Chapter One

Ichigo saw Rukia coming into sight as he approached Urahara Shoten. It was a near cloudless day in mid Spring, and almost a month had gone by since the Vandenreich incident. He had gotten his powers back, and had become once more accustomed to having them in addition to his new power, the vestiges of which could never have been entirely stripped from him by anyone, much less someone as weak willed as Kugo Ginjo.

Ironically, he had learned much more about himself, including the fact that he had Quincy powers, though his control over them was slightly limited still. He was taking lessons with Uryu's father in controlling them. Ichigo knew that Uryu's father spared no occasion to poke fun at both him and at his father for this fact, given that Ichigo's father was a Shinigami and so was Ichigo. But Ichigo wanted as much power as he could get his hands on so that he could protect his loved ones.

School for him had begun again, and he was once more a fairly normal teenager/Shinigami, except that in the month since the Vandenreich incident, Orihime had gotten up her courage and confessed to him. Ichigo was pretty shocked by the sudden revelation. He always had been a bit of an idiot. So he wasn't that surprised that he never noticed. He turned her down. While he did consider her extremely important to him, he felt no romantic attachment to her at all.

It seemed Orihime had already sort of known this, because she simply smiled and said "I thought you might say that, Kurosaki-kun…" High school for Ichigo was drawing to a close. He was past the middle of his third year, and that meant that soon, he'd have to start applying for colleges. He didn't really have time to be out and about.

But Rukia had summoned him via Hell Butterfly, so it had to be important. She wasn't living at his house anymore. She lived at Urahara Shoten for the moment, and, according to her, anyway, made sure that both she and Riruka kept their doors locked at night, as she didn't trust Kisuke one bit.

"Ichigo!" Rukia said, smiling brightly. He hadn't seen her smile in what seemed like ages, though actually it had only been a month, perhaps. She was a full time Shinigami lieutenant, now, and didn't have time to play the part of a normal schoolgirl. However, she said she had taken the day off, leaving the town in the capable hands of Urahrara and his crew.

"Hey, Rukia. Long time no see. How's it going?" It was good to see her again. In the year that she had been gone, he had missed her perhaps most of all. Her playful teasing, her small frame that belied such great strength, her near preternatural grace and beauty…

Whoa. Getting a bit ahead of myself, here… I wonder how she and Renji are doing together… Ichigo thought, with no small amount of bitterness, trying to remind himself that she not only had a boyfriend, but probably also a whole line of men wanting to be with her. It had for a long time been fairly obvious to him that she and he were dating.

Ichigo had never said anything because it wasn't his business… And now wasn't the time to make it his business. But… Maybe he could just ask casually how they were doing together… If he made it seem like it wasn't a big deal, maybe there wouldn't be a problem.

"I'm glad you came, Ichigo. It's nice to be able to see my old friends. Um… How are Chad and Orhime doing?"

"They're doing fine. They don't even remember their heads being messed with by Tsukishima. It's like he never even existed. They didn't find his body, but that doesn't mean he isn't dead."

"I see. Has Orihime asked you out yet?" Rukia asked, sounding nervous about the question.

"W-wha!? H-how'd you know!? I-I mean… Yeah…" Ichigo said. Did everyone besides him know about Orihime's feelings? Great! Now he felt like an idiot and a jerk. What the hell else didn't he know about his friends?

"And…?" Rukia asked quietly, not looking at Ichigo, her breath caught in her throat, her heart beating faster, waiting for him to answer the question that would determine everything… Absolutely everything from then on between her and Ichigo.

"And what?" Ichigo asked dimly.

"What did you say, fool!?" She shouted. Then she muttered, "and what?" Rukia muttered semi-disgustedly, exasperated already with how dense Ichigo was being.

"Yeesh! I turned her down, alright!?"

Rukia's heart skipped a beat. She couldn't believe he had really just said that. He turned Orihime down? Did that mean that she still had a chance? No, probably not. He probably wanted someone a little more human… A little less dead. The way that girl Riruka talked about him, he might still have a future with her, though.

"What about you and Renji?"

For a moment, Rukia didn't quite register what Ichigo had said. Then, the question finally hit home. Her and Renji?

"What about me and Renji?" She asked, semi-suspiciously. Ichigo shrugged.

"I dunno. You two always seemed kind of close. I thought you were dating… or something…" He tried to make it sound like it was of little importance. He was sure that he had failed, though. Rukia's face was blank for a moment, then she doubled over laughing all of a sudden, causing Ichigo to jump in shock, and Riruka, Ururu, and Jinta to peek out from the shop door.

"Yep… He totally just confessed to her…" Jinta said with a smirk. The idiot should've known he'd never have a chance.

"I-I don't know. Kurosaki-san isn't that bad, is he?" Ururu replied, looking questioningly at Jinta. Last of all, Riruka smacked Jinta over the head.

"OW! You stupid bitch! What the hell!?"

"Don't talk about Ichigo that way, baldy! Like you could ever get a woman to even look at you, let alone go out with you, you midget!"

"Oh yeah… I forgot how in love with Ichigo you are… Ehehehe OWW! DAMNIT!" Jinta sneered. With a wide smirk

"I'M NOT IN LOVE WITH HIM, BALDY!" She snapped. Then she became all smiles again, smirking confidently. "He's just amazingly awesome in every way…"

"Yep. She's in love with him…" Jinta and Ururu said at the same time. That led to more squabbling between the three of them, and by this time, Ichigo and Rukia had taken notice of them, looking in on their conversation.

"Hey! I don't eavesdrop on you guys! What is this, a zoo!?" Ichigo yelled. Jinta smirked.

"No! A zoo is worth paying to see. You couldn't pay me to be interested in that!"

"You fucking brat!" Ichigo yelled furiously.

"Ichigo! Let's just go. I wanted to spend a day catching up…" Rukia said. Ichigo looked over at her, curious. Was she saying that she just wanted to spend time with him? He had been fairly sure that she must have had a concrete reason for inviting him out like this… Especially when he had tests right around the corner.

The truth was, of course, that his work came before school for him, but still, if he wanted any kind of future, the tests were still important, especially since he had only just recently finished fighting the Vandenreich.

He had seriously expected them to request immediately that he stay in Soul Society permanently. But they had just let him go back to the human world. Ichigo was sure that his business with Soul Society wasn't finished by a long shot. But he accepted the brief respite, and went back to the human world. Now, he was sure that Rukia had something important to tell him, even if she did say it was just a day out.

"I'm sure you must be busy, Ichigo, with school and everything…" Rukia said, turning away, looking as though she felt a little bit guilty.

"It's alright. Why don't we go to the mall? That's where humans go most of the time on weekends…"

"Oooh! Can we try out that club that humans call an arcade!? I've always wanted to revolutionize the world of dance!" Rukia said, looking excited. Ichigo actually laughed for once, and nodded.

"You mean Dance Dance Revolution?" he asked. "Sure. We can play Dance Dance Revolution." He couldn't refuse her when she made that face. She seemed so excited and happy to be in the Human world again that he probably would have done just about anything to see her smile some more like she was right at that moment, that cheerful, happy smile that lit up her face and made her fair features even more beautiful.

Ichigo figured that he could still wait a while to ask if Rukia was interested in going out with him. He was planning on doing it, but on top of being nervous, he didn't want to push his luck when he had already managed to get a date with her that day. He could ask her when the day was out, and they were heading back home.

That way, if she refused, and didn't want to hang out with him anymore, he would have at least gotten that one date. It was probably selfish of him, and cowardly, and pathetic, but he wanted to wring every moment with her that he could out of that day, and so, he would go to the mall, dance with her in the arcade, get lunch with her…

What kind of food did she even eat? She usually just ate whatever he was eating back at the clinic, but what food preferences did she have? Did she like spicy food? Or was she fonder of mild plates. They could go to Best Buy or Hot Topic.

For that matter, what music did she listen to? When she wasn't wearing her Shinigami uniform or her school uniform, what did she prefer to wear? She often wore Yuzu's casual clothes because they were a near fit for her, but was that really her style? Did she like traditional Japanese clothing, like yukata and geta?

That was when Ichigo realized how little he really knew about Rukia. Although he had considered himself friends with her for two years, now, he didn't know much about her personally. Was that a problem? Did that display his inadequacy?

They had typically been together more on business than on personal time, but still, to know next to nothing about her seemed a little bit ridiculous. He knew a lot about Chad, and although he knew almost nothing about Uryu or Orihime, that didn't bother him so much.

With Tatsuki, it would have been harder to find something he didn't know about her. He even knew her cup size, embarrassingly enough. How did he know that again? Oh yeah, it was something to do with Kon. Needless to say, neither of them mentioned it again. He and Tatsuki, regardless of how close they were, were just friends.

"Hey, Rukia…" Ichigo said, looking over at her curiously. She looked back up at him and smiled.

"Yes?"

"I guess I just realized it, but we've been friends for two years, haven't we?" He asked. She thought for a moment. It was true. They had been. That was a long time for a human. For her, it passed in the blink of an eye. Ten years could have passed almost as quickly. The fact that so much had happened in those two years was just icing on the cake, so to speak.

"I-I guess we have been. I consider you one of my best friends, though…" Rukia said, looking away and blushing ever so lightly. "I haven't known you very long at all, at least for a Shinigami, but I feel like I know you better than I know most of the people I've spent my entire life with…"

"Yeah… But I don't feel like I know much about you at all…" Ichigo said, trying not to sound too strange. Rukia looked at him blankly for a moment, but then smiled.

"Oh. I guess that's true. But… Why did you think of that all of a sudden…?" Ichigo stiffened at this question. What was he supposed to say?

"I guess just because I was… curious or something…" Ichigo said, even thinking to himself what a weak excuse that was. Surely someone as intelligent as Rukia wouldn't buy that. But then, Rukia said, "Well, what did you want to know? I think I'd be alright telling you just about anything." She said, looking just slightly nervous at the prospect of opening herself up so much.

"Well… Like, what's your favorite food?" Ichigo asked. That was one thing that had been on his mind. Rukia raised an eyebrow at him. "My favorite food?" She asked. She had felt sure that he was going to ask something perverted, like her cup size, or if she had ever had sex before… The answers to which were 32A and no respectively…

Or was she expected to say that she had had sex before to avoid sounding inexperienced? The book she had read said that on one hand, having sex with a virgin had strong connotations of possession and dominance to males, but that on the other hand, some males didn't like women who were too inexperienced.

Which way did Ichigo go? According to the book, human males also asked questions like cup size in order to gauge how physically compatible they were with the girl and females asked other females in a display of female aggression and rivalry between each other.

"I-it's alright if you don't want t-to tell me…"

"No! I just… Didn't expect it. I like cucumber, eggs, and rice dumplings…And chocolate… I-I love chocolate…" Rukia said with a nervous blush, not wanting Ichigo to think she was a glutton. Ichigo sighed. Oh! You girls and your chocolate.

"Oh… What about clothes? I know you typically wear your Shinigami uniform, but do you have any preferred wardrobe?" Ichigo asked. Rukia thought for a moment. "I like traditional clothing, usually in blue or violet."

Rukia felt a little disappointed. Did his lack of sexual questions mean that he wasn't interested in her? Maybe he was trying to be polite? But the book had said that he was supposed to ask how big her breasts were.

Unfortunately, the book also said that a woman's charm in a man's eyes was partially determined by her measurements. She had never been impressive in that department, especially when compared to women like Orihime, Rangiku, and Yoruichi, all of whom were far curvier, and bustier than Rukia, and occasionally made her wonder what happened to give her the short end of the genetic stick like that. Did she screw up in her past life?

Ichigo had the impression for some reason that Rukia was annoyed by his questions. He hadn't asked that much about her. Just what she liked to eat and wear. Were there certain questions he was expected to ask first? Did Shinigami customs dictate that "icebreaking" questions be asked, or that questions be asked in a certain order?

"Is something wrong? You seem upset…"

"What!? No! Not at all! But… A-are you… Interested in Miss Dokugamine?" Rukia asked. She wasn't sure at all if she wanted to know the answer. However, she had already asked. It was too late to say 'never mind' or laugh it off as a joke.

"Huh!? No way! But why do you ask?"

"Oh! I just thought that maybe you had asked her those questions…"

"What questions?" Ichigo asked. Rukia was starting to confuse him, but also, his worries were starting to be confirmed. She had expected certain questions over others from him. He had a lot of questions, but he didn't know which ones were the 'right' questions.

"You know? Asking her how large her breasts are… Don't humans ask those kinds of questions all the time?"

"Wha!? No! Who the hell would!? Well… Besides Keigo… Where did you get that information!?"

"From this book…" Rukia said with a bland, clueless smile.

Ichigo took the book from Rukia and read the cover, which had a picture of a boy and girl holding hands, and it said "mating rituals and romantic interaction between humans: By Urahara Kisuke."

Ichigo slapped his forehead, and read the first few pages of the book, which detailed questions that an 'interested' male would typically ask a woman, the top questions being her three measurements, whether she had ever had sex, what she was wearing, and what she would 'do to him'?.

"Rukia… Do you really still take that guy seriously? This book is complete bullshit…"

"Really!? Then can I ask you a question?" Rukia asked. Ichigo stared at her for a moment, then nodded.

"Sure. Whatever you want…"

"A-are you… romantically involved with anyone? I've read books on human compatibility, and they all say that women look for men with a similar profile to yours… Physically powerful and attractive, cold and distant…"

"W-what the hell are you saying!? Where do you get these books!? But… No, I'm not involved with anyone. And the person I want to be with is an impossibility… A-and I am not cold and distant!" Ichigo asked, ending by protesting her apparent image of him.

"Really? Why? Does she not feel the same way that you do? Is geographical proximity an issue?"

"Sh-she and I… live in completely different worlds… It would never be possible…"

"The book said that the Human World is a small planet, and that the chances of meeting the one you love are high, regardless of proximity…"

"Forget about the book!" Ichigo said, rather more harshly than he had intended to. "The book is full of shit! Anyway… Let's just… Try to enjoy today… It's kind of nice to be out of the house. Studying is a drag."

"Ahahaha… You're right!" Rukia said, shocked at how abruptly the conversation had ended. However, she shook it off quickly, and the two walked into the mall.

Inside, it was quite busy, considering it was a Saturday. Although it had only opened four hours before, it was packed already, filled with kids enjoying their day off. Ichigo took Rukia's hand and pulled her in so that they didn't get separated by the jostling crowd. As per Rukia's request, the first place that they went was the arcade.

Already, there were two people up on the DDR machine, dancing on the 'insane' level. Rukia watched them intently, and when they were done, she quickly pulled Ichigo up to the stage, and had him set up the machine.

Ichigo kind of wondered what he was doing this for. He was pretty good at DDR, but he didn't like it all that much, not to mention, Rukia was a complete beginner. It probably would have been better to start her at home on an Xbox set. Nonetheless, he chose the music, and asked Rukia what setting she wanted.

"I guess I'll do what those guys were doing before." She said blankly. Ichigo gaped at her, but acquiesced. He might as well. He just hoped that nobody he knew saw him there. After a moment, the music started, and he paid attention to the screen, which came up so fast he hardly had time to think. He was quick enough on his feet, now, that thinking wasn't an issue, and the two of them started stomping the arrows. Rukia laughed as she did this.

She was having fun. She had heard a lot about DDR, but had never gotten to play it. Now that she was, though, she discovered that she was really good at it. Ichigo was good too, though, she thought. He had never seemed the type to be into video games. Maybe she had been wrong about that, though. There were a lot of things about Ichigo that she didn't know.

She was barely paying attention, but still she found that just looking at the screen was enough for her to know what to do, and finally, the song ended, and she sighed in relief, and looked back, surprised to see a crowd of people watching them. Suddenly, the screen went to their scores. Ichigo had gotten an A-. Rukia had gotten an A++.

"Didn't you say you'd never played this game before, Rukia?" Ichigo asked, although he was smiling too. It was kind of nice to see Ichigo smile. He didn't do it that often, although he did it more, now, than he used to.

"I never have."

The rest of the day was spent fairly uneventfully. The two of them went around to different stores. There was a Barnes and Noble store in the mall, so they went in there for a while. Rukia got lost in the science fiction/fantasy section.

Apparently, she was really into HP Lovecraft, JRR Tolkien, and Isaac Asimov. She also apparently liked Gothic style literature like Edgar Allen Poe, Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

They spent several hours in Barnes and Noble, and by the time they got out, the sun was already beginning to set. Ichigo checked his watch.

Damn! 1845h. Dad'll kill me if I'm late. 1930h means it's time to be home.

"You have to get back to your house?" Rukia asked sympathetically. She knew about Ichigo's strict curfew. Ichigo nodded, so the two left.

He could have probably milked another mile or so, just walking next to Rukia out of this date, but he felt as though now was the time to tell her. He had gotten his one date. He didn't expect anything more, and he had promised himself that he wouldn't be hurt if she rejected him.

He knew that was a load of bullshit, though. At least he wouldn't hold it against her. It wasn't like he would really be surprised. Surely there was someone better than him on whom she would want to spend her free time.

"Ichigo?"

"Rukia?" They said at the same time.

"You go first…" They said simultaneously once more.

"No really, I don't mind…" They seemed to be of the same mind that night. Finally, Ichigo made sure that Rukia wasn't saying anything more, and spoke. "You go first, Rukia…" Ichigo said. Rukia nodded, looking slightly abashed.

"I did have another reason for asking you on this outing today, Ichigo…" Rukia said. Ichigo gave a start of surprise. She had said that it was just to catch up, and he had believed her. After all, what reason did he have not to?

"Okay… What did you have in mind?"

"The Commander General has told me that I am to request that you join the 13 Court Guard Companies… Permanently."

"So this whole day was just to make me more amenable to being recruited?" Ichigo asked, not wanting to believe this.

"Well, the Commander General told me to use whatever method I thought was best. So in that sense it was my choice to take you out, if that makes you feel any better, Ichigo…" Rukia felt bad, now. She was sure that Ichigo must be feeling rather ill used as the humans said.

"What was it you wanted to tell me, now?" Rukia asked innocently. Ichigo sighed and scowled.

"Nothing… Tell your Commander General I'll think about it…" Ichigo said. His tone of voice only made her feel worse. She wondered, now, if Ichigo had thought that she was asking him out on a date. It had seemed that way when she called up like that. She had never specifically said that it was a date, but the implication had been there.

"I have to hurry home… Dad'll flip his lid if I'm late…" Ichigo said, walking off ahead of Rukia. Rukia tried to get him to wait so that she could explain herself… But the more time passed, the weaker her explanation seemed, and the more heartless her plan started to look, even in her own eyes.

She didn't blame Ichigo for being disgruntled. She simply sighed and trudged back into Urahara Shoten, walking straight past Ururu, Jinta, Riruka, and Kisuke without a single word of explanation. Such a night.