Hey guys! So, turns out this story is going to be longer than I though, probably three or four chapters. I apologise for the late update, things have just been hectic the last while. Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys the second chapter and please leave a review!

Rukia lifted her spoon to her lips, hearing the snack, crackle, and pop of her cereal. She could smell the sugar-sweetened milk. Only, she couldn't bring herself to eat it.

Plopping her spoon down for a third time, Rukia groaned loudly.

"What's got you down? Raging hangover?" Chihiro asked, momentarily distracted from her aspirins.

With only a slight headache to remind her of the night before, Rukia wasn't exactly too concerned about her hangover. She had much bigger fish to fry, and one specific fish to silence. Permanently.

"Something like that," Rukia muttered, finally shoving her spoon in her mouth.

Chihiro returned to her aspirins, but the curiosity was radiating off of her in waves.

Rukia sighed. "Fine, sit down and I'll tell you."

As fast as Chihiro could in her state, she flung herself into the nearest seat. She sat, staring at Rukia and swirling the contents of her glass.

"Okay, so you know I've been wanting to send some nice pictures to Ichiru?" Rukia asked. After a curt nod, she continued. "Well, last night I finally mustered the courage to do it, but turns out, a certain someone," Rukia gave her a pointed glare, "saved a very similar name on my phone. In the end, I didn't send Ichiru the pictures."

Rukia waited for Chihiro to piece the puzzle together.

Her eyes widened, lips folding over each other from the effort of not laughing. "No way, please tell me you're not joking?" And then her composure was lost.

Rukia waited for her to stop laughing. She figured it wouldn't be too long before a raging headache started. Sure enough, Chihiro stopped laughing, clutching her head instead.

"Needless to say, I need to sort this out."

"Wait, did he actually reply?" Chihiro asked, seeming surprised.

Rukia unlocked her phone and slid it across the table. Chihiro, being the roommate she was, scanned over the pictures first and then to the single response below it. "You didn't reply?"

Rukia's eyes bulged. "WHY WOULD I!?"

"Well, you did basically send him nudes, don't you think you should at least say sorry?" Chihiro pointed out.

"That's insane! Why should I apologise?" Rukia huffed.

"Well, I'm sure he got just as big a fright as you did, for one. And for another, I'm sure he's also very confused right now," Chihiro said. "At the very least you should ask him to delete the pictures."

Rukia groaned loudly again. "Why of all people did it have to be that orange-hair idiot?"

Chihiro chuckled. "I actually like him."

"Then why don't you message him," Rukia retorted.

"What could I possibly say that would upstage pictures of you in your underwear?"

Rukia chucked a stray piece of cereal at her roommate.

"Seriously though, you need to message him," Chihiro said, getting up. She placed her glass in the sink before heading off towards her room.

Pushing her bowl away, Rukia lay down with her head on her forearms. "I know that…" she whispered.

Pulling her phone closer, Rukia opened the chat again. It's not that she didn't want to respond, but she didn't know how. What could she possibly say that would make the situation any less embarrassing. So, she settled for the only thing she could do.

Please delete the pictures. They weren't meant for you.

To her surprise, Ichigo came online almost instantly.

Already have.

Rukia sighed with relief.

Made a backup on my computer though.

And the dread was back. She stared at her screen, wishing the rage would seep through her finger tips and into the phone. Anything to make Ichigo feel the anger she was experiencing.

Ichigo, stop kidding around. I'm serious.

Rukia stared at the screen, this time willing Ichigo to reply. But it seemed that he wasn't intending to, and in her state of mind, Rukia did the only thing she knew was going to work.

Ichigo picked up after the second ring. "Hello, Ichigo speaking."

"Ichigo," Rukia said sternly.

"I'm sorry, who am I speaking to?" Ichigo asked

"Ichigo!" Rukia exclaimed, losing control momentarily.

"From the angry disposition, I'm going to assume it's you, Rukia," Ichigo replied, cool as a cucumber.

"Ichigo," Rukia said softly, "please will you delete those photos."

There was a moment of silence before Ichigo responded. "Depends."

Rukia took a deep, balancing breath, reminding herself that Ichigo was not inside of her phone, and breaking it would not hurt him. Instead she let out the breath, regaining her senses. "On what, Ichigo, does it depend?"

"Whether you can help me out with something," Ichigo explained.

"What kind of helping out would I have to do?" Rukia asked sceptically.

Ichigo laughed. "Don't worry, nothing like those pictures."

Rukia reddened.

"Meet me at the university's entrance tomorrow at nine, I'll explain then." And then the line went dead before Rukia could object. She stared at her phone a few moments longer.

"Idiot," she muttered. She'd barely put her phone down when there was a knock on the door. "Come in!"

To her surprise, it wasn't Chihiro standing in the door.

"Oh, Ichiru, I wasn't expecting you," Rukia said.

Ichiru shut the door behind him, coming over to sit next to her. He leaned in, placing a quick kiss on her forehead. "I wanted to surprise you."

Rukia forced a smile. "That's sweet of you."

Ichiru leaned back, sinking into her stack of pillows.

Pushing Ichigo out of her head for a while, she tried to focus on her boyfriend. "How was your meeting last night?" she asked, wanting to make casual conversation.

"Oh, it was cancelled," Ichiro said simply. "Grabbed a beer with the guys instead."

Rukia felt a pang of hurt, but at the same time, it wasn't the first time he had done this. The best part was that he didn't even do it on purpose— he genuinely never realised what he was doing. Rukia had learned to live with it, but it was one of the reasons Chihiro considered him an idiot.

"Well, that's nice," Rukia replied.

Truth be told, she didn't really care. Sure, she didn't like being a guy's afterthought, but it wasn't like she craved his attention. If anything, she kept him around simply for the heck of it.

"Yeah, we tried a new drinking game where—"

Rukia stopped listening, nodding politely from time-to-time. This one was of the many stories of his nights out, and they all sounded the same.

Instead her thoughts drifted back to Ichigo. She couldn't understand what he was trying to achieve by blackmailing her, but at the same time, her heart fluttered slightly at the challenge. Not much in her life challenged her anymore, and never a man. To a certain extent, Rukia wondered if it was the reason she was with Ichiru.

The again, Ichiru was charming when he decided to be. He still didn't challenge her.

Not like Ichigo.

"Rukia?" Ichiru interrupted.

"Oh, sorry, yes?" Rukia asked, pulled from her mind.

Ichiru eyes her warily. "Are you okay?" he asked. "You seem a bit distracted."

Rukia smiled. "I'm fine, honestly.

"Well, in that case—" Back into his tangent about the guys. At least he tried.

To Rukia's great relief, Ichiru left not long after that. Usually she didn't mind as much listening to him ramble on about himself, but today she just had her mind in a completely other place.

"Goodbye," Rukia muttered, only to be cut off by a fierce kiss from Ichiru. He looked at her, almost hopeful, but she was barely in the mood for him, never mind other things.

Once she heard the front door shut, Rukia fell back onto her bed, again wondering what Ichigo had in store for her.

A very brisk breeze tugged at the edge of Rukia's dress. She had hoped it would be warmer by the time she reached campus, but this didn't seem to be the case.

She tapped her foot in annoyance. It was 9:15 in the morning, and she could think of many other things she'd rather be doing.

He said to be here at 9, and then he isn't? Rukia thought angrily.

It was a Sunday morning, meaning Rukia wasn't surprised that she was completely alone at the campus' gate. She could see one or two people scurry about in the closest building; probably students who forgot about an essay or test the coming week.

She couldn't understand why he wanted to meet on campus of all places. Surely there had to be a better place? If he just wanted to discuss the photos, why not a coffee shop?

Rukia was considering calling him when her eyes spotted something. Peeking just over the edge of the stairs was a familiar blob of orange hair, bobbing slightly as Ichigo ascended the stairs. She was about to yell at him when he was chest high, only he wasn't alone. Two other heads popped up, one a light brown and the other pitch black.

The trio finally made it to the top. Ichigo smiled when he noticed her, waving.

Rukia stood rooted, surprised to see him smile that brightly. He didn't remind her at all of the Ichigo from the bar.

Finally, Ichigo and the two girls reached Rukia.

"I'm glad to see you could make it," Ichigo said, but underneath his polite smile Rukia heard his glee. He knew he had won this round, but as they say, the war wasn't over.

"Good morning, Ichigo," Rukia greeted back, not wavering for a second.

The shorter of the two girls, the one with the brown hair, nudged Ichigo in the ribs. "Oh, let me introduce to you Yuzu and Karin," Ichigo said, pointing first at the smaller girl and then at the black-haired girl. "My twin sisters."

Rukia's mouth almost fell open. Never mind the twin thing, none of them resembled each other in the slightest.

"Yeah, I know we look nothing alike," Karin explained. "I took after our dad, Yuzu after our mom, and we don't know where Ichigo came from."

"Karin, that's rude," Yuzu interrupted.

Karin simply shrugged. "It's true."

"Anyway," Ichigo said loudly. "They're visiting for the weekend, and I promised to show them around today. I figured a little female help would be better, so I asked you to come," Ichigo explained.

Rukia's eyebrow twitched. He called her all the way out on a Sunday morning to have her play tour guide? If he's sisters weren't there as witnesses, Rukia was sure she'd have done something very bad to the orange-haired idiot.

Putting away all murderous thoughts, Rukia smiled widely. "So, where would you guys like to go?"

Karin and Yuzu's faces brightened considerably. Clearly Ichigo must have told them that Rukia would refuse. That's one point for Rukia.

She soon found her victory wasn't at no cost.

"So, where do you guys want to go?" Rukia asked the twins.

"Sport shop—"

"Café—"

Rukia stared at them, for the first time noticing that it wasn't simply their looks that were different, but their styles were nothing alike either. Karin clearly preferred jeans and sneakers, where Yuzu seemed like the frilly-dress kind of girl. She swallowed, preparing herself for a long day.

"Okay, how about we do some shopping, and when we're tired, we stop for food?" Rukia suggested.

The twins chirped in their agreement. Ichigo on the other hand, didn't seem as though he was intending to voice his opinion at any point in the day. He seemed too busy observing her, but for what reason, Rukia couldn't figure out.

For the next three hours, Rukia and the twins popped in and out of stores. Mostly it was just one of the twins dragging her into one shop, and the other trying to get her out. By the time they chose a café (another mission of its own), Rukia's butt was practically itching to sit down.

"Everyone having fun?" Ichigo asked, a glee expression still on his face.

"So much!" Yuzu exclaimed. "Thank you so much for coming, Rukia!"

"Yeah, brother probably would have had us march past all the stores, grab some fast food and send us on our way," Karin added.

"Hey!" Ichigo countered.

"Oh, come one, Ichigo." Karin rolled her eyes. "We know it's not because you don't want us here, but you're terrible when it comes to female things."

And just like that, it clicked. The reason Ichigo blackmailed her into coming was that she could help him with his sisters.

"You're terrible with girls?" Rukia asked, adding just a hint of condescendence. "You have two sisters and a mother, and you're bad with girls?"

Instead of a sarcastic retort, Rukia was met with silence. She looked around the table at each of the siblings. "I'm sorry, did I say something rude?"

Yuzu smiled sadly. "No, it's not your fault. We only have our dad left, our mother passed away a few years ago."

Rukia could practically feel her foot in her mouth. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to bring up any bad memories."

"Don't worry, dwarf, it's been a long time," Ichigo said.

Everyone seemed better, but the mood sure hadn't improved.

"Tell us about your family, Rukia?" Karin asked.

"If you want a story to turn the conversation, I'm sorry to say that my family life won't be one," Rukia said.

"Mood's ruined anyway," Karin sighed.

"Okay then," Rukia began. "My parents passed away when my sister and I were very young. We went through a few foster houses, but eventually we got split. After a few years, my sister passed away, but her husband continued searching for me in her place. He finally found me in this terrible orphanage and adopted me."

All three Kurosakis stared at Rukia with wide eyes, clearly at a loss for words.

And then Rukia laughed. "I'm kidding, I just wanted to see your reactions."

Karin and Yuzu chuckled, but Ichigo didn't seem convinced by Rukia's act. He knew better than to believe her fake laughter.

Their orders arrived then, breaking Ichigo's intense gaze.

"Ichigo tells us you have a boyfriend," Yuzu noted halfway through their meal.

Rukia swallowed her bite of salad. "Oh, yes, his name is Ichiru."

The similarity between his and Ichigo's name did not go unnoticed.

"Tell us about him," Yuzu continued.

"Well, he's a really nice guy," Rukis began.

Ichigo snorted, trying to cover it up with a cough.

Rukia ignored him. "We met about two years ago and we've been dating ever since."

This nugget of information seemed to throw Ichigo a bit. Clearly he was under the impression that Rukia and Ichiru weren't anything serious.

"Is he romantic?" Karin asked, an almost dreamy look in her eyes.

Rukia thought about the single-digit times Ichiru had done something out of the ordinary. "He can be, if he feels like it."

"So, no?" Ichigo, to Rukia's surprise, said. She hadn't been aware that he was even paying attention.

Not having the strength to fight a losing battle, Rukia slumped back into her chair. "No, he's not."

Clearly Yuzu had been hoping for a different answer, but she managed to hide her disappointment behind many, many other questions concerning Rukia's relationship. By the time she ran out, Rukia was more than happy to call for the bill and pay.

After thanking the waitress, they left. Karin and Yuzu walked a few paces ahead of her and Ichigo, admiring the things they saw in the shop windows.

"What you said about your parents, that wasn't a lie, was it?" Ichigo asked when the twins were out of earshot.

She knew he hadn't bought her act.

"No, it's all true," Rukia confirmed, not looking at Ichigo's expression. She hated the look of pity she received when people found out about her family history.

"That explains a lot," Ichigo simply said, once again surprising Rukia. He was doing that more than what she cared for.

Rukia looked up, "Explains what exactly?" she demanded.

"Why you're dating a moron like Ichiru," Ichigo said nonchalantly.

Rukia bristled, clenching her fingers tightly together from the sudden burst of anger. But she controlled herself, knowing a reaction was what he was after. "Care to explain, since clearly you know so much about me now."

"Well, you've lost both your parents and your sister, people you were very attached to. From what I've heard, your only real friend is Chihiro and I'm assuming your sister's husband. Clearly you don't like getting too close to people, and Ichiru is as safe as its gets in that regard." Ichigo still looked straight ahead, his eyes not once dwelling to Rukia.

"That's ridiculous," Rukia said, her voice tight. "You don't know anything about me, and don't pretend like you do."

Ichigo stopped walking, forcing Rukia to come to a standstill as well. "Fine, if I'm wrong, then tell me why you love him. One good reason and I'll apologise."

Rukia turned to face him, their eyes meeting for the first time since they left the café. His eyes held hers, searching for any sign of hesitation, any indication that she was lying. But all of his scrutiny was unnecessary, because despite it, Rukia didn't have an answer.

Ichigo waited patiently, but when it became evident to him, he let out a tiny breath. "That's what I thought."

The anger in Rukia turned into resentment, burning in her higher than ever.

They didn't speak again after that, letting the twins' chatter fill the silence. Rukia parted ways with them not long after, insisting that she didn't mind walking back to her apartment alone.

It wasn't until she was back in the safety of her room that she flung her purse onto her bed. Tears pricked at the back of her eyes, threatening to spill over.

She couldn't believe the nerve of Ichigo, assuming things with barely any basis to work from. He doesn't know me, and just knowing something about my past doesn't change that, Rukia insisted to herself.

Only, the resentment she felt towards Ichigo wasn't due to his presumptions, no matter how much she wanted to convince herself of it. No, her resentment was due to something completely different.

Sitting down on the edge of her bed, Rukia buried her face in her hands.

"Damn orange giraffe, why does he have to be right?" she muttered.

Of course, she'd never admit it aloud to anyone.

She was fine, she was just protecting herself.

There was not way she'd be able to handle losing someone that important again. She had Byakuya and Chihiro, that much she could handle.

But that night, as she fell asleep, Rukia couldn't help but wonder how much different things would be with Ichigo by her side.

So yeah, I hope everyone liked the chapter :). I figured, screw it, let's add a deep emotional element to the story to even out the comedy. Please let me know what you guys think about this, I'm very excited to hear any and all commentary!

Guest: Thank you very much! Yeah, for some reason I shifted over to first-person at some point and had to go back and change it all :D I clearly missed some, but I'll fix it when I get a chance!

JoTerry: Thank you for another comment! I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well :)

Just shipping: I hope you'll enjoy this chapter too!