Yo, sup y'all? Are we all ready for the 4th chapter of the amazing...the incredible...the revised editon of...Drifting?! Enjoy. I apologise for it bein shorter than usual but I ran out of time an I'm tryna write another story at the mo too :(

"Where are you going, Rukia?"

Rukia paused, cursing her luck. She had rather been hoping her brother wouldn't come out of the living room. "Um…" she fished for a solution quickly as she turned around the face the black-haired man, "w-well, Rangiku's not feeling well and asked me to come over…" she bowed her head. He could probably see right through the lie. He made her so nervous! She could lie effortlessly if the occasion called for it and Matsumoto had even said on more than one occasion that she was a damn good actress but Byakuya's presence always made her self-conscious. He was the man who had saved her from a grim future; she couldn't make herself lie so calmly in front of him. She owed him her life…and yet here she was, sneaking out on a Sunday evening to go and teach some guy how to drift! Small thanks that was!

She didn't dare look up. She didn't look at his face directly at all. She was too humble to do that so blatantly. She bowed her head whenever he addressed her openly. At the moment, it was also a good way to hide the shame that was, no doubt, written all over her face.

"All right, but make sure you're not out too long." He said eventually in his usual monotone.

She looked up in surprise but he'd already turned around to head back into his study. The back of his long scarf swished out behind him. The scarf was a family heirloom, passed down from the previous generations of the Kuchiki clan. When he wasn't in his business suit, he always wore it, along with more traditional garments. He felt that since the Kuchiki clan was of nobility, it should celebrate the Japanese tradition more. That was why he always more a kimono inside the house.

She breathed a sigh of relief, unable to believe he'd let her off so easily. Maybe he was preoccupied? It was possible. He always had work on his mind. He was a very thorough businessman. Or maybe he couldn't have cared less. But he checked up on her all the time. She should phone Matsumoto to let her know that Byakuya might call later, just to see if she was there. But, other than that, he rarely showed any interest in her personal life. She wished she could move out already, but she was too afraid to ask him. And it wouldn't show her gratitude in any way. It wasn't like she wanted to get rid of him or anything. She just felt like she couldn't breathe properly in his presence.

She trudged out of the house, pulling her car keys out of her pocket as she did so. She had a lesson to teach. She'd been wary when Kurosaki Ichigo first asked her to teach him to drift but she figured since she was already out most nights, she could spare her Sundays too. And she could maybe befriend him, since Matsumoto was so keen on that idea. They would have a one-hour lesson every Sunday, from seven until eight. He better be there, she thought as she climbed into her car. Otherwise I'm gonna kick his ass.

"Where're you going?"

Ichigo looked over his shoulder at Karin. "Out."

She scoffed. "I can see that, but where?"

He narrowed his eyes. "Don't really matter, does it?"

She shrugged. "Just curious."

"Haven't you got a life?" He sighed. "You should have some homework for university or whatever, right?"

"Nope." She sauntered off, even though she hadn't received a decent answer. She was an odd one. He stared after her for a while before he opened the door and stepped outside.

Since Karin's best friend had moved away from their part of town a while ago, she hung around the house all day (if she didn't have to go to university) doing nothing. He would bring himself to tell her to go outside and make friends and whatnot but she was a grown woman now. She was nineteen years old; she shouldn't have to be treated like a kid (not that she'd actually let anyone get away with treating her as such; she'd beat the living tar out of them if they insinuated such a thing). She'd never gone steady with a guy. All her potential boyfriends had never been good enough, in her opinion. In the past, every time she'd come back from a date, she'd always be pissed off. The only guy she'd ever really been comfortable around had been her best friend, but he wasn't around anymore.

His home life sucked. He heaved another massive sigh before he opened his car door and hopped inside. He had a lesson to go to. He'd worry about Karin later. Maybe he should get in touch with her old friend and ask him to pay a visit some time. He'd have hated him for what he'd done to his sister but it wasn't the guy's fault.

He shook the thoughts from his head. Now was not the time to be the protective older brother. He didn't like to keep people waiting.

It wasn't a long drive to the place where he was to meet Rukia. It was a road he'd been past many times before. It was long and he'd never seen anyone turning into it. On one side was a metal fence, blocking the entrance into old derelict homes. The entire street would be refurbished one day, since nobody lived here anymore. There had been signs put up boasting pictures of how the place would look when new houses had been built. The other side of the houses was a fairly open space, with a tall bridge for railroads some ways down. It was the perfect place for having a drifting lesson.

He pulled up at the side when he saw that there was already another car here. It wasn't the black Porsche that he'd been expecting but a bright neon yellow Mazda with orange graphics painted onto its side.

Stick out much? He thought dryly. Anybody would notice that thing! He had been under the impression that they'd be keeping this on the down low.

She got out as he approached her. She was wearing her long brown wig again. He frowned.

"Yo." She greeted.

"What happened, couldn't pick out a brighter shade from the entire visible spectrum?" He asked sarcastically.

She harrumphed. "As a matter of fact, this was the only one Urahara had available to hand at the moment. Anyway, we're not here to chitchat so get in."

"What about my car?" He asked.

She gave him a blank look. "What about it?"

"I can't just leave it here, can I?" He grumbled. "Anyone could come and break into it or something."

"Relax. We're not leaving this road." She assured. "Now get in."

He wanted to argue, just for the sake of arguing, but he climbed into the driver's seat wordlessly. She went around and sat in the passenger seat and strapped herself in. After buckling up, he started the engine. He whistled as he pushed on the gas pedal and the vehicle roared. That was some awesome power right there!

"All right, all right," Rukia said after he continued to push down on the accelerator, "let's get started already."

"Alrighty." He put it into gear and took off the handbrake and got it moving. He wanted to put his foot down and see how fast it could go but he was under Rukia's instruction. It was like having a driver instructor all over again! His first instructor, and the one he'd stuck with up until he passed his driving test, had been Chad's grandpa. He had learnt around the same time that Chad had. In turn, he had tutored Karin when she turned of legal age too.

Rukia directed him to the end of the road and put him through some manoeuvres that sounded simple enough. It really was like learning to drive all over again, except this time he was learning how to go much farther than just the legal aspects. It was illicit and it was fun. People always did say that there was more fun in breaking the rules than sticking to them.

"Oh, yeah, Yuzu asked me to invite you to dinner again." He said as he parked up the car just in front of his own, after their hour-session was up.

"Hn?" She frowned at him.

He shrugged. "I think the old man's taken a liking to you. And Yuzu's taken to callin you Rukia Nee-chan." He scoffed. It had been four days since Rukia had come to his place for dinner. Yuzu bugged him every day about whether she'd see "Rukia Nee-chan" again anytime soon. She'd asked him to invite her over for dinner more than once during the past few days so he'd told her that he'd ask her today. And if he returned home alone, they'd all beat him up for making them wait an extra hour for dinner.

She furrowed her eyebrows in puzzlement. "Why would they take a liking to me? They barely know me."
He shrugged again. "Beats me. I'm sure at first it was cuz they thought you were my girlfriend but I told them that wasn't the case."

She put her hand over her mouth. "Me? Your girlfriend? Please!" A snigger broke out and she turned away from him.

A vein popped in his forehead. "What's with that?!" That was so snobbish!

"Sorry. Never mind." She dismissed. "Anyway," she checked the dial on the radio. It read five past eight. "Sure, I'd be glad to." She offered him a small smile.

"Cool."

He got out of her car and went to his own. There was a smile on his face, for some reason or other.

And now he had to hurry home. He had asked them to wait an hour for dinner but it'd be about quarter past eight by the time he made it back. And Isshin didn't like waiting for his dinner. The old man was particular about time management.

She tailed him closely as he drove back home. She parked up in the street and he pulled up in the garage.

"Prepare yourself." He sighed as he met her at the door. She grinned. He braced himself and opened the door.

Surprisingly, no one jumped out at him. His father and sisters were sitting in the living room, watching TV. Isshin and Yuzu looked up when the door closed. Both their eyes lit up when they saw Rukia.

"Rukia Nee-chan!" Yuzu cried happily as she came up to hug Rukia. "You came!"

"Oh, Masaki! Our third daughter has come back!" Isshin dabbed at his eyes with a handkerchief as he flew to the memorial picture of his wife.

"Shut up, old man," Karin sighed without taking her eyes off the TV. "You're so embarrassing." And thus Isshin began to argue with her about "saying such things about daddy". Yuzu went to try and appease them but then gave up and went to make dinner.

"And so it begins," Ichigo muttered to Rukia.

"So what begins?" She asked curiously.

"The freak show." He replied apathetically.

She raised a dark eyebrow. "That's not something you should say about your family."

"They're a bunch of baboons." He said sourly. She punched him in the jaw. "Stupid little…" he began angrily, but she cut him off.

"You should be thankful you still have a proper family, strawberry." She huffed. "Some of us don't even have that."

He narrowed his eyes in puzzlement. "What about your brother? He's your family."

"Yes…" she replied distantly, "my brother…"

He was about to ask further but Karin and Isshin decided to break off their heated argument and the latter came to drag Rukia over to the sofa and went about trying to make her comfortable. "Soon, I shall call you my daughter-in-law!" He said as tears of joy ran down his cheeks. Rukia looked at a loss.

"How embarrassing…" Ichigo and Karin both sighed in unison.

Apparently, Ichigo and Rukia needed to have some privacy so Isshin and the girls left the room, though Karin was a little reluctant to leave. Rukia stared after them with her eyebrows raised high. What an odd little family, she thought. But it wasn't an unpleasant feeling to be in their midst. It felt so…homely, being here. Maybe that was why she'd accepted Ichigo's invitation. She'd really enjoyed it here the last time.

"You know, they say that they're gonna give us some "privacy" but they're probably listening at the door." Ichigo snorted as he flicked through channels on the TV.

"They must really want to get rid of you. You're twenty-three and still livin at home without a wife." She said teasingly.

"Urusai!" He snapped irritably.

"It's true though, isn't it?" She smirked. "What a loser."

He threw a cushion at her and it hit her square in the face. "You son of a…!" She took it and lobbed it right back at him but he managed to duck out of the way.

"Oh, so you wanna fight, huh?" He grinned viciously.

"Don't be ridiculous. If I were to have a fight with you, you'd get owned." She stuck her tongue out.

"Oh?" He raised an orange eyebrow unbelievingly. "How's that?"

She shrugged. "Maybe it has something to do with being brought up in an orphanage. You had to watch your back in that place."

"You were brought up in an orphanage?" He asked in puzzlement.

She nodded. "And it was a rough area too. Fights were commonplace." Why she was sharing this information with this man was unknown to her. But she'd taken a liking to him. She felt she could trust him. He was a bit of an idiot at times but his nature was that of a good person. She just had this…feeling that he wasn't the average guy.

"Hn…guess I best be on ma guard, huh?" He grinned.

"Yeah, you better." She grinned back. It was almost…relaxing, being around this guy. Aside from his face, something about him really reminded her of Kaien. Kaien-dono had always treated her like an equal, nothing more nothing less and this guy was the same. She felt like she was…at peace in his presence. And it was strange because she barely knew him.

He finally put the TV remote down and settled into the couch to watch what was on. She turned to look too. He was watching a popular comedy which had just come out recently. It was about a camping enthusiastic family and the show was always set in the woods or some field where they'd made camp. Rukia didn't have time for TV but she'd seen it a few times. She didn't see the appeal.

Ichigo yawned widely and rested his head on the back of the couch, on his entwined hands. His eyelids pulled down over his brown irises. She watched him silently. She'd noticed that whatever his facial expression, the frown was always in place. It gave him a kind of sinister appearance but the orange hair wasn't that threatening. And his attitude wasn't really that threatening either. He was just an idiot and nobody found an idiot threatening. Nobody found an idiot attractive…

…And if that was the case, why did her spirits lift whenever she thought about him or saw him? Why did her heart start to pump just a tiny bit faster? Was it really because he looked like Kaien? But the two were completely different! But she found all his little quirks and habits funny. She was entertained by him. She found him a little…cute (odd as that sounded, coupled with his appearance).

"Oi, Ichigo," she said suddenly.

"Hn…?" he sounded like he was asleep.

"You wanna go…" she swallowed deeply, wondering what the hell she was saying so suddenly, "you wanna go watch a movie sometime?" She hoped he really was asleep; he wouldn't have heard her properly. What was she doing?! This was insane! Aside from the usual conventions (i.e. the boy asking the girl, not the other way around), she didn't have the time to have a…a boyfriend! That was crazy! She was a businesswoman!

"Hn…?" He muttered sleepily. She breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn't heard her. She was about to say something but he opened his eyes and lifted his head. "Eh?" He blinked. "As in a date?"

She felt her cheeks go warm. "Urusai!" Her embarrassment made her a little irritable. "Who'd wanna go out on a date with you?"

He cocked an orange eyebrow. "Ho? Is that why your face is like a tomato?"

"Urusai!" She repeated. "I meant as friends."

"Oh, so I'm your friend now?" He smirked. "How nice." His voice was thick with sarcasm.

"Wh-what's with that?" She stammered. "But if you'd rather not, then I'd understand."

"I didn't say anythin like that." He harrumphed. "I'm jus quite sup'rised that you'd call me a friend."

"What's with that?" She huffed. "Is it cuz my name's Kuchiki?"

He shrugged. "Probably."

Involuntarily, she smiled. At least he was honest. She had to respect that. She liked honesty. Not many people who associated with the Kuchiki family were honest. They would all class themselves as "friends" simply because they'd get something out of being seen with a member of the Kuchiki family, maybe social status or recognition. It sickened her. People were so shallow sometimes. Ichigo's frankness was like a breath of fresh air.

"So, would you come?" She asked. "As friends."

He thought on it awhile and then shrugged again. "Sure, why not?"

As you might have guessed by Karin's "best friend leaving her behind" and her not being content with any other guy, Hitsugaya is definitely gonna be in this...and definitely as a love interest for Karin, but there ain't gonna be much focus on them, regrettably. This was orginally Ichigo an Rukia's story anyway so I wanted to keep it at that. So sorry for any of you peeps who were originally readin this story for HitsuKarin :( hate losin readers but oh well. By the way, I'm still gettin the feelin no one's readin this :(