Hey guys, enjoy this new chapter.

Chapter 38: Saturday, A date with sensei

"Guys, dinner's ready." I shouted before putting down the last plate on the table. As expected, Ichigo was the first to rush down.

"Yes, Katsu don. Thank you for the…OW!" Before he could take a bite into the pork, I whacked him on the head. "What was that for?"

"We have to wait for Hitsugaya and Kuchiki sensei before we can start eating." I scolded him, making him pout. Urgh. After being here for so long, I feel like I'm becoming like a mother to these guys.

"You don't have to wait for Kuchiki sensei. He ain't coming down." We both turned to see Hitsugaya walking down to the table.

"Again. Is he still at it?" Ichigo asked. I looked up at the stairs with a concerned face. Just a few days ago something came up in the Kuchiki household and Kuchiki sensei had to take care of it. And with the exams coming up, he had to do those two things at the same time so things got quite busy for him. He rarely comes out from his room.

"Is this situation in the Kuchiki place really that serious?" I asked as I sat down and started dinner with the other two.

"Not sure, but Rukia made it seem quite important." Ichigo answered. "Besides. The last time we acted like this, it was a huge crisis in the Kuchiki household."

"I wouldn't worry too much about it. Besides, he usually doesn't want people to help him." Hitsugaya commented. But I still worried about him. After dinner, I took some food and brought it to Kuchiki sensei's room.

"Kuchiki sensei? It's me Kurara. I brought you some food." I knocked on the door and said. The door slowly opened, revealing Kuchiki sensei with his glasses on. I couldn't help but blush. He looked quite hot with his glasses. Wait, what am I saying?!

"Ah, thank you Haruno." He said and took the plate and was about to close the door.

"Wait!" he seemed startled at my sudden response. "Uhm…I was just wondering, if you were doing alright? You know, with all that you have and all, you must be quite tired."

"Thank you for your concern but I'm alright." the slight bags under his eyes said otherwise. I gotta do something.

"Ok, I've decided." I crossed my arms and said in a determined voice, making Kuchiki sensei confused. "Tomorrow, you and I are gonna go out."

Next day, Sunday:

"You're seriously doing this?" I turned and saw Hitsugaya leaning by my room door.

"Yeah. After all that work, he's got to get some fresh air." I replied before finishing tying up my hair. Hitsugaya just shrugged his shoulders and walked away. Then I saw Kuchiki sensei walking up to me. I finally got to see him wearing some casual clothes.

"Just where do you plan on taking me?" he asked and I took his hand and pulled him to the front door.

"Just relax and let me do the work." I smiled back, unable to see the growing blush on the man's face.

.….

"An amusement park?"

"I thought it would be fun for us to come here." Yes. I have brought the Kuchiki sensei to an amusement park. The truth was, Hisana told me about the place and said it would be nice to bring Kuchiki sensei here. That and she wanted pictures of him on the rides.

"I thought this was to help me relax?" he asked as I bought the tickets.

"It is. And the best way to relax is to have fun." I dragged him into the park. It was such a long time since I've been to an amusement park, so I was quite excited. "So, where do you want to go first?" He looked around but didn't seem interested. "Ok. Then let's try that." I pointed to the spinning cups. He nodded and allowed himself to be dragged along. The ride started but we weren't spinning. "Uhm, we're supposed to spin the wheel now right?"

"I guess." I sighed and took both his hands and placed them on the wheel with my hands next to his. I started spinning the wheel and soon he followed. Soon our cup was spinning like crazy and I was having a blast, laughing all the way. Towards the end of the ride, I could see Kuchiki sensei having a slight smile on his face.

…...

"That was fun. What do you want to do next?" I asked. Kuchiki sensei looked around and his eyes set on something.

"We could try that." I followed his finger and jolted a little. What he was pointing at was a giant rollercoaster. "Is there something wrong?" I think he saw my eyes widen.

"Huh? Oh, nothing. Let's go." I walked towards the rollercoaster. Today's Kuchiki sensei's day, so I can't be picky. As the line shortened and we got closer, I could feel my legs shaking. I wasn't a big fan of rollercoasters, in fact, I was utterly terrified. Before I knew it, I was strapped into the seat and the ride started. I was beyond terrified, even before we made the first drop. Long story short, after what felt like ten minutes of terrifying rush, I still felt like my soul's still up there.

"Are you alright?" I turned to look at Kuchiki sensei. "You're tearing up." He pulled out a handkerchief and started dapping the tears away. My cheeks heated up with his face so close to mine and his warm hand rubbing against my cheek. "I'm sorry. I should have known you were afraid of those rides."

"It's ok. Besides, this day was to help you relax. So if that helped, I'm more than willing to go through that." He smiled at my words. Then I noticed an ice cream van. "I'll get us some snacks." I walked over to the van and bought a vanilla and strawberry cone each.

"Here you go." The shop attendant passed me the cones. "Hey, is that your boyfriend over there?' She asked, looking over to where Kuchiki sensei was calmly seated.

"What! No! He's just my sensei."

"Don't be so shy. I saw how he cared for you just now, it was so adorable. And him being your sensei makes it so much more romantic." She smirked. I blushed like crazy and quickly escaped.

"What's wrong now? Your face is all red." Kuchiki sensei asked again with concern.

"It's nothing, really. Which one do you want?"

"I'll take vanilla." I passed him the cone and sat beside him on the bench. As I was eating my ice cream, I turned to Kuchiki sensei, seeing him delicately licking his ice cream. I giggled. "Hmm? What?"

"Nothing. Just, the way you eat your ice cream. It has class." I replied and he raised an eyebrow.

"Then how do you eat your ice cream?" I decided to have a little fun. I stuffed the top half into my mouth.

"Like this." I mumbled with the ice cream in my mouth.

"Cheeky aren't you." He said, pulling my cheek playfully. I made soft whimpering sounds as he continued to playfully pull my cheeks. Then we heard a real whimper. We turned around and saw a little girl crouching at a corner with her hands covering her eyes. Kuchiki sensei got up and walked towards the girl. "Are you alright?" he asked in a soft tone. The girl looked up with watery eyes. She mumbled something but it was loud enough for him to hear. "Don't worry. We'll help find them. Just stay with us, alright?" The girl finally smiled and took his hand. "I hope you don't mind this Haruno."

"No, I also don't want to leave this poor girl alone." Then I saw the girl holding up her free hand towards me. I smiled and held to it. Then I realized. This made us look like a family, a kind of cute family. As we walked to find her parents, I saw her looking at the merry-go-round. "Do you want to go there?" she nodded vigorously and I looked back to Kuchiki sensei. He seemed willing to do it and we went over to the ride. He carried the girl onto a pony, standing next to it to make sure he doesn't fall while I sat on the pony beside hers. The ride started and she looked like she was having the time of her life. As I watched her having fun, I could see Kuchiki sensei smiling broadly, warm eyes set on her. My heart almost melted at the sight.

We got off the ride and we heard some murmurings nearby. I saw two adults frantically speaking with some workers. Then I saw the girl run after them. Those must be her parents. I could see her parents full of relief when they saw her, hugging her tightly. The girl then turned to us, waving and saying a cute 'bye-bye'. Both of us smiled back and watched the family walking away. Then I noticed the sky getting darker.

"Ah, we better get going." I grabbed Kuchiki sensei's hand, pulling him to the exit. "We gotta go to this place."

…

In a few minutes, we reached the destination. It was on a hill, overlooking the city. We walked to the railing at the edge, looking at the view.

"Wait for it." I said. Then there it was. The sunset, the sun's warm orange rays overlapped the buildings, making the windows glitter by the light. "What do you think?"

"It is quite beautiful. I'm guessing this is the main attraction you wanted to bring me to." I smiled as if agreeing to what he said.

"I found this place when I first moved here. It somehow helped me calm down, forget every problem and just relax. I thought this place might help you." Kuchiki sensei frowned a little. "You know, you're just like me." His face grew confused. "Before I came here, I always relied on myself. I always solved problems on my own, did things my way, rarely asked for help. Maybe I was scared, or just stubborn. But then I realized that there was so many people, waiting for me to just ask them to help me. I realized, I wasn't alone." I turned to look at him. "So are you. You're not alone. You don't always have to put the burdens onto your shoulders. I bet there's many people wanting to help you. We're all worried for you. Hisana, Rukia, Hitsugaya, Ichigo, even me. We don't want to see you stress out so much and cannot do anything to help you. That's why, you should just rely on others once in a while. And always remember, you're never alone. At least, always know I always got your back."

Kuchiki's POV:

My heart warmed up when I heard her words. I never knew she worried so much for me. I took a step forward, placed my hand behind her head and pulled her to my chest. I felt her stiffening at first but loosened up when she rested her head on my chest.

"Thank you. For everything." I whispered, embracing her warmth.

…..

We were on the train to go back home. I could see her nodding off, it was cute. Just then, something lightly laid on my shoulder. I looked down and saw Kurara sleeping, resting her head on my shoulder. She had such an angelic face. I smiled and lightly stroked her cheek, pushing up strands of hair falling down. I truly thank you for being there for me. You must be the only one who has gone through so much for me. I could feel myself dozing off too and I rested my head on top of hers. Before I went off, I reached out for her hand, grasping it, letting her warmth flow. I felt my eyes close, but I caught a glimpse of a small smile on her face.