Disclaimer: All Bleach characters belong to Kubo Tite.

Rukia: My Life As A Rabbit

Chapter Five –Class Pet

Rukia: That quack actually injected something in me! I'm not even a normal human to begin with. Don't talk about being a normal rabbit. If I mutate into some horrible monster –first thing I do is bite Ichigo's head off!



Ichigo tried to ignore the injured look the rabbit was giving him. Whoever said that rabbits were docile creatures had obviously never handled this one.

When he had handed her over to the vet for shots, she had managed to sneak in a few spiteful nips at his fingers.

This is betrayal, Ichigo! How could you let that psycho poke me with that torture instrument like some 12th Division lab experiment!

Ichigo winced as Yuzu dabbed a little antiseptic medicine on his rabbit-nibbled fingertips. He watched the rabbit crunching away at the carrot snack his sister had offered in the kitchen. Seeing those bunny teeth at work was a painful reminder to his mutilated digits.

Karin leaned on the kitchen counter, her head tilted in a thoughtful manner. "Hmm.. What did you do to the rabbit, Ichi-nii? It doesn't seem to like you a lot."

He gave a long suffering sigh in reply. When was Rukia going to come back so he could throw this furry menace into her face? With her fondness for all things Chappy-shaped, she would probably welcome the furball with open-arms. And annoying happy squeals.

He stopped the little smile twitching at the corner of his lips. Not that he was doing this to make her happy or anything, you understand… It would just be convenient so he could hand over the zoo-keeper responsibilities to her.

oooOooo

"Good morning, Kurosaki-kun!"

Ichigo lifted his head from the crook of his elbows. He was slumped over his school desk in that position common among students in the early hours of the morning.

"Ah, 'morning… Inoue." he said, waving a hand sleepily.

"Kurosaki-kun," she cried in alarm, seeing the multiple bandages, "your fingers! What happened?"

Ichigo tried to sneak his hands under the desk quickly. If you looked close enough, Yuzu had actually used some stupid Hello Kitty motive band aids. She thought they looked cute. He thought he was this close to throwing a fit when he realized the crisis doomed upon his image come Monday morning.

Ishida's hand snaked out and caught his wrist faster than he could hide those pink Hello Kitty-fied fingers. "Are you attempting beginners sewing lessons, Kurosaki?"

"Are you for real? Idiot! There's no way I would... How could you even think I would…" he stammered indignantly. "Sewing is sissy, you understand? And I don't do sissy!"

"No need to scream, Kurosaki," Ishida said calmly, pushing up his spectacles.

"I'm not screaming!" he yelled, snatching his hand out of the Quincy's grip.

Ichigo's loud denials were suddenly forgotten when panicked shrieks erupted from a few girls in his class. He saw Ogawa Michiru jumping up to safety on a chair. Another girl leaped up beside her, and clutched on anxiously.

"What was that? Did you see that?"

"Something weird rubbed against my ankles!" Michiru sobbed in distress.

Somewhere below the desks, Rukia silently planned her escape route. She darted out and zoomed straight into a large pair of shoes.

Who stuck those boats in my way when I wasn't looking?

Rukia looked up at the owner of the giant shoes. And kept looking up. It was like viewing the top of a skyscraper from the ground, only to see Sado Yasutora's face up in the distance.

He peered down at her for a moment, before scooping her up in his huge hands.

Nice Sado… Don't break the fragile bunny, please?

The appearance of the little rabbit elicited squeals of adoration from the female half of the population.

But, Ichigo pointed one horrified (and bandaged) finger accusingly at the rabbit. "You! How did you get here?"

Asano Keigo looked from the white rabbit to Ichigo. "You two… know each other?"

"Ah, Asano, don't say that as if it's a meeting between two people…" Mizuiro said weakly.

Rabbit Rukia rolled her eyes at Ichigo's expression of aghast.

Hello, Ichigo! I didn't want to miss classes too. Sneaking in your schoolbag was a cakewalk with my superior intelligence.

It's so easy to outsmart you. We'll need to work on that detail in Shinigami training.

Sudden understanding dawned upon Ichigo as he thought back about Yuzu's questions early this morning.

"Ichi-nii, have you seen my bedroom slippers? I lost the left one."

"No, I haven't. How many times have I told you not to ask me about your pajamas and… uh, missing stuff…"

Before leaving for school, he had glanced at the blanket pile in the corner of his room. He could just make out the rabbit ears poking out since the sleeping bunny was burrowed deeply in the folds of the material.

Now, he realized belatedly that Yuzu owned a pair of fluffy rabbit bedroom slippers, for cryin' out loud!

Ichigo clapped a hand over his eyes. He couldn't bear to watch this anymore. His life was being turned freakin' upside down by a rabbit!

Ochi-sensei walked into class 1-3 and called out, "What's all the fuss about? Girls, get down from those chairs! And Sado-kun, put down that rabbit and take your seat so we can get class started…"

Ochi-sensei stopped and spun around from the blackboard. "…that rabbit? Wait a minute…!"

Ichigo groaned. Just when you think things can't get any worse.


Author's Note: Remember that nursery rhyme about Mary and her little lamb? It followed her to school one day. ;)

Painting.In.Blood –"Kawaii-est?" The English language is so flexible in assimilating new words. ;) Well, Rabbit Rukia won't be 'outed' for what she really is for a while.

Syneiam -Oh, your review! It made me so happy. I'm really trying to write something that will give readers a light and feel-good mood. (Because it's a big, bad world out there..) You make me feel as if I've succeeded. I'll continue to work on it!

Procrastinator-starting2moro –Rukia has no communication problems. But, Ichigo must think he's going nuts by now.

Seaplue –Ichigo won't realize anytime soon. I'm setting the stage for something else before that.

Faith the Apostle –The call for updates! I hear and obey.

SHiNiGAMiLENNE –The class discovers Ichigo's fluffy bunny pet! That is the sound of Ichigo's tough guy reputation going down the rubbish chute.

Umi Kanshisha –Rukia fussing over Ichigo in rabbit form? You're right, he would be peeved. But, only because he'd die before he'd admit to enjoying all the attention. And your Orihime recipe actually sounds… edible!

Zero-Vision –Wow.. thank you! That's a compliment.

inugrlluvsanime –Could it be that evil lurks beneath a story of a fluffy rabbit? ;) I've got to campaign for Ichigo more so he gets some sympathy too.

Ouran Host Club Hime –I'm glad you liked it. I hear your call to update.

RayneJade –Thank you! I'll continue trying to provide more laughs.

LadieAnimeFreek –I can see you've really given this some serious thought! Getting that mod soul from Kon won't be easy at all. And I'm playing on the card that Rukia would rather try to solve her "furry problem" on her own before letting Ichigo know. About that getting 'fixed' thing.. I was thinking about it. (Ah, just joking!)

Flamester101 –Your screen name must frequently give writers a minor cardiac arrest each time you review! ;) Well, I try to thwart spelling errors by writing one chapter ahead each week. Then, I'd read it again the next time before posting. And about the length.. working on it! I'm still scared of writing something that'll turn out 'long and boring'.

Nekonekochan –Yes, the boy/bunny issue.. I'll be extra careful not to cross any lines! ;)

flOofymikO –Oh, don't stop your Orihime comments! I really enjoy them. I'm glad you liked that line! Just wish Ichigo could have "heard" that one.

candee –It's all thanks to Kubo Tite's amazing skills in creating fantastic characters!