Hey there everyone! I'm sorry I took so long to update! It's been hectic on this side… Hehe but yeah! I'm back with a new chapter, just because you guys are so awesome! ;) SO! This chapter flowed from my fingertips like nothing ever has. It's sort of lame, I think… But I like it, you know? I hope you guys will like it too! :D

Please guys, I need to know who you prefer? HitsuHina or HitsuKarin? So far it's HitsuKarin… If you guys don't vote, I can't change it! ;) Hehe

Thanks to: darklover, ptitvio, FacingLoveEmbracingMelody, Alyssa, ADVluv4life, Rukes, Miku Alli, Mageida, hinataellis, kyurikochan, TheWhalishLeek, AnuHit, Pyon1234, H00rWithAPen, and Tenshi-no-Megamifor reviewing! You guys made me feel so amazing! It's the most reviews I have ever received on one chapter! :D

Congrats to Miku Alli! *Claps hands* You are my 50th reviewer! So far, I'm writer her a oneshot! Well done! I'm going to give the same prize to my 100th reviewer and so forth… So every fifty, neh?

~Disclaimer: FFS I don't own Bleach already!

This thing, called love I just can't handle it
this thing, called love I must get round to it
I ain't ready
Crazy little thing called love

This thing, called love
It cries, like a baby in a cradle all night
It swings
It jives
It shakes all over like a jelly fish,
I kinda like it
Crazy little thing called love

~Crazy little thing called love, by Queen

Chapter 10 ~ Crazy little thing called love

Rukia had no idea what drove her forward, but she made a bee-line for the man standing in front of her. Her eyes were icy as she glared at him and brought her finger up to prod him in the stomach. She was seething, and even though she couldn't give a damn, her hair flew everywhere, getting messed up. She could see his eyes grow as she stormed to him and his already raised hands lowered into a calming gesture.

"Rukia…" He said, trying to make her stop. She pretended not to hear him and walked straight up to him until she had to look up in order to see his face properly.

"You are a selfish, arrogant, idiotic, moronic fool!" She yelled and poked him in the chest every time she threw an insult at him. Kaien started backing up and had to look behind him in fear of stepping on the flowers.

"Rukia, calm down." He tried again and kept moving backwards. There were no signs of the amused glint in his eyes she had seen earlier and she was relieved, knowing that he understood that she was serious.

"NO! I will not calm down!" She said and threw her hands up in exasperation. "I can't believe you! You think you're so wonderful don't you? Wake up call, you might be a king, but the world doesn't revolve around you!" She was yelling at him and the man with the orange hair seemed a little surprised by her outburst. All of a sudden, his eyebrows pulled together tightly.

"Wait, what?" He asked and stopped moving back. "What the hell is that supposed to mean, Midget?" Rukia narrowed her eyes at him dangerously.

"You know exactly what I mean!" She said, her face turning red. She told herself it was because she was angry and had murderous thoughts in her head, and not because she was embarrassed about what had happened. "And I'm not short!" She added for good measure.

"If it's something I said, I'm sorry…" He said and lifted an eyebrow at her. A vein popped in the petite lady's head.

"Are you really that dense?" She yelled at him. "I can't believe I thought I liked you! I don't want to marry you! I never did! You are a stupid, dim-witted dumbass! Not to mention pathetic!" She yelled and felt the blood boiling in her veins. Did he really have no idea what she was talking about? Rukia couldn't believe it.

"All right, fine! If you're going to be so obtuse, I'll tell you." She continued and started pacing in front of him. She didn't want to look at his face, so she kept her eyes on the grass under her feet. She was rambling in anger, that much she knew. She couldn't pinpoint exactly why she was rambling in the first place. Pouring her heart out was something she never did.

"First, I think that marrying you might not be so bad. Then, I think that kissing you might not be so bad. Then I tried to kiss you. AND YOU REJECTED ME!" She yelled, thrashing her arms about, trying to get her point into that thick skull of his.

"I don't get it! You made me look like an idiot! Why?" Finally Rukia looked at him. He was totally taken aback, not used to seeing this side of her. The dark haired girl herself wasn't used to his side of her. She felt sort of disgusted with herself. She just told him what she felt about everything, and wasn't staying indifferent key in this whole situation? She had no idea what was going on.

Kaien blinked down at her, unable to figure out how to handle her mood swing. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other as he contemplated what to say to her.

"Ruki-'' He began but was cut off by an angry hand to his uninjured shoulder. Her slap stung, but it had little to no effect on how he was going to handle the circumstances they were in.

"What the fuck was that for, Midget?" He said frowning at her. She crossed her arms over her chest and stuck her nose in the air.

"For being fruity!" She said and huffed.

"Where the hell was I being fruity?" He demanded and narrowed his eyes at her.

"You're fruity all the time." She said firmly.

"Damn stubborn bitch." He breathed and picked her up by her shoulders. His own shoulder screamed at him, but at that moment, he couldn't care less. The Sakura tree she was sitting under a few moments ago wasn't that far off and the king carried her all the way there. She yelled at him to put her down, but she stayed still in fear of hurting is arm even further. She knew he would blame her if something were to happen.

"Put me down, you stupid Carrot-Top!" She shrieked again and he finally put her down on her own feet. She was about to stomp all over his ego again, but before she could look into his eyes again, he had her pinned against the tree. Rukia blinked, stunned.

"Now you listen here you insufferable Midget…" He began. His face was so close to hers and he didn't need to speak louder than he spoke at that moment. Every sound that came out of his mouth, Rukia's ears immediately picked up.

"Maybe you need a reality check. You're not really mad at me are you?" He asked, moving his head so his lips were right next to her ear. "You're mad at yourself."

Rukia's chest heaved against his and she gripped the bark of the tree, feeling the scratches it was making on her palms. She didn't care. She needed a distraction.

"You're mad because you're embarrassed." He said. She could hear the smirk in his voice as his breath tickled her neck. Something in the pit of her stomach felt strange as the king's body pressed against hers and he breathed next to her ear. She was hanging onto the tree as if it were her last salvation and her nails dug into the wood. Her throat had dried up and even though she tried to say something to get him away from her, she couldn't utter a sound. Her breathing was very uneven in comparison to Kaien's and without knowing what she was doing, she turned her head and closed her eyes. Maybe she didn't want to see him or listen to what he was saying, but the knot in the pit of her stomach only increased in size. Rukia tried to stick a word to the knot, but she couldn't come up with something good enough.

"What's wrong, Midget? You giving me the silent treatment?" He asked in her ear. She shuddered in what she thought was disgust as his breath fanned over her neck. Rukia couldn't think of one witty comment, and her temporary loss left her huffing, her eyes closed and her nails imbedded in the trunk of the tree.

The heat from his body was scorching her front and unconsciously, her hands shoved her closer to him. She didn't notice what she had done, and kept her eyes closed, waiting to hear what he would say next. Instead though, he pulled away and Rukia gasped as the air came rushing into her lungs again. She breathed irregularly when he was that close to her, but when he removed the pressure and heat, she could force her lungs to work properly again. Red crept from Rukia's neck up to her face as she looked at her hands. Why was she blushing? I'm not supposed to be blushing! She thought to herself and forced a passive look onto her face. It didn't work so well though, and when she looked up, she realised that the man standing in front of her, was starting to make her cold exterior crack.

"Dumbass." She mumbled, but she doubted that he had heard her.

"Midget." He said back. Apparently he had heard. Her eyes shot to him and she wondered why the knot in her stomach wasn't going away. Rukia pushed herself away from the tree and walked up to him again. He was standing a few feet away.

"Stupid idiot." She said and reached for his shoulder. He flinched, perhaps thinking that she was going to slap him again.

She curled her delicate fingers halfway around his upper arm to hold him still while her other hand extended to remove the sleeve of his shirt. She couldn't see any blood on the cotton, so she released him again.

"You're going to open that wound again." She said in explanation before turning around and heading back to the castle.

She wanted to bite her nail, but she stubbornly kept her hand hanging at her side. Something felt off, and the Ice Princess couldn't put her finger on it. She wasn't wobbly… But she could feel something odd as she walked. Her stomach felt better now that she couldn't smell him and feel his presence. Maybe it was angst? She thought as she climbed the steps up to the front door. She shook her head and sighed. She began to understand that the king might be right. She really was mad at herself, not at him. She swore in her head and walked to her room briskly. She didn't feel like thinking, but thoughts of that knot in her stomach kept popping up. In a way she hated her brother for making her marry that imbecile of a king, but if he had not planned this, Rukia wouldn't feel the way she thought she would never feel. Affection was only ever a word to Lady Kuchiki, and the only persons she ever really cared about were her sister, Momo and her brother, though she would hardly admit that to anyone. All of a sudden, an orange haired moron comes into her life, and out of the blue she's walking funny and getting strange feelings in her stomach? Was she really that weak? He is only another man… She tried to tell herself, but something in that stubborn brain of hers didn't want to see him as 'only another man'.

When Rukia reached her bed, she threw herself onto it and buried her head in her pillow. In all of her eighteen years, she had never before been so confused.

"Fuck it." Ichigo swore as he clenched and unclenched his good shoulder's hand. He had blood pumping where he really didn't need it at this point in time. He had never really been someone with a low self-control rate, but at that moment, he had a bit of trouble taming his manhood. He was glad that it wasn't very obvious in the breeches he was wearing, but it bothered him more that he couldn't think of anything but her.

He set his feet into motion and forced his brain to think of things that couldn't possibly ever arouse him. Thoughts flew through his brain at an alarming pace, and it showed just how desperate he was to not think of her.

Yuzu and Karin finding husbands…

His mom smiling at him…

His father going on and on about grandkids…

The last thought failed to help though, since the word 'grandkids' made the orange haired man think of how close he was standing to Rukia a few minutes ago. It made him think of how her chest pressed against his as her lungs expanded with air. It made him think of her scent, which oddly reminded him of the first cherry blossom that opened in the spring. She smelled faintly of rain and lavender. Ichigo sighed as he sat down on a bench under an oak tree. He had no idea what he should do. He wished that there was an easy way to contact his King and ask him what to do. Ichigo was sure that Kaien would understand if he told him that he couldn't continue like this for another week. He buried his head in his hands as he considered what to do about his unnatural attraction to the Lady of Lancaster.

"Do you think they are getting closer?" The lady with the purple hair asked Urahara. He grinned slyly and nodded.

"Without a doubt. Didn't you see that just now? He's obviously trying to get rid of an erection." He nodded solemnly and Yoruichi looked at him. Then she looked down and picked up the first heavy branch within her reach and hit him over the head with it. Urahara's hands immediately found the already forming bruise on his head and rubbed it, feigning innocence.

"Ow! Why would you do that?" He said and blinked at her. Yoruichi rolled her eyes and looked back at the orange haired man sitting on the bench. His face was still hidden in his hands, but the purple haired lady knew his insides were in turmoil. A feral grinned crossed her features as she watched him.

It's not so bad to be in love, is it Ichi? She wondered and looked at the man sitting next to her. He was still rubbing the spot on his head where she hit him, but when he realised she was looking at him, he grinned his most sincere, sloppy grin at her. Her heart warmed up as she once again thought about the fact that he was hers. She smiled back at him. She didn't know how it happened, but somehow, the man with whom she had fallen in love with as a young girl, was picked by her parents as her husband. She expected worse, but Kisuke Urahara was the ultimate. She took his hand and gave it a squeeze. He laced his fingers through hers and smiled even broader. She rolled her eyes again and let go of his hand.

"You think this week will be enough?" She asked him and looked at Ichigo again. He had leaned back on the bench and was looking into the branches of the tree above him.

"Maybe." He replied simply and Yoruichi couldn't help but wonder if they might have to delay Ichigo's return to Camelot with a day or two. She smiled to herself evilly and started planning how to delay it… just in case.

Toshiro sighed as he sat down in one of the chairs in the library. He didn't have anything to do, so he came here. The plan was to read something, but he couldn't find a book his mind wanted to focus on for more than ten minutes. Nothing interested him at that moment. He was just about to get up and look for something else when someone barged through the door.

"Hitsugaya!" The red head said when he saw the short, white haired man. Looking at him was the only acknowledgement Toshiro gave Renji.

"Something strange is going on." Renji said and closed the door behind him. The teal eyed man replied with a soft grunt, but it did nothing to stop the red haired knight from telling him everything anyway.

"Yukata and that healer girl Orihime are holding hands and laughing together." He said and pointed to the door as if they were standing right there. Toshiro rolled his eyes and turned his back on Renji. He tried to concentrate on the titles of the books on the shelf, but Abarai didn't even give him half a chance.

"No, seriously. It's weird." He said and scratched his head.

"Why is it so weird Abarai?" Toshiro asked, humouring his friend.

"I don't know." Renji answered honestly. A small smile graced the shorter knight's features as he turned back around to look at the other man in the room.

"Why don't you just ask him?" He suggested and folded his arms over his chest. Renji looked perplexed and blinked a few times before scratching his head again.

"I never thought about that." He admitted. Toshiro rolled his eyes. He wondered if Renji really thought at all sometimes. He knew better than to question the big man's intelligence though, since it was a touchy subject. Toshiro really didn't know why it was either, seeing as how his friend wasn't as stupid as he sometimes seemed.

"Maybe he'll tell you what's wrong." He said and turned back to the row of books behind him.

"Yeah, I think I'll go ask him." He said and left the library in silence. Toshiro ran a hand through his snow white hair and looked at the door through which his friend had just disappeared. You can be really dense sometimes, Abarai. He thought to himself and smiled a rare Hitsugaya smile before returning to the book case one more.

"The carriage is ready." The man with the green eyes said passively when he had closed the door behind him. The man standing at the window smiled and turned to face the man at the door.

"Good." Aizen Sōsuke said and walked to the door. "Let's go pay King Shiba a little visit, shall we?"

The man with the green eyes nodded, still showing no emotion whatsoever.

The two men walked out of the mansion to the carriage. Two big, black stallions were tied to the carriage and stood ready and waiting. The man opened the door for Aizen and they both climbed in.

Before they knew it, they were on their way to Camelot.

"This should be fun." The man with the brown hair said and looked at the man accompanying him. Ulquiorra Cifer nodded, but said nothing.

"Maybe we should change the sheets today, then we can wash all the windows tomorrow." Momo said to the four maids standing in front of her. A few heads were nodded and Momo smiled as she got her way. Together, they all set off to the linen closet to get new sheets and pillow cases. The five of them chatted amongst each other and Hinamori's ears couldn't help but pick up the conversation going on between Kiyone and a girl called Lilynette.

"He's so handsome!" Kiyone said. Lilynette rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"No! I think the other one with the red hair is so dashing!" Lilynette replied. Momo couldn't help but wonder who they were talking about. She suspected that they were talking about the Camelot knights. As she removed the sheets from the closet, she listened to the rest of their banter. It was meaningless though, she soon realized and handed each maid a few sheets. She took a few herself and as soon as the rest of the staff had left, she walked in the opposite direction. She was heading to Rukia's room, knowing that she wanted to do her sheets first. What she found when she entered wasn't what she expected at all, however. Her Lady was sprawled on her bed with her face hidden in her pillow. Momo blinked a few times and cleared her throat so as not to frighten the girl on the bed. Rukia lifted her head and looked at her chambermaid, and plonked her face right back into her pillow.

Momo felt like laughing as she heard Rukia moan. She put the sheets down on the dresser and went and sat on the bed next to her.

"What happened?" The brown haired girl asked. She could see that Rukia was in a sorry state and that it wouldn't help to try and make her feel better. The violet eyed girl flopped around to face the ceiling. She sighed heavily, then looked at Momo as if she were her last hope.

"I tried to kiss him." She said simply. Momo knew that she would never tell anyone this but her this, and the maid felt honoured to be so close with the Kuchiki Princess. Rukia told her the whole story and Hinamori listened attentively. She wasn't very experienced, but she could give her opinion on Rukia's problem.

"It seems like you're attracted to him." She said and nodded her head. There was a pretty smile on her face and she hoped that she had guessed right.

"No! He's an idiotic, foolish dolt and I don't want to be anywhere near him." Rukia replied stubbornly. Her friend could see the crack in her façade though, and she smirked at the discovery.

"You are attracted to him!" She cried and clapped her hands together. Rukia folded her arms over her chest as she lay there. Her eyebrows pulled together in frustration and she shook her head.

"Fine… But I'll only admit to being attracted to him physically." She said and sat up. Momo's eyes grew and she moved closer to Rukia.

"What happened?" She asked again, curiosity evident in her voice. A faint blush crept onto Rukia's face.

"He pushed me up against a tree." She said, which made Momo squeal.

…

Rukia was no idiot. She wanted to kill herself once she figured it out, but there was nothing she could do about it. The strange feeling she got when she walked back to the castle earlier was caused by heat in a place she never thought such an intense heat could get. She wasn't a very informed girl, seeing as she had Byakuya Kuchiki for a brother, but she could make assumptions. This one soon proved to be the right one, though. She blushed furiously as she thought about it. Never in her life had Rukia ever felt anything remotely 'sexual', and now, in a week, one infuriating man changed everything.

Quickly deciding to not think about it, she steered her head in another direction.

"Momo… The sheets." Rukia reminded her after a few moments. It was clear that her chambermaid had gone to her own world for a while, and Rukia wondered if something she said had sent her there.

"Oh, right!" The brown haired girl said and blushed at her absentmindedness. Rukia smiled at her and got off the bed. She had no idea what to do with herself. She had thought about going back to Kaien, and spending some more time with her future husband, but she had dismissed the idea, remembering how she had blurted everything to him. She couldn't believe she did that. If her brother ever found out, he would be so disappointed. Kuchiki's didn't have feelings, right? Or was that only her brother? Rukia couldn't deny that she was definitely feeling something at that moment.

"Arg!" She said to herself softly and felt like throwing something. When Momo looked her way though, she smiled at the maid and told her that she was going to take a walk.

She sighed as she wondered aimlessly through the castle for about the millionth time that week. She could name a few things she was feeling at that moment… Anger, hate, curiosity, care… Most of them were towards the stupid orange haired king, and Rukia wondered if it really was that bad to like him a little. She shook her head. She had to like him a little… She was going to marry the man for crying out loud! Something at the back of her mind was nagging at her. A part of her was extremely curious about why he didn't want to kiss her. He was her future husband, and he knew that. Shouldn't it be natural that they kiss?

It made little to no sense and the raven haired lady huffed, frustrated with the Carrot-Top. Abruptly, she got so frustrated that she didn't know if she could hold out for very long. Wasn't she very open and honest with Kaien? Couldn't she just go and ask him why he didn't want to kiss her? The idea formed in her head like a good recipe made a delicious meal, and she immediately changed her direction and started heading to the gardens. She hoped that he was still there, but if he wasn't, she would go looking for him.

Her feet made a pitter-patter noise on the rock as she exited the building. The sun was sitting in the middle of the sky and gave the garden in front of her a healthy glow. It wasn't too hot yet, since it was mid spring, but Rukia didn't mind. She wasn't overly fond of heat. She followed the path to where she had left him, and when she got there, she stopped. He wasn't under the Sakura tree anymore, but she would look until she found him.

After half an hour of searching the gardens, Rukia could confidently say that he wasn't there. She exhaled impatiently and walked back to the castle. He wasn't in his room either, and Rukia had to pause and think about where to go next. She didn't think he was in the kitchen, and she removed the library from her list after she had checked it. She found Toshiro in there, though. A pile of books as tall as him stood next to the chair in which he was sitting and Rukia smiled, glad that he could enjoy the books she too, loved.

The last place she thought of was the stables. She knew she would have to stop at the kitchen for a drink before she ran around any further, and when she stopped there, Uryū and Orihime were sitting at the table with the kitchen staff, chatting. Did she miss something? It was so different to see the four Camelot knights around the castle, but in some way it was as if they had always been there. Rukia smiled and drank a glass of water before finding her way to the stables. By then, she had planned out exactly what she wanted to say to him. She would slap him upside down a few times and ask him if he was retarded –which he probably was- then demand to know why he didn't want to kiss her. She would ask if there was something wrong with her, but before he can answer she'll tell him 'don't answer that'. The raven haired girl grinned as she thought it through again.

The door to the stable stood open and Rukia stuck her head in to see if she could spot a head of orange hair. She smiled when she saw the distinctive spot of orange moving around at the last stall. She moved to it without a sound and when she got there, she entered it silently. Kaien had his back to her and she thought he had heard her, so when she tapped his good shoulder, she expected him to turn around and say hello to her. Instead, he jumped almost three feet into the air.

"HOLY SHIT! FUCK!" He yelled and Rukia brought her hand up to her mouth to stifle a laugh. His eyes were wide and it looked like his hair stood on end even more than it usually did.

"Rukia…" He said threateningly and his eyes narrowed. She couldn't take it anymore and burst out laughing. She laughed so hard that she thought she was going to burst, and what made it even more hilarious was that Kaien was glaring at her. She couldn't think straight as she wiped tears from her eyes and tried to shaped words in her mouth, but failed.

"Yeah, yeah… Very funny Midget." He grumbled and turned back to his horse. Zangetsu seemed to laugh with Rukia and Kaien shot his horse a don't-you-start-that-shit-with-me look. Zangetsu immediately stopped neighing and Rukia finally stopped laughing. She had hiccups from the lack of air though, and suddenly had to stifle more giggles because of her amusement at herself. She couldn't remember when she had laughed so heartily and even though it was at someone, it was still a delicious taste in her mouth.

"Hey Rukia?" Kaien asked and Rukia looked at him. He threw a piece of straw at her and told her to 'shut up'. She rolled her eyes and laughed the last laugh she could muster without sounding fake.

"I'm sorry…" She said finally. The king rolled his eyes again and turned back to his horse. The black Stallion was saddled and ready to go out.

Without warning, Rukia's stomach contracted.

"Where are you going?" She asked him and went and stood next to his horse. Kaien lifted his good shoulder in another half shrug.

"I was going to go for a ride. Do you want to come?" The tensed muscles in Rukia's body suddenly released and she could feel the worry leaving her veins. The one corner of her mouth tugged up and she nodded.

…

Aizen climbed out of the carriage and approached a very tense looking Kaien Shiba. The king's eyes were narrowed as he looked at the man coming toward him.

"Aizen." He said in greeting and the mad with the brown hair smiled a seemingly sincere smile.

"It's so nice to see you again your highness." He said and bowed to the King of Camelot. Kaien nodded to his show of respect and gestured to the castle. It would be better if they spoke in private.

Kaien had no idea what this was about, but he had a suspicion that it had to have something to do with Ichigo. He wondered if his Knights were still doing well in Lancaster.

"What do you want Aizen?" Kaien asked, getting straight to the point, straight away.

"I would like to make a deal with you." He said and Kaien could feel his already tense muscles tighten even more. Aizen smiled as if he was a hero in an adventure book and Kaien felt a chill run down his spine.

All righty! I hope you guys enjoyed it! I promise, many more IchiRuki moments to come! And I'm all for realisticness… so I'm sorry if I offend anyone with my straightforwardness! :D Deal with it! ;) There's a reason this is rated M you know!

I don't have a lot to say today! Yay!

PLEASE REVIEW! Or I might just get Szayel to come and stalk you… Take naked pictures of you for blackmail or something… *Shudders* That guy freaks the shit out of me! And taking naked pictures sounds like something he would do… I don't know why!

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Please, please, please, review! I love you guys! You inspire me!