Okay, I'm back already! :D I know I wont sit down and write this whole chapter tonight, it's getting late. But I do want to get some done tonight. :)

Well, here we go! Chapter four already! :P This fic is coming alone so much easier than my usual ones, surprisingly. It was pretty much created on impulse! :) Okay, here it is!

-:-

The next three days I spent more and more time with Ichigo. We stayed after school everyday and practiced for a few hours. Afterwords, Hisana would pick us up, taking Ichigo home. It became a regular thing in just a week.

Friday afternoon we were sitting at the bench by the main entrance in a comfortable silence. Ichigo was facing forward, his long legs sprawled in front of himself. I sat sideways, my legs Indian style, facing him.

Bored of our silence, I leaned my head back against the wall and said, "I'm still allowed to come over tomorrow, right?"

Ichigo looked over at me, a small smile on his face. "Yeah."

I smiled back, nodding slightly. "Good. I'll come around noon, that alright?"

"Yes, Rukia. I know, you've said that about a million times," he said, feigning his irritation.

My smile grew as I lightly smacked him in the back of the head. "Yeah yeah, I was just making sure."

He laughed quietly and looked back in front of himself. His hands were folded in his lap, making him look nervous, but I knew by now that that was just his normal stance. I felt my smile soften as I noticed how timid and cute he looked, but he didn't seem to notice me.

Glancing at the door, Ichigo stood, saying, "Hisana's here." He grabbed my arm and carefully helped me up. With anyone other than Ichigo, the small gesture would made me furious. But I'd gotten used to his kind nature and allowed him to "help" me whenever he felt the need.

We headed toward the front door and got into my sister's car. Ichigo sat in front now, because I had demanded so. His legs were so long, there was no way sitting in the cramped back seat was in any way comfortable. So I made him switch me seats. He did so willingly, though seeming extra anxious sitting next to Hisana.

"Hey guys," Hisana greeted, smiling at us as we got in. "How was your day?"

"Fine," I said automatically.

"Good, thanks," Ichigo replied in his timid tone.

"Good," she said, her smile widening as she pulled out of the school's mini-parking lot. "So, Rukia," she started, glancing at me in the mirror. "What time should I pick you two up tomorrow?"

I shook my head absently. "There's no need. Ichigo's going barrow his dad's truck so he can just drive home when he's ready. Thanks though."

"Oh, alright." She turned to Ichigo for a moment before looking back at the road. "You can drive?"

He nodded. "Yeah. I haven't been in any accidents, if that's what you're worried about."

She laughed. "Of course not, I'm not worried, just wondering. Rukia hasn't taken the time to learn. All summer she's busy practicing and the rest of the year she's balancing school work and the cello as best as she can." Hisana's smile widened.

"I'll learn eventually. I just have more important stuff to do, that's all," I answered defensively, although my sister spoke with pride more than anything.

"Well," Ichigo started. "I had to learn how to drive. My dad works a lot and I have to take-...uh, I have to run errands for him a lot."

His sudden stop caught my attention, but Hisana didn't pick up on it. Ichigo tended to stutter sometimes when he was uncomfortable, I had noticed. But this was different. He completely changed what he was going to say. It worried me, but I ignored it for now.

"Oh," Hisana continued. "That's nice of you!"

He just shrugged, his hands fidgeting in his lap.

"No, really, you don't see a lot of teenagers ready to help out their parents like that. It's really-"

"Cool it with the compliments, Sana," I interrupted calmly, smiling at her surprised expression in the mirror hovering between her and Ichigo. "It makes him awkward."

"Oh, sorry!" she said, smiling again.

He shook his head, looking out the window. "It's fine," he said quietly.

I saw Ichigo's face reflected in the clean window he was leaning against. His usual scowl that never seemed to fit his shy posture and attitude was present. Orange spikes rested against his forehead, longer spikes standing above his head in their usual, messy manor. He looked calm and content in an Ichigo-kind-of-way, causing my smile to spread. I couldn't wait to go to his house!

-:-

Saturday rolled around in no time, noon coming a little too soon. I was in my room an hour before I was supposed to be at Ichigo's, trying to figure out what to wear after my shower. I stood in front of my open closet, my towel wrapped around me while my hair lay flatly against my shoulders and back. After getting frustrated I grabbed a pair of older jeans and a long sleeved shirt that was a little loose. I thought it would be best to be comfortable, so I wore a pair of old converse high tops, the dark purple of the shoes clashing with my bright yellow shirt.

Hisana pulled up to Ichigo's house an hour later, waving as I walked away. I approached the door and knocked quietly after Hisana left. A tall man came to the door. He had short, dark hair and weird looking sideburns. His jaw was sharp in a familiar way and his eyes were the exact copy of Ichigo's, excluding the usual glare. He was grinning down at me as he opened the door. "Come on in! You must be Rukia?" he asked, his hand on my back as he pulled me into the small building. The place was cramped inside, but it looked a lot cleaner than the outer appearance led you to believe it would be. The door led to the living room, which was small, but held two couches and a vacant looking television. It was cute.

"Y-yes," I said, feeling awkward around Ichigo's father right away. He was nothing like his son, it seemed.

"Dad, leave her alone," I heard Ichigo say, annoyance clear in his tone. He had appeared from a hallway, standing in front of the entrance, clad in jeans that clung to him in a comfortable looking fashion. There were several rips in the pants and gaping holes in both knees. He was wearing a t-shirt that was navy blue, contrasting with his bright orange hair.

"What? I'm just letting her inside, calm down!" he responded, grinning back at his son.

Ignoring his father, Ichigo turned to me. "Unfortunately, that's my dad," he said, causing me to laugh quietly.

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Kurosaki," I said, holding a hand out to him.

The man eagerly grabbed my hand and pulled me into a strangling hug. "Please, call me Isshin!"

When he let me go, I nodded, more afraid of him than before.

"Knock it off, Dad!" Ichigo demanded, his voice louder than I had heard it before. I assumed he would be a little more confident around his family.

Laughing, the older man smacked his son on the shoulder roughly. "Calm down, I'm only being friendly."

Ichigo absently shrugged his dad's hand off his shoulder and turned his direction toward the hallway, which he had been standing in front of. "Karin, come here for a second." As he stepped out of the way, a short girl with dark short hair took his place. She had eyes like Ichigo's and an identical glare. She was dressed in shorts, a t-shirt, and old tennis shoes that had holes in the side. "This is Rukia," Ichigo said, then turned to me. "This is one of my little sisters, Karin."

I approached her, eager to get away from Ichigo's father. Holding out my hand to her, I said, "Hello, Karin-chan. It's nice to meet you."

She grabbed my hand, her grip firm. "Just Karin, thanks. You too." Her voice was low, but cute. Her tone reminded me of Ichigo's on his first day, during Orchestra.

She pulled her hand away absently, placing her hands on her hips and looking back at Ichigo. "You gonna introduce her to Yuzu?"

Nodding, Ichigo lightly grabbed my arm, nudging me toward the hallway. As Karin moved out of the way, Ichigo dragged me down the hall. He stopped in front of a door and turned back to me. "Look...Yuzu's sick," he started, running his unoccupied hand through his hair. "She has cancer and she looks really weak from the chemo. Just letting you know," he finished, causing my brow to crease.

I carefully pulled my arm away from him and grabbed his hand, nodding. Smiling slightly, he opened the door and pulled me inside. "Hey, Yuzu, I brought someone to meet you," he said in a soft voice.

The room was small, holding two beds and a dresser. The rest was practically bare. In one of the beds a little girl lay, smiling at us warmly. She was extremely skinny, her childish dress looking baggy on her. She had short, strawberry blonde hair that looked freshly cut. Her eyes were large and bright, her positive attitude escaping through them.

"Ichi," she said simply, holding a hand out to him. Dropping my hand, he crossed the room and took hers, kneeling next to her bed, a wide smile on his face.

"Feeling better today?" he asked.

Nodding, she squeezed his hand and looked up me, her grin growing. "Hello, my name's Yuzu. I've heard a lot about you." Her voice was quiet and soft, resembling Ichigo's when he felt timid. "It's nice to meet you."

I smiled back at her, unable to help the tears that formed on my eyelids. "It's nice to meet you too," I answered, taking my place next to Ichigo's kneeling form.

"I'm glad Ichi made a friend so soon. Moving here has hurt him," she said to me, acting like her brother wasn't right next to her.

"Says you," he answered, placing a massive hand on her head lightly. Yuzu laughed at his comment, causing his smile to grow warmer. "We've got some stuff to do, we'll let you rest now," he continued, standing swiftly. Their sibling banter made my heart clench and more tears to form in my eyes, although I refused to let them fall.

"You're going so soon?" she whined, suddenly frowning.

"Yeah. Rukia's going to help me fix up the house a little. Then I'm going to her house to hang out. I'll make sure Rukia says goodbye before we leave," he answered.

"What are you doing at her house?"

"We're going to practice. Her sister has a piano and Rukia plays the cello."

"Hm...," the small girl responded, looking away in thought. "I hope I can hear you play before I d-"

"Yuzu," Ichigo said firmly, his expression suddenly hardening.

She smiled and rephrased herself. "I hope to hear you play sometime soon. It's been a long time."

"Maybe," I started, placing my hand on hers lightly. "Maybe one day when you feel better, you and your family can come to my house. Ichigo can play for you there," I said, looking up at Ichigo questioningly, hoping I hadn't overstepped my boundaries.

"Yeah, that'll work," Ichigo answered, still looking down at Yuzu.

The young girl grinned and nodded. "Okay! And I'd like to hear you play as well, Rukia!"

My smile returned as I said, "I can play here. My cello's not too big, it'll fit in my sister's car. If your father doesn't mind, I'll swing by one of these days and play something for you." In my peripheral vision I saw Ichigo glance at me, a grin on his face.

"Okay!" she exclaimed excitedly.

"Alright," Ichigo started. "That's enough for today. We'll let you rest. See you later, Yuzu." Leaning over her carefully, Ichigo kissed his little sister's head before she hugged him around the neck. They were so cute. Ichigo acted more like her father than her brother.

After saying goodbye to Yuzu, Ichigo led me to his room. It was also small and bare, only containing his twin sized bed and a closet. He was looking in the closet, digging out his tennis shoes.

I sat on his bed absently and watched him. "So," I started, my strong voice breaking the silence. "That's why you had to learn to drive. To take Yuzu to her appointments when your father can't do it?"

He simply nodded, his shy exterior up again.

I thought of complimenting him, letting him know how selfless he was, but decided against it. I didn't want to make Ichigo uncomfortable.

Finally Ichigo found his shoes, slipping on a pair of his own Converse high tops, only his were black with orange shoe strings and had holes in them. After tying the laces, Ichigo stood and helped me up as well. We went through the hallway and the living room, exiting the house through the front door. He had a few buckets in the front yard with scrubbing tools floating in them.

"I guess we can try to scrub the graffiti off, that's all we really can do today," he said, handing me the lighter of the two buckets.

We took our places at different sides of the front of the house, scrubbing the panels as best as we could. The only difference the scrubbing did was to make the black spray paint fade slightly, looking dark gray. Other than that, it seemed ineffective.

"Ichigo," I said after we had been working on the houses surface for almost twenty minutes. "I don't think this is working. I think the only way to get rid of this is to paint over it."

His glare deeper than usual, Ichigo nodded, dropping the scrubber into the bucket absently. "Stupid shit," he said under his breathe. "Alright, well, we can't do that this weekend," he said, more to himself than to me.

"Well, Hisana and I have extra paint from painting Hisana's office a few months ago," I said, thinking of the lie quickly. "How about next weekend I bring the rest of that over and we can just paint the whole exterior."

He gave me a strange look and started to shake his head slowly. "No, it's okay. It's leftover. We were planning on throwing it out, but we just haven't gotten around to it. It's not a problem."

"Are you sure?" he asked quietly.

Nodding, I said. "Of course. Don't worry about it." I mentally reminded myself to get Hisana to take me to buy some paint before the week was over and almost empty one of the cans.

He nodded also, looking away. "Thanks."

"No problem," I answered. "Well, if we can't do anything else out here, is there anything I can help with inside? Like doing some laundry or the dishes?"

"Probably, but don't worry about it," he answered, approaching me only to take my buck and scrubber. He went back to the house and sat them along the edge.

"Ichigo, it's not a problem. I'm guessing since your dad works so much, you and Karin are the ones in charge of that. Let me help out, I want to."

With a small sigh, he approved unwillingly and led me back inside. We spent the next forty-five minutes doing the dishes, him washing and me drying them off and putting them in their proper places in the shelves and drawers.

After we finished Ichigo told his father we were leaving and took me back to Yuzu's room to say bye. She was asleep, so we just slipped out, waved goodbye to Karin, and left, heading toward my house in Isshin's truck.

-:-

As Ichigo pulled into my drive way, his eyebrows rose in surprise, taking in the image of my house. I nudged him with my elbow and told him to hurry. He did so, pulling his keys free from the ignition and shoving them in his pocket.

While walking in Hisana stood in the large living room, greeting us. "Hey you two, you hungry?" she asked right away. I had only been at Ichigo's for a few hours, it was no where near time to eat dinner, but she was just trying to make Ichigo feel at home.

"No, thanks," I said, shaking my head. I looked up at Ichigo for his response.

Slowly shaking his head also, he thanked Hisana. Something about how he responded made me suspicious and wondered if he just didn't want to impose. I noticed while putting away the dishes at the Kurosaki house that there wasn't a lot of food. (I got the cabinets mixed up and opened the food pantry a lot.)

"Actually," I said, not wanting to ignore my suspicion. "I could eat. Let's have a late lunch before we practice, Ichigo." Turning to look at him, he just shrugged, still feeling like a burden I guessed. "It's no problem. Hisana always makes too much, it's just us here. There'll be plenty for you." This earned a nod.

"Alright. Thanks," he said.

I led Ichigo up to my room first, allowing him to put his jacket and his bag on my bed. He had brought all of his music that he had, which wasn't much, in his school bag after I suggested he did so.

Minutes later we were sitting at the kitchen table, Hisana's lunch in front of us. Usually my sister took it upon herself to cook full meals for the two of us, but she took the weekend off and usually made something quick and easy. So she placed a plate in front of both of us, each holding two grilled cheese sandwiches. Next to our plates she sat glasses of chilled Dr. Pepper and then placed the ketchup bottle in the center of the table.

Ichigo ate quickly, but every time I glanced over at him he slowed down, seeming to try and pace himself. I realized that my assumption of him being hungry was more than true and placed one of my sandwiches on his plate. "Have it," I said, trying to keep the concern out of my voice. "I'm not that hungry." He thanked me and ate that one quickly as well.

After finishing our food and beverages, I led Ichigo to our second living room where Hisana kept her piano. He gawked at it, approaching it right away. He stood in front of it, his fingers hovering over the keys, acting like he was afraid to touch them. I smiled at his silly actions and took my place next to him, placing a hand over his and pushing them against the shining wood carefully.

The motion caused a low F sharp to fill the silence, the sound ringing around us. He looked more amazed with the tone of the piano, a smile crossing his features.

Laughing, I pulled his hand away and let go of his hand. I grabbed the stool and pulled it out until it hit his legs, getting him to move. He sat and stared at the keys until I grabbed both of his wrists and placed his hands over them again. "Just play. Don't worry, it'll be fine, that's what it's made for. I'll be right back, I'm gonna go get my cello from my room." He merely nodded and continued to look at the instrument, waiting until I left the room to start practicing quietly.

Hisana was waiting by the stairs, smiling as she heard the low hum of her piano finally being used. "What did he say? Does he like it?" she asked excitedly.

I smiled back at her. "You'd think he'd never seen one before," I answered happily. "He loves it, Hisana. You should have seen his face."

"Great! I'm so happy!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands together.

"Well, I've gotta go get my cello. Thanks again, Sana. It really means a lot to him. And me," I said, my smile widening as I ascended the stairs. I entered my room, grabbed my cello, bow, and music, and headed back downstairs. As I entered the second living room, I heard Ichigo playing a piece I didn't recognize, his tone louder as he played with more confidence. I sat up next to the piano, facing him, and waited patiently for him to end his some.

"Ready?" I asked him, smiling when I noticed the same gesture on his face.

"Yep," he answered, nodding as his smile widened.

-:-

Alright, so I'm cutting this chapter off. I feel like it's pretty long, long enough definitely! :P So, I know it's a weird place to stop, but I've been working on this chapter all day! :D So, yeah.

Okay, well, let me know what you think! Please review! :D Thanks!