Ichigo: On Sideways Building and Rain
Sometimes, in the days after he returns from his training with the vaizards, he tries to envision that messed up inner world of his. He knows now that that is where his hollow resides, along with Zangetsu.
When it's raining out, and he's lying on his bed and trying (fruitlessly) to ignore the rest of his family (and Rukia), he sees those sideways buildings. He wonders what the rain would look like in that world. He thinks he should know (seeing as how he's king), and the next time Zangetsu comes to him he asks.
"Zangetsu…If my inner world is sideways, how the hell does it rain?"
Zangetsu frowns, because he's just been interrupted in the middle of teach Ichigo a new Bankai technique.
"The sky gets gray, and water falls from the clouds. As I was saying-"
The sword continues his teaching. Ichigo sighs, still not really understanding. Rain CAN'T fall sideways… It's a friggin' law of physics.
Zangetsu hears him exhale loudly, and stops talking again.
"Ichigo, it's barely rained at all since you met that shinigami girl, so you really shouldn't care." the sword say irritably. "Besides, it's not like YOU'RE the one getting rained on." he adds as an afterthought.
"Huh," he says, and that's the end of that.
The next time he talks to Rukia (after dinner that night), he thanks her.
"For what?" she asks.
"For making the rain stop." he replies simply, and heads upstairs.
Rukia just shakes her head and calls him an idiot.
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Ichigo: On Self-Delusion
Every time he thought of her, he got this stupid pain in his chest. Like his heart skipped a beat, or pulsed just a little too hard. He told himself it was because he owed her. She had saved him, so he would rescue her. It all came down to economics.
…He would almost have convinced himself if it wasn't for that stupid pain.
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Ichigo: On Running Headfirst Into Brick Walls
No matter how many times he twisted the facts in his mind, Rukia was still 150 years old. 135 years older than he was.
Which, in itself was odd. When she wasn't being a super-Kuchiki, she had the maturity of a 15 year old (not to mention the appearance). It was hard to picture her that old, picture her living two good-sized lifespans before she ever stepped through his wall. It sucks, because he will probably never know all of the things she's been through, and what her life was like growing up in Soul Society. He won't remember her friends like Renji will, won't remember her achievements like Ukitake will, won't remember her sister like Byakuya will, and won't remember her greatest shame like Ganju will. It sucks, and he knows it. How can he fall for a person he knows almost nothing about?
Then again, he thinks, it's not like any of my choices ever made sense in the first place.
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Ichigo: On Pets and Substitutes
On her second visit to Earth, Rukia discovered the pet store. Ichigo wished Byakuya HAD killed him.
"Look at the rabbits! Ichigo, how much earth money does a rabbit cost?"
Ichigo glared at the fuzzballs in question.
"You AREN'T getting a rabbit. They have fleas and things, and a clinic can't have any animals anyway. It's unsanitary."
Rukia looked abnormally disappointed.
Geez, why does she want a rabbit so much? Ichigo thought. It's not like she had any pets to miss in Soul Society.
"You go on home ahead of me. I said I'd give Chad his copy of Hamlet back."
He waited until she was out of sight to head two blocks over to a store he'd seen earlier.
When Rukia got into her bed, there was a stuffed Chappy plush waiting for her.
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