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"Ichigo," Rukia said as she brushed her hand against Ichigo's bangs. "Please wake up soon."

It's been two weeks since Ichigo passed out and aside from his hair getting shorter, nothing changed about his condition. All the Karakura gang's injuries have healed up nicely, and they all came to visit Ichigo everyday, sometimes even twice a day in Orihime's case. Karin and Yuzu didn't know all the details, but they already grasped the gist of the situation and took turns spending the night in Ichigo's room. Rukia barely left his side, and never left him without making sure someone else was sitting with him.

"You know?" Rukia said, on TV doctors said talking to comatose patients might help, Ichigo seemed as comatose as a person can get, so Rukia talked to Ichigo a lot, telling him random things, sometimes about what was happening in Seireitei, sometimes about her past, things that even Renji didn't know. "Nii-sama lost his haori. At least, I think he did. When he came to visit me he wasn't wearing it, so I asked why. He said that it was cheap and unimportant."

Rukia gave a weak laugh as Ichigo lay there. She gave him an anxious look. His reiatsu was weakening again. It's been happening gradually since he passed out, and she was worried. Even Urahara didn't know what was happening, although he did have a few hypotheses.

"You know?" she continued to talk to the unconscious substitute shinigami. "You've been a bad brother these past two weeks. Wasn't it you who said that older brothers were born first so they'd look after their younger siblings? Karin got into another fight yesterday. Yuzu on the otherhand has been cleaning nonstop, when she gets tired, she's in here. Neither of them have slept in their own rooms for a while now."

Rukia didn't expect him to answer, after thirteen days of silence she was used to having a one-sided conversation. Thank goodness Kon was taken away by Urahara, saying that Ichigo needed peace and quiet, two things that the stuffed animal definitely was NOT.

"You should get up soon idiot," she tried to say with as much of her usual listen-to-me-I'm-boss tone but failed to do so. "Isn't it your turn to cheer me up? I'm not keeping track or anything, but I'm pretty sure that you owe me for pulling you out of that slump you had when you were afraid of your inner hollow."

She sat there for a moment in silence and decided to hold his hand, after all, the doctors on TV did say something about that too. She held on to his hand and noticed that it was way bigger than her own.

"Better to protect people with," she murmured to herself. "Rough hands, but not evil hands."

Rukia had no idea what she was saying. The words were just spilling out of her mouth, but she sort of understood what she meant. Even though Ichigo had a hollow form, he wasn't evil; and she knew that if his hollow ever came out, he;d do everything to beat it down to keep everyone safe.

She smiled to herself and put her head on the mattress, never letting go of Ichigo's hand. She swore that she was just resting her eyes a bit. The next thing she knew, someone was knocking on the door. She bolted right off the mattress and dropped Ichigo's hand as if it were a live wire.

"Come in," she called out. "It's open."

"Kuchiki-san," Orihime said softly as she opened the door. "You should go take a rest, you've been watching him for a long time. It's our turn."

Outside the room, Chad was standing behind Orihime looking, well, like Chad normally does. Rukia smiled and stood up.

"Ichigo," she said in a soft voice that only Ichigo could have heard if he were conscious. "I have to go file some reports in Soul Society, I'll be back soon though."

As she passed Orihime, she smiled at the taller girl, trying to assure her that Ichigo would be alright, even though Rukia herself seemed to be running out of faith that Ichigo would wake up.

No, she told herself, Ichigo will wake up, he has to. He could've died many times before this one but he's too stubborn to do that. He won't die from this. When I get back, he might even be awake already, definitely. He'll be awake by then.

But when Rukia got back from Soul Society, Ichigo was still asleep. She just gave a sad smile at Orihime and Chad when they left and sat down on her chair beside Ichigo's bed.

"Still asleep huh?" she said as she ruffled his bangs. "You never listen to me, I told you to wake up already." She gave a small laugh and lay her head on the mattress once more as she continued her vigil.

Two weeks later when he finally woke up, she was right there with his other friends. Rukia was happy that he was awake and still able to see her, but she knew that his awakening was a bittersweet moment. She smiled a small smile as she heard her friends talk.

She knew her time was short and she should probably start her explanation soon, but she decided to savor the moment, as little as it was. Her thoughts should have been on how to phrase her statement, but the only thought her mind was processing was:

I knew you'd wake up, just as you knew I wasn't 'killed' by that Espada..

Because they were connected in that special way which very few people are.

I kinda lost track of what I was suppose to write at the end bit, so I'm sorry that it sucks. Anyway, I streached out Ichigo's 'reunion' with his friends so RUkia could have some thought time. Please feel free to point out any mistakes I made. And please leave a review if you feel like it. Thanks!