Wowww! Thanks to all the people that added me to their favourite lists and story alert lists….y'all rock! And of course the review(s). well i have to confess that it was a load of BS when I said I knew who Ichigo's mystery lady was….I actually don't (hehehee)

Anywayz, here's the next chapter.

Disclaimer: I Wish!

"Aaaabaaaaaraaaaiii-kuuuun. Geeeet uuuuup Aaaabaaaraaai-kuuun. Youuuu haaaaave a viiiisiiiitoooor." Urahara called, dramatically sounding the out words slowly.

The sixth division fuku-taicho let his eyes open, taking in his surroundings. He was in his room, on his futon. Rolling over, he crawled out of bed and sat on the floor. A few minutes later, he was out of bed and making his way to the breakfast table where his guest sat waiting.

"Oh, hey Rukia. You're back from Soul Society. How's the captain?" he asked, taking a seat next to her. He watched Ururu carrying a stack of dishes, guessing that Rukia had just eaten something.

She smiled at him. "Nii-sama was fine. He came here a couple of days ago on a mission. Did you get a chance to see him?"

Renji shook his head. "I felt his reiatsu, but he was gone a short time later."

Rukia nodded, wondering what Byakuya's mission was, but lost her train of thought as Renji leaned in closer to her. She could smell him; he was so close. There was a sort of musky smell to him and for unfathomable reasons; she felt her face heat up.

He nearly smiled as he saw her cheeks flush a darker shade. "How have you been?"

She cleared her throat. "U-um. I'm….good." she watched as he nodded, concerned. "My....trip back home was exactly what I needed. Now, I can deal with…everything."

He leaned away from her, turning to his breakfast and wolfing it down in one go. "Pig." He heard her mutter in amusement.

He ignored her comment on his eating habits. She crossed her arms at her chest. "I need to talk to Urahara about something, so I'll see you later."

He nodded and got to his feet. He offered her his hand—which she willingly took—and pulled her to her feet. "See ya." He waved turning and leaving.

She stood in her spot, staring at the place where Renji had just disappeared. "Are you just going to stand there or are you going to come down to the basement." Urahara inquired.

Rukia snapped out of her dreamlike state and smiled, embarrassed. "O-oh, Urahara. Right. Let's go."

Urahara snapped open his fan and brought it up, in front of his face. "Let's." He muttered, amused.

Renji had a nice, refreshing cold shower. When he was done, he wrapped a towel around his waist, not bothering to wipe himself dry. He wondered out to the hall, looking for Jinta. He had asked the brat to bring him some clothes and that had been a while ago.

He made a pit stop at the kitchen, going to the fridge for something to drink. Pulling out a carton of juice, he took three big gulps.

He heard a sharp intake of breath. "Oh. Jeez, Renji. Could you at least cover up while I'm around?!"

He put the juice back into the fridge, and then turned to Rukia. "You're done with Urahara?"

She nodded. She concentrated on Renji's face, instead of the hardened muscles at his chest and abs that glistened with water droplets. "Wanna go for a walk?"

He brushed past her, disappearing into his room. "Yeah sure. Let me get changed."

She waited for him quietly, her thoughts wondering back to her brother. Rukia knew it was none of her business, but it bugged her. What was the mission that only took a short while to accomplish?

"Kay, let's go." Renji called, walking out of his room, wearing a blue collard shirt and a pair of worn out jeans.

They left the Urahara Store and began walking in no particular direction. Rukia turned to Renji. "I'm going to see him later on, Renji."

She noticed his jaw clenching and unclenching. "You don't have to do that Rukia."

She smiled gently. "I kinda do. I need to… I need to move on. If he doesn't want me then….." she trailed off.

"If he doesn't want you, then he's a fool." Renji really wanted to say something a lot more colourful than that but he wasn't about to colour Rukia's day with his vocabulary.

"Yeah. A fool? I can think of a lot of other things that he is." She raised an eyebrow at him, surprised at his modesty.

He smiled, and then turned serious. "I'm not going to stop you Rukia. You're your own person. I'm not going to tell you what to do. Just know that…I'm here for ya."

"Thanks." She murmured. "Oh! Kira-san, Hisagi-san and Ikkaku-san say hi. They, along with Rangiku-san dragged me out for some lunch and sake."

"What kinda trouble have they gotten into lately?" he speculated.

Rukia chuckled. "Rangiku-san wanted to try out a bar in district eighty-two. They went; and of course they left the place a complete mess. Four critically injured and twenty-seven got away with small injuries but with bruised egos."

Renji shook his head. "Of all the places; Rangiku chooses the worst district in Rukongai. I'm just sorry I missed a good fight."

"Yeah. Eighty-second….That's close to where we grew up." Rukia mused.

"Yeah…those were the days." He muttered, reminiscing back to the days where it was just them and their wits. "Hey, where are you gonna stay, now that you and half-breed aren't…on best terms?"

"Urahara found me a place. It's close to the store so I'll be around there a lot." She said, looking at the ground. She looked back up at Renji, and stopped walking.

Renji stopped a few steps ahead of her. "Rukia?"

"Renji…I just wanted to thank you for…for the other day. Y'know you didn't have to do that and—"

"Rukia, stop. I did it because…." I love you. "Because I wanted to, and you're…you're my friend."

Right. Friend. "Well, thanks anyway." She muttered.

"GOOOOD MOORNIIING, IIICHIIIIGOOOOO!!!" Isshin Kurosaki called; lunging toward his son's sleeping form.

The older Kurosaki was about to slam his foot into his son's side when Ichigo grabbed his father's foot and threw him into the wall.

"Aww, Ichigo. That hurt." Isshin sniffed, rubbing his head.

"Serves you right for trying to attack me so early in the morning." Ichigo mumbled, still tired.

Isshin got to his feet. "I wasn't attacking you, I was showing you that I love you."

"che, what a funny way of doing that." Ichigo said, climbing out of bed. "What's for breakfast?"

"I think you mean lunch." Isshin corrected. "It's eleven-fifty."

"What?! Why didn't you wake me up?!"

"I just did!"

Ichigo sighed exasperated. Isshin face grew curious. "What were you doing so late at night that made you sleep in for so long?" Jumping to conclusions, he smiled slyly. "Heheh, Ichigo. You were at a lady's house, having s—"

Ichigo kicked his father's shin. (He whimpers: "That hurts Ichigo!") "Stop jumping to conclusions with your dirty mind! I was studying for my mid-terms tomorrow, because tonight I'm going out to the movies with Sado and Ishida."

"Okay. Well you have a visitor. She's in the living room" Isshin said awkwardly. He headed downstairs ahead of Ichigo.

Ichigo dreaded who she might be. But he had a pretty good idea who it was. When he reached the bottom of the stairs his father had disappeared into the next room. He turned to he left and saw a familiar petite figure with shoulder length raven hair; she had her back to him.

She turned to him and nodded. "Ichigo."

He almost cringed at the curt, cold greeting. "Hi, Rukia. I was—"

"You will not talk. You will listen." She paused letting that sink in. "It's over Ichigo. We both know that. We've known it for a while now. And as much I want to continue hating you for moving on before we ended it properly, I....I forgive you." The words tasted horrible in Rukia's mouth. She wanted to go and wash out her mouth with bleach or something.

Ichigo's eyes widened, but he stayed quiet, obeying orders. She looked at him with the tiniest hint of a scowl. "Goodbye, Ichigo. Stay out of trouble, coz I won't be bailing you out anymore." She swept out of the room, leaving a surprised Ichigo.

Rukia heard a knock at her new apartment door. She put the last dress on a coat hanger. Hanging it up in her closet, she ran to the door, pulling it open.

Renji smiled, handing her a neatly wrapped gift. "Housewarming present."

She smiled taking the gift from his hands. "You didn't have to, but thanks. Come on in; make yourself at home."

He walked past her, into the new smelling apartment. Slumping into the couch, he tuned on the TV and began channel surfing. Rukia walked toward the kitchen. "Hungry?"

He turned to her. "Starving."

She nodded, disappearing into the kitchen. She was gone for a while so he decided to go and check on her. Getting up he went and took a seat at the kitchen bench. Rukia was sitting in front of the open fridge, deciding what to get for them to eat.

"Your fridge is packed." He commented.

She looked up at him, then back at the fridge. "Urahara had it stocked up for me. Hey, what do you wanna eat and drink?"

"Got any chips and dip?" he asked.

She stood up; going to what was her pantry. She pulled open the doors to reveal it to be just like the fridge: full. Rummaging through, she found a large bag of chips, which she proceeded to toss over to Renji (who caught it with ease.)

He tore the bag open and nibbled on a few. Rukia sat next to him, putting a tub of dip and two sodas on the table. They ate in silence, Renji watching Rukia out of the corner of his eye and Rukia, trying not to look at him from the corner of her eye.

When they were done, Renji sighed. "How was it?"

She looked at him, biting her lower lip. "How was what?" she asked all too innocently.

He rolled his eyes "You know what I'm talking about Rukia. How did it go with...him?"

She heaved a deep sigh. "I ended it Renji. And that was that. I don't wanna talk about it anymore."

He nodded. "Well, I better get going. I'm leaving for Soul Society tonight. The captain needs my report on how things have been here in the real world for the last few months."

"Pass my regards, Renji. And to Ukitake taicho." She requested, walking Renji to the front door.

"Will do." He smiled.

She opened the door letting him walk past her. "Bye, Renji."

He gently pulled her dainty hands from beside her and covered them with both of his. Looking down into her dark eyes, he leaned in so their faces were nearly touching. "Bye, Rukia."

With that, he gently brushed his lips to her forehead, released her hand and left.

Rukia stood there, trying to restart her heart and lungs. She could sill feel his surprisingly gentle lips on her head and his hands on hers. When she had recovered, she closed the door, took a shower and went to sleep; all that time, with a smile gracing her face.

Wellll, there it is people: the last chapter D;

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"….."

LOL! Yeah, right! Ma bad…

So there it was. I hope you liked it. I hope you're not mad coz Renji made his move too fast. And in the next chapters, I'm gonna have to make some people a little OOC to make the story stick. Anywho, like always: PLEASE REVIEW?! PLEEEEAASSEEE!!!!

Til next time!! 8]