukia's temple. He ceased all movements and watched in horror.

"Come on man, you don't want your little girl to die now, do you?" the bastard holding the gun said. "All the boss-lady wants is for you to join her. You'll have absolutely no concerns and live a luxurious life."

Rukia didn't understand what was happening. But she instinctively knew this would be the last time she would see Ashido. She looked at him. He wore a tortured expression a 17 year old boy should never wear.

"Fine, I'll come with you. But, I wish a few moments of privacy to say goodbye to her" Ashido told their captors grimly.

The men left one by one to stand outside. "Don't try anything funny or I will shoot her", the man with the gun said before leaving.

Ashido ran to Rukia and hugged her. She was still stiff from shock. He kissed her hair and rubbed her back. "I have to leave you," he choked out. She couldn't believe her ears. "I'm sorry. I must leave you. I can't take you with me. I don't know when I'll see you again. I'm not going to promise you anything, little jasmine." He was a realist but it saddened him to make her one too. He loved her to pieces and wanted her happiness. But he knew his captors. What kind of disgusting people they are. He didn't want his beautiful jasmine to be tainted by them. He knew she would start searching for him. He didn't want that. "I want you to forget me. If you care about me at all, I want you to forget me." He said. She began shaking her head as if to expel what she just heard him say. That's when he took drastic steps. "They're going to kill me. I won't be around. I don't think I can escape. I want you to run away and keep yourself hidden," He told her sternly.

Tears started pouring out then. She grabbed his shirt when he started to let her go. He wrapped his arms around her wrists and pulled them off. He got up and turned towards the door when he felt two arms clutch his right leg tightly.

'Dear gods! I can't do this!', Ashido thought to himself. But he had to. He picked rukia up and put her down on the cot. She tried to attach herself to him once again, but he held her down. He gave her one last kiss on the forehead and whispered, "I love you, my little jasmine. Goodbye. And I'm sorry."

He got up swiftly and went through the front door and latched it from the outside. As he walked towards the car, where his captors had a door open for him, he could hear Rukia crying and banging on the door. "Come back, Ashi! Don't leave me! Please…!"

Before he broke down and endangered their lives by running back to her, he got into the car. The car immediately drove off.

Rukia was still weeping inside. She heard the car drive off. She couldn't believe Ashi had left her. She quickly ran to the window, broke the remaining glass pieces with a chair and jumped through it. The jagged edges of the glass nicked her palms and body. But she ignored it. She ran to the street. But, by the time she got there the car was nowhere in sight. She fell down to her knees and stayed there for god knows how long.

Now, a week later, she still can't come to terms with it. She was just 10. And alone in a world where she had no one. Rukia got down from the roof with the help of the staircase, and began walking forward. She could see a vast expanse of land with grass. She began walking, leaving the cursed Rukongai behind her.

With no Ashido she felt she had no reason to live. She was asked to hide. And she did just that. She ran away from the shack and was on the run for a week now. She was a smart little girl. She would hide underneath dumpsters during the night and travel during the day. She got lost a couple of times in the district, but now she was at the edge. On the other side of the city. In the direction opposite from the shack she had spent all her life till now.

She saw a huge riverbank. She'd never seen a river before. It scared her to see so much water. She could see a rope bridge a little towards her left. She made her way to it. The bridge was hanging about two feet from the water. She climbed up onto it. She clutched the rope and on her right and began crossing the river. Halfway through it, she stopped. She looked down into the turbulent waters. It seemed to welcome her for some reason. If she couldn't ever see Ashido again, she'd rather die. With that being her last thought, she jumped.

The current carried her pitiful tiny body with such force, that poor Rukia didn't even have the chance to lift her head above the water. She didn't know how to swim. She allowed water into her lungs. She started to black out. She whispered "Ashi" which came out as bubbles. She finally gave into the darkness.

"Come on, child. Breath." She heard someone say from far away. Next, she could feel someone pressing her chest hard. She wanted to open her mouth and ask them to stop doing that, but instead of words, she puked out water. Her air deprived lungs started to work overtime and take in as much oxygen as possible.

Slowly, she opened her eyes. At first all she could see was the bright sun. She closed her eyes immediately. She opened them again to see white hair and a concerned face. She stared at the face, and then she began to sit up. The person helped her. She looked again towards him.

"Whew, thank god. I thought I had to perform CPR there. That would have been a problem you know, because I don't know to perform CPR", he smiled.

Rukia was stunned. Never in all her 10 years of miserable life, had she come across such beauty. Though he was old, he was very handsome. He had long, straight white hair. It was just a few inches shy from touching his waist. His eyes reminded her of chocolates. He looked like an angel. She didn't know how long she sat there gaping at the man like an idiot.

"My name is Juushiro Ukitake. I'm a principal at the local school here. What's your name, little one?" he asked with a smile.

"Uh…um... Ru-Ru-Rukia, sir." She stuttered. She was still in shock. She looked down to see his clothes. They were completely wet. He must have jumped into the river and pulled her out, she thought. But what she didn't understand was why? Why would he take such a risk just to rescue some stranger? Back in Rukongai. No one would even bother. They might try and fish the bloated dead body out to see if they could filch something off their person. So, why would he rescue her? She wasn't worth rescuing.

Seeing her bewildered face made Ukitake smile some more. "You're completely wet. If we leave you like this you might come down with a fever. My house is nearby; let's get you into something warm, all right? Then we can notify your parents."

"I don't have any", came back the soft whisper.

"Are they dead?" he asked.

"I have no idea who they are. I was raised by Ashido." Rukia said. As soon as Ashido's name left her lips, she began to tremble and tears formed in her eyes.

"Is Ashido your brother? How do I contact him now?"

"Th-They took him away. Th-Those bad men took him away. He said he's going to d-d-die. He left me a-a-all a-alone." She stuttered and began sobbing into her hands.

Ukitake's heart broke to see such a small child bear such troubles. Her tears were making his own eyes began to water. 'She is such a pretty child,' he thought to himself. She should be playing with dolls and eating chocolates, not forced to lead such a miserable life. He gathered her in his arms. As soon as she was in his arms, she broke down completely. Ukitake rocked her back and forth slowly. She calmed down after a while. He pulled back to look into her eyes. He became mesmerized by those lovely violet orbs, now magnified with her recent tears. He knew then, that he would adopt her. He would protect her. Besides, he was already 40 and not getting any younger. Plus, he adored children. That was one of the reasons why he became a teacher. The other reason was his love for the profession itself.

"Where are you from, little Rukia?" he asked.

"Rukongai, sir." She replied. Then, looking at his clothes and realizing she was responsible for them, she sprang from his arms, and in a couple of seconds, she was kneeling in front of him, her head touching the ground. "I am terribly sorry sir, for making you jump into the river and for crying just now. Please forgive me!"

Rukongai? Ukitake thought. That was an unfit place for a child as young as she to live alone. And it was a good 50 miles up the river. It must've been a miracle that she survived despite being washed downstream for 50 miles. He looked down at her tiny form and picked her up swiftly, placing her on his shoulders, making her clutch his head for support . "Now, now, there is no need to be so formal with you new father, is there? Starting today, you are Rukia Ukitake. You will live with me here in Sereitei. You are my daughter, no matter what anyone says. All right?" he asked, tilting his head to look at her face.

To say Rukia was stunned would be an understatement. She couldn't believe her ears. His daughter. This tall white haired beautiful man wanted to be her father and take care of her. She couldn't speak. She could see the sincerity in his eyes. She had seen such an expression only on one other person before, and he was no longer there. She knew she wouldn't be able to say no, not that she wanted to. Rukia looked down into the warm brown eyes, and nodded.

"Rukia-chan!" Juushiro said in a singsong admonishing tone. "Say, yes juu-papa!"

"Y-yes. J-j-juu-papa." She blushed.

"Wroom wroom" Juushiro pretended to be an airplane and started running around the riverbank, making the little girl on his shoulders squeal with laughter. Hearing her laughter warmed his heart. He wanted her to continue smiling.

The pair headed toward a set of tall buildings.

They had come a long way since that day. She owed him a lot, Rukia realized. He was always there for her. As soon as he adopted her, he enrolled her into the school as well. But, Rukia was way behind. She knew only a little reading and writing which Ashido had taught her. And her classmates were way way ahead. But she worked hard and wanted her father to be proud of her. She caught up with her studies with a little help from juu-papa and excelled in science and literature. Math was a little tougher, but she mastered that as well. She was extremely good at sports as well. She mastered karate and was an amazing dancer. She won medals in all fields. Juu-papa was truly proud of her. She was well behaved and courteous. She lived up to the position of being the Principal's daughter. People would always say that they were an amazing father-daughter pair.

She would've been a truly brilliant engineer by now, if it hadn't been for 'The Incident' at Seireitei Institute of Technology, a.k.a. SIT. After 'The Incident', she and her retired father were forced to move from the campus.

They had gathered up their savings and possessions and come to Karakura. They chose Karakura because Juu-papa had friends here and they were able to find decent accommodations for a cheap price. Rukia felt the whole thing was her fault. Though Juu-papa continually told her it wasn't. She was responsible for their misfortune. She immediately enrolled herself into a secretarial course offered by URAHARA. They were an exclusive hiring secretary-training company. Anyone who held a certificate from Urahara was hired immediately. Getting in itself was tough, with interviews and tests. But it was a piece of cake for Rukia. The co-founders were Yoruichi and Kisuke Urahara (They were an unbelievably crazy couple if you wanted Rukia's personal opinion). She worked her ass off and came first in her batch.

And now she was asked to attend an interview in the Kuchiki Corporation. Everyone knew about the Kuchiki Corporation. It was headed by the Kuchiki nobles. The Kuchiki Corporation was one of the oldest companies in the country. It dated back to almost two centuries. The Kuchiki family at that time was the most famous makers of weaponry. Swords were their specialty. The lineage continued over the years, surviving wars and extinction of bloodline. Now, there were just a handful of Kuchikis. Since then, the Kuchiki became a wonderful power and the corporation branched out into many areas. There was a Kuchiki pharmaceutical branch, a Kuchiki clothing line, the Kuchiki group of hotels, the Kuchiki institutions and a few drabbles here and there.

It was into this nail-biting, heart racing world that Rukia was about to enter. She was extremely nervous. She had woken up at 5 for her 9 o'clock interview. She prepared breakfast and finished cleaning the apartment. The apartment was big and the complex was in a decent area. Juu-papa was able to get them for a cheap price as he knew the owners of the complex. The complex was three storeys high and it housing six apartments, two on each floor. The one across their apartment was recently vacated, as the family moved to another city. She had liked that family. Sentarou and Kiyone always made her laugh. They fought so much, but it clear they loved one another. And Rukia absolutely adored their 4 year old son. In her opinion Kenji was the most handsome little boy in the whole wide world. She used to baby-sit him all the time. And boy adored her as well. She was going to miss them.

Rukia was ready to leave by seven-thirty. She wanted to catch the 8 o'clock train and reach the Kuchiki Corporation by 8:30. It would give her half an hour to calm down before the interview. The train station was a fifteen minutes' walk from the apartment.

Juushiro got up and went yawning into the living room to see Rukia dressed and ready to leave. He smiled to himself. She must be nervous, he thought. Then he took in her attire. Though he was old and a little behind recent trends and fashion, he knew that Rukia was dressed like an old woman that a young beautiful one. He sighed. She's still so scarred by 'The Incident' that she's hiding behind her clothes now. It would've been better if she had friends her own age. But she was betrayed by all whom she thought she could count on. He thought the move here would signify a new start with her making new friends and a new life for herself. But a year has passed and she doesn't have any friends. Once bitten, twice shy, he supposed. She would've even ignored their previous neighbours if little Kenji hadn't stolen her heart. She loved children and they loved her back.

He wanted to see her settled and married. And he wanted it soon. He thought no one would ever be worthy of her. But he was getting old and he wanted her to find love and happiness. His health was beginning to deteriorate too. He didn't want to alarm Rukia, so he made sure that she didn't know. He went for check-ups only when Rukia was at class, he hid his prescriptions and tablets. When he changed his diet, Rukia noticed immediately and him what was wrong. He came up with a brilliant lie saying older people must gradually ease themselves into a better diet if they were to age gracefully. She seemed to buy it. He sighed and shook his head smiling to himself. She would give him hell for hiding his illness. He knew she would find out sooner or later. But he wanted to put it off as long as possible.

Rukia finished putting on her black pumps that added 2 extra inches for her five-feet frame, and got up to see her father in the doorway. She rushed forward to hug him.

"Leaving already?" he asked, returning the hug. "You'll get the job. Don't worry your pretty head."

"Thank you Juu-papa. I'll make you proud." She said.

"I am always proud of you Rukia. Don't force yourself to do this if you don't want to." He said, affection and concern coating his voice.

"But I want to work Juu-papa. I'm really excited. I'm just nervous about the interview. This is my first one after all." She said with a hint of nervousness.

"You'll knock them down flat. Don't worry." He kissed her forehead, "all the best, daughter."

"Thank you Juu-papa", she said grabbing her leather bag and hurrying to the door. "Goodbye. Breakfast's on the table, by the way. Finish everything. And the lunch is in the refrigerator; just throw it in the oven. It better be empty when I get home." She said sternly and went out closing the door behind her.

Juushiro chuckled to himself, "who's raising whom, here?" and went to have his breakfast.

Rukia rushed out of her apartment. The nerves blinding her vision and making her feet move faster. She walked swiftly down the hall, and down the stairs. She opened the door of the complex and was about to step out of the building, when-WHAM!

"What the fu-".

"Aah".

She'd banged into someone. No, Something. She corrected herself. Because the thing was so huge that she was knocked onto the floor. She didn't look up at the person because she was distracted by the wetness seeping through her coat. She looked down to see an empty juice container on her right, the contents of which were now on her coat. She got up immediately and lashed out a kick at the person. She smirked with satisfaction when she heard an "oomph" and an "owww". She could now see the person properly. He had shocking orange hair and was at least 6 feet tall with muscles. Oh great! She thought to herself. Now she had to deal with a muscle-bound and shit-brained jerk. What a way to start. Plus, her coat was ruined. There is no way she could wear it to the interview.

"Hey kid, what the hell was that for?" the carrot top grunted.

KID? Did he just call her a kid? Oh now he's really going to get it. Rukia began punching the guy left, right, and center. She knocked his legs out and brought him crashing face first to the floor. She jumped on his back and began thrashing him again. Her hair became undone in the process.

The guy was too stunned to protest. He just tried to throw her off, with no success though. Suddenly, the complex door opened. Rukia stopped with her arm raised for another punch. And in came another giant. Rukia noticed that the guy who just came in and the one whom she had face down on the floor were freakishly identical in their builds. But this one had black hair.

Kaien Shiba was astounded. He saw his cousin Ichigo being beaten to a pulp by a girl. He thought it must be an ex-girlfriend. But she was too terribly dressed to be anyone's girlfriend. His eyes moved to her face. And what he saw knocked the air out of his lungs. He saw the most beautiful face ever. Long, silky black tresses covered a beautiful creamy face. The face was flawless. And what really had his tongue were her beautiful angry, violet eyes. They were heavily lashed. He loved her eyes. Wait a minute. Did I say LOVED?????????????

"Kaien! Why are you just standing there, man? Get this crazy, maniacal kid off me!" Ichigo screamed.

Rukia, who was momentarily surprised, was jerked back to the situation when she heard the carrot top call her a kid again. She fumed at the body beneath. "I (punch) am (punch) not (punch) a (punch) KID!" she yelled. She found herself being lifted off carrot top by a strong, bulky, pair of arms.

"I'm truly sorry for my idiot cousin's behaviour ma'am." The black haired man said while putting her down. "We'll pay your dry cleaning bill of course."

Rukia began blushing and she didn't know why. She said it's all right in a soft voice. What the hell was the matter with her?

Ichigo could just not believe what his cousin was saying. He was taking the kid's side? What the fuck?

He jumped up and turned towards the kid. And got tongue tied just like his cousin. Holy crap! She's BEAUTIFUL! He thought. He couldn't move his eyes away from her face. He was scared she might vanish.

Rukia now got a good look at carrot top's face. And WOW! They're too identical to be just cousins. They looked like twins if you ignored the hair colour. Rukia stood there gaping at the two. They stared right back. She was starting to feel like a bug under microscope, when the wind blew in through the open door, making her shiver because of the wet coat. It then sprang back to her. THE INTERVIEW! Her mind became alert again. She quickly removed her coat to survey the damage. She didn't hear the men gasp in her hurry. Only her black skirt was stained a little towards the left side. Her bulky coat had taken most of the damage. She looked at her watch and saw it was already seven fifty. The train would leave at 8 sharp. And the next train wouldn't come for another half hour. This meant she would be at least a few minutes late. Bus was not an option since the stop was much too far from the corporation and there weren't frequent buses that would go from here to Kuchiki corporation stop. So, no, Bus wasn't an option. She looked around grabbed her bag and was about to rush through the door when she was held back by four arms. FOUR.

"Hey wait-"the black haired man started.

"Hold on-"the carrot top jumped in.

Both men received kicks in their shins and were forced to let her go. She started running towards the train station.

"I'm sorry", Rukia yelled looking back at the two, who were standing in the doorway, clutching their respective shins and jaws dropping to the floor. The shin clutching she could understand, as she was the cause. The jaw-dropping stare she didn't. "I'm late for my interview. Bye". She yelled and disappeared round the corner of the street.

Rukia looked at her watch. Oh man was she LATE!