Hellooooooo guys, garganta here, it's chapter 6 finally. I was so happy to see the way you guys responded to chapter 5 and I was just like "whoooaaa". It was awesome. So you know what to do. Read and review and tell your friends about this supercool new author who wrote this supercool new fanfic and tell them to tell their friends :P Just kidding. Not. Enjoy :D

Rukia stood there, watching the reunion of Aiko and Ichigo. She didn't know if you could really call it a reunion, since Aiko and Ichigo, so she heard, barely knew each other. Ichigo told her, that they had talked only one time and that maybe for a couple of hours. But she had to admit, that this 'reunion' was quite touching, even if it was just for the continuous crying of Aiko. Rukia could tell that this girl really was scared and confused. It was close to a miracle that she survived that long without someone looking after her. But then again, she survived District 78 of West Rukongai. Of course, Aiko was alone and didn't knew anything of Soul Society, so she did surprisingly well, but even if Rukia had friends with whom she worked together and which increased the chance of her survival dramatically, surviving District 78 was a completely different matter, especially with being a mere child. Of course Rukia was impressed with the way Aiko did manager herself.

After a few more minutes of crying Aiko finally calmed down. Ichigo looked Aiko in the face and smiled gently at her. "Hey, are you ok now?"

Aiko nodded shakily. "I-I thought y-you wouldn't c-come f-f-for me, I-I thought you would j-just forget m-me" She said, still sobbing.

Ichigo frowned at that. She must've been scared as hell, thinking things like that in a place she was completely foreign to. "How could you let yourself think that? I promised you, didn't I? I never brake promises, remember that for the future."

Rukia had to smile at that. She knew way too well, that Kurosaki Ichigo was no one for breaking a promise. He'd sacrifice himself, if it helped him to keep a promise. Ichigo was a man like that and that was some of the many things she learned to admire him for.

Ichigo, it's getting dark already. We should head back now." Rukia reminded him.

Ichigo was startled a bit. He nearly forgot that Rukia was with him. He looked over his shoulder at the petite shinigami as she smiled at him and he could do nothing but smile back. "Yeah…you are right. Let's go back."

I like her smile.

They jumped from rooftop to rooftop to be faster, since it began to dusk. Ichigo carried Aiko on his back and Rukia was next to them. Rukia looked from the corner of her eyes how Aiko snuggled herself into Ichigos back and tightened her grip on him with her arms around his neck. She couldn't help but remember how he used to carry her around on his back as she lost nearly all her powers to him. She frowned the tiniest bit and wondered what it was she felt right now. She couldn't tell.

"Uh, sorry, but are you Rukia-san?" Rukia was startled out of her thoughts as Aiko spoke for the first time directly to her.

"Um, excuse me? Did you say something?" She asked her, as her cheeks turned slightly red. How embarrassing. There this girl spoke for the first time to her and she didn't even listen.

"I asked if you are Rukia-san. I mean, I think that you are Rukia-san, I'm pretty sure, but I just thought that I should at least ask, you know…"

Rukia had to smile. She was a sweet little girl.

"Yes, I am Kuchiki Rukia. How come you thought it was me? How did you know how I would look?" She of course was pretty sure she knew the answer, Ichigo most likely described her looks to Aiko and she just needed to know how he described her to Aiko. She stole a glance to the orange haired boy. He tried to look relaxed and like nothing was wrong, but she could make out a strange blush that crept across his face, even though he tried his best to hide it, and that made her even more curious.

"Kurosaki-san told me how you looked." She said.

Rukia was of course everything but satisfied after this answer, unlike Ichigo, so she pressed on.

"Really?" She said, with a sweet voice."Can you tell me how he described me to you?"

"Of course I can!" Aiko answered, obviously delighted."He said that you were really small!"

Rukia looked at Ichigo, a creepy grin on her face. Ichigo glanced at her and nearly fainted, just from her look. If looks could kill, he would have died the most painful of deaths, he was sure of that.

Aiko wasn't aware of anything of that, she just wanted to tell Rukia all the nice things Ichigo told her about Rukia. So she went on.

"Ichigo-san also said that-"

She was interrupted as Ichigo suddenly stopped and looked at Rukia. They arrived at Seireitei. "Thank you Rukia for helping me find her. I really mean it. Without you I don't know if-"

Rukia raised her hand, meaning Ichigo to stop. "You would have done the same Ichigo. So there is nothing for you to thank me. I just am glad that you finally found her, but…what now? What will you do, now that you found her?"

Ichigo looked at her, slightly puzzled. He hadn't thought about that, if he was honest. So he said the first thing that came to his mind. "I let her live with me in my room at the barracks. If it's too small I just take a bigger one. We'll take it from there."

Rukia allowed a small genuine smile to lighten up her face. "That's just like you, strawberry. Never thinking more than one step ahead." She said, shaking her head at his attitude.

Ichigo raised an eyebrow at that. "What's that supposed to mean, midget?"

They both looked surprised at Aiko, who let out a shocked gasp. "Kurosaki-san! How can you call her that! That's mean; you are making fun of her height!" Aiko looked up at him with scolding eyes.

Ichigo just looked at her, shocked. He looked at Rukia, who had an amused look in her eyes. He looked back at Aiko, who still had that little frown on her face.

"Bu-bu-…I-…just…SHE CALLED ME A STRAWBERRY DAMMIT!" He finally got out, yelling, his face beet red.

"But that what you name means!" Aiko pointed out.

Rukia couldn't hold it anymore, she let it go and laughed. She laughed like she never laughed before, she couldn't even remember when she laughed the last time a genuine laugh, or when she laughed the last time at all. But she did it now. And it felt good.

Ichigo on the other hand just fumed, his face a burning red.

Rukia finally calmed down, her face red and her eyes teary from all the laughing. "Come on strawberry, don't be mad at us." She grinned at him but he just mumbled something unintelligible under his breath. She reduced her grin to a soft smile. She took a step towards him and touched with her hand his. She didn't take his hand in hers, it was just the lightest of touches, barely there, but enough to shoot a bolt of electricity from her fingertips through the rest of her body, making her body tingle all over, turning her mind into a soup of intermingled thoughts who didn't make sense anymore…but it was all over the moment she withdrew her hand. "Goodnight strawberry." And with that she was off to Kuchiki Manor.

Rukia arrived at the Kuchiki Manor and let herself in. The servants were all asleep already and she didn't see any light from her brother's room. She let out a little sigh. She was glad, that he was asleep already, since she still didn't talk to him. She didn't know how to approach the subject and she was a little bit ashamed of her gutlessness. She walked over to her room and changed. Letting out another sigh she slipped into her bed and covered herself with the blankets.

I don't know what these feelings are…and I don't know what to think of them. On the one hand I feel happier and lighter than ever…like there is no sorrow left in this world…and on the other hand these feelings cloud my senses. I can't concentrate anymore on the task at hand, I space out every so often…it is confusing.

She touched the fingertips of the hand, with which she touched Ichigo's hand, with the other. She begin to tingle all over.

She rolled onto her side and sighed one last time, before falling into a fitful sleep.

What did you do to me, you stupid strawberry?

Ichigo and Aiko arrived at his room. He opened the door to let them in.

"That's where I live." Ichigo said, rubbing the back of his head with a hand. "I'll get you a futon and some clothes to sleep in. Do you want to take a bath before sleeping?"

"Yes, please." She said, smiling widely. Aiko was happy, so unbelievably happy that Ichigo found her. She felt safe, she felt like someone actually wanted to take care of her, like she wasn't a burden or something anymore. It was nice.

She followed Ichigo, as he showed her the bath that his room was connected to and everything else she needed to know since she would live here. He also showed her the spare room of the barracks of Division 5 for every kind of clothing, so she could take there some if needed. As Ichigo walked back to the bathroom to run her a hot bath she took some clothes she needed from the spare room. She walked back to Ichigo as he waited for her.

"The bath is ready. You can take your time and if you need anything don't hesitate to call for me. I'll go get your bed ready." He said as he wanted to go but was stopped by a tiny body tightly hugged to his. He awkwardly hugged her back, not sure of how to actually react.

"Thank you so much, Kurosaki-san! Thank you so much!" She mumbled into his kimono as she clutched it tightly, afraid to let go.

He dropped to a knee and looked her in the eyes. "I promised that I will take care of you and I will keep that promise. I'll protect you with my life, if needed to be. And by the way, stop that Kurosaki-san nonsense and just call me Ichigo, alright?" He said, a small smile visible on his face.

Aiko nodded, hugged him again and gave him a small peck on the cheek. "Thank you, Kurosaki-…uh, Ichigo. You are…you are…" she looked down shyly. "You are like a big brother to me…and…thank you."

Ichigo let out a little laugh at that. "You are like another little sister to me." He said, smiling to her. "Wait until you meet Yuzu and Karin. You'll be good friends, I'm sure. Now go and take your bath, before the water get's cold. A towel is already ready for you." He said and with that she skipped to the bathroom.

Ichigo smiled a little as he went back to his room to get her bed ready. She was a lot like Yuzu, he thought. They'd get along well together. As he thought about that he realized once again how much he actually missed his sisters. He had to visit them sometime soon.

He fixed her a futon and a blanket and laid down on his own. Still feeling a little tingle in his hand, he recalled Rukias touch. It was the most amazing thing he ever felt in his life. If he thought about it, the way their relationship went now was not exactly totally different from 2 years ago, but still different. In a good way. He couldn't exactly say what the difference was, but he liked it. And the way he felt towards Rukia had changed a tad too. He always felt comfortable about the petite shinigami and never tried to hide that fact more than he would hide any other emotions, thoughts and feelings he had but it felt different to be in her presence than before. When she smiled, he had to smile too. When she frowned, he had to frown too. When she entered a room he was in, it felt to him like a million suns were up. Of course he wouldn't show he felt that way. To be comfortable around someone was one thing, but to feel that way about her was something entirely different. He also remembered what Aiko was about to say and that was the reason he decided to part that early. He would've Rukia let accompany him and Aiko to the 5th Division barracks but then she would've heard the way he described her. That he could not have let happened. And he didn't. Ichigo didn't know when he began to feel that way about her and he didn't know whether it was a good or a bad thing. But he wouldn't tell anything to her. He didn't know the way she felt about him but he wouldn't take any chances. Their friendship was something too precious to him. Risking it because of something as trivial as that was just plain stupid. He would definitely not talk to her about that. Not until he witnessed firsthand that hell froze over. She was the only person ever in his life being emotionally that close to him. He would not consider her a 'best friend', that wouldn't even come the tiniest bit close to what she was to him. But of course, Kurosaki Ichigo was not one to tell these things to anyone. His permanent scowl and his attitude altogether would never be taken seriously again if he did. And that he could not have.

He was startled out of his thoughts when Aiko walked back into his room. Her hair clung wetly and unruly to her face and the color of her pajama made her look like a marshmallow. She sat down on her futon Indian style and looked at him with a slightly confused look. He looked back with a slight frown.

"What's up?"

"Ichigo-chan"- he dropped a sweat at how she referred to him- "I wondered what we are going to do tomorrow?"

Ichigo looked a bit surprised. He didn't think about what to do tomorrow since he found her. He had to be at the office early at the morning again and it always took nearly the whole day to sign the papers after his day off.

"Hmm…I'll have to work tomorrow the whole day I guess. I think you'd just have to stick with me in the office for now. I'll send a message early tomorrow to Rukia and ask when she'd be finished so she can show you around if she can finish early."

"Ok…Ichigo-chan?" She spoke up again.

"Yeah?"

"Back then, when I died…you said something about shinigamis, didn't you? What are shinigamis?"

"I'll explain everything tomorrow when we are at the office, alright? It's really a lot to explain. I'll show you around the training halls and Hinamori can explain things to you too. She's my fukutaicho. A really nice girl." He said with a smile.

"Sounds like fun!" Aiko replied with a grin.

"You have quite the twisted opinion about fun if you think watching me through hours signing documents is fun." Ichigo said with a raised eyebrow. "But seriously now, we should sleep now, it's already late and I'm dead tired."

Letting out a hearty yawn Aiko finally laid down on her futon and peeked through her tousled hair at Ichigo. "Good night, Ichigo-chan and…thank you."

"Ichigo opened one eye to look at her and smirked. "Don't overdo it with your thanks. You hardly now me, maybe you won't like me anymore when tomorrow is over." He grinned. "Good night, Aiko." Ichigo added softly.

"Kurosaki-taicho, you are late again! You have to go to sleep earlier if you have such a hard time waking up in time to get ready…and who are you?"

Hinamori Momo was in ranting-mode about her taicho being late (again) as she saw the small, shy looking girl standing timidly behind Ichigo. She looked curiously from Ichigo to the girl and back.

"I'm sorry Hinamori; I was yesterday searching all day and well yeah, I think I was really tired and slept a little longer again. And this is Aiko." He said, smiling down at her. "Aiko, this is my fukutaicho, Hinamori Momo."

Aiko's eyes lit up as she recognized the name. "Oh, you are the very nice girl Ichigo-chan told me about! Nice to meet you!" She said, holding out a hand to Hinamori.

Hinamori raised both eyebrows in surprise and looked at Ichigo, who was now blushing furiously. She smiled a little. " 'Very nice girl'? "

"Well, you see, I told her that you are quite nice, you know, with you helping me getting used and stuff…you know, so that Aiko wouldn't get uncomfortable and stuff…" Ichigo mumbled, rubbing the back of his head.

"Thank you, Kurosaki-taicho…" Hinamori replied silently, glad that her taicho thought that way about her. Maybe, just maybe, she could finally start open up a bit more; maybe they could finally get their taicho- fukutaicho- relationship now beyond small talk. "So you are Aiko-chan? You are very lucky that I was nice enough to allow my taicho some spare time to look for you." Hinamori said with a wink.

Ichigo smiled and was glad that Hinamori took it easy with Aiko being here. He still had to send Rukia a message with a hellbutterfly. He had a hard time at first with sending messages that way but figured it out a few weeks ago and didn't struggle with it anymore. He watched the butterfly flying into the sky and turned into the office to start with a torturous day full of paperwork.

Rukia was busy signing papers as she recognized the black butterfly on its way to her. She held out her index finger as the butterfly landed on it.

"Oi midget, it's Ichigo. Do you have time later to show Aiko around? I'll be busy all day, so I thought you'd do me the favor. Just come over when you are done."

Rukia wouldn't mind it at all showing Aiko around the Seireitei. Just she and Aiko. And the things that Ichigo told Aiko about her. She smirked devilishly and went back to her work with even more motivation, now that she had more than some extra free time if she finished early.

So, it's done. Finally. I'm so sorry about the delay, but time wasn't my best friend. I couldn't even keep my promise to finish it in the weekend. You can "slap me, punch me, kick me, stab me…" (From Autumn to Ashes- Reflections - awesome song :P) I would understand you. I really feel bad about updating that late and keeping you all waiting, but well, can't change it anymore. I hope this chapter makes it at least a bit up to you. I don't know what to think about it. It feels to me like the story isn't progressing at all in this chapter, do you think that way too? What about Ichigo-Rukia interaction? What about Aiko's role in the story? Do you think it's good the way it is right now? Do you want more romance? It's the 1st genre after all. Or should I take my time in progressing everything slowly, step by step? Answer me- with reviews. So review, review. Review, review.

Oh, and before I forget: I have already the basic frame for my second story. It will be a dark atmospheric AU-Story, more adventure/action, romance will not play a main part. I don't know how long my current story will go, though. Maybe 5, maybe 10 or 15 more chapters, I can't tell you.

Next chapter will be up faster though, I really, really promise. If not, you can insult me as much as you want ;)

garganta.