Previously:

"Hey? What's your name, Lady?" The green haired girl asked with curiosity covering her eyes. "I never asked for it."

Rukia looked over at the smaller girl and smiled at her with soft eyes. "I am Rukia. Rukia Kuchiki." She replied.

Nel nodded and faced Ichigo. "And you, scary but nice guy?"

A small vein popped on Ichigo's forehead at the nickname. He growls a bit before answering, "Ichigo. Ichigo Kurosaki."


"Oh," Neliel held out for a few unnecessary seconds, "Considering you don't look like a guy who would enjoy being called Strawberry. I'm guessing you go with the second definition, He Who Protects, right.?"

Ichigo looked down at the little girl. She seemed to have quite a lot of knowledge. Most people when they met him never made a guess that was so dead on. They lazily went with definition one. "Uh," He blinked a few times down at the little girl. "Yeah, your right."

"So, is Rukia your wife? If she is that'd explain why..." The rest of her sentence was mumbled due to the fact that Rukia's hand was placed firmly above it.

"Alright! Let's lock up the house and get to bed! Anyone else tired? I know I am." Rukia let out a nervous laugh as she pretend to yawn and stretch with her unoccupied arm. "So, Neliel," The older woman emphasized trying to signal to keep her mouth shut on anything she might have implied was wrong with Rukia in the short time that they have talked. "Bedrooms?"

"Oh, well, there's three rooms but," The green haired let a small pause before she continued, "There's only one bed." Her big hazel eyes traveled between the raven haired woman and the orange haired man. "You know, maybe we can share it. It's quite large; I used to sleep with my mother and father all the time, when I was younger."

Both Ichigo and Rukia examined the small child with opposite thoughts crossing their minds.

Ichigo was the first to speak up, "What? There is no way in hell…" He was quickly interrupted by Kuchiki woman.

"Nel, will it help you sleep?" She asked the girl, ignoring Ichigo's gaping.

The recently named girl looked up at Rukia with shy eyes, "Well, yeah, it always helped me sleep when I was younger. It'd be nice to have a good nice rest."

Rukia nodded. "Then share, we will." The older woman replied and turned to the man that was currently glaring daggers at her, "Right, Ichigo?" Her deep amethyst eyes sent a look that made Ichigo's skin crawl. How a woman so small could give such a bone chilling look was beyond him.

"Fine, we'll share the stupid bed." He mumbled out.

"What was that?" Rukia asked.

Ichigo glared at the woman who seemed to love tease him. "I SAID FINE!"

Rukia let a chuckle pass her lips, "My, my, Ichigo, no need to shout. You could attract the undead to us with that loud mouth of yours." She mockingly scolded. Nel, who was watching on the side, laughed at their childish acts. She was younger and acted more mature than that.

"I'll go make the bed." She said as she pushed her long green hair into a tight ponytail and walked away from the pair.

Ichigo watched her retreating form. "Why? We're just going to mess it up? People don't sleep like dolls, they move a lot. If you ask me making the be.." Ichigo was on his knees in a second. Rukia had put a decent amount of force when she had kicked him in the back.

"Jeez, Ichigo, I swear. Don't you know when to keep your mouth shut and let someone enjoy the small amount of happiness?"

Ichigo stood back to his normal height. He let out a deep sigh, "Yeah, okay." He scratched the back of his head and looked in the direction Nel had disappeared only minutes before.

"Beds done!" Nel's small voice traveled to them before her actual figure did. She came around the corner in a change of clothes. She now wore plaid pajama pants with a plain white shirt. Both adults looked at her with raised eyebrows.

"I have extra pajamas for you two, if you'd like." She told the two, "Considering the way you currently smell." Both grabbed the front of their shirts and brought them to their face.

When Rukia took a sniff of her own smell she thought she was going to die, she really hadn't realized how bad it was.

When Ichigo smelled himself, he smelt nothing wrong with his currently scent. He glance over at Rukia and the look she had on her face clearly wrote death.

"Plus, if you want I have running water."

Rukia was almost to tears when those words left her mouth. "Really! But how?"

"I went down to the water system place and hooked my house up. It was a lot a work but I got it done." She waved it off as if nothing.

Ichigo didn't really believe a girl of her age could really know how to do such a thing. "And how could you have known how to do such?"

"Hm?" The hazel eyes landed on Ichigo's scowling face. "Oh, when my dad was around he always knew so much about those things. Also, I read about it. With all the time I have I read a lot. I've read so many books and considering that most of the world is dead, I have no interruptions."

Ichigo accepted the answer. It was a pretty realistic answer.

"MAN, I NEED A BATH!" Rukia shouted.

Ichigo scoffed, "Now, who's going to bring the undead to use." He had to admit the book she threw at him, he sort of deserved it. He rubbed the newly acquired bump on his head and looked at the book that now lay on the ground.

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare.

"Huh?" His chocolate brown eyes ran over the name several times before he let his hand stretch out and pick the hard covered book up. "You read Shakespeare?"

A set of amethyst and hazel eyes landed on the orange headed man. Nel responed, "Yeah, it was a pretty good book. All his stuff is neat."

Rukia saw the small spark of joy in his eyes. As a result her eyes softened as she gazed at the man. 'He has always been your favorite, hasn't he, Ichigo?'

"Rukia? Would you like me to show you to the bathroom?" The soft twinkle in her voice broke through the raven haired girls small thoughts. She turned to see Nel looking up at her with a small interest. Quickly, Nel let her gaze rush to Ichigo before she came back to Rukia's deeply colored ones. Rukia saw the implication of Nel's gaze as a lightly colored blush raced across her cheeks, the older woman quickly shook her head and answered her question from earlier, "Aha, yes, I would love to take a bath."

Nel's small giggle didn't reach Ichigo's ears. "Okay, come on." She said as she turned and showed the way to the bathroom.

"Here." The green haired teen pushed the door open with one arm to show Rukia. The small bathroom was perfectly cleaned. The room sparkled and the smell of cleaning products flew into Rukia's nose as she stepped in.

"You're a clean type of person, aren't you?"

"Yeah, my mom used to always call me a cleaning Nazi." Nel smiled at her past memories. Rukia let her hand rest on her shoulder and gave small squeeze. She gave the older woman a reassuring smile. "Have a nice bath." Nel said before exiting the room.

Rukia sighed.


Nel walked back to the living room where Ichigo was seated on the couch, reading the collection of Shakespeare novels and poems. The young teenager saw where he was currently at in the book.

"You're already that far! I was gone for four minutes!" Ichigo looked up at the yelling girl and placed a bookmark at the place he was recently reading.

"I was always know to be a fast reader." He placed the book on his lap. "Where are we sleeping?"

Nel stared at the man in jealousy. She was a pretty medium fast reader but to have gotten nearly halfway through a 1264 page book in less than four minutes is ridiculous.

"Yeah, just follow me." She swiftly turned on her heels and walked in the direction of the of the room. Ichigo followed at a four foot distance.


Rukia gasped as she let her head pop out from under the bath water. Her arms rested on either side of the bath walls as she stared up at the ceiling.

'How could've Nel figured it out?' The petite raven haired girl wondered. 'I guess other woman just …know.'

Rukia tried to come up with a reason the little green haired girl could see such a well hidden secret. Sighing Rukia began to wash off the dirt and muck that was scattered across her body. AS the scent of cherry blossoms and bamboo cascaded across her skin her brain still raced with thoughts of wondering about the knowledgeable girl.

Once her body, face, and hair were fully washed she stepped out of the bath and dried the water droplets that were sprinkled over her body.

With the towel tightly wrapped around her body she stepped to the counter and examined her now clean face. Besides the dark circles under her eyes, her appearance gave nothing else away. Her small stomach began to pull and twist. She rushed to the toilet that sat a few feet from the sink she was recently standing at and let the small content in her stomach release. The acid burned deep in her throat, she squeezed her eyes shut and slowly raised to her feet. Her hand tightened on the edge of the bathroom sink.

When the slight burn of stomach acid subsided, she let her eyes open and saw a small note near the sink along with a tiny bag.

'Mom,

Here's a brand new toothbrush, tube of toothpaste,

hair brush, and the pajama's I promised.

-Neliel.

"Mom?" Rukia reread the letter several times, "Was she calling me her..?"


"I AM NOT YOUR FATHER!

Nel sighed, "Yeah, but you can be my father figure, please!" The pleading girl looked up with saddened eyes and stared straight into Ichigo's fiery chocolate brown eyes.

"I am not falling for that."

As soon as the words fell from his lips, tears gathered at the bottom of her hazel eyes and glistened with the threat of falling. Ichigo felt a pang rush though his heart. Tears were one of his weakness. Crying girls especially. He bit his bottom lip from falling into the depth of giving in. Just as Nel's first tear fell. The door behind them creaked open and Rukia walked in.

The pajamas she wore were slightly more mature than Nel's. She wore a nightgown that flew to her knee's. The deep blue color of it brought her eyes out in the moonlit night. Her dark hair was pulled into one bun that sat at the nap of her neck.

"Mom! Dad is being so mean and unloving!" The teary eyes girl jumped from the bed and into Rukia's arms.

"There, there." Rukia patted her back. "He's just a grouch." She let a small laugh out. "Ichigo, go take a bath, you smell. And it will make you feel better."

"I see nothing wrong with my scent." Ichigo looked away from the petite woman and crossed his arms.

Even with his eyes shut, the intensity of her glare was burning through his head. He felt swear build up and fall down his back. He stood his ground, he would not fall into the trap of her evil glare.

"Please, Ichigo." She said in a slightly pleading voice.

"Fine."

'Damn it!' He always lost the second she used that voice. He left the room with his head held high even with the outcome of being the loser.

Nel flew back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. Rukia sat beside her and stared at the door that was left ajar when the five foot nine man left.

"Hey, Mom?"

"Yes."

The small girl sat up and brought her knees close to her chest and unclosed them in her arms. "You're alright with me calling you that?"

The newly appointed mother nodded to her newly acquired daughter, she let herself smile before comforting her about the earlier situation, "Ichigo will warm up to it quickly. Trust me."

Nel smiled up at her mother and lay back down. She placed her head on the middle pillow that was positioned neatly at the head of the bed. Rukia claimed the right side and silently hugged the girl.

When Ichigo returned, Nel was already fast asleep and Rukia was slowly making it to the same destination. He laid on his back on the unclaimed left side. His hands placed behind his head. He shut his eyes and silently lay there without a single thought.

"Ichigo?"

Said man opened his eyes to look at the small woman who lay on the opposite side of the bed. "Yeah?" He responded.

"I have a question."

He turned to his side to face the woman that was blanketed in darkness. "And that is?"

Rukia tightened her arms slightly around Nel's smaller figure. "Why'd you name her Neliel?" She lifted her head and opened her eyes to look directly at him as he answered.

"Ah," He breathed out. His arm reached over to the night stand that was positioned on his side. And pictured up a small piece of paper and handed it to Rukia. When the paper was in Rukia's hands she quickly realized it was photographic paper. She looked at the picture and saw a small toddler seated on a swing with two small bright green ponytails on the top of her head. The petite woman noticed that the toddler was Nel. "Flip it over."

Rukia did so and saw the perfectly curled writing on the back.

Neliel Tu. Age 3

"Nel is her real name?" Rukia gasped.

Ichigo nodded his head, though she could not see it. "Yeah, I found it while glancing around when she was crying."

"Oh." Was all Rukia could say as she passed back the picture. She then looked at the small girl in her arms. She was so deeply asleep, it must have been so long since she has felt true safety and comfort. Rukia smiled down at the girl, she brushed a small strand of hair from her face.

Closing her eyes Rukia began to fall to her own deep rest. "Good night, Ichigo." She whispered out before the blackness consumed her.

"Night, Rukia." Ichigo said as she fell asleep. He stared at both girls before draping his arm over both. He let his head rest fully on the pillow and let his eyes start to shut as the tiredness set in. He let his own had brush back the one stubborn bang that rest in front of Rukia's face before he let himself get fully consumed. "I'll see you two in the morning." He whispered with a rare smile on his lips.


A/N: Awww, this was a fast little update:)

Now, if you are wondering, because my friend asked me, how old Rukia and Ichigo are.
They are some where in there twentys. I haven't chosen and exact age for the two, yet. I will soon though.

Anyways.! I am glad alot of people liked it.! I love this story and want to continue it.
SO REVIEW.! PLEASE.! :'o

Now a thanks to everyone:
Shunzui: Thank you for being my first review :'] It made me so happy that you read it and that you liked it.! I'm glad you liked the Zombieland references.!
Terms2k1: Well, I hope your not to disappointed that it's an AU.! Thank you so so much for reviewing.! I hope you keep reading and follow the whole story.!
Aizawa Ayumu: Hey.! Thanks for reading and reviewing.! Hope you continue to.!
Red6
: Aw, thank you so much for reviewing and loving it.! I will try my hardest.! Also, thank you for favoriting and alerting my story.! It makes me so happy.!
lilica: Thank you:) Originally, Nel wasn't going to be in it. I had an OC in her place but ..it was a really crappy OC. So, Nel occupied it instead.! Sorry D: But I'm glad you liked it.!
OHSHCchick
: Ahaha, I'm glad you thought it was epic.! I haven't heard from you in a while.! Ahaha, I still laugh everytime I think of how we found out we knew the same person.! Ahaha, Hope you liked this chapter.

To People Who Complimented Me Via Text Message:
Betty:
Ahaha, I'm glad you liked this story.! :o THANK YOU FOR THE NAME AGAIN.!
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Thanks to those who Favorite or Alerted:
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