Chapter 3

Racing Heart

Rukia is pleasantly surprised when she pulls up to the Kurosaki Clinic/home. She thinks it's really nice how they seem like a tight knit family, just from what she's seen between the father and son. They have the type of closeness she always envied in normal families. Two teenage girls come running outside when they see Isshin's car pull up, and they eye Rukia's Nissan with a bit of curiosity, but their concern over their brother comes first.

Rukia stays in her car for a moment studying the two girls who are identical in height, but that's about it. They both have medium length hair, but one has light colored hair, and the other as dark as her father's hair. They're both slim, but one is wearing a dress, and the other is in soccer apparel. The dark haired one is a pretty athletic type and the lighter haired one is pretty in a girlish way.

Rukia takes her time, getting out of her car, to give them time to talk. She's glad she has enough in her suitcase to last her through the next few days. She gets it out of her trunk and throws her purse over her shoulder, before she wheels the suitcase up.

"This is the young woman that saved Ichigo's life." Isshin tells them with too happy a smile pasted on his face.

The girls both give her a warm and friendly smile, Karin nods, and Yuzu bows her head. Rukia bows her head back at both of them.

"I'm Kuchiki Rukia." She tells the teenage girls, and though they know the name sounds familiar, neither of them can pinpoint why.

"I am Kurosaki Yuzu."

"I'm Kurosaki Karin."

"She's spending the night in Ichigo's room. She'll be staying with us awhile," Isshin says. Rukia can't help but blush, because she immediately imagines, still being in Ichigo's room, when he gets back home.

"I'll take you up to his room," Yuzu offers, and Rukia gives her a small smile and nods her head.

Isshin and Karin watch them head in the house, and Isshin smiles hugely, while Karin looks at him suspiciously.

"Does Ichi-ni know about this?" Karin asks with a raised eyebrow, and Isshin grins.

"You might not believe it but he's the one who offered to let her use his room. You should see him Karin, he's completely different around her!" Isshin says in a low conspiratorial voice.

"I'll believe it, when I see it." Karin says, since she knows how her father can blow things out of proportion, without even trying.

Rukia has followed Yuzu into the house and up the stairs. Yuzu leads her to Ichigo's room and Rukia walks into his room and she looks around curiously. It's a small, organized bedroom. What excites her most is the fact that she sees a television and game system hooked up to it.

He plays like me!

"Thank you, Yuzu-chan," Rukia says, and Yuzu backs out of the room, giving Rukia complete privacy in Ichigo's bedroom.

Rukia sets her purse on Ichigo's desk, and leaves her suitcase near the bedroom door. She slowly walks around his room, and studies the books on his shelf.

It appears he's more intellectual than she first realized, she realizes this when she sees Shakespeare on his bookshelf. She runs her finger across his desk and tries to imagine him spending time in here.

She walks over to her suitcase and unzips it. She locates a clean and comfortable shirt to put on, and she yanks off her bloody shirt. She puts on the clean one, and instantly feels better. She wants to wear one of Ichigo's tee-shirts, but it would be difficult to explain when his family saw her with her own luggage.

She finds herself wondering how many girls he's had in his room, and then she sits on his bed and smiles. For some reason, this is more exciting than being in a hotel room...probably because she's so interested in the usual occupant of this room. She's anxious to learn even more about the handsome Kurosaki Ichigo. She shakes her head when she reconsiders the events of the day. She figured the most exciting thing she would do in Karakura Town would be to maybe buy a home...but instead she has found an amazingly sexy man.

Rukia is thankful that she happened upon him in time to help keep him alive, and she scowls when she remembers his answer for why he was attacked.

All because of the color of his hair?

She might find many ways to make the world a better place, simply by keeping an eye on this town. Rukia closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. She doesn't feel at all out of place, she feels like she belongs here. She wonders if it's because she wants it badly enough that she feels this way.

No that can't be it, I've wanted to belong before when I didn't, and wanting it didn't change anything.

Rukia leans back on Ichigo's pillow. Laying on his bed, makes her heart race, and she feels silly. This is what most girls are going through when they're fifteen, not twenty. By the time most girls are twenty, they probably don't want to squeal in complete happiness just because they're laying in a totally hot guy's bed...at least that's what she thinks.

She manages to let herself relax enough that she falls asleep, it's easier than she expected, probably because of her exciting day. Even though she was tempted to play his game system, just snuggling in his bed was more interesting to her than playing games for the evening.

Isshin was disappointed when Yuzu reported that Rukia fell asleep, since he wants to find out more about her. He thinks she and Ichigo would look really cute together, and he is certain that they're both interested in each other. The fact that she agreed to stay with them, and plans to visit Ichigo again the next day, is proof enough for Isshin.

Yuzu had grabbed Rukia's bloody shirt from on top of Rukia's suitcase when she had checked on her, and is working on getting the stains out of it, since Rukia obtained the stains saving her brother. She's interrupted from her task, when there is a knock at the door. She hurries to go and answer it. She opens the door, and smiles when she sees Tatsuki there. Tatsuki isn't looking at her though, she's looking at the sporty feminine silver Nissan in their driveway.

"Tatsuki-chan!" Yuzu says in a pleasant voice, and Tatsuki turns her head.

"Yo…is Ichigo home?" Tatsuki asks, and Yuzu shakes her head no.

"He's recovering in the hospital, since he got stabbed in an attack." Yuzu explains, and Tatsuki seems relieved as she looks back at the car.

"Did you get a new car?" Tatsuki asks, and Yuzu laughs. Karin appears next to Yuzu and looks at Tatsuki.

"No, that belongs to Rukia-san. She's staying here, since she's the one who saved Ichi-ni's life." Karin says, and Tatsuki's eyes widen.

Karin crosses her arms. She once saw Tatsuki do something very suspicious, and she is quite sure that's part of the reason why her brother has never had a real girlfriend. Tatsuki smartly denied it at the time, and it was about two years ago, but Karin is sure she saw Tatsuki threaten a girl that walked home with Ichigo from school.

"Rukia-chan? I've never heard of that name." Tatsuki says slowly, as she clenches her fists.

Why does it have to be a girl that I don't know?

"She's not from around here, but she's interested in moving here." Karin says, watching Tatsuki carefully.

"I'd like to meet her." Tatsuki says, forcing a smile, and Yuzu immediately shakes her head.

"I'm sorry, but she's sleeping right now." Yuzu says, and Karin can't help herself.

"In Ichi-ni's bed." Karin says, and Tatsuki's eyes widen. Yuzu's eyes widen too…the way Karin said it, sounded so suggestive.

"I bet Ichigo will try to attack your father for that stunt," Tatsuki says, forcing a brittle laugh.

"Oh no, it was Ichi-ni who suggested it." Karin says, feeling satisfied on the inside as Tatsuki's mouth drops open into the shape of an O.

"When will Ichigo be home?" Tatsuki asks, and Yuzu smiles.

"We'll know for sure tomorrow, what's going on. If everything is going well, he should be home, within two days." Yuzu says, and Tatsuki nods without smiling at the girls.

"Maybe I'll visit him." Tatsuki says, before she turns and waves. Yuzu waves back, and Karin watches as her sister closes the door.

Tatsuki feels frustrated about what she just learned. She's known about her best friend's adoration for Ichigo for about five years. When Ichigo started paying attention to girls other than Orihime, Tatsuki had to hold her best friend in her arms as she bawled. She would always say that no girl could love Kurosaki-kun like she could, and from that day on, Tatsuki had taken care of every girl that showed the slightest bit of interest in Ichigo, by threatening them that she'd break their bones if they kept pursuing him. Nobody questioned Tatsuki's abilities, they knew that if she wanted to break their bones, she sure as shit could..

Tatsuki would tell the girls to break it off with Ichigo by telling him that they were getting made fun of for liking him, and not one girl had dared to go against her. Tatsuki has no idea that a few secret relationships were offered to Ichigo, but it didn't matter since he never took anything very far with any girl.

Nobody wanted to tell Ichigo or anybody who they thought would tell Ichigo, for fear of being targeted by Tatsuki. Somehow, Ichigo never found out what Tatsuki was doing, which Tatsuki had been grateful for, since she's pretty sure he wouldn't appreciate the extent of her meddling.

A girl who doesn't know her reputation, and who has saved his life, could be a very big problem. Tatsuki sighs since she has no idea if threats will work on this girl that she doesn't even know. For all she knows, the girl could rat her out to Ichigo if she even tries to threaten her. It's a bit annoying that her best friend has done nothing at all about her feelings for Ichigo. All she's done is stare at him from afar, and talk about how much she loves him when he is nowhere around to hear her feelings.

Finally, Tatsuki decides that she'll take Inoue to the hospital tomorrow, to visit Ichigo. This will give her best friend a chance to finally reveal her feelings. She knows she'll feel better after Orihime finally confesses. She hopes she'll even get to see the girl that saved Ichigo. Tatsuki would like to size her up, and see if there is any attraction between the two of them. She's worried there's a lot, since he offered to let the girl have his bed.

"I'll take Orihime, first thing in the morning, when visiting hours begin. I should go and spend the night at her apartment, and let her know what she's going to have to do, if she even wants to have a chance to be with Ichigo."

At the Kurosaki residence, Karin and Yuzu are sitting on the couch together. Karin is still pondering her suspicions about Tatsuki, since she has never been sure enough to actually voice her suspicions to anybody other than Tatsuki back when it happened.

Isshin has gone to pick up a pizza, in hopes that the smell will lure Rukia-chan out of Ichigo's room. He knows young people particularly, like pizza, and Yuzu worked hard to make sure Ichigo's room would be ready for Rukia-chan when she got to the house, so he thought she'd appreciate a break from making dinner.

Rukia hadn't had any trouble, falling asleep in Ichigo's bed. His pillow had his scent, and it had relaxed her a great deal. She fell asleep imagining how much more exciting it would be, if he were in the bed with her. The smell of delicious pizza isn't enough to wake her, and she sleeps until the sunlight peeks through the curtains, waking her up early enough that she knows she'll be at the hospital to see Ichigo before visiting hours start.

The first thing she sees when she turns over, is that the bloody top she had on the day before has been scrubbed clean, completely free of any stains, and Rukia's eyes widen at that since she was sure she'd have to toss it.

"Wow, did one of Ichigo's sisters get the blood out?" Rukia asks out loud and then she stretches her arms out.

It doesn't take her long to find khakis and a pale blue designer top in her suitcase, and then she quietly makes her way out of his room as she nervously hunts for the bathroom. She finds it rather quickly, and is relieved she didn't accidentally walk into the wrong room where one of Ichigo's family members may have been sleeping.

After a hot shower, Rukia puts on her fresh clothes, and she is surprised when she smells bacon in the air, a scent that reminds her of her trip to America. She wonders who is cooking, and she brushes her hair quickly before making her way downstairs to find out who is making breakfast.

When Rukia enters the kitchen, she finds Yuzu in a light green dress and an apron on.

"Good morning," Rukia says, and Yuzu smiles at her.

"Good morning Rukia-san! Did you sleep well?" Yuzu asks, looking thrilled that the houseguest is awake.

"I slept better than I expected to, I didn't wake up even once." Rukia says, not admitting just how surprising that is, since she usually wakes up from having nightmares that replay the awful day in her mind when Kaien died.

"I'm happy to hear it, did you see I cleaned your shirt?" Yuzu asks, and Rukia nods gratefully.

"You did that? You didn't have to do that, but I really appreciate it." Rukia tells her, and Yuzu beams at her.

"It was no big deal. Thank you for saving my brother." Yuzu says quietly, and Rukia feels her face warming up.

"You're quite welcome, it was my pleasure." Rukia assures her, and Yuzu smiles hugely at her.

"I wanted to cook some breakfast for you since I thought you'd want to make it to the hospital in time for when visiting hours start." Yuzu tells her, and Rukia nods.

"True." She nods and feels her face heating up yet again.

Why do I have to be so obvious?!

"I'd like to go see him too," Yuzu says.

"I'm sure he'd enjoy that." Rukia says while nodding enthusiastically.

"I'm coming too." Karin says from the doorway and Yuzu smiles at her twin.

"Karin-chan you're worried too aren't you?" Yuzu says, but Karin looks away.

"A little bit." Karin says gruffly, even though she's more interested in seeing whether or not Tatsuki shows up at the hospital today.

"Now I'm sad that I have work to do, and I can't escort you beautiful girls to the hospital!" Isshin says, looking truly devastated, which gets Yuzu giggling.

"Shut your trap." Karin grumbles, before she snatches a piece of bacon and then she quickly backs away before Yuzu can smack her with the tongs.

"You'll take care of my idiot son, won't you Rukia-chan?" Isshin asks, and Rukia knows she's blushing so she turns her face away from him, which causes Karin to smother a smirk, and Yuzu to cover her mouth.

"Of course." Rukia says, refusing to meet any of their eyes.

"Now I can rest easy. Is breakfast ready yet?" Isshin asks, and Yuzu smiles.

"It's okay to start, toast should be out in a minute, and if anyone wants eggs, tell me now." Yuzu says, but Rukia shakes her head no before answering.

"I always eat a light breakfast, what you have made will be great."

"Don't take too long Karin-chan, both Rukia-chan and I want to get to the hospital right when visiting hours start." Yuzu orders, and everyone seems to be smiling like they can't stop, even Karin, the least likely of all of them to get caught up in Ichigo's life.

Rukia focuses on her plate since she can sense them all staring at her, even if it's not in a vicious way, she's just not used to it, and she wonders what they really think of her, and what they'd think if she wasn't a Kuchiki.

Funny, I didn't wonder that about Ichigo at all…

Karin eyes everyone she passes as she walks through the halls of the hospital with Rukia and her sister. For some reason, she doesn't think Rukia will get through the day without running into Tatsuki at some point, and she doesn't want them to be left alone.

For some reason I don't think that would turn out so well…I saw the angry look in her eyes last night when I talked to her.

"I wonder if Ichigo is awake…" Rukia murmurs nervously, since her heart is ramming against her chest in such a violent way that she's sure someone else is bound to notice.

Get a grip Kuchiki!

"If he's not we'll wake him up." Karin says casually, not seeming to notice Rukia's anxious state as they turn a corner.

"We will?" Rukia practically squeaks, but Karin's attention is on Ichigo's childhood friend who has suddenly come into view, along with her best friend Inoue Orihime.

"Tatsuki-chan is here!" Yuzu says, noticing at the same time as her sister.

"Who?" Rukia repeats, looking lost, and Karin nudges Rukia's arm.

"Ichi-ni's childhood friend, over there." Karin says, and Rukia follows her gaze to the athletic looking young woman several meters away from them.

"Come on Rukia-chan, I'll introduce you to her!" Yuzu says with a friendly smile, so the girls head right over to Tatsuki and Inoue, smiling pleasantly, even though Karin has her eyes narrowed suspiciously and her teeth are clenched, not that Yuzu notices, but Rukia senses that Karin is tense.

"Oh, Karin-chan, Yuzu-chan!" Inoue says with a bright smile, and Yuzu beams at her.

"Rukia-chan, this is Arisawa Tatsuki and Inoue Orihime." Yuzu announces.

"Tatsuki-chan's been his friend for as long as I can remember. Oh…" Karin looks at Tatsuki straight in the eye. "And this here is Kuchiki Rukia-san, the girl who saved Ichi-ni yesterday." Karin tells them, and Tatsuki meets the girl's big blue eyes.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Rukia says, bowing respectfully.

"You too," Inoue says returning the bow, and Tatsuki seems to follow her best friend's example, though reluctantly.

"Yes," Tatsuki says simply, even though she's a little unsure of how her friend is supposed to confess with an audience.

"You saved Kurosaki-kun?" Inoue says with a look of surprise.

"I didn't do that much." Rukia says, ducking her head, feeling a bit embarrassed.

"Dad said you left a whole pile of them that needed medical care." Karin says, which only makes Rukia more flustered and unable to say anything.

"I'm happy you came to see my brother," Yuzu says, giving a friendly smile to the girls, and Tatsuki forces herself to smile back as if nothing is wrong.

"Excuse me, Kuchiki Rukia?" A nurse says, disrupting the conversation, and Rukia looks at the lady.

"Yes that's me."

"Kurosaki Ichigo was adamant that we lead you in to see him the moment you got here." The nurse says, and Rukia blushes a bit at that.

"Even though I'm here early?" Rukia asks, and the nurse smiles at her before leaning over to whisper in the rich young woman's ear.

"This hospital has received donations from the Kuchiki Group, so upon hearing your name, the director said we should bend the rules."

"I see." Rukia says, before smiling very happily.

He must want to see me…

"This way please, he's been moved since last night." The nurse tells her, but Rukia touches her arm, stopping her in her tracks.

"These here are his sisters, and they are his friends. Can they join me in seeing him?" Rukia asks, and the nurse looks apologetic.

"His sisters can come, but his friends will have to wait for official visiting hours to start." The nurse says, and Rukia nods her head.

"I understand." Rukia says, and she begins to follow the nurse with Ichigo's sisters right behind her.

"We'll talk more later," Yuzu says back to Tatsuki and Inoue, before she falls into step next to her sister.

Tatsuki balls her hand into a fist as she watches them walk away and then she turns to Inoue.

"I have a bad feeling about this, Orihime." Tatsuki says, and she feels a painful lump in her throat when her best friend's eyes start to shine with tears.

"It's my own fault Tatsuki-chan, I should have told him sooner…" Inoue trails off and Tatsuki grabs her friend's arms.

"It's not too late, you have to tell him. The sooner the better." Tatsuki says unwaveringly, which seems to motivate her friend a bit, and make her not feel like it's already over, before anything has even begun.

"If a moment comes, where it's possible, I will." Inoue says, with a note of resolve in her voice and Tatsuki grins at her.

"I promise to do what I can to make sure you have that moment then." Tatsuki pledges and Inoue reaches out to hug her friend.

"Thank you Tatsuki-chan."

"Anytime, Orihime."

When Rukia and Ichigo's sisters walk into his room, Ichigo's whole face lights up when he sees the girl who saved his life, a sight that strikes both of his sisters as odd, since both are struggling to remember if they've ever seen him make such a face.

"Rukia, you came!" Ichigo says, and Rukia nods her head back at him.

"I told you I would, even though we got here in earlier than I thought we would." She says, and his sisters both smile.

"Ichi-ni, I'm glad you're okay." Karin says, and Yuzu nods.

"We were both worried when we heard about it." Yuzu says, but Ichigo can't rid himself of his ridiculous smile since Rukia is back.

"I'm sorry I worried you." Ichigo tells them, and Yuzu waves her hand to dismiss that.

"We're just happy you're alright." Yuzu says, but Ichigo can't stop staring at the young woman that saved his life.

"I'll be able to go home tomorrow." Ichigo says softly to Rukia, and she gives him a happy smile.

"So soon? That's wonderful!" Rukia says, with her eyes sparkling in happiness, so Ichigo gives her a teasing smile.

"This doesn't mean you can't still stay in my room…" His sentence is cut off by the embarrassed gasp of both of his sisters, and Rukia couldn't be more red than what she's turned after his comment.

"Come on Yuzu, help me find a vending machine." Karin says in a tight voice, since this conversation is making her squirm a bit.

Yuzu doesn't answer, so Karin has to drag her sister out of the room, but they hear her protest once they are out.

"But Karin-chan! We just got here!"

Rukia is still trying to get over her embarrassment from Ichigo's offer for her to share his room with him, and she wonders how many other girls he's said that line to.

"I hope you don't say that line casually to any girl you meet." Rukia says, giving him a censuring stare.

Of course she doesn't expect his reaction. His happy face goes rigid, and he holds her gaze as he responds to her.

"I've never made that offer to any girl before." He says it with so much finality, she can't help but believe him.

"Really?" She asks, since she can't think of anything else to say.

"It's true." Ichigo says, feeling a bit ashamed that he's revealed that about himself so soon to her.

"I'm happy to hear it." Rukia admits, feeling her insides jump in happiness from his confession.

"I want to know more about you." Ichigo says next, and Rukia's eyes widen.

"Huh?" She asks, feeling a bit shy all of a sudden.

"We have all day today…and I want to know as much about you as possible. I've spent the last night wondering about the woman who saved me." Ichigo tells her, and Rukia feels her heart race even faster since he's so preoccupied with her.

"What if I'm not as interesting as what you've assumed?" Rukia asks, and Ichigo just shakes his head.

"That'd be impossible. Please tell me about you." Ichigo says, and Rukia sits down in a chair at his bedside.

"Alright, but when I'm done, you have to do the same." Rukia tells him, and Ichigo smiles warmly at her.

"Deal."

Finally, I get to learn about the girl who's consumed my thoughts since I saw her.