(A/N): Okay guys, I'm going to be honest. I had a hard time writing this chapter. It wasn't so much getting it down, but it was a really spaced out writing time and lately a day feels like a week so. There's that and the fact that I was ill with one thing or another for the month of january so it hasn't been good.

As a result, I haven't proof read this. At all. I'm really sorry. I'll probably come back to it as a warm up before writing chapter seven.

Chapter Six

"Do you remember your name?" the man-Dr Kurosaki-asked Rukia. Without really meaning to, she looked to Ichigo, who was standing behind his dad. When he'd muttered the plan to her, he'd been awfully vague. Now, he just shrugged.

"Uh…" she thought to herself. This was the chance to make up an extremely cool fake name. "R-Rukia."

Dammnit! Her name had slipped out of her mouth before she could stop it. What a wasted opportunity.

"Your last name?" Dr Kurosaki probed. He was trying to see how bad her concussion was, whether she had amnesia. Rukia didn't even have to look at Ichigo, though she could see him furiously shaking his head in her peripheral vision, to know how to answer that one.

"I…I'm not sure…" she frowned, pressing a hand to her head. It may be a cheesey move, but it appeared to be enough. Dr Kurosaki nodded, placing a hand over hers comfortingly.

"It's okay. Can you remember anything else? Your birthday? What happened last night?" he pressed. For a few seconds, Rukia pretended to mull over the thoughts, then shook her head.

"Not really…" she muttered. This time it wasn't a complete lie. Her memories of the previous night were still somewhat foggy.

"Well…" Dr Kurosaki straightened up, his back popping as he did so. He was taking on a business approach to her, but she could still tell he was concerned. "You're welcome to stay in the clinic until we can contact your family, Miss Rukia."

"Thank you, sir." Rukia gave him a charming smile, leaning back on the plush pillows behind her. Once he had left, she dropped it slowly, though it didn't hide the happiness she felt inside her. She may be trying to be an amnesia patient, but she had a place to stay. A home of sorts.

"I'm guessing we're not going to be finding your family." Ichigo remarked dryly from where he leant against the wall. Rukia flashed a smirk.

"Of course not." She replied. Ichigo smiled slightly in response. Since she had told him her story and they had formulated the plan to allow her to stay here, instead of on the streets, there was a sense of unity. They felt like a team now.

"Hey, do you need….clothes?" Ichigo broke the companionable silence. Rukia paused, looking down at the threadbare hoodie and jeans she'd been wearing for weeks now.

"I guess I could pick some up…" she muttered. It was quite ridiculous that she didn't think of doing so before.

"You have no money-" he stopped his thoughts as he realized what she meant. "No! No…no stealing unless we really have to…you're about Yuzu's height, I'm sure she'll let you borrow her clothes."

"I am not borrowing your little sister's clothes!" Rukia protested, her face feeling hot at the prospect. She may have been small, but she didn't look that small, did she?

"I'm pretty sure she has a top with a rabbit on." Ichigo muttered, watching her eyes light up for a moment. She turned away so she wouldn't have to look him in the eye.

"I guess I could borrow a couple of things," she admitted, picking at the duvet. He chuckled as he sat on the end of the clinic bed. "How did you know that I like rabbits?"

"It's pretty obvious." Was the response, complete with an eye roll. There was a pause in which Rukia checked her phone out of habit. There was rarely a message on it and now was no exception. They probably didn't even know what had happened.

"Oh yeah," Ichigo's voice caught her attention. He was pointing at Lion-Ichigo, who was still tucked into the bed next to her. "What is that?"

"He…" Rukia paused. Should she really explain that to him? With a smirk she carried on. "He's Ichigo."

"Eh?" his maroon eyes blinked at her, still comprehending the information. "You named that thing after me?!"

"He reminded me of you." She said defensively, then tossed the toy over to the boy. "He smells the same-see?"

"Hahah," Ichigo muttered dryly, the toy hitting his shoulder. He tossed it back, still frowning.

"What would you suggest I call it?" Rukia asked, crossing her arms moodily. Lion-Ichigo fell into her lap, his round, black eyes staring up at her. His label read 'mod' in cartoonish letters. She'd heard of the brand before, but never paid it much attention. "What about Mod?"

"No way!" he snapped in response. "That's way too cool a name for such a lame toy."

There was a pause where Rukia pout-glared at Ichigo, waiting for him to come up with a solution.

"Kon." He said after a few minutes.

"Kon?" Rukia raised a dark eyebrow.

"Kon." Ichigo pointed to the lion to prove his point.

"Well, it is your house, so fine." She said.

Then she slid her legs off the bed, using it as a push-up to help her stand. Her legs felt like jelly after not being used. As soon as she was standing Ichigo had snapped around to her, one hand on her elbow to help steady her.

Rukia raised her eyebrow again, pulling her elbow away from the boy to show she was fine. Although, it was cute that he cared so much. Since she had woken up in his house, she was noticing more about Ichigo. How generous he was-just plain good, but with an 'I couldn't care less front'. Her mind kept wandering back to the kiss. It had felt so easy, so right. She was finding it hard to admit to herself that she wouldn't mind kissing him again.

Though now he was fixing her with a wide look so she rocked on the spot.

"Clothes?"

Unfortunately, Ichigo had been right. His sister's clothes fitted her perfectly, even if a little short. She'd chosen a summer dress, pale yellow, which hugged what little figure she had. Even if it was embarrassing, the overall effect wasn't bad.

What was great was Ichigo's reaction

She stepped out of the bathroom and batted her eyelashes at him. His cheeks turned slightly pink before he took up his usual frown.

"Are you sure you can fight in a dress?" he asked sceptically.

"Who said I'd be fighting?" Rukia retorted, crossing her arms.

"Your phone buzzed whilst you were busy playing dress up." He said, pulling the device from his pocket. Usually, she'd be mad if someone took her phone without asking, but what did she have to hide anymore? Ichigo knew all of her secrets now.

She scanned the text quickly, then frowned. In her mind, the day was best spent begging Ichigo to teach her how to play Borderlands, not this.

"We have to do a little shopping," Rukia told Ichigo. This would be the true test.

"Is that a code word for-" he glanced around, just to check that no one else was eavesdropping. "Stealing?"

She gave a solemn nod, leaning slightly against the frame of the door. Waiting for Ichigo to back out. But he didn't

"You are so lucky it's a weekend." Was all he said, before he walked past her. He grabbed a jacket and backpack from the hook by the door and only turned to wait for her.

She scurried along, trying to act as the senior agent in this venture though feeling like a little girl. Looking back on it, she should have changed out of the dress.

"Where are we shopping?" Ichigo asked after a few minutes. He was looking at her sideways.

"For clothes. Down the road from the hospital. Know the place?" Rukia replied. There was a slight frown on his face.

"That place barely has money as it is." He muttered, but she only shrugged.

"Apparently they came into a lot of money recently." She supplied.

"And you think the hollows are behind that?" the question hung in the air. A tumbleweed could have blown past at that moment. Rukia wasn't sure. She wasn't sure of a lot of things.

Eventually, they reached the clothes shop. It was, as said, a small business that relied heavily on donations from the public. But it always felt…shady. Dark. Like the owners weren't just on facebook. It was strange how it was so big a building with so little shopping space.

Rukia entered first, giving the man at the desk a cheerful smile and small wave. Ichigo entered close behind her, for a moment, she could feel his knuckle brush against her hips before she moved forward. He seemed completely on guard, eyes flicking around for the nearest sign of danger.

Using the dress to her advantage, Rukia took large, childish strides as she disappeared behind an isle. It was always dimly light. At the back, they'd scarcely be seen.

Unless someone spotted Ichigo's hair, of course.

He was so lanky, there was no way you could miss him.

"Try to be stealthy!" she hissed as quietly as she could

"Or do I act natural?" he murmured back, raising an eyebrow. Her own eyes narrowed, turning away from him to pretend to have an interest in a shirt.

There was a small door, always locked, in the back corner of the shop. A 'No Entry' sign was always placed firmly over it. She found her eyes moving to Ichigo, her mouth slightly open to say her plan.

But he was already on it, searching through the last rack, full of musty coats. As he went to move one out of the way, it slipped off of the hanger completely. Coats are always unbalanced. With a loud, 'whoops', he bent down.

This was good. Easier. Rukia pulled a slide out of her hair. It wasn't as easy to pick a lock with one as the T.V made out, but with enough practice, she had managed it. There was a knack to it.

Within seconds, the door was open and she had slipped through. For a moment, she was going to ask Ichigo to wait and stand guard, though she still remembered too well the ambush last time. The humiliating fail still lurked at the back of her mind, waiting to make her gut twinge and shame fall over her. She pushed it away and started through the dark room.

There were a lot of cardboard boxes back here, about to burst. Most opened enough to show the contents were no more than jumpers or jeans. A mannequin watched the small girl approach from the corner, though she tried to ignore it. It was so dark in here, that everything was just murky shapes.

The only sound in here was her breath, her footsteps silent from practice. The money had to be here somewhere. Hopefully there was a clue. She'd been told to check for clues, take a small amount for the Soul Society, then leave.

But suddenly there was someone else's breathing. A squeak of a shoe. Momentarily, Rukia's heart stopped, before she realized. She half turned, her hand just touching Ichigo's. Warm, as always. They carried on, slowly, together. Their hands not intertwined, but touching. Enough to know the other was there.

There was a staircase that lead upwards at the back of the room. Gingerly, going by touch rather than sight. They were steep, concrete. One fall backwards and it would be a head cracked open.

They arrived in a small, square room, lit by the bright light outside. All of the trouble was worth it, Rukia thought, as she took in the book on the desk, the suitcase tucked underneath it neatly.

The two stepped away from the staircase, looking around to see if there were any other exits, but there weren't. They were alone. They were safe.

Ichigo crossed over to the desk and nudged the top of the suitcase upwards with his foot. As expected, it was filled to the brim with notes, none showing a low sum of money.

"Jackpot," he breathed.

But Rukia's attention was on the logbook. The latest was a +10,000¥, from Kind Donator. She scanned the rest of the list to see most of the other entries were listed by name-specific. That was suspicious enough.

Another look around told her that there weren't any startlingly obvious Scooby Doo clues on the floor, or walls.

"How much cash is in there?" she asked Ichigo turning back to the neat handwriting in the logbook.

"Not as much as we thought. I'd say twenty five thousand? Maybe thirty?" his head was still buried under there, the neck of his t-shirt half-snagged on the edge of the desk. "How much did you want to take?"

"I don't know, maybe five thousand?" she said, staring at the words. They didn't look like words anymore, but just black swiggles on white. The contrast so harshly she couldn't concentrate.

"Hell yes!" Ichigo muttered under his breath suddenly. "Check this out."

She bent down to see. Between his thumb and forefinger, Ichigo held a small keyring of a kabuki mask. The two knew instantly what it meant.

"But what does this place have to do with the hollows?" Ichigo continued, pulling some money from the back of the case and loading it into his bag.

"Are they expecting another payment, this isn't much." Rukia added. The two frowned at each other, practically hearing the cogs grinding in each other's heads.

"Maybe your friends will have some answers." His voice had dropped to a whisper again. His gaze had dropped too. Consciously, Rukia bit her lip before starting back out of the small office.

"Maybe they will." She said over her shoulder.

Luckily, the two found their way back through the maze of boxes without too much of an issue. It was once they were back in the shop, that Rukia's heart plummeted like the titanic. A cold feeling implanting itself in her legs.

There was a guy at the desk. Black coat. Mask. Hollow.

They both crouched before the owner could spot them. Maybe the hollow knew they were there and had tracked them down. Aiming to stop them before they could make any connections. Link anything up.

Rukia had always doubted the whole eye conversation thing. But Ichigo seemed to get it. All day they had been speaking in looks and it scared her. They didn't know each other that well…did they? The plan she had required a little more though, so with some vigorous head nods and gestures, the two decided on what to do.

They split ways, creeping back through the shop in a different route. The musty smell of old clothes clogging their senses. As they got closer, they could hear mutterings coming from the conversation. The words 'anarchy', 'salvation' and 'persuasion' stood out the most, but the rest couldn't be deciphered.

The pair met again at the door, seemed to take a collective breath, before flinging open the door and running into the street. Rukia's skirt got stuck on her knees so she hitched it up to run faster, Ichigo over taking her for one of the first times.

Rukia didn't know if the shopkeeper had shouted to stop them or if it had simply been her imagination. Strangely though, she remembered that this was the part she enjoyed. The adrenaline. The fear over taking every part of her.

Slight tugs on Ichigo's wrist helped her lead him through the labyrinth of alley's until they found themselves at the back of his house once more. Doubled over on the pavement. Panting. Rukia felt her face heat up and wiped the line of sweat at her hairline.

"Need to…come up…with excuse." Ichigo said between pants.

"Window shopping." Rukia panted back. He looked as though he was about to object but stopped himself, nodded, sat on the pavement next to her. Knees just touching.

It's impossible to estimate how long they were sat there as they recovered, but the sun was considerably lower in the sky. Not a sunset, but it was later. The silence was nice as they thought things through, occasionally trying at conversation but failing. She felt that they had to have a purpose when they spoke. It was hard to talk about school, or life on the streets when neither really knew, or cared too much.

She texted the Soul Society what they had found, the money they had taken. Apologized for lack of other information.

"Hey," Ichigo started. She jumped slightly, but turned to him. Her head was still full of Hollows and clues and musty clothes. "Can I just try something?"

"Sure." Rukia blinked, unsure why it made him swallow so hard. She stared at him, confused, until everything happened at once.

His hand on her cheek. His lips on hers.

It wasn't the first time they'd kissed. But it felt like it.

(A/N): So, just a couple of notes:

-I don't know if I got Isshin's character? I got the head canon that he has a professional front around patients. I'm sure I'll be able to write in his goofiness later.

-Miss Rukia because normally it'd be Kuchiki-san, right?

-30,000 Yen - $250, 10,000 Yen - $80, 5,000 Yen - $40

Also, this is probably where it starts to divert even further from anime plot line, but, hey, it's an au.

GIANT THANKS TO JELLY-ME FOR POINTING OUT MY SPELLING MISTAKES. I did spell them right to start with but I never checked as I went down. Sorry about that!

Also-question time-do you think the plot is a little vague? If anything doesn't make sense, please PLEASE point it out.

Many thanks.