OK….New story… a coworker and I were discussing this the other day and I decided to give it a try…. Hope you like it!

! Rukia's alarm clock went off. She looked up and under her hand to see what time it was.

"6:30" the clock read back to her.

She groaned loudly into the pillow and wrapped the covers over her head. She had to be at work in thirty minutes, and she was no where near ready to get out of bed. There was a loud knock at the door and she could almost make out Ichigo's voice telling her to hurry up or they were going to be late. Rukia swung the blankets of and stared up at the ceiling. The dream she was having felt so real and so vivid she could have sworn she was actually there. Reaching over she grabbed the pull string to her lamp and with a click the room was lit up. Her eyes were not yet focused when her door opened and Ichigo poked in his head.

"Come on, Rukia! We're gonna be late for work!"

"I'm up! I'm up!" she growled at him as she made her way towards the door.

She stared into the mirror and made a face.

"I look like shit!" she thought to herself and quickly started washing her face. As her eyes were closed, images of her dream replayed in her mind. In it were her friends from the Soul Society and from Karakura High. Just thinking about it again made her smile. As she began to wash off the soap another familiar face crossed her mind.

"Byakuya…" she thought to herself again.

It had been a while since he admitted to her the truth behind their so called relationship. She was grateful to him for everything he had provided for her, but she needed time to fully comprehend what he said. He allowed her to take as much time as she needed to deal with it and would continue when she returned. However before she was to leave to the real world, he summoned her to his study and she had the strangest farewell speech ever. Before he left her behind, he took her in his arms and hugged her. It was such a shock to her it took her a minute to react. Byakuya embraced her for what seemed like an eternity before he gently pushed her away and left the room…

After she brushed her teeth and hair, she took one last look in the mirror and huffed. She decided that she would follow her dream and see where it takes her. She opened the door and smiled. Ichigo was already dressed and ready to go by the time she was done in the restroom.

"Geeze! What took you so long?" he teased.

Rukia swatted his arm as they walked off down the street towards their summer job.

Ichigo looked back at Rukia as she sang along with the store radio. Stores always have a crappy music selection, but for some reason when Rukia sang it made it a whole lot more tolerable. The store manager smiled as he too looked over his window towards her voice. She surprisingly had the voice of an angel. As rugged and tomboy as she was, Rukia's best secret talent was the gift of song. She could belt out a tune that would make Kenpachi Zarake cry! Ichigo leaned back on the boxes he was stalking and took a quick break. The song continued for the next few minutes and Rukia remained oblivious to the eyes upon her. Her talent was well hidden because she would never be caught singing out loud. Of course she would sing whenever she took a shower or whenever she was 100% certain no one was around to hear her. The only person in the world that new was Renji but now word was getting out like wildfire. The song was nearing its end and Ichigo knew if she caught him looking he would probably never hear it again for a while. He turned back to the boxes he was sitting on and continued to stock. Rukia turned around and looked up at her boss's cubicle.

"Hey Ichigo… he's not watching… come check this out…" she said pulling his arm in her direction.

Ichigo didn't put up a fight… he followed her to a magazine rack near the entrance. She quickly scanned the magazines until she found the Rolling Stones latest edition.

"I want to be on here one day!" she confessed as she handed it over to him.

He smiled because he knew she probably could make it on there if she really wanted to .

"Well hey don't forget us little people when you do!" he sassed.

Rukia blushed, "Do you really think I could one day be on there?"

Ichigo patted her head reassuringly, "Rukia you can be whatever you have faith in yourself to be… I will always be here behind you."

Suddenly, she remembered what Byakuya had told her before she left.

"No matter how long you are away, I will always keep an eye on you and I will always be ready to welcome you home, Rukia…"

Ichigo noticed her grin and her head shaking slightly.

"Yo Rukia…What's up with you?" he asked.

Rukia simply shook her head again, "Nothing… Byakuya was just acting weird before I came down here. I was just thinking about it…"

Ichigo frowned… He heard her talk in her sleep a few times before. Something about the way she called out for her adopted brother didn't sit well with him, and at the same time he couldn't help but to feel the need to protect her from anything and everyone. Byakuya said something to her that made her start feeling different towards him and Ichigo wanted to know what.

"So what did he do?" he asked as they slowly started to walk back to their work station.

Rukia shrugged, "I don't know how to explain it. It's like after he confessed he opened up to me more. The night before I came here he hugged me… He's never hugged me before!"

She seemed excited about it.

"Rukia, would you ever consider having a relationship with him?" Ichigo pried.

Her eyes widened as they met his. She was speechless, and couldn't respond quick enough before their manager came walking towards them…

Alright… I'm going to stop it at that just to test it out. I hope you like it… I'll brainstorm with my co worker some other time and see if other things develop.. night night Darlings!