Rukia Kurosaki

Ash left her flight and headed off on her own, dragging her half-empty suitcase along. She stopped by the book shop to check for a newly-printed sequel she'd had her eye on, pausing as she noticed a slight commotion. There was a kid on the floor, and a girl was dragged out of the store by another man... That couldn't have been good. Ignoring the fact that she'd miss her train, she jogged to the gift shop and ran back, getting into the store just as the whimpering child was sitting up. With a smile, Ash knelt down and proffered the white teddy bear, asking, "What's your name?" The boy sniffed and answered, "S- Sota..." Ash ruffled his hair as his frantic mother was trying to explain the situation to a security guard. She glanced at the pair, then turned her attention back to the child. "Well, Sota-kun... can you tell me what happened?" The boy frowned, his eyes downcast, and muttered, "I guess... M- my mommy went over to pay for a book, and this girl came over and hit me with a book." Only a child can say things this bluntly... "I see... and what happened before that?" Sota blushed, adding, "I... I said something mean to mommy... I told her I hated her..." Ash smiled as she took a candy from her pocket and pressed it into the boy's hand. "We all say things we don't mean. That's because we don't know any better... If you promise you'll apologize and never say that to her again, I can promise you she'll forgive you. Okay?" With a small smile the boy nodded, and Ash stood, adding, "The bear's name is Sonkei. Don't forget, okay?" She waved and walked off without a word to the mother, trusting that Sota would relay his story to her later. "Now to find another train..." With a sigh, she crossed her arms and studied the train schedule. "Great... half an hour." With time to kill, she sat on a bench and thought to herself. People who harm others... those are the worst kind. They're the kind who take people from you with no remorse, no humanity... She shook her head, avoiding thoughts of Saul, her jacket, his jacket, pulled tighter around her shoulders. Focus on the destination... A gameshow... something fun and interesting. Far away from those thoughts

Ash flipped through the magazines, not finding anything interesting, before dropping them back in the cubby. "Nothing about this game show stuff..." She stared out the window, ignoring the noise coming from other passengers talking or moving around. She flagged down an attendant and asked for a menu. After ordering two bowls of noodles she continued her reading and pondering. "Wonder what it'll be like..." (... I hope this isn't going to end up as another IRL round where our lives are at stake...)

Ash rubbed her hands together for warmth as she entered the house, her mail tucked under her arm. "Cold..." She sighed and grabbed the now tepid cider from the breakfast table, looking through the letters. "Bill, bill, homeowners' association..." With a frown she slipped the bulk of the envelopes under the door to her parents' bedroom. "They'll just get them when they get back from the trip. It's so freaking boring here..." Ash stretched and grabbed a Chinese takeout box from the fridge, popping it in the microwave. Two minutes later she was slurping up lo mein and looking through the rest of her mail. "College junk... huh?" She raised an eyebrow at the scrawled capital letters on the front. Flipping it over, she broke the seal and began reading... "Are you BORED? Are you willing to join us in the BEST & the MOST EXCITING gameshow? Well you got LUCKY!!! You're one of our FEW and RARE Lucky Ones! Don't miss your chance and be a part of this ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME opportunity!" "...Alright, this is crap..." She finished her noodles and tossed out the box, about to throw out the envelope, when a plane ticket fell out... "Wha-?" She blinked, then picked it up. "... I guess it's something to do." A short while later she was at the airport, lugging a suitcase half-full of her brother's old clothes and papers. After presenting her ticket she boarded the plane, looking around for a place to sit. An attendant rushed past, jostling her, and she squeezed against the seat, for once glad of her small size. Ash wanted to sit next to someone around her own age of seventeen, mostly so she wouldn't be mistaken for a boy by some old woman. Sighing and shuffling past the aisle seats beside a pair of grandmotherly women, she stopped at an empty area. After looking around, she stowed her bag in the storage and sat by the window, picking up the pile of magazines and papers from the seat pocket. "Let's see if there's any information about this show..."