Disclaimer: I'm way too young to own Bleach.

Chapter 4

"Okay, this is it." Placing the small paper in her jacket pocket, she tilts her head and took a step back to see how large the house is. "They really are aristocrats. If only my family have one-fifth of their money, then maybe..." she sighed sadly, and her eyes search for the doorbell.

She pressed the doorbell twice, while tightening the jacket around her. It's not yet snowing, but the air is so cold that she's glad she brought a jacket though it was warm this morning.

Uryuu's still not yet back, and of course, she wants to return the favor of Rukia's friendliness to her by paying the girl a visit. The door opens, and she sees indigo eyes. When the pair looks at her, the door fully opens in a second.

"I didn't expect you to come here today." she exclaimed, and Ichigo quickly but not rudely enters for she doesn't want to be out in the cold any longer. "I've got nothing better to do at home, and Dad allows me to pay you a visit."

Rukia smiles and the orange head hangs her jacket at the hatstand. "Where are the others?" She already gets her reply, as the butler who has dark red eyes and gray eyes lead her to the fireplace as he sees her shivering.

"This is Ashido, our butler. Ashido, this is Ichigo." He merely bows to her as his way of greeting, and she bows back before he leaves, heading for what looks like the kitchen. "He's quiet like Nii-sama, possibly more quiet, but don't worry, he's a really nice guy." Rukia described, and the other girl nods before sitting on one of the lounge chairs.

"Byakuya... your brother..." Ichigo muttered while staring at the flames, which caught the raven head's attention. "He told me while you all were away for a short break, that you really liked my performance a few nights ago." Then she snorts, "I guess I can see where is the excitement radiating off you coming from." The latter chuckles, and Ashido comes back with two cups of lukewarm tea.

Ichigo and Rukia take their cups and take slow sips, to which the taller girl finds it delicious and thanks Ashido, who mumbles thanks in return before retiring to wherever he is going.

Rukia takes out a small vinyl disc and puts it on the tabletop, which plays a soft, slow instrumental to which she hums to. Ichigo follows by vocalizing it without using words, but only for a short while because she doesn't like singing too much in private. "I guess I got carried away."

"Don't worry. You sing really well."

"That's proven by me becoming an icon in the music world, but don't think of myself as superior."

Their conversation is cut short when the door opens, and Ashido walks out again and welcomes Byakuya who gives him his jacket and they exchange a brief nod of greeting before the older raven head departs upstairs.

Both girls momentarily listen to the fire making crackling sounds while burning the brushed wood. "Actually, Ichigo. I want to say, can you help me in singing?" Ichigo almost choked on her tea at the question. "Huh?"

A faint blush reaches her cheeks, and quietly enough she looks away while twiddling her thumbs. "I always get the urge to sing, but honestly, I actually blow it whenever I sing. Please, Ichigo. This is embarrassing enough for me already to ask this of you."

She found it sudden to be asked something like that, but knowing how honest she sounded, she sighed before answering, "Sure." And like lightning, Rukia leads her up to her room, without making any noises.

For a younger and small girl like her, she is strong; Ichigo had to notice as she silently closes the door. "Sorry again, I'm just so excited." Patting on the side of her bed, Ichigo sat at the said place and soon enough, the raven head started to sing a short piece.

The other know now that she really does blow it, for the voice is almost ear-piercing even though it's not so loud. "I see what you meant now." She receives a chuckle of embarrassment.

"But it's most likely because you strain your voice too much. You should use your stomach, not your throat, when you sing." While saying that, she points to the younger teenager's diaphragm. "I don't know how to do that. And it seems difficult." she pouts. Ichigo fixes her hair to her back before clearing her throat. "It's something like this."

Somehow, the air around the room turned different when she sang a something that seems to be a lullaby, and it's loud enough to be heard by people outside the room. As Byakuya resides at the neighboring room, he could hear her.

He hoped it wouldn't attract the neighbors even though they're a few lots away, but that would be ridiculous. From how peaceful it is and how it would lull strained people to sleep, it does make him feel calm but not sleepy, for he doesn't want to miss a single bit of it.

"That's how you do it. You can see how my stomach flattens a little when I sing, you should breathe deep then try letting your voice do the rest, and focus on the diaphragm. That would let you sing well." Rukia shrugs her shoulders as her reply, and tries singing a short bit of Pie Jesu, and for once, it didn't sound like an utter failure.

"It sounds great. What I said is the best advice that I can offer." She almost fell off the bed when Rukia hugged her tightly, her thin arms wrapping around the taller body.

"You did more than enough. The only other person I sing in front of is my brother, and he says that I also have the tendency to crack my voice when I sing back then, but he always tells me there's room for improvement. He's right, you know?"

"He told me the same thing at dinner." They break the hug of gratitude, and Ichigo turns around and to her wonder, there's a huge stack of literature books. "Wow, you're one bookworm."

"That's actually my brother's. He owns three-fourth of them, and he finished everything so I'm just borrowing it. He loves reading, I can tell since I'm still a kid, I can see him sit across the fire, fancying himself with anything from any of these authors, be it Edgar Allan Poe, Shakespeare or Dumas, he just wants something good to read."

The orange head grabbed 'Romeo and Juliet' from the shelf. "Can I borrow this?" Rukia nodded enthusiastically, and they exchange farewells. Ichigo leaves, and while stepping down the stairs, she sees Byakuya in the living room, and bows before reaching the floor and takes her jacket before running out the door.

It's still so cold, so she stops walking before she could reach the road, for she needed to tighten the cloth around her. "I can give you a ride home, if you want." Her shivering figure shifts and Byakuya stood behind her, who looked unaffected from the icy air around them.

Though he makes a kind offer, his voice just sounds as if there's no heart. "I can walk home. You don't need to trouble yourself." But he said otherwise not by words, but by leading her to one of their three cars, which is the least expensive-looking.

TBC . . .