Author's Note: Hello my dears, thought I'd get this chapter out a little earlier than intended. I was thinking of keeping to weekly updates but I'm too excited! This chapter's better than the last in terms of movement and plot, methinks, and I hope y'all enjoy it. I'd appreciate feedback on the story, such as what you want more of and how my writing can be improved.

I'd also like to quickly announce some things. Firstly: I don't actually remember what Inoue's brother's name in the manga is, so I've decided on 'Sako'. Secondly: a big Thank You to those who added me to the C2 thingies, I'm not too familiar with the whole community thing, but I take it as a huge compliment to be added to one.

Enjoy the show, folks.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. Tite Kubo, that genius, does.

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Coffee, Cars, and Kurosaki

Chapter 2

"And whenever July came round, we'd all go there again." he said.

It was the first time in a month since Inoue let her worries fly away so freely. She sank into a relaxed state as she watched Ichigo talk fervently about the summer season; about the hut that he and his family would go to every year. It was because she'd rarely any time to herself these days, what with the moving house and her brother's sickness, but at the moment she felt a sense of ease wash over her. If only somehow she could take him home and have him talk to her all the time! Listening to Ichigo's story about his childhood brought back memories of when she was a little girl, when every day then her father would buy her and Sako two scoops of ice cream each with a chocolate flake, vanilla for him and strawberry for her.

"Y'see, it's hidden in the woods, so we get total peace and quiet. When my dad's not ruining it for the rest of us, anyway." he exclaimed. "He's a total nutjob."

She laughed at the comment. "Why is he a nutjob? How do I know that he's one who's a nutjob and not you, Ichigo-kun?" Like they say, like father, like son, right? Inoue smiled up sideways at him, wrinkling her nose.

Ichigo pushed her playfully, feigning a convincing expression of outrage, but shortly after smiling. "Because I am almighty Zeus, King of Gods." he boomed triumphantly, but it wasn't long before their banter was cut short by Inoue coming to a stop.

"What?" the orange-haired boy asked, fearing that he'd said something to offend her. Frankly, the conversation was going quite well until then, and Ichigo saw much potential for it to bloom into flirtation, he was enjoying it profusely, and it was definitely a direction which he wanted to go down. It was refreshing to be involved in a conversation where the other person wasn't dumb or an inanimate object (He talked to plants sometimes). Plus, he couldn't quite remember the last time he'd ever talked about the hut in the woods with anyone- that beloved hut- and before he'd known it, there he was telling the cute girl beside him about his childhood traditions.

"Oh, it's nothing, it's just that this is my turning." Inoue said with a hint of defeat in her voice. It was noticeable even to an ant that she didn't want to leave just yet, but alas, sometimes we all had to do things we didn't want to, like vacuuming, she sidetracked to herself.

"Ah, well..." the young man started, placing his right hand upon the crown of his head before continuing, meaning to scratch it. Inoue smiled subtly at the action, she'd seen him do it earlier in the Detention Room too. It must have been an automatic response action, but whatever the case, it was endearing, especially how it was accompanied now by Ichigo pursing his big peachy lips. An image came to mind, and it was hilarious, causing Inoue to burst out laughing so unexpectedly that she might have been possessed by a Hollow. Gradually, her laughter become frenzied.

"What now?" Ichigo exclaimed, shocked at the sudden imposition. When Inoue didn't reply due to her doubled over with laughter he just shrugged, feeling a slight tinge of fear that his hair had turned bright purple. It was unexplainable how whenever people were laughing at him, Ichigo always imagined it was because his hair had turned purple. Something traumatically purple must have happened when he was younger to have caused the phobia.

"Ichigo-kun, can you make that face again?" Inoue asked in between bouts of giggles as she leaned on his shoulder. "If I didn't know better I'd have said you were a human version of Chappy the rabbit!"

"Inoue!" Ichigo scowled. How dare she! Ichigo wanted to kill that thing whenever he saw it, which was very often in downtown Japan, usually in the hands of those dumb girls he sometimes had the pleasure of talking to, so imagine his outrage at being compared to it! The young girl's laughter had ceased considerably now, but her face was so red that it was now his turn to laugh. "You'll pay for that." he growled. Of course, he'd have to think of a good comeback in due time, and who knew when that was going to happen.

"Sorry, Ichigo." she smiled, shaking her head and leaning on him a little closer.

"And to think, I was beginning to like you." he joked, rolling his eyes.

"What?" Inoue froze and backed off, a look of panic and heartbreak in her eyes, at which Ichigo immediately stabbed himself and bumbled over his words to explain what he'd just said he didn't mean.

The fiery-haired girl refused to look at him and cast her eyes to the ground. "It's okay, Ichigo." she sighed. "I guess I'll never really have any friends..."

Wait, Ichigo thought, weren't Renji and that black-haired girl her friends? They'd only left them about five minutes ago, or had he imagined it? Ichigo hooked Inoue into his body with his left arm in an attempt to persuade her that they in fact were the best friends that could have ever been, but he soon realised that the girl was grinning. "Got ya!" Inoue squealed. Ichigo frowned and started tickling her sides, making it impossible for her to resist by locking her arms in with his.

"Hahaha! No, stop! You don't understand! It's unbearable, Ichigo!"

"What's that? You're screaming, I can't hear you. You wanted more tickle? Okay." he said, and ruffled her under the arms and sides even harder. "But since I'm getting a little tired, this can't go on."

"Kurosaki Ichigo, I will not let this go lightly!" Inoue wailed half in surrender, the other half being somewhere between excitement and vengeance, as he slowly let her go, his hand brushing her hair. The two of them looked at each other in a moment of silence before time recommenced and they smiled awkwardly. "Anyway, I was going," Inoue said, reluctantly breaking the moment. "I've really got to take care of things at home."

"Sure. See you tomorrow?" Ichigo said, feeling slightly light-headed, and handing her bag over, which he'd been carrying. She must have had about a gazillion books in there, yet it was deceptively small. "And hey," he added, causing Inoue to turn her head round, "I know a great soba place nearby; you want to go there with me someday for lunch?"

Inoue blinked starkly a few times, not sure how to take the comment, but her voice rushed ahead of her and said a very clear "Yes" before she could stop it.

"Great. Take care, Inoue. Beware of the tickle monster when you sleep." he chuckled.

"I will," she shouted back to him, "anything to see your Chappy face again, Chappy-chan!"

Tripping slightly in his step Ichigo decided that it was best not to turn around, for he was afraid his ego might have induced another tickling attack on his new friend.

"I can't stand him. I nearly killed him today after he made that stupid Chappy remark. The guy makes my blood boil, and the thing is I don't even know why."

"Rukia, breathe."

"And if that wasn't bad enough, I'm partnered with him in Biology. Why am I punished like this? Who's punishing me? Because when I find them I'm going to kick them all the way to Soul Society."

"Isn't Soul Society--"

"Yes, yes it is. And exactly."

"Oh." Inoue feebly hummed, thinking that she shouldn't really say anything more on the subject. Getting Rukia to calm down was like saying "Please don't erupt" to Mount Etna, the volcano in Italy in the middle of boiling July. In other words- impossible.

"So tell me about this Ichigo! He seems nice, loved the way he was staring at you like you were the Queen of Sheba today in Bio."

Inoue rolled her eyes. "Rukia!" she gasped, a little flushed. "But was he really?" I was too busy observing the sexual tension between you and Renji. "Anyway, Ichigo-kun and I talked all the way home. You know he looks like Chappy when he pouts?" Audible laughter and a murmur of admiration were heard through Inoue's headphones. "I thought you'd like that." she smiled.

"Let's hope he's nothing like your last boyfriend, Tsuzuka." Rukia added after she stopped laughing. "He was a jerk and a half."

As soon as she said this Inoue's instant messenger program buzzed and on the screen were the words 'Ichigami would like to add you to his/her friends list'.

"I think he just added me." Inoue announced, excited at the new online presence. She clicked on the 'Accept' button and was a few minutes later greeted by the words 'hi Inoue, its me, tickl monster'. Beaming to herself, she typed in a response.

Lotus Girl says: hey ichigo. what's up?

Ichigami says: not much apart from my history assignment. I needed some help and renji said I shud ask u. he gave me your email address.

Lotus Girl says: what a feeble excuse to talk to me, ichigo :) what is it?

"I'm talking to him about the History." Inoue informed her friend, who was jumping up and down on her seat from her webcam window in the computer screen, acting out kisses and dramatic fainting scenes, like those ones in ridiculous anime shows.

Ichigami says: not sure if I can write abt authors. was the topic strictly 'historical leadrs'?

Lotus Girl says: no, it's fine. i asked kurotsuchi-sensei the same thing. i'm writing bout tht british street artist, banksy. you?

Ichigami says: Ive heard of that guy actualy, didnt kno u wer into the whole strt art movement. I was thinkin of doin franz kafka. not literally if u kno wat I mean :P ok thnks Inoue, Ive got to go. see u soon mrs. clever pants.

Lotus Girl says: ok ichigo, bye xx

Ichigami says: thnks for the kisses, my lips are tingling. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Before Inoue had the chance to even think about replying with some sort of clever, elusive retort, Ichigo had logged off. She recalled how close they had been earlier in the day, laughing and touching, leaving her with a tingling feeling all of her own, until she realised that the tingling extended to her stomach, and had become much more of a rumble. Damn it, she realised, it was already dinner time? Somewhere in her flat, an uneaten lunch was sitting from earlier that day when she'd forgotten to bring it to school. It looked like she was having omelette and onigiri for dinner- again.

It was half past nine at night and Renji was rapidly becoming drained of energy. Dinner had gone amiss due to the pile-up of clients from the evening. The only break he'd received was a five minute one at six, in which Kurosaki had called him about the History assignment, something which was at the utmost bottom of his list of important things right now.

He sloppily unzipped his blue overall, sighed, and then meandered out of the top half, leaving his tattooed chest bare for the entire world to see. Well, 'world' actually referred to no-one, because no one else was in the workshop this late. Damn that Shunsui for making me do overtime for the third time this week, he thought. Sure, he'd informed Inoue of the job vacancy at the place for her own benefit- because he knew she was job hunting. However, part of the reason why he'd specifically mentioned Blossom Garage was because the accumulation of jobs ultimately ended up on him, and it was by no means a desirable position to be in at that place. Being an assistant to Shunsui at the same time as being a fully fledged mechanic was like cooking and rewiring an electric plug simultaneously, whilst balancing a pot of hot water on your head. And in high heels.

Renji was bending down to pick up his work bag when he heard the entrance of the garage door open. It was behind a wall from where he was standing, so he took the liberty of shouting that the place was closed.

"What? Already?" a female voice cried out.

"I said we're closed!" he repeated, "And it's late, lady!" Renji neared the divide and peeked over the wall at whoever was standing there. "You'd better leave, I'm closing up..."

He took a long glance at the woman before him, attired from head to toe in black. Renji noticed that there was something awfully strange about her, that she wasn't any normal citizen, and it was even stranger than she was here.

"Like I said, you'd better leave, we're closing up." he said once more.

The lady looked at him from above the top of her thick-framed spectacles. "I'm looking for the owner of this place." she said, "I have some important business with him. My name is Ise Nanao; I'm an old friend of his."

"Sorry, he's not here. He's left for today. You can try his mobile phone."

The woman paused slightly, focusing her stare on a patch on the wall before averting her eyes to Renji. "Okay, thanks for your help." she exclaimed, noticeably defeated. "I'll try again tomorrow. But if you see him, could you tell him I was here? This is my cell number, it's urgent, you see."

Renji took the small piece of paper from the woman and put it in the pocket of his overalls. "I'll do that." he said. 'Find out what happens in tomorrow's episode of Renji's World', he mused to himself as Ise Nanao left. Seriously, his life was like something out of The Truman Show when Truman didn't know he was being filmed- strange harbouring on detrimental. Suddenly he was reminded of the fact that he was alone in an empty garage on a Monday night when his stomach growled, hungry as someone who gave up food for Lent. Sometimes Renji wondered why he wasn't born rich.

It was a busy night at Itsu Soba that Monday, one of the busiest that had ever been. Matsumoto Rangiku and Ichimaru Gin sat in a corner sipping warm sake and laughing under their breaths, occasionally leaning in to whisper to one another, and then falling about in laughter once again. Fortunately for them and what they represented, which was the highly-reputable faculty demographic at Karakura High, Kuchiki Rukia totally missed their presence as she wandered into the restaurant by herself.

She'd previously become restless and no longer felt like doing what was probably on everyone else's mind- the stupid History assignment. Sitting alone in her room was driving her crazy. Seriously, how hard could it be to learn about a bunch of dead guys? Rukia had never thought the answer to that question could have been 'Very' with a capital 'V', yet there she'd been, ready to smash her face against the wall out of frustration over not being able to identify Henry VIII's third wife's brother's cousin's dog's name.

A slight exaggeration, but viable nonetheless, especially if you understood the complex logistics of high school History with Kurotsuchi Mayuri-sensei. Rukia could have sworn the guy was a lunatic fresh out of a mental institution.

Anyway, as she decided against drowning herself in the toilet, Itsu Soba sprang to mind. It was her meditation spot, somewhere she'd always gone to get away from it all. The entrance was concealed from the world behind a thick mass of willow leaves, and it was true that the path there was lined with stinging nettles, but it was well worth it once that path ended. Stinging nettle had no chance. Adorned with its own terrace overlooking a lake, it was the perfect place to relax alone as well as with company. There was one thing that Rukia could never become when she was at Itsu Soba, and that was angry.

However, she was soon to be tested on that claim, as a familiar face walked in through the door five minutes after her own entrance. The man barely seemed to fit in with the rest of the crowd there. He was wearing a pair of baggy jeans with a white vest and jean jacket, and there seemed to be oil smeared across his cheek. If no one had known better, they would have thought he was from the kitchen out back or something. Luckily, several people recognised him as Abarai Renji from Karakura High, where he was quite a popular face. Why he was dressed like that though, they'll never know.

"Oh hey there Toru-san." Rukia greeted as the head waiter approached her.

"Good evening, Kuchiki Rukia-san."

"Oh, come on, Toru, I've told you many times, please just call me Rukia. Don't make me get my nana on you now. We're all well aware that she packs quite the punch."

The old man chuckled, shaking his head. "Such a funny girl, Kuchiki Rukia-san. I have come over to intrude ever so humbly."

Rukia smiled at the man, knowing that nothing he could ever impose on her would be too much. "What is it? Did you guys run out of soba? I mean, I jumped into the lake ten years ago after you told me the same thing, I can't make any promises that it won't happen again, Toru."

Toru laughed heartily. "No, we have plenty in stock. What I've come to ask is: would you mind sharing your table with the young man who's just arrived? We're awfully crowded and there're no tables free, and--"

"Don't be silly, it's fine." Rukia answered before the man could finish his sentence. As far as Rukia was concerned, he hadn't even needed to come over. From all perspectives, she couldn't have possibly imagined any harm from sharing a table with absolutely anyone at that current moment in time, or any other actually. Food was food; we all had to eat, right? And she wasn't exactly the snooty type when it came to dining either. Rukia wasn't one of those people who reprimanded you in a restaurant if your child was making too much noise. Nor was she one of those people who liked to work the life and soul out of the waiters and waitresses without or before giving a tip. When the indolence was on their behalf, then sure, but she always rewarded honesty. It was a trait of her personality that she got to show very rarely- another reason why she loved Itsu Soba so much- because it allowed her to be herself.

No one could have taken that away from her, she thought to herself, gazing at the reflection of the fireflies on the water outside- not History assignments, not Death Gods, not even Abarai Renji.

"Rukia, is that you?" came a deep voice from behind her, and she immediately recognised it. It was like she'd summoned him by thinking his name or something, for goodness' sakes.

End of Chapter 2