Hey everyone! So I know it's been quite a while since I updated this fic... Honestly I was just going to abandon it - I published it when I was like 13, and it was so horribly written and cringeworthy. But I've gotten reviews for it asking me to update to this day, which is just crazy to me! Clearly people really enjoyed it so I decided to rewrite it and finally finish it! I've planned out the entire fic instead of just wingin' it for each chapter, and I'm hoping to update weekly! I've changed a lotabout the story, so please make sure you re-read this chapter if you're an old reader! I've deleted all of the chapters so that I can start fresh. Anyway, I know it's still nowhere near perfect and my writing is very rusty so of course all comments and criticism are welcome! Thanks so much guys for sticking with this fic for so long, I hope you enjoy it :)

"Rukia…"

Rukia slowly lifted her head to gaze at the tall, bright haired man standing in front of her. He whispered her name once more, before slowly lifting a hand to gently cup her cheek.

Despite their close proximity, Rukia was unable to see the boy's face. It, as well as his body, was shrouded in darkness. She couldn't make out any part of him, save for his vibrant head of hair. He slowly removed his hand from her face, instead holding it out to her in offering.

"Walk with me?" he spoke softly. Rukia glanced down at his outstretched hand, lifting her own hand to place it in his. He slowly closed his fingers over hers, before bringing his shadowy face down to level with Rukia's, taking in a deep breath and inching closer to her. He tilted his head slightly to one side and Rukia mimicked the action, tilting the opposite way as her eyes slid shut.

Rukia felt as though everything was moving in slow motion. The boy continued to close the space between them, close enough that Rukia could feel his warm breath on her lips. But before he could finally claim Rukia's lips with his own…

"RU-KI-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"Aah!!" Rukia exclaimed, shooting upright in her bed, eyes wide. She stared forward blankly for a moment, heart pounding wildly, before realizing the source of the noise was outside. She quickly shook her head, attempting to flatten her wild raven hair. She slipped out of bed and rushed towards her open window, pulling up the blinds.

"Renji!" she growled, glaring down at her best friend and next-door neighbor of fifteen years, who was looking up at her from his place on her front lawn, grinning sheepishly.

"Mornin', sunshine!" he yelled brightly, hiking up his school bag higher on his shoulder. Rukia's glare never faltered.

"You scared me, dumbass! Don't ever do that again!" she shouted. "I don't need you screaming at me outside my window to wake me up!"

"You sure about that?" Renji snorted. "You wanna be late?"

Rukia blinked, turning around to look at her alarm clock. Her eyes widened as she read the large, glowing read numbers that read 7:40 A.M.

"No!" she gasped. She rushed towards her closet, throwing it open and savagely rummaging through her hangers for her school uniform. "Why didn't you wake me up, Renji?! You jerk!" she exclaimed loudly, flinging clothing onto her bed.

From outside on the lawn, Renji rolled his eyes and threw his hands up in exasperation. After knowing Rukia for nearly his entire life, he knew remaining silent during moments like this was the best option.

Once Rukia managed to locate her uniform, she quickly slipped out of her pajamas and into the school-mandated skirt and blouse. She grabbed a pair of knee-high socks and rushed into the bathroom, tripping along the way, and brushed her teeth in record time.

Grabbing her school bag and phone from her room, she quickly bolted down the staircase and through the kitchen, noticing her brother Byakuya sitting at the table, drinking coffee and flipping through what was most likely work-related paperwork.

"Bye, Byakuya!" she said quickly, slipping into her shoes that sat by the front door. Her brother looked up from his papers.

"You're not going to eat breakfast?" he questioned. "We've talked about this, Rukia. It's important for us to eat each meal together."

"I'm sorry, I'm running late. I'll be home in time for dinner, I promise!" Rukia said quickly, giving him a quick wave before rushing out the front door. "Good luck at work!"

Byakuya stared blankly at the spot where Rukia had been seconds before, wincing as she slammed it much harder than necessary. He sighed deeply, glancing back down at his work notes and flipping the page.

"Took ya long enough," Renji commented as Rukia rushed through the door. She glared at him as she fell into step next to him, heading down the sidewalk towards their high school.

"It's not my fault! I… my alarm didn't go off!" she shot back. Renji raised an eyebrow.

"You kiddin'?" he snorted. "I called your name for ten minutes before you woke up. I could hear your alarm from outside!"

"No you couldn't!" Rukia gasped, eyes wide. Renji nodded.

"That's not normal for you," he said before letting out a loud yawn. "You're normally too anal to even think about being late for school."

"I am not!" Rukia slapped Renji's shoulder playfully, and Renji grinned widely, dodging a second hit.

The two continued to walk down the sidewalk in silence, until Renji gave Rukia a side-glance, smiling lightly. "So… you excited to be back?" he asked as they turned the corner and the school appeared in the distance. Rukia shook her head.

"Not really," she admitted, sighing. "It's gonna be the same as it always is… dull and miserable."

"Hmm…" Renji hummed thoughtfully. "You never know, there might be some excitement this year. It is our last year, after all."

"I doubt that," Rukia scoffed. "My morning so far is a pretty good indication of how this year is gonna go."

Renji chuckled and Rukia's mind began to wander to her dream from that morning… who was that boy in her dream supposed to be? There had been a mysterious male in her dreams the entire break. It's always a tall boy, who is always caressing her cheek, and asking her to walk with him before he bends down to kiss her. The dream was always the same, but this was the first time that the boy had been more than just a black silhouette.

'That hair, though? Seriously?' Rukia thought. 'What color was it again? Red? Orange? What is wrong with my mind?'

She did know of a few people at school that had similarly bright hair, but none that she found particularly attractive. She wasn't sure why her subconscious had decided on that obnoxious of a hair color for the mysterious boy.

"H-hey, Rukia! Watch out–!" Renji called out in an attempt to catch Rukia's attention, to no avail. Before Rukia could register Renji calling her name, she collided with a solid object that knocked the wind out of her and before she knew it, she was on the ground with her knees throbbing.

"Owww!" she hissed, shifting so she was sitting on her behind on the cement, glancing down at her scraped knee as blood began to slowly drip out. Renji groaned.

"What the hell?" someone else growled. Rukia glanced forward to see a boy with bright hair on the ground in front of her – a boy with bright orange hair.

She gaped. She quickly recognized the frowning face as Ichigo Kurosaki – a classmate of hers that she didn't know very well. Behind him were two boys she often saw him walking around with – Keigo and Mizuiro, if she recalled correctly. Her eyes trailed back over to Ichigo, who was examining his elbow where his uniform sleeve had been torn and stained with blood. He looked at Rukia and glared.

"Nice job," he spat, pushing himself to his feet. "Next time, watch where you're going."

Rukia felt as though her blood was boiling. She jumped to her feet, ignoring the stinging in her knee and clenched her fists tightly. "You watch where you're going, Kurosaki! I didn't do anything!"

Ichigo raised an eyebrow. "Do I know you?"

Rukia gaped at him. "Are you kidding me?!" she shrieked. How could he not know who she was after being at the same school for years? "Are you messing with me or are you actually that dumb?"

"What'd you say?" Ichigo raised an eyebrow. He advanced towards Rukia, but Mizuiro and Keigo quickly grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him back.

"C'mon, Ichigo. Let's head to class before we're late," Mizuiro spoke. "It was just an accident. Ishida can fix your sleeve later."

Ichigo whirled around to face his friend. He opened his mouth to complain, before his other friend interrupted.

"Yeah, Mizuiro is right," Keigo spoke quickly, grinning nervously at Rukia.

"But Keigo…" Ichigo protested, before sighing deeply. "…fine." He turned back to glare at Rukia.

"You got lucky this time, shorty. Next time I won't be so forgiving." He gave Rukia one last look before turning around on his heel and walking through the school gates and towards the building with his friends. Rukia glared daggers into his back, her fists remaining tightly clenched.

"Wh-who are you calling shorty?!" she called out after him. He ignored her, continuing to walk away. She whirled around to face Renji, furious. "He's such an ass!"

Renji sighed deeply, lightly placing a hand on her back and turning her around, guiding her to continue walking.

"I know," he sighed. "It's okay, if we're lucky we won't be put in the same class as him."

"I've been in his class since elementary school," Rukia mumbled. "I wouldn't depend on luck. I'll annoy him so much he'll beg to transfer to the other class!"

"Okay, relax there," Renji chuckled as they walked through the main entrance of the school, heading for their cubicles to switch into their school shoes.

"Can you believe he didn't know my name?! After how many years? And he called me shorty!" Rukia growled, violently throwing off her shoes and slamming them into her cubicle, drawing glances from nearby students. Once she had slipped on her indoor pair she stood for a moment, taking in a deep breath and pausing in thought. "I hate him," she decided, nodding.

"Wow, okay," Renji laughed, putting away his outdoor shoes and following Rukia towards the stairwell. "Your knee okay?"

"Fine, I guess. I'm gonna make him regret this…" Rukia continued to mumble to herself angrily as she stormed up the staircase, Renji laughing as he followed close behind. "Stupid b… berry head!"

"Berry head?" Renji repeated as they made it to the third floor landing, heading towards their classroom – 3-B.

Rukia froze for a moment, stopping in her tracks and causing Renji to let out a small oof! as he slammed into her back. 'Berry head… he had the same hair as the guy in my dream!'

"Ugh, no way," she muttered to herself as she continued to walk, frowning in disgust as she slid open the classroom door, entering the loud room. There's no way that awful jerk could be somehow related to that dream.

"Rukia, you okay?" Renji asked uneasily, glancing down at her as she viciously plopped into her desk, roughly rummaging through her school bag.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," she muttered. "Just in a bad mood."

"Hey, Abarai!" a voice called across the classroom. Rukia and Renji glanced over to see a classmate of theirs, Ikkaku, waving him over. Renji grinned and waved back, but glanced down at Rukia curiously.

"Go," she sighed, smiling lightly. Renji smiled in return and squeezed her shoulder, heading towards the crowd around Ikakku's desk.

"Gooooooood morning, Rukia!" a bright, cheerful voice called out from next to her. Rukia glanced over to see Orihime Inoue, a girl she had known for most of her time in school, plopping into the seat next to her. "How are you?!"

"Morning, Orihime," Rukia smiled. "I'm okay. Already wanting this day to be over," she laughed. Orihime giggled and nodded.

"I know! But just think – it's our last year of high school ever!" she exclaimed, pulling out her notebook and pencil. Rukia smiled, nodding.

"Thankfully," she grinned playfully.

"Hey, Hime!" a voice called out. Tatsuki Arisawa, Orihime's best friend, was walking by the classroom and waving at her through the window as she headed down the hall. Orihime waved back at her before she disappeared from view. She must have been placed in the other class.

Rukia sighed deeply, slouching back in her seat as she glanced around the room. Desks had been shoved together as students sat together and chatted excitedly. She did a quick skim of the students in her class, noting in relief that Ichigo Kurosaki was nowhere to be found.

"Thank god," she muttered to herself.

During her lunch break, Rukia decided to work on her assignments in the library. Hopefully she would be able to finish them and have free time after school instead of staying up until the early morning finishing her homework. It was the first day back and she already had more homework than she would have liked.

She sighed to herself, tapping her pencil against her cheek as she skimmed the homework sheet. She was already bored. She felt her eyelids grow heavy. "No," she whispered. "I'm not gonna sleep…"

She quickly focused her gaze on her paper once more, staring at it blankly for a few moments, before she groaned and leaned back in her chair. She couldn't focus – her mind was still on break.

To keep herself occupied, she quickly clicked her pencil to extend the lead and began to doodle on the library desk. She drew a few Chappy faces, as well as some silly smiley faces and kittens to amuse herself. She continued to scribble tiny pictures in the corner of the desk, until two students walked by and she jumped slightly, covering the doodles with her paper. She glanced up at the clock on the wall and her eyes widened. Class was to begin in 2 minutes.

"Crap," she muttered, quickly standing and gathering her papers and books, kicking in the chair and rushing out of the library – she'd come back to clean the desk after school.

The rest of the day had gone by fairly quickly. Rukia's teachers had given quick introductions to the classes and assigned a few pages of review work. Although she would never admit it, she may have dozed off behind her textbook during English.

Once the final class of the day had ended and cleaning duties were completed, students quickly began to gather their things and shuffle out of the classroom. Some stayed behind to gossip with friends, while others began to move desks in preparation for a club meeting.

"Wanna walk together?" Renji asked Rukia as they stood, gathering their notebooks. Rukia smiled.

"Is that a serious question?" she laughed. "How long have we walked to and from school together for?"

"Whatever," Renji snorted. They exited the classroom, heading for their lockers. Rukia crouched and opened her locker – she suspected they gave her one on the lower row because of her height, but maybe she was just being bitter.

Once she had gathered her books and school bag, she quickly shut the locker and waited for Renji to do the same. Suddenly, she froze – she forgot to go clean off the library table.

"Shoot," she whispered.

"What's up?" Renji asked, kicking his locker shut.

"I have to go to the library real quick – you can go ahead, I'll catch up with you in a minute!" Rukia sighed, turning and heading for the library. Renji blinked.

"I'll walk slow!" he called after her. Rukia gave him a quick smile before turning the hall.

Once she entered the library, she noticed most of the desks were occupied by groups of students. She headed down the aisle towards the table she had been at earlier, and smiled in relief when she noticed it was unoccupied.

She slid into a seat, rummaging through her school bag for her pencil case. A quick glance showed that the pencil markings were still there, so most likely no one had noticed it yet. Good.

She grabbed her eraser from her pencil case and quickly brought it to the doodles, beginning to rub them away. She almost felt bad wiping away her flawless art. Too bad she didn't bring her sketchbook to school.

After erasing a quarter or so of her doodles, she froze for a moment, frowning lightly. There was something different about them. Underneath one of the Chappy faces, there was writing. In a small, neat print someone had left a message.

Nice drawings. How old are you… six?

Rukia gaped. How dare they?! Her drawings were masterpieces! She quickly erased the remainder of her drawings and the note and replaced them with a message in her own messy handwriting.

No, ass. Who the hell are you, criticizing my masterpiece?! You're just jealous.

She smirked in satisfaction. She quickly put her pencil case away and stood, rushing out of the library to catch up with Renji.

Once she exited the school gates, she noticed Renji leaning against the brick wall, fiddling on his cell phone.

"Renji!" she called out. He glanced up and grinned at her, flipping his phone closed and pushing himself off of the wall. "You waited?"

"Yeah," he shrugged, heading towards her. "You ready?"

Rukia smiled, nodding, and the two headed down the road together.

After a quick goodbye, Rukia separated from Renji as they both headed into their own adjacent houses. She entered her front door, kicking off her shoes and sighing. Byakuya would likely be at work for a few more hours, which gave her some time to finish up her homework – or procrastinate.

Heading up to her room, Rukia quickly set to work on her English homework. Since she had slept most of the class, she had a bit of work to do.

She made it halfway through her Math homework before finally giving up and flopping face-down onto her bed, huffing in exhaustion. She wouldn't sleep – she was just going to take a quick 5 minute break.

Before she knew it, Rukia awoke to the sound of Byakuya calling her down for dinner. A quick glance at her clock told her it had been two hours since she had laid down for her 'quick' rest. Cursing silently, she slipped out of bed and fixed her hair, rushing down the stairs.

"How was the first day of classes?" Byakuya asked as he set down two plates on the dining room table. Rukia sighed deeply, pulling out her usual chair and flopping down on it loudly, much to Byakuya's displeasure.

He always insisted on keeping things prim and proper… be polite, act like a 'lady', don't slouch in your seat, keep straight-A grades – the way Hisana would have wanted it, apparently. Ever since Rukia's sister, and Byakuya's wife, had passed, his personality had changed drastically. Though he was always soft-spoken and shy, her passing away had made him closed-off and hard to read. He had become quite strict when he had been given the responsibility of being of Rukia's guardian.

Rukia couldn't understand how he believed the changes he had made would be something Hisana would appreciate. Rukia's sister had been outgoing, cheerful, and spontaneous – she would have detested this strict schedule of meals together and ensuring Rukia was in the top 10 of her class. When Rukia came home with subpar grades, Hisana had always given her a bright smile and told her she was proud of her. Now, if she scored anything lower than an A, Byakuya felt as though they needed to have a 'talk' about her 'lack of motivation' and 'Don't you want to make Hisana proud?'

"Fine," Rukia mumbled as Byakuya moved to sit in his own seat opposite the table from Rukia. He examined her for a moment in silence, before pressing his lips together tightly.

"Just fine?" he asked, picking up his chopsticks. Rukia grit her teeth. She hated these mundane conversations with Byakuya. She knew his intentions were good, but she often found herself overwhelmed and frustrated by his actions. He acted much more like a strict, overbearing father than the quiet, friendly brother-in-law she used to enjoy spending time with.

"It was good," she told him. "I enjoy my classes. The teachers are nice."

"Good," Byakuya nodded. "Have you met any new friends?"

"You could say that," Rukia spoke, eyes narrowing as she viciously stabbed the chicken on her plate, ripping it apart savagely with her chopsticks as she was reminded of Ichigo Kurosaki. Byakuya noticed the violent action and raised a thin brow.

"Did… someone anger you?"

"Of course not," Rukia looked up from her plate, giving Byakuya a sickeningly sweet smile as the metal chopsticks scraped loudly across her plate, sending bits of chicken off of her plate and onto the table. She quickly cleaned it up before Byakuya could lecture her on table manners. "I just… I guess idiots can't be avoided."

"I see…" Byakuya nodded. "Don't let anyone disrespect you, do you hear me, Rukia? And please… don't get yourself into any trouble," he spoke softly, albeit sternly. Rukia smiled lightly.

"Don't worry, that won't happen," she assured him. "You know me. It'll be the same boring school year as last year. And the year before that… and before that. I'll behave, as I always have." Byakuya's shoulders visibly relaxed, and he nodded at this.

"And no boyfriends," he added quietly. Rukia gaped at him.

"You know, the natural reaction of most girls my age would be to yell and protest, but come on, this is me we're talking about!" she snorted. "It's not like anyone is lining up to ask me on a date… you'll be remarried before I ever have a boyfriend," she muttered bitterly. "And we both know that's never happening, so…"

"Okay, that's enough. Eat," Byakuya sighed, and Rukia knew the conversation was over. She had hit a sore spot for Byakuya. Despite the amount of time that had passed since Hisana's death, Byakuya was still quite sensitive about it. Rukia hated pulling the Hisana card on him, but she couldn't deny it was a good way to kill a conversation she didn't want to continue.

She sighed quietly to herself, playing with the food on her plate as she and Byakuya finished dinner in silence.

The second day of classes was passing by painfully slow, and Ichigo was thankful when it was finally time for their lunch break. He stood from his desk, heading for the door, until someone leaped in front of him. He sighed deeply.

"Yo, Ichigo!" Keigo grinned widely, holding his arms out wide and blocking Ichigo's exit.

"Keigo."

"You gonna eat lunch with us?!" Keigo asked.

"Not right now," Ichigo shook his head. "I have to grab a book from the library."

"Lame!" Keigo shouted. "You're so lame, Ichigo! Why are you such a nerd?!"

"Be quiet," Ichigo said, elbowing Keigo out of the way. "I'll see you guys in a bit. I won't be long."

He ignored Keigo calling after him, calling him a 'lame-o loser' as he headed down the hallway. He entered the library, heading straight for the Literature section. He quickly located what he was looking for and headed for his usual seat. After sitting, he noticed familiar smudges of graphite on the corner of the desk, although instead of the childish drawings like what he had seen yesterday, there was a short message. He had forgotten all about that. He grinned widely, leaning forward to read.

Whoever had drawn those rabbits had written back to him. He read her (he figured it was a girl – not many boys would be so fascinated with Chappy) messy handwriting and quickly grabbed his pencil, erasing the message to make room for his own reply.

Oh yes, I'm so jealous of your hideous… I don't even know what they are. Alligators?

Ichigo lifted his pencil, smirking down at his writing. He paused for a moment, fidgeting with his pencil before adding a bit more to the message. Once he had finished, he leaned back in satisfaction.

But who am I? It's a secret.