Disclaimer: Don't own Bleach

Author's notes: A big thanks and hugs to cherrygirl6 who gave me the idea to make Orihime and Ishida lost. And to ichigoxrukia about the idea about Ichigo and Rukia to… ahh you'll see…

Secret Place

The next morning, Ms Mayuki was being very anxious. It was the last day of camp and Ichigo and Rukia are still missing. "Students, I'm going out of the forest to call all of you parents that we have extended our camping time. We'll be here another two days." Everybody groaned. Not one student wants to stay in this camping trip for even another day. "I don't want to get the police involved."

"Why not? It'll be easier that they can search for those two." Complained a very fractious student.

"If the police is involved, there are police reports to make, families to comfort, our school's name might be d-"

"Can't we go back first? My leg is all cramped up from all of the walking and hiking and stuff." Keigo cut her off.

"If Kurosaki's father or Kuchiki's parents found out that you are back… They will start go get worried, and the police will be involved, etcetera etcetera…" All the students groaned. "I'll be going now." She hopped on one of the facilitator's van. Suddenly the van stopped and Ms Mayuki's head popped out of the window. "Before I forget, Yatsutora and Ishida, check for any signs of smoke anywhere. Okay thanks!" The van continued to move.

After she left, everyone grumbled to one another noisily.

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"A-a-achoo!" Ichigo woke up first on that day, freezing and wondering where could his warm, thick blanket be? His question was answered not long after that. Rukia took both blankets. His and hers. The sleeping bags were no use; they were too thin. First he decided not to wake her up. She looked so cute sleeping, cuddling her white Chappy doll. But then the cold brought him back to his senses. His I-don't-care-how-cute-you-are-as-long-as-I-get-my-blanket-back senses. He reached for hisblanket.

Ichigo had a good 1-minute sleep that is until Rukia woke up and snatched it back. Ichigo woke up a few moments later. "Rukia! I want my blanket back! I'm not done sleeping! Besides, it's freezing today." He seized it back.

"Give it! I'll catch a cold! One isn't enough for me!" She took the blanket back from him, covered her head with it and held on to it tightly. A blanket tug-of-war began. In the end Rukia won. She kept on hitting him until he let go. "Dammit Rukia!"

He tried to take it back from her but Rukia tightened her grip on it. "Oi! I'm cold too you know! What am I supposed to use?" He heard her mutter something about using running around or something like that. "What!? Are you crazy!? That won't keep me warm! It'll just make me tired!"

"Who cares? As long as I'm warm, I'm happy."

"Idiot…" He said. Rukia threw Karin's manga at him. He left it near her sleeping bag. She stuck her tongue at him and continued to sleep.

Ichigo threw his arms up. He gives up and went out if the tent. Then the tall teenager lit a fire to keep him warm while cursing.

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Later, Ms Mayuki came back. Her face was expressionless.

"Sensei, I see some smoke." Chad said high up a tree. Ishida was already on the ground.

"Really?!" Ms Mayuki's face brightened up. She was really stressed out. "Lemme see!" She climbed up the tree to see it for herself.

She squinted her eyes. "What! It's so far! How can you see that!?" she said to Chad who was holding on to the tree so that he won't fall. "Well we better get going!" She climbed down quickly. Chad followed after her slowly and carefully.

Ms Mayuki clapped her hands to get the students' attention. She said enthusiastically, "Okay! Sado had just spotted some smoke rising from waaay over there," she pointed toward the direction. Students turned their heads. "So I need some students to stay here and keep the fire burning. I don't want us to get lost either." Some students giggled. "This is serious business. Okay I will call out the names to follow me later on, okay?"

Ms Mayuki went off to check the name list to choose some 'lucky' students to come with her and Mr Hiroshi.

Arisawa Tatsuki… Yeah I'll take her and leave Chizuru. I have got to separate them! Arisawa--- Check!

Asano Keigo… Maybe I should leave this one here. He's too noisy and complain-y.

Chizuru… leaving this girl.

Inoue Orihime… If I leave her here, she'll raid the camp kitchen again. Okay Inoue --- check.

Ishida Uryuu… I will bring him. He can climb trees very quickly. Ishida--- check

Yatsutora Sado… Yeah taking him. He too can climb trees quickly. They both can check the smoke. Yatsutora --- check.

Here she checks on other students' names. (A/N: I'm so lazy…) "Right I've chose the students. The students who are following me and Mr Hiroshi are Arisawa Tatsuki…"

"Rats! I was hoping not to go!" She grumbled to herself. Chizuru caught her eye. The red haired girl had a 'ha-ha-you-are-so-unlucky' expression in her face. Tatsuki glared at her.

"…Inoue Orihime…"

"Yay! I can explore the jungle with Tatsuki-chan!" She jumped once and linked arms with her best friend. Now Chizuru was quietly chanting 'pleasesayicango'. Chizuru was looking hopeful.

Ms Mayuki glanced at the mumbling Chizuru. She cleared her throat and said, "…Ishida Uryuu…"

Chizuru snapped her fingers and shot a glare at Ishida. Ishida said nothing even though he was secretly pleased that Orihime was coming too.

"…Yasutora Sado…" Chad as usual, said nothing. Ms Mayuki continued with the names. Chizuru glared at every person whose name was called.

Later, after she was done calling out the names, she said to Mr Hiroshi, "Maybe we should bring some stuffs just in case." The camp facilitator agreed. Chizuru however, was asking Ms Mayuki to bring her along. Heck, she practically begged her to do it but resistance was futile.

Mr. Hiroshi led the first group, (The students who was ready to go) which consists of Chad and Orihime who was trying to persuade Tatsuki to go first, and two students who were plainly bored sitting around the campsite. The second group (The people who are lazy to go which include nine students) was waiting for Ms Mayuki who was trying to get Chizuru off her right leg.

At last, Ms Mayuki finally got the red-haired bespectacled girl to stay. She led the eight complaining students (Ishida was, as usual quiet and calm.) to the forest. It took them about fifteen minutes to catch up with the first group.

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Rukia finally woke up. She stretched and greeted her beloved Chappy doll and her fish, Juice a very cheery 'good morning'. "Looks like you need some air." She said to Juice. At night, Rukia just left the fish a small hole, but now, she thought that it might need more than that. Rukia opened the bag and left it the corner. She went out of the tent holding her white chibi Chappy doll.

Ichigo saw her coming out. He stood up and trudged into the tent. He was still a bit irritated about the whole blanket thing. He looked through one of Rukia's bag for a manga; at last he found one that he liked. It took him about ten minutes to find one. She brought a lot of them.

Rukia was near the fire, silently talking to her Chappy. "Ichigo couldn't be that angry at me. Could him?" she asked silently to Chappy. Rukia pressed the doll's stomach with her thumb. Squeak… "I think I should apologise to him. At least he was nice enough not to put out this for when he went in." she smiled at her rabbit doll. "Right, Chappy?" Before Rukia went in, she put out the fire just in case it's going to take a long time apologising. She didn't want any firewood to be wasted.

She went in to find Ichigo was sitting in the corner and was reading one of her favourite manga.

"Ichigo!" He looked up. "What?" he barked back.

"Who gave you permission to read my manga?" Her hands were on her hips.

"I don't need permissions. This is not even yours. It's Karin's. Since she's my sister, I got the right to read this."

"Well I borrowed it and brought it here so now I consider it as mine."

"You mean stole it?"

"Give it BACK!" she reached out for it.

He stood up right away and held the manga in high up his hands, making sure that Rukia wasn't able to reach it. It was an easy task considering the difference of their height. Good thing the camp was as tall as it was wide. "No way… I'm not done reading it yet." He teased her.

"ICHIGO!" She tried to punch him. He evaded and accidentally stepped on the bag, which contained Juice. The water spilled out and Juice was flipping and flopping on the damp tent floor.

"Juice!" She tried to put her fish in the bag. But the bag had burst when Ichigo stepped on it. "Ichigo! This is all your fault!" He just stood there, dumbfounded "Don't just stand there! Get me a plastic bag or a container or, or something!" He look through their bags as Rukia desperately tried to catch the slippery fish. He found nothing and Rukia was still fiddling with Juice.

"Ichigo! You are hopeless! Try to catch the fish while I get a container!"

They changed duties. In a matter of moments, he caught it and put the dying fish in his palms. She still hasn't found a container yet. "I got your stupid, slippery fish!" he said. She kicked him and shouted "So put it in the river, baka!" He tried to protest but she tried to punch him if he didn't do it quickly.

He ran to the riverside, she followed closely behind. He put the fish in the water. It took about three seconds to get the fish recovered. Once it did Juice went swimming away.

"Ichigo! My fish!" She yelled. But he couldn't do anything as the fish was already far away.

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"There is no smoke anymore. Only from our campsite." Chad said from high up a tree.

Alarmed, Ms Mayuki ascended the tall tree. She looked around. Her are eyes squinted. "Oh no! What are we going to do now? We've come so far!"

"How about we head back? I think my feet has blisters!" Someone screamed from down below.

"No we must not give up. Maybe, maybe they're just straight ahead." Everybody groaned, even Mr Hiroshi. "We should keep on going!" she said actively.

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"Owww…" Ishida heard Orihime. She was sitting behind a tree trunk, clutching her foot.

"Inoue-san, are you okay?" Ishida's voice showed a sense of concern.

"No, it's okay. I think my feet are hurting because of all the walking we did." She opened her baby blue shoes and rainbow-coloured socks. Her feet were red and swelling a bit and there were some blisters.

"Inoue, you should rest here for a while." She did nothing but nod and smiled. He opened his bag and took out a first aid kit. Ishida took out some medicine and bandage to ease down the swelling.

"Ishida-kun, you don't have to wait here with me."

"It's okay, Inoue-san" She smiled again as he continued to bandage her foot.

There was a long moment of silence excluding Orihime's occasional squealing. But after sometime, Ishida was finally done. He helped her to get up to her feet. "Come on, Inoue-san. We better hurry." He placed her arm around his shoulders as they walked together slowly.

Suddenly, she realized that… "Ishida-kun! Everyone left! We're lost!"

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"Hey Rukia," he touched her shoulder. She ignored him and continued to stare at the riverside, looking very irritable. He tried to apologize. He just couldn't stand to see her sulking. It wasn't very Rukia-ish. And that bothered him. Ichigo ran his left hand through his orange hair and tried to think of some thing to make her less sulky. After a few minutes of thinking, he thought about one place that may cheer her up.

"Rukia, follow me somewhere."

He stood up, trying to pull Rukia from her sitting place. She leaned away from Ichigo, making it harder for him to heave her up. His hand slipped and she fell on her bottom. "OW! You…" she glared at him and sat again at her spot. Now he has to think of a way to make her tag along.

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"Inoue-san, don't panic. All we gotta do is to find the campsite's smoke." Ishida said as he climbed up a tall tree.

Orihime sat down for a while, resting her feet. Suddenly she heard something. The long-haired girl stood up slowly. "Ishida-kun, I heard something."

"Is it another boar? If it is, throw something at it, Inoue-san."

"It's like Kuchiki-san's and Kurosaki-kun's voice. They sound like they're fighting. Too bad. I thought they would get along." She pouted. "I think they make such a cute couple."

"Really?" He adjusted his glasses.

"You think they will get along too?"

"I mean –umm- are you sure that's Kuchiki-san's and Kurosaki's voice?" Ishida climbed down the tree.

"Trust me, Ishida-kun." She smiled sweetly at him. Her smile won him over. He jumped down with a thud. She took his hand and slowly walking toward the source of the sound. This time, they are going the right way.

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After several minutes of firm (and annoying) asking, Rukia followed Ichigo. Mainly because she was tired of his invite. Before they left the campsite, Ichigo took a piece of red cloth and started walking. "What's that for?" The raven-haired girl pointed to the cloth in Ichigo's hand. He said with a bit of accusation in his voice, "So that we won't get lost again."

Rukia stopped walking and placed her hands on her hips. "Don't say like it's my fault, you baka." The old less sulky, stubborn Rukia was back. He turned to face her, "Well it is. So there." She crossed her arms and went, "Hmmph." They walked in unison, almost as if they were two front wheels on a car, except the fact that Ichigo's steps were long and dominant, while hers were short and subtle. After sometime, He ripped off a bit from the cloth that he brought and tied it on a tree nearby.

"Actually where are we going?" Rukia shooed off a small black bug from her arm. "You'll see." They walked on in silence. Occasionally, Ichigo ties another bit from the red cloth to a branch.

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"Augh! Ms Mayuki can we just go back to the campsite now?" Tatsuki complained. She was too tired to notice that her best friend was missing. "No. Kurosaki and Kuchiki might be here somewhere."

"Can't we just try again tomorrow?" Another student grumbled. "Look even Mr Hiroshi is looking bushed!" She pointed to the camp facilitator. He was leaning to a big tree, looking very, very tired.

"Oh alright!" She threw her hands up in the air. "Someone climb up a tree to check for smoke." Everyone gave a sigh of relief. As usual, Chad climbed up and he pointed to their south. Everybody walked slowly, grumbling and complaining.

"After this trip, I'll never go camping again."

"Same here."

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"Are we there yet?" Rukia asked for the eleventh time. She was getting impatient and a teensy bit curious. And going around in the forest didn't help.

"There're lots of shrubs here so we must've getting near. Would it kill you to wait?"

"No. But you will if you don't stop dragging me around in circles."

He ignored her and kept on going. They continued to walk in silence. That is until…"Eh, Ichigo. Wait!" Rukia tugged at the hem of her dress. "I'm stuck." He turned to face her. "See, I told you it was stupid to wear a dress in a forest." She glared at him. "Just shut up and help me." She continued to tug at it.

"Say 'please'." His face let out a playful boyish grin.

"Ichigo!"

"Okaay, if you're not gonna say it…I'm gonna leave you here."

"Please!" She said forcefully through clenched teeth, not meaning it at all.

"Good." He bent down. A branch from a shrub was hooked on Rukia's light purple dress. And from all of that tugging and pulling she did, her dress twisted around the branch. After he unhooked the branch, he quickly stood up. And since Rukia was pulling, she fell flat on her back. Her foot connected with his knee and made Ichigo fell on top of her.

Rukia had just noticed Ichigo was on top of her. She blushed so much that her face was the colour of a ripe strawberry but she continues to stare at Ichigo. "…" Ichigo opened his mouth and closed it again. He had just noticed that he was on top of her. "R-Rukia…" Both hearts started to beat faster.

He leaned in towards Rukia; he did not become aware of his movements like he was hypnotized. Rukia start to close her eyes not noticing her movements either…

Caw! Caw!

The screech of a bird nearby brought them back to their senses. He quickly got off her. "Sorry." She said.

"Idiot," Ichigo muttered. He couldn't see her blush. She couldn't see his. "Well, we'd better be going."

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Orihime was sitting down, leaning against a tree, and resting her sore feet. Ishida was sitting nearby, accompanying her. Suddenly Orihime stood up quickly "Oh! Kuchiki-san's voice is getting distant.". Her face was scrunched up because of the shot of pain that flew through her nerves as she moved.

"Inoue-san, are you okay?" Worry was illustrated in his eyes. "You should not make sudden movements like that."

"I'm sorry, Ishida-kun." Her head was bent down, trying to reduce the pain. "But I can't hear Kuchiki-san's voice anymore. It was from there," The orange-haired girl pointed to her left. "And now I can't hear anything. We should go, Ishida-kun."

Ishida nodded and adjusted his glasses. "But we must go slowly, otherwise your foot will hurt again." He helped her up and they both went off slowly.

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This chapter was a bit umm weird. Sorry! Anyway, please please review