Two brown birds chirped as they passed by the young girl.


                She had fair skin, shoulder length black hair with a hair strand dangling in front of her face and she donned in a red kimono with peacock and floral prints, and sandals. Her name was Rukia Kuchiki. As she headed to Karakura town, she started to sing.


Rukia (singing): "Little town, it's a quiet village
                         Every day, like the one before.
                         Little town, full of little people
                         Waking up to say..."


"Hello! Hello! Hello, hello! Hello!" Everyone in the town exclaimed in a chorus to Rukia.


She continued singing as she walked towards a man named Don Kanonji who was bringing a tray to his bakery.


Rukia (singing): "There goes Kanonji with his tray, like always,
                         The same old bread and rolls to sell~.
                         Every morning's just the same,
                         Since the morning that we came
                         To this poor provincial town."


"Hey, morning, Rukia!" Don exclaimed to Rukia with a smile.


"Good morning, Don," Rukia replied, smiling, while Don put a tray right at the window.


"So, where are you heading off to today?" he asked.


"Oh, I'm heading to Hachigen Ushoda's bookshop!" Rukia answered, beaming. "I just finished a good story about a beanstalk, an ogre, and..."


"Yeah, yeah, nice," Don spoke, not paying attention to what Rukia was saying. Turning to the window, he exclaimed, "Hey, Tessai! Hurry up with the Apple Pies!"


                Rukia merely shrugged. As she headed on her way to the bookshop, she passed Ururu Tsumugiya, and Jinta Hanakari, who looked at her while singing.


Ururu and Jinta (singing): "Look, there she goes.

Keigo Asano (singing): "Never part of any crowd,"


Shinji (singing): "'Cause her head's up on some clouds."


All, but Rukia (singing): "No denying she's a funny girl,

                                    That Rukia~."


With a smile, Rukia got onto the back of a cart being pulled by Love Aikawa, while going through town.


Love (singing): "Hello!"


Lisa Yadomaru (singing): "Good day!"


Love (singing): "How is your family?"


Mizuho Asano walked up to Kaien Shiba's place of business, the latter ogling the former.


Mizuho (singing): "Hello!"


Kaien (singing): "Good day!"


Mizuho (singing): "How is your wife?"


                An annoyed Miyako Shiba used a rolling pin to hit Kaien on the head, causing him to yelp in pain. Next, the cart Rukia was riding on passed by Yoshino, who was carrying three babies, and had two toddlers clinging to her leg was trying to buy eggs from Jin Kariya.


Yoshino: "I need six eggs!"


Jin Kariya (singing): "That's too expensive!"


Rukia (singing): "There must be more than this provincial life."


                Rukia jumped off the cart upon reaching the bookstore and entered the place, being greeted by the owner, Hachigen Ushoda. He smiled while saying, "Oh, Rukia. Welcome back."


"Morning, Hachigen!" Rukia greeted, happily, as she gave the book to Hachigen who smiled as he put it back into its usual place. "I came to return the book that I borrowed."


"Oh, so you've finished already?" Hachi inquired.


"Yes, I couldn't put it down." Rukia giggled as she looked through the shelves. "So, got anything new that I can borrow?"


"Well, not since yesterday," Hachi answered with a bit of a chuckle.


                Rukia had practically read and borrowed every book in the place. He didn't mind it, so long as she returned the book once she finished reading it.


"It's okay. I think I'll borrow..." Rukia spoke as she climbed up a ladder and took a blue book from a shelf, giving it to the bookstore owner. "This one."


"Seriously? That one?" Hachi questioned. "But you've read it twice already!"


"I can't help it. It's my favorite!" Rukia laughed as she hung onto the ladder and rolled down the track on it, having fun. "Far off places, daring sword fights, magic spells, a prince in disguise, I can't get enough of it!"


                Hachigen smiled a bit as he gave the book back to Rukia. "Well, my good friend, if you love it so much, you can keep it, free of charge," he suggested.


"Really?" Rukia asked. "But Hachigen--"


"I insist!" Hachigen laughed as he gently pushed Rukia out of the shop.


                Three girls, named Michiru Ogawa, Tatsuki Arisawa, and Chizuru Honsho, who were looking at her from the window, stood by, casually, as if not doing anything.


"Wow, thank you so much!" Rukia giggled, happily, as she left the bookstore with her new book.


Michiru, Tatsuki, and Chizuru smiled as they sang next.


Michiru, Tatsuki, and Chizuru (singing): "Look, there she goes,
                                                           That girl is so peculiar!
                                                           I wonder if she's feeling well~!"


Ikumi Unagiya (singing): "With a dreamy far-off look,"


                Rukia, who was reading, a woman dumped water down her gutter, and the water would have doused Rukia, had she not blocked it with the hanging sign of a shop. She didn't even look up from reading her book.


Moe Shishigawara (singing): "And her nose stuck in a book."


All, except Rukia (singing): "What a puzzle to the rest of us is Rukia~."


                Rukia, ignoring the citizens, sat down near a fountain as sheep were passing by stopped to look at her, and a lady was washing her laundry in the basin, yet she left when Rukia began to sing.


Rukia (singing): "Oh~, isn't this amazing?
                         It's my favorite part because you'll see~."


As she showed the open book to a sheep, it took a bite out of the page.


Rukia (singing): "He~re's where she meets Prince Charming,
                         But she won't discover that it's him 'til chapter three!"


A sheepherder, named Sawatari, shoved the sheep away while saying, "Okay, little sheep, get going, come on."


                Rukia smiled as she headed off while going passed a hat shop where Yukio Hans Vorarlberna was trying on a hat while looking into a mirror held by Kyoko Haida.


Yukio (singing): "Now, it's no wonder that her name means 'Beauty'
                         Her looks have got no parallel~."


(A/N: Just roll with it, huh?)


Kyoko (singing): "But behind that fair façade,
                          I'm afraid she's rather odd.
                          Very different from the rest of us,"


All, excluding Rukia (singing): "She's nothing like the rest of us.
                                             Yes, different from the rest of us is Rukia~."


                In another part of Karakura Town, a flock of birds was flying in the sky. A gunshot fired and one of the birds fell, indicating that it was the one that the bullet hit. A man with silver hair and closed eyes, carrying a bag of dead game, ran up to try and catch the falling dead bird with the container by holding it up in the air, only for the bird to land on the ground. He picked it up and put the deceased bird into the bag and ran back to a man, named Sosuke Aizen, hidden in the shadows, carrying a shotgun. He had smooth brown hair, wore a white jacket, purple sash, and white hakama. The man himself was considered a hero and lover of women throughout the town.


"Amazing, Lord Aizen!" praised the silver-haired man, known as Gin Ichimaru. "Not one missed shot! You, sir, are the greatest hunter who ever lived!"


Aizen blew the smoke from the barrel of his shotgun. "Yes, I know," he spoke with a chuckle.


"Yep! Besides, no beast or Hollow would ever stand a chance against you!" Gin boasted as he held Aizen's latest kills while following his boss. "Same thing for the ladies, too!"


"It's true, Gin," agreed Aizen as he wrapped an arm around his lackey, "and I've got my eyes set on that one!"


Aizen pointed his shotgun at Rukia, who was walking through Karakura Town, still reading her book.


"You want her?!" Gin questioned, incredulously.


"She's the one!" exclaimed Aizen. "The lucky girl I'm going to marry!"


"But she's--" Gin tried to explain, but Aizen shoved him aside.


"The most beautiful girl in town!" he described, smoothing his hair back.


"I know that, but Rukia's--" Gin tried to explain, though once again, he was cut off by Aizen when he tossed his shotgun at his face, making the former glare at the latter while rubbing his sore left cheek.


"That makes her the best!" Aizen pointed out, before grabbing Gin by his collar and brought him inches away from his face. "And don't I deserve the best?!"


"Of course you do, but the--" Poor Gin was shoved aside by Aizen, once again, as the latter began to sing.


Aizen (singing): "Right from the moment when I met her, saw her,
                         I said she's gorgeous and I fell~.
                         Here in town, there's only she,
                         Who's as beautiful as me,
                         So I'm making plans to woo and marry Rukia~."


                Aizen was checking himself in a mirror and looked around to see Rukia passing him. The frowning man followed her in determination while going by three women named Loly Aivirrne, Menoly Mallia, and Cyan Sung-Sun.


Loly, Menoly and Sung-Sun (singing): "Look there he goes,
                                                        Isn't he dreamy?"


As they sang, Gin couldn't help leering at them as they fetched water from a well.
                                                       

Loly, Menoly, and Sung-Sun (singing): "Sosuke Aizen,
                                                        Oh, he's so cute!"


                Loly, Menoly, and Sung-Sun swooning over Aizen, unknowingly pressed down on the fountain's pump with their boobs, squirting water in Gin's face, making him sputter in surprise.


Loly, Menoly, and Sung-Sun (singing): "Be still my heart,
                                                        I'm hardly breathing!
                                                        He's such a tall, dark, strong and handsome brute!"


                The girls happily fainted. Aizen, not noticing them, tried to go through a busy crowd while trying to catch up to Rukia, who passed through it, easily.


Woman 1 (singing): "Hello!"


Aizen (singing): "Pardon."


Rukia (singing): "Good day."


Woman 2: "But yes."


Woman 3: "You call this bacon?"


Woman 4: "What lovely grapes!"


Man 1 (singing): "Some cheese."


Woman 5 (singing): "Ten yards!"


Man 1 (singing): "One pound."


Aizen: "'Scuse me!"


Cheese merchant (singing): "I'll get the knife."


Aizen (singing): "Please let me through!"


Woman 6 (singing): "This bread,"


Woman 7: "Those fish,"


Woman 6: "It's stale!"


Woman 7: "They smell!"


Men (singing): "Madame's mistaken."


Women: "Well, maybe so."


Citizen's of Karakura: "Good morning! Oh, good morning!"


Rukia (singing): "There must be more than this provincial li~fe!"


Aizen (singing): "Just watch, I am going to make Rukia my wi~fe!"


Citizens of Karakura (singing): "Look, there she goes!
                                              That girl is strange but special!
                                              A most peculiar little miss!"


Female citizens (singing): "It's a pretty and a sin,"


Male citizens (singing): "That she doesn't quite fit in."


Citizens of Karakura (singing): "'Cause she really is a funny girl,
                                               A beauty, but a funny girl.
                                               She really is a funny girl~,
                                               That Rukia~!"


The song ended with other citizens saying random "Hellos."


                Rukia shrugged as she continued reading while heading on home. During the end of the song, Aizen got onto the rooftops and managed to get to the front, landing right near Rukia herself.


"Hey, there, Rukia." Aizen greeted Rukia with a smirk.


"Hey, Aizen," Rukia responded with a nod.


                However, Aizen suddenly grabbed the book from the girl, much to her annoyance. As he looked through it in confusion while turning the pages, Rukia asked with a sigh, "Aizen, may I have my book back, please?"


"How can you even read this book?" Aizen queried. "I mean, there aren't any pictures!"


"Well, some people like to use their imagination, Aizen," Rukia answered, simply.


"Rukia, my dear, it's time for you to get your head out of those books," Aizen told Rukia with a shrug as he ignored her attempts to get her book back before throwing it into a mud puddle, making the girl frown a bit, "and pay attention to something more important...like me, for example."


Rukia rolled her eyes as she picked her book up while Loly, Menoly, and Sung-Sun were nearby, sighing lovingly at Aizen.


"Like you?" she asked, unconvinced. "Seriously?"

"Of course! The whole town is talking about it!" Aizen exclaimed. "I mean, a lady like you shouldn't even read, it's not right! And pretty soon you will start getting ideas and start thinking for once!"


"Aizen, not to be rude, but you are positively primeval," Rukia remarked, wiping her book.


"Why thank you!" said Aizen, thinking Rukia was complimenting him.


Rukia only rolled her eyes at his obliviousness.


"So, what do you say we stop by my place and view all of my trophies?" he asked, putting an arm around Rukia's shoulder.


"Sorry, maybe some other time," Rukia spoke, trying to refuse politely.


"Oh, come on, what's wrong with her?" Menoly questioned in disbelief. "I would've taken Aizen up on his offer in a heartbeat."


"Right, that girl is crazy," Sung-Sun spoke in agreement.


"Oh, he's gorgeous," Loly added, ogling Aizen, making Menoly and Sung-Sun join her in looking lovingly at the man.


                Rukia managed to get out of Aizen's hold. While he may be well-liked in Karakura Town, she was the only one who saw him for the egotistical, rude, and arrogant jerk that he indeed was.

"Listen, Aizen, I really can't go with you," she explained, "I have to go back home and help my Dad."


"That crazy old man?!" Gin laughed. "He needs all the help he can get!"


"Don't talk about my father that way!" Rukia snapped at Gin.


"Yeah, don't talk about her father that way!" Aizen repeated, trying to get on her good side as he hit Gin on the head, making him yelp in pain.


"And despite what you think, my father is not crazy!" Rukia added. "It just so happens that he's a genius!"


                Without warning, an explosion was heard blowing up at Rukia's house, making her yelp in alarm. Her father was having trouble with his latest invention. As she rushed back home, Aizen and Gin laughed cruelly, though the former knocked his henchman down so that he was the only one laughing.






Once Rukia made it back to her house, she opened the door to the cellar, only to be greeted by a cloud of smoke.


                She coughed a bit as the smoke choked her, before going down into the basement and spotted her father getting up while removing a weird barrel 'dress' stuck to his waist. He was a man with long silver hair, dressed in a white coat over his black robes, white sash, black hakama, and wooden sandals. His was Jushiro Ukitake, Rukia's adoptive father.


"Dad, are you okay?" Rukia asked Ukitake, in concern.


"Whoa, how did this happen?" Ukitake asked with a cough as he got himself free of the barrel while glancing at his invention, the ax-wielding machine that was supposed to be used for cutting up wood.


As Rukia got a handkerchief to clean her father up a bit, she asked, "Seriously, are you okay?"


"Yes, I am...but I've about had it up to here with this useless piece of junk!" Ukitake snapped as he kicked the machine lightly, though that only served to hurt his foot.


"Awww, come on." Rukia piped up. "You always say that, Daddy."


"I mean it this time, Rukia!" Ukitake reiterated. "There's no way that I will ever get this blasted thing to even work!"


"Come on, sure you will," Rukia spoke, trying to cheer her father up, who crossed his arms, "And you'll win first prize at the fair, tomorrow."

                There was going to be a fair the following day and Ukitake was entering his invention in hopes that it would be so well-received, things would be different for him and his daughter from that point on.


"Feh!" he scoffed, stubbornly.


Of course, Rukia was not about to let her father give up, just yet.


"And who knows?" she asked. "You might end up becoming one of the greatest inventors that the world has ever seen."


"Really?" Ukitake inquired, raising an eyebrow. "You believe that?"

"Of course," Rukia nodded with a smile, "I've always believed you could."

This instantly cheered Ukitake up. His daughter always knew how to give him the right confidence for him to keep going, no matter what.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Ukitake asked with enthusiasm as he got a wrench. "Time to get started so I can get this thing done in no time."


Ukitake put his goggles on before going under the machine to work on it. "Now, hand me that weird-looking clencher, okay?"


"Right, here you go." Rukia grabbed the clencher and handed it to Ukitake, who took the thing before continuing to work on his invention.


"So Rukia, did you have fun in town today?" he inquired.


"Well, I got a new book..." his daughter held up her book. "...Daddy?" she asked. "This is going to sound weird, but...do you think that I'm...well, odd?"


"My daughter, odd?" Ukitake asked with a scoff as he slid out to face Rukia, his eyes distorted from wearing his goggles. "How and who on Earth gave you a ridiculous idea like that?"


As Ukitake slid back under the machine, Rukia sighed while saying, "Oh, I don't know. It's just...well, the townspeople talk and..."


"Well, don't forget, they talk about me too." Ukitake reminded.


As Ukitake got out from under the machine, he smiled as he began to sing.


Ukitake (singing): "No, we're not odd, it's true.
                            No fam'ly ever saner,
                            Except one father who...well, maybe let that pass.
                            In all you say or do,
                            You couldn't make it plainer.
                            You are your mother's daughter,
                            Therefore, you are class."


Rukia pondered for a moment but soon sang along with her father.


Rukia (singing): "So, I should just accept
                         I'm simply not like them."


Ukitake (singing): "They are the common herd,
                            And you should take my word,
                            You are unique: Creme de la creme."


Ukitake placed his arm around Rukia's shoulder.


Ukitake (singing): "No matter what you do,
                            I'm on your side.
                            And if my point of view
                            Is somewhat misty-eyed,
                            There's nothing clearer in my life
                            Than what I wish and feel for you,
                            And that's a lot,
                            No matter what."


Rukia smiled as she hugged her father.


Rukia (singing): "No matter what they say,
                         You make me proud."


Ukitake chuckled as Rukia praised him.
                       

Rukia (singing): "I love the funny way
                         You stand out from the crowd~."


Ukitake brought his daughter to his invention.


Ukitake (singing): "It's my intention, my invention;
                            Shows the world out there one day,
                            Just what we've got..."


He touched her forehead with his own.


Both (singing): "No matter what."


Ukitake (singing): "Now some may say that fathers just exaggerate,"


Rukia (singing): "That ev'ry daughter's great?"


"Well, you are!" Ukitake pointed out, causing Rukia to giggle.


Rukia (singing): "And every good daughter tends to say her father's tops."


Ukitake (singing): "She pulls out all the stops
                            To praise him,"


Both (singing): "And quite rightly!"


Despite the song's bright mood, Rukia frowned a little, and Ukitake held Rukia close to him.


Ukitake (singing): "No matter what the pain,
                            We've come this far."


He cupped Rukia's cheek in the palm of his hand.


Ukitake (singing): "I pray that you remain
                            Exactly as you are.
                            This really is a case of a father knowing best."


Rukia (singing): "And a daughter too!"


Ukitake (singing): "You're never strange,"


He kissed Rukia's hand, making her smile even more.


Rukia (singing): "Don't ever change,"


Both (singing): "You're all I've got,
                        No matter what~."


                Once the song was over, Ukitake smiled as he went back to work on the machine. Although Rukia had cheered up a bit, the concerned girl was still feeling a little blue.


"While what we said is true, Daddy, there really is no one to talk to in Karakura," Rukia spoke with a sigh.

"What about that Aizen fellow?" Ukitake suggested to Rukia as he used a tool to work on the machine. "I mean, he's a handsome fellow, right?"


"Oh, sure, he's handsome all right...as well as rude, selfish, and conceited..." Rukia listed all of Aizen's less desirable traits. "Oh, Daddy, he's just not my type."

"Well, no worries. This invention is going to be the start of a new life for us." Ukitake assured his daughter as he got out from under the machine. "At least, I hope that does it. Time to give this baby a test, shall we?"


                He pulled a lever on the machine to get it started. Soon, the thing began whirling and chopping wood before sending it flying to a small woodpile nearby. The duo looked on, surprised. The machine didn't blow up or anything, because it was doing what it was made to do!


"Daddy, it works!" Rukia exclaimed to her father, in delight.


"It does?" Ukitake asked, puzzled, yet dodged a log that almost hit him. "Oh, yes! It does! Ha ha ha!"


"You did it!" Rukia cheered, jumping for in the air. "You really did it!"


"That's right!" Ukitake confirmed. "Go get Argo, Rukia, because I'm off to the fair!"


                Of course, another log came flying out and hit Ukitake in the head, making him yelp as he fell to the basement floor, out cold. Thankfully, Rukia immediately tended to her unconscious father.






Later, Ukitake set off on Argo, their horse, along with his invention.


"Bye, Daddy!" Rukia called. "Good luck at the fair!"


"Goodbye, Rukia!" Ukitake replied. "Take care of things while I'm gone!"


With that, he and Argo had left Karakura Town.