Chapter 2:

I didn't start really seeing her again until I started high school. It was in homeroom, I sat in my assigned seat when I noticed who was sitting next to me.

"...What a surprise." She said when she saw me. "To think that we would be in the same high school." She didn't really seem to be talking to me since she was staring out the window the whole time.

"I'm equally shocked." I replied. It wasn't a surprise that I was sitting next to her since our last names were similar. (Kurosaki and Kuchiki) Rukia laughed.

"So Renji didn't tell you then."

"Tell me what?"

"It's a secret."

"..."

"So, what have you been up to lately?" Rukia asked finally looking me in the eye for once.

"Nothing really. The usual." I said leaning back in my chair.

"The usual?"

"You know, working at the hospital, doing my homework."

"...I don't mean to be rude but, is your hair color natrual?" Rukia asked randomly.

"..."

"Sorry, that was random wasn't it." Rukia blushed in embarassment.

"It was." I replied bluntly. "But yeah it's natural."

"I thought so. You didn't seem to be the type who would dye their hair looking for attention." Rukia said.

"Hey! You 2 over there! Enough witht the romance!" The teacher shouted over to us. We both jumped and turned away from each other.

"Sorry sir but there was no romance." I managed to say but Rukia stayed silent. The rest of the class grinned and laughed at us, which pissed me off a little.

When class ended, I was relieved and quickly left the classroom. But my relief was short because it turns out that Renji, Rukia, and I are the only ones who live in the same direction.

"So guess who I had to walk home with?" Ichigo laughed slightly. Orihime laughed too.

"That must've been hard." She replied.

"Yeah, it was." Ichigo said. "...At first."

"Why do I have to walk home with you guys?" I mumbled, hands in pockets as I stomped a few feet ahead of them.

"What can we do? We live in the same direction." Renji asked.

"You hate us?" Rukia asked looking surprised.

'That surprised face is pissing me off...' I thought as I looked back at her.

"...No." I finally said.

Renji had a look on his face that said, 'Now that's a lie.' But he didn't say anything so the subject dropped.

After a while of walking in silence, Renji suddenly said, "See you guys!"

"What?" I asked.

"From here, I go this way and you 2 go that way." He said pointing to the streets liking he was talking to a first grader.

"Don't act like I'm an idiot." I said.

"Well, anyways bye. And don't do anything perverted" Renji said and walked away leaving me and Rukia alone.

"Why would we!?" We both shouted at the same time.

We walked in silence for a long time.

'Renji...' I thought to myself, still pissed.

"...Kurosaki-kun..." Rukia said.

"Huh?"

"Oh! Nothing!" Rukia said. "...Hey look, the sun's setting." Rukia's eyes looked past me to the sky that was a brilliant red.

"It's nice." I replied bluntly.

"Stupid." She said. "For things like these you need to use words like beautiful at the least." She said as if to scold me. I scowled at her.

After walking a little more, she pointed to another road.

"My house is this way." Rukia was about to turn around when I stopped her.

"Are you going to be alright on your own?" The words came out without thinking and I was about to tell her to forget it when she spoke.

"Renji used to walk all the way with me since he was worried. So if you want to, you can escort me back too." Rukia said looking at me excpectantly.

"As if." I said snorting.

Or at least that was what I wanted to do. I thought as I walked with her all the way to her house.

'Dad's going to kill me for being late.' I thought. 'And if I told her what I really was doing he wouldn't shut up for the next 4 weeks...' I thought to myself.

"We're here." Rukia interrupted my train of thoughts.

'WHAT!!' I thought when I saw her 4 story mansion. I stared at her, my mouth moving without any words coming out.

"Oh, stop it." Rukia said brushing me off. "I wouldn't live here if I had a choice." She said.

'Well I sure as hell would!' I thought as I stared at her.

"Anyways, thank you." Rukia said waving. "You'll escort me back everyday from now on won't you?" She asked.

"What?" I asked.

"I thought you would." She said and closed the gate. "You don't have to come pick me up for school though, so don't worry." Rukia whispered. Then she turned around and ran about a mile through gardens and into her house or more like castle.

"Leave you idiot!" She called from the other side of the gardens when she was at the door. I glared at her, although she probably couldn't see it anyway and left running so I wouldn't be too late to dinner.

'Maybe he would beat me less then.' I thought as I ran faster than I probably ever had in my life.

"...She owed me a lot for sure." Ichigo laughed. "When I got back, my Dad beat the crap out of me and then I had to think up an excuse, which no one believed anyway."

"You walked with her every day?" Orihime asked.

"Yup. Everyday...or every school day. I only saw her at homeroom and after school." Ichigo said. "It wasn't a lot of time." He said. "At that time, it was the worst times of my life."

'But...it became your best times didn't it? Even now, those times will forever be better than your time with me.' Orihime almost said those words, but decided against it, not wanting to hurt him. "...I, will never be able to beat her.' She thought and closed her eyes.

'What are you doing?' She asked Rukia in her mind.

I hope you all like this story.

I already have the end in mind. (In my opinion it's a really good ending so don't give up on me.)

Review please! I know there's a lot of Ichiruki stories so mine will be hard to find. But if you were lucky enough to, then review and let me know what you think so I can be a better writer!

Be one of my stars and review please! (Even if you don't want to be my star!)