Wow, this chapter came out a lot slower than I would've liked. I had major writers block, and of every chapter in my story outline, this one had the least info, so it was harder to write. Hopefully, since I know more of what's going to happen in the next chapters, I will get them out quicker. I will try to make an update schedule. Untill then, my New Years Resolution is to update at least once every one or two weeks. Thanks to all that reviewed! I really appreciate it!

"So do you wanna... I don't know, give it a try?"

"No."

"No?"

"No! No, no, no, no, no! You were supposed to say No!" she cried, clearly in a state of shock and denial. This was not supposed to happen. This is not how her plan was supposed to turn out. She had never seen any behavior from Ichigo that would imply he had feelings for her! How could this happen?

"Why would you want me to say no?" he asked, the question bringing her back to her senses.

"I-I just think we should stay friends."

"That's stupid. If we both like each other, why wouldn't we at least see if we could be together?"

"I... you... b-because I didn't want a relationship! I just had some feelings I wanted to get off my chest." she stated with a huff. What was that? Her millionth lie that half an hour?! Why did things always get so overly complicated with him? "Besides, I don't think you'd be a very good boyfriend anyway."

"You can't just assume that, midget!"

"You just called me a midget! Good boyfriends wouldn't do that!"

"We clearly don't have a very normal relationship."

"Well maybe I want a normal relationship."

"Tch, good luck with that."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means, in order to have a normal relationship, you have to be normal yourself, which you most definitely are not." he was genuinely surprised when she kicked him in the gut, causing him to fall over.

"How dare you call me abnormal? Maybe you're the abnormal one!" she yelled causing the tall teen's eyebrow to twitch in irritation.

"Says the rabbit-obssessed, midget death god that can't draw to save her life!"

"Says the oversized, orange-haired freak with too much reiatsu for his own good!"

They glared at each other for a few moments before Ichigo stood straight and dusted himself off.

"You know, for someone who 'likes' me, you have a funny way of showing it." he said before continuing on his way home. Rukia followed at his side, seething at their latest argument.

"Maybe it's because I'm so abnormal." she spat back bitterly. The substitute shinagami only glanced at her briefly before shaking his head muttering 'typical' under his breath walking just a bit faster as they trekked home. Rukia had to jog just a bit, willing her short legs to keep up with his long ones. They walked in silence at first, but after the anger had subsided, the violet-eyed soul reaper began to really think about her actions. She looked at her companion and saw that he was slightly tense. He walked looking straight ahead and his jaw and shoulders looked just slightly stiff, only enough that someone as observant as her could tell.

"Ichigo... are you alright?" It was silent for a few moments and all the two high schoolers could hear were the sounds of their footsteps and the cars passing by. It was unbearable for the ebony-tressed hollow-slayer. Every moment of silence that passed, she became more and more consumed with her regret.

"Yeah. Why the hell wouldn't I be?" he said, finally breaking the short-lived silence that felt like an eternity. "We just had another one of our yelling matches. Nothing's changed."

She sighed, berating herself for the way she had reacted. He had just mustered up all his confidence to confess to her only to be called an oversized, orange haired fre-... Rukia cringed at the memory of her harshness. The silence was unbearable, and she knew Ichigo was one to hide his feelings in order to keep up appearances. She couldn't help but feel that she had been very harsh and inconsiderate, proven by the guilt swelling inside of her.

She looked back up at the emotionless face of her comrade. To anyone else, he was the face of indifference, but Rukia could tell. Just as she couldn't hide things from him, he couldn't hide things from her and she could see the glint of disappointment in his eyes and the slightest of frowns. Her stomach churned with guilt as she quickly looked away. She had hurt him, and she wasn't sure how to fix it without digging a deeper hole for herself.

She had an idea, but she wasn't sure she really trusted any of her fool-proof plans anymore. The last one had ended in disaster and she had no reason to believe this one would turn out any different. But as the silence between them dragged on too long and Rukia began to feel suffocated by the weight of her guilt and the tension between them. She spoke out, taking a huge risk as she put her latest plan in motion.

"...One date." she said so quietly, it was almost a whisper.

"Huh?"

"One date. I'll give you one date to impress me." she spoke clearer, her eyes glued to the ground as she awaited his response.

"You're the one who confesses and I have to impress you?"

"Take it or leave it, Strawberry."

"I don't want your pity."

"Because I've always been one to hand out pity favors, right?" she asked sarcastically. "Besides, like you said before, I confessed first, I just don't think you have what it takes to impress me." She taunted. For a few moments, it was silent between them as Ichigo contemplated her words. She watched him anxiously, as she awaited his reaction to her request. The Kurosaki household was coming into view and when they were a few feet away from reaching the front door. She was happy to see a smirk light up his face.

"Fine, it shouldn't be hard. You find the mechanics of juice boxes impressive, I don't see why a date would be so hard."

"Yeah, but I have a short attention span so make sure you don't bore me to death." she stated, immediately scolding herself. Her plan was to go on the date, make sure it was as bad as she possibly could make it, and hope by the end of the day when she denied being impressed with the date, he would agree that it was a bad outing and accept her offer to just be friends. Besides, she knew of teenage hormones and believed his feelings for her were merely the result of them. How hard could it be to deter him from a small crush he had on her. Unfortunately, she had a feeling she had just given a big clue on how he could genuinely impress her.

"I'll keep that in mind." He said before disappearing behind the door of his home. Rukia was left outside, the guilt gone, but re-acquainted with the strange feeling of foreboding she had felt before.

'I need to learn when to shut up' she thought bitterly as she made her way to his window.

This couldn't end well.

Rukia lay in Ichigo's closet staring up at the ceiling, deep in thought. She was nervous about the day's upcoming events. After all that had taken place the day before, she wasn't sure how Ichigo was going to act, or how she should react. She contemplated how he might behave based on some of the manga she's read. Would he start to get nervous around her, or maybe he would avoid her because she made him feel self conscious. She remembered many characters that had become suave and chivalrous and had met their lovers with bouquets of flowers, holding doors open for them and pulling out their chairs, though she doubted Ichigo would ever do anything like that. She surely hoped he wouldn't become like this one character who had become a lovesick puppy after getting together with his love, nothing but a drooling slave to her beauty and charm. No, Ichigo was too opinionated and stubborn for that. Maybe he would-

"Oi! Midget! I brought you breakfast!" her head turned to the unmistakable sound of Ichigo calling her through her closet door. The sound of his voice made her throat close up, she absolutely dreaded this moment.

"Rukia?" he called, continuing to knock on the door.

How should she act towards him? What should she say?

"I don't know what you've heard about beauty sleep..."

Should she be flirty? Feign shyness? No, he would see right through that.

"But it doesn't matter how long you rest, you're not gonna wake up any prettier!" Now that caught her attention.

"What?!" She cried in outraged as she slammed the closet door open, only to be greeted with the sight of a smirking Ichigo holding a plate of food. She had taken the bait.

"Good, you're up." he said, still smirking as she stormed angrily over to the plate of food. She snatched it away from him and was stopped by his next words before she could return to her closet.

"Now eat your breakfast so you can grow big and strong like all the other kids!" He said, patting her head as if she were a small child. His reply was a knee to the gut that caused him to fall to his knees, immediately wiping the smirk off his face. In his new, kneeling position Rukia stood before him, looking down at his crumpled form.

"Don't talk down to me." she ordered before returning to her closet with her meal.

"Someone's not a morning person." he grumbled with a scowl as he picked himself up and went to the bathroom to get ready for school.

Rukia heard him leave and let out a sigh. She was strangely pleased with the morning's events. Everything had turned out exactly how it might've on any other given day. It was almost as if yesterday had never happened. Maybe it had to do with the fact that they weren't actually in a relationship. Still, she had thought their relationship would be awkward and strained after the previous days events. But to her surprise...

Nothing had changed.

Not a fan of this chapter, but it gets better. I have the entire date planned out and some of it written. I can't wait to share it with you. Next chapter, or the one after that. Sorry this was so short, I promise it will get longer.

I would really appreciate your constructive criticism! Please review! They will be rewarded with a faster update!

Thanks for reading! Have a Happy New Year!

"At the end of the game, the King and the Pawn go into the same box."