One Year Later
-Cross the Road

It was about 3 in the morning when a portal had opened in the middle of the basketball court near the school. A fully cloaked female stepped out before the portal faded away. She looked around, her violet orbs adjusting to the surroundings. It's been a while. It's been a year ever since Kuchiki Rukia last saw this place. Exactly a year.

As usual, the first place she headed to was Urahara's shop. She wasn't really surprised to see that Ururu and Jinta were still up. The two have certainly grown up and she noticed the way Jinta was looking at Ururu. He was beginning to like her but Ururu didn't have a single clue.

Urahara had been in the underground training area, trying out a new trick. When the kids informed him of her arrival, he gave a quick smirk before climbing back to the surface. Before he had met with her, he inspected the calendar. December 13, he thought to himself. Did she really mean to come back today? Or did she not notice? He knew this day was coming and he had been prepared the minute she had left. Everything she asked for, he had them. Memory-altering powder. Certificates. A new set of clothes. Important documents and papers. Key to her new apartment. He had them all.

She was going to stay a while here just to get away from life in Soul Society. She didn't want to continue living there anymore. She knew she had a duty at first but after several months, it turned out to be a burden-a burden she really couldn't carry for long.

She only got a few hours to sleep but it wasn't a big deal. In Soul Society, she seldom got some sleep with all the things she had to do.

She woke up in her new apartment which she had just entered for the first time 2 hours ago. She freshened up, changed into her uniform and prepared her bento for today. She was going to high school again. She missed it. She missed the racket and the pressure the teachers were putting on them because it was such a treat compared to what she'd beenn doing in Soul Society.

Something felt weird the moment she strapped on her bunny watch and looked at it. 6:15. Somehow, she knew something unexpected was going to happen. She didn't know what so she decided to keep her guard so nothing would come to her by surprise.

Rukia locked up and began to walk to school. She was feeling like another person, wearing a blue blazer over a white blouse and navy pleated skirt. Yes, it felt so different from the uniform she used to wear when she went to Ichigo's school. She couldn't remember how it felt on her skin anymore but she was definite that it was nothing like her new uniform.

Her new school was nearby. In fact, it was a lot closer than her previous school. It was just a stoplight away. All she needed to do was cross the road to get there. As she waited, a young boy in a skull mask bumped into her. Judging by how the boy moved his hands randomly, she guessed the mask wasn't really put on the right way. She bent down and removed the mask from the boy's face, greeting him good morning with a very warm smile... The warmest smile she's given in a year. And she was only able to smile like that because the mask reminded her so much of Ichigo.

Strangely, she felt a bit tired after a long day in school today. All she wanted to do was get home and rest for the rest of the day. It wasn't definitely a day she enjoyed and the fact that her boyfriend, Ichigo, was absent didn't really help either.

As soon as she got home, she changed her clothes and went straight to bed even though it was only 4:38 when she last looked at the wall clock in her bedroom.

She fell into slumber but was suddenly woken up by a sweet aroma. It smelled like steak... And it was coming from the kitchen. She put on her bunny slippers and dragged her sleepy ass to the kitchen where the sight of Ichigo in an apron and a pink bandana cracked her up.

"Oh gosh, I'm sorry, Kurosaki," she said in between the laughs. "No matter how many times I see you like that, it's always hilarious."

Ichigo raised an eyebrow at her. "I could say the same thing about your drawings."

Rukia desisted and tried not to laugh anymore. Wise crack, she thought to herself. "What are you doing here? How'd you even get in?"

"I'm cooking you dinner. Sado told me you weren't feeling well today and Inoue said you had a fever." He flipped the steak on the greasy pan. "And besides," he added. "You gave me a spare key to your house."

"I don't remember doing that."

"Of course, you won't," he chuckled." I duplicated the key earlier this week without your consent. It's not fair you get to enter my room whenever you want because of the window."

She sat on the dining table and waited for her meal there. "Why don't you just do the same thing?"

"You don't have windows in this apartment, wise crack."

She shut her mouth and waited patiently until Ichigo served the steak on her plate along with a glass of orange juice and a nice bowl of soup. She asked him to join her but he refused and told her that the meal was for her. She smiled and thanked him.

It wasn't everyday that Ichigo would do something like this for her and it felt real nice to feel cared for and appreciated once in a while.

She missed how Kurosaki would do all those silly things for her just to make her smile. She missed the efforts he would put into his plans even though they would end up being a disaster. She missed everything about him and she's been thinking of no one else but him since she had left and returned. Not even Renji could've pulled her mind off of him. Not even Kuchiki Byakuya, the person who left her with a burden, overtook Ichigo in her head.

She told herself that she was going to drown herself into her work so she can forget about Ichigo and not think about going back to his world. She only left because she had to and not because she wanted to. That's what everyone in Soul Society was expecting her to do and so she left Ichigo and this world. But she never should have. If only she knew what had been waiting for her.

The boy bid her goodbye and she waved at him as well. She was about to cross the road when the pedestrian lights turned red. Bummer. Waiting for the lights to turn green would be 5 minutes waste.

Her eyes wandered to the other side, knowing that her old school was close. There were students wearing the old uniforms she got used to and, God, how they brought back memories. But as her eyes wandered, she asked herself, who was she expecting to find? Orihime? Sado? Uryuu? And then there her answer was. Looking straight at her. Her carrot-headed answer was just a few meters away. Her heart dropped to her stomach and it seemed like everyone had vanished except for the two of them.

The man she had loved and will love again was on the other side.

Kurosaki Ichigo.