A/N I don't own Bleach nor do I make any profit from it.

Also, I will say that I have put Rukia up as one with Byakuya because she will be one of the main characters, NOT because it's a pairing. Don't send me reviews saying I've misplaced it. You'll see why.

Chapter 1 -The start of a Journey

You might think that, after being sent to Soul Society, I would have a better life. I was promised that by the soul-reaper who sent me here. I'd rather be alive, in the human world than be here, in the Rukon District. They say that the living world is the worst kind of hell, I beg to differ.

I died in a car accident. It had been a very long day and the traffic had been heavy. After a while, my eyes had started to become heavy after spending three hours being in the car. When they closed, that was the last time I would ever close them as a human. When I woke up next, I thought that I was alive, but I found it very hard to breath. I also felt very dazed. I sat up and found that I was sitting on the pavement. I rubbed my head and looked down. At first I thought that I was imagining it, but I noticed that there was a short chain on my chest. I felt fear like none other, "Where am I," I whispered. I stood up and turned my head. I screamed in terror. There was my car crushed against the car in front and there was a car crushed into the back of mine. I took a closer look at my car and saw my body. It was beyond recognition. Blood was everywhere and I could tell that my body had been crushed. My white hair was covered in blood and my blue eyes were open, even in death. I shivered in disgust. The other two drivers were injured but alive.

"Is the girl dead," I heard a paramedic ask to another.

"I'm afraid so..." he said gravely. I could see them searching for for some sort of identification. They picked up my purse from my bag that somehow survived the crash and opened it up. My purse was the first to come out. It had my driving licence inside and other pieces of identification.

"Her name is Sara Riley, aged twenty one, an English teacher."

That's right, I was an English teacher. Well, I was a trainee, just coming to the end of my university course. I had been sent to Japan from England to have experience in teaching foreign children. I stood there frozen with fear. I wondered what was going to happen to me. I thought that it would have been better to stay with my body, but I felt the inexplicable urge to run, to run as if my life...no...my soul depended on it.

My chest felt tight and my ability to breath left something to be desired. The sun had completely set and it was very dark, with the exception of a few flickering street lights. I needed to get out of there and tell my host family. But of cause, I was now dead. How could I tell them that I was dead? But I didn't think of that at the time.

I ran towards the house and noticed a man standing at the door. He was a policeman. The door opened and said something; I couldn't quite hear it. My host mother, Keiko Watanabe, broke down into tears after all the colour had drained out of her face. She treated me like a daughter and had accepted me into the family. I was a Watanabe in all but name. There wasn't anything that she wouldn't do for me. She was truly a loving person. Takahiro Watanabe, her husband, was the same. He was one of the nicest people I had ever met. He, too, treated me like a daughter. My own parents had disowned me after I refuse to be the heir of their business. They were good parents, weren't they?

After seeing that, I ran again and refused to look back. Tears ran down my cheeks. I stopped when I reached the park, "Goodbye.." I whispered.

Suddenly, I heard a stomping sound and something raw. It was so inhuman. I swallowed and looked around in every direction, desperately trying to look for the source of the noise. Deciding to run, I continued to search. However, as I ran deeper into the park, I gave a piercing scream as my eyes laid up on a strange figure. That was the source of the stomping sound. It was a monster.

"Well, well, well..." the monster rasped, "What's a tasty a tasty soul like you doing out on a night like this? Oh, let me guess...you want to be eaten!" the monster tried to grab at me. I managed to jump back just in time. I landed on my behind.

"Ow...that hurt..." I groaned. I was surprised that I could still feel pain. I scrambled to my feet and ran. I felt like a coward, but it was all I could do. I had no weapons nor any special powers to help me defeat that thing. To my horror, it had followed me. Despite it's gigantic size, it was still quick.

"Don't run, little soul," it rasped in a mocking way, "I promise I'll be gentle."

I refused to stop, despite the monster's "promise". I wasn't going up be eaten by that thing. I ran and I ran, not daring to stop. Nevertheless, I was too slow. A huge hand grabbed my small body and lifted it up. I screamed a piercing scream and pounded at it's hand, trying in vain to escape.

"What are you," I gasped. The monster threw back it's head and laughed.

"You don't know? Well, I suppose it's good manners," he jeered, "Yes, I'm a hollow."

"A hollow? What the heck is that," I blurted.

"You're looking at it," the hollow howled with laughter. I continued to struggle, not wanting to be eaten.

The hollow slowly brought me to his mouth. I kicked and screamed, however, nobody could hear me. I was dead after all. Suddenly, there was a flash of something across the hollow's arm. My eyes widened as the hollow screamed out in pain. I fell to floor with a crash, realising that the arm had been cut off. I scrambled to my feet and spotted a man dressed in a black kimono-type-outfit with a white haori over the top. It had a number on the back in Japanese characters. I could just make it out to be the number thirteen. He had waist length white hair (just like mine) and he had a mature yet handsome face, "Stay back," he murmured to me.

He continued to face the hollow while I stood helplessly back. He had two swords that he expertly wielded, eventually bringing down the hollow. I stood with my mouth open, not knowing what to say.

"Who are you," I asked him. He turned to me. As he did so, I felt a strange feeling. I sank to my knees under the force.

"I am Captain Juushiro Ukitake," he replied, "May I have the honour of knowing your name?"

He helped me up, extending his hand to me. I took it and I stood up, "My name is Sara Riley," I replied nervously.

"Well, Miss Riley," he said gently, "Are you all right?"

"No, I'm dead," I replied numbly. He threw back his head and gave a hearty laugh.

"I know," he said, "And I'm here to send you to Soul Society."

I stared at him blankly, "To what now?"

"To Soul Society! It's where all wholes, like yourself, go," Captain Ukitake said kindly.

"What are wholes?"

"Good souls, souls who have not become hollows."

I turned to the spot where the hollow had disintegrated, "So that was a bad soul?"

"Yes." he suddenly turned his two swords into one and pointed the hilt at me. I jumped back, afraid of what he was going to do, "Don't worry, I'm going to perform a konsô on you and you'll "pass on". You'll then go to Soul Society. You'll have a better life there," He explained. I swallowed and nodded dumbly.

"I suppose I should thank you..."

"No, you don't have to; I don't do it for the thanks. But if I hadn't have, you'd have turned into a hollow."

"Well, that would have been unfortunate."

"Yes it would."

"Oh, well, all in a day's work, eh?"

"I suppose it is..." he mused. I sighed softly before I walked forward towards Captain Ukitake.

"Well, shouldn't you perform this...Konsô...?" I asked him. He nodded softly.

"Are you ready," he asked and I nodded, "Very well, here goes." he pressed the glowing hilt of his sword to my forehead.

And that's how I ended up in Soul Society.

In fact, it's all I remember. I don't quite remember the rest. I woke up, lying on the dusty ground wearing a light blue kimono and my feet were bare. I didn't have a chain attached to my chest and I could breathe properly. I had never felt so alive.

However, I now have no home, no job and no money. It's no way to live. But, apparently, it's the way a lot of people live in this place. If you're not somebody in Soul Society, you're definitely a nobody. I thought that I would have a better life once I arrived in Soul Society, it appears that I was wrong. But maybe, just maybe, things could get better.

Please do review!

I'm not sure, but I think this will be the only chapter in first person. I'm not a fan of using first person. But please do support me in my endeavours to make this the best story it can be!