Bleach 1. Prolouge

**Against All Odds**

**Rated: T for Mild Language, Moderate Violence and Humour.**

**Summary:**

**She had everything; Fame, fortune and the perfect boyfriend. She thought she had it all until she met the orange-haired boy who's life she'd change drastically and in the process, change hers as well.**

**Pairing: Rukia Kuchiki and Ichigo Kurosaki.**

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**Prologue**

I never asked god that I wanted someone like him. I never asked God to bring him into my life either. Seriously, he just appeared before me, just like that. I didn't know what this man was going to bring to my life at the time, but never would I have imagined that he would be the one to bring me up and tear me down so easily. Never would I have thought that he would be the one that would eventually find me. And never had I thought that he'd be the one to change me like this.

* * *

I tapped the window sill, impatiently waiting for our arrival. The dress I wore made it all the more irritating. A simple black number, not too fancy for a movie premiere If I do say so myself. Though I would've preferred it if this outfit wasn't giving me such an excruciating itch.

"You really didn't need to bring me." I admitted, half feeling sorry for myself.

The man beside me raised a brow before closing his eyes and relaxing his shoulders. "Don't be stupid, you need every amount of experience you can get." I groaned, folding my arms across my chest. "Well, you could've at least asked the maids to choose a more comfortable outfit." He examined me, scrutinizing my dress.

"I don't see what the problem is, it looks perfectly fine."

"Hey, don't trust your eyes. It's lying to you. This thing's squeezing every ounce of breath I have in me."

"Rukia," he began, giving me another one of his, 'you're-not-a-child-anymore-so-quit-acting-line-one' looks and continued, "This is the proper attire for an event such as the one we're attending to. What did you expect? Sweat pants and a singlet?" I gave my brother a deadly glare before slumping in my seat. We sat in silence as the limo driver carefully steered the wheel.

Byakuya Kuchiki is my older brother.

Though I'm pretty sure the whole of Japan is aware of that fact. He adopted me quite a few years back, I found out he was the man who married my sister, Hisana Kuchiki. She was killed by a gang of thugs who demanded her to tell them Byakuya's bank password. Pretty stupid, but that's just how the world goes. My brother is one of the top earning men in Japan, being an actor, singer, director and owning one of the biggest enterprises in the country, one wouldn't be surprised. He's been a household name for the past ten years, being pulled into the life of publicity at the age of seventeen.

And I've been following in his footsteps.

It was decided that when I turned the age of seventeen, like Byakuya, I would be brought into the limelight. Currently, I'm now known as the teenager dominating the music industry, no longer known as the little sister of one of Japan's leading men. Truthfully, sometimes I seriously loathe the amount of attention I get. I can't even go to a ramen store without being hoarded by the paparazzi. It's quite annoying really. Though, even though I might not admit it half the time…..

I couldn't help but feel as if do I'm missing something in life.

"We're here."

I unbuckled my seat belt and looked out the window. My eyes did a double take as the crowd outside the cinema seemed to be the whole of Japan crammed into one area. Byakuya's movie premiere looks hectic, and I seriously can't wait to see the crowd's reaction the minute he steps out the door.

"Are you coming?"

I looked up to see Byakuya staring at me over his shoulder, already halfway opening the door. I give a smile, "Yeah I am." He nodded, soon he opened the limousine's door and the crowd went wild. I gave a slight smirk before following him, flashing a huge grin for tomorrow's papers.

* * *

Byakuya sighed as I began to huff my way to the house entrance; I banged the door open before throwing my coat onto the hanger. The movie premiere was a little too much for me to handle. Besides the fact that countless immature wolf whistles was hurled at me from the crowd, the movie was overall quite good. That is, it _was_ good until some fan girl started throwing herself at my brother. How annoying is that? When people are trying to watch a rather entertaining movie and some broad starts making such a big fuss over the lead actor? She even had the nerve to asked for my autograph as well. Seriously, old people these days.

"Do you smell that?" asked Byakuya, sniffing the air.

I soon realized a rather horrid smell swirling my senses, "Yeah, it smells like it's coming from the kitchen."

I made my way down the hall, Byakuya close behind me. Soon after passing by countless of rooms, I finally find the kitchen. Byakuya steps forward, making a hand movement which tells me to go behind him. I followed his instructions before peering over his shoulder (on my toes of course, the height difference between us is too embarrassing to explain) and he turned the knob before giving it a slight push. My eyes widened as we soon were engulfed in smoke, steaming out from the room. We start coughing, our eyes soon beginning to water. "What the- What's going on in here?" Byakuya demanded, coughing in between his sentence. I shook my head, closing my eyes tight from preventing anymore smoke to meet them. Soon, the smoke cleared, revealing a red haired man standing in the midst of all this, his face blackened.

"Renji, what do you think you're doing?"

He gave a slight pause before turning to me. His face lit up he gave a smile, revealing the only white part I could see, his teeth.

"Ah! Hey Rukia! Well, I was planning on cooking you a meal in celebration of you going for your first movie premiere and all but the results…" He frowned before stepping to the side, revealing something which I was pretty sure wasn't anything that might have been alive.

"It's supposed to be a lasagna." He admitted in a bashful tone.

I had to suppress my laughter, staring at the oven for a few seconds before running towards him. I threw my arms around him and smirked.

"That's so sweet, goofy-tattooed-eyebrows-man."

"No, it's not. It looks like I've killed a chicken and burnt it. How can you possibly be happy?"

My eyebrows furrowed, "Of course I'm happy. Usually men are total insensitive baboons who don't even think twice on celebrating something their girlfriend has achieved. So I'm pretty glad you're not one of them." He smiled. Byakuya made his way to the dining table, "Yeah that while destroying a rather important part of her house." He deadpanned. Renji laughed, "Aw, come one Byakuya! You're so rich; I bet you could afford seven more of these rooms!" The oldest amongst us all made a small grunt sound before making his way out the kitchen. I looked back at Renji in dismay before removing my hands from his neck.

"I think you've pissed him off."

"What? That easily? I wasn't planning to piss him off until later today."

"Very funny, now shut up and help clean up this mess." I threw a towel at him which he caught.

"Seriously, you're brother's so easy to tick off, it's like he PMS's or something."

"Hey," I get up, placing my hands on my hips, "that _brother_ of mine is the one giving you a home _**and**_ a job, mind you."

Renji stopped, pursing his lips. "You're right."

Renji and I have been dating for the past six months. We've known each other far longer than that. Much farther. Our parents were close friends, when mine died; I was forced into the orphanage. He would come by with his parents every once in awhile to visit, then Byakuya adopted me. We still stayed in touch; soon he began rebelling against his mum and dad, tattooing his eyebrows and staying out later than his usual curfew. Finally, a really intense fight ensued and Renji left. He asked Byakuya if he could stay with us which he agreed to. My brother's always had this interest in Renji; he thinks he's a pretty good kid. Soon Byakuya gave Renji a job under his company. Not so sure on what, I've never really bothered to ask. He asked me out about a few months later and I accepted. We've been dating ever since.

"I'm going to go and shower."

He nodded at me; I ran up the flight of stairs and made my way down the corridor. I reached my room in a matter of seconds before opening the door. I grabbed a T-shirt with the words 'Death God' on it with denim shorts. I went into my bathroom, turning on the shower and stepping into it after removing my clothes. I felt a wave of shock as the hot water rinsed itself onto my body, the thought of missing something in my life still pondering itself. After a good scrub I came out, drying myself down with a towel. As soon as I had finished changing I opened the door to be greeted by a calm and collected voice.

"You know Rukia, your bunny obsession is staring to seriously creep me out." Said the boy, lying down on my bed, flipping through one of my sketchbooks.

"Seriously Tōshirō? Again? Has anyone ever told you that people expect you to come into their room by _invitation_?" He shrugged one shoulder before sitting up against the headboard, placing my sketchbook onto the bedside table.

"How was the premiere?"

"Crazy."

"Define crazy."

"Ok," I started, sitting down next to him, "Boys kept checking me out, pedophiles even. The movie was ok, and then some slut started disrupting the movie and flirting with my brother. Which she epically failed at by the way." Tōshirō sighed.

"Old people these days."

"My thoughts exactly."

We sit in silence for a while. Not saying a word to one another. After a few moments Tōshirō broke the silence.

"So what's on your mind today?" he asked casually.

"Hmm?" Well he pretty much caught me off guard with that.

"You seem to be thinking about something. What are you thinking about?"

"Well," I sighed, "nothing much. Just…. Do you ever get the feeling that you're missing something in life?" He paused, no longer twirling one of my mechanical pencils.

"_Sorry_?"

"You know, like… you're not complete?"

He sat up, eyeing me. "Well… No, I haven't. In fact I've never actually thought about that. Why, do _**you**_?" _This_ question. I knew he was going to ask me that.

"Well, I'm not sure, I mean, my life's great. I've got everything, fame, fortune, great friends," -He smiled at this- "So I don't think anyone in the right mind would actually think that. But… I can't help but feel that I am." Tōshirō gave a small snort, resting his right arm on his raised leg.

"If you really do feel that way about your life, then what's the point of insisting its perfect?"

This question makes me think. Why do I do that?

If you'd asked me about a year ago on whom Tōshirō Hitsugaya was, I would've guessed that he was some actor or celebrity. But now, that's far from any answer I would've given. He and I met in Ice sculpting class. Despite him being a rather tough looking guy (Minus his height) he actually had a talent for sculpting ice, a hobby he and I both share. Many people wouldn't actually be surprised by the fact that we're best friends, we both have so many things in common it's hard to list out any similarities we don't have.

Besides that fact that we're both the opposite sex of course.

After his grandmother died, Hinamori went back living with her parents who hated her, but she hadn't had much of a choice. He was left alone, so me being the ever so generous person that I am, I suggested to my ever so wonderful brother for him to allow Tōshirō to stay with us. He agreed, surprisingly. Though he never fails to mutter on how his house is close to being an orphanage for deranged teenage boys. We both jump as a phone ringing echoes through the room. I reach across my table for my IPhone. Tōshirō looked over my shoulder as I switched the screen on, only to be greeted by a rather drunk looking woman, stumbling out of a pub. The words 'Drunk Goddess' were flashing on the screen. I picked up.

"Hello?"

"RUKIA KUCHIKI GET YOUR ASS TO THE PUB DOWNTOWN! RIGHT. NOW."

"Good evening to you too, Rangiku."

"Please," she begged, "I'm on the verge of a mental breakdown here!" I gave a sigh.

"I'll be right over."

I hung up the phone; Tōshirō raised an eyebrow, "Matsumoto hopelessly drunk and demanding your presence?" I nodded. "I'm coming with you."

"What? Why? You're not my brother."

"I don't trust you, let alone Matsumoto, alone by yourself. Surrounded by men, DRUNK men."

"Wow, talk about overprotective much."

He gave a groan.

"I'll meet you down in five minutes."

* * *

The minute Tōshirō opened the doors to the pub downtown, we were greeted by an ear piercing caterwaul, obviously by none other than my drunken manager.

"Ichimaru." Said Hitsugaya, making his way to Rangiku.

He was probably right; most of the time when Rangiku was high on sake is because:

A) I've lost an acting or singing part.

B) She's been given a parking ticket for the fifth time that week.

C) Ichimaru left her again.

Most of the time it's always C.

"Rangiku? Are you okay?" I asked, approaching the strawberry blonde in a red sleeveless dress, wailing away.

"No! Can't you tell? It's because of that s-stupid f-fox faced freak!" Me and Tōshirō switch awkward glances before sitting on opposite sides of her.

"What happened this time?" he asked while I asked the bartender for two soft drinks.

"T-the stupid c-cretin! W-we got into this fight last night about him w-working so much and this morning, I e-expected him to be lying next t-to me with such a sorry-assed face but instead I wake up to f-find some note on his p-pillow about him leaving for a Europe tour for five months! Apparently t-there's this HUGE story t-that he has to cover for an article he's been asked to do." Her lip began to tremble; soon she continued her wail fest which me and Tōshirō groaned at.

Ichimaru and Rangiku have been dating for two whole years now, and most of the time it consists of him leaving her for some big news article he as to work on for a newspaper company he's working at.

"See? What did I tell you? The guy's a total jerk. No one listens to me just because I'm short." Tōshirō mumbled, but no one seemed to be listening to him.

"Yo, don't tell me Gin left _**again**_."

The three of us turned to see Izuru, Ishida and Hisagi standing behind us. Ishida pushed the rim of his glasses and shrugged.

"Of course, that's just about the _only_ reason Miss Rangiku cries about."

Hisagi gave Ishida a quick jab in the rib, preventing him from going any further. Izuru, being Ichimaru's assistant, took a seat next to Rangiku after I had stood up.

"Don't cry Miss Rangiku," said Izuru, patting her on the back, "why don't we just have a quick drink to get your mind off of things."

This seemed to have worked for the busty figured woman sat up, wiping a tear from her eye. "You're right; I just need to cool off now." We gave a quick sigh of relief. I turned and made my way out the door, wanting to take a quick breather.

As I stood outside, I watched the cars zoom by, one after another. My hands in my jacket pocket.

"Hey."

I gave the man next to me a quick glance before looking back at the cars.

"Hey."

Hisagi shrugged his shoulders, "It's pretty cold today, ain't it?" I gave a small nod. "Yeah, something I seriously could've done without." He smiled. We stood in silence for a couple of moments.

"You really should tell her you know."

"Excuse me?"

"You know, your feelings. You should really tell Rangiku your feelings for her."

I don't have feelings for her."

"Oh you so do. Don't deny it." I countered.

"Well, even if I did…" he shrugged, "There's no way she'd actually return them. She's too into him."

"So? You saw her; you're a much better guy for her than he is."

He made a sound which I couldn't make out. A mix between a grumble and a sarcastic guffaw. Our conversation was cut short as Izuru poked his head out of the door.

"Um, Kuchiki? Hisagi? We kind of need your help, Miss Rangiku's currently hugging the life out of Hitsugaya and she's refusing to let go."

We both switch awkward glances before heading back inside.

* * *

"CURSE HIM! CURSE HIM AND EVERYTHING HE'S EVER TOUCHED!" shrieked Rangiku, pounding the table.

"Yeah! Yeah! Curse him for leaving us!" yelled Izuru in agreement, his cheeks flushed. Me, Ishida and Tōshirō watched as the other three were unmistaken ably drunk, hollering so many thing for the human ear to process.

"Um, guys? I don't mean to sound like a bore but can we all go home?" asked Ishida, his eyelids drooping.

"Yeah, It's twelve in the morning, we're not as old as you other guys yet you know. You're all like, ten years older than us." Yawned Tōshirō, resting his head on the counter.

"My brother will freak out if I'm not back in ten minutes. Can't we just go home?" I asked, half asleep myself.

It took us at least a few minutes to convince the others to go home. I watched as they stumbled out the door, all holding on to each other while singing _Aud Lang Syne_. Tōshirō and Ishida decided that if they let the three go home without anyone stable to guide them; they'd all probably end up in the obituaries in tomorrow's papers. I nodded, Tōshirō told me to meet him back home. We parted ways. As I made my way down the street, I sang my song that was currently at the top of the charts.

_hontou no tsu__yosa wo; _

_mitsumeru yowasa ni;_

_hibiku subete wo misukasu koe;_

_shizunda keshiki wo;_

_kono sode de nugui; _

_koe wo nazotte arukidashita;_

I stopped as I heard painful gags and coughs coming from an alley. I turned towards it, there, lying in the shadows was a boy, bloodied with bruises all over.

_Kawarazu__._

A boy with bright orange hair.

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**Chapter one! I'm sorry if that was a slow chapter! But it's the prologue, what can you expect? Anyways, the song Rukia sang at the end was her very own song titled 'Echo', an Ichiruki song in the Bleach Beat album :D Hope you enjoyed, I'll try my best to keep you entertained! But for now, R&R, 'cuz you know it loves you ;D **


	2. Strawberry

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Chapter 2. My dad bought me The Last Song the other day; it's a really nice book. I wanted to cry SO BADLY at the end, but didn't. I guess I'm a pretty weird person –laughs- Oh. I had this charity bazaar thing today in school and it took me about ten minutes to get the paint out of my hair in the shower.

**Have you guys read the newest bleach chapter? I can't help but think that Ichigo's hair looks slightly different. Is it? I don't know, it might just be me. In case you're wondering on why I'm blabbering about my life, it's just that I really feel like sharing what happened to me this week, is that strange? **

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_Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born. _

_-Anais Nin_

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**Chapter 2: Strawberry**

My feet were glued to the spot. Standing in the blistering cold—hopelessly staring at a bruised and bloodied boy- scratch that, a bruised and bloodied _teenage _boy.

Though there's not much of a difference to that now is there?

The man (I've decided to call him that), did not take a single glance at me. Hell, I think he probably doesn't even know I'm there. After a few silent moments, I took a step. Then another. Soon I was making my way towards the corner of the dark alley, running my hands down my arms to keep myself warm. He still laid there, his hands sprawled on either sides of him, coughing and gagging away on his own blood which was oozing out of his mouth. As soon as I had reached him, I fell to one knee, directly in front of him. He realized my presence. Slowly, he lifted his head up. My heart froze as I was soon engaged in eye contact with a pair of amber eyes. It startled me, I had no idea why. What a contrast, amber eyes and orange hair.

"Are you okay?" I asked, after a few seconds.

The man simply stared at me, his expressions shifting from confusion to wonder. I examined his wounds, there was a large cut, grazing from the upper left side of his cheek to the top of his lips. I squinted, realizing that he was probably hit with a ring—a large and chunky one at that. He grunted, spitting out blood on his right side. I watched as it seethed into the piece of paper he had spat his blood onto. I glanced worriedly from him to the rapidly growing stain forming on the paper. I had no idea why I had the sudden urge to rush to this man, It's not like I knew him or anything, it's just that, in a way, I couldn't help but feel as If though we'd met long before this.

I took another peek at his scar, feeling a sudden urge to bandage it up. I hadn't a single band aid on me, but I knew a place where I could get one — and a place where this man could get to safety. I reached out for his arm, slowly, trying to send him a message that I wasn't going to hurt him. Wow, I'm making myself sound like a poacher trying to kill a baby panda. He flinched— staring uneasily at my hand, he tried to move away but did not seem to have the strength to move. After I was pretty sure that he couldn't have a say on what I was going to do, I reached for his hand before wrapping it around my neck. I hoisted him up, making me realize he might have been two heads taller than me. Maybe even more. I looked up at him, he tried his best to move away, trying to loosen my grip, but he couldn't. Instead he led out a small groan, gripping the side of his hip. I realized he had been hit hard with a blunt object. Judging by the rather deformed looking hip of his that was outlined by the shirt he was wearing, he had hurt it badly. The words "Speaking Is Not Communication" were printed in bold on his top. I dragged him down the street, despite my rather small size; I had always had brute strength. Something that came in handy from time to time.

"Don't worry; you're going to be alright."

Once again, he did not answer. All he could do was give a slight nod, using all the strength he had to do so. His blood dripped onto my cheek, I did not say anything. All I could do was pray that I had enough strength in me to bring him back home.

* * *

I had to admit, the expression on his face when he saw my house was pretty entertaining. His eyes practically bulged out of their sockets; his mouth was hanging, waiting for an insect to fly in. When I rang the door bell, the door flew open, nearly flying off its hinges. My shoulders tensed as I gave a nervous smile to a distraught looking Byakuya, holding a phone. Behind him were Renji and Tōshirō, both pale with a worried look on both their faces. The man I was holding had his eyes on the ground, I watched as my brother's eyes travelled from me to the orange-haired stranger.

"I see you've made a friend."

"Byakuya, look, I was-"

"Young lady!" I groaned, not wanting to make eye contact with my boyfriend, "Where _have_ you been? It's half past twelve and you did not answer any of our calls! We were about to call the police!" My face was filled with embarrassment. Damn my overprotective housemates.

"I can expla-"

"Rukia, I think…" I looked up at Tōshirō, who had stepped in-between the two taller men.

"We should discuss this matter in the living room."

After the maids had tended to the man's wounds, we found ourselves sitting in the living room. sat opposite my brother, Renji and Tōshirō. The man was standing in a corner. Bearing a look which said that he was probably wondering on how he got here.

"So let me get this straight." Renji said, stroking his chin, "Rangiku was drunk and in need of company, she denies you leaving until twelve in the morning, and when you part ways with the others, you find _him_," He pointed at the man, "In a dark alley, beaten up, bloodied, and you decide that it's _**your**_ job to be Mother Teresa and bring him back home?"

I nodded.

Renji ran a hand down his face, "Even though this all makes perfect sense, I still don't get it." I shrugged my shoulders, "I saw him in the street, he looked about my age, and I don't like seeing people get hurt and not being tended to so I just acted without thinking things through. Is that so wrong?" The red haired man threw his arms in the air, "You could've called the police!" I noticed a rather terrified look flash in the eyes of the man; I sighed at this and looked back at the three.

"That would cause quite a lot of problems." Tōshirō shook his head, "That doesn't make any sense. Why him, Rukia? You see tons of people on the street every day, all begging for money and god knows what, but you decide to save him," he jerked his head at the orange haired man, "And bring him home? What makes him so different?" I had a strange feeling that all of them were somehow ganging up on me, I didn't like that.

I didn't like that at all.

"Well, it's not every day you see a teenage boy all bloody and bruised in a dark alley. He could've died if I hadn't saved him." I argued, rather pissed at the two for being so harsh. Byakuya, who hadn't spoke the entire time, turned to the man and raised an eyebrow.

"Why _were_ you injured?"

His face shifted from a look of confusion to melancholy. He gritted his teeth and stared at the floor, not wanting to make eye contact with anyone in the room. I looked at him from top to bottom; the maids had done a pretty good job with patching him up. All his scars were covered with band aids, the top of his head was wrapped by a bandage, another wrapped around his hip, an ointment was rubbed onto it, a muscle ointment someone had give my brother for a birthday present. It came out rather handy, something my brother had not expected. We waited for a response. I decided that it was better if he didn't tell us tonight—he was in no condition to.

"Byakuya, Renji, Tōshirō, I think it's best if we do not ask him right now. He's just had a near death experience,"-Renji coughed at this- "so why don't we let him rest for the night and we'll ask him tomorrow." It took them a couple of moments for the words to sink in, but the minute they had realized what I had just said, Renji led out an "EH?" sound.

"Wait! Hold it right THERE. Don't tell me you want him to stay the night!" he bellowed, gripping his hair, messing up the rather neat looking ponytail which was perfectly jagging out in different directions.

"Yeah, I don't see what the problem is."

Renji rubbed his temples, "Look, Rukes, I love you and all but there is no way we're letting a stranger sleep in this house! Especially one who might actually be in danger, he could put us all in the same position as he is right now! Did you ever think of that?" Truthfully, I hadn't, but that didn't matter, I'm sticking to what I believe in— and I'm not going down without a fight.

"Renji, you _**have**_ to understand! Where's he going to stay if_ we_ don't let him? You're right, whoever did that to him is probably still out there, looking for him, but I don't think it's right to just leave him on the street! Please, let him stay." I begged. Tōshirō's mouth was in a straight line, he obviously had no idea on what to say. All he could do was give me a rather pitiful look. I dropped any hope of him as back up before turning to Byakuya, who was still as quiet as ever. My eyes were pleading, knowing that once upon a time, he had been in the exact same position as me. After what might have been an eternity, he nodded.

"Rukia is right, what would happen if we left him out there? He could get into much greater damage then he is in now, he could get shot or hurt or…" he trailed off, obviously thinking back to the time he met Hisana, painful images still haunting him, painful memories still replaying in his mind. I smiled insight my victory, giving Renji, whose jaw was hanging, a playful wink.

"B-b-but…"

"Face it pineapple, you've lost." Hitsugaya patted him on the back.

I looked at Byakuya, smiling. I wanted to throw my arms around him, thanking him, but that wasn't what our relationship was like.

And I wanted to keep it that way.

Instead, I nodded, my brother turned to the man.

"So, is it okay with you if you stay the night here? We can discuss things in the morning." He offered.

The teen didn't say anything; his face was saying that he was still trying to process what had just happened. He seemed to have dwelled into his own world.

"The guy doesn't even talk." I gave Renji a glare, daring him to say another word.

"Come on, let's get you settled in." I beckoned him to the door, before I left the room; I ran to Renji and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

"Thanks for understanding."

"Don't push it."

* * *

I led the man up the stair case, bringing him to the guest room. He was slightly shorter than Renji, but he could still fit into his old clothes. I asked the maid to lay out one of his old pajamas while another went into the bathroom, setting up the shower for him. As soon as they had finished with that, I turned to him, putting my hands on my hips while glancing around the room.

"Well, I hope you enjoy your stay for the night, it's not much, since it was supposed to be for…" I decided I wasn't going to tell him about the fact that the room was previously for Hisana and Byakuya's baby, knowing that it would be stupid to tell a complete stranger that fact. "So, that's about it, we'll talk in the morning. Just so you know, my name's Rukia Kuchiki. It's nice to meet you." I waited for a reply, but nothing happened. He just continued standing there, staring at me. I sighed and turned on my heel, making my way out the door.

"Ichigo Kurosaki."

I stopped as soon as a new voice had filled the room. A raspy one, yet it was in a way, coated with honey. I turned, facing him yet again.

"My name, it's Ichigo Kurosaki. It's nice to meet you Kuchiki."

It took me awhile to register the fact that the soothing voice belonged to the man. I smiled, slowly making my way towards the door, no longer thinking of him as 'the man', but as Ichigo.

"Call me Rukia. It's nice to meet you too, strawberry."

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**Aw yeah, chapter two is complete! I'm sorry if it wasn't good, it's just started, and isn't the beginning always a slow one? Oh. I just realized I made Renji act like a complete douche. Sorry. He's not going to be like that in the story though, just this chapter. He's just worried about Rukia. And I just noticed a few months ago when I was reading Games by Secret Starr (Check it out by the way, It's awesome!) that you could reply to your reviewers not by a message, but through your story as well. I find that a lot easier. So, I hope she doesn't mind, I' m going to use her technique:**

xXmysterious-unknownXx: HAH. Racheelll :D Always thinking of your precious Byakuya, ain't yah? ;D I'm sure you're happy being the first reviewer, probably pissed Chien Wei off though :B

SukiAmaya: You. YOU! You're so mean, you should really start texting again, it's so lonely. No more IchiRuki fanatic-ness for me D: Haha, I don't. Just hearing him speak makes me think of a little kid :P Thanks for reviewing though!

Amulet Misty: LOL. You forgot Kira's full name, poor guy, makes him sound forgettable. No wonder he's so emo. Thanks, I appreciate the review!

Kicyslawa: Hah, I knew you were going to review. You've been reviewing all my Bleach fics ever since I posted Sweet Dreams P: I smiled reading your review. I agree, it's not every day you read a story where Ichigo and Rukia meet… differently than other stories you might read (:

Ashezo: Thank you! I'm so happy you like my style of writing, it makes me fuzzy. In a non TV fuzzy kind of way. I like Rangiku, she's so bubbly :D And of course Rukia saved Ichigo!

Theb3stb3ginning: Renji's always been nice D: And I'm not going to spoil anything for you. So live with it :B And yes, yes, yes! ICHIRUKI FTW!

NatD: You have a D at the end of your name. That's a lot of millions, (: Thank you! Thank you! *bows

Khai Ern: :B You reviewed during ICT. Same as Natalie, Jean and all. Especially when Jessica was making her fanfic account. Thank you for the review!

Jean and Nadhrah XD: I hope you're happy that I uploaded a new chapter 8D I love you guys too! And not in a gay way either :P And sure, you're both officially, MY MANAGER. HAHAH.

Blank: Haha, I'm not so sure on whom you are. Are you Caitlin? Kimberly? LOL I DON'T KNOW. I updated. You happy now? I'm sure you are. :D

Pamianime: … Pamianime. Pamianime.

…

**HOLY CRAP PAMIANIME? OH MY GOD! You're that awesome IchiRuki artist aren't you? OOOHHH. OOOHHH. –hyperventilates- OH MY GOD THE AWESOME ICHIRUKI ARTIST, PAMIANIME, HAS REVIEWED MY STORY! I'm so happy! -sniffs- I love your art! It's so pretty! Keep up the good work with your drawings! Thank you so much for reviewing (':**

**R&R.**

**It hearts you. **


	3. House Guest

**Chapter 3. Ok, So I've been having this really strange thought lately on how many times I should upload a new chapter. Once a week? Twice a week? I'm not so sure. Quite a load of people don't check their fanfiction so often so I'm still wondering. Ok, so I'll leave it up to you guys to decide:**

**How many times should I upload in a month?**

**Yes, a month. I have a life too in case you were wondering. Seriously, how can Tite Kubo DO IT?**

**

* * *

**

_"Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down."_  
_-Oprah Winfrey_

* * *

**House guest**

I slid an eye open as the rays of the sun glared into my eyes, I groaned, turning upright—facing the ceiling. I rubbed my eyes before drawing the curtains open. The sun seemed to be smiling down on me; it would've been nice if it weren't so early in the morning.

Oh, that reminds me.

I sat up, pulling the blankets off me before making my way to the bathroom. I had nearly forgotten the fact that a stranger was currently staying under our roof—one with bright orange hair. And those amber eyes as well. As if I could forget a face like that. I grabbed my uniform, a simple white shirt, a red bow plus a skirt slightly above my knees. I brushed my teeth, staring at myself in the mirror as I did so, it was so messed up I couldn't even put it to words. As soon as I had changed, I grabbed my comb and began to brush my hair, trying to untangle the tangled bits in it. As soon as I was pretty sure that I was ready for school, I set my way downstairs and into the kitchen, ready to eat breakfast. To my surprise, instead of me being the first there, Ichigo was already preoccupying one of the chairs at the dining table, gulping down a whole spoonful of cereal. I made my way towards the table before taking a seat opposite him.

"Morning." I greeted, pushing my seat in.

"Morning." He returned my greeting, not even looking up from his bowl.

I stared at him, a brow raised in curiosity. It was quite clear that he hadn't had a meal in what might have been quite awhile, judging on how he was wolfing down every spoon of cereal he raised to his lips. I nodded in acknowledgement as one of the maids came scuffling in, holding another bowl and a glass filled with water. I smiled as she laid it down in front of me, as she left I saw from the corner of my eye, she gave Ichigo a quick glance while giving a flirty giggle. I sighed.

"You sure are making yourself feel at home."

He stopped, looking up at me. "Isn't that what you want a guest to feel when they're staying at your house?" this was the first conversation that we actually had, seeing as he hadn't said much last night.

"Sure," I said, scooping the cereal into my spoon before feeding it into my mouth, "that's exactly how I would want someone to feel, but that's because most of the people who stay over, I know them well. Don't forget the fact that you're practically a complete stranger to me." He took his last spoon of cereal and sat up, pushing his bowl to the side. He rested an arm on the chair's handle.

"Ichigo Kurosaki. Seventeen years old, person I admire the most is William Shakespeare and I'm an ex high school student."

I looked at him, astonished by how he just suddenly started telling me facts about himself. I thought about them, he was the same age as me; he admires Shakespeare, something I know that a lot of teenage boys don't really care about. Hell, Renji probably doesn't even know who he is, this telling me that Ichigo might probably be intelligent—for a guy with orange hair.

"So you're not as dumb as you look." I stated, taking another spoonful of breakfast.

His eyebrows furrowed, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You know," I looked up, staring at him, "For someone who always has his eyebrows knitted together and hair color as bright as an orange, you appreciate Shakespeare. Guys these days don't like Shakespeare. That's good I guess."

"That's prejudice." He said pointing a finger at me.

"How so?"

"Just because someone's hair is a rather abnormal color doesn't mean you can automatically judge their character as some dumbass, that's rude. This is my natural hair color by the way."

"Really? It's natural?"

"Yeah."

I took another spoonful, "And what's the ex for? You dropped out of high school or something?" He raised an eyebrow before shrugging his shoulders, "Something like that." He rested his chin on the table.

"What about you? What's your story?"

I finished my bowl and pushed it aside, doing the same as the man opposite me. "Well, my name's Rukia Kuchiki."

"Yeah, you told me."

"And," I started, tapping my chin, "I'm a high school student, seventeen years of age and I'm a singer." He nodded.

"I know."

"Know what?"

"That you're a singer."

"How so?"

He rubbed the back of his neck, "Well, who doesn't know you? You're Japans top selling teenage artist, Byakuya Kuchiki's younger sister and Japan's best newcomer to the limelight."

"And you're not pressured to be something you're not in front of me?"

"No, why should I?"

I stared at him, taken aback. Never had I met someone who was not bothered on how they were acting in front of a celebrity like me, most people I met pretended they're something they were not, trying to impress me—it makes me uncomfortable. But this man, was acting as if though I was just like any other human being he's known.

I liked that.

Our silence was disrupted as Renji came in, his hair let down, he was wearing a tight singlet and cargo army shorts. I smiled.

"Good morning."

He returned my greeting, taking a seat next to me. I glanced at him from top to bottom. "You're not in your school uniform." He turned back to me as soon as one of the maids brought his breakfast.

"Well of course, do you actually think I'd go to school dressed up like-"

"An emo Ronald McDonald."

I made an unsuccessful attempt to suppress my laughter; my boyfriend glowered at the orange haired teen, his eyes filled with hate.

"So you can speak."

"Yeah, too bad for you pineapple, but I have a _voice_. I'm a human being, not the little mermaid."

I stifled a giggle, coming to the conclusion that Ichigo was the type of guy who was pretty funny, even when he wasn't meaning to be.

"Why is he even **staying **here? I thought it was just for the night!"

"Yes, but I'd like to ask our little guest a few questions first."

I looked up as I was greeted by Byakuya, already in his business suit, Tōshirō close behind him, in his usual navy green singlet and blue shorts for a pajamas.

"Oh, you're up early Tōshirō." I said, smiling.

"Yeah, who could sleep through this entire racket?" He yawned, rubbing his eyes. He looked at Ichigo.

"So what's your name?"

"Ichigo Kurosaki."

Byakuya raised an eyebrow, taking a seat at the end at the head of the table. "As in strawberry?" Ichigo's eye twitched.

"No. Not strawberry."

"Then?"

"My dad told me that my names kanji is different, Ichi in my name means one, Go means protect. It's supposed to mean one protector or something like that. I'm not sure, he told me that a long time ago before he…" I watched as he bit his lower lip, gripping the edge of the table.

I stared at this in confusion.

It soon hit me that he had not mentioned any of his family members in the short period of time that we were alone together. Tōshirō folded his arms; he wasn't going to eat his breakfast for the fact that he was still full from dinner last night.

"Why were you bloodied and beaten up?"

No response.

"Do you have any family members, Kurosaki?"

Still no response.

"That's none of your business…"

"It is. If we're letting a stranger leave in this household we deserve to know some details about him."

"Don't you have a family or anything?" Renji pressed, resting his chin on his hand.

This question made Ichigo bow his head, not meeting eyes with anyone in the room.

"Are they… dead?"

"I need to go to the bathroom." Said the bright haired teen, getting upright in a rather strange manner.

We watched as he made his way out the dining room's entrance before turning into the hallway. There was a short silent moment before I stood up, announcing to everyone in the room.

"I'll go check on him."

* * *

My stomach made a few turns as Ichigo was heard loudly barfing in the bath room. He had been doing so for the past few minutes, taking breaks in between to catch a breath. I sighed, leaning myself against the door, shutting my eyes. My mind began to travel to the thought of him being rather defensive around the topic of his family.

'_Maybe their dead?' _I thought, racking the thought in my mind.

I jolted up as soon as the door opened, getting up in time. I turned to see Ichigo, his eyes red from vomiting for such a long period. "What do you want?" He asked in one of the tensest voices I've ever heard.

"I came to check on whether you were ok."

"Well, besides the fact that I've been puking my guts out for the past four minutes, I guess I'm pretty fine." He gave a cocky smile, sliding his way past me—hands in his pockets. I looked at his clothes, a red t-shirt with blue shorts. Renji's clothes fitted him perfectly, showing that he was taller than he seemed. I caught up with him, we began walking in silence.

"You're not going to ask me anything?"

"Would you answer me if I did?"

He pursed his lips, staring at his feet each time they took a step. "It's your business." I continued, giving him a single glance.

"It's a deep… jagged wound, I don't know how to ask about it… without dredging up your pain… and rubbing salt in that wound. I don't know what to say."

He looked at me, raising an eyebrow, "So I'll wait. When you feel like talking, when you want to tell me… I'll listen." I shrugged my shoulders before walking in front of him.

"I'll just wait… until then."

His footsteps began to get less heavy; his voice had a hint of a smile in it, not a sarcastic one, a cocky one or anything that wasn't a real grin.

"Thanks."

I smile danced at the corners of my lips, he spoke again. "Are you usually this kind to strangers? Because it's kind of creepy." I gave a smirk, folding my arms.

"Maybe."

* * *

"SAY _**WHAT**_?" screamed Tatsuki, banging her hands onto the table.

Renji couldn't go to school today because he and Byakuya had to go to a company meeting, so me and Tōshirō were the only ones in the limo this morning, both of us deciding not to say anything on our house guest. The others were going to ask us when me and Ichigo got back from the bathroom about Ichigo's family until I gave them a look stating that we were not to talk about that for the time being. Breakfast went as normal and we set off. I had just finished telling Tatsuki, Orihime, Momo and Ishida about the fact that someone was staying at our home.

"So let me get this straight, you found some dude in an alley, beaten to death and you decided to bring him home and let him stay for the night?" I nodded. Tatsuki sat back down, shaking her head.

"Even though this makes perfect sense, I still don't get it."

Tōshirō shrugged his shoulders, "It's nothing really, he's not anything horrible or anything of that sort, he's actually a pretty decent guy. Besides his orange hair of course."

Hinamori and Tatsuki's eyes perked up at this, they looked up and gave each other a rather nervous look.

"Orange… hair?" said the girl who's hair was tied up in a bun.

"No," the tom boy shook her head, "It can't be him, you have to note that quite a load of teenagers these days have orange hair. It could be anyone."

Tōshirō and I exchanged awkward glances, the way our two friends were acting was quite strange to us, I hadn't told them Ichigo's name yet, deciding that it would be best if they meet him themselves. Our thoughts were soon disrupted as my busty friend Orihime stood up, waving frantically at a boy with emerald green eyes.

"ULQUIORRA! HEY!"

The boy gave her a glance before waving slightly before joining his jerk of a friend Grimmjow, who was currently sitting in between two girls with rather big cleavages, obviously making them bigger to impress the man in between them. I snarled as he caught my gaze as he gave me a flirty smile.

No good, man slut.

"Seriously Orihime," said Ishida, pushing the rim of his square framed glasses, "What do you _**see **_in that guy? He hardly smiles; in fact, I don't think he smiles at all." He shook his head, taking another bite of his lunch. I groaned—the fact that Orihime, Ishida and Ulquiorra were in this rabid love triangle annoyed me sometimes. I couldn't help but wish the fact that she picked one of them already. Previously, I wouldn't have even dreamed of thinking Ulquiorra was good looking, with his strange drawn black tears streaming down from his eyes, but recently he's lost that look and now has a tear drawn free face, making him on the borderline of being attractive. Before this, we were actually quite close, me and him, until he met Grimmjow; he's been distancing himself from me, ticking me off slightly.

"Let's get to class."

* * *

I sat on the couch, finishing off my math's homework for the day. Tōshirō had finished his at least an hour ago, he offered me to copy his work but I refused.

I mean, what's the point of learning then?

Tōshirō was currently finishing off his science project that was not due until next month while Ichigo was lying down on the sofa next to the one I was occupying. He was still here because we were all waiting for Byakuya to make a decision on how long he was going to stay here for.

"I'm hungry." He complained.

"Then go out and get something to eat."

"I don't have money."

Tōshirō practically threw a couple of yen notes at him, "Then go out and get something." Ichigo stared at the notes in disbelief.

"I can't take this."

"Why not?"

"It's just… you barely know me."

"So? If that's all it's going to take to get you to stop asking for food then take it. There's a bakery downtown, you can get really nice stuff there. Check it out."

He stood up before making his way to the shorter boy. "Thank you." He said, bowing. Tōshirō nodded.

"Don't mention it."

I watched as he made his way out the door. I turned back to the white haired boy.

"That was very sweet of you."

"It was nothing, really."

I smiled, "I was going to give him money by the way."

"Sure you were."

* * *

I slipped on my coat, Tōshirō doing the same.

"Are you ready?"

"Yeah, let's go."

We stopped as the door opened before I had the chance to turn the knob. Ichigo stood in front of us, a bun visibly sticking out of his mouth. The fact that he had to look down on the both of us was actually pretty embarrassing.

"Where you guys going?" he asked, chewing on the bun.

"We got to go for Rukia's gig at the stadium; we'll be back in a few hours."

Ichigo stood there for awhile before looking back at us.

"I want to come."

* * *

**Cha****pter three end! I hope you enjoyed! By the way, I hope you guys don't think that Ichigo staying with them is a bad thing, if you really want to know what's Ichigo's past then please, bear with me! Everything will be answered! You'll just have to wait –laughs- By the way, I'm really happy with all the reviews I've been getting, keep them coming! It'll make me very, very happy! Just reading them makes me all fluttery inside. So keep them coming! Oh, and note how I parodied Rukia and Ichigo's conversation about his family and how she'll wait for him to tell her about it to the one in the June seventeenth chapter? –wink wink wink-  
**

**Review reply to:**

**xXmysterious-unknownXx: I've never seen such a strange comment before xD Your relationship with your cousin is so awkward! Unlike mine which is wonderful and not violent at all! –Notice the sarcasm-**

**Cait the Cat: CAITLIN! You're such a liar! I'm horrible at drawing and writing! Haha, I laughed at your comment. I bet if Song Rin read the fact that Ichimaru was dating Matsumoto in my story she'd fly all the way from Korea to kill me.**

**JT10831: …. JORDAN TAN GET OFF MY FANFICTION PAGE OR I'LL KILL YOU! You actually got me jumping that I got a new review and the next thing you know:**

**THIS IS NOT JORDAN.**

**THIS IS ELVIS PRESLEY.**

**You better pray I don't do the same on your stories by the way. Or not I'll make the rest of your school days a living hell –laughs like a maniac- ….. Or I'll tell everyone in the world that your nickname is penguin.**

**Amulet Misty: Yeah I bet a lot of people were puzzled by Renji's behavior. I can't see Byakuya and Rukia having such a relationship though. It would be awkward.**

**Pamianime: HAH! I MADE PAMIANIME LAUGH! AHAHAH! SUCK IT, LOSERS! Yes. Continue reviewing. Trust me you'd make me the HAPPIEST PERSON ALIVE.**

**SukiAmaya: That's not much of a review now is it o.o**

**Nivek10: THANK YOU! Trust me I've got Ichigo's past all planned out, and not to be self centered or anything but I think it's pretty good. And yes, a reserved Ichigo is much more huggable! But he's going to open up a little more throughout the story. **

**Jean: The next chapter is here! I hope you liked it (: I know you will. And yes, MAKE LOADS OF MONEY! **

**Ruriri: OH! HI! I didn't know because you didn't put a name. Yes, Hitsugaya is awesome! That's why he's in here! Hehe! Yeah, Games is REALY awesome. **

**Aika Ray Kuroba: I like your description of my story ^o^ I guess it's good! Yeah, Hitsugaya and Rukia have a LOAD of similarities! Like twins. Heh. Sure I'll PM you. Your review made me smile (: **

**Kicyslawa: HOW COULD I FORGET YOU! YOU'RE ****ONE OF MY MOST CHERISHED REVIEWERS (': Yeah, telling things about Ichigo piece by piece is interesting :D I love when stories have Ichigo and Rukia's bond too! It's much more interesting! And you'll find out why Ichigo was bloodied in time.**

**All in good time. **

**Matsuka17: THANK YOU! I HAVE UPDATED! I HOPE YOU LIKE (:**

**Khai Ern: Thank you! :D**

**R&R.**

**Please?**


	4. Sing A Melody

**Chapter 4. You know, I had this ICT (computer) test the other day and I'm still quite worried on my marks. Geography too. For Geo we had to write one whole essay on the difference between North America and South America. I think I sort of died writing it. –Sigh- If only it was as easy as writing fanfics. Oh, and have you guys watched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows? I'm watching it tomorrow, I hope it's good! I'm a huge Harry Potter fan in case you were wondering. I can't wait to watch Bleach episode 298! Because, seeing Rukia in a maid outfit would be the funniest moment of my life. Especially the way that the spotlight shone on Rukia and Ichigo, which was kind of funny. Oh well, enough of my blabbering, let's get down to business!**** By the way, I need you guys to vote!**

**Should Orihime end up with:**

**Ulquiorra or Ishida?**

**

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_We were given: Two hands to hold. Two legs to walk. Two eyes to see. Two ears to listen. But why only one heart? Because the other was given to someone else. For us to find.  
__**-Source Unknown**_

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* * *

**_

**Sing a Melody**

We sat quietly in the limo, not saying a word to each other. Ichigo was admiring the material on the leather chair, acting as if though he had never seen a more beautiful car seat in his life. Tōshirō would glance from me to the orange haired teen from time to time before facing back in front, shaking his head. We arrived at the stadium in a matter of minutes, being that it was only ten minutes away from our place. I stepped out of the car first, the two men behind me soon doing the same.

"Rukia! Miss Rukia, you're late!" cried a voice.

I turned to face Hanatarou, gripping a clipboard while having one of those special ear phone mike thingies that's name I never really learned.

"Oh. Hey Hanatarou. What's up?"

The boy jumped, "Miss Rukia! You're up in fifteen minutes! There's no way we can get you to look good in that short amount of time."

I raised an eyebrow—shrugged one shoulder. "Then I'll just go on like this." As I was making my way to the producers, Hanatarou grabbed me by the arm. "No! The producers will kill me! You're supposed to look your best! Oh no, oh no, I'm so dead…" I loosened his grip, held his hand and patted it. "You'll be fine, if it means that much to you, then I'll change to a more… bearable outfit. Is that alright?" He slowly nodded, bowing after he did so.

"Yes, thank you Miss Rukia."

I watched as he scurried away, being bumped into by other performers. I smiled before turning back to the two men.

"Was that your supervisor?" asked Ichigo, raising a brow.

I nodded, going past him to my stylist, already at my dressing table. "Ah! My lovely Rukia! How are you today? Come on, come on, we need to get you ready for the event. You're going to look absolutely _**fabulous**_!" He chirped, clasping his hands together. I laughed as he ran to the closet, grabbing a dark blue dress, slightly below the knees, its collar was decorated with sequins, lined up neatly. "It's lovely Yumichika." I praised as he did my hair, braiding it as best as he could, despite the rather short length it was.

"Don't mention it; it's what I do best by the way. In fact, I'm so good; I could even make that man outside with the orange hair good looking." He gave me a rather curious look.

"Who might he be, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Oh, it's kind of a long story."

He gasped, giving me a cheeky smile. "Don't tell me you've ditched Renji for him?" My face immediately flushed, I gritted my teeth, trying to prevent myself from strangling him. "No! Are you crazy? I'd never do such a thing, that's plain cruelty. Anyways, if you must know, I found him beaten up in an alley yesterday and I didn't want to leave him. So I brought him home, Byakuya's still deciding on what to do with him." He tilted his head to the side.

"Well ain't that nice, you're picking up beggars from the street to stay at your home."

"He's not a beggar," I countered as he applied my make-up, applying my lip stick with smooth strokes, "He's just currently..."

"Homeless."

"_Yumichika_..."

He laughed before setting his tools back onto the counter. "You're up, sweetheart." I stared at myself in the mirror—looking nowhere _**near**_ the messy high school girl I was this morning.

"Thank you."

"Again, don't mention it."

He jerked his head to the stage, a small smile creeping on his lips.

"They're waiting for you."

* * *

The lights in the stadium went off, neon lights flashed on, scanning the audience. They went wild, screaming and waving their hands in the air.

I smiled.

Making my way to the centre of the stage, I began taking deep breaths. My high heels made a tapping sound on the stages wooden floor. I glanced back at my band members, all giving me the same reassuring smile. I fought the temptation of shielding my eyes from the bright rays of light shining down onto me. I winced slightly before giving a wide grin. I raised a hand, gripping onto the mike while the other was dropped to my side. The crowd was hysterical, chanting my name. It's funny how little people get chosen to get an opportunity like this, to please a crowd of four thousand, all watching you as if though you were the only thing in their world.

Funny how the person who was chosen to get that opportunity, was me.

The crowd shattered to silence. Not a sound. I took another breathe as the music came on. I slowly leaned forward, beginning to sing. The piano accompanying me with a gentle, melodic tone.

'_Nobody knows who I really am;_

_I've never felt, this empty before;_

_And if I ever need someone to come along;_

_Who's gonna comfort me and keep me strong?'_

The crowd sang along, all singing their hearts out. I had to belt out another three songs before my gig was up, as soon as I was done, I evacuated backstage, hoping that the crowd was satisfied by my performance. As I went backstage I was attacked by a rather curvy figure, squealing like a little fan girl.

"Oh my god Rukia! You were amazinggg! I can't believe you actually did that well!"

I laughed and returned Rangiku's hug, thanking her for her praise. As she pulled away she held me by the shoulders, having her usual bubbly expression.

"After this, let's all go out for some sake, what do you think?"

"Rangiku, I'm under aged remember?"

She pouted, "Well why don't we _pretend_ you're not?"

"Matsumoto…"

She turned, soon looking down at Tōshirō, folding his arms in annoyance. She giggled, assuring him that she was joking. She stopped as soon as Ichigo appeared from the corner, soon reaching us and standing next to the shorter boy.

"Yo."

"Oh, hey Ichigo."

Rangiku's jaw dropped, her eyes travelled from him to Tōshirō and me.

"Whoa."

"Rangiku, meet Ichigo Kurosaki. He'll be staying with us for the time being."

"Whoa."

"Ichigo, this is Rangiku Matsumoto. She's my manager."

"Nice to meet you, Rangiku,"

"WHOA."

"Matsumoto, would you quite saying 'whoa'? It's annoying the hell out of me."

"Shut up Hitsugaya. It's nice to meet you Ichigo." She stuck out her hand which he shook. "So… why's he staying with you?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. I led out a sigh of exasperation, "It's a long story." She mouthed at me to tell me all about it later. Soon we decided to leave, not wanting to attend the after party for the fact that we had a rather long day.

Anyways, Fridays were the days that they aired _Chappy's Big Adventures_.

I slipped into a blue coat before saying our goodbyes to the rest. As the limo pulled up, Ichigo led out a groan. "I'm so sleepy; thank god this thing's over."

"Hey. Stop acting like it's your own home." Tōshirō's eyes lingered on him for a moment before going back to the vehicle.

"Whatever, I'll see you guys at the mansion. Later."

"Wait. What do you mean we'll see you back home? We're all going back together idiot." I placed my hands on my hips, my eyebrows furrowed.

"Oh no," Tōshirō opened the door, staring at the two of us, "I think it'll be best if the two of you get to know each other better without me interrupting. So why don't you guys walk home and have some chit chat time." He nodded before giving me a rather sickening smirk. As the limo drove off, Ichigo had to hold me back from flinging my heel at the window screen. We both decided that it'd probably be easier if we walked home, the time to get a taxi would probably be about ten minutes, while the walk back home was only fifteen. As we set ourselves for the walk, I broke the silence.

"So, would you mind telling me about you being injured last night?"

"I thought you said that you'd wait for me to tell you."

"I said I'd wait for you to tell me about your parents, I never said anything about not asking you on your being in an alley, bleeding to death." I corrected.

He grimaced, "Well… the thing is, my family plays a big part in the reason on why I was in such a condition. So too bad for you, I ain't telling you anything until I feel like it."

I huffed at his stubbornness, despite the fact that me and Ichigo had only known each other for a day, he was really arrogant sometimes.

"Jerk." I breathed, glaring at him.

"Midget."

My eyes widened in shock, "_Did you just call me a midget?"_ I yelled, giving him a push. In all the seventeen years that I had lived, I had never been called a midget. Sure, there was the occasional _'dwarf'_ from Renji, but never _'midget'_. He chuckled—annoying me beyond proportion, "That sure pisses you off doesn't it? Midget! Midget! _Middgeettt._"

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP, SHUT UP, _SHUT. UP._"

He laughed as I started pounding on his arm, his laugh was sort of like his voice, raspy yet coated with honey. But somehow, it seemed hollow. Soon, he apologized for his teasing, yet he still held a smile.

"Anyways, that little guy's right. We should get to know each other better, since I'm staying with you and all."

I nodded, looking ahead as we walked.

"So what do you want to know about?"

"That guy with the red hair, Remi?"

"Renji." I corrected, smiling at his little mistake.

"Yeah, Renji, the pineapple. Is he your boyfriend?"

I raised a brow before nodding. "Yeah, he is. We've been dating for awhile now."

"Do you guys… make out?"

His question startled me, putting me off slightly on him invading my privacy. But in the end, I gave in.

"Yeah…"

He gave a small cough before looking at his feet.

"Have you guys done...?"

"Done what?"

I watched as a tint of red crept onto his cheeks. It took me a couple of moments to make out what he meant.

"EW! NO, YOU PERVERT! I can't believe you even asked me that!" I gave a smirk, "But I bet you have."

The red on his face darkened, he looked at me, his expression shifting from embarrassment to anger. "_YUCK! _NO! EW, ARE YOU RETARDED?" I laughed at his little outburst. "Why do you want to know if Renji and I make out?" He sighed.

"Nothing. Just, if you guys start, please warn me, or my retinas will burn."

"What? How immature! I'm sure you've had a girlfriend before." I watched in astonishment as he shook his head and shrugged. "Nope, never. I don't see a valid reason to actually have one." I raised a brow.

"Have you ever been kissed?"

"No."

"Wow. Have you ever loved a girl?"

"I'm not sure. Actually… no. I don't think I have."

I gagged, "_What?_ I'm sure you've had a tiny crush, right?"

He nodded, "Well of course I've had a crush on a girl. I'd be lying if I said I haven't." I nudged him, "Who's the _un-_lucky gal?" He rolled his eyes at my insult before his eyes wandered onto the street lamps, lit brightly, as if though a group of fireflies were dancing around it. "A girl I've known since I was young. It was just a tiny one though." I folded my arms behind my back, taking giant steps to catch up with his long legs. "For how long?"

"About four years?"

My eyes widened, "_Tiny? _You call that _tiny?_" He rubbed his shoulder, "Well yeah, I was only nine at the time. I liked her until I was thirteen, realizing that she was more of a sister to me. She was, truthfully, my best friend. And I was hers; I haven't spoken or seen her in months though."

"Why?"

"It's… personal."

"Everything with you seems personal; you're a pretty mysterious guy, Ichigo."

He smiled, "Yeah, I know." The rest of our walk back home was silent. We didn't say anything else to each other; we walked in a comfortable silence. As my home came into view, he started. "Do you write your own songs?" I gave a slight nod. "Yeah I do. Well, sometimes I get someone to help me if I have trouble rhyming the words." His face shone an expression of being impressed. His scowl though, was still plastered on his face.

"You're pretty good."

"_Pretty_? Aw, I was expecting a 'really'."

"You are SUCH an arrogant person."

"Look who's talking."

He smiled, though his eyebrows were still knitted together. "That song you sang just now, the first one. Is it true? Nobody knows who you really are?"

"I don't know. Sometimes I feel that way, I think I wrote that song when I was depressed."

He looked at me—his expression disturbingly close to pity before nodding. I looked up at his tall frame. "Why do you always look so angry?" this question obviously caught him off guard. He stroked his chin, deep in thought. A few seconds went by before he dropped his hand.

"I honestly have no idea. It just sort of comes to me naturally. I guess I picked it up from watching too many emo programs."

I rang the doorbell, peering into the house through the gate. The door opened, revealing Tōshirō, standing there with an eyebrow raised. I waved at him and he returned the gesture. From the distance, I saw him call out to someone, the maid I presumed, to open the gate. I beckoned the man behind me to step back which he did. I followed his steps and we stayed as the gate opened, we walked in to be greeted by the silver haired boy, leaning against the doorway.

"You do realize you've taken half an hour to get back, right?"

I brushed him off, passing him without giving him a glance, "Thanks to a certain someone." He pushed himself off the doorway and walked next to me, Ichigo close behind. "By the way, Renji and Byakuya are back." I stared at him. "Where are they?" He jerked his head to the living room. I changed my course from the direction to the stairs to my brother and boyfriend. As soon as the color of red flashed into my eyes, I smiled.

"Hey."

Renji grinned, Byakuya gave me a nod, acknowledging by presence. "Hey." I ran to the red haired man, throwing my arms around his neck, I waved at Byakuya, ignoring his rather disgusted expression. Renji gently pressed his lips against mine; my cheeks flushed knowing that my brother was watching all this.

"Ew. That. Is. So. GROSS."

I rolled my eyes, knowing very well whose voice that belonged to.

"Ichigo, go to your room."

"Hey you're not my mommy."

I glared at the orange haired teen as he sat onto the couch. "Can you two get a room? Because I can feel the heating sensation burning my eyelids." I groaned, Renji simply blinked. "You are such a prude." The minute he had said this, I couldn't help but burst out laughing. Ichigo's scowl deepened. Byakuya made his way to the sofa, directly in front of the Kurosaki boy. As he sat, he folded his legs. "So, I was thinking about you staying at our home." My grip from Renji loosened; soon both of my hands were by my sides—watching the outcome of this event.

"And?"

"Well, when you first entered this house, you immediately struck me as someone familiar. Yet, I couldn't put my finger on it. Last night, as I went to bed, I realized who you were and on what you have done for me before. So, you staying in my home will be returning the favor." Ichigo gave a small nod, "You still remember?" Byakuya returned the gesture.

"Of course, I owe you."

My eyes shifted between the two, "What? You've met Ichigo before?" He ignored my question as he got up, "I must go upstairs, I still have quite a lot of paperwork to do. I'll see you in the morning." He nodded at us before descending his way upstairs, leaving me and Renji dumbfounded. I looked back at Ichigo, my jaw dropped.

"You've met Byakuya before?"

He nodded.

"What does he mean about him owing you?"

"It's pe-"

"If you say it's personal, _so help me…."_

He blinked a couple of times before staring at his hands, picking at a speck of dirt in his fingernail. I watched as he looked back up at me, his face blank.

"Because I saved your sisters life once."

* * *

It was a Saturday; I was sitting with Rangiku, Orihime, Tatsuki, and Momo, the friends I usually hanged out with during the weekends. Last night, after Ichigo had shocked us with the news of him saving Hisana once, he had refused to tell us any more details, leaving me and Renji with our jaws dropped. That night made me lose a lot of sleep. I couldn't stop thinking about the fact that Ichigo had met my sister once, and saved her life. He not telling me more on the subject had me tossing and turning the whole night. I had just told Rangiku on Ichigo's current predicament, but decided to leave out the fact that he had met my sister before. I was not planning on telling anyone so until I got more information.

"Wow. Orange hair, amber eyes, tall, hot and with a mysterious past. I say you ditch Renji and bag Ichigo."

The others were in their own conversation, being that they had stopped listening to the nonsense coming out from Rangiku's mouth about an hour ago. I rolled my eyes, tapping the table. "You're crazy."

"Yeah, I know." She snapped her fingers and giggled, "He's like a wonderful serendipity! Think about it, you might actually fall in love with him, and it's funny how you actually found him. Kind of like that song. What's it called? Ah! _'Lost and insecure, You found me, you found me._'" I groaned at her, her singing was strange. For someone who wasn't drunk, she sure seemed like it.

"OH! I FORGOT TO TELL YOU GUYS!"

We all turned to Orihime, who had a hint of bread crumbs on her cheek. When she turned seventeen, she stopped wearing her usual flower hair clips. It startle quite a lot of us for the fact that she wore it every single day since her brother gave it to her before his death. That was seven years ago. I remembered her saying on how it reminded her of Sora, her late elder brother. Her bangs were shorter and the ends of her hair were curled then.

"Yesterday, work was like its usual boring self, and all of a sudden, this _guy _walks in, tall and muscular looking in this tight black V-necked shirt, a plaid green jacket on top with a pair of jeans. He comes up to me and asks for a bun. At first I was scared of him, he looked really angry, so I quietly just gave him a bun iced with chocolate frosting and he smiled, though his eyebrows were still knotted together. And he told me that he loves chocolate and was glad I picked the right bun. He thanked me and walked away after paying. And he was just so… interesting! He was good looking, yet he looked funny as well!" she laughed, by the looks of it she was replaying the memory in her mind. Tatsuki raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? What does he look like?"

Orihime tapped her chin, the bread crumbs tumbling down her cheek, "Let's see… He had this really deep scowl, he looked angry, even when he smiled. Um… amber eyes… orange hair…" At this, all our heads were raised, staring at her, before the others turned to me. I bored my eyes into her skull. It was definitely Ichigo, seeing as he went to the bakery Orihime worked at last night, yet I never thought she'd still be there. "What was his name?" Momo asked, her curiosity clearly showing. The chestnut haired girl sighed. "I don't know, I didn't get the chance to ask." I looked at.

"Don't tell me you have a crush on him?"

She blushed, "No! No! I don't even know him! It's just that… I found him rather interesting."

"Boy, we better not have Ulquiorra or Ishida know about this."

We laughed at Tatsuki's comment before we continued eating. The thought of Orihime and Ichigo together began to play in my mind.

* * *

When I reached back home, Tōshirō was locked in his room, trying to finish off the remaining touches of his project. Renji was currently in the television room, sprawled on the couch, snoring loudly. Byakuya was sitting on the chair opposite him, reading the papers. He usually took Saturday off work, relaxing a bit. Seeing as he worked grueling hours every day, I couldn't blame him. I grinned

"Anything interesting in the papers lately?"

He shook his head, "I don't know. I haven't been reading that column." I walked behind him, peering over his shoulder, he was reading the business section. I rolled my eyes—tired of him constantly worried on his work. I merely shrugged before Ichigo came in; looking as if though he had just ran the marathon. He was holding a copy of the newspaper, huffing and panting as he stared at us. I raised an eyebrow, "What's wrong?" He threw it onto the table, pointing at an article, his eyes wide.

"What… IS THIS?"

I looked at it; it was a picture of me and Ichigo, walking together in the streets. Above it was huge bold letters with the words, "RUKIA KUCHIKI, CHEATING ON BOYFRIEND?" my gaze wondered back to Ichigo, his eyes filled with fright. I laughed, "Don't sweat it, it happens to everyone. Every time the paparazzi catch me with some guy they immediately think he's my new boyfriend or I'm having an affair. It's quite stupid really. Just about every guy I know has been snapped by the paparazzi."

"Including me."

I watched as Tōshirō made his way into the room, telling us that he was taking a break from his project for awhile.

"Don't let it get to you, Kurosaki. You're not going to die or anything."

Still the orange haired teen had a worried look on his face, "No, no, you don't understand… Crap, I'm so screwed." We watched in confusion as Ichigo began muttering to himself, running his fingers through his hair. Byakuya's phone rang; he picked it up and stayed silent as the person on the other line spoke. After awhile, he got up, turning to Ichigo.

"Come with me boy."

It had been three hours since Byakuya and Ichigo left the house. I began to worry, wondering on what my brother was doing. Tōshirō had gone back to his room and Renji was still sleeping. I smiled at his sleeping figure and pecked him on the cheek before caressing his face. He winced, making me pull back my hand. His eyes fluttered open.

"Mmgghh. What did I miss?"

"Nothing much," I smiled, watching as he struggled to sit up, "Ichigo and Byakuya went out though."

"Where did they go?"

"Honestly? I have no idea."

Renji rubbed his neck, "Kurosaki sure is strange. I kind of preferred it when he couldn't talk." I sighed.

"Come on Renji, he's really nice. He likes Shakespeare by the way."

"Who?"

"Never mind."

I jumped as the door clicked, Ichigo walked by the room, passing us and heading up the stairs. A rather solemn look on his face. Byakuya came in, taking off his jacket. Renji raised a tattooed eyebrow.

"Where'd you guys go?"

Byakuya glanced at us before sitting back down onto the chair and opening the papers once again.

"Starting next Monday, Ichigo Kurosaki will be attending your school."

* * *

**PHEW. I think that's the longest chapter so far. I apologize if you all desperately want to know on what's with Ichigo's past and all, but keep reading! I just LOVE making readers yearn for more. Don't worry though, a few more chapters and it will all be revealed! –laughs- And by the way, HARRY POTTER WAS AWESOME! Me and my friends watched it in the theatre and we laughed and screamed like retards. And the Bleach episode… -smiles- total ichiruki at one point. And am I the only one seriously wanting Rukia and Ichigo to reunite in the manga?**

xXmysterious-unknownXx- HAHA. Your precious Byakuya is here, don't worry… he ain't going to die…. (:

Amulet Misty- JEALOUS ISHIDA FTW. And yes, maybe Momo and Tatsuki might know something… (:

Experimentnumber628- YES ANGRY RENJI FTW XDDD Thanks for your review! I love getting new reviewers (: Hmm… I haven't really thought on June 17. Maybe, thanks for the idea though :L

Pamianime- I KNOW! Those are one of my favourite ichiruki moments too! I'M JUST WAITING FOR THEIR REUNION IN THE MANGA. Shiver went through your spine? :O Nice.

Aika Ray Kuroba- HEHEH. The tears, 3 Most Ichiruki fans who read chapter 423 cried, when they animate it in the anime, it better be beautiful ;_; With romantic music and what not. Hehe, I feel really bad letting everyone wait for Ichigo's past to be revealed, but I can't help it xD SORRY!

Alero1990- THANK YOU! That's exactly what I'm aiming for (: A different storyline PAWNS. Love triangles are awesome, makes things more interesting! Thank you for reviewing!

SukiAmaya- YEAHHH I KNOW YOU CAN'T WAIT ;D I UPDATE FAST CUZ I AIN'T GOT NO LIFE, YO. ;P NO! I SUCK AT DRAWING AND WRITING! YOU'RE THE ONE WHO OWNS! I'M JEALOUS OF YOU SYUKI D: AND YEAHHH ICHIRUKI RULES BLEACH RULES YEAHHHH! CAPITALS FTW.

Khai ern- Awwww (,: Thank you Khai ern! And yes, please spare my life ._.

Jean- I UPDATED! (; THANK YOUUU BUT YA KNOW YOU'RE BETTER AT WRITING! ORI/ULQUI/ISHI FTW! CHAPTER 4 IS HERE!

Not JEAN- …. Sure this isn't Jean. The name says it all. –notice the sarcasm- LOL YES ICHIGO! OO! SPAM! LOVE YOU TOO (:

SOO not Jean- …. HI SOMEONE WHO'S NOT JEAN. YES TATSUKI AND MOMO KNOWW SOMETHING :o SUSPICIOUSS…..

Pet-lover-97- LOVE YOUR NAME!

Kiyari817- Ichigo's background will be revealed soon! JUST YOU WAIT D: HEHEHE. Hmm I think I'll upload a new chapter every weekend (: 'cuz it's just so fun writing this story!

DiamondGoddess- LOL! Ichigo being secretly rich? :O That will be an interesting twist~ Maybe, maybe not ;D You just got to wait (:

XxJessicaaaaxX- AHAHA~ Thanks! You better upload a new chapter for The First Note! Or I'll kill you (:

Kicyslawa- Yay! I hope you enjoyed Ichigo in this chapter! I just can't see him as someone… quiet. With him yelling like a mad man in nearly every episode. It's very hard writing their personalities in an AU fanfic, but thanks! Inoue and Ulquiorra! YAY! I'm having trouble picking who! And you'll find out why tatsuki and momo know Ichigo soon!

Animefanx3- Hi mel! Thanks! I'm glad you like it! I'll update it as best as I can!

**R&R.**

**Cuz.**

**It'll bring Michael Jackson back to life.**


	5. School Blues

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Chapter 5. I'm on a roll here! Anyways, thank you for all your reviews! I really appreciate them! I like re-reading them too if you get the message –wink wink- … Nah I don't think you do. Anyways, school ended today, so expect me to update more than usual! I'm hoping that's a good thing. It's a good thing. Right? Oh, and just wondering, do you like the fact that I'm taking time in telling you about Ichigo's past or do you want it to be revealed as quickly as possible? But I guess there's no fun in that. And I just read Bleach chapter 429, OH MY GOD! CURSE KUBO! WHERE THE HELL IS RUKIA! Why's he letting Ichigo and Orihime get all… close –twitches- It's disturbing. They better reunite soon.

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* * *

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'_Be slow in choosing a friend, but slower in changing him'. _

**-Scottish Proverb**

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* * *

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**School Blues**

I stepped out of the car, pulling my sling bag over my shoulder. It was a Monday, and we were standing at the front of a large school. Usually, it would've been like every single school day we've had, but it wasn't. There was a new student, a new student with the brightest hair of orange. His name?

Ichigo Kurosaki.

Byakuya had taken him for the entrance exam the previous Saturday; he had passed with flying colors. And since Karakura town wasn't that big a place, there was enough space for him to enter. It had taken a whole lot of effort to drag him here, but eventually he gave in. He stood next to me, his scowl as noticeable as ever.

"Stupid school."

"Shut up, get your bag from the boot and we'll go inside."

I watched as he shrugged his way to the car, our limo driver was already holding his bag and school books, something that Byakuya had gotten him over the weekend. I looked at him from top to bottom, the way he wore his uniform stated that he was a rebel, as if the orange hair wasn't enough. He wore the uniform's white shirt, inside he wore a black v-necked top, a large '15' logo was plastered in the middle, none of his buttons were done up and he wore a black and white striped wrist band. A chain was dangling from his pocket, it was hooked onto his belt strap and it shone in the sunlight. Renji shrugged.

"I bet you ten bucks he's going to get stopped by a teacher."

"I bet you twenty he'll get into a fight the minute we walk through those doors."

"Renji, Tōshirō, no one's betting anything. Ichigo's going to be fine. Stop being so negative." I watched as he skulked his way back to us, dragging his feet on the concrete floor. "Let's just get this day over with." We nodded and walked up the stairs, soon pushing open the school doors. The minute we had walked in, it seemed as if though the crowd in the hallway stopped all their chatter and laughter to focus their full attention onto us, not one of them saying a word to one another. I shrugged my shoulders and boldly walked, not giving anyone eye contact. Renji and Tōshirō were on either sides of me—both having their hands in their pockets. I turned, finding Ichigo with the same expression as us, not seeming to care about the amount of whispers echoing throughout the halls, all about him.

'_Oh my god, who is that?'_

'_Dude, he's freakin' hot. Think he'll date me?'_

'_Hah, cocky jerk, think he's so cool just because he's got orange hair. We'll teach him a lesson.'_

He rolled his eyes, digging his hands into his pockets. I wasn't surprised on how laid back he was on the fact that the whole student body was now focusing on him, he was probably used to it. I groaned as a man with teal hair made his way towards me, soon wrapping an arm around my shoulders.

"Hey, how's my favourite girl?"

"Leave me alone, Jaegerjaquez."

He gave his usual sadistic smile, "Aw, don't be like that. You're being totally unfair. Stop treating me like crap." I pushed his arm away, soon walking in front of him with my fists tightened. He laughed.

"You are _so _feisty."

I turned, my temper rising slightly. "Piss off. I don't want to talk with a loser like you." Grimmjow took a few steps towards me until we were practically inches apart. I looked up at him, glaring daggers.

Renji came in between us, spreading his arms out to prevent me from smacking Grimmjow in the jaw.

"Stop. Rukia, just ignore him. Jaegerjaquez, leave her alone."

"Or what?"

"You'll have to go through me."

The man led out a guffaw, "Really? You and what army, pineapple?" I rubbed my temples as Renji's knuckles went white; he glowered at the man opposite him who was having the most amused smile ever.

"Grimmjow?"

I stopped and turned to see Ichigo, his eyes wide, staring at the school's bully. He took a few steps towards us, his eyes not on either Renji or me, but on the Jaegerjaquez man. He raised an eyebrow at the sight of Ichigo before his eyes widened as well, dropping his smile and forming into the shape of an 'o'.

"Ichigo? Is it really you?"

The two's eyes were locked with one another, not focusing on anything around them.

"What the hell are you doing here, Grimmjow?"

"I should be asking you the same question."

The orange haired teen glanced at me, his eyes unreadable. He faced the man once again and answered, "I'm starting school here."

"Oh, so you want to learn now?"

"Shut up. I'm surprised you're going to school yourself."

He laughed, shaking his head, "You never change do you? You're such an ignoramus. What's your relationship with Kuchiki over there?"

"I'm… staying with her."

Grimmjow howled, "You're what now? Oh my! Well does she know your little secret?"

"Secret? What secret?" I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me.

"Oh! She doesn't! Well why don't I tell her for you, Ichigo?"

"Shut up Grimmjow…"

"Oh, why not? She's going to find out sooner or later anyways!"

"Don't. Don't tell her."

"Whatever, well Rukia, in case you didn't know, your friend orangey over here used to b-"

Loud gasps were led out as Ichigo charged into Grimmjow—shoving him against the lockers which made a thunder like sound.

"Don't even think about it."

I nervously watched as his grip tightened on Grimmjow's throat, who held his wrist as he did so.

"Oh, why are you scared to tell her? Frightened that she might kick you out of the house and make you live on the streets _**again**_? It's better to get it over and done with, right?"

Ichigo's eyes turned hollow, he stared at the ground while his hands were still on Grimmjow's neck. He looked back up at him, his eyes pleading.

"Please… Don't tell her. Not now. I don't want someone else to get hurt because of me."

What happened next was the last thing I was expecting. I expected Grimmjow to laugh at Ichigo and spit in his face, or maybe give him a swift punch, but instead, for the first time since I had met Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez…

His face softened.

His hands dropped to his side, both he and Ichigo were staring at the floor as Ichigo's grip on him loosened.

"Ok."

Ichigo gave out a sigh of relief, "Thanks." Grimmjow shook his head, "Don't mention it. Just remember that you owe me, _**again**_."

The man opposite him stared at the teal haired mans hands, they lingered onto his little finger, which I noticed was cut off.

"Your finger…"

"Yeah, that's what I get for saving your ass. Man up and stop being a pansy will ya?"

He gave Ichigo a light punch on the shoulder, making him smile slightly.

"It's good to see you again, Grimmjow."

"It's nice to see you and that orange hair again too."

He nodded before turning away, his back facing Ichigo. He made his way down the hall after turning to me and giving a small 'sorry'.

As he left, me and the other two stood there dumbfounded. Tōshirō raised an eyebrow while Renji's mouth was flopping like a fish.

"Tell me that just didn't happen."

"Grimmjow just said sorry. Oh my god, it's the end of the world."

I gave them a look, stating for them both to shut up as Ichigo walked towards us, hands in his pockets.

"Yo."

"How do you know Grimmjow?"

"Long story, let's just say he's an old friend."

We set off for class, our timetables were different, me and Tōshirō had chemistry while Renji and Ichigo had maths. We said our goodbyes before parting ways. When we entered the class, we made our way to the table at the back, sitting side by side. Tōshirō began to fiddle with a filter funnel, removing the sand paper and tracing the top of it.

"Kurosaki just keeps getting more and more interesting doesn't he?"

I nodded—even though I wouldn't admit the fact that I was interested in his past—he sure was mysterious. I took a thermometer from a flask and twirled it, making sure I didn't drop it.

"It's like a huge puzzle, we find out something and something new pops up, like a mystery. Strange ain't it?" I said, still twirling the thermometer. He glanced at me before shrugging his shoulders.

Class went by quickly, we had to make a new solution with Hydrochloric acid and Phosphate, it was basic stuff really, but our teacher wanted us to have a quick recap before we moved onto a new topic. When we were dismissed, as I passed the principal's office, usually I wouldn't really care on who was called, but as I passed, I came to a halt, for the man inside the office was fiddling with his fingers.

It was Ichigo.

I stood there, waiting for him to look up. As soon as he did, I threw my hands in the air mouthing at him, demanding him to tell me what had happened. He raised an eyebrow before shrugging his shoulders and pointing at his hair. I gave a sigh and chuckled slightly before heading for History class. Ichigo arrived a few minutes after I had and took the seat behind me. As usual, class was a total bore, so I tore a sheet of paper and began scribbling on it. It was halfway through the lesson when our teacher, Miki Sensei, called out Ichigo's name.

"Mr. Kurosaki, would you mind giving us a brief description of the Battle of the Hastings that took place a thousand years ago?"

I turned behind, staring straight at the orange haired teen who had a pen in one hand while the other was tapping the wooden table.

"Sorry?"

"Give us a quick description of The Battle of the Hastings, if you were paying attention, you'd know."

I gulped, hoping that he had, the last thing I wanted was someone I knew to look like a total fool in front of the class. He shrugged his shoulders and spoke in a loud voice.

"The Battle of the Hastings took place on 16th November, 1066. It was the battle between William of Normandy and King Harold the second. King Harold got killed in battle, which many people believe that someone shot him in the eye with an arrow. The battle was that the Normans wanted to take over England, which in the end, made William the first Norman ruler."

He stopped before looking up at Miki Sensei.

"To put it briefly of course."

The whole class was silent. I turned back to the front and slumped in my seat, a large grin was plastered on my face.

Our teacher's eyes narrowed before dropping the topic and moving on. I quickly glanced back at Ichigo, who was surprisingly, taking down notes.

* * *

It was lunch. I hadn't seen any of my friends that day; I had been planning to introduce them to Ichigo. We entered the cafeteria and soon began taking our trays and grabbing our lunch. I pulled Ichigo to our table and sat down. Everyone wasn't in the cafeteria yet, so instead we began talking about our day. Tōshirō, as usual, passed the pop quiz he had for math's with flying colors—something which did not surprise any of us. Renji had been stopped by a teacher who demanded him to lose his tattoos or face detention. Renji, who had been used to this, told the teacher the tattoos were permanent, leaving the teacher red with embarrassment. It wasn't until we heard the sound of someone calling Ichigo's name that the whole cafeteria shattered to a silence. The man stood up, facing a girl with long, jet black hair, she was huffing and panting and her hands were in fists. His eyes widened.

"T-tatsuki?"

She took a step towards him, "Ichigo Kurosaki, where have you been all these months?"

I raised an eyebrow as Ichigo's shoulders tensed.

"I've been busy."

"Do you have _any _idea on how worried I was? I thought you were dead!"

"I'm sorry, I just-"

He was cut off, Tatsuki ran towards him and gave him a swift punch in the gut, he gagged and held his stomach.

"What the hell, Tatsuki?"

"You big moron! I was worried sick!"

She stood there, hands on her hips as Ichigo staggered, trying to keep his balance. A few moments went by before she threw her arms around him, holding him tightly. He raised an eyebrow before going scarlet red.

"I missed you, carrot top."

He stopped and raised a hand, patting her back slightly.

"Me too."

And that was when I realized.

_"A girl I've known since I was young. It was just a tiny one though."_

That girl.

It was Tatsuki.

The noise level in the cafeteria resumed, and Ichigo sat back down, Tatsuki took a seat next to me. When everyone had arrived, I began introducing them to Ichigo. Momo had not came to school that day, she had called in sick. When Orihime walked in, the minute her eyes laid on Ichigo's, her face went scarlet red, much to my amusement. Ichigo on the other hand, merely remembered her as 'the girl with the chocolate bun'.

* * *

It was the end of school, and we were all sitting in the living room. Renji was snoring loudly on the coach, Byakuya was reading the papers, and Tōshirō was playing his game boy while Ichigo sat on the floor, watching T.V. We jumped as the door bell rang. I groaned and got up, making my way to the entrance. As soon as I had reached the door, a familiar voice was yelling from outside.

"Holy crap! How long can someone take to get off their ass and get here?"

"Calm down, it's only been a few minutes."

"I don't care!"

As soon as I had opened the door, I was greeted by a pair of electric blue eyes, the man smiled.

"Yo Rukia! How are ya?"

"Kaien?"

I looked behind him, seeing two other people, both having a smile on their faces.

"Miyako? Ganjyu! What are you guys doing here?"

Kaien made his way into the house, strutting down the hallways. "It's me and Miyako's wedding anniversary. We're having a party tonight at my place. Not much people, just close friends and relatives. Wanna come?"

"Rukia? Who is it?"

Ichigo appeared from the door, his brow furrowed. As soon as he appeared, Kaien practically jumped.

"Whoa! I haven't seen you before!"

He looked at me, "Dumped Renji?"

I went red and stomped my foot, "No! Stupid... urgh! Forget it, Kaien, this is Ichigo, he'll be staying with us for the time being." The man strode towards Ichigo, as soon as he reached him, he stopped. He examined Ichigo, after a couple of moments, he stopped and began to laugh.

"This guy's practically my twin!"

I jerked my head back before cocking my head to the side. It was true, their face shape was the same, they both had tweaked out hair and both were practically the same height.

"Um… Rukia? Who's this guy?" Ichigo asked, looking slightly uncomfortable.

"Ichigo, meet Kaien Shiba. The worlds weirdest twenty four year old."

Kaien laughed in a highly sarcastic tone before he jumped into the living room and yelled hello at the others.

Kaien Shiba was my brothers old business partner, besides the three year gap, they got along well. When I had first met Kaien, I was expecting him to shrug me off or ignore me completely being that I was a kid, but instead he patted my head and treated me like an old friend. I had a crush on him for awhile, until I found the seven year age gap pretty weird. He was like my older brother when Byakuya wasn't around. He'd take me out shopping or somewhere fun. He married Miyako a year ago and they've never gotten into a fight, even once. Miyako was my role model; she was strong, independent and beautiful. She was everything I'd always wanted to be. I laughed as Kaien dragged Byakuya and the others up the stairs, nagging at them to get changed, not even asking them if they wanted to come or not.

* * *

The party was held in Kaien's large garden. He too, lived in a mansion. The party was held in a tent. There were approximately twelve tables and a small stage, instruments were parched on it, in front of the stage was a wooden dance floor. Above us, a row of white lanterns were hung. It was truly beautiful, it took my breath away.

Me, Tōshirō, Renji and Ichigo sat on one table while Byakuya sat with the other adults. I placed the napkin neatly on my lap, the only one who followed my actions were Tōshirō. Kaien was busy telling the others on how he and Miyako met, by the looks of it; it was probably a funny story. The waiters arrived, serving each of us a similar dish; I immediately dove into it while the others ate a little more calmly than me. Soon, the musicians arrived, and Kaien and Miyako made their way to the dance floor. I watched with a smile as he twirled her around, her laughing like a silly school girl. After the song had ended, I sneaked my way towards the veranda, staring out into the night.

"Enjoying yourself?"

I turned to see Renji, hands in his suit pockets.

I smiled.

"Yeah. You?"

He nodded before extending his hand out to me, a small smile on his face. I laughed and gave a curtsy, taking his hand in mine. He gave it a light squeeze before pulling me towards him. We swayed to the music playing in the distance, at that moment, there wasn't anywhere else I wanted to be but here.

* * *

"Rukia! Get your ass onto the stage and sing us something!"

I raised an eyebrow at Kaien obviously drunk.

"Says who?"

"I say, that's who! Come on! Please?"

I laughed and shook my head, making my way towards the stage. I gave the band members the music sheet before Kaien had Miyako back onto the dance floor. Some other adults joining them. The guitarist grabbed an acoustic guitar and plucked a few strings. I held a tambourine in one hand and hit it against my thigh, following the beat, making a jingling sound as I did so.

_Love;_

_It's a special day;_

_We should celebrate;_

_And appreciate;_

_That you, and me, found something pretty neat._

I wasn't able to suppress my laughter as Renji and Tōshirō came onto the dance floor, Tōshirō on his toes as they held hands and danced in a goofy manner, both of them keeping a rather serious face, making it even more comical. My eyes lingered onto Ichigo, whose eyes were locked with mine, a small smile was on his face.

_But it's a good excuse;_

_To put our love to use;_

_Baby, I know what to do;_

_Baby, I will love you;_

_I'll love you, I'll love you…_

Renji was now twirling Tōshirō, who was still on his toes, looking close to a ballerina. Byakuya was now dancing with Miyako while Kaien danced with his sister, Kūkaku. Ichigo's eyes were still on me. Halfway through the song; I took the mike off its stand and made my way towards him. He looked at me in confusion as I brought him to his feet and led him to the dance floor. I still sang as we danced with each other, in a friendly way of course. But we weren't dancing seriously at all; we playfully spun each other around, laughing like complete morons while I still held the mike. Renji and Tōshirō continuously bumped into us, we laughed and sang and the song came to its close. I held the mike up and sang into it as the guitar grew softer, staring at Ichigo as I did so while Renji and Tōshirō made a dramatic end with their arms spread out and their heads tilted back.

_Be my, valentine…_

_

* * *

_

**Chapter five end! I hope you enjoyed like every other chapter. It was fun writing the end, I don't know why; it just made me feel all warm and fuzzy. I'm so loving all your reviews by the way. So keep 'em coming! And check out my friend, theb3stb3ginning's Hunger Games story which should be out soon, it's really good! Sorry if there are a lot of mistakes in this chapter, I was in a rush to finish, so I didn't check it. Please excuse my spelling and grammar mistakes if any!**

**xXmysterious-unknownXx- The new chapter is herreeee! Haha! You'll see Byakuya soon.**

**Zangetsu50- Yeah, Ichigo dreaming of Rukia made me laugh, and everyone's curious about Ichigo's past! Yay, a new reviewer.**

**Pamianime- Yes! A immature and prude-ish Ichigo is so huggable x3 I love both pairings too! Oh well, you'll just have to find out! Yeah, IshiHime needs more love! I hope Ichigo in school was exciting enough for you! Though it was pretty short…**

**SukiAmaya- … SURE YOU'RE HANISSYA. And no, Suki's story's are awesome D: ADMIT IT SYUKRI- I mean, Hanissya… -stares at you suspiciously-**

**Amulet Misty- DINA! REPLY TO MY EMAIL! I'M STILL WAITING! Yeah, I always imagined him as a hair stylist if he wasn't a soul reaper. Haha, suspense does kill, it kills us all. ISHIHIME FTW XDDD**

**Random fan- Thank you! New reviews always make me happy!**

**Rukes- Yes, Rukia must ditch Renji. Though I like Renji, he's nice. Haha, thanks for the review!**

**No name D- HAHA! Ulquihime rocks! Trust me; everyone's just waiting for their reunion -smiles-**

**Kicyslawa- AW. I like Orihime )': Haha, I like just about every character in Bleach xD yay! I'm glad you liked Rukia and Ichigo's walk! I appreciate it! Rangiku's 'WHOA' was epic. I can imagine her doing that for some reason. The newspaper! Yes it's awesome! Every IchiRuki fans dream HAHA. NO! I DON'T WANT TO KILL YOU! I DON'T WANT TO LOOSE A IMPORTANT REVIEWER! I don't want to be charged with murder o.e**

**Khai Ern- Thank you! Please, again, don't kill me.**

**MoonlightBreaker- DON'T HATE ME XDD Yes, I knew you were disturbed by them and their love by the way you were twitching when you read it in class. That was pretty funny.**

**Nivek10- It's okay! I'm lazy to review too :B Thanks! I like how you appreciate how I'm going with Ichigo's past! I like making readers go on the edge of their seats. The Kurosaki family, well that will be explained later! And Renji and Rukia will be going through a real roller coaster; I hope you were satisfied with the reaction to Ichigo, though I think it wasn't explained well. Whoa, so many UlquiHime fans o.o**

**Aika Ray Kuroba- Mystery is awesome! Yes, I did say Ichigo saved Hisana's life! It's more interesting that way! :D It'll be answered, all in good time…**

**Forever-will-love2112- Another UlquiHime fan! Ishida is the quincy all grown up! Education. Yay. I think. HAHA. Ichigo will be interacting with more people in future chapters, just you wait! The episode with IchiRuki in it is episode 298, they redid the whole 'Ichigo being down about his inner hollow and Rukia cheering him up' scene all over again. It was somewhat pretty funny. YES! SO MANY AWESOME FAN ART! I wish he could see her again. I'm sorry! I WON'T TEASE YOU ABOUT MICHAEL JACKSON!**

**The Kataklyst- Yeah, I know what it's called but Rukia doesn't (: Thanks for the review!**

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**Theb3stb3ginning- O.O Please don't kill me. I'm too young to die.**

**R&R.**

**It'll make Ichiruki happen ;D**


	6. Visits

****

CHAPTER 6. Ok. I am certain that my mum's trying to kill me. Here I was, thinking that my holiday would be WORK FREE. And guess what? My mum decides to sign me up for FREAKIN' MATHS TUITION! Ah the pain… -sniffles- You know who else is trying to kill me? TITE KUBO. YES, OUR KING HAS DECIDED TO TORTURE ME. Why you ask? Have you read the past two bleach chapters? He's decided to roll an IchiHime steamroller on me. YES. That's it. Mmm-hmm. Oh whatever. He'll bring Rukia back soon.

**I hope.**

**

* * *

**

_"A friend is someone who reaches for your hand, but touches your heart."_  
_- _Kathleen Grove

* * *

**Visits**

It was a Thursday, and life with Ichigo was smooth sailing. He never caused us any problems whatsoever, he went to bed on schedule, we never had to wait for him to get ready for school and he got along well with nearly everyone in the house.

Well, _nearly _everyone.

"Would you quit prancing around like a girl, strawberry? I'm trying to focus here!"

I groaned as Renji yelled at the orange haired teen who was walking up and down the room. He turned and raised a brow, "Who said I was prancing, pineapple? I'm just thinking." For some strange reason, the two never seemed to get along— maybe they just didn't have many things in common.

"Thinking of what?"

"Of feeding you to the sharks."

I chuckled slightly, hiding my nose in my book so that no one would see me doing so. Renji growled before pointing a finger at him. "Watch it. Don't forget that you're staying under **my **roof, I can kick you out any time I want." Ichigo led out a guffaw, swinging towards him, wide eyed.

"_Your house? _Don't you mean Byakuya's?"

Renji shrugged his shoulders and shook his head, knowing that he probably lost the battle. Ichigo left the room, telling us that he was going to take a nap. As soon as he left, Renji faced me.

"I just can't STAND that guy."

"Renji, you're being rather judgmental, don't you think?"

He sighed and closed his eyes before slumping into the sofa.

* * *

The next day, the ride to school was a lot noisier than usual. Renji and Ichigo began fighting over a few bucks found in the drinks compartment, in the end Tōshirō was the one who grabbed it and handed it to me, saying that it was probably Byakuya's. As soon as we arrived, I immediately felt my stomach flip. I lunged out of the car before sprinting towards a petite girl walking her way to the door. As soon as I reached her, I spun her around only to be greeted by a horrifying image.

"_Momo?_"

She smiled, but I couldn't focus on it. Her face was grotesque. Her right eye was bruised, her lips were cut, she had a huge scar grazing from her ear to her chin and her head was wrapped with a bandage. Momo hadn't come to school for the past few days, an when she did, her state was shocking.

"Ah… Good morning, Rukia!" she greeted, unsuccessfully trying to sound chirpy. Her voice sounded as if though there was a huge lump in it

"Momo…" I held her by the shoulders, "Are you OK?" I turned as I heard Tōshirō's trembling voice, I found him standing there, his eyes wide with shock, Renji was behind him, bearing the same look.

"M-momo? What… What happened to you?"

"I…" she looked at her feet, "I fell down the stairs." I switched a worrying glance at Tōshirō before looking back at her. "You're not telling the truth." She nodded frantically, her eyes were dreary. "Yes! I am! I swear! I just fell down the stairs, that's all!" Renji approached her slowly, as he reached her, he raised an tattooed brow.

"Did Aizen do this to you?"

The sound of his name made me horripilate, Tōshirō's hands balled into a fist, looking as if though he was about to punch someone.

Momo had recently been dating Aizen Sōsuke, a man who had the hollowest smile, even though he seemed kind, he was cruel with a taste for violence. Momo had refused to tell us on what he worked as, saying that it was none of our business, though it was definitely not your everyday job. Aizen seemed to have been the only person that Tōshirō had ever hated, which surprised many being that despite his cold get-up, he was actually easy to get along with. Momo had a few injuries like this before, but never had she had one so bad. It soon caught on with us that Aizen was probably the one behind these injuries.

"No… No! Of course not! Why would he ever do a strange thing like that? That's just plain cruelty!" she laughed, trying to act as if though everything was just fine and dandy. I stared at her, not convinced by her words. Tōshirō raised an eyebrow before touching her face, his fingers tracing her scar.

"Momo-"

"DAMN BAGS! GET OUT OF THE FREAKIN' BOOT!"

I turned, knowing well on whose voice that belonged to, I turned to find Ichigo, trudging all four of our bags out of the boot, I rolled my eyes as Tōshirō called out to him.

"Did you ever think of taking them out one by one, Kurosaki?"

Ichigo stopped. He raised an eyebrow before slapping his forehead. He began to take each bag out with ease, a bit calmer than usual. He made his way towards us, and Momo led out a loud gasp. The orange haired teen looked up, as soon as he met eyes with Momo; he grabbed her by the arm and pulled her away from us.

"Oi! Kurosaki! What do you think you're doing?"

He ignored Tōshirō's voice and led her to a corner, I watched as he grabbed her by the shoulders, staring her straight in the eye as he seemed to be asking her questions. She buried her head in her hands and nodded every time he stopped talking. I watched this in curiosity; Ichigo seemed to know quite a lot of people, which surprised me. It's not like I expected him to be some loner or anything like that, but he just didn't seem like the type of person who would know that many people. What was really weird was that no one had mentioned the Kurosaki boy before. No one. Nothing. Almost as if though he never existed in their lives.

I looked up as the two made their way back to us, both having a blank expression.

"You two know each other?"

"Yes, I have met Ichigo before."

"Momo's an old friend."

Tōshirō raised a brow before staring at her, "How come you've never told me anything about him?" She shrugged her shoulders.

"Must have slipped my mind."

* * *

It was English class, our teacher, Katashi sensei, was being her usual scary self.

"Alright class! Day, Friday, date, 17th of December. Write it down, and start copying these notes." She approached the board and began to write notes on our new chapter. I did so, making sure I did not miss a single sentence. There was a knock on the door, causing us to lift our heads up. One of the teachers who worked at the schools office entered before whispering into Katashi sensei's ear. She raised an eyebrow before staring at us. As soon as the teacher stopped Katashi sensei stood up and announced.

"Ichigo Kurosaki, would you please report to the principal's office, there is someone who would like to see you."

I paused before turning towards him—his lips were pursed. After what might have been forever, he stood up and made his way to the office. As soon as he left, the class continued with their work, yet for me, I just couldn't concentrate. What if it was the person who made him in that horrible condition a week ago? After a while longer, I placed my pencil on my table and raised my hand.

"Sensei, could I please go to the bathroom?"

"Sure, just be quick."

I got up and exited the class. The schools office was a couple doors down, and the bathroom was right next to it. A couple of moments went by before the schools office came into view. I stopped as soon as Ichigo's bright hair flashed before my eyes. I squinted through the blinds to find Ichigo's head bowed, in front of him was a tall man, his hands were on his hips. At that moment I realized the person he was talking to was a police officer.

I raised an eyebrow as Ichigo walked towards the door, as soon as he opened it I asked.

"What are you doing with a police officer?"

He jumped, when he turned and saw me, he led out a sigh. "Holy crap you scared me." We began walking back to class, it was a silent one, and I didn't bother asking him about the policeman. It wasn't until we were at the class's door that he finally spoke.

"He came because of my sister."

* * *

I stood in line for our food, tapping my foot impatiently as the line seemed to be taking forever to move. I glanced across the room, Ulquiorra was playing with his food, looking like he had not an appetite to eat. My eyes travelled onto Grimmjow who was looking less than happy. As soon as he caught my eye he stopped. He nodded at me slightly before continuing his meal. Grimmjow had been rather quiet lately. Usually he would be sent to the principal's office at least five times a week, yet ever since Ichigo had arrived, he seemed to have simmered down a bit. As soon as I had gotten my lunch I walked to my usual table and sat besides Renji, who seemed to have finished his food before I came.

"Ehhh, where's Kurosaki?" Asked Orihime, scanning the crowd.

"Orihime, you do know that Ichigo's fine with you calling him by his first name, right?" said Tatsuki, taking another bite of her meal.

"Yeah… I know that, it's just… I just can't do it! It's so… embarrassing!" her cheeks flushed and she covered her face, shaking it like a crazy person. I watched as Ishida violently stabbed his fork into his food, obviously put off by Orihime's new found love.

"Inoue, are you saying that you _like _Ichigo?" he asked, chewing his food with anger.

I groaned before leaning in towards the chest nut haired girl and whispered in her ear, "Orihime! You already like two guys! Ulquiorra and Ishida! Do you want to add more fuel to the fire?" she cocked her head to the side.

"What makes you think I like Ishida and Ulquiorra? You guys just came to the conclusion that I liked them because of how I acted towards the two. I never said I had feelings for either of them or anything like that." I stared at her before smirking, she might not look it, but Orihime was one of the smartest kids in our school. And sometimes, the way her mind worked got us out of a lot of tight situations.

"Anyways, back to your question Ishida, I find Kurosaki… interesting! That's all!" she laughed and shook her head. Ishida stared at her before deciding to drop the topic. Ichigo arrived, taking a seat next to Tōshirō. The rest of our lunch was the usual, and what happened after school was the last thing I was expecting.

* * *

"I want to work for you."

I raised an eyebrow as Ichigo stood before Byakuya, who was reading a new book he had bought.

"_Sorry_?"

"I want to work for you."

Byakuya placed his book aside and stared at Ichigo, his hands clasped together. "You want to work for me?"

"Yeah. I want to work under your company. I've been thinking about it, and I've decided that if I am to continue living in your house, I should pay you monthly. Right? Sounds fair, doesn't it?" Renji arched his head from his video game and spoke. "But I thought all jobs in your company are taken?" Byakuya sat back; he frowned before looking up at Ichigo once again.

"I _do_ have _one_ job for you..."

* * *

"YOU WANT ME TO BE A _JANITOR?_"

I began to laugh uncontrollably as Ichigo had a mop in one hand and a bucket in the other. Byakuya had his hands folded, he raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. That would seem so."

"HELL NO!"

I stopped and looked at him, "Why don't you? Are you saying that it's bad to be a janitor? Do you think that they're not _human_? You think they're _lower _than us? Do you know how many janitors would be _offended_ by what you have just done? Shallow. So, so, SO shallow..." I shook my head and made a 'tsk tsk' sound. I looked up to find a fuming Ichigo, his ears were bright red.

"_**MIDGET**_..."

"So are you going to take the job or not, Ichigo Kurosaki?"

The teen's eyes widened, "NO!" He stormed out of the room, waving his hands in the air. I chuckled before running after him.

"I'll see you at home, Byakuya!"

"Alright, just make sure that boy doesn't go on a rampage."

I smiled slightly as I caught up with him, he was huffing and his shoulders were raised. "Will you calm down? He didn't know you were going to get so offended by it."

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME? He drags us _aalll_ the way over here to tell me that he's going to give me a job to clean his **toilets**?" I punched him in the arm, glowering at him. "Hey, there are people with that _exact _occupation, to put food on their families table, how do you think that makes them feel?" His shoulders relaxed slightly, I watched as he rubbed his neck. "You're right. By the way, how's your brother going home?"

"He's taking the limo."

"Oh."

Our walk back was not quiet, yet it definitely was not one filled with chatter either. After ten minutes Ichigo stopped. I raised an eyebrow at this. "What? What's wrong?" He turned and entered the store next to us; I cocked my head to the side before reading the sign on the window.

"WORKER WANTED. FAIR PAY."

I followed him inside and made our way to the counter. "Good afternoon! What can we d-" the voice stopped, I looked up to see Orihime at the counter, wearing a black cap, she wore a black apron and her hair was pulled into a ponytail.

"AH! Rukia! Kurosaki! What brings you guys here?"

"Ichigo's looking for a job."

"Oh."

She smiled before jerking her head towards the window, "So you've seen the sign?" Ichigo nodded before walking towards the counter—he rested his arms on the top and looked at her. "Has anyone taken the job?" Orihime shook her head, "No one wants to. They just don't think working in a bakery is a big deal. The only ones who work here are me and Chizuru, but I'm all alone because she's the one who bakes all the pastries, so I'm alone at the counter." She rested her chin on her hands and led out a sigh.

"How much's the pay?"

"About over twenty six thousand yen a month."

"Seems fair enough, I'll take the job."

Orihime led out a joyous cheer, "Yay! Now I won't be alone at the counter anymore!" she ran to the back before throwing an apron at him.

"Wait, doesn't he have to go for some job interview or something?"

"Nah, our employer doesn't really care on whom works here, all he cares about is the fact that it's doing well. So far we don't have enough workers, so he doesn't really mind if someone just pops up and asks for a job."

"What's his name?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Ukitake Jūshirō. He's a really nice guy, but he gets sick easily. So he only stops by once in awhile."

I nodded, Ichigo pulled the apron over his head and wore his cap, I smiled at the sight of his tweaked out hair under a cap. It looked cute.

"Ok, so I'll just start working now. Alright?"

Orihime jumped, "Yes! Let's do this!"

* * *

I sat at a table and watched as customer after customer came in; Ichigo handled the cashier while Orihime got the drinks and pastries. They were a fun pair to watch, sharing little conversation here and there—every time Ichigo talked to her she would have a light blush on her face. They were, I had to admit, a cute couple. And every male who entered the store would have their eyes on Orihime the entire time, while every girl had their eyes on Ichigo only. It was the end of their working hours and they were wrapping things up, cleaning the tables and such. A few customers were still at their tables, finishing of their meals. I turned as I felt a light tug on my sleeve. I looked down to find a small boy, holding out a little notebook.

"Miss Rukia, can I have your autograph?"

I looked at him before glancing up to find his parents staring at us; I presumed they were because the man looked a lot like the little boy. I laughed before ruffling his hair, "Sure kiddo," I slowly took the notebook from his hands and signed a page, "Thanks for being a fan." He blinked before giving me the cutest smile. I watched as he made his way back to his parents, both of them smiling at me, mouthing a word of thanks. I looked at the counter to find Ichigo's eyes locked with mine. He chuckled slightly before looking back down onto the cashier. I smirked and sat back, waiting for the shops close.

* * *

I laughed as I pushed the doors open, I was curled up in my jacket from the cold, Orihime adjusted her gloves and Ichigo pulled his hoodie over his head.

"I'm serious! I swear to God, I'm pretty sure Ishida is a hundred percent gay!" Ichigo insisted, his eyes wide.

Orihime gave him a light push and giggled, "Why's that?"

"First, he sews. I mean, COME ON. What kind of guy SEWS? Isn't that heading towards the other direction? And his hair! EW! What kind of guy tucks his hair behind his ears? It's so..." He shivered, shaking his head at the thought.

"Hey," I bumped into him, "like your hairs not out of the ordinary, I'm sure Ishida thinks you're gay too." He made a 'pfft' sound and dug his hands into his jean pocket.

"Well, don't blame me when one day you catch Ishida and Renji making out in the school's gymnasium."

Me and Orihime turned to each other, our eyes wide, soon we led out a huge shriek of laughter— clutching onto each other as we laughed like morons. Ichigo laughed slightly as well as we continued to bump into each other as we walked the streets.

"Hey Orihime, why don't you come into the house for awhile? It's not that late anyways. It just got dark."

"But what about her parents? I'm sure they'd be worried of her." Stated Ichigo. At this Orihime led out a sigh.

"I don't live with my parents, I live by myself."

"Oh, are they still alive?"

"Yeah..."

"Then why aren't you living with them?"

"Me and my brother ran away from them. They used to abuse us."

Ichigo stopped his questions and stared at her with an eyebrow raised. A few moments went by before he seemed to have dropped the topic.

"We're here."

I rang the doorbell and waited for the gate to open. As soon as it had, I made my way into the house, Orihime and Ichigo close behind me. As I opened the door I was greeted by Renji's smile, "Guess what? We're having a Christmas party next week!"

* * *

**Okay, I know, WORST CLIFFHANGER EVER. Could've been more interesting, but that was the only way I could think of how to end it. And anyways, there's NO WAY I could write the Christmas party in just ONE chapter. That's impossible. Too many things are going to happen –oops did that just slip out?- Anyways, next chapter, guest stars! Christmas! And maybe...**

**Ichigo's past?**

TheBestBeginning- OMG REALLY? (': I'm so glad I got you addicted. :D :D :D

Alero1990- I HAVE UPDATEDD! (:

Blank- Yeah, but Shiro's a real old fashioned person (:

Kicyslawa- Grimmjow's just going to get even more surprising, trust me. Hehe. Renji and Shiro. HAH. Ain't that a scary thought? YAY! Don't die! MY BELOVED REVIEWER!

AmuletMisty- AHH! I do that all the time, don't worry you're not alone xD Tatsuki and Ichigo? :333 HAH! Everyone loved Shiro and Ren's dance. :D

MoonlightBreaker- Yes you have mentioned how awesome my story is MANY TIMES! Arigatou.

Pamianime- YEAH! I don't mind Tatsuki with Ichigo either, she's cool (: YAY! I'm happy you like how things are going :D KEEP REVIEWING! I'll die happy. ... And I hope that won't be soon o_o By the way, your new fan art, the one based on that video on youtube where like Ichigo's saying how he wants to save Rukia? BLEW. ME. AWAY. Your art is so inspiring (': I even saved it onto my phone xD

SukiAmaya- Haven't you already gone berserk? ;) YOUR STORIES DON'T SUCK! NNOOO! And and and Grimmjow and Ichigo has such a strange friendship, no? :D

Sa Rart- Oh my god. You have NO IDEA on how much your review made me smile (': I'm so glad you liked the entrance of Ichigo, I tried my best to make it realistic! :D HAHA! No you're not rambling! I LOVE long reviews, they're so nice. Trust me; you'll see more of Tatsuki/Ichigo/ Grimmjow ness in the next chapter, SO LOOK OUT! Yay, I'm glad you like the plot development :D And the exchange of the "Dumped Renji" was awesome xDDDD HOPE YOU LIKED THIS CHAPTER!

AwesomeAnimeStarIchiRuki- WHOA. DUDE. I LOVEE YOUR NAME! And I'm glad you liked their dance, even though they were just fooling around (: YAY. New reviewer.

Teshichan- AW YEAH. Love getting people hooked (y) Ichigo's past will be revealed... In good time... MUAHAHAHAHHAHA –coughs-

xXmysterious-unknownXx- OI. YOUNG LADY. WHERE'S REMEMBER ME? D:

JEAN!- HAHA! Yumichika xDD OH MY GOD O_O My brother calls me midget. WHICH IS SHOCKING SINCE I'M OLDER AND TALLER THAN HIM AND I'M LIKE, ONE OF THE TALLES GIRLS IN OUR YEAR! Haha. Matsumoto is weird that way xD I'm not an awesome writer! I'M NOT D: Haha. I like that word. OOEERRRRR.

AnimeFanx3- HAHA. Male bonding.

...

THERE IS NO YAOI! IT'S NOT YAOI! EYUCK! AAGHHH-continues screaming- anyways, HAHA! Ichigo kissing Rukia would be a HUGGE step from complete prude to that! And then there's Renji... Oh well, we'll see (:

Amanda- HEY CHIEN WEI'S FRIEND! YOU SHOULD MAKE A FANFIC ACCOUNT! Then I'll stalk your stories and read them and review and –continues to ramble on- BUT THANKS! I appreciate you coming here (:

Imran- Awww thanks Imran (': HAHAHA AT CHIEN WEI FORCING YOU! XDDDDD Yeah. She's scary. In a good way though (y)

Belinda- HI BELINDA! (: Your names unique! I've heard of Melinda, but never Belinda! I like it! HAHA! Trust me, I wouldn't blame you for taking a long time to finish it o_o

Natasha- HEY! Did you know you have the same name as my cousin? O.O Anywaysss, You're an Ichiruki fan? SWEETT! HIGH FIVE! Don't go insane! That's bad! HAHA! I'm so glad you liked Tatsuki and Grimmjow's appearance (:

Li Anna- HAHA. Your comment made me laugh x3 I'm glad I could make you understand everything! You make me happy (': By the way, I love Kaien and Ichigo too :B

**R&R!**

**It'll make Rukia come back in the manga.**

**:B**


	7. Christmas

**MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY! Think of this as a Christmas present to you –laughs- Oh ho ho ho. I did my best on this! My blood, sweat, tears, and all that stuff. So YEAH! Hope you like it! Even though it might not be the best –sniffs-**** And I was actually planning to upload this on Christmas day itself, but well... My family's really big on Christmas, so I was at my grandmother's house celebrating it from ten in the morning until ten at night. Yeah. Oh, how was your Christmas? Tell me! I really enjoy hearing about them.**

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* * *

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**Christmas**

It had been three days since Renji delivered the news of us having a Christmas party. You see, Karakura isn't that big of a town, so every year someone in the area has this HUGE Christmas party to raise money for the orphanage down town. So you could say that the event was pretty much eleemosynary. This year, the community had chosen us to hold the event, being that we had one of the largest estates in town. The Christmas tree had not been set up yet, so when Byakuya and Renji brought it home, we all went straight to decorating it.

"Where did you get this?" asked Tōshirō, hands on his hips.

"They were selling these at the mall. We carried it all the way down here."

Ichigo looked at it from top to bottom and raised an eyebrow, "This thing's freakin' huge! How tall is it? Seven feet?"

"Seven and a half, to be exact." corrected Byakuya.

I nodded before approaching a large box, inside it contained all of the Christmas decorations needed. I grabbed an ornament and hung it onto one of the branches. "Come on guys, the party's in two days. We have to finish the tree." The men nodded, all grabbing ornaments and hanging them all around. It was quite fun really, especially when Renji and Tōshirō accidentally tripped over the same chair twice. I raised an eyebrow at the sight of Ichigo hanging a candy cane on one of the branches. He looked up to find me staring at him. He shrugged once he noticed on why my expression was like that.

"My family and I used to decorate our tree like this. I can take it off if you want."

My eyes widened, "No! No it's okay! Leave it; it makes it look a bit more cheerful anyways."

He nodded before proceeding to another part of the tree, hanging more candy canes onto it. Half an hour passed, and our tree was nearly complete, there was only one ornament left to finish it.

"So, who's going to put on the star?" Renji asked, hands on his hips.

"Byakuya. It's his house and all, so it would only be fair if he were to do so." I said, glancing at my brother.

He shook his head before turning towards me, "No. You should do it, Rukia. Being that you're the only girl and such. Plus, you've worked hard to achieve the career that you have gotten."

I smiled before feeling myself being hoisted up, I looked down to find myself quite high above the ground and it wasn't a moment later until I realized that the person whose shoulder I was sitting on was Renji's. He gave a smile.

"Come on, superstar. I don't have all day."

I returned his smile before Tōshirō passed me the ornament. I slowly took it from his hand and raised my body slightly until my head was leveled with the tip of the tree. I leaned over and gently placed it onto it and jumped off of Renji's shoulders. We stepped back and observed the tree—only to sigh in awe. I watched as the lights danced around it, the silver tinsel wrapped around the tree like a snake. It was remarkable, and I couldn't help but smile widely at our masterpiece. Though it seemed as if though I was the only one who truly appreciated it.

"Finally! I can finally go back to that game of mine!" cheered Renji, already running out of the room.

"If you'll excuse me, I think I'm going to go and take a nap." Ichigo yawned, stretching his arms.

"Hmm, I think I haven't finished my paperwork yet." Murmured Byakuya, walking out of the room.

I sighed and sat onto the sofa, continuing to gaze at the beautiful display. It soon occurred to me that Tōshirō had not left the room, and soon became sure of it when he took a seat next to me.

"Those three don't seem to appreciate art when it's staring at them straight in the face." He commented with a groan, I nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I was just thinking the same thing. It's truly beautiful isn't it?"

"Yeah. Yeah it is."

We sat in silence as we continued to watch the lights on the tree dance like fireworks. He sat back which I followed. I leaned my head onto his shoulder and sighed.

"I don't know what to get Ichigo and Renji for Christmas. I already got your present by the way, but I haven't gotten either of them a gift."

"Don't worry; I'm sure you'll think of it soon."

"I hope, I wonder what you got me."

"You already know."

"What? No I don't!"

"I caught you sneaking into my room and peeking at it a few days ago. And that was when it wasn't wrapped."

"Well, maybe I was looking at the wrong one."

"Rukia, your name was on it."

"Ah…."

He shook his head and gave a small smirk. I grinned before looking up at him. "I really liked it though; I've always wanted a painting set." He nodded.

"Don't mention it. Now that you know what I got you, care telling me what you got me?"

"No."

Tōshirō's eyebrows furrowed. "Why not? That's unfair. You saw mine." He eyed me before jerking his head towards the presents stuffed under the tree. "I'll open them now you know. For revenge."

"Fine. I got you a watermelon."

"I'm serious Rukia."

"Meh. Fine, I got you one of those thingies that they keep advertising on the television. Power band or whatever."

"Oh. I know those, their supposed to energize you or something."

"Yeah, my friends say that it's really good."

He smiled, "Thanks, I've always wanted one." I rolled my eyes and chuckled, knowing very well that he hadn't a single idea on what it was until a few moments ago. We jumped as the doorbell rang, I sat up and went to it. I opened it to be greeted by a pair of bright amber eyes.

"Rukia! Long time no see!"

"Senna!"

I laughed before throwing my arms around her. "It's so good to see you! How long has it been? Two months?" she laughed and nodded. I loosened my grip and held her by the shoulders.

"So you got the invitation?"

"Yeah! I can't wait for the party; I'll party so hard I think I'll faint!" She joked, her purple hair pulled into its usual ponytail. She was in a tight tee shirt and dark blue denim jeans, showing of her hourglass figure. I turned at the sound of footsteps, Renji stood there smiling.

"Hey cousin."

The girl smiled before tackling him, "Yo pineapple!" I laughed as Renji caught Senna in a headlock and gave her a noogie. Tōshirō appeared from the living room and spotted Senna, he coughed and gave her a small wave. Senna came with a completely different approach, she ran towards him and gave Tōshirō a rather suffocating hug, he patted her on the back and gasped for breath. Byakuya soon came and gave her a small hug before quickly letting go. "You guys haven't changed at all!"

"Well of course doofus, it's only been two months."

She ignored Renji and continued, "Anything new in this place? New games? I can't wait to kick Renji's ass at the Wii again. So, should I go put my stuff in the usual room?"

I switched a glance with the other before looking back at Senna. "Ah… you see, about that-"

"Hey Renji! I had to use your shower, mines only got cold water. Hope you don't mind."

I turned to see Ichigo in a simple white shirt and track pants— a towel was on his wet orange hair. He made his way towards us and stopped as soon as he saw Senna.

"Um. Hi."

Senna didn't say anything. She stood there wide eyed, staring at Ichigo with her jaw dropped.

"Rukia. Who's this?"

"Oh. Senna, this is Ichigo, Ichigo this is Senna."

She closed her mouth before standing back up, "Nice to meet you Ichigo! I'm Senna." She stuck out her hand which he shook. "Nice to meet you too Senna, I'm Ichigo Kurosaki." She smiled and looked at me. "So where am I staying?"

"Oh."

I took her bag and began to lead her up the stairs and into the room next to Ichigo's. "Sorry, the other one's taken by Ichigo. So you'll have to stay here." She sat onto the bed and gave an evil smile.

"New boyfriend?"

"NO! For the love of- can't you see that Renji's still staying here?"

She laughed before falling onto a pillow, "Is he single?"

"Yeah."

"Nice. Can't wait to pounce on him."

I gave a slight chuckle before looking at her, "Hey, go easy on him. He's never had a girlfriend before." She sat up, her eyes were wide.

"WHAT? Are you serious? Why not? I'm surprised, seeing that he's actually pretty hot and muscular." She stretched her arms and folded them at the back of her head.

"I don't know, he says that he just doesn't think it's worth fussing over."

"Maybe he's gay."

"Senna!"

"What? I'm just saying."

Our conversation was interrupted as Ichigo poked his head into the room.

"Rukia, I'm going to work now. Renji and Tōshirō are following, and I was wondering if you and Senna would like to join us." I nodded, saying that there was nothing else for us to do. As we walked down the halls, Senna went bright red as Ichigo spoke directly at her.

"By the way, I'm not a homo."

* * *

The bakery was busier than usual—and Ichigo and Orihime were serving people like crazy. There were a couple of times were they would bump into each other and give a thumbs up, telling the other on how well they were working before continuing to serve the others. I continued drinking my soft drink while Tōshirō ate his bun, Renji and Senna were arguing about god knows what. Soon, the noise level in the room increased, and I knew why. I looked up to find Orihime, she had a hand clasped over her mouth while her face was bright red. Ichigo had the same facial expression, and it was quite obvious why.

They were under the mistletoe.

I raised an eyebrow at the sight, waiting to see on what the pair was going to do next. There were at least several wolf whistles in the room, just about everyone was cheering for them to kiss each other, and judging by their faces, they both were not so sure on what to do. I turned to the other three, who all were waiting to see on what was going to happen. I looked back at Ichigo, who was staring straight at me, his expression was rather confused. I sighed after a few moments and stood up.

"Hey Ichigo, Byakuya just called and he needs to speak with you."

He gave a sigh of relief and scurried his way towards me, the crowd in the room reduced its noise level and returned to their conversation. Ichigo bent down and whispered into my ear.

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

I looked up as he walked away to see Orihime still standing underneath the mistletoe, and I couldn't help but note that there was a hint of disappointment on her face.

* * *

The party had arrived, and everything was busy. More and more people arrived, and with every person, they had to pay at least more than a cent to enter. This is all going to charity, you see, and what good would it be if there were only nickels and dimes in the container. Christmas music echoed throughout the house and people were either in a deep conversation or dancing to the music. There was an occasion where Renji and I were caught under the mistletoe, and of course, we shared a rather long one underneath it (much to the dismay of Byakuya) and a few others as well. There was one hilarious moment where Ichigo and Ishida were caught under it, and let's just say it took us a few minutes to prevent Ichigo from tearing the mistletoe down. As the party continued, more and more people showed up. But the one that shocked me the most was when a man with teal hair entered the mansion with a solemn look on his face. I approached him slowly, waiting to see if he was going to go back to his usual jerk self. He looked up, his hands were in his pockets and he didn't say anything.

"What are you doing here Grimmjow?"

"It's a charity event right? I just wanted to make a contribution."

"For once."

He shrugged his shoulders.

"Look, I'm sorry for being a prick, but can we forget about that for tonight?" My eyebrows furrowed before giving a slight nod.

"Okay, but if ANY funny business from you happens, I'll see to it that security escorts you out." I warned, he gave a slight nod before disappearing into the crowd. Time had passed and when I was in the corner eating a muffin, Tatsuki appeared next to me.

"Great party."

"Thanks."

We stood in a comfortable silence until the question slipped from my lips.

"How do you know Ichigo?"

She raised an eyebrow before shrugging her shoulders, "Well, we used to go to the same karate dojo or something like that. We hung out with each other every day, there were loads of great memories of course, but suddenly, he disappeared. I didn't hear from him for a year. It wasn't until last week that I met him again." She looked at me and bit her lip.

"Rukia, take good care of Ichigo. If you don't…" she paused and leaned against the wall.

"Then you'll never see him again."

There was a scream, a loud and blood curdling one. My eyes widened, I glanced at Tatsuki who looked like she had no idea on what had just happened. I ran towards the scream and found myself in the living room. Momo stood with a pained face, someone was gripping her arm tightly, and the minute I saw who it was, my blood froze.

Aizen.

"Come now Momo, let's go back. There's no need for you to stay here." He said with a smile.

The girl closed her eyes and attempted to break free from his iron grasp. "No! Aizen, Aizen- leave me alone!" But the man's grip did not loosen. He pulled her, his fingernails clearly digging into her arm.

"Momo…"

"Aizen!"

The man looked up and eyed me with curiosity. "How may I help you, Kuchiki?"

"Leave her alone." I hissed, my hands balled into fists.

"But I'm not doing anything wrong now, am I? I'm merely asking her to-"

"How the hell did you get in here?"

"I paid."

I growled before taking a step. "Leave."

The man stood up, letting go of the girl. He made his way towards me and raised a hand. I was about to punch him until a hand came darting forwards, grabbing Aizen by the arm.

"Don't you dare." I looked up to find Renji standing there having one of the deadliest expressions ever.

"Renji, I can take care of this."

"Quiet Rukia." Said Tōshirō, approaching Aizen slowly. "I suggest you leave Sōsuke." He held Momo's hand and pulled her towards him.

"Momo doesn't want to see you right now."

Aizen smirked, "Oh my, three children against one adult. How terrifying." He stopped as a hand appeared onto his shoulder. He spun around, only to be greeted by an intimidating Byakuya.

"Sōsuke, I demand you to leave."

Aizen raised an eyebrow before nodding. "Yes, I am sorry to have troubled you, Byakuya. I shall leave." I watched in astonishment as the man left without saying another word. I turned to Byakuya with my jaw dropped.

"What… What just happened?"

Byakuya waved a hand, dismissing the subject before approaching a shivering Momo. "Are you alright, girl?" she gave a nod before collapsing into Tōshirō's arms. Tōshirō stated that she was probably shaken by the events and carried her to Ichigo's guest room for her to rest in for the time being before coming back downstairs.

"Hey guys, why's Momo in my room?" asked a voice.

I turned to find Ichigo with an eyebrow raised, seeing that he had not been there when Aizen visited he didn't know why she was there. "Oh, nothing. Aizen just came and gave her a scare, that's all." His face went pale at the mention of his name.

"Oh, that's horrible. Well, I hope she gets better."

The rest of the night passed, and not a single exciting event had happened, something that I was quite thankful for. Soon, we counted the money that had been donated and counted exactly forty seven thousand, six hundred and nine yen.

* * *

I sat on the coach, watching a movie in the living room alone. Byakuya, Renji and Tōshirō announced that they were called to Byakuya's office and would be back in a few hours. Christmas was in exactly three days. I had been watching countless movies in the period of time that they were gone and was watching a romance movie until Ichigo walked in.

"What are you watching?"

"Don't know."

He raised an eyebrow before sitting down next to me. We watched the movie in silence, as soon as it had ended Ichigo yawned.

"That movie sucked. "

"If it sucked, then why did you sit through the whole thing?"

"Because I didn't want to leave you alone. And I was bored." I rolled my eyes and sat up.

"Come on! I'm sure you liked it a bit! There was action scenes as well!"

"Yeah, but it sucked."

I sighed before sitting up and staring at him. "Ichigo, what is your real reason for staying with me through this movie?"

He pursed his lips, staring at me for a while before speaking.

"Rukia, I've been thinking and all, it's been two weeks since I have moved in to your home and I think…"

He gave a slight pause before looking up at me.

"I think it's time I told you about my past."

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**Ahahahahaha. I think this has been my worst chapter to date. Well hopefully I'll get back my reviewers the next chapter –cries- Sorry If there are a lot of grammar mistakes, but I'm too tired to check them all. I've been sitting in front of my laptop for five straight hours. It's so hard to write when you've got internet. Anyways, stay tuned for the next chapter! I swear it's going to be exciting! By the way, throughout the whole time I was writing this I was playing the same song. Which was Hedwig's theme from the Harry Potter soundtrack –twitches-**

AmuletMisty- AHAHA! You'll find out in the next chapter! AH! You HAVE NO IDEA ON HOW HARD IT IS TO WRITE A SCENE LIKE THAT XDDD Ahaha jealous Ishida FTW! (:

DeadpoolHulk- NEW REVIEWER! YAY! Ahaha I like your name. I love Deadpool (y) Yes, Kenpachi will turn up! You'll have to wait and see :D Oh, and about Aizen and Momo, DON'T WORRY! He'll get a serious ass whooping (:

Pamianime- AHH! I downloaded the picture, it's now my phone wallpaper xDD I can show it to you AHAH. Ichigo being a janitor. PRICELESS. I would sooo visit whatever place he's a janitor at and throw my rubbish on the ground just so that I can see him up close :B Ahh but that's a whole other fantasy. I'm so sorry if I totally disappointed you with this chapter! But I'm really tired. My dad made me swim thirty laps of the town's pool, and my leg hurts. So yeah, sorry. )': By the way, I know you hate Senna, so please don't kill me for putting her in the story ;_;

PheonixHikaru- YEESS! That's what I'm aiming for! I don't want to push their relationship too much! That would be awful D: LOL! Ishida… how he amuses me xD And I WANT HER BACK IN THE MANGA TOO! I WAANT THE REUNIONN!

Eelgirl13- YAY! NEW REVIEWER! XDD I love new reviewers. Anyways! I'm so glad you liked it! And Ichigo's back story shall be revealed! Just you wait! :D

xXmysterious-unknownXx- THE NEW CHAPTER IS HERE BOZO!

SukiAmaya- LOL! RUKIA THOUGHT THEY WERE A CUTE COUPLE! NOT ME! DON'T KILL ME! D:

Aika Ray Kuroba- HELLO! MY DEAR REVIEWER! I see that you are from Indonesia! COOL! If so, Apa khabar kawan! Saya cintai Ichiruki :D Sorry. My Melayu sucks. Yeah, Momo is Ichigo's friend! Don't worry! Everything will be revealed in the next chapter! (:

AwesomeAnimeStarIchiRuki- YES! DAMN KUBO! I want Rukia! GRR! Oh well, we'll just have to wait :D And Ichigo's back story shall be REVEALED! :D

Kicyslawa- Hey, if you don't mind me asking, what does your name mean? XD SO RANDOM. Anyways, Yeah, it's a light chapter. I didn't want to make every chapter heavy, know what I mean? Ahahahah Ichigo vs Renji is WIN! And Merry Chirstmas to you too! Hope you had a good one (:

theBestBeginning- LOL! Ishida isn't gay! XDD Don't worry! I won't insult him anymore! It's just Ichigo xD Thanks for the review! (:

Amanda- HII! LOL! Ichigo's job offer (': Lol Hi chien wei's friend! (: XDDD YOU SHOULD CREATE AN ACCOUNT. NOW!

Moonlightbreaker- Lol you mentioned quite a lot of awesome words. XDD HOPE YOU ENJOYED!

Jean- AHaHAHAH HI JEAN! You're so mean to Ishida. You'll make Chien Wei angry. LOL. Anyways, BLAH BLAH BLAH HI!

AnimeFanx3- AHAHHA XDDD Sorry, No make out ness…. YET. –smiles evilly- AHAHA DRUNK NESS FTW XDDD They're underaged. Maybe next time (:

**R&R.**

**It'll make me cry (':**

_A friend is long sought, hardly found and with difficulty kept._

-St. Jerome


	8. Secrets

Ok, so currently I'm writing this chapter seeing that I've got no internet and I'm downright bored. Let's get things started. But before that, I'd just like to tell you that the 'U' key on my keyboard is a little messed up, so if I type a word like, 'burn' and it comes out as 'brn' it's because my 'U' can only come out if I press the 'u' key really, REALLY hard. So yeah. Oh. And if I disappoint you with it then I'm so SORRY. But I promise you, things will get more interesting after this. **Before I start, I want you guys to check out two of my friends, Rachel and Chien Wei's, story! It's really good! Rachel's is a SasuSaku fic and Chien Wei's is a Hunger Games one. Check it out!:**

**Rachel's: **

**.net/s/6590782/1/Remember_Me**

**Chien Wei's:**

**.net/s/6530724/1/From_Facebook_With_Love**

**They're really good! :D And check out my friends, AmuletMisty, MoonlightBreaker and pet-lover-97 cuz all of them have REALLY GOOD STORIES! :D**

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"_What is love? Love is when one person knows all your secrets... your deepest darkest, most dreadful secrets of which no one else in the world knows... and yet in the end, that one person does not think any less of you; even if the rest of the world does."_

-Source unknown

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**S E C R E T S.**

I paused- were my ears playing tricks on me?—Ichigo was going to tell me about his past. Something which I knew scarred him deeply. A topic he hated to discuss. And here we were, sitting on a coach, him ready to open that dark hole that he had not revealed to me before.

"You sure?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

He blinked.

"Yeah, I mean, isn't that what you've been wanting me to tell you ever since we met?"

I snorted, "of course I'm curious about your past. But Are _YOU _comfortable talking about a subject which you're still probably healing from?"

"Of course," he closed his eyes and rubbed his neck, an action which I realized he usually did when he was irritated, "I'm not going to start crying like a baby halfway or anything like that. So don't get your hopes up."

"Oh woe is me; I don't get to witness the sight of the great Ichigo Kurosaki wailing away!" I sarcastically whined, raising a hand to my forehead to make a more dramatic effect.

"Look, do you _want _to hear the story or _**not**_?" he sighed, clearly losing his patience.

"Fine fine, proceed your majesty." I waved a hand for him to continue, earning me a scowl.

"Thank you." He took a deep breath and raised his legs onto the sofa and crossed them. He faced me, his body turned from the television set. I followed his actions, both of us soon looking straight at each other, legs folded.

"By the way, you're the first person who's going to know about all of this."

I nodded.

"Alright," he paused and looked up, checking to see if I was still listening, "I had... a family, the greatest in the world. I had loving parents and beautiful sisters. They were... well, practically the greatest thing in my life. My father's name was Isshin, my mother's Masaki, and my two sisters, Yuzu and Karin. My father was a pervert, a weirdo and a psycho who would fight me for the fun of it. My two sisters were polar opposites. Karin loved soccer; she hated anything girly and when messed with, would put up a pretty good fight. Yuzu was like my second mother; she'd yell at me to hurry up and prepare for school, tons of boys liked her since she was really girl and proper. And the guys who _did_like her… let's just say I put all of them through hell." He laughed softly, obviously reminiscing. He stopped and smiled hollowly. He looked down, running his fingers through his hair. "And then there was my mother. She was the centre of our family's universe. I… I was a real momma's boy. I loved her. I loved her more than life itself." He looked up at me, his face black.

"And then, _**that **_day happened."

* * *

"WAKE UP, SON!"

The boy jolted upwards as a man came zooming into his room. He got up and swung his left leg over the man's shoulder, flipping him to the side. He pinned him down, pressing his face hard onto the wooden polished floor.

"You sick punk, what kind of father attacks his own son in his sleep?"

"Good job, my boy! If you keep this up you might actually -mmf- overpower your old man!" Isshin made a strange "oomph!" sound as Ichigo pressed his father's face harder onto the ground.

"Looks like you two are as energetic as ever this morning."

The sixteen year old orange haired teen looked up and smiled; he released his father from his grip (who began gasping for breath) and got up, walked towards the woman who was leaning against the door and gave her a peck on the cheek,

"Morning, mum."

"Good morning, Ichigo. Had a good sleep?"

He nodded before jogging towards his drawer. He opened it and began fumbling for something. As soon as he had obtained his item, he held it up and jogged back to Masaki.

"Happy birthday."

The strawberry blonde woman tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. She looked up at Ichigo and smiled before taking the small box from his hand. When she opened it she led out a little gasp.

"Ichigo! How could you have afforded this?"

Inside the box was a golden bracelet, the words "I LOVE YOU MUM" carved onto it. Her son began to rub his neck, his face a scarlet red.

"It's nothing really, just my month's allowance, that's all."

"But… you're supposed to use your allowance for school food!"

The boy shrugged his shoulders, "Don't worry, I don't get hungry in school."

She raised an eyebrow, wondering on whether she should nag her son on how important it is tto eat his meals or to thank him for the gift. She bit her lip before giving a smile. There was time for nagging later.

"Thank you Ichigo." She gave her son a quick hug before letting go.

Isshin jumped up from the floor and placed his hands onto his hips, "Anyways! Ichigo you better get changed, we're going to the park!"

"The park?" Why?"

"For a picnic, my deranged son! Karin and Yuzu are already downstairs so hurry up!" Ichigo watched as his mother and father left the room, soon he changed into a simple t-shirt and jeans before jogging downstairs towards his family.

* * *

"You're right; you were a REAL momma's boy." I chuckled, slightly surprised on how Ichigo once was.

"Shut up!" he blushed, looking away, "It's normal, all right? Now can I continue?"

"Yeah, go on."

* * *

Ichigo stood on the grassy field, staring up at the sky. He looked around; his parents were seated under a tree, smiling widely as they watched Karin and Yuzu chase after one another. He closed his eyes, enjoying the breeze. It wasn't until he felt a painful blow to his head that he snapped back to reality.

"Yo! ICHIGO! Are you just going to stand there all day? I want to play some soccer!" called out Karin, hands on her hips.

Ichigo smirked, "Throwing a ball at my head isn't a nice way to ask someone to play soccer with you."

Yuzu giggled, "That's definitely not how Karin sees it though! Come on big brother, can we play something that I can do as well? I'm not very good at soccer you know…"

"Well then," said Ichigo, bending down to tighten his shoe laces, "I guess that can only mean one thing, can it?" he stood back up and smiled. Yuzu and Karin looked at each other in horror; one of the only reasons why Ichigo ever tightened his shoe laces could only mean one thing.

Tag.

"I'm going to get'cha!"

Yuzu shrieked with excitement as Ichigo came sprinting towards them, Karin began to laugh as Ichigo chased her in circles. After what seemed forever to Ichigo, the three decided to rest. The siblings walked towards their parents, both sitting down.

"You kids look like you've just run the marathon." Commented Masaki as her three children collapsed onto the grass.

"Yeah, a thousand kilometer marathon." Panted Ichigo who gave his two sisters a nudge.

"Well, I'm sure you all are rather hungry so let's get eating!" Isshin said, grabbing the picnic basket and already taking out a drumstick.

"Would you mind passing one to me dad?"

"Get it yourself you lazy, moronic imbecile!"

"Why I oughtta-"

"Ichigo, just ignore your father, you know him by now." Said his mother with a smile.

"Yeah," Karin reached for a drumstick and continued, "you should know old goat chin, he has the maturity range of a seven year old." She deadpanned as she bit into her food.

"Masaki! Masaki! Did you hear that? My children are ganging up on me! OH THE SHAME!" wailed Isshin as he threw his arms around his wife.

"Ew. Dad, get your hands off mum, it's disgusting."

"Oh come now Ichigo, I'm sure you know that your daddy needs to love his wife! How do you think we made you?"

"DAD I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" roared Ichigo as he tackled his father onto the ground.

"YOU SICK FREAK! ARE YOU TRYING TO CORRUPT OUR MINDS WITH YOUR SICK ANTICS?" Masaki giggled as Ichigo and Isshin were soon engaged in a blood fest, kicking and punching each other repeatedly.

"Will they ever stop?" Yuzu sighed as she ate a sandwich.

"Nope, doesn't seem like it."

* * *

I blinked, "Um. Your dad sure was… interesting." Ichigo rolled his eyes, "Yeah, it used to take us hours to shut him up." He laughed before he covered his face with his hands.

"But I guess those were one of the reasons on why I loved him so much."

* * *

The Kurosaki's had finished their day at the park, they had gotten into their car just in time before rain started to pour. They were in the car; Isshin was driving while Masaki was in the passenger seat. Ichigo was at the back sitting in the middle between his two sisters.

"Would you look at the amount of rain there is today?" asked Isshin, peering out of the front window.

"Yeah, it was rather unexpected wasn't it?" stated Masaki with a smile.

"The three at the back were playing a game that Yuzu had invented; the other two were currently trying to figure out on how it worked.

"So you use this hand gesture to defeat the other hand gesture which leads to the opponent's death?" said Karin, not very sure on where she was heading.

"No, no, no, no, no, you use THIS hand gesture to defeat THAT hand gesture." Yuzu corrected, showing the two with her her hands. Even though Ichigo was paying his utmost attention—he had not a simple idea on what his sister was doing.

Masaki craned her head to face her children before smiling. "You know, I'm so lucky to have three wonderful kids like you."

"Even if you have a weird orange haired doofus for a son?"

"KARIN…" the girl ignored her brothers death glare.

He turned back to Yuzu, before his eyes widened.

"Ichigo? What's wrong? You've gone pale."

He wasn't paying attention to his sister's words, for he was staring outside of her window. His blood froze.

A pair of headlights was heading towards them.

"_NO!"_

_

* * *

_

Ichigo groaned, he felt an excruciating pain in his back; he struggled to get up, only to be pushed back down by strong hands.

"Wha-"

"Lie down, boy. You've been hurt pretty bad."

His eyes fluttered open, a woman with jet black hair was hovering above him.

"Who are y-"

"A paramedic. Don't move, it will only cause more damage to the wounds."

He raised a hand to his forehead, "What happened?"

"A drunk driver slammed into your vehicle, your car got smashed pretty badly."

At this Ichigo's eyes widened, he jolted upwards, only to grip his side in pain. He was sure that he had broken a rib or two.

"SHIT!"

He gritted his teeth and looked up at the woman, "Where's my family?"

She didn't answer.

"Look lady… I'll ask you once again," he began to shake, worry was spread all over his face, "_Where's my family?_"

The woman simply looked at him. Her eyes soon trailed off onto three stretchers that were being wheeled away. Ichigo stared at this in curiosity as the first one passed him, it was a small stretcher, the second was larger than the first and the third was slightly smaller than the second. All of them had a white sheet thrown over something. As the third stretcher passed him, his eyes strayed onto a hand that was dropped to its side. He squinted as a bright flash of gold shone, and he read the carvings on its bracelet.

"_I LOVE YOU MUM."_

"_NO!"  
_

He sprang up; soon at least five paramedics were attempting to hold him down. "NO! NO! THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING! MUM! DAD! SIS? This… THIS ISN'T HAPPENING!" He cried, now struggling to free himself from the paramedics grip. "LET ME GO! LET ME- LET ME FREAKIN' GO! THAT'S MY FAMILY! _THAT'S MY FAMILY!_" He shrieked as the tears burned his eyes. The most important thing in his life, gone in a matter of seconds. He looked around frantically, still trying to break free of their grip.

"Sir… sir, please calm down. Please, they're gone. We tried our best but it wasn't enough, cal-"

"_DON'T FREAKIN' ASK ME TO CALM DOWN!"_

The woman drew her hand back; she stared at him as his tears were released. There were painful stabs at every part of Ichigo's body, yet he didn't care. He didn't give a damn. He wanted to reach his family, to his mother, father and little sister. He wanted to hold them, to wake up from this nightmare.

"LET ME GO!"

"WE NEED YOU TO CALM DOWN SIR! You're hurt!"

"NO! I NEED TO SEE THEM! STO-"

He stopped; he looked down as a paramedic jammed a needle into his arm. His eyes began to droop; he was slowly losing consciousness.

"A bit of anesthetic will do, he'll wake up in an hour or so."

"Poor guy, what's he have left? He's only a boy."

Ichigo's vision began to blur. A single tear streamed down his face as he said the words that he had been longing to say ever since he found out that his family was gone.

"I'm sorry."

* * *

He shook his head, "I couldn't protect them. All those days at the dojo and I still failed to save them. It was useless." I stared at him; I never would have thought that Ichigo had gone through all this pain. It made me see him in a different light.

"Which one of your sisters survived?" I asked.

"Karin. But she was in a coma for two weeks. And the events that followed…"

* * *

Ichigo sat at the bedside of a pale, raven haired girl. She was breathing gradually, and Ichigo was clinging tightly onto her hand.

Karin had been in a coma for two weeks, it had been the worst days of Ichigo's life, He had not gone to school for the two weeks that Karin was in the hospital. The doctors often told him to go home, yet Ichigo simply replied that he didn't have a home anymore. He jumped as his sister's hand made a twitch. Ichigo looked up at her with hope, and to his greatest wish, her eyes fluttered open.

"I-Ichigo? Is that you?"

Her brother gave a weak smile, "Yeah. Good morning, Karin."

She rubbed her eyes, "Where am I?"

"You're in the hospital."

"Oh. Where's mum, dad and Yuzu? In the cafeteria no doubt."

Ichigo had been dreading this moment; he tried rehearsing dozens of times to when he had to tell his sister that their family was no longer with them. He gave a huge sigh and spoke.

"Karin… do you know why you're in the hospital?"

"I don't know, the last thing I remember was being in the car."

"Yeah. Karin… we were hit by a drunk driver."

Her eyes widened, _"What? _Are you serious? Is everyone else okay?"

Ichigo pursed his lips. He spoke in a gentle tone, one which he had never used before, "Karin…"

"No. No, Ichigo."

"I'm so sorry Karin. They're gone."

His sister simply stared, after a few moments, tears spilled out of her eyes like a waterfall. Ichigo wrapped an arm around his sister and held her tightly as she began to sob uncontrollably into his chest.

That was the first time Karin had cried on her brothers shoulder.

* * *

"Karin and Yuzu used to be complete cry babies." Ichigo said with a smile. "The simplest of things would bring them to tears. I remember there was a time where we found a dead sparrow in the garden and they couldn't stop bawling—they actually made us do a proper funeral for it." He chuckled at the memory. I watched as he continued.

"Then, when they turned to the age of nine, Karin stopped. She hardly cried after that, even when she got into big trouble for hitting a baseball into the principal's office, or when a couple of girls older than her beat her to a pulp." He leaned back and closed his eyes.

"So it pretty much came to a complete shock for me when she did so."

* * *

A day had passed since Karin had found out the news about her family, she had cried for hours, and Ichigo couldn't take it when he heard her sobbing herself to sleep.

But there were worse news to come.

Ichigo and Karin looked up as a doctor entered the room. Ichigo felt his stomach lurch as he remembered the fact that his father was a doctor as well.

"Good afternoon, you two. How are you feeling, Kurosaki?"

"I'm fine," Karin answered, "but my legs feel a little numb."

"A little?" the doctor replied, bringing out the clipboard he was holding, "I'm sorry Kurosaki… but it appears that you've been paralyzed from the waist down."

It was as if though time had stopped, Ichigo gave a worrying look, "Just for the time being, right? She'll get better, right?" the doctor shook his head.

"No, I'm sorry."

Ichigo's eyes widened as Karin grabbed him by the collar, and to his surprise, tears were streaming down her face.

"Ichigo! Does that mean I can't walk anymore?"

He gave a small nod.

More tears began to pour, "Why? _WHY?_ I can't walk? Why can't I walk anymore? Ichigo! I can't play football anymore, Ichigo!" she choked, her eyes turning red. "_Why is this happening to me?_" It pained Ichigo like nothing else as his sister continued to sob. He was going to start crying himself, but he didn't. It would only make matters worse. Instead he held her close to him and ran his fingers through her hair, trying to assure her that things would be alright.

* * *

The more Ichigo went on, the greater regret I felt about asking him to tell me about his past. He looked up.

"She could be saved. It was a surgery, that's what they said. But… the money that I had to pay was too much. They told me, if I didn't get the money for it soon, things would get worse. So I tried, I tried looking for any relatives that I could ask for some money, but most of them were dead and my parents didn't have any siblings. No one would give me a job because of my hair and its color. So things sort of went downhill from there."

* * *

Ichigo sat in his room; it was as if though all the color in the house had faded away. He didn't know what to do anymore, things just weren't going to what he planned. He hadn't gone to school for the past month. He checked his phone, twenty one unread messages and nineteen missed calls—all of them from his friends. He sighed and placed his phone back onto the table and laid back down onto his bed.

There was a knock on the door.

For a brief moment, Ichigo had hoped that that was his parents, or maybe Yuzu, telling him to get changed because they were going out. All hope of that faded as a head poked into the door.

"Ichigo?"

He sat up and stared at the woman who was at his door.

"Tatsuki."

She closed the door behind her and stared at the floor, "I heard about your family and Karin. Ichigo, I'm really sorry. If there's _anything _I can do for you… my mum says you can stay with us if you want, it was pretty hard on her too since our mum's were best fri-"

"Look, if you've come here just to babble about things I don't really give a shit about, I suggest you leave." Ichigo hissed, turning his back towards her.

She raised an eyebrow, "What's with you? I came all this way to visit you and you tell me _**this**_?" she shot her hands out in aggravation. Ichigo stood up and pointed at the door.

"Well, I want to be alone right now, so I suggest you leave."

"What's up with you, Ichigo? I'm trying to help y-"

"You're not doing a very good job with that, just so you know."

"Shut up. Will you please just _talk to me_?"

"Like I said, piss of Tatsuki. I really just want to be alone right now."

"ICHIGO! I'M YOUR FRIEND!"

"What makes you say that?"and the minute he had said this, he immediately regretted it.

Tatsuki stared at him blankly; she bit her lip and smacked him hard in the jaw. Ichigo stumbled back. He wiped his nose which was gushing blood.

"_WHAT AM I TO YOU?"_

Ichigo looked up at a crying Tatsuki; her hands were balled into fists.

"I thought I was your friend! I thought that I actually _meant _something to you! You said you trusted me! You said you'd tell me everything!" She shook her head and turned on her heel, making her way towards the door.

"I guess I was wrong."

* * *

"That was the last I saw of her before a week ago." He stated. I nodded and sat back, waiting for him to continue his story.

* * *

Ichigo was on his way to visit Karin at the hospital. It had been a week since Tatsuki had visited him, and the encounter had still left him guilty. He took his usual short cut, entering an alley filled with odd looking people. It wasn't until he was a few meters down that a tall man with long black hair stepped in front of him, his tongue was pierced and his eyes were like snakes.

"What's with the hair, orangey?"

"What's with the tongue, girly?"

The man became furious; he swung a punch at Ichigo who easily dodged it. Soon he was surrounded by a group of men—all wielding a different kind of weapon. The orange haired teen raised an eyebrow, "That's so not fair." He fought hard as each of them came charging at him, luckily none of them were very skilled fighters. He easily took them off one by one until the man with long black hair was left standing there, his eyes were wide.

"Y-you…"

"Scared?"

The man snarled before grabbing Ichigo by the arm, "Come with me." Ichigo fought back, yet even though the man in front of him was rather skinny, he had an iron grasp.

"Dude! Let me go! Where the hell are you ta-"

"Just shut up and follow."

The man led Ichigo down the street; soon they turned up in front of a deserted looking building. He stepped inside, still pulling Ichigo with all his might. He walked down the hall and led Ichigo into a rather large room. As he entered, he raised an eyebrow at the sight of the room. It was tattered, the wallpaper was peeling off, and everything seemed dull and grey. A group of men were in the room, all carrying a weapon like the group before. At the end of the room, sat on a chair, was a man who looked rather bored. At the sight of Ichigo, his eyes lit up.

"Nnoitra? Who is this?"

The man known as Nnoitra pushed Ichigo forward and spoke, "Took out my whole crew, bare handed. No weapons. They're all outside, still on the ground." The man on the chair looked up, interested at what he was hearing.

"You did, now?"

"Yeah, what's it to you?" spat Ichigo, trying to cover his fear. Whatever it was, he was sure that the man in front of him was dangerous.

"That's interesting, now tell me, how would you feel on joining the Yakuza?"

Ichigo's blood froze. He was at a Yakuza hideout.

"_W-what?_"

"You heard me, how would you like to join the Yakuza?"

"Yakuza? Are you serious? Over my dead body. I've got better things to do than join some stupid club like that."

"Oh come now, it will be fun. Think about it, that talent of yours can finally be put to use." Ichigo shivered on how the man had referred to Ichigo's fighting skills as a talent.

"Forget it; I'm not that kind of person."

"If you join, I can grant you your greatest wish."

Ichigo froze.

"What is your greatest desire, boy?"

"I see him," said a man, coming out of the shadows, "Everyday. He goes to the hospital downtown. Someone in there must be precious to him." He said simply, digging his hands into his trousers.

"Ah, thank you for the information Grimmjow." Said the man on the chair smoothly.

He looked back at Ichigo.

"So, boy, who might this person be?"

"It's none of your business."

"Is it a family member?"

"I told you, I'm not going to tell you anything."

"I take that as a yes." The man smirked, resting his chin on the palm of his hand.

"Do you have parents?"

"No, their dead." Ichigo growled.

"Ah… so who's going to pay for your family member's hospital bill?"

Ichigo stayed silent.

"No one? Hmm, what if I told you that I'd pay it for you?"

The teen's heart froze. He looked up at the man, his eyes wide. "P-pay…"

"Yes. As long as you join my organization. You would be very useful. If you don't trust me and think that I won't pay for your family members hospital needs, then you can ask Grimmjow over there. I paid for his little brothers brain surgery." He nodded towards the man who spoke earlier. Grimmjow gave a nod and muttered thanks towards the man on the chair. Ichigo stood there, thinking. He looked up and asked.

"I have a sister who needs a surgery to get better. Will you pay for it?"

"Yes. But on one condition—"

Ichigo bit his lip.

"You must not disappoint me."

Ichigo stood there, motionless. After thinking it through, he looked up once again and spoke.

"I'll do it."

The man closed his eyes and smiled.

"What's your name, boy?"

"Ichigo. Ichigo Kurosaki."

"Ichigo, eh?" The man opened his eyes once again, "My name's Aizen Sōsuke. Welcome to the Yakuza."

* * *

"YOU WERE PART OF THE YAKUZA?" I shrieked, nearly falling off my seat.

"Yeah," Ichigo said calmly, his eyes shut, "It was for a good reason, Rukia. If you had an opportunity like that, to save your sisters life, then what would you do? Walk away from it?"

"Yes," I said firmly, "I wouldn't go and join some stupid criminal organization! And Aizen's a Yakuza boss? Oh my god, _MOMO!_" I screamed, clearly losing it. I was never that good at keeping my emotions in. Most of the time I was rather calm, but when I learned something that shocked me, I'd freak out.

"Rukia, Calm down! Let me finish!" snapped Ichigo.

I silenced myself and stared at him.

"Good," He nodded, "anyways, I joined the Yakuza. My group was called the _'Ferocious Dragons'_. The men in my group ranged from the age of fourteen to twenty five. Most were high school dropouts; some did it for pure satisfaction. The things I did those days would shock you. I used to beat up tons of innocent people who owed Aizen money with a wooden bat. The scars I got for picking fights with other Yakuza groups are still here." He lifted his shirt slightly above his waist, exposing a deep and long scar protruding from his shoulder to his left side.

"I got this one from Yashida Takomi, a twenty something year old man from the group _'Death Bringers'. _He was screwing with me about me being a weak little teenager. He sliced me with his knife while I clobbered him over the head with my bat. A huge fight broke out between our groups. It lasted about twenty minutes, and eventually we won. Aizen heard of this and promoted me to become his _Saiko Komon_, which meant that I was his Senior Advisor—boy, were my members glaring daggers when he did so." He rolled his eyes. I stared at him in disbelief, how could he have taken a situation like this so _lightly_?

"Anyways, we were like every other Yakuza group in Japan. We were involved in various beatings, blackmail, prostitution-"

"_SAY WHAT NOW?"_

"Calm down, I wasn't involved in any of that crap. The others went off with Aizen with that. I stayed at the hospital with Karin. I can't stand the thought of things like that existing in this world."

"Thank God, I was going to kill you."

"Thanks. Anyways, at first, I thought that stuff in the Yakuza was nothing but fun and games, just beating people up and stuff. But then…"

* * *

Ichigo was walking down the halls of his newfound 'home'. He passed a door and stopped at the sound of a quivering male voice.

"I-I'm sorry, Lord Aizen! I'm so sor-"

"No excuses, Tanaka. On your knees."

Ichigo raised an eyebrow and looked into the room through the small opening in the door. He was soon looking at the sight of a man on his knees—crying and shaking. Aizen stood behind him with a smug stare.

"L-Lord Aizen… _please…_"

"Tanaka, you revealed my deepest secrets to my enemies, how could I trust you after doing a thing like that?"

Ichigo watched in horror as Aizen drew a gun out from his jacket pocket, pointing it directly at the mans head.

"Goodbye."

He pulled the trigger.

_BAM!_

The man slumped to the ground, falling face down. His arms were sprawled at his sides. He was soon lying in a pool of blood which continued to grow. Ichigo squinted at the sight of a tear glistening in the man's eyes. He blinked before looking back up at Aizen, who to his horror, was walking towards the door.

Before he had a chance to turn around and run, Aizen had pulled the door open. Ichigo looked up at Aizen before his eyes trailed down to Aizen's blood stained coat. Aizen frowned at this and wiped the blood away with a handkerchief.

"Oh dear, my jacket's dirty."

He looked at Ichigo and smiled; as he walked past him he bent down and whispered into his ear.

"That's what you get if you disappoint me."

He got up and left the corridor, leaving Ichigo petrified with shock, still staring at the figure on the ground.

* * *

"I witnessed a man get murdered," breathed Ichigo, remembering the scene, "that was the first time in my life that I felt truly terrified of someone. Aizen was the cruelest man that I had ever met, he showed no mercy to anyone who pissed him off, and he would even hurt those close to him for the silliest of reasons."

I began fumbling with my fingers, terrified of the fact that Aizen was an even worse person than what I had feared he was.

"Soon, I found out that Aizen could sink even lower."

* * *

"Yo! Aizen! Guess what? We caught the bastard that stole your money the other day!" yelled Ichigo in triumph as he entered the building, grasping a suitcase in one hand and a blood stained bat in the other.

"Wasn't easy though, he put up a pretty good fight..."

Grimmjow and Nnoitra soon came in after him, both looking a lot less happier than the man before them.

"Hey, we helped you too." Snarled Nnoitra, glowering at the orange haired teen in front of them.

"Oh shut it, Grimmjow helped me while you stood at the back filing your pretty nails." Ichigo quickly dodged a swift kick from the man with the pierced tongue.

"Lord Aizen?" Grimmjow called out, waiting for a response. "Hm. I wonder where he is."

"Hey," Ichigo stopped, "do you hear those sobs?"

Grimmjow and Nnoitra raised an eyebrow and soon could hear distant sobs of a girl. They followed the sound and soon entered their meeting room. A petite girl was on her knees—she was covering her face with her hands and was kneeling in front of Aizen who was completely oblivious to the fact that Ichigo and the other two men had entered the room.

"Momo, Momo... did I not tell you to stop associating with the boy?"

"B-but... Aizen! Tō- I mean, Hitsugaya has been my best friend since childhood!"

"Like I care. I've told you countless of _times_… Stay away from him."

"Aizen-"

"Oh, what's the use? You'll just do it again. Might as well teach you a lesson. Yammy."

He snapped his fingers and out came a large, bulky man, wielding a whip.

"What's he going to do with that?" whispered Ichigo to the two men beside him. Nnoitra simply stared while Grimmjow went wide eyed with fear.

His question was soon answered as the man raised the whip, ready to bring it down onto the girl before him. She raised her hands to cover the blow, her eyes shut tight. After a moment, she had not felt any pain. She opened an eye and looked up. She had not been hit by the whip; the blow was taken by a teenage boy with bright orange hair.

His hands were spread out; his back was on the man who had tried to hit her with the whip. He was panting and sweating. He looked at her and smiled.

"You okay?"

"Y-yes, but who are y-"

"What do you think you're doing, Ichigo?"

The boy stood up and turned towards the man seated on the chair. "I saved her."

"Yes, I can see that, but why?" asked Aizen, raising a brow.

"Because I don't like it," Ichigo said firmly, "hurting a woman."

"Ah… is that so? Oh well. Consider yourself lucky, Momo. Go bring this man to the infirmary and get him bandaged up." Aizen beckoned the two out of the door. Ichigo was limping slightly. They walked down the halls in silence. They soon entered the only white room in the whole building. Momo sat Ichigo down and instructed him to remove his shirt so that she could get a better look at his injury. As he did, the girl had to clasp a hand over her mouth to prevent herself from screaming. There was a deep gash on Ichigo's back. To her it looked about a meter look. Blood was oozing out of the scar—and it definitely wasn't stopping anytime soon. She scuffled her way towards the first aid cabinet and grabbed a bandage to wrap around him and some ointment. She made her way back towards him and applied the ointment onto Ichigo's back before wrapping the bandage around his upper body. She was used to this, both her parents were doctors and she had helped tend to their patients from time to time. As she did so Ichigo craned his neck to look at her.

"Why did Aizen hurt you?"

"He… He and I've been dating for awhile now, and he gets jealous when I hang out with a friend of mine. He's told me this before, but I couldn't stand not talking to my friend and in the end I gave in. I just missed him so much. Do you know what that feels like?"

At this, Ichigo's heart rose to his throat—he immediately thought of Tatsuki.

"Yes," he croaked, remembering the image of her crying, "yes I do."

"Yeah. So why did you save me?" she asked.

"It's… It's just that… I hate seeing girls get hit by guys. It's not right. My mum taught me that."

"Your mum sounds like a nice lady. Do you live with her?"

"Used to. My parents and sister died in a car crash a year ago. The only reason why I'm in the Yakuza is that Aizen promised me that he'll pay for my other sister's surgery to make her get better. Which he did by the way, her surgery's going to take place in a few months time.

"Oh. I hope she gets better! So what's your name?" she asked, wrapping the remaining bandage around a scare he had gotten earlier from getting into a fight with another Yakuza groups member.

"Ichigo Kurosaki. You?"

"Ichigo? Like strawberry? I'm Momo Hinamori. Nice to meet you."

"Like peach? Nice to meet you too."

The girl nodded, "Yes, but I don't appreciate you calling me a peach."

He chuckled, "The strawberry and the peach. Funny."

"Yeah, thanks for saving me back there, Ichigo."

"No problem."

* * *

I sat back and looked at him in terror.

"Aizen tried to hurt Momo? I'm going to kill that bastard! Or maybe I'll get Tōshirō to do it for me, he can get pretty violent went it comes to his precious Momo… Why does she even date him?"

"I don't know, she would never say why. Must be something personal I guess. Anyways, after that incident, it got me thinking. Was all this worth it? He had already paid for Karin's surgery, so I could just quit. Sure, he'd probably shoot me for it, or maybe he'd burn me in some poisonous acid, but I had done enough, and at the time I didn't really mind dying—don't look at me like that! If you were in my position you'd understand why!—so I finally came to the decision that I was going to quit Aizen's little club."

* * *

"So Ichigo, what is it that you would like to tell us?"

The orange haired teen gulped. He had been practicing for this moment, so why was he so nervous? Tell Aizen he was leaving and get tortured to death. It sounded like a good plan, right?

"Look… Aizen, I appreciate the things you have done for me these past seventeen months and all but… but I don't like what I've been doing… so I… I want to tell you that I want to quit."

He closed his eyes at the yells of his members in the room, all throwing insults at him.

Aizen raised an eyebrow, and for a moment, Ichigo could've sworn he looked shocked. "Oh… really? You want to quit?"

Ichigo gave a small nod.

"Are you sure? That's your final decision?"

"Yes. It is."

A smile curled at the corner of Aizen's lips.

Ichigo was prepared for Aizen's words, he had found out that when you had angered your boss or what they were called in the Yakuza world, _Oyabun_, you usually had a choice to either get killed by him or commit suicide. Both those ideas sent a chill down Ichigo's spine. But what Aizen had said next was the last thing Ichigo had expected.

"Is that so? That's too bad; you were my favorite amongst the lot. If that really is your final decision..." he sat back and rested both his hands on the arm rest.

"Everyone, I order you all to beat Ichigo up, and under no circumstances, is he allowed to fight back."

To Ichigo, this was even worse than getting shot. The pain was going to last longer, and all his members, he knew, hated him with a burning passion. Maybe with the exception of Grimmjow, who was kind of like his older brother. He looked around at the sight of all his former members smiling a smile which was nowhere near friendly. His lips pursed as each of them approached him, some licking their lips with hunger.

A man came charging at Ichigo and smacked him hard in the jaw. He stumbled backwards and held his nose as the blood gushed out. Another man came charging towards him, elbowing him hard in the gut. Soon Ichigo was sprawled on the floor; his members were kicking him at every part of his body. Blood was oozing out of his lips, there was a large cut, grazing from his upper left side of his cheek to the top of his lips. Ichigo could tell that his left eye was swelling, judging by the throbbing pain it was giving off. Even though it only lasted a couple of minutes, to Ichigo it felt like it lasted an hour. He was hoisted up my two of his members and they soon dragged him towards a table, raising his left arm and slamming it onto the table. They yelled at him to stretch his fingers out which he did. Soon Nnoitra came strutting his way towards them; he held a knife in his right hand. He raised it to his lips and licked it slyly. Ichigo's vision was blurring, but he knew very well on what was happening.

The ritual of _yibutsume_, it had been in the Yakuza tradition for years; if any of the members displeased their _oyabun_, they would have to pay the price.

They had to get a finger of theirs chopped off to be given to their boss.

Ichigo had heard of this, some of his members had done it twice, and he was dreading the day that he had to do it as well. As Nnoitra raised the knife into the air, ready to bring it down onto Ichigo's finger, something had happened.

"STOP!"

Ichigo looked up at the sight of a shaking Grimmjow.

The teal haired man walked towards the table, his eyes on the ground as he did so. Ichigo watched in horror as Grimmjow slowly placed his hand onto the table and spoke.

"I'll do it."

The orange haired teen shook his head and moaned, his vision was slowly fading away, "Don't... Don't do it Grimmjow, I don't deser-"

"Shut it," he snarled, glowering down at Ichigo, "just remember that you owe me, BIG TIME."

The last thing Ichigo remembered before blacking out was the sight of the knife coming down onto Grimmjow's hand.

* * *

"HAH! Look at him! All unconscious and useless! Not so great now, are ya, Kurosaki!"

"Let's just leave him here, he'll die soon."

Ichigo's eyes fluttered open. He led out a small moan and rolled face down onto the stone pavement. He was outside on the streets, and the footsteps that were fading away were none other than his former group members. He laid there for a couple of moments before stumbling to get up. As soon as he did, he gripped his side in pain. He began to drag his feet on the floor as he struggled to walk down the street. He was sure that he was going to pass out again, there was no denying it. As he continued to walk he passed a diner, it was empty except for a family seated at the end of the room. They were laughing; the parents smiled at their three children, a boy around the age of sixteen and two girls who looked about twelve. Ichigo gave a weak smile; he would trade anything to be in that diner with his family right now. But that wasn't possible, they were gone. No matter how much he hoped that they would come back to him, they never will. All that's left was their three graves and his sister who would never walk again. He limped, trying his best to stabilize himself. Soon, he felt a sharp stab in his back and fell to his knees. He was outside an alley, and the last thing he wanted was for anyone to see him in this state. He crawled into it, finding a corner where he could prop himself up. He tilted his head back and began to cough uncontrollably. Blood continued to pour out of his wounds; he closed his eyes, hoping that the pain would stop.

He was going to die, he was sure of it. There was no way that he could survive these injuries, he felt numb, as if though his body had stopped functioning. He couldn't move he couldn't get to a hospital; he was going to die in that cold alley. His mind soon zoomed into overdrive; he imagined the thought of Karin bawling as the police delivered the news to her that her only remaining family member was dead. He couldn't stand the thought—it was the last thing he had wanted. He was so deep in thought that he did not notice the sound of someone's footsteps approaching him; his senses were slowly fading...

"Are you alright?"

Ichigo looked up to the sound of the voice, and as soon as he did, he was greeted by a pair of eyes.

Eyes with the color of deep violet.

* * *

"And that..." said Ichigo as he leant back, "is my story."

I stared at him in amazement, he took at least an hour to tell me his tale, and it left me bewildered. My mind began racing, making out everything that he had just told me, soon I asked the question that was pondering in my mind.

"How's Karin?"

"Her... Her surgery's been delayed; it's going to be held in a few months time." He said softly, staring at the floor as he did so.

"Just now, you said that you wouldn't mind dying because you didn't have anything worth living for. Do you still feel that way?" I asked, my eyes boring into his skull.

He looked up; his eyes gleamed for a second.

"Well-"

At that moment, the door swung open, and there stood Renji, Byakuya and Tōshirō standing at the doorway. Byakuya's face was pale and blank. Tōshirō had his lips pursed while Renji was panting like a dog. His eyes soon traveled onto Ichigo's.

"Why… Why didn't you tell us that you were in the Yakuza?"

* * *

I watched nervously as Renji sat in the armchair opposite me. Tōshirō was standing in the corner with his arms folded. Senna stood uncomfortably next to him while Momo looked at her feet (she had stayed the night). Amongst all of the people in the room, I was focusing on Byakuya, who had not said a word since he had got back.

"We were called to Byakuya's office. There was a policeman waiting for us. He told us, Ichigo, about your past." Renji's eyes flickered upwards.

"And about your sister's predicament."

Ichigo ran his fingers through his hair. Renji continued. "He told us about Aizen," –Momo shivered- "and your family's car crash. I'm really sorry about that, Ichigo. Anyways, he found out about you staying with us by a man with long black hair, his tongue was pierced." Ichigo clenched his fist.

"Nnoitra…"

Tōshirō pushed himself off the wall, "He probably was a Yakuza member as well, I think he found out by the newspaper article about Rukia and him being an item."

Renji sat and gave a sigh, "I don't know how to handle this, really. It's all actually up to Byakuya." There was a moment of silence in the room. Senna gave me a rather comforting look, yet it didn't work on me. Whatever was going to happen to Ichigo, his fate was rested in my brother's hands. I looked up at him, searching in his eyes for an answer. Byakuya closed his eyes and raised a trembling finger to the door, and to my horror, he spoke the words I had feared he was going to say.

"Get out."

* * *

**In case you didn't know, yes, Byakuya told Ichigo to get out of the house. So yeah. Ok, If I disappointed you in this chapter then I'm really, REALLY SORRY! I bet it wasn't as exciting as you guys hoped it was going to be. So, yeah. Sorry. But watch out for the next chapter! Oh! And have you guys watched the newest Bleach ending? It was so awesome and sad :'( ! Please tell me what you think of it in your review, I want to know! AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY RUKIA! This chapter is her birthday present from me xD OH MY GOD. You have no idea what I had to go through to write this chapter. I had no internet for two weeks, and when I finally got it, I LOST THIS WHOLE FILE SO I HAD TO RE TYPE 8000 OVER WORDS. AGAIN. ARGH. **

**TheBestBeginning- Yeah, I know, we all pity Orihime when it comes to IchiRuki xD BYAKUYA HAS THE POWER TO SHOO PEOPLE AWAY! Heh. Hope you enjoyed it (: (btw e-mail me the fanfic and I'll add things on)**

**xXmysterious-unknownXx- YOU THINK THAT'S GOOD! LOOK AT YOUR REMEMBER ME! You really are good at it o.e**

**lemonapple27- Hello! I like your name! I love apples x3 lemons as well! But not when it's so sour xD Here's his past! And I bet I disappointed you with it -.-**

**deadpoolhulk- Senna is cool (: When I watched the movie with my friend and when she was dying we both sort of cried until my other friend screamed that she was hungry ._. But yeah. Trees are cool! **

**LittleRuu- YAY! I'm glad you like the story! Yeah, 1****st**** person POV is kinda boring, but I had no choice with this chapter xD Fast paced? I don't what that! xD And yes, RENJI HAS TAKEN OVER XDDD Maybe she will ditch him though. ;D **

**Kicyslawa- Your name is very interesting xD I wish I had a nickname. xD Besides one from my mum which is PRETTY embarrassing. My Christmas was really boring lol. I'm Chinese! YAY! YOU MUST LIKE ME THEN ;D And have a happy new year too! Oh and about you're a-g statements:**

**I'm happy he didn't do it too O.O**

**That's how I felt when I was decorating my Christmas tree with my family, I kind of re did the scene there ahaha.**

**O.O Um…. That was rather scary xD Hmm, I already got Aizen's fate planned out. It's going to be fun writing it –smiles evilly- **

**Grimmjow's like that because of Ichigo. You'll find out why soon.**

**AHH! I like Senna! Well actually it's because I like A LOT of Bleach characters. **

**Yeahh Ichigo's a total sweetie (: Sometimes.**

**YES! IT IS HERE! –even though it sucked-**

**Zangestu05- YES IT IS HERE XDD**

**AwesomeAnimeStarIchiRuki- I'm glad you liked it! xD And yes, Ichigo is Orihime's friend :D AHHA! I like Senna. I like a lot of Bleach characters xD I hope his past was creative enough xD! **

**Eelgirl13- HERE IT IS I HOPE YOU LIKED IT!**

**SukiAmaya- yes Ichiruki rules xD I HATE YOU FOR HAVING SUCH AN AWESOME STORY! **

**Jean-HI JEAN HOPED YOU LIKED IT! And NO! Ichigo does NOT have a crush on Senna! Ishida is funny xD but awesome! Yes I love Hitsugaya too! Cool master B) Aizen is a SCURRIER! Heh.**

**Pamianime- HEHE! It's still my wallpaper in case you're wondering. The other day my mum saw it and she was like, "DID YOU DRAW THIS!" and I replied with a no and she was like, "Damn. It would've been cool to bring it around and show all my friends and tell them my daughters a true artist." That actually sort of stung me xD But she still says my drawings are awesome. I hope I didn't disappoint you with THIS chapter! I think it's horrible! Not exciting enough. Tsk. Eheheh I actually like Senna. O.e I don't know why, I like A LOT of characters xD A late merry xmas to you too! By the way I really liked your Christmas without You comic. It's so sweet and all and it's not like other comics where the characters have… AHEM. Sorry I'm really innocent xD But my mind suddenly gets corrupted when I'm in school. Maybe it's because I sat next to the most perverted boy in my class when we were learning about reproduction in Biology. –shivers at the memory-**

**falconIchiruki- I LOVE YOUR NAME DUDE XDD It's really cool! O.O Rukia isn't Renji's fiancé! That's… that's blasphemy o.o And who know? Ichigo might get her in the end ;D**

**AikaRayKuroba- HELLO! I can speak Bahasa Melaya/ Indonesia too! But… well I'm not the greatest at it. I can converse with people in the language though! Since I have a very scary teacher it's no surprise that I can… ANYWAYS! HITSUHINA FTW! X3 Yes it was a SMALL hitsuhina moment. Hehe. They might. They might not. YOU'LL NEVER KNOW! xD New chapter is here my dear reviewer! I hope you enjoyed –even though it was sucky as sucky can get- so thanks!**

**Pet-lover-97- Hah. You forgot to kill me. HAH. Suck it. **

**AmuletMisty- HEHE! HI! Yes the star thing was cute to me too x3 YES ICHIRUKI FTW! Yay for Byakuya and BOO TO AIZEN! xD Yeah you already know.**

**Shnizlefritz- You have a very unique name! Anyways, Yay! I'm glad someone finally reviewed about my special little quotes at the beginning xD I work REALLY hard when I gotta find them. No, everyone in Rukia's school isn't famous and rich. They're not THAT used to her presence, a lot don't talk to her because they're too star struck. I might go into that topic in later chapters though… yes this is IchiRuki, I just made it RenRuki currently because, well, without a love triangle the story won't be that interesting, no? :3 I don't want to rush they're relationship, so yeah. YES ALERT XDD Make me happy hehe.**

**MoonlightBreaker- O.O AIZEN IS A PEDO! YES! HE SHALL BE SUED! XD I'll tell you why she's dating Aizen in school hehe. ….. Thanks. You make me feel good. Hitsugaya forever! YEAH! XD He's so cool! Hehe! O.O Don't tell me you had a hangover. You crazy girl. DRUNKARD. **

**CrestFallenFeline- OMG! I (How many times have I said this to people already) LOVE YOUR NAME! XD O.O Tantrum much? XD I get Tantrums when I can't find food eheh. Thanks! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**R&R.**

'**Cuz.**

**It'll make Rukia REALLY HAPPY THAT SHE'LL GLOMP ICHIGO! (OOC-ness much?) **


	9. Hisana

**(I hope I haven't lost my reviewers by now) ****Ehehe. Hi. How are all of you doing? –hides behind pillar- I just realized that last chapter was twenty two pages O.O Last chapter's about flashbacks, unfortunately so is this. Quite slow, but you'll find out things ._. xD Anyways, ENJOY! And... who else has noticed that I've been late in updating lately? –hides- I'M SO SORRY! XDD School sucks. I'm sure you all know what I'm talking about ;_; And chapter 436: Oh my god Ichigo, Rukia's your 'pride'? How sappy can you get? :B**

* * *

"_You can shed tears that she is gone, __  
__or you can smile because she has lived.__  
__You can close your eyes and pray that she'll come back,__  
__or you can open your eyes and see all she's left.__  
__Your heart can be empty because you can't see her,__  
__or you can be full of the love you shared.__  
__You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday, __  
__or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday.__  
__You can remember her only that she is gone,__  
__or you can cherish her memory and let it live on.__  
__You can cry and close your mind, __  
__be empty and turn your back.__  
__Or you can do what she'd want:__  
__smile, open your eyes, love and go on.__"_

David Harkins

* * *

**H I S A N A .**

There was a moment of silence in the room, one which was nowhere near comofortable, before Ichigo spoke.

"You're kicking me out?"

"That would seem so."

Ichigo bit his lower lip, his hands were in his pockets. He and Byakuya were standing a meter away from each other, and the tension between them was unbearable.

"Is it because I was in the Yakuza?"

Byakuya gave a curt nod.

"Yes, if you continue to stay with us, you might hurt my family."

Byakuya gave me a quick glance before facing Ichigo once again, "So, I'd like you to leave the house straight away, I'll see to it that the maids bring the things I have given you down."

"Byaku-"

"Not now, Rukia. We'll talk later."

As I was about to open my mouth to retort, I closed it shut, the answer to why he was acting like this was undoubtedly obvious. It was because of that time...

"Byakuya, I _assure _you that I understand your actions, but-"

"I don't want to hear it, get out of my house."

"Hey Byakuya, this isn't reasonabl-"

"Be quiet, Renji."

I turned my head towards the red headed man, this had been the first time Renji had stood up for Ichigo. Whether it was in front of the teachers, me or any of our friends, Renji would be the first to give some smart ass remark, but right now, he was defending Ichigo. We stared at each other, and I knew that there was nothing to be said, we both knew what was on the others mind.

"Look Byakuya, I'm really sorry about what I did in my past and all, but I swear that no one here's in dange-"

"_HOW THE HELL DO YOU KNOW THAT?"_

I stared, I had never seen my brother lose it before, so had Renji and Tōshirō. Apparently to Ichigo, this wasn't a shock. He stood his ground, his fists clenched. "Don't you dare raise your voice at me."

"Ichigo-"

"Rukia, stop talking. Give me a good reason on why you think that I'm not trying my best to keep you and everyone else in this house safe from harm?"

Momo nodded and spoke in a quiet voice, "It's true." Tōshirō gave her a glance and replied calmly, "And I suppose Aizen told you?" At these words, Momo shifted uneasily in her seat. Senna pushed herself off the table and folded her arms, "Byakuya, Ichigo is kind of right, I mean, he didn't really know what he was getting into, he was just doing it to save his little sisters life." Byakuya didn't say a word; he merely gritted his teeth, glaring daggers at Ichigo. He turned on his heel, and walked straight out of the room, not saying another word.

"What the hell is his problem?" asked Ichigo, his eyebrow raised.

"Kurosaki, if you _knew _what Byakuya went through; you wouldn't blame him for acting like that."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Tōshirō, don't answer him," I hissed, "I thought we swore we'd never speak of that."

"But he wants to know!" Renji interrupted, "If he wants to know, we might as well tell him!"

"This is a matter of Byakuya's past, which he doesn't like to be reminded of."

"But he's not here right now, so isn't it okay if we tell him?" questioned Senna, cocking her head to the side.

"That may be true bu-"

"What the hell are you guys talking about?"

We turned to the orange haired teen, his eyes filled with confusion. "You guys aren't telling me something." I sighed, running my fingers through my hair.

"I guess we might as well, you've already been staying here for awhile anyways." I sat down on the couch, looking up at Ichigo as I did so.

"Byakuya had a wife, her name was Hisana Takahashi, and she was my sister." Ichigo nodded at this. I continued, "They met seven years ago under the strangest of circumstances.

* * *

A petite woman with jet black hair sat on the floor of a dirty alley way, she inhaled the cigarette that she was smoking before removing it from her lips, puffing the smoke into the air.

"Yo, Hisana! Got anything today?" called out a voice.

Hisana looked up at a blonde figure approaching her; the woman was bandaged around her head. Hisana shrugged her shoulders before picking up a bag next to her. She threw it at the blonde woman who caught it; she led out a gasp as she opened the bag.

"Holy crap! Who did you get this time?"

"Don't know. Some old rich ass I guess. He was surrounded by a group of younger women." She snarled in disgust.

"But... wow! I don't know how you do it Hisana; you're probably the best in the gang! No one can get _this _much money." The blonde woman sat down next to her and lit a cigarette. "The boss will be really pleased with you."

Hisana glanced at the blonde and shrugged.

Hisana Takahashi was a member of a girl gang, one that contained mostly high school drop outs. She was probably the most quickest in her group when it came to robbing someone. She got up, threw her cigarette onto the ground and stepped on it before turning to the woman sitting down. "Sayuki, I'm going to go and stretch my legs for a bit." the blonde nodded, continuing to smoke as Hisana walked her way out of the alley. The cold nights breeze went through her hair, she closed her eyes, wondering where she would stay tonight. _'Maybe I can stay with those idiots,'_ she thought, thinking of her parents. Hisana stopped in her tracks, her eyes were on a man, walking down the street, he was carrying a suitcase. Hisana smiled slyly, she grabbed a pole lying at the outside of a store and crept quietly behind the man. She raised it, a wide smile creeping across her lips, but as she swung the pole down, the man wheeled around and caught it. Hisana nearly jumped back.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." His voice was calm, yet Hisana could tell he was a man you wouldn't want to mess with.

"Wha- How...?"

He jerked his head towards the clear glassed window at the side. "I saw your reflection." Hisana crossed her arms, "Whoa, you're so smart." She rolled her eyes. She looked up at him, taking in his features. He was quite tall; he had piercing blue eyes with long, black hair. By the looks of him, he looked approximately three years older than her. "So this is awkward." She muttered. The man turned on his heels and began to walk away. "Wait!" Hisana called, "Aren't you going to arrest me?" the man turned and raised an eyebrow. "What makes you say that? She stared at him before waving her hands in the air. "Um, dude! Have you been here lately? I WAS TRYING TO ROB YOU!" he cocked his head and shrugged.

"Of course I know that. It was quite obvious with the pole."

"So? You're just going to walk away?"

"That would seem likely."

"WHY?"

"Because," he said as he continued to walk away, "you don't seem like the type of person who knows what she's doing." Hisana stood there, motionless. It took her a few moments for the words to sink in. "WHAT? Wait, where are you going? Come back! -What the hell do you mean by tha-" but it was too late, for the man had already disappeared. She began to curse under her breathe; if there was one thing she hated, it was not getting an explanation for comments thrown at her.

* * *

Ever since that meeting with the man, she couldn't get her mind off him. He seemed quite familiar, and she was pretty sure she had seen him before. _'But where?' _she thought as she walked around the city. People were hurrying to work and the road was packed with traffic. It was a normal day at the city. As she passed the newspapers stand she came to a stop. The man she had met the other day was on the front cover. Almost instantly she grabbed it and scanned the page, _'Byakuya Kuchiki: Kuchiki Enterprises Newest Addition. The youngest millionaire in Japan.' _She stared at the blue eyes which she had met with a few nights ago and she flipped to the page with the article on him.

_Japan, Tokyo: Since the death of his late father, S__ōjun Kuchiki, the only child in the family has taken over Kuchiki Enterprises. Twenty year old Byakuya Kuchiki is set to lead the Enterprise to the top. The man, who has only been seen with his parents in public a few times, is-_

Hisana continued to read the article, and as soon as she had finished, she turned and ran down the street, looking at a map of the city on her way before continuing. Time passed until she reached the towering office in front of her, and with that she entered.

As soon as she stepped in, she knew she looked terribly out of place. All around her were men and women dressed in classy business suits while she stood there in a baggy t shirt and pants. She approached the woman behind the counter and asked, "Excuse me, but where could I find Byakuya Kuchiki?" she had no idea why she had become fond of the man; it was probably on what he told her that made her want to know why he said it. The woman looked up and almost instantly gave Hisana a disgusted look.

"Do you have an appointment?

"Well, no but-"

"Then you can't see him."

"Look lady, I-"

She stopped in mid sentence as she heard the same voice she had heard a few days ago. "So how do things look?" she turned to see him walking with an elderly man. "Excellent, Mr. Kuchiki… business is going very well, the stocks markets have been quite stable and-" Byakuya raised a hand to silence him, and before Hisana knew it, she and the man were now locked in eye contact.

"You're that girl from that day."

"Yeah, thanks for noticing."

"What are you doing here?"

Hisana huffed, "Well, I want to know what you meant by _'you don't look like you're the sort of person who knows what she's doing.'_" Byakuya gave a frown, his eyebrows came to meet, "That's what's been bugging you?"

"Yes! I want to know _exactly_ what you meant by that."

"It should be quite obvious by now."

"Well, it's not!"

The elderly man standing next to him raised an eyebrow, "Um, Mr. Kuchiki? Who might this be?" Byakuya closed his eyes and looked back up at the raven haired girl. "Okay, If you want to know, then I'll tell you. Not now though, I'm busy. You just wait for me here."

"Wha- _WAIT FOR YOU? HOW LONG'S THAT GOING TO TAKE?_"

But Byakuya had already walked of, the elderly man scurrying behind him. Hisana groaned and collapsed onto a chair—this man was seriously getting on her nerves.

* * *

Ichigo raised an eyebrow, "Your brother sure was a delight." I rolled my eyes, "Yes, that's why he's letting you stay at his home."

Renji gave a chuckle.

"What's so funny pineapple?" sneered Ichigo. "Well, it's just that you and your stupid self is practically ruining the story." Tōshirō had to jump in between the two to prevent the orange haired teen from clobbering the other man.

"Don't stop!" cried Senna, "things are just getting interesting!"

I laughed—my brother's past seemed to interest quite a number of people, even though they had heard this story a billion times (excluding Ichigo of course). I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear and continued, "So he brought her to a diner afterwards."

"Your brother did _WHAT_?" cried Ichigo, looking as if though his ears deceived him, "you mean your brother actually has a heart? That's brand new information!" he quickly dodged as I threw a pillow at him.

"Shut it! I'm telling you the story so zip it and listen! Anyways, according to the old members of staff in this house, Hisana was quite an impatient woman."

* * *

As soon as Byakuya had exited the elevator, his eyes searched for the young girl who had tried to rob him just a few days back, _'Where is she? She's a rather demanding woman.' _He thought as he searched the area for her. He approached the counter and asked the woman seated behind it, "Excuse me, but have you happened to see a rather petite girl with raven hair around here?" as soon as he had described the girl to the administration woman, she gave a frown. "Why yes, she's at the lounge reading some magazines." Byakuya gave a nod and a small thank you before walking towards the lounge. As he approached, he caught sight of her; she was reading a magazine with her feet on the coffee table in front of her. Byakuya raised an eyebrow at this, and so did many passer bys.

"You seem to be making yourself feel at home."

"Finally! I've been waiting for an hour!"

"You seem very fond of me, for some reason."

Hisana went bright red; she hid herself in the magazine and began to mutter under her breath. "Anyways," said Byakuya as he took a seat next to her, "what I meant by that statement was that... you look quite similar to a lost child. Your eyes say that you are confused and whatever you're doing with your life, you're not very proud of it. I don't know, maybe I'm just being a little too judgmental." He got up and began to walk, Hisana followed suit.

"Wait, what do you mean? I know perfectly well on what I'm doing!"

"Well maybe, but it doesn't look that way to me."

"How so, exactly? I feel exceptionally happy when I'm off robbing people!" Hisana declared, yet she couldn't help but think that those words sounded a lot better in her mind.

"Okay, fine then, you're happy. I just thought you looked a little lost when you tried to rob me." They were out on the street now, it was already dark. Hisana folded her arms, trying to figure out why he had said that. She was, was she not, the most adored member in her gang? She loved causing people pain... or did she? They had stepped into a diner and Byakuya took a seat, Hisana sat across from him.

"Why are you eating with me?"

"Because I'm hungry, I haven't eaten all day. Plus, you're pretty rich and stuff, so I'm sure you wouldn't mind paying for me!" she smiled. Byakuya sighed, "Well, it's better than being alone then." They ordered, and as soon as the waiter left, Hisana rested her chin on the table.

"So Byakuya, tell me about yourself."

He raised an eyebrow, "Isn't the media talking enough about me? Well, I'm twenty and I'm the only child in the Kuchiki family. My mother died when she gave birth to me so my dad was the one who raised me. He died a week ago." Hisana cocked her head to the side, "Do you miss him?"

"That's complicated."

"Ah, family issues. Don't worry, I know how that feels."

"What about you? I don't know anything about you, let alone your name." He stated. Hisana sat up at this. "Really? Well, my name's Hisana Takahashi. I suggest you call me Hisana. I hate my surname, it's so common."

"You like being unique?"

"Yeah! It makes you feel more special, you know? Anyways, I'm eighteen, I kind of dropped out of high school, yeah, and I usually crash at my friends place."

"What about your parents?"

"Hate them, and I know they hate me too."

"What makes you say that?"

"It's pretty obvious," sighed the petite sized girl as she rested her chin on her hand, "they hardly acknowledge my presence. They're always telling me what a disappointment I am. One time, when they had came back from a night out drinking with their friends, they both yelled at me that they couldn't stand to look at my face, said that I was better off dead. My mum yelled that she was disgusted with herself that she gave birth to me while my father began to hit me. When they had recovered from their hangover, they told me that they didn't mean anything and that they loved me with all their heart. Pretty stupid, isn't it? I was only nine at the time."

Byakuya, who was rather disgusted by what he had just heard, asked, "Any siblings?"

"Yeah. A little sister. She's turning ten this month. But I don't really care."

"Why?"

Hisana ran her fingers through her hair, "Well, it's not that I hate her or anything, it's just that... my parents keep comparing her to me. How she was a much better child than me. I hate it. It makes me feel like I was 'the practice child'. If they made any mistakes with me, they'd learn not to do it again. It makes me feel so messed up." She shook her head, and Byakuya did nothing but stare at her.

"Anyways! Moving on to a happier note, what's it like being famous?"

They continued to chat animatedly, Hisana couldn't help but enjoy the Kuchiki's company, and they still talked quite a bit even when their food arrived. When they finished their meal, Hisana could not help but feel a little sad that their time together was coming to an end, she enjoyed his presence. She almost felt like he was a real friend, something which she had never really had. She watched as Byakuya signed the bill and they both slowly stood up, both looking at each other.

"So... I'll see ya around, Byakuya."

"Yeah..."

Hisana gave a sad smile and turned, she was halfway out the door when Byakuya called after her.

"Hey Hisana."

She turned to find him smiling, something which she had not seen him do the whole time they had eaten together.

"Meet me here tomorrow, seven o'clock."

She tried her best to not jump with joy, so instead she smiled, "It's a date."

* * *

Ichigo began to laugh; we stared at him as he continued to do so. Senna and Momo, who were rather entranced in the story, glared viciously at him for interrupting.

"What? What's so funny?" asked Momo.

Ichigo sat back up, a smile plastered on his face. "Who knew Byakuya was such a hopeless romantic! I, for one, find it extremely hilarious!" no else laughed, we merely stared and soon, Ichigo frowned and beckoned me to continue his story.

"Thank you Ichigo, and as soon as you grow up and find out that you'll never get a girlfriend if you continue acting like what you are now," he twitched at this, "then you'll know why Byakuya did that. Anyways, they continued meeting every day. Gradually, they fell for each other, but neither would confess. Eventually Hisana got less and less interested in her gang and soon decided to quit. Like every gang, she had to pay the price."

* * *

"You stupid little _bitch_! Who do you think you are?" shrieked a group member as she kicked Hisana hard in the stomach. Hisana coughed out blood as she fell to the floor, she gripped her side and braced herself for the worse, and soon she felt a painful blow to her head. Every muscle in her body was screaming in protest to give in, to ask forgiveness, but she knew if she did, she would never be happy again. So she took the pain, she welcomed it, in fact, if going through this pain was what was going to get her out of this hell hole, then so be it. Her sight was fading rapidly; her senses were slipping away from her. As if though from a distance away, she heard footsteps, and the kicking and punching stopped. She looked up, there were two people standing there. A woman, one with long brown hair and dark skin. The other was a man, his hair jet black. He looked down at her, his blue eyes illuminating in the moonlight. Then she blacked out.

* * *

Hisana awoke, she was in the backseat of a car, she was wrapped in a blanket and her head was rested on a shoulder. She looked up to see Byakuya sitting there, his face morbid.

"Byakuya?"

At her voice, he immediately looked down, his eyes filled with concern. "You could've died."

"Nah, I'm stronger than that."

The woman in the driver's seat turned, she seemed to be in her mid twenties, and her eyes were amethyst, quite similar to a cat's.

"Hey! How are you?"

"Hisana, I'd like you to meet a friend of mine. Her name's Yoruichi Shihōin. She's a policewoman; you didn't make it to our date tonight so I got worried. We asked people if they had seen you and they had told us you had gone into a deserted alley downtown."

"It's nice to finally meet you, Hisana! Byakuya's told me so much about you! I think he's got a crush, don't you, little Byakuya?"

"Please keep your ridiculous comments to yourself, Yoruichi. Right now, we should be worrying about Hisana."

The girl looked up at the man, who was staring right back at her. "You're okay, aren't you?" he asked. Hisana had no idea on what came over her, but she began to cry. Byakuya was taken aback by this, but quickly recovered. He wrapped an arm around her as she continued to cry, grasping his shirt tightly.

* * *

"They started dating, but they were able to keep their relationship safe from the paparazzi. Soon, Byakuya asked Hisana to move in with him. There was one tiny problem though..."

* * *

She packed her bags excitedly. She was grabbing anything that made use to her and soon, her room was nearly empty. There wasn't much there to begin with, so there wasn't much to pack.

"Where are you going?"

Hisana turned to see her mother standing there at the doorway, her face stating that she did not want to talk to her daughter at all if it weren't for her room being half empty.

"I'm moving out."

"To where?"

"Somewhere." She grunted, looking away from her mother and zipping her bag.

"If you're moving out, then I demand to know who you're moving in with! Is it another one of your drug addict friends?" she sneered. Hisana shook her head, "Of course not. If you were a good mother you would've realized my injuries due to me quitting the gang. I've changed too. If you want to know, then I'm moving in with my boyfriend."

"What's his name?"

"Why do you suddenly care about my well-being?"

"Because I want to know you little twit, what's his name?"

"You wouldn't believe me If I told you."

"Look Hisana, you better-"

"Dear! I think... I think you've got to come down here!" called Hisana's father, his tone filled with shock.

Her mother raised an eyebrow before heading downstairs, Hisana following behind. The minute they had reached the entrance, they were greeted by her wide eyed father and a rather bored looking Byakuya. He smiled as he caught sight of the raven haired girl, carrying her bag.

"Are you ready then?"

"Yeah."

Her parents stood there with their jaws dropped, not quite able to believe their eyes. "Mum, dad, I'd like you to meet my boyfriend, Byakuya Kuchiki." It amused Hisana greatly to see her parents standing there in such surprise.

"How-"

"Hisana?"

She looked behind her parents to find her little sister, Rukia, standing there with a look of curiosity. "Where are you going, Hisana? Who is that man?" she asked, Hisana stared at her, and she immediately felt a pang of guilt. She felt horrible for abandoning her sister who she hardly actually talked to, and the last thing she wanted was for Rukia to grow up with parents like them. Hisana bent down, staring at her sister straight in the eye before smiling.

"Yeah... I won't be living with you anymore, Rukia, but if you ever need me, you can come here," she handed Rukia Byakuya's address that she had written on a piece of paper for safe keeping, "and visit. Would you like that?" she had no idea what had come over her—she had never been this kind to her sister before, maybe Byakuya had changed her more than she had thought.

"Sure! I'd love that!" cried her little sister happily, she looked up at Byakuya and her eyebrows narrowed, "You better take care of my sister, or I'll come after you!" Hisana laughed as Rukia threw her arms around her, Byakuya gave a smile.

"Wait, hold on a second! What gives you the right to just leave this home without telling us?" demanded her father, his fist tightened.

"Exactly! You can't just run off without asking our permission!"

Before Hisana could retort, Byakuya had already spoke.

"If you care for your daughter so much, then why did you not look for her when she was in the hospital for a week, even when my friend Yoruichi had noted you of it. If you really did care for your daughter, _you wouldn't have treated her like she was nothing more than trash._ So if I were you, I'd think twice before I say something that would just embarrass myself." Byakuya took the bag from Hisana's hands and began to walk out, leaving her parents dumbfounded. Hisana turned and gave her parents an overly happy wave and ran out after him.

* * *

"They got married five years later. Soon, Hisana got pregnant, and according to Byakuya's old friends and servants, it was the happiest they had ever seen him. He would tell anyone he could about it. No one had actually ever seen him this happy." I said, trying to imagine my brother smiling widely.

"But... that happiness ended as soon as it had started."

* * *

Byakuya sat in his office; he had worked the whole day and was patiently awaiting his four month pregnant wife to return. It was eight o'clock, his wife should be back from shopping in half an hour's time. He jumped as his phone rang, Byakuya picked up his cell phone and watched Hisana's name flash across the screen before picking up.

"Hisana?"

"_Hello, Byakuya Kuchiki. If you'd like to see your precious wife again, then answer my question." _

Byakuya's eyes widened as he heard Hisana's screams in the background, demanding whoever it was to untie her. "_Who is this? What have you done with Hisana?_" yelled Byakuya, jolting up from his seat. "Would you relax, she's here. But she won't be if you don't answer my question." Byakuya was shaking; he could not feel any part of his body.

"Wh...What do you want to know?"

"_What is the password to your bank account?"_

"_DON'T TELL HIM BYAKUYA!"_

"_Shut up, you little-"_

"_DON'T TOUCH HER!" _screamed Byakuya, his insides were screaming as well.

"_I won't if you__ tell me what it is!"_

"It's... It's..."

Byakuya was trembling, and before he knew it, Hisana screamed yet again, _"DON'T YOU DARE TELL HIM, BYAKUYA! Don't tell a little shit like him!" _then everything happened at once, the man on the line screamed, and then Hisana screamed, and there was a gunshot. The line went dead. Byakuya stood there; he refused to believe what he had just heard. He pulled on his jacket and sprinted out of the house.

* * *

"He ran to the nearest police station and reported the case to the police, and then there was a search. It took hours, but they had finally stumbled upon a box in the street. They found a body inside it; it was chopped into many pieces. They forced Byakuya to identify the body, and sure enough it was Hisana's. He could tell because she was wearing her wedding ring and she had the same tattoo on her shoulder, the one she had gotten for her gang. According to many people, Byakuya has never been the same. After they discovered her body, he didn't go to work for awhile. The maids saw him outside his room from time to time, and his eyes were always red, as if though he had been crying. He barred himself from the world, and it was like that for awhile. He never had really gotten over it because Hisana was his first love. Do you get why he wants you out now, Ichigo? He's scared for all of us, and even if it might not look it, he's worried about you as well, but he has no idea on what to do." I finished, taking a deep breath. Ichigo sat there, his face was filled with emotions and I couldn't decide what they were.

"Th-that's..."

Momo had started to cry, while Senna sat there with her eyes on the floor. Renji sat down next to Tōshiro. I watched as Ichigo twiddled with his fingers.

"Remember when I said I saved your sisters life once?"

Almost immediately everyone looked up, their eyes now on the orange haired teen.

"It happened when I was still in the Yakuza."

* * *

Ichigo was strolling the streets, it was late at night and he held his blood stained bat in one hand. He looked up as he heard two women screaming at another who stood solemnly against a wall.

"Stop looking like that! Why won't you fight back?"

"Because I don't want to. I've got better things to do then waste my breath on someone like you."

"Hah! Do you think you're better than us just because you're married to that rich prick? Well it ain't impressing anyone!"

Ichigo raised an eyebrow, he knew very well to not get involved in women fights, those were one of the only logical words his dad had ever told him. He decided to ignore it until the woman slapped the smaller one. One of them had grabbed her by the collar, "Stop thinking you're better than everyone else!"

"But I don't."

This time, they pushed her to the ground and kicked her once, twice, it continued as Ichigo stood there helplessly. '_I really need to help her!'_ he thought as he made his way to the three. He had arrived just in time as one of the girls had raised a knife, ready to bring it down onto the helpless woman on the floor. Ichigo ran and kicked the knife hard, causing it to fly out of the girl's hands.

"What the he-"

"What the hell do **_you_** think you're doing?" demanded Ichigo.

The two girls stood there and raised an eyebrow, "What do you think you're going to do about it?" their eyes soon trailed down to Ichigo's bloodied bat with the kanji _'Ferocious Dragons' _on it. Their eyes widened.

"Aren't you part-"

"Of the Yakuza? Hell yes, and if you don't leave her," he jerked his head towards the woman on the ground, "alone, I'll show you just the reason why I'm in it."

The two girls began to shake; they turned around and ran, bumping into each other in an attempt to get as far away as they could from the orange haired teen. When they had disappeared from his sight, he turned down to the girl on the floor. He knelt down and shook her gently, "Is she unconscious?" he wondered aloud.

"Of course I'm not, fool."

Ichigo jumped back as she slowly sat up, wiping the blood that flowed out of her mouth. She spat some of it onto the pavement and looked up at him, "Thanks. You saved me there."

"Don't mention it."

He held out his hand and helped her up, "What did they want with you?"

"Nothing. They just got pissed at me because I used to be in a gang with them. That was sort of their revenge for me leaving." She stood up and staggered, Ichigo caught her when she nearly fell. "Do you need to go the hospital? I could help you walk there." The woman shook her head and smiled, "Nah, I'm a lot stronger than that. Thank you, uh..."

"Ichigo. Ichigo Kurosaki."

"Ah. Thank you Ichigo. I'm Hisana Kuchiki."

She glanced at his bat and raised an eyebrow, "You really shouldn't get yourself involved in that."

"I've got no choice; it's the only way I can save a family member."

"Oh. You still live with your family? That's rare for a Yakuza member."

"No. They died a few months back in a car crash. My boss said he'd pay for my sisters surgery if I joined him."

"Oh."

They stood there for awhile before Hisana smiled, "Hey! Would you like to join me and my husband for dinner? I'm eating with him downtown."

"No, I'm fine. Thanks for asking though."

"Nonsense! Come! I'm sure he'd like to meet the man who saved me!" she grabbed Ichigo by the hand and began to drag him. He was quite surprised by this, seeing as she was beaten to a pulp not a few moments ago. They stopped at a restaurant, and Ichigo left his bat outside because it would look strange for him to be holding a bloodied bat at a dinner table.

"Now where is he- Ahah! There he is!"

Hisana trotted towards a man sitting at a table, as soon as his eyes had got sight of Hisana, he practically jumped up.

"What happened to you!"

"Oh hi Byakuya! A couple of girls from my old gang members tried to beat me up. This guy here saved me!" she jerked her head towards Ichigo who waved half heartedly. He knew exceptionally well who that man was, he was the biggest businessman in Japan, how could anyone not know him?

"He did?"

"Yeah! Pretty cool, huh?"

"Well, thank you, boy."

"No problem."

"Come on Ichigo, come have dinner with us."

He shook his head, "Sorry, I can't. I've got to go to the hospital to check on my sister. It was nice meeting you guys though. I guess I'll see you around."

"Oh, okay. Goodbye Ichigo! Thanks for saving me!" she smiled.

Byakuya stood there at a loss of words, he was obviously trying to figure out how to repay him, and that became obvious when he asked, "Thank you. If there's anything I could do..."

"No, it's okay. It was nice meeting you two."

* * *

"It wasn't anything special, but I did sort of save her life so..." shrugged Ichigo. I stared at him and scratched my head.

"So what are we going to do about Byakuya? Should you go or stay?"

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

"Well he can't go live on the streets," pointed out Renji, "that'd be too dangerous." Senna gave a nod. "Maybe if you just talked to him, Ichigo..." The rest nodded in agreement.

"But don't ask him right now." Momo inquired, no longer crying.

"Yeah... I'll leave him alone for now."

* * *

I changed into my pajamas, thinking of everything Ichigo had told me today. Had he spoken to Byakuya yet? I wasn't so sure; maybe I should go check...

I turned as I heard a door close; I scurried to my door and peeked through the gap to see Ichigo in his pajamas as well, walking towards Byakuya's study. I raised an eyebrow and tip toed out into the hallway, making sure that Ichigo could not hear me as he entered the study. As I went closer, I could make out their conversation.

"-I'm sorry about your wife Byakuya, the others told me about it and I understand if you want me out."

My eyes widened at this and I walked closer, pressing myself against the wall to prevent me from being seen. What was this fool doing?

"I mean... I know what it's like to lose someone dear to you... and the pain of never seeing them again. I understand that you're reason for kicking me out is because of how I could endanger Rukia and the others. So if you really do want me out..."

There was a silence before Byakuya spoke, "I understand your reason for your previous participation in the Yakuza, Kurosaki, and I'm sorry for my outburst. I could not think properly at the time when I had discovered you being so, and I did not have the right to yell at you when I was being selfish of my own feelings.

"I contacted a friend of mine, Yoruichi, and apparently she knows you. Her husband Urahara was apparently quite close to your father is that correct?"

"... Yeah, they were."

"From her view, she thinks you are a good kid and that I should give you another chance. I thought on this for awhile and decided that that'd be the right thing to do. Hisana would yell at me if she was here and found out I didn't. So I am allowing you to stay here as long as you do not create trouble for any of us. Is that understood?"

"Yes Byakuya."

"And another thing, Yoruichi wanted me to tell you that she's going to visit you soon and you have to prepare yourself for." Ichigo led out a loud groan, "Is she kidding me? What is her problem?"

"What?"

"Nothing. She just likes teasing me about... things."

"Well okay then. Oh, and Rukia, I'd like it if you asked me permission to tell people about my past before telling it on your own accord." I jumped as Byakuya spoke my name; I poked my head into the doorway.

"How did you-"

"I saw your shoulder."

"Ah..."

I chuckled, "You really do have good eyes. I wish it weren't that sharp though."

"Well that's too bad for you, because I happen to have sharp ears as well. Please tell Renji to restrain himself from calling you such embarrassing names in front of me if you don't mind."

Ichigo howled with laughter as my face went scarlet red.

* * *

**END OF CHAPTER. PHEW! You have NO idea how much PAIN I went through to write this. I have tuition everyday and school and internet problems and ARGH! Sorry, I had to go on a little rant there. And I swear, WE WON'T HAVE ANY MORE FLASHBACK CHAPTERS AFTER THIS IF IT CAN BE HELPED. ****And I'm so sorry on what I did to Hisana, but it couldn't be helped :/ So yesh. Next chapter, Ichigo introduces a character! Who might it be? Wait, and you'll find out! Oh, by the way, who else has heard of Ichigo's poem for Bleach Book 49? In case you didn't know, every bleach manga book has a character on the cover, and on one of the first few pages of the book there is a poem from the character on the cover. On book 49, Ichigo is on the cover, and guess what our strawberry's poem is?:**

"_**Can I really keep up with the speed of the world where you're not here, this world without you?"**_

**Or something like that, and I don't know but... is he talking about our favorite raven haired shorty? :3 He is, right? I mean, who else could he be talking about? RENJI? YAMAMATO? ... KENPACHI? Maybe, but I don't think he'd say that about anyone except for Rukia. It can't be Zangetsu because then wouldn't it be, **_**'Can I really keep up with the speed of the world where you're not present?' **_**or something of that sort. I don't know, leave a comment about what you think it means! **

**Zangetsu50- Was that shocking enough for you? :D **

**AkiaTori- PLEASE DON'T HATE ME XDD I didn't mean anything! It was to keep you excited for more~ :3 Yeah, I would be like, "What the crap o.o" i don't know. Byakuya is cool B) most of the time. Thanks for your awesome review though! I hope this chapter made you satisfied! :D**

**CloudRed1988- I hope you enjoyed this chapter! :D Thanks so much for the review! Hope it was exciting enough for you! X3**

**xXmysterious-unknownXx- ... BYAKUYA FAN GIRL. DUM DUM DUM. HAHA. Lol yes, ICHIRUKI AND BYAKUYA FTW XDDDD I HEART YOURS TOO! And yes, I updated very slowly. HECK YES. Oh! I DON'T SEE BLOOD! BUAHAHAHAH! I'm proud to call you my friend too! RACHEL THE FLOWER LOVERS BABY CARRIER.**

**CrystalAmethyst- Thanks so much for your review! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**Shnizlefritz- THANK YOU! (: Haha! Yes, Byakuya is a putz, but only because he loves his family! I hope you enjoyed the chapter! :D :D :D**

**Watermelonxpeaches18- Interesting name! I take you're a HitsuHina fan? If so, HIGH FIVE SISTAH. AHAHA! That's kind of funny xD I know! My parents are always checking on what I'm doing on the computer! Did you know that I wasn't allowed FaceBook until like, last year? While all my friends got it years ago! The only reason why I got one was because I jumped into FREEZING WATER TO SWIM LAPS. I don't blame you for being bugged! I would be too xD AND THANK YOUUUUU! YOU WILLL KNOWWW! :D :D :D **

**AwesomeAnimeStarIchiruki- ... I can't get over how awesome your name is xD anyways, YES! I DECIDED TO TORTURE ICHIGO A BIT! –hides- Of course, Rukia is practically his ray of light! I mean, how gloomy is he in the latest chapters? Seriously, SERIOUSLY GUISE. Yeah, but he didn't in the end! WOOT! xDD Here you go! After a three month absence, I'M BACK! **

**AnimeFanx3- HELLOO My DEAR REVIEWER! xDDD I hate those! They're like little annoying pop ups THAT WON'T GO AWAY. It's okay! I'm just happy you enjoyed the chapter LOL. Yes, THAT WAS WHY! HEHE. Lol, he didn't! Byakuya is a good person! Heh.**

**MoonlightBreaker- ... Hello natalie for your very long review. I'm a sadist yes, HOW ABOUT YOU HAH! HAH! O.O Well I hope I hide from you because it is going to get sadder! Woot! And yes. We totally failed at that ICT quiz. BOO YAH.**

**Pet-lover-97: YEAHHH! Reviewing in ICT. LIKE A BOSS. (y)**

**Jean- JEAANNNNNNNN! THANK YOU! OMG DID I REALLY MAKE YOU WANT TO CRY? YES RACHEL IS CRUEL! CRUEL! That's why she's evilll... xD –chills- THANK YOU! XDDD Hmm, I don't know! That's up to you to decide (;**

**SukiAmaya- THE LAST SONG? WHEN'S THAT COMING OUT? AND LOL! YES! I AM. A DISSAPOINTMENT. xD Lol, really? Are you serious? REALLY. HAHA! Teared a river? Nice. I'm going to use that from now on. OMG YOU INSULTED BYAKUYA! SHIT SYUKRINA RACHEL'S BEHIND YOU! RUUNNN.**

**Amulet-to-lazy-to-sign-in-Misty- DINNA! DON'T GO BACK TO ENGLAND KAY? KAY? THANKS. Haha! Yes! No more spoilers! xD LOL! I like the barricading door part. Well he didn't! Happy days for everyone!**

**Eelgirl13- I'm glad you like it! Yes! I tried my best to be creative hehe. OH! How did you imagine it? PLEASE TELL ME :D YESS! I FEEL SO SMART BUAHAHAH –Sorry I'm hyper- Byakuya... is a very complicated man xD Haha! Is it cold where you live? Thanks for the review! (:**

**theBestBeginning- CHIEN WEI! :D XD DON'T TELL RACHEL THAT. SHE'LL CRY. And yes, poor Ichigo. And yes. That was long. Not so sure about the amazing part though. Yes! I hope this pleased you (: PLEASE UPDATED YOUR STORIES.**

**Aika Ray Kuroba- HELLO! Yes, Ichigo lives a sad life xD Really? I'm sorry for making you sad! Yes, I guess it is. It must be horrible for him, honestly. And thank you! Yes! Byakuya is A COLD FLOWER LOVER. Hah. What a lame pun. Well hope that this chapter satisfied your answers, and as for Karin, there will be more about her! I hope you liked it!**

**Pet lover 97- You really are awesome at reviewing xD**

**CrestFallenFeline- Again, I LOVE YOUR NAME. And YES! I HAVE UPDATED! SORT OF. HAHA. THANK YOU! (: Hope you enjoyed it!**

**MightyNickki- HEY! I presume your name is Nikki? (: I hope you liked this chapter! Thanks for the review! (:**

**OH.**

**R&R.**

**IT WILL...**

**Um, I don't know. Just review. PLEASE? –inserts lame smiley face here- **


	10. Life

**HELLOOO MY DEAR READERS! (Or what's left of them) How's it going? I've decided that since I took a three month break, I will be posting a new chapter at least once a week! I'll try my best, but I'm only allowed on the computer on weekends so… meh. I'll try my best though! So, let's stop my rambling and here we go! OH, AND ANOTHER THING. THERE WILL BE NO LEMON IN THIS STORY, YOU HEAR ME? I DON'T LIKE LEMON BECAUSE I AM A TOTAL PRUDE. THANK YOU.**

* * *

_**You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them.**_

_**-Desmond Tutu**_

* * *

**L I F E .**

Ever since Ichigo opened up to us about his past, he became a lot less secretive. He also looked less worried than before, mainly due to the fact that he wasn't hiding half his life from us. Christmas passed, and we were into the beginning of January. My birthday was in a few weeks, and truthfully I wasn't looking forward to it. I would be eighteen, the age where one would touch adulthood. It also meant that I had to decide soon on what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I enjoyed my singing career, but I wasn't so sure if I wanted to continue being one.

"Hey, Rukia."

"Hm?"

Ichigo had snapped me out of my thoughts. We; Tōshirō, Renji, Ichigo and I, were sitting in my room on a Saturday afternoon with nothing else to do. Byakuya had gone to his office to pick up something, which he had gone for an hour ago. "Your birthday's in a few weeks, am I right?"

"That is correct."

"Well, I was wondering, what would you like?"

"For what?"

"A birthday present, genius."

I shook my head, choosing to ignore his smart remark, "I don't want anything, Ichigo. You don't have to get me a present."

"But I insist! You're turning eighteen aren't you?"

"Well yes but-"

"Kurosaki, don't tell me you haven't gotten Rukia a present yet?"

I turned to Tōshirō and raised an eyebrow indecorously, "Don't tell me you've gotten me something!" He nodded, and so did Renji. I rolled my eyes and folded my arms, "Thank you, I guess. Ichigo, you really don't need to get me anything."

"But these two kiss asses already got you something! I'll feel bad if I don't!"

"Did you just call me a kiss ass, strawberry?"

"So what if I did pineapple?"

Tōshirō and I sighed as the two were now yelling at each other with their faces not so far apart. This was a daily thing—the two of them fighting— they would argue over the smallest of things, including who was the one who normally got to decide what we were going to eat for dinner. Before either of them could hit each other, there came a knock from the door.

"May I come in?"

"Yeah."

One of the many maids who worked in the house poked her head through the door, "Master Byakuya is calling for you. He has bought lunch." The minute she had said this, Renji and Ichigo had gotten up and had sprinted out of the door, both yelling on how one of them was faster than the other as they ran down the corridor. Tōshirō rolled his eyes and helped me up, "Come on, we better get down quick before they finish all the food." I nodded and we walked out, making our way downstairs into the dining area. As we entered, we found Ichigo and Renji already grabbing the food that was served, which was a variety of Dim Sum. I looked over the two to find Byakuya sitting at the end of the table; two people were sitting on either side of him.

"Kaien! Miyako!"

"Ah-hah! I was wondering where you two were!"

I walked towards them and took a seat next to Miyako who gave me a friendly smile.

"Those two haven't changed since we last saw them, now have they?"

"Sadly no, they haven't. How are things, Miyako?"

At this, Kaien smiled, showing of his extremely bright set of teeth, "Ah, that's the reason why we're here, Rukia! We've got great news!" At Kaien's words, me and Tōshirō gave Ichigo and Renji a sharp kick to their shins, causing the both of them to stop their dispute and give a short caterwaul of pain. They sat down quietly while continuously rubbing their shins, making everyone's attention on Miyako and Kaien.

"Okay, well... the good news is..." Kaien's grin grew wider as he looked at his wife, her smile just as wide as his.

"I'm pregnant!" she cried.

It took a few moments for the information to sink in, and as soon as it did, the two of them were drowned with cheers of congrats; I threw my arms around Miyako and smiled. Kaien was patted on the back by a beaming Renji and congratulated by Tōshirō. Byakuya smiled slightly at the sight of our celebration until Ichigo waved his hands.

"Wait wait, wait... Miyako, you're pregnant?"

The woman nodded excitedly.

"So doesn't that mean..."

I removed my arms slowly from Miyako and turned to the orange haired teen, my eyes narrowed slowly. "Mean, what, exactly?"

"Doesn't that mean you two had se_-_"

Tōshirō had beaten me to it as he shoved a whole Pao into Ichigo's mouth, "Don't be vulgar." Ichigo gave Renji a deadly glare as the tattooed man began to howl with laughter. Ichigo chewed viciously on the Pao that Tōshirō had shoved into his mouth. The rest of our lunch was our constant questioning about the baby, which had been revealed that Miyako was already two months pregnant. We celebrated and laughed until evening, and Miyako and Kaien had decided that it was time for them to go home. We waved goodbye as they left and I smiled, "Wow! Can you believe it? Miyako's pregnant! I'm so happy for the two." The others agreed, and soon I announced that I would be going to bed. When I had finished showering and I had changed into my pajamas, I went out of my bathroom only to be greeted by Ichigo who was flipping through my sketchbooks.

"What the hell is up with her and bunnie-"

"_Ahem."_

He jumped as he saw me at the doorway, quickly putting my sketchbook back onto my drawer. "Oh, hey. I was waiting for you." I raised an eyebrow before hanging my towel onto the back of my door. I approached my bed and slipped into the covers, causing Ichigo to jump off and sit on my floor.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing."

"Then why are you sitting on the floor?"

"Because you're lying down on your bed."

"So?"

He gave a small cough and turned away, his face as red as Renji's hair. I cocked my head to the side before realizing on what he was worried about. I threw my head back and began to laugh, "You are such a _child_, Ichigo! Are you really so innocent that you can't sit on the same bed as a girl?"

"Shut up! It's not funny, alright?"

"Well I think it is. Renji and Tōshirō don't seem to have a problem with doing so."

"Well that's because Renji's a pervert and Tōshirō's as romantic as a lamp!"

I gave a small chuckle before looking back up, "So what did you want to tell me?" His face was still pink as he spoke, "Okay, first of, I want to know what you'd like for your birthday."

"Ichigo, I already _**told you**_, I don't want anything."

"Well, I want to get you something, and you've already done so much for me, so just bear with me here. What would you like?"

"I don't want anything, Ichigo!"

"Midget! I'm getting you something whether you like it or not! I'm rejecting all your protests, you got that?"

"Wha- What the hell? You're refusing the birthday girls' requests? What kind of tyrannical issue is this?"

"Button it! I don't need any crap from the one whose birthday's coming up, you got that? You're supposed to be grateful and go all sparkly eyed and say, "Oh, how thoughtful of you Ichigo!" and not say how you don't want anything at all!"

"You... "How thoughtful of you!" my ass! And _I don't go sparkly eyed!_"

I glared as he stuck out his tongue and waved his hand near his ears like an immature child, he stopped after a few moments as we stared at each other. I shrugged, "I don't want you to get me anything, but if you must know, I like to draw."

"Wait, you mean those bunnies in that sketchbook of yours were _drawings_?"

"Yes... why?"

"Holy crap, those are awful!"

He quickly dodged as I threw my pillow at him.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry! It's just... I never actually thought of you as the type who liked cute animals."

"Is there a problem?" I demanded, my eyebrows furrowed.

"No, no, no! I'm just saying, that's all. Well thanks for telling me anyways."

"You're welcome. What was the other thing you were going to tell me?"

"Oh, well... I was wondering if you and the others would like to follow me somewhere tomorrow."

"Sure... where do you want to go?"

"Secret, you'll find out soon enough."

* * *

We awoke at nine in the morning, Ichigo had already told the others on his idea, and after a whole ten minutes of begging (mostly on Renji's part) the others agreed to follow. We walked out of the mansion, Ichigo trotting in front of us.

"Kurosaki, where exactly are you taking us?"

"You'll find out soon enough."

Tōshirō raised a brow, giving me a quizzical look before turning away. As we entered the limo, Ichigo whispered something to our driver who nodded without hesitation. He started the engine and drove, the rest of us sat at the back in a comfortable silence.

Ten minutes passed before the limo had pulled up in front of a tall, white building. Almost immediately I recognized the place.

"Ichigo… isn't this Karakura's local hospital?"

The orange haired teen nodded, his knotted eyebrows threatening to withdraw itself from its usual position. Renji rubbed his shoulder—a thing he would do when he was confused.

"Why?"

"Would you shut up and wait, Rudolph? You're going to find out."

We entered the building. The atmosphere was quiet yet peaceful; nurses were patrolling the pastel colored corridors. I looked through door to door, each room wielding a patient with either their family or alone. I shuddered at the thought of losing your family; Ichigo had gone through that, so why was he still functioning?

"Kurosaki! It's been a while!"

I looked to the front to be greeted by a beautiful female with long emerald hair, almost instantly she gave off the exact same aura as Orihime.

"It's nice to see you too, Nel," Ichigo nodded at her, "how's everything?"

"Ah, it's been okay. Business here's been rather slow, but it's not like I mind or anything, it's better this way. You know, less people to suffer…"

"Yeah… Oh!" Ichigo turned to us and took a step to the side, "Nel, I'd like you to meet the people I'm staying with now. This is Rukia Kuchiki, Tōshirō Hitsugaya, Byakuya Kuchiki and Renji the Pineapple."

"STRAWBE-"

I stepped on the tattooed man's foot, "Idiot! Don't you dare yell in a hospital!" I seethed, slapping him repeatedly over the head. The woman called Nel laughed, "It's alright, the patients could use some liveliness around here once in awhile." I smiled after giving Renji a deadly glare.

"So how old are you Nel?" Tōshirō asked.

"Oh, I'm seventeen turning eighteen this year!" she declared proudly, jabbing her thumb to her chest (which, surprisingly, was bigger than Rangiku and Orihime's.)

"I've been working as a nurse for quite awhile now, it's kind of a part time job to help pay for my rent. I live alone." She sighed, "Well, I better go, it was nice seeing you, Ichigo!" she smiled at him before bowing at the rest of us. I watched as she walked away, whistling a soulful tune as she did so.

"How do you know her, Kurosaki?" asked Byakuya, an eyebrow raised in mild curiosity.

"Oh, I used to hang out with her when I'd come by. She's really nice."

"She seems to be pretty into you," I teased, smiling as a small blush crept onto his face.

"No… she's just a friend."

"Ichigo's right, she's _way_ too good for him."

And with that statement, Renji had to stop a nurse to ask for an ice pack to cool down the swelling eye that Ichigo had given him.

"Here we are."

I peered into the room that Ichigo had brought us into. It was small yet cozy, the curtains were drawn and a girl with raven hair was lying down on a bed. Her fringes were like curtains, they parted to show her pale skin. Her medium length satin like hair was pulled into a high ponytail. As Ichigo entered the room, she sat up, a smile plastered on her face.

"Hey, Ichigo!"

The teen smiled, his face softening slightly, "Guys, I'd like you to meet my sister, Karin Kurosaki." The girl looked behind her brother and jumped as she caught sight of us. Almost immediately she bowed, "Ah! Rukia, Tōshirō, Renji and Byakuya! It's so good to finally meet you! Ichigo's told me so much about you guys!" We returned the gesture as she sat up. I stared at her, she was very pretty, and in no way possible held any resemblance to Ichigo. _'She must have gotten her looks from her father,' _I thought as I remembered the description Ichigo had given me of his dad. Her eyes travelled back and forth, they went rather quickly but I couldn't help but notice that it lasted a little longer on Tōshirō.

"Thank you for letting my idiot of a brother stay with you." She bowed once again, ignoring Ichigo's scowl.

"You are most welcome Karin; your brother has been the same idiot as before, if you must know."

"Rukia!"

"I like your sister, Ichigo, she speaks the truth."

"Renji, you better shut it or I'll-"

"Hm. I like this girl."

"_BYAKUYA?"_

Tōshirō raised an eyebrow at the girl on the bed, he eyed her with interest as he asked, "I heard you like to play soccer."

"Ahah... Yes, I do, though since I have now landed in this stupid state, I don't think I'll be able to actually walk ever again." She sneered, glaring at the television screen in front of her.

The room fell silent at this statement, from the corner of my eye I was able to see Ichigo's fist tighten slightly.

"Ichigo, stop blaming yourself for this," she mused, closing her eyes and lying back down onto her pillow, "what happened to me was nobody's fault. Stop blaming every single damn thing on yourself, I don't need your protection." She crossed her arms and turned her head towards the window, refusing to make eye contact with her older brother.

"Ah... you're right." Sighed Ichigo, rubbing his neck, "hey guys, I'm going down to the cafeteria, who wants to follow?" the three other men had decided to follow, and as the door closed behind them I was suddenly well aware of the fact that I was alone with Ichigo Kurosaki's younger sister.

"It's good to meet you, Karin." I started, hoping that I'd be able to strike up a non-awkward conversation.

"S-same to you, Rukia... can I call you that?" she asked, staring at her hands. I nodded and she went on.

"I'm a really big fan of yours," she muttered, a tinge of red spreading across her cheeks, "I like you a lot, mainly since you're one of the only singers these days that aren't whiny, sissy, annoying and too cute. You're... you're really cool." She finished, her eyes not meeting mine.

I smiled, "Thank you very much, I appreciate it."

"And you're letting my brother stay at your house! That's just amazing! Even if he _was _in the Yakuza." she laughed, running her fingers through her hair.

"You know about it?" I asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Of course, he's my brother. I yelled at him about it at first, but... he was doing it for me..."

"Does... does Ichigo talk much... about the times before the accident?" she asked, I shook my head slowly, "No, he's not very comfortable with that topic."

"Figures."

She chuckled, her head buried in her hands. I stood there and listened closely, only to realize that the girl was now sobbing. I sat next to her as her shoulders began to shake uncontrollably, "I'm... I-I'm very grateful, Rukia. I'm happy that you took my brother in, it's the happiest I've seen him in... a-awhile." I wrapped an arm around her shoulder and whispered, "I'm happy too. Your brother's a great person, Karin, he really cares for you." I had heard that she was tough, so why was she breaking down like this?

"For... for the p-past two years... I've tried to put on a brave face; it's the only thing I could do to make Ichigo stop worrying about my freaking well being. He was suffering just as bad as me, but he focused all of his attention onto me, and it sucked so much when he stayed the nights here, because sometimes I'd wake up to see him with his head rested on my bed side, he was always dreaming of that day and he was always crying, he'd always be saying the same thing, _"I couldn't save them."_ Every time. It was so damn stupid because Ichigo was the toughest bastard I knew. He never cried over anything, and seeing him do so made everything feel... wrong. It just didn't fit. At all. I'd have to be the adult sometimes and calm him down, which I'm horrible at, the one who would always calm his temper down was our mum, but she got killed, and I had to take on the damn role. I was only eleven, and it was too much for me to handle half the time. Now though... when he had first moved in with you guys, he came to visit. The minute he had entered those doors, I nearly died of a heart attack. Even though he had his usual stupid scowl, there was something about him which just seemed... so much happier. In the months to come, he was practically back to normal; Tough, loud, obnoxious and stupid. That was the Ichigo I knew, and you, Byakuya, Tōshirō and no matter how much he'll object, even Renji... made him so much happier. I just... I'm really grateful for that. I'm really..." I held her tight as her sobs deepened, and we sat quietly until she had calmed down. As soon as she did, she rubbed her eyes—her nose as red as a tomato.

"I needed that... thanks."

"You're welcome."

"Sorry for just... randomly crying like that. I haven't cried in awhile, and you're like the type of person who you can spill every dark secret you have and you won't judge me. I hope I didn't freak you out or anything." _  
_

"Of course not," I shook my head, "we're only human, we deserve to express our emotions every once in awhile."

The boys returned soon after, luckily for Karin, she had calmed down by then. We stayed for another few hours before it was time to bid farewell.

"You'll visit again?" she asked as we were near the door.

"Of course we will." said Tōshiro.

"See ya later, Karin." Ichigo waved and gave his sister a quick hug, we turned and left the hospital, Karin's words were still replaying in my mind.

"_Ichigo was the toughest bastard I knew. He never cried over anything and seeing him do so made__ everything feel... wrong."_

From the time that Ichigo had moved in, he never did cry. I'd seen Renji cry when his parents kicked him out of his home, I'd seen Byakuya cry when he had adopted me for the first time and I'd seen Tōshirō cry when he had found out that Aizen was abusing Momo. I'd seen the three men that I was living with cry more than once, but Ichigo hadn't, even when he told his tale to me. The stupid idiot had gotten in trouble so many times over the couple of months for starting a fight in school due to his hair color or cockiness, thanks to his skills in martial arts he'd always come out less injured than his opponents.

I turned to find Tōshirō staring at me, "You know, how you can think so much and not explode will always be a mystery to me."

"Very funny, Tōshirō. Anyways, I have a very strong feeling that Karin has a small crush on you." I smirked.

He raised an eyebrow. Amongst the four, Tōshirō was always the second least fun to tease behind Byakuya, he almost never reacted with embarrassment or anger, "Your eyes are in knotholes. I'd like to see you try saying that to Kurosaki."

"Are you trying to get me killed?"

"After that statement then yes, I think I do."

I rolled my eyes before turning to Renji and Ichigo who were now quarrelling over God knows what. I smiled, Tōshirō and I took a quick glance at each other before kicking the other two in the knees. They turned to us, utterly flabbergasted, and soon, the four of us began to yell at one another while Byakuya stood awkwardly in the background.

Yup, life was great.

* * *

I stumbled backstage and smoothened my outfit, I had just performed at my concert and much to my amazement, the crowd had begun to sing Happy Birthday to me. It was quite a delight. I walked to my dressing room to be greeted by Yumichika who sat with his legs folded on the sofa. He closed the magazine he was reading and looked up.

"So how was the concert?" he asked.

I grinned broadly—smiling so wide I thought my lips were going to crack. "The audience was awesome. They sang Happy Birthday."

"This just shows you how big of a fan base you have." He nodded, getting up and helping to remove my makeup.

"Well enough about me, how are things with you?" I asked, cringing slightly as he pulled the pins out of my hair—each coming off with a rather painful jerk.

"Hm? Me? I'm fine... Actually, I met someone."

I perked up at this, it wasn't everyday that Yumichika would find someone, "Are you serious?"

"Well, we're not dating or anything! In fact, I don't think he plays for the other team." He shrugged, now wiping the eye shadow off me.

"Oh... well he might! I mean, you'll never know! Don't be so negative, Yumichika!"

"Rukia, he loves violence, he loves sports, he flirts with girls and he drinks quite a lot."

"Oh." I frowned, "So why do you like him?"

"It's... it's hard to explain."

"Ah, so this is one of those 'I'm-confused-about-my-feelings-so-I'm-just-gonna-be-clueless-about-it-in-front-of-him' feelings?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

He walked back to my dresser, placing back the makeup case onto the table. "You know, it's really hard to find gay men here. Most are either too afraid to come out or are afraid of admitting they're not straight. It's quite frustrating, really. If you're gay, you're gay. That's one of the main reasons why I hate being one; you're just too scared to go on a simple date with your boyfriend because you're afraid you'll get beaten up by those street punks on the road." Yumichika sat on the stool while I sat with my legs crossed on the sofa.

"You know, I think the real reason why guys beat up gays is because they might be one themselves but they're too afraid to admit it." I stated, nodding at myself in agreement, "I mean, what's the point of beating up a homosexual? Is it because the sight disgusts you or is it because you're angry that you know that you want something like that but you're afraid what people will say about you so you take out your anger on them." Yumichika smiled.

"You're a very bright lady for your age."

"Thanks."

I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear and continued, "Anyways, if you really like this guy, then I guess you should try? Well, I don't know because I've never been in a situation like that before. What I do suggest is that you just be friends with him, since that's the only thing you can do right now."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Well, if you really are looking for a guy, then I could always introduce you to Ichigo." I deadpanned.

Yumichika led out a laugh, "Rukia, just because the guy's never had a girlfriend doesn't mean he's gay! Don't be so hard on the poor guy!"

"Nah, that's what we do. We tease each other."

Yumichika chuckled, shaking his head as he pulled his sling bag over his head, "Well, I better get going." He smiled before looking at the door; I turned to see Renji leaning against the door frame, a small smile on his face.

"You were great."

"Thank you."

Yumichika gave me a wink and walked out, leaving me and Renji alone in the room. "Happy birthday, Rukia." He gave me a swift kiss on the cheek and stretched his hand out. I smiled and slipped my hand into his, making our way out of the building.

"So, did you walk or drive here?" I asked, looking up at his tall frame.

"Walked. Tōshirō had to borrow the car and the limo was being used by Byakuya."

"Well," I smirked, hooking my arm around his, "you could do with a little exercise, you've gotten rather tubby."

"What! Are you serious? Have I rea- Rukia that isn't funny! You know how much I care about my weight!" he yelled as I began to laugh.

"Would you calm down? It was just a joke! You're really sensitive about your looks, goofy tattooed man." I chuckled as I playfully bumped into him.

"Fine, fine. Hey, did you know that Ichigo doesn't have a driving license?"

"Really? Well I can't say that I'm surprised, he didn't actually have time for that with his family's death and all."

"Mm. Do you think we should bring him for the test?" Renji asked, in the past couple of months, Renji and Ichigo's hate for each other subsided. They had become friends, though the two would still argue almost every day.

"Well, I don't know. We should ask him when we get back."

"Yeah..." we walked in silence, my eyes examining the atmosphere around us. "Where did Tōshirō and Byakuya go?"

"Tōshirō went to visit Karin while Byakuya went to some meeting." Renji answered, looking up at the clouds.

"Ah, so Tōshirō's finally gone to visit this week? I went on Tuesday."

"I went on Wednesday. You should hear some of the stories about Ichigo; he used to get into fights all the time in middle school. That explains why his head's so screwed up."

"I second that. Though I think he probably was dropped as a child."

"Oh, that too. I really like Karin though; she's a pretty cool kid. Strong too. She nearly beat me in arm wrestling the other day."

"Of course," I grinned, "she _is_ related to Ichigo after all. Have you heard about their dad? He was one crazy lunatic."

"Of course I've heard of their dad, he sounded like one crazy assed father. I kind of wish though that my parents loved me like Ichigo's." He shrugged his shoulders. I kept silent, knowing well that his parents were a touchy subject. They were perfectionist, and it had gotten so torturous to the point that Renji practically transformed into a robot. It was all too much for him, so they got into a really big fight and they kicked him out of the house.

"Ah, we're home."

We turned into the gates, making our way around the fountain and into the mansion. "Wait... why's everything so dark?" I asked, noticing that most of the lights in the house were off. He smiled and clicked a switch; the lights in the living room turned on and every one of our friends were standing with a grin on their face.

"Surprise!"

I blinked, soon noticing the balloons and the huge, _'Happy Birthday Rukia!'_ sign hung behind them. "Wait... did you guys do all of this for me?" I asked, shocked but delighted.

"Of course!" yelled Renji, "Well, it was mostly me and all so-"

"Hey pineapple!" Ichigo called, "Come a little closer so I can smack you for taking all my credit!"

"Would you two shut up! It was my idea, the two oafs over there didn't even think of it at all." Tōshirō rolled his eyes, glaring at the two taller men.

"Rukia!" yelled Rangiku, throwing her arms around me, "you're... you're an adult! We can go drink sake together now!"

"Matsumoto, if you even _try_ intoxicating my sister with that horrible liquid I will _fire you as her manager._"

I laughed as I was pulled into the crowd, nearly everyone was there. Ishida, Orihime, Hisagi, Tatsuki, Momo... nearly all our friends were present.

"You honestly didn't have to do all of this for me." I whispered to Tōshirō as soon as I had gotten a hold of him.

"Don't be stupid. You're turning eighteen; of course you deserve a party like this. You should thank Byakuya though, he bought all the decorations." He informed, I smiled as he passed me his present.

"Happy birthday, Rukia."

I opened the gift, inside was a bracelet with my name engraved onto it. I gasped, "Holy crap! How much was this?"

"I'm not telling."

I half heartedly rolled my eyes before giving him a hug, "I love it."

"You're welcome."

Byakuya soon approached me and passed me my gift, it was a new phone. I smiled and thanked him; he gave a curt nod and disappeared quickly into the crowd after wishing me. The next to tap my shoulder was Ichigo; I turned around as he held a wrapped present in his hand.

"Ah... Happy birthday, Rukia. Thanks... for everything." He muttered, his face slightly red.

I smirked at his shyness before taking the gift from his hands, as I un-wrapped it I had to use all my strength to not squeal.

"You got me a Chappy doll? These are hard to find! How did you-"

"Well... I sort of, you know, went looking. You know, nothing much."

I grinned, "Thank you so much, Ichigo!" He shook his head and gave a small cough.

"Don't mention it."

The night went on with laughter and cheers, it wasn't until Rangiku had stopped her ranting fest about the music industry that Renji pulled me away from the crowd. He dragged me into one of the many guest rooms and stopped.

"Happy birthday, Rukia."

"Ah, thank you, Renji."

He took a breath, his hands were behind his back, "I didn't know what to get you. You know, I don't think any present I could get you would be able to top off Byakuya's. Did you know he was going to buy you a new car? He didn't though, because everyone kept telling him that you'd go spoilt if he did so."

"Hah, that's nice."

"So I kind of... you know, went with my instincts and got you this." He withdrew a box from behind his hand; I took it from him slowly and opened the box. As soon as I did, I led out a huge gasp.

"You... you got me a promise ring?"

"Well, we've been dating for quite a while now haven't we? It was about time I did something before you lost interest!" he protested, his face rather bashful. I crossed my arms, "How much was this, Renji?"

"Oh my God, Rukia would you stop worrying about the price!"

"You're right," I sighed, "I'm sorry."

He waved at me and said to not apologize. I took out the ring and examined it, it was silver and the words, _"Two hearts connected'_ were engraved onto it. I smirked, "Corny much?"

"Oi! Don't make me tell you how much it was!"

I chuckled before running towards him. I threw my arms around his neck and crashed my lips against his. We stood that way; our lips fiercely glued together, my arms around his neck and his hands on my hips, the two of us unaware of the commotion going on downstairs. It was perfect, the two of us together, there wasn't anyone else who I wanted to be with but with Renji. The moment was perfect, and I smiled through our kisses. It was again, too perfect for me to dream of.

Well of course; all perfect moments had to end at some point.

"SWEET BABY PENGUINS! WHAT THE FREAKIN' HELL ARE YOU TWO DOING?"

I gritted my teeth, turning to the man at the door way.

"Ichigo Kurosaki..."

His jaw was dropped and his face was the deepest shade of red I had ever seen on a person, he was holding a camcorder in one hand. "MY GOD! THAT WAS LIKE... TWO ANIMALS ON THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC OR SOMETHING! AND I GOT EVERYTHING ON TAPE!" he pointed to the camcorder in his hands, another present that Byakuya had given me earlier.

"I'VE GOT TO SHOW THIS TO BYAKUYA! HOLY CRAP YOU TWO ARE _SCREWED!_"

"_ICHIGO KUROSAKI, DON'T YOU DARE!"_ shrieked me and Renji.

Ichigo had already turned from the door, sprinting down the staircase with us hot on his heels.

Sometimes, I couldn't help but wonder how our street still stayed intact with the Kuchiki's and the three other boys living in it.

* * *

**CHAPTER DONE. Woot! I'm so sorry for the slow updates! I've got end of the year exams coming up and I've been studying like crazy ****–laughs- Anyways, I hoped you enjoyed! My birthday's next Friday, I can't wait xD My mum's was today though. I made her breakfast in bed... I burnt the toast. It was awesome. Oh, and thank you for all your reviews! I have hit the 150 target! Please keep them coming! They're making me extremely happy! X3**

**SukiAmaya- YES THE LAST SONG. WHERE IS IT? XDDD SUNDAY HAS PASSED, IT'S STILL NOT HEREEE. xD I do that too when I read/ watch something emotional o.o Yes, Byakuya and Hisana are very emotional people ;_; I HATE YOU TOO FOR WRITING SO WELL XDDD ... NNOOOOOOOOO DON'T GIVE HIM MY NAME NNNNOOOOO.**

**CloudRed1988- ... O_O Please don't curse me. Actually, your review made me laugh xD **

**Eelgirl13- xD Yes... I'm so sorry –hides-. Anyways, yes! I tried to keep it interesting! It was really fun to write, (especially Hisana's character) yay! Thanks for liking it :D I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**xXmysterious-unknownXx- YEEESSSSS AND HOW ABOUT YOU RACHEL NG WEI KUCHIKI YING? BYAKUYA IS ANGRY AT YOU FOR NOT UPDATING REMEMBER ME. YESSS HISANA POV F. T. W. HAHAHA I'M STILL ALIVE RACHELLL!**

**AwesomeAnimeStarIchiRuki- :D Yay! I'm glad you liked it! xD Yes, humor is the best medicine. Sadness... meh. No way. It does give the story more interesting points though. Haha! Yes, that idea sort of came to me at the last moment, and as soon as I thought of it, I IMMEDIATELY WROTE IT LIKE A MAN WOMAN. Thanks though! I hope you enjoyed the chapter (:**

**Kicyslawa- Hello! Yes, I love that poem... It's so touching –sniffs- (; I'm glad you did! Yeah, it was pretty depressing to write haha. Yes they are definitely fun to write... (: Well you'll just have to wait and see ;D Ichigo's always getting into trouble, no? xDDD I'M SORRY PLEASE FORGIVE ME! THANK YOU :D**

**Crystal Amethyst- Wah! Hello! Yes... I'm sorry for the slow updaters DX School's been a pain in the ass. Ah! You better go update! I'm going to go check out your stories after I upload this chapter xD YES! I'M HAPPY YOU LIKED IT! Yes, Byakuya is such a softie when it comes to his family . He's cool that way. Haha! YES. Renji's lucky Byakuya can't use Bankai in this fic... –hugs back- thank you so much!**

**Anime-lover-2410- Thank you! Welcome, new reader! xD Yes... It is... I'm a very dramatic person... I watch too many drama programs... but thanks! I hope you liked the chapter!**

**Ke- Hello Khai Ern! :D IT IS HERE! **

**Amulet Misty- xDDDD hahaha, yes! I loved writing her personality! I was like, Woot! Go Hisana being a bad ass! Heh. Ichigo. He is such an idiot. Yes, GORY! GORY! I'm a sadist! Yes, that's how a Kuchiki goes down, they go down fighting! xDD Yes! Humor is always the best medicine!**

**Mightynickki- :D hahaha thank you! Yeah, I realized that I was being rather dramatic at times, so this chapter's a bit more on the fluffy side, thanks! I tried to make it as nice as possible! X3**

**CrestFallenFeline- :D YAY! I WILL STALK- ... I mean check out your profile. Thank you so much! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! (: **

**Summer- WHOA YOU REVIEWED TWICE. Haha. I like you. You're very nice. xD Anyways, sorry if this chapter wasn't suspenseful! Hmm, you'll just have to wait, my dear friend (; Ah, that will be explained soon enough, Ichigo still has a few mysteries up his sleeve, thanks! Sorry for the late update! School and tuition have really been piling up on me -.- xD I AM SO HAPPY THAT I HAVE SUCH A DEVOTED FAN! PLEASE KEEP READING ;D :O YOU WORK? WHAT DO YOU WORK AS? I KNOW I'M BEING A STALKER BUT I'M CURIOS :OOO**

**R&R.**

**It will bring Ichimaru out of commission.**

**I'M IN DENIAL THAT HE IS DEAD BECAUSE HE IS NOT OKAY. **


	11. Fear Part 1

**HOLY CRAP GUYS! I NEARLY HAVE TWO HUNDRED REVIEWS! Oh my gosh, I love you guys so much :'D Please keep reviewing! OH OH and MY EXAMS ARE OVER! I CAN NOW GO BACK TO POSTING WEEKLY! AW YEAH. **

…

**RRUUUUUKIIIIAAAAA! COME BACK, MY LOVE. **

**Oh. By the way.**

**GINJOU YOU ASS HE BLINDED STRAWBERRY'S BEAUTIFUL EYES.**

* * *

_Keep your fears to yourself but share your courage with others. _

-Robert Louis Stevenson

* * *

**F E A R .**** (Part 1)**

"Come on, Ichigo! You might as well just get it over with!" I groaned, tugging on the man's arm.

"Hell no! You're _**not**_ making me go in there!"

"Stop being such a girl, strawberry!"

"Shut up, Renji! I'm not going in!"

We struggled as me and Renji tried to pull Ichigo into the building, he was holding onto the door for dear life.

"It's just a freaking driving test! You'll do fine! I swear! NOW GET IN!" I roared, ignoring the startling glances of passer-by's.

"_HELL NO MIDGET! YOU'LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE!"_

I gritted my teeth and glanced at Renji who gave a swift nod, almost immediately we kicked Ichigo into the door, causing him to fall flat on his face.

"_Damn you…_"

"You're welcome; now go take a seat, the line's pretty long."

A week had passed since my birthday, and we had decided to bring Ichigo for his driving test. He had never driven a car before, and the rest of us believed it was high time he learned just how to do so. We had tricked him into thinking that we were going to the market downtown, but instead, we brought him here.

"I don't see the bloody point in coming." He muttered, sinking lower in his seat.

"Oh shut up," I rolled my eyes, "this will do you good, you're probably the only kid in our grade who doesn't know how to drive yet."

"Mm."

We sat quietly as we waited for our turn; finally, it was Ichigo's. I wished him luck as he stood up and brushed his pants, scowling at the two of us before proceeding to the examination.

* * *

"So how was it?" I asked as soon as Ichigo had appeared from the door.

He walked past me, not saying a single word on how he had done. I raised an eyebrow at this, and so did Renji. I looked up as a man approached us with a clipboard in his hand.

"Ah, did you come here with Kurosaki?"

"Yes, who might you be?"

"I was his examiner for the test."

"Oh! Hello, I'm Rukia Kuchiki and this is my boyfriend, Renji Abarai."

"It's nice to meet you two, I'm Kureno Hatake."

I bowed and stood up, smiling at him slightly, "So how was he?" A frown crossed Hatake's features as he glanced to the clipboard and back at us.

"He… he failed. Kurosaki wasn't very good; he was jerking and braking all over the place. We had to stop a couple of times because he didn't want to drive any further. Tell me, has Kurosaki had any past horrible experiences with vehicles or anything of that sort? It's common for people to act that way when they were involved in an accident."

I felt a pang of guilt as I remembered the fact that Ichigo's family had died from a car crash. That was why he didn't want to come! How could I have been so stupid?

"Ah, yes… he has. Quite a bad one actually, it happened a few years ago."

"Well that explains quite a lot. If I were you, I'd suggest that he comes back when he's ready, that's about the best advice I have right now. Thank you for your time though, have a good day." He nodded before heading off. I turned to Renji, "How could I have been so stupid? Of course he didn't want to come; cars are what bloody killed his parents!" I mentally kicked myself, how could I have been so naïve? I was completely ignoring Ichigo's feelings!

"It's my fault as well, I completely forgot about the fact that his family died in a car crash. We better go find him and apologize."

I nodded and we headed out to find Ichigo leaning against the wall, his eyes were closed.

"Ichigo?"

"Hm? Oh, hey guys. I'm guessing I failed?"

I gave a grim nod, "Look… Ichigo, I'm sorry… I should've been aware of your feelings."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"I mean… you know… the reason for you not wanting to drive was because of your family's… you know."

"Oh."

We stood in silence, Ichigo's family was a topic that was hardly brought up, and when there was a mere mention of it, things would get awkward.

_**Really**_ awkward.

"Don't sweat it," he shrugged, waving his hands, "it's not your fault. If I had opened my mouth and told you the real reason, we wouldn't have been in this situation. It's alright really; don't worry about it you guys! It's a small matter!"

I stared at him, unconvinced by his words—he was pulling his macho mask on. I sighed, "Well, if you say so… we'd better get going, I'm really hungry." The two men nodded, and with that, we set off back home. Throughout the journey, I would steal glances at Ichigo and realize that his constant scowl that was always etched across his face was now gone. It was now replaced by a face I would have never thought I'd see Ichigo have.

It was a look of raw emotional sadness.

* * *

I trotted down the stairs and ran into the living room; Ichigo was lying on the coach, flipping through TV channels. I walked directly in front of him, my hands on my hips.

"Uh… Rukia? I can't see." He stated, trying to look around me and at the TV screen.

"I know."

"…So can you move?"

"No."

He sighed and pressed the off button on the TV remote. As the TV switched off, he stared back at me.

"What can I do for you, then?"

"Okay, you know that it's hard to get over a death of a loved one, right? They'll leave this massive hole in your heart, and you'll refuse to do things that will remind you of them. Am I right?"

I took his silence as a yes.

"Well, Ichigo! I'm here to help you overcome these fears! You know, get over it! I can't make you forget about your family, that's a horrible thing to do, but I know that they'd want you to move on and get on with life!" I insinuated, folding my arms. He raised an eyebrow, "Are you psycho? I'm fine, how many times do I have to tell you-"

"Don't believe it."

He rubbed the back of his neck and closed his eyes in irritation, "Look, I don't see what point you're trying to make here, but I promise you that I do _not _have an emotional problem!"

"Then what about the driving test?" I asked, an eyebrow raised in mild impatience.

"Well-" he paused, his eyebrows furrowed, "Oh."

"I told you, Ichigo! I'm not being stupid! Would you want your parents to see you suffering? They'd want you to live a happy life, am I right? They'd want you to _move on_!"

There was a silence that filled the room, Ichigo sat with his fingers laced together.

"Alright. I'll do it. Just promise me that after whatever you want me to do, you'll leave me alone?"

I nodded and took a seat next to him, "Alright, we're going to be overcoming things that you haven't done in awhile because it reminds you of your family, so I need you to tell me one of the things that you haven't done in awhile because it reminds you too much of them."

"You're acting like a freakin' therapist."

"I believe that's my goal here."

He rolled his eyes, "Well… I haven't played the piano in awhile."

My eyes widened, "You play the piano?"

"Well, yeah. My mum was a music teacher, so she taught me and my sisters on how to play musical instruments and all that crap. She was a really good teacher, but I've stopped playing them ever since… you know."

It took a few moments for me to regain my composure, and as soon as I did I grabbed Ichigo by the hand and pulled him off the coach.

"Hey! What're you doing?"

"Follow me."

"Wha-"

His words were drowned out as I pulled him out of the room and up the stairs, my heart thumping loudly in my chest. We ran down the corridor until we came across the last door at the end. I examined it, no one had been to this particular place for years, yet the door still looked brand new. I looked up at the golden plate on the door, the name _'Hisana' _was carved onto it.

"This is-"

"It was my sister's room. It wasn't her bedroom, but she would come here every day and stay in here for hours. That's what Byakuya told me when I asked about it. No one's been here for years…" I slowly opened the door; this was the only room in the house that I had never been in before, mainly due to the fact that I didn't really need to use it.

"Whoa." We gasped in unison.

It was a large room; the ceiling was stark white while the walls were of a light peach color. There were vanilla colored curtains that were drawn over the large stain glassed windows; the floor was made of wood, oak I presumed. What took my breath away though was the black grand piano that was placed directly in the middle of the room.

"Holy…" the words were caught in Ichigo's throat as he made his way towards the piano.

I stood there and watched as he gently placed his hand onto the keys; his eyes were so entranced that it was making him look like a little kid.

"Did you like playing the piano?" I asked.

"Like? Hell, I loved it. There was something about it that made me so-" he stopped at the realization of his words; a blush crept onto his cheeks as he covered his mouth.

"Um, never mind."

"What?" I grunted, walking towards him and taking a seat on the stool, "If you've got something to say, then say it!"

"It's embarrassing…"

"Pfft, just spit it out, I'm not going to judge you!"

"Ah, whatever! You've ruined the mood!" He sat beside me, "What I was going to say was that when I'm playing the piano, I feel free and at ease, that's all! You know, it's like, I become a completely different person and I get lost in the music!"

I turned to him; a small smile was on my face.

"Show me."

"What?"

"I want to see you play. I want to see you get lost in the music. I want to see a side of Ichigo Kurosaki that no one has ever seen before."

I gave a small smile.

"The Ichigo that hasn't been seen in years."

He turned to face the piano, his fingers gently brushing against the keys. He stared at them before he closed his eyes; his fingers began to travel the piano.

I closed my eyes; the only sound that filled my mind was of the music that Ichigo was playing on the piano. He was brilliant. He was the best I'd ever seen. I opened my eyes, and glanced at his hands, they were moving in rhythm, he didn't fumble, and for the first time ever, he looked at ease. He stopped, a note was left hanging. He gave a sigh and buried his head in his hands.

"I'm sorry… I thought of her."

He shook his head and rubbed the back of his neck, "That was the last piece I played with her before she died."

"What's it called?"

"Don't you know your music? It's _Moonlight Sonata _by Beethoven."

"I'm sorry; I never did learn piano or any other musical instrument for that matter." I glowered.

"Hmph, and they call you a singer."

"Thanks strawberry," I gave him a swift kick to the gut, he gagged and began to gasp for breath, "I appreciate it. You're good, I guess. Do you play any modern songs?" I asked.

"Well yeah I do… why? You want me to play it for you?"

"Yes, that was why I asked."

He rolled his eyes and directed his attention back to the piano; he took a deep breath and began to play. I stared, I knew this song. I began to sing quietly as the song reached its chorus.

_Sen no yoru wo koete anata ni tsutaetai,  
Tsutaenaka naranai koto ga aru,  
Aisaretai demo aisou to shinai,  
Sono kurikaeshi no naka wo samayotte,  
Boku ga mitsuketa kotae wa hitotsu kowakutatte kizutsuitatte,  
Suki na hito ni wa suki tte tsutaeru n da,  
Kimochi wo kotoba ni suru no wa kowai yo demo,_

_Suki na hito ni wa suki tte tsutaeru n da;  
_

I continued to hum gently to the tune until the song came to its close. When it did, I turned to the man seated next to me.

"That was dedicated to your mother, wasn't it?"

His eyes widened for a moment, "What the crap makes you say that?"

"It's pretty obvious, this song's about a guy who loves a girl but he's too scared to tell her, right now, you don't like anyone, right?"

"Of course not! I would've told you if I have!"

I smiled, "Aw, I'm touched. Anyways, from my point of view, your mother was the most important woman in your life excluding your sisters, so it'd only be normal to dedicate such a powerful love song to her. That's what I learnt from being in the music industry, artists sing about their feelings or what they've felt long ago."

"Ah…"

I leaned my head on his shoulder, "I'm sorry, Ichigo."

I could tell he was embarrassed about our current position because his body had gone stiff.

"… What are you sorry about?"

"Would you loosen up? Friends do this all the time, you pansy."

"Ah shut up, what are you sorry about?"

"You know… for forcing you to take the test. I should've been aware of your feelings; this is the main reason why I'm doing these stupid therapy sessions with you."

"I'm not having emotional problems!"

"Rigghhtt….."

His shoulders eased slightly as he gave a sigh, "Would you stop worrying about me? You're always worrying about other people when you should be worrying about yourself! You're not selfish enough! Dammit, it's pretty annoying when you aren't because you're making everyone else feel bad. You're a good person Rukia, and I think you should know that."

We sat in a comfortable silence; Ichigo's words were quite soothing.

"Though you'd probably be a bit better if you cracked a few inches and would stop acting like a juvenile delinquent."

I twitched and stepped hard onto his foot, causing him to nearly leap off the stool.

"I might forgive you if you played another song."

"No."

"I'll tell everyone that you made out with Ishida."

"THAT NEVER HAPPENED!"

"Exactly."

He scowled and began to mutter, the only words I was able to catch were 'midget' and 'evil'. He began to play one of Mozart's symphonies; it was rather soothing to listen to. Ichigo was too glued to the piano to realize that three more people were now watching him.

Renji stood there with his mouth agape, Tōshirō was paying high attention to the movement of Ichigo's fingers. Byakuya stood at the door way, his mouth was slightly parted as he watched the back of Ichigo's form play the piano.

I smiled at the moment; it was as if though we were a real family.

* * *

We sat in the living room as the show on the TV was playing, all of us rather entranced to the events that was happening in the program.

"What's this show called again?" I asked, turning my head to face the three men on the sofa.

"_Bleach_," Ichigo answered, "Have you honestly never watched this show before? It's awesome! It's about this guy called Ichiro who can see spirits, he meets a Soul Reaper called Luka and she gives him her powers. I haven't been up to date recently though."

"Oh. What's this episode about?"

"It's when Luka's brother and her childhood friend Kenji bring her back to the Soul Society to get executed for illegally transferring her powers to Ichiro."

"Oh."

I turned my attention back to the screen, watching the outcome of the situation.

"_Wait, Luka! Stop, look at me! Luk-"_

"_Don't move!" _

"_Wha-"_

"_Take one step… try coming after me and I'll… I'll never forgive you!"_

I quickly rubbed the water that was forming in my eyes; Luka was such a strong character! I couldn't let the boys see me tearing at an anime so I pretended to yawn.

"You know, I think Luka's going to end up with her childhood friend Kenji." Renji concluded, he received startled glances from both me and Ichigo.

"Hell no! She's going to end up with Ichiro!" We yelled in unison, I found the fact that Ichigo was caring about the romance in the show highly amusing.

"Kenji's an idiot! If he really was her friend, he wouldn't have hurt her!" I defended, scowling at the thought of Kenji and Luka together.

"Yeah! Ichiro would never hurt her! He even fought everyone in the Soul Society to save her!" yelled Ichigo.

"Really?" I gasped, "The _whole _Soul Society?"

"Yeah! All of them!" I gazed at Ichiro on the screen, having someone like him in life would be every girls dream come true.

"What do you think two think? I asked, facing Tōshirō and Byakuya.

"I think everyone's better off alone." Tōshirō deadpanned, staring blankly at the screen.

Byakuya raised an eyebrow, "I think Luka's brother is a cold bastard."

I glanced at the clock, "Ah! Okay Ichigo, break time's over, let's get back to our therapy session!"

"_IT'S NOT A THERAPY SESSION!_"

I smiled, "Fine, fine. Guys," I faced the three other men on the coach, "I'm going to need your help for this one."

* * *

**TRALLLAAAA! CHAPTER FINISH! I hope you enjoyed it! I added more Ichigo and Rukia scenes, I hope it was cute enough xD It's pretty filler though xD Oh! We'll be dealing with Ichigo's fears for another chapter, and then…. A SHOCKING CONCLUSION! I think. Anyways, thanks for reading! (It's a pretty short chapter)**

**Experimentnumber628- Ahah! It is IchiRuki, but… we've gotta come over a little bit of obstacles first :D xD Thank you! Don't worry, IchiRuki shall prevail… soon ;D Thank you so much for the review! (:**

**Disha5- Hello! Thank you so much! :3 Your review made me smile :D xD We're all lazy, don't worry! Sorry for updating so late, exams kill me -.- Thanks! By the way, I love your one-shots! They're all so cute! X3 Especially your latest one 'Waiting', that one made me miss Rukia so much T_T **

**Deadpoolhulk- Thanks so much! :D –reads your profile- …. YOU'RE A GUY? AND YOU LIKE ICHIRUKI? OH MY GOSH WE NEED MORE GUYS LIKE YOU IN THIS WORLD XDDDD AND YOU READ MY FANFIC! YATAA! I showed a really close guy friend of mine my fanfic and he went, "… Ewwwwww lovey dovey crap." It's good to know that we have guys who aren't afraid to admit that they like romance in this world! Can I please make clones of you? :DDDD**

**SukiAmaya- YYOUUUU! I DID! AND YOU HAVEN'T UPDATED LAST SONG! GRRRRR. :DDDDDDDDDDDD TROLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL OKAY OKAY, UPDATE YOURS ALSO!**

**AmuletMisty- YES! YESS! IC-NESS FOR THE WIN! XDDD I hate OC-ness… it's weird. TOO WEIRD. Hehe, Karin has a crush on Shiroo~ x3 heh, Ichigo's a prude! … ICHIMARU IS NOT DEAD! HE IS NOT. OKAY? NOT.**

**Crystal Amethyst- Buahaha xD It's okay! But you should update! That's what's very important! (: GAH! DON'T REMIND ME ABOUT EXAMS! I just had my Internals last week and an entrance test for a new school before that, UGH! I'M SO GLAD I'M ON A ONE WEEK BREAK! I had a History test too! …. My hand hurts from writing so much. Haha thank you! I appreciate it! (: … Latin? O.O There's Latin here? ._.**

**Shinzlefritz- HELLO! xD I'm glad you enjoyed it! :3 Heh. Shiro and Karin, Ichigo won't be too happy with that! Ahahaha you must wait, my dear friend! All good things come with patience! (Even though I really want Rukia back in the manga) and thank you! I hope you enjoyed the chapter! :D **

**AwesomeAnimeStarIchiRuki- xDDD OMG THANK YOU SO MUCH! I'M SO HONOURED! –WIPES TEARS FROM EYE- YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH THIS MEANS TO ME :'D ew. Lemon. I'm sorry I can't. I'm too much of a prude. The minute I see Lemon fics I scream and run for my life. xDD Thank you! I enjoyed writing that scene too xD I just LOVE an innocent Ichigo, I can't imagine him in a relationship o.o (well, excluding Rukia BUAHAH)**

**Unknownkyitty- …. –stares at your name- Kitties…. THEY'RE SO CUTE! … Sorry that was random. Anyways, YES! ICHIGO IS AN INNOCENT CREATURE XDD He's weird that way. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thanks so much! (:**

**xXxCutiexEmoxPandaxXx- heh. I like pandas too. Anyways, YES! THERE WILL BE! BUT YOU MUST WAIT BECAUSE I AM HELPING ICHIGO ON HIS PLAN TO STEAL RUKIA FROM RENJI BUAHAHAH!**

Ichigo: WHAT THE CRAP YOU'RE MAKING THINGS UP, YOU PSHYCO!

**Me: … -evil smirk-**

**Exams… -crawsl in emo corner-**

**JEAN- JEAANNN ;D BUAHAHAH YOU'RE EVEN MORE TALENTED! YOU TALENTED ZEBRA! XD It's not that sad. Not really. I think. Buahaha yes, POOR POOORRR CHIMPANZEE D: IT'S YOUR FAULT, JEAN!**

**Star-Sunshine27- HELLO AGAIN. XDDD YES ICHIGO WAS JEALOUS! HE JUST DOESN'T KNOW IT YET O.O BUAHAHAHHA I SHALL, I SHALL, YOU MUST UPDATE AS WELL! WITH YOUR VERYY AWEOSOME STORY! **

**R&R.**

**It will make Rukia return and she'll see Ichigo blind and she'll be his eyes and instruct him on what's going on around him and –continues rambling on about my weird fantasy- **


	12. Fear Part 2

**GUYS CHECK OUT MY DISPLAY PICTURE, IT'S MY VERY OWN DRAWING OF AGAINST ALL ODDS! :D I have no idea how to share it on the internet. I'm sad. It's not that good, but please tell me what you think! :3 OH MY GOSH, YOU GUYS. I'M NEARLY AT 200 REVIEWS! I love you all so much (': OH OH! Remember that entrance exam I've been talking about? The one where I had to take a three month break from Fanfic to study for? Okay, the school I've been trying to get in is practically one of the BEST school's in my country, so they only accept students who get high scores for the test, guess what? I GOT IN! I'm so lucky! It's really hard to get a spot, so even if you DO pass the test, you have to wait until someone goes out. I'm so lucky that I was able to get a spot, I'm so happy –cries tears of joy- Thank you God! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH! Oh, and another thing. The voice actress of Soi Fon (Tomoko Kawakami) has died, so I'd like to dedicate this chapter to her. I hope she's fine and that she's being a kick ass Shinigami up there :3**

* * *

_"Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers, but to be fearless in facing them. Let me not beg for the stilling of my pain, but for the heart to conquer it. "_

- Rabindranath Tagore

* * *

**F E A R . (Part 2)**

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see."

"Rukia! Where are we going?"

I rolled my eyes, "Ichigo, would you just shut up? You'll find out soon enough." The man grunted as he sat back, the five of us sitting silently in the limo for the rest of the drive.

"Ah, we're here."

I opened the door and got out, breathing in the fresh air.

"R-Rukia..."

Ichigo stood silently as he gazed at the park in front of him, "This..."

"This is the same place you and your family went to before they died, wasn't it?"

He gave a small nod.

I stared at him, "Are you sure you want to continue with this?"

He shrugged, "Well I've got no choice, it's the only way you'll actually leave me alone." I gave a small chuckle and entered the park, the four men behind me following my footsteps. I took in the atmosphere, families were sitting under trees, children were playing with their siblings, it was painful to look at Ichigo as we walked, he was staring at these families with such longing that it stabbed me in the heart. I swung around and grabbed Ichigo by the wrist, "Come with me."

"Oi! Rukes! Where are you going?"

"I'll be back, Renji! I just need to talk to Ichigo for a second!"

"Oi! MIDGET! What do you think you're doing?"

I ignored him as I lead him to a secluded corner, as soon as everyone else was out of ear shot, I faced the orange haired teen and took a deep breath.

"Look, if you're not comfortable with this, we can stop."

"How many times do I have to tell you, I'm fine! Would you stop worrying about me?"

"I'm not stupid, Ichigo." I countered, "I know you well enough to tell that you're _not_ alright with this."

He sighed, "Okay, maybe I'm not _entirely _okay with this, but like you said, I've got to get over it, my parents and Yuzu would want me to move on, wouldn't they? That's what you told me, and I'm not sure whether you noticed but your words really hit me, Rukia. I've got to overcome these fears."

We stared at each other for a few moments before I shook my head, "You know what, you're right. Thanks for that, I just needed to know if you were okay with our therapy sessio-"

"They're not therapy sessions."

I gave a small chuckle, "I was joking, come on, we better get back to the others or they'll get pissed." He gave a small nod as we began to search for the other three men, Ichigo gave a small cough.

"Uh... Rukia?"

"Yes?"

"You can let go of my hand now."

I glanced down at our hands and true enough, I was gripping tightly onto his, his eyebrow was raised. I immediately felt my face heat up, I pulled my hand away and began to stomp.

"Idiot." I muttered.

Ichigo gave a loud laugh, "You're blushing! Isn't this usually the other way around? Are you embarrasseddd?" he teased, knocking me slightly on the forehead.

"Go away." I muttered, my face becoming an ever darker shade of red, what was this? Usually it would be him who would get all embarrassed, not me!

"Why aren't you embarrassed?" I barked as I searched half conciously for the others.

"Well, it's because you are, and seeing you embarrassed is like an early Christmas for me!" I turned, threatening to take off my shoe and throw it at his head before came a voice from behind.

"How old are we again?"

I jumped at the sound of Tōshirō's voice. He, Byakuya and Renji stood behind us, staring at the two of us and our current predicament, Ichigo's hands were above his head and I was holding my right shoe.

"Shut up." I groaned as I slipped my feet back into my sneakers.

"Anyways, what are we doing here?" asked Renji, glancing around.

"Well," I started, "this was the last place Ichigo and his family were at before they..." I looked at Ichigo, "passed away, so... I think it'd be nice if we came here with him... like a family. I'm sure he hasn't had a good day at the park since that day, unless he went to daily picnics with the Yakuza." He gave a sarcastic laugh at this.

"So I thought, 'Hey! Why don't we go the park and enjoy ourselves, it'd be good for both Ichigo and the rest of us to just spend some quality time together!'" I looked up.

"Don't you agree?"

* * *

"Ten... Nine... Eight..."

I gave a girly giggle as I hid myself behind one of the trees. I had forced everyone to play a game of hide and seek tag, much to the protests of all of them, they had all reluctantly agreed. Byakuya was the seeker, and according to Yoruichi, when he was brought into any form of games, he would get competitive.

_Too_ competitive.

"Five... Four..."

I closed my mouth, trying my best not to be heard, I looked around me as I caught sight of Ichigo's orange hair up in the tree. I shook my head, how the hell did he climb up there so fast? The rest were hidden quite well, Tōshirō was lucky he was the shortest amongst us all, because I could not find him anywhere.

"Two... One."

I held my breath as I heard Byakuya's footsteps approach my hiding spot. I groaned as I felt a lap tap on my shoulder.

"You're out."

"Was I really that obvious?"

"Yes, I could hear you giggling from far."

I rolled my eyes and sat down, sulking slightly at my fast discovery. I watched as Byakuya found Renji in a bush and Tōshirō in one of the kiddie slides in the children's playground. Lastly was Ichigo, I could tell that Byakuya was saving the most obvious for last. We watched as he approached the tree, staring up at the leaves before beginning to climb. We laughed at the sight; never had we thought that we'd see the day that Byakuya Kuchiki was acting like a five year old. He was taking the game pretty seriously.

"I know you're up there, Ichigo Kurosaki. You cannot escape me."

I gasped while the other two's jaw dropped as Ichigo leaped out of the tree, landing clumsily on his feet.

"_NEVEERRR!_" He roared as he sprinted for his life, Byakuya had leapt out of the tree as well, landing more gracefully than Ichigo. He began to chase after him, his long hair flowing behind him.

"You think you can outrun me? That is impossible; I am as fast as that stupid Yoruichi! I don't care what she says, I'm faster!"

My eyes twitched, I had never seen Byakuya act this way, Yoruichi was right, when he was in a game, a whole new Byakuya emerged. I laughed as Byakuya tackled Ichigo to the ground; Ichigo raised his hand up while his face was flat on the ground.

"I call foul! I demand for Byakuya's removal from the game!"

"Stop being a pansy and man up, youstrawberry." Smirked Renji as Ichigo sat up, spitting some of the grass that had gone into his mouth onto the ground.

"Shut up, pineapple. Byakuya practically turned Mufasa when he chased after me."

"How did I possibly resemble a lion, Ichigo Kurosaki?"

"I'm just saying! It was like, you were going for the kill, and, well, uh..." he scratched his head.

I began to laugh, and so did Ichigo. Renji joined in, and even Tōshirō began to chuckle. Byakuya stared at us for a few moments before smiling, I collapsed onto the grass as we laughed like maniacs, causing us to get rather concerned looks from passer-by's.

* * *

"Is that everything?"

"Yeah."

I had brought a picnic basket for us to eat once we were done, we began to set everything up, placing the blanket onto the ground and setting up the food. As soon as we finished, we sat in a circle, I sat in between Byakuya and Renji. We began to eat, chatting only when our mouths were not full (excluding Renji and Ichigo, who, no matter how many times I yelled at them for it, were yelling with food all over their mouth).

"Hey Wukiah," started Ichigo, I was trying my best to ignore the saliva that was dripping from his mouth, "howth comf no onef nofishes you fenth we go outh? You're a fingeth, right?"

I gritted my teeth as I kicked him in the stomach.

"FOR THE LAST TIME, SPEAK ONLY WHEN THERE'S NO FOOD IN YOUR MOUTH OTHERWISE I CAN'T UNDERSTAND YOU."

He gulped his food down and rubbed his stomach, glaring at me slightly as he did so.

"What I meant to say was... how come no one notices you when we go out? You're a singer, right?"

I gave a small shrug, "I don't know, maybe no one actually notices me."

"But you're Japan's top female artist! How can anyone _not _recognize you!"

"Actually," Tōshirō thought aloud, "not many people notice Byakuya either."

Byakuya shrugged, "People must not be very observant then."

"People are weird." Renji grunted as he bit into a chicken.

"I second that." Agreed Ichigo.

I grabbed a chicken from the basket and shook it, "Well, Japan's paparazzi can be different in ways, they're a lot more secretive."

"They dig into your private life a lot more than others, and just when you think you're safe, they hit you with the most horrible of rumors. It's terrible, that's one thing I am not a fan of in this country." Byakuya added.

Tōshirō's brow furrowed, "What was the worst rumor you've ever heard about yourself?"

I bit ferociously into my chicken, "There was a rumor that I was pregnant because I had put on a little weight."

Byakuya closed his eyes, "There was a controversy... that I was the one who killed Hisana."

I caught the gasp that was trying to escape my throat. That was the worst possible rumor that someone could possibly say, accusing you of killing your loved one. I wouldn't know how I would react if any of my friends died and I was accused of being their murderer.

Byakuya.

Renji.

Hitsugaya.

Ichigo...

They were probably the closest people in my life, despite only knowing Ichigo for only a few months, I felt that I could irrevocably trust him with my secrets and doubts.

"What! Did you sue whoever accused you of that?" asked Renji, anger clearly written on his face.

"Of course not," Byakuya responded, "it is the price one must pay if you are to be brought into the spotlight. Rumors will come and go; you can't get angry at what the tabloids say about you, they are only doing their job. People will probably lose their respect for you, but what matters is what you know between truth and lies. Those were one of the many wise things that Hisana taught me before her passing." He finished quietly. I stared at him in awe, it was at times like these where I couldn't help but be proud of having Byakuya as a brother, even though we weren't related by blood. Hisana was pretty lucky in finding a guy, I hoped that Renji was the right one for me, and hopefully Tōshirō could find a girl as well. When he finally stops being such a prude, maybe Ichigo could find a girl himself. Life was short; we had to live it to the fullest. I honestly hoped that I was doing that right now, because we can't look back and regret things we did not do, we have to look forward and wait for the things you least expect to happen.

"Rukia?"

I looked up, facing Ichigo.

"Yeah?"

He gave a small smile.

"Thanks. For everything."

I returned his gesture, my smile wider than his.

"You're welcome."

* * *

**SO, I DECIDED FOR ANOTHER SHORT CHAPTER! –shot- I have so many ideas for this fic, my head honestly hurts just thinking of them –laughs- anyways, I hope you enjoyed! I tried to get this chapter to say that they're like a family. Similar. Something that all of them actually need. I hope you enjoyed the fluffy-ness xD**

Mushuxlll- Thank you! I hope to entertain you with future chapters! :D Thanks for the review!

CloudRed1988- HELLO! Thanks so much (: I hope you enjoyed this chapter xD Thanks!

JEAN- JEANNN! XDD THANK YOU! xD Really? I didn't expect anyone to cry 'cuz of that O_O lol thanks! xD Yes, that idea came to me last minute hahah, but it was funny! I hope you enjoyed! Yes, I will try! When I'm less busy –sobs like a little child-

Deadpoolhulk- I'm so sorry! Did I offend you? I'M SO SORRY! It's a good thing, don't worry! xD Yes! That was my aim for this chapter! Simple but sweet, yet I wanted Ichigo to open up a bit. Little by little, he and Rukia are growing closer, THAT'S MY AIM! I mean, come on. Rukia's practically the only person Ichigo feels comfortable around x3 You are right! Ichigo needs to show his sensitive side a bit more. Haha thanks! I loved writing the ending! :D –laughs- FINE. I won't clone you. Then... I'll just make my own robot.

SukiAmaya- WHEN ARE YOU GONNA UPDATE? Anyways. Yes, Ichigo playing the piano –swoon- xD Haha, it's true! Not currently, maybe later. On someone (; xDD I'm glad you enjoyed that part, MY GOAL HAS SUCEEDED. By the way, YOUR HOUSE WAS AWESOME. I have never felt so retarded in my life. Heheh. Derp.

Unknownkitty- KITTIES ARE COOL I DON'T CARE WHAT PEOPLE THINK. Oh. –cough- I went a bit off topic. Anyways, yes, their therapy sessions were sweet.

Ichigo: THEY AREN'T THERAPY SESSIONS!

Me: WHATEVER. Anyways, hahah, everyone seems to have liked that part xD Thanks so much! I hope you enjoyed!

SomebodyCool- HAHAH, HI COOL PERSON! X3 You reviewed twice. I LIKE YOU BUAHAHAHHA. HAHA! Thank you so much! The fourth wall... BUAHAHAHHA I LIKE THAT. Anyways, it's cool! I'm just glad that you read the story! (: I'm so happy you like it! I hope you enjoyed this chapter (:

Shnizlefritz- Hahaha! Thanks! I hope you enjoyed! (:

Pamianime- Hey! Long time no see! Or hear! I don't know. Anyways, thanks! I enjoyed writing them, more IchiRuki-ness for me! –laughs like a maniac- I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thanks for the review (:

3rooke- Whoa! 4am? HAH! That's awesome! You must be tired O_O WHOA! I DID THAT TO YA? I'M SO HAPPY, I'M CRYING TEARS OF JOY (': REALLY? I'm so happy! I laugh at certain fics as well, but hardly at any, so I understand how you feel! Thanks so much! Thanks so much! –I have repeated that twice, what is wrong with me- Anyways, Ichigo is a very odd person x3 I know! But things will progress! DO NOT FRET! BUAHAHAHHA! RENJI SHALL GO AWAY SOON! –Gosh, I'm evil- ANYWAYS! Yes, Ichigo has major character changes buahahha xD Ichigo is so cute when he's clueless. Which he is, even in the manga o_o Thanks! I updated fast... I think? xD

Yume84- HELLO! THANKS. SO. MUCH. :D Hehehe thanks so much! I thought it'd be a funny idea x3 Thanks so much though! AH! Karin and Hitsugaya? Hmm, you'll just have to wait! Thanks so much though! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! :3

AmuletMisty- HALLO! Yes, Sen No Yoru Wo Koete x3 Never get tired of that. xD LOL I KNOW RIGHT? I LOVED WRITING THAT PART! Heh. Byakuya. Funny man he is, even without realizing. He's pretty OOC in this chapter though xD Thanks for the review! :3

AwesomeAnimeStarIchiRuki- xD LOL WE'RE PRUDES! YIPEE! Thanks! You're awesome too! (: Haha, piano :3 Thanks so much! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! How do I make things loveable? xD I don't know, time will tell xD

HICHIGOvsworld- thanks for the review! Ah, I see you like Hichigo! Hmm I might give him a cameo :D ... please put down the pitchforks. Please. O_o Thank you? XD Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

xXmysterious-unknownXx- O_O BUAHAHAH REMEMBER ME IS MY ALL TIME FAV STORY! :D Anyways, :D Hehe. I update cuz I am LIFELESS. BYAKUYA WAS IN THIS CHAPTER SPARE MY LIFE GAH! PLEASE DON'T KILL ME! I LOVE YA TOO (:

Aika Ray Kuroba- HELLO! LONG TIME NO SEE/ HEAR WHATEVER! Uh. Same. I hate school, UTTER TORTURE. Heh, thanks, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Ah, I'm sorry for keeping you waiting! I'm slowly developing their relationship! I need to get rid of Renji first –rubs hands together evilly- I hope you enjoyed though, thanks so much!

Anime-lover-2410- HELLO! (: xD Hahaha I know! I personally liked Byakuya's the most :3 yes, Ichigo still has a few tricks up his sleeve x3 I hope you liked it! And Karin is truthfully one of my favourite characters, so I liked writing her character here. Thanks for the review!

**R&R.**

**IT WILL MAKE ME VERY HAPPY.**

**And for Kubo to bring Rukia back.**

**RUKKKIIIIAAAA MY LOVEE. **


	13. I Think I

**Sorry for the late update! I've been busy the past two weeks, and I have returned! –laughs like a maniac- Anyways, I know what you're all thinking, "When are Ichigo and Rukia gonna fall for each other?" hmm, well, my dear readers, it's developing. ;) Has anyone read the news of the new Bleach Musical? Apparently it focuses on Ichigo and Rukia's relationship. I saw the new actor for Ichigo, he looks cute, but I think Tatsuya looked better for the role. Let's see how the new guy does! **

* * *

'_But friendship is precious; not only in the shade, but in the sunshine of life, and thanks to a benevolent arrangement the greater part of life is sunshine.__'__  
_

**-Thomas Jefferson**

* * *

**I think I... **

I gave a grunt as I walked alone. I had just finished a recording session, and it was a rather cold night. Turning into an alley, I decided to take a shortcut home. I gave a slight jump as a hand touched my shoulder. I spun around, facing a man in his early twenties, his breath smelled of alcohol.

"Hey sweetie, wanna have some fun?"

I raised an eyebrow and folded my arms; this was seriously wasting my time.

"Look, I don't want to be rude but I don't have ti-"

"Hey! Aren't you that famous s-singer? Rukia... Rukia K-Kuchiki? Whoa! I sure am lucky tonight!"

I gave a small smirk, immediately putting on my sing-song voice I used when I wanted to fool someone.

"Oh, you sure are!" I chirped, taking a step towards him and running my hand through his hair, "You've caught me!"

His eyes widened, a large smile plastered across his face, "Are you serious? I've never met someone who would so willingly agree... I was hoping you'd put up a fight." he smiled, running a hand down my leg.

I gave a girly laugh, "Oh really? You mean something like... this?" I knee-d him hard in his pride and jabbed him in the eyes, chuckling slightly as he fell to the ground and roared in pain. I walked towards him and placed my foot on the square of his chest, bending down slightly as he continued to yell in pain.

"So you really thought I'd go along with that disgusting idea of yours?"

I rolled my eyes as he nodded nervously. He could not move, and I took this opportunity to take out the handcuffs that Yoruichi had given me in case of emergency out of my handbag and cuffed him to a railing near a few stairs nearby.

"I'll be right back." I whispered mockingly as I stood up and made my way out of the alley and into a nearby bakery.

"Something about your expression tells me that you have physically damaged a man's balls today." Came the voice of Ichigo Kurosaki as he stood behind the counter.

I shrugged my shoulders and ignored the startled glances of the only two customers in the store. "I'll tell you about it later, are you guys done yet? I really want to get back home."

"Nearly!" squealed Orihime as she gave the remaining customers their bill, "We just need to clean things up, that's all!" she ran into the kitchen, leaving me and Ichigo alone at the counter.

"So what innocent man have you hurt today?" asked Ichigo, inserting the cash into the counter.

"Haha, that's really funny, well-"

"Uh, excuse me?" I turned to face a pretty brunette, her electric blue eyes sparkling as she stared at Ichigo.

"Hi, my name's Kurumi and... I can't help but think that you're kinda cute." She laughed, causing Ichigo's face to flush red.

"So, I was thinking, 'Hey, it's not every day that you see a cute guy in a bakery' and I decided to ask you... whether you're free this Saturday?"

Ichigo scratched his head nervously, "Ah, well, you see, I'm not, well-" he continued to fumble over his words as she giggled. Immediately I felt a hot rush of anger surge my brain, I glared at the woman in front of us, who did she think she was? I hooked my arm onto Ichigo's as I gripped it tightly with a girly smile on my face.

"I'm sorry, but he's taken."

"Wha- Ruki-"

"Wait, aren't you Rukia Kuchiki? I thought you were dating Renji-"

"Well, I guess the tabloids were wrong," I giggled as I leaned my head onto Ichigo's shoulder, "because you see, I'm in love with this man over here."

"Wha-"

I dug my fingers into his skin and he closed his mouth. Kurumi raised an eyebrow and sighed, "Oh okay, then... I'll best be going now..." she turned on her heel and slowly walked out of the store. Ichigo turned towards me with his eyebrows furrowed, "What the _hell_ was that for?"

"She was making you uncomfortable! You were fidgeting all over the place!" I fumed, glaring at him slightly.

"Well of course she was! I mean, wouldn't you get uncomfortable if some chick came up to you and asks you out on a date?"

"Then what's wrong with you?"

"Well, she seemed nice! Weren't you the one who told me to actually try going on a date? For once in my life?"

"So Ichigo Kurosaki has finally decided to grow some balls?"

"You're stu- What's up with you? I mean, you were perfectly fine before when girls flirted with me!"

"Wha- What are you... _**STOP CONFUSING ME YOU IDIOT!**_"

"Rukia..."

"Wha... I..."

To my relief, Orihime came back into the room, a smile plastered across her face, "Okay guys! We're done! I'll see you tomorrow, Kurosaki, Rukia." She waved and grabbed her coat, making her way out. We stood in silence, I shook my head, "Come on... we better get back."

I quickly went out first, trying my best to avoid eye contact with the man walking behind me. What was it? What was that sudden rush of jealousy I felt just now? I shook my head; I was probably being overprotective of a friend.

I turned and sighed, "Look, Ichigo... I'm sorry, I was just being overprotective, I tend to do that quite a lot. Forgive me."

He stopped in his tracks, examining me for a second before waving a hand, "Forget about it, it's nothing. What I really want to know is what you did with the dude who you kicked in the balls."

I slapped my forehead, "Ah! I forgot! Come on, he's over here!"

"... You... left him unconscious at the side of the road?"

"No, I left him handcuffed to a railing in an alley."

"A... A _WHAT?_ An ALLEY? ARE YOU RETARDED?"

"NO I AM NOT YOU IDIOT! The man tried to sexually assault me! What do you-"

His eyes widened slightly, "He tried to... what?"

"Molest me. He was running his hand up my leg before I knee-d him."

He swiftly walked past me, his back facing me as he said in a deadly tone, "Where is he?"

I raised an eyebrow, "Well, if you let me walk in front I'll show you..."

He was silent as I lead him towards the alleyway; I pondered this slightly as the man was still cuffed to the railing.

"Hey! You over there! I'm back!" I called, my hands on my hips.

Before I had a chance to walk towards him, Ichigo had already ran past me, when he had reached the man he grabbed his collar and pulled him until he was inches away from Ichigo's face.

"What the hell were you thinking?" he growled, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"W-what? Look man, I was just-"

"You freaking come near her again and I swear, I'll _**fucking rip your guts out.**_"

"Ichigo!" I screamed, making my way towards him and pulling his ear, "Stop it, I can handle myself." I was slightly surprised by this new side of him.

He glared at the man and pushed him back, standing up next to me and shrugging his shoulders. "Sorry... so what should we do with him?"

"Well that's already taken care of. Yoruichi should be on her way, I just texted her. You're being charged with attempted assault, you can serve up to five months in jail for that and I'm filing a restraining order. Is that understood?"

"Wha-"

"So this should be a lesson to you the next time you try to assault a Kuchiki."

I turned as the man was left spluttering behind me.

"Come on Ichigo, let's leave him to Yoruchi."

* * *

I sat quietly at the table with Renji, finishing my meal as I had just finished telling him the story of what had happened. His lips were pursed, "Rukia... I swear I'm going to visit that man tomorrow and-"

"Don't. Ichigo already scared him; I don't want anyone to make such a big deal about it."

"But Ruk-"

"No. I don't want you guys to make such a big deal about it and that's final."

He stared at me and shook his head, "Alright... where's Ichigo, by the way? He said he was going to get a glass of water half an hour ago and he's still not back."

"He's probably getting-"

I was cut off as an ear piercing scream filled the house, belonging to one of the maids. Me and Renji ran out of the dining table and to the top of the stairs, sprinting towards the direction of the scream.

"It's coming from Ichigo's room!" Renji yelled from the front.

I ran into the room and glanced at the maid who was shaking in the corner.

"Master K-Kurosaki... h-he's..." she pointed towards the cupboard.

I cautiously approached it, afraid of what might be inside. My worries disappeared, however, when I had opened the door and found Ichigo leaning against the back of the closet, his arms spread out and his cheeks were flushed.

"THE PATHWAY TO NARNIA HAS BEEN SEALED!"

"Get out of the closet, Ichigo."

He was shaking uncontrollably as he held a sake bottle in one hand, "N-no! It's not allowed! YOU WILL NOT ENTER!"

"Is that... a sake bottle?"

"He must've mistaken it for water since the maids keep both of them in the same type of bottle."

"Byakuya drinks?"

"Yeah, on rare occasions."

I turned back to Ichigo who sat quietly on the edge of the closet, "W-what do you what? Y-you'll... you'll never take me Kenji! I h-have Rangetsu! N-Nothing can st-stop me!"

I pulled him by the ear, "Get out, how much did you drink?"

"Ow, ow, ow, ow ,ow ,ow."

I rolled my eyes and pushed him onto the bed, "Okay, let's just lock him in and he'll be fine by tomorrow morning."

"Well okay then, let's go."

I stopped as Ichigo caught my wrist; I turned and stared down as he looked at me.

"Please stay?"

"What..."

"Rukia, you're not thinking of staying, are you? He's drunk on sake, who knows what he'll d-"

"I'll stay. Ichigo won't do that, even if he did, I can handle it." I smiled, shrugging my shoulders slightly. Renji raised an eyebrow questioningly before walking out, the maid following suit. I sighed and sat onto Ichigo's bed, the said man was rolling around with a rather dazed look on his face.

"Ahhh, the sky's so pretty tonight."

"We're under a roof."

There was a moment of silence before Ichigo spoke, and his words caught me so off guard that I nearly fell of the bed.

"Have you seen my family?"

I glanced at him, he was staring right at the ceiling and for the first time since we had met, his eyebrows were not knitted together.

"You see, it's been a really long time since I've seen them. All I remember was a flash, and I haven't seen them since." He stared at me, "I also had this really weird dream that they died and Karin was p-paralysed. S-so I joined the Yakuza. Mad, eh? The things I dream of."

I bit my lip and dug my fingers into the blanket, closing my eyes as Ichigo began to hum soulfully.

"In this dream I met this g-girl."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah. Her n-name was Ru-Rukia Kuchiki. She's really s-short and violent but she's pretty caring. In fact, you look just like h-her." He hiccoughed. _'So he doesn't think I'm the real Rukia,' _I thought as he rolled onto his stomach.

"She's got a pineapple for a b-boyfriend called Renji Abarai, he's really annoying but... he's g-got his good factors. Her best friend is a midget called Tōshirō Hitsugaya. He' a tricky shorty, but he's great overall. Her b-brother..." he gave a chuckle, "Byakuya Kuchiki, I have n-no idea how to describe that guy. Kind of weird that I'm t-telling you all this, you must think I'm c-crazy?"

I shook my head.

"Ah... o-okay then. Well, I guess you can pretty much say that they changed me... and I'm pretty happy I met them. I'll find my family o-one day, t-that's for sure. For n-now though, I'm p-pretty h-happy with them. I just h-hope I'm n-not b-being a b-burden to them or a-anything."

"No, you're not." I said firmly.

"Well, that's great." He laughed, rolling around the blankets, "I'm pretty s-sleepy, I think I'll go to bed n-now." He sighed, closing his eyes.

"I'm really glad I met them. Rukia and the rest, I mean. I'm really happy."

He began to snore as I sat watching him; I smiled slightly and ran my hands through his bright orange hair.

"Yeah, so are we."

* * *

**I'm slowly building it up people... –LAUGHS LIKE A MANIAC- I can't help but realize that I've been making Renji and Rukia spend less time together in recent chapters, is anyone else bothered by it? SORRY FOR THE LATE UPDATES PEOPLE, I HAVE A GOOD REASON WHY BUT I WON'T BORE YOU WITH THAT.**

**CloudRed1988- I'm so sorry for the late update! –laughs nervously- I really hope you enjoyed the chapter though haha!**

**SukiAmaya- Heheh... surprise? I LOVE BYAKUYA, I'M SUCH A SUCKER. –cough- Last Song? –cough- Hahah, we're such retards on Bleach MSN xD WHO IS RMP?**

**Aika Ray Kuroba- I'm so sorry for the late update! Haha, how were your exams? Mine was fine; I nearly died for Mandarin though. Yes, Ichigo and Rukia are a nice item, aren't they? Fufufufufu... Thanks so much! (: I hope it's as nice as what everyone says it is –laughs- Hope you enjoyed the chapter!**

**Teshichan- Hello! I enjoyed writing that scene, it was something that popped into my head last minute –laughs nervously- Well, I'm pretty sure we'll see that in the anime/manga soon enough xD I hope you enjoyed this chapter! :D **

**Anime-lover-2410- YES WE ALL LOVE A PLAYFUL BYAKUYA, DON'T WE? YES, APPRORIATE XDDDD Sorry for the late update, I hope you enjoyed! **

**CrestFallenFeline- Hahaha it's okay! :3 I forgive you! –hides pitchfork- Anyways, I'm pretty sure Ichigo would love to see Byakuya get stampeded by a herd of buffalo's –Even though that scene in the movie made me scream, "NNOOO!"- Lion King is one of my favorite Disney movies xD three more reviews until 200! YEAHHH. **

**XsD- HELLOOO! Haha I'm so happy you enjoyed that line! I was giggling to myself when I wrote it, I'm such a sad person x3 Aww, you should know that your words make me blush 3 Thanks so much! I hope you continue to enjoy the story!**

**Deadpoolhulk- Haha, thanks! Nah, I think I understood xD Haha, yes, ROBOTS EVERYWHERE! Byakuya being a kid? Check. Ichigo and Rukia having an epic moment of sweet-ness? Check. ALL WE NEED NOW IS FOR RENJI TO GET OUT OF THE PICTURE. Yes, I'm pretty mean to pineapple, but it's okay, he'll get used to it. Oh, I hope you don't mind me asking, but I see the name Deadpool in your name, does that happen to be a reference to Deadpool in the Marvel comics? If so, you should know that Deadpool's my favorite mercenary xD**

**Disha5- xD I always wonder how the Bleach cast would react to seeing themselves on the big screen xD Thanks! Keep updating your one-shots! I really enjoy them :3**

**Shnizlefritz- YES SHE BLUSHED! :D We are getting close! BUAHAHAH –cough cough- Yes, you shall feel the lovee! LOVE IS ALL AROUND YEAAHHH.**

**Amulet Misty- ... I still can't believe YouTube. –SHAKES COMPUTER- WHY? Haha, yes, WE ARE PSHYCIC SISTER! (Lol, whut?) Can you update? I'm eagerly waiting for the next chapter :3 I'd sell my house to see an OOC Byakuya. Seriously. YES! I HATE THE PAPARAZZI XDDD Haha, you don't need to study, you're already so smart T^T**

**XxXMidnightStarzXxX- Yes, we're getting very close (: Their love is legendary –sniffs- ... Anyways, THANKS SO MUCH! :D I hope you enjoy future chapters! **

**Crystal Amethyst- ... XDDDD That's really funny. AH! I HATE AUTO CORRECT AS WELL! It really sucks -.- Yeah, I'm a sucker for guys who can play musical instruments –bangs head- I feel sad xD Thanks for the wishes xD Hah! EXAMS! HAH! How were they? :D AHH I NEED TO CHECK YOUR STORIES OUT! WAIT I SHALL XDDD Yes... a childish Byakuya... gosh we need that in the anime. **

**tH3cUrZedVAMPIRE- Hello cursed vampire :D I'm sorry for killing Hisana like that. I'm really CRUEL XDD FORGIVE ME! I DIDN'T MEAN TO MAKE YOU SAD XDDD Whoa, you searched your history, just for my story? –gets emotional- YOU ARE TOO KIND. Of course it's going to become IchiRuki! IT NEEDS TO. I look forward to seeing your reviews :D And yes... he'll disappear soon... Muahahahah...**

**R&R.**

**AND I WILL MAKE RENJI DISAPPEAR :D **


	14. Hello

**I'm not wonder woman… I can't update as fast as people hope I can. On to another topic:**

**OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH TITE KUBO YOU WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL SOUL. HE HAS BROUGHT MY WONDERFUL BABY BACK AND SHE'S ROCKING A NEW HAIR DO AND A LIEUTENANT BADGE. This chapter was **_**THE**_** CHAPTER of this whole arc! I mean, even without Rukia, I was still enjoying the Fullbring Arc, BUT THIS CHAPTER. THIS CHAPTER DESERVES ALL THE AWARDS. Rukia looks so adorable now x3 I never actually trusted Ginjo, so when Ichigo came with all his BAMF glory at the end with HIS SHINIGAMI ATTIRE and a new and improved Zangetsu, (though it might be Engetsu) Ginjo and Tsukishima had a total, "OH SHIT" face on them. Finally, they're gonna get they're asses kicked! But another thing which not many people seem to think about of this chapter is the part where Ichigo broke down crying. Okay, that really shocked me. Ichigo NEVER CRIES. In the history of the entire manga, he's never cried! So this shows you how he really felt about being powerless for a whole seventeen months. I don't know, that part really made me feel like crying, mainly because I've never seen Ichigo break down like that before. I mean, come on, I can't have been the only person shocked by that? Oh! And when Isshin and Urahara came in and Ichigo though they stabbed him, he was like, "Dad? You too?" AND THE TEARS IN HIS EYES OH MY GOSH THAT WAS JUST- GOSH. I mean, I don't blame him, I would've cried too if I thought my father betrayed me. Seriously, his face though. Did anyone else realize that when Rukia appeared, the rain stopped :B I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE KUBO.**

* * *

_Life is like a coin. You can spend it any way you wish, but you only spend it once._

**-Lillian Dickson**

* * *

**H E L L O .**

I sat at the dining table, quietly eating my breakfast as I listened to the birds chirp outside. It was early in the morning, and it turned out that I was the first to wake up for school. The previous nights events were still playing in my mind. There was a loud clanking noise, and I looked up to find Tōshirō sitting across from me, his eyebrows drawn together.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Hn."

"Well that's nice," I rolled my eyes, glaring at him.

He paused before sitting back and folding his arms, "Why didn't you tell me that a man tried to molest you yesterday?"

I led out a groan, "Not you too! Look, it's not a big deal! I took care of him, alright? Stop worrying about me!"

"Fine, but just so you know, me and your brother paid him a little visit."

"Oh dear God, please tell me he's still in one piece."

Tōshirō shrugged his shoulders before proceeding to the kitchen. It wasn't soon after before Byakuya and Renji arrived, both greeting me before questioning me about last night's events. After my constant insisting of being fine, they ate their breakfast. A loud moan came from the doorway; we looked up to find Ichigo standing there with sunglasses on.

"I don't wanna go to school."

"Fine then, grow up and become a beggar."

He closed his ears, "Why are you _screaming_?"

I glanced at Renji; Ichigo was recovering from a hangover. A large grin plastered our faces as Renji walked into the kitchen and emerged with two pots and spoons. I had to hold my laughter as I took the utensils from his hand. After a few moments, we began banging the pots, leading Ichigo to fall to the ground screaming.

"_BARNEY IS A DINOSAUR WITH A WILD IMAGINATION-"_

"_SHUT UP! OH MY GOD MY EARS ARE BLEEDING!"_

I cackled as Ichigo ran towards us and grabbed the pots from our hands, leading Renji to knock the sunglasses off of Ichigo's face.

"Rise and shineee, Edward Cullen! It's another sparkling day!"

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU RENJI!"

I stuck my foot out, leading Ichigo to collapse onto the ground, "If you keep yelling, it's only going to make things worse." I smiled sweetly as Ichigo glowered at me, reaching out to take his sunglasses.

"You all suck, you know that?"

"What happened to him?" Tōshirō asked, an eyebrow raised.

"He accidentally drank some of Byakuya's sake last night. He thought it was water."

"Ah…"

Byakuya, who had been calmly sitting at the table drinking his morning coffee the whole time we were yelling, closed his eyes and said briskly, "You three should honestly start acting your age. You better get going, school starts in ten minutes."

"What? Damn! You know Byakuya; you're a pretty lucky guy! You don't have to worry about school and all that crap." complained Ichigo, taking his bag from one of the maids.

At these words, Byakuya's eyebrows came to meet, "May I remind you who I am and what I do for a living?"

"Oh, sorry, forgot."

"Bye, Byakuya! We'll see you after school!" I called as the four of us ran out of the door and into the limo.

* * *

"Mr. Kurosaki?"

I face-palmed as Ichigo sat next to me, his snores now echoing the entire classroom. Our teacher stood at the front, her arms folded as she lightly tapped her foot.

"Mr. Kurosaki?"

I bit my lip, wanting to distance myself far away from the teen whose sunglasses were slowly slipping off his nose. I turned as I felt a light tap on my shoulder, only to see Orihime staring at Ichigo's sleeping form. "Rukia, is Kurosaki alright?" I rolled my eyes, "Don't look at him, people will think we're friends with him."

"ICHIGO KUROSAKI! HOW DARE YOU SLEEP IN MY CLASS!"

I closed my eyes as a book flew from the teacher's hands and onto Ichigo's head. The man led out a scream as he jerked up, adjusting his sunglasses.

"What?"

"You were sleeping, you juvenile delinquent! What's with the sunglasses? You're not a vampire are you?"

"Of course not, maybe I just like wearing them."

"That's a lie, Kurosaki!"

"How do you know that?"

I groaned as I slumped into my chair, running a hand through my hair.

"Kurosaki, are you recovering from a hangover?"

"Wha- NO! I'm not! I'm perfectly fine!" he flinched, "Why's everything so loud?"

"YOU WERE DRIN-"

"No, he didn't mean to," I kindly interrupted, trying my best to control myself from killing the man next to me, "he mistook a bottle of sake for water last night and drank it, I was there." The teacher stared at me pointedly, "Kurosaki lives with you?"

"Of course he does, you don't know?"

"Well… I think it's rather strange for two teens to be living together, and it's quite strange that you have alcohol in your home. That's illegal, by the way… and I didn't know you two were together." My teacher mused, biting her lip. At the realization of her words, I sprang up, my face was red.

"We aren't dating! And he's living with me, my brother, Renji Abarai and Tōshirō Hitsugaya! The sake belonged to my brother and I do NOT drink! Don't you know all of that? I would've thought that the teachers would know this!"

"Holy crap," muttered Ichigo, closing his ears, "stop screaming, you're making everything worse."

A sly smile spread across our teacher's face as she turned to the white board, "Well I do. I was just testing for your reaction. I've never seen someone get so defensive over me teasing them before, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you have a little crush on Kurosaki over there." If I was red before, I was even redder now.

"N-no… I already have a boyfriend…"

I slumped deep into my chair as the laughter and wolf whistles from my classmates echoed through the room. Ichigo however, was not aware of my embarrassment for he was soundly snoring next to me.

"Alright, I'll let him off for now, but you have to ask your brother to send me a note confirming this. I don't trust you kids."

"Are you sure it's not because you want a hand written note from _the _Byakuya Kuchiki?" Grimmjow yelled, causing a great wave of agreement throughout the class.

Our teacher gritted her teeth, "Turn to page forty-five."

* * *

I sighed as Ichigo stumbled beside me, his glasses continuously slipping off his nose.

"I feel so sleepy."

"You're such an idiot."

Tatsuki rolled her eyes, "I haven't seen him like this in a while. He used to visit my house walking like this after he got into fights with punks about his hair. My mum would always get a heart attack when she saw all the blood on him."

"Your mum was like my second mother," Ichigo grunted, "My mum never got angry when I came home like that, hers would throw a fit."

"What makes you think your mum wasn't angry? She was worried sick!"

"Ears, Tatsuki. Still recovering from a hangover here."

"How much did he drink anyways?" asked Tōshirō, a brow raised in curiosity.

"A whole bottle," Renji snickered, "I can't believe you kept drinking the thing when you knew it tasted funny."

"Well… I didn't actually care at the time… I was pretty thirsty."

"Bull, I bet he was too stupid to notice anything."

"If it didn't hurt yelling, I'd be screaming at you right now, pineapple."

"You know Ichigo," Momo laughed, "You kind of look really weird with those sunglasses. You're a strawberry with sunglasses!" she began to laugh while Ichigo glared at her.

"I'll get you for that, peachy."

Tatsuki raised an eyebrow, "What? What's with the nicknames?"

Momo chuckled, "It's a stupid thing between me and Ichigo. He calls me peachy while I call him strawberry… you know, since both of our names meanings are fruits."

"The peach and the strawberry," said Ichigo, raising his hand into the air and making a peace sign, "are unstoppable."

The others laughed while Tōshirō bitterly folded his arms. I chuckled; he acted like such a jealous child sometimes.

"Hey, what's going on over there?"

I looked up at Tatsuki's words to find Orihime standing in between Ishida and Ulquiorra with a rather nervous look on her face. The two other men were glaring daggers at the other.

"Let me guess, they're both fighting over Orihime again?" asked Renji, raising an eyebrow.

I shrugged my shoulders as we made our way towards them.

"Look Cifer, I don't mean to be a pain in the ass, but if you come near Orihime again, I'll kill you."

"Calm yourself Ishida; I did not do anything to the woman. We were merely talking."

"Her name is Orihime! Look, I know who you are and what you do, so what I'm trying to say here is that if you drag Orihime into your problems _one more time,_ I'll make sure you'll pay."

"That will never happen again, people learn from their mistakes. I won't drag her into anything anymore, but stop being so over protective of Inoue; you're not giving her any space to breathe."

"Ishida, Ulquiorra! Would you two sto-"

"Well I have the right to be! Her brother placed me in charge of her well-being before he died, so I think it's my position to do so."

"It's getting annoying though, maybe that's one of the many reasons why your father hates you."

"Uryū!" screamed Orihime, standing in between the two before holding Ishida back, "Stop it! He didn't mean anything by th- "

"Orihime get out of the way! He's been asking for this all week!"

"Are you going to punch me, Ishida? I doubt you can, seeing as you're too weak. Oh look, another reason why you're father hates you."

"Is that the best you got Cifer? I would've expected something better! What? Something wrong? Did you and Jaegerjaquez have a lovers' quarrel?"

As Ulquiorra brought his fist up, both Ichigo and Grimmjow, who had appeared from behind Ulqiourra, had pulled the two away from each other; Ichigo pushed Ishida to the wall.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm trying to teach that punk to stay away from Orihime!"

"Well you're acting like an idiot, stop it!"

"That's right Ichigo, tell that stupid friend of yours to lay off Ulquiorra!" Grimmjow yelled, turning towards the two male teens.

Ichigo raised an eyebrow before turning to Ishida, "He's right. Ishida, apologize to Grimmjow's husband."

"_WHAT WAS THAT, KUROSAKI?"_ roared Grimmjow, his teeth gritted together.

"I'm merely stating the obvious you stupid animal."

"You're asking for a fight, strawberry." The teal haired man growled, taking an intimidating step towards Ichigo until they were inches apart. The other man however, did not flinch. In fact, he returned the glare he was receiving rather skillfully.

"Well, I can't help it if it looks like you two have it for each other. It's pretty hard not to notice the signs. I mean, I'm sure that during lunch you two sneak off into the janitor's close-"

Loud gasps echoed throughout the hallways as Grimmjow's fist collided with Ichigo's jaw. The said man fell to the ground; his sunglasses fell to the ground. He smirked as he wiped the blood trickling from his mouth.

"Seems like you still hit like a girl, Jaegerjaquez."

"Seems like you still fall like one, Kurosaki."

"Shouldn't we help them?" came the whisper of Momo, who stood with a rather worrying look on her face.

Me and Tatsuki rolled our eyes, "Nope. A teacher will probably stop this soon."

We watched as Ichigo sprang to his feet before charging at the man in front of him. He swiftly gave a kick to Grimmjow's feet, causing him to fall hard onto the ground.

"Well truthfully, I think I fall a damn lot more graceful than you."

"He sure recovered from his hangover fast." Tōshirō deadpanned as he watched Grimmjow launch himself onto Ichigo while Ishida and Ulquiorra, who now had no one holding them back, charged at each other as well.

"Ichigo's not human, so it's not really surprising."

"What's going on here?" bellowed our principal as he came thundering down the hallways. "Break it up you buffoons! Ahah! Kurosaki and Jaegerjaquez! This is not surprising at all! THIRD TIME THIS MONTH FOR JAEGERJAQUEZ AND THE SIXTH FOR KUROSAKI! And it's only his fifth month here! CONGRATULATIONS! YOU JUST WON YOURSELF ANOTHER TICKET TO MY OFFICE!" he pulled them both by the collar and pushed them towards the direction of his office.

"WELL HURRY UP; STOP WALKING LIKE YOU'VE GOT SOMETHING UP YOUR ASS!"

He turned to face Ishida and Ulquiorra, and by seeing them, his eyes widened slightly, "Ishida? Don't tell me you were fighting too? That's shocking…. You're the brightest student in your year. Ulquiorra as well, you have a squeaky clean record. Well, I'm afraid you'll have to join the two wanna-be gangsters in my office."

"Yes, sir."

"I'm sorry, sir."

"To my office," he sighed, pointing towards the direction where Ichigo and Grimmjow had gone. I watched as the two silently walked away, leaving a worried looking Orihime standing against the lockers. I studied her expression, and by the looks of it, amongst the four, she was worried about Ichigo the most.

* * *

"Rukia! Could you get the door, please?"

"Get it yourself you lazy ass."

"But that annoying sound's bugging the hell outta me!"

I glared at the orange haired man who was now sprawled across the floor, "Then go get it!"

"No! Honestly though, who the hell would ring the doorbell like that? You would've thought it was a drunka-"

"HEELLOOO, LOVE BIRDS!" screamed a voice.

"Oh, I was close."

Rangiku stormed her way into the room, "Your maid let us in, I hope you don't mind."

"Us? Wha-"

I stopped however, as a tall male entered the room, his silver hair and fox-like features were an immediate eye catcher.

"Ah, Rukia, it's nice to see you again!" he smiled, giving me a slight wave.

Ichigo eyed Gin Ichimaru with curiosity, and as soon as they're eyes came to meet, Ichimaru gave a smile.

"Ah, you must be Ichigo Kurosaki." He smiled, stretching out his hand.

Ichigo stared at it and shook it, "Yeah, who are you?"

"It's Gin! My boyfriend!" smiled Rangiku, who gave a slight pause.

"Well actually," she stuck out her hand, showing of a dazzling ring on her index finger, "he's my fiancé!"

I immediately jumped up, staring at the couple in front of me, "What? You're getting… getting…"

"Married! Yes!

I threw my arms around my manager and laughed, "Are you serious? When? HOW?"

Ichigo shook Ichimaru's hand and squinted, "Um… that's nice…" he said slowly as he examined the man in front of him.

"You have a very interesting hair colour, Ichigo."

"You have really weird eyes, but thanks, Gin."

"So how did he propose?" I asked.

"Well, about an hour ago. In the airport, in front of everybody! We're still planning, but we needed to spread the news!" she chirped.

I raised an eyebrow, "Who… who have you told?"

"Shūhei, of course!"

I cracked a smile, "Really? What did he say?"

"Well he was the first person I called… when I told him he said his congrats and he hung up. Weird, eh? Must be sick or something." I laughed, "Yeah probably! Hisagi's always like that when he's sick!"

'_Damn it Rangiku, you shouldn't have told him…'_

I made a mental note to comfort him later. "Well, this is fantastic! The others are out now, but I'm sure they'll be ecstatic to know this!" I lied, knowing full well that everyone in my family despised Ichimaru with a burning passion.

"Thanks, we'd love to stay and chat, but we have the others to tell!" she smiled as she waved goodbye.

"It was great to meet you, Ichigo. Rukia, I'll see you soon, send your brother my best regards!" he gave his eerie smile and followed Rangiku out of the door.

I fell onto the coach and sighed, "I hate that guy."

"What, what's wrong? He seemed okay. Creepy, but okay."

"Well that's because you just met him! The more you get to know him, the creepier the guy gets. I hate this. I can't tell Rangiku, they're both madly in love with each other!"

"Then don't. Would you rather see her be happy even though you hate it, or would you rather see her sad for your own personal preference?"

I sighed, "I guess you're right. I have to call Hisagi though, he's probably going to take this the hardest." There was a comfortable silence as Ichigo continued to stand in front of me. It took a few moments before the words came rushing out of his mouth.

"Wannagoout?"

I paused before staring at him.

"… What?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "There's nothing else to do, and the others won't be back until tonight. I'm not going to let you sit on your ass for the whole day, we might as well go out or something."

I smirked, "Like a date? You do know that I'm taken, Kurosaki?"

He blushed, "Well, no… more like a friendly date? Between friends. Nothing special, you know it's just two friends who-" he began to blabber, making weird hand gestures while glancing around the room.

I gave a small chuckle and got off the sofa, "Well alright then."

"What?"

I shook my head and smirked.

"We're going, you better pay for dinner. It's a man's priority."

* * *

…** I had no idea how to end that xD Anyways, PREPARE FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER! It's filled with IchiRuki good-ness :3 PREPARE! BUAHAHAHAHAHHA –cough- Oh… has anyone watched the latest Harry Potter movie? I have never felt so depressed… it's like my childhood's been taken away from me… -sniff-**

**CloudRed1988- THANK YOU! Yeah… he's a real drunk. I'm sorry for the late update, I've been really busy xDD**

**SukiAmaya- …. How long has it been, AND STILL NO UPDATE? D: -IS FURIOUS- Joking, but seriously, UPDATE SOON! I don't like you for not updating.**

**3rooke- xDDDD YES! –Laughs with you- Thanks so much! I hope your mum isn't fearing for your sanity! X3 Sorry for the late update, yes, Ichigo is HILLARIOUS. Awww, thanks so much! Yeah, I realized that xDD Most people portray him as a character who knows what he's doing and can know how to handle a relationship. I just can't see him that way xDDD Again, sorry for the late update, but I hope you enjoyed! :3**

**Crystal Amethyst- …. Meh, I show no pity –laughs- o_o xDDD which stories are these? I wanna request a one shot! Haha, I know. Exams are a killer! It really does suck. Well good luck with those fics of yours, if I have time, I'll try reading them. Even though I rarely do. O.e You work? What do you work as? O_O I haven't even gotten my first job yet! ARGH!**

**XxXMidnightStarzXxX- Haha, she may have, we'll never know… :3 SOON MY CHILD. What that was creepy. Ignore that. Haha, nah, that'd be taking the game up to a whole new level! Maybe we'll see that in further chapters –wink- Hmm, I'm planning that, no idea how, but she will. Thanks so much! OH! She did? HAHA~ I was wondering what happened to you! xDDDD WAIT DON'T DIE, DON'T EVER DIE! BECOME IMMORTAL! WOOO!**

**Disha5- I've been to Pigfarts. :D (GO LOOK THAT UP LOL) Thanks so much! It's going slowly yes, it'll appear soon :3 They better prepare themselves… Thanks so much! Oh, I have read it! But I haven't had the time to read the rest! As soon as this is up, I'll go read it x3 Your stories are AWESOME.**

**DeadpoolHulk- I know! I'd PAY to see that in the anime. Haha, I've never come across someone like that before… thank God. If I do… -cracks knuckles- Anyways, yeah, I WOULD WRITE THAT IF THIS STORY WASN'T AU ;_; Thank you so much! By the way, you're from the UK right? Which part are you? Were you anywhere near the London riots? If so, I hope you're okay! Moving on to a happier topic, WHOA! I LOVE DEADPOOL! He's awesome xD My brother always plays as him on the Marvel Wii games. **

**MariKatzuki- HAHA YES! Bring 'em out, bring 'em! We need more sake for this carrot top! Gosh, how I'd pay to see something like that in the anime. Or manga. xDDD Thanks for the review!**

**ShnizleFritz- xDDDDD GOSH YOUR REVIEW MADE ME LAUGH! Yes, I'll try! (: He will be gone soon… -laughs like a maniac- thanks for the review! Sorry for the late update… -hides- **

**AmuletMisty- Hi-HO~ Yes, Ichigo is a very interesting drunk. O_o FIRST SIGNS, WE'RE GETTING CLOSE! xDDDD Yes, it'll come soon! :3 Haha, I really love that video… xD **

**Pyon1234- PYONN :3 haha, thanks so much for the review! I'm gushing, stop it! o/o But anyways, thanks so much! Sorry for the late update, please forgive! X3**

**.ink- HELLOOO! Oh my, thanks so much for the comment! :D I feel so flattered –is red- Thanks! WHOAAA you read really fast. I take ages to finish one chapter x3 WHHATTTT? You read those? Oh my, I didn't expect anyone to read them xDDD I ramble a lot. My dad keeps commenting about how long-winded I am. WELL THANKS DAD. My mum too. Whenver I tell them something they pretend to start snoring. –twitch- it's very mean. Haha, YEAH SO AM I(; ICHIRUKI FTW!  
**

**Khai Ern- Yeah. SOOO MADE YOU REVIEW RIGHT NEXT TO ME SO I COULD SEE. Hello Khai Ern, I HAVE COME TO STALK YOU!**

**Thebestbeginning- CHIEN WEI! GOOD TO SEE YOU! Haha, she's dead. She can't come back unless I revive her. xDDD which is impossible. Unless I'm a troll. Thanks for the review! :D **

**Anime-lover-2410- …. Yeah, I am too. I'm that evil. –gives a very cheesy thumbs up- Thanks for the review! Sorry for the late update~ -dodges knife**

**IchigoXRukiaXForever- AWWWW HELLO! Thanks so much for the reviews, I was smiling through all of them :D I like your username, WE ICHIRUKI FANS MUST UNITE HAHA! I'm sorry I'm so weird. –twitches- You're a really nice story! xD haha, WAIT YOUR WATER BROKE. WHAT. WHAT. YOU'RE SCARING ME STOP IT. Thanks for the reviews though!**

**Moonlightbreaker- HUH. SO YOU THINK YOU'RE SO NICE HUH. HUH. Haha, joking. Yes, that's your nickname. NICE NATALIE. –cough- EH EH DON'T MENTION HIS NAME, MY READERS DON'T NEED TO KNOW ABOUT HIM AND WHAT HE DOES. I will get him one day… -forever twitching- **

**R&R!**

IT'LL MAKE ICHIGO HUG RUKIA IN THE NEXT BLEACH CHAPTER! *WHICH COMES OUT TONIGHT, I AM SO EXCITE.

…

**haha, that rhymed. **


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Bleach, Friendship, Romance