Dedication: This story — yes, this entire story — is dedicated to Zapenbits, who's been reading my stories literally from the very beginning, and who never has anything bad to say about anything I write. She's been very encouraging, and her reviews always brighten up my day, and I'm forever grateful for her. Love ya Zappy!

—:—:—…Previously…—:—:—

Rukia shook her head slowly. "It isn't right, Nee-san. No one should be able to accept this. Mom and Dad didn't. You and Nii-sama don't. And he just…he shouldn't."

Silence. Then the sound of a chair scraping against the wood sounded as Hisana stood up, wrapping her arms tightly around Rukia's shoulders. "I accept you, Rukia." She whispered. "You're my sister, and I love you, and I accept everything that comes with you — flaws and all. Don't ever think otherwise."

Rukia bit her lip, unsure of what to say to that. Finally she settled for saying nothing at all.

Shadow of the Day — VIII

—:—Saturday, March 22nd, 2008 – 10:59 p.m. —:—

"The swings are very loud." Rukia said out of nowhere. Ichigo turned to raise an eyebrow at the raven-haired girl.

"You're only just realizing that? Very observant." Rukia stuck her tongue out at Ichigo, who rolled his eyes. "Oh very mature, midget."

"Excuse me?" Rukia asked, sounding offended. Her hand flew out with amazing accuracy, making fairly solid contact with Ichigo's arm.

"…Ow."

"Oh suck it up. I barely touched you."

Ichigo chuckled under his breath, turning his eyes to look at the stars. Rukia rocked back and forth on her swing, looking very content.

"My sister wants to meet you." Rukia said suddenly. Ichigo almost fell off his swing.

"What?" He demanded when he'd recovered. Rukia laughed quietly. "You told her about…about this?"

"Yeah. She's been bothering me about it ever since, she's very persistent." Rukia rolled her eyes. "She always gets her way. It's such a pain. Don't worry though, I wouldn't subject you to that kind of torture."

Ichigo looked around nervously, as if expecting to see Rukia's sister come bursting out of the bushes. "My family wants to meet you too." He admitted finally. Rukia's lips twitched into a sad smile.

"Right." Her voice was slightly sarcastic. Ichigo hesitated for a moment before reaching out, touching a hand to her shoulder.

"You don't give yourself enough credit. Once you get past the sarcasm and bitterness, you're a good person."

"Oh thanks for the amazing compliment." Rukia's voice was heavy with sarcasm, but her responding smile was honest. Ichigo smiled as well, then looked down at his watch and sighed. Rukia recognized that sigh. "You have to go?"

"Yeah. My dad is good about letting me stay out this late, but…"

"You're pushing your luck now." Rukia finished the sentence, sighing. "It's sad how trapped you normal people are when it comes to time."

"Yes, if only we were all lucky enough to be trapped by nothing more then the movement of the sun and the moon." Ichigo said thoughtfully as he stood up, stretching. Rukia kicked him lightly, but she was grinning.

"You know you're jealous."

"Gee, you just figured out my biggest secret."

If Ichigo had to pick one aspect of this…thing he had with Rukia that he liked best, it would have to the easy, playful banter that seemed to flow naturally between them. It was as if they'd known each other their entire lives.

—:—Monday, March 24th, 2008 – 9:46 a.m. —:—

Ichigo twiddled his pen between his fingers, not hearing a word the teacher said. Every now and then his eyes would drift to the click. And, inevitably, his mind drifted to Rukia.

He wondered what it would be like to not have to worry about time. He couldn't imagine it. He supposed it was easy for Rukia, who had never even seen a clock. Part of him envied her. But that was stupid, he knew; she was trapped by something much worse, after all.

And yet he didn't feel sorry for her. He would have, he supposed, if she made that possible. But her personality, her will, the very way she acted mad it impossible to feel any pity for her at all. He had a feeling she preferred it that way.

Ichigo sighed, dragging a hand through his hair. Thinking about Rukia really confused him. He could spend hours thinking about her, dissecting her words, her actions, the strange, always-present sparkle in her sightless eyes. But no matter how long he thought about her, he could never come to any kind of conclusions.

And he liked that. He liked the constant mystery that surrounded Kuchiki Rukia.

Plimp!

Ichigo jumped as a piece of chalk bounced off his forehead. "Welcome back Kurosaki." The teacher said while the rest of the class snickered. "Can you tell me what I was saying just now?"

Ichigo sighed.

10:02 a.m.

Rukia kicked her legs back and forth. She was laying on her stomach, her fingers drifting over the Braille letters of the book on the page in front of her. It was a familiar story, one she'd read many times, but she could never get enough of it.

She knew she should be doing her work. Her tutor would be arriving soon, and she'd never done her homework. But at the moment, she didn't really care.

Rukia sighed as her interest in the book waned away, and she tossed it aside. It landed on the floor with a phwap, and she hoped she would remember later where it landed. She rolled over onto her back, facing the ceiling. And, inevitably, her mind drifted to Ichigo.

She wondered what he was doing now. She knew he was in school, something she couldn't imagine. What was it like to be around a lot of people for all that time? To have a teacher who taught everyone at the same time? Rukia had only ever had an in-home tutor, had always been the only one around. She wondered what it was like to be in a real classroom.

A low click drifted through the quiet house as the front door was unlocked, then opened. "Kuchiki-san!" A voice sang out. Rukia sighed as she sat up, slipping her feet into her slippers and starting downstairs. "Good morning Kuchiki-san!" Inoue Orihime chirped.

"Morning Inoue." Rukia sighed. She didn't have anything against her tutor, not really. But Inoue could be rather irritating, what with all the energy she always seemed to have…

"Ready to get to work?" Inoue asked, and Rukia heard a bag drop onto the floor.

The work was boring, as always. Rukia only half-listened, unable to stop herself from trying, every now and then, to compare it to what she thought regular school would be like.

"Kuchiki-san?"

Apparently her lack of attention didn't go unnoticed. "Are you listening at all?" Inoue demanded, though her voice wasn't angry.

"I am." Rukia lied weakly. Inoue could tell when she wasn't paying attention, though how Rukia couldn't even begin to guess. Something about indicators and all that.

"Where's your mind today?" Inoue's tone was genuinely curious. Rukia shrugged, playing aimlessly with the hem of her shirt.

"Did you ever teach in a real school?" She asked after a minute. Inoue didn't answer for awhile.

"I did." The woman said finally. "I taught fifth grade up until about five years ago."

"Why did you stop?"

Inoue's answering tone made Rukia imagine that she was shrugging. "The classes were too big — almost thirty kids in one class, that's a lot. I like smaller thing, more compact. That's why I joined the home-schooling program. I had to go back to school to learn how to teach kids like you, it was like a whole new adventure. I loved every second of it." Rukia resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Why do you ask?"

"Just…curious." Again, the lie fell flat. Inoue waited, and finally Rukia gave in. "I have this…friend. He—"

"He?" Inoue interrupted, her voice imploring. Rukia groaned.

"Just a friend." She said, a little more harshly then she meant to. "Anyways he…goes to a regular school, obviously, and I was just…curious…about what that's like."

"High school?" Rukia nodded. "Probably goes to Karakura High…I went there. Nice school."

"What's it like?"

Inoue took a minute to answer. When she did, her voice was amused. "It wasn't all that bad, I…"

12:30 p.m.

"So then she and I went back to her place and — hey, are you listening to me?"

"No." Ichigo said simply, munching on his sandwich. Keigo groaned and instantly began whining. Ichigo didn't see what the big deal was — Mizuiro obviously wasn't listening either. Why couldn't Keigo complain about that?

"You've been really distant lately." Mizuiro commented idly, completely ignoring Keigo. "Something going on?"

"Nothing much." Ichigo said, hoping Mizuiro would drop it before—

"You have a secret!"

Before Keigo heard them talking. "I don't believe it!" Keigo yelled at the top of his lungs. Ichigo saw a few people giving them looks. "My best friend is keeping secrets from me!" In the time it took to blink, Keigo was next to Ichigo; they were practically nose to nose. "Come on, spill! What aren't you telling me?"

"Nothing." Ichigo said, shoving Keigo as hard as he could. The boy fell back, landing hard on the grass. This didn't detour him, of course.

"Come on, tell me what's going on!" Keigo said as he bounced back onto his knees, giving Ichigo a defiant glare. "What don't you want to tell — I know! You have a girlfriend!"

To which Ichigo responded by punching Keigo in the face. "Would you shut up already?" The orange-haired boy growled. "I don't have any secrets and I don't have a girlfriend. Just shut your mouth."

Mizuiro sighed as he handed Keigo a napkin to clean up his bloody nose with. "You should have just shut up Asano-san." He said wisely.

"Don't call me Asano-san!"

Ichigo rolled his eyes and went back to his sandwich. Keigo could be such a pain sometimes.

Wonder what Rukia's up to right now, he wondered absently, pleased that he was able to keep a small smile from twitching his lips (something Keigo would have jumped on in half a moment). He knew she had a tutor that came three days a week, and assumed that was who she was with now. That must have been annoying for her, he mused. To have to be stuck on a schedule when she clearly just wanted to be free…

12:45 p.m.

"It always amazes me to watch you." Inoue said admiringly as Rukia shuffled around the kitchen.

"It'd probably be even more amazing if I could actually find anything." Rukia grumbled. "I wish Nee-san and Nii-sama would stop moving everything, that would make life a lot easier."

Inoue laughed lightly. "You seem to get by just fine though. Sure you don't want help?"

"Positive." Rukia said simply as she stopped at the stove to stir the ramen noodles. She wasn't exactly a gourmet chef; noodles were one of the only things she could make without ruining. Hisana was always saying it was because she didn't pay any attention to time. Rukia didn't listen.

"So your friend…" Inoue ventured. Rukia sighed inwardly. Of course. "What's he like?"

"Well…he's a person." Rukia said sarcastically. She heard Inoue huff, obviously a little annoyed by this answer. "I don't know how to describe it. He didn't run away when he found out I had XP. Does that tell you anything?"

Inoue didn't answer for awhile. "It tells me a lot." She said finally. That answer didn't tell Rukia anything, so she just fell silent, letting her mind wander away with her.

It still amazed her to no end that there was someone in this world that could accept her — all of her — without having a reason. Byakuya and Hisana accepted her because she was their sister, Inoue because, well…it was her job to work with Rukia, she didn't have much of a choice. But Ichigo had all the choice in the world. He could have walked away. He could have said she was too weird for him, and he couldn't deal with her. But he still came to the park every single night and sat there with her for hours, talking and listening and just being there…with her…

He was probably the best thing Rukia'd had in her life in a long, long time. So then why did she feel like it was going to come crashing down around her ears at any second?

"Um…Kuchiki-san?" Inoue's voice brought Rukia back to reality. "The noodles…"

A sizzling noise accompanied Inoue's words. "Shoot!" Rukia groaned as she jumped, quickly turning off the stove. She heard footsteps as Inoue walked up behind her.

"Don't worry, I think they're still salvageable." The woman observed. "Where'd you go just now?"

"Nowhere." Rukia muttered, ducking her head so Inoue wouldn't see her blush.

5:53 p.m.

"I'm home!" Ichigo called as he walked through the front door. He slipped his shoes off, waiting…

"Hellooooo Ichigooooooooooo!" And he ducked as his father came flying at him. Isshin, in turn, crashed into the wall.

"Sick, twisted idiot." Ichigo muttered as he straightened up, shoving his hands into his pockets and heading to his room.

"Ichigo!" Isshin bounced back at once, of course, jogging quickly after his son. "Yuzu wants to know when you're going to invite your pretty friend to dinner."

"How does never sound?" Ichigo asked sarcastically.

"Aaaww, come on, we want to meet her!" Isshin whined, and Ichigo rolled his eyes.

"I would never subject her to the torture of having to come here." He said firmly. "Call me when dinner's ready."

And with that he slammed the door in his father's face before going and flopping down on his bed. He very much wished it was after eight so he could just go to the park. He didn't want to be in his house right now. He wanted to be with Rukia.

6:02 p.m.

"So when are you going to invite him over?"

Rukia almost choked on her water. "Him?" Byakuya repeated, slightly indignant. "Him who?"

Rukia glared at her sister before muttering, "Just a friend."

"A friend." Byakuya's voice was doubtful now. "And pray-tell, where did you meet this friend?"

"At the park." Rukia replied shortly.

"They sit and talk together almost every night." Hisana gushed, sounding pleased. Rukia rolled her eyes. "I think it's adorable, and I've been trying to get her to invite him over so we can meet him—"

"And when did this start?" Byakuya cut Hisana off.

"A few weeks ago." Rukia muttered; some awe slipped into her voice. It had only been three short weeks since she'd met Ichigo.

It might as well have been a life-time.

"So when are you going to invite him over?" Hisana asked again. Rukia decided the best course of action would be to ignore her, and went back to her meal without a word.

8:32 p.m.

It was with an air of relief that Ichigo slipped out of his house at last, breaking into a jog as soon as he stepped foot on the sidewalk. The cool night air whipped by his face as he ran, feeling more free then he could ever remember feeling before. Just a few more minutes and he would be at the park. Just a few more minutes and he would see Rukia.

The thought gave him enough energy to run the rest of the way.

"How do you always beat me here?" He asked, smiling, as he approached the swings. Rukia looked around to the sound of his voice.

"I'm out of the house as soon as the sun sets, who are you kidding?" She grinned. Ichigo chuckled as he sat down. "So how was your day?"

"All right." Ichigo shrugged, though he knew she couldn't see him. "Yours?"

"Nothing special."

Author's Note: So I swear, there was a point to this chapter. Go back and look closer. Notice that the time jumps get larger, while the actual parts with Ichigo and Rukia thinking get smaller. Why is that? Well…give me guesses, and I'll tell you next chapter. Kayz? Cuz I really, honest to God swear, there was a point to all this. So…review! Please? — Sam