Wow, sorry for not updating in a while! Here's chapter 6

Thank you so much for all of you that reviewed, especially those who have reviewed multiple times.

Please Enjoy the chapter! I hope everything makes sense! I rushed through the correcting.

Disclaimer: Me? Own Bleach? Yeah right.

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"Who was the founder of the Shinigami Academy?"

"Genryusai," answered Ichigo.

The two of them were sitting outside, under a tree away from all of the traffic of passing students. Rukia was sitting, legs crossed with a big textbook resting on her lap. Next to her Ichigo was lounging against a tree, his hands behind his head, eyes closed as he answered the questions that Rukia threw at him.

"Who is the most recently appointed captain of the Gotei 13?" asked Rukia reaching for another book.

"Toushiro Hitsugaya, tenth company."

"Okay, it looks like you know all of the questions for the written test." Rukia flipped through some papers until she found what she was looking for. "You're not too bad with your zanpaku-to either. The only thing that you probably have to worry about is the kido part of the test."

Ichigo sat up and turned to her glaring. "Hey! I can do kido!"

"Oh really? I've never seen you use it." Rukia turned to face her partner, arms crossed over her chest.

"I've done it before!" he protested. It was true that he had learned kido, though defiantly not as good as Rukia.

"Yeah, but not very well." She closed her eyes and sighed in annoyance. "I've helping you hundreds of times and you still can't get it."

"Okay, look Rukia," Ichigo pointed his accusing figure at the girl. "The normal way to help someone is to physically show them the motions, not to try to draw out the steps using crayons and poorly drawn bunnies."

Ichigo earned a punch to the gut for his trouble. "There is nothing wrong with my teaching methods. If you ask me, the problem is the student and his inability to do anything." Ichigo did not even bother arguing, there didn't seem to be much point to it, they both knew who was going to win in the end.

"Alright now it is your turn to test me." Ichigo took the book from her lap and flipped it open, but before he could say anything, a high-pitched scream came running across the area.

"RUKIAAAAAAAAAAAA!" shrieked Momo as flew towards them making a landing directly in front of said girl. "Rukia! Guess what! Guess what! Guess what!" Momo gripped Rukia's wrists, holding them in between the two. Her cheeks were red with excitement and she had a smile that was bigger than her face.

"What Momo?" said Rukia as the ecstatic girl bounced up and down in front of her.

"We just had the best class! Aizen-taicho came in to give us a lecture! And guess what?!? He actually remembered me!"

"Oh?" Rukia didn't get why Momo was acting this way. Was this Aizen-taicho that good? Rukia snuck a quick look at Ichigo, who seemed just as confused as she. "Well, then what did he teach?"

Momo paused for a moment, thinking. "The lesson?....well…." Fortunately, for Momo two new people walked up behind her and cut into the conversation.

"Momo! We were wondering where you were. You just took off!" Izuru walked up to the group as Renji came up besides him.

"Rukia!" Renji yelled (though not as loud as Momo) spotting the raven-haired girl sitting on the ground.

Rukia turned from Momo to see Renji and gave him a weak smile. Excited to see her again in awhile, he reached down, grabbed her hand from Momo's grasp and pulled her up into a standing position. Momo jumped up to join them.

Ichigo surveyed the group until he sighed and started to pick up the books before lazily standing up.

"So Rukia, how have you been?" Renji was grinning broadly and was still holding her hands in his own.

"…uh…fine…I'm doing well…" said Rukia uncertainly.

Renji's smile turned into a smug grin. "I bet I could beat you now." Ichigo almost laughed at that. It seemed he was not the only one who got their butt handed to them by one particular midget.

"Maybe…" Rukia really did not know what to say. It was as if she had forgotten how to talk with her childhood friend.

"Hey! We should practice together sometime. Do some catching up," said Renji. Ichigo eyed their hands. Rukia's hands started turning red because of the tightness of Renji's grip. It looked like it was hurting her.

"Sure! I'm free right tonight." A smile started to creep onto her face.

"Yeah-"

"Sorry," Izuru interrupted. "But, Renji, aren't we going to that party tonight?"

Renji turned to his friend. "Oh yeah! I forgot about that." He turned back to Rukia. "Do you want to come with us to the party?"

Rukia agreed with that. "Okay!"

"…uh….Renji….I hate to be the bearer of bad news but I'm pretty sure that the invitation was for our class only." Izuru looked between the two with an apologetic look.

Rukia's face fell. "I'm sorry Rukia but-" said Renji.

"That's okay." Rukia looked down toward the ground. Ichigo could see the disappointment in her face.

"Rukia-"

"It's fine Renji." She tried to pull her hands away.

"Rukia-" He kept his grip firm as if he was afraid she would disappear if he let go.

"You're hurting her!" shouted Ichigo leaning forward, grabbing Rukia's wrists and effectively pulling her hands away from Renji's.

Renji looked up in surprise; he had not noticed Ichigo before. "Who the hell are you?"

Rukia turned to look at the orange head who was now standing very close to her while still holding onto her wrists. But, Ichigo was not looking at her instead he was returning the glare that was being thrown at him by the pineapple head standing in front of him.

"I'm Ichigo Kurosaki," he replied. Renji blinked. He had heard about this kid. Evidently, he was a delinquent who got into a lot of fights and almost failed the entrance exam because of his behavior.

Renji gave Rukia a quick glance and then back at Ichigo. "What are you doing with Rukia?"

By his tone, Ichigo knew exactly what Renji was thinking about him and knew that he was just like everyone else.

His frown deepened and was about to answer when Rukia spoke up. "He's my partner Renji." She was somewhat angry at Renji's attitude toward Ichigo.

Renji turned back to Rukia, his features softening. "Oh, sorry," he muttered.

"Renji," said Momo trying to break the tense that was now passing between the two boys. "We should probably get going; I think the party starts in an hour."

"Okay." He turned towards his friends, then back at Rukia. "See you Rukia." Then the three left.

Rukia watched them go before suddenly realizing something and turning to Ichigo. "Uh…Ichigo."

"Yeah?" He looked down to meet here violet eyes.

"Um…you can let go now."

"What?"

"You can let go of my hands now." Ichigo looked at her, confused for a second, then glanced down at her hands before he quickly let go and stepped back about a foot, a hint of blush on his cheeks.

Rukia giggled at his embarrassment, before her face fell again. Ichigo looked at her and could see from the way she fidgeted and the look in her eyes that she was still disappointed about not going out and maybe reconnecting with her friend.

Ichigo looked at her for a moment. "A few of my friends and I are getting together tonight. If you want to come I'm sure they wouldn't mind."

Rukia looked up at him in surprise, the disappointment gone from her face. "Really?"

"Yeah," said Ichigo as he ran his hand threw his hair. "We are going to this place in Rukongai. Do you want to come?"

"Sure!" she said now positive that he wasn't kidding. Her eyes were shinning as she looked up at him smiling.

Ichigo just started at her, trapped in her eyes. He had never really looked at them closely and just noticed how beautiful they were, that beautiful hade of purple. But, her smile was what caught his attention. He had never seen her smile before and he found that she was pretty when- Wait. What?

"Come on," said Ichigo, trying to get rid of the thoughts that were in his head as he turned around and started walking toward the dorms.

"Wait!" called Rukia, coming up alongside of him. "I can carry my own books." She held out her hands toward him.

Ichigo just glanced at her. "Don't worry about it. I've got them."

Rukia looked up at him. She had never really thought it was possible for Ichigo to be so considerate. "Thanks."

Ichigo looked back towards her with a smirk. "No problem. Besides I didn't think someone so small could carry books that were almost the size of you."

Rukia's eyes narrowed and kicked him.

"We just waiting for someone else to show up and then we can get going," said Ichigo. Rukia nodded in response. She, Ichigo, and Chad were standing just outside the school gate.

After a couple of minutes, a shout came over from the right. "Hey Ichigo!" Rukia turned to see two girls approaching them. The one, who had called out to Ichigo, was medium height with short cut black hair.

Ichigo waved back. "Hey Tatsuki!"

When the two had finally reached the group, Ichigo made the introductions. "Rukia this is Tatsuki Arisawa. She's in the Special Forces Program at the Academy along with Chad and is…"

"My friend Orihime Inoue," said Tatsuki, referring to the girl standing next to her. The girl had reddish-blonde hair clipped back with two hairpins. She was about the same size as Tatsuki, though her chest was much bigger. "We are roommates, though she is in the Kido Corps Program." She turned to the girl. "This is Ichigo and Chad and …Rukia, right?"

"Nice to meet you," said the seemingly shy girl. Orihime smiled at the newly introduced people and blushed when she took a closer look at the orange haired boy.

He's really cute.

"Okay, let's get going." Ichigo started turning around and walked toward their destination.

As they walked, Tatsuki turned to Rukia. "So Rukia, how did you end up meeting this idiot?" She motioned her hand toward Ichigo's turned-away back.

Rukia smiled and laughed under her breath. She liked this girl already. "We're partnered together."

"I feel so bad for you," Tatsuki joked. They could almost feel the annoyance coming off for Ichigo.

"Well, it can be very difficult sometimes," Rukia, explained. "He is often brash and insulting and usually he doesn't think." Tatsuki laughed.

"How do you know him?" Rukia asked.

Tatsuki stopped laughing to answer her question. "We grew up together in the world of the living and went to the same karate class."

"Really! You knew each other before you died!?" Rukia was surprised, usually souls were unable to find the people they had known while they were alive.

"Yep," replied Tatsuki. "We went to the same dojo around when we were four years old. And everyday I would beat him enough to send him home crying. Isn't that right Ichigo?"

"Shut up Tatsuki." She gave him an evil grin.

Rukia laughed as she tried to imagine a four-year-old Ichigo getting beat up by this girl. Hearing her, Ichigo turned around and shot her a glare.

"Yeah," said Tatsuki as she remembered her past life. "But, then when we met again in Rukongai he was able to beat me. Though, by then it had been years since we had seen each other. If I remember correctly, I think I was about thirteen or fourteen, while Ichigo passed away when he was nine."

Rukia nodded as she absorbed the information. "So you've known each other for a long time."

"Yep. Though when we met again we just kept in touch. At that time, Ichigo had joined up with Chad and then me and Orihime were living together."

"Yes," Orihime chimed in. "Tatsuki saved me a lot while were in Rukongai, so we stuck together and eventually became friends before entering the Academy."

The two best friends exchanged smiles. Suddenly they heard a voice cry out and a figure running at them at full speed. "IIIIIIIICCCCCCCCCCCHHHHHHHHHHHHIIIIIIIGGGGGGOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!"

The brown haired boy was charging straight at Ichigo. There was a goofy grin on his face and exaggerated tears in his eyes.

Ichigo, seeing the crazy teen running at him, brought his arm out in front of himself, allowing the boy to run smack into it, causing him to fall on the ground.

Ichigo looked down at his feet. "Long time, no see Keigo." He was given a muffled reply.

Then coming from the direction that Keigo had come in, another smaller and younger boy with short black hair walked up to them. "Hi Ichigo."

"Hey Mizuiro. How you've been?"

"Pretty much the same. You know what it's like to be around this guy." Mizuiro waved his hand in the direction of Keigo who was now getting up.

After Keigo had fully stood up, he looked over at the group. His eyes became wide when his eyes landed on Orihime. Then almost as if it were a reaction he rushed over to her, his arms open wide, yell. "Oh goddess of beauty! Princess-"He was suddenly cut off when Tatsuki sent a high kick straight to his face, forcing him back to the ground once again.

Mizuiro also looked over the group and spotted the other girl who had joined them. He put on a smile and walked over to Rukia. "Hello, I'm Mizuiro Kojima. What's you're name?"

But, before Rukia could respond, Ichigo cut in. "Watch out for this guy, Rukia," he warned. "He may look innocent, but this guy is a real player."

Mizuiro spun around to face Ichigo with shock on his face. "Ichigo! Stoop ruining my rep." Then he turned back to Rukia, all smiles. "It's nice to meet you Rukia."

Rukia returned the smile, a little unsure. "Same to you…Mizuiro."

Then Mizuiro leaned in a little closer to her and whispered. "You don't have to worry. Usually I go for older woman."

Rukia gave him a strange look as he backed off and went over to join Chad. Then, Rukia suddenly jumped when yet another shout came from the direction of Keigo. "Who is this beauty? Where did this goddess come from?" he cried as he came toward her. Rukia immediately went into a defensive position, but Ichigo beat her to it. Keigo's face once again met Ichigo's fist as the boy went flying.

When he came back, Mizuiro answered his question. "Ichigo picked her up."

Ichigo, caught by surprise, turned to face Mizuiro, completely off guard. "What!?"

But, Keigo didn't hear him, instead he went up to Ichigo put a hand on his shoulder with tears in his eyes and said, "Good job Ichigo! Your first girlfriend!"

Ichigo scowled and pushed the boy away from him. "Rukia is not my girlfriend."

"Well then how do you know her?" asked Mizuiro.

"We're partners," replied Ichigo.

Both boys were taken aback in shock. "Really!" yelled Keigo starting to get excited. "You've already gone that far!"

Both Ichigo and Rukia blushed at that comment, though Ichigo covered it with anger. "Not like that, you perverts! I meant that Rukia and I are partnered together at the Academy."

"Oh," they replied. Keigo looked a little disappointed. Ichigo looked like he wanted to hit someone while Rukia was still blushing. Tatsuki was just laughing at the whole situation.

"Well in that case," said Keigo, hope coming back into his face. "Rukia-san will you go out with me?"

He started going over to her again, but Ichigo stopped him by grabbing the back of his collar. "She's not going out with you."

"Why not," Keigo whined. "You said you weren't going out with her! Or did you change your mind?"

Rukia spoke up, putting on her fake smile. "I am sorry Asano-san, but I'm going to have to decline."

Keigo's bright mood immediately sank as he hunched forward. Seeing his reaction, Rukia looked a little taken aback. "Um…sorry."

"Don't worry Rukia-san," said Mizuiro. "He should be use to rejection by now."

"Alright," said Tatsuki, changing the mood. "Can we go get something to eat now? I'm starving!"

"Yeah!" agreed Orihime. "I would really like some wasabi and honey ramen." Everyone gave her an odd look.

"Yeah let's get going," said Mizuiro, breaking the silence.

As she and Ichigo were walking back, (Chad had stayed behind) in her head, Rukia went over the night. They had decided to go to a local tavern to get something to eat and then later they walked down by the river on the way home. The whole night was full of talking and laugher. (And bruises in Keigo's case.)

Rukia took in a deep breath and sighed. It had been a long time since she had felt this way. A long time since she talked and laughed with friends or had really left like she had belonged and she loved it.

Ichigo glanced down at the petite girl walking besides him and saw the happy expression on her face. Seeing it forced a hint of a smile to come across his own face.

Then suddenly, Rukia spoke up. "Thanks for bringing me. I really had a great time tonight. Your friends are really…unique."

"Yeah," replied Ichigo remembering how they had laughed as Keigo try to pick up a girl and failed miserably.(Chad helped him out when the girl's boyfriend came over.) Then Mizuiro went and got two girls while Keigo sulked. After that, when they were actually eating Orihime had the strangest concoction on her plate and ate every bite. Tatsuki spent the night in the middle of everything while Rukia sat to the side and giggled, every so often brought into the conversation.

The walked across the yard until they came to their dorm, where they parted.

"Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow," said Rukia before she turned toward her room.

"Yeah," replied Ichigo. "See you tomorrow."

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I hope it wasn't too bad! I think this ended up being my one of my longest chapters (even though I though it would end up being the shortest-figures)

PLEASE REVIEW!!!

~StrawberryShinigami