Hitsugaya: (looks around) Oi, where is that idiot Karin? She's the author of this for pete's sake and she's not even here!

Karin: (snores in the background drooling) Yes I would like some orange soda flavored cookies… (snore)

Hitsugaya: (sweat drops) Well I guess since school's been tiring she'd need to sleep but leaving me to do her author's notes is ridiculous. That moron.

Karin: (throws pillow hitting Hitsugaya square in the face) Fluffy things aren't supposed to be mean. (goes back to sleep)

Hitsugaya: Wait a second! Do the replies before you go back to sleep you irresponsible twit!

Title: Spellbinding Sketches

Rating: T (might become M later on)

Pairing: Hitsugaya(Toushirou)/Rukia, Matsumoto/Gin, Byukuya/Hisana, erm… still thinking over some others…

Genres: Supernatural/Romance/Drama/Humor/Fantasy/Hurt/Comfort/Horror

Summary: AU Rukia Kuchiki was a young an aspiring artist with big ambitions. One of these ambitions was always to get accepted into the prestigious and mysterious school Da Vinci Academy. Once she gets there, however, things begin to change and she learns things beyond the human comprehension that has been hiding for centuries. At first all she wanted was to get in, now Rukia will do everything in her power to get out… too bad a certain white haired male won't let her.

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach

Replies to Reviews from Chapter Two:

Rose-of-alabaster- Chappy rabbits rule! I love Chappy almost as much as I love ramen! Don't worry, there's a giggling fangirl in all of us (laughs).

Tsuki Miyamoto- Thank you! That's so nice! I guess it's not so bad that Toushirou had to wake me up to do these replies (sniffles) but then again, he didn't have to kick me to do so! Glad you had some laughs.

Blackbelt- My PM is often unreliable because it's my friend's email, but I could always request again on the forum since you fixed it. By the way, you did a good job—it's much more organized now, Soutaichou. Anyway, of course you're my favorite author! You're the best, Soutaichou! I know it may sound weird but it was your stories that had the most influence on me to join fanfiction in the first place! You're just that awesome! XD Yes, Rukia is an amazing overlord! Hope you continue to enjoy yourself with this story.

PS- Thank you for wishing me a happy Thanksgiving. It was indeed very wonderful and I hope it was the same for you as well for the Christmas Holidays. Santa Claus rules!

SylvanSpirit- Glad to see you like it so far. Hope you'll like this chapter as well.

-vedette26- True indeed. Ukitake is awesome in this, isn't he? I'm glad you liked the chapter. Hmm, you'll just have to wait and see who it was now won't you? XD

Hikari6007- You'll find out in this chapter. Happy to know you like this so far.

Insomnia009s- Very happy that you want another update for this story.

Haku fan1- Gotta love Ukitake and his candy giving ways. (laughs)

ViperineVampire- You'll find out soon, my friend (grins).

CookieNCream- Well, I know I like it when authors reply to me so I do the same for my reviewers to let them know I appreciate them taking time out of their schedule just to review my stories. Of course I don't mind you sticking around! Randomness is awesomeness I say. (smiles) Thank you for the happy thanksgiving wishes—I hope yours was just as pleasant as mine. As for the headmasters, you'll just have to keep reading to find out. Haha, I just read your joke again and it made me crack up like the first time I read it. Hmm, Toushirou on caffeine… hard to imagine but it would surely be something to post on you tube if it ever happened (laughs). Hope you didn't run out of fingers, Cookie-chan.

N a g a s h i . n o . k u r o- Indeed. Glad to see another HitsuRuki fan. (laughs) There's always a fangirl in all of us.

Wickedsistah1024- (rubs back of head sheepishly) sorry this wasn't as fast as the second chapter, Wicked-chan. School has been taking books and beating me to the floor with papers and such—sometimes being a sophomore is a pain. (blushes) I don't think I'm fantastic but I'm honored that you would think so. I'm glad you like the story so far. By the way, I also hope you write some more HitsuRuki stories. I liked your "All the Right Moves" story immensely.

Phoenix-aerith- Yes they would, wouldn't they? As for the headmasters, you'll find out this chapter (smiles).

Kimihaine- That's okay—I'm just glad you reviewed, that's what counts after all (smiles) I'm glad you think I kept Rukia and Renji in character. Brilliant you say? (blushes) wow, thank you for the compliment, though I am unworthy of such praises. You're very kind.

Phoenixfire3473- Firey-chan! (glomps you) You reviewed me! Yay! I'm so happy that people from the army like this story. To be honest I thought no one would like it that much. As for your question on when will Toushirou be entering… well, I wouldn't want to spoil it would I? Yes! No! Yes! No! Dah! My brain hurts! (clutches head from thinking too much).

Shirayukiice- That's true I guess, but let's go with he's even more dark and possessive I suppose. Yes, HitsuRuki is just so cute! I don't like HitsuHina either.

KoOri no HouKou- Sorry for the wait. Hope you enjoy.

Luna de Artemis- Thanks for the compliment.

BloodLustLove- Totally true on the definition thing. I'm happy that you like the way I portray Rukia as a character. Yes, HitsuRuki is amazing!

Spellbinding Sketches

Chapter Three:

The School

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"RRRRRRRRRRRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUKKKKKKKKIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-CCCCCCHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!"

It all seemed to happen so fast that Rukia was sure time had skipped a couple of seconds and landed her in this predicament. Her mind was in a hazy blur as she was squished between two somethings.

Oh man, did she feel a migraine coming on.

"Ruki-chan! Ruki-chan!" one of the two cheered excitedly as they held her tightly. Rukia was surprised to feel that this blob was smaller than her petite stature. Their voice was childish and sweet like a little kid's.

"Mm-hmmm, that Uki-kun was right when saying you were adorable. Why if I was a few years younger—"

WHAM!!!

Rukia was promptly released from being suffocated by two unknown people she didn't know when she spotted Nanao standing beside her with a vein throbbing on her forehead and her eye was twitching.

"Kyoraku-sama! Please refrain from molesting and/or hitting on Kuchiki-san" Nanao growled out threateningly as she held up a ruler smacking it on her palm in a dangerous manner.

The Kuchiki then turned back to the two people who were only embracing her moments before. Her violet eyes came across a man older than herself—maybe in his early thirties—with curly long brown hair in a low ponytail. His eyes were dark and mischievous along with his cunning grin. Having tiny whiskers on his chin completed his look as he was dressed in a white long sleeve button down shirt with the first few buttons undone and his sleeves pushed up to his elbows and black slacks.

When Rukia looked at the other person, however, she almost fell over in utter shock. There standing about three feet would be a little girl near the age of eight. Short cotton candy locks reached her shoulders as big childlike eyes stared up at her excitedly. She was dressed in a black long sleeved Lolita type dress stopping above her knees and a black choker necklace having a little heart charm with black ballet shoes on her dainty feet. The black ribbons from the shoes criss-crossing all the way up to below her knees. Finally, a big black bow was tied at the back of her head like you would see for Minnie Mouse.

"Oh come on Nanao-chan," the man, Kyoraku, whined, "It's not everyday that a cute young lady walks into our quarters." he told the stern woman while eyeing the ruler warily.

"Na-chan is so mean!" the child whined. "I wanna hug Ruki-chan!" the little girl complained.

Nanao's eyebrow twitched as she gazed upon the two whiners. Her grip around the ruler only tightened threateningly making the two gulp in fear. They knew the glasses woman would carry out her threat if provoked.

"Kuchiki-san is our guest. You will treat her as such" Nanao replied in a final tone. When she said that though, Kyoraku couldn't help but grin slyly.

"Oh! I get it now, Nanao-chan! Of course I wouldn't replace your loveliness for Rukia-chan! My, how easily jealous you get—"Too bad he was interrupted when said lovely woman gave him a hard bash on the head with her ruler.

"Idiot…" she muttered when he was on the ground twitching in pain and terror. Once she was finished torturing the annoyance known as Kyoraku, she turned to the speechless Kuchiki girl who was just blinking in surprise.

"I apologize Kuchiki-san," Nanao said sincerely. "I didn't think they were going to pounce on you until they introduced themselves. My mistake" she bowed to the younger woman.

"Erm… no problem" Rukia responded with a raised eyebrow. "So… who are they exactly?" she questioned Nanao.

Before the glasses woman could respond, however, the pink haired little girl latched herself on Rukia's waist again. Her big innocent eyes staring up at her happily.

"You mean you don't know? Well then, I'm Yachiru! You like cake, don't you Ruki-chan? We can have some cake together if you want! I like cake! Don't you like cake Ruki-chan?" the child said in all one breath making Rukia a little dizzy.

"Yeah… cake's good" Rukia agreed slightly alienated by her surroundings.

"Oh! I almost forgot! This is Kyo-chan!" she pointed to the man still twitching on the floor as she clung to the Kuchiki. "Kyo-chan was excited to see you too! You're so cute, Ruki-chan! Even cuter in person!" Yachiru praised the girl and nuzzled her head into Rukia's stomach.

"Aa! I agree with Yachiru-chan!" Kyoraku sprang up from the floor with no bruises or any signs of injury whatsoever. "Your picture doesn't do you justice Rukia-chan! My, what luck it is to have you here with us." he said to the girl who was absentmindedly running her hair through Yachiru's hair.

"Alright, I think that's enough Yachiru-sama, Kyoraku-sama" Nanao said and pried the pink haired child off the petite black haired girl. "Again, Kuchiki-san, my apologies" Nanao said to Rukia.

"No problem, but who are they?" Rukia repeated her question. So this is what Renji felt like when she tackled/glomped him—dizzy and disoriented. Maybe she should lighten up on the tackling…

Nah, it's too much fun.

"Really? You don't see it?" the two nutjobs questioned. Two identical grins arose on their features as they spread their arms out wide and exclaimed proudly, "We're the Headmasters of Da Vinci Academy! Welcome Rukia-chan!"

WHAT?!

"WHAT?! YOU SERIOUS?!" Rukia exclaimed with her eyes the size of saucer plates. Her jaw was open in shock while looking at the two up and down trying to find some flaw to their claim. There was no way these two were the headmasters of one of the most prominent schools for centuries!

Nanao stood next to her with her head bowed in shame. A black gloom cloud over her as she stood shoulders slumped beside the Kuchiki girl.

"Believe me, Kuchiki-san, I still don't want to believe it either" Nanao said as if she too couldn't believe she was working for these people.

"Hey! That's not nice Nanao-chan!" Kyoraku said looking hurt. "I'm a great headmaster!" he told the two doubtful women with pride.

"Kyo-chan's the best!" Yachiru cheered.

There's no way. There's no fricken way, Rukia looked at them dubiously. There has to be someone else running the school! There's no way this school would be so elite with these two in charge!

"I see everyone is already introduced" a new, yet somewhat familiar, voice chimed in chuckling.

Rukia whipped her head around quickly to face none other than her new acquaintance Ukitake Juushirou. The same kind smile still present on his features as he walked into the room.

"Ah! Uki-kun! You've arrived. How was your trip?" Kyoraku questioned the white haired male. Ukitake smiled in greeting.

"It went well. I've taken care of my business successfully" he told the dark haired male, but for a flicker of a second, Rukia could've sworn Ukitake had turned his eyes to her when he said that before looking back at Kyoraku.

"Ah, Rukia-chan," Ukitake said turning his eyes to her. "It's good to know you made it here safely" he smiled that same cryptic smile that made her tilt her head to the side slightly.

"Thanks for dropping me off" Rukia bowed choosing to swallow her questions. Right now wasn't the time to ask neither how he knew she was heading here nor what he was doing here.

As if Nanao read her mind, she spoke up.

"Ukitake-sama is Kyoraku-sama and Yachiru-sama's adviser for Da Vinci. He does all of the organizing and business attributes for Da Vinci including accepting students and working out expenses" Nanao explained. "Basically he does all the work while these two—"she jabbed a thumb at Kyoraku and Yachiru—"just waltz around acting like morons" she told Rukia.

Now that I can believe, Rukia thought looking at the two goofballs known as the headmasters, So Ukitake-san does all the work after all.

"Na-chan! You're so mean!" Yachiru told the older woman.

"Yeah! I do some work I'll have you know!" Kyoraku said to the glasses woman. Nanao turned her gaze to look at him with an expression clearly stating "Yeah right".

"Sitting around at your desk all day drinking sake` doesn't count" Nanao stated flatly.

"He drinks all day?" Rukia asked.

"Are you interested in sake`, Rukia-chan?" inquired Kyoraku turning his attention to her.

"Now, now Kyoraku," Ukitake said coming over to where Kyoraku and Rukia were. "It's not proper to offer students—especially under aged ones—alcohol"

Kyoraku just shrugged lazily as if feeding alcohol to a minor didn't bother him at all.

"And here I thought I would have another drinking buddy" he said forlorn. Rukia didn't even bother commenting… though she always did want to try sake`… hmmm.

If Renji were here he would definitely agree she belonged with these nuts.

But he's not so Rukia doesn't have to put up with his comments. Hah!

"Rukia-chan, now that you've been introduced to Kyoraku and Yachiru, perhaps you would like to be lead to your room to get some sleep? Classes start in a few hours and Nanao-san will get you settled in with your schedule before they start" Ukitake suggested to the raven haired girl. Rukia couldn't help but nod tiredly feeling a need to consume another one of her painkillers.

"Awww, but I want Ruki-chan to stay longer" Yachiru complained at having to depart from the petite eighteen-year-old. Ukitake patted her shoulder sympathetically.

"You'll see Rukia-chan at meals." Ukitake tried to sway the young child. "Plus you can always invite her to the office to play" he told the pink haired girl.

"You mean this isn't the headmasters' office?" Rukia asked. Looking around, the place was very clean and elegant. She was sure this was where they worked.

"No, the headmasters' live in a whole different part of the building. Students aren't allowed to go there unless invited" Nanao explained to the eighteen-year-old. Rukia nodded in understanding.

"I'll be sure to have Ruki-chan come and play! It will be fun!" Yachiru told the older woman. Rukia nodded a little not knowing wither to be grateful for the attention or concerned at the fact that one of the headmasters is a child.

"If you please, Kuchiki-san" Nanao gestured to the door. Rukia nodded and followed her out. The door made a resounding click leaving the remaining three alone.

Kyoraku let out a sigh and plopped down on the couch as Yachiru grew a solemn look. Ukitake looked at Kyoraku waiting for him to speak.

"Ukitake," Kyoraku said, "Did you notice anything about her? Anything strange yet?" he inquired to the white haired male.

"No, nothing at all." Ukitake replied seriously. "Just an ordinary girl. I tried talking to her in a different language to see if she had that ability yet, but her accent was broken and she spoke as if she had learned it instead of just knowing it without trouble" he explained.

"I see" Kyoraku sat back thinking. After a while of not saying anything, he looked thoughtful at the ceiling, "Maybe we got the wrong person…?" he suggested.

"I don't think that's the case" Yachiru said in a calm tone unlike her loud voice moments before. "She's gotta be one. Perhaps she's just a late bloomer." Yachiru said.

"But her birthday was months ago!" Ukitake said as he remembered Rukia's file. "Surely by now she would've shown some signs of being—"

"I think Yachiru's right. She could just be a late bloomer. After all, we haven't seen one of those for centuries now. We need to take all the precautions and possibilities when it comes to this." Kyoraku interrupted Ukitake.

"But what if we're wrong!" Ukitake exclaimed. "We could have picked the wrong girl and placed an innocent girl into the lion's den without protection!"

"Ukitake," Kyoraku said sternly—something completely outside his enthusiastic and laidback character. "You should know that we wouldn't be as careless as to do something as put an innocent into the lion's den. She'll be fine here—normal or otherwise"

"And the others?" questioned Ukitake with a raised eyebrow, "I'm pretty sure they won't be happy if word gets out an ordinary person got into here"

"They'll just have to suck it up then" Yachiru said thinking about 'them'. "True we're on shaky terms, but we are still in change over them"

"I agree." a new voice said.

The three occupants of the room turned to see a man in his early thirties with raven hair down a little past his shoulders and dark eyes. Each of them looked upon him with solemn respect.

"But I doubt it will come down to that" the man said to them walking into the room. "I'm positive we are not wrong" he told the others.

"You mean you're positive you're not wrong, am I right Byakuya?" Kyoraku said with a tiny smirk. The man, Byakuya, only stared at him with an impassive expression. Kyoraku—quite used to his unresponsive nature—laid back with his arms behind his head. "Not that I doubt your intuition one bit" he told the raven haired man.

"For now, we'll observe and keep everything quiet from her as she seems to not know anything" Byakuya said. "The same goes for everyone else in the school. No one will know about her supposedly being an ordinary child"

"But what if she just stays an ordinary child?" Ukitake asked Byakuya. "Yes, you're probably right on her identity, but we have no way of knowing when she'll, if ever, develop out of that dormant stage" Ukitake said to them.

"It will happen" Byakuya said with a final tone in his voice. "Whether it's by her own or by the influence of her surroundings, dormancy has the ability to unlock itself when it thinks it's ready whether the person wants it to or not"

"And what of Rukia-chan?" Ukitake asked them. "Have you thought about how she'll feel when it all comes out? About how much she'll hate us? About how much she'll hate you?" he directed the last question to Byakuya. "Please reconsider while we still have a chance. If she's just ordinary then there's no need to bring her here. She'll be happier in the end that way if we let her go" Ukitake pleaded.

He didn't want this for Rukia. Sitting in that car with her and talking with her—he saw her as the person she was and not for the thing they suspected her to be. For once of observing Kuchiki Rukia all these years, he's seen that she's just a regular person with dreams and aspirations. That she has spirit and determination. That she was joyous and free—things he didn't want to take away from here by bringing her to Da Vinci.

"You're being ridiculous Ukitake," Byakuya said turning to walk out the door, "It won't come down to that. Living in ignorance won't do her any good" and with that, he left the room leaving the three in silence.

But it will give her happiness, Ukitake thought solemnly.

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Rukia and Nanao walked along the dark hallways in comfortable silence. Rukia turned her gaze at Nanao for a second before looking ahead of her. She repeated this action a couple of times before deciding to speak. She was never one for silence anyway.

"So, you work for them?" Rukia asked.

"Yes, sadly" Nanao replied.

"How did those two become the headmasters anyway?" Rukia asked Nanao.

"Family business" Nanao replied curtly.

"They let an eight-year-old be a headmaster?" Rukia deadpanned.

"You'd be surprised" Nanao said as they walked along.

"I have a feeling you're right about that" Rukia said tiredly slumping her shoulders while wheeling her suitcase along. Her duffel bag was placed over her shoulder with her precious Chappy inside.

They were currently walking down a long, dark hallway with red carpeting. The ceiling wasn't as tall as it was when Rukia was traveling through the outside of the school but they weren't tiny either.

Finally, the two women stopped in front of a single door with the number 213 in gold. Nanao took out a key and unlocked the door with a click. Once it was unlocked, she turned to the younger woman.

"This is where you'll sleep and such. I hope you find it to your liking. Meals are in the dining hall with Breakfast at seven o'clock sharp. Students are expected at one o'clock for lunch and six o'clock for dinner. Classes start at seven fifty and end at three twenty. Anything else you need to know?" Nanao ended with a question.

"Um… my schedule?" Rukia said sheepishly with a hand rubbing the back of her neck. Nanao nodded and handed her a piece of paper with her classes on it. With that, Rukia said she couldn't really think of anything so that was it.

"Very well, see you in a few hours Kuchiki-san. Try to get some sleep" Nanao bid her farewell. Once Nanao left, Rukia took her stuff and new room key inside shutting the door behind her.

Gazing at the room, Rukia was pleased to see it was only slightly larger than her old room back in Japan. The walls were a light lilac and her bed had simple beige blankets and a violet comforter folded at the end of the bed. Her pillows were snow white as her curtains—like the ones in her and Renji's apartment—were transparent white. Next to the bed was a night stand with a small lamp on it. Over to the side a few feet away was a desk, with the window being in between the bed and the desk, and chair—her tired eyes lit up when she noticed it was a spinney chair—for working with the desk painted white. Across from the bed on the other side of the room was a white dresser. She then noticed two white doors one by the dresser—in it she saw a simple bathroom—and the other one near the foot of her bed meaning it must've been a closet. To top it all off, her floor was without carpeting meaning it was a wooden floorboard style floor—something easier to clean in case she dropped paint on.

Letting a small smile light up on her features, Rukia tiredly walked towards the bed removing the covers as she did so. Not even bothering to change, the young woman took off her shoes and retrieved her Chappy bunny. Once she was done with that, Rukia plopped down into the covers for a blissful slumber.

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Rukia Kuchiki let out a loud wail as she raced down the giant hallways of Da Vinci. Not even bothering to change out of her clothes from yesterday, the raven haired girl skidded a turn and searched around for her classroom on Art History.

"I can't believe this! How could I sleep in late two days in a row?! This is ridiculous! They better not punish me or anything just because I'm late! It ain't my fault I don't have a damn map!" Rukia ranted on frustrated as she ran around mindlessly looking for her classroom.

Ah yes, readers, Rukia Kuchiki once again slept in. You're probably all letting out a sigh of "Of course" with a knowing expression on your features. After all, we've seen that Rukia has a tendency to sleep like a log in the last chapter and it was even stated by her best bud Renji so how can you not have an all knowing look on your face when the words "Rukia" and "slept in" are in the same sentence?

"Why? Why didn't I ask for a map when I had the chance?!" the Kuchiki girl whined to no one as they were all in the middle of classes and she was pretty sure she was just getting out of the dormitories traveling along an abandoned corridor. Looking down at her watch for a split second, Rukia let out another whiny noise before attempting to pick up speed.

It read 11:35am. At least she was only five minutes late for her Art History class. Now if only she can find the damn classroom!

However, Rukia's mind and body had different convictions. Her leg was practically screaming in pain right now making her wince. She knew she should slow down, but she was late! She can take a pain killer when she got to the classroom.

But then again, she really could use a pain killer right about now. Plus, it wouldn't hurt just to pop one in, right? They're so good anyway. And she didn't have breakfast so she deserved some kind of substance, right?

Slowing down, Rukia dug her hand into one of her pockets pulling out the small container holding her pills. Unscrewing the cap—a little difficult on her part. Stupid child locks!—she poured out two pain killers instead of one and put them in her mouth. Swallowing them, Rukia felt more relief now that she had taken some of her pills.

Just then, a soft melody reached her ears making her stop. It sounded like the piano, she realized. Curious, Rukia looked around trying to pinpoint the source of the noise. Noticing two double doors with no others in sight, she approached quietly listening to the haunting melody coming from them. Gently grasping the handle of one of them, she wordlessly pulled it open allowing the hypnotic sound to penetrate her senses without blockage.

Rukia opened her amethyst eyes to look upon the room. The floor was a beautiful beige/light brown marble with white pillars along the white walls attaching to the beige/light brown marble ceiling. It was so clear Rukia could see herself in both like a mirror. Across the vast room were giant windows allowing glorious sunlight to shine through crimson colored curtains.

But what caught Rukia's eye the most was the black grand piano in the middle of the enormous, empty room and its player.

He looked to be around her age—perhaps a year older. Well toned flawless skin with snow white messy hair and jade eyes concentrating on the piano keys. He wore a long sleeve black shirt and dark blue jeans with blue and white sneakers. His hands moved swiftly and without conflict across the keys like a dance.

The melody of the piano rendered her still. It was a dark, haunting melody. Yet it wasn't loud or immense. It was soft and sad—spoke of death and decay to her ears. It was so beautiful and so frightening at the same time. It made her want to close her eyes and listen and make her cover her ears to block it out at the same time. It was ominous resonating in the room.

It was sudden, when his eyes drifted to her in a narrowed stare. His actions were smooth and not abrupt. He continued playing despite the fact that his gaze wasn't on the keys anymore.

He knew she was there; he probably knew ever since she opened the door without any sound. However Rukia didn't make any movement to leave or apologize. She just stood watching the piano and listening.

Slowly the melody died down presenting its close. His fingers lifted and pressed gently on the last keys. Once he was finished, his hands removed themselves calmly from the piano keys without taking his gaze off of her.

His eyes were cold; unfeeling. Yet she didn't turn away nor did she attempt to say anything. It was like a headlock of stares. His fierce glare against her solemn gaze.

And when the door opened once more with a familiar voice announcing their presence, the connection of her eyes staring into his was broken as she turned to see Nanao.

"There you are," Nanao said looking at the Kuchiki girl. "I had a feeling you would've gotten lost. You should've asked for a map" the older woman reprimanded her.

Rukia turned to her fully as her back faced the stranger. She gave the woman an apologetic smile.

"Aa, sorry Nanao-san. To be honest, I didn't think about that thought until I was running through the halls this morning" Rukia said sheepishly to the glasses woman. Nanao sighed and looked at her with a small smile.

"Well then shall I…" she trailed off as she noticed the person behind the Kuchiki girl. Her posture stiffened and her eyes widened in fear and shock. "…lead you to your next class!" the woman finished hurriedly grabbing the girl by her wrist and leading her out of the room.

"Okay then" Rukia said raising an eyebrow at Nanao's behavior. She didn't have time to gaze at the stranger behind her anymore for Nanao dragged her out of there as if they were being chased by wolves.

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"Here we are. Try not to get lost anymore, okay Kuchiki-san?" Nanao asked the younger girl. Rukia nodded with a smile of thanks. "Good, I hope to see you at mealtime then" Nanao told the raven haired girl and bid her farewell.

With Nanao gone, Rukia looked at the door in front of her before checking her watch. Fifteen minutes late. Well, better late than never, right?

That thought in mind, Rukia grabbed the handle and opened the door. The man at the front of the classroom stopped his lecture and turned to the newcomer. He had shaggy brown hair and brown eyes framed by glasses. Instead of making him look like a nerd though, he looked sophisticated as well with the clothes he wore.

"Ah, it seems we have a new guest" he said when he saw her. Rukia nodded and bowed her head embarrassed—her awkwardness around new people kicking in.

She wished Renji were here.

"Y-yes," she replied uncertainly. "I'm Rukia Kuchiki and I'm new here so I got kinda lost…" she trailed off. Nonetheless instead of yelling at her like she would expect he would, the man smiled gently and gestured her to come in.

"Welcome Kuchiki-san. No worries about being late. However, I would appreciate it if you don't make it a habit" he said.

"I won't sir" Rukia said trying to be on good terms with her teachers. Being on good terms with a teacher will always give you benefits as Rukia learned in her childhood and early teen years.

Renji always called her a teacher's pet. Rukia would respond by saying she was getting a one up over him, which was true since their teachers always seemed to like her better.

"Very good. I'm Sousuke Aizen—your Art History teacher. Please take a seat in the middle right there" he pointed in the direction of the leveled desks/tables on the left in the middle of the higher and lower elevated desks. (A/n: think of the desks like the ones you would see in college movies or like in the Ninja Academy from Naruto in episode 3)

"Yes sir" Rukia said and walked up the steps to her seat. Having taken her seat, Aizen began his lesson once more with Rukia taking notes. Surprisingly she found she liked this teacher. Not only had he given her slack but he also was good at teaching a class. At least she could pay attention. She hated it when the teachers droned on and on about a subject not really caring about it.

Her thoughts were interrupted when the door to the classroom opened and someone walked inside. Of course, that didn't distract her, but the reactions of the other students did.

All of them were attentive with expression of shock on their faces or blushes on their faces—obviously from the girls—but not a squeal or sound were uttered. Even Aizen-sensei looked slightly surprised before a smile lifted itself on his features.

"Hitsugaya-kun. I must say it's been a while since you decided to show up to my class" Aizen told the newcomer.

Rukia looked up from her notes and felt her mouth gaping in shock. It was the same boy from before!

He's in the same Art History as me? Rukia asked herself. She then turned to the other students saw their expressions, guess he doesn't come to class much. Meh, what do I care? I have bigger fish to fry… hehehe fish to fry hehehe. Whoever thought of that expression?

The boy, Hitsugaya, didn't respond but his eyes flickered to a certain spot in the classroom before turning back to glare at Aizen. With his hands in his pockets, Hitsugaya walked up to the back and took his seat on the right side of the room.

Meanwhile Rukia was contemplating on why such a ridiculous expression such as "bigger fish to fry" existed. Then her thoughts drifted to other expressions that sounded funny. She was in the middle of thinking about the "There are other fish in the sea" when she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

Someone was staring at her.

Too riled up from her awkwardness in a new environment blocked out her reassuring narcissistic side. Rukia didn't think anyone would want to stare at her, much less try to burn at hole through her skull with said staring. Yes, she was amazing, but she didn't think anyone here would want to bask in her greatness too concerned with studies.

Stop staring at me dammit! Is what she wanted to say. A strong urge to bang her head against the desk was quite compelling at the moment. Rukia bit her lip and tried to concentrate on the lesson in order to ignore the nauseated feeling she was getting in her stomach.

Stupid staring person's fault!

The pencil in her hand was tightened in her grip. Putting all her energy into listening to Aizen-sensei's lecture, Rukia pushed the feeling of eyes boring a hole into her head into the back of her mind.

While the person who was staring at her acted as if they had all the time in the world she was sure! Of course they must be in a relaxed position spending all their leisure time creating a hole in her head with their eyes!

Damn it all.

------------------------------

When Aizen-sensei finally declared class as over, every student picked up their belongings and headed for the door. Rukia grumbled to herself grumpily as she fumbled with putting her stuff back in her backpack. Both relieved and frustrated at the situation of her being stared at throughout class, the Kuchiki decided to just ignore it for the sake of doing more important things. No point in wasting her time on the matter.

With that conclusion, she maneuvered herself into the center aisle between the two sets of desks. Consequently, as she did this action she bumped into someone for her not looking ahead instead choosing to look at the floor. A clumsy move on her part she supposed.

"Sorry" she apologized looking up to see it was the white-haired boy. He just looked at her with his jade piercing eyes for a moment before turning away and walking off with his hands in his pockets.

Rukia fumed angrily as he disappeared outside the classroom. She banged her fist on one of the desks in outrage.

He could've apologized too! Acting as if it's entirely my fault! Ass… she thought in distain for the white-haired male.

Rukia found herself not liking him one bit.

"Ah, Kuchiki-san," the voice of Aizen Sousuke brought her out of her musings. Rukia turned to look at her teacher with a sheepish, shy smile. "Well done in today's lesson. I'm amazed to see you working diligently the whole time. I'm impressed" he told the young woman with kind eyes.

Rukia couldn't help but have her cheeks color from the compliment. In her mind a chibi Rukia kicked a chibi Renji relishing the fact that she got more praises than he ever did. She gave a bow in gratitude before replying to him.

"Thank you, sensei, but it was your lesson that interested me enough to pay attention the whole time. You're a wonderful teacher" Rukia said to him. Aizen smiled gently at her reply.

"I'm honored you would think so, Kuchiki-san" he said giving a slight bow. Rukia gave him a smile. "Now, be off now before you're late for your next class" he ushered her out of the room with a good-natured smile. Rukia bided him farewell and raced down the hallway towards her next class.

Turning a corner, Rukia didn't realize until it was too late that someone was turning the same corner in the opposite direction. Slamming into each other, the other person's things flew everywhere due to the fact that they didn't have a backpack like Rukia to carry their things.

Rukia fell onto her butt on the hallway marble floor from the impact. Pain shot up from her bad leg automatically making her hands grab it and begin massaging it in order to eliminate some of the pain. The other person scrambled around on the floor trying to claim of their things.

"Gomen nasai!" they apologized embarrassed. Rukia turned her gaze to see a girl her age gathering all of her belongings frantically. Her brown eyes were downcast and her chocolate brown hair was in a small bun. She wore tan capri pants and a short sleeved pale pink blouse with brown sandals. Her face glowed red from embarrassment and she looked at if she was about to cry. "I'm so sorry!" she apologized again as tears gathered.

Rukia cursed for making someone cry. She was never good with crying people. Quickly before the tears began to fall, the ravenette worked to make amends.

"Don't worry about it" Rukia said waving her hands in front of her. She proceeded to help the girl with her things despite the screaming pain in her leg. The effects of the pain killers wearing off and from her abrupt fall caused her leg to start its usual pain inducing state. "Hey, it's alright. I'm just clumsy. I should've been watching where I was going" Rukia told her.

"But I wasn't looking either!" the girl protested as if convinced it was indeed her fault for Rukia's misery in the world. "I should be more careful!"

"Well, I should too" Rukia replied.

"But it was me who ran into you!" the girl said.

"But I wasn't paying attention" Rukia shot back sheepishly.

The two of them shot back comments claiming it was them who were at fault before both of them realized what exactly they were doing and both broke into a fit of laughs. Rukia chuckled as the girl held both hands to her mouth to hide her giggles.

"Wow, usually with Renji I'm saying it's his fault instead of mine. Hahaha" Rukia said rubbing the back of her head. "But really, I guess what we're doing is silly too" she added. The girl nodded with her smiling.

"But really, I'm—"Rukia cut her off by placing two fingers on her lips. She waged her index finger in front of the girl with her other hand in a "no-no" motion.

"Enough apologizing, kay? It's not the end of the world. We're both fine—that's all that matters" Rukia said ignoring the white hot pain in her leg. That fall really hurt it, but she hid her reaction to the pain really well. The girl nodded and Rukia removed her fingers from her lips.

She's kinda cute, Rukia thought as she observed the girl, like one of those shy high school girls. Meek but sweet, Rukia concluded with a fond smile as she looked at the girl. However, inside her mind the smile turned to a grimace and her inner chibi had an eye twitching when she noticed one important factor… the girl was taller than her by two inches. Dammit.

"Hinamori-chan!" someone called making the brunette turn her head to gaze at the newcomer. He was tall with shoulder length platinum blonde hair with his bangs covering one of his eyes. He carried a polite, kind aura around him. Loyal, but perhaps a pushover if Rukia had to pinpoint what he looked like to her.

"Izuru-kun!" the girl greeted when he reached them—a friendly smile on her face.

"What's going on?" he asked her when he reached them. His eyes stopped on Rukia who just gave a light wave.

"Oh, well, that is…" the girl started unsure how to put their whole situation into words.

"Nothing really of consequence" Rukia cut in with a shrug of her shoulders. The pain in her leg was killing her. She really needed to go lie down somewhere before she screamed out all the curses she knew—and some she made up—beyond normal volume because of the pain. "Well, see ya" she said and moved to walk past them intent on returning to her room rather than go to her next class.

"Wait!" the girl called making Rukia look back at her. She twiddled her fingers nervously as she averted her eyes from Rukia's instead choosing to gaze at the marble floor.

"…I'm Hinamori Momo" the girl introduced herself. She then looked at the blonde and introduced him as well, "And this is Kira Izuru-kun" she added. Izuru gave Rukia a smile in greeting to which Rukia returned.

"Kuchiki Rukia" she responded and continued on her way. "Later"

Once she was out of sight, Hinamori turned to Kira with a shy smile. He returned the smile as he knew she was thinking about the girl they've just met.

"She was really nice" Hinamori said to him. "She didn't seem to mind at all about me. Usually anyone else would punish me for something like that" she told Kira who nodded grimly. After all, one must be careful in Da Vinci if they wanted to be safe. No, it was worse than that he was certain.

One must be careful in Da Vinci if they wanted to live.

"It's good to meet people like that. We'll see her again at lunch I suppose" Kira said and the two of them proceeded to their next class.

"Mm-mmm. We should have her sit with us" Hinamori agreed smiling.

-------------------------------

It was killing her. The pain. As Rukia lied on her bed, all she could register in her mind was the burning pain in her leg. Dammit; she hoped it wouldn't have to hurt this much.

Finally having enough, one of her shaky hands dug into her pocket desperately searching for her pain killers. God she needed one—she needed one now.

However, something made her pause in her movements. No, it was not the pain. But it was something that was in her pocket.

Or rather something not in her pocket.

Hand searching thoroughly as if she couldn't believe it, Rukia's eyes went wide in disbelief.

Her pills. Her pain killers were missing.

Could it have happened when I bumped into Hinamori-san? She asked herself blinking. That seemed plausible, but for some reason, her mind said that wasn't the case. Come to think of it, Rukia didn't even recall putting her pain killers back in her pocket in the first place.

A groan of agony escaped her lips while her head fell back on the bed. Damn it all. She was going to have to file for another prescription drug. She was hoping to do that later before her pain killers ran out… or in this case went missing.

Which was a real pain in her ass. It would most likely take a week now to get a fresh batch of pills.

The clock beside her turned one o'clock. Remembering what Nanao said, Rukia knew it was time for lunch. She was opting to skip it for the fact that she was in no condition to go to lunch without cursing out in the dining hall. However, she had not had a decent meal since yesterday and she knew—and felt from her fatigue—that skipping so many meals and only having her pills wasn't healthy.

With that thought in mind, Rukia dragged herself off the bed—as painfully as it was—and crawled—yes, she crawled. Oh lord wouldn't Renji be laughing at her misery right now—towards the bathroom. Yanking the shower curtain away, the Kuchiki picked herself up to sit on the closed toilet and rolled up her pant leg meanwhile removing her shoe and sock. Placing it in the pearly white tub, she reached over towards the water knobs and turned the cold dial to ice cold.

The water was like needles on her skin and she bit her lip to prevent any curses from leaking out. It was the only way after all.

Even though the processing of numbing the pain really stunk.

-------------------------------

Ukitake sat at the head of the table in the dining hall along with Kyoraku and Yachiru—who by the way were in their own little world discussing god knows what—while all the students sat themselves further down the long excessively decorated with food table. The structure of the table went by as such—the closer you were to the headmasters the more important you were. Everyone followed this unspoken rule with diligence and without complaint. Here was the order: headmasters, headmaster's associates, teachers, other staff, and then the students.

Byakuya had not joined them choosing to be alone somewhere. He rarely showed up for meals as he had a maid bring him private ones. The white haired man couldn't help but chuckle at his raven haired friend's antisocial personality. Byakuya was always like that it seems.

Suddenly the chair beside Ukitake was filled making the man turn to greet the person. He put on a friendly smile as he knew full well who could have such an undetectable presence.

"Hitsugaya-kun, hello" he greeted the younger white haired male. Hitsugaya nodded back to him to show his greeting. Ukitake and Byakuya were usually the only ones who could get a greeting out of that boy. And even then the greeting wasn't much, but for Hitsugaya's standards that's a lot supposedly.

A light smile appeared on the older snow haired man's features as he looked at the green eyed boy.

"I hear that you attended Aizen-sensei's class today after skipping it for a long period of time. I thought you didn't like him, much less want to be in his class" Ukitake told him, and if you listened closely, you could detect a hint of teasing in his tone.

Cold jade eyes narrowed at him in defense. Normally such disrespect would be dealt with quickly and painfully as possible they both knew, but Ukitake was—reluctantly—an exception.

"It's not like I wanted to sit in that bastard's class like some stupid student, but I was bored so I came to see if—for once—that incompetent fool would have something interesting to say," Hitsugaya said in distain, "Hmph, guess I was wrong" he added as he took on a bored expression.

"Really" Ukitake replied smiling that same smile. The one that said 'That's-not-true-and-I'm-going-to-bug-you-with-this-smile-so-you'll-get-annoyed-and-tell-me'. Hitsugaya hated that smile—and hated Ukitake more.

"Really" the boy agreed with him not giving the older man the satisfaction of annoying him. Suddenly the boy's shoulders tensed and his nose caught scent of something sickeningly familiar.

Ukitake noticed the change in the boy and couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. This was something new he's never seen out of the boy. He had to wonder what had actually gotten under the skin of the impassive—if not as impassive as his friend Byakuya—Hitsugaya.

Then that's when he saw it—or rather whom. At the far end of the table, the other side in fact, was Rukia Kuchiki talking to two students who had gestured her to sit with them. One was a brunette girl—tiny, but not as tiny as Rukia—and a tall, lanky blonde boy. Rukia laughed at something the girl said and waved her hand in a 'don't worry about it' kind of way.

He couldn't help that fond smile that reached upon his face as he observed Rukia going bonkers over how much food was spread around the enormous wooden table. Looking like a child on Christmas day, she appeared to by thanking some divine power up above for allowing her to have so much food. Her two companions laughed good-naturedly. He was happy Rukia had made some friends.

Ukitake turned to Hitsugaya to see if he was alright, but when he caught sight of the boy, his heart—he was sure the icy grip of death grabbed it—stopped cold. There Hitsugaya was, perfectly normal, but his icy gaze was staring at something.

Rukia. He was looking at Rukia.

All traces of smiles were gone from Ukitake as his face turned a ghostly white like there was no color left to begin with. The look in those emerald eyes—feral, dark, possessive.

Hungry.

It didn't take long for the gears to click in Ukitake's brain. Rukia's schedule flashed in his mind. She had Aizen-sensei's Art History class. Hitsugaya went to Aizen's class for the first time in forever.

Rukia was in Hitsugaya's class for the first time so far.

He could've sworn his head was spinning—his breathing short and his heart beat erratic. Why? Why had it turned out like this? Why of all the people Rukia could've attracted the attention of—it was Hitsugaya?!

A part of him told him he was overacting. That maybe he was jumping to conclusions and Hitsugaya was looking at someone else, but no, he saw clearly he was staring at Rukia.

Staring at her with darkened desire. Of wanting.

"You should know that we wouldn't be as careless as to do something as put an innocent into the lion's den. She'll be fine here—normal or otherwise" Kyoraku's words rang in his ears hauntingly.

That's where you're wrong, Kyoraku, Ukitake thought mournfully. We've just offered Rukia-chan to the most fearsome lion of all without even realizing it.

And thus the wheels of fate began to turn.

Karin: Yeah, I know, you guys are probably like "We waited all this time for this piece of crap"? Sorry, I tried to enter Hitsugaya into the story in a more cooler way but I couldn't think of anything. There will be more of him next chapter though. I promise. A lot of you are also probably confused on what's going on, but that will be revealed in due time so please be patient—please don't be mad at me. (puppy dog eyes)

Hitsugaya: No comment—hey wait! Weren't you asleep at the beginning of the chapter?

Karin: (snores) zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Hitsugaya: (sweat drops) Nevermind then. Anyway, please be kind enough to leave a review. We'd really appreciate it.