A/N: Apology, I hope, is accepted for a bit later than wanted update.

Physics exam was riddiculous, everything else is riddiculous, grades are trying to slip, this is my comfort, PLEASE REVIEW.

Wow, went over the top there for a minute, but am really disraught right now.

Anyway, this chapter actually opens up to the plot, seeing as I HAD NONE PLANNED, contrary to popular belief.

You reveiws made my laugh a lot, but then I panicked because the first chapter came out of nowhere, and I didn't know what to do.

I now have a really kickass idea, but you will have to bear with me. There will be some unconventional plot twists and character butchering, but it is all explainable and will be understandable at the end of this story (all character butchering will be reversed, I think).

I AM SO EXCITED TO WRITE THIS!!!!!!!

Ok, so now that I have a plot, here is the next chapter. The majority was written while I was studying spanish and during a stupid math class.

Flashback in middle is in italics.

Chapter 2

Cherry Confusion and Chances

Ichigo ran until his legs were on fire and his lungs were burning from the humid twilight air. He'd been running for over two hours, he'd guess, and night was well on its way. He flopped down on the grass by the river to stare up at the darkening sky.

It got worse every time he was near her. He'd have to be more careful. But. . .it was just too easy to let go around Rukia. She didn't resist, or didn't understand, first of all, and her mere presence was like a massage into aching muscles. Sometimes painful, but mainly relaxing and long-lasting. Still, what he'd done that night was unacceptable. He'd kissed her, even if it wasn't a real kiss. She was bound to know now, no matter how oblivious she actually was.

He got up and stretched, his breathing back to normal and legs only a bit sore. He hadn't run full tilt for that long in a good deal of time. Was he getting weak? No, he decided as he began pelting towards Chad's house, no one is supposed to be able to run like that for that long. You're an idiot, Kurosaki.

He got to Chad's house only a few minutes later, when it was, by his judgment, about eight. He banged on the door, bent over, breathing heavily. Chad appeared a moment later to stare impassively down at him. "Ichigo?" he rumbled.

He grinned up at the giant, thinking back to how much he dwarfed Rukia, before shaking those ideas off. " H-hey, Chad. Can I stay over?"

Chad cracked a smile. "When you want to talk, I'm here."

Ichigo straightened, a perplexed look on his face. "I'll talk." He stomach growled and he grinned sheepishly. "Just after I eat something."

- - -

Rukia mumbled something to Isshin while trying to shove an unidentifiable foreign object into her mouth and like it. After a lot more silence on Rukia's part, some violent disagreements on Karin and Isshin's part, and some carefully worried words on Yuzu's part, Rukia excused herself to Ichigo's room.

It seemed stifling in his domain. Every way she turned she was reminded of Ichigo, and the echoes of the earlier incident lingered in the air. She collapsed on his bed, curling herself up into a confused ball.

Why was he haunting her like this? Sure, he had become one of the most important people in her life. Sure, she had to live with him in constant close proximity. Sure, he'd saved her life twice. Not once, but twice. He'd been brave enough—and selfless enough—to take it upon himself to save his family and a girl he didn't, at the time, even know. And she'd repaid him by getting him hurt terribly in the end.

But she was over that part now. He had never blamed her, and he would rather get hurt so that others didn't have to. She still didn't like it, but she knew that if she ever tried to argue with him again, he wouldn't budge, and, with the way he'd been acting lately, something odd might happen.

He'd always been protective, so much so that it had scared her sometimes. But now he was not only protective, but evasive as well. He didn't talk to her much anymore, and she barely ever saw him. What was wrong? Had she done something?

It was, she admitted ruefully, hurting her. Why had he changed so suddenly, even if it was only a change in time available for her? Maybe he'd moved on, and didn't want her friendship anymore. Maybe he thought she was too childish, or ugly, or. . .

Rukia blinked. Since when had Ichigo cared about this stuff? And since when had she cared? Why was this upsetting her so much?

There was only one plausible answer, really, but she didn't even want to think about it as a possibility. Ichigo was young, handsome, athletic, smart, and, under the mask, caring; everything a girl could want in a guy (discounting the annoying mood swings). He could like any woman and probably have her. Maybe. . .? No. There was no possible way that he could like her as more than a very close friend.

Was it viable that she. . .

Rukia got up and started to change. When she had gone through her normal routine of brushing teeth, washing up, etcetera, she padded back into his room. She paused before going to his bed and crawling into it. She knew he wouldn't be back tonight, and she felt safer just being this little bit closer to him.

It was funny that she was so worried over Ichigo, who could take care of himself, when the confusing reports from the Soul Society were much more troublesome.

She turned over and breathed in deeply. She was tired. She could think about the somewhat alarming messages on her phone later. She noticed that the sheets and pillow smelled faintly of Ichigo, spicy and clean; alive. She snuggled deeper into this unexpected haven and drifted off enveloped in all that which was Ichigo.

- - -

A very puzzled Rukia arrived slightly early to school, barely listening to an ecstatic Orihime (was she talking about tofu and sardine rolls?). She had double checked the messages on her phone, which had only served to heighten her sense of unease. One of them was from Renji, who, in a rare occurrence, actually sounded worried. Even more distressing was the fact that he was worried about Nii-sama. Renji claimed that he had been acting strangely, and wouldn't tell him what was wrong; which, knowing her brother, was not surprising. However, prior to Renji's stationing in the living world and through the course of his regular visits to his captain, the two of them had slowly but surely become friends. If Byakuya didn't want to tell his vice captain, then it was something for Renji to be worried about. He had also mentioned some rather odd occurrences in the Seireitei, most of which, he said, were trifling, but had somehow concerned Commander Yamamoto all the same. To her frustration, he had not given her any details.

Then there was the fact that she could have sworn she felt something brush her cheek as she was waking up that morning. When she turned over, there had been a bunch of cherry blossoms on Ichigo's dresser, as though he had left them for her. And his clothes were gone, so he must have been in the room. . .

"Isn't that right, Kuchiki-san?"

"What?" Rukia snapped back to the present to find Orihime and Tatsuki staring at her expectantly. "Oh! Yes, yes, of course. . ."

Orihime cheered. "Yay! I told you she already said she was game, Tatsuki-chan! We can all go tonight!"

Go where?! Rukia thought frantically. I can't remember—well, as long as Ichigo comes, I'll be okay—wait, what did I just—

Which brought her back to her dilemma. What to do about Ichigo? And why hadn't he got her up this morning? She could have been late!

When she got to class, she saw that Ishida, Chad, and Ichigo were talking quietly on one side of the room. Ishida saw Orihime and began to move to the door, making Rukia smile.

"Don't even," she heard him tell a miffed Chizuru as he nearly stiff-armed her before reaching Orihime. "Morning, Inoue-san."

She smiled brightly. "Hi, Ishida-kun!"

"These are for you," he murmured, a faint tinge coloring his face as he pulled a bouquet of cherry blossoms from seemingly nowhere. "I thought you might like them."

"Oh, Ishida-kun! They're beautiful!" she squealed, diving on a somewhat surprised but gratified Ishida. He patted her back a bit awkwardly and then gently held her at arms length. "I—" he began, but he was quickly cut off by Tatsuki's shriek.

"Hey! Stop touching my head!" she yelled, hands grasping wildly for purchase on whoever was smoothing her hair. Her grip landed on something much softer, however. She gasped, "What?" and carefully lifted a wreath of cherry blossoms off of her head. She whirled around. "Chad?!"

He shrugged, a small smile playing on his lips before he gave her his infamous thumbs up sign.

Rukia was somewhat confused as her two friends (she was a bit surprised about Tatsuki) gushed about the flowers. She was about to ask Ichigo, who had an oddly strained expression on his face, when Keigo and Mizuiro burst into the room. "Kuchiki-chan!" Keigo fairly yelled. His hands were filled with cherry blossoms. What. . .?

"Will you—" he was cut off by Ichigo slamming his foot into his shoulder. "Ow ow ow! You didn't need to tell me that way, Strawberry!" he moaned, writhing dramatically on the ground.

"Nice," Mizuiro said grinning, slapping Ichigo on the arm. When he threw a look at Rukia, she got a funny feeling that he wasn't just talking about the kick.

Before any of this apparent madness could go any further, the bell rang and they all rushed for their seats. Rukia settled slowly into hers, still trying to puzzle out the flower business. She opened her bag slightly to look at the blooms she had absentmindedly placed there. She removed a few, threw a glance at Ichigo (who was staring, looking as though he couldn't breathe again) and carefully placed them in her hair. She smirked at Ichigo's suddenly shocked expression and leaned comfortably back into her chair. But. . .

What did the damn flowers mean?!

- - -

Rukia was fuming.

She had been dragged—well not quite dragged—to a festival she knew nothing about and was wearing cherry blossoms in her hair.

She had mulled over the flowers until she got a chance to ask Orihime. Her exuberant friend had given her a startled look before exclaiming, "For the festival of course! You said you were coming!"

Then she had remembered whatever it had been she had agreed to that morning and groaned. Oh well, it would probably be fun, and she could at least drag Hitsugaya and Matsumoto along. Unfortunately, the two of them had work to catch up on, and Hitsugaya wasn't about to let Matsumoto skiv off, like usual. But Matsumoto had promised to pop by later, hopefully to expose a protesting Hitsugaya to something called fun.

The festival wasn't exactly what had set Rukia off. It was quite simple really.

Ichigo.

Her friends had gone into an in-depth and highly confusing explanation of the cherry blossoms before realizing she had gotten some herself.

"So. . .what are they for?" Rukia asked.

"They aren't for anything, weren't you listening?" Tatsuki exclaimed. "They're a symbol."

"I don't get it. Why are flowers a symbol? Is this festival thing only in Karakura?"

"It's a spring festival! And of course flowers are symbols, silly!" Orihime fairly sang, skipping slightly.

Rukia looked hopelessly at Tatsuki, who gave her a crooked smile. "Karakura tradition, but it's spread around the region," she said softly. "The flowers are from a legend, something that happened a long time ago between two sisters. You don't know it, do you?" Rukia shook her head. Tatsuki sighed. "I'm not usually a stickler for these tradition things. . .but this one I can't bring myself to break. If a girl doesn't know the story, a guy is supposed to tell her. Most girls find out that way." She glanced ruefully at her friend. "A guy who brings her the flowers."

"But I—" she began to retort before clamping down on her loose tongue.

"Damn," Tatsuki breathed, turning her around. "Orihime! Rukia-san has flowers in her hair!"

Orihime spun, mouth agape. "Who. . ." Then her eyes widened and her mouth formed into a grin. "Ichigo!"

"Errr. . ." Rukia muttered sheepishly.

"Oh! That's so adorable!" Orihime yelled.

Tatsuki was shaking her head, eyes slowly filling with wonder. "Ichigo. . .wow. . ."

Rukia nearly snapped. "What?! What do they mean?!" She took a deep friends looked at her a bit strangely. She ended softly, "And what do they have to do with Ichigo?"

The two of them both started speaking at once, and Rukia was thankful that they had decided to take a walk before eating lunch with the other girls. If this was going to be a "girl talk," she didn't want anyone else hearing what she might say.

The two girls did indeed proceed to drill her on Ichigo and her; what he'd been saying, what they'd been doing, how he'd been acting. Rukia ended up relating all her fears and worries to her very attentive listeners. She briefly explained what had transpired the night before, but at the end of her tale she blushed and looked away.

"And?" Tatsuki prodded.

"That was so mysteriously passionate!" Orihime cried. "It's all bottled up, wanting a release!"

"Yeah. . .anyway, what then?" Tatsuki asked expectantly.

"Well. . .I might have imagined it, because he left so quickly afterward. . .and I was shook up,
so. . ."

"He gave you a—"

"Hush, Orihime," Tatsuki hissed.

Rukia barely heard them. "I. . .I think he kissed me. Right there," she pointed. "But I don't know why—"

"It's about time," Orihime huffed.

"Thank God he's finally done something involving a girl," Tatsuki muttered.

"Uh. . ." Rukia moaned. "I'm so confused. What am I supposed to do?"

"Well, the flowers don't necessarily mean that," Tatsuki grinned. "I mean Chad just gave them to me because he owes me for helping Ichigo save his ass a few weeks ago. It was just really sweet of him to say 'thank you' this way."

"Uh. . .ok . . .but, what am I going to do about Ichigo? I can't get through to him anymore."

"Stick to him like a burr!"

"Alternate," Tatsuki objected. "Be with him constantly and then disappear for some time. Guaranteed to drive him crazy."

"Do you really think—"

"Do you really like him, Rukia-chan?" Orihime asked earnestly.

"U-uh, well—"

"You'll know," Tatsuki grinned. "It's alright, I know this must be weird for you. . .considering and all. . ."

"We'll see at the festival tonight!" Orihime said gleefully. "Come on, let's go eat, I see Matsumoto-san! MATSUMOTO!"

And so, Rukia had been left to her troublesome thoughts the rest of the school day. And, when it had ended, she was at a loss to what to do. Orihime and Matsumoto kidnapped her, however, and, after a lot of gushing from Matsumoto (Rukia had ruefully explained to her, too, but Hitsugaya eventually dragged Matsumoto away) and some primping from Orihime, about three hours later the lot of them were at the festival.

And she was trying her best not to sulk.

Ichigo had been ignoring her after the initial, "I am going to gape at you for an age without saying anything, and, when confronted, I will stutter something that sounds remotely like 'You look pretty,' before turning gruff and pretending you don't exist for a bit" incident, but he hadn't stopped ignoring her.

The festival was beautiful. Stalls and decorations littered the main square, encompassing the masses of laughing people enjoying themselves. There were so many cherry blossoms around, though, that some of its beauty was lost on her. It reminded her too much of Nii-sama's bankai; she half expected the petals to start shimmering and move in waves. This, in turn, reminded her of Renji's message, but the lights and music were compensating enough for her gloomy thoughts and the magic of the night was not completely missed.

She sighed, glancing away from the game Chad and Tatsuki were attempting to beat each other at and her eyes wandered over the crowd.

Where was Ichigo?

Ishida and Orihime weren't far, and she was amused to see that they were dancing. Ishida, who she swore thought he was an Arthurian knight reincarnated, was spinning and lifting Orihime gracefully, looking quite the picture in what passed for his "shining armor." She couldn't help but grin.

Where was Ichigo?

She caught sight of Mizuiro and his too-old-for-him-girlfriend, while Keigo sobbed behind them. Rukia rolled her eyes. Keigo was by far the most overdramatic person she knew, which was kind of sad, really, seeing as he was, by definition, a boy.

Where was Ichigo?

She finally sensed a familiar presence and she relaxed slightly; he had to be right behind her. But before she could turn around to reprimand him, she felt a pair of strong arms lift her around the waist and she was suddenly being carried away from the main festivities to a quieter portion of the festival.

Her skin prickled where his hands had pushed up her shirt slightly to come in contact with her abdomen, and she had the sudden urge to strangle him. It wasn't fair that he could make her feel so. . .alive, with just a touch. This feeling should only come when mutual. She nearly forgot to pound on him. "Ichigo! You imbecile! I—"

He gently set her down next to a food stall, smirking. "Rukia." She nearly blushed; she hated it when he looked at her like that. It made her feel like her insides were sand; like she could give at any moment.

She glared at him. "You oversized, oaf! Never do that again!"

He smiled lazily at her, as if he knew something she didn't. "You've got flowers in your hair," he said bluntly.

"You should know," she snapped. "You gave them to me."

"Did I?"

She almost believed him for a second, a sliver of doubt coming into her consciousness, but she knew him too well by now not to see when he was kidding. "Oh, well than, I guess I'll have to go talk to Renji, who must have come all the way from Soul Society, snuck into your room in the middle of the night, and put flowers on your dresser for me."

She was very interested to see his eyes darken slightly at the mention of Renji. His fists clenched, and Rukia looked at them, perplexed. Was he. . .jealous? No, he couldn't be, he probably didn't even like her. So why was he acting all possessive and vague? Maybe he wanted her to do something for him? Like what, though?

He was gawking at her again, and this time she couldn't help but blush. Why did he always do that? It was so unnerving. "Are you hungry?" he asked her, indicating the food stall he had dragged her to.

She gave him a weak grin, remembering she hadn't eaten since lunch. "Was that an actual question, Kurosaki?"

He laughed, and pulled her over to the vendor. After a little protesting by Rukia and a lot of growling by Ichigo, Rukia got "the weird stuff with the eggs," as Ichigo called it, that she knew she'd like. They leaned against a small shop, watching the dancers from the shadows, just out of the main light.

"Ichigo?" Rukia asked quietly.

"Huh?"

"Why'd you give me the cherry blossoms?"

She was oddly pleased to see him choke on whatever it was he was eating before staring at her a bit incredulously. "Why would you ask that?"

"I just want to know."

"Uh, well. . ." he scratched casually at the back of his neck, not looking at her. "I thought it was appropriate, I guess. You. . .you've done so much for me. It seems like you've always been there, although I know that's definitely not true. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you. . ."

Rukia was somewhat stunned. Had he really just said that? It was a rare occasion when Ichigo opened up and was actually serious about something important. Ichigo didn't make any sense. He was mean to her, he ignored her, he teased her, he fought with her, he helped her with homework, he let her sit in his lap, he attempted to kiss her, he got her flowers. . .yeah, that made a lot of sense. . .

Her head shot up when Ichigo's hand suddenly made soft contact with her cheek, sending shock waves through her body. "Ich—"

"You had something on you," he said softly, caressing her jaw line tenderly. He reluctantly withdrew his hand.

She grabbed his arm before he could pull away. "What is with you?" she hissed. "Why are you being so. . .so volatile?"

"Am I supposed to answer that?" he growled, moving his hand so it was resting lightly on her shoulder.

"I would rather you did."

He was silent as his gaze raked her body, making her shiver. He suddenly drew her into a crushing hug, surprising her. Hesitantly, she drew her arms around him, burying her face in his chest. Maybe she should tell him about her worries; maybe he could go find out what was wrong in Seireitei, what was wrong with Nii-sama. But no: she didn't want to endanger him and even the thought of the slightest hint of unnecessary risk for Ichigo made her cringe. She didn't want them to be separated just yet. She felt so warm and secure in his arms, almost as if he was a house protecting her from the rain.

His voice was thick with emotion when he finally spoke, and she had to press herself closer to him so that he didn't hurt her back with his strong arms. "I just don't want to loose you, Rukia. I'd be damned if I did. . ."

"Don't say that," she whispered, clinging to him. "You'd be fine. You were fine before I ruined your life."

"You didn't ruin my life!" he said harshly, stroking her hair, sifting it delicately through his fingers. Rukia was having problems thinking straight: Ichigo's holding me? Why is he doing this? Why? Why? Gods, he's holding me. . . "I think you saved it. In more ways than one. We've gone over this before."

"Yes, and I always insist that you could have lived peacefully and happily without having to deal with the Soul Society until you died."

"You know that's not true. Something would have come up. But things turned out like this, and I want to make sure that you're safe."

"I can take care of myself," she murmured, her voice muffled by his clothing. She really didn't want to let go yet.

"I'm not so sure that you can," he growled, squeezing her. His voice took on an odd, gruffly pained note, "Don't leave without saying goodbye, Rukia."

"I'm not going anyplace soon." I think. . .

He gently released her from his embrace so that he could look at her. "What's wrong?"

"You haven't told me, so I don't know why I should answer that," she snapped, suddenly irritated again. She tried to pull away, but his amber eyes caught her, drawing her inexorably closer. Her breath caught in her throat when he gently pushed her hair out of her face, his hand coming to rest on her neck.

"I told you," he said softly. "I'm stressed. I don't want you worried about me. And I can tell something's bothering you."

She leaned into his touch, enjoying his warmth. "I've gotten odd reports from Seireitei, that's all," she murmured, gaze still trapped in his glowing pools. "I'm sure everything's fine."

"If it's not, tell me?" It was more of a demand then a question, but she took it as one anyway.

"Of course. I wouldn't leave without saying goodbye, remember?"

He grinned, another peculiar look on his face. "You'd best not, Rukia, because I'll come after you again."

"Uh. . ." she blushed. Say something, Kuchiki. But what was there to say to that?

He drew her into his arms again, and the whirlwind inside of her threatened to make her explode. He was so much larger than she that she couldn't have pulled away even if she tried. She hoped he couldn't feel her heart pounding out of her chest, or her mind screaming out of want. Was he just trying to be a good friend? Or was this really something more substantial?

She thought her body froze when she felt his lips brush against her head. "I will always protect you, Rukia," he said fiercely. "Don't get me wrong."

There was only one way to find out. She latched her hands onto his shirt and looked up at him. She wasn't entirely prepared for the intense, almost hungry look on his face, but her momentary shock was pushed aside by what had been bothering her all day. He needed to tell her what she knew he was holding back, whether it was for good or ill.

"Ichigo, why did you really give me the cherry blossoms?"

She wanted to scream in frustration when he stiffened beside her. She could already feel the cracks forming in her heart.

A/N: Review, or Renji will tattoo your eyebrows in the middle of the night! (ha ha) Please, give the author something to live on besides worries about her grades!

And please don't expect an update sooner than two weeks, I made this twice as long as the last chapter on purpose. I love all of you!

There is a reason for the cherry blossoms, I do have that bit of the story worked out, lol. And I know what is going on in the SS too, so I actually have a plot! Go me!

Did you really read all the way down here? "If I were the rain, could I connect someone's heart like it unites the eternally separate earth and sky?" Hope you caught my rain motiff reference, hee hee.

Done now, off to kill myself with biology. Until we meet again. . .