(A/N) It has been a very long time since I've updated this story, so I greatly advise all readers to read the previous chapters. They aren't that long. Hope you all enjoy.

It was Monday afternoon and school had started out like usual. As class went by, Rukia realized that Kurosaki wouldn't even acknowledge her and apologies for last week. She wasn't begging for his attention, but she only found it fitting that he at least apologizes. Rukia could admit though, that she held on to grudges more than needed. She was also worrying for her excellent grades and for her sanity.

"Ochi-sensei," Rukia greeted the sensei entering the classroom, "Could I have a word with you," she asked.

Ochi-sensei was tall and slender and had shoulder length, dark brown hair, and her rectangular glasses gave her a refined look. She was Rukia's modern language sensei. From what Rukia could tell last week, she was very spirited and always spoke her mind.

Back during lunch, Rukia started to scheme on a way to get rid of Kurosaki which was harder than usual because Hitoshi had wanted to eat with her that day. But it was thanks to Hitoshi's simplistic suggestion of simply asking a sensei to be moved that got an idea. The plan seemed perfect to her. Rukia was well liked among the teachers since she always took school so seriously, so it wouldn't hurt to ask one. Ochi-sensei seemed like the best candidate to ask too. She had been the kindest of Rukia's sensei.

Ochi-sensei looked down at Rukia and nodded her head, "Kuchiki, come this way."

Rukia followed her to the small desk, in front of the classroom. She waited until the sensei had put all her belongings down.

"Ochi-sensei," Rukia started out once she had the sensei's attention, "I would like to work by myself or with someone other than Kurosaki for the assignment you have proposed for today. I would also like to be moved," she boldly finished, meeting the sensei's gaze.

"And why is that," Ochi-sensei raised an eyebrow at Rukia, leaning on the desk.

"Kurosaki and I do not see eye to eye," was Rukia's simple explanation, not losing her composure.

Rukia knew she probably sounded childish to the sensei right now, but she didn't care. Once she gets rid of the hassle sitting next to her, she'll be content once again.

"Eh… It hasn't even been a week," she said quite robustly.

"…"

The petite girl stayed speechless as the sensei continued, "And I can't possibly find you a new partner in such a short notice. As you can see, everyone is already paired up," Ochi-sensei finished, pointing around the room.

The sensei put her hand up to her chin and slightly tilted her head, "Besides, there's no way you can do today's assignment without a partner."

Rukia stood there for a while longer, looking at the sensei before responding, "Hai," in a low voice and then turned to find her seat.

"Kuchiki," Ochi-sensei called out, "Give it time, you'll see," she gave Rukia a lively smile.

Rukia walked back to her desk where she could see Kurosaki glaring at her from his seat. It surprised her, "Did he hear me?"

Rukia sat down without looking twice at him. If he did hear her then Rukia wouldn't let it bother her. It was his fault for being so abrasive.

"Alright everyone, quiet down," Ochi-sensei called out to the talking students. "It's time to discuss your first group assignment."

Rukia gulped as the sensei finished that first sentence. It was do or die, and she'd be damned if she didn't do. She won't let someone like Kurosaki ruin her chances at a good university. Besides, never before had she dreaded assignments or school. Why should he get the luxury of causing her such dread?

Rukia turned to the orange head beside her. He had a narrowed eyebrow lifted at the sensei. He seemed interested over what the sensei was about to say. That was a first, curiosity coming from him. The only emotions Rukia had seen from him in the last week were arrogance and heartlessness.

"It's quite simple really," the sensei's voice tore Rukia out of her thoughts, "All you have to do is write a brief one-thousand word essay on your partner." To Rukia it seemed like the sensei's grin was focused towards her expressionless face.

"Alright, get to it. It's due tomorrow in class," Ochi-sensei yelled to the room.

Immediately following, chairs and desks were being dragged closer to one another, proceeded by the indistinct chatter of many students.

Rukia simply sat there, trying to convince herself that it wasn't that bad. So what if she will have to work with the idiot next to her for the next fifty-five minutes and learn things about him she really doesn't care to know. Rukia tried to remind herself, trying to stay positive, she would be putting the old man's advice to heart.

Everyone around happened to like their first group assignment or at least weren't showing any signs of vexation. The chattering students all held smiles, as they asked and answered questions of birthdates, hobbies, and the classic "what do you want to be". Surely if they could do it, Rukia could do it too. She was their future valedictorian after all.

"…it's not that bad," Rukia muttered to herself, trying to gain as much self-confidence as she could, knowing she'll need all she can get. She will just have to drill Kurosaki and teach him who the boss is.

"Eh… what's not bad?" inquired a rough voice beside her. She casually turned to the owner of the voice.

"Working with you," was her mindless answer to the neglected inquirer.

Rukia turned her attention back towards her desk before fully registering who it was. Slowly, Rukia spun her head again and saw it was actually Kurosaki, who now had several veins throbbing on his forehead. She had been too engrossed in her own self-pity and failed to notice when he had moved his chair next to her small desk.

Her face deepened into a mild shade of pink. "Smooth Rukia, smooth."

Kurosaki quickly propped himself against her desk, leaning dangerously close to Rukia's comfort zone. "What the hell is that supposed to mean," hissed out the teen in a spiteful tone.

Rukia's slight embarrassment quickly turned into anger, "What do you think," she spat back defensively, challenging the disputant punk.

Rukia and Kurosaki both glared at each other for what seemed minutes. Rukia wasn't about to lose this argument against him. She would fight to the end, even if she were the one who started it. Besides, she needs to let him know who is in charge in the small partnership of theirs.

In the end, Rukia had her arms crossed and her head held high while Ichigo let out a drawn out sigh, "Bitch," he muttered under his breath.

"What was that," Rukia smirked victoriously at him. She realized she had just won her first argument against the carrot top and that it was probably the first of many more to come.

An uncomfortable silence soon loomed down on Rukia and Kurosaki after her smart-alecky remark. It wasn't until Ichigo let his notebook harshly fall on her desk that Rukia looked back up at his ever-persisting scowling face.

Rukia followed Ichigo's curiosity when he whipped his head around to look at the clock. Class was already halfway over, and neither of them had made a move to start on their assignment.

"Look it's obvious you don't like me, and I don't like you. So, what do you say we get this over with today? Although… I'm sure I have you all figured out," Kurosaki told her with confidence laced in his voice.

Rukia raised an eyebrow at his latest remark, "And what do you mean by that, Kurosaki," she asked, intrigued by his immature certainty. He had only known her for a week, and they had only talked three times. Only one of those occasions being civil, so how could he possibly know her when Hitoshi, one of Rukia's only friends barely did?

Kurosaki grinned and leaned forward a little bit on Rukia's desk. "Let's see, eh," His condescending eyes bored right into her awaiting amethyst eyes. "Although you're a midget, you prefer to be called petite or vertically challenged. Your pens, folders, and notebook give away your strange obsession with rabbits," he started out in mock, but he quickly lost his presumptuous grin as he continued with sodden eyes, "You probably wake up every morning and stare at the mirror, telling yourself you're happy when in actuality, you hate the way your life is. You put school and work before anything else, ruining your chances at a social life. I bet you can't even remember the last time you actually enjoyed yourself and went out with friends, that is if you even have friends other than Hayata over there. Need I go on?" he bluntly finished, looking down at Rukia.

Rukia was awestruck but refused to show it. She was trying her best not to grimace more than she had been. She didn't want him to know that he had read her like an open book. "You're delusional, Kurosaki. Who doesn't like chappy?" was her shrewd retort.

Rukia kept her eyes on his and snorted, "And what about you?" she said, narrowing her brows at him. "You think I don't know you."

"Be my guest," Ichigo challenged her with the same grin he had lost before.

"Alright Kurosaki, you're arrogant, heartless, and a bastard. Clearly, you also…" When Rukia noticed Kurosaki looked taken aback from her last utterance, she paused for a second. His scowl had lessened and his grin had vanished once more, and now he was wearing a compliant expression. Rukia tore her attention from his now disheartening face and continued while looking down, hiding her eyes with her bangs. "…Also hate the way your life is, and you don't have any friends since half the times you're probably too cold to let anyone in and the other half you're too arrogant for anybody to stand you," she finished with a whispered huff.

Rukia looked back up expecting a smart retort or at least something to prove her wrong. Though she didn't receive either, he simply sat there with the same air of woefulness.

"So?" Rukia broke the silence around them.

"That's about it," he told her calmly.

Rukia sighed and shook her head, "That's too bad, I can't write 'Kurosaki is an arrogant, heartless bastard' a hundred sixty-seven times," she softly said, suppressing a placid smile wanting to pry from her lips. She didn't know why she couldn't help but feel bad for him. Perhaps it was that for a mere second she could relate with him, with that familiar feeling of true loneliness.

"So, what's your story?" Kurosaki asked in a nonchalant note, bringing his pen down to his notebook.

Rukia looked up at him warily. He still had his scowl although it did continuously plague his face, even while talking to his younger sisters and the girl with the black messy hair from their class. Rukia also couldn't find any more anger or mischievousness coming from him. It seemed he really did want to know about her; although, he may only want to get everything finished, as he said in the beginning.

Rukia shrugged her shoulders, "Let's see," she uttered in a whisper.

Just as Rukia was about to let go of some personal disdain held towards Kurosaki and spill a bit of her life story to him, the bell ceremoniously rang, much to her disdain. With it, marking the end of another day of school as it has done so for the last week.

Rukia's attention was focused towards the fleeting students rushing out their homeroom. After a couple seconds later, she turned back to Kurosaki who seemed to be getting ready on leaving her stranded.

She crossed her arms, and blew her bangs out of her face, "And where are you going off to?" Rukia inquired with a pointed look.

Ichigo looked down from where he was standing with his school tote over his shoulder, "Going home," he simply told her with no hesitation in his voice.

"No you're not," Rukia protested and got up from her chair. With her hands now firmly on her desk, she leaned forward and narrowed her small brows at him. "You heard what Ochi-sensei said. This is due tomorrow and we haven't even started." Her glaring eyes were full of warning, set to blow if he dared question her.

As if taking her silent threat to heart, he chose to stop and dropped his bag back onto her desk, "What do you suppose we do then?" he asked with annoyance, indulging her and reclaiming his seat adjacent from her.

"How about the student library," was Rukia's tactful reply after a moment of pondering. She didn't want to go anywhere near his house, and she certainly didn't want him at her place, so it seemed like the most logical thing to do.

The room fell silent while Rukia waited for his reply. She moved her gaze onward and saw the few students who were now working diligently on cleaning up the classroom. She was thankful that it would not be their turn to clean again for the next week or so, unless her short-tempered partner managed to ruin it. A small grunt from said person took her away from her stupor. Rukia cocked her head towards him with a raised brow. He only gave what seemed like an accepting mumble to her. Afterwards, Rukia placed all of her things in her school tote and was heading out of the classroom.

The halls weren't packed anymore, but she could easily tell that crowds of students just walked them. The many pieces of rumpled paper and forgotten books and notebooks Rukia avoided made it known. Hearing the crinkling of paper, Rukia turned her head to the side. To her surprise, Kurosaki was right there next to her on tow.

"What are we now, a couple?" she taunted the carrot top.

He deepened his scowl a few shades at her. "Pfft… I don't know where the library is," he told her coolly, putting his free hand in his pocket. Rukia crinkled her nose thinking of a good retort but nothing daunting came to mind.

"You are new here, aren't you?" she inquired shortly after, turning to look at him.

"You could say that," he answered her, keeping his eyes forward while walking along side the petite girl.

"Oh," Rukia muttered in a low voice, turning her gaze forward once again.

The rest of the trip was silent, as Rukia led the way and Kurosaki followed. The library was quite a ways from their homeroom's location. It was exactly on the other side of the school and on the top floor, where as they were on the ground level. They had gone up three flights of stairs then continued walking the many halls before finally reaching their destination.

"Here it is," she said with a sigh, stopping in front of the wooden double doors.

(A/N) I found this chapter on a memory stick while I was moving out of my apartment, since school for the semester is over. I was glad I found it because my old computer was wiped clean due to a virus, deleting many chapters of this story that were already drafted.

Please read and review to let me know if you guys like the story so far. I really haven't decided between rewriting the deleted drafts and finishing this story up to just writing IchiRuki one-shots. So let me know what you would prefer. Criticism is also highly praised. I really want to become a better writer, so let me know where I make mistakes or need help.

Thank you again for reading. I really hope everyone enjoys it.