Disclaimer: I don't own bleach.

Lost in Love

Chapter 2: Friends or not

"What are you doing here? I thought you refused to go with Inoue because you said that your brother is waiting for you? Evidently he's not because you're here. Why did you lie to Inoue?" Ichigo kept on talking and wasn't even letting Rukia speak. "I knew it! From the moment that I saw you, I knew that there's something wrong about you! Huh! I can't believe that Inoue even tried to be friends…"

"Whoa! Hold on for a minute! You don't even know the true story! I have the right to explain myself first BEFORE you accuse me! But no! You didn't even give me a chance! You just kept on babbling. And WHO ARE YOU to initiate that I am a LIAR? You don't even know me! We're not even friends for you to have "freedom" to say all those things to me! Hmp! I can't believe this!"

Ichigo was stunned. He didn't expect that Rukia can talk back. You can say that she's mad because she shouted at the top of her lungs. He had second thoughts of confronting her when they were looking at each other a moment ago because for some reasons his anger subsided for a while. But when he remembered how Inoue tried so hard he became furious and did that to her. Now, he doesn't know what to say. 'I suppose she is right. I shouldn't have said all those mean things to her. What am I going to do now? She looks really angry. Should I apologize?' He thought.

"Why are you looking at me like that? Are you thinking of other hurtful things to throw at me? Well if that's the case then I should just go now! I'm sorry but I don't want to listen to you!' Rukia picked up her bag from the ground and started to walk away. "If you'll excuse me I'll…"

"I'm sorry."

"…"

"Did you say something?" Rukia heard Ichigo's apology but decided to ignore it first. It's the only way thing she can do to get back at him for accusing her. So now she is humiliating Ichigo by making him say his sorry over and over.

"I said I'm sorry. You're right. I shouldn't have said that. It wasn't right…"

"Of course it wasn't!" Rukia butted in.

"Will you please let me finish first before you talk? Jeez!"

Ichigo saw Rukia that she won't say anything anymore so he continued talking. "I said I'm sorry. I was overcome by my emotion. Please don't leave yet. Accept my apology." Ichigo was so embarrassed that he talked while looking away from Rukia. He couldn't face her. He is still mad but he thought nothing will be solved from getting angry. She was right. He should have asked her first. He just wished that Rukia will stop her act because he can see that she is lying when she said she didn't hear him.

Rukia couldn't help but smile. She didn't actually expect ichigo to tell her again that he is sorry. One look at him and you can say that he is the kind of person that doesn't care about other people. She became intrigued of him. Rukia decided to stop harassing him already so she told him, "Okay, I'll forget what happened. I just hope that this won't happen again in the future because I won't tolerate it."

"Thanks. I thought you were going to make my life a living hell. Would you mind if I join you?"

"No it's okay. I think it's better if we'll have a little chat." Rukia sat on the grass and found a comfortable position crossing her legs. "By the way, I didn't lie." She starts talking again. Emphasizing the word lie, when she saw Ichigo sat beside her. "I was really going to meet my brother, but unfortunately he couldn't make it. He called to tell me that he is going to London for a business trip. He was already at the airport when he told me." She didn't want to show any emotion but she couldn't help it. She was really looking forward having dinner with her brother. At the end of her sentence she looked away to hide her face from Ichigo. She couldn't bare it if people were looking at her with pity. She didn't want Ichigo to think that she is a lonely girl. She wanted to show everyone that she is tough and can handle every trial she has to face.

"I didn't intend to refuse Inoue. It's just that I thought I have something to do. I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings. Please understand." She looked at his amber eyes with sincerity.

Ichigo was just staring at her. It's so easy to read Rukia and he can see that he is saying the truth. 'It must be very important for her to see her brother.' He doesn't really know what to do now or even what to say. He's not good comforting people. He can't seem to think of any response to what she said.

"Don't apologize. It's my fault for jumping into conclusions. I really should have asked you first. I can see that, your brother, cancelling this meeting has made you feel disappointed. Let me make it up to you. Why don't e have some coffee first before going home? It'll be my treat. It's the least I can do." Ichigo offered.

"I don't know. I mean, is it appropriate for us to do this? What if somebody sees us and think bad about us? You might not care about it but I do." She answered.

"So what? We're not doing anything wrong. So I think it is okay. If you're worried about Inoue then don't be. She's not that kind of person. She won't get jealous that easily. She's not even the possessive type."

"How did you know? How long have you two been dating?" Rukia was curious of their relationship. She broke up with her boyfriend before living in Karakura. She did that because she doesn't believe of long distance relationship. For her it's either she will lose interest to the guy or it's him who will get tired of her.

"We've known each other since we were in first year high school. But I got interested of her three months ago. So I courted her. She said yes after 3 days which is pretty fast I think. And now we've been together for the past three months. She's nice and we don't have any kinds of problems yet. That's why I know she won't get mad even if she sees us together." Ichigo replied.

He stood up and tapped his pants to wipe away the specs of dirt on them. When he was already standing he noticed that Rukia was still sitting on the ground so without thinking he held out his hand to her and offered his help.

Rukia was just staring at his hand and was in deep thought whether to take it or not. Even though she accepted his invitation of free treats, she is still trying to distance herself from him.

"You know I won't bite. And I don't have diseases." Ichigo jested when he felt that Rukia was not going to take his hand.

Rukia smiled. 'He is very kind. I know this will be the start of a new relationship. He didn't even show that he felt sorry towards me when he asked me about my brother.' Rukia thought. Slowly while looking at him, never loosing eye contact, she lifted up her hand and reached for his.

The moment that their skin connected, Ichigo couldn't understand what he felt. Her skin is so warm and smooth. He had an urge to run his fingers at the back of her hand but controlled his self in doing so. He couldn't tell what he's feeling but there is one thing he is certain, he liked the way her hand fits inside his.

"Hahaha! You should look at yourself! You have whipped cream on your nose! Is that a talent? I mean your talent? Drinking coffee with your nose? Hahaha! You look ridiculous right now!"

"Shut up! This is not a laughing matter! So shut it!" Ichigo screamed at Rukia. They were having coffee when he accidentally touched the whipped cream with his nose while drinking.

"Hey come on. Chill out! It's just cream. Just wipe it with napkin. Here let me help you." Rukia took a napkin from Ichigo and reached out to Ichigo, who is sitting on the other side of the table, to help him clean up his nose. She was wiping his face thoroughly and was avoiding of hurting him with her fingernails.

"See? It isn't that difficult." She looked at him and saw that he was staring at her face and then she noticed that there was just a small distance between them.

"Uhm… There! It's clean."She moved away from him too fast that Ichigo woke up from his reverie. He was embarrassed that he was caught looking at her. So he asked her a question to ease the tension.

"So what made you move here n Karakura town? You said that you used to live in Tokyo. Didn't you like it there?"

Rukia was relieved that Ichigo didn't seem to be bothered by the awkward moment. "My brother is a business man. He travels a lot to take care of his factories. He was offered by another business man to open up a new branch of his factory here in Karakura. He wanted to know if it will be successful to build a new one right here. I told him that we can only be sure if we observe it by ourselves. And the solution will be to live here. What about you? Were you born here in Karakura?"

"Yeah, my sisters and I, we all grew up in this town. I can't say that Karakura is perfect but for me this is the best. I can't think of a place that can compare to this. Not even Tokyo."

"Oh really? Well then if you're so sure about that why not prove it to me? Rukia said while arching her eyebrow.

"Tell me how and I'll do it! For the sake of my hometown." Ichigo was grinning too much since they went to the coffee shop. He was really having a great time.

Rukia thought of what to do. She decided that Ichigo can tour her around the town but she didn't want it to be that easy so she told him, "I want you to take me to the top 5 most amazing places here in Karakura! One place in one day! Of course we should go every Saturday since it's the only day I'm free. So that means… it will take us FIVE WEEKS for us to finish! Isn't great?" she was so excited that she didn't see Ichigo's face. It was pure shock.

"Are you really sure that you would want me to accompany you? I don't have any problems with that but what about you?" Ichigo was wondering why Rukia would want to be with him.

"That's fine with me but I think we should ask Inoue first if it's ok with her. She might get mad if we go out without her. I don't want to cause any problems. Let's just talk about it next time." Rukia said that it was fine but she felt like she was offended with the idea of asking permission first from his girlfriend. It wasn't like their doing anything wrong. But she hid her feelings with a cheerful voice and a big smile.

"If you say so. I'll tell her as soon as I see her. Don't worry, she won't say no so be prepared this coming Saturday."

Ichigo looked at his watched and noticed the time. "I think we should go. It's getting kind of late. My crazy father might search the entire city just to find me."

"Crazy? Did you just call your father crazy? Is that a new way to show affection?" Rukia asked.

"Eew! DON'T EVER SAY THAT AGAIN! It's bad enough that I need to call her FATHER! Jeez!

Rukia was standing up. She looked at the time. It was almost seven o'clock. It's a good thing that her brother wasn't at home or he will be furious. She still has lots of things to do including schoolwork so she decided to cut off the fun and go home. No one is waiting for her so she guessed that it doesn't matter what time she goes back. She didn't really want Ichigo to leave yet but she can't ask him to stay.

"Will you be alright if you're alone? I think it will be better if I will take you back to your house." Offered Ichigo. 'It's dark so it's only natural to be worried of her.' He reasoned out to his self.

"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. Nothings gonna happen. I can handle it if there will be trouble. Thank you for asking though." She told him. She thought that he is really kind, worrying about her, but it is bad enough that she took his time. And also, like her, he has things to finish as well.

"Well then if you say so. Just be careful and call me if something happened. Here's my number." He wrote down his cellphone number on a piece of paper and he took her hand. He opened her palm and placed the folded paper on it. He lingered his hand on hers unconsciously for a few seconds before releasing it. "Please, don't hesitate calling me." He told her seriously.

Those few seconds of skin contact are enough for rukia to feel something kind of like electricity. She didn't know why and how but it was still there on her hand, lingering and slowly disappearing.

"I won't have second thoughts of calling you if I have an emergency. I promise. I'll see you tomorrow at school!" and with that she smiled and bowed her head to say goodbye.

"Yeah, see you at school. Be careful going back home."

Rukia waved her hand, turned around and walk away. She didn't see Ichigo staring at her back like wanting to stop her from going away. He was just looking at her retreating form. Not moving at all.

'I'm going nuts! I'm always staring at her. But why does she make me feel like I need to stop her from getting away? Why did I like her company so much? I really did have a great time. The only reason why I invited her to hang out was because it was an obligation. And I felt sorry because I accused her but as the time passed by, I felt more comfortable and enjoyed talking to her maybe because she was not blushing when talking to me. She's not even shy to look at me in the eyes, unlike… What am I thinking? I should just go home before my thoughts run wild!'

Ichigo turned around and started his way home at the exact moment Rukia, stopped walking.

Rukia turned around and started walking. She was thinking of Ichigo. She didn't like how they started shouting at each other but the situation is different now. She can feel that they will have a deeper relationship. She likes him. It was very easy to feel comfortable and relax around him. She doesn't need to pretend that she's strong. Yes, she was embarrassed with her current situation, about her brother, but Ichigo was kind enough not to ask anything about it. She was thinking why she refused him to walk her home. He is really kind and gentle.

She stopped and looked at what she is holding. The small thing on her hand looks very fragile and if she will grip it tightly she's pretty sure it will be crumpled and destroyed so she was holding it carefully. She won't lose that special piece of soft paper. She will need it in the future. 'Future? That means I already planned on calling him that fast.' That simple thought made Rukia realized how much she enjoyed his company and wished that there is still time to be with Ichigo. So she decided to tell him that she wanted him to take her home. That was just an excuse to be with him.

When Rukia turned around, Ichigo turned right at a corner. She couldn't see him anymore. She didn't know where he went. She felt sad because she thought that he was waiting for her to disappear first before going home. She concluded that it was that easy for Ichigo to leave her alone and how eager he is walking away from her. She can't help but feel hurt. 'Who am I kidding? He didn't like spending time with me. He only asked me to hang out to console his conscience from arguing with me earlier. The reason why he gave me his number was not because he wanted me to call him but rather to get rid of me as soon as possible. I don't have the right to get angry and I should just be thankful that he exerted effort in making it up to me.'

She looked one more time at her hand. She couldn't fathom what she's feeling. It confused her so much. The small white paper weighs too much in her hand. It was like burning at the same time. She can't take it anymore. The piece of paper got hotter and hotter and at the same times it got heavier.

"What happened today won't happen again in the future."

Rukia turned around once more and behind her the wind blew away a small white piece of paper…

A/N: I didn't meet my quota of reviews. but that's okay I've decided to continue writing anyway. When I write, it helps me in learning English which I need for my studies. Thank you so much for ALL the people who added this story to their favorites, alerts and who reviewed! It makes me so happy knowing that someone's waiting for an update. ^_^ Please review this chapter and tell me what you think about the story especially with the grammar. I'm not confident with my grammar because English is just my second language. Once again, THANK YOU!