Stairway to Heaven
Chapter 1; Between the Chappy bra & the bio book
Disclaimer; I do not own Bleach in any way, shape or form.
Rating; T
Summary; Frienemies. That's what they were. But then she died, and everything went to hell. He still thinks that the 4ft 9 she devil is much scarier than the 40ft monster with the white mask chasing him. Hell hath no fury like a spirit scorned.
A/N; Set in the Bleach universe, a few months before the beginning of Bleach. I plan to draw a cover- page for this story, and the link should be up in the next few days. Reviews are much appreciated, and as always, please enjoy the read.
Rukia groaned loudly, dreary afternoon light filtering through her window and assaulting her groggy senses, the Jaws theme song music rousing her from her afternoon slumber. Her eyebrows furrowed in irritation, as she blindly reached out searching for the source of the incessant noise so she could hopefully hurl it at the wall, break it, and then catch a few more minutes of sleep.
She ground her teeth in annoyance, recognizing exactly who was texting her, disturbing her from her precious afternoon nap.
Fingertips made contact with the sleek cover of her iPhone, grasping the cool metal object from her nightstand before she unlocked the noisy device, before peeling an eye open and glaring at the incoming text: Kurosaki Ichigo, flashing mockingly at her.
Damn him! He knew that 4 - 6 every afternoon was her essential nap, a requirement for her to function the next day. She glanced at the time at the top of the screen. 4:30. Asshole!
Kurosaki Ichigo. Her best/worst frenemy. She had moved to Karakura back in middle school. At first, she hated him because he borrowed her pencils and never returned them. He hated her, because she sought revenge at every opportunity, always jumping at the chance to humiliate him whether it was publicly or privately. It didn't help that she was always almost a head shorter than him.
Yeah, getting beaten up by a girl half your size was not what the average male would boast about. Maybe that's why he joined a karate class soon after, then proceeded to get his ass handed to him by yet another female - Tatsuki.
It wasn't until almost a year of animosity, arguments and fights between the two, that she saw him in a different light. It was late afters school, and she had to back to finish some homework before heading home. As she was leaving, she overheard some thugs in an alleyway, cornering a student. She immediately recognized the bright orange hair. To this day, she still didn't know exactly what the leader of the 'gang' had said to him, but within a minute, they were all on the ground unconscious and bruised.
She would have believed that he was okay, if not for the very faint red rim around his eyes.
At that moment, she knew that maybe, just maybe, they weren't so different after all.
Rukia supposed that's when their 'frenemy' relationship had sort of started. They were sort of like rivals, she hated his ego and he her guts.
From Ichigo
Hey, midget I know you're probably thinking of 10 different ways to murder me for disturbing you from your precious 'beauty sleep', but I think you have my Bio text book, which I need tonight. Can you drop it round later?
Dad and the twins are begging me to ask you to join us for dinner too.
Get your ass over here.
She glared hard at the tiny words displayed on her phone screen. Her loathing for the little letters and the sender of the text seemed insurmountable at that moment. Her fingers gripped the phone tightly, as she imagined that it was a certain Fruit's neck instead.
Rukis sighed heavily and began to think over his invitation.
She mentally checked off the list of pros and cons.
Negatives:
She would have to leave the warm haven that was her bed.
She was fairly sure Ichigo's father was clinically insane.
It was raining outside.
Positives:
She could punish Ichigo for disturbing her nap. Retribution!
She would get to eat Yuzu's cooking, instead of the countless packets of instant noodles waiting for her in her cupboard.
She could force Karin to watch the new chappy movie that Yuzu had mentioned buying the last time she saw her. (unlikely.)
Ichigo would owe her, and therefore would watch it too. (very unlikely.)
Yuzu's cooking won, not to mention Ichigo's facial expressions while being forced to endure such a movie.
" Ugh, I hate Mondays." Rukia groaned unintelligibly, pulling the sheets of her body before hobbling over to her school bag and rummaging through its contents. True enough, there was his book, its cover torn slightly and her own chappy drawing decorating the entire page.
She grumbled the whole time she was dressing. Stupid Ichigo. Stupid lack of sleep. Stupid Bio book. She sighed heavily, gathering her books into her bag, slinging it over her shoulder and heading out the door in a quick stride.
"Yuzu's cooking is worth it. Yuzu's cooking is worth it," Rukia muttered darkly to herself, descending the staircase. She reached the metal door and paused. It was her last chance to turn back. She could still, turn around, dump her stuff in the corner of the room and not think about it again.
Well, at least 'till tomorrow morning when she was certain Ichigo would bitch about it from dawn to dusk.
Another thought struck her. If she were going to bail now, what was the point of getting up in the first place?
"Ah, FUCK IT!" She kicked open the door which groaned in protest as she stormed out into the pouring rain.
A cruel deity high above snickered at the biology book which lay on Rukia's bedroom floor, unnoticed, having slipped out of her bag.
Ichigo Kurosaki paced in his living room, eyebrows drawn together in a tight scowl. The lights were dim, and there was only a small amount of chatter coming from the rest of his family who were helping Yuzu make dinner.
"Ichi-nii, you do know that she's not going to get here any faster if you do that, right?" came Karin's sarcastic voice from the doorway. His eyebrows twitched in aggravation.
"I texted her over half an hour ago. It only takes 20 minutes to walk here. Tops," Ichigo said in response. He resumed his pacing.
Dammit, where was she? She knew that he needed his bio book tonight to finish the assignment. Bitch probably just rolled over and went back to sleep.
He reached down into hip pocket, pulling his phone out and snapping it open. He forcefully mashed the keys sending yet another text.
To Midget.
You're late. Hurry up.
He wouldn't be this god damn frantic if she had actually replied. Like, even once was enough. He crushed his phone in-between his thumb and his forefinger, throwing it onto the couch. It landed with a light 'plop' as a snicker came from behind him.
He glared at Karin who was grinning like the cat that ate the canary.
"Shut up," he growled, before he sat on the couch, fidgeting with his hands instead of pacing.
"You know it's only been what...40 minutes now, right?" Karin asked with a raised eyebrow, before she continued with a sigh. "I don't know what you're worrying about. If she can kick your ass, I'm sure she'd have no trouble with a little bit of rain."
"I'm not worrying!" He snapped on impulse, glaring heatedly at his little sister who was in turn, just smirking at his self-induced misery.
He bet Rukia was taking her sweet time, just to annoy him. That was just like her. Bitch, he snarled inwardly.
He conveniently ignored the fact that he was the one who disturbed her afternoon nap, and that she would probably assault his shins for his heinous crime as soon as she saw him.
Perhaps she had already arrived, and was just watching him suffer? Plausible. He shook his head inwardly. Nah. If she had arrived, goat-face would have already been shouting his head off. The only sounds coming from the kitchen were whispers. No harsh cries of 'OH, MY THIRD DAUGHTER HAS RETURNED TO ME!' had pierced the air, so it was unlikely.
Maybe she never even left in the first place? What if she did just roll over and go back to sleep? He couldn't stop the evil grin that spread over his face at that thought. He would march over there and punish her. Somehow. He wasn't quite sure how, but he would get back at her if she didn't show up.
His attention was soon drawn to the harsh slapping of shoes against wet pavement, and a sharp knock on the front door. He was on his feet, rushing towards the door without being completely aware of the heartfelt smile that crossed his face as soon as he heard the sound.
Karin sighed to herself. Her brother was such a dork sometimes.
Ichigo's smile dropped the instant the door swung open. She was soaked, head to toe with muddy water, and was wearing a soul-chilling glare that could make the toughest man tremble in his boots. Her hair was tangled and matted, and splayed messily across her forehead. Her clothes were thoroughly drenched, and clung to her petite frame making her look even smaller than she usually was. If that were possible!
Her white shirt was alarmingly transparent. He swallowed thickly.
Ichigo now knew his best friend owned lacy, pink 'Chappy the bunny' bra. Fan-fucking-tastic.
He attempted to quell the raging blush he would bet was now blossoming over his cheeks, as he stared at her, eyes wide and mouth gaping.
"Let me in, asshole!" she growled, pushing past him, muddy water dripping onto his clothes as well.
She stormed into the house, dropped her bag unceremoniously on the floor with a thud, before she trudged up the stairs, claiming that she needed a shower. Ichigo was left standing in the doorway, too shell-shocked at that moment to even think about his biology book, or the original reason he had invited her over in the first place.
Rukia mumbled darkly to herself, scrubbing her hair to try to get some of the muck out, as the hot water splashed all over her. 3 times. 3 fucking times cars purposely drove into puddles, raining her with the horrible muddy shit, as she was innocently walking down the sidewalk. She almost growled to herself when she encountered a particularly tough knot, mixed with a clump of mud.
She wanted to just pull it out in frustration.
When she was getting dressed earlier, her mind had only thought of the basics. She would walk to Ichigo's. Kick him in the shins. Eat dinner. Give his bio book back. Go home. Simple. She didn't account for the fact that it would be raining cats and dogs - literally because one of the little feline buggers was stuck up a tree, and as she walked past, it decided she would be a great stepping stone to use to get down. Not only that, but a white T-shirt plus rain equalled way, way too many sideways glances and suggestive winks to just ignore.
But there was one redeeming quality. If nothing else, the expression on Ichigo's face when he saw her was priceless. He who prided himself on keeping his cool, left exposed and gaping like some dumb fish out of water, fighting off a torrential blush all the while suffering from a brain aneurism or six. What a trooper! If only she had brought a friggin' camera.
Ugh. She did not however, like the repercussions that would arise from his seeing such an item of clothing. Not awkward silences or anything like that! Hell no, they were Ichigo and Rukia! They didn't do awkward! But the relentless teasing that would follow! It's not every day you see your best friend wearing Chappy the bunny underwear, after all.
Rukia lathered the shampoo in her hair, shutting her eyes as she began to rinse. As light footsteps came from the direction the stairs, Rukia paused to think. Her clothes were in a muddy mess in the sink. Oh, and she hadn't exactly thought about bringing a change of clothes.
She guessed it was Karin walking up the stairs. Ichigo stomped up stairs and Isshin was much, much louder than Ichigo, so she could cross out those two. It was a fifty, fifty tossup between Karin and Yuzu, but because Rukia knew without a doubt that Yuzu was in the kitchen creating a feast fit for fifty people, she went with Karin.
"Uh, Karin. Do you have any clothes that I can change into?" Rukia called out over the roaring of the shower.
"Sure, I'll grab you some of Ichi-nii's old clothes." Rukia could practically see the smirk the younger girl was no doubt wearing. Rukia shrugged to herself. Clothes were clothes. Besides, Ichigo had a surprisingly good fashion sense, though his clothes would most likely be much too large on her. Not that she minded. It wasn't like was the first time she had worn his clothes anyway.
"Thanks."
15 minutes later and she was downstairs, devouring the delicious meal that Yuzu had prepared. Much better than instant noodles.
She smirked as Ichigo's eyebrow twitched once again. Damn, he was pissed she was wearing his old clothing. Isshin was going on about how Ichigo needed to get out more, Karin, Yuzu and herself occasionally adding to his rant. The boy in question had yet to say a word.
Rukia sighed to herself. Perhaps giving him his bio book would lighten the atmosphere a little.
"I have your book, Ichigo. Hold on," Rukia declared, standing and shuffling over to soaking wet bag. Ichigo watched in fascination how her face scrunched up as she rummaged through her bag. She turned back to the family, a sheepish grin upon her face.
"I think I left it at home," she said, rubbing the back of her neck while nervously taking steps backward.
"Rukia..." He gave a low growl. Was she serious? Maybe she was just trying to provoke him. He mentally congratulated himself for figuring it out so quickly.
"Haha- very funny, Rukia. Now give me my damn book," he ordered, thanking Yuzu quietly for the meal before stalking towards the sheepish-looking Rukia.
"Give me..." She glanced outside at the pouring rain and angry looking clouds. " 20 minutes, and I'll have it." Before he could grab her, she was out the door, running off towards her apartment.
Ichigo glanced nervously at the phone lying motionlessly in his tightly clenched fist. He flipped it open, scanning the pale screen for what felt like the100th time that minute to see if he had missed any calls or had any new messages.
Practised eyes scanning the screen quickly determined once more that he had not. God damn it! It was almost 7pm. It had been almost an hour since Rukia had run off.
"20 minutes my ass," Ichigo scoffed to himself. "How the hell does this happen twice in one day?"
Here he was, again, worrying! Yes, he finally admitted that he was at least a little (lot) worried, as he paced frantically up and down his living room.
Half of him strongly believed that she has just waltzed home, kicked off her shoes and fallen asleep in his clothes, leaving him without his book, and without confirmation that she was alright.
The other half of him believed something ridiculous has happened. Was she alright? Was she hurt? Did she get kidnapped? Did she fall and sprain her ankle in the middle of a road, and had to pull herself to safety? Did she get caught in a reindeer stampede, or attacked by astronauts?
The longer the thoughts swirled around in his mind, the less and less sense they made.
Though he would usually agree with the former half, he was currently siding with the latter. Not so much the insane ideas of horrible things that could happen, but the part that firmly believed something had gone wrong.
Why else wouldn't she text him back?
Ichigo sighed heavily.
This day couldn't get any worse.
So when the doorbell rang a mere five minutes later, he leapt from his set, sprinted to the front door and almost ripped it off its hinges, only to come face to face with a police officer wearing a grim expression. He knew that it just had.