This chapter took longer than expected to upload because I have decided to change the direction of the plot, though it will basically be the same plot. I've decided to make it more on the light side instead of making it too emotional (something I'm not good at conveying in writing). Even though I said that I would be replying to reviews thru pms, I thought over it and think it's better to address them in chapter then any questions you guys have will answered here, maybe making things clearer for others as well.

round and round we go- Thanks, I hope the plot will still interest you.

sleeplygirl- Thank you for liking ch 2 even if there were no IR interactions.

Oranges just got real- That's how I'd like to see Inoue developed in the manga, but that's what ff is for.

ichirukitard- Yes you are right that it was Rukia who Chad encountered, but I won't address that too soon. And I was tempted to include bullying in it, but then I thought who bullies like that in college.

chibiyukia- Thank you and I'll try to update faster, almost written half of ch 4.

falconrukichi- I hope there are enough IR meetings in this ch for you.

Thanks to xXxMiserableLoveFairyxXx for betaing this.

Disclaimer- Tito Kubo owns Bleach.

The date had gone okay, I didn't expect fireworks to fly, but it wasn't spectacular either. Tatsuki had told me about Inoue's past since they'd gone to middle and high school together. Inoue had been bullied constantly throughout middle school, that's how Tatsuki had met her and both struck an unlikely friendship in which Tatsuki became Inoue's protector. That would explain a recent incident, it was two months ago just before the christmas break. I was on the same train as her, though we were getting off at different stops. She wasn't that comfortable with me so much back then, so I decided to leave her alone and spare her from making any small talk. My stop was coming up, I turned to her to say bye when I saw her face contort because of fear and helpless. I knew exactly what could've caused that look as soon as I saw a middle aged man standing behind her with his arm reaching for something in front of him, which I deduced to be Inoue's bottom. It disgusted me so much to see such a man act this way, without thinking I punched him in the face and yelled at him to keep his hands to himself or next time he's caught, "I'll cut it off." Inoue was of course really grateful to me, but from then on I had formed the impression that she was someone who needed to be protected, jut because she was too nice for her own good.
I fell asleep early reminiscing about the past, considering next day was the school day.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Unexpected teasing and cheering greeted me at the usual lunch table.

"So you've finally manned up, eh Ichigo? I'm glad, you won't find a better girlfriend than Orihime here." Tatsuki patted or rather slapped me on the back to give her blessing to me and Inoue. I almost spit out the unswallod food; needless to say, I was shocked, we'd only gone on one date and that automatically made us a couple? I needed to clear up this misunderstanding before it escalated into something bigger and irreversible.

Ishida was quiet and reading his book, I think he was just trying to stay out of it. Mizuiro was carelessly texting on his phone and Inoue just kept her face down because she was shy.

"Who told you we were dating Tatsuki?" I glared at her and her eyes widened at the unexpected response. Inoue looked up suddenly with hurt in her eyes, that really made me feel even more uncomfortable clearing up this misunderstanding.

"When two people of the opposite sex spend a day together, alone then it's considered a date. When two people go on a date, it's usually because they're dating ergo you and Orihime are a couple right?" Tatsuki was explaining this to me like I didn't understand my own feelings or the kind of relationship I had with Inoue, so she had to clear it up for me.

Inoue's eyes also looked up towards me, she also wanted an explanation why I don't consider her my girlfriend.

I scratched the back of my neck, the atmosphere had really gotten tense. Though Ishida and Mizuiro had been doing the same tasks, right now they were just pretending to do them. They also expected me to clarify my situation, as much as I would like to I feel it should be between me and Inoue only. Alas, this is something I must do now in privacy or in the open.

"It's kind of hard to explain, I feel that we need to get to know each other more before we find out that we're compatible." There, that should be satisfactory, right?

"That's the point of dating, Ichigo. You get to know each other while dating, so I don't understand why you don't just officially declare Orihime your girlfriend?" Tatsuki was being really persistent. But not all relationships go the same way.

"Tatsuki, I think it's better that we get to know each other before we commit in a relationship. It less painful if in the end things don't work out." I didn't really want to sound so cynical, but she really forced it out of me.

Tatsuki just glared at me as if I were some sort of prince going through girls before I deemed them worthy of me. Inoue looked like she was about to cry, I hadn't really broken her heart I hope.

I looked at her sincerely apologizing to her, "I'm sorry Inoue. I do think that you are a great girl but I want to get to know you better and you should know me more before we officially declare ourselves to be dating. I hope you understand?"

Inoue's face brightened at hearing this, "Of course Kurosaki-kun, I understand I also think it's better." Tatsuki sighed, seeing she couldn't really say anything now that Inoue had also made her decision and as a good friend she could only grudgingly accept it.

ooooooooooooooooo

Rest of the week had passed uneventful, there was a lot school work and club activities that left little time to ask Inoue out this weekend. It was saturday and I had just come back from the community theater, I decided to stop by to see Chad's show again since my other friends had already gone out. I went home and changed my clothes into something casual but stylish like a tight v neck red tshirt and indigo denims with converse shoes.

oooooooooooooooooooo

In 20 minutes I was at the club and seeing Chad on the stage. It was crowded but being tall had its advantages, like having a good view even from the back. The deep sombre voice was singing a song about life and changes, the hard rock version, so everyone was jumping. In the midst I felt something or rather someone push into me hard that if I hadn't planted my feet firmly into the ground, I'd have surely created the domino effect. A glare donning my face I turned to face the culprit and when I saw the pint sized waif, my eyes literally popped out. Rukia Kuchiki stood out in such a place like a sore thumb, seeing her so close to me and her unwavering violet eyes, unlike mine, stared at me as well. I'm sure I had a stupefied expression on my face but hers had kept the stoic facade up, only a faint recognition flashed on her face quickly and disappeared. It's fine when I see her at college, but seeing her at such as unexpected place is just shocking, especially since I didn't think she even knows what rock music is and here she is at an underground hard rock scene.

"Kurosaki-kun, excuse me but I was pushed from behind hard." Her voice sounded apologetic and had a bit of playfulness to it, as if she was buzzed. Looking at her face carefully for any signs of alcohol consumption, my eyes quickly roamed over her form. I noticed that she was dressed in a black form fitting tshirt and skinny jeans and completed the look with just sneakers on. She didn't look like anything she did at school where everyone always just saw her in a dress, she looked attractive. Wait, I mean she looked she had a chest to go with her age, she had womanly hips and long legs, so of course anyone would look attractive with those physical attributes.

Still surprised by her tone and seeing her at such place, I just nodded robotocally replying "It's okay, I know that it gets out of hand sometimes." My shock was starting to wear off though, thank god, I wouldn't want to sound like a stuttering idiot.

"You'll wrinkle your face if you think too hard." There it was again, but the playfulness was more conspicuous now, accompanied by a twinkle in her eyes. No, maybe it was the lights that reflected in her eyes making them sparkle. And no way did Kuchiki have a playful side, it was almost like she had split personality, because she's always so composed and maintains a cool demeanor, now she was acting like a bubbling 20 year old instead of someone too mature for their age.

"huh? Oh, sorry I'm just surprised to see you here." Finally admitting my bewilderment.

"Why? Am I not allowed to be here and instead be buried in columns of books with my reading glasses on at home all alone?" She asked with a poker face, I thought that I offended her.

"Ah...no, that's nnot what I-I meant. I mmean..." I tried to apologize to her if I offended her, I blushed in embarrassment and my hands were flailing, on top of that I stuttered could I sound I any more stupid?

My feeble attempts were suddenly cut by a loud laugh, my eyes widened at seeing Kuchiki's, the ice queen, eyes fill with life suddenly in front of me. My ears only heard her deep laughter over the crowd noise and the loud music, like we were the only ones in an open wide space.

"Relax, I was just kidding. If you're too shocked, I'll try to live up to your image of me next weekend by burying myself in books all alone with a dark cold aura around me." She smiled mischievously with that twinkle in her eyes. It was definitely not the lights that gave her eyes a strange hue of violet. Her sparkling violet eyes made her look sexy, she was being sarcastic and fiesty and dressed like that, objectively speaking, she sounded and looked sexy.

"Oh, this one's my favorite." She turned away from me and started to jump along with the crowd to the new fast tempo song, with her arms in the air. She was singing along without missing a syllable and her eyes fixed on the stage.

Not wanting to get a headache yet or over think this odd meeting, I decided to pay attention to the show instead.

oooooooooooooo

The show was over and I turned to see Kuchiki, but she wasn't there making me think that if I had hallucinated the meeting. Chad was already off the stage, in the back packing his equipment so I decided to go back there to help him.

Chad was standing with his back turned to me, he looked he was deep in conversation with someone, though I could only hear the grunts and see him nodding his head than to say more than two syllables at once.

I went close to him only to see clearly the other person he was talking to, which was Rukia Kuchiki. She saw me approach and smirked at me, while my mouth was gaping again.

Chad also turned to see what she was smirking at, his face lit up in a pleasant surprise.

"Ichigo, didn't expect to see you so soon."

"Hi Chad. Yeah, I didn't have anything to do today, so I decided to see come see your show again. It was good." I complimented him while trying to ignore the petite woman grinning from the side. I think that she was trying to get on my nerves by confusing me more.

"Ah by the way this is Rukia Kuchiki, she's the co owner of the kittens. She also goes to Karakura University, same as you. Kuchiki san this is Ichigo Kurosaki, I've mentioned him before" He introduced me to her her by gesturing towards her.

I was about to open my face to let him know that I knew her, but she suddenly grabbed my right hand shaking it hard with an impish grin on her face.

"It's nice to meet you Kurosaki-kun. It's not surprising that we haven't met before, since the university has over thirty thousand students. But it's nice to meet any of Chad's friends, since they're bound to be as cool and you are, with your orange hair." She said all that in a sweet sugary voice that was slightly higher in pitch. Is she schizophrenic? Wait, before that did she just insult me by insinuating that I dyed my hair to look cool? The little bitch, what kind of game is she playing by pretending to not know me, well ok we really don't really know each other, but still we do now each other's existence. Why did she speak up before I even had a chance to open my mouth, like she was emphasizing that we really were strangers?

"Nice to meet you too Kuchiki san. I'm sorry I can't say that Chad's talked about you." I decided to play along with her and smiled at her as if seeing her for the first time.

"Of course not, we've only met last week." She said in a slightly icy tone.

Did I unknowingly offend her?

"But it's like I've known Kuchiki san for a long time, Ichigo." Chad unexpectedly said this trying to soothe Kuchiki's irritation. But what's more surprising is that Chad let someone come close to him after knowing them for a week? And he's already letting that person help with his music that is so personal to him?

"Thank you Chad that you consider me a close friend." She smiled at him, a smile that was innocent and genuine, that wasn't marred by any mischievousness. She really values Chad as a friend, even though they've met only a short while ago.

Looking at her watch after making small talk with me and Chad, she exclaimed that she had to get home. When she turned she stumbled, luckily Chad caught her in time, supporting her small frame easily.

"ah...sorry seems I shouldn't have been so energetic today, especially combined with alcohol." Her cheeks flushing from alcohol, also from embarrassment.

Chad inquired if she could call someone to pick her up or she has any friends nearby she could stay with since it was late and she was slightly intoxicated. She vehemently rejected both options, saying "I have early classes tomorrow and there's no one home. I'll be fine."

Before I could stop my mouth from opening and these words from coming out, surprising even myself, "I can drop you off, since I don't have early classes tomorrow."

Caught by surprise when I offered to escort her home, she looked at me with narrowed eyes but hiding her suspicions. She asked in assurance if I was okay with it since her house was almost near the outskirts of the town and would take more than half an hour to reach. I ensured that it was all right. With that settled me and Kuchiki bid goodbye to Chad and headed out.

Oooooooooooooooo

" You're a helpful person, this is the second time you've helped me." She looked at me and thanked me in a firm but gentle voice. Not being able to help her last time when she could have gotten sick sent me on a guilt trip, this was a way to pay it off. I had another thing I wanted to get off my chest when she called me helpful, "Well...you know that time...I was more worried about my skin."

Soft giggles surprised my ears, looking at me, she smiled softly, "I know, but it doesn't change the fact that I was helped by you."

That surprised me, she should be mad because she knew that I had lied to professor that time and was using her. This doesn't fit with the image that she has when she's being grateful about it and tell me how dare I use someone like her to get through using unfair means.

Feeling ashamed, I slightly blushed and changed the subject to music in general. I found that we had similar tastes in music, but she could also play koto, considering her taste in music I assumed that she knew how to play more contemporary or a modern instrument.

She explained to me, "Coming from a noble family and the one that's been existing for centuries now, we have certain traditions to uphold, whether we like to or not." Uttering the last part of the sentence, her voice held slight sadness.

"But you must have like it somewhat, right?"

"Yeah I must since I'm also part of the traditional music club in the school."

That surprised me, I didn't think that she was the type of person who would be any clubs because that required socializing.

"Really? I didn't know that. Do you ever perform publicly?"

"Ah... sometimes like for fund raising or a charities."

"That must give you a satisfied feeling."

"I suppose, but then that means it's self serving." She said so enigmatically with slight disdain, surprised at her cynicism, I retorted, "That's not true. People don't perform acts of kindness because they want to feel good about themselves."

"ah...maybe, but kindness is not wanted everywhere and yet some people still insist on imposing it. For example, a person with good intentions will help an old lady carrying heavy weight only for two reasons. One, because they want to feel good about helping someone or two, because they want to be praised by her." She explained it in a systematic fashion as if such acts are unnecessary.

Irritation started to grow inside me over her blatantly negative view of pure actions, "Even if helping someone maybe self serving or we want to hear good things about ourselves, it still serves other purposes. The old lady was still helped in the end, even if in exchange for something that may or may not have been performed because of selfish motives."

"That I cannot deny. It's the same as you, I thanked you that day for helping me even though I knew it was for your purposes, but I was still helped by you."

"Yes, but I admitted to that. Doesn't that mean I didn't want to be praised or feel good about myself?" I spoke in louder than normal tone.

"Yes, but you that was to assuage your guilt. Doesn't that mean you wanted to feel good and the guilt was in the way?" My face clearly showing annoyance over her reasoning, she looked at me and smiled with a glint in her eyes.

"I'm just teasing you. I may come off as being cynical sometimes, but that doesn't mean I will refuse to help others or be helped. I don't help others unless they ask and vice- versa."

"Oh is that why you were taking care of some stray cats in the park? They didn't ask for your help, but you went out of your way to help them. Then you even gave away your umbrella to Chad so he wouldn't get wet." She blushed slightly and I smiled at that because I thought I pointed out a flaw in her logic.

"I didn't say I'm heartless to leave obviously abandoned animals in the rain to suffer. And I really did give away my umbrella because of the cats."

I laughed at her denial and pouting, I decided to change the topic to something lighter.

Being absorbed in talking about music we didn't even realize that we had arrived at the train station. Since it was so late at night, the trains were running almost empty.

She turned to me before I could pass through the turnpike, "you don't have to escort me to my home from here. It's fine, I'll go on my own." Before I could voice any protests she continued when she saw I was about to protest, "my family wouldn't like it if a male escorts me home," she explained. I inquired if she'd be okay by herself so late at night, she went through the turnpike assuring me she's used to it. I didn't want to impose myself on her if she didn't want me to and cause any unintentional problems with her family, I reluctantly waved her goodbye. Catching me by surprise she bowed to me from the other side and smiled thanking me. Ever so formal, it was uncomfortable when she thanked me so formally because it felt like she probably thought I did it out of obligation. Which was partially true, if I hadn't felt guilt for not helping her, agreeing with people about her arrogant personality then I wouldn't have offered to walked her to the station.

I walked towards my apartments and reflected on tonight's bizarre turn of events. It felt so surreal, someone on whom I had decided my opinion on, was challenged tonight, but I'll willingly revise it. Her manners and way of talking is very formal, very much like the traditional Japanese woman, which isn't surprising considering the family she comes from. She is reserved, some take it as a sign that she doesn't think of them worth her time. Tonight's meeting with her in an unlikely place made me rethink that she's not just a reserved noble woman, she's normal, is not conceited and skeptical of her surroundings. Is that the reason she doesn't talk to a lot of people because she simply can't trust others without thinking they have ulterior motives? She doesn't crave friends so she stays aloof but she's not anti social. Finally, I reached my apartment and went to bed thinking about how I was going to talk to her the next time.

I hope the new direction will not be disappointing to some, I'll also edit the first chapter to match the new tone I've set in this chapter, but probably won't do it until the fic is completed.