Disclaimer: Not mine. Ever.

Chapter 1: First Meeting

Sometimes, you fall in love in the oddest circumstances. I did too... in one of the most common but also an odd situation. He was a man, twice as old as I am but he was the only one to capture all of my heart. Under the weather that I hated the most, that was when I met him and I immediately know that I can never forget him.

On the way home, the sky suddenly turned dark gray, with heavy clouds covering the sky around Karakura Town and rain fell down.

Ichigo was startled by the abrupt change in weather and frowning, she zips up her jacket and places her hood over her head. It would be better to walk home than to take a bus under such rain and have a big chance of getting in an accident, regardless if the driver's slow or fast.

She didn't like the rain. Ichigo Kurosaki had never been fond of the rain.

Because it would always make her feel sadness, emptiness, loneliness. That is what the rain symbolizes anyway, but she hated it nonetheless. Her long hair peered out the hood, and though everything else is blurred out under the billion drops, the vibrant color of her hair stood out.

With a weary sigh, she looked at the middle of the road and crossed it, her feet making loud sounds thanks to the pouring water. Then like a creature suddenly coming from another world, a speeding car made screeching sounds and headed for her direction.

She widened her eyes, turning to the headlights of the car in slow motion all the while making a run to the other side of the road.

But the car was too fast, and even with all the adrenaline boiling her body the road was so wide it wasn't going to be easy.

She would slip and die or stand and die. But with a slim chance of being able to make it, she continued advancing her feet forward, even if she couldn't see much under such a downpour.

Something encircled around her wrist and pulled her to the other end of the road, while the car slowed down after a near-crash and started to drive normally again, unaware that he was about to run over a young teenager on her way home from school.

Ichigo panted slowly, feeling the different kind of shock. Not the shock of panic, but rather, the shock of how fast it all was and how it was a miracle that she's alive.

But it was because she was saved, by someone. The hand holding her wrist is not an illusion, because she can still feel those strong fingers around her. All the pulses in her body are strong from the shock, and she tilted her head up to see the stranger who was her savior.

At such a close range, she could see the man's face and he was handsome. The face was matured, but overall handsome and enthralling. She was so taken in, that the color on her cheeks rose to a pink hue.

He was taller than her, and he looked calm as hell but his eyes showed slight worry for her. He let go of her wrist, asking in a smooth and naturally seductive voice, "Are you okay?"

"Uh... yes..." Ichigo murmured, her hood falling from her head and showing all her face to him.

The man was surprised in the inside. She seemed to be way younger than he is, possibly almost half his age, but with her sunset hair and her face that was shining like the sun even under the rain, he never met such a beauty like her before.

"You... saved my life..." she stammered, looking away and her eyes went down to her feet out of embarrassment. "I don't know how to thank you..."

The man shook his head, "You don't have to. It's natural for one to save a bystander in danger. Just, even in a weather like this... watch out for your own back." His chocolate eyes were so enchanting that even though she wasn't looking at them, she knew those orbs were staring deep into her soul that she was compelled to look at him again in the face.

"I want to repay you..." she murmured.

"You will, when we meet again. For now, I have to leave. But I assure you, we'll meet again, young lady." Addressing her in such a manner, she blushed harder as he walked away, taking one last glance at her before continuing to walk forward, farther and farther from her until she can only see his faint shadow.

She didn't want him to leave, but all the words were caught up in her throat and she stood there for a while, the rain finally settling after a few minutes and the sun peering out from the threatening clouds to give light to the city.

But she stayed there, knowing that the strong thumping of her chest wasn't a lie, nor was the fact that the image of the man with his pure brown hair and eyes were now forever imprinted into the deepest part of her brain.