Sorry! Re-uploaded for the ones who didn't get an email... [I feel like this only happens to me, ugh]

Previously…

Rukia quirked her brows before looking up at the person, "Oh, Kaien-san!" she said in surprise, not expecting it to be him.

"It's you again! We really need to stop meeting like this," Kaien laughed and patted her on the head. "Oh, and I partially heard your conversation with Inoue-san. I swear I wasn't eavesdropping!"

She lifted one of her brows, "Yeah, and?"

"I think I can help with this 'matchmaking' game of yours," he said, grinning.

She blinked, tilting her head to the side like Orihime always did when she was confused.

"What?!"

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, etc, etc...

Chapter 7: Hear my Voice

"What do you mean, 'what?'" asked Kaien, lifting one of his dark brows. "I said that I'm going to help you and play along with your matchmaking game."

"I know what you said, but why?" asked Rukia, wondering why Kaien suddenly wanted to help. It was kind of strange as he didn't really talk to Orihime all that much, and this whole plan was specifically to get her and Ichigo together. Why would he want to help with no benefit? It seemed kind of fishy…

"No reason. I just wanted observe how this whole thing plays out; it's for my own amusement. Usually these matchmaking schemes don't usually succeed, and trust me, I've seen many fail in," despite answering her question, it seemed as though he was still hiding something, but Rukia dismissed it, thinking nothing of it. "Plus, I want to see proof that Kurosaki is interested in women. There's been a rumor around about him and Abarai, and I don't know them well enough to know if it's true, so I want to find out. Honestly though, I think they play for the right team."

Having heard the comment about the rumor, Rukia laughed to herself, mentally wiping a stray tear from her eyes. She once questioned this too, but after an experiment, she found out both Ichigo and Renji were very much straight.

Flashback...

Rukia sat at her desk thinking about useless things as her teacher rambled on about the parts of speech in English.

She remembered seeing Keigo with a playboy some time during their breaks. He would carefully whip it out as crowds of guys –and Chizuru- would gather around him. It was those times that Rukia realized that these were the only times Keigo was actually popular, which was kind of depressing as everyone got along well with each other no matter what.

So while most of the male species in the classroom would be nose-bleeding over the sinful magazine, all of Ichigo's other friends would be at their desks, minding their own business.

While that was good since they didn't succumb to embarrassing pictures of naked girls, it was also considered a bit suspicious. She knew just but thinking this, that she was starting to get nosy, but how could she not be the slightest?

Ichigo was very popular with the ladies, but he has yet to date or even notice one of the many cute girls that drooled over him, like her adorable auburn haired friend. Many guys envied him for his apparent good looks and popularity in the female community, instantly making him a target, which is how the "Kurosaki and Abarai" rumor got spread. Ironically, instead pushing the girls away, this attracted even more attention from them –and certain guys who leaned that way. Apparently, since girls seem to adore yaoi manga, the rumor appealed to their messed up minds!

Ever so curious, Rukia later forced both of her male friends onto the couch in Ichigo's living room while all the other Kurosaki's were absent.

"Is this necessary?" asked Ichigo, frowning at what a waste of time this was. "I have homework to do, and don't see how this ghost video is anything important."

Oh, right, she forgot to mention that it wasn't actually a ghost video…

"Yeah, I can't believe the 'mighty Kuchiki Rukia' is afraid of watching a friggin' video alone," said Renji, chuckling.

"Shut it! I'm doing this for your benefit, you're lucky Chizuru sent this to me," said Rukia, clicking the video icon on her laptop desktop. She placed the laptop on the coffee table, in front of the two guys, and walked to the side, waiting for the video to load.

"Okay? So there are three girls, where's the gho- what the fuck is this?!" yelled Ichigo in surprise, blushing bright red. "Why is she- how is that even possible?!"

While Ichigo was freaking out, Renji had widened his eyes to the size of baseballs, unaware of the blood running down his nose as he watched the extremely sinful video. His face was the same color as his hair, which was saying something.

Judging from their reactions and how they never looked away, Rukia concluded that her two idiot friends were indeed, into girls.

End of flashback…

"Anyways, if you need any help, just ask me," offered Kaien smiling, he ruffled her hair and went to walk away when Rukia spoke up.

"Oh, and I'm transferring into your art class by the way. I thought I'd let you know," she said, waving before retreating back to her classroom.

As Rukia waited for everyone, she sat atop a tree branch of her favorite "school tree" and caught up on some of her manga. While reading, she suddenly got the idea to go do karaoke after school. Part of it was her strong longing to sing a cheesy anime romance song, and another part was to embarrass Ichigo and Orihime by making them sing together. It was the perfect plan, and everyone was happy. She smirked, chuckling evilly to herself at the idea.

"There you are! Come on, let's eat! I'm hungry," called Rangiku from underneath, along with Momo, Tatsuki, and Orihime.

Rukia smiled and jumped down from the tree elegantly, following her friends as they walked over to their usual tree.

"How do you jump down and not have your skirt fly up? I don't understand," said Momo, plopping down on the ground and opening her bento.

"It's wizardry," replied Rangiku, chuckling as Orihime handed her the bean paste sandwich she promised.

"Not quite," laughed Rukia, un-wrapping her own bento. "So… I've been thinking, how about we go do karaoke after school? We haven't done anything fun lately." She fawned at her Chappy-shaped rice, and picked up some fried egg, waiting for a reply from everyone.

Orihime placed a finger to her chin, "Well… I can probably ask my boss for a day off."

"Me too," replied Tatsuki, drinking her juice.

"Aww… I can't, Granny has to go for a doctor's appointment today," said Momo, disappointed.

Rangiku grinned and clapped her hands together, "I love karaoke! And are we inviting any guys?" As she got excited, she almost dropped her sandwich, literally giving her a mini heart attack.

Rukia shrugged, "I don't know, maybe just Ichigo and Renji," she said, instantly shoving rice into her mouth.

"Can I bring Shiro-chan, Hisagi, Ikkaku, and Yumichika?" asked the buxom woman enthusiastically. As an answer, Rukia shrugged a "yes" her way, making her grin mischievously.

Later…

"How come you always end up dragging us places?" questioned Renji, frowning as he sat in the karaoke room along with the other five guys, who were also unwilling to be there. He sighed and scratched his head, "This is going to be one hell of a bill to pay, and is there really a need for a million drinks?"

"I thought we were going to go spar, but what the hell am I doing here?" said Ikkaku, glaring at Rangiku as she stuck her tongue out.

"Stop complaining, I told you I'd pay for you guys. If I didn't, Rangiku would die of too little excitement," said Rukia rolling her eyes as she looked through the song list. "So who wants to go first?"

"I do! Shiro-chan and I do nice duets! His voice can go as high as yours Rukia," Rangiku got up and yanked Toshiro out of his seat, despite his fighting back.

"You make me sing, I'll kill you," threatened the short white haired teen. He glared at the busty blonde and crossed his arms.

"Please! Just one song!" She gave him a large bear hug, practically suffocating him in her breasts. "I'll low down on the teasing!"

"Yeah, come on Hitsugaya, you could do at least one, can't you?" teased Ikkaku and Hisagi as Yumichika smirked, looking at himself in his pocket mirror.

Toshiro's eye twitched violently before he finally exploded, "Fine! One song, and that's it!"

Rangiku grinned happily and went over to the music selection device-thing. "Any song as long as it's one?" Getting no reply, she took that as a yes, and flipped through the pages on the screen before smiling evilly.

At the table, Rukia finished the last of her strawberry flavored drink, and pouted, not having anything else to drink. She glanced over to Ichigo, who was to the left of her, and then to Orihime who was forcefully put to the other side of Ichigo. For the past few minutes, they had been engaged in a casual conversation about the homework they were assigned, but not stretching beyond that. And Ichigo, being a fairly boring person, brought his homework with him, which probably made Orihime feel like she was interrupting his studies.

Shaking her head, she sighed and stared at the chocolate milkshake that sat next to his notebook. She then glanced back at Ichigo, and then to drink, and back to Ichigo.

"Did you drink that yet?" she asked out of nowhere, pointing to the milkshake.

"Yeah, why?" Ichigo lifted his head, one of his brows reaching higher on his head than the other.

Licking her lips, "Can I have some?" She started reaching over to the cup before he smacked her hand away.

"Not 'some.' You're probably going to drink the whole thing like you always do," he rolled his eyes, and drank some of the milkshake through the straw.

Rukia frowned, "Please! I'll buy you another one!" she shook his arm, and used the typical "puppy eyes" trick.

"If you can get me another, why don't you just order one for yourself?"

"Ordering takes effort!"

While the two argued about the milkshake, Orihime giggled at their light-hearted argument. Her attention would stray from Toshiro and Rangiku, "singing" in front of the room, to Ichigo and Rukia. It was hard to concentrate on the two arguing when there was uneven, but oddly satisfying sounding singing in the background.

From a woman's deep voice to a monotone "I'm not even trying" voice to the high pitched sounding chorus in the background music. While the different voice levels weren't exactly harmonious, it did sound strangely nice. Maybe if Rangiku didn't pick a "magical-girl" anime genre song, it would have sounded better…

"Fine, you can have it," finally gave in Ichigo, annoyed. He was pretty sure once she downed his drink, she'll move to Tatsuki's and then complain about a bathroom break way later.

"Heh!" She grabbed the milkshake and was about to place the straw in her mouth when she noticed Orihime watched her from the other side of Ichigo. She smiled, thinking of an idea, "Hey, Hime, do you want to try some?"

She brought the cup over to the other girl and mentally nudged her to take a sip. It was a chance for an "indirect kiss."

The question made the auburn haired girl turn red, looking down at the straw; she couldn't help but think about how his lips drank from the straw. The more she thought about it, the redder she became, and when she noticed Ichigo looking at her, she stood up abruptly, rushing to the bathroom. "Uh- I need to go to the bathroom!"

Rukia raised a brow and chuckled, "Oh well, I tried," she said to herself, she then proceeded to finish Ichigo's drink and finally pay attention to Rangiku's and Toshiro's singing for its last minute.

After the song finished, everyone clapped while Renji whistled, teasing Toshiro, making him angrier. "See that wasn't so bad was it?" Rangiku put the short haired teen's back before downing one of the many drinks on the table. She turned back around to the TV and waited for her score. Everyone in the room watched anxiously as the scored slowly appeared on the screen, showing: 84.

"Aww, that's not too bad," she pouted. "So who's next?"

Everyone looked around at each other before Rangiku suddenly crawled on top of the table. "Who has a water bottle?" she asked, she looked around before Tatsuki threw her an empty water bottle. "Okay, since no one is volunteering, I'll have to do 'spin the bottle.' Whoever this lands on has to sing, but I get to pick the song."

She placed the bottle on the table and spun it. Everyone's eyes followed the bottle, mentally crossing their fingers that it wouldn't land on them. The bottle slowed and slowed, before finally stopping as Orihime entered the room from the bathroom.

"Aha! Rukia, it chooses you!" exclaimed Rangiku, grinning evilly. "Get up here!"

The petite girl groaned, getting up, "I hate singing, I suck at it." She grabbed the microphone, and crossed her arms, hoping to get it over fast.

"Okay, let's see… I choose this one!" said the strawberry-blonde, grinning suspiciously.

Rukia eyed her before turning to the screen, "Wait, it says it's a duet!" She turned back to the other girl, mentally questioning her.

"Oh! I didn't notice, I guess… um… Ichigo will have to do it!" She looked around the room before her eyes settling on Ichigo due to his bright hair.

The said teen widened his eyes, "Oh hell no! I am not singing!"

While he declined, Rangiku would have none of it. "Yes you are, now get up there and sing!" She grabbed his arm and forced him up, handing him the microphone.

Standing in front of everyone now, Ichigo looked at Rukia who shrugged, not feeling any better about this than he was. The music started to play, and right off the bat, they could tell it was probably a slow romantic song, making the orange haired teen dread it even more.

Rukia waited for her cue before opening her mouth and beginning to sing. Her singing voice was deep and strong, yet very soft and elegant at the same time. Everyone's mouths dropped open as they listened to her, not expecting what they heard. Her singing was powerful, yet very feminine. Even though her first line was short, everyone could definitely tell she certainly did not suck at singing like she said.

For just one second

Ichigo's eyes had widened slightly as he heard Rukia sing for the first real time[other than the times she sung the Chappy theme song]. Her voice gave him goosebumps, practically making him forget his part. Realizing it was his turn, he sang into the microphone, also surprising everyone that he wasn't tone death. While his voice wasn't as strong as Rukia's, it fit with hers almost perfectly, along with the song.

If the sun is burning

They sang each line together, their voices syncing. Neither Rukia's or Ichigo's voices overpowered the other; they were almost a perfect duo. However, it was strange… how they slowly melded into the song, everyone disappearing in the background. With only them left.

it will melt the sky
the morning will come
from its sleep
raising its voice
it's sprouting
the world
When I have accepted it
I realized that it has become a past
The destination of this embracing sadness are
wind
sky
star
rain

Finally, as the song neared its last several lines, Rukia turned toward Ichigo. She widened her eyes suddenly as she felt something when they made eye contact. Quickly she turned away, her heart skipping a beat for a moment. Ichigo, on the other hand, blinked at Rukia's sudden turning away. Whenever they looked each other in the eye, she never did that; she never looked away.

"I'm glad that I met you," this feeling just, just
carries a heat that's like the sunset
The night
is still
unlike the star
After the rain
it just
just
glows

As the piano at the end slowly finished the song, Rukia looked away from everyone, her eyes wide. Her heart beating fast, she quickly ran out of the room and gently closed the door. She leaned on the wall outside, holding a hand to her beating heart.

She didn't understand, why was her heart beating so hard? What was that that she felt?

Why was Ichigo the one causing her to feel this way?

A/N: Was it cheesy? I certainly hope not too much! And this is the sprout of new discovered feelings! Not quite to where we want it, but baby steps work best right? And EVERYONE must know what this song it right?

And Fanfiction editor as usual is being a piece of crap, so please excuse the lyrics on the left instead of the center, and the mistakes it decided not o save. [I need to bang my head against the wall].

PLEASE TELL ME IF YOU GOT AN UPDATE EMAIL.

Please Review! I haven't been hearing from many of you lately, and I'm wondering if everyone's okay, haha.