Okay guys, this is not a drill.

Bleach is coming back and I seriously don't know how to feel about it.

Onto the chapter now, enjoy!

Chapter 3


The church.

Of all the places in which Ichigo thought that he would spend his Sunday morning, the church was the last of them, hell the church wasn't even on his list. On Sunday mornings he would usually wake up late, have breakfast with his sisters, perhaps mind his own business and then call Renji and hang out with him and the others. He looked around himself, he was the only young person in the church, except for the couple of children that were running around and ignoring the Priest's speech and Rukia.

He looked at the weird girl standing next to him and sighed. She was a force to be reckoned with, that was for sure. She was looking at the altar in front of them and was listening intently to everything the Priest was saying, after spending one day with her he assumed that, considering how she escaped from a convent and everything, she wouldn't be religious. Apparently he was wrong, perhaps he had failed to notice. Sighing again he contemplated everything that brought him to this unusual place.

It was early, perhaps 6AM, he couldn't really tell.

He was still on his bed, enjoying its warmth and his lack of responsibilities. Sundays were awesome to be lazy and not to worry about the next day, he could read a book, watch TV, or to have several naps. He smiled against his pillow, Kurosaki Ichigo loved Sundays.

"Ichigo" a deep, feminine voice said and his smile faded.

He decided to ignore her.

"Ichigo" the voice repeated and he groaned while hiding his face deeply into his white pillow.

He wasn't going to get up because of her, he wasn't going to.

"Carrot top, if you don't look at me right now I'm stepping out of your bedroom and I swear I'll greet your father as if I live here!" there was a pause "in fact, I do live here, should I let your father know?"

Ichigo sat down and glared at Rukia.

She was already dressed, this time she was wearing a white sundress, blue sandals and the straw hat that she bought while Ichigo had been panicking over her.

"What?" he asked her rudely and then looked at the clock on his bedside table "Rukia, what the fuck?! Is six in the fucking morning! It's Sunday!"

"Exactly" she said unaffected by his rudeness "it's time for you to get ready."

"Ready?" Ichigo asked shocked.

"Yes, we're going to church, it's our responsibility to go and listen to the Sunday mass, remember?"

Ichigo blinked confused several times.

"What the hell?!"

He ran a hand through his messy hair.

This time he didn't leave a note to his father nor his sisters, what was he supposed to say anyway? Hey, don't wait for me, I went to church. He clicked his tongue, frustrated, he needed to balance Rukia's existence with his family life otherwise his father would've his head. Sundays were a family day and this was the first time he wasn't going to have breakfast with Karin and Yuzu, he felt a little guilty about that.

Sooner than he thought the mass was over and Ichigo noticed how everyone started to leave the place, he almost thanked God for that.

"Excuse me" an old lady said while approaching them at the exit "miss?"

Rukia, who was putting on her hat, looked at the old lady and smiled.

"Yes?" she asked politely.

Ichigo noticed how the old lady looked him out of the corner of her eye, she was looking with distrust at him. He frowned, this was always the problem with his hair and his scowling face and he couldn't help it, he was born like that, damn it!

"I was wondering, are you in danger?" the old lady asked and Rukia tilted her head in confusion.

"Pardon?" she asked.

"Well" the old lady insisted and she didn't stop staring at Ichigo "this boy… he is not forcing you to be with him, is he?"

Rukia looked at Ichigo and then at the old lady and laughed.

"Oh no!" she said "not at all! It's quite the opposite, you'll see, I'm forcing him to be with me."

She said it so naturally that Ichigo couldn't help but laugh alongside her. In the end the old lady said goodbye and assured Rukia that it wasn't her intention to disturb her Sunday.


Kurosaki Isshin woke up and smirked.

This was his chance, today he was going to kick Ichigo to make him wake up. He knew that his son wouldn't miss a family day so of course he was still asleep. As silently as he could he walked towards his son's bedroom and once he was in front of his door he kicked it open, he jumped and when he landed on the bed he realized it was empty.

Isshin gaped.

Where the hell was Ichigo? He couldn't find any note so without wasting more time he went downstairs, Yuzu was already making breakfast and Karin was watching TV.

"Does anyone of you knows where Ichigo is?" he asked.

Karin raised an eyebrow and looked at him.

"Damn" she said "you're acting serious, is everything okay?"

"Ichigo is not in his bedroom" he said.

"Dad" Yuzu said worriedly "you sound shocked, are you okay?"

Tears started to roll down his cheeks and he ran towards his late wife's poster.

"Mom!" he said "our rebellious son is out there on the street, probably getting into trouble, and our daughters don't care!"

"Leave him" Karin said to Yuzu "he is totally okay."


"Okay" Ichigo said checking his watch "I still have time to have breakfast with my sisters and my father."

Rukia frowned sadly.

"I'm sorry" she said.

"What for?" Ichigo asked confused.

"Well" Rukia said while walking alongside him towards the church's parking spot "I am forcing you to have time with me, I didn't stop to think that your family might miss you."

Ichigo shrugged.

"It's not a huge deal" he said and looked around, every single old lady was looking at them with curious eyes, they probably looked funny together "but my father has this rule about having a family day on Sundays, I didn't tell you beforehand because I didn't think you were going to come to church."

Rukia sighed.

"It's okay" she said "I can spend the rest of the day in your room, tomorrow we can make something else, right?"

Ichigo stopped walking.

No, they couldn't do anything else tomorrow. He had school, he had to work and he wouldn't be able to see her that much. Gulping he realized that he had made a huge mistake by promising that he would teach her how to live on her own.

"What is it, carrot top?" she asked while looking at him.

Ichigo sighed.

"Well" he said and was about to explain her why he wouldn't be able to spend time with her until he saw her eyes, her impossible gorgeous eyes, he didn't think that he could deny her anything so in the end he took another decision "I'll go and have breakfast and then lunch with my family but in the afternoon I'll be free, we can go and do something then, do you think you can wait that long?"

She smiled at him widely.

"Sure!"

Ichigo was glad and once they reached his motorcycle they were ready to go.

Rukia loved motorcycles, when she woke up Ichigo she expected them to walk towards their destination but he informed her that he had a motorcycle of his own. It was a 2018 street rod, red Harley Davidson. She gasped when she first saw it and Ichigo smiled cockily at her reaction, what did he expect? It was amazing!

"You know" she said while taking seat and hugging him from behind "your hair, your permanent scowl and this motorcycle really makes you look like a bad boy."

He chuckled.

"Yeah" he said "unfortunately, the fact that I'm leaving church ruins my image."

She laughed and he accelerated towards home.

"Why is that cute lady dating a gangster?!" one of the church's old ladies asked her friend.

"Beats me" the other said "but I bet that they are having the most heated romance, oh to be young again!"

The other old women nodded solemnly.


Rukia stepped into the room through the window and sighed.

Ichigo was kind enough to buy breakfast for her on the way home so she decided to eat on his desk. She tried not to think about how many times the girls back in the convent left her to eat on her own just because they didn't like her, this wasn't the same, Ichigo promised to take her somewhere after lunch, she wasn't alone anymore.

She smirked as she took a bite from her toast, those girls would probably blush a deep shade of red if they were to discover how she was sharing a room with a boy. She chuckled at that thought.

She finished her breakfast and soon she got bored, so she decided to look around Ichigo's desk.

She found an envelope that was labeled "work for the week" and left it aside, she wasn't that interested in Ichigo's asshole boss. She found a picture of Ichigo's family and smiled, his father was making a goofy face while Ichigo was looking angrily at him, she then observed with curiosity his sisters, they didn't look like twins at all but they looked nice, she wondered if she were to meet them soon. As she suspected Ichigo's mother wasn't with them, she probably passed away, she didn't dare to ask at least not for now, she could hear laughter from downstairs and what sounded like something hitting the walls painfully, she frowned as she remembered her family.

Breakfast with the Kuchikis never sounded like that.

She was about to get up and take a quick nap when she noticed Ichigo's cellphone. She bit her lip, he probably forgot it before going to church, deciding that a quick peek wouldn't hurt so she grabbed it and smirked when she realized that it didn't have a password. She checked his picture gallery first, there were pictures of her sisters but it was obvious that he didn't take them, it looked as if the blonde one grabbed the phone to take selfies. She found a picture of Renji playing video games with Ichigo and a slim, bespectacled boy she didn't know, there was a picture of Ichigo with his motorcycle and some pictures of him eating lunch at school with what seemed to be a big group of friends.

She sighed longingly.

She forgot that he would go to school tomorrow, she wanted to go too.

More girly laughter was heard downstairs, Ichigo's sisters without a doubt, and she frowned. Why couldn't her family be as warm and funny as Ichigo's? Without being able to hold her curiosity she opened google on Ichigo's cellphone and searched for her father's latest news, after writing his name several news appeared and she clicked on the most recent one.

Her eyes widened as she read aloud.

"In the last year the Kuchiki enterprise tripled its incomings and is now one of the leader companies around Japan, and without leaving aside their commitment with the Justice system they've now given opportunities to several new lawyers eager to please both Kuchiki Soujun and Kuchiki Byakuya, leaders of the Kuchiki Company."

She closed the browser and left the cellphone where she found it.

She now understood why they didn't visit her the whole last year.


"Ichi-nii" Yuzu said as she observed her father lying on the floor due to Ichigo's kick "where were you this morning?"

Ichigo choked on his tea and Karin hit him lightly on the back.

"Uhm…" he said "I just went to take some fresh air."

"Are you feeling stressed about something?" Karin asked casually.

Ichigo remembered the raven haired girl inside his closet and chuckled.

"You've no idea."

"You should get a girlfriend!" his father said standing up suddenly "I need to see grandchildren soon!"

Ichigo glared at him.

"Shut up old man!" he said "Byakuya already owns my whole life and tomorrow will be bad, apparently they have something important to do so they won't be at the office, I'll have to take care of all the paperwork!"

"Why?" Yuzu asked "I thought that they rarely missed an office day."

Ichigo shrugged.

"They didn't explain, but I'll think I'll take a nap today to be able to function properly tomorrow."

"That's a good idea" Karin agreed "as long as daddy here doesn't try to kill you in your sleep."

Yuzu laughed at that and Isshin went to cry onto Masaki's poster about disrespectful children.


The day went considerably fast and Rukia found herself on the back of Ichigo's motorcycle again. He promised her some dessert and she agreed without much thought. The café Ichigo chose was cute and the smells were amazing, once they were both waiting for their orders to arrive Ichigo decided to talk.

"You're really quiet this afternoon" he commented "did something happen?"

Rukia looked outside the window towards the street, it was already sunset.

"Well, I just got bored I think" she lied.

"Sorry" Ichigo said "the old man and the twins wouldn't let go off me."

Rukia smiled at him.

"Your family sounds like fun" she said "tell me about them."

Ichigo nodded and started to talk.

Rukia found herself laughing at some of his anecdotes and his father's antics, Karin and Yuzu apparently had really opposites personalities but somehow they got along really well. He showed her the pictures she had already seen and she pretended that it was the first time seeing them, he talked about his classmates too and she noticed how he didn't mention any girl's name. Before they knew it, it was already night and they needed to go back.

"I'll take something to Karin and Yuzu" he said.

"I'll wait for you in the motorcycle" she told him and he nodded.

Once Rukia stepped outside she noticed a public phone, gulping she decided to make a call.


The phone rang and Byakuya frowned. He was in his studio speaking with his grandfather and father about the business and Rukia's disappearing, no one had the house number, no one. It was reserved for family members and to use only in case of emergency. Clicking his tongue he decided to ignore the call, it wouldn't do any good to answer a random seller who probably found the number by mere coincidence.

Soujun glared at him.

"Answer" he ordered "I cannot hear myself think with that ringing."

Ginrei nodded agreeing with him.

Byakuya answered on speaker.

"This phone is for family members only" he said as a way of greeting "no matter how you found it, delete it and don't call again."

There was a pause of a few seconds.

"Damn" a deep feminine voice said finally "I don't know what I expected to hear but it wasn't that."

Everyone's eyes widened and Ginrei stood up out of shock.

"Rukia?!" he asked "is that you?! Rukia?!"

There was another pause.

"Hi, granddaddy" she said finally and Soujun could swear that she sounded melancholic "I hope you're okay."

"I am" Ginrei said quickly "but you shouldn't worry about me, where are you?"

There was a longer pause this time and Soujun exchanged a look with Byakuya. It was obvious how she wasn't going to reveal where she was.

"Rukia" Byakuya said finally "your grandfather asked you a question, we've all been worried sick. Where are you?"

Rukia sighed heavily.

"I will not tell you" she said decisively "I just called to know if you were okay, is grandpa Soujun there?"

"I am" Soujun said smiling fondly at her granddaughter's voice "and I, as Ginrei, am okay but I think I speak for all of us when I say that we would be much better if you could tell us where you are."

"Why?" Rukia asked "did you already find a good husband for me?"

Byakuya pinched the bridge of his nose exasperated.

"No, Rukia" he muttered impatiently "you will not marry anyone you don't want to, that was a lie, we just want you to come back home."

"Why?" she asked again.

"Rukia" Ginrei said "are you okay? What happened? Why did you escape?"

Byakuya could hear some background noises, some cars and some store doors opening and closing, she was in a city.

"I'm okay" she said "in fact, I'm amazing."

"Amazing?" Byakuya asked coldly.

"Yes, I found someone who helped me" she said "I've been having the best time of my life, I have a friend and I have a nice room, three meals a day and guess what? I'm not surrounded by old, ancient, gothic walls or angry old women who only treat me decently because of my last name."

Ginrei hid his face on his hands.

Rukia sounded extremely resentful towards them, she had hated the convent life so it was no surprise that she was avoiding them and she would continue to do so. Ginrei couldn't blame her but he was worried, she was his only granddaughter.

"Please" Ginrei said almost desperately "please, Rukia. Tell us where you are, I believe that you're okay but I cannot bear your distance any longer, don't you wish to see us? To see me?"

Rukia cleared her throat and Soujun crossed his arms while sinking into his chair. It was obvious how she wanted to cry and judging by his father and his son's reaction they noticed it too, Rukia's tears always brought unpleasant feelings, they hated to see her sad and the fact that they were the ones to blame this time didn't make it any better.

"I miss you all terribly" Rukia said "but you didn't visit me for a whole year, I don't even need to ask why, I read the newspaper today, business is really booming right now so I'm guessing that leaving me aside while you were making a fortune worked out magnificently."

Byakuya ignore the pang of guilt he felt and made a mental note to see how many newspapers published their business affairs today, it was an amazing clue and she wasn't aware of that.

"All we wanted was for you to be safe" Byakuya excused himself "and I don't think you realize how exposed you are in the middle of the city, is the person who is helping you aware of who you really are?"

"My last name is not important" she said "I already told him that and he doesn't care."

At this Soujun exploded.

"He?!" he asked angrily "a boy is helping you? What's his name and what is he demanding in exchange of taking care of you?"

Ginrei tensed.

"Rukia" he said worriedly "no matter what this boy promised you, he's a stranger and you're a young girl, I beg you to tell where you are right now, we can talk, we'll bring you home."

"Home?" Rukia asked "I haven't been there in ages, you didn't even bother to take me home in the holidays!"

"Rukia" Byakuya insisted "who's helping you? You said you have a room and three meals a day, did a grown man took you to live with him? Do you realize the vulnerable position you're in?"

"I'm not an idiot" she said defensively "and he's not like that, he hasn't demanded money from me if that's what you're suggesting."

Ginrei wanted to bang his head against Byakuya's desk, Rukia's innocence was going to be the death of all the Kuchiki clan.

"That's not what I'm suggesting" Byakuya said impatiently "Rukia, where are you?"

"Oh, he's coming" she said and Soujun frowned at how happy she sounded at that "listen, I'm glad that you're all okay but I'm not going back, I don't want to be a Kuchiki anymore, I'll learn to fend for myself and I'll live on my own. Don't look for me, I'm fine."

"Rukia!" Ginrei said.

"I love you" she said and this time they were all sure, she was crying "but I cannot forgive you, you all abandoned me!"

"Rukia" Soujun said "just tell us where you are, we won't force you to do anything, let us see with our eyes that you're okay."

"I love you, really" she repeated "bye."

"No!" Ginrei said but the call ended and all that could be heard was the line beeping.

No one said anything, there was no need, it was obvious how guilty and heartbroken every single men in the room felt.


The ride home was quiet, Rukia was holding onto Ichigo harder than before but he didn't say anything. He noticed it when he approached her, after she finished her call, she was crying. It was quite weird to see her sad, he felt like whipping her tears away but he didn't know how to do it and he didn't know what to say.

Once they arrived home Rukia stepped into the room through Ichigo's window while he put the motorcycle into the garage.

When he stepped into his room he found her sitting on his bed, she was hugging his pillow and her shoulders were shaking, she wasn't crying but it was painfully obvious how she wanted to. He let her be and took a seat on his desk chair, if she wanted to talk he would listen but something was telling him that pressuring her wasn't the right thing to do.

"Carrot top" she said finally after a few minutes "do you like me?"

Ichigo blinked, he wasn't expecting that.

"Yeah" he said without hesitation "I mean, you have some violent tendencies and you could grow an inch or too, but other than that you're awesome to have around."

He noticed how she hugged his pillow tighter.

"Even if you don't know my last name? Or who my father is?" she asked.

Ichigo shrugged.

"I figured out that you didn't want to tell me your last name because you don't want to use it anymore, am I correct?"

She nodded.

"And the reason you don't want to use it anymore it's because you don't want anything to do with your father, right?"

Rukia sighed.

"Not exactly" she said "listen, my father is quite a complicated person."

"I figured out that much when you said the bastard wanted to choose a husband for you" Ichigo said and Rukia smiled sadly.

"Well, yeah" she agreed "anyway, the thing is that I really love him and back then, when I was still a child, he would always spend time with me."

Ichigo nodded to let her know that she had his full attention.

"I was spoiled in my house, my grandparents and my father loved me a lot" she said "I guess they still do."

She took a deep breath.

"But as I grew older I noticed that daddy couldn't look at me very often" she sighed "I look a lot like my mother, carrot top. I look so much like her that it's crazy, if she was alive I'm pretty sure people would confuse us as sisters."

"So, your father stopped looking at you because you reminded him of your mother?"

"That's my theory" she said shrugging.

"What was your mother's name?" Ichigo asked.

"Hisana" Rukia said and he noticed how she smiled a little, like if she was remembering something "but well, as I was telling you I got older and my father dumped me in the doors of a convent and only visited once in a while, my grandparents didn't stop him and one day no one came for me. I didn't leave that place, not even for holidays."

Ichigo noticed how miserable she looked saying that.

"I spent a full year without visits, I sent them lots of letters, several letters and they never answered back" her eyes shone with unshed tears "I thought they had forgotten me."

Ichigo crossed his arms to ignore the urge to comfort her with a hug.

"But then daddy's letter arrived" she said "he didn't explain why they didn't visit or why they didn't take me home for the holidays all he said was that they wanted me back home."

"That's when you panicked" Ichigo summarized.

She nodded.

"I thought he had chosen a husband, I planned the whole thing, grabbed all the money I saved and well, you know the rest" she stood up and started to pace around the room "I know I'm not mature and sometimes I'm silly but I'm not an idiot, I knew they were worried so I called them today."

Ichigo noticed that she couldn't hold the tears anymore. He had forgotten to ask about the money the day before but now there was no need, apparently she had been saving.

"They didn't apologize, they didn't explain anything, all they wanted to know was where I am" she said "daddy didn't even talk that much."

Ichigo scoffed.

Rukia's father was probably some stupid asshole.

"I told them that I was fine and that there was someone helping me" she said "I didn't say who you were but they told me that you were just helping me because of money and well, they didn't say it like that, but I thought that's what they were suggesting."

Ichigo stood up and put his hands on his shoulder to stop her from pacing.

"Midget" he said "calm the fuck down, I'm helping you because I want to and your good for nothing father doesn't know me, you shouldn't worry."

"I don't want to go to them!" she said looking at him desperately "I want to keep enjoying this for a while, you're okay with that, right?"

Ichigo nodded.

"You can stay as much as you want" he assured her "I won't let your father find you and besides, Japan is huge, is not as if he's near any of us."

Rukia smiled.

That was true.

In what Ichigo thought was a rare moment, he observed Rukia's eyes. All the light inside the room was coming from the moon so they were shining in an amazing way, he found himself unable to stop looking at her and before he knew what he was doing he started to lean down. Rukia smiled and surprising him she kissed him sweetly on the cheek.

"Thank you, carrot top" she said and left him there as she got into the closet to sleep.

Ichigo blinked and wondered why he felt so damn happy at that simple gesture.


Okay, that was longer than what I expected! The next chapter is finally a school chapter!

I want to thank everyone who reviewed the last one:

Vick Greystark: Thank you so much! Hopefully you loved this chapter too, let me know! Kisses!

TheQueenInDisguise: Oh my God! I have to tell you, I love long and detailed reviews, so yours made my whole day, anyway I was already planning on touching Rukia's religious side but it'll be gradually, hopefully you liked this chapter and I'll be waiting anxiously for your review! Thank you!

Jobananasan: Seeing your name in the reviews always brings a smile to my face, thank you so much! I promise you we'll be seeing some cute interactions with grandpa Ginrei in the future! Let me know what you think about this chapter, okay? I cannot wait to read you again, kisses! (By the way, what do you think about Bleach coming back? I need to know!)

Scarease: Thank you for your review! I can totally see him choking with wine! HAHAHA! You made my day with that scenario, tell me what if you liked this chapter! Kisses!

Bleach power: Thank you so much for your review! Hopefully you're enjoying this fanfic! Let me know, okay? Kisses! Hope to read you soon!

RukiYuki: Thank you for your reviews! Hopefully you'll enjoy this update! Kisses!

Haru000: Right? I've always loved the rain scenario! I hope I will not disappoint you, I'm trying to make their bond really special in this story! Let me know if you liked this chapter, okay?! Thank you so much for your review. Kisses!

Achalida: Oh I'm so glad to see you reviewing this story! Let me know what you think about this chapter and thank you so much for your review! Kisses!

Emman214: Thank you so much for your review! I hope you liked this chapter, let me know! Kisses!

Well, that's all! I'll read you all soon! Take care!

Pd. I apologize for my grammar mistakes.