Hello! Back :) How's it goin'? :D Umm... yeah! Sooo I hope you like this :) Man I was so focused on this one story, and then I started writing another one out of nowhere I hate when that happens! But oh well :P Anyways,

Enjoy!

Rukia and Ichigo walked towards Orihime's apartment in silence. The note that had been slipped under the door, obviously for Rukia, was still burning a hole in Ichigo's pocket. Ichigo stared at the ground solemnly as he walked. Now they knew that the people after Rukia knew where she lived. They couldn't stay there, could they? Of course, he knew he would have a hard time convincing Rukia to stay anywhere else.

They made it up the first flight of rusty iron steps and Rukia knocked on the door to the left. There was a call from inside and a few seconds later the door flung open. Ichigo blinked as he looked upon a younger-looking version of Rangiku.

Her hair was long and strawberry-blonde and her large eyes a pretty gray. But what was really similar with her and Rangiku is the large… assets.

"Oh," Orihime exclaimed, her eyes widening at the sight of Ichigo, "Rukia, is this your body guard?" Rukia gave her a tight smile.

"Yes, Orihime," she said, "This is Ichigo Kurosaki. Strawberry, this is Orihime Inoue." The two shook hands and Orihime moved to the side to let them in.

"Come on in! I was just making my new recipe for you to try out!" As they sat down at the table Rukia pulled down Ichigo's collar so that she could whisper in his ear.

"Be careful, Orihime usually puts random things in her meals. She thinks it's good, but to us it's pretty much toxic." Ichigo rolled his eyes at her.

"C'mon, it can't be that bad." Rukia raised her eyebrows as if to say 'I warned you'. Just then Orihime came up with two steaming bowls.

"Here you are!" she announced excitedly, setting the bowls in front of Ichigo and Rukia, "Eat up!" Ichigo paled at the sight of what was in the bowl and Rukia snickered. He sent her a withering glare before he turned back to his so-called soup. The broth was a dark, murky brown color, like mud, and there were junks of what looked like jelly beans, some type of meat, and mashed up French fries. Ichigo made a face and Rukia elbowed him in the ribs under the table before leaning in to whisper in his ear.

"Just take a little sip and she'll be happy," she instructed, "but make sure not to eat the chicken. She never cooks it all the way through." Ichigo almost gagged at the thought of having to try any of this concoction. He glanced over at Rukia to see her take a sip of the broth. She covered her mouth as she gagged and Ichigo could have sworn her face took on a greenish shade.

Ichigo swallowed his fears and brought the spoon up to his lips. The moment he felt the slimy, slightly hard liquid slide down his throat, he had to force the bile to stay down. Orihime was clutching her hands to her chest watching him carefully, and Rukia glanced between him and Orihime nervously. Finally Ichigo swallowed without puking and gave Orihime a pitiful smile. The woman squealed.

"So you guys like it? Yay! I'll make some more then, to share with everyone!" Orihime exclaimed, going back into the kitchen. Ichigo and Rukia exchanged a warning glance and Rukia nodded. She stood and smiled at Orihime.

"Sorry Orihime, we have to go now," she said, causing the other girl to pout, "But we'll come by again, alright? You should call Rangiku, I'm sure your food will help her get over her hang over."

"Alright!" Orihime replied bubbly, "I'll call her right now! See you guys later, and it was nice to meet you Mr. Kurosaki!" Ichigo and Rukia both waved before they were out the door and heading for Rukia's car.

"So why exactly did you set your friend up for a death trap?" Ichigo asked.

"Are you kidding me?" Rukia said, rolling her eyes, "Other than Orihime, Rnagiku is the only one who eats Orihime's food and actually likes it." Ichigo shook his head as they climbed into the car.

"Again, your friends are insane," he told her. Rukia glared at him as she started the car and pulled away.

"Oh shut up," she snapped, "I'm sure your friends are worse since they're dumb enough to hang around you. If you have any friends, that is."

"Hey!" Ichigo protested, "I have friends! And yeah, they're insane, and Keigo's stupid, but they're all good guys on the inside." Rukia rolled her eyes.

"Whatever you say, strawberry." Ichigo glared at her.

"Shut up, damn midget." They drove for a while in silence until Ichigo turned on the radio. Some loud rock song came on and he grinned, turning it up. Rukia winced at the loud clashing and turned it down.

"Hey!" Ichigo protested.

"You should be lucky I'm not turning it off," Rukia interrupted before he could go any further, "This is total crap, and I'd like it not be the last thing I hear when it blows out my ear drums." Ichigo rolled him eyes.

"Come on, this is not crap," he insisted, "It's rock!"

"Crap," she conceded. Ichigo glared at her.

"You're impossible, midget."

"You're insufferable, strawberry."

"Dwarf."

"Giant."

"Princess."

"Peasant."

"MIDGET!"

"STRAWBERRY!" Just then Ichigo spotted something in his side mirror that made him close his mouth from saying another insult. Rukia thought he had given up and snickered.

"What, can't think of anything?" Ichigo turned to her.

"Switch me." Rukia frowned.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Switch me." Rukia stared at the serious look on his face and nodded speechlessly. Both of them undid their seatbelts and Ichigo slid over while Rukia climbed over him. They both blushed a bit when they passed each other, but then Ichigo was at the wheel and he took a sharp left turn. Rukia hadn't put her seat belt on yet and was thrown against the door.

"Ow!" she cried out, and glared at Ichigo, "What the hell did you do that for, you psycho?"

"Look behind you," was all he answered. Rukia frowned and peered into the side mirror. There she saw small black car directly behind them and in the driver's seat was Gin Ichimaru. He smiled creepily and waved to her. Rukia felt a shiver go down her spine as she pulled away from the mirror and fastened her seat belt. When she looked over at Ichigo he already had this on, and his eyes scanned the road.

"Why is he following us?" she asked, "What the hell does he want from me?"

"I don't know, but I'd rather find that out before it's too late," Ichigo replied. Rukia looked back in her mirror and noticed Gin was a lot closer than before.

"Ichigo," she warned.

"I know," he replied, "Hold on to something." Ichigo slammed the accelerator and the car roared, lurching forward. He swerved and dodged other cars who honked around him, and suddenly he took a sharp right, skidding onto another street before speeding up again.

"Is he still back there?" he asked. Rukia looked in the side mirror but saw nothing but the empty road. She twisted to peer through the back window. She turned back around with a relieved sighed.

"I think we lost him." Just then the black car jumped out in front of them from a neighboring street and Rukia shrieked as Ichigo slammed on the breaks and swerved around the car. He took another right and they sped onto the main roads.

"Shit, that was close," he muttered. Rukia looked at him incredulously.

"No shit, Sherlock!" she shouted. Just then she spotted Gin in the review mirror following closely behind them.

"Damn, he's persistent," Rukia muttered, "Come on, you're my body guard. Lose him!" Ichigo looked behind him before speeding into another lane, throwing a glare at her.

"That's easier said than done, midget." After a while of dodging cars, Ichigo spotted a construction site and got an idea.

"Hold on tight, midget," he ordered, and Rukia held onto the seat for dear life as he veered to the right and off the road towards the site. Rukia's eyes widened.

"What the hell are you doing?" she shouted, "You're gonna kill someone!" Ichigo didn't respond as he pressed his foot harder on the gas petal. He peered into the review mirror and spotted Gin following him. Perfect. Some of the workers noticed him and shouted.

He lifted a hand in apology but didn't stop. The car lurched forward just as the back hoe's claw was coming down. Rukia squeezed her eyes shut and grasped Ichigo's arm tight. A large clash of metal erupted in the air, but their car continued to go.

"Rukia," Ichigo called, "Look." Rukia opened her eyes and looked behind them to see Gin's black car crashed into the back hoe, surrounded by angry construction workers.

"You did it," she breathed, turning to Ichigo. He shrugged as he pulled back onto the road.

"We can't go back to your house," he told her, "They know where you live." Rukia sighed. She knew this had been coming.

"I know, but where will we stay?" Ichigo shrugged.

"My place?" Rukia sighed. Ichigo watched as suddenly her eyes widened and her face turned red. At first he thought it was just the thought of her being in his apartment and was about to comment when she suddenly spoke.

"Go to the closest grocery store now," she ordered. Ichigo frowned.

"You're not really planning on getting groceries, are you? We can't go back to your—"

"That's not it!" Rukia shouted. Ichigo jumped and glanced at Rukia strangely.

"What the hell did I do?" Ichigo asked. Rukia sighed exasperatedly.

"Do you want me to bleed all over your car?" Ichigo frowned worriedly.

"What do you mean, did you get hurt?" Rukia's face reddened and she shook her head. Ichigo continued to frown before realization lit up in his eyes and his cheeks turned rosy.

"Oh." Rukia sighed.

"You'll have to go in and get them for me." The look on Ichigo's face made it seemed like she had just asked him to kill a puppy.

"What the hell? No way!" Rukia glared at him.

"Well, I can't go in!" she told him, "These pants are already stained! Come on, just go in for me!" Ichigo groaned. He had pulled into the parking lot of a Walgreens and now sat arguing in the car.

"I'm a guy! What will the other people think if I go in there looking for… woman things?" Rukia rolled her eyes.

"It's a tampon, Ichigo. You can say tampon. Besides, they'll just think that you're picking it up for your girlfriend or something." Ichigo glared at her.

"I do way too many things for you, midget," he muttered. Rukia smirked and shrugged at him before shooing him away with her hand.

"Now go in there and get me my stuff before I stain my seat." Ichigo sighed and got out of the car, throwing her another glare before walking into the store. His face was already burning as he headed to the section with… eh, those things. A pretty woman was in there and looked him over before giggling and walking away. Ichigo ran a hand over his face agitatedly.

The midget would so pay for this. Finally he forced himself to observe what was on the shelf. There were tons and tons of different boxes and brands, and Ichigo scratched his head. How the hell was he supposed to know which ones he should get?

Just then someone tapped on his arm and Ichigo turned to see an older woman there. Uh oh. She was probably going to beat him over the head with her purse while calling him a pervert.

"Hello young man, do you need help with something?" Ichigo looked at her in surprise, and she chuckled.

"I noticed you were stuck here, your bright red face and hair stuck out like a sore thumb," she told him, "Now what are you looking for?"

"Eh, my friend needs one of… these," Ichigo answered, motioning to the shelves of tampons. The old woman nodded.

"And what size is your girlfriend?" Ichigo ignored the fact that she called Rukia his girlfriend and rubbed the back of his head.

"Well… She's really small…" he said. The old woman nodded and grabbed a black box with colorful tampons featured on the front.

"Here you go," she said, handing it to him, "These are the mini ones, so they should be alright."

"Thanks," Ichigo told her. She waved her hand at him dismissively and smiled.

"Don't mention it," the woman replied, "If I hadn't, I was afraid you would pass out from embarrassment! Well good bye, young man." The woman walked away and Ichigo walked to the closest cash register which had a young boy about twenty or so behind the counter. His nametag read Donovan and he raised an eyebrow when Ichigo set the box on the counter.

"Your girlfriend made you get her stuff, huh?" Donovan asked, shaking his head and chuckling, "Women. But hey, at least they make it up to you, if you know what I mean." Donovan winked and Ichigo rubbed his eyes, wishing he could just punch the guy, scan the stuff, and leave.

"Maybe if you ask nicely she'll let you put it in for her," Donovan laughed obnoxiously. Ichigo growled and grabbed the bag, walking out of the store before he decided to go back and beat the kid up. He reached the car and slipped in, throwing the bag with tampons at Rukia.

"It's about time!" she snapped as he pulled out of the parking lot and onto the road, "What the hell took you so long?" Ichigo rolled his eyes.

"What did you expect? I didn't know what the hell to get so this old lady gave me those, and some kid at the cash register was being an idiot." Rukia rolled her eyes.

"Whatever, I have to get this on now before I get blood on the seat." Ichigo turned bright red.

"What the hell are you talking about? You can't put that on in here!" Rukia rolled her eyes again as she slipped through the middle into the back seat.

"I'm not going to take my pants off, you idiot," she growled, "but if I see you look back here once I'm going to kick your ass." Ichigo sighed and continued to drive, forcing himself not to glance in the review mirror when he hear rustling and some whispered curses coming from the back seat. Finally Rukia climbed back into the front.

"So are we going to your place?" she asked, and mentally slapped herself. She sounded like a hooker when she asked it like that. Ichigo noticed, too, but simply nodded. It was quiet while they drove, and finally they pulled up in front of his apartment.

"Eh, Ichigo," Rukia muttered nervously, glancing out of the windows. Ichigo rolled his eyes as he turned the car off and stepped out.

"Relax, no one will see you," he told her. She still looked worried, and Ichigo sighed.

"Fine, I'll walk behind you. Alright?" Finally Rukia nodded and he waited by her door as she stepped out. Rukia lead the way to his apartment by his direction, Ichigo following closely by. They made it in and Ichigo shut the door behind him. He turned to see Rukia looking at him.

"What?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. Rukia sighed, crossing her arms.

"What am I supposed to do now?" she asked, "I can't walk around in this outfit for forever, especially with how they are! And I certainly won't be able to fit into your clothes." Ichigo rubbed his eyes.

"It'll be fine," he told her softly, soothing her nerves a bit, "I'll go back to your house and get some of your things while you wait here. Alright?" Rukia shook her head, placing her hands on her hips.

"You can't go alone," Rukia demanded, "Those guys might have gone back to my apartment. Let me come with you." Ichigo shook his head.

"They're after you, not me," he reminded her, "I don't know what they want from you, but I'm sure as hell not gonna just hand you over." Rukia frowned stubbornly.

"But I can help you if there's trouble," she insisted, "Even if you're not me, they still might hurt you. After all, Gin probably saw you driving earlier." Ichigo sighed and ran a hand through his hair, ready for this conversation to be over.

"It's fine, Rukia," he said, and Rukia's eyes widened a bit at him using her real name, "I'll be in and out and right back here in no time. Trust me, will you?" Rukia still didn't want him to go, but nodded anyway. Ichigo nodded back and opened his door before turning back to her.

"I have my cell phone with me, and I put my number into your phone last night in case you ever needed it," Ichigo told her. Rukia raised an eyebrow at him and he shrugged.

"It was there and I had nothing better to do," he explained before going on, "Call me if you need anything and I'll be right back no matter what, alright?" Rukia nodded. When he wasn't being an ass, Ichigo was actually pretty considerate. Ichigo nodded also but hesitated.

"Keep the door locked, and don't answer it if you don't know who it is," he instructed, "Even if they say they're my neighbor, stay quiet and pretend you're not here." Rukia smiled a bit.

"Alright daddy, I have it covered, you can go now," she teased. Ichigo rolled his eyes and started out the door again before he poked his head through again.

"Oh, and one last thing," he said, and Rukia looked at him expectantly, causing him to smirk, "If you need to look through the peephole, there's a stool over there for you to stand on since your midget legs probably aren't long enough—" Ichigo dodge quickly as a pillow was sent flying at his head and shut the door. Rukia sighed as she turned towards the empty apartment, rubbing her arm at how creepy the place seemed when she was alone.

She sat on the couch and hugged her knees to her chest. Well, all there was left to do now was wait.

The time passed excruciatingly slow, and Rukia could feel the seed of worry in her gut growing and growing by the second. Why wasn't Ichigo back yet? How long had he been gone? Rukia glanced at her watch but couldn't remember what time he left, so it was useless. She took to wandering around his apartment, trying to keep herself busy so she didn't start going insane from the quiet nothingness that filled the place. There was only one room, a bathroom, two closets, and a kitchen.

Rukia wondered for a moment how the sleeping arrangements were going to go since there was only one bed, but her growing angst wiped it quickly out of her mind. She searched through his fridge like the nosy person she was and only found ramen and other microwavable foods.

She rolled her eyes. Had this guy ever cooked a meal in his life? Her guess was no. After a while Rukia settled herself on the couch and turned on the TV, flipping through different channels. She was trying to decide between Lie to Me and Sponge Bob when suddenly a knock came from the door. Fear gripped her heart as Rukia groped for the remote and shut the TV off.

Another knock came and Rukia carefully wandered over, stepping on the stool she had placed in front of the door to peek through the peephole. There stood a guy with brilliant red hair and strange tattooed eyebrows. He looked bored as he leaned to the side, chewing on a piece of grass. The man wore dirty blue jeans, a dark blue t-shirt and brown vest which were both covered in what looked to be oil.

As far as Rukia could see he didn't have a weapon on him or look the slightest bit dangerous, but she stuck to her word and didn't answer the door. The guy knocked again a few times before rolling his eyes and walked away, looking annoyed.

Rukia collapsed on the ground with her back to the door, trying to catch the breath she had been holding in. Ichigo, where are you?

It was a while longer before another knock came from the door and Rukia looked through the peep hole.

"Oi, midget open up! It's me." Rukia flung the door open to reveal Ichigo both his blue duffel bag and her purple one. As far as she could observe he wasn't hurt, though he looked a bit annoyed. Ichigo raised an eyebrow as she continued to stand there.

"Hey midget, you alright?" Rukia's jaw dropped as he walked past her and into his apartment. She shut the door and turned to glare at him.

"Am I alright?" she shouted, "Am I alright?" Ichigo had already dropped the duffel bags on the ground and open his mouth to say something when suddenly Rukia flung herself into him, wrapping her tiny arms around his waist.

"A man came to the door and I didn't know who he was, and you were taking so long to get back," she sniffled. Ichigo's eyes softened and he wrapped his arms around her tiny, slim waist.

"You had me scared as shit, you asshole," Rukia's muffled voice told him. The corner of Ichigo's lip curved up. So she had been worried about him.

"Sorry," he replied softly, "It took longer than I expected, too. I'm alright, though." Rukia pulled away then and avoided his eyes, making Ichigo chuckled amusedly.

"So what about this guy that came to the door? What did he look like and what happened?" Rukia wrinkled her nose.

"He was really weird looking," she answered, remembering the strange guy's fake eyebrows, "He had bright as red hair, even weirder than yours, and had tattoos on his face." Ichigo's eyes lit up in recognition and he laughed.

"Oh, that was just my friend Renji," the strawberry explained, "Nothing to worry about there, he wouldn't hurt a fly. He's just stupid." Rukia nodded; she could believe that.

"By the way, where am I going to sleep?" she asked suddenly. Ichigo's face paled a bit as he realized the problem.

"Oh yeah… couch?" he suggested. Rukia gasped and kicked him in the shin, making him yelp.

"How dare you! I'm a woman and your guest, you don't make me sleep on the couch!" Ichigo glared as he nursed is aching shin.

"Then what do you suggest, midget?"

"Give me your bed and you sleep on the couch." Ichigo's jaw dropped.

"No way, midget!" he protested stubbornly, "It's my house and my bed; there's no way I'm giving it up to a midget like you!" Rukia sighed exasperatedly, throwing her hands up.

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Ichigo rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.

"I guess we could share?" he suggested. Rukia crossed her arms.

"There's no way I'd ever do that," she muttered. Ichigo sighed.

"There's no other way, midget," he said, "You don't have to worry about me trying anything, sheesh. You're not my type, anyway." Rukia glared at him before sighing.

"Fine," she surrendered, "we share, but one wrong move and your ass is going outside." Rukia grabbed her bag and pushed past him towards the bathroom.

"Hey, but this is my house!" he reminded her. Rukia shrugged.

"I know." Ichigo grumbled as the door to the bathroom shut. Damn midget.

Ooh la la, sharing a bed, eh? ;) And Ichigo, you're such a lier, saying she isn't your type... ^^ Anyhoosers, I hope ya liked it! Review and things, see ya!