Hello everyone! How are you? You know, when I hadn't started writing fics, I always just read the stories and left without even favoriting or following them (as I didn't have an account then) or reviewing. But now as I have started writing myself, I can't tell you how much of a pleasure it is to read the reviews. So I thank you JoTerry for being a constant reviewer. I love you!

Rukia's POV

"I will be going to the human world tomorrow." I told my red-haired best friend as we walked back to the Mansion. He had grown overly-possessive after the small disappearing stunt I pulled. He would walk me to the Manor every day. That idiot had always been mad. Now he just went a rung lower on the sanity ladder.

"Mission?" he craned his neck above the crowd. I didn't know what always interested him so much, above the heads of everyone else. I sighed. Guess I would never find out.

"Nope. Just a visit." He made an absent-minded sound of 'hmm' . We walked the rest of the way silently, neither having a word to say. Secretly, I had missed those days when we could simply be there, without having a word to say or a reason to give for our appearance together. I looked up at his towering body. I groaned. There actually was a time when our heights were level. I don't know how he sprouted so much while I remained so short.

He heard the sound and turned to me. We were already in front of the Manor. "So, when will you be back?"

"It is just a one day one night trip. I should be back by day after tomorrow, around the evening." I shrugged.

He nodded, said his goodbyes and left. I turned and nodded at the guard who opened the gates for me. We weren't supposed to do that. They were our servants. But I couldn't help it whenever I saw the layers of forlornness being concealed behind that perfect emotionless mask. A bit of acknowledgement wouldn't hurt him. He never replied to my greeting though, which only gave me a better sense of how I didn't belong here. Even he knew my place.

I went through my usual process of washing and changing, then trudged to the dining room, happily humming a song I had heard in the human world. 'He Wasn't' by Avril Lavigne. For the first time that I heard the song, I thought the girl did nothing but scream. But slowly, my ears got used to the loud music and I found I actually liked it, like some of those heavy metal songs the strawberry listened to, which were despicable when you first heard them but slowly started to grow in on you.

A servant bowed and opened the door for me. I smiled at her and got a small nod in return. My smile widened. At least, sheacknowledged me.

I entered to see my brother already seated. My eyes swept past the room before opening my mouth. "Byakuya Nii-sama." I greeted formally when I saw the servant hovering next to the table, filling his glass with an orange liquid I guessed was juice. "Rukia." He didn't even turn to look at me, keeping his eyes trailed on the table.

I went and sat down at my spot across the table from him. The servant came to serve me. Her head was bowed and her eyes hidden behind shadows. Her blond hair were done into a neat bun and held back with a silver buckle. She finished her job and flitted out of the room.

We had the meal in our all too familiar silence but it didn't feel half as bad as it used to. I was not uncomfortable. While earlier, I used to look for ways to get away from dinner but these days I actually felt eager to reach this time of the evening. I slurped up the last of the hot soup and looked up at him. "How was your day, Nii-sama?"

"Rukia, how many times have I told you to not call me that in private."

"Sorry."

"It went fine, with occasional berating directed towards Abarai. He is as stupid as one could get."

His eyes gazed into mine and I just couldn't keep my laughter in when he looked at me with such intensity while saying such a thing. "What is it that you find so funny with my plight?"

That only caused me to laugh harder. Ordinarily, I would be surprised if Byakuya said such a thing but in this past week, we had opened up to each other quite a lot. To the extent that he randomly cracked jokes as well and humor was something I always thought was beyond Byakuya Kuchiki.

"Nothing. That is so Renji."

"How about your day?"

"That reminds me, I have acquired permission for a one-night stay in the human world. I will be leaving tomorrow." I barely made out the soft crinkling of the skin between his brows and yet I was sure that was because he let me. Yet he said nothing and merely nodded. After a while of talking the servant returned to gather the dishes. He escorted me to my room and then left for his. The whole night was a sleepless one as anticipation and curiosity ate through me.

*TIME SKIP*

I turned on the all too familiar corner, heading for the town clinic. It would be about time for that orange head to return back from school. The thought brought a smile on my face.

I caught a drift of spiritual pressure heading my way as I raised my hand to knock on Kurosaki's front door. I received no response for about a minute, then the door opened to the smiling face of Yuzu. "Kuchiki-san!" Her smile widened and spread from ear to ear. She clasped her hands in front of her chest in happiness. I smiled at her.

"Rukia-chan!" I heard a loud scream in the background. A man in a white lab coat came running at me, only to be stopped by Karin with a kick in the face. She crossed her arms over her chest as she stepped on her father's face. She wished me steadily and then went to sit at the table, sipping something from a white porcelain cup. Seconds later had said man standing in front of the portrait of his wife complaining about how rude her daughters had become.

My formal smile turned heartfelt as the weirdly homely aura of Kurosaki household greeted me. I stepped inside with a small chuckle and a reply to Yuzu and Karin's greetings. I made myself comfortable on the table next to the other black-haired female as Yuzu went to get me something to drink.

"Say Rukia-chan, what brings you here?" Isshin said as he came to sit by me.

"I was missing my friends so I decided to come for a small outing kind of a thing." I shrugged as I lied cleanly to him. But somehow, his eyes made me feel he knew my purpose in coming here. A doorbell interrupted us. I leaned my chair on its two hind legs to peak over the big man and have a clear view of the door. It opened to reveal the strawberry I had come to see. And along with him was a certain brunette.

"Hi, Inoue-san!" Yuzu called from her head stuck in between a wooden cabinet as she searched for something there.

The couple finally noticed me sitting at the table. Inoue's eyes widened for a moment, then the surprise was overtaken by joy at my appearance. "Kuchiki-san!" She came up to me and grabbed my hand tightly. She leaned down and hugged me from over the wood. "I am so happy for you.", she whispered in my ear. I was taken aback. Had Ichigo already told her?

Ichigo!

I swung my head to find him staring at us with a scowl on his face before he turned the other way. Inoue finally released me and stood back to survey my form. "Another mission?" She asked quietly. But I could see the hope in her eyes. She didn't want me around. I wondered why. What was she doing here in the first place?

"No! Rukia-chan is here for a small picnic with her friends." Isshin's voice was calm and steady which was a start. Even Karin looked up at her father. He wouldn't act like this under any circumstances. His eyes gazed deep into Inoue's, as if…warning her off.

Okay, now what the hell was going on here?

"So, do you want me to call all our friends? Tatsuki-chan will love it!" Inoue chirped happily.

Ugh, what had I gotten myself into? I needed to talk to Ichigo. Alone! "No, Inoue, let it be only our close friends. Chad, Ishida, you, me and Ichigo." At least that way I will be able to talk to him. I was also hoping desperately that by the time they would be informed and they would come here, I would get a moment with the idiot.

But of course, the idiot ruined all my plans.

"Hello, Chad?" his voice rang out as he spoke over the phone. "Rukia is here for a small picnic so grab that butthead and come over straight away. Don't worry about food. This is a picnic after all." I felt like head butting him so hard he would fly right out of the town and get stuck on Tokyo tower.

He turned to me and the loss of that familiar warmth that he always tried so hard to conceal worried me. "There. They are on their way. I will be up in my room. Make yourself comfortable." With that he turned and marched off. I swear I felt the tension level of the room go up several notches. He never behaved that way to me. I looked down on the table. What had I lost?

Uryuu's POV

We knocked on Kurosaki's front door. Damn, he hurried Chad so bad over the phone, he practically dragged me up here. I sighed as I maintained my trademark expression. I was in no mood of seeing that idiot. Or Inoue-san, whose presence I could already sense.

The door was opened by Karin who ushered us into a busy living room. Kuchiki-san sat forlornly at the table and Kurosaki Isshin, who sat right by her was reading a newspaper, for once not bothering to disturb the silence that dawned over the two.

The other side of the table rang with laughter as Yuzu and Inoue-san talked about some alien sounding dish. The brunette caught sight of us first and I averted my eyes before she could lock hers upon them. I felt a hard pang hurt my chest. I couldn't even bear to look at her.

"They are here." Karin said, in an exaggeratedly bored manner and Yuzu said a warm welcome greeting as Kuchiki-san looked up at us and smiled. But that smile was not the usual, vibrant Kuchiki Rukia smile. It was half-hearted and tired. I wondered what was up with her. What felt strange was it was like I knew why she acted that way.

*TIME SKIP*

I really had no idea why Kuchiki-san had even called for this picnic, seeing as she hadn't spoken a complete sentence with the same energetic vibe of hers to anyone, the whole way through the amusement park. Ichigo had been avoiding her while she had been avoiding Inoue-san, along with me. But of course, the brunette didn't care. So long as she had her 'Kurosaki-kun' She wasn't worried by the fact that no one spoke a word to her other than that idiotic Shinigami cause me and Kuchiki-san were talking barely, and that too, only with each other and Chad hadn't improved much in the field of communication.

I don't really know what lead us here, especially since none of us passed as above eighteen, but we were currently sitting on a couch in the back of the club, hearing the loud music churn in various unheard cacophonies. I guessed it was the tension of the day. And the fact that none of us got across as friends today, so silent and held back we all were.

I rose from my reverie as the dull clink of glass against wood sounded in my ears. I looked down to see Kurosaki place another glass next to his other neatly arranged empty glasses. He was preceded a moment later by Kuchiki-san. They were both drinking heavily tonight. While the girl looked like she could easily handle it, which she most probably could since she grew up a noble in Soul Society but I had never seen that brat drink before and he most likely won't be able to handle that much amount of alcohol.

His eyes lifted from his empty glass and found Kuchiki-san. They trailed her body in a way I never thought Kurosaki would be able to pull off. I felt something tighten in my throat. This night wasn't going to end well.

Just then a hulking guy with messy blond hair wandered up to our table wolf-whistling at some girl who was most probably battling her eyelashes at how 'sexy' he looked. He wore a shirt that was torn in the most convenient places for his tanned abs to show and his jeans was just a bit too worn out. He threw some of the stray strands wandering his forehead back along his jaw line as his eyes found our table and immediately narrowed on Inoue-san, who looked completely uncomfortable sitting there next to Kurosaki. She hadn't touched the booze, same as me. I watched her shift as she felt the man's hungry eyes on herself.

"Yo, babe, wanna hang out tonight?" his accent was a cheap one, probably picked up from some over-the-edge men's underwear commercial. At that, Kurosaki, who had already indulged himself in another glass, sent a small snaking ribbon of his reaitsu up to him. The human shuddered as he felt it touch his consciousness. "She is my girlfriend so back off, you bastard." He growled.

I saw Kuchiki-san stiffen right across from me. My brow furrowed in confusion. Didn't she know Inoue-san and Kurosaki had got together about a week ago? No one really was pleased by this pairing. Kurosaki was silent about it and seemed to lack an obvious enthusiasm, Isshin had made it clear she would have like Kuchiki-san better. Anyone who couldn't see my affection for Inoue-san clear as day was a fool and Chad disapproved because he thought it was wrong. For some strange reason it didn't take him, he said.

The petite Shinigami's disappointed eyes risked a glance at the orange-haired fool. His scowl had now been replaced by an amused smirk as he watched the guy's movements. I turned in time to see him catch hold of Kuchiki-san's elbow and pull her up, taking her by surprise, deciding she was better than Inoue-san, anyway. The short black skirt she wore flounced about her as she tried to free herself, obviously not putting too much force for fear of hurting the guy.

"You know, you don't really wanna mess with that one. Her guy is tougher than me." Kurosaki purred.

That was when I put two and two together. I looked up at Kuchiki-san who was looking down at the floor, wondering who it could be. Possibly Abarai. For some reason she had abandoned protesting against the man's grip. Probably to give Kurosaki a chance to speak. She still relied on him.

When he opened his mouth, the words he let out sent all that well-built trust cascading into an abyss of betrayal. "But he ain't really around, so see if you could have a blast." He winked at the man. My eyes widened as he started tugging on Kuchiki-san's elbow while she stood with her feet firmly planted on the floor, not moving an inch.

"Come on babe.", he purred in a sickeningly seductive voice. "I know you are a ho. Even your friend admits it. But oh well, who ain't these days?" he laughed as he put more pressure on her slender arm. I shot out and grabbed his wrist that was holding on to her and squeezed, hard enough to make him wince. I saw Kuchiki-san lower her outstretched palm as whatever Kido she had on her lips dissolved along with her clear aim at the man's penis. "She is not a ho and our friend here is just drunk." I gazed at Kuchiki-san as I said the last words, hoping to meet the beautiful violet orbs that were trailed on the ground, the fringe of her hair plunging them into deep shadows. That last part was meant for her.

A harsh, humorless chuckle drew my attention to Kurosaki. His cocked head dropped back into position. "Not a ho, eh? Then what else will you call a girl who kissed her own brother?"

I looked at the mentioned Shinigami in disbelief. Now I was so sure anyone who dared touch her would burn in the cherry blossom gardens of hell.

Her breathing quickened. The last I saw was a small sparkling teardrop fall to the floor before her foot met the man square in his jaw and she turned and rushed out of the club. She easily had the man unconscious with one powerful kick. I, in turn, reached across the table, drew back my fist and punched Kurosaki. "You fool!" I screamed. He looked up, not with an annoying frown but a changed eye color, indicating his Hollow had taken over. I gasped as he shunpo-ed out of sight without another word, his flaring reaitsu concealed impeccably behind him.

I wonder what is going to happen to Rukia O.O

JoTerry: Yessss... XD I can see that you are an IchiRuki supporter. Well so am I. *twinsyy fist* Yay! But don't worry. We will have a lot of IchiRuki in the upcoming chapters (even if its negative?) and ByaRuki and RenRuki. Oh God I love Rukia! Well, tell me how you think this should end. :)