Chapter 4

Of stolen horses and tests.


"What about the woods?" Ichigo asked her as they stepped out of the abandoned house.

"What about them?" Rukia asked back.

"Well," he said while looking around "you didn't mention them in our summer plans but I don't think there's a lot to do around here, I thought we would explore them."

Rukia huffed as she grabbed his hand and started to walk towards the local stores, Ichigo tried not to think too much about the little gesture although it was making him feel quite nice. It wasn't that often that he would go around holding a girl's hand, especially a gorgeous girl's hand.

"I'm not allowed to go into the woods, never" she explained frowning "I would love to give you a tour but Yoruichi will give me hell if I even try, and besides the witch is not fond of males" she sighed "she might get mad at me if I take you to the woods uninvited."

Ichigo scoffed.

"Yoruichi says the witch is not real," he protested annoyed, why did she keep going on about someone who obviously didn't exist? It didn't make sense "I believe her."

Rukia smirked while looking at him.

"And what does Urahara say?" Rukia questioned, she was obviously proud about having Urahara backing her up with the witch topic.

Ichigo remembered his previous conversation with his godfather.

"Well, he believes the witch is real but why?" he asked "he said that the witch granted Yoruichi a wish, how come?"

Rukia frowned.

"I don't like to remember or to talk about it," she explained as she walked towards where they left Sode no Shirayuki "but long story short, Urahara saw the witch once when she saved me."

"She saved you from what?" Ichigo asked with widened eyes, what could've happened to her? He had been informed about the security's protocols around the place and there was no way that the Kuchiki heiress could've been in danger, especially with Urahara around.

Rukia scoffed.

"Ask Yoruichi," she told him rudely "besides..." she paused "where's my horse?!" she asked aloud.

Ichigo gaped as he realized that the horse was no longer in the place where they left it.

"I told you that someone was going to steal it!" he exclaimed.

Rukia scrunched her nose.

"No," she said "that's impossible, this reeks of Urahara."

Ichigo crossed his arms.

"Well, he did say that the horses were off limits for you."

Rukia groaned.

"We'll have to go back walking," she said sadly.

Thank God Ichigo thought, he was sure that his ass was not going to stand another horse ride.

"Let's go" Rukia said as she started to walk and Ichigo followed her obediently.


"Boss!" Jinta said while following Urahara towards the stables "Shinji called! They are coming right now!"

Urahara smiled, he loved his information system, it always proved to be useful.

"Well, I guess it's time for me to prepare" he said "did you inform Yoruichi?" he asked the young boy.

Jinta nodded proudly.

"She has the documentation ready!" he assured him.

"Good job!" Urahara praised.


"Carrot top," Rukia said once they reached the cottages area "keep your guard up, something's off."

Ichigo, who was walking with his hands inside his pockets, rolled his eyes as he noticed her tense pose.

"What's the worst they can do to us? Make us clean chicken poop?" he asked and then chuckled "you're sort of paranoid, aren't you?"

Rukia glared at him.

"How can you be their godson? It's as if you don't know them at all" she exclaimed.

Ichigo sighed.

"Fine, I'll keep my guard up and..." he never got to finish the sentence because in that moment Ichigo noticed someone riding a horse towards them at high speed, it was Tessai, Urahara's assistant "Is he holding a...?" Ichigo asked aloud as he paled immediately.

"Water gun!" Rukia yelled panic stricken "and I can assure you that it's not filled with water!"

Ichigo gasped as he started to run in the opposite direction alongside Rukia.

"Is everyone around here crazy?!" he wondered aloud.

Rukia didn't answer him, instead she grabbed his hand and dragged him towards the edge of the Kuchikis' cottage, they jumped together the white fence and ran across the garden as fast as they could. Any other day Ichigo would've admired the amazing garden, the wonderful pool and the interesting dog house, but since he was running away he didn't have time. They jumped again at the end of the garden and they reached another garden, Ichigo worried for a second about stepping into private property, but before he could voice his concerns Rukia stopped abruptly and raised her hands in surrender.

Ichigo did the same when he noticed that Jinta and Ururu where in front of them holding water guns filled with a disgusting brown liquid, he was sure he didn't want to know what it was.

"Kurosaki Ichigo," Jinta said smirking "you're accused of betraying the matriarch by breaking her rules and helping the witch, how do you plead?"

Yep, everyone around here is crazy Ichigo thought.

"Is this for real?" he asked annoyed.

"Answer or I'll shoot!" Jinta said and Ichigo could tell that he was enjoying himself.

"I am innocent!" Ichigo said frowning.

"And you, Kuchiki Rukia!" Jinta said while pointing at her "the matriarch accuses you of kidnapping, corrupting and bewitching her godson, how do you plead?"

Rukia frowned.

"Innocent!" she yelled.

"We'll see about that," Jinta said "both of you will be coming with us, right now."

Ichigo scoffed, he was annoyed about the ridiculous scenario he was in, but he had to admit that he didn't have these experiences back in the city, it was sort of entertaining.


"So, you both plead innocent?" Yoruichi asked smirking.

Ichigo groaned. After Jinta and Ururu brought them back to the cottage they led them both, Ichigo and Rukia, to the dining room and once Ichigo stepped inside Urahara attacked him and, while grabbing his hands behind his back, he made him bend over the table.

"Why am I being held like a criminal?" Ichigo asked "I didn't do anything!"

Yoruichi glared at him. She was standing across the table and she had two folders on her hands. Rukia, who was standing next to Ichigo, crossed her arms.

"Let him go," she told Yoruichi "I kidnapped him, this is all my fault."

"Uh," Yoruichi muttered slightly impressed "you care about the boy?"

Rukia shrugged.

"Not exactly," she explained "but I seriously need to go to the bathroom so the faster you tell me what my punishment is, the faster I go to pee."

Ichigo blinked.

"Anyone would believe that the Kuchiki heiress is a delicate, gorgeous lady" he said "damn, how wrong they are."

Urahara chuckled as Rukia glared at him.

"First of all," Yoruichi said smirking "he's right, there's no need for you to go around making a public announcement about your physical needs" she sighed "but I also know you're lying."

Rukia frowned.

"I'm..."

"I'm not going to punish, either of you" Yoruichi said "but he's being here for two days and if you keep coming for him like that I'll be forced to lock you up" she continued "if you want to spend your summer with him is okay, but you're supposed to follow the rules" she placed both folders on the table "and I'm the boss around here so you'll do as I say."

"And if we refuse?" Rukia challenged.

"I don't refuse," Ichigo said quickly "as far as I don't clean chicken poop."

"Coward," Rukia muttered.

Yoruichi ran a hand through her hair, why? Why did Rukia have to have such a hard time following basic rules? It was infuriating to an untold degree, any other day Yoruichi would've let her do whatever she wanted, as long as she kept herself away from the woods, but things were completely different with Ichigo around, both teenagers meant a lot to both, Yoruichi and Urahara, but that didn't mean that she would let them defy her authority.

"Listen," Yoruichi growled while punching the table loudly while glaring at Rukia "I understand that you own the place but you're under my tutelage so you, pathetic excuse of a rebel, will do what I say unless you want me to call daddy dearest," she frowned "are we clear?"

Much to Ichigo's surprise Rukia frowned sadly as she looked away from Yoruichi's glare, the raven haired girl crossed her arms awkwardly and bit her lower lip.

"I was kidding," Rukia muttered "you don't have to get mad at me."

Yoruichi nodded and then glared at Ichigo.

"What?" he asked from his spot on the table, it was an awkward position considering how Urahara was still holding him like a criminal "I didn't do anything!"

"I know," Yoruichi said frowning "but you weren't sent here just to enjoy the view and give me headaches" she sighed "in fact, I want you to know that you're free to enjoy your time here" she looked at Rukia again "both of you are but," she took a deep breath "is it really hard for both of you to respect me? Can't you come and ask me for permission to go to the abandoned house or to the plaza?"

Ichigo blinked.

"How do you know what we did?" he asked.

Urahara smirked.

"Don't underestimate me, Kurosaki-san" he said in a sing-song kid of voice.

"In fact," Yoruichi continued "I just brought both of you here to discuss these papers" she explained as she pointed to the folders on the table "but before I even begin with that I think that you have to know, Ichigo" she said as she took out her cellphone and dialed a number on speaker "Renji has been calling like crazy" she chuckled "he believes we're killing you or something."

Ichigo frowned as the call connected.

"Hello?" Renji's voice invaded the place "Ichigo, are you there? Are you alive?"

Ichigo was about to answer but Rukia snatched the phone out of Yoruichi's hand without a previous warning.

"Rukia!" Yoruichi admonished.

"Hello?" Renji insisted.

"Hello!" Rukia said sweetly while taking a seat on top of the table "who are you?"

"Don't put your ass where we eat!" Yoruichi told her upset.

"My name is Abarai Renji," he answered confused "is Kurosaki Ichigo there? I need to talk to him..."

"Ichigo is cursed," Rukia interrupted him while smiling at Ichigo "is too late for him."

Ichigo frowned.

"What...?! What happened?! Is he okay?! Is he alive?!" Renji asked over the phone.

"Renji!" Ichigo yelled "don't... hmpf!"

Rukia's eyes widened as she took one cookie, which was on a jar over the table, and without even feeling sorry she shoved one cookie inside Ichigo's mouth to prevent him from talking.

"He's alive," Rukia assured Renji playfully "but he saw me having a purifying ritual so I cursed him, I'm the witch that reigns over these lands," she sighed dramatically "and thanks to Ichigo now I have to wait until the next new moon to have a purifying bath."

"Don't you have showers on the countryside?" Renji asked confused and Ichigo chuckled, although it looked like he was chocking with the cookie so he spit it on the table.

"Why are you two fucking up my table?!" Yoruichi asked upset.

"Anyway," Rukia said "what do you want?"

"To talk with my best friend!" Renji explained and he sounded near tears "is he really cursed?! I heard there are haunted woods there, it's true?!"

"Yes, it is!" Rukia said smiling widely "I told you, you're talking with a witch!"

"Is he really cursed?!" Renji asked again "what are you going to do with him?!"

Rukia laughed.

"I don't think he's that useful for me to cast spells or anything but I have to check..." Rukia said "is Ichigo a virgin?!"

"Give me the phone!" Ichigo said as he reached his limit and using his strength he got rid of Urahara's grip taking Rukia by surprise, she gasped as she jumped off the table.

"Behave you two! What are you?! Five years old?!" Yoruichi fumed while Urahara, on his side, was watching the whole thing unfolding and he was enjoying every second of it.

"Should I answer?!" Renji asked mostly to himself. Ichigo bit his tongue to prevent himself from insulting his best friend, of course he shouldn't answer! That was embarrassing as hell!

"Yes, if you answer with honesty you might save his life!" Rukia yelled while running around the dining room so Ichigo wouldn't catch her.

"He is a virgin!" Renji yelled "he's awkward around girls and he's scared of STD's so he promised to save himself for marriage! Please, spare his life!"

Ichigo stopped running as he blushed a deep shade of red, he couldn't believe how much of an idiot Renji was. Was so hard for him just to keep quiet?! How come he believed Rukia's "witch" act?!

Rukia gaped as she looked at him while a devilish smirk graced her lips.

"Then I can use him as a sacrifice!" she joked and Ichigo clenched his fists angrily.

"Give me the damn phone!" He snapped.

"Wait, Renji!" Someone else said over the phone "is it true?! Ichigo is saving himself for marriage?! This is why he doesn't want me to introduce him to girls?!"

Rukia frowned.

"Who's that?" She asked clearly upset.

Ichigo groaned.

"Now you've done it..." he muttered.

"Cousin!" Kaien greeted at the other side of the line "why you never told me?! Now I understand why you avoid being alone with Senna..."

"Who's Senna?" Rukia asked frowning deeper "who's speaking?"

"Oh my apologies, my name is Kaien" he introduced himself "I couldn't help but listen to Renji's conversation, after all you sound like an amazing girl" he praised her "we just wanted to know, is Ichigo okay?"

Rukia scrunched her nose disgusted.

"Yeah," she said simply.

"Oh, that's awesome!" Kaien said sounding confused and Ichigo smirked, he wasn't used to girls not falling for his "good guy" persona.

"Dude," Renji muttered "sugar coated words won't work with this one, she's a witch."

"Oh, I'm sorry" Kaien said as if everything suddenly made sense "we just wanted to know about Ichigo, can we go visit him?"

Urahara and Yoruichi looked at Rukia with a smile as she frowned at them. Ichigo's eyes narrowed at the weird interchange, he remembered how Shinji told him how outsiders were kind of a difficult topic for Rukia, apparently she hated city boys, and judging by Yoruichi and Urahara's expressions it was true. He wondered why and he wondered how much power Rukia held over the whole place, he was awfully curious.

"State the gender of the visitors and how many are coming," Rukia ordered and Ichigo scoffed at the military tone, what was her deal?

"Ehm..." Kaien said "six boys?"

Rukia's eyes widened as she paled immediately.

"Not a way in hell," she answered hastily "you'll have to wait to see Ichigo again, outsiders are not welcome here."

There was a huge sigh on the other side of the line and a "give me the phone, idiots" was heard. Ichigo, who was still dumbfounded at Rukia's reaction, couldn't believe how Urahara and Yoruichi didn't forbid Rukia from rejecting outsiders, how much power did Rukia have all over the place? Did Urahara respect her choices regarding the town too?

"My apologies, witch" another boy greeted respectfully "my name is Ishida Uryuu and we deeply understand your dislike for outsiders, you must be the owner of the woods surrounding the area, right? It's really wise of you to keep outsiders at bait, the men had done nothing but destroy nature after all."

"Oh," Rukia smirked impressed, she relaxed slightly "this one's smart."

"Hey!" Renji complained "I'm smart too!"

Ichigo scoffed at that.

"Unfortunately we're worried about Ichigo, he's an idiot after all" Ishida continued and Rukia chuckled "to interrupt a witch's sacred bath..." he sighed "he ought to be sacrificed."

Rukia raised an eyebrow.

"I like this one," she said approvingly.

Ichigo frowned.

"Perhaps, fewer outsiders would be welcome? Just for a couple of days? We do not wish to impose."

Rukia pondered that option for a second as she exchanged a careful look with Urahara, the mad hatter simply shrugged at her giving her the upper hand to choose.

"How many boys are we talking about?" Rukia asked carefully.

"Three," Uryuu answered calmly "we won't cause troubles for you."

Rukia bit her bottom lip worriedly as she looked at Yoruichi.

"These are Ichigo's friends," Yoruichi told her "the least we can do is to welcome them kindly, don't you think?"

Rukia sighed.

"You're all city boys, correct?" she asked.

"Correct" Uryuu confirmed.

"Are you sure you're not having a blast without Ichigo?" She asked "the city must have lots of fun stuff to do..."

"Well, we tried to have fun" Uryuu admitted "but Renji started to cry saying that he was missing his other half and Kaien got drunk because he said it was his fault that Ichigo was sent there."

Rukia laughed and then looked at Urahara.

"I guess I won't stay out of the patriarch's sight while you're here, just to be sure."

Urahara nodded while bowing slightly at her.

"Does that mean that you accept us?" Uryuu asked.

"Yeah," Rukia said "we'll let you know once we're ready for you, Yoruichi will call you."

"Thank you," Uryuu said "can we talk to Ichigo?"

"No," Rukia said without hesitation "you'll have to wait until you're here" she hung up and Ichigo frowned at her "what?" she asked him innocently.

"Never mind," he said and then looked at Yoruichi "you don't have to welcome them, you know."

"You don't want to see your friends?" she asked him curiously, that was an odd behavior coming from a teenager, especially Ichigo. Yoruichi knew that he wasn't an outcast if anything he was popular. Why didn't he want to see his friends?

Ichigo simply shrugged uncomfortably.

"Don't worry, carrot top" Rukia said while walking towards him "we can totally pretend that phone call never happened," she smirked as she decided to change the topic "so, a virgin?"

Ichigo blushed.

"What was that about?!" he asked "that's personal information!"

"Yeah," Yoruichi agreed "I'll punish you for that later" she told Rukia "but before that I need to touch another subject with both of you."

Ichigo and Rukia blinked at her.

"These are your grades," Yoruichi explained while passing each of them their respective folders "you'll show them to me right now and depending on how well you did I'll give you all the freedom you want around here" she promised.

"Oh my," Rukia beamed "does that mean…?!"

"The woods do not count!" Urahara said sternly "you'll have freedom around here and around the town, nowhere else."

Rukia pouted but she opened her folder happily and handed the papers to Yoruichi, she already knew that her grades were awesome. The grades were always sent first to Ginrei, Soujun and Byakuya and if there were no problems, or if they weren't disappointed, they would send them towards Yoruichi so she could inform Rukia.

"Smart brat," Yoruichi praised, she was used to see Rukia succeed academically, after all she was the one who would help her to study "you can go and set your cottage on fire, you're free!"

"Great!" she said grabbing Ichigo's hand "we'll go…"

"He's not free yet," Urahara stopped her, he had noticed how tense Ichigo got when he realized that his grades were inside the folder so he supposed that the orange haired teenager already knew about his fate "Ichigo-kun, show us your grades, please."

Ichigo looked aside as he mumbled something incoherently.

"Sorry," Urahara said "we didn't get that."

Ichigo scoffed.

"Just tell me which horrible work I'll be doing around the farm," Ichigo said while tossing the folder on the table "I'll get to it."

Rukia frowned.

"It can't be that bad," she said "stop being dramatic."

"How the hell would you know?" Ichigo asked rudely.

"Well," Rukia said unaffected by his tone "you're their godson, and they think highly of you, I don't believe that a lazy or stupid bastard would be on their good graces."

Ichigo grimaced, those statements didn't make him feel any better.

"Why don't you see them for yourself?" Ichigo suggested.

Rukia frowned, she was curious and she loved to torture Ichigo but she could tell that the grades topic was, for some reason, delicate to him so she didn't dare to grab the folder.

"Don't worry," Yoruichi said while grabbing the folder "I already checked them and, indeed, these are horrible."

Ichigo put his hands inside his pockets and looked aside.

"You have two options," Yoruichi continued "you either take the equivalency test or you fail the whole year."

Ichigo scoffed.

"I cannot take the test," he said "I'm here, far away from school and…"

"Ukitake-san will hold the test online this year," Urahara said knowingly "and we have the best internet connection around Japan."

"I won't take the test," Ichigo insisted "you cannot make me."

"Why don't you want to take the test?" Rukia asked with sincere curiosity.

"Only idiots who failed most subjects take it," he explained embarrassed "if I take it, and if it's online, Ukitake-san will make me receive my grades in a video-call among them, I won't be able to stand that."

Rukia tilted her head.

"Those boys will be in your same situation," she reasoned "they cannot judge you and besides, isn't it better to take the test than to lose a whole year?"

"You probably don't get it, I bet your school is full of privileged…" Ichigo started but Urahara interrupted him.

"She does not go to school," he said seriously "she receives online classes with personal tutors, so there's no need to jump to conclusions about her education."

Ichigo recognized how Urahara was protecting Rukia from his hurtful comments so he kept quiet.

"Take the test! Carrot top!" Rukia insisted clearly ignoring the fact that Ichigo was having an internal debate about it "once it's over we'll go to the lake to celebrate! We can try to drown Shinji if it makes you feel better!"

Ichigo shook his head.

"Let me make this very clear for you," Yoruichi spoke again "you either take the fucking test, like a man, or I'll send you back to your father right now."

Rukia gasped as Ichigo's eyes widened.

"What?!" Ichigo asked.

"There's no need to do that!" Rukia intervened "he'll take the test!"

Ichigo was about to argue that he wouldn't take the horrible test, he had failed most subjects because he let himself go. Fighting with the idiots at school, fighting with his father, not getting the part time job he was aiming at, everything simply crashed down on him and, apparently, the ordeal was not over. Yoruichi and Urahara were not going to give this a rest, so what? He would simply go back to the city, it wasn't that bad, right?

"Ichigo!" Rukia called him again and he looked at her.

Her unique eyes, her adventurous personality and the promise they had made to each other just a few hours back. She had trusted him with her secret places and she had promised him the summer of his life, would he be able to leave her like that? He wasn't that kind of asshole, and there were several other mysteries around the place that he wanted to figure out including the girl in front of him. So, while looking at Rukia's eyes he made a decision, Renji could cry the whole summer for him, it didn't matter.

"Fine," Ichigo said finally "I'll take the test."

Rukia smiled triumphantly.

"Awesome," Yoruichi said with a proud smirk.

"Now that that's settled," Rukia said "excuse me for a while."

Everyone observed confused how she ran to the second floor.

"What's your problem?!" Yoruichi yelled.

"I told you I needed to pee!" Rukia yelled back and then there was a pause of a few seconds "WHERE'S MY BEDROOM DOOR?!"

Yoruichi rubbed her temples.

"How much does one summer last?" she wondered.

Ichigo and Urahara chuckled.


Okay, guess who's back? I know that very few people read this fanfic (compared to my other ones) but I deeply appreciate your reviews and the fact that you like what I write makes me extremely happy.

Jobananasan: Thank you so much for your review! I seriously have planned so much for this fanfic, and I'll explain the dynamic of the whole place better in the chapters to come! I hope you liked this chapter, thanks again! Kisses!

Nejes: Thank you so much for your review! I hope you're still reading and that you enjoyed this chapter! Let me know, kisses!

RukiYuki: Thank you for your support in my stories! I hope you liked this chapter! I'll be waiting for your review, take care!

Rin: Thank you so much! Your review means a lot! Hopefully you liked this chapter too! I'll be waiting to read what you think about it! Kisses!

Natsumivat: ¡Hola! Me alegra mucho leer tus reviews, espero que te siga gustando la historia, el siguiente cap va a ser un poco más entretenido, ¡lo prometo! Déjame saber si te gusto, besos y hasta pronto.

Guest: Thank you so much for your review! I promise to answer all of your doubts in the chapters to come! Hopefully you liked this one! Let me know, kisses!

Pd. I apologize for my grammar mistakes.