202A/N: I probably shouldn't be starting a new fic right now, but since when do I listen to myself? ;)
This was meant to be a one-shot and of course it spiraled into this multi-chapter story. Won't be that long, though.
Anyway, enjoy!
Spoiler – An evil, evil vampire targeting an innocent seamstress.
Warnings – Possible historical inaccuracies.
Disclaimer – Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo. Title and summary quote from Shakespeare. The pic for the story's not mine.
Edit: I just broke up the giant paragraph that was there before. No other changes. Sorry if it showed up on anyone's notifications as updated. :)
Chapter - 1
Mid-19th Century England, the village of Karakura.
He was bored. Preposterously so.
Well then again, he was always bored.
Although that pretty little assistant seamstress seemed quite interesting.
He sat up straight in the chair he had been lounging in. Absent-mindedly, he pushed a few strands of his orange hair out of his face and he smirked as a devious glint entered his brown eyes.
He did always know how to amuse himself.
Let the games begin.
The morning rays of the sun shone on the busy marketplace of the village. An auburn-haired girl squeaked as she righted herself from almost having tripped on the trailing end of the cloth she was carrying. Tossing the bundle slightly so that she could hold it better in her thin, shapely arms, she smiled at the merchant she had purchased the cloth from as he waved her goodbye.
A bell tinkled as she stepped through the door of the shop. Her mentor and the owner of the small establishment turned to face her.
'I was beginning to worry about you, Orihime! What took you so long? There's a lot to be done.'
'My apologies, Madam.' The girl murmured as she offered a small smile, 'It's just that I was about to buy the material you had asked for when a new merchant who had a greater variety and better quality turned up at the marketplace and I bought these ones from him instead. He was very popular this morning and I had quite the crowd to get through.'
'Well, I suppose that's alright then.' The older woman huffed and pointed her assistant to one of the tables to set down the supplies.
She hummed as she set to work on one of the orders for a man's coat. She had to work hard at her profession but she didn't mind it much. It had become a habit for her and it could be said that she even enjoyed it.
'You're lucky, Inoue Orihime.' She told herself. But it was not that she was convincing herself or any such thing, she was just reminding herself of what she believed to be a fact.
She had not known what was to become of her and her sister Yuzu, who was four years younger to her when their older brother Sora had passed away six years earlier. Sora, who was fifteen years older to Orihime had been more of a father than a brother and had taken great care to ensure that his sisters lived as comfortably as possible on what little he made as an accountant for a tailoring shop in the village. Except for Sora, who had ran away with the two girls when Orihime was four and Yuzu was just an infant, the girls had never known their parents. Orihime had a few dim memories that suggested that they had not been the best sort of people and she had not tried to bring the matter up too many times.
Sora's death was a heavy blow to the girls. Orihime, then just fourteen years old had been at odds about what the two sisters were to do for a living. However, unfortunately for the owner of the tailoring shop and fortunately for them, a seamstress out of the two that had worked there had left for some reason and there had been a vacancy. The owner and sole remaining seamstress, Matsumoto Rangiku had taken them in and begun to train Orihime as her assistant while Yuzu helped out by doing other tasks such as cleaning the shop and cooking meals for her sister and herself. Orihime and Yuzu lived in a single room at the back of the shop and had a small bathroom and kitchen to themselves. These had been the accommodations of the previous seamstress and were now shared by the sisters since Rangiku had a house of her own not far from the shop.
The bell tinkled again and Madam Rangiku called out for Orihime to welcome their customer.
She made her way to the door and there he was. Tall, impressively so, standing at least a head taller than her. His frame lean, though built and sturdy, the features of his handsome face set in a cordial smile though he seemed to be frowning still. But what stood out the most of all instead of his bright orange hair, which was much wilder and captivating as compared to her own burnt orange shade, were his intense, brown eyes.
And for the past two months that she had known him, though she didn't particularly want to admit it, even to herself as the mere though caused her to blush, she had taken a liking to him. She knew it was a stupid idea of course, with him being who he was. Someone like him was well beyond her reach.
She shook herself from her transfixed stare that was beginning to border on rude and smiled politely as she curtsied.
'Good Morning, Lord Kurosaki. How may we help you today?'
He nodded in acknowledgement and replied, 'I was informed that my new suit was ready.'
'Oh, but Mr. Kurosaki, why trouble yourself?' she asked, scandalized that a man of such high rank had visited there shop for such a purpose. 'Surely you could have had someone get it for you! Had you given the slightest hint, we would have made haste to deliver it ourselves!'
'No worries, Miss Inoue. I merely wanted some exercise. Am I unwelcome?'
'Oh no! Far from it! I-'
'I'm only joking Miss Inoue.' He chuckled as she stopped stuttering and a pretty blush suffused her fair cheeks. 'No need to be alarmed.'
'Y-yes, my Lord. B-but unfortunately, we weren't expecting you and your suit isn't ready.'
'I see.'
'It will be ready by this afternoon, sir. I can deliver it myself if you would like.'
'That will be acceptable. I will be expecting you.'
'Yes, sir.'
'Have a nice day, then.' He said as he moved towards the exit.
She dropped into a hasty curtsy and smiled again. 'Have a nice day, Lord Kurosaki.'
Ah, the little assistant was such an innocent, invigorating girl. He felt almost guilty for wanting to toy with her. Almost.
A/N: So that's the first chapter! Some characters might seem OOC but I'm hoping that as the story progresses, their behavior will make more sense. The rating's a T but I might change it to M if requested. Although I really can't say.
Let me know your thoughts! Review please!