Glad to see this story is doing well enough for itself. Onward we go into...

Chapter 5: Falling like the Rain

She stood in silence in the doorway of her room; he was gone. He left behind his kosode and shitagi, but he was gone. She wasn't sure why that should be a surprise to her. He was a spirit after all and looked to belong elsewhere with others given what he wore must be a uniform of some sort. It's not like he was going to be here forever.

So why then did she feel sadden to come home to him being gone? Had she really gotten attached to him? It did feel nice walking in from school to have those cool blue-gray eyes watching her. No matter how late she was working on homework she had his company to watch over her. No matter how late she was from karate practice or from hanging out with Orihime, he was there waiting to greet her.

He wasn't the greatest or most active conversationalist, but it was the thought that counted and it always brought a smile to her face. She was just being silly though, right? She really couldn't expect him to be around forever.

So why did it hurt? Why did her room suddenly feel so empty? With a sigh she walked over to her desk and set her bag down on her chair before moving to change out of her school uniform and into something more comfortable. Feeling a bit hungry she decided to grab some leftovers from the fridge. The only sound in the house was the faint humming of the microwave and a single floor fan in the living room.

Tatsuki jumped when she heard the rumble of thunder outside and saw through the glass sliding doors that it was starting to rain. Again? These random showers were always so strange, but today…it felt appropriate.

She silently shuffled back to her room to eat the small meal and start on her homework, but all the while her thoughts kept drifting back to that mysterious man she had found over a week ago on a day just like this. Finally after an hour and with an empty bowl in front of her, she chose to just give up for now on her homework and pushed away from her desk in disgust.

This wasn't even like her. Guys never really showed interest in her in the first place because she usually was kicking the crap out of them or sending them a scowl. Why should she care about boys right now anyways? She had good grades, was a top athlete in her division, and had wonderful friends; even if they were oddballs at times.

Was it being selfish to want the company of this one guy?

Knock, knock, knock…

She rolled to her side and pushed up on an elbow, glancing to her door. That wasn't coming from her door; she was the only one home. The front door? She wasn't expecting anyone so who could it be? Sighing softly and swinging her legs off of the bed to the floor, she made her way out from her room toward the front door and opened it. If she had been holding anything she would have dropped it as standing there with only a few drops of water dripping from his long hair was the man that had somehow found a way to command her thoughts.

"Hey…" She said in almost a whisper. She managed a weak smile as she looked up at him, not really sure why she was feeling the way she was. "I thought you had left…"

He blinked in confusion and tilted his head to the side. He could tell from Tatsuki's expression and tone that she seemed a bit upset but was trying to hide it. For some reason he suspected it had something to do with him. The man crossed his arms over his chest and smirked slightly. "Did you want me to leave, Tatsuki?"

Her eyes widen in surprise at his question and with a smile she let her gaze fall to the floor. "Well no…but-" A hand landed on her head and she looked back up to see he had done so. Suddenly she felt herself go weak as those cool eyes suddenly became so deep and wise.

"Well then I won't. It's your home so I'll leave when you ask me to, Tatsuki." To his surprise she threw her arms up around his neck and hugged him tightly. The action somewhat confused him but he felt it best to return the gesture.

This girl had found him and nursed him. She offered her home to him and never had complained about him being there. She wasn't that bad of a person, for a human. Hell, she actually impressed him some as she had managed to toss him when they sparred for that brief moment. He generally hated humans because they were such self-serving, frail creatures.

But this girl was alright…

The two retreated back to her room where Tatsuki was able to get on her homework again. She glanced back occasionally at her bed to look at Kenshin who was lying down with his eyes closed and his head resting in his hands. She chuckled as she didn't understand why he didn't just use the pillow. "You know, there is a pillow."

He opened an eye and glanced across the room at the human girl before leaning his head back to look at the pillow sitting above his head. He shrugged which caused Tatsuki to roll her eyes. He really hated that action, rolling of the eyes. For some reason it also got under his skin and when Rukia did it he never let her get away with it. So…

Tatsuki suddenly jerked forward when something hit her in the back of the head. She turned and saw her pillow on the floor then looked to Kenshin who had a smug smirk on his lips. "Did you really just do what I think you did?" He only shrugged at her with that smug little smirk still on his lips.

Like hell she was letting him get away with that. Setting her pen down, Tatsuki got up and picked the pillow up before walking over. She waited until Kenshin opened his eyes before smacking the pillow down into his face. "Not so smug now, huh?"

A muffled reply came back, so she lifted the pillow and saw him still smirking at her. Feeling some annoyance, Tatsuki dropped the pillow and hopped up on top of him, trying to pin his wrist down but found him rather hard to fight against. He continued to smirk up at her while lightly struggling; lightly being a relative term for the difference in natural strength between the two.

Losing hold of one of the older man's wrist, Tatsuki could see him moving to try and flip the situation around and immediately locked her legs around his own, hoping to immobilize the man. Initially it seemed her efforts worked, until his fingers brushed up along her sides which caused her to twitch and draw away.

Kenshin took notice of this and slyly smirked, "ooooooh….ticklish huh? Shame I don't share the same problem…"

"You wouldn't dare." She gulped nervously while staring down at the man.

"Well neither of us knows if I would or wouldn't. So that means I may or may not." He slowly moved his hands closer to the girl's stomach. Tatsuki shot her hands out once more to take hold of his wrist but ended up grabbing his hands. The two lingered as he stared at her blankly while her cheeks redden. She thought to draw back and yet…why should she? "You alright?"

The speed at which she got off of him was amazing even to him. She was gripping her arms in a self-embrace, keeping her back to him. "Y-yeah…I'm alright…sorry about that."

"Sorry for what?"

"For the whole rough-housing and umm…you know…it wasn't appropriate of me." She didn't know why she felt embarrassed, but she didn't want to see him looking at her like this. Why was she so confused around this guy? She had barely taken a step when she felt a tug and looked back to see Kenshin staring up at her with a finger hooked into the back of her pants.

He glanced off to the side and smiled some before giving a little tug, "Here I thought you would face your problems head on Tatsuki, not run from it."

"I'm not running…it's just…" With out a word she ran from her room, leaving a rather confused Kenshin who sat up immediately. He heard the front door then glanced to the bedroom window and let out a sigh.

"Wasn't it a day like this that she found me in some alleyway? Strange how we remember things better when it rains…damnit."

/\/\/\/\

Why was she running? Why was she so upset?

Tatsuki wasn't sure if the wetness on her cheeks was from the rain or from her tears, but she didn't want to know nor stop running. Why had she suddenly gotten so attached to having Kenshin around? It wasn't like she even knew the guy to be feeling anything about him, but…

She stopped running and hunched over, hands propping her on her thighs as she took deep, heavy breathes to recover from the run. Had she actually developed a crush on this guy? "Figures…first guy I really take interest in and he's not even alive…" She bit back more tears and felt guilt over how harsh those words sounded. He wasn't alive in her world, but he wasn't six feet under either.

Tatsuki stood up and stared into the falling rain, letting the water drops splash off her face. She must really look a sight right now and would probably get a scolding from Orihime if her friend saw her acting like this. She knew Ichigo would never let her live this down after all the crap she had given him over the years of fronting a tough exterior. Something settled over her shoulders and caught her attention, causing her to look down to see that it was the white coat Kenshin wore.

Slowly she turned to face him and smiled weakly. "I guess I ran…"

He smiled despite getting soaked from the rain, but he shook his head slowly. "You're only human, Tatsuki."

"Do shinigami ever feel emotions like this?" She asked while drawing the haori tighter around herself.

"More or less, but we do. We are alive in our own rights, after all."

Tatsuki frowned and lowered her head; so he had heard her say that, huh? How long had he been standing there then? "I didn't mean-" She went silent when he titled her head up with a hand cupping her chin, and she felt herself grow weak when he flashed that same cocky yet confident smirk.

"You know…you have to keep your chin up in order to see the horizon ahead of you, Tatsuki."

"Kenshin…"

She laid her head against his chest and closed her eyes. He had a heartbeat and his body felt so warm despite the pouring rain. When she felt his arms move around her she felt a strange feeling, as if nothing else mattered in the world.

At that moment, nothing else did matter in the world.

/\/\/\/\

That next day at school had felt pleasant for Tatsuki. She didn't know why but she felt to be in high spirits.

When lunch rolled around she noticed that Rukia also seemed to be in a very good mood. "Hey, Rukia. You find your friend?"

Rukia glanced over and nodded with a gleeful reply, "yup! The lug head finally came back home so I feel great!"

"Well I'm glad to hear it." Tatsuki smiled, but she wondered once more if Rukia's friend was indeed Kenshin and when he had met up with Rukia. Had it been yesterday when he was absent from her place?

Suddenly she felt a pair of eyes staring at her and glanced slowly to her side at Chizuru who was smirking slyly at her. "What do you want Chizuru? I'm not in the mood for your usual crap."

"Ooooh it's nothing Tatsuki. I just noticed that you must be crushing."

Tatsuki spat out the water she had been drinking and stared at the half-witted girl in shock. "The hell are you talking about?"

"Don't deny it Tatsuki. I've seen how gaga you've been all day, staring off out the window." The brunette grinned manically while leaning ever closer, "come on, tell us who it is."

"I'm not crushing on anyone!"

"But she's right Tatsuki." Michuru stated. "You were staring off into space during home class."

"That doesn't mean I wasn't paying attention."

"Come on Tatsuki, tell us who it is." Orihime chimed in merrily.

Not Orihime too! The normally ditzy girl seemed intently focused as she leaned in with the others to stare at Tatsuki. She was so grateful when the bell chimed, signally the end of lunch period. "Oh! Looks like we got to get back to class, damn."

Chizuru's glasses caught the glare of the sun and she pushed them up her nose with purpose, "oh you're not getting off that easily Tatsuki. We will find out who your mystery crush is."

"Shut up!" Tatsuki slammed her foot into the girl's face, causing the others to laugh while the two went at it.

/\/\/\/\

Silently from the rooftop of the school, Kenshin watched on as the students made their way back into the buildings. He glanced to his side when a figure walked up, and in a calm, almost emotionless voice the figured asked, "still planning on feigning an ailment?"

Kenshin turned to face the figure and shook his head slowly. "No…I've had enough time to recover myself. Thank you for maintaining an eye on my division, Captain Kuchiki."

Byakuya gave no immediate reply, but when he turned toward the Senkai Gate he gave a simple nod of his head. "Consider it making us equal for protecting Rukia."

Kenshin chuckled while resting his arm loosely on the hilt of his zanpakutö. "I hardly need any payment for such a thing Captain Kuchiki. Rukia means as much to me as she does you."

"Perhaps…" With that the two captains stepped through to return to the Soul Society. They were in route to the office of Captain-General Yamamoto, but unbeknownst to them another was already present within the office when they entered. "Honorable Head-Captain, I've returned with-"

"Kenshin?" Soifon stated in shock as she turned to see who the idiot was interrupting her and saw her apprentice with Captain Kuchiki.

This…was going to be bad for his health…

Oh boy...Kenshin's returned back to the Soul Society and just his luck to run into Soifon. Someone's in trou-ble.

Next time! Chapter 6: Not so Forgetful