Hey guys! I'm really sorry for the late update. It had nothing to do with the reviews. D: The reviews were so awesome, I wanted to update faster but…I got sidetracked by the real world. -.-' I didn't even realize that all this time had gone on. Guess that's what life does to you. By the time I'm fifty, I'll be wondering what happened when I was 17.

Anyways, I've been getting a number of comments about Ichigo's date. ^^" Don't get your hopes up for something special though…it's pretty random, and your hopes might be dashed (but no, I didn't make the character up).

THANK YOU TO ALL MY LOVELY REVIEWERS! You make my ichiruki-world go round. You are all highly loved and appreciated. Kudos go to the people who write such awesome reviews that I have to read them in my spare time. XD Hell, kudos go to all of my -totally wicked- reviewers. :D

DISCLAIMER: Don't own Bleach. Sadly.

RECAP (once again, just for last chapter): Rukia finally has started the promised dance lessons. During the first of these lessons, Ishida coerces Tatsuki into asking 'Ryoko' to the dance. In retrospect, though, it was 'Ryoko' who asked Tatsuki because of the aura of jealousy that could be felt from Ichigo. It's 'highly likely' that this was misinterpreted…

Later we meet Aizen who was behaving strangely. It seems that he really is behind the disappearances and that there is a reason why Rukia and the company cannot find the bodies of the missing.

And finally, we ended with Rukia absolutely humiliating Ichigo during Kendo. But this glorious event had its repercussions. Now Rukia has fallen under Aizen's radar as prime 'experiment' material.

Oh noes.

//end recap.

Once again, I apologize for any grammar/typo/inconsistency mistakes. Last time (after re-reading for the fifth time) I found that I had used a 'Rukia' where I should have used a 'Ryoko'.

And before my readers throttle me, on with the story.

~__~__~__~__~__~

"Ichigo!" Rukia kicked the top bunk. Ichigo grunted, the springs creaking and groaning, as he rolled over.

"What the hell? What time is it," he mumbled, reaching over the side to slap a clock. When his hand failed to slap anything but air, he retracted it. "Jus gimme five mor minutessss," he slurred, clutching his pillow tightly.

"Idiot! Pay attention," Rukia hissed, kicking the bed even harder. Said kick was hard enough to push Ichigo up and over the bed, and he landed with a resounding thud.

"W-what?! I wasn't doing anything I swear!" Ichigo sat up to see his roommate staring at him with an amused expression.

"So you were…doing something?" Ichigo blushed.

"I wasn't!" Rukia smirked and rubbed her chin thoughtfully.

"Hmmm…it's probably something horribly embarrassing…" Ichigo's face turned a shade of red she hadn't thought humanly possible. "…and something you could only do in bed…" Rukia was having a grand time with this. She had no idea why Ichigo was turning the color of ripe strawberries, but it obviously was something so horribly humiliating that only a guy would know.

"Sh-shut up," Ichigo stood up in a rush. "Why the hell'd you wake me up anyways?" He managed to not only successfully plant a glare on his face but change the subject as well. Modesty aside, he was damn brilliant.

"I was bored," she said flatly.

"What the hell," he spluttered. "You didn't just wake me up for that." Rukia rolled her eyes.

"I was wondering…"

Ichigo crossed his arms. "Spit it out already! It's twelve in the bloody morning for crying out loud! We have class tomorrow! Biology of all things!"

"If you're going to be like that fine," she huffed. "I wasn't going to tell you anyways." Rukia went under the covers again and turned to face the wall.

Ichigo gaped at the back now facing him. "You mean you kicked me awake, humiliated me, and now you have the nerve to act like I'm the jerk here?!"

Silence greeted him. His speech obviously wasn't doing much wear on the wall, let alone his roommate's back.

"Fine then," he grumbled. Rukia heard the all-to-familiar squeak as Ichigo climbed up onto his bunk along with the tell tale grumbling that accompanied it. She let out an inaudible sigh as she heard him shift around in his bed for awhile before everything was eerily silent.

Rukia squeezed her eyes shut and hugged the blanket. For some reason, she felt almost…well, almost sad. She shook herself roughly. What in the world was happening to her?

"Hey Ryoko." Ichigo's voice softly bounced off the silence. Rukia kept her mouth closed, not wanting to talk to him anymore. She heard him sigh. "Um…sorry. I should have listened."

Rukia unconsciously let a smile flicker across her face. When she finally realized that she was positively beaming over a half-assed apology from a person she was supposed to hate, no less, she severely chastised herself. Her actions were totally unbecoming of her.

"Idiot," she muttered into the darkness. Up above her, Ichigo barely caught the reply he obviously wasn't supposed to hear. That damned word. But instead of characteristically scowling he did something totally out of the ordinary. He smiled.

His roommate really was, one of a kind.

~__~__~__~__~__~

"Tatsuki!"

Tatsuki turned to see Orihime barreling towards her. She put up her hands in surprise.

"Stop before you crash into me," she yelped. Orihime managed to pull to a stop mere inches before the seemingly inevitable collision took place. Tatsuki went limp with relief. "Don't scare me."

Orihime smiled cheerfully. "Tatsuki's the strongest person in the entire world, how could I scare you?"

Tatsuki chuckled weakly. "Yeah. Go figu-"

"We're going to be late to Bio!" Tatsuki looked at her friend, openmouthed. She seriously changed topics faster that she could keep up.

"Yeah, well that's where I was going." Orihime beamed up at her.

"Then lets go together!"

Tatsuki let out a loose laugh. "Yeah. Come-on."

The two friends rounded a corner.

"So how's the dance lessons going?" Tatsuki nearly stopped in surprise.

"W-why bring that up?"

"I felt bad that I have class when you guys meet…but…" Orihime brought her face close to her friends. "You're acting so suspicious. Can't I ask," she pouted.

"Um, you can." Tatsuki's voice rose a couple of pitches. "But why so suddenly?"

"Ehhhh. I was just curious." Orihime turned back to gaze down the hallway. "Ano…"

Tatsuki froze. She wasn't liking the question that was sure to follow.

"Your cheeks are bright red." Tatsuki's hands went right up to her face. She was blushing like a school-girl? WTH!?

"Um…it's the cold." Who was gonna buy that? It was the start of spring for crying out loud!

"I see!" Tatsuki sweatdropped Well, if anyone was going to buy it, it definitely was her orange-haired friend.

"But…is Kuchiki-kun the one you asked to the dance?" Tatsuki nearly fell over. How did she actually get it right? She was always way off. And by way off, she meant, way, way, way, off. Like the Aizen-sensei incident.

"H-h-how did you know," she mumbled, averting her eyes.

"Eeeeeh, Uryu was right." Tatsuki froze. "You do like him."

"What did that four-eye freak tell you?" She should have known Ishida was behind this.

"Um, nothing," Orihime said hurriedly. She had forgotten that he had told her not to say anything. Darn her and her big mouth.

"Orihime, come back here!" Orihime was now racing off towards the classroom.

Tatsuki sighed and gave up the chase. She didn't have the energy that Orihime had in the morning. It was just too early.

It wasn't until she entered the classroom as the bell rang that something impossible struck her.

Uryu?

~__~__~__~__~__~

"Kuchiki-kun, can I speak to you a moment?"

Rukia stopped abruptly as the all-to-familiar voice called out to her. Ichigo froze right next to her, and gave her a sharp look. She could swear it said, do you want me to stay? Or maybe it was, Hah, you're in for it now, can I watch? She couldn't be too sure.

"Kurosaki-kun, why don't you head to class," Rukia twitched. Obviously that silent, ambiguous question was decided by the teacher in front of her. "I'll make sure I excuse you friend," he said, gesturing to Rukia. "from being late. So go on. I have some matters to discuss with him."

Ichigo stiffly walked towards the class, making it in just after Tatsuki.

"Aizen-sensei, is there something you want," Rukia asked sweetly. Aizen chuckled.

"How did you know," he replied good-naturedly. Rukia forced herself not to scowl at the obviously fake display of gentleness.

"Well, Sensei, you did stop me as I was going to class."Aizen nodded thoughtfully. "I was watching you during kendo, and I must say I find it strange."

Rukia froze. She knew she shouldn't have shown off. Nothing good ever comes from being conceited, even if only rarely.

"What is, sensei?" Rukia was having to deliberately stop herself from putting a stutter in her voice. Did she actually just blow the mission?

"You are incredibly gifted. Yet you are only a college student. Isn't it strange that you do nothing with that power? If you entered any Kendo competitions, I would have recognized your name…but…you haven't." Crap. She was screwed. "But anyways, like I was saying, you are gifted. And as such," Aizen crouched down and stared Rukia in the eyes. "I would like you to join my private club. One of the exclusive admissions that have been given to no more than twenty students during the lifetime of this college."

Rukia gaped. Maybe good things did come out of being conceited after all. But wasn't this all-to-suspicious? Rukia mentally shook herself. But somehow she had fallen under his radar…this was the perfect chance to find the bodies before beating the hell out of Aizen-sensei.

"Of course, there are five other students in the club this year," Aizen continued. "The most it has ever been at any one time. So it's not you alone. If it'll help, Kurosaki-kun is one of them as well."

Rukia was paralyzed. Ichigo worked for Aizen? So did that mean Ichigo was a spy? She had trusted him! And look where trust got her. He had betrayed her. She stifled a cry of indignation and averted her eyes from the so-called teacher.

"I accept." She was not going to let anything ruin her mission, including Ichigo. She bit her lip.

Aizen smiled. "Our next meeting takes place on the evening of the 22nd ." Rukia just barely kept her jaw from dropping. That was the evening of the dance. "In the ball-room, half-way during the dance," So he knew that. "Please meet me and the rest of the members in the backroom." Before Rukia could ask where that exactly was, he continued. "You'll know where it is when you get there."

Rukia nodded stiffly, still upset over the previous revelation. This wasn't the first time she was betrayed, but for some reason, it sure hurt the worst.

"Got it, sensei."

~__~__~__~__~__~

Ichigo watched as Ryoko came into the room and handed the teacher a slip of paper. For some reason, though, the little bugger was glaring at him as if there was no tomorrow. What did Aizen tell him?!

He stifled his curiosity though, and continued listening to the teacher.

"Well pair-up then! Girl-guy, because heaven knows I can't trust two guys not to blow up the entire room," the teacher shook her head. "At least a girl will prevent any of that from happening simply because she doesn't want a bad hair day." Ichigo watched as at least half of the girls in the classroom twitched.

"Ano…Kuchiki-kun…as Arisawa is the top student in this class," Ichigo could just feel Tatsuki's anger radiating towards their teacher. She did not need to teacher to bloody well show her off. "I want you two to pair up. After all, Kuchiki-kun, you did miss half of the class." With that, it seems that Tatsuki wasn't the only one angry. The rest of the girls were now glaring daggers at both Tatsuki and the teacher. He could practically hear what they were trying to telepathically say, the aura was so intense. Why does SHE get to pair up with Kuchiki-kun?

But hell, he thought. Hadn't Ryoko missed more than that small amount of time? Was it really only an hour?

~__~__~__~__~__~

Rukia bit back a sigh of relief. So she wasn't pairing with the strawberry. Goodness knows, she couldn't handle it now. And despite the insult to her kind, she profusely thanked the teacher for believing in the vanity of girls.

"Sorry about that, Ryoko-kun." Rukia snapped out of her thoughts when Tatsuki approached her looking apologetic. "She didn't need to rub that in your face."

Rukia laughed and stood up. "No matter. So…what are we doing?"

Tatsuki grinned. "You really did miss everything, didn't you? Come on, we're dissecting cats…"

~__~__~__~__~__~

"You really did miss everything, didn't you? Come on, we're dissecting cats…" She nearly burst out laughing at the horrified look on Ryoko's face. At least he was feeling better now, even if he was just distracted. She could feel the vast array of emotions toiling under his skin when he walked into the room.

"What kind of sick world is this," he yelped. "You dissect poor…kitties?" Tatsuki couldn't help herself anymore, she started laughing. No one seemed to notice though, they were to involved in cutting the felines open.

"What's so funny?" Tatsuki clutched her sides. He was so strange. So un-orthodox. So adorable.

~__~__~__~__~__~

Ichigo was now watching the scene with utmost anger. He leaned on his arm and glared across the room at Ryoko and Tatsuki who seemed to be having a grand time.

"Um…Kurosaki-kun?" Ichigo's attention snapped back to the table. He looked apologetically over at Orihime who was standing there looking lost.

"Sorry Inoue."

Orihime looked up at him. "Yeah…um…will you hold the specimen down as I cut?"

Now Ichigo was feeling horrible. He was totally being a jerk. Inoue loved cute things (hell, she even called it a specimen instead of a cat so she could dissect it without crying), and yet he was basically forcing her to maul one.

"I'll cut if you want."

Orihime looked immensely relieved. "If you insist."

~__~__~__~__~__~

Rukia felt like she was going to puke. "I-I can't do this," she muttered, feeling faint. "But I'm glad you're having a field day with this."

Tatsuki was holding herself back from laughing again. He seemed slightly insulted the last time she had let herself go. "You are really girly, Ryoko-kun." Rukia froze. She didn't realize that not wanting to destroy something was girly. She mentally slapped herself. Wasn't it natural for guys to want to destroy things?! "But that's a relief."

Rukia looked at her, openmouthed. "What?"

"Guys who pretend they're all super macho are really irritating." Rukia nearly cried aloud with relief. She was not dead meat.

"I respect life," she deadpanned. That itself was so ironic, considering her job. But perhaps it was her job that made her respect life in general. It was horrible when it had to be snuffed out.

"I think you're special." The cat was now all but forgotten, lying on a single, silver tray.

Rukia sighed. "I'm not special. Just like everyone else, I am living for the one moment in my life that will make this world worth living for. Some people will never experience it. Others will experience it and die immediately after…" Rukia tapered off, remembering her old boss. "The special people," she continued, redirecting her thoughts back to the conversation. "are the people who experience it more than once and still continue living…"Rukia tuned back into the real world to find Tatsuki staring at her. "S-sorry," she stammered. "I was droning wasn't I?" She weakly chuckled.

"I still think you're special."

Rukia looked at her shocked. "But…"

"You have to be special to realize that. So you're special. Stop arguing." Tatsuki crossed her arms.

Rukia gaped at her and then burst out laughing. It was slightly melodic, and the entire class turned to watch her, spellbound.

~__~__~__~__~__~

Ryoko gaped at her and then burst out laughing. It was slightly melodic, and the entire class turned to watch him, spellbound.

When he realized that the entire class was now staring at him, some girls with strange lovelorn looks on their faces, Ryoko immediately stopped.

"Sorry," he said quietly.

"Alright class, back to your seats!" But that alone was not enough to stop the girls from going crazy. "Kuchiki-kun, do you have a girlfriend?"

"What's your type, Kuchiki-kun?"

"Kuchiki-kun, will you go out with me?"

"Over here, Kuchiki-kun!"

"Kuchiki-kun!!"

All the while these outbursts were going on, Ryoko was watching in shock. Tatsuki took pity on him and tried to intervene.

"Oi, leave him alone," she muttered, pushing one particularly pushy blond girl off him. "He's not a doll or a plaything of yours to mess with."

"Well what gives you the right to stop us," she viciously asked. There was a loud chorus of yeahs and that's right in the background. In the meantime, the teacher had fainted, and some of the guys were wondering if the should make a call to 911 and ask for animal control.

Ichigo came to the rescue. "Oi, just leave them alone."

The crowd of savage, love-sick girls turned to Ichigo. He started wondering if this was worth being castrated…but nonetheless he gathered his courage and stood his ground.

"Ryoko asked Tatsuki to the dance."

"EHHHH?!" The result was simultaneous and almost, if not more so, as devastating as the laugh.

"Wasn't it girls-ask-guys themed?!"

"She's only ranked number three!"

"Why'd he ask her?!"

"Number one wanted to ask you!!!"

"What?" The room fell into deep silence as Ryoko talked for the first time since the whole episode had started. Tatsuki felt sick. She was going to kill Ishida…she never would have agreed if he hadn't started the whole mess.

"Yeah, Number one wanted to ask you," a small mousy-haired girl said.

"Stop with the numbers," he snapped. "What's her name?"

"Nell-sama. A senior."

~__~__~__~__~__~

So yesh, I must apologize. That was rather short, and I did want to continue. But I thought it would be a nice cliff-hanger to leave it with Nell suddenly appearing in the story. XD Seems that Tatsuki and Ichigo have some competition. (Btw, this is the old Nell, not the baby-one. I'm not that creepy. O__O)

To those of you worried about Ichigo's date, I wouldn't spend too much time mulling over it. There is no way, in any universe, that Ichigo could possibly…well, I might be spoiling it.

Please review. :D Reviews are loved. Reviewers are not only loved, they are absolutely adored. ^___^ I'll say it now but most of you probably already know. This story is only progressing because of you guys. If there were no reviews, I'd assume that no one was reading it, and it might be a year or two before I decide to update or, like a couple of my more unfortunate stories, deleted. SO I WOVE YOU GUYS! Thanks for keeping this story alive. :3 Suggestions/feedback on how the story is doing is greatly appreciated.

A little spoiler-type-thing for you guys, because of the short chapter.

Next Time:

Rukia meets Nell and things start to heat up as Ichigo's feelings become more and more confused.

And what's this?! Does Rukia reveal her secret?! To who or…dare I say…whom!?

Find out next time, with…

The Revelation.

//end.

(Haha, I totally felt like some sort of announcer). But I think this story might be drawing to a close in…maybe four chapters. But we'll see.

Once more, I apologize for any grammar/spelling mistakes as well as any inconsistencies. I do try my best to catch them all.

Until next time…

^______^