Thanks to everyone who showed their appreciation for the last two chapters. It means a lot, so I hope everyone keeps reading and thinking at the same time.

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Chapter 3: Ohayou, Strawberry!

"Hm, Ichigo? Heloooo? Earth to strawberry, do you read, strawberry?" Tatsuki said, waving her hand in front of Ichigo's face to make him snap out of his shocked state. Obviously, it worked.

He looked at the brunette head to toe. She was wearing sunglasses, unusual since it wasn't too bright today. She was also wearing a thick black jacket, and it's summer for god's sake! Her necktie had not been tied properly, and Tatsuki (being a martial artist and all) was a stricter for the rules. All in all, the sight screamed 'SOMETHING'S WRONG WITH ME!!'

"What the hell happened to you?!" was all Ichigo could muster; still sensing the strong reiatsu, which he now knew was coming from the girl he was talking to.

"Huh? Nothing pea-brain! I'm perfectly fine!" she replied.

An odd silence. Just then, the door flung open, and a red-headed girl popped in and said "Tatsuki-chan, I've finished with the chore!" Inoue paused. She looked at her friend in the same manner Ichigo did. Then, she poked her finger into Tatsuki's left shoulder, making the other girl jump with pain.

"Oh, so your shoulder still hurts…" Orihime, who now had a look of concern, said. "You sure you don't want to see the nurse, Tatsuki-chan?"

"Yeah! I'm fine! 100fit! Hehe…" Tatsuki replied, moving from pained to energetic in about half a second.

"What happened to her shoulder?" Rukia cut in.

"Oh, that? I just got bit by a dog that attacked Orihime. No big deal…" Once again Inoue poked Tatsuki's shoulder. "OWWW! Orihime, could you PLEASE stop doing that?" Tatsuki winced.

"Hmm…I see…" Rukia, who was now trying to put the pieces of info together, said simply.

"Kuchiki-san! You should've seen her beat it! Tatsuki-chan stepped on its tail and pounded it like a punching bag!" Orihime exclaimed, trying to copy what Tatsuki did last Friday.

"Wait, she beat it with her own hands?!" Ichigo, who finally snapped out of his shock, said disbelievingly, remembering the time when his two little sisters were attacked. He and his father had to get two metal poles to drive the attackers off, but to no avail. Luckily, Karin and Yuzu only got minor bites.

"Ichigo, do you think I would be so weak that I can't even protect people from insane animals?" Tatsuki said mockingly. Although she meant it to be a joke, the girl felt her temper rise. Weird, she thought, I got more hotheaded ever since I got bit by that dog. Rabies, maybe?

Ichigo and Rukia then felt more pressure surrounding them. Shit, Tatsuki's having an increase in spirit power! Ichigo thought, wondering how the girl had obtained this much power. Wait, if this is how high her spirit level is when she's insulted, I'm not gonna hang around when she's really pissed, Ichigo shuddered at the thought. Obviously, Tatsuki's unaware of her reiatsu…Rukia concluded, seeing that the girl was looking at them like they just sprouted green antennas from their heads.

The tense scene was then cut when the bell rang. The brunette had calmed down, much to Ichigo and Rukia's relief, although both kept an eye on her the whole morning.

"Nothing much's changed…" Ichigo said to Rukia, who glared at him in reply. "And besides, she's still the crazy, overprotective girl we know, just with a little more power."

"To think it was a dog that caused this…unbelievable…" Rukia said. They were hanging out at the usual place, by the trees. She was sitting on a tree branch; Ichigo was on the other side of the tree. Keigo and the boys were talking to Chad. Ishida knitting Kon, since Tatsuki had beaten him enough for 75 of the stuffing to come out. Well, as for Tatsuki and Orihime, they were hanging out with the girls. Right now, Rukia and Ichigo were still observing her.

"Oh, crap. I forgot to buy something from the canteen." Tatsuki said getting up. Rukia's eyes followed the girl. She jumped from the branch and started to follow.

At this time, Chizuru saw her chance. She snuck behind Orihime, who was happily chatting with the other girls. She was only a millimeter from her target when a fist met her face.

Rukia stared at the now empty space in shock. The second before, she was watching Tatsuki go into the canteen. Now, Tatsuki was standing between Orihime and Chizuru. A riceball in her mouth and Chizuru's face in her fist. "Chizuru, how many times have I told you not to do that?" The brunette said with her mouth full.

The other girl mumbled something in reply. But the reply didn't matter. Rukia had run up to Tatsuki. "How?! So fast!" was all she could say.

Rukia saw Tatsuki blink under her sunglasses. "You mean, you didn't notice?"

"Didn't notice what??" Rukia asked, thinking that Tatsuki was talking about her spirit power.

Tatsuki sighed. She sat on the grass and pointed her legs. "See? The weights are off! Well, just 10 pounds…"

Now it was Rukia's turn to blink. "Weights?"

"Yeah, didn't I tell you that last week?"

"Oh, right…" she said, remembering last month's gym class:

Monday, 3:17 pm---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Kuchiki-san? Have you seen Tatsuki-chan?" Orihime, who had a lost expression on her face, said as she approached Rukia, who was heading to the girl's changing room.

"No. But I'll tell you if I see her, 'kay?" Rukia replied. It was 15 minutes after PE, their last class. She didn't bother to knock on the door, since she didn't expect anyone in the changing room. She stopped dead in her tracks when she heard someone humming.

Obviously, that person heard her. "Who's there?" the girl(who else could it be, it's the girl's changing room for God's sake!) said in a cautious tone.

Rukia recognized the voice at once. "Tatsuki?" she said, making her way towards where she heard the voice.

"Oh, Rukia." Tatsuki said as she sighed with relief. She was wearing a sleeveless shirt along with white jogging pants, the ones she usually wore during karate practice. She was sitting on the bench in front of the lockers, putting on her socks.

"What're you still doing here?" Rukia asked knowing full well that nobody, even the really self-conscious ones, can change that long.

"I was waiting for everyone to clear out." Tatsuki answered frankly.

"Why?" Rukia asked, unable to resist the curiosity about the other girl's actions.

Tatsuki was taken aback at first, since Rukia being curious about her business is the most unusual thing that has ever happened. She looked right and left, checking to see if Rukia was the only other person in the room. Well, aside from that butt-bearing ghost (yes, she can see ghosts, because of that little accident with Inoue's Onii-san if you don't know…) who she glared dangerously at, Rukia was the only one there. "Can you keep a secret?"

"Yeah, sure I guess…" Rukia agreed, although she was wondering why the brunette had asked her that. Tatsuki usually told Orihime at times like this, so Rukia was still puzzled.

Tatsuki sighed. "No choice then." Then, she sat down and rummaged through her sports bag.

Tatsuki then found what she was looking for, and then picked them up and showed them to her companion.

"Weights?"

"Yeah. I've been using weights on my feet for almost a year and it's been getting heavier each month." The brunette said with pride.

"How heavy are they now?" Rukia asked.

"See for yourself." Tatsuki replied, handing the weights to Rukia, who in turn, staggered back holding the heavy bags. "Around 20 pounds." Tatsuki revealed.

"20 pounds?!" was all Rukia can say. Either it was because she had underestimated her friend or maybe because Rukia had been to distracted by the bags that she couldn't think straight.

"I was too bored with 15, it was too light. So, I made it 5 pounds heavier for challenge." Tatsuki said with a sly grin, getting the weights from Rukia.

"I see." Rukia said as the other girl bent down and started putting on the weights. Remembering why she had come here in the first place, Rukia opened her locker and found what she was looking for: her sketchpad. She was about to say goodbye to Tatsuki when she spotted an odd mark on the said girl's shoulder: a triangle with a dotted circle in it. From afar, it looked like an eye. "What's that?" she pointed.

"Birthmark. My dad said it was on me ever since I was born." Tatsuki explained. She stood up, tested lifting her feet and decided she was ready to go. "We're gonna get locked up in here if we don't leave soon."

"Yeah, and by the way, Orihime's looking for you."

"'Kay. Oh, and don't tell anyone, I'll tell them when they're off."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------THIS Monday, 12:13 noon

"Rukia? Oi, you there?? Man, you shouldn't hang out with Ichigo, you're acting more like him these days!" Tatsuki's rantings snapped Rukia back to reality.

"O-Oh yeah!" Rukia said, standing up.

Everyone just looked at them for a moment. Seconds later, they shrugged it off, at least almost everyone. Orihime had the 'gears' (yes, the same ones in Soul Society, aka the nerves who 'figured out' that Ishida was in love with Rukia…silly enough, go on reading) working in her head. Now the gears tried to figure out why Tatsuki had told Rukia instead of her. "Could it be that Tatsuki-chan likes Kuchiki-san?" then the redhead covered her mouth since she accidentally blurted her thought out.

A few seconds later, the hang-out was filled with laughter. Keigo and Mizuiro were rolling on the grass. Ichigo was holding his stmach. Chizuru was leaning against the wall to keep her balance. Heck, even Ishida was laughing, clutching Kon so hard that the hole reopened and the stuffing came out. Tatsuki was snickering, trying not to embarrass her friend. Rukia, on the other hand, had a smile of humor on her face, one of the mask faces she wears when she tries to hide her emotion (right now she'd be laughing in her head). Orihime, however, was waiting for an answer. "Well?"

"What? Haha, no! Orihime, don't be silly!" Tatsuki answered , trying to hold back the laughter trying to get off her mouth. "You see…" Tatsuki then started explaining what happened the day she let Rukia know about the weights.

"Oh, I get it!" the redhead said after the story.

After everyone calmed down, the bell rang. Everyone approached the fields.

"That was flash step." Ichigo said once they were alone.

"No, it was the weights." Rukia said.

"No one can get that fast by just taking weights off. I felt Tatsuki release a minute amount of reiatsu before."

"No one can learn flash step in just a second, Ichigo."

"What if she did it unconsciously? A fluke?"

"Maybe… I guess you're right." Rukia agreed. Little did she know, that under those sunglasses, Tatsuki's eyes were changing from their normal color to an almost bloody red.

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Finally, done with the third. Yeah, I completely forgot what I should've written, so I improvised. Oh, and about that TatsuRuki idea, I was re-watching that Soul Society ep when Inoue sees Ishida sewing Rukia a sundress. I just thought it'd be nice to have one of that girl's crazy ideas in the plot. Tell me what you think, 'kay? Thanks for reading. One last thing: I DON'T OWN BLEACH OR ANYTHING RELATED TO IT.