Disclaimer: This fanfiction story is not affiliated in any way, nor has it been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Bleach.
Drought
Rukia sighed as she rolled out of her bed as quietly as possible as to not awaken Yuzu or Karin. She gave her command receiver mobile phone a glare as it quietly beeped again. She grabbed it out from under her pillow and tiptoed out of the room she shared with the polar opposite twin sisters that remained sleeping like babies…or so she thought.
It wasn't that the petite death god was not used to having to awaken in the middle of the night to kill hollows. It was just that last night seemed extremely long as she had to put up with another normal Kurosaki supper with Isshin and Ichigo fighting, while Yuzu played mediator and Karin at first tried to be blissfully unaware and after a while grumbled angrily and yelled at the two.
Rukia had the unfortunate position of being the actual cause of the altercation last night as Isshin had given her a small square package containing a balloon. He told her to use it well so Rukia blew it up, it blew up larger than she thought it would from its original size and was more oblong than the other balloons she had seen before. Nevertheless Rukia took a permanent black marker and drew a face on it. People in the human world gave sick people balloons all the time so Rukia thought she would give it to Ichigo since he had been suffering from a slight cold. Okay, that was an overstatement, he had sneezed twice in class, but what else was she to do with the balloon.
She tied a string to the end of it and trudged up the stairs dragging it behind. It didn't float like the other balloons she thought and frowned. Then again, Ichigo wasn't the superficial type; he would probably appreciate it for her effort. She did not bother knocking on his door as she pushed it open to see Ichigo writing at his desk, his back hunched over. He turned his head to look at her and quickly closed the book that he had been writing and stood, rising to his full height. His scowl was firmly in place as he glowered at her with his amber brown eyes.
"What do you want?"
Rukia frowned as she tugged the balloon into the room, "Well I got this balloon for you, since you seemed a little sick in class today. No need to be such an asshole."
Ichigo was extremely silent as he tried to remain calm on the inside. He felt his left eye twitch as he quietly asked, "Where did you get that?"
"From your dad," Rukia said as she tried to hand him the string, "Why, what's wrong?" She was a little upset that he didn't look very appreciative after all her hard work; it took her forever to blow the stupid thing up. Of course she didn't dare show her feelings on the outside.
Ichigo smacked his hand to his face and took a deep breath. He then pointedly ignored her question as he quickly made his way to the door without even looking her in the eye or at all acknowledging her as he purposely stomped on the balloon with his left foot and sped out of the room.
The wide-eyed Rukia then turned her attention to the book, wondering what he had been writing in it. She was pretty sure Ichigo had found Isshin as she could hear yelling and stuff breaking, so she didn't have to worry about him coming in and lecturing her on his privacy yet again. She didn't even give a second thought to the fact that he was right, that he did deserve his privacy, because her curiosity always won out. What he doesn't know can't hurt him. She then let her finger run down the edge of the book, it looked rather old but Rukia could not recall ever seeing it before. (what?)She flipped the brown leather cover open to see on the inside cover a note from Masaki, his mother. Apparently the book had been a gift from his mother on his ninth birthday.
The first page was dated only recently though, it was dated June 17 the date of her death, the day he had fought the Grand Fisher. He wrote about how he had failed his mother again and promised to get stronger to protect the ones he cared about. Rukia sighed as she continued to flip through; she came to the passage he had written after she left him for dead as she was taken back to soul society. The passage was very similar to the one he had written before, he once again proclaimed himself weak and chronicled his plan to get stronger with the help of Urahara and rescue her. Rukia let another sigh escape her as she shook her head; he was always trying to save everybody. He never thought about himself, he had come a long way from the boy who had at first refused to take on her responsibilities after she gave him her powers. She flipped through the book some more and was surprised to find poetry, most of it was dark. The last one though, the one he had been working on before she came in caught her eye as she read the title, Drought.
Before her eyes could scan any further than that, her senses went haywire. All at once she heard him growl in her ear as she felt his hot breath on her and could see his bright orange hair through her peripheral vision. His scent, an odor that was certainly indefinable, at least by words, but most definitely his, filled her nostrils and all that was left for her to do was taste him… Okay, maybe she'd been reading a few too many romance novels…
She saw his hand whip out and slam the book shut but none of it registered as she felt the heat of his body radiate on to her back. She didn't dare turn around and look him in the eyes.
"What do you think you're doing?" Ichigo asked in a frighteningly angry tone.
Rukia did not dare show her emotions, something she had been taught by her adoptive brother Byakuya Kuchiki. She took a deep breath as her plan formed in her mind.
She plastered a fake smile on her face as she turned to face him, she nearly faltered as she noticed their close proximity but swallowed it down as she curtseyed and apologized in the fake tone of voice she used at school, "Forgive me Ichigo. I thought your homework was in there, I've got to go help Yuzu make dinner, see you later." She then quickly slid past him, not bothering to look at his expression.
After she was gone Ichigo threw himself face first onto his bed, hoping against all hope she had not read his poem. How could he face her again if she knew what he had written? What could have possibly made him write that poem any way? What had he been thinking? Why bother asking? He knew exactly what he had been thinking, or better yet, who he had been thinking about.
He had been in the middle of class trying to listen to what his teacher, Misato Ochi, was saying when he sneezed. He immediately thought of Rukia after his sneeze because she was the cause of it. The night before, Ichigo had gone out to kill a hollow without Rukia and the stupid command receiver cell phone thing died on him. It took Ichigo nearly three hours to find the stupid hollow because he was so terrible at sensing spiritual power and he was too stubborn to go back and ask Rukia for help. Instead he waited for it in the below freezing temperature.
His mind then drifted as to why he hadn't just gone to her for help as he looked at her through the corner of his eye, she was doodling on her notes. Her hair covered most of her face but he could tell she was probably concentrating on her 'art' as she bit her bottom lip. Her short skinny legs kicked back and forth as they could not reach to floor and she tapped her pencil on her desk before carefully erasing something. She then pushed herself back in her chair for better posture and Ichigo had to turn away from her as her skirt rode up her milky white thighs.
He knew why he hadn't gone to her for help. He hadn't wanted to bother her; he knew she was tired from studying. She hadn't studied the first time she had been a student at Karakura High School so he wasn't quite sure why she was bothering now instead of copying him. Not that he let her walk all over him…
That's how he knew she was lying about looking for his homework. That and there was no more school for two weeks for the holidays.
He didn't want to admit it to himself, but in the corner of his mind he knew the real reason. He didn't get her because every time they went out to hunt hollows he was always afraid for her life. If she died… No, that didn't matter; she would never die, not as long as he could protect her. That's what his name stood for after all and he would live up to it.
After all, he would forever be in her debt for stopping the rain in his heart and causing a drought that he hoped would never end. He sighed as he fought to push thoughts of her away and finally managed to do it, an hour later.
Then he sneezed again, and try as he might, his thoughts drew back to her and he let his forehead hit his desk with a thunk.
"Bless you," Rukia had said in her fake sweet voice, not bothering to tear her eyes from her doodles.
Ichigo got off his bed as he heard Yuzu call him down for dinner. He sighed, he would just face her and everything would be the same way it had been before he saw her reading his journal. Is that what he really wanted? He shook his head at the question, it was better than her rejection.
Ichigo took his usual seat next to Karin and at his right, the head of the table, was Rukia. She was turned away from him speaking with Isshin who was on her left. He heard the word condom and that was when all hell broke loose…again…
Rukia still had no idea what a 'condum' was as Ichigo had interrupted her conversation with Isshin just as he was about to explain it. Oh well…she could always ask Ichigo later.
Rukia entered pushed the door with the number 15 on it open and slipped inside. Her sight had just about adjusted to the dark as she neared his bed. He was sleeping on his back like usual, head turned slightly towards her. He looked so different when he was asleep. His face was without his usual scowl and his eyebrows were not furrowed for once. Rukia sighed as she resisted the urge to run her hands through his spiky hair. She just couldn't wake him up, he looked too peaceful, so unlike his fake detached image.
Rukia pulled out her soul candy and popped it in her mouth. As Rukia exited her artificial body she shushed Chappy to be quiet and await her return as she opened the window and hopped out to take care of the hollow on her own.
Moments later Ichigo awoke as a gust of cold wind descended upon him. He sat up and noticed that the window was open. He definitely remembered shutting it the night before so there was no reason for it to be open. He glanced around the room quickly to make sure there were no intruders, but he was pretty sure he would have been dead if that was the case.
He was startled at first to see Rukia, but upon closer inspection he could tell it was just Chappy. He could tell just by her stance and facial expression that it was not really Rukia, it was kind of scary how well he knew her. Before he let his mind condemn him for it he quickly put all the pieces together that Rukia must have left to hunt a hollow without him. Why else would Chappy be in his room?
"Rukia went off to kill a hollow, didn't she?" Ichigo asked Chappy just to be positive, but still hoping beyond hope that there was another reason for her presence instead of his Rukia.
"Yup," Chappy answered quietly, nodding her head rapidly.
Anger seeped into his veins as he recalled a pact they had made to hunt together. Okay, so maybe he had broken the pact…several times. He could handle a hollow on his own. 'So can she,' he thought before shaking it away. That didn't matter; he would never take any chances regarding her life.
He jumped out of bed and went to grab his badge, but it wasn't in his desk where he usually kept it at night. Then he remembered he must have left it in his pants pocket which was down in the laundry room. That's why he hadn't heard it go off. Damn Yuzu for being such a good housekeeper.
He sighed as he reached into his closet and grabbed Kon, who was half asleep and didn't realize what was going on until he was popped into a mouth with nasty morning breath.
"I'll be back, Kon," Ichigo said as he hopped out the windows, leaving Kon with his mouth open and unable to reply.
It took Ichigo less than five minutes to find her as she finished off the hollow in a dark alleyway on the otherside of town in the Mashiba district ; she turned to glare at him. "What are you doing here?"
"What are you doing here? I thought we had a pact."
"No, we did not have a pact; a pact is forged between two people and since you didn't follow it I see no reason why I should. Besides, it was just one hollow, what's the big deal?"
"I don't care if it was just one hollow, we stick together, that way neither of us gets hurt."
"Really, so then why can you hunt by yourself, while I have to stick with you? You think I'm weak."
"It's not that, I just see no reason for us to take any chances?"
"You are such a hypocrite, Ichigo and I won't stand for it."
"I'm only trying to protect you!"
"Yeah? Well I don't need your help. I can take care of myself just fine like I have been for over a hundred years!"
"Really?! So if I hadn't come to save you in the Soul Society you would be just fine, would you?"
"I was ready to die, I didn't need you to risk your neck for me again," Rukia said the last word so quietly it was barely audible.
"Yeah, well I wasn't ready for you to die!" Ichigo yelled before realizing what he said.
They stood there in the dark alley way staring at each for a moment until it began snowing. 'Well at least it isn't raining,' they both thought to themselves.
Ichigo noticed goose bumps begin to form on her thin arms and decided to just end the argument and get them back home before they both got sick.
"And I never will be," Ichigo said quietly, blushing as he looked down at his feet. "Let's go home no—"
Ichigo didn't get to finish his sentence as he was roughly grabbed by the hair to reach her soft pink lips. His eyes widened at her actions as he felt her tiny hands work their way down to his muscular shoulders. It was probably the most awkward moment of his life and for once he decided to make the best of it as he attempted to reciprocate.
He thought that time would cease to exist to him, like it is often romanticized in movies and book. Unfortunately he was very aware of it as he counted down the time until they broke apart and faced an even worse awkwardness. 15 seconds.
Rukia broke away first of course because Ichigo didn't have to guts to face her. She found his blush hilarious with his normal detached image. He tried to act as though nothing in the world could touch him when it so obviously did.
"So, what's a 'condum'," Rukia asked as though their kiss had not just transpired.
Ichigo finally met her eyes, happy to pretend that the kiss had not just happened. "I'll show you when we get back to my room. Just stop asking my Dad about it," Ichigo said mischievously, making her ever the more curious.
"Finally! Oh and by the way, I hope that was your first kiss because you suck at it, and if it wasn't…well good luck with that," she said before flash stepping away. He shook his head but couldn't help but to smile as he followed behind her.
Isshin, Yuzu, and Karin all stood behind the door with the 15 on it, peeking in through the small crack as they watched the scene before them unfold. Ichigo and Rukia, clad in just their underwear, were making out on the bed. Currently Ichigo was leaning over Rukia very eagerly kissing her all over the place while she giggled.
It was a beautiful sight indeed for the very strange family as they watched. Isshin sent the girls back to bed as he sensed what was going to happen next. He continued to watch and wished he had a bag of popcorn.
It was a very ugly sight to the owners of said bodies as they entered through the already open window in a state of shock.
Of course Isshin knew it was Kon all along, but Yuzu and Karin didn't and there was no way Ichigo could explain to them that it wasn't really him. Isshin pulled out his camera glad that the light in the room was on so he wouldn't have to use the flash. He then got ready to make his grand appearance, just to make sure Ichigo knew just how horrible his holidays were going to be now. He took in a big breath of air as he lunged into the room and kicked Kon right in the face.
"Ichigo, what are you doing?! Deflowering my third daughter! I think not!"
Kon and Chappy looked up at him with wide eyes. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a square package and handed it to Kon.
"Just kidding! Just make sure you use that condom correctly now. It's easy; just place it on your erect penis before placing it in her vagina. That way when you ejaculate my future grandchildren, you won't get her pregnant! Any questions?!"
Kon and Chappy continued to stare at the strange man with wide eyes as they both slowly shook their heads.
"Great, well I'll leave you to it. Good luck!" Isshin said as turned to leave the room, "Oh, and by the way, next time make sure you shut the door. Yuzu and Karin don't need to see anymore than they already have; they're still a bit young. Maybe next year." He then quietly shut the door and could be heard humming down the hallway.
Kon and Chappy were about to get back to business until Ichigo threw Kon against the wall after he got over his shock. "What the fuck are you doing?! Do you know how much you just screwed me over?! The old man is never going to let me live this down!"
"Well, did you ever think of me? About what I need! It's always about you, you never think ab—" Kon was cut off as he was forced from the body and back into his plushie form.
"Just get back in the closet before I decide to place you in an Elmo doll." Kon didn't utter another peep as he shut the door of the closet.
Rukia turned to Chappy and asked, "And what do you have to say for yourself?"
"We're howny," Chappy said in her annoying cutesy talk.
Rukia slightly reddened as Ichigo grinned, "Horny, eh, Rukia?"
Rukia finished reentering her body as she replied, "Shut up, I am not horny. Just a…"
"You know, I hope that was your first lie, because you suck at it," Ichigo said, although he knew very well that she was more than adept at lying. Although, not to him as he thought about or maybe she was so good that he couldn't even tell he was being lied to. He turned away from her as he noticed her lack of attire finally. She adorned just a black bra and low rise black Chappy panties and even though she didn't have much to fill either of them it was more than enough to drive him over the edge. "Put some clothes on."
"Shut up, like you're not horny. For that comment, you are so not losing your virginity for awhile. Good thing I know what a condom is now so I don't have to bear another psycho Kurosaki."
Ichigo have to think over her statement three times before he realized that she was implying that one day they would have sex. Apparently it wouldn't be for a while now. Actually, if she wanted, she could make him wait forever seeing as how they were both death gods, now that was a scary thought.
"Well, I could always find Inoue and—" He stopped midsentence as he caught her big beautiful indigo eyes which were seemingly trying to kill him.
"For someone who thinks I'm bad at lying, you could try taking a page out of my book," she said as she finished putting her pajamas back on and headed out of the room. Ichigo threw himself back on his bed face down before planning his suicide.
Drought had just taken on a whole new meaning.
Author Note: I hope you liked it, this is my first attempt at an Ichigo/Rukia story so I hope I kept them in character. Please review, constructive criticism is appreciated, too.