Welcome to my new mini series called The Stray: Deleted Scenes!

What is this, you ask? I shall tell you what it is! It's exactly what the title says! Basically, it's ideas I originally WANTED to put in, but didn't for a reason. These scenes will be fluffy, angsty, tragic, etc. It'll vary and be VERY random. And as I post more chapters, I'll put in what chapter it was supposed to be in so that way you don't get confused.

This particular scene was going to be in chapter 5 a few days after Ichigo gets sick. It's pouring out and Rukia and Yoruichi exchange stories about their experiences with rain (including a little Byakuya. We can't leave him out can we?). Ichigo then shares how he hates the rain and you find out a little about his past. This was before he confessed to Rukia about what happened to him, but it's still cute. Enjoy!

It was raining. No, it wasn't just raining–it was pouring. Rukia couldn't remember a time when she saw the rain hit so hard. It was pounding mercilessly at the small house she took shelter in. The sky was dark, the air was moist and rugged, and everything was soaked.

"I hope Byakuya will he okay driving home." Rukia said to herself as she walked away from the window.

"I'm sure he'll he fine." Yoruichi called as she walked in from the kitchen. She held Kon in her arms, the fat tabby meowing in distress. "Oh, Kon. Don't be a baby." she said as she sat on the couch. Rukia made her way to the couch as well and took a seat next to the purple-haired woman. She shifted her thighs together and folded her hands. "Someone's worried." Yoruichi laughed. Rukia looked to her.

"I can't help it." she started. "Rain like this worries me. Especially on the stupid muddy road that leads to our home. Byakuya could swerve and run into a tree."

"Not Byakuya." Yoruichi disagreed. Rukia gave a dead-panned look.

"This is my brother we're talking about, Yoruichi. He's somewhat of a dip, but don't tell him I said that." Rukia said. Yoruichi shuffled her shoulders.

"You have a point… heh, remember last year when Byakuya stepped in that puddle?" Yoruichi giggled. Rukia laughed.

"Oh, how can I forget? He was so mad. His entire leg was covered in mud. He went to work with his pant leg drenched and brown." Rukia laughed. And as she was laughing, she got an idea. "Hey, Yoruichi." Rukia said. The taller woman looked at her.

"That is indeed my name." she replied.

"What was the funniest moment you had related to the rain?" Rukia asked. Yoruichi looked up and pondered.

"Well, that's a good question." she replied. "I guess the funniest moment I had with rain was when I was about eight. It was pouring out like today and it had been the entire night. So, the next day, I didn't want to stay cooped up in the house and got in my rain suit and went outside to play in the puddles."

"With Soi Fon I presume?" Rukia cut in.

"But of course!" Yoruichi said. Soi Fon was an old childhood friend of Yoruichi's. Rukia didn't know much about her past or where she came from other than she had a couple of dear friends she had left. Soi Fon was one of them while the other was a guy Rukia suspected she had relations with. But Rukia didn't question or ask a question as personal as that. Just in case it made Yoruichi sad or upset. "Me and her were having a blast running around and splashing in the puddles. Then we saw a giant puddle bigger than a bus in the field we were playing in and of course I insisted we play in it. Soi Fon said she wanted to stay back and play in the smaller puddles, so I let her. Boy, I wished I'd gone with her." Yoruichi couldn't help but giggle.

"What happened?" Rukia asked.

"That 'puddle' ended up being a huge hole," Yoruichi said. Rukia gasped. "And as soon as I took the first step, I fell right in."

"Why was there just a random hole there?!" Rukia exclaimed.

"Turns out the farm that wasn't far off from the field was supposed to be burying a dead horse, but the rain filled up the grave and I fell in instead!" and the girls began to laugh. "I was actually more terrified at the fact that I fell in a ten-foot deep horse grave than nearly drowning."

"How did you get out?" Rukia asked between tears if laughter.

"Well, you could imagine that Soi Fon was not much help considering she had a panic attack and ran home. That was okay though. I was a terrific swimmer and sort of just crawled out. My mother didn't let me hear the end of it until I moved out of the house." she finished.

"Wow…" Rukia sighed. "Do you miss Soi Fon?" Rukia asked. Yoruichi nodded.

"Yeah. We were close friends. I had a select-few close friends. Actually, I can only count two I've ever been real close with and that was Soi Fon and Kisuke." Yoruichi said. Rukia nodded. Urahara Kisuke… that was the man she thought Yoruichi liked and/or dated.

"Yeah… I didn't have many friends back where I came from… but I sure am thankful for the friends I have now." she smiled.

"Aw, munchkin. I'm so flattered." Yoruichi said. "Say, where's Ichigo?" she suddenly asked? Rukia blinked. That's a good question. It was almost noon and Ichigo still wasn't up?

Rukia stood up and instantly started for the stairs. "I'm going to check up on him. Just to make sure he isn't sick again." Rukia said as she trotted up the stairs. Ichigo had just gotten over his deadly bout of flu no thanks to Renji and nearly died of it. The last thing she needs is to have him sick AGAIN.

As Rukia reached Ichigo's door, she knocked softly. "Ichigo." she called. For a moment, there was nothing but the faint, yet aggressive, patter of the rain on the old roof. But then,

"Hn...?" came a soften voice. Rukia opened Ichigo's door and stepped in. She saw Ichigo, sitting upright on his bed, his back to his window, and his blanket over his head. He was clutching a pillow as his knees were pressed up against his chest.

"Ichigo?" Rukia walked over to him. His eyes looked fearful. He looked to her, then scooted over so she could sit next to him. Rukia sat down and put her hand to Ichigo's back, and she felt him suddenly twitch. "What's wrong, hon?" she asked him. Ichigo looked to her, then to the window. The rain was relentlessly assaulting the glass like bullets. If it were hail, the window would've shattered.

"The rain." he answered fretfully. "I hate the rain." he looked away from the window and back down at his floor. Rukia felt her heart melt. Ichigo never ceased to be so adorable and childish. He was just like a toddler, though she would never say that to him. Because she knew even though Ichigo acted so skittish, he was still a man on the inside and he had some pride. Not as much as Byakuya, but enough to be hurt if she called him a baby.

"It's all right, Ichigo. It's just a rainstorm. We always get ugly weather like this for the first few months of spring." Rukia said. Ichigo whipped his terrified gaze back at her and Rukia jumped a bit.

"We do?!" he whispered. Rukia gulped.

"Occasionally… I mean, this is the worst it's ever been. I'm sure the next ones, if we get any, will be less severe than this." Rukia said, but her words did little to comfort the boy, and he looked forward and stared off again.

"I hate the rain…" he repeated. Rukia looked down. How could she comfort Ichigo? She knew trying to tell him to calm down wouldn't work. That doesn't work for ANYBODY who is in hysterics… or in a situation where they were face-to-face with their fear. So, she decided to do the same thing she did with Yoruichi downstairs.

"Hey, Ichigo." Ichigo looked back at her. "Why do you hate the rain?" she asked. With a sigh, Ichigo looked away and shuffled his legs a bit before staring at the door again. Rukia could tell he was nervous. "It's okay, Ichigo. You can tell me. I won't tell if you don't want me to." she said softly. Ichigo looked into her eyes, wanting to see if she was telling the truth. Not that she wouldn't. Rukia hasn't lied to him yet. He knew he could trust her.

With a deep breath, he began, "I was a little kid. It was raining out and my mom and I were walking home from school." Ichigo hugged his knees tighter. "We had to walk along the top of a hill that was really steep. Well as we were walking, I slipped and went tumbling down this hill, screaming for my mother to rescue me. Ever since then I've always had this bad connection with rain." he finished. Once again, Rukia felt her heart melt.

"Aw, Ichigo. I never would've guessed." she whispered. Ichigo looked at her. It looked like his eyes were getting glossy. As if he was about to cry. She couldn't let that happen!

"Well, if it makes you feel better, I'll tell you a story about me." Ichigo's eyebrows rose. Rukia chuckled. "Don't tell anybody, okay?" she asked.

He nodded. "Okay."

Rukia sighed with a smile. "Well, a long time ago before I moved here Byakuya was teaching me how to drive." Rukia started. "A requirement was driving in bad conditions like rain and snow and such. Well, one night, Byakuya took me out driving in a rainstorm like this in that old fancy car of his and I ran right off the road and into a giant mud puddle that covered the entire black car." Rukia giggled as Ichigo gawked at her.

"To Byakuya's car?!" Ichigo exclaimed. Rukia nodded.

"Oh, and was he MAD. He NEVER let me drive his car again after that. But there was no resentment towards me. Luckily…" Rukia added. Ichigo smiled and then began to chuckle, then rasping from his cold. "Easy there, tiger. Don't wanna get worse do we?" Rukia teased. Ichigo shook his head.

"No. Thank-you, Rukia." he whispered. Rukia smiled warmly at him.

"No problem, Ichigo." at her statement, Rukia looked back to the window. That big-bad rainstorm that was just stoning the house a few seconds ago was now decreased to a simple every-day drizzle. "Would you look at that? The rain isn't so bad anymore now, is it?" Rukia said. Ichigo shook his head.

"Nope."

And there you have it! Short, simple, sweet, right? And don't worry, guys. I'm still working on The Stray. This is just to keep you subdued. XD Sorry about that though, really. I have a lot going on right now. But don't worry. Remember. "Good things come to those who wait."