Standard disclaimer applies.
Author's notes: I should be doing my final project for "Hombre y la Ciencia" (Man & Science) but I'm so stressed about it that I just wanted to do something to put my mind away from it for a while. Final projects equals Stress equals Headaches... Written quickly, so I didn't give it much thought. It's inspired by the BLEACH doujinshi "Void," which all IchiRuki fan should read (find it at Bleach Party). It's sort of a side-story or alternate sequel for the first story in the doujinshi. There is more dialogue than actual narration and the fic is actually a little short, but I think it works fine. Hope you like it!

NOTE! I replaced the content of chapter 1, Sunset, with a revised and extended version. Got me a 100 on my English project assignment. :3

Hairstyle
19.04.2006

Fifteen-year-old Kurosaki Ichigo looked up from his school homework as his bedroom's window was opened and Rukia, in all her glory, let herself inside the room. The ebony haired woman stomped on the bed, just inches away from his Math textbook, but her expression looked as though she could care less about it. Ichigo growled loudly in annoyance, looking up at her angrily; and the sight he came upon was nothing but startling.

"Hey…" Rukia greeted offhandedly as she jumped off the bed, dropped her schoolbag on the chair by his wooden desk, and put away the shoes she had in her hands inside the room's closet and make-shift, temporary residence.

Ichigo finally found words to say after a couple of seconds of being thrown off-guard by her new look. "Just what happened to your hair?" He questioned, forgetting the lecture he had been ready to give her about good manners and not stepping on other people's property.

The short, female shinigami frowned slightly and traced her two small braids with her fingers. She glanced down at them as she did. "This?" she asked, tossing one of them behind her shoulder nonchalantly. "Inoue made them up for me."

He arched an incredulous eyebrow at her. It wasn't like he didn't really believe her, but he was feeling curious about the sudden change. "Why?"

She huffed and sat on the bed, messing up with the once neatly arranged blue and white bedspread. "We were working on the project, the collage Ochi-sensei left us for Friday, you know, and my hair was always getting on the way," Rukia was explaining to him, "So Inoue said that she could help and tie my hair up a little; she thought braids would look cute."

"Hn." He grunted, accepting her response, and promptly dismissed her as he looked back again at his assignment. Ichigo vaguely wondered the use of all the equations he was supposed to answer, it wasn't like he was actually going to need any of these someday. "You really look weird," he said completely absent-mindedly as he flipped through some pages of the red, hardcover textbook and then scribbled down some lines on his notebook.

"Whatever," she shrugged with feigned indignation, throwing a nearby eraser at his face and plopping herself backwards onto the mattress. She ended with her face up towards the ceiling and legs still dangling on the edge of the bed. "It's not like I wanted you to like them…"

"Oh, you sure didn't," he replied mockingly. He studied her appearance a little longer this time, tilting his head and smirking. It appeared he'd hit a soft spot earlier, huh… "I still don't get why…"

"I told you Inoue made them as a favor!" Her head turned to her left to look at him, but Ichigo only grunted again as he struggled in vain to pull out the book under her. "Stupid Ichigo! If it looks so bad I'll just unbraid it," she said crossly, sitting up and glaring at him in the process.

"Keep it like that," he said after he finally got hold of the book she was sitting on, still scowling and averting her questioning expression.

"What?" Her fingers had reached for the blue rubber bands holding her hairdo, and were now in midair at his sudden statement. Rukia knitted her brows together in confusion as her blue eyes narrowed at him.

"Just keep it," the Kurosaki boy told her, putting away the Math homework into his brown schoolbag as if to show her his lack of concern, but he was looking at her through the corner of his eyes. "I said it was weird, but it doesn't look that bad on you, after all."

"Hmph…" her hands flew to her lap, her frown disappearing somewhat. Rukia looked at the wall behind him and remained silent for a minute before speaking again. "Ichigo…?"

"What do you want now?" Ichigo said, mildly annoyed, not even looking at her as he busied himself with scrutinizing an illustration in his Japanese History book instead.

The corner of Rukia's lips merely moved upwards in the smallest of smiles. "You're a jerk."