Cinderella

Disclaimer: Bleach and all the characters used in this fic belong to Kubo Tite, not me.

Author's Notes: Here it is, the one shot prize for review 700 of my 100 Romantic Bleach Drabbles series! Sorry for the wait! My computer is still broken but I decided not to wait any longer to write and post this! One more one shot and Solar-chan is caught up! I'm looking to start the next set of drabbles Thursday! Thank you for all your patience!

Dedicated to Sakana-san! Please enjoy!

Kurotsuchi Nemu and Kurosaki Yuzu sat in the middle of Yuzu's bed with a book of fairytales laid out in front of them. During the short time Nemu had been staying with the Kurosaki family, she and Yuzu had become fast friends. The young child's kindness had drawn Nemu to her. For Nemu, receiving any form of kindness was a rare thing. She had been shocked with Kurosaki Ichigo had been kind enough to give her a place to stay while on her mission (especially since she had been stalking him around for a month, gathering data). The fact that his family had welcomed her with open arms proved to be another big shock as well. In Soul Society, most people avoided her and her taichou went out of his way to hurl insults at her. She was, after all, just another one of Mayuri-sama's experiments and in his words, a poor one at that.

"And Cinderella and her prince lived happily ever after in the end," Yuzu said before closing up the book.

Nemu blinked at the young girl. "That is all? Did the evil step-sisters and evil step-mother not try to get their revenge on the cinder girl?" she questioned, now curious. Happy endings were not common place for a Shinigami.

"Maybe they decided to be happy for their sister in the end. I don't know. Fairy tales are supposed to end happy, though, Nemu-chan," Yuzu answered, unsure of what to really tell the older girl.

"But it is unrealistic and illogical," Nemu persisted, trying to make sense of the fact that all the stories Yuzu had told her ended with a girl marrying a prince. "Many woman do not marry a handsome prince. It gives false hopes and my studies show that false hope usually has ill fated consequences for–"

"Nemu-chan, it's just a story! You don't have to analyze it all. It's just there to cheer you up on a bad day!" Yuzu said with a laugh. "Besides, girls find 'prince charming' all the time. You did when you meet my brother," Yuzu said as she got off her bed and put her book away.

Nemu watched the girl in silence for a moment. Then her cheeks began to burn crimson as Yuzu's words sunk in. "What do... No, that is wrong. I have a professional desire to be around Kurosaki Ichigo. There is no emotional or romantic attachment there!" Nemu said, stammering slightly.

Yuzu laughed and gave Nemu the wickedest grin an innocent eleven-year-old could muster. "You like Onii-san, don't you Nemu-chan?"

Nemu's blush deepened and she had to force herself to look away from Yuzu. The child could certainly be devious when she wanted to.

"Sometimes he's really grumpy but he's always kind and he's always protecting Karin-chan and me. He always helps people who need it, too. That's enough to make him a prince; don't you agree Nemu-chan? He's just like the princes in the stories!"

Nemu nodded slowly, looking thoughtful. "I suppose he does meet all the criteria needed for a fairy tale prince..." she said slowly.

"And you're just like poor Cinderella!" Yuzu exclaimed suddenly, eyes widening at Nemu. Ichigo had told Yuzu about Nemu's horrible, psychotic father who was always putting her down.

"I am no cinder girl," Nemu protested quickly.

"You are! And I can be your fairy godmother, getting you ready to see your prince!" Yuzu exclaimed happily as she rushed over to Nemu and took her hand. "Come on, Nemu-chan! I'll make you look really nice for Ichigo and when he comes back, you won't even need a glass slipper to make sure he knows you're his princess!" the young girl said as she pulled the unwilling Nemu from her room.

"Wow, Nemu, you look so... different!" Ichigo exclaimed, his eyes wide with shock as he took in the newly transformed Kurotsuchi Nemu. Ichigo had been on his way up to his room when he ran into a grinning Yuzu and a blushing Nemu.

"I do not think I am suited for these clothes," Nemu said softly, looking away from Ichigo. The boy was just staring at her and it was beginning to make Nemu nervous. Even the constant looming threat of being dissected or worse by her taichou didn't make Nemu's stomach feel so fluttery.

"Nemu-chan, you look pretty! Doesn't she Onii-san?" Yuzu spoke up, looking at Ichigo to back her up. However, Ichigo just continued to stare. Maybe it was the fact that Nemu's hair was free from its usual braid or the fact that she was dressed in bright, vibrant colours as opposed to black, but Ichigo could not take his eyes off the fukutaichou.

"Then why is your brother just staring at me as though I managed to sprout an extra appendage?" Nemu questioned Yuzu, her cheeks red from embarrassment.

"No, Yuzu's right," Ichigo finally said, his own blush burning as brightly as Nemu's.

Nemu looked down at her new attire for a moment. She had never worn a sundress before, but Yuzu had assured her that all girls looked pretty in them and that any good cinder girl needed a dress. "Thank you, Kurosaki Ichigo. I am flattered by your compliment."

Ichigo just nodded, once again staring at the young Shinigami standing with his younger sister.

"It's just like Cinderella, isn't it? Nemu's become a beautiful princess looking for her Prince Charming!" Yuzu gushed, smiling up at her big brother.

Ichigo turned his attention on Yuzu and blinked. If he didn't know any better, he would have sworn she was trying to set him and Nemu up. But Yuzu was too young and innocent for that, wasn't she? He hoped she was. He didn't want to deal with his sister involved in relationships that were in any way, shape, or form romantic.

"I told you that there are no Prince Charmings in this world," Nemu spoke up when Ichigo said nothing.

"Hey now. That's not true. Orihime'd tell you that Chad is a Prince Charming or Rukia'd tell you that Ishida is a Prince Charming, even if he isn't entirely manly," Ichigo spoke up defensively.

"I told you so Nemu-chan!" Yuzu giggled.

"It's no ball, but maybe you should come hang out with us and see what I'm talking about instead of locking yourself away in my sisters' room," Ichigo offered as he extended a hand to Nemu. Though he claimed he wasn't interested in relationships, Ichigo was arrogant enough to try to prove Nemu wrong about the entire Prince Charming thing. Especially now that he could see that Nemu was indeed transforming in front of him. When he had first discovered her following him like a shadow, she had looked melancholic and repressed because of that crazy psychopath of a taichou she had. She looked happier around him and his family, where Mayuri could not reach her. Ichigo smiled softy at her. "C'mon, what do you say?"

"I am not locking myself away I am conducting very important research on the lives of normal humans," Nemu said in response.

Ichigo just shook his head. "I meant about coming out with me," he reminded her.

Nemu's cheeks turned pink. "Oh," was all she could manage to say.

Ichigo just laughed and took Nemu's hand. "Come on, before the clock strikes twelve and you turn into a pumpkin," he teased as he led Nemu away from Yuzu.

"But it was not the cinder girl who turned into a pumpkin at midnight!" Nemu cried as Ichigo pulled her along towards the door.

"Whatever, Cinderella," he said.

Nemu just smiled a tiny but happy smile and dropped the subject. "Thank you, Kurosaki Ichigo," she said.

"Nah, thank me after I prove you wrong," Ichigo told her as they left the Kurosaki home hand in hand.