hello every one and welcome to my first story. as it is my first story not really sure what to put here but enjoy the story and i think i'm suppose to say that i don't own the rights to RWBY or to Bleach, but do i really have to say that i mean they are both very established so people should know who actually has the rights but what ever please enjoy the story and respond to the comments at the end.

Chapter 1: out of place

As I walk down the street I just couldn't stop feeling out of place, but then again I have been feeling out of place since I first got here in what the people here call the "Soul Society". After all everything here looks like it is straight out of one of those old Samurai or feudal Japan movies, but then here I was not even Japanese and I was dressed in my jeans, a T-shirt, sneakers, and I had my zip-up hoddie. I am also taller than most of the people here, as most seem to be 5' to 5'2" where I am a solid 6' to 6'1", and my face is that of my Irish ancestors. Though at least I didn't have the bright red hair that some of my cousins had and instead I have more of a dirty blonde color and I always try to keep it short given how unruly it can be. Still I was hoping that the feeling would go away eventually, but nope it is still there. At least people don't stare at me constantly anymore because that just always made me feel awkward.

Well I can only hope it will just take more time, but time is a funny thing here because I don't know exactly how long it has been. Nope, I probably shouldn't think about that because every time I do it just makes my head hurt and right now I need to look for a job. After all guys got to eat, but apparently that is something strange here. Like people still do eat but they do it as more of a social thing rather than needing it, except for a few people, and I don't even want to try to wrap my mind around that one right now. So I look around at the different building to see if anyone needs something repaired, an extra set of hands to do house work or muscle to help protect their shop. Now I am no master of martial arts but I have enough strength and skill to at least beat up most of the residence of these "Rukon Districts" as they call them.

Then as I was looking around I see something interesting. A girl that seemed just as out of placed as I was and looked equally as lost when I first got here and man was she cute. She wasn't that tall about 5'2" so was about on par in terms of height with the rest of town, but her outfit was another matter entirely. She was dressed in a gothic kind of style, at least to me not sure if that is what you would call it, and was dressed in a black blouse, a black waist cincher with red lacing, a skirt with red trimmings and on a belt was this odd rose looking thing, but the most noticeable was thing was her red cloak that was held in place with cross pins on her shoulders. Judging by her face she looked young, remember though time is a funny thing here I mean some of the kids here clam to be in their thirties, and she had black hair with a bit of a red tint and, interesting enough, silver eyes.

She was looking around completely lost by the look of it and I remembered that this is how I must have looked like when I first came here. Well can't leave her like that and don't want one of the wierdos around here that are giving her bad looks to approach her first. So I walk up to her and try to get her attention. "Hey Red you lost or something."

She turned and glared at me for a sec, apparently she doesn't like to be called that but her glare was more cute than intimidating, then her face softened a little as apparently I wasn't who she was expecting. Now she was fidgeting slightly and looked nervous. I guess she is not sure about talking to me. "Well yeah I kind of have no idea where I am." And she laughs nervously.

Yep exactly like when I first got here, but I hope she at least knows that she is dead because I really don't want to break the news to her. "Well what is the last thing you remember?"

She thinks about it for a minute, "I remember fighting to save one of my friends from a woman named Cinder but than some pain in my chest and head and a bright white light. Then I just woke up here in this strange town."

Well fuck guess she hasn't put the pieces together yet and it sounds like it was one hell of a way to go, but who knows maybe it will click if I just give it time. Yeah who am I kidding I just really don't want to be the one to tell her. "Who knows maybe it will come to you." I rub the back of my head "Oh yeah by the way my name is Brendan McCarthy and you are?"

"I'm Ruby Rose nice to meet you." she extends her hand to shake which I take.

"Like wise." I think about how to phrase the next sentence without sounding like some sketchy man with a white van. "Well since you don't know where you are you and you will most likely need a place to stay would you like to stay at my house." Yep that didn't sound creepy at all. Curse my lack of a way with words.

However, it looks like it didn't bother her at all. "Thanks I would appreciate it after all I have been feeling tired ever since I woke up here." Yeah dying is quite the energy sapping ordeal.

"Sure just follow me and I hope you don't mind but I don't exactly live alone. So I'm not sure if they will let you sleep during the day." I rubbed the back of my head again. After all they are rather rambunctious which is another reason I try to find work so that I can take a break from those monsters of endless energy.

She giggles at this and smiles "Yeah I have a friend like that and she can be a bit of a hand full, but I think I will be ok."

As she looks at me expectantly I just sigh and smile back "ok fine, but I warned you don't come crying to me when you can't stand them anymore." And start walking in the direction of my house as she skips into pace with me and we begin the walk back. I just hope they don't nearly kill her again with their boundless energy, she probably has been through enough for one day. At least the weirdos stopped staring at her, but now it seemed like it was some of the women that were staring at her, weird.

Needless to say the look of disappointment was not well hidden on Ruby's face as we approached the building I referred to as my home. To get here we moved down through the many districts and while I am never quite sure which one we are in I'm pretty sure the house is somewhere between district 50 and 40. So it looks pretty run down, but the thing is that it looked a lot worse before I started to work on because at least now the roof hardly leaked and there were only a few drafts on the second floor. Though I sighed because it still looked really bad and there was still so much work to do. Well better get this over with. "Well shall we go in." I gestured for her to approach first.

She turned to me and smiled nervously as I think she is thinking that maybe it wasn't such a great idea. "Sure lead the way" as she laughed which was just as nervous as her smile.

I sighed again hoping to have her go first, but might as well get this over with. We walked up to the front door which I carefully opened so as to not accidently break it again because I didn't want to have to fix it right now. As we walked in and took off our shoes I stepped a little off to the side as I called out. "Hey guys I'm home!" than there was a thunder that started to approach us that made Ruby look even more nervous.

Than the thunder rounded the corner and came straight at me. "Waitwaitwaitwaitwait! We have a guest so if you all can calm down for a sec-ARGH!" I pleaded as I was tackled to the ground by a bunch of little monsters that all exclaimed with glee "BIG BROTHER!"

As I laid there being hugged and pulled in every direction and asked to play with all of them. Then another child walked up but she looked much older than the rest that were currently trying to rip me limb from limb. "Come on guys you should listen to Big brother and I would like to talk to him and our Guest so go play and I'm sure that once we are done talking he will play with all of you." She said in a surprisingly motherly tone even though she looked to be a few years younger than Ruby.

As the children complied with slight disappointment on their faces that quickly faded as they all ran down the hall to a different part of the house. I let out a sigh of relief "Thanks for the save Sena"

But she just glared at me for a sec before turning to Ruby and bowed "Sorry for the unsightly welcome and I hope that it did not give you a bad impression of them because they are actually a good bunch of kids."

Ruby started waving her hands in front of her "No no no no. Its fine they did seem nice." She said but was clearly was rattled a little by the sudden commotion given her nervous smile but she just pushed on through it. "So my name is Ruby Rose nice to meet you." She said as she extended her hand.

Sena at first looked at the extended hand with some confusion but then realized that she was asking for a handshake. So as she took the hand she replied "It is very nice to meet you Ms. Rose I am Sena the oldest of the children of the orphanage, but may I ask what it is that you are doing here in our home with our brother that is supposed to be working?" she glared at me with that last comment.

I rubbed the back of my head nervously and replied for both of us "Well I was looking for a job then I ran into Ruby who looked a bit lost so I went to help her and as it turns out she had just got here so I was thinking that maybe she could stay here."

Sena just sighed at this and said "Well you must be tired Ms. Rose so if you will follow me I can take you to a room to rest." Motioning for her to follow then looked at me "We will have to talk later but for now I believe you have some children to play with." Well thanks for throwing me under the bus I think and as they walk down the hall Ruby looked back at me with a look of sympathy and I could only think to myself that I just should have found some work to do.

The next day I awoke completely exhausted from the previous day's activities which consisted of endless piggyback rides, tag, hide and seek and some rough housing with some of the boys. I stretched as I walked into what I have figured out was the kitchen and started making breakfast for myself and a few of the kids that actually got hungry once every few days. Though not all of the kids got hungry which I thought was weird but they did enjoy eating with everyone else.

As I was cooking I heard foot steps behind me so I turned expecting it to be Mashiro, the youngest of all the children that always seemed to wake up first, only to see a still sleepy Ruby in a Kimono Sena must have lent her and when she saw me she smiled. "So you're making breakfast?"

I nodded and said "Yeah and it's almost done so go ahead and take a seat." She nods back and walks over to sit on the floor at the table and rests her head on it apparently still sleepy while I'm wondering why she is awake if she is still sleepy. Until I hear a loud rumbling noise coming from the girls' direction. I try stifling my laughter as she starts to blush heavily as she tries to glare at me again which makes it more difficult not to laugh. Then while I'm still trying, and failing, to stifle my laughter I finish breakfast for me and Ruby, and for breakfast I made the closest thing to pancakes I could do with some rice and some toast and eggs with a cup of milk to drink. Though there wasn't much to eat I wanted to at least have her first meal here to be a good one.

We sat there in silence as we ate for a while though the silence was actually quite comfortable. Until the actual Mashiro and she rubbed her eyes still heavy with sleep, then I walked up to her patted her head and told here to go take a seat while I got her breakfast. She complied and took a seat next to mine and sleepily stared at Ruby not sure what to make of the new person of the house. Needless to say Ruby was a little bit nervous under the girls stares but the staring stopped once I returned with food as Mashiro now shifted her attention to the food she slowly started to eat. Ruby relaxed a bit and finished her food while I was already done and preparing food for the other kids as some of them would be hungry and the rest wouldn't want to feel left out.

After the kids started to file in I went to get dressed to go to work if I could find any. Ruby decided that she wanted to help given that we were letting her stay here so she went to get changed as well. I came back to find that the children were eating and chatting happily so I said my good byes and was ready to walk out the down when someone shouted at me "Wait let me come with you." I turned to see Ruby in her outfit from yesterday although now she looks like she put it on in a hurry.

I snickered a little at the way she looked and sighed a little bit before I say "Fine but I expect you to work with me on whatever job I find." She brightens at that and hurriedly puts on her shoes as I walk outside to wait for her.

Once outside we start waking back in the direction we came yesterday. As we walk Ruby skips alongside me like she knows something good is gonna happen. I just hope that she isn't hoping to see her family or friends because you almost never find them in the soul society unless they come here with you and I just hope it won't hurt her too much.

We find work mostly fixing some damaged flooring or doors as they were too old and are in need of repair. While working I notice that Ruby is pretty strong despite having such a small frame. As we worked I noticed that Ruby talking with some of the people that lived or worked in the area. Everything is fine until after one conversation I notice her face get dark for just a sec. I sigh as this clearly means that she has started to piece it together what it is the Soul Society really is and as much as I dislike the thought I know that I'm going to have to tell her because I would like it if she can get over this as fast as possible and that can only happen if someone else confirms her worries of what this world is. Man I just really wish it didn't have to be me.

After we finish putting in the last floorboard in a house somewhere in district 20 to 30 we got paid and started heading home. On the way back Ruby is really quite probably wondering how to bring the topic up and/or is trying to put the final pieces together. Either way we don't talk even as we walk through the doors of the house. All of the children are asleep at this point except Sena who after seeing Rubies face knows that we are about to have a serious talk so she goes and fixes some tea and milk as I turn to Ruby I say "Hey Ruby I think that there is something that I need to talk to you about." as I gesture for her to take a seat in the dining room which she just nods as she looks at me with probably the most serious look that I have had since we met.

As we sit I also start to wonder how to bring up the topic without being to blunt, but the silence between us just keeps growing more and more awkward. I sigh and was about to just blurt it out when Sena walks back in with the drinks. She sets it down and takes a place at the table and I'm hoping that she would take over for me because she has more experience with this kind of thing, but this is something that I need to do after all it seems like Ruby trusts me the most. What that amounts to I don't know but here we go "Ruby I asked you before about the last thing you remember, but could you describe what lead up to that."

She looked confused but decided to go along with it "Well me and my friend Weiss got a call from another friend of mine Jaune who told us that another friend of ours Pyrrha was fighting someone she couldn't take on alone so we rushed over there. When we got there this HUGE dragon Grimm that was circling above but we couldn't deal with him." Wait did she just say dragon and what the heck is a Grimm. Wait now is not the time for that I can always ask later, right now I need to know more about her death so that I can help her come to grips with it. Then Ruby continued "So I had Weiss set up glyphs that would let me run up the tower and then I ran as fast as I could." More things to ask about later. "After I reached the top a woman named Cinder had just shot my friend Pyrrha in the ankle making it so she could run and was walking up to her to kill her." Her face was now twisting as she told the story with more intensity "So I dashed forward with my Crescent Rose drawn ready to attack, but Cinder saw me coming and made the ground under me explode. As I rolled to avoid most of the blast Pyrrha used her semblance to make some of the tower fly at Cinder forcing her back, but Cinder simply caused another explosion under Pyrrha and she was knocked off the tower. She then turned toward me as I got my weapon back and I charged at her." She now was on the verge of tears "Everything that happened next is a bit of a blur, but it ended with my weapon broken and me on the floor with Cinder standing over me looking a bit beaten up herself. Then she said as a spear formed in her hand 'You might be lonely at first but don't worry ill make sure that your friends are the first to…'" Ruby couldn't finish because she couldn't hold back the tears anymore.

So I instinctively hurried to bring her into a comforting hug and she cried into me. As I patted her head as she cried I whispered "It's ok that time is past we all had to come to this point, but know that you are not alone and that you don't have to worry anymore. I'm sure your friends made it out ok and maybe one day they will join us here but let's hope it isn't for a long time."

As I finish her sobbing slows to a halt, but then she looks up at me confused "What do you mean join us that white light is what teleported me here. I don't even know how it happened myself so how would they know how to use it?"

I go "Huh?"

She goes "Huh?"

Oh crap she thinks that she teleported here and as much as I would like that to be true she needs to know what actually is so she can start moving on. So I say "Well it's just that this isn't a place that you can teleport to. In fact, there is only one way to get here and that is to die."

She processes this for a moment, but doesn't look like it has really sunk in "what do you mean that the only way to get here is to die?"

"Well I mean that you, me, Sena and everyone here has died and that this is the afterlife, but that's ok becau-OW!" I wasn't able to finish my sentence because Ruby shoved me away a good two feet.

"YOU"RE LYING IM NOT DEAD I CAN'T BE DEAD BECAUSE I HAD SO MUCH TO DO! I WAS GONNA BE A HUNTERESS AND SAVE PEOPLE TO BE A HERO LIKE IN THOSE STORIES!" The tears have started up a new now falling even harder.

I get up and try moving toward her to try and comfort her again while saying "It's the truth but it's not a bad thing and I think that-" I wasn't able to finish my sentence again, this time though it is because she just doesn't want to listen and shouts over me.

"NO YOU HAVE TO BE LYING! YOU HAVE TO BE!" with that said she runs up the stairs and into her room that we prepared for her. Audible sobs can be heard from down stairs.

I was about to run after her to try and ease this transition as much as possible, but Sena grabs my arm shaking her head to tell me not to go after her. So I instead ask "Did I do the right thing? Could she have continued living here without ever having to figure out what really happened to her? Was it right to break her out of her shell of ignorance?"

Sena again shakes her head "Probably not but who knows maybe she could have, but now she knows the true and will just have to come around to accepting it and that will take time like it has for many before her." With that Sena walks away to a room she shares with a few of the youngest kids.

I hope she can. I really hope she can. Is all I can think as I walk to my room to get what I can of sleep to be ready for the day tomorrow. Though I know that I'm not gonna be able to get much so this is probably gonna be a long night.

END chapter 1

thank you for reading and i would like to ask everyone to help improve it since this is my first story. so tell me what you liked about it tell me what you didn't and advice for improvements. also was think of adding in a romance but can't quite decide on who it should be with so i have started a poll on my page so please go vote for who my OC should date. also please constructive criticism only in reviews but tell me what you truly think so that i can fix what needs to be and keep what is good and again thank you for reading.