Ch 1: Zombies

"So what kind of horror movie are we about to watch?"

"Its a zombie flick. You know. The living dead," Ichigo answered as he popped the DVD of 'Dawn of the Dead' out of its case and placed it in the DVD player's tray. His dad was out of town tonight and the next night, and Yuzu and Karin were each at one of their friends' houses, so he took the opportunity to set up a movie night to spend a little time with Rukia since she had just returned to his life. They used to do this when she was here before, and he had missed it considerably.

Rukia watched him with a wary expression. "And how are you so sure I'll enjoy this?"

"You deal with death on a daily basis, and you love movies with action, blood and gore. I just thought you might enjoy this one," he shrugged.

She shoved a handful of popcorn in her mouth, followed by a long sip from her soda, all while mentally preparing herself to be bored out of her mind. However, as the movie played, she could tell that this would not be the case. She couldn't explain it, but as the movie played out, she was finding it harder and harder to maintain her composure. Just something about the dead coming back to life, with no known cause, was terrifying to her. By the end of the movie, as Ichigo was turning the lights in the living room back on, she found herself having to draw on her highly practiced Kuchiki calm in order to fool Ichigo into thinking she had been bored by it.

"So? Did you like it? Hate it? What?" Ichigo asked her, unable to see past that damned Kuchiki mask. He had always hated it when she did that. It reminded him too much of her brother. It didn't suit her at all.

"It was fine. A little bland," Rukia lied through her teeth.

He could form no words in his shock. He could only stare after her as she got up to take their now empty popcorn bowl to the kitchen to wash it out, along with their empty glasses. He suddenly got an idea. I'll show her bland... and with that, he quietly headed upstairs to his bedroom, still tripping over the fact that the movie had no effect on her. Thinking she was lying, and determined to get some kind if honest response from her, he proceeded with his plan.

Rukia washed their glasses, and placed them in the dish drainer to dry. She returned to the living room to find it unoccupied. "Ichigo?" she called out in the most normal voice she could muster. She did not want to be alone after watching that movie. It was out of the question. Rukia was certain that she would not be sleeping well for weeks, maybe longer.

She turned out the lights in the living room, and quickly headed up to Ichigo's room. The lights were off-which she promptly remedied-, and he was nowhere to be found. Thinking him to simply be in the bathroom, she closed his door behind her and opened her closet door to dig out her pajamas.

That's when she heard it. A scratching sound at his bedroom door. I must be hearing things, she told herself, though she wasn't very convincing. As she continued her search for her pjs, she heard it again...followed by a long, loud, droning moan.

"Ichigo?" she called out timidly. No answer. She cautiously walked to the door of his room, swallowing hard to get rid of the lump rising in her throat. She heard the sound again, and thought passingly about popping out of her gigai so she would have a method of decapitating what she was afraid was making that sound. "Don't be stupid, Rukia. Zombies aren't real. They are works of fiction. There is no reason to be afraid." She continued the mantra in her mind as she slowly reached for the doorknob and turned...and wished she hadn't.

A soon as the knob was turned, Ichigo lumbered into the room, walking stiffly, dragging his feet, and swinging his arms in a lazy manner as he shuffled along. His head was tilted slightly to the side, and his eyes had a dead look in them, as if not clearly focused on her.

"Ichigo, enough is enough. Good joke, now stop it." She laughed nervously as she backed away from him until she hit the bed, knees buckling as she fell to a sitting position onto it, and braced herself with her arms behind her. He kept coming at her. "Baka, I'm warning you. Stop this now," Rukia pleaded in the most stern, commanding voice she could manage, but even she could hear the tremor in her voice. This was not funny. Not at all.

Suddenly, to her horror, he lunged at her, in full-on zombie fashion; mouth hanging open, zombie moan-almost-growl, and made like he was going to bite into her flesh. Rukia shook violently and screamed bloody murder, tears suddenly pouring from her eyes as she sobbed.

Now, Ichigo stopped. He pulled back and sat beside her in the bed, watching her almost curl up into a seated fetal position, tears still pouring from her eyes. This was not the reaction he had expected. Without another thought, he pulled her into his arms and hugged her close. "I'm sorry, midget," he said softly. "I didn't think it would have that effect on you. I was expecting a beating at most."

She did her best to calm her sobbing. When she had regained her composure, she sat up and looked him in the eyes...and promptly punched him in the gut. He doubled over. "I said I was sorry," he managed to wheeze out.

"Don't you ever do that again, Ichigo," she rasped out through her remaining tears. She wiped her eyes hastily and turned to go to her closet... Ichigo gently but firmly grabbed her wrist.

"I really am sorry. I will never do that again. On one condition."

She sniffled before asking, "And what might that be?"

"Never lie to me again, and never use that damn Kuchiki aloofness on me again. I hated it when you used it when Byakuya came to take you to your execution, and I hated it downstairs a moment ago. Its like you're lying to me, and our friendship means more to me than that. I hope it means more than that to you, too."

She stood there a moment, not fully realizing why the word 'friendship' seemed less than a description of what the two of them shared. She nodded. "It does. And I swear that I will never lie to you, ever again."

He pulled her back to him by her wrist. "Good; I'll do the same." Without warning, he pressed his lips to hers, meeting only a moment of protest before she eagerly returned the soft kiss that spoke volumes to each other of what they really felt.

She slowly opened her eyes to meet is amber ones. "Not that I'm complaining, but what was that for?"

He smirked at her; that same confident smirk she always saw when he went into a battle he knew he could win. "We've been lying to each other on that one. That's how we should have said goodbye when I lost my powers."

Rukia smiled. "Agreed. But its also a great way for us to say hello again." And with that, she kissed him. She knew she would sleep perfectly tonight.

- A/N: Hello all! Sorry about the absence, but things have been crazy, and I have had writer's block out the yin yang. Hopefully, with a little luck, this will help inspire me to work on my main fic, After the War. I want to thank finaldragonquest for inspiring me to do a collection of ficlets. It was after reading theirs that I decided to put my forty billion unfinished fanfic ideas together like this instead millions of big ones.

This particular chapter was inspired by an incident two nights ago. I am deathly afraid of zombies. Its irrational, I know, but I am, and that's that. My husband loves to scare me with his overly convincing zombie impression (he really is just a little too good at it, and I feel that if a zombie apocalypse ever did occur, it would be like the little boy who cried wolf, and I'd never believe he was really one lol). This time, he was playing with our daughter (who loves zombies, btw, but the 'Plants v. Zombies' kind at this point in her three-almost-four year lifespan) and pretending to be a zombie behind our bedroom door. Trying to be brave, I grabbed her foam Nerf axe and was going to pretend to bash his brains in (we really do have a loving relationship, I promise lol), when he did a highly believeable zombie lunge at me and I freaked. I was in tears. And while I kind of doubt that Rukia would really be afraid of zombies, it was a good inspiration. Anyway, as always, reviews are highly appreciated. Please leave one...or I may take a Nerf axe to one of you next! ^_^ lol