And I'm back. :] Ten days faster this time, haha. Thank you SO MUCH for the reviews. And a BIG thank you for the tips! They really do help me improve. I love you reviewers from the bottom of my shallow heart. This chapter will be rather longer for you guys, also allowing me to do much more to both the characters and the storyline (and this really does show that reviews do impact the next chapter). So THANK YOU!

On a side note…Tatsuki really does seem to be in third place, doesn't she? Hopefully this story will become more ambiguous as it goes on…I don't know. I've always had a soft spot for childhood friends ending up together.

RECAP: Ichigo has been kicked out of Orihime's house by Tatsuki. To his dismal luck, he meets a very angry Rukia (not that he actually notices much of the anger). They finally leave (together? as in Rukia's words) for dinner with the Kurosaki home and who would know that they would have a guest who would be none other than Kuchiki Byakuya himself?

"Itadakimasu!"

Ichigo took a moment to send a deep glare to a certain man situated to his right. Rukia took the moment to elbow him in his gut.

He was caught by surprise. "What the hell was that for," he murmured angrily, rubbing his ribs.

Rukia refused to look at him, keeping her eyes trained on the food in front of her. "Don't glare at Nii-sama," she hissed.

"You little…I was not glaring at him." He picked up his glass indignantly. "I was making sure he knew how to use chopsticks." He made sure to say the last part loud enough so that it could be overheard.

Byakuya slowly put down his glass. "I hope you are not implying that I am an idiot, Kurosaki."

"N-not at all." Ichigo hastily picked up his fork. "This stuff looks amazing Yuzu," he commented, hastily changing the subject.

"Really, Onii-chan?" She beamed at him before quickly turning to their guest. "And Kuchiki-san, is it to your taste?"

Byakuya took a moment to analyze the cheerful but wary girl in front of him before replying. "What do you call this delicacy?"

Yuzu was shocked. "Eh? You don't know what spaghetti is?"

Ichigo nearly spit out his food. "Ah, Yuzu, this man, he just comes from out of town. Right Rukia?" Rukia, too busy trying to pick up a meatball, ignored him. Ichigo looked like he was ready to kill her. "Rukia!"

"Ah, Masaki! Look at our son!"

"Ichi-nii, could you please pry our old man off the wall? He's embarrassing." Karin opened her eyes and looked her brother dead in the face. "We have a guest who actually has manners."

Ichigo stopped glaring at Rukia and turned, with apprehension, to find his father plastered to a certain poster.

"Masaki!" Tears were streaming down his face. Ichigo almost gagged. "Our son is finally asking for Rukia's hand in marriage!" He didn't even notice his son's jaw drop. "I'm finally going to be a grandfather!"

Byakuya's mouth twitched. Ichigo thought he was going to die. Rukia stopped her relentless pursuit of the meatball. Karin didn't look the least bit surprised. And Yuzu…

"Onii-chan's…getting married?" Her eyes started to tear up.

Ichigo frantically put up his hands. "No way in hell." He pointed viciously at Rukia. "And even if I did, it wouldn't be to this midget."

Byakuya placed his hands on the table and pulled himself to his feet. Ichigo looked at him warily. Maybe midget wasn't the best word to use.

A second later he was on the ground clutching his leg, Rukia glowering at him from her chair.

"Midget?" She hissed.

"Why are you so shocked, Yuzu?" Karin picked up her plate. She was the only one to finish, everyone else being too preoccupied with the current situation. "It's been coming for ages."

"Eh?" Yuzu looked shocked. "Really?"

Ichigo picked himself up abruptly. "It has not!"

"Onii-chan, does that mean I get to be an aunt?" Yuzu looked at him in delight. "And a bridesmaid?"

Ichigo was taken aback but couldn't bring himself to tell her otherwise.

"Kurosaki."

Ichigo froze. He had forgotten all about Byakuya. One of the most deadly men in Soul Society. A man who was about to kill him because of his idiotic father spouting crap about him marrying his beloved sister.

"Y-Yeah?"

Byakuya seemed to tower over him. "Please tell me what exactly is wrong with my sister."

"What?" He was flabbergasted.

"You heard me." His voice was calm, his body deceptively relaxed… but his voice was tight and laced with venom. "What exactly is so wrong with marrying my sister?"

Ichigo nearly choked on his own spit. "Marry?"

It seems that with the entrance of her brother, some semblance of the conversation had made its way to Rukia's ears.

"N-Nii-sama!" Her cheeks were tinted red.

"I don't see why you of all people are so surprised," Byakuya said, directing his voice towards Ichigo and completely ignoring his sister. "After all your father is-…"

Isshin suddenly appeared behind Byakuya and placed a firm hand over his mouth.

"Let's all eat this delicious food before it gets cold. And sake!" He grinned. "We must have sake for the two of us…" Isshin trailed off when he noticed Byakuya's body had become dangerously stiff but recovered quickly and pretended not to notice. "Here's your seat," he said, immediately letting go. "And here's mine." He looked expectantly at the two still standing.

Rukia quickly followed suit, determined to go along with the change in conversation.

"Hurry up Ichigo, Nii-sama's waiting." She refused to look at him.

Ichigo's look of confusion was wiped away with irritation. "Yeah, yeah."

A moment later and for the second time that night, "Itadakimasu!"

Two people were running. Or more like, one person sitting on the other person...who was the one that was actually running. And they weren't running really. More like…dashing…and passing cars in a flurry. It was lucky no human could see them. At least…ones without spiritual power.

"Ken-chan?" A girl with pink hair popped out over the man's head.

"Mhhm?" He was running through the street, precariously jumping over cars. A bright green sign read, Tokyo, Two Miles.

"Sandle-hat's shop sure is far, isn't it."

"Yep. Don't know why it's so far from Ichigo though."

There was silence for a while. Welcome to Tokyo. They ran through multiple intersections, interweaving through numerous traffic jams.

So this is what they called 'rush hour.'

The pink hair popped out again. "Do we really need those body things?"

"Hmmm?" Kenpachi looked up. The girl looked back to the road.

"Left!"

He veered to the left and kept running.

"Why don't we just find Icchi," she asked, brightly. "Then you can fight him and make him marry Tat-chan."

Kenpachi stopped and was silent. A moment later he patted the girl on the head.

"Yachiru," he maliciously grinned. "That's the best idea you've had all day."

He closed his eyes and a couple of seconds they flew up with determination.

"Found ya, Ichigo."

"Ichigo!"

"Hmm?" Ichigo turned around to see Tatsuki running after him. She stopped in front of him.

"Tatsuki?" Ichigo looked at her curiously. "You're not with Inoue?"

Tatsuki glared at him. "I could say the same to you."

Ichigo scowled. "I'm not always around Rukia."

"I didn't say Rukia," she smirked. "Is she just always on your mind?"

Ichigo twitched and resumed walking, Tatsuki trailing behind. "We're just friends."

"Yeah right." She snuck a peak at him from the corner of her eye. "You know what everyone says."

Tatsuki acted as if she was commenting mindlessly, but she was, in reality, gauging Ichigo's reactions. She had to know if it was true…if there was any merit at all to those damning rumors.

"And this is why we don't walk home together," he grumbled.

Tatsuki looked at him strangely. "We live, basically, in different directions."

"Huh?" Ichigo looked at her in confusion.

Realization dawned on Tatsuki's face and she rounded on him. "You are dating her!" She felt a burning sensation in her chest. Heartburn? At her age?

"Wh-What the hell? Where'd that come from?" He backed up a little, appearing defensive.

"Why else would you walk home together," she demanded. Her face was inches away from his.

Ichigo had dug himself into his own hole. He couldn't tell her they lived together…but…

"We just live in the same direction is all," he said, nonchalantly…weaseling his way out of another situation. Tatsuki pulled away in relief. The heartburn had stopped, anyways.

In the midst of her catch-up session, Ichigo had ended up a couple of feet away from her, and he was still walking.

"You coming?" He had turned to stare at her.

"O-Of course!" Tatsuki jogged a bit to catch up. "Seriously, acting all high and mighty."

Ichigo raised his eyebrows. "You were the one who freaked and kicked me out of Inoue's house."

"Shut up." Tatsuki ran up ahead and turned on him, sticking out her tongue. "You're the one that stole her cup."

"Why you…" He glared at her. "What was I supposed to do, with you about to chop off my head?" He fumbled through his pack. "And I didn't steal it, I'm returning it," he declared, holding out the cup as if it was a dead snake.

Tatsuki looked at him skeptically, "Did you even wash it?"

"Of course!" Tatsuki burst out laughing at an indignant Ichigo.

He scowled. "What are you laughing at?"

At Ichigo's look, Tatsuki calmed down and continued walking.

"Che, ignoring me," Ichigo muttered.

Tatsuki smiled and gazed at the sky.

After a bit of walking, she replied…but soft enough that Ichigo almost didn't catch it.

"It just reminded me of before."

"I still can't believe that she kicked Ichigo out of Hime's house," Matsumoto fumed. "Did you see that atmosphere? They were totally about to…" She stopped abruptly.

Matsumoto turned to face Hitsugaya. He crashed into her.

"What did you stop walking for?" He asked, irritated.

His lieutenant stared at him. "You're normally curious after I stop before something you shouldn't know." Hitsugaya frowned at her.

"What shouldn't I know?"

"Ehhhh…" Matsumoto looked at him suspiciously. "You seemed lost in thought for a moment there."

He twitched angrily. "Answer my question, Matsumoto!"

"You weren't, by chance," She looked at him, square in the face. "…thinking of Momo-chan were you?"

Hitsugaya went beat red and turned away swiftly. "Why would I be thinking of her?"

Matsumoto grinned deviously. "I don't know." When her Captain seemed to relax, she continued. "Only that she came to the real world with us, and you haven't seen her since."

She took great pleasure in watching her Captain squirm.

"I-I wasn't worried." Hitsugaya was doing his utmost best at defending himself. He feared he was failing miserably. "I was just curious, is all."

Matsumoto looked at him for a moment, before straightening. "Is that so?" She started walking away.

Hitsugaya looked at her in surprise. She left him alone? There was no way she bought that.

"Captain, I'm going to leave you behind if you just keep sitting there," Matsumoto called over her shoulder.

He frowned. "I'm not a child, Matsumoto. I can always just catch up."

"Geez." Matsumoto backtracked and grabbed him by the arm. "I think I'm going to have to drag you everywhere." Hitsugaya stumbled before regaining his balance.

"I'm fine without you," he muttered, trying to keep his balance while his lieutenant proceeded to drag him along.

"Then you'll just be wandering behind me getting further back until you end up getting lost in the crowd." She smiled wistfully to herself. Sometimes she really did wish he was that naïve.

Hitsugaya's face went beat red. "I told you, I'm not a child!" He tugged his hand away. Matsumoto looked at him in shock.

"I'm a Captain," he was staring at the ground. "Your Captain." Her shock melted away and was replaced by a gentle smile.

Hitsugaya was still staring at the ground when she enveloped him in a hug. He tried to pull away, as he normally would in such a situation, but she held him firm.

"Oi, Matsmuoto," he muttered, trying to push away. "Let go."

"I know."

"Then let go." Her hands were going nowhere. He was getting nowhere….he had half a mind to just give up and stand there with half a million passersby, staring at them.

"Sometimes I just forget."

After a moment, Hitsugaya muttered, "What, to let go? How does anyone forget to let go…"

Matsumoto burst out laughing. "Matsumoto you're strangling me!"

She stared down at him and let go. "Oh, sorry Captain."

He dusted himself off, impatiently. "Weren't we going somewhere?"

"Of course!" She grabbed him by the hand and took off.

The only difference was that this time, Hitsugaya didn't bother trying to get away.

He justified it by telling himself that it was in fear of another smothering hugging scene.

"Ichigoooo!"

And here they went again. Keigo came running up to him, tears streaming down his face.

Somehow, he had expected this.

"Ichigo, I can't believe you!" Yes, here it was. How he found out about the cup, he didn't care to ask. Keigo always had his ways. Ichigo sighed. But it wasn't as if he hadn't seen it coming.

"You walked to school with Arisawa!" Rukia looked sharply over at Ichigo, but he didn't notice.

Eh?

Ichigo looked up in surprise. "Arisawa…you mean Tatsuki?"

In an instant Ichigo realized that he had been blind - Keigo's tears were not tears of sadness…they were tears of happiness.

"Finally! The day has come!" Keigo had his fingers interlaced and raised to the heavens. "Thank you, Kami-sama!"

Staring at him, Ichigo had enough and finally kicked his best friend through a couple of desks.

"What's your problem?" He scowled. "It's way too early for this."

"I-I'm in such a good mood, I'll just ignore that," Keigo laughed, pulling himself, shakily, to his feet. "But now Kuchiki-san and Hime-chan are free!"

Ichigo twitched. "They were never tied to me to begin with, you idiot." Rukia's eyes narrowed.

"You were dating Arisawa-san, Kurosaki-kun?"

Ichigo's gaze snapped to Rukia. "I never said that, Kuchiki-san."

That fake voice had always irritated him. It never ceased to surprise him that no one caught on to such bad acting.

"Ah, Kurosaki-kun!" The impending argument was interrupted by Orihime, as she came barreling towards him. "I'm so sorry about the other day." She smiled weakly.

Ichigo kept his face blank. "No worries," he dug through his bag, procuring her teacup. "Sorry about taking this."

Keigo watched this scene unfold rather calmly. He was quite proud of himself. But the moment their hands touched with the passing of the cup, he exploded.

"You…you…brute!" The tears he was crying were real this time. Ichigo looked at him, exasperated.

"You're cheating on Arisawa!" Keigo bit his lip. "You two-timer! Taking Hime-chan too!"

Orihime stared at Keigo. "Kurosaki-kun…is dating Tatsuki?" Her lips faltered. "No way," she smiled. "Tatsuki-chan wouldn't do that."

"Do what…date me?" Ichigo asked. "Am I not datable or something?" His perpetual frown deepened.

"Ah…" She waved her hands frantically. "That's not what I meant."

"Meant what?" Tatsuki appeared besides Orihime. "I didn't think you'd come today, with your cold. Sorry I didn't wait for you."

Orihime smiled, "No problem…Ano, Tatsuki-chan?" Tatsuki turned to look at her friend, with interest.

"Are you…and Kurosaki-kun…" She tapped her index fingers together nervously.

"Are we what?" Tatsuki asked bluntly.

"Are you guys dating," Rukia finished, decidedly irritated.

Her mouth fell open. "Are we WHAT?"

The door opened and Tsukasa-sensei walked in, disrupting the conversation.

"Alright, alright. Take your seats."

"Ichigo, what did you tell them," Tatsuki hissed, as she took her seat.

"Nothing," he muttered. "Keigo came in here, ranting about it himself."

"Quiet down!"

Ichigo shut up quickly, remembering the last instance. Rukia was staring viciously at the chalkboard, and Orihime looked as if she was trying hard not to cry.

"We have another transfer student today." Ichigo inwardly groaned and slammed his head on his desk. Just as his day couldn't get any worse. "Two, actually." He gestured towards the door. "Well, don't just stand there."

"Kyaaa! He's so cute!"

"She's…so…hot!"

"He's really a senior in high school? Oh…and that hair!"

"Look at her cleavage!"

"Ahhhh, I wonder if he has a girlfriend!"

"To hell with that, you think he has a girlfriend?"

Ichigo raised his head, in curiosity. It couldn't be…

"Present yourselves to the class."

"Hitsugaya Toushiro. Pleased to meet you," he mumbled.

His companion beamed at the class. "Matsumoto Rangiku. Likewise."

"And there you have it, give them your regards!"

There was a huge, albeit silent (after one poor soul got doomed to the same fate Ichigo was subject to), commotion as the two transfer students were given their seats.

Ichigo's jaw had dropped open. Rukia had temporarily forgotten her anger due to shock. Orihime was smiling. Tatsuki was still mad.

He slammed his head once more on his desk. Just as his life couldn't get any worse.

And there you have it. =) Longer by aprox. 700-800 words or more. Not too sure. Anyways, I'm pretty sure some discrepancies exist, because there were a couple of things I didn't know - *like what Keigo called Orihime* - and I couldn't look up. I was trying to get this out today, so I couldn't go review episodes to find out.

Once more, I apologize for all mistakes and discrepancies I missed while rereading.

And before I forget, please review! Unlike voting in presidential elections, one review makes sooo much difference. :]

Next time!

An unexpected character is revealed!

Kenpachi and Yachiru finally meet…?

How will Hitsugaya and Matsumoto commit mayhem?

And what has Renji been doing, all this time? Not to mention Hinamori…and that last Captain!

Find out…

Until next time.