Author's note: Thank you so much to the reviewers- I truly appreciate your comments. This update is late because I've been sick since the beginning of November and it just really interrupted all my plans. I was listening to XO by Beyoncé, so I guess the tone of the song seeped into this chapter.

Probably has numerous typos, I'm still not at my best right now so I apologize in advance.

IIII

Ichigo pretended the stares didn't bother him, they didn't of course, but he still didn't like everyone staring at him like he'd just sprouted a second head. It was unnerving really and made him scowl deeper. His mood was turning darker by the hour. He actually wanted someone to say something so he could have sufficient reason for pummelling them.

When he walked into class the noise seemed to come to an abrupt halt. Honestly, by now they shouldn't be making such a big deal about it. He'd come in class looking far worse in the past. A glance to the desk next to him confirmed what he'd already surmised. Rukia wouldn't be coming to school today.

He could feel the question running through his friends' minds when he didn't even bother greeting anyone and instead fell into his chair. It was sweet, unassuming Inoue who asked the burning question on everyone's mind, "Kurosaki-kun, what happened to your face?!"

Ichigo sat back in his chair, hands shoved deeply into his pockets. He debated replying but now his group of friends were all staring at him. All accept Ishida who was absorbed in a book- or pretending to be. Who knew what other traitorous things he was plotting behind those nerdy glasses? He gave somewhat an offhanded shrug before he answered, "Rukia."

/

Several hours earlier...

There was something about the night that weighed heavy on her. It almost felt as if something solid and hot was slowly being pressed onto her chest, slowly suffocating her. Rukia mentally gave herself a kick before turning for what felt like the millionth time that night. She was restless and for some reason her mind refused to ease into sleep.

Damn that Kurosaki Ichigo. She thought darkly as she finally gave up her ruse and turned onto her back, eyes staring at the dark. It wasn't so much what had been said that had her feeling uneasy and somewhat at a lost, but rather the look that had briefly flickered on his face. For a second she could have sworn there had been hurt. But that didn't make sense. Or maybe it did and she just refused to delve on what that hurt could signify.

Rukia let out a frustrated sigh before finally sitting up in bed. It was moments like this when she missed that dusty closet. There was no room to be contemplative. It was snug, warm and smelled like Ichigo. And there goes her commonsense. Rukia thought warily. She got up from the bed, peeking through the curtains. It was dark out and she could almost taste the rain that was coming. Rain made her uneasy. That thought made more sense than the other stuff her mind was nagging her about.

Like how badly she'd wanted Ichigo to ask her to the dance, only because she knew they'd goof off and she didn't have to worry about what to wear because Ichigo would surely be looking worse than her. Or the look in his eyes when he'd grabbed her shoulders hours earlier. Rukia liked to think she could always tell what Ichigo was thinking with just one look, but that look had left her with too many questions and no answers. Or maybe she just didn't want those answers yet? Irritated with her mental debate, Rukia tore her gaze from the window.

Water. I need to drink some water. She decided as she strode purposively across the room, yanking the door open and there, across from her was Ichigo standing in the middle of the passage.

/

There was something in the air. He couldn't put his finger on it, but it was there and it had him feeling restless. Ichigo had tried unsuccessfully to sleep, when that turned out to be futile he'd grabbed a book, but after reading the same paragraph for almost an hour, he'd finally conceded defeat and tossed it to the side. It hit Kon with a satisfying thump, but the stuffed animal didn't even seem to feel a thing as he continued to snore.

Ichigo had taken off his shirt earlier because of the humidity in his room. He'd opened the window but he still felt somewhat stifled. He needed to clear his mind, to breathe for a moment without inhaling lilacs and snow. The midget had taken residence in his thoughts and by the looks of things she wasn't planning on giving him peace of mind any time soon.

Going to the dance with Ishida? He scoffed at the idea. It wasn't that the thought bothered him – okay maybe he's in denial but it's his mind so he has every right to lie to it- it's just it had been so unexpected. Of all people, he honestly hadn't thought of Ishida asking Rukia to be his date. Wasn't Ishida supposed to be some shinigami hater?

Pathetic. The guy didn't even have the decency to stick to his own conventions. No matter how misguided there were. He really expected more from Ishida and even Rukia. Hadn't she ever read the bible? 'Love thy neighbour' – and Ishida leaving on the other side of town was not her neighbour.

"I'm doing it again," Ichigo muttered irate. He was allowing Rukia to dominate his thoughts. Just because you've made yourself welcome in my mind doesn't mean I can't ignore you. He thought firmly.

Now I'm talking to imaginary Rukia. He realised with annoyance. You'd think he had enough voices in his head without adding an imaginary Rukia -even though he found he secretly liked imaginary Rukia. For one, she was always gushing over his heroic acts and secondly, she was actually loyal. He hadn't heard her mouthing off about going to the dance with imaginary Ishida- who by the way was nailed against some wall with his own needle kit.

Some of us are actually trying to plot our eventual evil takeover here and the weird old man in black gave an inaccurate weather reading. All this rain is a real downer.

"Shut up!" Ichigo snapped, realizing only a second later he'd actually said that out loud. His hollow could do that to him. "I'm going to lose my mind."

Rest assured there is someone all too willing to take over.

With a mental shove, he pushed down his intrusive hollow. His room was just too stifling and pacing wasn't doing him any good. He stormed out his room with no particular destination but just as he walked down the passage, Rukia stepped out her room.

It was like time freezing, for a moment neither said anything as they stared at each other. Eventually Rukia broke the silence, "Water!"

"What?" he asked still wading through the fog in his mind.

"I'm going to get a glass of water," she repeated.

He wasn't thirsty. "Me too," the words slipped out his mouth involuntarily.

"Then we'll both be drinking water?" Rukia asked hesitantly.

Why did she have to look up at him with that look? "Yeah but not from the same glass or anything," he stammered on, because that look was going to be his undoing. "I mean that's gross."

Liar!

Even in the dimly light passage he could see how her eyes narrowed. "Are you saying I have germs?" she asked him.

Her words caught him off guard and he realised all too late he'd put his foot in his mouth again. "What?!' he exclaimed.

Who is saying all these things?! He wondered madly, as he tried to think of what to say to take back his words.

"Hush, your family is sleeping," Rukia hissed, before turning on her heels and stomping off.

Rukia couldn't even walk off without making it look flawless. He thought darkly as he followed after her. It took him only seconds to catch up to her. "I don't think you have germs," he whispered to her as they headed for the kitchen. The only thing infected here was his thoughts.

"So you just think I'm gross?" she asked calmly.

"Of course not!" he snapped, because now Rukia was just being mean. She had this ability to twist his words, making him look like some idiot. It was her fault he couldn't even sleep damnit! And now she was standing there in-

Somewhere in the distance he could hear Rukia making some smart resort as she stood up on tiptoes to grab a glass out the cabinet. Ichigo could swear he even heard car horns blaring, an awful wail that sounded like a hollow in the distance. But he couldn't move, couldn't breathe and he was going to die an embarrassing and premature death in his own kitchen. Because for some absurd reason, that was obviously some form of torture, Rukia wore only the top part of her yellow pyjama set.

There were no pants. There was a pant-less Rukia walking around his kitchen like she owned the place. For someone so incredibly short, Rukia had really great legs. He wasn't even a legs guy. Or maybe he was and just never had reason to conduct research on this matter. But as legs went, Rukia's were really something to lose oxygen over. Maybe it wasn't even such a bad death? He could've died during his fight with Aizen and his last memory would have been of that freakish bug with purple eyes. Honestly, he could have died a million deaths far worse than-

The sudden splash of water on his face had him gasping for air, eyes wide as he stared at Rukia's huge eyes. "What the hell did you do that for?" he spluttered between pants and wiping furiously at the wet drops running down his face and chest.

"You were just standing there not saying anything," Rukia said defensively. "You weren't even breathing!"

"And you thought the best way to get a response was to throw water at my face?!" Ichigo exclaimed, ignoring the fact that she'd probably just saved his life. "When a person stops breathing you perform CPR not try and drown them!"

Rukia scowled furiously at him. "You're breathing aren't you!" she snapped, crossing her arms over her chest.

"And soaked!" he snapped back.

"You've been far worse!" she reminded him before grabbing a kitchen towel. By the time his mind connected the dots Rukia was already wiping at the water on his face and chest. Granted she wasn't doing it the way imaginary Rukia would, but it was still distracting. "There!" she finished as she stepped back with a superior smirk on her face.

In all honestly all Ichigo wanted to do was wipe that smirk off her face. Just do something without causing her physical harm. So when he leant forward the last thing he envisioned was the collusion of lips. It was clumsy and really just a meeting of lips but it had his heart racing and it was like that moment several minutes ago where he thought he was dying. It probably didn't last longer than a couple of seconds but time seemed to have slowed down.

When he opened his eyes again, Rukia was staring at him with wide eyes and slightly parted lips. Although it was unplanned he suddenly had the urge to do it again and that's what he'd intended when he'd opened his mouth, only his brain wasn't functioning well and he said the worst thing he could say at that moment, "That was awful."

What he'd meant was: that was awfully short and he wanted more. But before he could correct his blunder he was already reeling backwards clutching his throbbing eye. After punching him, Rukia fled and he couldn't move. Shocked? Definitely.

The lie is, if he said he wouldn't do it all over again. Ichigo was done lying to himself.

/

"Kuchiki-san?" Inoue asked with wide eyes, bringing him back to the present.

Ichigo shifted uncomfortable in his seat. He couldn't actually tell them what had happened. That was far worse than walking around with a blue-eye. "Yup," he replied, easily avoiding everyone's eyes.

"You expect us to believe pure innocent Kuchiki-san did that?" Keigo all but shrieked. "Lies!" his neurotic friend accused.

"But why would, Kuchiki-san hurt Kurosaki-kun?" Inoue asked.

Ichigo was certain it had been more a loud musing than an actual question, because why else would Inoue be speaking of him as if he wasn't there?

"If she did, then he probably deserved it," Tatsuki said with an indifferent shrug.

Ichigo threw her a glare but she just rolled her eyes.

"I think we should ask Kuchiki-san herself," Mizuiro suggested with a slight smile as he stared pass Ichigo's shoulder.

"Well she's not coming-"

"Morning everyone." An eerily familiar sugary voice sing-songed behind him, interrupting him mid speech.

Ichigo gulped and turned his head, eyes falling on a smiling Rukia. She was waving, looking the part of the demure transfer student she often reverted to. All sunshine and roses... and honestly? That just irritated the hell out of Ichigo.

He hadn't slept, searching the entire town for her in the pouring rain and coming out empty. In his most desperate moments he'd fancied she might have gone back to Soul Society. But wherever she'd been all of last night and early morning she was here now.

Standing just feet away from him with that silly fake smile- he was going to kill her.