I DON'T OWN BLEACH

Ichigo/femBya by request

Here is part one^^

The Uninvited

Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplacable spark. In the hopeless swamps of the not quite, the not yet, and the not at all, do not let the hero in your soul perish and leave only frustration for the life you deserved, but never have been able to reach. The world you desire can be won, it exists, it is real, it is possible, it is yours. ~Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

Chapter one; Memento Mori

Despite Byakuya's carefully framed exterior, with her hair neatly tied back into a tight french curl accented only by two long jade hair pins protruding from the dark mass, and her peach colored ankle length coat firmly tied at her waist by a thin leather belt, she is nervously considering turning away from the inconspicuously dull gray metal door.

Ichigo Kurosaki's apartment.

The wind blusters at her back, strong enough to make her take another step closer. Her pale brown leather gloves tighten in the fur lined pockets of her coat. Lifting a hand from her pocket she pauses with her fingers next to the round glowing doorbell button. Why did she agree to do this? Another brisk breeze pushes her fingers to tap the soft blue light.

A pale light streaks out from the door as it opens, a puff of vapor clouds her vision. Instantly, she reaches into her coat for the letter given to her by Rukia, the thin envelop containing something so important Byakuya decided to give it to him in person. Deliver it and go.

"Yo! I'm going to be a few more minutes. You are on time for once. Now don't complain about the steam. You know-" Ichigo pauses as a slightly taller woman with dark hair stands in his doorway. "Oh, Byakuya." Leaning an arm on his door frame he ducks his head outside, the blast of steam hitting his bare upper torso and chest giving him a chill. "I guess this means no Rukia?" he says disappointed, his hand resting on the door curling into a lose fist.

"Rukia is on a mission and sent this message to you." she manages to say without stuttering at his exposed skin literally giving off a trail of mist. The human world is full of foreign gadgets, flashing lights and loud vehicles, but nothing could have prepared Byakuya for the sight of Ichigo freshly washed, and dripping water from his hairline down his neck to his tan chest. Blinking is shock she stands there, her deep blue eyes widening at the muscle tone she never once imagined was hiding behind his shinigami robes.

"Come on in. It's cold." He says, tugging her inside with a gentle hand on the shoulder choosing to ignore the hand reached in her coat at a note he really dreads to read. "I'll make you some hot tea. It'll warm you up."

Before she can raise a protest she finds herself in his apartment, the door closed behind her. Eying the space with a critical glance around she can see a simple one room apartment consisting of a green sofa near the wall on her right, a small television set near it, a rather tiny dinning table with a chair next to it and a minimal kitchenette littered with towels and bottles of shampoo. "I didn't mean to interrupt your..." Her voice dies away unsure if you can really call washing from a sink, bathing.

"Sorry about the mess. I just got home from work." Ichigo turns away from her and heads for the sink to grab his towel."I like to wash my hair and shave before a date."

Byakuya's eyes following the contours of his modestly toned back to come to a sudden stop on a tattoo. Black and bold against his golden flesh sits a black sun with it's winding dark rays swirling out into fine points in the center of his shoulder blades. It's unexpected, it's shocking really. Ichigo doesn't seem the type to get a tattoo, but it suits him. Always wild and unpredictable, to Byakuya, he has surprised her again. It's hypnotizing, that black sun itched into his well tanned skin. Unable to look away even when he begins to make small talk, she is so focused on that mark that her vision darkens but for Ichigo's slim back. Something about dinner plans, something about ice skating, she isn't quite sure what he is talking about. This is ridiculous. It's just a tattoo. She can't possibly be attracted to him over such a small thing. Besides, her sister is with him. That make Ichigo Kurosaki forbidden fruit. "Oh, your message." Pulling out the tiny envelope she hands it too him and takes a step back.

"Thanks, Byakuya." Grabbing the letter he picks up a towel from the counter, pats his head then wipes away the water drops from his shoulders. Laying the blue towel over his shoulder he opens the note and sighs. It's what he thought, and it's alright really he saw it coming anyway. Instead of being sad or angry he accepts Rukia's feelings and decides to let her go. Clean breaks are for the best. Fighting and yelling isn't something he ever enjoyed with her, despite her fiery personality, he found it tiring about Rukia. It's better this way. Setting the note on the table he walks over to his closet and pulls out the first shirt he comes too. "So how about it?" he asks turning around with a wide smile. "Would you like to?"

"I... um." Her eye lids flutter, then break away. "I think I should go." she tells him ready to escape this tiny room with a half naked man in it asking her things she doesn't know the answer too.

"Well all right!" Ichigo darts toward the doorway to put his coat on. "Give me just a minute, and we will go."

"I meant to leave." He vanishes out the door to do god knows what before she can protest. Now what is he doing? Catching a glimpse of the note sitting open on the table she takes a step closer to read it. Spying... now she is being nosy. What's next following him around the room like some school girl with a crush?

"It's over. I'm sorry, Ichigo."

Realizing it's a break up, a tight feeling streaks through her chest. Has Rukia lost her senses? To break up with him and in a letter of all things. That isn't considerate. "Why am I taking his side? Maybe he did something terrible to her." Her head shakes at the thought. Ichigo is a kind person. Rukia's note didn't blame or accuse him of anything so Byakuya decides not to think the worst of him.

Sitting down in the small creaky chair she slips her gloved hands back into her pockets pondering his reaction. He was so calm. Perhaps they've been having problems for awhile and this news is expected. This could be nothing more than Ichigo not wanting to be alone. It's good that she came, then.

"Ready to go?" Ichigo opens the door with a small shopping bag dangling from his fingertips and slightly out of breath.

"Alright." Byakuya rises from her chair. It cant' hurt to go along with him for an evening. She's never been the sort of person people come to for comfort, that fact alone is keeping her there.

"Now, You need one thing before leaving." he says holding up the plain brown bag. "The store didn't have many to choose from so..." Pulling out a white knit hat Ichigo tilts his head trying to find the right angle to put them on Byakuya without pulling on her hairpins. " Would you mind?" Ichigo lifts a hand up towards the hairpins staring intensely at her shocked expression, but pulls back suddenly feeling a bit awkward about touching her.

"It's fine." Byakuya tells him, raising a gloved hand up to the two woven jade hairpins and pulling them out.

Ichigo watches her hair tumble down in a silky sheen of midnight to lay around her shoulders. "H-Here." he says, carefully sliding the hat around the crown of her head. Damn it. If this was Rukia he would just smash the hat over her head and listen to her complain, but you can't treat Byakuya like some typical girl. "I'm sorry about the Panda ears. It was all the convenience store had and it's cold out today." he groans turning away from her large dark blue eyes staring blankly at him. "S-Sweet... she looks so incredibly sweet right now."

"You said that already." she quietly reminds him, her cheeks turning red from his nervousness.

"Oh, yeah..." Even wearing the silly white panda hat with cutely knit black ears she has a totally different air about her than Rukia, this is an elegant woman. Small in stature, but not in presence, Ichigo has always thought Byakuya has a way of commanding someone's attention. If she is in a room everyone should stop and look at her. "It's game time!

"Game time?"

Twenty minutes later Byakuya finds herself surrounded by screaming men crammed inside a large indoor hockey rink. The game has already started as they take their seats next to a large wall of plexiglass. "Kurosaki, why is there a wall here?"

"That's in case-"

Four bodies crash into the divider, a long trail of blood splatters the clear plastic in front of Byakuya's face.

"I thought this was a sport?" she gapes as the men crawl off each other. "It's so violent." tilting her head at the man on the other side of the wall she blinks wide eyed at the blood dripping from his lower lip. "This is a mundane legal avenue for expressing violence on another without repercussions."

"Yeah... maybe I shouldn't have brought you here." Ichigo scratches at the back of his head with an embarrassed smile. "It might be a little... brutal for a girl like you."

The hockey player takes off his helmet and smiles at the petite beauty staring at him. "Hey pretty." He gives her his best grin, his hand swiping at the blood on his chin. "Panda Hat Girl..."

"Hello." Byakuya lifts an eyebrow at the man's attempt to flirt with her. "Fascinating."

"Oi..." Ichigo's knuckle raps on the plastic wall between them. "She is my date."

"Meet me after the game sweetheart." The athlete puts his white helmet back on and gives Byakuya a wink. "I'll sign a puck for you."

"No thank you." Byakuya closes her eyes and looks away. "I have a proper escort you couldn't hope to compare yourself too."

"You heard the lady." he manages to say so astonished his mouth drops open in a wide gasp. Damn... she really didn't just say that right? He keeps watching her the rest of the game out of the corner of his eye, noticing the way her eyes are actually an ash blue and her lips are dusted with a light pink shade. Combine it with her clear alabaster skin and dark hair, Byakuya is obviously the most beautiful woman in the room.

"Ichigo?"

"Hmm?" He catches himself in a daze and looks away. "Yeah?"

"Explain the rules of this game."

"Well alright." He starts to talk about the goalie's and how to score. His body leans closer to her so he can talk over the crowd without yelling in her ear. Lifting up a hand he points out all the positions and their names while secretly enjoying the unusual scent of her perfume. It's a deep scent, almost unrecognizable, one that draws you in for a closer smell. For the remainder of the game he keep one eye on her. Almost like he is afraid she will vanish and this unusually pleasant evening with her is gone.

"Foul." Lifting a finger to the wall she points at number twenty-three. "That one fouled number eighteen. Am I correct?"

"Y-yeah." he replies too embarrassed to tell her he didn't notice. He didn't notice because he was staring at her. "You are really having fun?"

"Is that a question?"

"Not really, I can tell. You are definitely interested in this violent mundane sport." He puts an arm around the seat she is in and leans close. "You are a hockey girl."

"I-I do not like this." Byakuya rebuffs him flatly. "Not at all!"

"Sure you do." he says poking a finger at her right cheek to hear her grumble. Byakuya is actually kind of fun. "You like watching guys beat on each other."

Realizing it's pointless to argue with him she turns back and observes the rest of the game. Is this what her sister would be doing with Ichigo? Would Rukia be sitting here next to him and listening to his voice explain the penalty box or him offering to buy her a drink. It's strange, but Byakuya almost feels jealous of her sister's closeness to him. All those years of knowing each other and the bond they have. However, Rukia ended things with Ichigo.

"Why?" she catches herself whispering, her blue eye slanting to watch him. What did her sister find so terrible about him? Sure when they first met he was the most annoying boy she ever set eyes on. But now as he is nearing twenty-one he isn't quite so appalling to her.

His bangs now fall neatly over his eyes, he is taller, and certainly more muscular, but why didn't she notice how kind he actually is? Or attractive. She looks up at the time clock and watches the time counting down realizing that the evening is almost over. A hint of dread falls over her, her arms chill slightly and she feels a warm coat wrapping around her. "Oh, no. You will be cold."

"Yeah, but I won't enjoy myself if you are sitting next to me and freezing." He tugs down her panda hat to covers her ears. "You are my break-up buddy right? Rukia sent you to make sure I'm not crushed or raging. I need to watch over yo-"

"Here." Byakuya slides off a the fluffy white scarf around her neck and wraps it around his. "I am not your break-up support. I'm your replacement date for the evening. So no arguing."

He likes that. In a simple moment of caring she showed him, a small piece of her personality. Ichigo honestly finds her kinder than he has ever realized.

After the game they have a small meal at a ramen shop. It's nothing fancy, he is sure she is used to more elaborate meals, but he is enjoying her company so much the conversation never feels strange.

"Try the dumpling's. They are the best in Tokyo." He says dropping three on a saucer and sliding it across the table. "These are my favorite things to eat in the world."

The thought of eating them makes her stomach turn, she has never liked them. Lifting her eyes up to meet his she sees his warm smile and can't help but want to please him even in this small way. So she picks up the chops sticks and tastes one.

"They are awesome right?" Ichigo leans an elbow in the table and watches her eyes light up in surprise. "Told you."

Both of them eye the single dumpling left on the center platter.

"Mine!" he says reaching for his chopsticks to swipe the final dumpling, but she is faster and claims it before he can, his chopsticks clank against the empty plate. "Damn, you are faster than me. Even in a gigai?"

She chuckles munching happily as his lower lip pokes out. Oblivious to how cute he looks right now, she watches him stare out the shop window with his chin resting in his palm.

Once the meal is finished and he pays he motions for her to follow him with a light tap on her shoulder. They walk in a comfortable silence down the streets of Karakura town on the hill nearby the river.

Turning toward his apartment with her next to him, the street lights illuminate the fresh falling snow blanketing the sidewalk with white. Drawn once again to her face he notices the cold flush filling her cheek with a rosy warmth.

"You are staring." Without turning her head to look at him she flicks her eyes over to see him stiffen slightly. His amusing behavior is just enough to make her lips turn up in a faint curl. "Is it that shocking to be around me this way?"

"Sorry..." Ichigo looks abruptly away, his eyes tilting over the to stair leading to his small apartment. "It's not that."

She lifts a brow at him.

"Ok, it is. But I had a really nice time tonight." He pulls his keys out of his coat pocket and unlocks the door. "Would you like to come in for tea?"

"I should be getting back to Soul Society."

"I'll go with you." Producing his shinigami badge he walks over to his sofa and lets his body drop on it. "I need to walk my date home after all." he tells her wanting to linger next to her side even if it's only for another twenty minutes.

The temptation to argue with him is on the tip of her tongue. There really isn't a need for him to escort her home, she was an uninvited guest after all, but Byakuya remains silent and decides that she does want him to walk her home.

Lifting out of her gigai the panda hat her bought her, floats down into her open palms. She takes it and tucks it into her gleaming white haori and pulls her blade from it's sheathe.

Now in her shinigami uniform, she appears to be the way he always thought of her, cool and indifferent.

Byakuya opens a portal, her blade shinning in golden brilliance just for a moment before the doors open in a wide circular shape. The two walk through and begin to flash step both pondering the evening and the surprise of the pleasantness of the other company.

"Did I tell you that old Yama-Jii wants me to become a captain?"

"He does?"

"Yeah, he said something about me coming to Soul Society before I die of old age."

"And what was your response?" she looks at his smiling face, shocked that he can think of that as a happy moment. "Will you accept his offer?"

"Well, Before my break up with Rukia I would have said yes. Somehow, I've always thought of being with her."

"I see." How like him, always thinking of someone else.

"Now I'm not so sure." he says setting down his right foot in Soul Society next to Byakuya's. "But, I have time to decide I suppose."

Arriving at the entry to the manor she walks forward and the tall red doors automatically part for her, two servants appear to greet her with a bow. "You would be a welcomed asset to the Gotei. Please consider this." Byakuya tells Ichigo turning back to see him stop just before the entrance.

"Yeah, I will." Ichigo takes a step closer to her, his arm lifting on its own, his fingers spreading out to almost touch her face, but he pulls back just before grazing her chin. Surrounded by high walls and unseen faces he feels slightly uncomfortable and crowded here. The world of a princess has no room for a guy like him. "Thanks for going with me, Byakuya." He takes a step back and watches her face vanish behind the huge heavy doors.

"Your are welcome."

Her voice small and light barely can be heard between the thick wooden doors. He takes a step forward to listen closer.

"Ichigo?"

"I'm still here." he says lifting a hand up to the wall.

"I'm sorry about my sister. Don't be too sad."

"I'll be fine. I promise you, Byakuya." He feels her reiatsu whisk away from the door to somewhere in the massive compound where she lives.

~/~

Three weeks later;

The fickle thing about life is, we always think we have it under control, that we have years and years allotted to us and filling them up with life's major events seems evenly paced. And for Ichigo, he didn't think for a single moment about not asking Byakuya out for another date. He fully intended to, its just he didn't have the chance. Fate decided... that he has cheated. And you can't cheat. It's not allowed.

Byakuya is staring out her office window when she hears the news about Ichigo's accident. In the form of a Hell Butterfly no less. Instantly she leaves her work behind and flash steps to the nearest portal. Darting to the real world and the hospital she snaps into a gigai just as the automatic doors open to the emergency room. "Kurosaki Ichigo." she asks the woman behind the counter.

"Ummm..." the nurse checks through a stack of binders and points down the hall.

Walking briskly down the gleaming white corridor she turns the corner and runs into Ichigo's sisters and father. "What has happened?"

"He was struck by a car on his way home from work. They are operating on him now." Isshin says guiding his daughters to a sofa and pulling Byakuya aside.

"Tell me the truth."

"The car hit him so hard he rolled into the river. In the dead of winter, where it's cold. Too cold for humans to survive."

"Ichigo isn't human." Byakuya snaps feeling her nerves rising by serious the tone of Isshin's voice.

"No, but the lack of oxygen-"

"Even so... How long was he in the water?"

"Forty minutes."

Dread sinks into her skin. This isn't how she pictured that man dying. He should be old and surrounded by grandchildren, not young and beautiful.

"Kurosaki." Ryuken Ishida appears with a clipboard and and sober expression. The three adults talk in hushed voices away from the two girls sleeping on the sofa. "There is nothing more we can do."

"What?" Isshin's voice croaks out in pain. "He is a strong boy."

"Who is brain dead." Ryuken interjects with a hint of sadness. "As you know he is an organ donor. And we have already start-"

"How long has he been brain dead?" Byakuya asks biting at her lower lip.

"About eight minutes."

"Kurosaki Isshin, what has Ichigo decided?" Turning to the pale faced father her eyes dart to the bloody coat in his arms. "Has Ichigo decided to come to Soul Society?"

"I-I don't know..."

"He has no Chain of Fate. As long as his heart is beating, Ichigo is stuck in there." Byakuya points a finger towards the operating room Ishida came from. "He could be wanting to live. And you don't know!"

"We don't talk about-"

"It doesn't matter, the young man is brain dead." Ryuken interrupts placing his fingertips on his glasses to push them up. "The Ichigo you know is gone."

"He wants to live. I can feel-" Byakuya says grabbing the coat and running down the hall towards to operating room. "He should live as who he is... as the Ichigo we know. Not some mindless plus scrapping to survive in Rukongai."

"Someone stop her! Guards!" Ryuken yells for the officers nearby.

"If I take this choice away from you... Will I make you sad?" Her legs move fast, her fingers wrapping around the shinigami badge in his coat pocket. Two guards appear in front of her, and she lifts her right leg up and kicks him in the side. Turning on her standing leg she jumps up in the air striking the second one knocking them away. "Don't be angry with me Ichigo..." Lunging her all her weight against the doors of the operating room door, she bursts through to the shocked faces of the surgeons and nurses.

"His heart is perfect. Let's go ahead and harvest it."

"Get away from him." With the badge in her right hand she pulls the doctor away from the table Ichigo is laying on. "Ichigo..."

"Don't move lady. I'll shoot!" A group of men enter the operating room ling the walls and the power shuts off shrouding it in the dull glow of emergency lighting. The heart monitor instantly blares out as the respirator stops keeping Ichigo alive.

"No!" She moves toward him, the badge gripped tightly in her hand. Two bullets hit her in the back, and other two in her legs she starts to fall, her hand reaching out to grab the gurney. He is there, waiting on her and that is all that matters. Someone has to look out for him, be there for Ichigo when he can't fight for himself. Her pride won't let her fail. With the last bit of her strength she yanks herself up the metal table and drops the badge on his exposed chest. "Live..." She screams in her head as she falls to the filthy operating room floor. "Please live..."

Dropping limp to the floor her face lands in a pool of blood, splashing up into her eyes, coating her face and hair. It's his blood, she can tell... he was here bleeding and alone. It's true they aren't friends, they don't know each others hearts besides sharing a past of fighting. But they shared, an evening where he treated her like a normal girl, and she was moved by him. For the first time she regretted being a princess, and wished to be her free spirited sister.

They had a moment, by the gate of her vast compound... where he lingered to hear her honesty. And she loved cherished it, that part of him that is male and kind. She needs to feel that again. "ICHIGO! LIVE!" she screams out, struggling to move...

Bright golden light erupts from above and behind her. With a smile on her lips she closes her eyes feeling his reiatsu fill the room and squeeze out the coldness wrapping around her body.

"Yo... Byakuya?"

The darkness takes her away, she welcomes it knowing he is alive as an immortal shinigami now.

Hey all~! Here is something different. I hope you like this! HUGS and Kisses... Fuzzi