Rukia kept glancing at the door, her stomach on edge as she expected to see an obnoxious shock of orange hair appear at any minute, but the bell had rung twenty minutes ago and the seat in front of her remained empty as their teacher's lecture went on.

As her eyes found the door for the nth time, someone else caught her eye; Kaien saw her peering in his direction and grinned back at her. She gave him a small wave and he waved back, her heart leaping up in her chest as he mouthed "After school?" to her; nodding while her pulse quickened at the handsome, easygoing smile he flashed her, temporarily distracted from her nerves.

Yesterday had been a nightmare, to say the least. She was mad at herself for doing something so reckless, humiliated at having been caught by Kurosaki, and angry with him for the way he had goaded her last night. She wasn't entirely sure if he'd been telling the truth when he said he had no interest in telling anyone, but never in her life had she felt such an overwhelming sense of dread going to school before.

She supposed the fact that Kurosaki never came to school was just about the only thing she could appreciate about him at this moment; if not for that small saving grace, she couldn't imagine a worse person to have been caught by.

She couldn't even begin to count all the things that irked her about him: he was loud, immature, brash. Foul mouthed. Rude.

Upon meeting him for the first time she'd tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, to see if there might be some human decency hiding beneath that unpleasant exterior, but had given up shortly after. Never once had he shown an iota of interest in making friends with anyone in the class, much less with her, and simply laughed off every instruction she gave him and grew more gleeful the angrier she got with him.

She'd never met someone so insufferable in her life.

Kurosaki might have been skipping class again as usual, but it wasn't enough to settle her frayed nerves. She wouldn't be able to fully relax until she saw him again and was able to confirm for herself that he'd kept his mouth shut.

Glaring at the desk in front of her, looking exactly the same as it had for the past two weeks save for the bag now missing from its chair, her face burned again at the memory of what had transpired last night; Kurosaki's smug, detestable face in front of hers as he'd cornered her against the window.

She swore to herself she'd slap the grin straight off his face the next time she saw him.


Kaien's face broke out in a wide grin the moment he saw her walking toward him, waiting for her in their usual spot after their final class of the day.

"How's my favorite girl?"

He held his arms open for her and she accepted his offer with some hesitancy, dropping her bag on the ground and wrapping her own arms around his waist, releasing a tense sigh as she leaned into his embrace. He lifted his brow at the sound. "Hey, Kuchiki, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," she mumbled. "I just couldn't wait to see you."

It was half true, at least; part of her hoped he could help distract her from the recent events driving her mentally insane, while another had been sick with terror that Kaien may have somehow found out. "Sorry, I didn't mean to make you worry," she said, immensely relieved that he didn't seem to be acting any differently than usual.

Kaien chuckled, drawing her closer and squeezing her tightly. "No need to be sorry, Kuchiki. You know you can always tell me what's on your mind."

If only that were true. She felt her face warm again, her body pulled flush against his chest as his thumbs started rubbing small circles on her arms, causing them to prickle with goosebumps. She shivered.

"Or...we could do something to take your mind off it," he breathed huskily in her ear.

He brought one hand away from her arm to grasp her chin gently, tilting her head up to face him, dipping down to claim her mouth in that instant.

She jerked in surprise.

Kaien's mouth continued to nip at hers and she let him, though something didn't feel quite right this time—maybe it was because she'd been caught off guard, not expecting the sudden kiss, or maybe all her stressful thoughts were making it difficult to relax. Regardless, she felt herself acquiesce quickly as Kaien's tongue softly coaxed her mouth open, allowing him to taste her.

He let out a groan that succeeded in distracting her sufficiently, the sound capturing and demanding her attention.

"Kuchiki," he groaned, "you drive me crazy..."

The hunger she felt rolling off of him was starting to make her feel lightheaded as he continued to devour her lips, his other hand trailing down her arm to wrap around her wrist, gently pulling it toward him.

Rukia gasped—

Kaien had guided her hand between their bodies and placed it on himself; her eyes snapping open suddenly at the feeling of that beneath her palm, hard and straining against the material of his uniform.

"Do you feel that, Kuchiki?" he whispered. "Feel how badly I want you?"

Her mind was in overload, oddly torn between the satisfaction of his praise and a new, unfamiliar feeling. She wasn't sure if she liked the latter. But she had no reason to be uncomfortable. This was Kaien; she knew he would never hurt her.

"K-Kaien..."

His breathing was growing heavier by her ear as he buried his face in her neck; "You make me feel so good…"

"Is it...is it okay if we slow down a little? I just..." she said, trying to maintain her composure as her voice came out more panicked than she was hoping, "I've never done this before."

Kaien paused for a moment, before lifting his head to give her a reassuring smile, pulling her hand up and wrapping it around his waist. "Of course you haven't, Kuchiki. Because you're a good girl." He laughed softly, gently rubbing her shoulders. "That's what I like about you."

Her cheeks tinged pink as she looked up at him shyly, happily glowing from his approval.

"Of course, we'll go as slow as you need," he promised, his smile dazzling and taking her breath away as he tucked her stray bang behind her ear, before it quickly fell back into place. "I just want you to know how much I like you, okay?"

She nodded mutely, overwhelmed with appreciation as he grinned and ruffled her hair, just like he always did.

Kaien really was the best—not only was he handsome and smart, he was so incredibly patient and mature unlike the other boys in their class. She'd never felt so cherished and desired in her life; the feeling was dangerously addictive.

It was almost like a dream...

"I've gotta go to practice, but I'll see you tomorrow. Be good, Kuchiki." He gave her one more peck on the lips before walking off, leaving her lightly dazed as she stepped around the corner to watch him leave.

Once he'd disappeared through the gym building doors, she picked up her bag and turned around to head toward the school entrance.

As she exited the front gate and started walking back home, reality started to set back in, bringing with it an unexpected wave of new anxieties.

Kaien was definitely more experienced than her.

Would he be satisfied with her?

It would be way too awkward to ask him about his previous relationships, especially considering they weren't even official yet. But it seemed pretty obvious that he knew what he was doing.

He hadn't seemed nervous at all today or any of the times they'd met up; rather, he had taken the lead each time and all she ever had to do was go along with it. However, she couldn't help but feel that he always ended up having to slow things down thanks to her inexperience, making sure she was comfortable over his own needs.

Guilt blossomed and hung low in her gut. She didn't want to be the one holding their relationship back. Even more than that, she didn't want to frustrate or upset Kaien.

She knew he was patient and understanding, but...it was normal to do these things with your girlfriend, after all. It wasn't fair that he had to hold himself back for her.

Then she quickly berated herself for jumping the gun—she wasn't even his girlfriend yet.

But there are a hundred other girls who'd be in line to be if you don't keep him interested.

Her stomach knotted sickeningly at the thought.


The door to the dryer clicked into place as it swung shut, the appliance humming to life once he started it up, the empty basket balanced on top jumping lightly along with the vibrations.

From outside the sunlight had faded an hour ago, reminding him that he hadn't eaten since breakfast before he'd gone out earlier. Turning around, he made his way toward the small kitchenette of his single-unit apartment.

Moving to the refrigerator, he glanced inside, sighing at its bare state.

He'd been too busy with Karin earlier and had forgotten to pick up groceries on the way back, in his rush to get back to Karakura—the trip was two hours by train one way, after all.

Shutting the refrigerator door, he settled for a pack of instant noodles in the pantry and started up the electric kettle, padding toward the connected living room area of his studio. He'd stop by the supermarket tomorrow and buy more food.

Dropping onto the couch with a groan, he leaned back to rest his head against the back, his lids feeling heavy as he shut them. He'd gone out earlier to visit his younger sister at her request and they'd ended up spending most of the afternoon at the old soccer field near their family's clinic. At first he'd chastised her for ditching class when she'd asked him to hang out, but admittedly had nothing to retort when she called him out on his hypocrisy.

They'd ended up kicking the ball around well into the afternoon until Yuzu had found them on her way back from school. Overjoyed to see him, the more well behaved of his younger sisters had squealed and tackled him when she saw him, insisting he come back home with them for dinner, but he had politely declined and said he had work to catch up on, pointedly ignoring the skeptical look Karin shot him.

As usual, Yuzu tried her best to pass off a couple bentos she'd previously prepared for him to take back with him, but he'd simply pecked her on the head with a laugh, telling her thanks but he'd be fine.

Back on the train home, he'd tried to take a nap but hadn't been very successfully; admittedly, he hadn't been able to sleep much the previous night either and was probably running on a cumulative four hours of sleep, if he didn't count the times he'd woken up in the middle of the night. The minute he'd arrived back at his apartment, he'd forced himself to stay awake long enough to do laundry. He wasn't sure if he'd knock out before his ramen was ready either.

He had started to doze off when he was vaguely conscious of a quiet but firm knock on the front door.

He remained where he was on the couch with his eyes shut, unwilling to move when the knock came again, this time more insistently.

"Coming," he called out blearily. Damn, his throat felt dry too.

Rubbing his palms against his lids, he released a sigh and willed himself to get up, trekking over to the door and tugging it open.

His eyebrows shot up in genuine surprise when he saw who was standing outside his apartment.

"Good evening, Kurosaki," Kuchiki said, her hands folded primly in front of her with the strap of her bag draped perfectly neatly across her body, still wearing her school uniform.

He just stared at her.

She cocked her head sideways at him. "Are you going to invite me in?"