DISCLAIMER: I don't own Bleach…

The next morning, Ichigo walked out of his front door once again. He looked around for any sign of Rukia. There was none. Good…He thought to himself. He slung his book bag over his shoulder and began to walk to school. On the way, he was joined by Inoue.

"Hello, Kurosaki-kun." Said Inoue. She gave him a smile and started to walk next to him.

Ichigo glanced at Inoue. He got to examine her a bit longer this time. Her bright orange hair was pinned by two flowers; both of them blue. "Hello." He muttered back to her. He returned her the everlasting scowl.

They said no more for the rest of the walk to school. When he finally got there, he saw two boys hunched over something at a table. Ichigo left Inoue without a word. If it were any other boys he could probably care less. But not these boys…it was Keigo and Mizuiro. He walked over to them. On the first day of school, Keigo asked if he had a sister, while Mizuiro politely insinuated that he would date Ichigo's make-believe sister.

"Hello." Ichigo said, suddenly appearing behind them.

Keigo whipped away the magazine he and Mizuiro were gazing at and smiled shakily at Ichigo. "Hello…we were just…you know…doing homework."

Ichigo was about to punch Keigo when Rukia suddenly arrived at school. He gave a death glare at Keigo instead. He stomped away to his class and gruffly sat in his seat. Rukia took the seat at the far end of the classroom. Conveniently for him, it was the farthest away she could possibly be. So why couldn't he stop thinking about her?


Rukia took the seat at the very front of the class. It would keep her away from him. Strangely enough, she had wanted to sit close to him. That is, until he looked at her. A bit of the red mark from my slap is still there… she thought to herself. She smiled inwardly. Something to remember me by.

As the class started, Rukia kept glancing back at Ichigo. Every single time, he would be staring away. In a way, this discouraged her. She sighed and tried to look like she was paying attention.

By the end of class, Rukia was almost drooling with her head on her desk. The bell rang, and Rukia sat upright and gathered her books. She walked out of the classroom and onto the freshly mowed lawn. Sitting down, she opened her lunch bag and peered inside. She sighed as she realized that it was the perfect dietary meal. Nii-san. Of course.

Rukia bit into her apple as Inoue sat down and joined her.

"Hello, Kuchiki-san. How are you today?" Inoue asked politely

"I'm fine, Inoue." Rukia sighed and sprawled out flat on the lawn. She put her head back and saw Ichigo sitting under a tree eating alone. Rukia cocked her head sideways and sat up again.

"Hey, Inoue, what do you think of Ichigo."

"Oh, he's nice…I guess…" Inoue trailed off with a slight smile on her face. A red tingle appeared on her cheeks.


Ichigo opened his lunch bag and took out a sandwich. He bit into it and saw Rukia with her head upside down gazing at him. He raised an eyebrow and looked away as soon as Rukia looked towards him. He took a small bite out of his sandwich.

After he had finished his sandwich, Ichigo yawned and stretched. He slowly rose and threw his remaining lunch in the trashcan. He slung his bag over his shoulder and began to walk slowly back into the school.

In the classroom that he walked in, Rukia was sitting on a desk with a bunch of girls listening to her talk. When Ichigo walked in, Rukia looked up and decided that it was nothing big. She went back to chatting with her friends.

Snobby bitch. Thought Ichigo, She could at least acknowledge me…

Ichigo sat in his desk and waited for the teacher to arrive. He found his thoughts drifting over to Rukia. A lot. Damn…why do I keep on thinking about her…? He kept looking at her until he wrenched his eyes away from Rukia. Class began.


Ichigo packed his book bag and slung it over his shoulder. School's finally out. It's a Friday too…awesome. Ichigo almost smiled. He walked slowly out of the door and into the field. Ichigo began walking towards his house. He heard footsteps behind him and turned around.

Rukia was walked behind him. Ichigo opened his mouth slightly. He was going to say, "Hi." But all that came out was, "uh…"

Rukia looked away and walked past him. Ichigo's eyes followed her all the way to her front door. When she was about to enter, she glanced at him, and then she went into her house.

I wonder what happened back there. It was almost as if I couldn't speak…Ichigo walked absent-mindedly into his house and dodged a tackle from Isshin automatically. He walked up to his room and collapsed on the bed, staring at the ceiling. His head turned and looked out the window where he first saw Rukia. She was right there staring at him.


Rukia walked into the Kuchiki household and went straight to her room. She let her book bag down with a sigh and looked dreamily out the window. The sound of a door shutting caught Rukia's attention. She looked into the window of the next house and saw Ichigo sprawled across his bed. And then, he looked straight at her. Rukia felt her face heat up, and she was forced to look away. Why can't I face him? Rukia thought to herself. She sighed and sat on her bed. Taking out her favorite manga she started to read it.

Authors Note:

Alright! Another chapter done, and about 10 more to go! xD About the fluff, some of that may be inserted once Ichigo and Rukia start hanging out together and stuff...