And as sudden as the moment itself, he looked away. I blushed, as I was apt to do when uncomfortable. I hid my uncomfortableness behind my empty lunch sack, and sat meekly until the end of lunch.

But it wasn't over. I was late for physics, which was social suicide because it meant that every seat was taken. Except for the one next to Ichigo. Hiding my fear, I stumbled over to the seat and sat down as inconspicuously as I could. There was no table in the room as quiet as ours, for everybody was taking liberty of the teacher not being in the room to talk as much as they could, even though lunch had just been.

Then again, hiding my emotions had always been a strong point. However, waves of hostility washed off my silent desk mate. Whilst I was opening my folder up just for the sake of something to do, I wondered what I could have possibly done to have triggered such a reaction. Instinctively, I looked at him again, only to notice him glaring back with his hard brown eyes. In them I read repulse, and fury. His teeth were gritted, and his hands bunched up into fists. Then he turned his head, and I could have sworn he had shut his eyes in pain.

Just then our sensei entered the room, a thankful escape. I concentrated on the lesson more than was necessary, copying down notes with extreme precision, even though it was just a repeat of what I had learned in Tokyo. When the bell rung, I swiftly gathered all my books together and walked as fast as I could out of the classroom.

"Oh, you poor thing!" A pitying voice said. Turning around, I noticed it was a brown haired boy from my class.

"Oh?" I replied lamely.

"I'm Asano Keigo. Nice to meet you!" He said over-excitedly. "I feel so sorry for you having to sit next to that bastard Ichigo!" He said, holding up a fist. "You shall never have to suffer such an ordeal again as long as I am alive!"

I was almost shocked by his enthusiasm. The comparison between him and Ichigo's behaviour towards me were tremendous.

"I'm Kuchiki Rukia." I said, smiling widely.

"Shall I walk you to your next class?" He offered, pushing himself right up close. I had never appreciated unwanted invasions of my personal space, but I couldn't afford to be mean, so I simply smiled and nodded rather shakily.

"Oy, Keigo, what are you doing?" A disapproving voice spoke from down the corridor.

"Tatsuki-chan!" He breathed.

A girl with short spiky hair and a boy's physique was leaning against the wall. "Leave her alone, Keigo. She doesn't need you to annoy her."

I silently thanked my saviour, as Keigo ran off.

"Hey, Kuchiki." She said. Somehow, I recognized her face at lunch. She had sat with us, I remembered.

"Um, hi…" I trailed off, smiling sheepishly.

"Tatsuki." She reminded me with a smile. "What do you have next?"

"Maths."

"Let's go then. We're already late as it is." She began walking down the corridor, leaving me to run after her. She asked no questions, nor did she seem to care. And for that, I was grateful.

The day passed by with no more apparent incidents. I walked home, pausing on the bridge. The sun set was beautiful, reflecting off the river. I smiled, as all thoughts of school left my body just for a second or two. Turning into a busy street, I entered a surprisingly huge supermarket, and bought what I needed for the week.

My brother wasn't home yet, which was completely normal. Therefore, I busied myself with dinner. I was no extraordinary cook, but what did me or my brother care as long as it was edible?

As I turned on the faucet, I saw my face reflected in the rising water in the pot. There was no apparent imperfection, nothing embarrassing, so it couldn't have been my physical appearance that bothered him. Indeed, I was wondering about our brief encounter in physics more than I would consider normal. At that point, I couldn't truthfully say I didn't find him handsome, but I could say I found nothing attractive.

A key turned in the lock, as my brother stepped inside. Quickly, I turned off the faucet and dismissed the thought of Ichigo for the moment, as I reached the hurried conclusion that he was simply prejudiced.

"Hello, nii-sama." I said in respect.

"Ah." He replied, before disappearing into the study, and only appeared when I knocked on the room and announced that dinner was ready.

"School was pretty good today." I informed him over steamed salmon, rice and crisp vegetables, knowing that he hardly ever asked questions, let alone start a conversation.

"I see." He didn't eat much, or at least didn't seem to.

Then, after having placed the dishes into the sink, I sat down in my room to do some homework. But numbers never seemed to add up, words made no sense and I soon found it almost impossible to structure a coherent sentence. After giving up, I opened my window and allowed the wind to blow against my face, even though it stung. It was a pathetic attempt to get him out of my mind, and soon enough I couldn't take it any longer, so I closed the window and did what homework I could, and slept.

Orihime greeted me on the bridge today. "Hi Kuchiki-san! How are you today?"

"Good!" I replied brightly, even though I was anything but. The mere thought of having to face him again brought a sick feeling to my stomach.

She chattered non-stop until we reached the school, flinging at me the most random questions. Some of them were impossible to catch, and others were simply ridiculous. (Questions like: "What colour are your dreams?" Didn't exactly go into my 'normal' book).

But I answered as well as I could, trying to make myself seem nice and likeable. It was easier than expected. But as I walked into the school gates, my stomach twisted into knots.

I didn't want to run into him again.

2