Alright! Chapter two up! I was too lazy and preoccupied to write it till now. Preoccupied because we get to go to Quebec for our year-end trip! Wootness!

It's a big deal for me, okay? After 9 years of being treated like a baby, I finally get to graduate and move onto a whole new school.

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Second Collected:

Awe

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Dammit, Rukia swore in her mind, as she fell one knee. Her head bowed and she held the gash on her stomach, blood squirting through her fingers which dyed them a deep red colour. With her other hand, she balanced her small frame and braced herself for impact. Why was I so stupid as to let that happen?

She struggled to raise her body to the hollow to show it she wasn't about to give up. All that came up was her head. Rukia's eyes widened considerably as she nearly missed Ichigo's bold move of jumping directly in front of the enemy. Her lips parted to shout his name, to warn him that he was going to get hurt, but it was not needed because in a split second a soul-slayer was brought down on the hollows mask. Only bits of dust floating in the air were left after that.

Ichigo, who had fallen gracefully to the ground, ran over to Rukia and squatted down in front of her. He smirked smugly. "Sorry I didn't listen – I just had to get in the way of your fight." Stupid, saracstic voice.

The violet eyes that held awed gratitude shifted to eyes of anger. "Baka," she rasped. "You could have gotten yourself killed, pulling that stunt. I could have handled it all on my own thank you very much!"

Ignoring her rant, Ichigo stood with his back to her and slung his sword over his shoulder while surveying their surroundings. The wind had started to pick up and tousled his bright hair around from where he stood on the building's rooftop.

Besides the movement of wind that picked up every small, loose object in it's path, everything was still. Suddenly, Ichigo turned to face Rukia – who was still crouched on the ground – and stared at her.

Moonlight bounced of Ichigo's Zanpakuto, giving it an unnatural-looking effect, and an unexpected thought ran through Rukia's mind.

For a while now... Ichigo actually looks...

The silence was only there between the two for a moment before Ichigo suddenly spoke up, cutting off all traces of thought. "So, am I gunna have to carry you back, midget?"

In the end, Ichigo walked home with a limp.

Word count: 373