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'And all best things are thus confused to ill.' – Shelley, Prometheus (Unbound)

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--+--+--+--

THE RAIN STARTS TO FALL

--+--+--+--

"Rukia, have you seen my math notebook?" Ichigo asked.

Rukia looked up at him from the rim of her mug and casually lifted her shoulders up in a shrug. "Nope," she replied. She continued to sip her tea.

Ichigo scowled before stomping off upstairs back to his room.

Kurosaki Karin smirked from her perch on the counter. Really, if she didn't know any better, she'd have thought they were some old married couple. Oh, wait. They were married, she supposed. She could just scratch the old part then, and the statement would be true.

When they got back from the Kuchiki estate, the rest of the Kurosaki family had actually seen the little exchange at the doorway. They'd been out for some dinner, but then they saw the two approaching, so they decided to play a trick on them. They were supposed to pop up from the bushes and scare the hell of them, but then Rukia spoke up, and then her dear brother had that weird look on his face, and well… Let's just say that they ended up listening in on the whole thing instead. Not that they purposely wanted to eavesdrop on them – hey, it was their fault they talked out on the front porch.

So the rest of the family was treated to that spot of entertainment that night. And they decided not to make mention of it.

"Hey," Yuzu whispered suddenly, "don't you think their relationship's progressing quite nicely?"

Karin rolled her eyes. "You really are still a child, Yuzu. For one thing, Rukia's still keeping her family name. And that really doesn't show a mark of progress. Besides, do you really think our brother's the type to confess his feelings?" She looked at the two older teens in question as they readied their things for school. "If a miracle happens, and the two somehow falls in love with each other, they'd have to swallow their prides first and admit to their selves that they did."

She turned to look at Yuzu seriously in the eye. "Rukia's stubborn, and our brother's not the most receptive or sensitive person when it comes to things like love. So when you look at it from this perspective," she sighed and shook her head, "I'm afraid those two still have a long way to go." She dragged on the word long to make her point.

Yuzu pouted cutely, but nodded.

I hope that miracle appears soon, though, she added in her mind. Coz in a week, or maybe even within the day, who knows… something might just happen to ruin what little chance they have.

--+--+--+--

For the second time that month, the teacher announced that a new student just transferred to their class. After giving them a very brief, impersonal introduction, the door to the room opened, and the new student came in.

Ichigo gave him a casual look-over. 'What's up with the tattooed eyebrows?' was his first thought. He was wearing the standard uniform, but somehow, it only marked him more as an outsider with the rest of the class. He didn't quite fit.When Rukia first came about half a month ago, she didn't give off that kind of vibe.

The new guy with the wild red hair up in a ponytail skimmed his gaze over at the class, and when he stopped, Ichigo had to double back and make sure he wasn't just imagining things. Did he just -?

He never finished his thought for the redhead had smirked and made his way silently to an empty desk (which Ichigo never noticed beforehand) at the very back. As he did, Ichigo might as well have bored a hole through the student's back with the intensity of his scrutiny.

The teacher tapped her desk with a book to get their attention back. She proceeded to talk about their lesson, but Ichigo was only half-listening to the discussion. He kept sneaking glances at the new student, and each time he did, his apprehension only rose.

There was no doubt about it, he thought. He looked at Rukia's back, and saw that she was leaning forward rather stiffly on her seat. She wasn't really showing any other signs, but for him, that was enough.

He frowned.

Abarai Renji… who the heck are you?

--+--+--+--

Three, two, one, she counted quietly in her mind, gaze locked on to the clock mounted on the center of the wall. The bell rang exactly on time, and she shot up from her seat at the same instant. She earned curious looks from some students, but she paid them no mind. She was only focused on one thing, and the world could freeze over but Kuchiki Rukia will not be stopped.

She reached the corner of the class room in a few steps, but then she stopped a foot away from the desk where the man she knew since she was a child was smirking at her. For a moment, time stopped. Until, the smirk vanished from his face, and he said…

"Yo."

She crossed her arms in front of her. "Don't you 'Yo' me. What do you think you're doing?" she asked icily.

He leaned back on his seat and returned her icy glare. "You're one to talk. What are you doing here?"

She arched an eyebrow. "What do you think a student normally does in a school?" she asked sarcastically.

"Rukia, do you know this guy?" a voice behind her asked.

"Yeah, he's a childhood friend," she answered without looking. Renji flicked his gaze at Ichigo, then back at her.

"Is he the reason you transferred?"

For a second, her heart pounded nervously. But then, Ichigo tapped her once on the shoulder, and she recovered in an instant.

"Of course not, dolt," she snapped.

"Then, what is?"

She glanced away. "I really don't have to explain myself to you."

"Then you don't have a right to question me, too," he replied tartly.

She glared at him for winning one up against her. His smirk was back.

"You better get back to your seat, Rukia," he said lazily, resting his feet on his desk.

"We're not done talking," she warned.

"Whatever."

She turned and found Ichigo staring intently at her. She shook her head and just muttered, "Later." He didn't question her outright, but she could tell he was really curious. They silently headed back to their seats, both wrapped up in their thoughts.

--+--+--+--

When lunch came, Ichigo's eyes immediately sought for the newcomer, but to his disappointment, he was already nowhere in sight. So they just continued on to the rooftop with the others like they usually did. Another classmate had joined them, and after being in the guy's company for a mere three minutes, Ichigo was ready to declare war on him. Seriously, this guy has some superiority issues, and he seemed to direct a decent amount of animosity to Ichigo that left him wonder what he ever did to deserve it.

"Even if that is your natural hair color," Ishida Uryuu was saying, "judging by the amount of unwanted attention you get from it, I can't help but ask why you're not dyeing it black to fit in."

Ichigo gritted his teeth. Calm down, he chanted in his mind. "I really don't see why you're poking your long nose into it since it's my business."

Ishida pushed his glasses lightly back up on the bridge of his nose. Sunlight glinted from its surface that he had to blink a little to clear his vision.

"It's something any person with the ability to think, even remotely, would've normally done, given your circumstances."

Rukia had to hold the edge of his shirt to keep him from springing up and punching the guy.

"You -" he began angrily.

"What, Kurosaki?"

"Ichigo," Rukia suddenly spoke up from her seat. He looked down at her. "Why do you choose to keep your hair that way?" she asked innocently.

"Not you, too," he grumbled in his breath. He sighed, sitting heavily back down on his seat on the floor. He saw the interested looks from the others, and he fumbled for the right words to say. "I-it's not like I don't want to fit in… I just don't get why I have to trouble myself and change how I look to get others' approval."

"You're right, Kurosaki-kun," Inoue spoke up. Ichigo was a bit surprised when she did; she normally avoided even looking at him, and now she was agreeing with him? Did the world suddenly spin off its axis when they were asleep or what?

"To keep your own ideals and wave them proudly up high in the air," she continued, now with a dreamy expression on her face. "Oh, how brave and utterly compelling you and your actions are!" She held up her hands in front of her, as if in prayer. "Please, carry on and inspire more people!" she gushed.

Inspire? Everyone sweat dropped, even Chad.

--+--+--+--

"Thanks… Bye," he spoke one last time into his phone before flipping it close.

Abarai Renji stared off at a distance, thoughts whirling. No matter what he did, no matter who he called, they all gave him the same answer – nothing. A deep bullshit full of nothing.

There was definitely something fishy going on about Rukia's current arrangement. First, her sudden request for school transfer. Then, he found out that she had left the Kuchiki estate to live somewhere in the middle of the small town of Karakura. He was lucky he even got the location of the school; he knew how tight-lipped people in the employ of the Kuchiki family were. It was a good thing a buddy of his from the student council back at the academy (who owed him a few hundred bucks) overheard Rukia when she spoke with the Principal, or he would have found out even later. It might have taken him a full month, even. Those hundred bucks meant nothing to him, anyway. He just wanted to know what all the secrecy's about and what it meant for Rukia.

It must be a scheme of Byakuya's. But what good reason would he have to send his only sister from an exclusive private school to a relatively unknown public one? He even risked her leaving the safety of the mansion to dwell in town just like a common person! The question plagued him to no end, and until he got his answers, he would never be satisfied.

Of course, he always gets uneasy whenever he parts with her. He'd always been there for her since childhood, and he personally didn't want that arrangement to change. But it did - and he would find out why. He's got enough patience for these sorts of situations, anyway.

--+--+--+--

The three of them finally faced off.

Just as Ichigo thought that they could leave the school without getting some sort of confrontation with the redhead, the said person appeared from a corner up ahead and planted himself in the middle of the street.

Ichigo immediately tensed. Rukia, meanwhile, was keeping her thoughts to herself. He guessed she wanted to gauge the other person's intentions first before saying anything.

"You two are beginning to look suspicious," the redhead finally said.

If Ichigo were an animal, this would be the time his hackles would rise.

"What the heck do you mean?" he asked tersely.

Red walked up to them a few steps. "Why are you walking home together?" he asked, ignoring his question.

Rukia finally spoke up. "We happen to live around the same block."

Renji raised an eyebrow at her. "Oh? That's not exactly right, Rukia. Your house is located about an hour from here, and at the opposite direction to where you're headed."

Beside him, Rukia had seemed to be rooted in place.

Ichigo stepped forward. "She moved out. Big deal."

The other man looked him up and down. "Why are you acting up, man? Are you her boyfriend, or a goddamn bodyguard?" He snorted. "Coz you neither look like one."

Ichigo was starting to get pissed for real. So what if he was neither? I'm only her fucking husband, you prick!

Instead, he just bit out, "And what about you? You're just a friend too, right? So why do you care so much?" He huffed in annoyance. "Whatever. It doesn't matter, anyway." He grabbed Rukia's arm and started to drag her away. "C'mon, we're going."

"Oi, what are you doing?!" Renji asked angrily, grabbing onto his shirt to keep him from going any further.

He shrugged out from his grasp. "Saving her from having to deal with the likes of you," he answered in a sneer.

"What?! You bastard!"

He was suddenly pushed from behind. "Enough!" Rukia shouted, glaring at the two men. Ichigo let out a breath and childishly crossed his arms, staring off at a nearby wall. She rolled her eyes at his antics.

"Idiot," she said in a softer voice, "I don't need saving. Especially from Renji."

Said redhead snorted, which immediately earned him a whack on the head.

"Ow! Rukia, we're not kids anymore!" he whined.

This time, it was Rukia's turn to snort. "Just look at yourself! If you don't want to get scolded by me so much, then why don't you try to start acting like an adult?" Ichigo started to smirk, but stopped when he saw Rukia's icy stare flick briefly at him.

She turned her attention back to Renji. "You can't act like this every time I leave. I know you've always been by my side, but you have got to let me deal with things by myself from now on." She gave him a small smile. "You don't need to know all my reasons. But if you're really my friend, you'll try to understand and trust me. Will you?"

He took a long time in answering. When he finally did, he sighed. "Alright, I won't ask anymore. And, of course I trust you." But then, he glared at Ichigo. "But I don't trust the other people around you, especially him! So whatever you say, I'll still be keeping an eye out for you, Rukia."

Rukia's expression darkened. Ichigo inwardly flinched.

"Argh!" she yelled out in frustration, throwing up her hand in the air. "Men! I just can't deal with you and your stupid sense of pride!" She huffed away, still fuming.

Ichigo began to follow her, but then stopped to look at Renji one last time.

"I understand that you feel the need to worry. I should be grateful she has someone like you to watch out for her all the time. But I also won't let anything bad happen to her." He looked him hard in the eye. "I promise you that."

With those parting words, he finally turned and walked off, not once looking back this time.

--+--+--+--

They got back without any more incidents. Now, after dinner, Rukia stood up to finish her homework in the living room, and Ichigo followed.

They found respective places to get comfy, with Rukia lying on her stomach on the sofa, and Ichigo on the floor leaning back against a couch.

He casually began while flipping through his notes. "So Renji… he's a childhood friend? You're pretty close, huh?"

Rukia stared at him. "Yes," she replied slowly, "we are close." She looked back down to the open book in front of her. "There weren't many kids in the Kuchiki, so I only had three other playmates. One of them was Renji."

"So he's a distant relative?" he asked curiously. Somehow, he doubted that.

She shook her head absently, her attention still on the book. "His ancestors originally served under my family, but a relative of his married off to an offshoot of Kuchiki years ago, so the servant-master relationship effectively got severed."

He looked up at the ceiling in thought. "So… He still retains some inner instinct to serve your family… and that's the reason why he's overprotective of you?"

She looked at him with a little frown. "You know what, that's a little offensive, but I'll let it pass."

"Oh, no, that's not what I -" he started to protest.

She raised a hand to cut him off. "I said it's alright. It stings a bit, but when you put it that way, it does make sense." She paused to think over her words. "Now that I think about it, he was under my brother's wing for some time. I'm not sure exactly what for, but he said it was 'training'." She glanced back down. "So I guess you're right, after all."

An awkward silent stretched between them, for which Ichigo mentally hit himself on the head. He could be such an insensitive idiot sometimes. He looked at Rukia, trying to see past her indifferent expression, but it seemed like she had put up her walls from him again. 'Idiot' he silently scolded himself.

He wanted to ask about the other two persons she mentioned a while ago, but he didn't. He'd said enough for today.

--+--+--+--

Renji phone rang in the middle of the night. He glanced at it, contemplating if he should answer it. He reluctantly got up from his bed to get it.

"Hello," he greeted monotonously.

"Renji," a familiar male voice spoke.

He brightened. "Hey, haven't heard from you in a while." He trudged off to a nearby chair and sat. "What's up?"

"How is everyone?"

He smirked. "Huh. What's with 'everyone'? We both know there's only one person you're truly concerned about."

There was a long pause. Finally, the person on the other end chuckled lightly. "Yeah, you're right. So let me ask again… How is she?"

He considered his words. She wasn't really in trouble, he saw that, but with her current circumstances, he was still a little concerned about her.

"She-she's okay."

"…"

"Hey, are you still there?"

"Something's up, huh?" the other guy spoke, "...And you're not telling me." He heard a clink against glass in the background. "It doesn't matter now, though." Renji flicked his gaze at the clock on his bed stand. He quickly calculated it to be late in the afternoon where he is. That guy must be having a drink to go with his book at some classy café. Knowing him, it'd be iced tea with a touch of lemon.

"…"

"Renji… I'm coming back home."

Renji grinned. "I knew that's what you'd say."

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to be continued

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A/N: Alright-y.. For the succeeding chapters, I'm planning on doing a certain shift with how the story progresses.. um, i don't really know how to explain myself.. but, when you read it, you'll know what i mean (hopefully).. thanks for those who reviewed so far (i mean, really, THANKS!).. i hope you'd continue to share your thoughts on the story.. you can't imagine how powerful your reviews are to me.. and i really need guidance for what i'm about to do.. *wiping sweat from forehead*