EDIT: 18-May-2011. Fixed grammar and spelling errors. Removed bulky A/N and annoying author comments.

Seriously, I keep forgetting I haven't finished editing this story yet. It's been almost a month! Thanks for reminding me I need to update, Rukia Kuchiki215. :D

Warnings for extreme OOC-ness, fast pace, and a cliffie. =)

Not much into details in this one-just gonna breeze through the outreach.

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 4

The Outreach

Previously…

Upon reaching the evacuation site, everyone was astonished at the current state of the area. The place was dingy; families were trying to fit themselves in such a small space, using blankets as makeshift walls for some semblance of division; there was no electricity and mothers cooked over fire-pits dug into the ground, and their food came from whatever resources were available within the area, which wasn't much to begin with. The students were wondering how the families were able to survive the poor living conditions. It was going to be a long two-week stay for them, that was for sure.

Yoruichi-sensei immediately started instructing everyone about what they needed to do first. Of course, they were to bunk in tents—girls separate from the boys—so they needed to set those up first. She informed everyone that they would need to fetch for their own water for bathing at a makeshift bath, store their own drinking water and clean the area of their tents—on top of babysitting little children and making sure they eat three times a day while the parents were away, and serving as carpenters to build new homes.

Rukia saw how hard life could be and she momentarily forgot about her own world: the comforts of her home, schoolwork, Rangiku, Momo and Kaien, even Tōshirō who was just out there somewhere doing what he was told to.

DAY 1:

Seeing that there were exactly 16 girls and 16 boys who joined the outreach program, Yoruichi-sensei decided to pair the students up to make her task of looking after them less tedious.

The moment that the pair-up was announced, Rukia's eyes excitedly darted across the volunteer camp's vast area in hopes of finding a certain white-haired lad for a chance to ask him to become her...partner. It wasn't because he was the Hitsugaya Tōshirō (though Rukia wouldn't be a hypocrite and not admit that it was a plus) but because he was actually the only person Rukia was at least remotely familiar with in the camp. And even though she could not control the incessant blushing whenever the soccer star was around, she still felt a tad bit more comfortable with him than with complete strangers.

After a few anxious seconds of searching, she finally spotted him beside his tent, having just finished setting it up. She was about to approach the soccer player when she saw another figure closing in on her target. It was this popular junior girl, Makoto Yumi, who everyone knew had the hots for Tōshirō. Of course, everyone could easily guess what she wanted to talk to Tōshirō about—she'd ask him to become her partner, no doubt. With her silky, shoulder length blonde hair, buxom physique, and bubbly, somewhat loud personality, it would be hard to say no—not that Rukia was actually expecting Tōshirō to say no. The petite woman turned around with a resigned sigh, hoping to somehow find a willing partner, although she was obviously less enthusiastic this time. Almost everyone had been paired up already, and Rukia settled with whoever was going to be the outcast. There were still a couple of males looking lost and searching the crowd for a partner, and Rukia was mentally debating which she'd like more. Or dislike less, depending on how one looked at it. When the commotion eventually died down, someone lightly tapped Rukia on the shoulder from behind.

'Here goes everything.' Rukia closed her eyes and took a deep breath before turning around. Two weeks. Two freakin' weeks. It would be two whole weeks she'd have to spend with...

Tōshirō smiled as his eyes came in contact with Rukia's. The raven-haired girl blinked, taken aback.

"Y-Yes?" she managed to ask.

"Uhm, well, I was wondering if you already have a partner. And if you still don't have one...could you be mine?"

Rukia gaped at him. His words played inside her head over and over again. Could you be mine? Oh what joy it would be if only he meant it some other way!

"Rukia?" Tōshirō's concerned voice rang in her ears, breaking her daydream.

"A-aa?" Rukia dumbly asked.

"I was asking if you'd like to be my partner. Uhm, that's if you still don't have one. If you do, that's cool." He stood there, waiting for a response.

Wait a minute. Rukia was so damn sure that Yumi would ask Tōshirō. Shewouldnot—never!—waste a chance like that! So did him asking her mean...?

'Nah, in your dreams, Rukia,' she thought bitterly. "Uh, y-yeah. Sure."

"That's great. Let's go get the name of the family we'll be helping."

Yoruichi-sensei asked, more like commanded, everyone to form a straight line and get the names of the families they would be assigned to help and get to know for the next two weeks.

"Okay, Hitsugaya and Kuchiki...here. Zaraki family." Yoruichi-sensei grinned rather mischievously at the pair, but the two teens decided to just ignore it, waving it off as the teacher's usual weirdness, and started looking for their assigned family.

The family was small—it only consisted of the father, Kenpachi, the mother, Retsu, and the daughter, Yachiru. A few minutes into the introduction, Rukia could safely say that the couple was a match made in heaven; they simply cancelled each other out—Retsu's gentle nature and kindness compensated for Kenpachi's brash and somewhat rude attitude.

As it was the first day of the outreach, the students were only asked to look after the children all day while the parents were away doing some constructing somewhere. Tōshirō and Rukia bade the couple farewell, while their hyperactive pink-haired daughter started bouncing up and down.

"So...Shorty-chan, Whitey-chan, what do we do today? Huh? Huh? Kenpachi said I can play anything with you."

"Sh-short? Oh, yes, yes. Yachiru-chan, I'm Rukia-nee. This is your Tōshirō-nii. Please call us by our names."

Yachiru seemed to contemplate about this for a minute, pouting her lips cutely. "Nah, Shorty-chan. It sounds better." The little girl grinned widely. "What do you say, Whitey-chan?"

Rukia slowly looked at Tōshirō, eager to see what his reaction would be at being called Whitey-chan by the little kid.

Tōshirō simply smiled. And what made Rukia's heart do somersaults was its genuine nature. He put his hand on Yachiru's head and ruffled the little girl's pink tresses. "I say we go and play now, Pinky-chan."

Woah, hold up. Tōshirō just...gave the little kid pet name, didn't he? Now things were starting to get interesting.

Rukia broke out of her thoughts when a tiny hand grabbed hers and dragged her with surprising force to who knows where. Oh it was going to be a long day...

After finally submitting to them, Yachiru was finally on her makeshift bed, taking an afternoon nap. Both Rukia and Tōshirō were exhausted—heck, they could be mistaken as lazy bums in comparison to the ever-energetic pink-haired girl. This was why the two found themselves resting gratefully, sitting by a nearby creek simply enjoying nature's beauty, side by side...alone. Another woah, hold up. Rukia discreetly looked around. Yep. ALONE. The heavens were sooo on her side today. Rukia desperately searched her head for something—anything—they could talk about.

Well, Tōshirō beat her to it.

"That was tiresome...but it was fun." Tōshirō looked at her and smiled.

"Y-yeah. Yachiru is one restless kid," Rukia replied, smiling back.

"Right. But the whole experience was really enjoyable. I don't think it would have been the same if I were with a stranger," he said, leaning back on his hands behind him.

Okaaay. Wasn't that as good as saying I'm happy you were my partner? If so, Rukia surely felt the same and wanted to say 'Yeah, me, too.' So she did—

"Yeah, me—"

—and got cut off by her ringing phone.

'What impeccable timing.' Rukia thought while taking her phone out. She glanced at the screen of her phone to check who the caller was. She blinked dumbly at the name on the display. Why was he calling?

"Excuse me for a while." Rukia grudgingly stood up and walked away a little before answering the call. "Yes, Kaien?"

A loud voice was heard on the other end of the line. "Wow, you're actually still alive? I didn't think you could even last half a day! Congratulations!"

"Well, sorry Kai. I will last for the entire two weeks." Sure, with Tōshirō around? Might as well make it two months! "So, why'd you call?"

Kaien chuckled. "Heh, just decided to know what's going on with my little girl."

Ooh, was big brother Kaien worried? Or maybe the girls bugged him to call her...

"Well I'm okay here," she replied. "You with Ran and Momo?"

"Nope." Rukia heard some shuffling noises and deduced that Kaien must have rolled over on his bed. "And no, little girl. If you're thinking they forced me to call you, you're wrong. I was wor...wondering if you're doing fine. Well, now I know that you're enjoying yourself there in the wilderness doing social work. So...bye."

And Kaien hung up, just like that. Rukia looked at her phone to check if she didn't just lose coverage and saw that she had strong signal. She shrugged and turned to go back to her previous spot. Now, to try and save the moment, which Kaien unfortunately interrupted.

When Rukia came back though, Tōshirō was nowhere in sight.

'Great, the moment's gone.' Rukia sighed heavily and dropped her head, making her way back to the volunteer camp.

Upon reaching the site, she saw that all the men were gathered around Yoruichi-sensei. Ah, so they were called for a meeting, and Tōshirō probably didn't want to interrupt her phone call just to tell her he needed to leave. The moment their eyes met, Tōshirō slightly raised his hand, a gesture barely visible to everyone but Rukia, and made a waving motion at the raven-haired girl. Yes, they were getting closer, finally...

DAY 2:

Rukia's head was pounding. It seemed as though she ran out of luck this day. Maybe she used it all the day before? She woke up pretty late and Yoruichi-sensei even made it her personal task to wake the petite girl up. She could still hear the ringing in her ears after the weird teacher positioned her megaphone right outside her tent. Darn, she really must have used a lot of energy in keeping up with Yachiru the day before that she didn't wake up in time. She could feel a headache coming, not because she was still tired, but because of the booming voice of a rather aggravated Yoruichi-sensei who was still barking orders for everyone.

She took a bath, changed her clothes and got ready in record time. When she was finally geared up to officially start her day, she noticed something odd...where was Tōshirō? Rather, where were all the boys? And as if on cue, another oddity hit her. Literally. And that oddity had bright pink hair and soft red cheeks.

"Hiya, Shorty-chan!"

Rukia was rubbing the spot on her forehead where the oddity named Yachiru hit her. 'How could she jump that high and reach my forehead?' Rukia mused, waving off the voice in her head saying the kid didn't really need to jump so high because Rukia was only a pitiful feet or so taller than the pink-haired energy ball.

"Hey, Chiru-chan." Rukia had finally resigned herself to the fact that she couldn't do anything to make this little girl call her by name because courtesy didn't seem like her strong point, especially since the kid even called her own father 'Kenpachi' instead of dad.

"You're late Shorty-chan. I've been waiting and looking everywhere for you." Yup, she sure was. Rukia glanced around; everything was a mess. 'Looks like hurricane Yachiru just visited camp.'

"Oh, I woke up late. Sorry about that Chiru-chan." Yachiru bounced happily, accepting Rukia's excuse. The raven-haired girl swore she would sleep much longer that night to regain the energy she would need for the day after to keep up with this kid's own, which seemed to double that day.

"Oh, by the way Chiru-chan, have you seen...Tōshirō?" It was weird asking a kid, but since their job was to help Yachiru's family, Rukia assumed Tōshirō went to visit them while she was still asleep.

"Who?" Yachiru looked confused for a moment. "Oh! Whitey-chan? Yes, yes! He's with Kenpachi hammering and nailing our house."

Hammering and nailing? Oh, they were in the construction site. That was probably where all the guys had gone to. Sigh. It looked like she wouldn't see Tōshirō until much, much later.

It was late in the afternoon when the girls were asked to prepare dinner for their respective partners. Rukia was looking forward to this—finally seeing Tōshirō after one tiring day of running around with Yachiru on her own. She couldn't help but admire how easily they were functioning like a real family—the father goes to work in the morning; the mother stays at home and takes care of the daughter; then the father goes home to his waiting wife...Rukia's thoughts were broken when a still energetic Yachiru, despite it being night time, shouted, "Whitey-chan!"

And there he was, tired and sweaty, but still managed to look handsome. And, he even managed a smile. All the other girls had their eyes glued on him instead of their own respective partners, perhaps daydreaming of what they would do if they were in Rukia's stead.

Rukia, sitting on the ground with Yachiru as if on a picnic, couldn't help but smile back. She handed him the food she prepared and the three of them ate together...just like a real family.

Rukia couldn't stop herself from staring at Tōshirō. It was just so nice of him to still afford to smile at them even if it was clear that he was exhausted. Rukia unconsciously took her handkerchief out of her pocket and wiped Tōshirō's face—the sweat on his brows, the dirt on his cheek, the food stains near his lips...Tōshirō looked up and smiled his signature smile at Rukia, who finally realized what she was doing and looked away to hide the deep blush creeping up her cheeks. That was when she realized the other girls were glaring daggers at her. She chose to ignore them, and looked at Tōshirō from the corner of her eye. He was talking to an enthusiastic Yachiru, asking her how her day went, just like a real father would. He would surely make a great one someday...

Two more days passed without incident.

On the morning of the 5th day, Yoruichi-sensei reported at an assembly by the grassy area that several of the volunteers had gotten sick and had to be sent home.

Unfortunately, Tōshirō was one of them.

For a while, Rukia imagined that life at the outreach would be extremely boring without Tōshirō, even if the most she saw of him was at night when she handed the food she prepared after he worked as a carpenter during the day. The way he smiles at her had been such an inspiration to Rukia—something she looked forward to everyday. Even when she was so exhausted from running after the energetic Yachiru and other frisky toddlers, and teaching them songs all day long, she still looked forward to doing her early evening food routine. Now, what would keep her going without Tōshirō there? The kids, perhaps? Or the community she had come to know?

a. Should I stay on and finish what I started—and what I actually came here for?

or

b. Should I go home as well and volunteer to be Tōshirō's nurse on the way home?

Yup, cliffie. Please, when I'm gone again for more than a week, feel free to bombard me with messages to remind me of my responsibilities. I tend to lose track of them. Anyhoo, thanks for reading. Have a great day!