Bleach Fan Fiction ❯ Vindication ❯ Vindication ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, Kubo Tite does.

 

Vindication

 

Looking past the steel bars that surrounded the rooftop of Karakura High School, Kurisaki Ichigo stood eating the lunch his sister Yuza had made for him that morning, his gaze scanning over the courtyard below. The familiar uniforms of his various classmates scattered in various patches upon the lawn. If he could see their faces, he could possibly place a name with the person inhabiting each uniform, but most likely not. He wasn't one to pay much attention to small details, the handful of people he did care to associate with were easily spotted from his place on the rooftop.

 

One would think it was the bright orange hair of Inoue Orihime that enabled him to find the small group of teenage girls on the lawn, her hair being as rare and out of place as his among the rest of their classmates. In fact it was the petite female who sat next to Orihime and tended to blend in with the rest of her classmates that drew his notice, knowing for a fact that Kuchiki Rukia was far from an ordinary schoolgirl.

 

As far away from her as he stood, he could still see how her nose wrinkled up and her brows furrowed in frustration as she attempted to open the small package of potato chips he had snagged for her lunch while Yuza had been busy searching for yet another dress she had found missing from her closet. A young spiky haired girl named Tatsuki finally reached across Orihime and grabbed the package from Rukia, opening the chips for the baffled girl before handing it back. Ichigo watched as the raven haired girl dug into the chips with lightening speed, waiting to see if she would attempt to open the juice box next. Watching her try to open one of those always amused him.

 

“You know what everyone is saying about the two of you? You're hiding the truth, right?”

 

Turning to flash a look of irritation at the constant questions Asano Keigo was firing at him. “I don't care what everyone says, it's not true.” He forced himself to ignore the group of girls he had been watching and go back to eating his own lunch.

 

“You're always with her, Ichigo. I honestly think the two of you are having some illicit affair you are hiding from everyone.” Kojima Mizuiro commented as he tossed a tempura shrimp in his mouth. “There is this one rumor about the two of you going at it in the janitor's closet.”

 

“Going at what in the janitor's closet? That's just stupid. Ru---Kuchiki-san and I barely know each other. Who the hell is spouting that shit?” Ichigo growled pinning the shorter boy with a glower meant to silence him quick. `Damn it, someone probably saw us come outta the closet when she hid my body there last week.'

 

“I don't know. It's just a rumor, Ichigo.” Mizuiro held his hands in front of his face, warding himself from an attack from the temperamental red-head.

 

“Yeah, it's not like he started this one.” Keigo added.

 

“This one?” Turning his accusing gaze to Keigo before realizing that Mizuiro had been one starting rumors, he quickly turned back to confront his friend, only to find him running toward the door as fast as he could with Keigo close on his heels. `Some friends they are.' He thought to himself as he walked back to the edge of the roof, quickly spotting the small group of girls below. `They don't know the half of it.'

 

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Rukia had been waiting for this day for weeks, it had taken a long time to plan for it and instead of rushing home before the onslaught of Kurasaki's arrived, she found herself in front of Urahara's Shoppe. Jinta was in front of the store, kicking his soccer ball at Ururu trying to get the girl to cry, Rukia ignored the two of them, too excited to stop and say anything to either of them. Rushing inside to find Tessai behind the counter, the large man turned to see who had entered the store. She watched as his face quickly fell when he realized it was only her “Is it here?”

 

He wouldn't look her in the eye, which should have been her first clue that something was wrong. But just in case he hadn't heard her the first time, she asked again. “Did it get here yet? It should be here today.”

 

Taking a deep breath, he looked her in the eye. “No, it's not here.”

 

“Oh,” she tried to keep the disappointment from invading her voice, but knew the quiver of dismay flowed from her. “Do you think I will get it tomorrow?”

 

“I don't think so, Miss Kuchiki. Apparently they are sold out and we were unable to get it for you.”

 

“I ordered it over a month ago, though. They weren't sold out then.” Her disappointment slowly churned in the pit of her stomach, turning into something bordering on irritation. “Where is Urahara? They can't be sold out!”

 

“We have Yuki the Duck and Gringo the Panda if you want either of them. You wouldn`t even have to wait for them, they are in the back.” He indicated back to the storeroom. “I can get you a good deal on them.”

 

“Chappy! I didn't want Yuki or Gringo, I wanted Chappy! The bunny! I didn't stea---borrow all that money from Ichigo without him knowing for just a duck. I wanted the bunny!” Rukia stormed to the door, turning back before she left the store. “Tell Urahara that I want my Chappy the Rabbit plushie as soon as it is restocked. I had to go through a lot to get that money and I`ve wanted that plushie for awhile.”

 

“But that's just the problem Miss Kuchiki, they just aren't sold-” The beep of Rukia's cell phone interrupted their conversation. Reaching into her pocket to retrieve the contraption that served as a hollow radar, Rukia opened it as she indicated to the salesman to continue with a wave of her hand. “They aren't just sold out, they've been discontinued.”

 

Paralyzed by his words, the only noise was the children playing in the yard as it filtered in through the windows before the clatter of the cell phone hit the floor. Rukia stood there gaping, her mouth opening and closing several times before she finally found her voice to quietly say. “I've got to find Ichigo and get rid of this hallow. I want to talk to Urahara later though, make sure he'll be here tonight.”

 

Heading out in the direction the cell phone was indicating; she hoped she'd be able to find Ichigo on the way before running into the hollow. Racing past the duo still arguing in the yard, Rukia took a right as she hit the road. The hollow was only about six blocks away from Urahara's and she didn't want to backtrack to find the shinigami. Luckily Ichigo had the tendency to be in the middle of whatever the hollows were after anyway, well maybe that wasn't lucky…it would just be best if it happened now.

 

Two blocks from her destination, Rukia breathed a sigh of relief as Ichigo's body came into view. She knew from the fact that he was tightly holding a lion plushie in his arms; that Ichigo had became a shinigami already by replacing his soul with the modified soul that they had placed in the plushie. Watching as the modified soul, Kon, ran away from the direction the cell phone was indicating, hot on the heels of Ichigo's two younger sisters as he took them to safety. For some reason hollows seemed to be attracted to people with an abundance of spiritual power, Ichigo's sister Karin fit the qualification and was a prime target on occasion. She'd have to remember to thank Kon later; maybe give him the manga that had the big breasted females that he continually stole from her, at least they could count on him for something when danger hit.

 

The last two blocks passed without incident, bringing her into a park not far from the Kurosaki's house. Spotting the substitute shinigami fighting a rather large hollow near an object she had heard referred to as a swing set; she walked over to the contraption and stood in the seat grasping the metal chains tightly to balance herself as she watched Ichigo work. For someone who had only been a shinigami for a month and a half, it always amazed her how quickly he had picked up everything. To be truthful, the only reason she felt she needed to be there is if something out of the ordinary happened that he couldn't handle on his own and to watch him work. With the flowing black shinigami robes and the natural ease he had wielding Zanpakutou, she had found herself admiring him as he worked these past couple of weeks yet still wondered why none of her power was returning to her after all this time on earth.

 

“Took you long enough.” A voice said next to her, making her tumble from her stance on the swing into the dirt beneath her feet.

 

Feeling her face flame as she realized she hadn't been paying attention to Ichigo fight, only the fluidity of his movements. He had beaten the hollow without her even noticing. “Looked like you didn't need any help with that one anyway.” She scoffed, dusting off her school uniform as she clamored to her feet. “Besides, I was busy doing something when the call came in.”

 

Ichigo raised a brow at her comment before sarcastically commenting, “Yes, you have so many places you need to be.” Sliding his Zanpakutou back in the scabbard, he scowled slightly as he waited for her to finish straightening her uniform. “You're the same idiot who thought she would attend school, just to keep an eye on me.”

 

Flashing him one of her fakest smiles, knowing full well he knew it was and that he hated it, “I have lots of places I can go; you know that.” With that said, she attempted to make a grand exit by walking away from the shinigami without looking back. She could feel his glare as she walked away, straightening her back as she stood a little taller, proud to have gotten the last word in that conversation.

 

“You live in my closet, Rukia. You have nowhere to go.”

 

`Damn, I was hoping he would forget that.' Feeling the wind die in her sails, she visibly slumped in defeat as she paused in her walk, “I had to pick up something at Urahara's Shop. They didn't have what I needed though.”

 

“Last time you picked up something from him we ended up with Kon. What else could you possibly need to get from him?”

 

“Ummm…I…neededtogetabunny.” She mumbled as she walked away from him again.

 

“What? Tell me you didn't just say you needed to get a bunny.”

 

Grabbing her upper arm loosely, he forced her to turn around and face him. Sighing, she answered with a straight face, “I didn't just say I needed to get a bunny.”

 

“You did.”

 

“I couldn't help it. It was so cute and I wanted it so badly.”

 

He sighed as he ran a hand through his spiky hair, “A bunny, you needed a bunny. Where exactly are you getting the money for this bunny?”

 

“There is no bunny.”

 

“So you got your money back…or rather my money cause I know you don't have any of your own, you just steal mine.”

 

“No, the call for the hollow came in before I could talk to Urahara about getting a replacement for the plushie.”

 

Ichigo buried his face in his hands, “That Chappy the Rabbit plushie; wasn't it? When I told you to get your own money for that thing, I didn't mean steal my money, Rukia.”

 

“I didn't steal anything, only borrowed.”

 

“Whatever; lets just go get my body back from Kon before he does any damage, then we can go get the money back from Urahara.”

 

:::::::::::::::::::::::

 

“What do you mean, no!”

 

“We don't do refunds, only exchanges.”

 

“She never even got what she ordered, Urahara.” Ichigo growled, digging his nails into his hands in frustration. “How can you possibly tell us you won't refund the money? What kinda shady business are you running here?”

 

“She can order something else.” the laid-back shopkeeper replied, tossing a catalogue at the pair arguing with him.

 

Rukia began to flip through the pages, seemingly content with the idea of choosing something else to replace the sold out merchandise. Closing his eyes, Ichigo counted to five before he felt capable of dealing with Urahara again. “I just want my money back, we don't need anything else.”

 

“There aren't any bunnies.”

 

“Bunnies…is that all you think about?” he snarled, irritated by this entire situation.

 

“No. Bunnies aren't all I think about.” She said flatly, leveling him with one of her death glares as she turned the magazine to show him what she was so worried about. “There are no bunnies in here. How can I get bunnies if there aren't any?”

 

“Ah yes, the Chappy the Rabbit fiasco.” Urahara laughed. “Apparently they have pulled all of the merchandise because there was a lawsuit brought up because several children have been having nightmares about that character.”

 

Ichigo's jaw dropped to the floor in disbelief. 'You have got to be kidding me.'

 

“Bring me one of the other plushies.” Rukia said quietly. Urahara complied with the request, walking into the back of the storeroom.

 

“You aren't getting one of the other…” Ichigo trailed off as Rukia turned to face him, fierce determination in her gaze. She was pissed, that much he could tell just by the look in her eyes. He knew from experience not to mess with her when she was furious, especially if her precious bunnies were involved.

 

The click of Urahara's wooden sandals on the floor announced his return, they both turned to face him as he tossed a Yuki the duck plushie at Rukia. Immediately turning it over to look at the tags on it before handing it back to Urahara, she gave a little smile.

 

“Made in Japan,” she said quietly, before storming out the door of the shop.

 

Ichigo could only stare after her, wondering just what she would drag him into this time.

 

“She likes her bunnies, eh?”

 

“You have no idea,” Ichigo replied to the shopkeeper.

 

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

 

`There's a better chance of Dad seeing a ghost then you getting the president to talk to you.' Staring at the unbearable evil across from her as Ichigo's voice echoed through her head, she vowed to prove him wrong. She had done her homework for this one, and after getting Ichigo to show her how to use the `internet', Rukia had found the information she needed. Apparently Japan was a country, not just any country either. She was living in Japan; that had come as quite a surprise. After weeding through more irrelevant information than she ever imagined she would find, she finally found that the headquarters of `The Secret Friends Toy Company' was located in a town called Tokyo.

 

Apparently she lived in Tokyo as well.

 

From where she stood the ominous vibes the building emitted were permeating her makeshift body, there was too much sin radiating from the walls within. `I will not fail. This mission is too important for me to do anything except succeed. Chappy the Rabbit must be released from these peoples grasp.'

 

Rukia tucked her hair behind her ears to get it out of her face, but as usual one piece refused to stay in place by sliding between her eyes again. `This better work, I even wore all black tonight,` determined to take every basic shinigami training lesson and bring it to life for this one quest; to her, Chappy the Rabbit was that important.

 

Taking a deep breath, Rukia sprinted across the six lanes of traffic, dodging cars as she ran. Plastering herself against the clammy brick of the office building as she reached her destination, she ran a hand through her dark hair again, a little rattled at the sounds erupting around her. `What is all that racket? People drive their cars a lot different here in the city then they do where Ichigo lives. They don't make this much noise there.'

 

Ignoring the horns and yelling from the automobiles which obviously had nothing to do with her, Rukia watched as crowds of people entered a door to the building. `That must be the entrance. I wonder what floor the company is on.' Attempting to blend in with the swarms of people entering the building, she followed a group of girls that each looked to be approximately twelve years old; with her petite stature they would conceal her entry.

 

`I must not be used to this body yet, its reaction to negative spiritual energy is much stronger then I realized.' She rubbed her arms as she entered the building, a menacing blast of cold energy giving her goose bumps in reaction. The chill it caused in her body was almost overwhelming, but determined to find the president's office she made her way to the nearest corner where she thought she would go unobserved.

 

`If I was the president of Chappy the Rabbit where would I be?' Thinking about the outside of the sinister building she couldn't help imagining that if she was in charge of Chappy, she would definitely be on the very top floor to make her feel on top of the world. Scanning the lobby, she searched out a staircase knowing that is exactly where the president would be, someone as malicious as him would want to feel higher than everyone else.

 

Though she had no idea how many flights of stairs she would have to take, she refused to take the elevator. For some reason she never felt very safe in those contraptions, and she would do anything to avoid ever having to get in one. `I shouldn't be in this body much longer anyway, won't be a hard goal to achieve.'

 

After forty-two floors, she finally found herself at the top of the stairs and completely out of breath. Yanking open the steel door, she was assaulted with a gust of the heinous aura of evil. Rubbing her forearms quickly to warm herself from the cold blast, she entered the non-descript hallway and headed in the only direction offered to her.

 

“Can I help you?”

 

Surprised at the sudden appearance of the woman sitting at the desk with a large icon that said `The Secret Friends Toy Company' on the wall behind her, it took Rukia a moment to realize the woman was talking to her. “Um, is the president here?”

 

“Do you have an appointment?”

 

`An appointment? She must know I am here about Chappy; she's probably helping him keep to himself. This place is crawling with that cold evil aura. '

 

“Excuse me, Miss? Do you have an appointment?”

 

“No.”

 

“I'm sorry; you can't go in without an appointment.”

 

`Most definitely evil.' She thought as she turned around and headed the way that she came.

 

“Miss? The elevator is right here.”

 

“No thanks, I try not to take them.” Rukia answered, ignoring the look of surprise the woman gave her, too absorbed in planning how to get in the office behind the desk.

 

Heading back down the hallway toward the stairs, she opened the door and let it close as she remained in the hallway. Pressing her back against the wall, she slowly made her way back down the hallway toward the woman at the desk. Making sure to stop out of the woman's sight, Rukia prepared to wait for however long it took for her to get a clear path to the office, without the interruption of the secretary. `She's like a watch dog, there's no way I'm getting through.'

 

Forty five minutes later, her legs numb and tired from standing in one place without moving for so long and shivering from the malevolent aura, Rukia watched the woman stand up and open the door to the office.

 

“Mr. Yakamato, I am heading home for the evening. Don't forget you have that fundraiser tonight, your wife is expecting you home at six in order to get dressed.”

 

“Another damned fundraiser? Do they think I'm made of money?” a voice growled from inside the office. “All I have been asked for the last month is why I pulled that damned rabbit from the line up. I can't believe people believe that there is a lawsuit where kids are afraid of it.”

 

“There's not?”

 

“Hell no, imagine the reaction if they found out it's just because the president hates bunnies. I would have never let the last collection get out had I known it included a rabbit. Instead I bit my tongue and waited a year before yanking it off the shelf. In the mean time I made myself happy by ripping up one of those stupid Chappy plushies every couple of weeks.”

 

Clenching her hands into tight fists, it took every ounce of restraint she owned to prevent herself from attacking the man right then and there. `Who could ever hate bunnies? I've never heard of such evil!'

 

“On your way down, let maintenance know it's freezing up here. I can't stand the cold like this.”

 

“Yes, I will stop and let them know the air conditioning is set too low for you.”

 

`It's not cold; it's the feeling of evil emitting from his office! Don't they know anything?'

 

The secretary pulled her purse from the lower left desk drawer before walking to the elevator and pushing the down button. Rukia rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet in anticipation of the elevator's arrival; once it removed the lady she was home free.

 

The gentle `ping' that indicated the approaching contraption just before the doors opened made Rukia smile. She waited a few seconds until she heard the doors close again and the elevator begin its descent before taking off at a sprint for the office door.

Crashing into the door with her shoulder, it hit the wall with a `bang' that made a man who appeared nearly as old as and if possible was even shorter than her, look up in surprise from his desk. Storming into the office, she made her way to his desk in less than five strides.

 

“Who are you?” he asked; his eyes wide with alarm as he clumsily tried to scramble out of his chair.

 

Giving him a smirk, Rukia placed her hands on his desk and glared at him. “I have come to stop this malicious act. Your nefarious deeds will never hurt anyone again. I have come to free Chappy!'”

 

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

 

“What manga did you get those words from?”

 

That earned him a glare from Rukia as they walked down the front stairs of the police station. He probably wouldn't have found the situation as amusing as he did if it had cost of more than the price of twenty Chappy the Rabbit plushies to bail her out of jail. Luckily, Mr. Yakamoto had dropped the charges against Rukia and all Ichigo had to do was take her home.

 

“Seriously stupid, what were you thinking breaking into his office and tying him up? Did you really think that would bring Chappy back?”

“He is evil, Ichigo. I could feel his spiritual strength the whole time I was in that building.”

 

“It was probably the air conditioning, Rukia. He didn't even press charges `cause he thought you looked like a `sweet girl'. If anyone is evil, it's you. He never tied you up.”

 

She looked away, refusing to believe whatever he said to her. He swore he heard her mumble something along the lines of, `I was locked in a cage and don't have Chappy, he's evil.' That was the last he heard for the rest of the walk home, she refused to talk to him.

 

Sneaking her in the house wasn't as difficult this late at night since everyone was already in their rooms for the evening or, in the case of his dad, carrying on a conversation with the picture of his mom in the kitchen. Pushing her up the stairs as fast as he could, they made it to his room before his dad even reacted to any noise.

 

“Go to bed, Rukia. It's been a long day and we still have school tomorrow.” He commented, collapsing on his bed out of exhaustion. Laying his head on the pillow he watched as she ignored him, but opened the closet door to her `room'.

 

A small gasp of surprise spilled from her mouth as she started to climb into her bed but found herself unable to do so. “Oh! Oh! Oh!” She shrieked, before Ichigo leapt from his bed to cover her mouth.

 

“Shh...you're gonna bring everyone running! I don't want to explain why there is a girl living in my closet to my family, so be quiet.”

 

She nodded against his hand, before he released her. “Where…where did you get all this Ichigo?”

 

“Urahara said he didn't have any plushies, he never said anything about not having any bunnies.” He watched as she brushed a pair of baby blue Chappy the Rabbit pajama's against her cheek before picking up a Chappy the Rabbit notebook and pencils. “They were all on clearance since they're discontinued, so I got as much as I could. If you had waited around the other day you would have found this out.”

 

He watched as Rukia dug through the pile of merchandise before turning around and placing a small Chappy the Rabbit figurine in his hands. Surprised by her actions, he found himself speechless when she smiled at him and climbed into the closet before closing the door behind her. It had been a genuine smile, not one of the fake ones she always gave everyone at school and for some reason it had caught him off guard.

 

Looking at the little figurine in his hand, he rolled his eyes thinking about the enigma in the closet. Walking back to his bed, he sank down to the mattress before rolling back onto his pillow. Placing the figurine on the side table next to his bed, he realized it was the first time Rukia had ever given him something before. He wasn't quite sure what it meant, but he knew one thing for sure.

 

Rukia loved her bunnies.