Well, Surprise! Happy Holidays, everybody. It's not much, but hey, I figured this could be a little gift to cap of this year.

First off, I want to apologize for the wait. I know it sure as hell beats waiting SEVERAL FUCKING YEARS for an update to one of my fics, but still. Suffice it to say that I got wrapped up in a lot all at once. Starting right after I last published in September, my wife talked me into entering into a drag competition with her. Yeah, you heard me right, I'm a drag queen. lol A cis straight one at that, if you can believe it. Not as uncommon as you might think, but I digress. It took a lot of time and effort to compete, and even then, work took up even more time with the holiday season, leaving me with no other option than to drop out of it. :( Let's just say 40 hours a week for nearly a month straight, being up several hours before dawn every day when you're usually a night owl leaves you not only exhausted, but also in hellacious amounts of pain from sleep deprivation. In the end, I didn't have any, and I do mean ANY, gas in the tank for anything else in my life. To make matters worse, I had this chapter about halfway done when all this started. Teach me to step away for a few days to get my ideas in order, I guess. lol

Anyway, complaints aside, here's the next chapter in the prequel story.

Note: Do I even need to say it at this point?

Chapter 0.03: Outta My Head

Put my mind to rest and try to sleep it off

It'll be alright when the morning comes

Or am I wrong

...

Crazy when she comes, so crazy as she goes

I'm holding out my hands with nothing left to show

Guess that's the way it goes

...

Ain't no doubt about it, I can't live without it

Tried to forget you, but I can't get you outta my head

Just when I think you're gone, you come back and turn it on

And just like a simple song, I can't get you outta my head

...

Outta My Head - Daughtry

It had been a blessedly long weekend for the strawberry blonde, much as he may have hated to admit it out loud. If anyone had asked him, he would have sworn he was fine, though oddly enough, no one seemed to pay him any mind. Not even his unruly father gave him any grief for staying sequestered in his room, going so far as to skip his usual brand of wakeup calls. If anything, the old goat would have put in the extra effort to kick him while he was down after a hard fight. Something about "toughening him up." The teen wasn't complaining, but it still struck him as strange. If he didn't know better, Ichigo would've bet his old man knew more about the truth than he let on.

"Nah" he denied out loud to himself as he walked down the streets of his neighborhood, tightening his jacket to stave off the cold chill of the wind. "That idiot can't even see spirits. Like he knows anything about Shinigami."

More than likely, it was due to Rukia. Her impromptu tale had pretty much mollified his family, even his father. What would have normally resulted in berating from his family instead meant special treatment, or what amounted to it in their case. Well, Karin was her usual aloof self when it came to his business, but that was beside the point.

The ravenette had actually saw fit to make regular "visits" via the front door to check on her "savior," effectively solidifying her story. It made it seem almost real, considering the fact that she was making herself scarce over the past couple days, only showing up at night through the window to head to her bed in his closet and disappearing before he awoke in the morning. He could only assume she was staying vigilant, although what she could possibly do about a sudden hollow appearance was beyond him.

When he would say as much, she would just dismiss it, telling him that he needed his rest. Under normal circumstances, she would add the usual insult to his brash nature and make it sound like more of an order. To his surprise, he could almost call her attention gentle. And why was she being so…evasive, for lack of a better word? She wouldn't stay in his presence for more than a few minutes, and she could barely seem to hold his gaze at all when she was around. There was something on her mind, that was for sure.

"She almost looks…cute…acting halfway shy like that…" he mumbled out loud without realizing it.

"What's cute now?" a very familiar voice asked from behind him with a humorous edge, freezing him in his tracks. 'Shit…did I say that?'

Swallowing hard, he whipped his head back to find the object of his musings, standing there in her uniform jacket, complete with a white scarf and black leggings under her skirt to fend off the temperature. What's more, her cheeks were flushed from the subtle bite of the wind, combining with her amused smirk and eyes twinkling with hidden laughter to make for a most…interesting image.

"Uh…n-nothing. Just thinking about, uh…Kon in that outfit Yuzu got for him. Bet the little twerp just loved that one" he said, trying to think quickly. He only just noticed his own face feeling heated, chocking it up to the winter cold.

Rukia giggled into the back of her hand, stepping forward to match his stride. When did her laugh start to sound so musical? "Yeah, well, the pervert deserves it for that last little stunt."

"Ichigo?" Rukia called softly, rapping her knuckles lightly on his door frame. "Are you awake? Yuzu made dinner, I brought you a plate."

"Huh?" she heard through the door, his drowsy voice making it plainly clear that he had been dozing. "Uh, yeah. Come in."

She took a breath to steady her nerves before grasping the knob with her free hand and opening the door. A constant reminder playing through her head that he was just a lowly human and a friend was all that allowed her to walk slowly into his room. It was all she could do to keep her confusing thoughts at bay, especially in his presence. It was difficult enough when she was away from him, after all.

The heiress kept her eyes pointed towards the floor as she approached his desk and set his plate down for him. "How are you feeling?"

There was a slow inhalation before he answered, as if his lungs filling up took more energy than he was usually able to give. "Better, I think…"

Her eyes darted up at the ragged utterance, actions betraying her need to see for herself that he was truly safe and sound. That was another thing that she struggled with of late, this paranoia over his well-being. She saw for herself that he had survived, drug him back to his home to rest herself, and still her traumatized mind couldn't shake the feeling that he would disappear…just like Kaien.

And damned be her paranoia for what she found when she looked.

His eyes were closed still against the invading evening sunlight, and thank the Soul King for small miracles such as those. Her gaze caught on his peaceful expression for only a moment, yet again taking in this new appreciation for his good looks genetics graced him with. What genetics alone could not give him was what really stopped her in her tracks.

At some point between the last time she'd seen him and now, his shirt had been removed. And she cursed the part of herself that had the gall to be thankful that his comforter was sitting at his waistline, for what she beheld before her…no mortal man had the right to look that good. She hadn't even taken the time to think what this new lifestyle might do to his body. He had looked like a well fit teenager in her opinion already, but…how defined his chest and abdominals were…those arms…It wasn't at all overly bulky, built for speed as much as power, and laid bare like that…it had a powerful effect, that was for certain.

She straightened herself up, chastising herself all the way as she tried to ignore how it felt that steam should be shooting from her ears with how hot she felt under the collar. After all, it was so far from proper for THE lady of the house of Kuchiki to be behaving in such a manner! She had seen men in similar states of undress before during training as well! Why should Ichigo be any different?! It certainly didn't leave a tingle in areas she was too ashamed to think about, not one bit!

"G-good. You should be back in fighting shape in no ti-"

As she took a step to the side in an effort to avert her eyes, two simultaneous squeaks caught her ear. One was most definitely a toy's squeaker, the other sounded like a pained voice layering over the top of the first. She slowly lowered her eyes, blushing harder as the realization set in of what…rather who she was going to find underfoot.

"Rrr…R-Ruk…kia…" Kon managed to sputter around the dainty socked foot currently muzzling him and flattening his form to the hardwood. Despite the plushie's miniscule body being crushed by her comparatively much larger weight (barely pushing 90 lbs. with her size and frame, if I humbly had to guess), the pervert still managed to sport a blush of his own, his voice carrying every bit of his lewd intentions. A sparkle was clear as day as he tried desperately to see what she was hiding under her skirt.

Now, Rukia may have had a temper in her own right, brought out more often thanks to Ichigo's influence, and she truly had zero patience for perverts of any kind, Kon being the biggest target of her ire of late when it came to that. Still, she was a lady, and her rage often came with composure, at least immediately after. These usual circumstances, however, did not equate when mixed with feeling as though she had been caught red-handed acting just as perverted.

"You…little…CRETIN!" she all but screeched, snatching him up before planting him into the wall harshly with her fist, managing to put a crack in the drywall. An outside audience might have sworn steam really was rolling from her head as she ground her teeth, trying to quell her embarrassment.

"The hell, Rukia?!" Ichigo asked in a startled tone as he bolted upright, causing her to go ramrod straight with a small 'eep' escaping her. "The hell happened?"

Her head turned so slow and so jarringly that her neck nearly creaked from the unnatural rigidity of motion, a blush still dusting across the tip of her nose and her cheeks, a nervous sweat beginning to pour. "This…little pervert…he was trying to…look up my dress…" she said mechanically.

It wasn't really a lie, was it? He had been trying to perv on her, as he always did, and he had never before tried to be quite so daring to her knowledge. That would explain her reaction well enough, right? Ichigo's expression turning to ire of his own and directing slowly to the heap of a stuffed toy on the ground where he'd fallen sent relief flooding through her system. It seemed her excuse had worked. And her stammering seemed to have been mistaken for her mixture of embarrassment and outrage. Small miracles, praise be the Soul King.

"Bad enough you pull that stunt when you were in my body with not only Orihime but Tatsuki as well, but now this. There is no such thing as too low for you, is there?" Ichigo ground out as he stood and strode over to the downed Mod Soul, grabbing him by the scruff of his neck. She was tempted to stop him from moving around in his condition, but her brain was still too frazzled to articulate properly.

"Hey, give a guy a break, would ya?!" Kon shouted in indignation. "Just because you get to hang around all these hotties and decide to not make a move on ANY of them doesn't mean I have to! And what the hell else am I supposed to do stuck in this body, huh?! I gotta take what I can get!"

Slowly, a wide wolfish grin spread onto the strawberry blonde's face as an evil glint could be seen in his eyes, an expression more akin to some rough dyed-haired rebel with unquenchable bloodlust than our protagonist. Then, he said the words that would strike terror into the heart of the plush lion every time he heard them.

"Hey, Yuzu! I think I found one of your toys in my room again!"

"Never learns, does he?" Ichigo said with a bored expression, the only indication left of his chivalrous anger burning behind his eyes.

"If tossing him to your sister doesn't do the trick eventually, I'll think of something creative" she said threateningly, nodding assuredly to herself. "At any rate, how are you feeling?"

"Fine" he said without missing a beat, his normal guarded scowl appearing. "Still a little tired, but what did I expect?"

By now, she knew that expression. "You know, if you're still worn down, I could tell the school that you're going to be gone for the day and just bring home any material you miss."

He had to force himself not to cut his eyes at her, wondering where in the hell this over-generosity was coming from. "A few hours in class aren't gonna kill me. Besides, it seems whatever the hell you've been up to has the hollow problem covered while I've been down and out."

"R-Right…" Rukia bit her lip, grasping her book bag in front of her. She considered telling him that there hadn't been any alerts since the Menos fiasco. Likely, the mass genocide of hollows that day had warded off any stragglers from attempting to come through and hunt out of fear, at least for the time being. Of course, if she did, she would probably have to explain why she had been avoiding him.

She glanced in his direction, watching as his face relaxed somewhat. It was odd that his trademark glower wasn't staying in place, and she couldn't help but question the cause. He looked almost peaceful yet again, his handsome angular features no longer as marred and easier to distinguish. She had to bite her lip harder to stop herself from blushing over it. More and more, her mind was becoming a muddled mess when she even thought of him, let alone stood in the same space as him. She hated the confusion it brought to her, the questioning within her over why this lowly human was suddenly of so much interest. Sure, Ichigo was her friend, but that shouldn't mean anything.

"Hey, Rukia" he said suddenly without looking away from the street in front of him, breaking her train of thought. "Listen…sorry for worrying you the other day. I know I was stupid, just charging in against that big hollow."

She stared at him wide-eyed for a few moments, like a deer caught in the headlights. Though it was slow to, her mind put it together. He must have been misinterpreting her hesitation in that moment, perhaps even the reason for her absence over the last couple days. He thought she was…upset with him?

The heiress had to clear her throat. "Well…you were a fool, as per usual…but you don't have to be sorry. I understand that you need to protect people whenever you can. Just…be more careful."

He shrugged, shutting his eyes and letting muscle memory guide his strides. "Yeah, yeah, I get it. Kinda hard to be cautious fighting monsters, though. And what else was I supposed to do?" he said a little too nonchalantly for her liking, a tick mark appearing above her brow as she caught him cleaning his ear with a pinky. Something he did when he clearly didn't take a matter seriously.

"How about not jumping in front of a deadly attack you had no way of knowing you could survive?" she suggested, a harsh bite filtering into her voice.

"Yeah…I probably should've thought that through a bit more…"

"I mean, I understand that you and Ishida…wait, what?" Rukia whipped her head back towards him, brow twitching in incredulity. She had fully expected an argument from him, defending his own actions in the heat of the moment.

He stopped, glancing at her from the corner of his eye as he shoved his hands into his pockets. "What? You're right is all I'm saying. Of all the times to hold my ground, probably wasn't the best time."

"Um…" She certainly wasn't prepared for her hotheaded partner to take her criticism so coolly, so much so that it took several moments to recompose herself. That look he was giving her didn't help. "Well…Thank you. You definitely should have used your head a bit more."

She cleared her throat as they resumed walking. "Rule of thumb, a Cero is powerful, but, while swift all things considered, their density of reistu makes them slow enough to dodge if you have the timing, which you did. You and Uryu could have cleared the blast zone and waited for some other opening to make the Menos back off."

"If Archery Boy would have moved at all" he countered, a little edge creeping into his own tone. "And how would I have known all that about that hollow's attack in the first place?"

"Using your eyes for one" she argued. "That tends to be your problem, you don't look before you leap. For that matter, you shouldn't be jumping into situations when you're not properly informed in the first place."

A small growl of irritation escaped him. "Easy for you to say, you've studied all this in your fancy Soul Society school or whatever. I'm having to learn as I go. Anyway, it all ended up fine, so what's the deal talking about it now?"

A hard smack of Rukia's bookbag to the back of his head was his answer, leaving him doubled over in pain as a large knot formed on his crown while she stalked off in a huff. "WHAT THE HELL, MIDGET?!"

"Serves you right for being an idiot, Strawberry" she threw back over her shoulder with a self-righteous smirk.

'Serves him right, indeed. Maybe that will knock the sense he needs to consider other people around him before he goes off sacrificing himself into that thick skull' she thought to herself as the school gates came into view. 'Good to see he's still the same old Ichigo, though. For a second there, that was really…strange…'

The small moment replayed in her mind even as their classes began. A part of her was convinced that it was either just a product of his tired state or some fluke, but another part of her latched onto that moment in time. The way he spoke when he said it. The look in his eye. Any outside observer would've missed the subtle change behind his guarded expression, but that small glance in her direction felt…different. He wasn't just looking at her. In that small moment, he really seemed to be conveying something. As much as she tried to deny it, the back of her mind wouldn't let go of the notion that something in his gaze held an importance to her. Or maybe even…for her. Was he even aware of it?

And that was without how he acquiesced to her point so easily, well, for however short a time, anyway. Her substitute was as stubborn as they came, and God forbid anyone questioned his actions when he believed that he was doing the right thing. Whether or not he was doing the wrong thing for all the right reasons was another question entirely, but she had to digress. The point was that she had never before seen him agree to anyone's opinion opposing his choices before now, at least not without completely breaking down any argument he had to the contrary. That usually ended with him grumbling about it in his begrudging acceptance as well. It wasn't inexperience with him talking either. She had been around him long enough to say it was a typical behavior for him with his own family to boot.

Rukia chanced a glance his way as their instructor began the lesson plan for the day. The girl could pick out his fatigue in his eyes, his body still needing a little more time to completely recover. She could even comfortably say that if push came to shove, he could easily fall asleep at the drop of a hat.

'That has to be it. He just doesn't have the energy to argue. If he really does…or did agree with me…and that look…What in Soul Society's name would that mean?'

Thanks for reading. Love to see what you guys think.

I don't think it needs to be said that these two are clueless to chemistry. And stubbornly in denial at this point. I mean, if that doesn't spell Ichigo, I don't know what does. And poor Rukia can't get past her trauma, let alone her rigid noble training.

Oh, I also noticed looking back that I've hardly utilized Kon at all in the story thus far. Seems to be a trend in a lot of fics here to be honest. Probably just a side effect of Kon not being a very likeable character (just my opinion), aside from his tragic backstory as a Mod Soul, but still, I figured with this side of the story being more home-life oriented, he had to come in at some point. I do recall him trying to get an up-skirt view on Rukia at some point in the source material, but I don't recall where. In terms of my series of events, this will canonically be his first attempt. Poor timing on his part, I'd say. lol

Points to those who caught who I was comparing Ichigo to when he gave Kon that maniacal grin, by the way.

You can expect more of this "adolescent" awkwardness and beginning to toe the line of realizing "hey, I like like him/her" as we go along. Until then, see you all next time. Speaking of...

Next time: Walking in a winter wonderland.