A/N: Umm… I hope you all remember where the last chapter ended, because I sure don't. XD

The Bakery

Chapter 4

Ichigo was speechless—not to mention homeless, as well. He hardly noticed Rukia stroking his hair gently as he sat at her feet, watching as the firemen did one last check to make sure all of the fire was out and not even sparks were left.

It didn't feel real. He told himself that it couldn't be happening, it wasn't possible, and he was simply imagining things.

One of the firemen walked over from the remains, and Ichigo looked up at the ash-coated man from his position on the ground.

"Ichigo Kurosaki, I presume," the man stated, somewhat ominously.

"Yes?" Ichigo swallowed nervously, his throat dry from the lack of moisture in the air.

"I think it's pretty clear what happened here. There's evidence that the oven set a tea towel on fire and the whole room went up. Well done on your quick reaction, by the way. So, when was the last time you checked the smoke alarms?"

"About three months ago." Ichigo had been expecting the question and so had his answer ready.

"Do you have any idea why they wouldn't have gone off?"

"No, sir. Not the slightest clue," Ichigo answered honestly, feeling quite disorientated.

The man nodded. "I'll assume you have insurance?" he guessed. Ichigo nodded once again.

"Right. Well, sorry about all this." The man gestured to the remains of Ichigo's home and workplace before walking away.

The firemen left to fight other fires, and save cats from old ladies, and the crowd slowly dispersed. News reporters arrived, and the story was suddenly everywhere. Strange, how the media could spread word of a fire faster than the fire itself could.

After discussing it with his insurance company—and many builders—over the phone, Ichigo found that although everything could be returned to the state it was before the fire, he and his family would have to make alternative arrangements for their residence until then. So they would pretty much be left to fend for themselves for three months before his house would be occupant-worthy.

Fortunately, Ichigo still had enough money saved from the business to be able to afford food for them all. Now the problem left was: where to stay? The insurance company had suggested friends, but what friend would take all of them in on such short notice? And in a small cramped town such as this, he doubted anybody even had room to accommodate four extra people.

Bringing himself back to the present, Ichigo realised Yuzu and Karin would be home from school soon. He didn't look forward to telling them they had no home to return to. Following that train of thought, he became aware that he had no idea where his father was.

With his life suddenly thrown into chaos, and his family in a state of total disorganisation, Ichigo wondered in dismay how he would survive the coming weeks.

He looked up at Rukia sadly, seeking comfort and noticing as he did so that her mouth was set in a grim line. It was odd, however; she didn't seem as upset as much as she appeared determined.

Her hand left his head and he could only watch in surprise as she marched up to Byakuya who was still standing nearby, watching everything with narrowed eyes. She stood up straight next to him and looked directly into his eyes.

"Brother."

"Yes, Rukia?" he drawled, somehow already knowing what it was she was about to ask him.

"Can Ichigo and his family stay at our house until his own house is repaired?" she asked, although it seemed like more of a demand, judging by her tone. Ichigo almost smiled, glad that she cared enough to suggest he come and stay in the Kuchiki mansion. She seemed to think it was a house, but honestly, it was more like a castle. They could probably hide an entire army in there and nobody would be any the wiser.

"I do not think that is a good idea," Byakuya said, causing Ichigo's momentary relief to come crashing down to the ground.

"I think it's a very good idea, considering they have nowhere else to go," Rukia stated strongly, refusing to back down.

"I doubt it. Living with your boyfriend at your age? And you've known him how long?" Byakuya criticised.

"Well…"

"My answer is no," Byakuya said stubbornly.

"When are you going to stop protecting me from every little thing?" Rukia burst out angrily. Byakuya remained silent.

"How am I supposed to live my life my way when you don't let me make any decisions?" Rukia argued. "A life I don't enjoy is no life at all!"

"…Very well." Byakuya didn't look any different, but he must've been touched by her words. Either that or he had something up his sleeve.

"Wait, what? It's that easy?" Rukia was surprised. Byakuya raised an eyebrow.

"I mean, thank you. Thank you!" Rukia quickly backtracked. She ran over to Ichigo to tell him the good news.

Settling into the huge mansion took a bit longer than average. As there were so many rooms, everyone was quickly lost, but they managed. And so, it came to be that the baker's family lived with the famous models.

"Ichigo." Yuzu woke him the next morning, still looking tired. Ichigo guessed that she'd slept badly.

"Breakfast is ready," she told him.

Soon after, they were all sitting at the huge dining table, enjoying a large but healthy breakfast.

"My brother apologises for not being present," Rukia explained formally. "He had work to get to." Ichigo laughed at her stiffness.

"Relax, Rukia. He's not here to correct your grammar," Ichigo said with mock sternness. She poked her tongue out at him—something that was quickly becoming a habit. He paused, realising the taste of the food was familiar. "Nice bread." He smirked.

"Silence, idiot. It's from your shop, yes, but that doesn't mean a thing!"

"Sure," he drawled.

"So, what are your plans for the day?" Rukia changed the subject, looking to Yuzu and Karin, who were sitting together across the table from her.

"We have to go recover what we can from the house," Yuzu explained in dismay.

"Oh…" Rukia wasn't sure how to respond. "Would you like some help?" she offered.

"No, we'll be fine," Karin told her kindly. "Besides, you have stuff to do, right?"

"Nope," Rukia answered. "I'm all alone today." She said this in such a way that it was clear to all at the table that she was expecting boredom that day and she would do just about anything to escape it.

Ichigo toyed with an idea for a brief moment before suggesting it: "How about we spend the morning on our recovery mission, and then we can show Rukia the finer parts of town?"

Yuzu clapped her hands together in delight. "Awesome! I'll go get ready."

It amazed Ichigo how quickly her moods changed; from gloomy to joyful in less than a minute. Karin rolled her eyes at her sister's behaviour before following her up the stairs, leaving Ichigo and Rukia alone, conveniently.

"I have lived here my whole life, you know. I've seen most of the town," Rukia told Ichigo.

"Sure, fancy restaurants and stuff. But have you ever been down to the arcade and the skate park?" Ichigo asked her.

"Well… no. Byakuya says that people around there are dangerous."

"Paranoid," Ichigo muttered under his breath.

"He's not paranoid!" Rukia admonished. "He's just a bit cautious. Just a bit."

"No need for caution—I won't let anything happen to you," Ichigo promised.

Rukia smiled slowly, feeling her insides warm up with the sweetness of his comment. She was so glad to know that he cared. Of course, she wasn't so weak as to let him know that she was glad for his protection, but she was happy and mischievous enough to lean over and kiss his lips briefly before going upstairs.

Ichigo sat in bliss for a minute after that. He decided to say nice things to Rukia more often so that he could get more rewards. Her kisses were soft and light, but burned him inside more than anything else.

So this is how it feels to love.

"Arcade!" Yuzu declared happily after a difficult and painful couple of hours, digging through remains for… well, remains. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack, albeit a black haystack that falls apart when touched, but they managed to find a few things worth keeping.

"Oh, wow," Rukia said in astonishment as they entered. It was brightly coloured and full of loud, ridiculously-shaped machines claiming to be games. Ichigo leaned up against a nearby wall as his sisters dashed off to some fortune-telling thing they'd been going on about for a while. Rukia stood stock-still, mouth wide in wonder.

"It's so big!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah, it's big," Ichigo answered.

"And so bright!"

"That'd be the lights."

"What's that?" she asked suddenly, pointing.

"That, my dear, is what we like to call a cat." He said it as if he were speaking to a three-year-old. Rukia was offended enough to use violence.

"Not the cat, idiot," she said, proceeding to grab his head and force him to face what she'd pointed to. "That."

"Oh." Next to the cat was a great big black hole in the wall.

"I mean, what's it doing there? I can see it's a hole," Rukia amended hastily before Ichigo could insult her intelligence any more.

"Dunno," Ichigo answered nonchalantly. It was such an odd thing to see, Rukia thought. Ichigo, however, had no problem with it.

Rukia walked up to it and stuck out her hand to find that it wasn't a hole at all; it was painted on. Ichigo sauntered up next to her.

"Satisfied?"

"Yes."

Together, they wandered through the arcade, Rukia asking a question every so often. It was so difficult for Ichigo to imagine that a kid who'd grown up in this town had never been to the arcade, but he guessed that's what must happen when you're famous: you miss out on things.

"Come on, we'll never get to the skate park if we spend all day here," Ichigo said to his sisters, practically dragging them out of the clothing store they'd decided to go to. They'd declared a vote had been in order, and decreed that the store was to be visited. Everyone but Ichigo had voted yes, but now he was putting his foot down. It was getting dark, and he wanted to show Rukia the place where most of the young people around town spent their days.

"Busy," she remarked upon their arrival at the skate park. It was indeed quite busy—being a Saturday night and all.

"Oh my god!" they heard someone nearby shout. Curious eyes were drawn to the man. "You're Kuchiki Rukia, aren't you?"

Rukia nodded carefully as the man approached.

"Wow, you're even more beautiful in person!" The man seemed quite excited upon seeing her, and other nearby people closed in, hearing that the famous Rukia was in their midst.

"So, uh, how would you like to come to my place tonight?" he suggested suggestively, taking a few more steps toward them.

"She would not." Byakuya appeared out of nowhere, grabbing Rukia tightly by the arm and whisking her away before anyone even registered his presence. Totally surprised and wondering what that was all about, Ichigo took his sisters' hands and followed Byakuya back to the mansion.

"You're popular there," Ichigo remarked to Rukia upon their arrival back at his temporary home. Judging by the look on Byakuya's face, it was the wrong thing to say. Karin and Yuzu quickly excused themselves, sensing the argument that was coming.

"And you are no use at all, are you?" Byakuya accused rudely.

"Uh… what?" Ichigo asked, offended.

"It's fine," Rukia said quickly, "a normal thing. You know how people can be—"

"You did not even try to protect Rukia from that man," Byakuya elaborated, cutting across Rukia. She laughed nervously.

"I just said, it was fine. He wasn't going to do anything to me or anything. You're just overreacting as usual—…which is also fine…" Rukia trailed off as Byakuya switched his glare to her.

"Rukia's right; it was fine. Just a fan," Ichigo said nonchalantly, muttering as he walked away, "Protect her from nothing…"

"Out!" Byakuya exploded suddenly. "If you do not take Rukia's safety seriously, then you do not belong here!"

Ichigo turned around in confusion, his mouth gaping, shocked. "Excuse me?" he asked, deciding he hadn't heard properly. Rukia looked from her brother to Ichigo, worried.

"Get out of my house. Don't come back." And with that venomous instruction, Byakuya threw Ichigo bodily out the door and slammed it shut after him.

"Hey—No!" Ichigo heard Rukia shout inside the house. He was in shock. He'd just been thrown out. Literally, chucked from the room.

"I forbid you to see him. Now go to your room!"

Ichigo heard Rukia give a sound of frustration before she stormed off.

Ichigo tried the door. It was locked. There was no more sound from inside, which probably meant that there was nobody there.

He went and sat at the foot of one of the towers, leaning against the cold stone wall and sighing. What had he done to deserve this?

He jumped as he heard a sound from above. Turning, he noticed that there was a room at the very top, and the light was on. He sat very still in the shadow of the tower, hoping that whoever was up there wouldn't notice him. Then he heard a knock and a "Rukia, can I come in?"

Ichigo decided the shadow of the tower was the safest place to be, because that was definitely the voice of Kuchiki Byakuya and, judging by what he said, this tower contained Rukia's bedroom.

"No," Rukia answered calmly. The door opened anyway, and Byakuya spoke.

"He's just a boy. No need to get upset."

"Shut up!" Rukia said loudly. "Now everything's ruined because of you!"

Ichigo felt very embarrassed to hear a sobbing. Byakuya left and Ichigo decided it was safe to make his presence known. Picking an appropriately-sized rock from the stones surrounding him, he tossed it into the air towards the open window.

It flew right in and he heard Rukia exclaim, "Ow!"

"Sorry!" he called.

She stuck her head out of the window, and he saw her eyebrows rise in surprise.

"Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!" Ichigo said, touching a hand to his heart dramatically, a smile playing at his lips.

"Shut up, you idiot! Byakuya will hear you!" Rukia had stopped sobbing, suspiciously enough, making it obvious that she had been acting.

Ichigo answered with a brief laugh.

"What the hell are you calling me Rapunzel for, anyway?" Rukia continued, ranting a bit. "My hair doesn't even go past my shoulders, let alone to the bottom of this massive tower!"

"How else am I meant to get up there?" Ichigo asked reasonably.

"Oh, I dunno. Try the ladder, maybe?" Rukia replied sarcastically, withdrawing herself from the window and muttering, "Idiot."

Ichigo looked around and noticed a conveniently-placed ladder on the side of the tower. He climbed it, careful not to look below him as the drop was horrendous, and finally made it into her room, after diving in the open window.

Standing up, he looked around and saw many faces staring at him. After a moment of shock, he realised that the walls were covered in posters of various bands. He'd never been in Rukia's room before—unsurprising, since he'd only lived in her house for one day.

Rukia stood near the door, smiling at him in amusement.

"I love you." The words tumbled from his mouth before he could stop them.

Rukia looked mildly surprised, but then composed herself and answered, "Well, hello to you, too."

"Ah… sorry," Ichigo said bashfully.

"That's okay," Rukia answered, realising as she said it that it was, in fact, okay.

There was a silence. An awkward silence. Ichigo found himself wishing that Rukia would just change the subject.

"So, what were you calling me Rapunzel for?" Rukia asked, changing the subject just as he'd wished, though her reason was that she had begun to blush.

"Oh, that," Ichigo answered, glad of the subject change because he was quickly becoming embarrassed. "I just had this idea about princesses and towers… You know the sort."

"Oh, yeah," Rukia agreed. The silence returned and it was quickly becoming warm, despite the open window.

Ichigo took a step in Rukia's direction, trying to act casual but finding it difficult. "Sorry about at the skate park. You didn't even get to see very much of it…"

"That's okay. I know you would've stopped him if he'd actually tried anything."

The silence returned and Rukia's blush became more pronounced.

"Uh… I've never really liked anyone this much before…" Rukia mused, blushing. "Apart from my brother—but that's a little different."

"Oh, good. You had me worried for a second there."

They shared a small giggle at that, and Ichigo felt the tension dissipate.

He took another step closer and smiled down at her, way down. She was really short. He felt an urge to tell her, but knew it would only end in her beating him up.

"May I kiss you?" he asked suddenly yet politely, not wanting to offend the 'princess.'

Ichigo moved one hand to Rukia's chin, simultaneously wrapping his other arm around her waist. He brought her face closer to his and leaned down, closing the already short distance until their lips met. Even whilst his heart burned with desire, he kept control of himself, kissing her gently.

Then she sighed, whispered, "Get it in your head, strawberry; I love you, too."

Ichigo took that as a yes.

He kissed her like he'd never kissed anyone—pulling her as close as possible and twisting his tongue through her mouth. He was afraid that he might be going too far, but she was just as enthusiastic, not letting him pull away.

That was until the door opened and Byakuya walked in, already angry, but becoming angrier at the sight of Ichigo.

Byakuya spluttered wordlessly, looking like he wanted to throw something out the window. Since Ichigo would be the most likely candidate for that, and it was a longway down, Ichigo decided that removing his arms from around Rukia would be prudent.

"It's not what it looks like," Rukia began. "Wait, what am I saying? This is exactly what it looks like."

Byakuya seemed to be about to say something, but a violent growl came out instead.

"And you can't stop me! He's… he's…" Rukia was at a loss for words. Ichigo was flattered.

"He's scum! Lower class!" Byakuya was in such a rage that he could only shout disjointed phrases.

"He's my boyfriend," Rukia said firmly. "I love him."

"How did he even get in here?" Byakuya asked Rukia, calming down a bit. Ichigo tried to act like he wasn't there, and nobody paid any attention to him.

"The ladd—no, it doesn't matter! He can come in here any time he likes!" Rukia shouted.

"He is dangerous," Byakuya stated.

"He is not!"

"I don't want you seeing him."

"I love him!"

"He isn't good enough for you! Nobody is," Byakuya said.

"He is! I love him. I really do," Rukia insisted, reaching back to where Ichigo was hovering uncertainly and pulling him forwards so she could put her arm around his waist. Ichigo automatically draped an arm over her shoulders, looking at Byakuya with undisguised fear.

A moment passed, and it felt heavily significant to them. Byakuya sighed.

"You'll realise I'm right one day," he muttered ominously. Ichigo was positively alarmed at that, but he was determined. He could worry about the future when it turned up, and since it hadn't yet, he figured he was home free. He knew it was terribly illogical of him to think that way, but it was encouraging, so he didn't correct it.

Byakuya let Ichigo stay in the house again, provided that he didn't steal Rukia's virtue. When the bakery was finally rebuilt and his house was considered liveable, Ichigo and his family went back.

It was the 'grand reopening' of the bakery, and cameras were everywhere. It was rumoured that the famous Kuchiki models would be coming, too, so there was a reporter waiting to kidnap them. Either that or interview them.

There was a great hullabaloo when Kuchiki Rukia arrived in a limo, with her more-famous brother—who was immediately swarmed by fans, mostly female—and greeted the bakery's owner, a young man with bright orange hair, with a kiss. She cut the ribbon, and strawberry tarts were handed out to all who had gathered.

It was odd to celebrate a bakery so enthusiastically, but when celebrities supported the business, generally the rest of the world did, too.

Later, when most people had left, and it was dark, Rukia and Ichigo were alone at a table inside the bakery.

"You realise this is only the fourth time I've been in here," she pointed out to him.

"Seriously?" Ichigo asked in surprise.

"Weird how so much can happen in such a short amount of time…" she mused.

"Isn't it just."

A/N: The end! But, thanks to my (somewhat evil) beta reader, there shall be an epilogue. It can be referred to as 'chapter five'. Wacky idea, I know. XD

I haven't explained yet, have I? Well, one night, I had a dream about Ichigo and Rukia and it involved some cake. I then told Firisu about this dream and she told me to write a fanfiction about it! Weeks passed and I started writing thiiiiiiis, although I had completely forgotten about my dream. Then Firisu reminded me about the original idea and said I should add what happened in the dream into the story. I told her that it was absolutely ridiculous and it wouldn't even fit in my story anyway. So she said that I should make it an epilogue!

So that is how this story came to be. And it's also the reason for chapter five. ^^

BR/N: It wasn't just weeks that passed; it was five months between the time Ciel In A Dress had that dream and the time she wrote this story. Of course she didn't remember. What was I thinking, holding onto the belief that there was the slightest possibility of her remembering? How silly of me.

Anyway, it was an interestingly odd dream—the way she told me about it, at least. You, dear readers, shall find out if you stay tuned to the next chapter.