Not-so-long-author-note: Hey! This is the third chapter of It Takes Two to Make a Heart! I'll say more in the author note below, SO PLEASE READ THE AUTHOR NOTE BELOW.

This is rated T for mild language.

Warning: Possible spoilers

It Takes Two to Make a Heart – What's in a Name?

Rukia was prone to many embarrassing reactions in equally embarrassing situations. She was often known among those close to her – and of those, she did not have many – to squeak, flush brighter than Ichigo's hair color, lose her balance, and present to the world a gaping mouth, not unlike that of a fish. It was to her surprise then, that she did not react in any of these ways, to the sudden proposal by her probable-vice-president, Hisagi Shuhei. Not at first, anyways.

"I ask again, will you marry me?"

She supposed in her mind, off to the side, while most of her brain struggled to comprehend and deal with the situation before it, that boys could not only be monkeys, but hasty. Whoever heard of a proposal at first sight. It wasn't exactly as simple as love at first sight.

"I-I'm… I'm not even of legal age yet!" Rukia managed. Shoot. That was the first thing that had to pop out of her accursed mouth? Of all the things she could have smoothly delivered. Granted, it wasn't any of her typical shameful reactions, but it wasn't anything more pleasant or articulate.

"Ah, then, should I begin courting you? Or would you prefer for me to take it up with your guardians, if you have any?" continued Shuhei, undeterred in the slightest. Rukia shook her head numbly, and caught the eye of one stupendously shocked Kurosaki Ichigo. To anyone who was not good at reading faces or close to him, they wouldn't have thought him much moved by the current spectacle, but years of hanging around her stoic brother had granted her the ability to discern much of people's emotions by facial expression alone, no matter how subtle or subdued.

Ichigo's brow hadn't changed its angle much, nor had his mouth. The dead giveaway, as for most people, was his eyes, which were widened ever so slightly. It was fairly amusing to see him in such a state, she almost forgot the waiting vice-captain, who was still down on his knees. Fancy and well-kept school stage or not, it was probably bruising his knees that were exposed by his khaki shorts. She quickly thrust out a hand for him to pull himself up. Shuhei took its meaning the wrong way though.

"You accept? Really?" he cried out, his narrow eyes widening in excitement. "N-no, I meant for you to get up! Don't your knees hurt?" she flustered, now proceeding to begin one of her customary actions, blushing. He looked up at her in wonder. "Are all girls usually this nice?" he marveled, "I was under the impression they weren't this nice."

That ticked Rukia off. No matter how weird yet nice this guy was to her, wasn't he being too general about girls? Not all girls were mean, just as not all boys were the nicest beings on this planet. As a girl, and probably, soon-to-be only female student of this school, she wouldn't stand for this! Her earlier insecurities forgotten, she retracted her outstretched hand and shouted at the still-kneeling vice-captain, "Guys aren't exactly lambs either!"

It was then she noticed the hushed silence that had gripped the whole audience, and looked around nervously. Like Ichigo, many of the students appeared shocked or dumbfounded in the audience. Her eyes swiveled back to the stage she was on and locked on to the two other boys, Ishida Uryu, and Abarai Renji.

Uryu appeared a bit miffed and surprised, but obviously was keeping both emotions under control. At least, that was what it looked like to her. The glare of light on his glasses made it difficult to determine his mood. Renji, however, appeared to be beside himself with glee. "O-oh man, that's gotta be the first time I've seen Hisagi-san like that! Pffft-" And here, the red-haired broke down in fits of laughter, shaking and bending down to grasp his knees in support, lest he fall.

"Oi!" barked the embarrassed vice-president, "Stop laughing!" At this command, Renji made a valiant effort to stifle his giggles, but like a bursting dam, more laughter and a healthy dosage of spittle spewed out from his mouth. Uryu and Rukia hopped back in horror.

"Really though," asked Uryu, stepping up to Rukia, "who are you? I know that we just announced that we may have girls at our school, but for one to be here already-" "You're wrong," Rukia cut him off, "this was all just a misunderstanding. I'm not supposed to even be in this school!"

Oh yeah, Ichigo could see where this was going. Just as Captain Byakuya had apparently lost his marbles over Kuchiki Rukia's school records, Hisagi-san did not just lose his marbles, he definitely needed a lunatic ward, stat. He stared up, aghast, at his vice-president, who he had always known as responsible, level-headed, a bit of a closet pervert, and fair. He did not, however, know this romantic desperate fool that had replaced his vice-captain. It was like he had been replaced the moment his eyes had set on Rukia.

The Kuchiki girl was quickly becoming the root of many problems for him today.

The lights that glared down on the stage were still on, but he could see enough of their shapes and positions. Four silhouettes, three tall and one short. Gee, it wasn't too hard to figure out where Rukia was with just that level of visual information. He squinted into the light, and noticed a fifth silhouette. Leaning forward, he saw another short shadow, and to make sure his eyes weren't deceiving him (and convince himself that the Kuchiki hadn't suddenly split herself in two) he looked back towards where he saw Rukia's silhouette last. Nope, the tiny girl was still there.

He settled back into his chair and frowned. He was sure that all the boys in the school were, at the very least, only a couple inches short of his tall height. But not to the point of Rukia. He glanced back into the glare to peer at the second, unannounced shadow.

If that was the case, then who was this new guy?

While Ichigo had noticed the new figure, the others were more or less still engaged in heated conversation. Uryu was now scolding Renji for the mess he created, Rukia continued to deny, and Shuhei continued to persist his suit.

"Look at this, Abarai, because I'm not cleaning that up!"

"Will you reconsider, lady?"

"M-my name is Kuchiki Rukia, and I'm telling you, I'm not even in this school!"

"Geez, Ishida, you always make a big fuss about things!"

"Abarai, this is a matter of school conduct and your conduct as this year's event coordinator!"

"If I bought some diamonds, would you reconsider? I heard diamonds are a girl's best friend!"

"Spit, spat, it isn't that much! Here, I'll bend down and wipe it off!"

"Not all girls want diamonds! Stop generalizing!"

"So you won't marry me?"

"Abarai! That'll just spread the germs! And I order you to get some disinfecting wipes!"

"Huh? What's with that! You can't boss me around!"

"I should think the student secretary and treasurer hold more authority than the position of an event coordinator, who still has to report to the treasurer for funds and budget."

"Hah? You want to start something here?"

"No, Hisagi-san, I'm not marrying you."

"I should hope not."

The last sentence was uttered in a deep, mature tenor that was unlike that of any of the shouting figures on stage. The four of them whirled around to face the back, where a shadow was emerging from behind the back curtains. Uryu and Shuhei paled, Renji gazed in curiosity, and Rukia tilted her head in confusion.

"Who's that?" remarked Renji as the short figure drew near.

"Abarai! Don't you remember, we were supposed to introduce him!"

"Him?" echoed Renji and Rukia. Shuhei jerked his head in a sharp nod. "Yeah." He then bowed down, along with Uryu, who jerked Renji's head down to match their level. "We apologize for our misconduct," began Uryu, and Shuhei finished with "and we welcome you to our school, Karukara Institute for Boys."

"Hn," grunted the voice, "I'll do introductions myself."

During this exchange, Rukia was standing bewildered next to the microphone, sensing another momentous page in her book of life. What was it this time? Who was approaching, who had enough respect to cause the Buttons to apologize and bow to him? As the figure stepped forward into the light and behind the microphone, she noticed certain eye-catching features.

Short stylized white hair with a bang in front. Short stature. Thin yet toned build. Brilliant sparkling, turquoise eyes. Black traditional Japanese robes and white coat.

Exactly like that of Captain Yamamoto.

These eyes appraised her as he passed her and came to a stop behind the microphone. Without any hint or visible signs of embarrassment, he adjusted the microphone to his height, and addressed the crowd.

"My name is Hitsugaya Toshiro, the new 10th Captain of the Gotei 13. And as for Hisagi's proposal, he'll be disappointed to know it's late."

The crowd murmured in surprised shock at the captain's apparent young age, and his declaration. In the crowd, Ichigo's brow furrowed deeper into a confused scowl. This little kid was a Captain? And pigs would fly. But something about him bespoke of authority and power. He couldn't quite place why, but he believed in the white-haired youth's claim of his name.

"Why is that, Captain Hitsugaya?" queried Uryu.

Toshiro glanced at Rukia again, who could not help but flinch at the gaze of a Captain. His face was young and slightly tan, but his eyes were very wise, almost like that of an adult. It looked wrong yet right on his child-like face. He did not stare long and returned his focus to the audience.

"I am Hitsugaya Toshiro, new 10th Captain of the Gotei 13."

Ichigo, who had during this time been analyzing their entire conversation, realized what he was getting at, and shot to his feet in shock.

"No way," he breathed, "is he going to say what I think he's going to say?"

"And," continued the 10th Captain, "the official fiancé of Kuchiki Rukia."

Super-long-author-note: Hey guys, as usual, thanks so much for all the visitors and hits to my stories! While I'd love to hear from you guys by review or messaging, your interest in my fics has made me quite happy!

PLEASE READ THIS. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT. I believe I owe you guys another explanation. This has been a crappy week for me, and probably for those who were eagerly awaiting this story. I know after 2-3 years reading fanfics on this site, and I knew this fic, compared to When It's Rukia, would garner more interest. So for the people who hold this interest, I apologize for the super-late update to this fic. I mentioned in the latest chapter of When It's Rukia that I contracted pneumonia, a type of lung infection, for the 8th or 9th time. As many of you might have guessed, I'm still not a senior, so to have contracted it this many times isn't good. After an ER visit, I updated my other fic's 4th chapter, and then was rushed to the hospital not long after for something else. Doctors said it could be a cancerous tumor, but they aren't sure. They noticed it in my ER visit. I'm not sure what this spells, but I hope to continue to have the strength to provide happiness in reading interesting or good stories for you all, visitors, reviewers, and those who set me or my fics as a favorite or on alert. I thank all of you guys. You guys make me happy with your support so far.

When I finally did recover and return, I also realized that I may have rushed my fics a bit. I wanted to take some time re-evaluating how they were going to end, and what mood, characters, and events were going to be in them. Boy, for It Takes Two to Make a Heart, I spent a long time revising the plot. Don't worry though; I'm still going to update it. I have to thank all the people who reviewed, who took the time to leave a comment or two, even if it was asking for more updates and asking what was going to happen next. I don't really mind, because when I first started out with writing on this site, I didn't expect to get any. That I got reviews, and alerts and favorites made me beyond happy, and determined to recover faster. Anyways, since I'm going to be more careful and thoughtful with my stories' plots, updates will be farther apart. Also, I have school. Please be patient with me as you've been, and thank you so much for your support up until now!

I mentioned this on When It's Rukia, and I'll mention it here. It's important to read my author notes because I usually have important info. For anonymous reviewers (please sign in if you have an account or make one; usually doesn't take long, and you don't have to write stories), I might put a short reply in an author note. I also give update statuses and news.

ALSO IMPORTANT: So I tried an experiment recently, to see if people really bother to read my author notes. I said in multiple author notes that the first person who reviews with (Hirako Shinji - ijnihS okariH), will get a short oneshot (one chapter) from me about the Bleach universe, preferably a pairing. They could send me the specifics, or give me free reign. Either was fine. I also said that I'd post the winner in the next chapter, and message that person. Well, I got a review for When It's Rukia, and someone did post my secret message. xombi316, you are the rightful winner of my free oneshot, so I offer my congratulations and thanks for reading. Please message me or tell me in a review your preferences. Please give me time as well; I definitely won't forget it though. With this, the "contest" has ended.

This chapter was tough to get out, because I think I was too hasty with the first two chapters. It's also shorter, and I hope you'll forgive me for that. I hope that you like it as much as you did the first ones. So Hitsugaya is indeed engaged to Rukia, but this is just one of many things that will happen to Rukia. This fic is turning out to be more serious than I thought. I originally created this to be less stressful and dark than When It's Rukia, but that might not be the case. My rough plot outline is already more than 8 pages long… = ="

Don't expect any new chapters tomorrow. Even authors need their breaks, hehe. For those that are starving for When It's Rukia, rest assured, even if it takes a while, I will update it.

Some other things I'll mention here. I'm a big supporter of correct mechanics (spelling, punctuation, capitalization). If you see any mistakes in mechanics or grammar in my works, feel free to notify me. I won't get mad, in fact, I'd be glad if someone would help. I want to learn from my mistakes, and it's better if someone else points it out for you.

I'm not review-hungry, so I won't nag you guys for any. But I'd like to voice the opinions I think most authors on this site have: We don't always want reviews saying "Update, please!" or "That was sexy!", etc. Most of us want to know how we did, where we can improve on, and what elements to keep and expand upon. A lot of the authors' goals on this site are to have fun sharing and reading stories. So please, the next time you are moved or impressed enough to write a review, write a little bit more, no matter how short, like: "You have good humor!" It makes a lot of positive difference. :)

Before this review gets any longer, I'll end it. Please check my profile for more info. I might set up a poll in the near future.