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: How were the holidays for everyone? I hope it went awesome! Well I finished this chapter earlier than I thought I would mostly because I'm starting school again next Monday and I fear I won't be able to finish the story in time. Yes, I did say finish the story. T_T The chapter after this one (or the next chapter, in simpler terms haha) will be the final chapter. Oh dear, it's been so long... Well I'm going to save the mushiness for later.

My thanks as always:

XxKasumiAmuxX: YES! I read chapter 423 and guhhh, my heart, my heart! It was beautiful, epic, bittersweet, etc. I think I cried a little the first time I read it! Yes, the first time meaning I read it more than once, lol. I mean, how can you not? The look in their eyes is mutual and filled with so much longing. I can't bear the thought of them not being together in the end! Honestly that chapter hit it on the head for me and made me 100% sure that IchiRuki will be canon in the end. SO SURE OF IT! :D Anyways, thank you for reading and reviewing, my dear!

And a big thank you to LyraZeldaCyndaquil, Kuchiki MariSuke o91, lori0108, CloudRed1988, LittleRuu, Gunbladez19, sayume214, SmilexForxBleach, and SilverStella! Enjoy the new year all! Woo 2011!

Chapter 27

The dressing room was fairly empty now that most of the contestants were gone and the 2nd round of contestants were dressed and ready to go on standby backstage. Ichigo knelt on the ground, failing to put pieces of fabric together on the ruined suit in front of him.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it." He cursed aloud when he heard the uproar of applause for Kano Ashido from the television. That meant Ichigo was only three contestants away from being called for standby. Having no other choice Ichigo ripped off the pant leg that was hanging by a thread, now left with a pair of uneven pants.

He looked over the suit, not much different as it was before. Time was running low and he was stuck with nothing better.

Byakuya knew his sister wouldn't refuse the wager. Since she was so bent on the notion that the Kurosaki brat would win T.o.J what could she really lose? Though Byakuya felt he definitely knew the outcome. No doubt it was in his favor. He would just have to carry on with the games for now.

"A person never goes back on his word, all right?" Byakuya warned, sending a stern glare toward Rukia.

"The same goes for you. So don't come crying when this is all over." Rukia shot back menacingly. She left it at that and quickly walked out of the office, hoping to at least catch the end of T.o.J.

Hanatarou had finished going on stage modeling, or at least trying to model, a modest outfit that was none too different from his regular school uniform. In the audience Renji snickered to himself at the awkwardness that encompassed everything Hanatarou did. Renji felt Hanatarou was lucky to get this far in the competition. After giving him a small applause along with the rest of the audience, Renji's ears perked up when the name of the next contestant was announced.

"And now from the same school, Takaimono Gakuen, is Kurosaki Ichigo-san!"

Renji gaped as Ichigo walked on stage in the craziest outfit Renji had ever seen. Ichigo's pinstripe three piece suit was torn in the most random places and his left pant leg was only half in length exposing Ichigo's leg from his knee cap down to the ankle at the top of his black socks. Renji couldn't believe it. Ichigo quite possibly couldn't have worn anything more disastrous than this. The crowd seemed to agree with Renji, albeit mockingly as many laughed and pointed at the ridiculous tattered getup. Yumichika, Hisagi, and Ikkaku couldn't have been more satisfied about their work as they gave each other victorious high fives.

"What the hell happened to him?" Toshirou shook his head with disapproval. "Is he not taking this contest seriously anymore?

Orihime gasped in surprise. "Ah, it's actually pretty good!" She commented gleefully earning a dubious stare from Renji and Toshirou.

"That outfit is simply magnificent!" A foreign judge shouted from the judge's table as if he were exactly agreeing with Orihime tenfold.

"EH?" The audience cried out in unison at the odd compliment.

"The style of outfit is so in! It's grungy and has a 'I don't care' attitude that screams high fashion!" The judge was highly animated in his speech, showing his excitement and approval of Ichigo's outfit. "The tattered threads and shorter pant leg is so abstract and the bleached hair along with it just completely reads as 'rebellion'!"

Ichigo could not help but sweat drop at mention of his hair.

"I love it!" The judge ended simply and clapped his hands, not caring if he was the only one in the who auditorium that did so.

Kiyone and Sentaro laughed nervously together at his enthusiasm. "Heh, yes thank you Naoya-san. Everyone Naoya-san is a world renowed fashion consultant that has worked for high end name brands such as Versace, Prada, Marc Jacobs, and more. If anyone knows fashion, it is definitely him. Well let us get the next contestant out here. Arigatou, Kurosaki Ichigo-san."

Ichigo bowed before going off stage, still in a bit of a daze that what he was wearing was considered high fashion.

Thank goodness it's over though. He thought to himself. I still didn't see Rukia though... Damn it, she really must be angry with me.

After the last contestant went on stage, all second round contestants were called back up on stage for the announcement of who would be moving on to the third round. Ichigo felt a bit out of place in his seemingly stylish raggedy outfit standing among the others dressed in nicely pressed clothes. He placed his awkwardness in the back of his mind once Kiyone and Sentaro began calling out names of the five contestants. Not surprisingly Ashido was called out first then three more students were called on. Ichigo held his breath once again.

"And our fifth and last contestant moving on to round three is..." Sentaro paused for what seemed like eternity until Kiyone smacked him on the head. After a painful outburst he continued, "... from Takaimono Gakuen, Kurosaki Ichigo-san!"

Why do they always have to call me out last? Ichigo thought after exhaling a shaky breath. Grateful nonetheless he bowed and made his way to the front with the four others. A few murmurs ensued from the crowd in shock at his advancement into the next round. But Ichigo ignored them as he waved over to his cheering family. Isshin was already at the point of tears.

"Kurosaki genes are being put to good use." Isshin said after blowing his nose on a tissue. "I'll be complete when my daughters do the same and use their own physical attributes to get what they want."

"Can it old man or I'll give you one of these!" Karin threatened and held up her fist menacingly toward her father.

"Shhh, they're about to reveal the theme to round three!" Yuzu said, trying to hold back Karin from getting violent.

They were able to settle just as Kiyone resumed announcements. "The theme for round three will be intelligence! Contestants are to write a minute length speech completely in English and read it in front of the audience. Your topic is: 'unfortunate children'. Contestants have 30 minutes to prepare their speeches! Begin!"

After contestants were dispersed to the dressing room, Ichigo sat in deep thought on the subject he was to write about. In English. He scrunched up his face hoping the mandatory English classes he took in middle school would help. He shook his head, chuckling a bit at the false supposed 'inside information' Kaien received about contestants needing to learn Korean. Luckily Ichigo sucked in Korean more than English. But that was saying a lot.

"Kurosaki-san?"

Ichigo looked up to see Ashido standing in front of him, a small pleasant smile on his face directed to him. "You did well out there. And your outfit is great. Just like Naoya-san said: high fashion. I was more than impressed..." He paused, looking away for a moment. "But I want to tell you that I came back here to Japan to win this contest as Rukia's fiance."

An automatic scowl formed on Ichigo's face at how simply Ashido put his words out there.

"If it's true that Rukia has set her sights on you, then I definitely can't lose to you. So Kurosaki-san," Ashido held his hand out, "Let's have a fair contest. Let the best man win."

"Ah." Ichigo answered, standing up and accepting the hand shake from Ashido. "Agreed."

After Ashido left, Ichigo changed back into his school uniform and returned to his seat at one of the tables in the dressing room. With pen and paper in hand, he began to write feverishly to the best of his ability. With the theme being 'unfortunate children' he found that this was something he could definitely relate to. He was thankful that so far this seemed to be the easiest round for him. He wasn't quite sure about the speech part though considering his accent was... terrible.

Close to being done, he stopped his writing when he heard a nervous cough interrupt his thoughts. He glanced up and found Hanatarou taking one bow before him then speaking. "Ano, congratulations Kurosaki-san."

Ichigo almost forgot that Hanatarou didn't make it past the second round. He felt sorry for the small boy but remembered his words earlier before the contest started.

"I thought you didn't want to speak to me?" Ichigo asked doubly confused but in no way hurt by Hanatarou's earlier actions.

"Hai, gomen, gomen." Hanatarou apologized profusely and took the seat next to Ichigo. "I just wanted to ask if you needed any help with the speech. You see, I spent a lot of vacationing time in America so I had to use the language many times. I could check your speech if you want?"

Ichigo slid the paper over, grateful for some help. "Sure. But why do you want to help me?" He had to ask this.

Hanatarou took the piece of paper and started to make a few marks on the sheet. While still looking down at the paper he answered, "Well since I can't win the contest, I won't be able to win Kuchiki-san's heart. But since you're still in the running, I figured you winning is the closest thing to me winning her heart. And I don't want Kano Ashido-san to have a chance with Kuchiki-san. At all costs, you must win this!" He continued his scribbling on the paper.

Although surprised by his answer, Ichigo thanked Hanatarou nevertheless and observed the changes Hanatarou made to his speech. He had to continue until the end no matter what.

Tatsuki sat in awe as she listened to Ashido's speech. If she didn't know any better, she wouldn't have believed his native language was Japanese. "He sounds so fluent!" She whispered loud enough to herself for Renji to hear. He turned around in his seat.

"Ashido travels back and forth to England because his family owns estate there and I think he went to school in New York for a few years." He explained to her.

"It's no wonder." Tatsuki commented. She was amazed throughout the whole speech despite only completely understanding less than half of it. The three other contestants that went before Ashido also did very well but Tatsuki had to say that Ashido was best by far. She hoped her best friend would fare half as well.

As usual a roar of applause came about after Ashido was done delivering his speech. He bowed and proceeded off the stage. Tatsuki was on the edge of her seat, knowing very well who the next contestant would be.

A now serious Sentaro and Kiyone spoke simultaneously. "And now our last contestant, Kurosaki Ichigo-san."

A show of hands ensued softly as Ichigo approached the podium set in the center stage. He gulped heavily, scanning the crowd before beginning on a shaky note. "Ai liv wit mai famiry een a smarl home." (Translation: I live with my family in a small home)

"Huh?" Renji questioned. "Is the kid talking about himself?"

"Seems so." Toshirou answered, nodding thoughtfully at the introduction of the speech.

"But recentry wii hav had some probrems and my famiry must leave berry soon." (Translation: But recently we have had some problems and my family must leave very soon) Ichigo paused, sudden nerves getting a hold of him. He picked up the glass of water set on the podium and drank it all in one gulp before continuing. "Arthough I have not bin giben tings that oder chirdren hav had, I know that famiry is the onry ting I need." (Translation: Although I have not been given things that other children have had, I know that family is the only thing that I need)

Orihime smiled brightly. "It's such a good speech! Ganbatte, Kurosaki-kun!"

"I rove my fader and my seesters. Tey are most impotant to mi. So I berieve tat wat unfoltunat chirdren need most is a roving famiry." (Translation: I love my father and my sisters. They are most important to me. So I believe that what unfortunate children need most is a loving family)

Applause was heard throughout the auditorium as Ichigo ended his speech. In that moment, he actually felt proud of himself for getting this far.

After a ten minute break, Ichigo and the other contestants were called out on stage for the final round contestants. Only two were to be chosen this time. Ukitake came back up on stage to announce the two finalists.

"Our first finalist displayed eloquence and had vast knowledge of what is truly going on in this world. Kano Ashido please step up." Ukitake beckoned amongst another uproar of applause for the crowd's favorite contestant. After the applause died down, Ukitake gave a nervous laugh. "As for our second finalist, we judges actually had a very difficult time trying to choose between the last four. So we're going to decide by having them play rock-paper-scissors!"

A unanimous reply of "EH?" filled the crowd at the revelation.

"You see, we thought it would be fun to see how the next finalist would be chosen based on pure dumb luck. The number of rounds is unlimited as long as one person can beat all three others. So please, will the remaining four contestants gather in a circle?"

Although just as shocked as the audience beforehand, Ichigo put his game face on instantly as he formed a circle with the other three students. You can do this, Kurosaki.

On the count of three, they all displayed their hand. The student on Ichigo's right had scissors, the one on the left had rock, the one in front had rock also. Ichigo had paper. They moved on to the next round at once. On the next count of three, their second choice was shown. The right had paper, the left had paper, the front had paper, and Ichigo had...

Scissors!

Ichigo gaped at his choice that beat all the others. He was going on to the last round. "I made it." He said with a smile of realization.

"And our next finalist is Kurosaki-Ichigo-san!" Kiyone and Sentaro said together, clapping happily for him.

The Kurosaki family cheered loudly and got up from their seats. S4 high fived each other while Tatsuki, Chad, and Urahara yelled out encouraging words. Yet they were the only ones happy with this choice. Many others got up out of the seats to complain about the last finalist. Everyone else was booing and holding their thumbs down.

"Are you kidding me? This is unacceptable!"

"What is wrong with you judges? Get serious!"

"I don't care if it's high fashion! His outfit was all torn up, plain and simple!"

"Don't tell me you bribed the judges somehow!"

Ichigo stared at the ground dejectedly, the harsh jeering making his excitement from earlier quickly subside into disappointment. Maybe he shouldn't have gone this far...

"EVERYONE SIT DOWN AND SHUT THE HELL UP!"

Ichigo looked up toward the audience, the voice he heard blasted through what sounded like a megaphone. The audience turned around in their seats as they fell silent. Ichigo swore his heart stopped for a second as he spotted Rukia standing in the far back near the auditorium entrance doors. She smirked when she got the attention of everyone in the room. Deciding she no longer had use for it, she threw the megaphone down and took a step forward, panning the crowd with an intense glare.

"This a contest to find who the #1 boy is in all of Japan." She narrowed her eyes at the onlookers below her. "You commoners have no say in such matters." Seeing that no one was objecting, Rukia softened her gaze and directed her focus to the stage, meeting her eyes with amber ones. She gave Ichigo a genuine smile, making Ichigo's heart stop for a millisecond once more. There were no words to describe how elated he felt to finally see her there.

"Ichigo! Keep doing your best! I'll be right here rooting you on!" She yelled out, waving her small arms in the air in case he couldn't see her.

"Rukia..." Ichigo returned the smile suddenly feeling ten times more rejuvenated. She wasn't angry with him at all, just delaying her grand entrance he assumed. It was just like her to do so. Now that she was here, no jeering from audience could sway him. No one.

A five minute intermission began before the start of the next round. As others got out of their seats to take a rest break, Renji, Orihime, and Toshirou approached Rukia with questioning looks on their faces at her late arrival.

"What happened to you?" Renji asked first.

Rukia shrugged nonchalantly. "Something held me up but I'm back before the final round so that's all that matters." She answered resolutely.

"It was so much fun, Rukia! Let's all go back to our seats now." Orihime tugged on Rukia's hand but found her petite friend unmoving from her spot.

"I'm going to stay right here, Orihime." Rukia explained and leaned against the back wall. "I'm kinda nervous about this."

Toshirou chuckled at her answer but turned to go back to his seat as the competition was just about to start again. Renji was able to ruffle Rukia's hair before she swat his hand away in annoyance. He laughed and ran back to his seat before she could kick him. Orihime calmly stood by her friend for a moment, hands clasped before her. She looked at the ground for a moment before meeting eyes with Rukia again, a flicker of worry flashing in her eyes.

"What will you do if Ashido-kun wins?" Orihime asked her quietly.

Rukia took a moment to answer. She was so sure of Ichigo winning that the thought of Ashido winning instead never crossed her mind despite her brother being so sure it would be that way. No, it would not happen like that at all. It couldn't.

"I believe in Ichigo." Rukia replied with conviction. Orihime read her friend's eyes. She knew that Rukia was serious about this. She nodded before going back to her seat. Rukia sighed heavily before she surveyed the stage. Ichigo and Ashido were up front and center waiting to hear the objective of the last round.

"Hehe," Kiyone started giggling. "We've got a big surprise last round for our finalists."

"We sure do, Kiyone." Sentaro agreed, just as excited as Kiyone. "Will our special guest judges please come out on stage?"

Ichigo could hear the little stampede of feet running on stage before a group of young elementary school children came into view. Some waved with cheery smiles on their faces and others gave half-assed smiles showcasing their little attitudes. Needless to say the ones with the attitudes were already eying his hair. He groaned with disappointment when he realized this surprise challenge was really going to be a tough one.

"Both our finalists will be given 30 minutes to entertain these children. They will be in large play area where toys are set. You can utilize these toys to help you. The question is, which one of you is most fun to play with? The ones who know and will ultimately decide our winner will be our little guest judges here. You may begin!"

Ichigo froze just as Ashido went over to the children to kneel in front of them so that they were eye level with each other.

"Hello everyone!" Ashido greeted cheerfully. The children greeted him back in unison. "Now are you all ready to have fun?" They all nodded together, some jumping up and down unable to contain their excitement. "Jya, follow Nii-chan to the play room!"

As the children cheered and followed Ashido out, Ichigo reacted instantly and yelled out to stop them. "Ah, wait!" Ashido and children turned to him as Ichigo stood there awkwardly, trying to think of what to do next. Ichigo scrunched up his face in what he thought would be the funniest expression he could muster and greeted the children.

"YO, YO, YO, kids!" He blurted out. There was a second of silence right after before one of the kids with the attitude spoke out.

"Is that supposed to be funny? Your hair is funnier than that." A little runt in the front spat out. The kids surrounding him as well as the audience laughed. Ashido shook his head before gathering the children again and leaving backstage.

"Why that little brat..." Ichigo's left eye twitched uncontrollably after they left without him.

"We will be able to monitor their progress with cameras set throughout the room." Sentaro directed to the screen above him. The room shown was almost as large as a high school gym. Inside were various toys for children of all ages as well as a jungle gym set, a few bikes, a piano, and sports equipment.

Rukia noticed that Ichigo was still on stage fuming to himself. "Oi, Ichigo!" She yelled down to him although she wished she could kick him instead. She got his attention when he darted his eyes upward to her. "Tawake, don't just stand there! Go on and just be yourself!"

Snapping back to reality, he nodded at her command and ran off stage to catch Ashido and the kids. Once Ichigo finally found the room and caught his breath, he peered inside and gawked at the scene before him. Ashido was currently playing a tune on the piano(who knew he could also play that?) and the kids were gathered around singing along with him. This was getting worse by the minute.

"Damn it." Ichigo muttered before heading inside. Yet he stopped short in his tracks when a group of four kids walked right in front of him, blocking his path to the others.

"Hey, we heard you're poor!" The boy with the red hair smugly said to him first.

"Can you do any tricks for us, hobo?" The brown haired girl asked with a dubious expression on her face.

"I bet he can't do anything!" The tallest boy harshly added instantly.

Ichigo felt a sense of nostalgia hit him as he listened to the four kids ridicule him because of his poor status. Oh great, a mini version of them. He scowled. "Yeesh, you kids are just like S4. How old are you all anyway?"

"Eight." They answered together.

"Hah!" Ichigo stood straight up so that his tall height was an advantage over the children. He leered down at them. "I'm already 15 years old!"

The tallest boy stuck his tongue out at him instead. "Then you're an old oji-san! Why are you bragging about that for?"

"You're just a hobo!" The other little dark-haired girl yelled out, pointing at him. Ichigo's right eye twitched this time.

"You little brats..." He huffed, his patience wearing thin. "You've never earned a penny in your whole measly eight years! You have no right to call me names." He proceeded to flick the foreheads of all four kids. "Don't. Be. So. Full of. Yourselves!"

The audience gasped as they viewed Ichigo's rough treatment to the four children. Rukia smiled, knowing full well Ichigo's intentions were to set the children straight. She continued watching the screen as Ichigo went over to a toy box and lifted a contraption out of it.

"I bet you kids spend all your time with your fancy electronics, right?" The same four kids who were digging in another toy box nearby turned around and viewed the toy in his hand with questioning stares. It was simply a ball on a string connected to piece a of wood with two opposite sides that were concave. Thus, ball in a cup. Getting their full attention, Ichigo proceeded to show them how it was done. He threw the ball slightly in the air, catching it in one side of the concave surface then threw the ball again, this time catching it on the other concave surface.

He looked at them smugly, raising his nose in the air. "I bet you brats can't do that."

They stared in awe for a moment, never seeing such a toy in their eight years of life. The tallest boy scrunched up his face in thought, thinking the toy couldn't be that hard to play with. "I can do that!" He spat out.

"Well, be my guest." Ichigo handed him the toy. The boy snatched it away then took a moment to figure out how to start it. He tried to replicate Ichigo's wrist movement but each time the ball fell short of landing in place of the cup. Ichigo chuckled and grabbed the toy, once again displaying the right way to do it.

"Tch, if you can't do a measly trick like this then you all must be a bunch of little babies. Bwahaha!" The kids gaped as Ichigo laughed to himself.

The audience watched intently as Ichigo and the four kids went on to play tag, a challenge presented by Ichigo who teased them by saying little babies were too small and slow to catch him. The kids took on the challenge and not only chased him but threw random foam balls at him that were scattered about. After a long moment of running around, Ichigo retaliated by grabbing a huge foam ball and throwing it at one of the kids. Now instead of tag, it became an all out foam ball throwing war.

Ichigo was actually enjoying himself and found himself laughing as the four children he played with squealed and laughed along with him. After 15 minutes straight of playing the game, they were all panting and decided to take a break.

"You're pretty good for an old man." The red haired boy directed to Ichigo as they sat down to rest.

"You rugrats aren't bad for a bunch of little babies either." Ichigo directed back, regaining his normal breathing quickly.

Nearby Ashido was busy with the larger group of children as he recited a chart of Japanese hiragana with them. The attention of one little girl strayed off to where Ichigo and the four other kids sat. Finding the recital of something she learned in school to be utterly boring, she quickly stood up and pointed at Ichigo's group. "They look like they had fun! I'm going over there!"

"Me too!" Other kids agreed, happy that someone had the guts to finally say it. Everyone quickly got up and left a stunned Ashido behind to join Ichigo's group. They all surrounded the strawberry, tugging his arms and begging to play more games.

"Oi, I can't handle you all!" Ichigo yelped out in surprise. He eventually complied when they all pouted. "Okay, okay. What do you guys to play?"

"We want to play tag!" One boy yelled out. Everyone else nodded in agreement. "We'll all chase you!"

Ichigo's eyes widened in shock, the thought of at least a dozen hyper school children chasing him around frightened him a bit. He looked over to Ashido who sat dejectedly by himself a few meters away. "Hey, Ashido-san!" Ichigo called out to him. "Can you help me out? I can't do this by myself."

Ashido's face lit up at the request. He nodded. "Sure!"

"I can't believe they're actually joining forces and playing together!" Renji commented in amazement as Ichigo and Ashido began running around the room. Ichigo and Ashido managed to outrun the children while dodging tags and jumping over toys lying in their path. The children were laughing as well, bright faces on each and every one of them. It was almost like they were playing with their two older brothers.

Rukia blew out a sigh of relief, satisfied with the success Ichigo had. She chuckled when Ichigo ironically tumbled over the ball and cup game that wasn't in his peripheral. An instant dog pile was formed on top of him, causing Ichigo to both laugh and yell out in pain when the kids jumped on him.

Rukia nodded, absolutely sure that this was in the bag for Ichigo. "I knew you were the best, Ichigo." She said quietly, a small smile gracing her features.

The thirty minute time limit was up for the last round and Ichigo, Ashido, and the children were all gathered back up on stage. The audience sat in their seats, gripping their armrests in anticipation of who would be crowned the winner.

"Now that every round has been completed, we will now find out who the grand prize winner of the Teen of Japan contest will be!" Sentaro announced, the anticipation also welling up within him.

"Hai," Kiyone nodded, "and as promised our special judges will be making the final decision." She bent down on one knee near the group of children. "Now, which contestant did you have the most fun with? On the count of three, surround that person." A drumroll began as Kiyone started the countdown. "1... 2... 3!"

The drumroll was replaced with a clang of cymbals but the children stood rooted to their spots. "Eh? What's the matter?" Kiyone looked at them worriedly. "Okay, I'll count again and you surround the person you liked the most. 1..."

"We liked them both! We can't choose!" A boy in front blurted out. A large number of agreements came out from the other children. Kiyone looked back and forth, trying to find at least one child that disagreed. No such luck.

"Well, this is unexpected... Ukitake-san, what shall we do?" Kiyone directed her question to the head of the committee at the judge's table. Ukitake took a moment to quietly discuss with the other judges. After a moment, he nodded and spoke into the mic.

"This is quite a surprise indeed. So, ladies and gentlemen, the judges have decided to use the final point totals to determine the winner of T.o.J."

As the judges went back to quickly count points, Orihime sat by clutching her hands in worry. "Do you think the point totals will hurt Ichigo in the end?" She asked both Renji and Toshirou.

Toshirou shrugged, his brow furrowed in thought. "We won't know for sure. It could be really close for all we know."

Renji looked back over at Rukia. She looked worried herself, her mouth set in a small frown at the sudden turn of events. "Whoever really loses, only kami-sama can know for sure now." He added as he turned his attention back to the stage.

After a few minutes of wait time, Ukitake finally had the results in his hand as he walked up stage to say them himself. "I'm sorry for the wait, everyone." He apologized. "We will now announce the winner." Another drumroll began. "This year's Teen of Japan contest winner is..."

Ichigo held his breath once again, his heart beating faster than he thought was possible. He closed his eyes for a moment, hoping that when he opened them his name would be the one called out. He already got this far, it couldn't go downhill now. This was the defining moment, what he strived for. This was proof that the previous weeks hard work would pay off. The efforts of Kaien-san, S4, his friends and family, and Rukia would not be in vain. Everything would be normal again for his family. Well not entirely normal with Rukia now around.

All it had to be was 14 letters, seven syllables, four kanji characters. Kurosaki Ichigo. That's all Ukitake had to say.

Ukitake looked up from the sheet of paper in his hand. "... Kano Ashido."

AN: Oh man, I am a terrible little bugger aren't I? Leaving it like that... But hey, one more chapter left! Eeeek! *runs around in circles then runs away from pitchfork wielding readers* Btw, please excuse any mistakes. It's 1:30 AM and I can't bother to double check my writing. I'll get back to it in the morning. -_-;

Love love love! Thanks for reading and leave a review if ya can! :3