Most Eligible

"Ichigo!" Keigo's voice shrieks loudly, and Ichigo quickly turns around. It isn't his usual yell that begs for Ichigo elbow him in the head.

"Is something wrong?" Ichigo asks his friend with concern.

"You will never believe it." Keigo says as he hands the school newspaper to Ichigo. Ichigo rolls his eyes but takes the paper and looks at the spot Keigo is pointing at frantically.

Karakura High's Most Eligible Girl-Kuchiki Rukia

Ichigo feels his mouth drop open at that headline. He scans the story.

Never will you find a more enchanting girl than Kuchiki Rukia. She is beautiful, kind, polite, and thoughtful. Just listening to her voice which is like an angel's voice is enough to soothe the heart of any man.

After witnessing her save a child from being run over by a truck, we decided she is certainly worthy of being this year's most eligible girl at Karakura High.

We know there is a lot of speculation that she is not actually eligible, but we assure you that this isn't the case. Kuchiki Rukia is currently single.

Ichigo can't read anymore. He scowls at the fact that the paper called her single.

"Is this a joke?" Ichigo asks as he slaps the paper back in Keigo's hands.

Ichigo is furious. He's supposed to be the only one who notices how amazing Rukia actually is, other people aren't supposed to know or realize how she shines more than any other girl in their school.

"I always knew Kuchiki-san was amazing!" Keigo says with a dreamy look in his eyes.

"Shut up." Ichigo says in a low threatening voice. Keigo's eyes widen at Ichigo's apparent anger.

"Why are you pissed? It's not like you and her are together or anything," Keigo points out, causing Ichigo to give him an even angrier glare.

Ichigo quickly walks away and has every intention of ignoring the damned newspaper.

Through the course of the day though, he of course finds it next to impossible to ignore it since boys are approaching Rukia in droves to congratulate her and see if she gives them a look of interest at all. It's all Ichigo can do not to punch someone in the face.

Rukia loves the attention too, and really oozes her fake schoolgirl charm as boys are practically falling over themselves to get a word in edgewise with her.

Plenty of girls notice that Kurosaki seems mighty sour over the breaking news, and there are plenty who are depressed about that since a lot of girls think he is secretly in love with her, considering how often they're seen together outside of school.

Rukia pays no mind to Ichigo, since she knows he hates it when she pulls her schoolgirl act. It's not like she can do anything else when she's here, she has to try to fit in so as to not create more distractions than what she and Ichigo already have. Even though the extra attention today is enjoyable to her, she wouldn't want it to be like this all of the time.

Besides, it's not her fault that the kid saw using kidou in her gigai. She had to use the memory modifier on him and she had set it a random memory since she didn't usually see him. His memory had shifted to seeing her save a child's life and he had decided to make her the top story by calling her the most eligible. She has no idea how he found out that she is single, but it's not like she can deny it without revealing she loves someone with her whole heart.

At lunchtime, Ichigo had watched from a distance as a crowd of boys adoringly waited their turn to talk to the mysterious and beautiful girl that had been the focus of the paper. He had clenched his fists angrily at the way they fawned over her. They were openly showering her with adoration and what pisses Ichigo off the most is that even though he cares about her a million times more than any of these fools, he can't show the kind of open admiration that the other guys his age are showing towards her.

"Kurosaki…you have to calm down. You're going to start drawing in hollows, you're oozing even more reiatsu than usual," Ishida says with a voice that well emphasizes his pity for Ichigo.

"Shut the hell up." Ichigo grows. He crosses his arms and looks like he just got shot when he hears one guy from where he stands.

"Kuchiki-san! What kind of guys are you attracted to?" The kid could be an announcer without a microphone he's so loud. Ichigo is walking closer to her before he can even put any thought into it. Sado and Ishida exchange surprised glances and hurry behind him as Rukia clears her throat to answer the obnoxiously loud question.

"I'm attracted to the kind of guy who finds family important, risks himself to help or save others, has courage, and a strong loyalty to his friends. I like the kind of guy who has a strong resolve and an unbelievable will to make things in the world right. I'd like to be with a guy who is smart, deep, complex, and he has to smile for me like he does for no other girl. I like a man who can keep a commitment and not wander from the relationship that he's in." Rukia answers in a clear and somewhat dreamy voice.

Ichigo moves closer to her.

"I can be that man!" Keigo screams as he charges forward. He never even saw Ichigo getting so close to her since he'd been so focused on Kuchiki-san.

Everybody's mouth drops open as Ichigo's fist meets Keigo's face and he flies back close to six meters away. He lays on the ground, moaning and groaning in pain.

Everybody is staring at him in total shock, but he doesn't focus on anybody other than Rukia. He's only about two meters from her.

"It sounded like you were describing somebody in particular," Ichigo says as he gives her a very serious stare. He can hardly breathe properly as she looks at him with a bit of surprise on her face, but also a hint of a smile.

"It did?" Rukia asks innocently, as her hint of a smile widens into a full blown smile. She crosses her arms, and doesn't take her eyes off of him.

"Are you saying you weren't describing someone in particular?" Ichigo asks her next. Rukia just stares at him for a moment.

"Why are you so curious?" Rukia asks as she keeps smiling at him. Ichigo feels his face heat up at that question, but he doesn't look away from her.

"Why won't you answer the question?" Ichigo challenges next.

"It could be describing someone, I have yet to decide if there's someone who actually has all of those qualities." Rukia tells him before she finally looks away. She can't keep staring him in the eyes or he'll soon be reading her mind with ease.

"Hey! Ichigo! I thought you didn't have anything going on with Kuchiki-san!" Keigo's voice stops the conversation and Ichigo turns to glare at his friend who's staggering towards him.

"I didn't. That doesn't mean I won't though." Ichigo says loudly enough to let all of the guys know that he isn't okay with their open ogling of Rukia. "If she was describing me, that is." Ichigo says, causing every other guy to look at Rukia hopefully. Rukia blushes. Why is he making her do this so publicly?

"Were you describing Kurosaki, Kuchiki-san?" Ishida calls out, causing both Rukia and Ichigo to go bright red.

Ichigo waits as Rukia's head turns towards him. When her eyes meet his and her head nods yes, Ichigo feels a huge amount of relief, more than what he would have imagined.

He gives her the special smile that he only ever gives to her and Rukia feels her knees go weak. The pair just stare at each other and everyone else watches, transfixed.

Ichigo finally takes the remaining steps to Rukia and grabs her hand. He pulls her away from the crowd.

"No! Tomorrow's issue was going to have Kurosaki as the most eligible guy in school! Now who will it be?" The newspaper editor is bawling on the ground and Sado hands him a tissue. The newspaper editor looks up, up, up until he finally sees Sado's face.

Ichigo drags Rukia all the way home so that he can finally kiss her for the very first time.

The Next Day…

"Kuchiki-san is no longer most eligible, Inoue-san is." Keigo says with excitement to the happy couple. Rukia grins as Ishida's mouth drops open and his eyes look panicked. She predicts he'll have a similar day to the one that Ichigo had the day before.

"I'll have to congratulate her," Rukia says with a grin. Ichigo smiles too.

"The most eligible guy is Sado." Keigo tells them with big eyes. Ichigo shakes his head.

"I feel sorry for him," Ichigo mutters under his breath. He looks down at Rukia who is no longer the most eligible girl in Karakura High, but the most eligible girl for him. It had been unexpectedly public, but at least guys weren't hoarding around her anymore.

He notices his friend being surrounded by girls and Ichigo shakes his head as he smiles.

Better him than me.