Summary: A surprise request from Rukia leads Tatsuki to a shocking discovery...

Genre(s): Romance

Character(s): Rukia K., Tatsuki A.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach

* How Long? *

The bright afternoon sun shined harshly through the second-story window of the Karakura High School physics classroom. It was a rather normal day in class; the students were bored out of their minds as usual. The teacher had just written a series of complex physics equations onto the blackboard and instructed the class to solve them.

The room was immediately filled with the sound of pencils scribbling against paper, and palms slapping against foreheads. After several minutes the teacher stood up from her chair.

"Miss Arisawa," she called out, causing Tatsuki to immediately perk up. "Would you please give the correct answer for the first equation?" the Teacher asked sweetly. Tatsuki promptly gave the correct answer, and the teacher smiled proudly at her.

Everyone in the class knew that Tatsuki was the teacher's favorite because she was the best physics student in the entire class. The teacher's gaze shifted to the occupant of the desk next to Tatsuki.

"Miss Kuchiki," she said sternly but Rukia was distracted by doodling in her notebook and did not hear her. "Miss Kuchiki!" the teacher repeated, louder than before, startling Rukia and causing her to jump. "Now that I have your attention, would you care to give the correct answer for the second equation?"

Rukia struggled to come up with an answer, but she had not been paying attention at all in class and embarrassingly failed to give the correct answer. Rukia blushed deeply out of humiliation as most of the class laughed at her.

The class bell rang soon after and everyone was dismissed from class, mercifully saving Rukia from any further embarrassing situations. After class, Orihime was walking down the hallway towards the school exit. Tatsuki spotted her and ran to catch up with her.

"Hey," Tatsuki greeted Orihime as she caught up to her.

"Hey, Tatsuki!" Orihime cheerfully returned the greeting. "So, Tatsuki, can you come sleep over at my house tonight?" Orihime asked in her usual bubbly way.

"Sorry, Orihime, I need to study tonight," Tatsuki replied with a smile. Orihime pouted for a moment, but then was back to her cheery self in an instant.

"What about tomorrow night then?" she asked excitedly.

"Sounds good," Tatsuki answered. As Orihime cheered for the future sleepover, Tatsuki felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around: it was Rukia.

"Hey, Rukia," Tatsuki greeted her friend.

"Hey," Rukia replied. "Can I talk with you privately?" Rukia asked.

"Uh...Sure Rukia," Tatsuki replied, confusion clearin her voice.

Tatsuki waved to Orihime as she left the school and followed Rukia to an empty hallway.

'What could she need to talk to me about in private?' Tatsuki wondered to herself. "So, what do ya need, Rukia?"

Rukia was silent for a few moments before speaking up.

"Can you help me with physics?" Rukia requested, as she blushed out of embarrassment.

Tatsuki was taken aback.

"What, like a tutor?" she asked curiously. Rukia simply nodded. "Sure, I'd be happy to," Tatsuki said. Rukia instantly brightened up.

"Great! I'll be at Ichigo's tonight, we can study there," Rukia said before heading off to the exit. "See you there!" she yelled back before disappearing out of the doors.

'Strange how she's always at Ichigo's,' Tatsuki thought as she left the school herself.

* Bleach *

Night had already fallen over Karakura town by the time Tatsuki arrived at the Kurosaki residence. Tatsuki walked up to the door and rang the doorbell. A few moments later the door opened to reveal Ichigo standing in the doorway.

"Is Rukia here?" Tatsuki asked as Ichigo stepped aside to allow her inside.

"Yeah, she's up in my room, you can head on up," Ichigo said as he headed over to the living room couch, where Karin and Yuzu were sitting watching TV.

Tatsuki climbed the stairs and proceeded down the hallway and entered Ichigo's room. Rukia was sitting on Ichigo's bed awaiting her arrival. However, Rukia was so engrossed in doodling in her notebook that she did not notice Tatsuki's arrival.

"Hey, Rukia," Tatsuki announced her arrival which caught Rukia's attention, causing her to jump and press her notebook against her chest.

"H-hey, Tatsuki," Rukia replied shakily. Tatsuki walked over to Rukia.

"I hope I didn't scare you," she said as she sat down next to Rukia.

"No, I'm fine," Rukia assured as she slipped her notebook into her school bag that was lying next to her feet.

"Wanna get started?" Tatsuki asked as she pulled her physics book and notebook out of her own bag.

"Yeah," Rukia replied.

A few hours passed by as the two girls studied, Rukia was making good progress yet she always seemed to be distracted by something.

"I'm gonna go grab something to drink, want anything, Tatsuki?" Rukia stated after being talked through a complex physics problem.

"Sure," Tatsuki replied. Rukia smiled and hopped off of the bed, heading out the door to get the drinks.

Tatsuki patiently waited for Rukia's return but after a little bit she started to get curious about Rukia's notebook.

'She's always doodling in her notebook, even in class, she'd do better if she'd write down notes instead,' Tatsuki thought as she began to reach down for Rukia's school bag. 'I wonder what she's always doodling about though...' curiosity got the best of Tatsuki as she pulled Rukia's notebook out of the bag and opened it.

The notebook's pages were covered with very cartoony drawings of people, flowers, and bunnies.

'Maybe Rukia would be better suited as an anime artist...' Tatsuki thought as she flipped through the pages. Before long Tatsuki stumbled upon some peculiar drawings, they were of what she could only assume to be herself and Rukia. At first the drawings were innocent enough, mostly cute or silly and full of flowers and bunnies. Soon though, the drawn versions of herself and Rukia were doing less innocent things, like hugging and then kissing, with hearts drawn all over the pages. Tatsuki began to blush heavily as the pictures became even more and more romantic.

'How long has she felt this way?' Tatsuki wondered as she closed the notebook, the deep blush still present on her face. Just as Tatsuki closed the notebook, Rukia re-entered the room, carrying a tray with two drinks on it. She immediately spotted her notebook lying in Tatsuki's lap and the deep blush across her face. Rukia dropped the tray and rushed over, snatching her notebook off of Tatsuki's lap.

"How much did you see?" Rukia asked frantically. Tatsuki slowly stood up.

"Everything," she said gently as she placed her hand on Rukia's burning red cheek. "How long have you felt this way?" Rukia was stunned for a moment by Tatsuki's unexpected reaction.

"A while..." she said softly, almost a whisper. Tatsuki smiled and slowly leaned in towards Rukia.

"You should have said something, Rukia..." she trailed off softly. Their faces were so close together now, Rukia could feel Tatsuki's hot breath against her lips; she could not believe that this was happening…

* Bleach *

"Rukia! Wake up! We have to go to school!" Ichigo yelled as he violently opened his closet door open with a bang. Rukia was startled awake and fell out of her make-shift bed onto the floor in a tangled pile of pillow and sheets.

"'bout time you got up," Ichigo muttered irritably as he loomed over her. Rukia regained her senses after a few moments on the floor before sadly realizing that she was in her pajamas instead of lip-locked with Tatsuki.

"Damn..." she muttered before standing up.

END

Author's Commentary: Sorry it's been so long since I posted a story! I worked really hard on this one so I hope you all enjoy it. All feedback is happily welcomed