EDIT:28-November-2011. Removed author's notes, fixed grammar and spelling errors.

Sorry again for the late update. Totally forgot about it. Thanks to abiecula for reminding me! And thank you to everyone who dropped a review!

Warning: Extreme OOC-ness.

All The Right Moves

Chapter 10

Problem-solving

IT was a day before the championship party, but Rukia's thoughts were far, far away from rejoicing. It seemed as though her problems started piling up without her noticing. First, there was the blowing up of her chances to be with the white-haired soccer star, and of course, Renji—the culprit. Then there was Tōshirō himself who seemed to have been avoiding a lot her lately.

And on top of those, for two days now, there was Momo.

Momo had been acting funny recently. She didn't text Rukia like she usually did, and she didn't even call at night anymore. She had been strangely quiet in the car (Kaien, perhaps due to some Divine intervention, had been on a streak in driving them to and from school for the past few days), listening to conversations instead of giving an input, and only letting out weak laughter when Rangiku cracked a joke.

Rukia wasn't stupid. She had seen the way Momo threw discreet glances at Renji every time the Drama Club held a meeting. She had suspected that Momo being upset the past few days had something—okay, a loooot—to do with the rumor that Renji liked the violet-eyed, raven-haired girl.

Rukia dearly loved Momo like a sister, and she was willing to do everything in her power to make sure this friend of hers got what she wanted. The eldest Kuchiki daughter didn't want to interfere with her friend's "crush life", and if that meant sending off Renji along the way, then Rukia was more than willing to go for it.

And finally having had enough of the cold shoulder, Rukia decided to confront the problem. She waited patiently outside Momo's class room for the bun-haired girl to go out for lunch. Before Rukia could do anything to solve this problem, she wanted to clear things up with Momo first. The brown-haired girl soon got out of her class room and found her raven-haired friend waiting for her.

"Hey, I need to talk to you about something," Rukia initiated, her violet orbs staring determinedly at her timid friend.

Momo hesitated for a bit before nodding, frowning sadly. They had been friends for so long and knew exactly what this talk was all about. "Me, too. I-I'm sorry Rukia. I mean, I'm acting like a complete fool, avoiding you when it's clearly not your fault," Momo said, looking down on the ground, ashamed.

"No, no," Rukia protested hotly. "You don't have to apologize! I should be the one saying sorry. I knew you like him but still, I didn't do anything to stop him from…you know. But I'm planning to clear things with him today. I just figured I needed to talk to you first."

Momo's eyes visibly brightened, and it was obvious that she was trying very hard to suppress a smile. "Oh no, Rukia! You don't have to turn him down, really!"

Rukia chuckled, finally relieved that the problem with Momo was almost out of the way. "I won't turn him down, because I didn't say I'd go with him in the first place. I just need to clarify that to him." She winked conspiratorially. "We know he's a bit thick-headed."

"Oh, okay. Good luck with that, then See you!" Momo beamed and took off.

Rukia shook her head in amusement. She and Momo were finally back to normal. Now where could she find Renji…?

When Rukia found the red-head, the guy was eating lunch with a few of their classmates in the school rooftop. After spotting Rukia coming, their classmates stood up and made lame excuses about leaving the red-head alone while whispering and giggling, presuming he would like some alone time with the raven-haired girl.

"Renji." The guy who heard his name called looked over his shoulder and instantly grinned upon seeing his guest.

"Hey. Miss me already? But separated only about 25 minutes ago."

Rukia's brow twitched. This guy was indeed too full of himself. "No I did not miss you. And we're not even together to be separated. We don't even talk during class."

To Rukia's surprise, Renji's grin slightly faltered. "Oh, uhm…why are you here then?"

Rukia sighed heavily. She didn't want it to come to this, but she just had no choice now. "Listen, Renji. About the ball, when you asked me. I-I didn't actually say yes…"

To Rukia's mounting guilt, Renji's grin vanished completely.

Yes, Rukia felt guilty, but she couldn't—WOULDN'T—risk losing Momo over this guy. "I'm sorry, but I'm not coming with you to the ball. I-I'm sorry if you misinterpreted what I said. Please don't think I'm trying to lead you on or anything. I'm…not really interested." Rukia bit her lower lip, looking away. She needed to get away before she pitied the poor guy and decided to really go to the ball with him.

Renji seemed bitter that Rukia turned him down. Although Rukia knew that she had lost him as a friend, she also knew that she couldn't really blame the guy for hating her.

Late that afternoon, the Drama Club members were called for a meeting. Rukia badly needed to talk to Kaien, so she took this as an opportunity to speak with the playboy. She stood in front of the auditorium, waiting for his arrival, kicking non-existent dirt with the tip of her shoe. A few minutes passed, and the popular senior finally came into view.

"Hey, Kai!" Rukia called out urgently.

Kaien raised a curious brow."Why are you still outside? Isn't Urahara-sensei inside yet?"

Rukia shook her head fervently. "No, not yet. And I need to ask a favor from you."

"Anything you want this charm of mine to do for you?" Kaien said, smiling seductively—the smile that had caught the hearts of most of the female population in the school.

"Actually, yes…" Rukia grinned back.

The auditorium was noisy as all of the members of the Drama Club went to attend the general assembly—everyone except the lead actor and actress of the upcoming play. Urahara-sensei soon entered and everyone immediately hushed. The director climbed up the stage with a tired sigh, and started the meeting.

"Before I actually begin, I would like to announce a few…changes."

There were "ooh's" heard all over the auditorium. Everyone immediately wondered what those changes were.

Outside the door, Rukia and Kaien both grinned at the director who stood directly across from them.

Urahara-sensei sighed again. Those two really had good convincing skills. "A few role assignments will be changed. Due to some…complications, Shiba and Kuchiki can't play the lead roles anymore. So I need to pick a new pair."

Enter the magic fishbowl of names.

"So, our new Juliet is…" He picked one of the papers inside the bowl. It read Natsui Mahana. "…Hinamori Momo."

There were cheers all around the audi, and Momo was blushing furiously.

"And our Romeo is…" Urahara-sensei looked at his list though it was only for show, as he knew beforehand thanks to those two grinning idiots outside the audi which one to pick as Romeo. "…Abarai Renji."

Everyone yelled and applauded the new lead actor and actress. Momo was blushing even harder now.

Outside the room filled with hoots and giggles, Rukia smiled widely at Kaien. "Thanks, Kai."

Kaien just smirked. Anything for this girl. "Don't mention it." He ruffled her hair affectionately before walking away.

"Where are you going?" Rukia called out as she patted her hair back down.

Kaien shrugged and continued walking. "I don't think I'm needed there anymore. There goes my chances of being your Romeo out the window. See ya!" He raised a hand and waved without looking back.

Rukia shook her head with a smile and finally entered the audi, where she was immediately tackled by Momo.

"Oh, Rukia! Thank you! Thank you so much!"

"Whatever for?" Rukia innocently asked.

"Oh, I know it was you! I just know it! Thanks!"

Now that Momo and Renji were set up as Romeo and Juliet, they were immediately ordered to practice after the meeting was over. And they must kiss on the lips. It didn't really take long before they started exchanging shy but meaningful glances every now and then.

Momo was so grateful to Rukia for paving the way for the unforgettable high school romance she always knew she would have this school year, that she told Honshō Chizuru about the goodness of her heart.

Then Chizuru told her friend, Ogawa Michiru, who told her classmate Kunieda Ryō, who told her Track and Field teammate Arisawa Tatsuki, who told her boyfriend Hisagi Shūhei…

Shūhei was Tōshirō's teammate.

Friday finally came, and Rukia felt that a lot of the burden she got from earlier that week was finally lifted off her shoulders. Now, only one more thing was left unsolved: Tōshirō.

And it was the toughest on to solve.

Momo and Renji were familiar friends, so she had no trouble confronting them. Tōshirō, however was a different matter. Although Rukia was sure that they both consider the other as a friend, there were still lots of things they didn't know about each other.

Rukia wouldn't want to freak him out if the white-haired guy found out that she was assuming that he'd been staying away from her to avoid having to compete with a certain red-head over her…affections. That was what Kaien said, though. Nonetheless, the white-haired guy's avoidance had been eating Rukia alive. It wasn't like she could just go around looking for him and ask him what the hell was wrong…

Night came by without notable events. As Rukia helped her mom prepare dinner for that night, she could imagine Tōshirō at the party with all those girls in cute outfits just waiting for a chance to chat him up. Surely, one of them would be cute, and surely, at some point he would need to make a conversation with one of them, maybe even with the cutest one, and that would be that.

Rukia's heart sank.

That's it for now! Thanks for reading people. Have an awesome day! :D