xX Sixteen Hours Earlier Xx

Rukia stood by Ichigo, waiting for Inoue, Ishida, and Chad to get off the roller coaster. Rukia didn't want to ride the coaster, and Ichigo didn't want to leave Rukia by herself in case some people might want to take her away, sleezy bastards.

Rukia looked up at Ichigo, whose back was facing the entrance to the ride. His hands were in his pockets, and he was leaning on the fence. It was 6:00 now, and the sun would be setting soon. Probably in about 10 to 15 minutes. Rukia was gripping a giant rabbit plush Ichigo had won for her earlier. She looked down and turned her head.

---------------------------------------------

BANG! BANG BANG!

Ichigo put the toy gun back on the shelf.

"Wow! Hit every one eh? You get one of the big prizes!" the clerk said.

Ichigo looked at the clerk surprised. "Really? I hit every target?!" he said shocked.

"Yeah you sure did! I never saw gunmanship like yours before ever!"

"Oh, wow. Okay...um…" he said, looking at the prizes he could choose from what he could get. They were all lame toys, nothing he needed or his sisters.

Rukia walked up to him. "Wow, you got them all? What are you going to get?" she asked, curious. Ichigo looked at her and looked back at the inventory.

Inoue waved for Rukia to come over to her. "Try some cotton candy Kuchiki-san! It's good!" she said. She then held up her cotton candy for Rukia to see. Rukia's eyes opened wide and she trotted off toward her.

Ichigo pointed at a toy he wanted and the man got it down. "Here you go kid!" he said smiling.

Ichigo walked back to Chad, Inoue, Rukia, and Ishida. Rukia was eating more and more of Inoue's cotton candy. She liked it a lot.

"Rukia. Oi, I got this. I didn't need any of that junk back there." Ichigo said flatly.

Rukia turned and saw him holding a giant rabbit plush that had a shocking resemblance to Chappi the Rabbit. Rukia's eyes practically burst from her head. "Is...Is that...?" she asked.

Ichigo held it out for her. Rukia took it and mumbled, "Thank you."

---------------------------------------------

Inoue, Chad, and Ishida got off the ride and waked toward the exit where Ichigo and Rukia were waiting. Inoue was still filled with energy, and Chad waved.

"Ichigo." Rukia said.

Ichigo looked down at her, his eyes sparkling from the setting sun. "Yeah?" he asked.

Rukia looked into his eyes and tried to ignore how wonderful they looked and said, "I'm going to go buy cotton candy. Why don't you guys meet me at the bumper cars?"

Ichigo only nodded. Inoue said, "Don't get hurt!" Chad and Ishida nodded as well.

Rukia waved and half ran and half walked toward the nearest cotton candy stand. The group lost sight of Rukia as she went through the large crowd.

She approached the stand, which was right by a fence and purchased the cotton candy.

As she began to walk away, her own shadow was eclipsed by another larger one.

"Well, well, a little mouse. Looks like she needs someone to hang out with. Don't ya think so?" said a voice behind her.

Rukia stopped. She turned around to see the school bully Oshima, and his friend right next to him. "You're…you're Oshima!" she said.

He grinned. "Surprised you knew my name Kuchiki. Now that I'm outta school though, you can see my real fun-loving side. How about it?" he said coolly.

Rukia started backing up and shook her head. "N-no, I'm just fine. I have my friends waiting for me." She said quietly.

Oshima started walking toward her, making her keep walking backwards. "Oh come on, I'm not that bad. I won't hurt ya! I just want ya to be my girl? How 'bout it?" he said, grinning more.

Rukia backed up more, but hit the fence behind her. She looked at it, then quickly back at Oshima, staring at him in terror. He began to frown.

"I'm not that scary Kuchiki. You're hurting my feelings!" he said, tension rising in his voice.

His friend grabbed Rukia's free wrist from behind, trapping her against the fence. Rukia tried pulling on it but was unsuccessful. Oshima grabbed her other wrist tightly, causing her to drop her cotton candy on the ground. Rukia squirmed to get free, but it was not worth it. Oshima inched closer to her face.

"How about we have a party, eh?" he said evilly.

Rukia backed away from his face. "No, no don't, let go!!"

Ichigo looked over at the crowd. "Where is she? It's been too long…" he said. He saw a glimpse through the crowd of Rukia against the fence.

He raised an eyebrow and wondered what she was doing. "What the-?" he said confusedly. He got another look through the crowd to see she was pinned down to the fence and Oshima was about to do something to her, he couldn't tell what.

Wait, Oshima?! THAT BASTARD!

Ichigo dashed off toward where Rukia was. Inoue looked over. "Kurosaki-kun! Where are you going?!" she called. She then saw Ichigo walking toward Rukia and Oshima. Inoue looked at Chad and Ishida. "Kuchiki-san is in trouble!!" she said.

Oshima's lips were about to touch Rukia's when Ichigos foot met his cheek. Oshima went flying and hit the ground skidding.

"Why you!" he shouted as he got up, his forehead bleeding.

Ichigo kicked his face again and Oshima hit the ground bleeding more.

Rukia stared in awe as she saw Ichigo kicking Oshima into next week. Never had she seen him use such force in regular street fighting. It's like he was really trying to kill him, not just hurt him. Rukia felt her wrist fall free and heard the other boy running away screaming.

Ichigo kept kicking him and punching him that Oshima fell unconscious. But Ichigo didn't stop. He kept going. He wouldn't stop until Oshima learned to never mess with girls that way, let alone Rukia.

"SLEEZY BASTARD!!" he screamed as he dug Oshima's face into the ground.

Rukia ran up to him and grabbed his arm.

"Stop! Stop it Ichigo! He's unconscious! Do you want to kill this boy and get arrested?!" she screamed.

Ichigo stopped. In his blinding fury he forgot Rukia was witnessing the horror he was bringing upon the unconscious idiot.

"R-Rukia..?" he said, dazed. He let pure fury and anger get the best of him.

"Stop…" she mumbled. She looked down and started to shake, gripping Ichigos' sleeve tightly. "Please…just stop it Ichigo…" she said, her voice sounding strong, but Ichigo could hear the shakiness and fear in it.

"I…I…" Ichigo stumbled. He couldn't find the words to say. He didn't know what to say to comfort her. He wasn't very good at making anyone but his sisters feel better. To make Rukia happy, he had no clue. More importantly, he wanted to know if he had done anything to her.

Rukia was griping his shirt less and less, her grasp fading. Ichigo looked down at her.

"Are you alright, Rukia?" was all he could manage to say.

Rukia's head slowly nodded. She spoke nothing.

"Did he do anything to you? Did he get to do anything wrong to you?"

Rukia's head slowly drifted back and forth, making it clear nothing happened.

"I'm glad you're alright, Rukia." He said slowly. He didn't want to be loud. That would make Rukia only more scared.

Rukia did nothing.

"Rukia? Rukia what's wrong?" he asked nervously.

"I'm fine Ichigo…thank you…I don't want to think of what that man could've done to me…" she mumbled.

Ichigo was silent.

If anything would ever happen to you, I don't know how I would deal with myself. I would want to kill myself, and not have to cause myself any more pain for letting you down. I promised I would always protect you, and I will always. I promise this with my life. I will not let you get harmed or hurt, and if I do, I have failed to protect you, and will wish you still have feelings for me…if you have any now…

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

OMG! Awesome! Now you know what happens to poor Rukia! sob

I hope you enjoy this as much as I did writing it. By the way, LAST CHAPTER COMING NEXT TIME! So be looking forward to it soon! Sorry I didn't post this last weekend, I had to get off early.

But I will get the next chapter up next weekend! so be happy!

Reviews! I want loads of them to know if my first one is going good!