Here this is. this is horribly short, i know, but im in sooooooo much emotional turmoil that i had to write something. sadly, i didnt want to pour all my negative energy into this story, so i did what i could with the little happy energy i have.

but ill shut up about my emotional issues and let you guys read.

enjoy.

oh, and i must remember. this chapter is dedicated to Personal Riot. i love your reviews, they always make me smile and i uploaded this just so i could read one. thank you :)

Oh no.

Rukia's body froze as the auburn haired girl glared daggers at her.

If looks could kill, I'd sure be dead.

She glanced to the side to see Ichigo insanely tense, a scowl in its place. He seemed to be deep in thought about something, but she couldn't tell what it was. Her eyes dated back to the furious auborn-haired girl that had started walking towards them. Rukia took a small step back.

"As if that's going to do anything, you idiot." Her inner voice chided her. She growled at herself in annoyance.

Orihime was closer to them now and just as Rukia was starting to freak out, two small shapes darted out in front of the advancing girl.

"KARIN-CHAN! Give it back!" Rukia heard Yuzu yell at her sister.

"NO, YUZU!" the other sister yelled back.

Completely out of character, the smaller of the two twins launched herself at the larger twin, knocking orihime down with them.

Rukia's eyes widened as the saw the three girls fall to the ground in a flurry of dust and fabric. She brought a delicate hand up to her mouth, and tried to smother the small laught that was trying to escape when all of a sudden her hand was snatched by a larger one. She sent a wary look at Ichigo who gave her a large and supposedly rare grin before turning around taking off, dragging her with him.

"Ichigo!" she screamed at the top of her lungs as the pair took off through the woods, her shorter legs running in small strides in order to match his long ones. All she got was his manly laughter in return.

They kept runing alog, jumping over scraggled roots and ducking branches, him more than her, until Rukia pulled on his arm, hard, to out of breath to yell at him. He finally got the hint, coming to a halt so the small girl next to him could suck in a large breath.

When she could finally breath again, she straightened herself to her full height, and glared death at the oranged haired boy. Another grin broke out on his face.

"Baka! What the hell were you thinking? Karin and Yuzu are still back there! And you don't just grab someone like that and go running off into the forest!" she screamed at him, her body getting closer and closer to his as her anger got higher.

His famous scowl came back. "Rukia, you idiot, did you not see Orihime coming right for us?" he growled out at her, his body leaning down to get closer to her.

"I did, but I think staying there and dealing with our problems would have been better than running away. And besides, you left your sisters there."

He scoffed at her. "My sisters are fine. I've taught Karin well enough that they can make it home safely in broad daylight. And honestly? That woman scares me. I'd rather be far away, in the woods alone with you then have to deal with her at all." He said casually, turning his body around, looking for something.

Rukia's anger faded as his words slowly sunk in and she allowed a small smile to take over her features.

Take that, Orihime. Her inner voice cheered.

Pulling herself from the small party her inner voice was having, Rukia glanced at the cause of it. He was still searching for something.

"Ichigo?"

"Eh…sorry, what?"

"What are you looking for?"

His scowl returned as his head still swiveled back and forth.

"Something."

She frowned at him. "What something?"

"Shut up and follow me."

She huffed at him. "That's no way to speak to a lady."

He just rolled his eyes before grabbing her hand again, pulling her off in a different direction, this time keeping it to a walk.

She would have objected, but his hand felt so damn warm, hers fitting perfectly in his.

The walk was shorter this time, a more casual air about them. Rukia liked being like this with Ichigo, and was scared to realize that in just the few days that she had know him, she was starting to develop feelings for him. She didn't know how to deal with them, but she would figure it out.

Today, though, she was just going to let it go.

She was about to ask him where there were going when they pushed through a thicket of trees and she figured it out herself. The water on the still lake was crystal clear, a pretty blue that sparkled in the sunlight. She stood there staring at the beautiful scene in front of her before she felt a slight tug on her arm. She looked up at Ichigo who glanced down at her.

"Follow me." He said simply as he dropped her hand and started walking to a rocky outcrop that sat a little away from the shore of the lake.

She frowned at the loss of contact, but followed him anyway, watching as he climbed up the side of the rock. it wasn't a steep slope and she easily followed him up.

They sat down and stared a out at the lake, sitting in a comfortable silence for some time, the sun falling lower and lower as time when on.

Rukia was able to just sit and think of everything had happened to her in the last few days.

She met Ichigo, got kicked out, Ichigo found her, she moved in with him pretty much, and now she was developing feelings for him. Her life was pretty screwy. She let out a small sigh at her inner musings, wondering what she was going to do know, she turned her head to Ichigo for the first time since they had sat down, wanting to talk to him, but the words died on her lips at the look in his eyes.

The amber was dull, the far away look mixed with a dull sadness was like a depressing air hanging over him. Wthout thinking, she reached her hand and grabbed him tightly. He head turned to stare at their hands first, then her face.

"Ichigo?" she whispered quietly. His hand gripped her back.

"Me and my mom used to come here." He said quietly. his hand tightened, but she didn't dare pull away. "Back when she was alive, me and her would come out here and just sit for hours, either playing in the water or sitting right here, talking of everything, from family, to friends, to what would happen when I grew up. I loved my mom, and I never thought that I would ever be the same again after she died." His eyes traveld back out to the water. "It's you, Rukia. Something about you just reminds me of her and I cant help but think that im starting to develop some sort of feelings for you. You actually made me smile the first time we met. No one has ever managed to do that. I…I just…" he trailed off, his eyes starting to shut down until she spoke up.

"I think I;m starting to get feelings for you too, Ichigo. But…I don't ever want to replace your mom. From what you explained last night, she seemed like an amazing woman, and I'm sorry that I missed her. I just…don't really know what I'm feeling yet." She tried to explain, turning towards him. His eyes were looking at her again, a new found fire in them

Her throat closed up as his eyes darkened. She didn't really know what she was doing as she leaned in close, her eyes looking straight into his. She saw him mouth gain a slight smirk as his eyes flared with victory before he leaned in and placed his lips on hers.

She closed her eyes as he kissed her, the light feathery feeling of his lips on her new and welcome. She scooted closer to him, the pressure of his lips increasing on hers before she felt one of his arms circle around her waist and bring her closer still. She felt him push harder one last time before slowly drawing away.

Her eyes opened slowly to look into his.

He smiled at her.

"Thank you, Rukia."

so...thats that. thats all. im sorry? was it cute enough for you guys to forgive me?

haha well, if not, then im sorry, and ill try to make the next chapter as long as i can.

well...its 11pm where i live and i really need to get some shut eye because i have school tomorrow (if i stop throwing up)

bye everyone!

-ichiruki