Author's Note: Many thanks to everyone who reviewed. Also to whoever favorite or alerted this story. I am most grateful.

Ichigo: "Alright already we get it."

Me: "Oh shove it. Why are you so grouchy?"

Ichigo*twitch*: "I almost had my head cut off because of you."

Damian: "Oh don't be like that she didn't mean to cause you harm."

Ichigo: "What the…Why are you here?"

Damian: "Here to see you of course" *wink*

Mason: "…"

Ichigo: "Okay?" o.O

Me: "Awkward… So Damian and Mason I'm sorry that you guys won't be in this chapter."

Damian: "That's quite alright. So long as I can get some free time with Strawberry over here."

Ichigo: "Don't call me that! And what do you mean by 'free time'?"

Damian: "oh well…"

Me: "DAMIAN! I suggest you keep quiet." *looks over at Mason*

Mason: "….Whatever."

Damian: "What I do now?"

Me*sigh*: "You're mother would be soo disappointed."

Ichigo: "His mother?"

Me: "Yeah Andrea aka JadeDawn."

Ichigo*facepalm*: "That explains sooooo much."

JadeDawn*gasp*: "How rude!"

Damian: "Hey Andrea!" *smile*

Mason: "Hi."

JadeDawn: "Aww Mason what's the matter? Tell Momma Andrea."

Ichigo: "The hell?"

Mason: "…nothing."

JadeDawn: "Damian…" *glare*

Damian: "What?"

Me: "Oh boy…Well while they deal with that let us continue forth towards the tale shall we. Miss Kuchiki if you would do the honors."

Rukia: "Ichigo's FAV Twin does not own Bleach or any of its characters."

Chapter 13

Ichigo made his way home feeling exhausted. 'Today was a long day. Can't wait to get home and just knock out.' He shoved his free hand in his pocket and felt something soft. He took it out and frowned. It was the handkerchief Rukia had given him. 'What the hell is up with her? She confuses me.' Ichigo was about to drop it but decided against. He brought to his bleeding lip and winced.

After he had cleaned the blood from his lip he shoved it back into his pocket. He moved it around his fingers feeling its smooth and soft texture. 'I don't get her. Calls me a man whore one minute then helps me out and worries about me the next.' A smiled formed on his lips involuntarily. He found amusement in her strange behavior.

Ichigo was too preoccupied with his own thoughts that he failed to notice that he was in front of his house. He also failed to notice the girl walking towards him with a huge bag of groceries that was obscuring her view.

They crashed into each other causing the girl to drop her bag and lose her balance. She landed hard on her back and groaned in annoyance.

"Watch where you're going you id….Ichigo?"

Ichigo rubbed his back from his place on the floor and looked at the girl suddenly, surprised that she knew his name. He recognized her immediately but her name seemed to slip his mind.

"Oh…umm hey," he said nervously as he tried to remember her name.

She laughed seeing his obvious discomfort, "It's me Senna. We met during rehearsal."

"Oh right," he said lamely feeling foolish for having forgotten the nae of the girl who had kissed him, "Look I'm really sorry for crashing into you. I wasn't paying attention." He got up and held out his hand to help her up.

She grabbed it smiling, "It's alright just don't do it again or else" She nudged his side playfully causing him to wince in pain. She then noticed his cut lip and the light bruises on his face.

A look of worry crossed her face, "Oh what happened to you? Did you get beat up?" She reached up to touch his face but he stopped her by grabbing her wrist. She realized her mistake and brought her hand down. "Sorry."

Ichigo sighed, "Its fine. And to answer your question, no I didn't get beat up. These guys just picked a fight with me. That's all nothing serious."

"If it's nothing serious then why are you going to a clinic?" she asked pointing the building next to them.

"Oh no," Ichigo replied rubbing the back of his neck, "My dad owns this clinic. Our house is right next to it."

"Oh," she said feeling foolish.

Ichigo then began to pick up her fallen groceries and handed them to her.

She smiled graciously, "Thank you. I would like to talk some more but I'm kinda in a hurry." She started to walk backwards in the direction she was heading while trying to look over the big bag. "I'll see you tomorrow Ichigo!"

Ichigo smiled, "Yeah see ya."

Senna turned around and walked away. After walking a few feet she remembered something and turned around to speak, "Hey Ichigo!"

He looked at her, "What?"

"Just because your dad owns his own clinic doesn't mean you should be looking for trouble," she smirked, "Wouldn't want to ruin that handsome face of yours."

Ichigo felt his face heat up. "Shut up," he stuttered.

Senna laughed triumphantly and walked away feeling proud of herself. 'It won't be long now. And what luck? I now know where he lives.' Senna hummed happily as she rummaged through her groceries to see if anything was damaged or missing. She noticed that her jar of pickles were not in there. 'I guess it must have fallen out. Not a problem I'll just go back.'

She walked back the way she came checking the floor to see if there was any sign of it. She soon found it on the curb ten feet away from where she and Ichigo had been standing. She grinned when she inspected it and found no signs of damage. Senna took one last look at his house before leaving.

Just then she saw something that she did not like at all. Her smile left her face and was replaced by a frown. Her brows knitted in anger and confusion as she watched Rukia Kuchiki enter the Kurosaki home as if the natural thing to do. 'So she can just waltz in there like she owns the place.' She tightened her grip on the jar of pickles until it shattered in her hands.

Senna decided to walk away before she did anything rash. She ignored the pain coming from her hand and the warm blood that came oozing out from the wounds in her hand. She had a faint thought of going to the Kurosaki clinic to get it bandaged up but decided against it.

She had no idea what she would have done knowing that that SHE was with him. Senna didn't want to make the same mistake twice.

Rukia stood nervously outside the door. Contemplating whether it was a good idea to have gone there. She raised her fist to knock on the door only to bring it back down. 'Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. He wouldn't want to talk to me now. I'll just talk to him tomorrow maybe by then he would have forgotten all about this. He can't stay mad at me forever.'

Rukia was about to leave when suddenly the door flew open. Karin came out with a soccer ball and stopped shortly when she saw Rukia. She blinked in surprised and smile at her.

"Oh hey Rukia. What chu doing here?" Karin asked, "Is your head bothering you?"

Rukia laughed nervously in her school girl voice, "No not at all. Um I was wondering if I could talk to Ichigo?"

"Ichigo? Yeah sure go right on in he's in his room," Karin said opening the door so the Rukia can go in.

"Thank you," Rukia said before going inside and heading upstairs.

Karin closed the door behind her when a thought crossed her mind. 'Wait I never told her which room was his.' She smiled knowingly and ran off to go play soccer with her friends.

So far Ichigo's plans of a quiet afternoon have not gone well. The minute he had stepped foot through the door into his house he has had to go through Yuzu's interrogation and Karin's teasing. Then he was scolded by his father for allowing to be beaten so easily even though that wasn't the case. Like always this led to a fight between the two men.

"Come on Ichigo fight like a man!" Isshin said to his son as he sent another kick to his head.

Ichigo nimbly dodged it and was able to land a blow that momentarily knocking Isshin off his feet, "What the hell old man? Can't I go to my room in one piece for once!"

"Very nice my son. And if I don't give you your daily beatings how else are you going to toughen up and become a man?" Isshin exclaimed before being knocked out cold by his son.

Ichigo dusted himself off and went to his room leaving his unconscious father on the floor. He gave a sigh of relief once he reached his room. He dropped his backpack near the door and flung himself on his bed without even bothering to change out of his school clothes. He was about to drift off to sleep when there came a knock on his door.

He groaned in frustration, "Come in." He sat up expecting to see Yuzu but was surprised to see Rukia instead. "What do you want?" he said in a harsh tone.

Rukia stood rooted to the spot not knowing what to say. She stared at her hands, unable to meet his gaze. She heard Ichigo sigh and a sound that indicated that he had gotten up from his bed. She looked up only to see him standing before her looking at her with his hard amber eyes.

She took a step back, "I just came to say I'm sorry."

Ichigo blinked in surprise, "You're sorry?"

Rukia looked him straight in the eye and spoke clearly, "Yeah I realized that I acted like a bitch to you and you didn't deserve it."

Ichigo scoffed, "Damn straight I didn't it!" There was a long pause.

"So…" Rukia said shifting uncomfortably.

Ichigo started to walk towards his bad and sat on it, "So what?"

Rukia gave him a look of annoyance, "So do you accept my apology?"

He smirked, "Let me think about it."

She gaped at him, "Think about it! I don't have time for you to think about it! It's either a yes or a no."

Ichigo laughed at her, "You know you look like a fish when you look at me like that."

Rukia was angry, "Wha…a fish? Just give me your answer before I beat it out of you."

He ignored her threat and just laughed. "Yes I accept your apology. There happy," he said smiling.

Despite the insult Rukia was happy by his answer and a little bit shocked. She had expected him to have said no. "Really?"

"You want me to say no?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

"No I'm good," Rukia replied.

"Good now get out." He got up and started leading her out. Well it was more like he was pushing her out.

"Wait before I go…" she said while sidestepping him.

He rolled his eyes, "What now?"

"Why were you fighting those guys?" she asked while walking around his room.

Ichigo stayed quiet for a while, "You sure ask a lot of questions."

"I'm a very curious person," she smirked at him.

"Well don't you know that curiosity killed the cat?" he retorted back.

"At least that cat got her answers before she died," she said before sitting on his bed, "So talk."

Ichigo hesitated before a moment, "They were just a group of guys that always like to pick a fight with me because of my hair."

Rukia nodded her head in understanding. His words from before rang in her head.

"You're just like everyone else in this god damn hell hole!"

She finally understood what he meant and felt even more guilt for her words.

"Rukia hello?" he waved a hand across her dazed face, "Hey midget I'm talking to you!"

Rukia looked up suddenly only to have her own handkerchief thrown at her face. She grabbed it and noticed that there was blood on it.

She made a face of disgust, "What the…"

"Just giving it back to you," he replied calmly.

"It has blood on it! Why would I want it back?" she yelled back while throwing it on the ground.

"Oh I know why you're mad," Ichigo said as he walked towards her. He had decided to play a little trick on her. 'Just to get her back for what she said. Give her what she wants.'

He kneeled in front of her from her seat on his bed and leaned forward until their noses were touching. Rukia stared in shock as red colored her cheeks. She tried to move away but he trapped her with his arms making it difficult for her to move to the side. They only way out was to move backwards onto his bed.

"What are you doing?" she stammered while trying to push him away.

Ichigo grinned, "What does it look like?" He lightly brushed his lips on hers before pulling back and smiling at her flushed face.

Rukia felt an electric current run through her body when their lips made contact. She looked at his grinning face and finally understood. 'So that's what he's doing. Alright Kurosaki you want to play that way. Fine two can play at that game.'

She smiled at him and wrapped her arms around his neck and brought his face close again. "So it looks like you saw right through me. I thought I could fool you but it turns out that you're smarter than I had anticipated you to be," she said teasingly.

Ichigo gave her a bewildered look as his face turned a bright red. He hadn't anticipated that. Ichigo was at loss of what to do. 'Damn what now?' Suddenly an idea popped into is hand.

He went along with her charade and placed his hands on either side of her waist causing her to flinch slightly in surprise and pulled her closer toward him. He leaned in closer so that his lips once again brushed up against hers.

Rukia's lips warmed up with each breathe he took. Her heart hammered against her chest and her mind went blank. All smiles had faded away and there was a palpable silence in the air. This was no longer a game and both of them knew it. Though instead of moving away from each they moved closer and closer until there was no space left between them.

Ichigo crashed his lips against Rukia's and kissed her hard. Rukia shut her eyes and reveled at the feeling of his lips moving against hers. He tilted his head slightly and hissed when Rukia bit his lip. She ran her hands through his orange locks as his hands roamed her back.

They both fell back on the bed. They stopped momentarily to catch their breaths and continued. There came a knocked on the door and they both jumped. Ichigo quickly saw the position they were in and jumped off the bed as quickly as he could. Rukia got up quickly and fixed her hair making sure to have her back turned towards Ichigo.

He avoided looking at her as he opened the door to find Yuzu on the other side.

"What's up Yuzu?" he asked, a little too quickly.

"I just came to…," she stopped when she saw Rukia, "Oh Rukia I didn't know you were here."

"Yeah I just came to talk to Ichigo about something," she said smiling. She looked at the clock on Ichigo's dresser and gave a look of shock, "Oh well you look at the time. I really need to get going."

Yuzu looked disappointed, "Aw really I was hoping you could have stayed a little while longer. Maybe even have dinner with us."

"That's sounds lovely but I should really be heading home," she said sweetly. Rukia turned towards Ichigo who still refused to look at her, "It was nice talking to you Ichigo."

"Yeah it was nice talking to you," he said awkwardly.

"Well I'm off. Bye Ichigo. Bye Yuzu," she left the room.

"Wait Rukia I'll walk you out," Yuzu looked at her older brother, "Dinner will be ready in an hour Ichi."

Ichigo just nodded in response. He watched Yuzu and Rukia chat happily as they walked down the hallway and down the stairs. He stood there in a daze.

Karin walked by and noticed his strange expression, "Hey I'm back."

Ichigo looked at her suddenly acknowledging her presence, "Oh hey Karin."

"I just saw Rukia leave," she said in a bored tone as she kicked the soccer ball.

"Ah yeah. She was here for a while….We just talked," he quickly added that last part.

Karin heard the nervousness in his voice and smirked, "Oh really now. Must have been a good talk when I saw Rukia leave she had a big smile plastered on her face."

"Huh," he saw her knowing smile and glared at her. "Shut up."

"So what were you guys talking about?" she probed.

"None of your business," he hissed.

Karin shrugged, "Whatever not my problem." She walked away and smiled when she heard the door slam. 'Looks like our Ichigo is finally growing up'

Ichigo threw himself on his bed and grumbled, "Little know-it-all twirp." He put his pillow over his head. 'So much for peace and quiet. I can't see how this day can't get any worse.' He laid there replaying all the day's events in his head. 'What the hell just happen?' He looked at his clock. 'I have an hour to myself. I should just fall asleep. Fuck I'll just take a shower. A really cold shower.'

A/N: Okay Okay I know but before any of you say anything… Look at the peacock!

Ichigo: "What the hell was that all about?"

Me: "Seriously it's soo beautiful."

Rukia*blushing*: "I can't even find the word to describe how…how angry and horrified I am right now!"

Me: "Such a magnificent bird."

Ichigo: "Horrified?"

Rukia: "Yes horrified."

Me: "Oh look a tiger came by. Such a beautiful and deadly creature."

Ichigo: "I should be the one that's horrified. You're like…"

Rukia: "Don't you dare say it!"

Me: "Oh crap the tigers coming towards us! RUN!"

Ichigo and Rukia: "WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?"

Me*pointing*: "That."

(They turn to see the tiger running towards us)

Ichigo*paled*: "Oh…"

Rukia*paled*: "Shit."

All three of us: "RUN!"

Audience why aren't you running? If you took the time to read this, bless your face. If you sneezed while reading this, bless you. Now remember…

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