Rukia felt nerve-wracked as she fiddled with her Shihakusho. The black fabric never seemed to sit straight when she wanted it to. She could feel the amusement of Real Rukia in the back of her mind. Yuki snickered softly along with her.

'Oh hush you two, you never help me when it comes to this stuff. These are your previous classmates, Ru-Ru, why can't you help me with them?' She grumbled in her head as she finally got her sash tied properly.

'They're your friends too Kia, you are the one who insisted on keeping the friendships with them going, why are you so nervous?' The two had taken to referring to each other as nicknames simply because calling each other Rukia got confusing after a while.

'Because… Actually, I have no idea…' She knew it was because Renji was going to be there. On top of Shuuhei and Izuru, that was too many pretty boy faces for her to be comfortable. Plus, Momo is the cutest and she could barely contain her excitement to catch up with the slightly taller girl.

'She is right, Kia, you shouldn't be so nervous around people you deem safe.' Yuki popped into the conversation, offering her a small tidbit.

'You're right, Yuki, these are my friends… Even if it's been almost 10 years since I've talked to any of them…' She took in a deep breath and glanced at her white sword with a small smile. She knew she couldn't take it with her and though it saddened her, she nodded with a bit more confidence. "Meeting with friends shouldn't make me so nervous anyway, I'm a Kuchiki after all, we literally breathe grace and confidence." She snickered softly and padded from her room silently and left to go meet up with Momo a bit early as planned by the two previously.


~oOoOoOo~


Rukia flash-stepped in next to the other girl and Momo turned to give her a small smile. "Kuchiki-san."

"C'mon Momo," Rukia smirked at the girl, bumping shoulders with her. "How many times do I have to tell ya, it's just Rukia!"

Momo blushed. "I couldn't!" She yelped out, waving her hands at her and shaking her head. "You're a Kuchiki!"

Rukia sighed in exasperation. "We're also friends, Momo, it's not fair if I'm allowed to call you by your name and you can't call me by mine…" She pointed out that Momo has, in fact, given her permission to call her by her first name and still refuses to use hers.

Momo bit into her bottom lip worryingly and looked over Rukia's shoulder and her eyes melted in relief. "Izuru!"

Rukia groaned softly and shook her head. "Really now, Momo, even him?" She is exasperated that the girl will call others by their first name but not her… Just because she's a Kuchiki. She turned around and gave a gentle smile to the… much taller blonde. Wow, why is everyone but Yachiru and Toshiro taller than her? Yachiru has an excuse due to her age. Stuck to be short in her last life and this life…. Except she's even shorter in this life, only standing at 4 feet and 8 ½ inches.

For a split second, Rukia could have sworn she saw a flash of panic on the blond's face, eyes darting to the side but after taking a long breath, his face melted into warmth… Mostly at Rukia. His eyes changed to something else when he looked at Momo. "Sorry for being late, you two. Captain Ichimaru needed me to look over something before I left." As evident by the big, black streak of ink on the side of his face.

"It's fine." Rukia responded, "You can't ignore your captain after all!" She almost chirped before schooling her expression. She needed to act like a Kuchiki out in public, she hated that. She'd give anything to be out drinking with Kaien at that moment… But he's currently grounded after the last incident. She couldn't stop the snicker. He's whipped. Well, at least her cute godson gets to spend more time with his papa! "Lead the way, Kira-san!" She blurted out when she realized she had been silent for too long. A nervous smile spread across her face as Momo gave her a funny look.

Izuru's face went twenty shades of white and he looked down at Momo. It was rather noticeable to Rukia that he seemed to be making a show of bending his neck at a noticeable angle. "Um…" He blinked a few times then straightened up, relief washing over him. "Right, can't have Renji and Shuuhei waiting."

Izuru led Rukia and Momo to a restaurant, occasionally looking up to the sky like he was checking for something or muttering under his breath about something Rukia couldn't hear.

Rukia cocked her head to the side as she watched him closely. Did she do something wrong? The duo in her head were conveniently silent, as they usually were, deciding that she needed to learn things on her own instead of always using them for help. As she had a habit of doing a lot in the beginning.

It took a bit longer than expected for them to reach the designated restaurant. A small blush spread across Rukia's cheeks when she locked eyes with Renji the second they walked in through the door. He seemed stunned at the new arrival to their dinner meet-up and she couldn't help but give him a little wave. Maybe she shouldn't have come… This was probably a really bad idea. Why'd she agree? Oh god, she's gonna start panicking if she doesn't distract herself soon.

"So Momo!" She turned to the only other girl in the group. "What do you suggest off the menu? I've never been here and I'm eager to try something new!" She knew that to the others this was normal Rukia speech, but this wasn't how Rukia conversed at all in canon. Not that it mattered anyhow, no one could be suspicious even if she thought she'd be caught even after 20 years. She was the only Rukia any of them but Renji knew.

Across the table, Shuuhei was making quick work ordering sake, completely cutting Izuru off as he had opened his mouth to order something.

Renji ordered some Taiyaki and sushi. His eyes barely leave Rukia's petite form. He wanted so badly to say something to her, but he didn't have the courage to even say a simple hi.

The sake was the first thing to be served, along with glasses of water that were expected to be ignored by at least half of the table's occupancy. Shuuhei poured glasses for everyone but Momo, who never drank, and Rukia watched as Izuru stared holes into his cup. In fact, once Shuuhei had set his cup down, eyes squeezed shut to experience the burn of alcohol, Izuru swapped cups.

Rukia covered up a snickered and waved her hand. She asked the waiter if they served any kind of tea or juice.

"We have a few selections of Green tea or Jasmine tea and we do carry some orange and pear juice." The waiter offered kindly.

Rukia made a face at the pear juice comment. "Could I get some jasmine green tea?" She asked kindly in return, offering a sweet smile that made the waiter blush slightly and nod.

"I'll have some green tea, please," Izuru said, raising his hand slightly, and pouring Renji and Shuuhei their cups. He seemed more than happy to make them do all of the drinking for the five of them.

"You don't want to drink, Kuchiki-san?" Momo asked softly, almost afraid to ask. "I heard that you and Shiba-san got wasted a few weeks back… So I thought maybe you'd want to drink..."

Rukia laughed lightly. "Kaien is currently grounded from alcohol right now, it's not fair to drink without my best friend." Her eyes twinkled softly. "You know how he gets when I drink without him."

In the corner of Rukia's eyes, she was nearly spooked at the sight of two large, almost pure white eyes staring at her. In reality, it was Izuru, his already tiny blue irises practically gone with how much they shrank. He didn't even move when the waitress arrived with their food and the tea. He was just staring at her while Shuuhei elbowed him in the gut, already halfway to being wasted.

"Kuchiki-san," Izuru said, blinking the blue back into his eyes and slid a pen and paper to her. "Would you be willing to draw something for me? I need inspiration for some haikus and I have been told that you are quite the artist."

Rukia nodded and smiled. "Sure! But why?"

"Ah, you never know when a mu-" Izuru paused, looking at his teacup for a second. "-when inspiration hits."

"Oh don't I know it. I draw literally all the time. I wouldn't say I'm good at it but I'm decent." She shrugged, blushing as she realized the praise she got. "I've been practicing drawing rabbits and fish… Uhm… What would help inspire you better?" She thinks a rabbit might help because rabbits and moons tend to take up a lot of haikus that she's read.

"Let's try a fish. I've made too many poems about the moon," Izuru responded, his body slowly relaxing. It was almost unsettling to Rukia how Izuru seemingly read her mind.

Rukia nodded, her eyes lighting up. "Sure, I've been practicing fish a lot, do you want a Koi fish or a goldfish?" She took the pen and paper and poised it at the ready, looking at Izuru expectantly.

"Why not a goldfish?" Izuru said and Rukia saw a smirk growing on his face. He eyed Shuuhei and moved his head off of him and onto Renji's shoulder, who was concentrating really hard on his food.

She raised a brow at his expression and nodded slowly. "Sure…" She was a little nervous at this point. Why was he grinning like that? She sat there and drew the one goldfish that she was obsessed with since her past life. Only at this point, she perfected it and it looked almost real now. Pride swelled through her as she finished her shading. "There we go!" She cheered excitedly, lifting the picture up and showing Izuru, "How's that for inspiration?" Her wide smile and a prideful twinkle in her eyes were heavily noticeable. If there was one thing Byakuya encouraged, it was her love of art.

Izuru blinked, the smirk dropping from his face as he stared at it. His eyes trailed up to Rukia, then at Momo, like he wasn't believing what he was seeing. Then, he leaned back in his seat and took a sip of his tea. "I love Hank."

Rukia's expression froze and her face dropped as she stared at Izuru with wide violet eyes. "Pardon me?" she whispered, "But how do you know his name is Hank?" Only her brother knew the name of her fish… And Kaien… and neither of them would blab.

"Oh, he just looks like a Hank to me," Izuru swirled his tea in his cup then his eyes trailed outside, eyes widening. His grip tightened on his cup to the point where Rukia could almost see flakes of paint flying off the ceramics. "Momo, I think Captain Aizen is looking for you." He pointed outside and the two girls saw Captain Aizen waiting across the dirt street, smiling happily and patiently.

"That's not creepy at all…" Rukia mumbled as Momo squeaked and stood up so quickly she almost spilled half the liquids on the table.

"I have to go!" Momo cried over her shoulder as she ran out of the restaurant. The two watched as she stood before her captain, his hand on her head before they left.

It does not go unmissed how Izuru tensed up like a spooked cat at Aizen's little gesture.

"And then there were four." Rukia scoffed, rolling her eyes as she reached for a glass of Sake. "One shouldn't hurt." She knocked it back faster than Shuuhei and didn't even flinch at the burn. "Ahhhh." She sighed, "This stuff is weak compared to Kaien's family brands."

Izuru's face pinched up with confusion but didn't comment. He pours some water into Shuuhei's sake cup and hands it to him, who downs it like it's the shot of a lifetime.

"Izuru! That was divine!" Shuuhei cheered, hugging the blond tightly. "You do love me!"

"That was water," Izuru said deadpanned and Shuuhei stared at the blond with a look of a thousand Momo-stabbing betrayals.

"You bastard… Renji! Have another cup!" He seemingly forgot the betrayal in the matter of a whiff of sake and focused on Renji instead.

"Please never let me see Captain Ichimaru drunk," Izuru prayed to the ceiling.

Rukia was too busy laughing to even say anything. "Wait… Wait…" She gasped. "Just water it down Kira-san, these fools are so gone they won't even notice it." She snickered softly.

Izuru regarded her, then he looked off to the corner in a slight daze. "They'll be fine. They can drink until sunrise and go to the 4th for treatments." He sounded like he was repeating words from a script.

Rukia smiled and shook her head. "Yeah but I'd rather they not need the 4th." She eyes Renji who had promptly passed out on Shuuhei, who was trying to get the redhead to drink more with him.

Rukia turned to the blonde and raised a brow. "Usually you never turn down a drink from Shuuhei, are you feeling okay?" She cocked her head to the side and watched the blonde closely.

Izuru let out a throaty snort then picked up his empty tea cup again, glared at its empty contents, and picked up his teapot. After a quick sniff test to confirm it was his tea, just drank straight from the spout. "Never better now that I've finally gotten tea. Captain Ichimaru hasn't let me have a day off all week so I haven't been able to get any."

"Izuru! Drink with me!" Shuuhei turned his attention onto Izuru, trying to pour him a cup of sake. "Come on man, I haven't seen you in ages and you're as sober as a desert!"

"Have some sushi, Shuuhei," Izuru, using chopsticks, picked up a piece of fatty tuna and shoved it into the drunkard's mouth.

Rukia snickered and shook her head at the two. She couldn't seem to take her eyes off the blonde, something didn't feel quite right about him.

Then, Izuru started humming. It wasn't any tune Rukia remembered hearing around the Seireitei, but a faint memory from the back of her mind kicked in.

I know you, I walked with you once, upon a dream~

Rukia opened her mouth to comment on it before shaking her head. "Kira-san, would you care to take a walk with me?" She stood with a smile. "I could use the fresh air."

"I don't see why not, it's a lovely night." Still humming that graceful tune, Izuru did the ungraceful thing of literally climbing over the two boys blocking his exit from the area and approaching some waitstaff. He placed a stack of coins onto the money tray and returned to the table. "I told them to keep Renji and Shuuhei hydrated and that we should be back within an hour." Taking out another piece of paper, Izuru wrote down a note, pausing a few times to remember a kanji, then slipped it around Renji's ponytail. Momo's name was written on it.

Rukia snickered softly. "Smart place for a note but I don't think she'll want to touch his hair to grab it. Renji still intimidates her." She shook her head. "He's not a bad guy, I don't understand it." She led the way out of the restaurant.

"She'll at least recognize my handwriting, if the boys try anything Momo will just hit them with some low-level Kido." Izuru shoved his hands into his sleeves, giving the fabric a peeved look once he seemingly realized his arms were still exposed.

She nodded. "That's true." she looked up at the star-spattered sky. "I love it here." she sighed softly. "It's definitely better than the Rukongai, but it's no world of the living." She shook her head and smiled up at Izuru. "So, Kira-san, how has everything in 3rd been going for you? I heard that your captain has been getting more energetic lately and it's unsettling everyone."

Izuru's face turned sour. "I keep waking up to him using my room as office space and then he wants me to go on walks." He looked over his shoulder like he was expecting something. "If Momo hadn't invited me here tonight, no doubt he would have asked me to go on the mission he's supposed to be doing now."

He pulled out one of his arms to run a hand through his hair then returned it back into his sleeve. "Captain Ichimaru is probably just clingy because he said my spiritual energy vanished for a brief moment. It's difficult for captains to replace their Lieutenants if something happens to them, you know. Riku, our third seat, wouldn't work as a replacement. Captain Ichimaru once told me that if I died, he would have had to train someone for at least ten years before they met his standards."

Rukia faintly heard Izuru mutter something about not knowing if Captain Ichimaru even had fixed standards or not.

Rukia peeked up at Izuru. "Kira-san… You had another reason to ask me for a drawing… didn't you?" She kept her gaze forward as they walked, trying not to look nervous.

"Naturally," Izuru supplied unhelpfully. "It's the only way to safely identify something."

Rukia frowned up at him. "Like? You can't just be so vague like that." She huffed, crossing her arms as she pouted.

"Rukia was always a shitty artist," Izuru said bluntly, almost accusingly. "Never in a million years would she have ever drawn that fish, especially not Hank."

Rukia seemed to be giving off a seriously guilty air. She couldn't for the life of her figure out why she felt so bad. "Let's go somewhere more private…" She offered, giving him a small smile.

Izuru looked up at the sky again. "I know a place." Beckoning Rukia to follow, he walked off in a direction that almost seemed random, when looking at his face, but intentional when looking at how his body moved.

Rukia followed after him in silence. Her hands fiddled with her Shihakusho sleeves. This won't end horribly.

Izuru led Rukia to a park that she knew was a popular hangout spot for newer recruits, mostly because of its constant flow of calming energy. He went to one of the many trees residing near the central pond, and hopped onto a branch. Rukia could see him looking out into the distance like he was confirming something before returning back to her.

"Good, no one's near. The last thing I need is Captain Ichimaru appearing and asking me what I'm doing with the Kuchiki princess." Izuru rolled his eyes dramatically and leaned against the tree. "Remember me yet, Tanner?"

Rukia's eyes widened. "Wow… I haven't heard that name in a while." She said softly. "Remind me again? How is it that we know each other?"

"Several years ago, when I first started writing, you asked me to write you a fanfiction about Hitsugaya Toshiro and I turned you down. Nearly five years later, we became close friends and finally met in person." Izuru pointed up to the night sky at the moon. "Look at that big white ball in the sky and think about what my name is."

"Holy shit!" Just the fanfiction comment had her eyes lighting up in recognition. "LUNA!" She squealed loudly as she launched herself up the tree at her best friend and wrapped her arms around his neck, her legs going around his waist as she basically koala-ed him.


~OoOoO~


Izuru pressed a hand onto the tree to keep his balance as the tiny girl climbed onto his person like some kind of gecko. He returned the hug, squeezing her but making sure he didn't snap her spine by accident or something. "What the hell is Byakuya feeding you to keep you this twiggy, I will never know. God, I'm so glad I found you this fast."

"Fast? Izuru, I've been here for almost 20 years… How long have you been?" The food comment went straight over her head as she realized the end of his sentence held so much more importance.

"Twenty years?!" Izuru pushed her away gently, holding her at arm's length. "I've only been Izuru for the better part of a week! You vanished on me in that forest when I went to confront that stupid bus driver!"

"Bus driver… Oh yeah!" Rukia's eyes lit up and Izuru frowned. "Sorry, I nearly forgot about all of that. One moment you were holding my hand and the next… you were gone. It took me a couple years after, you know, waking up as Rukia to realize that I should have started looking for you. But you weren't anywhere." Her voice was somber and her expression almost drooped.

"Yeah, I was too busy threatening to skin him alive. I think he separated us because I pissed him off… man, twenty years in this world? I would have lost my mind..." Izuru said, fidgeting with his fingers then glared down at his empty hands. "I need to buy a bracelet or something, I don't have anything in my wardrobe that I can fidget with."

"I can see if I have something... Oh! Lookie!" Rukia shoved two tiny hands in Izuru's face. "Rukia's so tiny! And the food I eat is nutritious but using spiritual energy burns the calories so fast I barely have time to gain any weight at all! Oh! Also! I've found so many cool places to hide from Byakuya that I've actually scared him a few times!" She plopped her feet on the ground and placed her hands on her slim waist and puffed up proudly. "Sometimes though it feels as though he's just humoring me." Her hands fell and she shrugged.

Izuru blinked. "Glad to know you've taken to being Rukia so well…" He ran his fingers over his bangs. "Why did I end up as Izuru?"

"Isn't he your favorite character?" Rukia asked, pointing at him. Shuffling in her Shihakusho and pulled out some worry beads she always carries around. They were worn and obviously well loved. "I made some of these with Nii-chan, he carries them around too, even if he doesn't use them." She held it out to Izuru, "I have to make some new ones anyhow so you can have these ones."

Izuru accepted the beads and smiled, slipping them on. "Thanks… I've been a little stressed lately, relearning how to act and fight like Izuru…" Suddenly, he paused and glared in a random direction. "Shush you Jiminy Cricket, we're having a moment. Sorry, the real Kira Izuru is in my head and he's naggy by nature- yes, you are, shut up!"

"No, but that's cool! I had to learn everything over again while taking etiquette classes." Rukia's eyes sparkled. "Now that I know you're Izuru, can I talk to Gin with you around?" She bounced excitedly on her heels, her hands clasped behind her back. "Ru-ru and Yuki get pretty annoying too sometimes with their snickering."

"... You nicknamed them… of course, you three are buddies after all this time…" Izuru rubbed his face. "Why this world…? My first night being in this body was killing a fucking Menos."

"It gets confusing after a while calling each other Rukia and Yuki's name is long so we call her Yuki." Rukia nodded with a smile.

Izuru laughed in a strained, dry tone, but then he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Okay, maybe you've had more time than I have to get used to this, but do you not understand how much danger we're in?! We're in the world of Bleach! Have you considered how many times these characters in particular get stabbed?! If we don't change anything, you're going to have a flaming halbert hurled at you!"

"It's fine, Ichigo will probably save me," Rukia exclaimed confidently. "I got lucky being reborn as a main character… Although noble life really freaking sucks." She huffed out a sigh.

"And I get a third of my body blown up and get turned into a cyborg, zombie-thing with no official confirmation on if I'm alive or not by the end of the manga," Izuru pointed out bluntly and Rukia's shoulders dropped.

"Okay… we're gonna work to make sure that doesn't happen. I'm stronger now!" Rukia slammed her fist against her chest once, like that was supposed to reassure Izuru. "Are you okay?"

"No! I'm not okay! I don't remember half of the storyline. Hell, everything post-Aizen is a blur because my only goal was to just finish the damn plot and then move on to another manga. I'm not a Bleach encyclopedia, I'm a Naruto encyclopedia," Izuru muttered, crossing his arms over his chest, and turning his body slightly. "I'm glad you're okay, but I don't see myself being happy with this. You're Rukia, sister of Byakuya and the dear friend of the main cast. Meanwhile, not only am I a guy, Gin hasn't given me a single day to breathe by myself, and I'm constantly sandwiched between Gin and Aizen's spiritual pressures."

Rukia blinked. "That's hot."

WHAM!

"Ow!" Rukia grabbed her head, rubbing it with crocodile tears poking at the corner of her eyes.

Izuru rubbed his hand with a frown. "Thick skull. Oh yeah, I'm not under Aizen's genjutsu."

"His… what?" Rukia asked, blinking almost stupidly.

"You know," Izuru rolled his wrist, "His genjutsu that is made from his sword. The thingy that messes with all five of your senses and is effectively broken and turns Momo into his personal punching bag?"

"Do you mean... Kyoka Suigetsu?" She asked carefully, speaking slowly like she was talking to an idiot. Which, in terms of Bleach information, she technically was.

"No, that doesn't sound right. Suigetsu is the name of a shinobi that can turn into water," Izuru said with a tilt of his head. Now he was looking at Rukia like she was the idiot.

"You're mixing Bleach up with Naruto. Suigetsu is both a shinobi and the name of Aizen's Zanpakuto… At least, I think Suigetsu is a shinobi. It's been twenty years," She reminded her friend with a smirk.

Izuru rolled his eyes to the back of his head and groaned. "Can we sit down sometime and write this crap down so we can remember things? If nothing else, I can be the one with the freakishly good memory. Let's get back to our friends so Momo and Renji don't go running to Aizen and pasting Missing Person posters around the Seireitei."

"Oh! Do you like Shuuhei or Momo, by the way?" Rukia grinned widely, mouth full of teeth. "I need to know if Shuuhei is off the flirting list." She paused for a moment. "I don't see why we couldn't sit down and write it all out… I still remember 99% of the plot. I know that Ichigo isn't even a thing yet."

"Please don't flirt with Hisagi. It's not like I like the guy, his tattoos are not my thing, but I don't know. This is the first time I've actually talked to any of these people besides Momo." Izuru raised an eyebrow. "Since when do you flirt? You were a nervous pile of beans at the restaurant."

"Well, that was before I knew you were here too! We gotta keep you not being under Aizen's hypnosis a secret though. That could be like, our special thing!" Rukia took off running and Izuru tailed behind her. "By the way, Ichigo's dad's still a captain and I saved Kaien!"

"Oh, that's a good timestamp- wait, you WHAT?!"


SlytherinLife: Back when we were talking about collabing a story together, we were trying to figure out how we could identify each other. Luna finding Tanner would be easy, as Tanner would have altered the personality of whoever she changed too dramatically for Luna to not notice, no matter what fandom we picked. I, on the other hand, would be harder to identify because my first goal would be to blend in or avoid anyone that would know my chosen character… until I randomly remembered that I stress hum/narrate to the tune of Once Upon a Dream from Sleeping Beauty.

M1LK T3A (Tanner_Clark): This was a fun chapter to write. I'm very proud of this one. Let us know what you think! Reviews fuel the flames of inspiration! Don't forget to follow and fave if you liked the story!