EDIT: 24-Jan-2011. Removed bulky author's notes.

ATRM Stats prior to editing:

Chapters: 14

Words: 31,929

Hits: 13,204

Reviews: 190

Disclaimer: Bleach isn't mine. Book from which the whole story was based on is owned by Tara FT Sering.

All the Right Moves

Chapter 1

The First Real Encounter

THE first week of school was ultra-promising. Kuchiki Rukia could feel it in her bones. This year would be her year. And she was going to make damn sure that she would get to do everything she has always wanted to do.

Among the first big projects the school announced was a disaster relief operation in a rural community outside Karakura-chō. There, flood victims—entire families, communities—had taken shelter in the town hall (a place where big events and meetings regarding the town's state were held), and those who couldn't be accommodated inside camped at the town square, struggling for survival with what little things they had managed to salvage from their now wrecked homes. They had very little supply of food, water, clothes and medical equipment. The operation required student volunteers to help families reclaim their lives. Female student volunteers could earn credit for their work as tutors or guardians in a day care center while the parents were out building new homes; the boys on the other hand may serve as assistants to the carpenters.

It was going to be tough, so the school highly discouraged students who thought it was merely a two-week field trip. Some parents even voiced out their concerns over the safety of their children.

However, Rukia's moral principle stated that social work should start at an early age. Being a pampered princess all her life didn't actually make Rukia uncaring and numb to the pain of others contrary to what most people expected her to be (they all imagined her to take after her father, Kuchiki Byakuya, a walking block of ice). Rukia was quite the opposite. Being exposed to a lot of different people from all walks of life at an early age made Rukia the compassionate person she was right now. She had seen a lot of Byakuya's fired workers plead for him to take them back or give them second chances, since their job was their only source of income and their families depended on it. Little Rukia always watched with tear-filled eyes how her daddy dismissed them without hesitation, as if he didn't hear their pleas at all. She had secretly vowed to herself to make it a personal task to help the needy as best as she could. And this relief operation was like a mission for her.

In any case, while the risk seemed high, the disaster relief program was strictly optional.

Other than the outreach program, Karakura High School also announced an opening in their highly-regarded Drama Club. Rangiku, Momo and Rukia originally agreed on joining it prior to the start of the school year since, according to Rangiku, the Drama Club was the perfect place to go butt-watching, err, guy-hunting because most of the members of the Drama Club were undeniably HOT. Of course, this fact did not interest Rukia at all. If she was to join an organization just for the sake of its HOT members, she should have been a member of the soccer team by now (not that it was possible, though).

The urge to help was really pushing Rukia to sign up for the relief program, but the voices of her friends at the back of her mind made her hesitate.

a. Should I sign up for the disaster relief program to help the extremely needy, even if it means not seeing my friends and even Tōshirō for two weeks?

or

b. Should I join Rangiku and Momo at the Drama Club even if it means my conscience would bother me for eternity and I would fail to keep the promise I made to myself?

The line for the disaster relief program was long. and the program leader, Shihōin Yoruichi, looked like a battalion commander at the height of her PMS. She barked orders for everyone to form a straighter line, to stand upright, and to not treat the program as a camping trip. A group of several people from the line, who had been creating a lot of noise to escape the boredom, stopped giggling, clammed up, and then wiggled away. Even Abarai Renji, Rukia's pesky seatmate who also lined up for the relief program, seemed to be having second thoughts even if this advocacy thing would be good for his image.

Renji, although only a sophomore like Rukia, was already a member of the soccer team and a star goalie at that. The problem was, the guy was so image-conscious, and usually did things (like this relief program for instance) for the benefit it would surely bring to his reputation. He was a nice guy all in all. There had been gossips though, slowly spreading in their section, that Renji had the hots for Rukia. Rukia, on the other hand, had not even the slightest interest in Renji.

Renji hesitated at first, and then wondered aloud if he should still go. It seems that even for the image-conscious Renji, the scary Yoruichi-sensei wasn't worth all the credits a good cause would rack up for him. He turned to his side then poked Rukia on the shoulder.

"Hey, I have a brilliant idea. Why don't we just join the Drama Club instead?"

Yeah, genius. As if Rukia hadn't thought of that.

Rukia obviously didn't want to talk to the guy so the nasty rumors about them would stop. Heck, it was bad enough as it was—the two of them together, side-by-side, lining up for the disaster relief program, and did she mention, together? It was merely coincidental of course, or at least on Rukia's side.

The petite girl blatantly ignored Renji, and if asked if she was listening, she would blame it on the noisy crowd—which actually wasn't noisy anymore. Seriously, couldn't the guy just take a hint?

"Come on. It's going to be more fun there. Plus, almost everyone else is there!"

Renji started tugging on Rukia's bag to make sure he got her attention. Rukia frowned slightly and sighed. She turned her head to face Renji.

"I'm not here for fun, you know. I'm here to help. If you really want to join the Drama Club, I'm not stopping you. Just...please. Leave me be."

Rukia felt a little guilty at how she dealt with the guy. But Renji didn't seem to take offense to it. He just shrugged and smiled, and said in a low and probably his version of a seductive manner, "Okay. But if you change your mind, just go there. I'll be waiting for you."

Rukia rolled her eyes and silently prayed to Kami-sama that no one heard what he said. Nothing was really wrong with the guy, minus his being extremely flirty with her, but Rukia just didn't want the rumors to create more damage than it already did. When the whole school hears about it, she was almost sure that Renji would come asking her to "at least pretend" that something was "going on" between them. Saying "no" would make Rukia guilty since a girl dumping the Abarai Renjiwould definitely ruin his hard-earned reputation. It seemed suspicious that Renji looked as if he'd like things to head that way...that the whole school should hear the rumor. Rukia shuddered at her own train of thoughts. She was losing it.

At the end of the line, those who were left were handed an attendance sheet. It wasn't late for Rukia to back out yet—not until she had boarded the bus in a month. The first thing that the students had to do was to attend some briefing and undergo childcare training. Plus, they would also need to shell out for their own living expenses for the entire two weeks that they were "out there". And the biggest "IF" in all of this was IF Rukia would be allowed by her parents to go since they were always worried about her safety (or at least Hisana—her mom—was, Rukia thought), and the outreach program wasn't going to be held in a theme park.

But Rukia's mind was already made up. She had always wanted to work for a worthwhile cause.

It seemed as though Rukia had taken quite a huge responsibility very early on in the school year. Rangiku and Momo wouldn't even be there with her when she camped at the evacuation site. This time, she was truly, honestly going solo—sharing communal tents with strangers she barely acknowledged in the hallways of their school.

Still, she wanted to do it, so on Monday afternoon after dismissal, she attended the first general assembly.

The auditorium was packed with familiar yet strange faces, and Rukia started to wonder if the promised fulfilment she'd be getting was worth all the adjustment she had to go through.

Across the hall, Rangiku and Momo were waiting for Rukia to finish up. They'd both enlisted at Drama Club and still wanted her to join in.

Rukia, though, already felt committed to the outreach program. She made a mental note to make it up to Rangiku and Momo for not joining the Drama Club with them.

And so the first general assembly began. According to the briefing, the living conditions at the outreach program would be nowhere near five-star. The whole kit, all 15 pages of warnings and words of caution, dripped with sarcasm that it sounded determined to enlist two people only. It had drill sergeant, err Yoruichi-sensei's fingerprints all over it, and true enough, at the beginning of the session, she bragged about having authored the kit.

Rukia never suspected that many people her age (give or take a year or two) had the conscience and initiative to go where help was needed. As the session progressed, with Yoruichi-sensei barking descriptions of mosquito-infested stagnant waters that the students would sometimes have to use to flush the toilet at the volunteer camp, the number of volunteers began to dwindle. With about 50 students left, Yoruichi-sensei continued to shoo away half the crowd by bringing up the cost. They would need a rather large sum for food, bottled water, vitamins, and bus rides for the entire two-week stay after which, volunteers from another school would take over.

Towards the end of the session, a grim and determined 32 were left sitting in the auditorium, Rukia being one of them. Yoruichi-sensei looked smug and pleased with her work and began passing around waiver forms. They were soon dismissed afterwards.

Not being one for crowds, Rukia decided to let everyone else out before making her way to the exit. She was eagerly reading the waiver form, excited to sign it already. So she looked for her pen in her pocket...then inside her bag...and when she was almost a foot away from the door, she turned around and walked back inside the auditorium in hopes of finding her missing pen.

She went back to where she sat during the briefing and leaned forward slightly. She was reaching for her pen, which was on the floor, when someone tapped her on the shoulder.

"Excuse me, uhm, what did I miss? I had practice, sorry..."

Rukia turned around at the sound of the voice and came face to face with someone who had white hair and stunning emerald orbs. Oh...Hitsugaya Tōshirō. Wait a minute—the Hitsugaya Tōshirō?

Next chapter will be posted after I finish editing it. Thank you for reading…or re-reading! :D