Disclaimer: You already know…

Previously…

Masaki and Yuzu smiled and nodded, "Of course! We'll make sure you're as comfortable here as you were in France."

"Merci! I really appreciate it," Rukia bowed down politely. "Anyways, I think it's about time I got ready for bed. Please excuse me. Oh, and one day, I'll make sure I make you all some crepes!" She grinned brightly and made her way down the hall, up the stairs.

"What's a 'crepe?'" Renji blinked and stuffed some mochi in his mouth.

"I don't know? French crap? Some sort of food?" answered Ichigo.

"You don't say?"

Yuzu frowned, "It's not crap. It's a very tasty pancake like food in France. You can it eat for breakfast or as a dessert. It's such a nice food!" She got up from the table and started to clean up the empty dishes.

Both Ichigo and Renji kept their uninterested faces, and shrugged at each other.

Chapter 4: Bonjour!

"Ja ne! Onii-chan! Rukia-chan!" Yuzu waved to both said teens as she and Karin walked the opposite direction as they wanted to walk with their friends. Karin simply murmured a "bye" and walked along.

Ichigo waved his hand in the air and continued walking, while Rukia smiled and said something in French before following him.

The morning had gone by fast; except for the part where Ichigo had to get Rukia to wake up… that scene was better left forgotten. Other than that, everything passed by rather quickly, and now they were just walking to school.

They had been walking along side Ichigo's sisters until it was time split up since the twins wanted to meet up with their friends.

So that only left the two teens –unless Renji happened to pop out from somewhere.

"Well, I guess that gives us some time to actually talk." Rukia yawned silently to herself and rubbed her eyes. "Oh, and thanks for offering me your room, not that you did it willingly, but I was just too polite to accept it. So, you're lucky I'm a kind soul." There was a hint sarcasm and mock coming from her remark, causing Ichigo to roll his eyes.

Ichigo made a "che" sound and grumbled. "Whatever."

Flashback…

As Rukia made her way out of the bathroom, she sighed and walked toward the end of the where her room was.

Before she could blink, Isshin magically appeared right beside her with a frighteningly happy looking grin plastered on his face. She jumped a little, but relaxed when she noticed it was just Ichigo's crazy father. "Uh… Isshin-san, I didn't see you there."

"Rukia-chaaan, call me Otou-san!" he said, whining. "Here, I'll show you where you'll be staying tonight!" he said enthusiastically, slipping in front of her.

Isshin grinned wider, rather mischievously, and led her to Ichigo's room. "Rukia-chan, you'll be in Ichigo's room while he takes the guest room. The guest room is way too small and unfriendly," he said, gesturing her into the room.

"Oi! You never asked me for permission! Don't go around deciding shit, old man!" said Ichigo, marching up behind them from the stairs while glaring at his father.

"I don't need your permission. You live under my house, and I pay the house bills. So I can do whatever I want. You may be mad now, but you'll understand one day if you have children. Now pack up and get out, you disappointment! Unless you want to share the room with Rukia-chan," replied Isshin, somewhat suggestively, wiggling his caterpillar eyebrows.

Ichigo flushed, "Shut up! And what do you mean if I have kids? Not that I want kids, but still- why am I even talking to you? Get out!"

Isshin ignored him and jumped up and kicked the orange-haired teen into the bedroom. "Get to the packing ma' boy! Enough chit chat!"

"Uh, Isshin-san, I can take the guest room. I don't have many things anyways." Rukia lifted up her suit case and bag.

"Ha! Nonsense, a guest must always be treated like royalty. Plus, I think there are ghosts in there," he said, pointing into the guest room. He tried to make it sound "spooky," but no one was fooled.

Rukia rolled her eyes in her mind. She couldn't remember the last time someone tried to convince her to do something by using little tricks; unless it was Hisana. "Don't worry I'm not scared of ghosts," she said walking down to the end of the hall, opening the door to the so-called haunted room. "It's fine really, Isshin-san. And I think royalty is a bit too much." She looked back and gave him an assuring smile.

The older man sighed, "I guess if that's what you want, and for you my dear, you are royalty! Oh, and if you ever hear anything strange in there, don't be shy to sleep with Ichigo in his room! I'm sure my straight son won't mind," said Isshin, putting extra emphasis on "straight." He winked at Ichigo, laughing evilly when his son sent him a death glare.

Before she knew it, Isshin flew past her line of vision when he was kicked down the hall by Ichigo and had almost fallen down the stairs.

"Shut the fuck up! I hope you fall down the stairs you old goat!"

Rukia lifted a single brow and chuckled before closing the bedroom door behind her. This was too amusing.

End of flashback…

Rukia snorted at the memory. Isshin was still as awkward as ever. It was funny to watch him and Ichigo fight and bicker, even though it was weird. Well, nothing in the Kurosaki household was normal. Now, that was for sure.

"So, does Renji always come over?" she asked, trying to break the silence.

Ichigo lifted his brow and turned toward her, tilting his head downwards to actually be able to look at her. "Yeah, he says he has nothing better to do than to bug me. It's like he practically lives at my house."

"I see nothing's changed in that area." She smiled at the thought. When they were little, Renji always came over to Ichigo's house to play and just hang around. "How's his aunt these days?" Renji's parents died when he was a baby, so he was raised by his aunt and uncle. But his uncle was always on business so it was just his aunt most of the time. She was pretty young, she could have been mistaken as his sister, she remembered.

"Eh, I guess she's doing fine. She still looks young, but she's getting pretty old though. She's like… thirty-four now? Oh, and she has twins now, a boy and a girl. They're five years old; fraternal twins. The boy's name is Takumi, and the girl's name is Haruko."

She nodded her head, "I'll make sure to say hi sometime. I want to see her twins. They must be cute!"

Ichigo shrugged and looked up at the sky, "Takumi is a bit bratty, and Haruko is really shy and innocent; complete opposites, kind of like Karin and Yuzu. Renji forced me to babysit with him once when they were three, and it was a nightmare. The little guy didn't like my hair, nor did he like Renji's hair, and started pulling on both of our hair at the same time. He was pretty strong for a toddler. Then when it was supposed to be nap time for them, but me and Renji ended up falling asleep and I woke up with black permanent marker all over my forehead. Takumi claimed that he wanted to put 'tattoos' on my forehead like Renji's. Then for Renji, he cut Renji's hair short, only up to his shoulders 'cause Renji woke up before he finished. The brat said he wanted to make his hair spiky like mine. So we were stuck like that for awhile. The permanent marker was hard to get off, and Renji's hair took awhile to grow back."

Rukia held in a laugh as she listened. It was nice to hear the misadventures of Ichigo and Renji young teen days. "How could I have missed out on this amazing life changing moment?" she said, bursting out laughing.

Ichigo glared at her, "Shut up! It's not funny. What if he took your Chappy stuffed animal and cut it up into little pieces?"

Now the laughing on Rukia's side stopped as she froze in place, her facial expression slowly changing very grave. "Don't you dare even say that!"

"Well, that's too bad. I already did," he said, amused.

She hissed at him, and crossed her arms, "Hmph, I'll get you back later, Kurosaki."

She turned her head and looked away as he shrugged and rolled his eyes.

Both teens walked silently together for the next few minutes until they heard some from footsteps behind them.

It was a group of girls, three to be precise, who were presumably from Karakura high school -considering their uniforms. They whispered as they passed by, and Rukia could only catch a little of what they were saying. It was something on the lines of, "Is that Kurosaki? What is that girl doing with him? Isn't she scared to be near him? She's not pretty enough to be walking with him."

Rukia smirked at the first few questions as it seemed that it wasn't just her who thought he looked like a delinquent. However, the last thing the girls said made her growl, causing them to look away. So he also had admirers too? That was something she didn't expect. Although, she did have to admit, he was pretty hot, not that she would tell him. He was almost six feet, and had some pretty decent muscles, but that was besides the point.

Now at the school's main gate, Rukia started getting butterflies. She had never actually gone to a public school before except for her early years before she moved to France. She had been put into private schools ever since she was seven and was put into one boarding school, but never a public school [but that didn't mean she didn't know how public school works]. Byakuya insisted that she went to an all girls boarding school while in Japan, but she had gone against it saying she wanted a normal Japanese lifestyle.

There were many things in Japan that were different from the schools in France. That's why it was Ichigo and Renji's job to show her around and teach her things. She basically shared all her classes with both of them, except for the advanced classes and electives. She had three of them in total, math, art, and English.

"Oi, Rukia!" Rukia was snapped out of her thoughts when Ichigo called for her. "You have to change your shoes first." He lifted a pair of slipper like shoes to show her, and she tilted her head a bit.

"Uwabaki?" She lifted a finger in the air after realizing what she had forgotten. She lifted her own pair from her bag and quickly kicked off the shoes she had on. She attempted to put on the uwabaki, but it was a bit irritating. Either the part where her heel was rolled down along with her foot causing irritation, or her toes were against the front of the shoe. She growled and fussed around with the slipper, trying to put it on correctly, only to fail badly. She heard a sigh before Ichigo pushed her down on the bench and took her slipper.

"Here, I'll do it." Ichigo knelt down and held onto Rukia's ankle, gently slipping her foot into the shoe with ease. "There, easy as cake. I don't see how you struggled," he said, smirking at her blush in embarrassment.

"Shut up!" She hit him with her bag playfully and stood up, stomping away before tripping on her feet.

Ichigo's immediate reaction was to grab her arm, but someone beat him to it. "Heh, it seems you finally picked a girl from your fan club and brought her to school. Now that's a start. You even put on her shoes for her. How cute?"

Rukia's face had met with a hard muscular chest as she started to fall. She wasn't able to see who her "savior" was. But once the guy started talking, she lifted up her head only to find a teen with bright blue wild hair and an arrogant smirk plastered on his face.

"Yeah, whatever. Go back to your cat-nip, Grimmjow," said Ichigo, frowning. The guy called Grimmjow just kept smirking.

"Well, I have to give you credit. She's a cute one, where'd you find her? I don't think I've ever seen her around here," he said, looking down at her and winking.

Rukia blinked and jumped out of his grasp. She cleared her throat and just smiled politely at him, "Uh, thank you for catching me. My name is Kuchiki Rukia and it's a pleasure to meet you."

Grimmjow smirked even wider if it were possible. "She's polite too." He stretched out his hand, "The name's Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez [Jeagerjaques], and the pleasure is all mine, m'lady."

She gave him her hand reluctantly, and he gladly took it, gently landing a kiss on top of her tiny pale hand. As he was about to say something flirtatious, Ichigo interrupted their moment. "Just leave her alone, Grimmjow. She's new here. You can flirt with her some other time 'cause we have to get to class."

"Oh? Some other time you say? Heh, I think I'll take you on that offer," Grimmjow chuckled and winked at Rukia one last time, "I'll see you later, babe. Maybe next time we can talk a little longer without having him ruining the mood," he said gesturing to Ichigo before walking off.

Rukia flushed at the thought, she couldn't be thinking about things such as guys right now! She just got here, and she had to adjust before hanging out with guys and getting distracted! So to stop herself from side-tracked thoughts, she started fiddling with the Chappy key chain hanging on her bag.

Ichigo scowled and scratched his head, frustrated. "Rukia, you've got to watch who you talk to. Karakura's full of douchebags and assholes, so don't get yourself tangled with them. Even though Grimmjow is okay, he can still be a douche…," he sighed and looked at her. "I guess we better get going to class," he said, waiting for her response, but when he didn't get one, he grabbed her wrist and started to drag her along with him, not forcefully though.

"Oi! What are you-" she grabbed his hand and tried to pry it off her wrist.

"Well, you were distracted and I want to get to class before the bell rings."

She half-frowned and half-pouted, but soon all those thoughts were left behind when she noticed all the stares and whispers directed at her and Ichigo as they walked down the crowded hall. Guys were giving jealous glares, girls were gossiping and whispering, perverts were doing what they did best, and a single raven haired geek with a sewing kit lifted his spectacles. The reflection of the light shined in the lens of his glasses as she passed him, making her cover her eyes with her hand.

The weird geek guy raised his eye brows and walked up to Ichigo. "Oi, Kurosaki. Did you bring in the research papers?"

Ichigo stopped in front of the door to class 2-3 and nodded before sliding it open. He walked in with Rukia and the geek guy following behind.

In the corner, Rukia saw Renji talking to a girl with dark spiky layered hair. She looked familiar, and then something clicked in Rukia's mind. I wonder… she thought. She felt Ichigo's grip loosen and she broke out of his grasp. She walked towards Renji and waved at him, and he smiled back. "Hey, it seems you really are in our class," he said, sighing and scratching the back of his head.

"Is that a bad thing?" She frowned playfully and then turned to the girl he was talking to who was staring at her curiously. Rukia turned her and asked, "Not to be rude, but may I ask you a question?"

The girl shrugged, "Sure."

Rukia smiled, "Might you be Arisawa Tatsuki?"

The girl blinked in surprise, "Yeah, why? Did Ichigo or Renji say something bad about me?" She quickly glared at Renji.

Renji shook his head quickly, causing Rukia to laugh. "No, it may sound weird, but I used to live here in Karakura before I moved to France. I don't know if you remember me, but I'm that short bunny loving girl who used to beat up Ichigo and Renji with you and Orihime-chan," she said casually.

Immediately Tatsuki's face brightened up, "Oh, I remember you! I can't believe I didn't notice, er... sorry, um what's your name again?"

"Kuchiki Rukia. Just call me Rukia. It's a pleasure to meet you again, Arisawa-san."

Tatsuki grinned and held out her hand. "The pleasure is all mine, and it's Tatsuki. Just Tatsuki, I hate formalities." Rukia gladly took it and smiled.

"How touching...," Renji snorted and pretended to look out the window. Both girls looked at him, but decided to just ignore him since he was a waste of time."So, is Orihime-chan in this class too?"

Tatsuki nodded and leaned against her desk, "Yeah, she's just late today. And if you remember how she adores food, then the answer to why she's late would be her lunch," she said, leaning back onto her desk.

Rukia blinked, "Her lunch?"

"Yup, she spends extra time on her lunch. And just so you know, if she offers you food, don't take it." Rukia nodded with a brow raised high. When she was about to ask why, someone interrupted her.

"Tatsuki-chan!" squealed a busty auburn haired girl as she ran up to Tatsuki with a big smile. "Look, I thought of two new recipes! I hope you can come over tonight and try them!" she said, handing the other girl an open notebook.

Tatsuki glanced at Rukia and shrugged, "I don't know, Hime. I have practice tonight." She smiled apologetically and put her hand on the bubbly girl's shoulder.

Orihime smiled, "That's okay! I'll bring in some for lunch tomorrow so you can try it! It really is yummy! Just think, octopus buns with stuffed horse-radish and bitter melon with a yummy sweetened condensed milk sauce. Doesn't that sound amazing? My mouth's watering just thinking about it!" She practically drooled as she swung back and forth.

Rukia sweat-dropped and smiled on the side politely. Orihime, finally noticing her, turned around and grinned, "Oh, hello, sorry I didn't see you there. Well, you must be new. I'm Inoue Orihime!" she exclaimed, smiling. She leaned closer to look at Rukia's face more clearly. She then blinked and started to stare at Rukia quizzically.

"Hmm... Have we met before?" Orihime put a finger to her chin.

The raven haired girl had to think for a minute before replying, "Uh, yeah. I'm Kuchiki Rukia, we used to be friends when we were young."

It took several seconds before the other girl responded, "Oh! Kuchiki-san! I remember that name! If I'm right, you love rabbits and have a sister named Hisana-san and a brother-in-law named... Byakushi was it?" she said, again placing her finger on her chin and looking up. She scrunched her eyebrows together trying to remember.

Rukia tried hard to hold in a laugh, "Byakushi" used to be a nickname they would call him to piss him off. "It's Byakuya. Byakushi was a nickname that you, me and Tatsuki made up. And please call me, Rukia."

Tatsuki chuckled loudly next to Orihime while the girl herself giggled. "Ah, that was it." She smiled and then looked around. "Ochi-sensei isn't here yet. She's pretty late today. Don't you think?"

"Yeah, I saw her walking around in the halls, but she hasn't shown up to class yet," said the weird geek dude from before, walking over with Ichigo and some other guys trailing behind. He sent a nod towards Orihime, Tatsuki and Renji before turning his attention to Rukia. "It doesn't seem like we've met before, and I never got to introduce myself. I'm Ishida Uryu, nice to meet you." He held out his hand to her, which she gladly took.

"It's nice to meet you Ishida-kun. I'm Kuchiki Rukia." She took his hand and shook it lightly.

"It's odd that you're here in the classroom before Ochi-sensei even arrives, I suppose it's a good to get a head start at meeting new people," said Uryu, to which Rukia nodded, letting go of his hand and taking notice of the people behind him. There was a large guy behind him with tan skin and a very fit body, and two other scrawny guys. One had light brownish hair and the other had dark hair and he seemed more interested in his phone than anything.

The light brownish haired guy's eyes glistened when he saw Rukia, and instantly jumped over. "Why hello there, I don't think we have met yet," he said, picking up her hand and gently lifting it up to his lips. "I don't see how I, Asano Keigo, could have missed such a beautiful celestial maiden from heaven. Please forgive me my gorgeous goddess...," He kissed the top of her hand and looked up mischievously at her.

She "giggled" and blushed, "Oh, you flatter me so, Asano-kun." She giggled some more and batted her eyelashes at Keigo.

Ichigo and Renji on the side rolled their eyes and gagged at Rukia's act. At this point, it seems like Keigo will become her official stalker.

"How about after school, we can go to the club and have some fun-" Before Keigo could finish, Tatsuki's foot met with his face causing him to fall over with a nose bleed. She glared at him on the floor, "Don't even think about it, or touch her." Telling from Keigo's face, he wasn't just seeing Tatsuki, but her flames and demons as well.

"The she-devil speaks!" he cried, cowering back and crawling away.

"Nice," said Renji, sitting up from the window sill and crossing his arms in satisfaction.

"Okay, everybody get in your seats!" All the students turned toward the front of the classroom to see Ochi-sensei enter the room with her usual book. She scanned the room until her eyes set on Rukia, "Kuchiki-san please come to the front."

Rukia quickly obliged and walked up to the front of the room while everyone else settled down at their desks.

The teacher cleared her throat, "I think all of you have probably already noticed, but we a new student." Ochi-sensei gestured to Rukia who smiled politely.

"Bonjour! Je m'appelle Rukia! S'il vous plait prendre soin de moi!" Sometimes she spoke in French by accident, but other times she spoke in French for the fun of it just to mess with people's minds. And in this case, she was doing it for the fun of it. Everyone looked at her, confused. It was amusingly evil.

Ochi-sensei laughed and scratched her head, "Uh, Kuchiki-san is from France. She said, 'Hello, My name is Rukia. Please take care of me!'"

It took a minute before everyone started cheering and greeting her.

"Okay, why don't you sit next to Kurosaki since you two seem to know each other?" That's when all the girls in the room glared at Rukia, and all the guys at Ichigo. The raven haired teen lifted her brow and quickly took her seat. She noticed Ichigo was rolling his eyes, and she stuck her tongue out at him playfully. He frowned and turned to the front of the room where Ochi-sensei was standing and ignored her. She chuckled before doing the same thing.

What they didn't notice was the auburn haired girl watching them intently from behind.

Later during lunch...

"Rukia!" called Tatsuki, grinning. Orihime waved and smiled brightly while holding a wrapped bento in her other hand. "Join us for lunch!"

The raven haired teen smiled at them and nodded. They waited for her to reach them before exiting the class room, "There are some girls we want to introduce you to. They're really nice, but kind of strange. Just be careful, one likes to coddle you in her giant-"

"Rukia-chan!" Suddenly Rukia was engulfed into a giant bear hug. "I haven't seen you in such a long time! How are you?"

"You and Rangiku-san already know each other?" asked Orihime, blinking.

Rukia attempted to nod, but failed. Rangiku nodded her head and squeezed the other girl harder, "Yeah, during my trip to France, my uncle had a business meeting to go to and he said his business partner would let me hang out at his estate while he was gone. And that's where I met Rukia."

Orihime then clasped her hands together happily, "That's great! Now we all know each other! Oh, wait, where's Hinamori-san?"

"She said she had some business to attend to, whatever that happens to be." After noticing Rukia's lack of movement, Rangiku let go of her and shook her. "Rukia-chan, you okay there?" to which the other girl nodded and slowly took a deep breath of need air.

"Please do not do that again, I thought I was going to die," said Rukia, heaving for breath.

Rangiku laughed, "Sorry, hon'! I just can't help it," they all shared a light hearted laugh and headed outside to eat under a shady tree.

"Fresh air!" exclaimed Rukia as she walked outside. She followed the other girls to "their tree" as they put it. She sat down and leaned by on the trunk of the tree while Tatsuki, Orihime and Rangiku followed suit. "I can only take bad B.O. for so long," she said laughing.

The other girls nodded and started to take out their lunches. Rukia had a simple bento that was filled with half Japanese and half French food. It was kind of weird, but she preferred her lunches that way, even back in France. "What's that, Rukia-chan?" asked Orihime whose eyes were glued to the small sandwich Rukia had just pulled out.

"It's some French bread and pate. It's a spread made of minced meat and sometimes liver, it's tasty. Want to try some?" She ripped a piece off and handed it to Orihime, who took it happily.

"It's looks yummy!" The auburn haired girl bit into the bread and immediately her eyes widened, "It's delicious! It would taste great fish sauce and red bean paste."

Tatsuki and Rangiku looked about ready to gag while Rukia pretended to be interested. "Do you guys want to try some? It tastes great," said Rukia, she broke off two more pieces and handed one to Tatsuki and the other to Rangiku. They hesitated for a moment, but tried it anyways.

They chewed slowly, and soon their faces warped to a look of surprise. "This actually tastes decent! Usually whatever Orihime likes is deadly to us," said Tatsuki with surprise.

Orihime pouted, "My sense of taste isn't that bad!" She crossed her arms over her chest and looked away like a child. "You guys just don't know how to enjoy food." She picked up her bento and stuffed a mysterious looking unidentified object into her mouth and chewed. "I'm sure Rukia-chan would like my food, right?" She offered her bento over to Rukia to try. She looked at the raven haired girl with hope in her eyes and Rukia couldn't help but oblige.

She reluctantly picked up something that looked identical to octopus and put it in her mouth. It wasn't too bad at the beginning. It was spicy like curry at first, then it became bitter-sweet like hoisin sauce and something else. And finally, at the end the taste was unexplainable to the human kind. It was rancid and unbearable, it made your stomach churn and feel like you were going to vomit.

Rukia bit her lip, and swallowed, trying to keep the tears in her eyes from falling. She had the feeling that the after taste would be worse.

Tatsuki and Rangiku stared at her in pity, but jumped the moment they saw Rukia's tears. They knew what was coming if they didn't do something, "We'll be right back! We're going to go get some juice and alka-seltzer!" they said in unison, springing up and sprinting away towards the school building.

"Alka-seltzer? What do they need that for?" Orihime blinked and shrugged it off a moment later. "So how was it, Rukia-chan?" she asked, smiling sweetly.

"It was… delicious! But I'm a bit more used to French food so I don't know what to say…," Rukia smiled nervously and tried to block out the pain in her stomach. "It's so good that I'm crying," she said laughing, pointing to "happy" tears.

"Yay! I'm so happy you love it! You have tastes, Rukia-chan! If you like it, I'm sure Kurosaki-kun would like it too," said Orihime, looking happily up into the sky.

Now that caught Rukia's attention. Ichigo? When did Ichigo enter conversation?

"Ichigo?"

Orihime suddenly turned pink, "Yeah... ano... could I ask you a question, Rukia-chan?" She looked down and fiddled with her skirt.

Rukia blinked, "Yeah, what is it?"

Orihime looked up with all playfulness gone from her face, now seriousness replaced it. "What is your relationship with Kurosaki-kun?" she asked, to which the raven haired girl widened her eyes in surprise at the sudden question and shrugged, "We're just childhood friends, like we are with Renji." Was it her, or did Orihime look relieved, "Why do you ask?"

The other girl looked nervously down at her skirt and started fiddling with it again, "It's because I... like Kurosaki-kun," she admitted, embarrassed. Her bangs shaped perfectly around her face, making her look cute along with her blush.

Rukia just stared at her. After having what Orihime said sink in, she tried really hard not to laugh, but she couldn't help but let out a small giggle. She couldn't imagine it. Ichigo and Orihime walking around at a fair while holding hands, all lovey-dovey… well, maybe she could, just a little bit. But it was pretty damn funny nonetheless.

"Wait, let me get this straight. You like Ichigo?" Orihime nodded and dreamily stared up at the roof top where the said orange haired teen sat with his friends. Rukia smirked and put a finger to her chin, completely forgetting about her stomach pains. "Why don't you ask him out?" She had a plan, and she was going to make sure it worked. Hopefully.

The auburn haired girl widened her eyes in surprise and blushed, "O-o-oh! I… I'm too nervous. I don't know if he'll accept my feelings! I'm too scared to find out."

"Well, I'll help you then. And I'll make sure he accepts! Why wouldn't he give you a chance? You're pretty, you're nice and you have a good personality. Plus, you might be the only girl willing to go out with him…," said Rukia, determined. "We shall call this plan, 'le plan pour obtenir Orihime et Ichigo ensemble!'"

Orihime jumped back in surprise but then smiled happily, "Uh, yeah! Thank you, Rukia-chan!"

"No problem! And you have library duty after school right?" Orihime nodded while Rukia smiled evilly, "Okay! Now just leave the rest to me, Orihime."

"Ichigo!" Rukia ran up to Ichigo and grabbed onto his arm. "Let's go to the library!" she said, putting on her sweet talk and puppy dog eyes. No one, and she meant no one could resist. She even used this trick back when they were children.

Ichigo scowled deeper, "I have to go to practice with the football [soccer] guys," he said, ignoring her and walking the opposite direction.

"Please! It's important!" She stuck out her lip bottom lip and started to bat her eyes.

She could tell Ichigo was having a hard time trying to ignore her, especially when she was clinging to him and had her face close to his own. "N-no, go by yourself, I can't today," he said, trying to reason.

She started getting teary and sniffled and let go of his arm, falling to the ground dramatically with a corny background. "I know what it is, you don't like me anymore! I'm going to fly back to France!"

Now this ticked him off, especially with all the looks he was getting. Teachers frowned down at him, guys shook their heads in disappointment, and girls glared at him. He sighed, "Fine, let's go!" He grabbed her arm and quickly ran to the library, away from the awkward stares.

The whole way there, Rukia chuckled evilly at her "amazing" skills and the plan that was about to unfold.

Once at the place of destination, he crossed his arms and looked at her. "So what did you want to do here?"

She shrugged, "I was going to go look for some Shakespeare books and I wanted your opinion," she lied, dragging him over to the front counter where Orihime sat. "Why don't you talk to Orihime until I get back?" she smiled, mischief written all over her face.

"Well, if it's Shakespeare, I can help you look for the books," he said, following her.

She stuck her hand out signaling for him to stop. "No, you stay here. I'm sure Orihime needs some company. Now be a good boy and stay." She laughed to herself, and sprung off leaving a clueless Ichigo with a flushed Orihime.

Hopefully Orihime gets enough confidence to ask him out, or at least say something, thought Rukia, frowning. Rather than stopping at the shelf filled with Shakespeare plays, she passed it and stopped in front of the shelf with animal books, particularly the "rabbit section."

-Ichigo and Orihime-

"Uh, Kurosaki-kun, how are you?" asked Orihime, scanning a couple of books. She looked up at him, but blushed and looked down, avoiding his eyes.

He simply shrugged, "I don't know, fine I guess. And you?"

She smiled, "I'm doing great! I made two new recipes and-" she then stopped after noticing she got side tracked. Tension filled the air between the two as they stood together in silence.

"Ano... um... actually, I wanted to ask you if you want t-to... hangout sometime!" she said, pretty loud, but not loud enough that people could hear. Ichigo blinked and looked at her questioningly, he opened his mouth to reply, but she beat him to it. "I invited Rukia-chan, Tatsuki-chan and Abarai-kun too!" She added quickly, it was clear she was nervous, but Ichigo was too oblivious to notice.

"Sure, but to do what?" Ichigo lifted a single orange brow, and tapped his fingers on the counter.

Orihime blushed and quickly thought of something, "Uh, how about we go to the fair this Friday after school? It'll be fun with all of us together. Please say you'll come!" Ichigo hesitated but then nodded reluctantly. "That's great! It will be so much fun!" She laughed nervously as played with her fingers under the counter.

After several minutes in silence, Rukia came trotting down with a smirk on her face. She had 3 books in her arms, "Could I take these out, Hime?" she placed them on the counter and the other girl gladly took them and started to scan them.

Rukia glanced at Ichigo and leaned over the counter and whispered into Orihime's ear, "So, how'd it go?" she was hoping for good results.

"Well, I got nervous and asked him if he wanted to come to the fair with you, Tatsuki-chan and Abarai-kun. I'm sorry...," the auburn-haired girl whispered back. This caused the raven-haired girl to sigh.

"It's okay. I suppose we'll work from there," she said, backing away and winking at Orihime before taking the books and walking away.

Ichigo felt there was something fishy going on. Why did Rukia want him to go the library with her just to have him wait, she didn't even ask his opinion for anything! He eyed the shorter girl suspiciously, "What was all that about?" he asked. She shrugged and chuckled when he didn't notice that she had handed him her books to hold and how she was walking empty handed. He looked down, and instead of noticing he was holding her books, "I thought you were looking for Shakespeare? Not shit about rabbits."

"It's not shit! I happen to like rabbits more than plays and stuff," she retorted, crossing her arms and looking away. "Seriously, how do you have a fan club? It's beyond me," she mumbled to herself.

"What? Did you say something?"

"Nope, nothing."

Preview...

She looked around at all the lights and people. The fair was really lively. There were people around everywhere and there were children running around every corner. It was more like a westernized fair than anything, but with some Japanese changes.

She looked over at her friends, and laughed when she noticed Ichigo standing there like an idiot with his arms crossed as Renji and Tatsuki went against each other in some kind of shooting thing while Orihime cheered them on.

They've all been having fun, but Rukia felt kind of awkward, like a third-wheel... or a fifth wheel in this case. Not that Renji and Tatsuki were "together" or that Ichigo and Orihime were together either. Actually, Rukia just felt like a mother who had to baby sit children as they ran wild, it was kind of annoying. Despite feeling that way, Rukia had to concentrate on her mission; getting Orihime alone together with Ichigo so she could confess.

The job wouldn't be easy though. The idiot was known for being stubborn and stupid, so she had to make up a situation that would work. Maybe if I bribe him before Orihime confesses, he'll say yes… yeah, that would work, she thought to herself, feeling satisfied with the idea.