Well, as promised, this is the fourth chapter of Our Story. This is the longest chapter yet, so be happy xD. First of all, I'd like to thank everyone who has been kind enough to leave a review, and to read this fic. But I gotta say it would be awesome if the silent readers could leave a review, even if it's short :), it's really encouraging. Okay, here are the answers to the reviews!: deadpoolhulk: Thanks! Here's the next chapter :). Blueberry Absinth: Done! :D. novicestar: Again, done! Hahaha, btw, nice fics you have in there :). more-chan: Hahahha Thanks, and yeah, it's easier for me too xD. Secret Starr: Here's the next chapter :) ! falconrukichi: Don't worry about it ;)

Well, after that, we're ready. Here we go!

Chapter 4: The Game

A deck of cards was spread over the table with its cards face downward, around an empty glass of whiskey. At a side of the glass, there was a detached sheet, with some words scrabbled on it, relating to the values of each card. For instance, a two meant cascade, a three meant phrase before drinking, and so on. Keigo, Ichigo, Mizuiro and Chad were sitting around the table, square, and each one at a side of it. At the center were the glass and the cards.

"Ok, so Ichigo is the first one to draw out." Keigo said.

"Okay" Ichigo said. He drew out a jot, so that meant…

"Hmm, let's see… yep, 'I've never'. Mizuiro said.

"¿'I've never'?" Ichigo inquired. He had never heard anything like that.

"Yeah, I've never" Keigo answered. "It's a game to get information about anyone you want. If I say, 'I've never drunk alcohol' I have to drink, and so you. Do you understand?

"Yeah, of course. Okay, let's see…" Ichigo began to think about something he always wanted to know, but had never asked. Suddenly, an idea came to his mind. "I think I got it. I've never… wanted to have anything with Orihime." He finished. He quickly became surprised seeing his three friends drinking from their glasses of Orange Vodka. "Wow, even you, Chad?" he quickly asked.

"Yeah" answered him. "You can't deny that Orihime is pretty cute" he continued. "But, being honest, she never took away her eyes from you" he finished, smiling lightly.

Ichigo became surprised at how uncomfortable he became hearing that. Nonetheless, Keigo didn't let him continue thinking.

"What about you, Ichigo? Did you really never liked Orihime, not even a bit?" he said, with an incredulous look. "I'm starting to think that you may be blind, buddy. Haven't you seen her? She's fucking hot, dude!" he completed. "Really, Ichigo, are you sure you're not from the opposite sidewalk?" he asked, while getting a little away from him, with an expression of discomfort this time.

"Of course not, you idiot!" yelled Ichigo, a little louder than he thought. "Just because she has a good rack doesn't mean that I have to like her!" he said, frowning.

Keigo, nonetheless, didn't appear to be too convinced. To avoid more trouble, Mizuiro hurried to draw out the next card. A two of hearts.

"Cascade!" yelled an excited Keigo. "Well, if you don't know, we have to all start drinking at the same time, without stopping. When Mizuiro decides to stop, then the one who is at his side, in this case, Chad, can stop drinking. Once he stops, just then I can stop, and so on. That means that if someone decides to drink his glass up at once, the rest doesn't have another choice than to wait for the one that's at his side to finish, or to his glass to empty." He smiled. "Well, do we start?"

"Sure" Mizuiro said, nodding. "One, two… three!" he said, while all of them brought the glasses to their mouths, and began drinking.

…

"Well girls, today was awesome, see you later." said a smiling Tatsuki, while she, Rangiku and Orihime said goodbye to Rukia. After going shopping, they had gone eating some ice creams, and to gossip about people they knew. After all that, the time to say goodbye had come. Orihime and Rangiku went to the first's house, while Tatsuki accompanied them on the way to her home. Rukia, by her part, returned to Ichigo's house.

"See you girls, take care!" yelled Rukia while she waved to them. After losing their sight, she began walking on her return to Ichigo's home. She really had had more fun than she thought possible with the group of girls, which had surprised her pleasingly. While she walked, she couldn't help thinking about Ichigo. She wondered if he was already home, or if he still was with his friends in the mall. Anyways she would soon know, as she was already reaching Kurosaki's residence.

"Hey, Rukia-chan" Isshin cordially greeted her. "You're already here, come in."

"Thanks, Isshin-san" answered the black-haired, smiling. Ichigo's father could be irritating sometimes, but he always got her smiling with his silly things. After entering and taking her shoes off, Rukia went to Ichigo's room to say hello to him.

"Hey, Ichigo! I'm ho…" she didn't finish the phrase, seeing the orange-haired was nowhere to be found. She looked at the clock and saw that it was nine o'clock. "Bah, how weird… it's late, isn't Ichigo supposed to have come back already?"

"Just in case, Ichigo isn't sleeping here tonight." Isshin informed her, while he passed over there. "He told me he was going to sleep in a friend's house, so don't expect him to be here until tomorrow." He said calmly.

Rukia, by her part, was a little surprised. Never before Ichigo had stayed night somewhere else, that she knew. The closest to that was when Ichigo trained with the Vizards, but nothing like staying at a friend's house. Rukia supposed that she shouldn't be so surprised, after all, at the end, he still was a normal teenager. She sighed, while she stretched in the orange-haired's bed. Suddenly, the idea that this was the moment to discover what Ichigo hid in his room came to her mind. She stood up from a jump, while she went to revise the drawer that was closest to her. She smirked. This was going to be interesting.

…

"Ehh… it iss a king of clubs! Hahaha" The alcohol was beginning to have an effect on Mizuiro, modulating was already a task a lot harder than it would normally be. Nonetheless, he wasn't the only one affected by the degrees of the beverage. Chad was a lot more talkative than usual, and Keigo was also feeling a little dizzy, but Ichigo was affected a lot more noticeably. The orange-haired was in an exceptional good mood, also more talkative than normal, and with a clear tendency to laugh about anything, something also shared by his friends.

"Haha, Mizzuiro, dudde, you're drunk" smiled fraternally Ichigo, while tapping his friend's shoulder. "By the way, what did ya do witth the king?" he asked, the second time in the night.

"Icchigo, idiot, don't you rremembar?" asked Keigo "I told you that everry time that a king came out you had to pput a little of your drinkk in the glass of the centre" he said, as if it was something that even a baby was supposed to know.

The mentioned glass was now completely full, a mixture of Vodka, orange juice, rum, Coke and Sprite. In other words, a bomb.

"Uuuuuhh!" said an excited Keigo. "The glass is full! The next who draws out a kinng will have to drink tha glass up!" he said, with tears of excitement in the eyes.

"Haha, I feel pity for that poor soul" smiled Mizuiro, while Chad drew out an ace of hearts.

"Looks like we'll all have to drink" Chad said, to who the alcohol, even when had made him dizzy, didn't affect his communicative faculties as much as the others.

"Cheers, guys!" Ichigo said, while rising his glass in the air, hitting it with his friend's glasses. "I'm doin' this for you, guys!" finished, while draining his almost full glass of rum with Sprite at once.

"Cheers!" chorused the others, while swallowing of their own glasses.

"It's my turn" Keigo said, drawing out a card. "A jota of diamonds" he smiled.

"Hey, guys, wait a minutte, gotta go to the bathroom" Ichigo said, while standing up. After a couple steps, he hit his knee with a point of Keigo's sofa. "Ow, fuck!" he let out. By their part, the guys began to laugh noisily.

"Hahahaha, eh, Ichigo, try not to destroy my bath, please!" said between laughs Keigo. Ichigo, opposed as how he would normally have reacted, began to laugh too.

"Hahahaha, well sorry, it was a little miscalculation." He said, before he began to walk to the bathroom again.

"Hahaha, I never saw Ichigo this bad before" commented Mizuiro.

"Whadda heck you talking 'bout, Mizuiro?" answered Keigo "You're all drunk, too."

"Hahaha" laughed the mentioned, without realizing that Keigo was serious.

By his part, Ichigo, after emptying his bladder (it was a pain in the ass for him to maintain himself steady and don't make a mess in Keigo's bath) was washing his hands, and soaking his face. "Fuck, I'm all screwed up." He mumbled. His face was a disaster, his eyes were too reddish, and on top of that his expression didn't help a bit. He soaked his face again, rubbing energetically, and exited the bath.

"Ichigo, I hope you didn't break anythin' of my bath, did ya hear?" Keigo smiled.

"Nah" Ichigo said, while he seated again.

"Well, a jot came out, soooo… I've never" Keigo smiled. He had used the time Ichigo spent in the bath to think about an appropriated question. "I've never… liked, or like, Rukia-chan" he finished, smiling, while he brought his glass to his lips.

…

"Atchoo!" Rukia sneezed. "Wow, really there isn't anything interesting here" she sighed. She had already finished revising Ichigo's room and hadn't found anything uncommon, the most interesting were a couple fashion and style magazines the boy had put away. Nothing incriminator with which she could blackmail him later. She was about to give up when she realized that she hadn't checked the bedside table he had at a side of his bed. She opened it and began revising. "Let's see… earphones… pens, a couple of old papers… a manga… and… a box?" she surprised. "Ichigo is taking pills?" she wondered while she opened the box, which was labeled as "LifeStyles". To her surprise, it didn't contained pills; instead it had a strip with some squared aluminum bundles, with a circular shape inside of them. "What is this?" she wondered curiously.

…

Ichigo, even with all the alcohol he had in his organism, during an instant thought he should have hit Keigo for asking that. And even more after seeing Chad and Mizuiro grabbing their glasses and drinking from them too. He couldn't finish getting angry, in any case, when he saw himself taking a long drink from his Sprite Vodka glass.

"I knew it! I told you, Mizuiro!" Keigo yelled excitedly, seeing his friend drinking, unmistakable sign that he had hit the nail in the head. "And tell me, Isshigo, since when?" he asked, a smile in his face.

Ichigo shrugged. "Dunno, Keigo, it just happened" he said, with half-a-smile. "But, tellin' you the truth, I don't think I'll have anythin' with her" he finished.

His three friends seemed surprised with the commentary. "No? Why? Didn't ya just said that you liked Rukia?" asked Mizuiro.

"Yeah, I find her cute and all that, but I dun't think she'll wanna have anything with me" Ichigo finished.

"Dunno, you know, today when we were in the mall I saw Rukia lookin' at you when we were showing you what was in the bagg" Mizuiro told him. "And when we were goin' out she ran out, I think she didn't want you to see her" Mizuiro finished.

"Ahh, I didn't saw her" Ichigo commented. "In any casse, I don't think it was sumthin' important. Hey, dus anybody know what time is it? He asked.

"Lemme see… it's twenty to five." Chad answered.

"Who does have to draw out now?" Mizuiro asked.

"Ehh… Ichigo, I think" Keigo replied.

Ichigo inclined and picked up a card. Suddenly, he had a bad feeling. His stomach shrunk seeing a king of hearts looking back at him from the card.

Nobody made a noise during a couple seconds, until…

"HAHAHAHA! Ichigo, you gotta see your face! Hahahaha!" Keigo began to laugh uncontrollably, seeing the orange-haired contorted face.

"Hahaha, damn, Ichigo, its official, we won't see until the day after tomorrow." Mizuiro animatedly told him, tapping his friend's shoulder. Chad limited to smile with the situation.

"Well, Ichigo, ready for this?" Keigo asked his friend. Ichigo, by his part, smiled lightly. "Sure, you don't have to ask" he said, while he raised the glass with the mix. He looked thoroughly at it during several seconds, and breathed deeply. It was better to finish with this once and for all. So, in a moment, Ichigo brought the glass to his lips, and, with two long gulps, he drank the beverage up. Keigo and Mizuiro immediately cheered and applauded the feat, while Chad observed Ichigo, for any case. He had his eyes shut because of the flavor, but the opened them at the seconds, smiling widely.

"That's all? Pff, bring something strong the next time" he said, with a cocky smile.

Looking at that, the guys relaxed, and were about to resume the game, but suddenly Keigo's cell phone began to ring.

"Who the fuck could be at this hour?" Keigo grunted, while he answered. "Yeah? Yeah, it's me, Keigo… aah, it's you, hahaha… no, I ain't doing anything…" he laughed a little uncomfortably "Yeah, yeah… What? Now? You kidding me?..." the guys began to look at Keigo with a little concern "Yeah… yeah, of course… I'm fine, fuck…" he mumbled "Yeah, ok, see ya" Keigo quickly shut, looking at his friends apprehensively.

"What is it, Keigo?" Keigo asked, seeing the troubled face of his friend.

"Change of plans, buddies." Keigo said, nervously. "We have twenty minutes before my parents and my sister arrive, so help me order a little, and then you go before them arrive, please" he pleaded.

With a sigh, the three stood up, with more or less difficulty, at the time they began putting the table and the furniture into order. "Eh, Ichigo, take my bag and the rum with you, pleasse" asked Keigo "If I leave it here I'm gonna get caught, and if that happens you guys can forget bout' future reunions" he smiled weakly.

Ichigo sighed, resigned. "Okay, Keigo." When he turned around to keep ordering, Keigo stored the bottle of rum with Coke, still half-full in the bag that Ichigo would carry, together with the Playboy issue, since he wanted to get rid of any evidence, and didn't thought that Ichigo would be too mad, after all, it was a free Playboy.

After ten minutes, when finishing, Ichigo went to Keigo's sofa to pick his jacket up, but miscalculated, slipped, and almost to hit the floor, but luckily for him Chad grabbed him before he broke his face.

"Ichigo… man, you're really bad, it will be better if Mizuiro and I help you go home" Chad told him, with a little concern.

"No… it isn't… necessary… that you help me…" said a crestfallen Ichigo "I'm allight', it isn't anythin'…" and to prove it, Ichigo tried to stand on one feet, and almost falls again if he wasn't grabbed again, this time by Keigo.

"Hahaha, it'll be better that you let Keigo and Chad help you, or maybe you won't even find your house" Keigo told him, fraternally.

"Hmm…" was all the response Ichigo gave.

Chad and Mizuiro looked at each other, and between the two began carrying Ichigo. "See you tomorrow, Keigo" Chad said.

"Byyye" Keigo answered, shutting his door close. "Uff, that was close… a little more and my parents would have foun' out…" he sighed.

…

After several minutes of walking, the three boys almost reached Ichigo's home. Chad decided to ask him if he really was "fine" or if he needed to throw away some of the alcohol he had drunk, after all, the last glass was anything but a simple beer.

"Eh, Ichigo"

"…wha'?" asked the orange-haired, while he looked up to Chad.

"Are you sure you're okay like that? Really, if you feel any urge to throw up, just do it, it doesn't matter." He assured him "Really, if you want we'll take to that tree or something so you can throw away all the shit."

"It isn't anything, don't worry…" Ichigo told him, his head hung low again. "I'm fine like this, for real."

Chad didn't appear to be very convinced, but he decided to drop the topic at that.

"We're hear, Ichigo" Mizuiro told him. Ichigo separated from his friends and, slowly, walked to his door. After a little effort he managed to take out his keys from his pocket, and carefully inserted it in the lock. Trying to do as little noise as possible, he opened the door slowly, and when he saw the house totally dark and calm, sighed, somewhat relieved. At least he was sober enough to not to wake up the whole house. He turned around, and said good-bye to his friends.

"Eh, Mizuiro, Chad, thanks for coming with me" he said, with a weak smile. "I owe you one, guys."

"It wasn't anything, Ichigo, we're gonna charge that in the next reunion" Mizuiro smiled. "And… react, Ichigo. I'm sure Rukia-san wants to have somethin' with you" he whispered to him, smiling.

"Mizuiro is right, Ichigo" Chad complemented. "You never know what can happen, you better tell her before it's too late." He finished.

Ichigo smiled fully this time. He knew that he could count on his friends when he needed them. "I'll think about it. Take care, guys." He told them, saying good-bye. Once they left, slowly, and trying to make as little noise as possible, he took out his shoes and went upstairs, to his room. When he opened the door, he was amazed to find Rukia sleeping mildly in his bed. Normally he would have yelled her to get out, but in his condition, and at that hour, that idea didn't even appeared in his mind. Huffing slightly, she dropped Keigo's bag, forgetting that inside it was the Coke bottle. The bag made a sharp noise, not too loud, but enough to wake Rukia up.

"Hmm…" she yawned, while she turned around in the bed. "Who is it? What time is it?" she asked, while she sat up, rubbing her eyes.

Ichigo, shocked, couldn't believe his bad luck. Just when he was at his worse the midget had to see him. He tried to remain still and to pass unnoticed, but he failed.

"Ichigo, is that you?" asked the violet-eyed.

Giving up, Ichigo answered reluctantly. "Hmm."

"What time is it? I thought you would come back later." Rukia told him, now fully awake.

"It must be like five and a half" answered Ichigo, sharply. He didn't want his tongue to betray him and to indicate Rukia he was a little drunk, he didn't want to imagine what kind of scene the shinigami could make.

"Ichigo? Are you ok? You sound a little strange." Rukia told him, with a little curiosity.

Fuck, what was missing. Ichigo burned up his last reserves of patience at that moment. "It isn't annything that you should care bout', Rukia. Now, could you please geddoff' my bed?" He told her, without being able to dissimulate his pronunciation anymore.

Rukia looked at him during long seconds, before getting off the bed, without saying a word. In the darkness, Ichigo couldn't see the smiled that had formed in her lips.

"Eh, Ichigo…" asked the shinigami, in a soft voice. "Were you drinking, by any chance?"

Fuck, fuck, fuck! Ichigo didn't know what to say at that. Everything seemed to be downfall at that moment. "I just drank a couple beers, nothin' else" he muttered.

Rukia's smile got wider at that moment. "Ichigo, do you need me to help you lay down?" she asked, innocently. Ichigo was totally taken by surprise by that, and partially because the alcohol, he blushed deeply. "Wha…? What the hell are you saying, Rukia?" he stammered "I can lay down on my own, stop saying nonsense!" he finished, turning his face to the side, but Rukia had already noticed his blush. She moved towards him, and softly took him by the arm, and deposited him in the bed, covering him lightly with the sheets.

"Ru… Rukia" Ichigo was speechless, maybe he was worst than he thought. The Rukia he knew was being soft… and caring? With him? Suddenly he began to think that maybe it was all a dream, so he stopped thinking about it. Rukia, after laying him down, appeared to be leaving, but Ichigo stopped her.

"Eh… Rukia, come here a moment, please…" Ichigo asked. Rukia walked to be at a side of the teenager. "What is it, Ichigo?"

In that moment, Ichigo wasn't sure if what he was living was real, or a fantasy caused by the alcohol. He didn't care. Having Rukia so close… he never had noticed her fragrance like in that moment. And, almost without thinking, he leaned up, and kissed her. Softly, barely a contact between their lips. Immediately he separated from her, with the deepest blush he ever had. He didn't want to look at her, but if he had had the courage, he would have seen the surprised face the shinigami had. "Thanks for everything, Rukia…" he whispered, before laying down again and burying his face in the pillow. If he really had just kissed Rukia, he hoped that at least she would have him some pity and wait for the next day to kill him. Rukia slowly walked to the closet door, introducing softly in it. As Ichigo, she hadn't really assumed yet what just happened.

"It's nothing, Ichigo." She said, in an inaudible whisper. "Whenever you want."

Well, I managed to update this at last. To be truthful, I don't think it'd be a bad idea if I finished the fic here, but there's a lot more coming, so... :) better for you guys! I'm waiting for your praises, questions, suggestions, lemon petitions and forth $%. See ya in the next chapter!