A/N: In regard to Rangiku. I adore her because she makes me laugh. I know I promised my chapter at 40 reviews.. But you guys were wonderful and went above and beyong what I had hoped for. Maybe I should set higher standards? Nah..

Chapter 4

Rukia lay back in bed as she contemplated over the events of the day. Especially the last half.

"Pretend to be my girlfriend Rukia." Rukia roughly pulled away from Ichigo.

"Are you insane?!" She hissed before moving towards the exit. She unlocked the bathroom and walked out of the restaurant quickly. A few minutes later Ichigo came out of the restaurant and walked up to her as she leaned against the building.

Cautiously he approached her, but kept a safe distance away from the tiny angry woman. "I'm not crazy." He assured her, but only received a doubtful look. "Look. This can benefit us both. I can finally have all those women off my back and you can get your house fixed up for free. You'll find out soon that labor is expensive in Karakura Town. I swear you can set the ground rules too. All you have to do is hold my hand every once in a while."

" I get to make the rules?"

"Yep."

Rukia sighed and began tapping her foot impatiently. "I feel like someone is getting ripped off..." She had a small amused smile on her face now. "And I don't feel like it's me." They began walking to Ichigo's squadcar and got in. "And how do I know you're not being some big creep?"

"You have no idea how much and how often these chicks bug me. If I can get away from it by doing work on your house it's worth it." He flashed Rukia a rare smile.

She promised that she'd need some time to think about it. Once she got over the initial insult of Ichigo's proposition she realized it wasn't that bad of an idea. But there was too much to worry about with the situation. If word got back to Byakuya that she was already 'dating' someone even if it was just a ruse.. his reaction would not be good. And despite the fact that she shouldn't care what these people thought of her, she really did. Maybe it was the years of her life being scrutinized for being a Kuchiki or perhaps it was her insecurity, but she cared about the impression she left. In her short time in this town, she didn't want them thinking she was the sort of girl who was cheap and easy. She was quite the opposite, but she wouldn't be surprised if Ichigo thought otherwise...

'Get over it Rukia.' She chastised herself. 'It was just a kiss.'

xXxXxXxXx

"You're pretty quiet." Yoruichi said with a supportive smile. She pushed a plate of cake and a fork in front the younger woman.

"Just a lot on my mind." She picked up the fork and began to dig into her cake. It was a tasty coffee cake that Yoruichi had made the day before. 'I never would have guessed Yoruichi could bake so well. Maybe it's the purple hair. Honestly. Who dyes their hair purple?!' "I want to fix this place up, do you know where I should look for new carpeting, paint and stuff?"

"I sure do. When you're done eating we can head into town and get some quotes."

xXxXxXxXx

After a full day of gathering information about fixing up the house Rukia was wiped out. "This is gonna be a lot more expensive than I thought it would be." Rukia frowned as she stared at the papers in front of her and aggressively pushing the buttons of her calculator. There was a lot she had to consider if she hired people to work on her house, were they licensed, bonded and insured? Did they have a good reputation? Rukia sighed heavily, she would have to do the work herself. Rukia sat at the kitchen table surrounded by papers with a cup of tea acting as a paperweight on a few . Rukia had made a list of things she'd need and when they stopped at the hardware store they budgeted how much the supplies would cost.

"You could always ask..."

"No." Rukia stated firmly, interrupting Yoruichi. "I will do this without my brother's help OR money. If I cut out hiring laborers I can cut the cost significantly."

"Kisuke and I will help of course." Yoruichi offered with a smile. "We do live there. We ought to put some elbow grease into the place."

Rukia smiled at the dark skinned woman. "But you guys work. I can't ask you to work on the house after a long day." Rukia pushed a stray piece of hair from her eyes. If she budgeted correctly she could do the updates on the house that she wanted AND be able to survive for the summer. If she did get some help from Kisuke and Yoruichi she could be done with the changes by the end of the summer. Rukia scribbled down the last of her calculations and looked up at Yoruichi with a smile. "I think I have it all sorted out."

"Good." Yoruichi said with a nod. "You shouldn't frown so much. It's 'unbecoming of a Kuchiki.'" Yoruichi dropped her voice to imitate the even tone of Byakuya Kuchiki.

Rukia laughed. "That's just scary."

"Right?" Yoruichi winked at the girl, but noticed that Rukia's face slowly changed and her eyes gained a far off look.

Rukia shook her head as if to clear her mind. "You talked to him right?" Rukia's voice was low and serious. Much different than how she sounded only moments ago. "Was my brother very angry?" Yoruichi opened her mouth to speak, but Rukia cut in. "Do you think he'll ever forgive me?" Rukia turned her head away from Yoruichi, but felt the woman's hand come to rest on her shoulder.

"I won't lie." Yoruichi began. "He wasn't happy with your choice, but he loves you.." Rukia snickered bitterly. "He does! And because of that. He'll forgive you. Just give him some time to adjust." Yoruichi stood up from her chair slowly. "Don't worry so much. One thing I don't agree with how Byakuya raised you was that he put too much weight on your shoulders by constantly reminding you that you were a Kuchiki. First and foremost, you are Rukia." She jokingly ruffled Rukia's hair. "Now enough of this crap. I have to go pull a night shift at the hospital. I'll see you later." She winked at the girl and strolled confidently out of the room.

xXxXxXxXx

A few days later Rukia was driving through the town. While her transition to living in a small town was not going as smoothly as she had anticipated, she was trying to hide her discomfort. She had her car back after 2 days in the shop and was now ready to start picking up supplies to update the home. Now she was living in the guesthouse which was a cozy 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom house about 100 yards behind the main house. Urahara had done some work to the home, cleaning up the place, vacuuming and even installing his spare fridge and microwave in the kitchen. While Urahara did make the guest house livable Rukia now had the task of making it marketable. She'd talked to the real estate agent that Byakuya frequently used and she was willing to coming to Karakura Town to appraise then hopefully sell the old home when the summer was over.

Rukia's eyes lit up at the sight of a small bookstore. "Thank you." She whispered up at the heavens. The one thing she lacked in her guest house was a tv and without books she was pretty sure she was she would whither and die. Walking into the bookstore she breathed in the distinctive smell of books and immediately began to peruse the shelves enthusiastically. Secretly, she had an addiction to books, basically the written word in general. It was her weakness. Her eyes locked on a volume with selected poems from Lord Byron. Her hand subconsciously pulled out the book from the shelf and she stared at it. Kaien had bought her this same book of poetry once.

He had showed up at the Kuchiki mansion with the wrapped book in hand and tossed it to her casually. "I thought you'd want this." He smiled broadly down at her and raked his fingers through his hair. "You always complain about how you wish you had more books."

With hesitation Rukia tore at the packaging and her eyes lit up at the name of the author. Her arms wrapped tightly around Kaien's waist. "Thank you." Her voice crackled with emotion.

"You okay there Runaway Bride?"

Are you following me?" Rukia muttered in an irritated voice. She placed the book back onto the shelf hurriedly then looked up at Ichigo. Her breath briefly caught in her throat when she spied he was out of uniform. He was completely casual, wearing a fitted t-shirt and pair of jeans. Rukia turned away from the man and scooted uncomfortably towards another shelf.

"I'm not following you. I think it's just an incredibly small town." He was grinning at her like a cheshire cat and she could feel his stare burning through her back. She turned around and placed an irritated hand on her hip.

xXxXxXxXxXx

Ichigo wasn't following her. At least not on purpose. He was looking for a book when he spotted her staring at a book in her hand. Her hair was up in a ponytail and she was wearing a pair of skin tight jeans and a red halter top. What he would give to hold her again. 'Get a hold of yourself Kurosaki. She's just a woman. A tiny, bossy, sexy woman.' He continued to observe her for a moment more. Her eyes were glazed over and she appeared to be deep in thought. Maybe he should have kept walking and ignored her like a normal person probably would have done, but he couldn't miss this opportunity at talking to Rukia.

xXxXxXxXxXx

"Did you think about what I said?" Ichigo asked quietly while staring directly into Rukia's deep purple orbs.

She raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm not sure."

"But it's been a week!" Ichigo huffed with irritation.

Rukia shoved Ichigo's arm softly. "Whiny child." She grumbled with a small smile. "I may be considering you proposition, but I'm still on the fence about it. I've been doing some research and adding up numbers and I have been seriously considering it." Rukia was talking speedily, but evenly in hushed tones.

"Maybe I can sweeten the deal?" Ichigo asked with a serious look.

"I thought you weren't going to be a creep?" Rukia asked with a smile.

"How about I take you to dinner tonight? You can meet some of my friends in town. We all get together in the back billiards room at Tessai's at least once a week. VIP all the way." Rukia smiled at Ichigo and thought for a moment. "I can promise you some awesome food. Great milkshakes. Since you're legal, maybe even a beer. A couple rounds of pool, darts and PacMan. And it's all on me."

"You'll regret your offer soon enough Officer Kurosaki. I may be short, but I can eat." Rukia divulged with a small smile. "What time?"

"7. I'll pick you up." He said decisively and held up a hand when Rukia attempted to protest, but insisted that he was going to the gentleman-y thing and pick her up. The two parted ways, each with a hopeful smile on their faces.

A/N: There's chapter 4. Pretty boring. I had no idea where I was going with that. :) I'm being honest. Don't be angry at it.