Last Chapter! :O

Ichigo opened his eyes slowly, smelling the familiar smell of blood. But, he wasn't injured that he could feel, just a little sore maybe…

His eyes adjusted slowly, and he caught sight of Rukia, who was standing a while away, staring at him intently. She was still in her gigai, wearing the red dress… which was now torn to pieces. One sleeve was ripped off, and the hem of the dress was dangling by a thread. There were several gashes that looked like claw marks all over it, too…

With a gasp, Ichigo sat upright, nearly banging his head into the wall. He realized what must've happened…

He'd been seduced by the damn hollow, and Rukia had come in here and saved his ass.

"So, you're awake," Rukia said softly, her voice ringing with smugness. "If I had come in a second later, that hollow would've had your soul. Not that you would've cared, by the look of it." Ichigo felt his face burn in shame. He'd practically hand-delivered himself to the hollow.

Trying not to be too obvious, Ichigo scanned Rukia for any sign of injury. She did have a bit of blood on her face, but it didn't look like it was her blood.

Carefully, Ichigo stood up, analyzing his own soreness. "Rukia… what the hell happened?"

Rukia leaned casually against the wall, absently wiping a bit of blood of her face. "Well," she began, "I was just minding my own business, dancing with Uryu, when I noticed you being lead away by a beautiful woman."

She stopped to glare at him, crossing her arms bossily. "You nearly gave me a freaking heart attack! Anyway, I followed, and when I came in here, you were completely unconscious in the hollow's arms. She was just about to eat your soul, too. But, I of course, kicked you out of the way- sorry about that, I wasn't too gentle, I think your head slammed into the wall- but whatever. Anyway, so she got all mad and was talking about she was going to eat my soul… blah blah blah, and here we are now!" She finished cheerfully, still smugly glaring at him.

"But, Rukia, how did you defeat it without getting out of your gigai. And how did the thing not… seduce you, too?" Ichigo asked confusedly, rubbing the back of his tender head. Rukia sighed, obviously getting impatient. "It didn't seduce me because it was a freaking girl hollow, Ichigo, you dumb ass. And as for how I defeated it- don't worry about that. It only matters that it's dead, right?"

They stood in silence for a moment, and Rukia finally looked down at the state of her dress and blushed violently. Ichigo sheepishly offered her his jacket, which she accepted.

"Uh… Rukia, what was with the dress in the first place?" He asked timidly, trying not to piss her off when he already owed her.

"Oh, I was trying to make you jealous."

Ichigo felt his face turn bright red. "Uh… why would you do that?" Rukia sighed; looking at him like it was obvious. "Use your brain, idiot. Why do you think?"

He had to admit it was obvious. He'd expected her to just come here and be his date, no questions asked. But, of course, girls had to be way more complicated than that.

"Okay, one last question, Rukia. Why are you so upset about being here? Is it so awful?"

"I don't like coming here because… I like it too much. Every time I come back, it's harder to leave… I miss this place so much; I'd rather not go through that type of pain! And of course, then there's Kon always looking up my skirt-"

"Rukia- okay…"

"And he's just such a pervert! And then Uryu and you are always-"

"RUKIA!"

"Always fighting! It's so annoying, Ichigo! Can't you just get along?! And then-"

To Rukia's intense surprise, Ichigo leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers, silencing her complaints. She stiffened at first, but then slowly relaxed into his arms.

Ichigo was just as shocked as she was. He'd only wanted her to shut up, and had intended to smack his hand over her mouth or something like that. He hadn't meant to kiss her!

It did feel nice, though…

They both jumped a mile when the door slammed open, and Uryu burst in, his bow in hand. "I HEARD FIGHTING IN HERE-" He shouted, stopping when he saw a red-faced Ichigo and a starry-eyed Rukia. "Uh… I'll just go now, then."

Uryu awkwardly shut the door behind him, his face as red as Ichigo's. "We'd better go back out there, Rukia," he murmured, not meeting her eyes.

"I think I'd rather stay in here for a bit longer," Rukia replied, standing on her tip-toes to kiss a very shocked Ichigo again.

The end. ^_^