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Chapter 2
Unruly orange hair.

Deep brown eyes.

Same face.

Same everything.

Her mouth dried and her heart pounded in her chest.

It was him…

Her mouth was gaping but she didn't care, her eyes were locked with the same familiar pair brown orbs from her dream. He was staring at her in concern, wondering if he had caused her any bodily harm. His hands still rested on her tiny shoulders and he had half an urge to shake her awake because she still hadn't said anything.

One of his hands left her shoulder and moved to her chin, pushing her face higher so he could get a better look at her eyes.

"You don't seem to have a concussion," he said after inspecting her pupils. He let a half-smile appear on his face in relief. At least he hadn't shaken her up too bad. He let out the small breath, which he had been holding unconsciously.

"Rukia, are you okay?" Orihime asked in a worried tone from behind the stunned girl. When she got no response she turned to the boy, "Ichigo, is everything alright?"

The boy nodded in response, his hand still resting on the smaller girl's shoulder.

Rukia was suddenly snapped out of her daze as she heard the orange haired girl speak. The alarm at seeing the boy from her dream was washed and replaced by anger… she was fuming.

"YOU!" she nearly yelled, her fury directed completely at him.

The half-smile on Ichigo's face was replaced by a surprised look. He cocked his head to the side in a questioning manner and looked at the girl's obviously irritated face. She was thoroughly livid and Ichigo could not understand why.

"Huh?" was all he managed to say before Rukia roughly pushed his hand off her shoulder and took a step back, her eyes never leaving his confused face.

"Don't touch me without my permission," she said with a growl, don't touch me ever for that matter, she thought secretly. Her eyes bore into his as if daring him to challenge her.

"Rukia?" Orihime said softly, "Are you sure that you're alright?"

She turned to Orihime and nodded once, "Yes Inoue-san, thank you. Can you tell me where the clinic is? I think that I'll go there and get an aspirin, I can feel a pounding headache coming already." She shot Ichigo a small glare as she said the last part.

"Yeah, sure, it's…" she paused for a moment and looked around the hallway with a thoughtful look on her face, "Umm… well, I think it might be…"

"I'll take you there," Ichigo cut in, interrupting Orihime's rant. The raven-haired girl turned her attention back to the boy. Like hell she was going anywhere with him alone.

"I'm not a child, I can follow directions just fine," she bit out sharply. His eyes widened in surprise at her comment.

"That's not what I meant," he said defensively, "I just thought, since you're new here and all, it would be easier just to…"

"Just tell me where it is," she cut in, crossing her arms in front of her chest and tapping her foot in impatience.

Ichigo gawked at her, his mouth parted in astonishment. This girl was really something else. He shook himself out of his reverie and started to speak, "Do you know where the administration room is?"

She nodded her assent.

"Well, it's right above it, on the second floor," she nodded again before turning and walking that way. She waved to Orihime as she passed, turned the corner and was out of sight.

She felt like screaming.

That damn orange-haired kid did go to school here, and, of course, he just had to be friends with the only people in this school that she had met. Her hands were curled into tights fists to alleviate some of her aggravation. He was probably in her class as well.

She forced her teeth to unclench as she made her way to the staircase and uncurled her hands to grab the railing. The hallways were nearly deserted, everyone being at lunch, and it gave the school a ghost town-like atmosphere. She almost wished the stupid boy had walked her to the clinic.

She shook her head at the thought. She wanted nothing whatsoever to do with that damned boy.

At the top of the stairs, she turned left, heading toward the clinic. It was even more uninhabited on the second floor of the school and she half wondered if the nurse would be in the clinic or out to lunch with everyone else.

Rukia brought her hands up to rub her temples. She really was getting a wicked headache but it had little to do with smashing into the orange haired kid and more to do with seeing him at school and knowing she would have to deal with the premonition sooner rather than later. She let out a deep sigh. Things never went her way did they?

"Okay everyone, who wants to try my daikon, pickled plum and green tea rice balls?" Orihime announced with glee.

"…" everyone in the group had incredulous looks on their faces as they stared at Orihime's strange looking dish.

"Umm, no thanks Inoue, I brought more food than I can eat," said Tatsuki, gesturing to her bento box. Everyone else in turn gave the orange haired girl their own excuses as to why they could not eat any of her food "even though it looked wonderful" as they had stated.

Orihime turned to Ichigo, the only one who hadn't spoken. He was looking down at his food as if in a daze, not moving at all, as everyone around him was engrossed in the wonders of lunchtime.

"Ichigo," she began, he was snapped out of his musing when he heard his name. The girl gestured to the plate of food in her hand, "Do you want any?"

He didn't say anything, choosing instead just to shake his head no and turn his attention back to his lunch.

I wonder what's wrong with him… Orihime thought silently before eating another rice ball.

"Where is she?" Kiego suddenly appeared out of nowhere, his eyes darting around the group of friends.

"Who are you talking about?" Tatsuki snapped, clearly annoyed with his overzealous attitude.

"The new girl of course," his eyes took on a dreamy quality, "she wants me."

A chorus of laughs erupted from the groups of friends as they took turns making fun of the smitten boy. Even Uuryu jibed about how Kiego had no chance with her. The short boy, in turn, simply huffed and took a seat next to Ichigo who had remained silent.

"Hey," it was Chad who spoke this time, his question directed at Ichigo whose face looked strained in concentration, "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing," he replied, looking up at his large friend, "I was just thinking."

"What were you thinking about?" Kiego said from beside him, "The new girl?"

"Actually I…"

"Nooooooooo…" the shorter boy interrupted him mid-sentence, "She's mine! I saw her first!"

Ichigo's eyes widened at his friend's statement, "That's not what I meant," he said defensively, "She just seems familiar, but I can't place where I've seen her before."

Kiego leaned closer to Ichigo, staring him in the eye.

"Look, don't worry about it, she doesn't like me anyway," he turned his eyes away from the glaring boy as he finished.

"That's not true Ichigo," Orihime spoke up with a confident smile on her face, "She was just startled, that's all. She'll warm up to you."

He almost rolled his eyes in opposition, "Whatever."

He turned back to his uneaten bento.

This won't do, the orange haired girl thought to herself, how can I make those two get along?

She was snapped out of her pondering when Kiego spoke up again, "Hey Inoue? Will you switch seats with me so I can sit next to the new girl for the rest of the year?"

Her eyes widened as a thought came to her.

That's it!

Rukia felt better.

Advil always worked wonders on her headaches. She felt like sighing in relief. The nice nurse had even brought Rukia a sandwich from the teachers lounge for her to eat for lunch. She smile to herself, it was unfair how good the teacher's food was compared to the horrendous meals they tried to feed the students.

She walked down the hallway in a casual manner, even though she was late for class, for in her hand she held the most valuable thing to any high school student… a late pass.

She had a hint of a smile on her face as she stopped in front of her class's door. Making sure that her uniform was straight, she slowly opened the entry, striding in with a smirk on her face.

Before the teacher could yell at her for being tardy, she held up her hall pass, silencing the professor on the spot. The pass was a wondrous thing, almost like giving the power of the gods to mere mortals. The teacher simple scowled as he gestured to the back of the room.

"That you for joining us Miss Kuchiki, please take your seat next to Mr. Kurosaki," Rukia nodded to the teacher before the words he spoke sunk in.

Wait a second, next to who? She turned to look at her seat by the window to find it empty and waiting, but next to it, where Orihime should have been sitting, was the Orange haired boy who she had been hoping to avoid.

She felt her headache begin to return.

"Wait, sir, I really don't want to sit there," she said to the teacher before he headed back to his teaching podium.

It was the professor's turn to smirk this time, "Well I'm sorry about that Miss Kuchiki, but the seats are permanent after today, and since you were late for class you will have to live with what is left."

Rukia held herself back from scowling at the teacher and his arrogant tone of voice. She walked back to her seat slowly, refusing to make eye contact with anyone. Sitting down and placing her bag underneath the desk, she turned her face to look out the window, focusing on ignoring the aggravating boy sitting next to her.

The bell finally rung, signaling the end of the day and freedom for the students.

Rukia grabbed her bag quickly, standing up and nearly racing out of the classroom at top speed. She needed to get out of there.

Racing down the hallway in a fast walk, she barged through the double doors to outside. She was one of the first students to leave and she mentally patted herself on the back for avoiding the rush. Taking a calming breath of fresh air, se settled herself at a slower and more relaxed pace toward her house.

"Wait," she heard someone call, their footsteps racing to catch up with her.

She turned around to see who was calling for her and instantly regretted it. She didn't slow down or wait as the orange haired boy ran after her.

"Can I help you?" she asked as he slowed to walk beside her. She gave him a quick sideways glance before turning her eyes back forward.

"I just wanted to apologize to you," he said, looking at her as he spoke, "I was a jerk for running into you and I'm sorry."

She turned to glance at him but did not say anything back.

"I don't want us to get off on the wrong foot, I mean, we're seatmates after all, and it would be better if we were friends rather than enemies," he said.

She still remained silent.

"I'm Kurosaki Ichigo by the way, I don't think I introduced myself after our run-in," he stated to her, waiting for her response.

When she was mute yet again, he stepped in front of her, stopping her stride.

She glared at him with angry eyes, opening her mouth to retort but her beat her to the punch, "Look, I'm telling you the truth when I say that I am extremely sorry for anything that I did to you. I don't know why you dislike me but we are going to be sitting beside each other for the rest of the year and I would feel much better if we were on speaking terms."

She looked up at his face, his eyebrows were furrowed and his eyes bore into hers daring her to argue. She knew this was a lost battle.

Her dark purple eyes stared met his and he felt a sudden feeling of familiarity rush through him, Where have I seen those eyes before?

"I accept your apology," she said clearly, keeping her voice sounding confident even though the way his eyes bore into her unnerved her deeply.

It took a moment for him to grasp what she said but when the words sunk in he let a small smile appear on his face and he stepped to the side, letting her pass.

When she resumed her walk, he followed, matching his pace to hers as he walked next to her. Her teeth ground together in anger when she realized he had not left.

"What are you doing?" she inquired stopping her march and turning to face him fully.

"Uhh… well I figured I'd walk you home," he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, "We could get to know each other better and I can keep all the thugs around here from bothering you."

She stopped herself from growling out loud at him.

"Look Kurosaki," she said his name through her teeth, "I can take care of myself," he opened his mouth to argue but she beat him to the punch, "and as for us getting to know each other, we will be sitting together for the rest of the year, I think we will have plenty of time the become accented."

He didn't know what to say, her eyes held a defiance of which he had never seen and he was at a loss for words.

Seeing that he was not going to respond, she continued her walk home.

"Wait," she heard him call.

Her patience was running thin and she turn to snap at him, "What do you want now?"

"You never told me your name," he replied.

She felt relieved that he hadn't found some stupid excuse to follow her home and let out a small sigh before answering, "It's Kuchiki Rukia."

He repeated her name silently to himself as if testing the way in sounded coming from his lips.

"Goodnight Rukia," he said, watching as she flinched when he casually addressed her by her first name.

She did not turn around as she answered back, "Goodnight Kurosaki-san."

He let a humored smile appear on his face at her formality. She was definitely something else.

A/N- thank you for all the reviews, you have no idea how much they inspired me to write this chapter. I was going to wait until next week to update but getting such wonderful reviews inspired me. Please review this chapter and tell me what you think.

1. Nice chapter, update soon.

2. Check your grammar and edit some parts.

3. I hate this chapter.

4. Yeah! I love it! Update soon!!!