You grimace at the hat, not wanting to put your hand in there. Slowly, you reach in and pull out a...

It was the middle of the day in the first day of the battle city torment. Marik was riding around on his motorcycle down some back alleys on his way do perform evil deeds of villainy when suddenly some guy jumped out of nowhere and stud right in front of marik. “What the crap!” exclaimed marik swerving out of the way.

He jumped off his motorcycle with a glare, throwing off his helmet. “What the Frigg are you doing!? Are you stupid or something I could have killed you just now.” Yelled marik as the person can into the light.

It was a teenage boy or at least that’s what marik thought but it was hard to tell. The teen was vary thin and pale. With long white hair that look quite fluffy and soft. But he had piercing dark brown eyes that seen to be staring into marik’s vary soul.
“Well if you were driving on an actual rood this situation could have din avoided.” said the pale teen with a glare. His voice was as cold as his eyes but with a hint of a British ascent. “But that’s beyond the point I couldn’t help but notice that gold stick that your brandishing at me.” he added nodding at the millennium rod clutched tightly in marik’s hand.

“Yeah what about it?” asked marik returning the glare. “Well it just so happens that I’ve din looking for such a thing along with the other four items to add to my collection.” Explained the brit now smirking at the thought.

Marik looked at him stupidly “but that only makes 5 items.” He replied in total confusion. The white haired teen looked at marik as though he were about to smack him “that’s because I have the other two you moron.” He growled pulling out the ring and eye (that he just so happened to be carrying around with him at the time). Marik gaped at him “where the frig did you get those?” he asked. “I stole them how else would I get them!” the teen responded with a snarl.

“Well how the Frigg should I know? But I’m not giving you my rod but I have a better idea.” Marik paused for dramatic effect. “we should totally be partners and even hang out to plot evil stuff like killing yugi muto or steel his leather pants…I’m marik by the way.” Ha added suddenly with a goofy smile on his face. “I’m bakura and it seems we have a common enemy so you may be off some use to me yet.” Said bakura choosing not to ask about the pants thing. And that was how they became partners…in crime.

When it is morning me and the guys start making breakfast

    Dean, Sam, and Castiel were slightly afraid of Gabe in his violent state. They eventually calmed him down enough by trying to reassure him that you'd be fine. And to their utter surprise, you came back to the Winchesters by yourself, as good as new. The others were scattered in different rooms, so you took the chance to scare Dean.

    "Hello, Dean," you said, mocking Castiel's voice and stood behind the man, who up until now had no idea you were there. He flinched and turned, glaring at you, but it only lasted a millisecond before he wrapped his arms around your neck, pulling you in for a tight hug.

    "How'd you get back?" He asked and let go. You smirked, remembering what happened nearly an hour ago.

"Where you going?"

"I've got some. . .business to take care of," Crowley replied, pulling off bloodstained the latex gloves he wore. You watched as he left, and when he was just out of sight, you disappeared. You laughed at the fact that Crowley, the King of Hell, got the inscriptions wrong on the chair and cuffs. Of course, though, you weren't going to disappear while Crowley was with you. That would have been stupid.

You appeared in a coffee shop somewhere in Kansas, a few hours from where the boys' base was. After sitting still for a good thirty minutes to regain your energy, you sat up and walked in the direction of the base. Eventually, you got bored and decided to fly in the same direction, giving the few people around you a good scare.

"Gabe!" You greeted happily and went to greet the archangel who appeared a few seconds ago. He accepted your hug, but he didn't look as happy as you when you looked at his face. You knew that look from him well, since you weren't exactly the safest angel and he felt like he had to watch over you.

"What?" You asked sarcastically, standing back and crossing your arms. To Dean, it looked like Gabe was just glaring at you, but you heard him speak.

"How the hell did you get away from Crowley?! I was fucking worried."

"I could have gotten away a while ago. Crowley's 'angel cuffs' didn't exactly work. We've got at least a few hours before he finds out I'm gone and took some things with me."

"What things?"

"Well, I took his only angel blades and this stuff," you pulled out a small, glass bottle containing the 'not-so-holy water'.

"It's like holy water, only it's used on angels instead of demons. Almost killed me a good few times with it," you handed the bottle to Gabe and smiled as you could tell he was proud of you. You also handed the angel blades to Dean, who had no idea that you had just spoken.

"I'll explain later, Dean. Where's Sam and Cas?"

"Here," another voice replied from behind Dean, obviously scaring him enough to make him jump.

"Hey, Cassy!" You smiled and ruffled his hair, causing the annoyance to be clearly shown on his face. You ignored it and greeted Sam, too, giving him a tight hug.

"How'd you escape?" Sam questioned, glad that you were okay. You gave him a smirk and showed him a pair of cuffs that you stored safely in your pocket. They were covered in your own blood, but the features of the inscriptions stood out.

    "These are wrong," you explained. Sam studied them closely, despite the fact that your blood made it painful to look at. Castiel stared, too, trying to find what was wrong with them. You tried to hide the yawn that was making it's way out of your lips, but it still broke through. "Are you tired?" Sam asked, confused by the fact that angels didn't need sleep.

    "I've almost died several times and took out all the demons within ten miles of his base. Takes a lot of energy, you know." You reminded him and started in the direction of the spare room. No one said anything else until you were gone, but they were all glancing at each other, some with a confused look.
"Gabe, can you do that? Take out every demon in ten miles?" Dean asked, but Gabriel shook his head. Castiel was lost in his own thoughts about you, and didn't bother to listen to the conversation.

"What the hell, then?"

   "She. . .is an archangel, but I didn't know she is. . ." Cas trailed off. He knew exactly what was going on and so did Gabriel, but Gabe didn't want to admit it.
"(Y/n) was created by God for a specific purpose, either to protect something or. . .someone very important. There are very few angels that are like her."

Meanwhile. . .

"Damn," Crowley looked around, every demon in a ten mile radius was dead (their eyes burned out of their heads of course). He was disappointed, but it was no surprise to him that you'd do something like this. Crowley was infuriated when he couldn't find his angel blades, yet he kept his cool.

I watched her rolling on the ground with laughter. Her voice, so filled with joy; it grated on my ears. Why, I asked myself. How could this happen? But I had no one to blame but myself.

Her joy was my pain. I stared into her majesty’s eyes; they were the very same that had put me in the current position that I’m in, for I, Clover of Sugar Rush, had lost a staring contest with my good friend Vanellope von Schweetz.

“Oh come on Vanellope, let’s go again! Best two out of three!”

I proposed a means to get out of this situation, but she wouldn’t have it, “No way! That was the bet Clover. I beat you at a staring contest and you design a flag for my kingdom.”

“But I told you,” I pleaded with her, “my grandmother’s the great designer; I wouldn’t even know where to start!”

“Not my problem,” as she shoved her hands into her sweater pockets, “hop to it missy.”
Vanellope walked away leaving me to my doom; this was the flag that was going to become a symbol for all of Sugar Rush, and if I screwed this up, I’d be the laughing stock of the entire arcade!

I knew I had to get help, and there was only one person fit enough for the job—Rancis Fluggerbutter, my best friend, but also known as the narcissist. Though narcissistic, he was very creative and well kept. I was sure he would at least have an idea of how to start the design.

I ran off as fast as I could to find him. Lucky me, he was here in the Candy Cane forest where Vanellope and I just had our staring contest; he always took a stroll in the afternoon to get away from Candlehead and Taffyta Muttonfudge—his greatest competition, minus Vanellope, to winning the Sugar Rush cup.

“Hey Rancis!” I yelled as I spotted him.

He didn’t turn around to look at me as he stared intensely at himself in his pocket mirror.

“Rancis!” I screamed in his ear and with that he jumped, “What? What is it? I’m very busy.”

I rolled my eyes, “Sure you are. Hey look I lost a bet with Vanellope, think you could help me out?”

He sighed, “Another loss I see. What is it this time?”

I blushed slightly out of embarrassment; my betting addiction was well known around Sugar Rush.

“I…I need to make a flag design for the castle. I thought with your artsy…ness, that you’d be able to help me. You have a better eye than I do for things like that.”

His face lit up with glee, “Well what are we waiting for?! Lets go!”

He pulled me away towards the castle tugging at my arm, “Hey you’re going to break it Rancis. Rancis!”

He didn’t listen to me as his mind reeled with ideas for how to make the flag design. I wouldn’t have been surprised if he wanted to plaster his face on the flag.

I smiled, ‘But that’s just the way he is.’

Total word count: 513

Commissioned words: 300

What the customer wanted: Maybe Clover loses a bet to Vanellope and that the bet was Clover had to design a flag for the kingdom [and she has no creative talents of her own]. Clover enlists the help of Rancis to help design the flag.

There began the longest screech in human kind, so long, that lasted decades, centuries, even. But no one ever made the goddamn Pchoo Remix. Because of that, everyone has forgotten the awesome sound of the Pchoo. Only few remembers, but never bothered to make a goddamn remix of it. Thus, more and more forget it. But the true followers will always pass on the teaching. "MAKE THE GODDAMN PCHOOO REMIX HOMESTUCK FANDOM" praise Hussie! But there were wicked evil followers, who cared only about THEIR ideals of the Pchoo remix.

"durrr da pujoo reemix iz ay sdupid ideeah", snapped the evil hater. Some good followers were then depressed, thinking that no one would like it because of what they had said. But the true follows kept their faith and eventually gain strength though their number. Thus being able to chase out the heretics.

"B***H PLZ, YOU DONT EVEN KNOW THE TRUE MEANING OF PCHOOO AND REMIX. GET OUT* The non believers were kicked out and ran to Hussie for help. But he did not give any s***s about their complaints.

"You are all a disgrace to the Homestuck fandom," said Andrew, his eyes showing disappointment. The wicked haters felt so much anger and hatred, they began to rant pointlessly to random strangers.

"OMG homestuck SUX any1 hoo reeds it iz a ****ing idiot u shuld all DIE," shouted the angry and jealous haters. Hussie in retaliation gathered his true followers and the one of the remix, promising that he would become the messiah who will create the goddamn remix. So the horde of Homestuckian rampages through the lands, converting the young, innocent minds into the Homestuck fandom. Years later, two new followers of Homestuck were born into the world. Prophecy has said that these two fans would spread the joy and random throughout the world, saving everyone from the clutches of the angry, evil haters. Their names....were Ayosta and EpicPrincessofDoom.

LE FIN/TO BE CONTINUED

The Rosewood Story
(AU)
A soft sigh escaped her lips as the young woman strode into her room, "Come on Rukia PLEASE?!" cried the voice on the phone, "I told you Orihime, I have ALOT of work I need to do tonight, I have to get the poll up and I don't even have all the options yet," "But the deadline is six AM right?" "Well yes-" "Rukia I KNOW you! I KNOW your talent! You can EASILY come up with ten ideas by then!" "Well yes if I start now," she replied simply, taking off her bracelet and setting it in the jewlry box on the dresser, "Rukia I SWEAR! The party is at eight, we'll only stay two hours, I'm SURE eight hours is PLENTY of time-" "I don't want to push that limit Orihime! Besides I do have to sleep some time you know, and even more importantly it is NEVER just two hours with you, if you say two hours it means four, if you say four hours it means six to eight, Heaven forbid if you say five!" she huffed, "I SWEAR I won't let myself get carried away tonight, PLEASE Rukia?!" the young woman paused, dropping a necklace in the box, "And why is this Kurosaki person such a big deal anyway?" she muttered, "He's the richest man in Karakura, maybe even all of Japan, and he's throwing a party! The Kurosaki parties are LEGENDAIRY, and they only happen four times a year," "And this one is the....?" "The summer party! Come on Rukia PRETTY please with sugar on top!? JUST two hours! I SWEAR! I'll buy dinner if we go~" Rukia paused, "....Anywhere I want?" "Uh-huh!" "..... Fine," she sighed, looking at her watch, it was six o'clock.... "I'll meet you at Tsuna's Tavern in thirty minutes, just let me change my dress," she muttered, grabbing her jewlry, "Yay! Thank you!!" "You owe me Orihime," "I know I know! Just.... thank you," she smiled softly, "...You're welcome,"

~+~

"Wow!! Isn't this amazing Rukia!?" Orihime cried as the two of them walked up to the gates, "Yeah...." Rukia muttered back, to say that the house was excessive was like saying a Grey Hound was a little bit bigger than a Yorkie, it rivaled something fit for The Great Gatsby... "Let's go look around!" Orihime cried as she ran through the gates, "H-Hey Orihime! Don't leave my side!" Rukia called, rushing after the taller woman, and to say Rukia got lost easily was like saying a starving shark could be a little bit aggressive, this was the main reason Rukia hated being in big places like this, specifically places she had never been to before, she got lost so easily, burried in the crowd and unable to find her way back, and so rarely did people actually stick by her... more times than not she was left alone after only moments to fend for herself.... "Orihime!" "Hang on, I'm going right here! I'll be right back!" she heard, unable to see her freind anymore and finally sighing, giving up in finding her in the crowd, "Now what do I do...?" she wispered

Rukia sighed softly as she walked around the house, the party looked fun, the pool was open and the music was fantastic, blaring throughout the entire mansion and garden, she looked around cautiously, trying to find something to bide her time with, she wasn't much of a dancer and she didn't know there was a pool so she hadn't brought her bathing suit, and without a freind there wasn't really that much that she could do.... sighing, she went up a long, spiraling staircase, watching as a butler tapped one of the guests on the shoulder and wispered something to the young woman before leading her to a room far away, the door shutting behind them, she curiously followed, touching the doornob and ever so gently running her finger along the side of it to try turning it without looking suspecious, just as she expected, it was locked, the resistance from the door made that obvious, so she walked into the room next to it, seeing a huge, circle-shaped library, she wantrd to go listen in to the room next door (she couldn't help it, boredom and a creative career feild made for a snoop after all) but she just couldn't now, she was too mezmerized, too enthralled, by the sheer beauty of this place... this library.... she started walking to the bookshelves, her fingers skimming the spines as she drew one from the shelf, smiling and looking at the cover before perching herself on a nearby desk and reading the back of the book for a summary of what it was about

Rukia didn't know how much time had passed, it could have been three minutes, or thirty, or three hours, she didn't know, she was just so caught up in reading this book! "My my, it looks like you've found the library," she heard, jerking her head up and looking at the doorway where someone was standing, "S-Sorry... it didn't know it was off limits..." she replied quietly, getting up and slipping the book back onto the shelf, "It isn't," the man smiled, Rukia frowned, she wanted to get out of here as quickly as possible, this guy was giving her the creeps.... he had short silver hair and his eyes were closed.... worst of all he had a really creepy grin.... she narrowed her eyes, biting her lip, "Well, excuse me, I need to go find my freind," she replied, walking towards the door as quickly as she could, "Ah why are you leaving so quickly?" the man purred, making Rukia frown and narrow her eyes further, "I'm going to find my freind," she replied sternly, "But why in such a hurry? You could spend a little time with me," he hummed, gently placing his fingers under her chin and tilting her up, she jerked back, glaring at him, "I don't think so, please don't touch me," she growled, "Aww but why ruin all the fun~?" he hummed as he walked towards her, making her grit her teeth, "Stop, don't come any closer," he didn't answer, progressing closer and closer, "I said stop!" she cried, gasping as he was suddenly right in her face where he hadn't been before, her heart palpatated, gasping as he jerked her forward by the hands and tilted her head to the side, two fangs appearing as he leaned down but..... suddenly he was gone... she exhaled, looking around in confusion, he .... he was gone.... just.... gone.... she didn't understand, where did he go...? She gasped as she turned around to look at the desk that she had been sitting on earlier, there he was, wrestling with an attractive young man who had orange, spikey hair and deep brown eyes, the younger man growled, flipping Rukia's attacker over and bearing his own fangs, wich shocked Rukia as he leaned down, slamming his fist into the desk and shattering it, Rukia faintly heard the click of a camera and turned to see a flash of a dark dress swish around the corner, making her frown and start for the door but pausing when she saw the silver-haired man run out of the room, disshelved and looking frightened, "Yo," she heard, turning around quickly and staring at him, "....Yo yourself," she wispered, he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck, "So...... you wanna have a drink?"

"So what am I to assume you are? And for that matter WHO?" Rukia frowned, narrowing her eyes at the strange man, he sighed, glancing over at her across the table, he had had someone bring both of them a drink, and although Rukia had just requested soda, he seemed to have a cocktail, "I'm... a vampire..." he sighed, she frowned, narrowing her eyes, "A vampire?" he frowned, "You don't believe me?" "Well I never sai-" she gasped softly as he opened his mouth and allowed his fangs to pop out, she gulped, watching as he closed his mouth and they went back in, "W-Well..." she squeaked, "I guess you're a vampire..." "Kind of," he chuckled, she sighed softly, "Wow... what.... what was all that about?" she asked quietly, "You- he wanted to .... well.... EAT you..." the man muttered back, "I can't stand that guy, honestly, the only reason he's at these parties is because it's political," he admitted, she nodded slowly, "And he wanted my blood I'm guessing?" "Exactly," she nodded slowly, trying to stay calm in this bizzare situation, "Well... thank you for defending me, I appreciate it," "No problum, Miss," she smiled slightly, "It's not 'Miss', it's Rukia Kuchiki," he smiled back at her, "And I'm Ichigo Kurosaki," he replied, she blinked, stunned by his confirmation, "YOU'RE Ichigo Kurosaki? The one throwing this party?" "More or less," he chuckled, she shook her head slowly, trying to clear it of any proverbial cobwebs that may be clouding her mind, "O-Oh um... wow...." "Expecting someone else?" he smirked, "Not precisely... I just... well for one thing you're a vampire," she noted off-handedly, "Well yeah," he chuckled, "I just mean though... did you expect someone else?" "Well no... I guess.. I don't know, you're so young and all... how did you get the money to do all this?" "It's family money, really really OLD family money," he chuckled, "Oh... what about the parties though? What are the point?" "Getting new servants, we change them out every four months so that they don't get too drained of blood," she blinked, "W-Wait so you feed on them then?" "Yeah, what else are servants for?" he chuckled, she looked at him strangely for a moment before he pushed his drink towards her, "Want a sip of my Bloody Mary?" "Is it real blood?" "Yep," "Then no thanks...."

"So you're a writer huh?" Ichigo smiled as he and Rukia walked around the top floor of the house, "Mm-hm," she smiled slightly, "That's gotta be cool, are the deadlines harsh?" "No, not rea- oh no...." she paused, suddenly stoppin and going pale, "What? What's wrong?" he asked with a small frown, "I completely forgot! I have a deadline at six AM! Ahh I have to get it submitted before then and I don't even have all the ideas together yet...." she groaned, shaking her head slowly, "It's just a little after midnight, I'm sure you can make it, need me to drive you home?" he offered, she shook her head and gritted her teeth, "No no ... I need to find my freind Orihime, we took her car here, the tavern we met at was just down the street from me so I walked and she drove me here...." he took her hand, making her look up at him curiously, "Well don't just stand there then, let's go find her," he smiled, she smiled softly back at him and gave a quick nod, "R-Right," she agreed as they started for the main floor to look for her freind

"Oh! There she is! Orihime!!" Rukia cried as she ran towards the young woman, Ichigo following close behind her, "Oh Rukia! Hi!" she squeaked, "I was just talking to Ulquiorra here, listen, you can drive yourself home right?" she smiled, "No, actually, I can't, I don't know where we are.... and why would I need to?" "Well I was thinking about going for a bite to eat with Ulquiorra here and then he'll drive me home!" she smiled,  "Orihime you know I don't like the idea of you being in some strange guy's car, that's dangerous," she insisted, "But how else am I supposed to go? I really want to hang out with him," she pouted, "If you want to so desperately then you take the car and I'll get a-" "Ride from a freind," Ichigo concluded, she looked up at him with wide eyes, "Ok! Thanks! I'll see you tommorrow ok Rukia?" she smiled as she dissapeared into the crowed again, she turned to Ichigo and glared at him, giving him a slight push, "Why'd you volunteer that!?" she hissed, "It's not a problum, I wanted to offer you a ride-" "After I JUST gave Orihime that speech about not accepting rides from strange men and you expect me to-" "But I'm not a stranger, I'm your freind," "And when did we decide that?" she frowned, "Rukia, if I was going to kill you or torture you or suck your blood or something, I would have already done it," she looked up at him but paused, deciding not to say anything and follow him anyway, although a bit reluctantly, "You sure are cautious with men aren't you?" he asked as he walked out to the front with her, "My sister was mugged and murdered by a guy who offered to help her find her car after she got lost at a mall one night," she replied bluntly, he was quiet for a moment, staring at her and looking down, "I... I'm sorry to hear that," he wispered, "Yes... well as you can imagine I don't have the BEST amount of trust in anyone, least of all strangers and LEAST of all men," he nodded slowly, "No I... I understand," he said softly, quietly leading her to the car

~+~

"And so then you just left the fish there?" Ichigo chuckled, "Well what was I supposed to do? Toss it out the window?" Rukia laughed back, unable to help herself from frowning when they pulled up at her house, they were both quiet for a moment, neither wanting to be the first one to say goodbye... "So um.... will I see you again?" he asked quietly, "I certainly hope so," she replied with a small smile, he smiled back at her, "I hope so too, um, here's my buisness card, it's got my phone number and intercom code on it," he smiled, she blinked, "What do you need a buisness card for wen you don't have a buisness?" she smirked at him, "Because it's professional, and besides, who says I don't have a buisness?" "You did, when you admitted all your money was 'old money'," she smirked back, he glared, wrinkling his nose, "I have work to do, secret, private work that has to do with vampires," he insisted, "SURE," she giggled, grinning at him, he pouted, "Can I have your number then?" she nodded slowly, reaching into her purse and handing over a card of her own for him, smiling softly at him and hesitantly putting her hand on the door, "Mm... well... I'll see you soon," she promised, getting out of the car and waving to him, he waved back as she walked to the door of her house and he reluctantly drove away, both smiling at eachother as they parted

~+~

Rukia frowned and bit her lip, pacing around the floor as she waited for the phone to be picked up, she had gotten her submission in under the deadline but just barely and had slept until almost two in the afternoon, she was worried that she hadn't heard from Orihime yet, the woman had no reason to have been out so late or sleep this late, she had no reason to have not called by now when usually she was Rukia's wake up call being that her shift at the hospital started at noon and didn't end until eight, it was normal for them to talk once before noon and atleast once after eight, so the fact that she hadn't heard from Orihime yet was bothering her greatly... ofcourse to be fair, it WAS Saturday, Saturdays WERE Orihime's day off, she COULD have just slept in... but for this long? Rukia didn't buy it, just as she was sure that the answering machine was getting ready to kick in... she heard the quiet, tired voice of her freind, "Hello?" Orihime yawned, Rukia sighed in releif, "Orihime... are you alright?" "Y-Yeah, sorry, I just slept really late today, I didn't get home until late last night," she replied with another yawn, "Oh... I thought you were just going out for a bite to eat with him," "W-Well I was but there weren't many places open so we went back to his place and he cooked and we had sweets and watched movies," "...Oh," Rukia replied simply, "What time did you get home?" "Oh around six," "...That's not like you," she muttered, "I know but he was REALLY sweet, I REALLY liked him," she said with a hum in her voice, "Ah...." "Listen Rukia... can we go to lunch later? Once I wake up a little more?" "Yeah, sure," she replied with a small smile, saying her goodbyes to the other woman before hanging up the phone

~+~

"So, this is unlike you, food out two days in a row?" Rukia mused as she took a sip of her soda, "Yeah well I just wanted to see you again, I feel so bad about last night, just leaving you like that, that wasn't very nice of me..." she said with a small frown, "I agree, it could have been avoided, but I understand that you felt strongly for him, so I can't really judge you," Rukia shrugged, "Still...." she mused, looking across the booth, "SO! Rukia! How is this Ichigo guy? You like him?" she smiled, "Yes I do, he's a very good freind," she replied simply, Orihime raised an eyebrow, "A freind? Is that all?" she smirked, "Yes..... atleast for now," she replied, looking behind her to see were the waitress was, "Ohhhh I hear wedding bells!" "I don't think you do anytime soon," she laughed with a small smile, "Well regardless... do you think he'd be good enough for marriage~?" she hummed, "Maybe, how am I supposed to know this early?" "Well you know, just wondering if you saw anything right away in the positive or the negative, you know, any green flags go up? Any red flags go up?" "Red flags?" Rukia echoed curiously, "That's not a term you usually use, or for that matter a substance you're usually worried about.." she noted, Orihime shrugged, "Well I was thinking about what you said last night.. but he drove you home and you're alright right? He didn't try anything or do anything weird did he?" she smiled, Rukia frowned slightly, noticing that beneath the strap of her dress there was... a thin black wire.... "Nope, nothing unusual, Orihime.... would you like to go shopping after this?" she asked, taking another sip of her drink, "Huh? But you hate shopping," "Maybe I changed my mind," she replied simply, "S-Sure! Shopping sounds great!" she smiled back, humming and taking a drink from her soda as well, Rukia frowned, she had a bad feeling about this, why on earth was Orihime wearing a wire? And asking about Ichigo at that? She didn't know what was going on, but she did know for certain that whatever it was.... it definately wasn't good....

~+~

"Orihime, will you help me try this on?" Rukia asked, holding up a dress, "Well I guess so but why do you need me to help?" she replid with confusion, putting down a blouse she had been looking at, "It has alot of straps, it looks a little difficult to put on by myself you know?" she replied simply, Orihime stared at her for a moment, noing that her freind's behaviour was just about as strange as her own... she wondered wat Rukia was up to but decided not to say anything and just follow her into the dressing room to change, as soon as the door was shut Rukia knew what she had to do, "So what made you want to come shopping?" Orihime hummed as she started unzipping the dress on the hanger, "Oh you know, I was looking in my closet this morning and everything looked kind of... old and wirey...." she replied, Orihime's eyes widened, staring at her for a long moment as Rukia walked forward, looking straight at the wire, "Help me put this on?" she hummed, putting her finger to her lips in a shushing motion, she stayed quietly, Rukia rustling the dress next to the wire as she carefully removed it so that the idea of the microphone rubbing against clothes wouldn't be so suspecious, "I have to go to the bathroom," she said suddenly, Orihime nodded slowly, "Ok! I'll go with you!" she chirped, both of them leaving the dress in the dressing room and running to the bathroom, Rukia made the sushing motion again and immediately turned on a sink, unrolling some papper towels and getting Orihime to go into one of the stalls so she could throw out the wire, after all, everything had to sound natural right? Rukia gave a tap on Orihime's stall and the taller woman quickly exited, both running out of the bathroom and then out of the store, "Alright.... NOW we talk," Rukia insisted with a frown

"Why were you wired?" Rukia frowned as she looked straight ahead through the car windsheild, "I... it.... I'm so sorry Rukia! I really didn't want to be, it's just.... Ulquiorra... everything was going so well with him and then at the end of the night it got so strange... he said he knew where we lived and that he'd kill us both if I didn't get you to 'spill dirt' about Ichigo! I'm sorry!" she cried, "It's alright..." she sighed, buckling her seatbelt, "W-What now?" she asked nervously and quietly, "Now... we go see Ichigo, we can't go home after all, and he might know something," she said sternly, starting to back out of the parkinglot of the store and drive towards the mansion

~+~

"Welcome to Rosewood, please enter your five-digit code to speak with the yougn master," said an automated voice said over the intercom, Rukia rolled her eyes and looked at the five-digit code Ichigo had given her the night before; 15146, "Thank you, the young master will be with you in a moment," Rukia sighed, leaning against the iron gates as she waited, she really hated this about rich people... it took going through a million hoops to get so much as a word in with them... Heaven forbid there should EVER be some kind of emergency... "Yo," she finally heard, sighing in releif and leaning over, pushing down the intercom button, "Ichigo, it's me," she said, "Rukia!" he chimed happily, "Orihime is with me, we ..... we need a favour, it's pretty important," there was a pause, the gates slowly swinging open, "Come right in," he insisted

~+~

"I see..." Ichigo sighed, slowly shaking his head, "I'm sorry that that happened to you both, and ofcourse you can both stay here, we'll go by your houses as soon as we can and get a few things," "Thank you..." Orihime said shyly, putting down her teacup, "Do you have any idea why this is? What's going on? Who is this guy?" Rukia asked inquisitively, Ichigo smiled slightly, glad to see she was more ready to fight than she was afraid and upset, "Ulquiorra... I think that name rings a bell, given the information we have I'd say that most likely he's a hunter," Rukia blinked, "A hunter?" she echoed, "Yeah, someone who hunts creatures like me," "But if that were the case why would he need Orihime getting information from me on you? Why not just come in and kill you?" she asked in confusion, "Well thanks for the bluntness," he chuckled, smiling slightly, "I'm assuming it's because Ulquiorra isn't SURE if I'm a vampire or not," "Why wouldn't he be sure?" he was quiet for a few moments, speaking a minute later, "When I was a kid a hunter killed my mother, she was a vampire, that's why they suspect I'm one too," "Suspect? Why don't they know for sure?" Rukia asked in confusion, "Because we try to keep our mating and breeding rituals as secret as possible, you see most of my kind don't develop their supernatural abilities until they hit puberty, so when I was eight and my mother died the hunter that killed her reported back that, despite my mom being a vampire, I was human," "But why doesn't it kick in until puberty?" she asked in confusion, "Well you don't exactly want a baby vampire to come out chomping now do you?" he teased, she smiled slightly, "They don't even know if my dad is a vampire or not, we keep our mating secret too, to keep our kids and mates safe, no one can know we aren't born with our fangs," "Do vampires mate like werewolves do?" Orihime asked curiously, "No, but we still fall in love very deeply and very quickly, and very much, we don't want our mates hurt either," he explained, "Ah I see..." Rukia said softly, "So what's our plan now?" Orihime asked timidly, "We get rid of the hunter, it's that simple... ofcourse it won't be that EASY," "And how do we do it?" Rukia asked, "We wait, he'll come to us, I promie you that, and the fact that he bugged you two to get information on me means he's close and that he's desperate to find the very last peice of information to confirm it, that information will come soon I'm sure, and that means that the likelihood is- so will he, so we'll wait for him to make the first move and then act off of that," the girls nodded, being quiet for a moment, "I promise I won't let either of you get hurt, and like I said, we'll go by your places later to pick up some things, but until then there's no use in worrying ourselves silly, so you two want to go for a swim?" "Sure," Rukia replied, standing up, "Um can I have a snack first?" Orihime smiled, "Orihime we just ate lunch..." "Almost three hours ago!" she complained with a pout, Ichigo chuckled softly, "Yeah it's fine, I've got plenty of human food and I could use some more blood too," he added, starting to walk out of the living room, "Why?" Rukia asked curiously, "Well not only do the servants-slash-blood donors need to eat, but vampires don't JUST drink blood, although we do primairily, it isn't ALL we eat," he explained, she nodded slowly, "Mm... that makes sense I suppose..." she muttered quietly as the three of them walked to the kitchen

"Oh I forgot I don't have a bathing suit..." Rukia frowned as Ichigo finished off his glass of blood, wich had, oddly enough, come out of a wine bottle, "It's ok, I've got some upstairs that you can borrow," she blinked, "O-Oh really?" she asked in surprise, "Yep, don't worry about Orihime, the servants will take good care of her, come on, my sisters have tons of clothes they don't really wear, including bathing suits, I'm sure you can find one in your size to go swimming in," he smiled softly, she smiled back, following him up the flight of stairs they were taking and coming to a stop in front of a large door at the end of the upstairs hallway, when he swung it open, Rukia was amazed at what she saw, just.... amazed... there wasn't really a word forit other than that... there just wasn't... "Wow... this really does look like something out of Gatsby," she wispered as she walked into the huge room, "That was essentially the idea," he chuckled, "Really? Why?" she asked curiously, "Well the way we saw it was like this, we needed a way to get people here as servants- blood donors mainly- and who were the people most willing to do that? In our opinion, people who live by the standards of status and wealth, if they care enough about those two things why care that we're vampires? And by throwing these parties, such status and wealth will be flaunted," he explained, walking over to one of the closets, "I guess that's a good point," she mused, "If it were up to me, I'd really like to just live in a nice house by the beach," he said with a small smile, "BUT  being a small person in a small town is nearly a gurantee of the vampire thing not going well," "That's a good point," she replied quietly as he opened the small closet full of bathing suits, she blinked, smiling softly as she slowly walked up to them and started sorting through them, "Amazing..." she wispered, "Yeah.... and listen, Rukia, I really don't mean to impose all this stuff on you, we can get you out of here you know, if you're willing, we can get someone to take you and your freind out of the country for a little-" "Ichigo," she said sternly, "Yeah?" "Stop talking," she smirked, "I'm sticking around not out of obligation or fear, but because I want to, I want to face this thing head on and I want to help you most of all, so don't even think about bringing up the 'you should flee' theory because next time I'm not going to bother with words, I'm just going to end up slapping you," she threatened with  a smirk, Ichigo nodded slowly, "But what can I do for you in return?" "Helping us is a return big enough, I promise you that," "But there must be SOME-" "There isn't, just accept the fact that someone is helping you with no strings attatched ok?" she smiled, grabbing a bathing suit from the rack, "I'll take this one," he smiled softly, closing his eyes, "Alright....... yeah ok," he smiled back softly

"Ah... I'm glad we came to do this, it's so relaxing...." Rukia sighed softly as she dove under the water, "Yeah, I'm glad too," he smiled, "I had hoped that you'd be able to relax a little with a swim," she tilted her head as she bobbed up to the surface and leaned against the side of the pool in front of the lawn chair that he was sitting in, "Hm? Why do you care about me so much?" she asked with a slight smirk, he smirked back at her, "Well that's .... classified," he replied, grinning at her, she smiled and looked over at the glass he had in his hand, "How much blood do vampires have to drink per day?" she asked curiously, "Oh ... well I don't know SPECIFICALLY but I'm usually fine with one glass, I have two some days just in case but I'm drinking more than usual right now because I'm gearing up, vampires are stronger the more blood they drink so obviously if there's some kind of big confrontation coming I need to be prepared for it," he explained, she nodded slowly, her feet wading back and forth in the water as her arms and head rested on the side of the pool, "Mm I see..." she mused, he got up suddenly, setting down the glass on the floor and walking towards her, "You know Rukia.... I really am glad to have met you," he smiled softly, leaning down in front of her and tilting her chin up, she blushed slightly, "O-Oh.... um... thank you, I'm glad I met you too..." she said softly, he grinned and leaned down, their noses now pressed together, Rukia closed her eyes, Ichigo's eyes closing right after as he finally closed the gap between them, giving her a soft kiss, unfourtinately their sweet moment of serenity was interrupted wen the doors slammed open, they both looked up as a young, dark haired girl ran towards them, "Slow down Karin, where's the fire?" Ichigo asked in surprise and concern, "THIS, this is pretty much a fire," she replied, slamming a magazine in front of him... the picture of last night's fight between he and that silver-haired man on the cover, his fangs bared... the title reading "Famous Kurosaki- A Monster?" Ichigo sighed softly and looked down at Rukia, "Looks like we've got more work to do than we thought..."