A/N: Due to my beta-reader's begging and popular demand, I have decided to make this a four chapter story. For those of you who can't count, that means this is the penultimate chapter. The next chapter shall be the last one. Now read, before it falls into the abyss.

The Bakery

Chapter 3

"I—Ichigo…" a young girl's voice mumbled, tugging on Ichigo's sleeve. He woke up to see his younger sister standing next to his bed in her pink night gown with her hands over her face, quite clearly crying.

"Hey… Yuzu. What's wrong?" he asked kindly, sitting up in the darkness and turning his lamp on. Without further ado, she leapt into his arms and started sobbing. He was bewildered to say the least. It wasn't often that his sister came crying to him in the middle of the night.

"I—I had a dream." She cried, burying her face in his shirt. Ichigo was at a loss for words; he simply patted her head and let her cry herself to sleep. Was he really the only one she could come to with these problems? Was there really nobody else to look after her?

When he was sure he wouldn't wake her by taking her back to her own bed, he did so. He then went back to sleep, freshly reminded of his importance in his family.

When he awoke the next morning, the first thing he saw was a dress. Still half-asleep, he wondered curiously what the dress was doing, wandering around all by itself.

Then an arm came out of seemingly nowhere and tapped him briskly on the head.

"What the—?"

"Oh! Good, Ichigo. You're awake," a pleasant female voice stated cheerfully. So that explained the dress and where the hand had come from. He looked up at her face and literally fell out of bed in shock when he saw that black hair and those pretty violet eyes.

This girl had the amazing skill of appearing right when she was the last person he expected to see. Of course, yet again, it was Rukia.

He quickly picked himself up off the floor and cleared his throat, trying to resist the blush threatening to swarm across his cheeks like angry bees.

He turned around and opened the curtains behind his bed to let some light into the room and also to give him a chance to regain control over himself after the surprise of being woken up by Rukia.

What was it about this girl? She had the most extraordinary ability to make him act in a completely different way than usual. For instance, he had no idea what had come over himself when he had kissed her yesterday. And why did she have to turn up this early in the morning?

He turned back to face her, a bright grin on his face instead of his customary scowl. She had butterfly shaped clips in her hair, keeping it out of her eyes. Ichigo noticed that the colour of those clips was the same as the colour of her dress: a pleasant baby green.

"Rukia," he greeted cheerfully, happy to see her despite the oddness of their meeting that morning. "How goes it?"

"It goes well, Ichigo," she answered. He felt his heart swoop as she said his name. Then it occurred to him that she was in his room in his house and he wasn't totally sure how she had gotten there. So he did the logical thing—for once—and asked.

"Uh… What are you doing here?"

"Oh, your sister let me in," Rukia answered happily. Ichigo noticed the offending sister—Karin—standing by the door. He glared at her. She poked her tongue out at him and wandered off.

Rukia watched this exchange with narrowed eyes. Then she surprised him yet again by slapping him rather painfully on the arm.

"Argh!" he exclaimed. "What was that for?" he asked angrily, wondering if all girls were this violent. "I didn't even say you were short!" he added, regretting it as she deemed him worthy of another sharp whack.

"One: I like your sister. She's more polite than you! And two: do not call me short if you value your life." To state the obvious, Rukia was scary and quite threatening.

Ichigo asked himself why he liked her so much. Naturally, he got no answer. Then he realised he was not at all satisfied by Rukia's answer to his other question. What was she doing at his house in the first place? Did one of his sisters invite her over? No, impossible; his family didn't know about his… uh, relationship with Rukia—although his dad was a fan of Kuchiki Byakuya, the hottest man alive. Ichigo tried not to think about that too much.

"Rukia, seriously, what are you doing here at this time in the morning? In my house?" Ichigo asked again, being more specific this time. Rukia sighed and twiddled her fingers. She seemed to do that often. Ichigo waited for a while before she answered.

"I wanted to talk to you…" Rukia began slowly.

"I gathered that," Ichigo stated calmly, smiling in an effort to make her more relaxed. It worked; she smiled back at him and continued.

"…About that kiss."

Ichigo didn't say anything for a moment.

"Ah," he finally responded. The pair stood in silence for another moment. Just as Rukia opened her mouth to break the calm, Yuzu came bursting into the room holding three slices of toast in one hand and a glass of juice in the other.

"Breakfast, Ichigo!" she announced, delighted at the chance to pay him back for his kindness of comforting her the night before. Then she noticed Rukia.

"Hello," Rukia greeted politely. Yuzu smiled widely and handed Ichigo the food and drink without even bothering to look at him. She was staring at Rukia.

"…You're Kuchiki Rukia," she stated, so far managing to contain her excitement. Ichigo ate one piece of toast whole, watching the girls.

"I am," Rukia answered slowly and cautiously, wondering what this little girl was planning on doing. Yuzu took a deep breath. Then another. Then she could hold it in no longer.

"Oh my god! You are, like, the most beautiful girl on the planet! When I grow up, I wanna look just like you! You're so pretty! And your hair, and your perfect skin… You're so perfect!" It was very unlike her to have such a sudden outburst. It looked like Ichigo's dad wasn't the only one who was a fan of the Kuchiki models.

Yuzu was jumping up and down excitedly, clapping her hands in a completely hyperactive fashion, and totally ignoring Ichigo as he ate the rest of his breakfast and downed the juice.

To Ichigo's surprise, Rukia laughed. He had thought she didn't like to be recognised as famous, but it seemed now that she was okay with it.

"Why, thank you. I assume you are Ichigo's other sister?" Rukia said. Yuzu nodded. "It's nice to meet you." Rukia held out her hand. "You're very pretty, too. You know, he told me about you yesterday." Midway through shaking Yuzu's hand, Rukia began to blush at the memory of what else had happened the day before.

Looking from Ichigo—who was firmly avoiding the gaze of the two girls—to Rukia, Yuzu noticed that the atmosphere in the room was a little strained.

"I'm going to school now. Bye!" she said quickly, hiding a smile as she left with a vague idea as to the reason behind Rukia's presence in their house. Ichigo has a crush… she thought to herself, giggling quietly and leaving for school with Karin.

Ichigo put his hands in his pockets and just stood there, in front of Rukia, feeling the awkwardness rolling through the air. Rukia had taken up a similar stance, her hands behind her back, her head raised to look Ichigo in the eyes.

"Yeah… about that…" Ichigo said, bringing the conversation back to the original topic, with no idea how to continue. Thankfully, Rukia continued for him.

"…I like you," she muttered.

Wait, what? Ichigo's mind went into overdrive. Did she just say… no, no way! …She likes me? As in, like likes me?

"Uhh… what was that?" Ichigo asked out loud, clearing his throat and hardly daring to hope that he'd heard correctly. Rukia was blushing furiously and glaring out the window, refusing to look at his incredulous face.

"I said I like you." Her hands were balled into fists and she seemed angry for some reason. A smart man would've taken care not to irritate her further, but Ichigo wasn't known for his genius.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," he said smugly. Rukia turned to him, fire burning in her eyes. That was warning enough for him and he quickly took a step backwards. Unfortunately, he was a bit too slow and she whacked him on the arm to his eternal surprise.

"I like you, and I don't know why!" she exclaimed, proceeding to hit him multiple times.

"What are you doing? Hey—ouch! Why are you—ahh! Stop hitting me!" Ichigo held his arms up to protect himself from the barrage of blows coming from the small and angry girl in front of him.

"I don't even know you!" she said, punching him squarely on the jaw. He moved out of the way but she followed him, using her greater agility as a smaller person to get him in every place he wasn't expecting.

"Ow!" He dodged one fist, only to be hit with the other.

"I met you… what, two days ago?" More punches followed. How could someone so tiny be so violent?

"Ahh! Not there, please!" he yelled, continuing his struggles. "What did I ever do to you?" he protested.

"You and your dumb charm tricked me into liking you!" She was angry at herself, Ichigo realised, for liking someone like him. A famous model liking a simple baker. And so, she felt the need to take it out on him. But that didn't mean he would let her.

"Charm?" he asked, pausing for a second and getting a fist in the gut for his trouble. Not wanting to be caught unaware again, he continued the little scuffle. "Are you saying I'm hot?"

"Yes! I mean, no! No way! Never ever! Ever! You—I mean… not—but you… Shut up!" She blushed and hit him extra hard for getting her to admit it.

"Stop hitting me!" Ichigo begged, catching her hands in his and holding them there as she thrashed about, trying to free herself from his grip.

"Don't be a wuss!" she told him, finally managing to twist out of his hold on her and continuing her bombardment.

As the onslaught progressed, Ichigo found himself with only one thing left to say.

"Well, I like you, too!" he confessed, having no choice but to shout for his voice to be heard over Rukia's now indistinguishable rant.

"I know you do! I'm not an idiot!" She tackled him and succeeded in pushing him onto his bed, the suddenness of her action catching him by surprise—because otherwise, she would have no chance of knocking over someone of Ichigo's stature.

"Then what's the problem?" Ichigo was absolutely bewildered. She picked up one of his pillows and chucked it at him. It bounced off, having no effect. Seeming to have run out of energy, Rukia got off of him and sat next to him on his bed. She sighed, pleased with herself, and neatened up the blankets so it didn't look suspicious.

"Are you done…?" Ichigo faced Rukia apprehensively. He had barely been awake for twenty minutes and had already managed to get into a fight. He just didn't have the energy for this in the morning.

Rukia nodded. "Yes, I think so."

"Okay, then," he answered quickly. A little too quickly, it seemed.

"What's up?" Rukia asked. Ichigo looked at her in disbelief.

"You were hitting me!" he said in an astonished voice. How could she not find that out-of-the-ordinary? He had never been beaten up by a girl before; usually they were nice and gentle. Wasn't there something in their brains that kept their emotions in check? But not Rukia; she went against everything he'd always thought about females. Hell, maybe he was just sexist.

"Because I was angry at you," Rukia explained calmly, crossing her legs and rearranging her dress.

"You're insane!" Ichigo accused, amazed at her tranquillity.

"I am not," she denied, huffing.

"Right," Ichigo answered, stifling a laugh. They smiled at each other. Nobody could deny that they had a spark there. It was just something that made each so attracted to the other.

"So anyway," Rukia began, bringing them back to earth, "I wanted to know if maybe… Would you like to go out with me sometime…?" And she surprised him once again.

Sexist or not, Ichigo was fond of traditions and strongly believed it was the male's job to ask out the girl. But then again, this was Rukia. Maybe he could let it slide—just because she was so different to any other girl he'd ever met.

"Yes," Ichigo agreed, quite happy with this turn of events.

At lunchtime that day, she stayed true to her word and entered the bakery for the third time in total, not including that morning's visit as that was Ichigo's house, not his workplace, technically. But she wasn't alone this time; Kuchiki Byakuya was with her.

Heads turned as the tall model entered, proving that his fame far surpassed Rukia's—not many people knew her because of her short career. People gasped and cameras started clicking, making Ichigo even more uncomfortable than he already was.

Why there were so many people with cameras in his bakery that day, Ichigo didn't know. What he did know, however, was that lunchtime was the busiest time in his little shop and he would have to be careful not to let any of the stock run out. People would start flocking to his doors soon, especially with the famous Kuchiki Byakuya there.

Ichigo cowered under the older man's gaze as Rukia introduced them, proudly referring to Ichigo as her boyfriend, which brought a smile to said boy's lips, and a slight blush to his cheeks.

The glare Byakuya was giving him was strong enough to melt strawberries, and everyone knows strawberries don't melt.

"What can I get you two?" Ichigo asked politely, not letting his fear of Rukia's older brother get to him. How did Kuchiki Byakuya manage to be such a successful model with such a scary attitude?

"I have heard that you produce superior strawberry tarts," he stated quietly. Rukia nodded from behind Byakuya. The man had such a large presence, it made Rukia seem even smaller.

"Coming right up." Ichigo went to one of the many shelves full of tarts and such and got the requested items. He paused just as he was about to put a tart into a bag.

"How many?" he asked upon realising he didn't know. Rukia held up four fingers.

"Manners…" the older Kuchiki chided softly. Rukia blushed at being scolded by her brother in public.

"Sorry," she said. "Four, please," she asked in an official tone, bringing a satisfied smirk to Byakuya's face. His greatest goal in life was to raise a responsible and kind sister.

Ichigo handed them the bag, then accepted the payment, putting it into the cash register.

He looked around the shop and saw that there were no tables left. But he was quickly distracted as he noticed something: a smell. He frowned, trying to place it. Then he realised what it was.

Forget the tables; something was burning! He left the counter and opened the door to the storeroom. Dreading what was about to happen, he hurried into the room behind it, the kitchen, to see a devastating sight.

Flames were licking the walls; smoke was billowing out the open windows. It was impossible to see anything and his eyes stung from just trying. Already, ash lined the floors and things in the cupboards were shattering.

His bakery was burning.

He must've left the oven on! The smoke alarms hadn't gone off, though. He had no idea why. Rushing back into the front room, he saw his customers looking at him curiously, wondering why he was in such a panic.

He hastily went over to the red fire alarm on the wall directly to his right and pulled it. It rang loudly, sending everyone out of the bakery.

Thank goodness his sisters were still at school.

"Ichigo!" Rukia ran up to him once everyone was safely outside. "What happened?" she panted, out of breath from the sudden evacuation. She grabbed his arm, unexpectedly gentle for once.

"My bakery… My bakery is burning…" Ichigo was shocked, his eyes wide. That bakery was everything to him. Without it, his family had no income, no nothing. And worse than that, it was one side of his home! The bakery was on one street and directly behind it, on a parallel street, was his house. There was even a doorway connecting them. As luck would have it, that door way was in the kitchen, and the kitchen was on fire.

Ichigo looked set to lose everything because of a few moments of stupidity. He put his head in his hands but quickly looked up again, needing to see what was happening to the building.

"Don't worry, Ichigo. It'll be okay," Rukia said reassuringly, holding his arm and lightly patting his back. He hardly noticed it, upset as he was.

Byakuya stood nearby, his face stone-cold. Clearly, he wasn't happy. Rukia had been put in danger because of this baker. Byakuya wasn't going to let that go unpunished.

The fire brigade arrived and fought the blaze while taking the people left there a safe distance away. Ichigo watched from the bottom of the nearby mountain, on top of which Rukia lived, as his world was razed to the ground. The fire-fighters were doing a fantastic job, but, right before they managed to put the inferno out, the roof caved in.

There were no words to describe it. One second, the walls and the roof were there, allowing his home to keep looking like a home, and the next… there were just walls, and a lot of debris.

A/N: I bet you're all dying to know what happens in the next chapter. The final chapter… The last one ever… I should stop rubbing it in now, shouldn't I? XD
By the way, with Byakuya's glare being enough to melt strawberries, it's kind of an inside joke. You see, one night, I called my Firisu—my beta-reader—and started talking to her, then she said something along the lines of "go away and let me eat my strawberries before they melt."
I said "strawberries don't melt."
She disagreed.
Then it occurred to me that Ichigo is a strawberry, therefore it'd be funny if I put that in this story. :)

BR/N: Strawberries do melt, I assure you. Or perhaps the ones I was eating were just going bad… But they were melting, nonetheless, and that is what matters. Isn't that right?
Anyway, if all goes according to my evil plan, there will actually be two chapters after this. So just cross your fingers and be extra nice to the author, okay? ^^