Welcome back, it's been a long time again! My computer crashed to the point it wouldn't turn on even and I had some problems with fixing it... Well now it's okay, but I discovered a few things.

1. I'm addicted to this machine totally.

2. I can write quite a lot when it doesn't work. Funny.

I have lots of pages written in my magical notebook, I just need to type it all in the computer. It's not only for Letters, but still, if I don't turn out to be lazy, there may be more frequent updates in my last month of holiday. Fifth month of holiday, lol. Such thing doesn't happen twice :D

I know this note is long at all, but yeah... One more thing is that I wanted to thank you all for your continued support and I hope the story won't disappoint you, as I prepared quite a few surprises in upcoming chapters :) Read, enjoy and review :)

PS. the key word for the chap is 'girlfriend' :)

Dear Rukia,

I hope things got better in Soul Society. It really hurt to read about the marriage case… At first, I thought of it more as a joke, and now it's getting out of control. You must stay strong, Rukia, and I'm sure everything will turn out right.

I also hope you'll be able to put Hisagi and Rangiku-san together. I wasn't successful, but I believe they can make each other happy.

I, on the other hand, decided to stop hiding in the Shoten and do something about my sad situation. After reading your last letter I gave up on my attempts to get into Kurosaki clinic and focused on making peace with Ichigo instead. I needed to clear all the misunderstandings about Yuzu.

My idea was to talk with Sado. He knew Ichigo well and I believed he would know how to help me.

How surprised I was when I found out he wasn't at home. I stood by the door like an idiot, pressing the doorbell time after time, but he didn't answer.

With resignation, I left the building and stood in the middle of the street, wondering who I should turn to next. How surprised I was when I heard an all too familiar voice calling me.

"Renji-kun!"

I turned to the source of the noise, only to ensure myself that yes, it of course was Yuzu, and quickly turned away. I was in full panic mode and started looking elsewhere to find a place to hide. One short glance back told me it was too late for that though, so I did the only wise thing I could.

I faced her bravely.

"Ah, it's you," I said nonchalantly, as if she wasn't anyone important. Yuzu blinked in confusion, but smile instantly came back on her face.

"For a while I thought you didn't recognize me!" she laughed and I did the same, although awkwardly.

After a while I realized that I wanted to treat her more coldly, after the last incident, so I coughed to cover my laugh. I glanced at Yuzu and noticed that she was staring at me innocently and a small smile was still at her lips.

"About our last meeting-" she started, but I immediately interrupted her.

"It's nothing," I spoke in a bored tone, "I don't care about what happened in your house. Besides, this stalking thing I did for one guy from your class," I continued, trying to sound uninterested but honest. "I won't tell you who he was, though. If he ever confesses, you'll know."

I swung my head like those cool guys in movies before I realized I didn't have a fringe to fling up.

I hoped that as long as I played that cool, distant guy it will be fine, but I noticed with horror that Yuzu was staring at me with some sort of admiration. Damn, didn't she care about a lovesick boy in her class I just made up?

"Anyway," I started after a while, wanting to go on safer ground, "do you know where Sado is? I kind of wanted to talk to him."

Yuzu replied casually.

"He may be with his girlfriend."

I was speechless.

Sado.

Girlfriend.

No, no, no. I heard wrong.

"Girlfriend?!"

"GIRLFRIEND?!"

Wait, who was my echo?

I turned back to see just who screamed so loudly, furiously and desperately at the same time, but all I met was a punch. I made a step back and deflected from the impact. I staggered a little and blinked a couple of times, registering Yuzu's shouts in the background.

When I finally recovered, I found myself face to face with Ichigo. I'm just so lucky.

He was lucky too, because there was no one to see his assault.

"What girlfriend?" Ichigo continued. His face was completely red from anger. "Yuzu, I forbade you to ever meet him!"

"No, no!" I shouted back and he glared at me, making me realize my mistake. "I mean, we're not together! It's Sado who has a girlfriend!"

Yuzu nodded, but Ichigo looked at me in a weird way.

"Yeah, right."

I had a feeling he didn't believe me.

"It's me who has a girlfriend!"

We all turned to see a determined Ikkaku running in our direction. He didn't know at all what was going on, but he was like a blessing at that moment.

Yuzu hid behind me, much to mine and Ichigo's dismay. We both looked at my savior in confusion as he finally caught up to us.

"It's me who has a girlfriend," he repeated in between heavy pants. "Or more precisely, I pretend to have a girlfriend. I'm going to a wedding with Asano's sister. I'm always ready to help others, you know."

After this fake and forced (probably by Kusajishi-fukutaicho) statement, Ichigo narrowed his eyes, while Yuzu peeked from behind me, a bit eased after hearing a familiar name.

"Keigo's sister?" Ichigo inquired.

Ikkaku nodded.

"She asked me for help and, well… let's say that my superiors know how to convince me."

Now, thanks to Ikkau's honest words, Ichigo was convinced too. I gave the bald guy a thumbs up and we both grinned happily.

He, still not understanding the situation at all.

Ikkaku stayed in the Shoten despite Asano's sister's begging, so, for the time being, we shared my duties. However, soon the wedding day came and we had to say goodbye. For the night and for much longer.

We gave him a suit and taught him good manners. We also taught him how to get a taxi so that he could take care of his and Asano's sister's transport.

Her name turned out to be Mizuho and I'm going to use it from now on. It's shorter than Asano's sister.

Anyway, Ikkaku rode to Asano's by taxi and, with Mizuho, on the wedding. After the ceremony they got to the wedding place and Ikkaku behaved surprisingly well. He was kind and even half-heartedly pretended to be her boyfriend.

However, everything changed in one moment.

"Mizuho, aren't you ashamed you came with a bald guy?"

Before anyone could react, the man who spoke those words was laying on the floor, knocked out by Ikkaku's hit. Everybody around gasped at the sudden action and Ikkaku only spat on the floor and walked away.

He did this because he was called a bald guy.

People thought he did this because Mizuho was offended.

All the girls squealed and fell in love, Mizuho being the first and noisiest.

How do I know it? Because Ikkaku is still in Karakura. After the wedding everybody wanted to meet him and Mizuho was exceptionally happy to show off her "boyfriend". Now he's stuck in Gensei, attending meetings and parties with Mizuho and it doesn't seem that she's going to let him go anytime soon.

He's not too happy, but I can't complain. He must help me with my duties as long as he stays at Urahara's (and he stays, because Asano's house is not an option), plus, I finally have a buddy to talk to and go on patrols.

I still have a heart, though, so don't think badly about me. I save him from many of those dates with Mizuho.

As you can see, my life got slightly better. Now it's your turn. Good luck in Soul Society.

Take care,

Renji

PS. Don't stress yourself too much.