A/N: Gah! I've just spent almost the whole day writing an English essay about the similarities between Donnie Darko & Jesus Christ. It's over three pages long and I'm quite proud of myself tee hee. I tell ya, this school work is stressin' me out! However, I have been victorious and I bring you this delightful offering, and I hope you accept. I have no idea when the next chapter will be up here, so sorry about that but I'm really busy at the moment. I start school again tomorrow so...grrr. Anyway, I wanna thank everyone who reviews, favourites and even alerts. I hope you all had a marvellous X-Mas and I hope you all have an awesome new year. Enjoy! (R&R please!).

Her face seemed to scream at him, daring him to take one step further. As if she wanted him to continue. Her closed eyes lured him in. Her appetizing lips pulling him forward. Every single feature was teasing him; taunting him, persuading him. Pressuring him. This was something that he knew would be regrettable in the future. Something that could possibly plague his mind for months to come. Yet, this made him feel amazing. He'd never even considered that such a tiny thing, such a small act, could make a person feel so magnificent.

It wasn't like Ichigo to consider things so thoroughly. Usually, he just rushed into things and dealt with the consequences later. But this was different. There were so many things to take into account at that moment. His feelings, her feelings. Was this just curiosity? If so, wasn't it a little twisted to kiss her? Especially since she did in fact have feelings for him. Unless he could reciprocate those emotions, this whole thing was rather pointless, no? Hadn't he already crossed the line? To one person it was merely a kiss. To another, it could mean everything.

"Ichi-nii? Did you hear me?" Yuzu continued to call.

He hadn't replied. He couldn't. He physically couldn't. It was like his vocal chords had been ripped from his throat. He was so choked up, so caught in the moment. Everything else was drowned out around him. All that appeared to be working was his pounding brain, and his racing heart that was working overtime. He could have powered a whole street with the amount of thoughts rushing through his mind at that moment.

For a few seconds, he just leaned over her. Staring into her closed eyes as if they were open. It appeared as if he was searching for the answer. What was it about her that made him feel this way? Made him question almost every little thing he did or thought. Why was she so special to him? So special that Ichigo was certain he'd do anything for her. Absolutely anything. Die for her. And yet he hadn't known her half as long as he had his other friends. He cared for them deeply, but no where as much as he did for her.

I-I think I do...feel...

His amber eyes slowly closed, as he closed in. At that moment, things seemed to flow perfectly. This whole situation wasn't about regret, other meaningless emotions or consequences. It was about feeling the moment. Reacting naturally. Confirming his motives and emotions towards her. And as soon as he felt the tingling in his stomach, he knew the truth. This whole time he'd been dancing around the obvious. This whole time he'd been fooling himself. He'd felt like this right at the start, yet he'd pushed it aside. He'd wrecked her emotions, her feelings by ignoring his own.

Rukia's violet orbs gradually fluttered open as she awoke. Though originally drowsy, her eyes widened rapidly as she realized what was about to ensue. The female reaper blushed as he heart skipped a beat. It was unbelievable what was clearly about to happen to her. Shock froze her to the bed.

"I–" she choked, unable to speak. Immobilized, she allowed the moment to run it's natural course. It was all she could do. Ichigo was, of course, oblivious to her awakening, anyway. His eyes were still closed, his mind too preoccupied with his current activity.

He lowered his lips onto hers with little hesitation. It felt dry. Yet soft. Small and tasteless. But not lifeless. Quite the opposite, actually. Her skin felt like velvet. Silk, even. He stayed stationary for a few moments, allowing the full experience to hit him. The warmth within his body just seemed to grow and spread. He could do nothing to hide the smile creeping across his face. It was an immeasurable happiness that filtered through his bones and tissue; bringing life to his organs. He felt his heart pound through his chest and it was quite difficult to ignore.

Her fingers latched onto the covers either side of her body. Her gaze was just fixed on his – if only he was able to return to stare. Her heart thudded so hard in her chest she thought it was going to fly out of her body. Rukia didn't quite know whether to feel violated or feel incredible. But how could she possibly be mad in the slightest? This was Ichigo. The guy she was in love with. To have him behave this way was...truly astounding. This meant that he'd fallen for her, too. There was no way of getting around it. He must've felt the same...right?

His fingers made contact with her cheek as his lips parted from hers briefly, just to be replaced moments later in the same place. The orange-haired boy repeated his actions gingerly, getting carried away with himself.

Her eyes began to close rather awkwardly as Ichigo repeated his actions so softly. Her grip on the covers loosened as the tenseness in her muscles was relieved. She was beginning to feel a little more comfortable. Although, this was like her first kiss all over again. She wasn't even responding and yet, she felt under pressure. Rukia was unsure of how to react. Whether to react, even. It wasn't that his kiss was anything truly tremendous, it was because it was him. The raven-haired girl had longed to receive this for so long, now that it was actually happening, it felt strange. Perhaps even wrong.

His kisses weren't like anything she'd expected. She'd expected rough, masterful kisses in which he fought for dominance. But this was so...nice. Short and sweet. Pure.

Suddenly, there was a sharp knock at the door which disturbed the whole atmosphere of Ichigo's room. The male Death God gasped as he shot up from his position. Rukia mentally cursed as she struggled to keep her eyes closed and her body still. She had a sudden impulse to grab him by his hair and make him finish off what he started. But she couldn't blow her cover. She knew exactly what he was like. He crippled under that sort of strain. He was male, after all. Too many things happening at once would ruin what she had perceived to be a beautiful moment between them.

"Shit!" Ichigo glanced down at Rukia.

Thank Christ! She's still sleeping…That was so close...

Ichigo breathed deep; slowly and carefully securing his weight back on his palms, lifting himself high above Rukia's seemingly lifeless body. The male Death God took a few moments to stare down at her perfect features once more. A thought of disappointment escaped him while holstering himself off her tiny form. It was hard to believe that she'd slept through that. Maybe it had just felt like such an adrenalin rush to him, when in fact it was something so small it was hard not to sleep through it. After all, it wasn't like he'd given her proper, full-on French kissing. But...He did wish she had been awake to return those kisses. Those small, insignificant pecks...

"Ichi-nii!" Yuzu knocked again, growing impatient. "Are you alright!?"

The Next Day

Ishida adjusted his glasses as he peered down at the letter he had spent hours completing the night before. Of course, the night before had only been the finalization of this letter. For, it had taken Ishida a whole week to accomplish the letter completely. It had proved extremely difficult and timely trying to find just the right words to put down on the page. He probably wouldn't have felt so morbid if the previous night hadn't have been Sunday. But, of course, it had been. And that meant that today was a Monday. A school day, none the less. Not only was the Quincy forced to fight depression, but also he had to fight to stay awake during class.

He sat, now, a little unsure of what to do. It had been a nice few days writing that letter, as it had been a break from the normal, tedious routine of his life. There were only a few more minutes left until school started, and not enough time for him to post his letter. But his mind wasn't really on posting the damn thing. More on the person he was supposed to be posting it to.

I hope we can be friends again...

The Quincy felt the warm liquid begin to prickle behind his blue eyes. Lately, each time he thought about her, he came close to tears. It wasn't like Ishida to cry. It wasn't his nature, it didn't usually come so...naturally, so easily to him as it did others. But, now, you wouldn't have guessed. It wasn't like he sobbed his heart out everyday and night. Just...occasionally. Little, silent tears found their way out of his eyes and ran down his cheeks. As strange as it felt, he couldn't deny that the temporary relief he felt each time was nice. An escape from his troubles. A release.

Although, sometimes he felt ashamed at his actions. It made him glad that Rukia was unable to see him behaving in such a manner.

His situation just seemed to grow more and more difficult. His troubles didn't just evolve around one person anymore. At first, Ishida had been so occupied with Rukia that he hadn't noticed he'd been slowly losing a friend in Ichigo. Ishida had never really had a 'friend' until Ichigo showed his face a little under a year ago. Ichigo had been a kind, loyal and compassionate person – despite the fact that he was of a different race. He hadn't cared that Ishida was a Quincy and therefore programmed to hate Death Gods. He'd only thought about the person inside, instead of his uniform and abilities. Ishida felt so foolish. Ichigo had yelled at him, lost his temper and gone pretty much crazy at him on several occasions. And yet, Ishida had been too blinded by Rukia to realize the stress he was causing in others.

I'm an idiot who causes more trouble than he's worth...

Even Orihime seemed like she was slipping through Ishida's fingers. The one person who'd been by his side through all of this. The person who had been his one and only source of comfort and strength. The girl who cheered him on while others told him to give up. He couldn't exactly blame her for distancing herself from him. She had been so loyal to him; always there when he needed her, even when he was reluctant to admit that he needed her. Yet the Quincy was just so stubborn. He wanted affection and comfort, but whenever Orihime tried her best to fulfill his needs he'd soon push her away. It wasn't that he truly didn't want her help. He did. It was just that he was unsure of how to recieve that sort of thing. You could say he wasn't used to it.

What with Rukia as well, Ishida felt as if he was losing everything.

He looked over at the clock.

Of course it would have been more convenient to visit Rukia and give it to her himself. But Ishida didn't want to arouse a negative reaction from her. Sure, he expected her to hate him and rip up his letter and possibly more, but he didn't want to have to witness that sort of behavior. It's not that her behaving like that seemed out of order to him. He believed she had every right to react that way. It was that he didn't want anybody to see his heart break in two as she yelled obscenities at him. He'd rather not anger her further with his annoying presence, anyway. It was best to keep his distance. For now, at least.

Orihime sighed as she pulled her orange hair off her face. Bending down, leaning her head into the refrigerator; she noticed with a sinking feeling that she was in need of a trip to the supermarket. And a desperate one at that. All that was left were two pears, a candy bar and a carton of milk. And the sell-by date didn't look too promising on the latter, either. She was starving, but she didn't really have the get-up and go to march to the supermarket and carry all the bags back to the house. And anyway, today was a school day. She simply didn't have time to go to shopping. Well, not at that moment, anyway. She had to meet Tatsuki at the bus stop in less than an hour.

The orange-headed girl padded silently over to the window, before peering nosily out of it's murky pane. Cleaning was another thing on her extremely long agenda. Fitting so much in these days seemed like a daunting, if not impossible, task. She sighed heavily, pouting as she got lost in thought. She stood stationary for a few minutes, contemplating her situation. Quite a foolish thing, really, as there wasn't much to take into consideration. Anyway, after a little think, she marched back over to the refrigerator.

The young healer spotted a half-eaten cookie tucked behind the carton of milk. Reaching into the refrigerator with greedy hands, she allowed her brain to dwell in the depths of the unknown. She longed to be able to do something else. Something exciting, adventurous and...all-in-all outrageous! Something exhilarating that had never been done before. Like, baking a cake that was a mile and a half long. Or, climbing Mount. Everest while chewing corn and being completely depraved of oxygen!

Well, Orihime had already achieved baking a cake. Only, it wasn't even a mile long. It was just the regular size. But she was pretty proud of her accomplishment as it was for Rukia. Upon hearing that the female Death God had gotten herself sick, Orihime thought it would be nice if she made her something as a token to show how appreciated she was. Orihime was planning to take it to school to put it in the Cooking Department's fridge. That way, when Rukia attended school again, it would be there waiting for her.

Orihime smiled as soon as she stepped out into the street outside her house. The sun was so bright, the weather was so warm it was hard not to smile. No one could deny this change in temperature was something to be grateful about. After so many days, which had seemed like years, of rain and freezing cold – the sun would be used to the highest advantage. Finally she didn't have to exit her home wearing a scarf and several layers of clothing. The young healer at last felt released, free even, as she strolled 'coolly' down the Karakura streets. She reached into her pocket.

Ah...these sunglasses make me look so cool...I could be a secret agent with these! Yes! A spy, even! Or a ninja!

(Important note: Ninjas do NOT wear sunglasses).

Orihime pushed her smokescreen-like shades further up her nose so they completely obscured her eyes.

An ordinary, middle-class girl by day. But an awesome, butt-kicking 'Secret Agent-Spy-Ninja' by night! Miss Inoue, the ultimate crime-fighter! But, if I'm going to be as cool as I aspire to be, I have to practice my agent-like skills and abilities! Even the way I walk down the road is essential if I'm going to pass the student exams of 'Secret Agent-Spy-Ninja Academy'!

Orihime began taking longer strides while trying to wiggle her behind in the progress. For all 'Secret Agent-Spy-Ninjas' walked like that. Of course, unknown to herself, she was portraying more of a stagger than a sexy, sophisticated walk. It made her look as if she had involuntary bowl movements and was desperate to find the nearest restroom more than anything! She attempted to keep her head up, almost staring at the sun and blinding herself on a few occasions (even with her glasses on?). It was extremely tiresome to keep the momentum of her stupid strutting and hold her head up in pride at the same time.

It's a shame I don't have any make-up...All girl spies where loads and loads of make-up, I'm sure. Ah! Look at all the people in the street stare at me with awe-inspired admiration!

A cluster of old age pensioners stared at her in unbelievability. They were shocked at the possibility of someone being able to look that dumb. She looked as if she'd ventured away from a small group of mental institutes on one of their rare days out amongst the sane people. It really was the icing on the cake, though, when she turned to them and attempted to wave but lost her footing instead. She tripped, but didn't fall...Okay. Scrap that. She fell ON SOMEONE. A poor, innocent member of the public on their not-so-merry way to post a very important letter.

She was all dressed, cleaned and ready for school. Finally! It felt like a century had passed since she'd seen the beaming faces of her classmates, the shining superficial superiority that clung to the teachers. In a strange way, she'd missed all the tedious lessons and homework. She was looking forward to attending school again, yet dreading it at the same time. Rukia was reluctant to admit it, but she'd gotten used to seeing the same four faces day-in and day-out. And grown quite comfortable about it, too. School was such an unpredictable environment. Especially since she hadn't been there for quite some time. Rukia could only imagine what things would be said or what things would occur as she walked through the door.

Rukia glanced over at the heap of cards that she'd collected over the passing days. Or rather, the heap of cards that Ichigo had collected over the passing days. She'd never really noticed them before. There had to be at least twenty or so individual envelopes stacked in that tidy pile. Ichigo sure had had a lot of time on his hands to make the cards sit on top on one another so perfectly. Without a single corner or side out of place! But that was just her mind steering away from the main point of them. The point of them being that they were all 'get well' cards. And, more importantly, they were all for her. The female Death God couldn't quite comprehend that so many people had been concerned enough for her to actually waste their money. Sure, it was just a cheap card, but it was the thought that counted, right? And it was still their money.

Rukia couldn't help but wonder whether there was a card from Ichigo hidden amongst that pile somewhere.

Her gaze shifted from the computer desk towards the open window. Another day had officially dawned on Karakura. The sun peaked over the rooftops, to be blocked out by the occasional racing cloud. She closed her eyes briefly, placing her fingers against her lips – trying hard to remember the feeling. Amazing how it had only happened yesterday yet it felt so distant. Her skin still had a tingly feeling to it and her head still felt a little light. And yet, the feeling on her lips was almost non-existent. However, the shock was still lingering in her heart.

I can't believe he did it. Rukia re-opened her eyes. I can't believe he actually...kissed me...

She sat still for a few moments, trying to collect her thoughts.

Rukia let out a heavy sigh, lifting herself off Ichigo's bed. She recovered her shoes and slipped them on, before grabbing her packed bag and moving over to exit the room. Opening the door, she immediately heard the noise of downstairs activity. The cluttering and clattering of bowls and plates, cups and saucers. The humming and buzzing of talking. Their words were pretty muffled and distorted due to her distance, but Ichigo's louder, angrier voice was clearly distinctive compared to those of his family's.

After a moment's pause, she padded to the bathroom. She stared into it's mirror. Of course, her mind was far, far from where she was currently standing. Her brain was racing and she was looking through the glass rather than into it. Time seemed to halt. Sound was drowned out. Voices could no longer be heard. Vision was suffocated.

Rukia hadn't seen him at all since the incident. After those sweet kisses he'd fled and not shown his face at all. Ichigo hadn't come up to sit with her, talk to her or even just check up on her. It felt like he'd completely abandoned her. He hadn't even told her that she was well enough to attend school that day – she had to find it out through Isshin. How could someone she'd been inseparable with all this time suddenly...lose interest? Perhaps he did the clichéd Ichigo-type thing. Rushed into something without thinking of the consequences. But then again, why kisses? Ichigo didn't randomly kiss someone then flee…This was all too confusing.

She'd been awake throughout the whole thing. Experienced every single touch of their skin. Battled to prevent herself from caving into temptation. How could he make her feel so alive and then selfishly snatch it all away?…

"You're so vain..." a soft voice broke into her thoughts and she jolted with surprise. She gasped as she saw a figure standing behind her. Although, the bright orange hair was a dead giveaway.

It was remarkable. She hadn't even heard him travel up the stairs nor enter the room. Rukia turned around to face him, ready to speak but having her mouth fail to function. She hadn't seen him at all that morning, and not at all on Sunday after his behavior. It was weird to have him suddenly turn up in front of her. Just where had he been hiding?

Soon, Rukia forgot about trying to talk and instead just looked at him open-mouthed. She focused on his eyes, for they held something which she had never seen before. A type of...delicacy, if you will. An emotion. A feeling. Something quite obvious, yet invisible to those who merely look instead of see. It was hard to describe, but Rukia saw it as a kind of gentleness that reflected the hidden part of his soul. Showing his inner most feelings in a very subtle – hardly visible – way.

"You okay?" he asked, his amber orbs still gripping that strange look.

"Uh...yeah..."