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: It feels good to be back! Ack, I said that my New Year's resolution was to finish this story before Valentine's day... At this rate, I'm not even sure if that's the case but my second option is before or on my birthday which is at the end of February so hopefully I can make that deadline!

But most of all, a big THANK YOU to my reviewers (old and new! Welcome to the new ones, btw)! A lot of you enjoyed the last chapter because there was finally some mutual IchiRuki moments. I would be lying if I said from then on it would be an all out lovefest so I won't lie... because I'm weird like that and I like giving IchiRuki moments in small doses. Sorry if that's a bit evil... Heh. But hey, it's all about the development!

So a new problem will arise in this chapter somewhat... err, I'll let you read for yourself. Hope it's satisfying enough!

Yosh! Let's goooo! よろしくお願いします！

Japanese Notes:

-Pachinko machines: very popular automated machine game in Japan. Similar to gambling machines in Vegas. Side note: when I went to popular gaming areas in Tokyo and Osaka, pachinko buildings were always pretty full with men in their business suits who just got out of work.

-Yosh: I always say this but it's a variation of 'all right' or some enthusiastic equivalent.

Chapter 18

Someone in the back of the dining hall squealed with delight (probably Yumichika) as Orihime stood at the entrance. She waved again at Rukia who stood immobile with her hands still grappling Ichigo's hair.

"Are you busy?" Orihime questioned innocently when she saw the situation she was intruding in.

Rukia untangled her fingers from Ichigo's messy hair and stood straight up. A slight twinkle was present in her eyes as she took a long look at her best friend. This was quite a surprise.

"No, we're not busy, Orihime! I... it's good to see you back." Rukia went over to Orihime and exchanged a heartfelt hug with her.

As he watched them, Ichigo felt a bit elated at the fact that Orihime had returned but he couldn't help but question to himself... Where was Ishida? If Orihime had come back to Japan alone after all these weeks, did that mean...

Ichigo was knocked out of his thoughts once Rukia came over to him and grabbed his arm to drag him over to Orihime. She stopped before Orihime, a gleaming smile upon her face as she held onto Ichigo as if he was a prize she just won at the carnival. Orihime observed Rukia's actions with wide eyes. She pointed to both Rukia and Ichigo.

"Are you two..."

"Dating?" Rukia quickly finished her question before her. "Why... why you could call something like that!"

"Oi, wait a second..." Ichigo countered but was cut off briefly by Rukia.

"A lot has happened since you've been away!" Rukia explained and let go of Ichigo's arm.

Orihime nodded, looking from Rukia to Ichigo. "And how have you been, Kurosaki-kun?" She asked him out of politeness.

"Well…" For some reason, under that intense look she was giving him, Ichigo couldn't find a word to answer her with. Instead he was trying to figure out what her gaze was telling him. He couldn't quite read it and consequently faltered in his speaking.

"Ehhh?" Renji suddenly came up beside Ichigo, a mischievous grin on his face. "What's with this hesitation?"

Rukia felt the awkwardness and by trying to make the situation lighter, quickly stood in the way of Orihime's view by blocking Ichigo. Although not making up for the height difference, Rukia still managed to divert Orihime's attention back down to her.

"I've been great too, Orihime! It's been err… nice! Especially the weather!" Rukia said immediately.

Since Rukia was now at such a close proximity to her, Orihime could make out the bandage on Rukia's forehead that had previously been covered by her bangs. She gasped and asked out of concern, "What happened to you? Did you get hurt or something?"

Rukia paused, figuring it was not the right time to actually explain what happened. "Umm, you're right. I got hurt but thanks for noticing!" She half answered.

Renji snickered from behind. "Heh, anyone would have noticed that."

"Yes, but in short," Rukia continued and went over to stand beside Ichigo again, "you could say these bandages are proof of our… devotion to one another."

"Oh…that's wonderful!" Orihime exclaimed with enthusiasm after a slight pause.

"But not exactly because we haven't said anything like that to each other…" Ichigo added in right after.

"Don't worry about that." Rukia replied to him. "Well since you're back, let's all go celebrate your return!" She directed to Orihime. "S4 is back together once again!"

She turned once more to Ichigo, a small smirk on her face. "You stay here, of course. We wouldn't want to waste your tuition money by having you skip class."

"Sheesh, I don't need you to be telling me that." Ichigo shot back, a scowl forming on his face.

"See you later then." Orihime bid him goodbye before leaving with Rukia, Renji, and Toshirou following suit. Before Orihime went out the exit, Ikkaku, Yumichika, and Shuuhei appeared before her with hopeful faces.

"Inoue-san!" Ikkaku greeted, his toothy grin as shiny as the top of his head. "We're so glad you returned! Is it okay if we come along with you?"

Orihime placed a forefinger on the tip of her chin and thought for a moment. "Hmm... okay, you guys can come along!" She decided with a nod and made her way out.

The three boys almost fainted from sheer bliss but instead used the chance to rub it in Ichigo's face. "Inoue-san only wants us to go!" They said in unison toward him.

In an instant, Rukia came back from behind and roughly shoved Ikkaku down to the ground. "She wasn't serious! Don't show up!"

Ikkaku landed painfully on his butt and looked up in shock at Rukia. "Kuchiki-san, you can't be serious!" He cried out.

"Of course I am, pin head!" Rukia responded back harshly. She looked back toward Ichigo and suddenly remembered something important.

"Ah! I almost forgot." Rukia walked back across the room to Ichigo who was surveying the prior scene with incredulity. She rummaged around in her purse looking for something before finally taking out a sleek black object in her hand. It was a snazzy and obviously pricey cell phone.

"Here." Rukia extended her hand toward Ichigo, secretly hoping he wouldn't reject it like her other gifts. "You really need one of these and I figured you wouldn't want something exactly matching the white one I have, so I decided on this one since it seemed like a guy's type."

While marveling the sleek exterior, Ichigo noticed the little silver chain that hung from the side of the cell phone bearing a… white bunny ornament. Oh yeah, this was for a guy.

"These cell phones are for our personal use. You know… so it'll be easier to contact you." Rukia explained and held up her own cell phone, gleaming sparkly and white. This one bore a black bunny ornament in contrast with the white bunny.

Oh boy…

In every teenage boy's life, there are always moments of great confusion … perhaps due to the hormonal growth spurts. For Ichigo, this time was no different for him. Barely a week ago, he had been beaten up and Rukia in turn risked her life to help him. Heck, Rukia had told Ichigo she loved him! Ichigo was speechless and even though he did not yet feel this strong emotion as she did, there was that voice in his mind that told him to take his time.

Take your time.

As Ichigo placed boxes atop shelves at Urahara's shop with one hand, he absentmindedly took out the cell phone Rukia gave him with the other hand and momentarily examined it's slick surface with slight awe. He never owned a cell phone so he had to admit the thing was impressive. Almost immediately he felt a presence behind him.

"Tatsuki, can you not try to sneak up on me like that?" Ichigo turned around to find not Tatsuki, but Chad standing with a puzzled expression on his face. "Oh, sorry, Chad. I thought Tatsuki was trying to spy on me."

"No… but I'm guessing what you have there," Chad pointed to the cell phone still in Ichigo's hand, "is that 'gift' you said Rukia had given to you."

"Yeah." Ichigo guiltily held the phone in view and handed it to Chad to take a closer look.

"It's really… nice." Chad said for lack of a better word. He took the small bunny ornament in between his large forefinger and thumb and examined the miniscule features. He had a soft spot for cute things and this was no exception. "So after all that's happened, things seem to be going pretty well between you two." He concluded after he handed the phone back to Ichigo.

"It seems to be going well but she's taking initiative too fast. Acting like she's my girlfriend when I haven't acknowledged her like that." Ichigo mumbled.

"By not considering her as your girlfriend, is this because that kind-hearted princess has come back into your life?" Chad questioned Ichigo's uncertainty by bringing up Orihime's return.

Ichigo sighed but surprisingly, shook his head at the answer. "You know, when she returned today I was expecting to see Ishida alongside her but he wasn't. I know a month ago I probably would have felt hopeful at the prospect but..."

Ichigo had thought long and hard about this after Orihime had followed Ishida to America. Seeing her love and devotion to him was something that Ichigo decided he could not take away.

Orihime was always caring and nice toward him. And she was always first and foremost, his friend.

From then on, he made his final decision and surely would stick to it no matter what the case.

"…Now I honestly don't feel that way any more. But today when I saw her, I felt like she was trying to tell me something through her eyes but I had no idea what it could be."

"Maybe a cry for help?" Chad suggested.

Ichigo thought about that possibility for a moment. Was it possible that Orihime was trying to ask him for his help? Perhaps it had to with Ishida? Whatever it was, Ichigo hoped the outcome had not hurt Orihime and Ishida.

That night when Ichigo returned home, his ears caught the sound of what seemed to be heavy objects moving around inside as he took off his shoes beside the front door. He was almost afraid to discover what the ruckus was by walking further in but curiosity got the better of him. He walked into the living room only to jump back in shock.

"Where the hell did you get all of this?" Ichigo yelled out to his father who was in the process of moving a large grandfather clock across the carpet. Packed into their small living room were expensive pieces of furniture ranging from a coffee table to a glass display case.

There was hardly any room for Ichigo to maneuver himself inside. After he was uncomfortably wedged between a dining table and a home entertainment shelf, he reached over to tap his father on the shoulder to get his attention. Isshin was previously preoccupied with moving the grandfather clock to notice his son's arrival.

"Son, okaeri!" Isshin's face beamed brightly. He swept his hands around joyfully as if showcasing the objects. "Did you see the new furniture we got?"

"Well it's hard to miss." Ichigo replied. He knew there was only one person who could provide such extravagance.

"Rukia-chan had them sent over!" Isshin exclaimed, validating Ichigo's thought.

"This is absolutely ridiculous. There's hardly any room for us to move! What was she thinking? That little pipsqueak..."

"You shouldn't call her that." Isshin interjected, trying to calm down his son's frustrated composure. "You should be grateful that she gave us such gifts!"

"If it were a sensible gift, yes. But we can't live normally with all this… this clutter!"

At the sound of the word clutter, Isshin's face immediately faltered into a frown. "Well, I-I thought you would appreciate this because we never had a decent life and having such opulence feels nice…"

Ichigo noticed his father getting awfully emotional over the furniture so he changed his tone a bit. "No, no. I meant that it would be hard for all of use to live in such a small setting. I'm only thinking of all the space that we're losing with this furniture here."

Isshin nodded. "I understand. So that's why I decided already that I'm going to sell this all at the pawn shop!"

"That was quick." Ichigo commented on his father's speedy decision.

"That's because the old man had to gamble with his luck and used his last paycheck playing the pachinko machines. Spent everything, won nothing." Karin appeared by the doorway to the living room, arms crossed with the usual nonchalant look on her face.

"Why must you tell him what happened?" Isshin squealed, disappointed with Karin for spilling his earlier antics out in the open. He tried to explain quickly. "I felt lucky since the man next to me won ten times the amount he put in so I had to try it for myself and before I knew it…" Isshin could not finish his sentence as he instantly bawled out in tears.

Ichigo awkwardly gave Isshin a pat on the back, trying to comfort him in that way. At that moment, his cell phone rang with a cheerfully happy tune. The tune was Rukia's own doing, of course. She had programmed that previously before giving him the phone.

He apologized and gave his father another soft pat on the back before retreating into his room to answer the call. No surprise that it was Rukia on the other line.

"Ichigo, I'm at the Yamamoto Center right now. I've sent my limo over to pick you up since I'm guessing you're probably free to hang out with us. It should be there now so come quickly." Rukia directed once Ichigo answered.

"Hey, don't order me around like that!" Ichigo countered. "And might I add, what's with all this furniture you dumped into my home?"

"Oh, so it's already there? Excellent!" Rukia said with satisfaction lacing her voice. "All that stuff cost a lot of money so take good care of it."

"I can't even use the furniture properly in the first place! Rukia, you know how small my place is. There's barely a foot of space between each piece of furniture."

"Stop complaining and just hurry up!" Rukia ordered him before hanging up on the other line.

"Sheesh, I swear…" Ichigo mumbled incoherent words under his breath as he made his way out of the apartment and outside where Rukia's limo was indeed waiting for him. After a short trek across town, the limo stopped in front an upscale building.

Once inside, Ichigo was instantly led to a private dining area where Rukia along with Toshirou and Renji lounged in plush seats. Orihime was nowhere in his sight, which puzzled Ichigo considering Rukia had mentioned this was S4's reunion celebration earlier that day.

Ichigo noticed two unfamiliar girls that sat on either side of Renji, obviously flirting with him. Renji didn't seem to mind at all while Toshirou sat nearby nonchalantly texting on his cell phone. Ichigo narrowed his eyes slightly once he spotted the two boys that sat on either side of Rukia. He had never seen them before but they were awfully friendly with her. They were sitting at a close proximity to Rukia that it was enough to brush shoulder to shoulder from time to time.

Rukia became aware of Ichigo's presence and called him out. "Ichigo! What took you so long?"

"Blame the traffic." Ichigo replied, still keeping an eye on the two boys beside her.

"Who's this punk? Look at his hair." One commented.

"Kuchiki-san, don't tell me that this guy's your boyfriend?" The other questioned.

A slight blush crept up to Rukia's face but she nodded. "Well, why else would he be here?"

"Hah, he's a complete weakling! Look at that lanky form!" The one on Rukia's right burst out in a fit of a laughter.

"Hey, shut the hell up! It's none of your business to talk about my appearance, assholes!" Ichigo vehemently spat out.

Rukia laughed out loud from Ichigo's verbal attack to the two boys. "Hah! You're right! Well said, Ichigo! It's none of your business so get lost you two." She turned her head up haughtily and pointed toward the door, signaling them to the exit immediately.

With mouths agape, the two stunned boys stood up and left. They managed to purposely bump into Ichigo's shoulder with their own and before Ichigo could retaliate and go back to settle the score, Rukia called for him to sit down.

Ichigo took his seat across from Rukia and promptly started speaking about the furniture situation. "Listen, I know you love giving things out and thanks for giving my family the furniture, but can you take it back?"

Rukia placed a small hand atop her chest in shock. "What do you mean, take it back? Why would you return something given to you for free?"

"Are you having another argument? I swear it will never get old between you both." Toshirou interjected after hearing Rukia speak.

"Well, I just wish it were easier to explain that…" Ichigo trailed off.

Orihime had just entered the room alongside a serious faced, dark haired boy with gleaming green eyes. She had her hand wrapped around his arm and it looked as if they were about to trek across the room to go to the exit. Ichigo almost had to do a double take at the two.

The boy she was with had a very sullen disposition and seemed to be the exact opposite of Orihime's own bubbly disposition. Something told Ichigo that this could not be right… He once again questioned what happened between Orihime and Ishida. Something was definitely up.

Rukia had noticed Ichigo's change of view onto Orihime. Not knowing Ichigo's true intentions, she felt a pang of jealously stir within herself. She swiftly got up from her chair and strode across toward Orihime, hoping to divert the attention elsewhere.

"Orihime before you leave, introduce your new… friend to Ichigo." Rukia directed to her.

"Ah! Of course!" Orihime nodded and patted her "friend" on his shoulder. "Kurosaki-kun, this is Ulquiorra Schiffer! Ulquiorra, this is Kurosaki Ichigo."

Ulquiorra slightly nodded his head toward Ichigo. "Hajimemashite." He said monotonously.

Ichigo exchanged the same greeting before turning back to Orihime. "I forgot to say welcome back." He paused. "How was your visit to America?"

At the mention of her visit, Orihime's eyes widened for a moment as if reliving some sort of memory in her mind. Quicker than a second, she masked her face with a smile. "It was wonderful. Thank you for asking, Kurosaki-kun… Ano, we should be leaving now. I've got a few other people that are expecting me to visit them. I will see you all later!" Orihime bid goodbye to her friends and strode out with Ulquiorra still by her side.

Ichigo could not quite put his finger on it, but with no mention of Ishida and the entrance of a new man in Orihime's life, he knew there had to be trouble that brew between Orihime and Ishida back in America.

But Ichigo quickly placed the thought in the back of his mind. What business did he have butting into people's affairs? He was only causing trouble for himself and he already went through enough trouble as it was.

Ichigo turned back to Rukia. "Now… about that furniture…"

"That insolent girl. That boy is probably influencing her." Byakuya commented once Nanao had presented reports straight from Japan about Rukia's activities.

"Uh, I mean no disrespect, sir, but Rukia seems to be the one pushing their relationship further." Nanao pushed her glasses up on the bridge of her nose nervously. She hoped the information she had reported would not infuriate her boss.

"If that is the case…" Byakuya took a moment to relay his previously thought out plan in his mind. There was no better time than now to act upon it. "Get the private jet ready. I will be returning to Japan tonight to deal with this mess."

"Right away, sir." Nanao bowed then quickly left Byakuya's presence.

Byakuya took a sip of his hot tea before setting it aside along with the paperwork he was working on earlier. He had never left work incomplete in his life but this was an exception. He would deal with it later after cleaning up other important matters concerning his sister.

Kaien was currently having a nice dinner on the veranda outside of his Los Angeles home. He was alone but content anyway, enjoying the starry night. He was about to treat himself to a second cup of wine when his butler showed up before him.

"Sir, there's a message for you."

"What it is?" Kaien questioned while taking the cork off his wine bottle.

"It seems Byakuya-shachou has boarded his private jet to Japan a mere five minutes ago."

"Ehhh?" Kaien was in the middle of pouring wine into his glass. If it weren't for the swiftness of his butler taking the bottle into his own hands, the wine would have overfilled the glass due to Kaien's diverted attention.

"Yes, it is concerning Miss Rukia."

"Well then…" Kaien downed his glass of wine. He sighed. "It's happening sooner than I expected." He got up from his chair, his plate of food unfinished but his wineglass empty.

Kaien balled his right fist and held it up in determination.

"Yosh! It's time for me to enter the battle!"

AN: That was pretty long but I wanted to give as much as possible to make up for the delay. So as usual, please review with your comments, thoughts, questions, etc. More drama will ensue in the next chapter and possibly... another date between our main characters...

I hope you're enjoying your days of whatever you do! Stay safe too! Look both ways before crossing the street!

Thankss! ありがとうございます！