EDIT: 22-Apr-2011. Removed bulky author's notes.

I am so sorry for the delay of this chapter. I'd like to especially dedicate it to AnimeFanx3 for actually reminding me that I haven't finished editing this thing yet! Yes, I actually forgot about it, forgive me. Anyhoo, here's the -hopefully- better version of ATRM Chap 2. Excessive OOC-ness is very much obvious, so forgive me. Enjoy!

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 2

Unsure

Previously...

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?

RUKIA was too shocked by this once in a lifetime chance that she stood frozen on the spot.

"Uhm, I'm sorry. Are...are you alright?" Tōshirō sheepishly asked.

Rukia was as still as a statue as she continued to lean awkwardly over the back of the chair she sat in during the briefing, only this time, her head was turned facing Tōshirō.

Having met with no response, Tōshirō curiously leaned forward slightly to see what the raven-haired girl was trying to reach.

"Oh, let me help you." Being the gentleman that he was, Tōshirō walked towards the object of her interest and picked it up.

And that was when Rukia finally got a hold of herself (more like she finally convinced herself that this was not a dream) and stood straight, her cheeks slightly reddening at the thought of how she must've looked like a few moment earlier.

"Oh, th-thank you." Rukia's blush deepened at the slight brushing of their fingertips when Tōshirō handed her pen back.

"So...uhm, what was discussed during the assembly? I couldn't get out of practice. I'm sorry." The white-haired soccer player adjusted the gym bag on his shoulder as he waited for a response.

'Why is he apologizing? It's not as if it's a grave sin to not come to the assembly. Oh, he is such a responsible guy,' Rukia thought.

"Well, Yoruichi-sensei, uhm, discussed the, uhm, t-the condition of the…volunteer camp and the, uhm, tasks that we would be doing when we, uhm, arrive there."

'Great job, Rukia. You just won yourself an award! The award for the most number of "uhm's" in a sentence!' Rukia mentally berated herself.

Meanwhile, Rangiku and Momo were silently giggling by the door, clearly enjoying the plight of their petite friend. They had been waiting for Rukia to come out after the assembly as soon as they saw the other students exiting the auditorium. When the raven-haired girl made no appearance five minutes later, the two girls decided to take a peek and see what was taking her so long. And that was when they witnessed this life-changing event. They were both thinking of the same thing—"It's her chance!"

"Hey, girls!"

Rangiku and Momo momentarily stopped giggling and faced the direction of the voice. It was Kaien, and he clearly looked aggravated. Oh right. He probably had been waiting for the girls by the parking lot for at least half an hour now. It was a Monday, and he needed to drive the girls to and from school if he wanted the car. Great scheme, Kūkaku!

"What are you doing here just standing and giggling randomly? And where's Rukia?" The senior asked, rubbing the back of his head in frustration.

"Ssh! Kaien, be quiet. You might interrupt this very special moment," Rangiku said excitedly.

"Interrupt what? Okay, if you guys are finished here, let's go look for that little girl so we can all go home. I'm in a freakin' hurry!"

Momo looked back inside the auditorium at Tōshirō and Rukia; the petite girl seemed to be in the middle of explaining something. "Just...just a little longer, Kai," Momo's plea came in a hushed whisper.

"No way! What are you doing here standing outside the audi, anyway? Are you guys peeking in on someone in there?" Kaien walked towards the door to take a look. Rangiku and Momo both tried to stop him, but he waved their arms off. He peeked in and saw Rukia and Tōshirō talking with each other. And this annoyed him more somehow.

"This is what's taking you so long?" Kaien hissed through gritted teeth.

"Please Kaien, just shut up," the buxom strawberry blonde quipped.

"No freakin' way. Oi, Rukia!"

Said raven-haired girl looked at the door at the sound of her name and saw Kaien standing there, seething. She briefly wondered what could have aggravated him so much when she caught sight of Momo and Rangiku beside him and realized they must've been waiting for her.

"Let's go, I'm in a hurry!"

Rukia looked back at Tōshirō and contemplated for a moment what she should do.

a.Should I try to explain the past two hours to him in a few breathless seconds and give him my number so he could call me?

or

b.Should I just tell Kaien to leave me and take this chance to speak with Tōshirō?

"Well, uhm… Hey, here," Rukia handed Tōshirō the outreach program kit, quickly wrote something on the upper right-hand corner of the front page and said, "Call me, I'll explain some more. I'm sorry, but I have to go."

"Oh, no. It's perfectly fine." Tōshirō took hold of the kit and re-adjusted the strap of his gym bag. "Thanks, Rukia."

Rukia was momentarily stunned hearing her name—her given name—come out of Tōshirō's lips. She couldn't help the smile slowly gracing her face as she stared at him, slightly smiling back at her. She could practically hear the chorus of angels behind them as they rejoiced with her for this very joyous occasion.

Kaien, on the other hand, was nearing the limit of his patience. He scowled and called out, "Rukia!"

Rukia broke out of the trance she was in and swung her head towards Kaien's direction. "Coming!" She gave a mental sigh, mourning the loss of the magical moment. "Uhm, see you, uhm...T-Tōshirō." It was a good thing Rukia was already making her way towards the door, her back facing Tōshirō, because she was blushing madly at her courageous attempt to call him by name.

In the car on the way home, Rangiku and Momo couldn't stop their giggling as they hounded Rukia for a play-by-play recount of fateful meeting. They were so happy for Rukia—finally, the petite raven-haired girl just had her first official conversation with the Hitsugaya Tōshirō. The girls were still talking about it when suddenly, Rangiku turned to Kaien.

"You are so unfair, Kai. You cheated!" The strawberry blonde huffed as she crossed her arms over her gifted chest.

"I did? How so?" The driver of the car asked in a nonchalant manner.

"You were so adamant in ruining Rukia and Tōshirō's moment. I'm guessing you're afraid to lose the bet, ne?" Rangiku teased.

"Of course not! And it's not as if that kid would ask Rukia to go to the ball with him on their first meeting," Kaien scoffed, keeping his eyes on the road.

Oh yeah. The bet. Rukia almost forgot about it. Well it wasn't as if it was on top her priorities list. And it wasn't as if that was the only reason she wanted to get to know Tōshirō better. Her mind drifted back to the rather bold move she made. She just gave him her number—she told him to call.And now, all she could do was wait.

Rukia wasn't sure if he was going to actually call.

DAY 1: No call. Rukia was constantly on the edge of her seat, diving for the phone every single time it rang, and her Dad was starting to notice his daughter's strange behavior. However, he was surprisingly in a good mood that day that he didn't even comment on it. Moreover, strict and scary Kuchiki Byakuya allowed Rukia to join the outreach program when she simply asked. That was why she said nothing when her dad ordered her to go to bed and sleep.

DAY 2: Still no call. Rukia was very, very distracted—from finishing her homework, to doing her assigned house chores, to getting a drink after dinner. Nel, her cuddly and exuberant adopted sister, could sense that something was bothering her nee-chan and volunteered to get Rukia her drink after the raven-haired girl accidentally dropped her glass, which shattered to hundreds of pieces on the floor, when the phone suddenly rang.

DAY 3: It was 10 pm when Nel entered Rukia's room and found the petite girl still wide awake, staring at the ceiling with her arms behind her head, so Nel decided to stay with her nee-chan until the older girl fell asleep. Half an hour later, a snoring Nel was lying beside a still pondering Rukia. A knock on the door was heard amidst the silence of the room; Byakuya and Hisana entered Rukia's room to take the slumbering Nel.

"Rukia sweetie, why are you still awake?" Hisana asked while gently lifting Nel off Rukia's bed.

"Just thinking, mom," the raven-haired girl replied absentmindedly.

"Go brush your teeth now and then sleep. Do the thinking some other time, you have school tomorrow."

Rukia reluctantly nodded and went to the bathroom. A loud ringing disrupted the silence within the Kuchiki home as the three awake occupant of the house tried to discern where the ringing came from.

It was the phone.

Rukia's ears stood at attention as she stopped brushing her teeth midway. Her dad—why couldn't it have been mom? —picked up the phone as Rukia held her breath and stared at her own reflection in the mirror above the sink, silently praying that it wasn't who she thought it was. Her prayers were unanswered as she heard her father curtly tell the caller to call the next day before 9 in the evening, and that she—oh goodness it was for her—was already asleep.

Her parents, or her dad for that matter, hated it when people call past the "decent hour" of 9, and Rukia continued to silently pray—beg—that it was either Rangiku or Momo. Or anyone else, Kamisama, anyone else but Tōshirō!

At breakfast the next day, her father who was sitting at the head of the table reading a newspaper greeted her with, "A boy called last night at such an unholy hour. Is this boy a suitor?" He didn't seem pleased.

Uh-oh.

"What's his name?" Rukia asked with her best poker face. She was trying very hard to conceal her nervousness not only in facing her dad, but in facing her rather pissed off dad.

"I don't remember," he answered. "You tell those boys not to make me scold them." His voice was hard.

"But what if they're just friends?" Rukia said in frustration, pouting her lips. She wasn't really used to talking back to her parents, but she thought her father could be so unreasonable sometimes, like this for instance. She put her fork down and stopped eating.

Byakuya glanced sharply at his daughter. "I don't like that tone. Finish your food."

In her head, Rukia was screaming, 'Unfair! Unfair!' and she was on the verge of tears. The frustration of the past few days had finally cracked her. She wanted to argue it out but she knew that there was nothing she could do. So instead, she didn't say anything.

"Okay, that's it," Byakuya declared as he stood up. "You're grounded. And you're not going to that outreach program either."

Rukia froze, and then turned to her mom for help. Hisana looked at her and sadly shook her head. Rukia knew then and there that she had hit a dead end. Byakuya, as Hisana explained in earnest to Rukia and Nel the day before, was stressed over the casualties the company was suddenly facing. Naturally, the slightest things get him all worked up. Now, all Rukia could do was hope that he would change his mind and allow her to go to the outreach, which was barely 3 weeks away.

At school, as Rukia ambled along by herself towards her Home Economics class, still glum over having been grounded, she was wondering if maybe, she was really not meant to spend time with Tōshirō. All she wanted to do was join the outreach, and now that she found out that Tōshirō was also in it, obstacles seemed to be piling up in the way. Was it a terrible joke from heaven that one day, Tōshirō seemed to be within chatting reach, then out of range indefinitely the next?

"Hey," someone called out in the hall, breaking Rukia's thoughts. "I tried calling you." Rukia turned around, and there stood Tōshirō.

"Your dad sounds really strict. Where have you been? I've been looking all over for you."

Again, Rukia just stood there, frozen. Not merely because of Tōshirō's presence, but because her brain was working overdrive trying to process what he just said—he was looking all over for her?

"Are you still going to the outreach, Rukia?"

Rukia didn't know what to say. Obviously, he was still going and she should be, too! Was it a sign from heaven? Did this mean she was soooo back in the game?

Next chapter will be out tomorrow. Probably two chapters, if I can edit them quickly. Thanks for reading! Have a good day!