It saddens me to inform you that 12000 words in I've given up on nanowrimo. Things got too busy and I have family visiting, but I do plan to finish it'll just take longer than expected.

Thanks for your reviews and support, I really appreciate it!

4. Rivalry

Pokemon always confuses Rukia. The grass isn't even that tall, yet how can a pokemon the size of a giraffe hide within it? Also in the safari zone, how do they know exactly how many steps the player has taken, and how do they transport you back to the starting area? Why doesn't anyone care that ten year olds can basically run amok without any foreseeable consequences?

The thing that puzzles her the most is the weird character who she named DORK. He's supposed to be the main characters rival, or something like that?

Rukia decides she wants to learn more about this weird character named DORK. The best way to do this is by bothering her favorite carrot top. He seems to be napping, but that's easily fixed. "Hey Ichigo."

Ichigo grumbles under his breath but keeps his eyes clamped shut. Rukia burns her gaze into the side of his head, smirking when he finally cracks one eyes open to shoot her a death glare. "What?"

Rukia rotates the screen to help aid with her question. "What do you know about this guy?"

Ichigo squints at the tiny gameboy screen. Rukia's character's standing on the SS Anne. It's the long hallway in front of the captain's office, and the rival character just walked up to stop them. "Which one?"

"The one that's not me." Rukia leans in so she can glance at the screen without turning it away from Ichigo. "The top one there."

"Oh Gary?"

"I actually named him DORK, but yes that's him."

Ichigo pushes himself into a sitting position as he considers the ridiculousness of the question. "So what do you want to know about him?"

"What motivates him? Why does he follow me around like some kind of stalker, it's not like I asked him to challenge me every thirty seconds." Rukia seems genuinely concerned, her glare focused on the pixelated character named DORK.

"He's your rival."

"That's not good enough motivation."

"Sure it is, he wants to beat the main character. He keeps failing so he has to try again. It's kind of noble how persistent he is. The main character should appreciate him more."

Rukia shakes her head, "Would you like it if someone was waiting to challenge you around every corner?"

Ichigo shrugs, "I kind of already have that, both with Ishida and Renji. It's alright…"

"How about us?" Rukia plops down on the bed, gameboy temporarily forgotten. "Are we rivals?"

The question surprises Ichigo, and he finds himself glancing down as he responds. "No I don't think so."

"What are we then?" Rukia leans in eagerly, curious as to what Ichigo really thinks of them. However, the red headed teen's already flopping back down onto the bed, and he rolls away with a dismissal grunt.

When he speaks again his voice comes out just above a whisper. If Rukia didn't have enhanced hearing abilities from training as a soul reaper she probably would've missed it. "I guess we're friends."