Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or anything associated with it. Title of owner goes to 久保 帯人. :3 Nor do I own anything related to the Hana Yori Dango drama or manga.
AN: HAPPY NEW YEAR ALL! Sorry for the lateness of this chapter. It's the conclusion of Ichigo's scandal! I am seriously tired out of my mind right now so I don't have much to say before I knock out on my bed. I'm so sad my holidays are over. D:
Thank you, thank you to my reviewers and readers! Many hugs and kisses!
Yosh! Here we go! よろしくお願いします！
Chapter 17
As Renji and Chad were wiping down the countertops, Urahara sat by in his fold out lawn chair with his handheld fan. As always in times of clean up where Urahara was idle, he told stories about his life experiences. Chad was finished with his cleaning and went off to the back to throw away the empty cardboard boxes left over, less than willing to listen to more of Urahara's ramblings. On the other hand, Renji was wholly interested as he applied more cleaning spray to the countertops and continued to wipe them until they shined.
"She was a beautiful princess of a powerful clan and I loved her from the very moment I laid eyes on her. I don't think I've ever loved anyone as much as her…" Urahara sighed and waved his fan toward himself.
Renji nodded, fully immersed with the story. "So what happened between you two?"
Urahara smiled and closed his eyes in thought, reliving the memory to himself for a second. "Well it all started when her powerful father…" He stopped when the ringing of a phone abruptly interrupted him. Renji took out his cellphone and read his caller ID. It was Toshirou.
"Ah, one moment." He held up a hand to Urahara and went to the back to answer the phone.
"Renji. You need to come here quick. I've found some information on the culprit and I need you to verify him. He went to Takaimono Prep Elementary School the same year you and Rukia attended."
Renji gaped disbelievingly at the tidbit of information but nodded in agreement. "Okay. I'll be there."
One hour before…
"Young heir of the Hitsugaya clan, what brings you to my humble abode today?" His pristine white smile almost blinded Toshirou's eyes. "Actually… I already know what you're here for."
Toshirou raised an eyebrow. "You do?"
After leaving Ichigo and Tatsuki, Toshirou had ignored the planned spots that he and Ichigo were to investigate next. He headed straight toward a private host club of sorts, only available to the richest of customers. Once the bouncers identified who Toshirou was, merely by his looks, they escorted him to the top floor of the building.
Toshirou kept a close eye around him, lest one of the men from Mayuri's gang decided to pick on him. It was frequent when a person from a different yakuza clan entered another clan's territory without permission that said person was likely to end up in a brawl. But with Toshirou's cold demeanor and piercing ice blue eyes reminiscent of his own powerful father, nobody dare start anything with him. They knew better than anyone that Toshirou was an exact replica of his father, both in appearance and in combat.
He was taken to an upscale ritzy room deemed as Mayuri's own hideaway lair. Mayuri himself sat before him behind a large dark wood desk, with his personal female assistant behind him standing stoically. Toshirou encountered Mayuri countless times before, but each time his father was with him. Mayuri had his weird, maniacal smile plastered on his face as usual when he looked upon Toshirou and crossed his hands together.
"Of course…" Mayuri paused. "And Kenpachi says that since he's doing you another favor, he has changed his mind and would rather you take Yachiru to the toy store and then a theme park." He shrugged not fully understanding exactly why Kenpachi would tell him such a thing.
Toshirou sighed heavily, but knew right then that Kenpachi had relayed the information to Mayuri. At least he would be closer in figuring this mystery out.
"Alright. Since you know why I'm here, who is the girl in the photo?"
"My, my. Going straight toward the demanding, aren't weeeee?" Mayuri drawled.
"I could phone in a call to my father and tell him how uncooperative you're being." Toshirou took out his cellphone, fingers ready to speed dial his father.
Mayuri waved his hands in front of himself quickly. "Wait, wait. There's no need to get drastic in this simple situation. Nemu." He called his assistant with a flick of his wrist and said something quietly to her that Toshirou could not hear. She left the room for a moment before returning with a young girl.
After seeing her, Toshirou recognized the resemblance she had to Orihime with her brown hair being the only difference. He realized why Ichigo was with her in the first place. The girl stood next to Nemu utterly nervous and staring down at the ground. Toshirou spotted the tattoo on her wrist and felt relieved that he finally found her.
"I'd like to talk to her in private here." Toshirou said to Mayuri.
Mayuri shook his head in agreement, yet there was an obvious look of annoyance on his face as he left the room with Nemu. After they were gone, Toshirou walked up to the girl and took out the photo of her and Ichigo.
"Explain these." He demanded coldly.
The girl's eyes widened when she gazed upon the photo. "W-why do you have that? If you're with the cops, I swear I was just doing a job and I had no intention of doing that to him."
"Who were you working for then?" Toshirou asked.
"I-it was some rich prick who specifically told me to target the orange haired boy at the club. He didn't tell me much, only that he used to go to Takaimono Elementary. He told me to call him Yamada-sama or something. P-please don't turn me in. He's not even my type!" She started bawling even though Toshirou had said nothing about being with the police.
"Yamada…" Toshirou could faintly recall where he heard this name before. Takaimono Elementary… It can't be!
Without saying another word to her, Toshirou rushed out of the room and past a confused Mayuri. He needed Renji's help to see if his assumptions were correct.
Ichigo arrived at Hanatarou's mansion five minutes past 8 o'clock. He was almost out of breath but the excitement he felt within urged him to keep running. Once he was at the mansion, Hanatarou greeted him at the door and led him to his room.
Ichigo looked around the room, searching for Rukia but she was not there. "Where is Rukia?" He asked Hanatarou.
"She left for a moment but will return soon, Kurosaki-san." Hanatarou answered cheerfully. "I'll go get us some tea while we wait for her. Please make yourself comfortable here." He shuffled out quickly, leaving Ichigo by himself.
For some odd reason, Ichigo could not sit still. He sat on a sofa chair for a mere ten seconds before he stood up again and wandered around aimlessly. He strode by Hanatarou's desk and took a step back when he caught sight of a thick leather bound book. The book was the one Hanatarou had refused to let him see before.
Curiosity getting the better of him, Ichigo picked up the book and noticed a bookmark placed in the center. He opened to where the bookmark was held in place and scanned the photos. It was a school yearbook, most likely elementary Ichigo assumed. In many of the photos a little raven-haired girl who was all too familiar to Ichigo stood alongside two other children whom he also recognized.
The beginnings of S4… or rather S4 minus one. Ichigo thought as he recalled Toshirou joining S4 once they attended Takaimono Gakuen. He remembered the photos he saw of a young Rukia back at her mansion and compared them to the ones he found in the yearbook. There was that same bright childlike smile and yet with Orihime and Renji present beside her, a slight smugness Ichigo could identify gleamed in her eyes.
Bred into a true blueblood, it seems. Ichigo could not help but slightly smirk at the thought. He continued to examine the photos, also wondering why Hanatarou had refused to let him see it.
"So Hanatarou and Rukia attended the same elementary also… I wonder if they were in the same class." Ichigo turned toward the next page and eyed the individual photos of a class of students. He found a photo toward the bottom of the page that made him feel suddenly uneasy. It looked as if it were slashed with a razor blade countless times that the face of the person was unrecognizable. Underneath the photo was the name of the child: Kuchiki Rukia.
"What the hell…" Ichigo's eyes widened at the revelation. He did not have time to think when the sound of Hanatarou's footsteps entered the room. Ichigo swiftly turned, the book still in his hands. It was already too late to hide.
Hanatarou stopped a few feet from the opening of the doorway and glared at Ichigo, noticing the book in his hands. Ichigo had no time to explain before three burly thugs followed behind Hanatarou.
Rukia arrived at her mansion and went to her room a half hour past 8 o'clock. Walking around all day should have tired her out, but the constant thoughts that ran through her head about Ichigo made her alert and still bitter toward him.
She was angry with him for whatever he did and angry with herself for trying and possibly wasting her time.
"Yeah, that's right. I was wasting my time all along." Rukia tried to convince herself. In her peripheral she spotted Ichigo's scarf on the top of her desk. She snatched it up and grunted when she hastily ripped the plastic wrapping off of the scarf. If she were strong enough, she would have all together ripped the scarf into pieces.
She was about to throw it on the ground and stomp on it with all her might but as she held it, she could not quite throw it down. The memory of how she got the scarf replayed through her mind. Ichigo's kindness resulted in her wearing this scarf. It was kindness she so rarely received.
Rukia sighed and held her head down, a sinking feeling taking place in her stomach. The ringing of her cell phone broke her out of her thoughts. Looking at her caller I.D. the number was listed as unknown. She answered it, intending to yell at whoever was on the line.
Before she could say hello, the person on the other line spoke first.
"Kuchiki-san, you're so oblivious to the obvious signs around you."
Rukia knew instantly who it was, although for some reason his tone was lower than usual. "What do you want, Hanatarou?" She asked impatiently.
"What do I want? I want to know how you can disregard all the clues that point you to the truth. The club manager and the hotel's front desk girl, they all knew who I was. And that's because of one simple reason. If you want to know why, come to Takaimono's dining hall right now." Hanatarou demanded. He sneered into the receiver. "And your beloved Ichigo is waiting for you here also."
Rukia gasped once she heard Ichigo in the background yelling. "Rukia! Don't come here! He's trying to trap you!"
"You better come here alone or else Ichigo will pay for all your sins." Hanatarou added menacingly.
Rukia held her cell phone closer to her ear as she tried to decipher what was happening. "Ichigo? What's going on?" She desperately tried to ask, worry lacing through her voice. But before anything could be said, Hanatarou ended their conversation and hung up his phone.
Rukia gulped. She was confident that whatever Hanatarou had up his sleeve, she would be able to beat some sense into him… perhaps. What harm could a scrawny boy like him do?
Yet what worried her most was Ichigo. His tone of voice sounded so fearful on the phone. It was scaring her all at her once. Was he getting hurt? She had to find out. She ran out the room, clutching the scarf in her hands.
One hour before…
After much of a spar between the thugs that Hanatarou hired and Ichigo, the thugs managed to hold down Ichigo and tie his hands behind his back with rope. Ichigo was still fully conscious when Hanatarou wrapped a cloth tightly over his mouth and tied it behind his head to keep his mouth shut.
After he was forcefully made to enter a car, Ichigo was driven along with Hanatarou and the thugs to Takaimono Gakuen. Ichigo struggled long and hard throughout the whole way until he was led into Takaimono's dining hall and thrown down onto the ground. After Ichigo gingerly got himself up and stood halfway up on his knees, Hanatarou ordered one of the thugs to remove the cloth from Ichigo's mouth so that he could speak.
"Hanatarou, let me go!" Ichigo yelled out after the cloth was uncovered from his mouth.
"Shut your mouth. I'm so tired of hearing you talk." Hanatarou said coldly to him.
Taken aback by such negative words from him, Ichigo could not help but question his animosity. "Why, Hanatarou? I-I thought we were friends."
Hanatarou scoffed and looked at him disgustedly. "Friends? Friends with a peasant. The thought is sickening." He took a few steps toward Ichigo, until he was close enough to glare down at him from above. "It was I, Ichigo. I was the one who ordered that girl to approach you at the club. I gave her the drug to put in your tea. I was with you both at the hotel and I was the one who shot the photos."
Ichigo stared at him in utter shock. "What the hell is wrong with you? Pretending to be my friend before all this and taking my side, that's what the worse of scum would do!" Ichigo's face turned swiftly to the side as he received a piercing slap from Hanatarou's backhand.
"It needed to be done." Hanatarou simply answered after. "I needed to dispose of distractions such as yourself from my big plans." He turned and strode from table to table as he spoke.
"Ever since I met that brat in elementary, I planned to get revenge on Rukia for all the pain she's put me through." Hanatarou turned back to Ichigo and he pointed at him.
"And you, you were just a simple pawn in this plan. I was quite fortunate in the beginning actually. I didn't plan on meeting you my first day here, but I did plan on gaining attention from Rukia and her S4." Hanatarou chuckled to himself in a sinister manner.
"As always, Ichigo, you had to be the noble hero and you stood up for me. Even though there was a slight change in my plans after that, it all began running so well that I didn't mind the change. You declared war with her and I thought how perfect can this get? But…" Hanatarou clenched his fist and held it close to his chest.
"I miscalculated terribly. I never thought it was possible that she would fall for you."
Ichigo took all this information in piece by piece, the truth uncovering itself right before him. But why Rukia? "Why did you plan this? What did Rukia ever do to you?" Ichigo questioned.
Hanatarou smiled bitterly as he recalled the memories. "Ever since she was a child, she's acted like a spoiled bratty princess in the security of her friends. She's never given a damn about my feelings!" Hanatarou was out of breath by the time he finished yelling this out. A crazed expression spread slowly across his face as he walked toward Ichigo.
"Now that I've got her attention this time, I don't need you anymore. You were just bait to lure her to me!"
"Can you drive faster? I need to get there sooner!" Rukia yelled at her driver who apologized and sped up as he drove the car toward Takaimono Gakuen.
Rukia ran a hand through her hair. She hoped to dear kami that whatever Hanatarou had done to Ichigo wasn't life threatening. She was startled when her cell phone rang loudly. Renji was calling.
After she answered, Renji immediately asked her if she was still with Hanatarou.
She hesitated but replied. "No."
"Be careful of him, Rukia." Renji warned. Toshirou was at his side, holding Renji's Takaimono elementary yearbook and showing him the class photo. He pointed toward a photo and Renji nodded. "I remember who Hanatarou is now. And with all that's happening, I think that you may be his main target."
Rukia did not know what to say. She did not want to tell him that she already knew that so she stayed silent on the other line.
Renji took her silence as uneasiness and quickly asked her, "Wait, where are you right now?"
"I… I'm heading home."
"You're lying!" Renji said in an instant. "I can tell it in your voice. What's happening right now?" He demanded to know.
"It doesn't concern you." Rukia answered softly.
"It does concern me! You have to be careful! Whatever you plan on doing let Toshirou and me come along. We'll confront him all together!" Renji tried to reason with her, fully worried by this time.
Rukia closed her eyes and pursed her lips together, holding back the urge to accept her friend's help. "I can't let you do that. If I don't go by myself, I won't be able to help him."
Renji was able to get in a few more words of protest before she hung up and closed her cell phone.
You better come here alone or else Ichigo will pay for all your sins.
With Ichigo's scarf still in her hands, Rukia clutched the woven fabric to her chest. "I'll be there."
"In no time, Rukia will be here." Hanatarou looked at his watch and counted the minutes that passed after he phoned Rukia.
Ichigo shook his head, disbelieving Hanatarou's words. "Rukia won't come. She would be putting herself in danger… and after all that I've done, she doesn't want to see me anymore."
"Ugh." Hanatarou said in disgust. "It's gross how you two play love/hate games with each other…" After a change of face, Hanatarou suddenly grinned and held up a pocketknife in his hand. He strode over to Ichigo and ordered his thugs to hold him back.
Shit. This is going to hurt. Ichigo thought.
"ICHIGO!"
Everyone in the room turned to see Rukia enter. She stopped a few feet away from them, out of breath from running in the building right when she exited her car. She placed her hands upon her knees, taking as many breaths of air before searching for Ichigo.
Ichigo was confused but all the more so fearing for her safety. "Why did you come, you idiot? I told you it was a trap!"
Her saddened violet eyes said it all. "I'm sorry I didn't believe you, okay? I should have been the one giving you my trust. I-I shouldn't have doubted you." As Rukia's eyes bore through Ichigo's, she silently pleaded for him to understand.
"Pfft!" Hanatarou interrupted them. "Have you come here to repent for your sins, Kuchiki Rukia?" He asked in a mockingly sweet tone.
Rukia turned her attention to Hanatarou and narrowed her eyes at him. "What the hell are you trying to do?"
Hanatarou smirked. "Let me show you." He nodded to his thugs who got the message and proceeded toward Rukia.
"Get away from her!" Ichigo shouted frantically, trying to unbind the ropes from his hands. He was held down from getting up by one of the three thugs.
Rukia resisted the two thugs as much as she could, kicking and punching them in any way possible. One of the thugs managed to grab her arm in midair and forced her down on the ground. She tried to kick as much as possible but the other thug was pinning her legs down. All she was able to do was scream in anger.
Satisfied with the scene, Hanatarou gave another silent nod to the thug who held down Ichigo. The thug started to punch Ichigo senseless, first in the stomach and then to the side of his face. He proceeded to punch him again in the stomach a few more times.
"Stop! Stop hurting him!" Rukia halted her screaming from under the hold of the thugs and trembled uncontrollably while yelling for the thug to stop his assault on Ichigo.
Hanatarou ordered the thug to stop punching Ichigo after a minute. Rukia watched helplessly as blood trickled down Ichigo's lip, feeling guilt well up inside her. Hanatarou grabbed Ichigo by the hair of his scalp and dragged him closer to Rukia. He moved Ichigo's head up so that Rukia could see him clearly.
"Rukia." Hanatarou called. "Hmph, you act like you're royalty. You go around and make people bow down to you as if they were your servants. But now… you aren't in control."
"Look at him. This boy." Hanatarou forcefully threw Ichigo's head down to the ground close to Rukia. Ichigo winced as his head hit the cold surface.
Hanatarou's eyes glazed over as he stared down at Rukia. "Does it hurt your heart to see him beaten? This is what you've done to others and you've barely lifted a finger to repent. So what's so special about him? This filthy peasant!" He hesitated, the sound of his breathing heavy and staccato.
"He's nothing compared to me! Can't you see that?"
Rukia eyed him with contempt. Her own eyes were slowly brimming with tears she fought hard to hold back. "You're not worth it."
After her response, Hanatarou deeply sighed then clasped his hands together. He ordered the thugs to move away from Rukia and Ichigo. As Ichigo lay on the floor on the side of his body, Hanatarou took the chance to deliver a few kicks to his stomach.
Free from being held down by the two thugs, Rukia quickly got up and grabbed Hanatarou's arms to stop him. "No! Get the hell away from him!" She was met with a quick push from Hanatarou that sent her toppling backward over a table behind her.
Hanatarou diverted his attention back to her and yelled, "I'm not worth it? And he is?" He pointed down to Ichigo.
"Why can't you think of me that way? Why? I've done all I can to get your attention. I've tried to figure out ways for you to like me. I've become a recluse trying to plan for a way to get your attention. When we were children, I introduced myself to you every single day and at the end of the year, you still didn't know my name! Why, Rukia, why? Why don't you love me?"
Hanatarou's demand for a response from Rukia was futile. Rukia was pushed back so hard into the table that it was hard for her get up from the ground after she fell. But she managed to crawl and at the moment, she was too busy trying to crawl toward Ichigo to pay any attention to Hanatarou's insistent yelling.
"Look at me, Rukia!" Hanatarou demanded. "LOOK AT ME!" After noticing her lack of reply, Hanatarou screamed in frustration and went for the nearest wooden chair next to him. He set his sights on Rukia and raised the chair above his head, aiming for her back.
When it came down, it made no contact with Rukia as Ichigo swiftly came in from the side and blocked her from getting hit. The chair hit his own back and he winced in pain.
Hanatarou's eyes widened and he briefly froze in place. He dropped the chair abruptly and took a few steps back, covering his mouth with his hand as if he finally realized what happened.
"What have I… done?" Hanatarou's brow furrowed. He shook his head and walked out of the dining hall in a daze, the three thugs following him.
Feeling aches all over his body, Ichigo managed to get himself halfway up and stood up on his knees. His arms were still bound together. He looked down at Rukia worriedly. "Are you okay?" He asked her softly.
Rukia found the strength to gingerly get herself up and sat across from Ichigo. She sniffled and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "Of course but what about you?"
"I've been through worst." Ichigo joked slightly. She didn't laugh but nodded instead and looked down at floor.
After a moment of silence Ichigo asked her, "Why did you come? I told you not to." His tone was not reprimanding toward her but instead full of concern.
Rukia shook her head from side to side. "If I didn't come, I wouldn't have been able to help you. I told myself before all this, before the photos, before everything… that I wouldn't do anything to hurt you. So by coming here, I thought it would avoid you from pain."
Ichigo didn't understand her words. Not only did he end up going through pain but she went through it also. It could not fully register in his mind. He asked her again.
"But why?"
For the first time, Rukia chuckled under her breath at his cluelessness.
"Bakamono. Isn't it obvious?" She hesitated out of apprehension but decided it was the right time. She gathered up the courage and lifted her eyes to meet with his eyes. She told him with all honesty and put her soul and heart into it.
"It's because I love you." She bit her lip then said it again. "I love you, Ichigo."
Ichigo's mouth dropped down widely. He was awestruck, speechless, and shocked. Before he could say anything, Rukia took out his scarf from her coat pocket and took the initiative to gently wrap it around his neck. Afterward, her eyes were slightly glazed over with tears but she tried to hide it from him by putting her arms around his neck and resting her head on his shoulder.
It was an awkward hold at first, considering Ichigo's hands were behind his back but after a while Rukia held him closer as she sniffled every so often. Ichigo could not help but blush at the contact. This was the first time he was conscious and intimate with a girl and oddly he wasn't touching her.
The sensation was overwhelming Ichigo. For some unexplainable reason, he felt radiating warmth form within himself. He invited the feeling and all at once, he truly felt content. It was over and she was safe.
Two days later in New York City…
"Byakuya-shachou."
Byakuya turned his attention to Nanao who stood before his desk. She bowed to him before continuing.
"We've received news that Rukia is in the hospital." She told him.
"What happened?" Byakuya questioned, his face and tone of voice stoic as ever.
"I wasn't able to get all the details, but she was admitted along with Kurosaki Ichigo."
Byakuya put down his pen and clasped his hands on the top of his desk. "That boy is still tagging alongside her."
Nanao nodded. "Yes. Is there anything you would like me to do?"
Byakuya did not answer her as he turned in his swivel chair and looked out toward the view of New York's city lights. A passing thought entered his mind and he nodded, finalizing what he would need to do.
One week later at Takaimono…
Laughter filled the room as Ichigo sat alongside Rukia, Renji, and Toshirou at their usual table in Takaimono's dining hall. Ichigo had his bento in front of him and he munched on some rice to himself while Rukia blinked at him as if waiting for something.
Ichigo looked toward her and cocked an eyebrow. "What do you want?"
"I'm hungry. What you have looks good so feed me too!" She exclaimed.
Ichigo answered her by grabbing a pair of spare chopsticks and placing them in front of her. "You can do it yourself, midget."
"I told you to stop calling me midget! Or should I start calling you kooky carrot top?"
"Pfft, is that all you can come up with. Lame-o."
Toshirou and Renji observed in interest at the two's playful bickering. Toshirou formed a smile upon his face, glad that it was finally over. "They're already acting like an old married couple, eh?"
Renji nodded reluctantly. "I guess they don't look bad together."
Toshirou smirked at Renji's agreement. He turned back to Ichigo and Rukia who were still bickering and decided to stop it with a question. "So… what's going to happen to Hanatarou?"
That silenced Ichigo and Rukia. They both exchanged an unknowing glance at each other, unsure what action to take about Hanatarou. Coincidently, down below Ikkaku, Shuuhei, and Yumichika were picking on Hanatarou. They pushed him around, making fun of his appearance, and his state of weakness.
"Hey!"
They stopped bullying Hanatarou and turned to see Ichigo at the foot of the stairs, walking toward them. Ichigo briefly looked at Hanatarou before glaring back at Ikkaku and the others.
"Don't mess with him anymore. He's no less of a person than you three are. Stop acting like such punks and be considerate for once. It's getting old." Ichigo told them sternly.
Ichigo turned his attention back to Hanatarou who looked at him with sad, baffled eyes. As if clearing up his bafflement, Ichigo said to him, "I could never hold a grudge against someone for so long. I… I'm not the type to hold it against you."
Hanatarou felt his eyes tear up but meekly thanked him and ran out the room.
Instantly Ichigo felt someone jump onto his back. "That's my boy! Good job for standing up for him!" Rukia cheered and encircled her arms around Ichigo's neck while hanging precariously behind him.
Through sputtered chokes, Ichigo tried to get her off of his back. "Oi! What (choke) are (cough/choke) you (choke) doing (choke) midget (cough)!"
Rukia released her grip and punched Ichigo's arm softly. "See? You have my seal of approval for a good reason." She said proudly.
"I didn't even need a good reason in the first place, it seems." Ichigo muttered, hoping Rukia didn't hear it.
Yet nothing stopped Rukia from hearing his whole sentence and once again, another bickering fest started up between them. The students surrounding them laughed heartily at their argument. Many were actually happy seeing such a sight.
It stopped suddenly when a familiar high feminine voice penetrated the room.
"Tadaima! I'm back!"
Rukia had Ichigo in a headlock but stopped as she gaped in disbelief at the person in front of them. Although a few strands of hair had obstructed his view, Ichigo could recognize that voice anywhere.
Orihime stood before them, perky and bubbly as usual. She waved toward Rukia and smiled widely. "I'm back!"
AN: OMG! She's back! Ahhhh and the IchiRuki starts up! Ahhh I'm so effin' tired! Hope you enjoyed and please review! Love you all!
Thankss! ありがとうございます！