Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or the characters within Tite Kubo does, I make no money from this writing. *sigh I wish I did though*

A/N This is my first time posting anything here. I'm extremly nervous. Actually it was my Mother *yes my mother* who got me to write this. She picked the fandom. Character A and Character B then gave me a song and said make it work *sigh* I tried.

Monday

Fear bit down hard as she willed her legs to move faster. Her heart pounding so hard it felt as if it would burst through her chest. She didn't dare turn around to see if it was still in pursuit. A deafening roar, a scream, no it was a mingling of the two sounds that echoed into the evening sky. People stopped to stare at the woman running through the quiet park as fast as she could wearing, what appeared to be professional clothing. Not one of them noticed the monstrosity that followed quickly behind her. Adrenaline fueled her body to move faster still.

"Seriously!" She screamed inside her own head. "I've only been here for two and a half days, after everything…" Her thoughts trailed off.

She rounded a corner, her bare feet slapping onto the sharp stones that lined the path. A single high heeled shoe gripped firmly in her hand. Ahead sitting on one of the many benches with his head down, elbows on his knees a young man looked up in her direction.

"Wait! Wait wait. Grandma?" The young woman asked perplexed. "Why only one shoe?"

The older woman sipped slowly on her tea as she looked at her granddaughter. The young woman across from her had been through so much recently. Her heart had been broken and the elder woman sympathized greatly. She had invited her granddaughter over as she was leaving tomorrow for College. She wanted to let her precious girl know that life was about living. She had always told her son stories and then her grandchildren. Most of which were ghostly tales of adventure. However there was one story she had never told. The young woman needed to hear this tale and reluctantly the old woman realized she needed to tell it.

"If you would stop interrupting me, then you would eventually learn why there was only one shoe." She smirked with a raised eyebrow.

The young woman blushed slightly at her own eagerness but nodded her head encouraging her grandmother to continue.

"Now where was I?" The elder said while pondering her cup of tea.

"Rounded a corner, one shoe, young man looking up." Her granddaughter filled in.

The old woman smiled.

Her fear and adrenaline riddled mind only took note of the young man because he did not look at her. He looked towards the monster that pursued her. As she ran past the bench what she saw startled her so immensely that her feet became entangle with one another. Her momentum carried her now falling body several feet as her flesh was scratched and torn by the harsh gravel of the path. The young man had simply stepped out of his body and now stood on the path in what appeared to be some kind of traditional clothing facing the monster with no fear. The blood that slowly dripped from her knees, shins and palms barely registered as she stared at the scene before her.

Calmly pulling his sword from it's sheath he leapt impossibly high into the air. His sword arced catching the reflection of a near by park light and sliced through the white bone of the monster's face as well as her other shoe that had been stabbed heel first into the beast's eye. The creature that had been chasing her for several blocks simply dissolved into ash before her eyes. The man gracefully landed on the stone path hardly stirring the jagged rocks at all. He sheathed his sword and walked over to his now limp body on the bench. He simply re-entered it. Standing from the bench he shoved his hands in his pockets unceremoniously and slouched as he began to walk away.

He stopped in his tracks as her last remaining shoe hit him squarely in the back of his head. Turning around he peered at the woman who had thrown the footwear rubbing a small lump that was beginning to form.

"What the hell!" The woman yelled still seated on the stone path.

He stared at her for a moment. Then quietly asked "Are you alright?"

"I uh I-I'm fine." She stammered then lowered her voice to barley a whisper and asked. "What are you?"

The question hung in the air unanswered. She looked him squarely in the eyes now taking note of his appearance. He was tall with broad shoulders. Dark eyes that in the dim light of evening she could not discern the color of. His long very red hair pulled tightly up. Red hair. Crimson red. A bandana was tied around his forehead. She found herself unable to look away. For several seconds they simply stared at each other.

The fact that she was bleeding, all be it from very superficial wounds suddenly seemed to register in the man's mind. "Your injured." He stated.

She looked down at the small drops of blood that decorated the stone path and sighed. "Not really." She slowly pushed herself from the ground to stand wincing slightly from the pressure that she put on her feet. She had run barefoot down the gravel path and the soles of her feet had been cut and mauled by the gravel. She corrected herself as quickly as she could not wanting to seem weak. "Thank you." She said her eyes downcast.

The man smirked a crooked grin and rubbed the back of his neck. "It's nothing. If you suppressed your reiatsu it would seem non-existent since you don't have all that much of it and they wouldn't bother you at all." He suggested.

"My what?" The young woman questioned.

The man sighed then looked off as if pondering what his answer should be. The woman moved to take a step but as she lifted her foot her eyes crinkled shut and she drew in a hiss of breath. After a second she looked down at her feet to see two small pools of blood. She had torn the appendages far more then she initially realized. Now that the adrenaline was wearing off she could feel the sting and gravel that clung to her skin. She breathed in deeply to ease the pain and noticed the coppery smell. She had to tough it out. It really was nothing, a few cuts to her soles. Once again she thanked the man bowing her head slightly and began to walk back in the direction she had come. She had to step off the path onto the grass as she had no shoes and the sharp stones were only ripping her sensitive skin even more. It was about four blocks to her apartment and she resigned herself to a long tortuous walk. A hand was placed on her shoulder and she startled at the contact.

"Here." The man said as he crouched down with his back to her.

"You're going to piggyback me home? Thank you but as you have just saved my life and I am suffering from nothing more then a few scratches it would be, well far to much to ask of you. She took another step and her foot came down on a stone hidden in the grass. She let out a moan of discomfort and looked once again at the man still crouched down. She hung her head and moved the three steps to rest against the strangers back.

She was carried on the man's back for perhaps ten minutes in silence before he spoke. "I'm surprised you're not asking a million questions."

"I asked you two questions and you answered neither so I assumed that you either cannot answer or choose not to, so asking more would be redundant."

The man laughed. She was grateful to him for stopping the monster and even more grateful for carrying her sorry ass home but it was hard not to bombard him with questions.

"You see spirits?" he asked.

"That building there, number six." She said while pointing.

He nodded and turned towards her building. At the front doors she reached inside a pocket on her skirt and pulled out her key. She slid gingerly off of her saviors back wincing slightly at the sting from the soles of her feet. She looked at the man whom she probably owed more to then just a thank you and asked. "May I have your name?"

He smiled a wicked smile and answered. " Abarai Renji."

"Thank you, thank you so much Abarai-san."

She turned to the door of her building and inserted the key when he asked. "What's your name?"

She smiled a wicked grin of her own and replied. "You answered the third question I asked, that was only your second." She turned and hobbled into the apartment building leaving the man who had saved her life to stare after her with his mouth hanging open.

She chose to take the elevator up the three flights rather then the stairs. She tenderly stepped down the hallway to her door and unlocked it. As the door closed behind her she leaned her back against the wood and slid down. Her injured feet resting to the side as she began to sob.

"Who is he? Why didn't she ask more questions, I mean she was just chased by a monster and saved by some random hero in a park. I would have asked." The girl stammered in excitement.

The old woman smiled softly. "More tea before I continue?"