Dedication: This story — yes, this entire story — is dedicated to Zapenbits, who's been reading my stories literally from the very beginning, and who never has anything bad to say about anything I write. She's been very encouraging, and her reviews always brighten up my day, and I'm forever grateful for her. Love ya Zappy!

—:—:—…Previously…—:—:—

Ichigo's heart soared, and he did something that was very out of character for him; he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Rukia, pulling her into a tight hug.

Hmn, this is out of character? An annoying voice in the back of his mind spoke up. This you find strange, and yet you think it's completely normal for you to go to the park every night to see her, and to hold her hand when you're walking together…

Ichigo ignored the voice. Rukia hesitated for only a moment before returning the hug, and Ichigo noted dimly how perfectly she seemed to fit in his arms.

"I'll see you tomorrow, then?" She asked, sounding slightly shaken, as they pulled away from each other.

"Nowhere else I'd rather be." He promised. He raised a hand up, brushing it lightly over her cheek, then turned and started down the stairs. He stopped for half a moment to look over his shoulder at Rukia, who was staring after him. And his face split into a grin. "See you tomorrow."

And with that, he turned and ran down the driveway, suppressing the very childish urge to yell and jump in the air.

Shadow of the Day — X

—:—Monday, April 14th, 2008 – 6:28 p.m. —:—

Rukia poked her rice uninterestedly. She wasn't hungry. She just wanted to get out to the park. She and Ichigo had decided they'd go back to the river tonight, do something different, for once. The family dinner nights had sparked something in both of them — while it was still fun to sit at the park and talk and swing, but…

"Something wrong with your food, Rukia?" Hisana asked, sounding curious. Rukia shrugged.

"I'm not that hungry." Rukia muttered. She felt a small hand press itself to her forehead.

"Are you sick?" Hisana teased. Rukia slapped her sister's hand away, her lips pursed.

"Very funny. I'm just not hungry, is that a problem?"

"Touchy, touchy." Rukia imagined Hisana was pouting now. "Come on Ru-chan, really, what's wrong?"

"Well the fact that you keep calling me 'Ru-chan' for one." Rukia grumbled. "Why did you revive that stupid name again?"

"Because now you seem so much happier, I thought you'd let me get away with it." Rukia rolled her eyes, but didn't answer, instead trying to focus on her food. "So come on Rukia, what's bothering you, really?"

Rukia sighed, resuming the poking of her food. "It's…Nii-sama." She said finally, glad that Byakuya was working late again. She saw no point in hiding it, really, and anyways maybe Hisana could help. She was good at making Byakuya change his mind about things…sometimes. "He didn't like Ichigo." It wasn't a question.

"Since when do you need mine or Byakuya's approval for something?" Hisana asked, sounding surprised. Rukia snorted.

"Approval. Right. No, it's not that, it's just…what if he decides he doesn't want me to go to the park anymore—" to see Ichigo, Rukia added silently, though she would never say it out-loud, "he could stop me if he was home, and you…you'd help him. You'd do anything he wanted you to do."

"I'd help if I agreed." Hisana corrected gently. "Look, I know Byakuya, for whatever reason, has a problem with Ichigo. But that's between the two of them. Byakuya can't stop you from going to the park at night, no matter what he does. Even if he forbids it, would you really listen to him?" Hisana went on without waiting for Rukia to answer. "Of course you wouldn't. That's not who you are, you never listen to Byakuya or me. You do things your way. No matter what anyone else tells you. So what are you so worried about?"

Rukia bit her lip. She didn't want to admit that she'd really wanted both her siblings to like Ichigo. In a short amount of time, he'd become an important part of her life. Was it so bad that she wanted her family — who was equally important to her — to approve of him?

Approve. Rukia scoffed silently at the word. Stop making it sound like he's your boyfriend or something. You're being pathetic.

Still…he was her friend. Even if that was all he was. Having Byakuya not like him could definitely make things…complicated.

7:45 p.m.

"You're late." Rukia teased as Ichigo ran to the swings, huffing. He'd run the entire way.

"Sorry, got home late, ended up eating late." He decided it was in his best interest not to add that he'd gotten home late because he'd gotten into a slight scuff with some local gang-bangers — apparently he resembled some guy who'd dropped their leader a few weeks back.

Whatever.

"So Yuzu keeps bugging me to invite you over again." Ichigo said as he sat down. "She doesn't seem to get that I didn't invite you over the first time, but…yeah. She really liked you, you know." Rukia raised a disbelieving eyebrow. "What, you don't believe me? You're an easy person to like."

"Ha." Rukia snorted. Ichigo would have smiled, had be not been so…unsettled by the way Rukia seemed to look at herself.

"You have a very twisted view of yourself, you know."

"Look who's talking. Would you believe me if I told you my sister likes you?" Ichigo didn't answer. "That's what I thought."

Ichigo's lips pulled into a smile, and, not for the first time, he was glad that Rukia couldn't see him. His view of himself had become a lot more positive since he'd met her. But he wasn't about to tell her that.

"So what…"

8:15 p.m.

"Dad is rolling over in his grave!"

Kuchiki Hisana was normally a quiet, understanding person. Usually she was willing to take a minute, see both sides of the argument, consider the best option, consider a good counter-argument, and then present it calmly and rationally.

Tonight was not one of those times.

"Dad and Saiichi-kun founded that company when they were just out of law school, they wanted to keep it in Karakura Town, keep it on a small-scale, help people, not big-time companies, which is all you're going to get in Tokyo by the way, and not to mention—"

"I can't stop them." Byakuya snapped, apparently losing his patience. He turned on his younger sister, his violet eyes blazing with more emotion than Hisana could ever remember seeing. "This is there decision, Hisana, all I can do is go along with it—"

"You have an opinion, it's your company too!" Hisana shot back. "Byakuya our lives are in this town, my school, Rukia's doctor…"

And Kurosaki-kun. Hisana wouldn't dare say that aloud though. If anything, the mention of that orange-haired boy would light a fire under Byakuya, make him want to get out of Karakura Town faster.

"This place is our home. You can't make us move."

Byakuya sighed, turning away from Hisana. "We're not moving until the summer." He said quietly. "That's plenty of time to fill out some applications and get a transfer. And the doctors in Tokyo are better than they are here, they'll—"

"They'll what?" Hisana demanded. "Know how to cure XP? Give it a break, Byakuya. You can't sugar coat wanting us to move. Rukia and I, we're happy here. We're not moving."

"So now you speak for Rukia?" Byakuya asked.

"Of course not. But do you think she's going to want to move, Byakuya? Do you think she wants to leave Karakura Town?"

"What is there to keep her here?"

Hisana closed her eyes. She had to say it. "Kurosaki-kun. You know as well as I do she's been happier in the month since she met him than she has been in the last sixteen years of her life. And you want to take that away from her?"

Byakuya wasn't impressed by Hisana's argument. She hadn't expected it to. "He's a sixteen year old boy, Hisana. How long do you think that little friendship is going to last before he gets bored? Before the novelty of something new wears off, and he thinks the same of her as everyone else?"

"You don't know—"

"I know." Byakuya interrupted. "He's just like everyone else in this world. No one can accept what's different from them."

"Including you, Byakuya?" Hisana asked quietly. Byakuya didn't answer for a minute.

"She's my sister." He said finally. "Of course I accept her. But not everyone in this world is as accepting me, Hisana."

Hisana shook her head slowly. "You're right and wrong. She is your sister. But you shouldn't have to accept her — that's not how family works."

She turned to walk away, then stopped and looked over her shoulder. "Make this move not happening Byakuya. I don't know how, I don't care how. But if you decide to go with that company, I promise, Rukia and I will not be joining you."

"What are you going to do, then?" Byakuya asked. "You don't have the money to stay in the house by yourself."

"We'll figure something out. You can't make a decision like this without talking to us and expect us to just go along with it. These are the kind of things you discuss with us, Byakuya. We're family. We're all each other have."

"You're the one who's saying if I want to go with the company you and Rukia will be staying here. And yet you're saying we're all each other have. You're contradicting yourself, Hisana."

Hisana bit her lip, running a hand through her hair. "Byakuya…"

She was out of arguments. This was what happened when she didn't take the time to think about an argument.

—:—Tuesday, April 15th, 2008 – 12:28 a.m. —:—

Rukia was smiling as she slipped into the house. Ichigo had stayed a lot later than usual; it'd been funny when he'd realized the time. Rukia couldn't remember when she'd last heard quite so many profanities.

She never saw Hisana, who was standing in the corner of the kitchen. The woman watched her sister cross the kitchen, going right for the stairs. She was smiling contently, not a care in the world, from the looks of it.

Unfair, Hisana sighed, sliding down to the floor. She'd tried reopening the argument with Byakuya, but to no avail. Byakuya wouldn't be moved. Hisana had known that, of course. But it really…really wasn't fair.

I'll tell her later, Hisana promised silently, pushing herself up and rubbing her eyes. Let her have her peace…for now.

6:55 p.m.

Hisana wasn't quite sure how she made it through the entire day. All she could think about was how upset Rukia was going to be, how angry…and, possibly worst of all, heartbroken.

Byakuya can't do this to us, she thought firmly. But even she knew that was a lie.

"Nii-sama has been working late a lot." Rukia commented idly as she stood and put her plate in the sink. "What's he doing?"

Working out details for moving, I suppose, Hisana thought bitterly. "Rukia." The girl stopped at the back door and looked over her shoulder. "Can you…take a minute? I need to talk to you."

"I didn't do it." Rukia joked weakly as she sat down again.

"No, you didn't." Hisana agreed evenly, and her voice took on a bitter tone. "Byakuya did."

Rukia blinked, surprised. "Oh this is going to be good. What's going on, Nee-san?"

Hisana took a deep breath, preparing herself. She could only imagine how this was going to go. "Rukia, we…I mean, Byakuya…" She ran a hand through her hair, sighing. "The firm…the others want to…to move the firm…to Tokyo."

Rukia didn't answer for a long time. "So…what, Nii-sama's going to be out of a job?" She said finally. Hisana almost wished that was the case.

"No…he's going with them. And…and so are we."

Another long, drawn out silence. "We're…leaving Karakura Town?" Rukia asked finally, her voice sounding strangled. Hisana closed her eyes, wishing she didn't have to say this.

"Yes."

In that moment, Hisana saw so much hurt, so much pain in Rukia's blind eyes, Hisana wished she was blind too, so she wouldn't have to see that look. As it was, she looked away, unable to stand it.

"I won't." Rukia whispered, surprising Hisana, who looked up quickly. The pain had been wiped away, replaced by a look of cold steel.

"What—?"

"I won't go." Rukia snapped, pushing her chair away from the table, almost knocking it over as she stood up. "I'm not gong anywhere. I won't."

"Rukia…" Hisana sighed as she stood, reaching a hand out. "I know this is upsetting for you—"

"Leave me alone!" Rukia yanked her arm away from Hisana's touch. "You can't make me do anything I don't want to, and I don't want to go!"

With that, she turned on her heel, darting to the door. "Rukia!"

Too late. She was, with amazing accuracy, already out the back door, and darting across the yard, into the woods, and out of sight.

Hisana sighed as she dropped into her seat. Too late now. She'd have to wait until Rukia came back.

And then she found herself hoping her little sister would come back.

7:30 p.m.

Ichigo was fully ready to give Rukia teasing hell about the fact that she was late, after she'd teased him about being late just the night before.

So when he heard the sound of hurried footsteps coming towards him from the woods, he grinned. Man she was in for it…

He twisted the chains of the swings so he could turn around and face her, opened his mouth, ready with a sarcastic comment…

His words froze in his mouth when he saw her. Her face was contorted into a pained look, and her violet eyes were swimming in tears.

"Rukia!"

In the time it took to blink, Ichigo was off the swing and standing in front of Rukia, wrapping his arms gently around her tiny body. "What's wrong?" He demanded, his voice twisting around his worry. "Rukia—"

She just shook her head, as if unable to answer, and buried her face in the front of his jacket, gripping the fabric tightly with her small fingers. Ichigo didn't ask any questions; he just held her as tightly as he could.

How long they stood like that, Ichigo wasn't sure. The tears never fell, though if they had, Ichigo wouldn't have let them get far. He wished there was something more he could do…but for now he settled for just holding her, his arms tight around her tiny, shaking form.

"Let's go." Rukia whispered finally. Ichigo blinked, surprised.

"Go where?" He asked cautiously. Rukia shook her head furiously.

"I don't know, somewhere, anywhere! The lake, let's go to the lake, I don't care. Let's just…go."

Ichigo put his hands on Rukia's shoulders, pushing back so he could look down at her face. "What's going on?" He demanded. Rukia bit her lip, closing her eyes.

"Please." She murmured. "I'll explain…I promise. But for now, please. Let's just get out of here."

Ichigo couldn't say no to her. He wanted to demand answers…but he really just couldn't say no.

"All right. Let's go."

Author's Note: So I kinda thought the fact that the last chapter was a million years long would get me a few more reviews. But no, huh? Oh well…what about this one? Pretty please with a cherry on top? I'll be your bestest friend foreeeeeeeeeeever…hmn. Pretty sure I just cost myself every review I may have gotten. Oh well. Review? Please? — Sam