Well here is the next instalment...it's going to take a long time to finish this story…cries I haven't been writing lately…but I have got the next chapter finished...i'll put it up next week.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach


Chapter 12

Everyone woke up relatively early – thanks to Inoue who was trying to cook breakfast and ended up burning a bit of her hair.

Rukia, being a light sleeper, had rushed out immediately when she heard the auburn haired girl scream. It was dawn barely so all Rukia could see was this orange blaze floating around like crazy and she caught the whiff of burnt hair. She saw a bottle of water near the camp fire and dived for it before the fire could get to her. She opened the bottle and squeezed the contents at the fire. It did little and hardly affected the size. Rukia stood there not sure of what to do. A rush of air came past her and when she looked for the fire, she saw none.

Hitsuguya walked towards two figures with a lighted branch. It revealed Ichigo and Inoue, a wet towel covering Inoue's head.

"Arigatou, Kurosaki-kun," She whispered as she popped out her head from under the towel with an embarrassed smile on her face.

Ichigo stood and took the towel off her head. "Just be careful next time," he replied and with that went to the riverside to wash the towel.

Inoue blushed, Hitsugaya walked back into his tent, Sado cleaned up the mess, Ishida took a look to see if Inoue was okay and suggested she clip back her hair, but all Rukia did was stare. It was impolite to stare but she couldn't help herself. She was able to do nothing. She stared down at the ground and mentally scolded herself.

Ichigo saw that she was just standing there. He walked up to her, but she gave no response. "Rukia?" he asked. "Earth to Rukia," he tried once more, but still no reaction. "Rukia!" he said as he raised his voiced and placed a hand on her shoulder.

Rukia felt someone place a hand on her shoulder. She was so startled and ended up grabbing the thing that touched her and flipped it to the ground. She looked at the thing she had just flipped only to find Ichigo there on his back. She was slightly confused.

"OUCH!!!" yelled Ichigo. He stood up and faced Rukia and tried to muster the best death glare he could at his short companion. "What the hell was that for bitch?!!!"

Rukia didn't know how to reply to that.

"It was reflexes," she said at last. 'How lame is that' she thought.

"Reflexes my arse!!!" Ichigo screamed back.

"It wasn't my fault you touched me in the first place," she screamed back.

Everyone was looking at the two argue.

"If you weren't day dreaming then I wouldn't have touched you anyway!"

Rukia was taken a back. She certainly wasn't day dreaming, but she knew if she didn't come back with a smart response then she would've lost this round…"Baka, I was not day dreaming! And why were you touching me if you said you wouldn't have touched me anyway?" she smirked cause she knew she had won – judging by the expression on his face.

Ichigo was stunned. He hadn't expected her to use what he said back at him. Who would? He stood there shock and was about to shout back when Hitsugaya interrupted.

"Would you two please shut-up!!?" he shouted. "You're giving me a head ache and we have to go soon so stop screaming and pack up!!!"

Immediately the two teens and the other three, rushed about to pack their things up. Later on, breakfast was served. It was quiet. Ichigo kept sending death glares at Rukia, but she just ignored them and almost his existence.

The rest of the group was wondering how them two will ever survive on this trip together – Inoue was making up this crazy story about the two being robots trying to prove who is better than who.

After breakfast, the group cleaned up and mounted their horses. They all stared at the bridge for the first time that morning. The mist had withdrawn it self. Inoue gasped and the rest looked with surprise. There, right in front of them stood what seemed like a land of desert. The red-brown sand covering the ground, the wind slightly disturbing the silence, hardly any life could be seen. A few patched of grass could be seen, bones of dead animals could be seen. Yet, what really surprised them was that it seemed endless – it seemed to go on forever and there would be no end to it.

Ichigo looked at the difference between the desert land and the land they were currently on. It was all grass on their side, nice luscious green grass but on the desert…that was a completely different story.

"Let's go," spoke Hitsugaya. He trotted in front and the others followed.

Everyone held their gazes on the sandy desert. There was something that just wasn't right.

Suddenly, Hitsugaya's horse rose onto its hind legs knocking Hitsugaya off. Curses could be heard from him.

'What the hell…' thought Hitsugaya. He stood and walked over to the sand. He placed his right hand on the sand. "Arrgh!" he hissed as he recoiled away from the sand. 'That's why he back off,' he thought (referring to the horse). He walked over to the river and plunged his hands into the water and thought for a moment. Steam rose as his hand made contact with the cool water.

Everyone else was wondering what was happening and why the horse had threw off its master for no reason at all. Ishida proceeded toward the sand.

"Don't touch the sand," warned Hitsugaya. "It's hot."

"I can see from your hand," replied Ishida pushing his glasses up. "That was rather foolish of you to just suddenly place your hand on it like that."

Hitsugaya ignored that comment.

"If it is hot," wondered Inoue aloud, "Then how are we going to cross?"

"Well, we would need something really cold to cool in down." Ishida finished obviously proud of what he had just said.

"Why can't we just pour water from the river on it?" asked Ichigo. He didn't understand why some people make it so difficult when it could easily be solved.

"Because, Kurosaki, the water will simply be soaked up by the sand," replied Ishida.

"Well why can't we just pour more then?"

"Because if we pour too much, our horses will get stuck then we won't be able to move," yelled an irritated Rukia.

Ichigo thought for a moment. "Can't we like pour just the right amount of water on it, then walk over?"

"But then we wouldn't be able to carry all that water over that great distance…" interrupted Inoue. "Unless we get something that can withstand heavy weight, travel far and we won't have to carry it either…something like a robot!"

Everyone sweat dropped.

"Inoue," spoke Ishida. "We don't have a robot, and if we do find a way of carrying it, it will just evaporate under the heat."

Inoue looked down of disappointment and embarrassment.

Hitsugaya stood up and whistled at his horse. It came obediently. Hitsugaya patted its head and lead it over to where the others were. It was about time to show them what this midget could do.

"Leave this to me," he said as he took out his sword.

Everyone watched him intently, wondering what he was planning to do with the sword. Rukia and Inoue had some idea since they went to the same school as him.

"Hyorinmaru!!"

End of Chapter 12


A/N: You might have or have not noticed but I changed the genre on this. I just think it is ore drama than romance...but the romance will come later…a lot later…but hope you enjoyed this chapter.