Notes: All you lovely people who left reviews/favourited/alerted this story are positively sexy ;)

(ICHIGO)

10:42 pm

I didn't expect to see Rukia cry.

Witnessing this made me panic a little inside. The Rukia I was familiar with certainly didn't show cracks of vulnerability.

The moment she broke down like that, I instinctively wrapped my arm around her. Growing up with two sisters taught me a thing or two about weepy females. They wanted comfort, but I couldn't mask the surprise on my face when Rukia willingly crumpled into me.

She was so fucking fragile, I was afraid that I was going to break her.

I wanted to know why she felt the way that she did, but I couldn't bring myself to ask any questions. When my arm accidentally grazed the back of her neck, I felt the icy surface of her skin (and holy shit she was freezing).

Rukia was still shaking when she broke away from me. "I'm sorry," she looked up apologetically.

I scoffed. "For what?" Of course I had to be somewhat sensitive to her feelings, but I couldn't help but think that yeah, you should be sorry for running off like that! I practically kicked my chair down back at the café to chase after her (I had to throw money at Rangiku as I took off- but I don't think she appreciated it much). If Rukia ended up on the streets as road kill or worse, the noble Kuchikis would arrest my ass for sure.

She chewed on her bottom lip nervously. "Your tee shirt."

I creased my eyebrows. "What?"

Rukia took a moment to respond. "I cried all over it," she winced.

I looked down at the tear stained fabric of my shirt. "Wait, that's what you're apologizing for?" I exclaimed in disbelief. After making me fret over her little escapade and then having to watch her snivel like that?

She squinted her eyes at me. "What else would I be sorry for?"

I opened my mouth to retort, but quickly decided to let it go. "Just- never mind," I exhaled. I lifted my arms to enclose both of her hands in mine. She shot me a quizzical look, but remained quiet. I brought her hands to my mouth so I could blow warm air into them.

My mother always did that for me when I was a kid.

I immediately shoved my hands back into my pockets after. "Let's just find a place with heating so we can thaw out."

Her cheeks were flushing a poppy red, so I didn't want to keep her outside in the cold for too long.

Rukia began to peer around.

I looked through the glass door behind her. "We can still grab some snacks if you want, since you were going to go in there anyway," I suggested.

Her face lit up. "Okay!" She spun around and opened the door to enter the Kara-Mart.

Once we were inside, the stale stench of expired food immediately wafted into my nostrils. Our only source of light was the flickering fluorescent panels that hung above us. Moths fluttered around the bulbs in grey and white clusters. The heat would occasionally singe their wings and their bodies would then drift to the floor. Rukia almost stepped on one.

There was a sad looking boy sitting at the cash register. He was openly flipping through a porn magazine with a bored expression on his face. The guy must not get a lot of customers. When he raised his eyes and spotted Rukia, a disturbing grin suddenly crept up his mouth. She immediately stiffened and began to walk faster.

"It's a little…dank in here, don't 'cha think?" I commented as we strolled through the aisles. She walked a little closer to me.

"Dank is an understatement; let's hurry up," she whispered harshly.

Did horror movies ever take place in creepy convenient stores?

We stopped at the chips and candy racks to browse through the rows of snacks. Rukia was quickly shuffling through the rabbit packaged sweets. I rolled my eyes at this. What was her deal with bunnies anyway? I turned around and held up two packets of candy to her face.

"Pretz or Pocky?" I proposed.

She scowled and shoved them away. "Just pick one would you? I want to get out of here as quickly as possible."

I narrowed my eyes. "Fine, I'll choose myself then- and you won't get any." I placed them back on the rack and started to wave my index finger back and forth. "Eenie, meenie, miney, moe, catch a tig-"

Rukia threw her hands up and snatched the Pocky from the rack. "Pocky okay? Please!"

I grinned. "You still don't get any."

She shot me a chilly glower. I took a step back and almost tripped over my own feet. "Okay! You can eat some, jeez!" I exclaimed. The little brat smiled triumphantly.

She grabbed a bar of Chappy chocolate before we began to examine the rows of chips. As I scanned the different flavours, an irritating squeaking noise suddenly pierced through my ears. I looked down to see Rukia scrunching each bag to see the amount of air in them.

I cringed at the noise. "Can you- can you stop that?"

She gave me a confused look. "Why? I'm checking the quantity of chips per bag." Now she seemed upset, but she didn't stop.

I gave her an annoyed look. "Can you check bag quantity elsewhere? The sound gives me the shivers."

"What, you mean this?" Rukia deliberately crumpled the material harshly. I slapped my hands over my ears; I could feel my insides squeaking.

"And you claim that you're the mature one!" I hissed over the noise. She immediately stopped. I let the sweet sound of silence surround me.

"You're one to talk." She turned away from me with her nose in the air. I let her be and grabbed two barbeque flavoured packages of chips. Rukia didn't stray too far from me, probably in fear of that man behind the counter. She came back with a salt and vinegar package in hand. I scrunched my face up in disgust.

"Salt and vinegar? You know there's something that tastes like that for free- it's called the ocean," I grimaced.

Rukia shoved the bag along with her other crap to my chest. I winced from the crunch. "Whatever, just buy these for me okay? I'll pay you back when I get the money. I'm going to make some coffee."

She didn't give me a chance to protest before she sped off. "Okay, your highness," I muttered.

I didn't need her to pay me back though…unless she had forgotten why we were in this predicament in the first place. Even though she was a royal pain in the ass ninety percent of the time, I couldn't just let Rukia throw her life away. She was the heir to the Kuchiki family after all; she had too much to live for. I decided that my last task of the night would be to get her home safely. The nobles could do whatever they wanted with the twerp once I brought her in.

I just needed to be subtle about it until she calmed down. She'd probably get angry at me for leading her back to the Kuchiki Manor, but I'll be physically gone from this world before she can give me a piece of her mind.

I grabbed a couple of chocolate bars before heading towards the cash register. I unloaded all the stuff onto the surface of the counter. The employee was even more unfortunate looking up close, if that was possible. He had greasy shoulder length hair and yellowing teeth to match. 'Makizo' didn't look too pleased to assist me.

Your mother must regret ever conceiving you.

"What was that?" he asked in a nasally voice.

Crap, did I say that out loud? "Huh? Nothing," I quickly piped up.

Makizo slowly scanned each item one by one. I swallowed hard when I spotted the small box of tampons hidden in the depths of the chip bags and candy bars. What the hell?

As he scanned the last of the junk food, he lifted the little box and brought it close to the red light.

"Those aren't mine!" I instinctively burst out, slamming my hand down on the counter.

Makizo raised an eyebrow. "Clearly," he said in a flat tone. He frowned and tried scanning it again when it beeped. "Huh. Something must be wrong with this one. Could you go grab another package for me?"

God damn it Rukia!

I plastered a forced smile on my face and nodded. I stepped to the side and proceeded to scan the racks in the store for a similar box. I finally found the small section labeled 'feminine hygiene'.

Oh God.

She definitely wasn't getting any of the Pocky now.

I looked over all the boxes. Why were there so freakin' many? I couldn't comprehend why some were labeled 'regular.' Were there such things as irregular packs? And what were absorbency ratings? Was cardboard or plastic better? Why the hell did they come in different sizes?

Right when I thought I was about to have a heart attack from frustration, Rukia poked her head in the section. "Ichigo? I thought you were purchasing the items," she said as she started to walk towards me.

I glared at her. "Yeah- I was, until the bar code of your pearl tip, extra absorbency, one hundred percent cotton,package of girl corks failed on me!" I spat out as I stumbled backwards.

Rukia's hand suddenly extended out towards me. "Ichigo!" She widened her eyes.

I didn't have time to process her warning when I crashed into a stand full of magazines and knocked the entire rack to the floor. The glossy issues all flew up in the air and landed violently on the ground. Subscription cards fluttered around me as I landed in a sprawled position. "Ow…" I winced. Heavy footsteps thundered in our direction as the pain from the impact began to settle in.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Captain Dandruff shouted furiously as he stormed towards us. He pointed a finger at me. "You, out of my store! Now!"

"Fool!" Rukia hissed at me. Did she have to yell at me too?

When Makizo heard her voice, his expression immediately lit up. "Why hello there little lady," he chirped suavely as he stepped over me to approach her.

"Hey!" I scowled.

"Is that man bothering you?" he asked in a sickeningly sweet tone.

She glanced at me, then back at Makizo. A teary eyed expression washed over her face. "Yes!" she cried out dramatically. "I only wanted to buy the last Chappy Bar, but he snatched it away from my hands before I could even head to the cash register!"

Great, so I was a mugger now? I drummed my fingers impatiently against the floor.

"Don't worry, I'll get rid of this vile brute for you," Makizo said zealously. He grabbed a nearby mop and began to swing at me. "Be gone you vulgar barbarian!"

He was really trying to strike me!

When he missed the second time, he raised his leg to prepare a kick. I scrambled back on my feet and darted out through the exit before he could take a hit. "You're insane!" I hollered as I slammed the glass door behind me. I paused to catch a breath before I leaned against the bus stop pole. My arms crossed in exasperation.

Two minutes went by.

Five minutes.

Six minutes.

I began to feel restless when several minutes passed and Rukia was still inside. She was sure taking her sweet time.

But soon after, I heard bells tinkle.

I immediately straightened my posture when she came back outside with two plastic bags in her hands. "What took you so long?" I snapped. But I couldn't hide the relief on my face to see that that Makizo pervert hadn't mauled her or anything like that.

She handed me one of the plastic bags. "Your stupid Pocky," she said bitterly.

I took it. "Jeez, what happened to you?"

"I had to spend an extended amount of time with that freak!" she exclaimed.

"At least you weren't literally kicked out of the store."

"Well you weren't forced to touch his sword and his guns," she retorted.

I widened my eyes. What the fuck? I placed both of my hands on her shoulders and shook her. "What the hell happened in there?" I cried out.

"I told you, he made me stroke his sword. I've never seen one that long before-"

That's it. I was going to snap that perverted bastard's head off.

"You're a dead man you fucking lowlife!" I snarled angrily as I began to make my way towards the door, but Rukia pushed me back before I could even reach for the handle.

"Why are you so upset?" she exclaimed with wide eyes.

I clenched the sides of her arms in aggravation. Why wasn't she upset? "Because he forced you to touch his-"

"-model guns and sword!" Rukia interrupted me. A gasp escaped her mouth as she processed the situation. "Oh my God, you didn't think that…"

I dropped my grip on her. "You must be kidding me," I said through clenched teeth.

A meek smile tugged at her lips. "He kept his model gun and sword collection in the back of the store. I guess he thought showing them to me would be impressive or something. He was all, 'Go ahead, feel their authenticity'…I think…he was trying to be sexy," she shrugged.

I inhaled a deep breath and slowly released it. "Rukia. Next time you try to explain something like that…don't use words like 'stroke' damn it!" I growled.

A full-out grin stretched on her face. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say that you were actually worried about me," she simpered smugly.

I rolled my eyes. "I'd be worried for anyone in the wake of that cretin."

She ignored me. "I appreciate your concern, but I can take care of myself you know."

I looked at her tiny frame and raised my eyebrows.

(RUKIA)

11:16 pm

"I bet you're not even five feet tall. What can you possibly do?" he scowled.

I leaned in closer to inspect Ichigo's expression.

He looked away.

I sighed. "Okay, thank you for looking out for me. But for your information, I can do some pretty amazing things- like snag all of these snacks for free with my charming benignity."

"Charming my ass," Ichigo said dismissively as he tore open a package of chips. He began to devour its contents like a true troglodyte. It took him a second to realize that he had grabbed my salt and vinegar chips by accident. He immediately spat them out and wiped his tongue with the back of his hand. "I think I just puked a little," he drawled in disgust.

I grabbed the bag from his hands. "More for me then. Can we get out of here?"

Ichigo scanned our surroundings. I also looked around, but almost all the stores had their lights turned off.

"Um, you like rabbits, right?" he asked.

-x-

I stared in disbelief.

"Very clever, Ichigo," I said dryly.

Our eyes were both transfixed on the two burlesque dancers in front of us. The couple of busty women were dressed in skimpy rabbit suits that consisted of collars and bunny ears. Less emphasis on the 'suit' part though, the ratio of skin to cloth was alarming. One girl was wagging her fluffy tail at Ichigo.

He yawned and gave me an apologetic look. "Sorry, it's getting late. It was only the place with an OPEN sign- woah! How is she doing that?"

I tilted my head and eyed the girl who had her toned legs stretched in a questionable position. "I'll get back to you when I find out," I said sarcastically.

He bit his lips. "Wouldn't want you to hurt yourself kiddo-"

I stomped on his foot. He yelped out in pain. "Speaking of which- what did you say to that bouncer who let us into this bar anyway?" I asked curiously.

Ichigo scratched the back of his head. "Perks of being Orihime Inoue's ex-boyfriend?"

"Ah," I nodded knowingly. "Is being stared at like a piece of meat also a side effect of B.O.I.E.B.?" I lifted my chin to acknowledge the girl behind him.

Ichigo looked over his shoulder to see what I was addressing. He quickly shifted his gaze back on me.

"She's mentally undressing you," I pointed out blatantly.

"Well, B.O.I.E.B is this disease I've been diagnosed with that just might be terminal. Its symptoms include crazy girls who prevent me from going on dates without having my date impaled by the stiletto heel of a lunatic," he said flatly. "Any suggestions for a cure?"

I tapped my chin in thought. "Hm, maybe if you mussed up your hair a little- that just might do the trick. Girls won't chase after slobs."

Ichigo raised both his hands and ruffled his bright orange hair. "Like this?" he flashed me a shy smile.

Holy fuck.

What have I done?

I did all I could to refrain from reaching over and running my hands over his tousled hair. Okay, calm down hormones.

Even though he was a boy, it was still colossally unfair that he could rumple his hair like that and still look good, if not better.

I lamely gave him a thumbs-up. "Just trying to raise awareness for B.O.I.E.B.," I said weakly.

Ichigo began to laugh. "She was staring at you, idiot. She's probably removing her shoe right now to launch at your face."

I crossed my arms. "Yeah, I'm sure she wants to claw my eyes out for breathing the same air as the great Ichigo Kurosaki."

"Nah, I don't think it's a side effect of my disease this time. She's only jealous of you because you're so god damn at- " he paused then swallowed. "-annoying."

"She's jealous of me…because I'm annoying," I repeated slowly.

He quickly waved his hand to call on the bartender. Ugh, how immature could he get?

An extremely tall boy with fire-engine red hair sauntered to our side of the counter. He had intimidating tattoos inked on his forehead as well as down his neck. There was a menacing scowl on his face.

"He seems nice," I whispered meekly to Ichigo. But he was too busy sizing this guy up to hear me. I gave the bartender a sympathetic look.

"I'll have a bottle of beer," Ichigo ordered.

"And I'll have a bottle of ID, chump. You don't look a day over seventeen," the bartender replied mockingly.

Ichigo narrowed his eyes. "Look pineapple head, I left my wallet at home."

"Then how'd you get in here in the first pla- Rukia Kuchiki?"

Great, the last thing I needed was to be fussed over by some annoying spectator of the noble families. "No, but people tell me that I look like the heir to the Kuchiki family all the ti- Renji Abarai?" I gasped.

Ichigo shot me a puzzled look. "Wait, you know this guy?"

I didn't even recognize Renji with all those new tattoos. "I haven't seen you in forever…" I said quietly.

Renji's expression softened. "Wow you've…really grown up Rukia," he breathed out.

"Yeah, you too," I said lamely. This was getting increasingly awkward.

He stuck a thumb out towards Ichigo. "So who's this carrot-top over here? Doesn't seem like someone Byakuya would approve of," he snickered.

So he was still bitter. I couldn't blame him. "Hey who are you calling a carrot-top?" Ichigo growled with hostility. He stood up and gripped the ledge with both hands. I stuck out a hand in front of Ichigo's face to stop him from making a scene.

"Don't mind Ichigo, he's just some boy I met," I said nonchalantly.

Ichigo sat back down and began to fume. Renji ignored him as he wiped a glass with a dish towel. "Rukia, we should hang out again like old times! I'm sure you can make your own decisions now," he piped up. He had a hopeful look in his eyes.

I averted my stare. It made my heart hurt to see that expression again. "I'm…not sure if I can."

Not if I was still planning to end my life. I looked over at Ichigo. He probably thought that I had forgotten all about our circumstances, but the notion of death was still lingering in the back of my head. Seeing Renji again made me even angrier at Nii-sama for how he treated everyone.

Renji dolefully furrowed his eyebrows. "Why?" he pressed on.

I shifted in my stool. "Because…" I couldn't form the words in my mouth.

"Because you're still listening to that brother of yours with the stick up his ass? Come on Rukia, live a little," he said with annoyance lacing up his voice.

Boy, he had no idea.

"I don't want Byakuya to hurt you too," I said softly.

He crumpled the towel into a tight ball. "I'm not scared of him anymore, I can take him on!" He held up one index finger. "Just give me one chance and maybe I can convince him that I'm not that reckless, dirty, street kid anymore."

"Renji!" I squeezed my eyes shut.

He didn't stop. "Look we can go to that park you always liked and catch up on each other's lives-"

"I'm getting engaged okay?"

He froze. His expression slowly began to fall. "Oh. Who's…the lucky guy?"

"You wouldn't know him. And I have responsibilities now, I don't have time to roll around in mud with you anymore okay?" I snapped. But once those words left my lips, I immediately regretted it. "Look Renji, I've missed you-"

"Well you sure have an odd way of showing it," he said sharply.

A shrill whistle was suddenly heard from the other side of the counter. Renji gave me one last glazed over look before turning away to cater the other customers.

Ichigo took a deep breath. "Yeah, that's fine. I'll just sit here and watch a porno unfold in front of my very eyes," he said chided sarcastically.

I glared at him. "Excuse me?"

"You two were practically fucking each other with your eyes."

I raised an eyebrow. "We were not 'fucking each other' with our eyes, as you so elegantly put it. He was my best friend okay?" I held the sides of my arms uneasily.

More like my only friend. I met Renji in the slums of Karakura Town when I was ten years old. This was before Byakuya made our manor a dungeon…before Hisana had died. I was only allowed to leave the house with a bodyguard, so I would always sneak out on my own to find Renji. Even though the slums were frightening, I never felt scared because he was always there to protect me. He was one of the few people that actually made me feel safe.

Ichigo scoffed. "Well, he was looking at you like a pathetic love-sick puppy. Did something happen between you two?" he asked.

I propped my elbows up on the table and rested my chin on my palms. I blew my bangs up in an exasperated manner. "When Byakuya found out that we were friends, he gave Renji a very convincing death threat that if he ever visited me again, he would slice his head off. God, we were only thirteen, of course Renji would think that he'd actually get the guillotine for seeing me."

Ichigo let out a low whistle at peered over at Renji. "Well screw what your brother wants. Why did you shoot the guy down after he pret-ty much just asked you out?"

I looked down and fumbled with the fabric of my kimono slip. I shouldn't have said those words to Renji, because I genuinely loved every minute we spent together. But if I gave him false hope of ever seeing him again, it would only hurt him more. "Our relationship…wasn't like that," I said in protest.

"Poor schmuck," he said.

"You seem to have no problem getting attention from the ladies. Look, another girl is ogling at you. You better get treatment for that B.O.I.E.B soon," I said in a mock serious tone. A girl with suspicious turquoise hair and a giant rack admired Ichigo from her seat.

He peered around until he spotted her. "Oh that chick?"

I nodded. "She's cute, maybe you should go say hi," I said with an amused expression. I was kind of hoping that he wouldn't really go though, because she was really attractive for a female. So sue me for being a little envious.

He cocked his head to the side as if to contemplate his options. "Nah, I think I'm having more fun here."

I released the breath I had been holding.

"Besides, I wouldn't want to get involved in that situation."

I frowned. "What situation?"

"She's only here to make her abusive boyfriend jealous. He's must be one of those lanky, tough-guys who are bitter about everything because he was mistreated as a child or some shit like that."

"What," I deadpanned.

"He gave her that red mark across her face, but after that, he could never touch her again because she kicked his ass every time he tried to hurt her," Ichigo said.

I raised my eyebrows. "You know that girl…?" I inquired.

A wide grin broke on his lips. "Nope, never seen her in my life. Your turn," he simpered.

"Huh?" I exclaimed, still confused.

He pointed at the man sitting two stools away from me. "That guy with the weird sixty-nine tattoo on his cheek. He looks like he has one hell of a story to tell his future grandchildren."

I quickly caught on to where this was going.

"Oh! Okay um…his dream is to become a world-famous guitar player..."

Ichigo looks at me expectantly. "And..?

"So every night, he sneaks into the janitor's closet at work to practice his C chord. Uh…his neighbour's rabid cat gave him those scratches on his face," I spat out hesitantly.

He blinked several times. "Come on, you can do better than that. How about that rich looking one with the black hair?"

I craned my neck to see the broad-shouldered male chatting with one of the women in the bar. I nodded confidently and smirked. "That guy? He comes here every night to find the masked girl who gave him the best kiss of his life at that Halloween party he attended in this bar last year."

"What was he dressed as?" Ichigo cut in.

"Um, a 1960's gangster. Anyway, this dude is sick of all the girls who flock him. He's kind of a hopeless romantic, so he really hopes that when not if he finds the girl, she will be 'the one.' He wears the exact same clothes as he did the night of the Halloween party so when she does come back, she'll recognize him."

Ichigo applauded for me. I pretended to curtsey in my seat.

"A little cliché, but everyone loves a good 'ol romance. I think we should just both become playwrights."

I smiled. "Totally."

"It'd be funny if that guy turned around with a giant boil on his nose and a unibrow. Maybe even a pimple or two if the changing weather isn't in favour of his skin," he said.

"Well if that's the case, then he can just settle for being a back model. He has a pretty impressive back," I added.

We both watched in anticipation for the man to get up or turn his head so we could get a good look at his face.

Two minutes passed before he finally got on his feet to head towards the bar. Ichigo leaned back against the counter in a vexed manner. "Okay…so he doesn't have a unibrow or a boil," Ichigo snorted. He glanced at me. "Rukia?"

I couldn't breathe.

What was Kaien doing here?

Anyone remember Makizo/Maki-Maki/Whiskers from the the SS arc? Boy was he one smokin' piece of meat.

Ahem. Aside from all that excitement, sorry for taking a while to produce such a crappy chapter. Not too happy with Ichigo's portion, but please leave a review anyway ;D

Also, I am deeply depressed about the end/break/whatever of the Bleach anime :( I was sad when I caught up to the episodes, so imagine how I feel about THIS! T_T