A/N:

Hello, I'm back. Don't remember when was the last time I updated... Must be a very long time ago. Anyway, here's the next chapter. Sorry for the wait (if there are any).

The update is all thank for and jylener22 cloverberry15. Yes, I'm so lazy that even when the kind jylener22 has put the edited version in front of me for a whole month, I haven't touched it until the insistent cloverberry15 reminded me how long I actually haven't updated.

Anyway, that's the story of this update. About this chapter. There are many lines I didn't quote directly from the play but somehow translate them in modern language. Please don't sue me for parallelism, at least remember I did put on this disclaim, "This plot is not mine, the characters in this story are not mine, some of the lines are not my own." Huh, what am I doing here?...?... Have no idea (you could tell me, hint hint hint). Hope you enjoy this story though.

(4/10/2013)

Urahara carefully observed the girl in concern as the young man left at his full speed.

She just wiped her tears away and laughed softly, "Kurosaki-kun, your wrongs do set a scandal on my sex: we cannot fight for love as man may do; we should be wooed and were not made to woo. I'll follow thee and make a heaven of hell, to die upon the hand I love so well." (1)

Urahara sighed as the young girl left. He had never seen someone so strong willed. She looked so dedicated, so frangible that he thought she would break at any moment, yet she had a mental strength of a monster, like a small leafless tree in a desert that could withstand even the most ferocious storm. Suddenly, all of his anger and frustration vanished, he was now interested in how to help the girl to obtain her love.

Hisagi came, as quietly as he could, his face as stoic as ever. Hum, that child should learn to be more sociable, maybe a girlfriend would help, but girls would run away the moment they saw his scary face although he was a very handsome fairy. He was just too shy for his own good. Hum, maybe there was a way to compensate all of this.

He called out to his favorite fairy, "Hisagi, glad you're back. You know I have a very important mission for you now. Take the rest of the potion and search through this grove to find a sweet Athenian lady who is in love with a disdainful bastard. You will know the man by the Athenian garments he has on. Drop this into his eyes and do it in such a way that the next thing he sees will be the lady. And be careful to make sure that he'll end up loving her more than she loves him." He nodded, mentally smiling at his imaginary scene of the youthful idiot helplessly chasing the gentle girl, in despair, yelling his undying love to her.

Indeed, he was too absorbed in this thought that he didn't notice how his subordinate's face turned from red to white then to red and finally to white again. He was pulled back to reality as a trembling voice rang through his ears.

"Your Highness...I..."

Impatient, the King pressed, "Shh. Take haste, take haste, dear Shuhei, waste no more time here. Quick, quick, and be back before midnight so that we can all go to see the Queen and witness her dilemma."

"But I..."

The King yawned and before the poor fairy could say anything, he already flew back to his candy shop to take a nap on his favorite large white couch.

XxXxXxXx

Hiashi sighed and lowered his head in defeat as he left the holy ground and tried to find the young disdainful man in Athenian clothing. He feared humans the most, but now he had to put the potion on the eyes of one. How would he accomplish his task? Every time he was near to a human, his vision was blurred, and there were thousand of stings in his ears that made it hard to hear, his head became dizzy and his whole body whirled around and around in a circle.

He walked unsteadily. It came. A human came. He leaned his body against a tree, feeling like to vomit. His body was shaking uncontrollably. No, not one but two. What should he do now? The King had given him this special mission, meaning the King had trusted him greatly and believe in his ability to get it done. He could not disappoint the King. No, he would not betray the trust that the King had put on him. He had to overcome this annoying phobia.

XxXxXxXx

Rukia lowered the hood of her white cloak and turned her head to her lover. "Renji, we have walked for several hours. We must be far enough from Athen for now."

Renji also freed his head out of the hood of his dark red cloak so that he could let his lover see his face completely under the moon, "You are absolutely right, Rukia. You must be dead tired by now. Let us rest and be ready for tomorrow."

Rukia blushed as Renji took her hands in his and looked at her lovingly. His eyes were as bright as the sun, and his warm voice brought fire in her stomach. She could feel the heat of her body increase as he leaned closer to put a kiss on her lips...?...

Her blood boiled as the idiot bent down to place his cloak on the grass, preparing a bed for them. She wanted to pound her head hard on the ground, but she tried to hold her anger back and talked with him in her soft voice, "Fair Renji, for my sake, sleep a little bit farther away."

In her wild imagination, the brawny Renji insisted on staying with her, and she, the weak, gently, fragile, soft hearted Rukia, being touched by his ferocious passion, did not know what to do but to crumble under his wish, and then one bed, one heart, two bodies and one faithful vow under the holy moon (2). Oh, so romantic!

However, reality was another story. The Renji in this reality realm was a true idiot nevertheless. He nodded his head in agreement, without using even a single cell of his brain to take her obvious hint ,meaning the way her cheeks burned beyond recognition and the way her hips sway lightly, just lightly, very lightly toward his.

"You are absolutely right, Rukia. Though I want to stay by your side and protect you from any danger, I have to admit that protecting your virtue is also part of my privilege." In a swift moment, he waved his arm and clapped his fist on his chest proudly, "Worry not, Rukia. I'll protect you from afar."

With that he walked happily to the other side, humming his favorite songs.

In her wild imagination, she ran after him at full speed and with one hit she knocked him down, using one of the huge branches scattering around to beat the sense into him. Full of regret, with tears in his eyes, he knocked his head on the ground, crying for her forgiveness. After an hour or two, touched by his sincere beg and ferocious passion, she, the weak, gently, fragile, soft hearted Rukia, could not bring the heart to reject him any further, crumble to his will...And then one bed, one heart, two bodies and one faithful vow under the holy moon. Oh, so romantic!

Now she had to admit. Reality was a harsh one, for the real Renji had slept soundly as soon as he put his back down the grass.

Upset, she sighed and turned to sleep, then her heart skipped a beat. He had carefully wiped out all of the leaves and put at least two layer of clothes under his cloak, so that she could have a comfortable bed as possible. He did not forget to put a small fire next to it to keep her warm and protect her from the wild animals. What was she? A fool. While she had been too busy fantasizing about a nonexistent man, she had neglected the real Renji right in front of her eyes, with true passion and love for her. Laying happily on the bed he made just for her, she closed her eyes in content. Renji was an idiot, but he was not any idiot, he was her idiot, hers and hers alone.

XxXxXxXxXxX

As the couple quickly fell asleep, Hisagi slowly got out of his hiding place and took several breath to calm his nerves. Judging from the sorrowful expression of the lady when the gentleman left her, the longing in her eyes when he turned his back away and slept soundly far away, the man must be the disdainful bastard that the King talked about. Plus he had the Athenian garments on. Oh, poor lady, to give all of her heart for an icy stone, but worry not, fair lady, for he would set things right and shower her dried soul with true love from the bastard. A wave of heroic intent and compassion swept through his body, and with new determination, he took firm steps toward the heartless jerk, totally forgetting about his phobia of human, he poured a drop of the love potion on the eyelid of the young man. Humming happily, he quickly left. Oh, how happy it was to help people that were in love!

XxXxXxXxX

Running hopelessly around the forest to find her love in vain, Orihime halted as she saw someone that looked like Renji lying on the ground. Worrying for his well-being, she rushed to his side and shook him lightly, "Renji. Renji. Are you dead or asleep? I see no blood, no wound. If you are alive, please wake up."

Renji slowly opened his eyes, and the moment he set his gaze on her, she felt like those clear brown orbs would never leave hers, so intense and full of love, like all what he wanted to do was to stare into her eyes forever. A chill ran through her spine as he took her hand and put a soft kiss on it.

"Oh, my sweet Orihime, just one word and I will run through the fire just for you. Tell me to eat dirt, to drink oil, to crawl across the deepest floor of hell, to pass through the biggest ocean, to climb through the highest mountain, to go to the sky and take out the moon for you, tell me, Orihime." He tightened his grip on her hand, "Tell me, and I will do anything for you."

Speechless at this unexpected turn of events, another chill ran through her spine as he began to trace his fingers around her cheek and caressed her so tenderly that her heart began to beat out of her control. "Oh, Orihime. How could nature makes such an art, your gazes alone could froze my heart, your smiles melt it, your tears drown it, your..."

"Please do not say so, dear Renji. Say not so." She roughly took her hand away him. "I want to hear none of it, for my heart belongs to another."

"Oh the detestable Ichigo." He grabbed his sword, rage in his eyes, "Oh Ichigo, I'll kill that name with my sword if I could."

"No, Renji. Do not do so" She placed her hands on his, "Though he loves your Rukia, she loves you with every last piece of her soul. There is no place for Ichigo in her heart, so be content, Renji, Rukia is yours and yours alone."

"Rukia?" His eyes gone bewildered, "Who's Rukia? What's of Rukia?"

"Rukia, your beloved, the one you love."

"I love her not," he took her hands again, "and I do repent every of second I spent with her, for those wasted time I cannot use to stare into your moonlight eyes, listening to your music voice, worshiping your godlike face, and holding your snow-like hands. Orihime, you are the one I love, you and you alone."

When did Renji become so...poetic? Orihime's heart raced so fast she thought she would faint. Had never in her life someone told her such sweetness with that much affection in their voices and eyes. Had never in her life she heard that much praise about her flawed nature...Unless...Tears welled in her eyes and rolled like rain on her cheeks.

"What have I done wrong to deserve this mockery? Why does everyone always make fun of me?" The wound of Ichigo's rejection was still fresh in her heart and she felt ten times more rejected when the person she thought was a great friend turned his back against her and made fun of her too. "Is this not enough, is this not enough that I could never earn a kind look from Ichigo? Why do you have to harp on my inadequacy? Is this such a crime that I have such dull eyes, that my hair is so repulsive that beasts run away the moment they see my face? No more", she covered her ears with her hands, "I want to hear no more of this insult. You do me wrong. You do me wrong, Renji, wooing me in such a cruel terrible way." She ran away, "Good bye, my friend. Good bye. I thought that you were a better gentleman than this, that you have a pure and honest heart. How wrong of me! Oh, god pities me, a lady who has been refused by one man only to be abused by another."

XxXxXxXxX

Renji still could not took his eyes of the back that faded further and further away from his, but he had no strength to chase after her. His heart was still sored, ached, and wrenched after her rejection, but her scold, her icy attitude toward his yearning affection only fueled the fire of his passion, making him love her more and more.

There was a sound of a breath so soft and light but it went into his ears and touched him so deep that he thought he was drowned, strangled, suffocated under the pressure. His heart ached and ached but not for Orihime...but for the sound. He turned his head following the sound of the breath to see the young lady sleep happily on the grass.

However, as soon as he set his eyes on her, something as strong as a storm yet as soft as a wind flooded into his heart and swept any doubts, any memories, precious feelings so that after he blinked and looked her again, all he saw was a young lady who made his life miserable, the whole reason why he could not be with the one he loved, one of the only burdens that stopped him from his true love. Somehow he was grateful, grateful that Orihime did not see Rukia, which meant he still had hope. He could still somehow persuade Orihime, earning back her favor.

"Sleep you there, Rukia, and don't come near me ever again. I couldn't even remember the sweet moments we shared, but the mere thought of them surfeits my stomach and makes me want to vomit. Fare you well, the mistake that I want to forgo. Now all my powers and dreams are all but to honour Orihime and be her Knight."

XxXxXxXx

A serpent was crawling on her chest and slowly ate her heart away.

Soaking in sweats, Rukia screamed, trying to pluck the snake away, but it was less like a real snake and more like a cursed leech that untouchable, irremovable. It slipped through her hands and continued to eat her heart.

She screamed and screamed, calling for Renji, but he just sat there, smiling, smirking at her suffering, then he too faded away, and she was surrounded with a thick fog, unable to see, to feel anything...

Waking up with cold sweats pouring like rain on her body, she called out for Renji again and again. Hearing no answer, she walked like a madman around the small part of the wood where they resided for the night. Seeing no sight of him, she brushed her fingers around her eyes, trying to wipe her tears away, but then her eyes were dampened again with sadness and fear.

Where was Renji? Where was him? Why did he go away? Was he dead or alive? What happened?

Though she was a strong girl, she lived most of her life in the arms of her brother, always being loved and protected, yet she was willing to step out of the luxury and safety nest, out of her brother strong and warming arms just so that she could be with Renji, but where was he when she needed him the most, now when she had no one but him and only him?

She wandered mindlessly through bushes and grasses, once or twice almost hitting the trees. Her eyes kept searching for Renji and each step that she took, without Renji anywhere near her sight, was one step closer to the abysmal pit of despair that began to suck her in. When she reached to a strange place with two giant trees facing each other, she heard footsteps come closer and closer.

Her heart leapt in joy. It must be Renji. It must be him. She turned her head to face him...

XxXxXxXxXx

Ichigo panted. Finally, he finally found her. Rukia.

However, as she turned her head to him, there was an obvious spark of anger in her eyes. "What are you doing here?", she coldly asked.

His heart beat so fast, he could no longer control it now. "I'm looking for you. I came here for you, Rukia."

He looked down to the grass. He knew that she would never give him the same longing look she gave Renji, but the look she just gave him now was...hate...pure hate. Before, she just ignored him, but now she hated him...He raised his head up as he heard her sob. Why did she cry? Did that damn Renji do anything to her?

"What did you do to my poor Renji, despicable Ichigo?" Tears rolled like rain on her cheeks, "Did you slay him in his sleep? How could you commit such an abominable act?" She continued to weep, "Give him back to me, you murderer."

"Your stern words were like thousands of sharp knives that stabbed through my heart. Rukia, you're the murderer of my soul, yet the murderer to me is like the bright sun that brings warmth and the clear moon that brings light ." Suddenly, the image of Orihime sparkled in his mind, and he realized the one that he compared the sun and the moon to was not Rukia...He got confused again. No, he should not be confused. This time he had to ask Rukia if she remember him and clear the cloud in his heart.

"Renji is the only sun that I see, he is the only moon that shines through the dark sky in my heart. Oh, where is Renji? What did you do to him?" Tears quietly rolled down her cheeks faster and faster that Ichigo could not bring himself to see her suffer anymore.

"I did nothing to him. I haven't even seen him yet."

Immediately, the sobbing stopped, and Rukia looked at Ichigo, full of hope, "Then, he's still alive? Good Ichigo, can you find him for me?"

The hole in his heart grew bigger and bigger, he grabbed her shoulders, "Why are you continue to torture me like this? Remember me, Rukia. Please remember me."

"Remember you?" Rukia's eyes widened in surprise, "Remember you from what? We have known each other for years."

"No." He shook his head impatiently, "Nine years ago. At the river bank, when we first met. Can you remember it?"

"But I was not in Athen nine years ago. When I was eight, my brother sent me to study in a temple outside of Athen. I only returned to Athen six years ago when I was thirteen. I never knew you until three years ago when Renji introduced us."

Lightning struck through his head, and he felt like to fall down the ground. 'But then...your scarf...the white scarf that you usually wear, you also wore it nine years ago when we first met."

"But it's impossible for me to wear it nine years ago because I only got it five years ago from Orihime as a token of our friendship."

"Orihime?" His heart was beat so fast against his chest, he could no longer breathe. "But why?" He felt like to scream, "why did she give it to you? Why did she give you something that important...to me...and to her...to us?"

As Ichigo was deep in his dilemma, Rukia left, quickly imsersing herself in the darkness of the night, continuing to find her lover in despair, but Ichigo had no heart to follow her now. He felt like he was

falling down into an abysmal pit. Faster and faster, the memories of his childhood enveloping around him, pushing deeper and deeper into the endless hole that had no light.

The child who was so weak and useless. He was afraid of anything and everything. He was born a foreign to his surrounding. A creature that did not fit well with the rest of the world. From the way his body was so fragile it could not keep up with the tough trainings he father gave him everyday, to the way his mind was sharpless and unrefined that he was a subject of bullies and cruel teases, to the way his hair color was so repulsive to the eyes, to his habit to scowl constantly every time anyone got close to his sight, he was truly, truly unfit to be the heir of the Kurosaki clan. He was even unfit to be a citizen of Athen. No one needed a weak boy who always ran to his mother every time he was in trouble, hiding behind her back, and crying in his room for hours for no particular reasons at all.

And then, his only source of comfort, his only strength in this world, also left him. His mother... He was totally lost, like he was ripped out of his own clothes, bare and defenseless. He did not know what to do. He did not want to cry in his room anymore. He was tired of the pity and disappointed looks the servants gave him. He was tired of the way people judged him, so he ran to the river that day to cry.

That was the last day that he had ever cried.

It was like a dream, the way they met.

She did not shoot him gazes of pities, she did not judge him, she did not make fun of him when he cried. And...and the way he was hugged in her arms, he had never felt so safe and protected. He could feel it. She was just like him. Weak and hopeless. An outcast. Someone who was abandoned, lonely, helpless, desperate.

The way she trembled in his arms made him feel something he never did before. A desire to protect. He never said it out loud before, but he was always, always, always searching for protection. He always wanted to be protected, to be safe and secure. He was afraid of everything and anything of the world in front of him. Yet now he wanted to do nothing more than to protect the vulnerable creature in front of him. What surprised him was that by having the urge to protect her, for the first time in his life, he felt safe and secure, like there was nothing in this world that was worth for him to be afraid of, that just having her by his side was all he needed to face the treacherous world.

And then they promised to be strong when they would see each other again...

Ever since he had trained himself nonstop, restlessly, because he always felt like she was watching him, and he couldn't disappoint her. He wanted to be strong so that he could protect her, protecting people that were important to him. She was the one who taught him the true meaning of being strong. He had to be strong because he wanted to see her again. Ironically, having power blinded his sight and judgment, and bathing in fame made him become so arrogant that he had intentionally hurt the person that he loved the most, the person that he wanted to protect the most.

He breathed heavily. Now that he thought about it, he had been woven an image of the girl on the river bank. She was there. She was real, yet the person he really saw and looked up to was not really her. He was so fixated on an ideal that he refused to see with his eyes. If he took his time to investigate on Rukia's family; if he could gain enough courage to confront her about that day on the river bank; if he wasn't so full of himself and assumed that whatever he thought was the absolute truth... he would never hurt Orihime so badly...

He knelt down the ground. What did he do? What had he done? He was such a terrible person. Orihime. He buried his face in his hands. Orihime. He wanted to see her again, not as an illusion of the past, but as Inoue Orihime, the one who made his heart beat like crazy, the one who occupied his mind since she left, the one that...he probably loved.

XxXxXxXxXxX

Urahara hooked his chin between his thumb and his fingers as the young man ran out of the holy ground. "Hum, so the one who rejected now was rejected. Um, Hisagi." He turned to ask his subordinate, "I thought that you put the love potion in his eyes, why did he chase after another lady?"

The poor fairy looked completely confused, "That was the lady, but not the gentleman."

"Huh?" Urahara sighed, "Then who did you put the love potion on?"

Hisahi answered, almost innocently, "The disdainful bastard that rejected the lady who just left." Pride in his voice as he continued, "Now he cannot leave her even just for a second. I'm so happy that I help them be together."

This was getting bad. Urahara opened his fan. "And how did you know that the gentleman you put the love potion on was the one?"

"He had the Athenian clothes on just like you said, and he refused to sleep next to her but instead went to a place far away, and she looked kind of sad, so he must be the idiot that rejected the poor lady."

Urahara sighed again and scratched his head. "Shuihei, you got the wrong man. I think there are two pair of lovers in this forest, and you targeted the wrong one."

Hisagi's jaw dropped. So cute! Maybe he should tease the shy fairy a little bit.

Urahara pointed a finger toward the younger fairy, "Yes, you made a terrible mistake, but now thanks to you, we have an amazing love circle." He picked up a twig and began to draw on the ground. "So this ugly short orange spiky haired man is the heartless bastard who injured the pure heart of this beautiful lady," he pointed at his genius drawing of the young female, "he's also the one that chased after this new lady who is in love with the man that you put the love potion on", he pointed at the faceless head with a question mark inside. "Now here is the interesting part, if the young lady whose name is Rukia, I believe, said that her lover is gone, there is a possibility that he's in love with the beautiful lady...um...her name is Orihime, I think, under the love potion effect. That could explain why he left his lover alone." He clapped his fist into his palm. "If so, this leads us to this astonishing result, a love circle that I have never seen. We have Orihime who is in love with the idiot who is in love with the new lady Rukia who is in love with the man I have not met yet who is in love with Orihime." He looked at the circles with great satisfaction. "Isn't it cool?"

"Cool?" Hisagi cried in terror. "Cool? You messed them up and you think it cool?"

Trying to hold his laughter back, Urahara made his face serious. "No, I'm not the one who messed them up. It's you."

It was so fun to see his face...turning pale like a paper, and the poor child looked like he was about to cry.

"So what should we do now?" Hisagi wiped his unborn tear away with his sleeves. "Do you have an antidote? I'll give..."

Urahara raised his fan up to stop Hisagi. "The fun has just begun. Why do we have to spoil it? It's one in a thousand year chance to witness the madness of a love circle. I won't miss it."

"But...but...it's wrong."

"Wrong?" Urahara laughed. "Don't kid me. Love is never right. It's those idiots' faults for falling in love. And besides, we fairies should not meddle in the human business."

"But you're the one who meddled in their lives in the first place. You cannot leave them like this after you caused such a mess."

"Correction, you are the cause of this mess, not me." Urahara grinned mischievously. Poor child, his face was now on fire, but he was a thousand years too young and naive to win against him in this argument".

"You're just pissed off because your wife left you, that's why you want to torture those poor lovers. The truth is that you're jealous of them, and don't want to see them happy." The young fairy said angrily, almost pouting. So cute.

Urahara's eyes went dark for a moment, but he quickly brushed it off, "Hai hai, you got it right. If I'm unhappy with my marriage, why do I have to see others happy?" It was so fun to see the ever stoic and placid fairy in rage but could not do anything to defend himself.

"Now let's go to see the Queen." Urahara yawned.

"But Your highness..."

"No but, let's go."

"But Your Highness, we cannot leave them like this. It's chaotic."

"That's none of my problem, dear Hisagi. They should resolve their problems by their own."

"But you're the cause of their problems."

Urahara shook his head. " Remember this Hisagi, true love comes from the heart, not the love potion. If they truly love each other, they will find the answer themselves. Anything we'll do now will just add more problems into their already problematic lives. Let them be."

Urahara sighed as his stubborn subordinate walked behind him, sulking all the way they went to the Queen's castle. Little did Hisagi know that the love potion only had effect in a few hours, and besides, Urahara didn't have an antidote for it. He never thought of making one in a first place. Moreover, it would be really fun to see the four lovers suffer a little bit, maybe a little cat fight if he was lucky. He would make sure to watch the four fight against each other after he solved his little issue with his belo...stupid wife.

A/N:

(1) This "Your wrongs do set a scandal on my sex:

We cannot fight for love, as men may do;

We should be wooed and were not made to woo.

I'll follow thee and make a heaven of hell,

To die upon the hand I love so well." is from the play.

(2) "One bed, one heart, two bodies and one faithful vow" is a loose translation of the original line "One heart, one bed, two bosoms and one troth" from the play. In the play, the one who says this line is Lysander; Renji is his counterpart in this story. However, in this chapter, I change this line to be Rukia's, instead of Renji's, and make it an inner thought instead of a part of their conversation.

There are some lines I don't quote here because I don't copy them from the play but take the ideas and translate them in modern language. I really don't have the time and energy to go back and quote every single one back to here. Just remember that there are lines that really are not mine.

Thanks for reading.