Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.

Breathe

Tlic...Tlic...Tlic...

The sound of rain. Quite an interesting one isn't it? It resonates deep into your mind as if all those little drops are all you have next to you. Water is a purifier, they say. So why does it feel like at each sound, Tlic, a mark is left in his heart, making him feel even worst than the second before...?

Tlic...Tlic...

Ichigo Kurosaki doesn't like rain, it's a fact. It almost sound like god chose it on purpose. To match Ichigo's mood. Or maybe, juste maybe, his mom was trying to send him a message. She was crying with him, from where she was. Even if that theory is impossible, Ichigo like to think that his mother stays there no matter what he goes through.

Damn rain... It catches you. Follows your thoughts every way you go, every single thing your mind crosses on its road. And you can't sleep. No... Of course you can't.

That may be why it's 2:07 am already and Ichigo can't find peace...

Yeah, that must be it. He's...how to say it with one word...troubled? No, not meaningful enough. Actually that word sucks, cross it out. Well, anyway, whatever is how Ichigo is feeling, it's matching the rain, again. It comes from a dark cloud and falls, not nowing where it will lends, until it hits someting. A cold and unkown surface. Cruel truth. Cruel reality.

Tlic...

Damn rain... It just wokes up your problems until you have nothing else you can think about, and puts it on repeat again and again, so you pass those moments in your head, again and again and again, until the pain is just even worse than it was before.

Tlic.

It wasn't fair. If Ichigo knew something, and was certainly sure of it, it was that all of this crap, all of this damn obligation was nothing but unfair.

She had to go. Of course she had to... Why would a fuku-taicho of Soul Society stay in the world of the living? No logic reason to, it was simply off the table.

He had lost his powers about...two, three years ago maybe? Time seemed to fly by so quickly, yet it felt like he had grown twenty years older. During that time, she only came here a number of time he could count on one hand. Once to give him his powers back, during that battle with Our Xecution, and twice to... Well, to check on Karakura town, only to stay there a couple of days, and needed to go back right away.

That time, her second visit, it was ending tomorrow morning.

The past few days had been...the best since he can remember. In those three years where he was alone most of the time, those days had been the ones to make him the happiest.

Their bond...It has always been special. Nobody could describe it, understand it. Nobody could break it. Ever. Ichigo and Rukia were linked somehow, and no matter what happened in this twisted world, it just felt right. More than anything.

It had grown into something more, their bond. It was so beyond friendship. It was like their mind we're constantly together, to the point that sometimes talking was unecessery. Their eyes would agree without a single word being said.

It was like they were one.

Ichigo sighed, trying to make the ache in his stomach, in his heart less painful. Sighing worked, the grief was freeze for a moment, half a second maybe... But it came back right after, and if possible, even stronger than before.

That's why he almost never sighed.

Another drop of water hit the top of the young man's window. Ichigo captured it with his eyes, following it all the way to the base of the window. 'Damn,' he cursed silently. It brought another memory to him, and unluckily, he couldn't stop it from playing in his head.

"Ichigo..."

The voice was small. Not strong like usually, not indepedant or not even determinated. That voice sounded...scared. It sounded so desperate, like everything she had was going to be taken away from her. That voice sounded weak.

Ichigo painfully opened his right eye, looking at the shinigami above him, an horrible worried expression on her face, her tiny hands curled at her breasts' level, like she didn't know what to do exactly. She looked so lost... So fragile. Ichigo swallowed the forming rock in his throat and blinked. Great. Now was he under terrible pain, but sadness of seeing Rukia like this had taken his heart too. Just great.

"I... I should've been more careful. I..."

With that, Rukia brought her hands on Ichigo's wound, ready to start her kido technique.

Ichigo waited. Nothing came.

He looked over at Rukia again. She was trembling, uncotrollably. Her eyebrows were distorted and her breath were small, sorrowful and irregural like she was about to break down any second. Break in tears or literally break completely...

She was injured too, and you could perceive it in her reiatsu... It wasn't strong, it wasn't as usual... It appeared...vulnerable.

"Damn it! Why isn't it working?! It's always working! It just has to or else you'll... you'll be..."

Another fear shot through Rukia's eyes as Ichigo decided to took things in control, almost sensing the death's voice whispering in his ear.

"Rukia." he tried to say as loud as possible. He was struggling to get the sounds out of his mouth. It could all be over for him, talking in his condition, but he just...needed to say it.

The young woman looked at him anxiously. Ichigo saw her. At that moment, he was seeing through her entire soul. He was seeing...Rukia...

He softened his eyes, still resting on her. "Breathe..."

Rukia widened her beautiful dark eyes at him. "Just breathe, Rukia..." said Ichigo with a soft and comforting voice.

Rukia took a few moments, then did exactly as she was told. She breathed. Air in, air out. Air in, air out...

Ichigo passed out after Rukia healed him with her kido. He woke up a day later, in his own room, his fighting partner waiting at his side, of course. That time, he turned his head to see her, and a huge relief could be seen in her violet pools. No more worry, just...joy. It was simple, but it was more than enough to Ichigo. She then gave him the only thing that could heal the only wound left on him. Or in him. She healed his heart again. But with what?

Pretty simple. With her smile only. Perfect and simple. Just like he liked it.

Ichigo turned around in his bed. God he was feeling bad. The worst.

He didn't want her to leave. But how could he say that to her? He didn't even had the right to say it, more than that, who was he to even think about taking Rukia all she had: her pride as a fuku-taicho and her life in Soul Society? He was too selfish. He knew it. But what could he do? Nothing. You can't do nothing about those stuff.

Ichigo turned again, this time his back on the mattress. He then closed his eyes tightly and massaged his forehead with his hand, still fighting to get the pain away. Without any success. Obviously.

Oh no... Ichigo cringed, a desperate moan coming out of his throat, like he was under pure torture, just as another drop of rain touched his window's surface.

Tlic...

Ichigo breathed hard, his eyes shooting terrible anger at his opponent. He was on the edge of loosing it, and he knew it. Control was forgotten at that moment.

"Get away from my sister you fucking bastard! Or I sware you'll regret it!"

His voice was resonating through the entire city, it could have terrified anybody, make anybody tremble with fear as it was more mad than the devil in person.

Yuzu, still in the hand of a poweful hollow, had her eyes closed. A worried Karin was on Ichigo's far left, Rukia between the two Kurosaki. She had never seen Ichigo like this, except when he was in his hollow form, of course. But that was in the past. He was ready to jump on the enemy, and maybe he could succeed, but certainly not in this condition. His anger was blinding his fighting experience, and he needed all his senses to get his little sister out of danger. Rukia knew it. And before she let worry get through her, she did the only thing she could do at the moment. The best word she could breath.

"Ichigo!"

The boy turned his eyes to her for a second, his eyes buring with anxiety, despair and frustration all at the same time...

Rukia shot him a soft but determinated look. "Breathe."

Of course, that time, Ichigo understood. He saved Yuzu, with the help of his favorite fuku-taicho. Only she could do this to him... Get his mind back in the right place, where he needed it to be. On what he needed it to be focused on. Only her... And only she could fight by his side like this, protecting his own family, again and again, like they were one.

And now she was leaving him, again... Ichigo swallowed painfully as he felt tears struggling to get out of his eyes. But he never let them. Never.

At that exact moment, the door of his forever-bedroom opened, and Ichigo immediatly turned his head to see the person hiding behind it.

"Rukia..?" he breathed out, a hint of surprise in his voice. "What are you doing here?"

The girl staired at him for a short moment, then looked at the floor. She didn't say anything. Ichigo was about to speak when she finally entered the room completely, and closed the door behind her, as silently as possible.

She kept her gaze on the ground, biting her bottom lip slightly, which made Ichigo swallow hard, again.

"I...don't know exactly why I came, but I couldn't fall asleep, so..."

Ichigo blinked a couple of times, her words making their way into his brain. Rukia was looking at him, her eyes piercing through the dark with a magnificient light that stood right between blue and violet. The atmosphere was...intense.

Finally, as if Ichigo read her thoughts, he moved to the back of his bed, making room on the edge, and moved the blanket away, making room for Rukia.

He scratched the back of his head and spoke, "Hm, you want to come here?"

Rukia widened her eyes a bit, staring at the empty place on Ichigo's bed, then at the boy himself. Biting her lip another time, she nodded slowly.

Swallowing, Ichigo watched as the tiny woman got on his bed, right next to him, and lied down on the mattress and pillow.

The orange head finally did the same, stairing at his ceiling as he sighed deeply. Damn, not a good idea. Pain surrounded him all over again.

Ichigo closed his hazel eyes, only hearing the quiet sound of the rain outside.

He doesn't know how much time passed, if it was only a few seconds, of several minutes, but he suddenly felt something that made his eyes fly open. A small hand, on his bare and muscled arm. Cold on warm, creamy white on tan.

He immediately turned to face Rukia, who took her hand off Ichigo's skin as soon as she felt him move.

Ichigo saw...her eyes. They were holding an indescribable load of unrevealed emotions. Sadness, affection, loneliness, but mostly, worry. She wasn't looking right at him, like she wanted to avoid his hazel stare.

"Rukia, what's wrong?" he asked, almost whispering.

Rukia bit the inside of her cheek, half closing her eyes as she felt like her barrier was going to break down. The Kuchiki mask she took years to build... It was slowly going down, pieces by pieces.

Soon she won't be able to hide herself from the world anymore... But particularly, she won't be able to hide the truth to Ichigo.

"You," she murmured. "...You know this could be the last time we see each other, right?"

Her sentence brought an unbearable pain in her chest, almost like she was going to drown in it.

On his side, Ichigo was frozen. Rukia's words made him feel like tens and tens of rocks were released on him, like there was no more light in his world.

The young man swallowed the growing mass in his sore throat. "I know..."

They were both extremely aware of that. This time, she probably couldn't come back. She had two missions of patroling Karakura, but it wasn't her responsability anymore. Other weaker, other less essentiel shinigami took her place in the town, while Rukia was busy in her division. Being a fuku-taicho, she had been ordered to come back in her division, even if only a couple of days had passed. They needed her, apparently, to stay at her position, where they could command her whenever they wanted.

This angered Ichigo to the point that he made nightmares about it at night. The Seireitei's orders, the way they controled every soldier... He just couldn't stand it.

A weak sound came out of Rukia's throat, making Ichigo looked up at her face. He knew it now: her mask was falling.

Tears filled up her eyes as she tried to find the right words to say. This time, it was goodbye. The real one, and she knew it.

"Ichigo..." she almost whimpered in a small voice.

Seeing a tear fall on her cheek, Ichigo widened his eyes. He rarely saw Rukia cry, but now, he couldn't stand it.

"Rukia," said Ichigo, his tone louder than expected the black-haired shinigami.

With a heavy breathing and desperate violet pools, she looked up to meet his eyes, his comforting and warm hazel iris reaching her heart in a manner no one ever did.

He got closer, to the point that Rukia stood still, not even flinching, until he was close enough to talk directly in her ear, making her shiver at the feeling building inside.

"Breathe..."

Rukia widened her eyes, air irregularly coming in and out of her mouth as Ichigo backed down, though keeping their bodies close.

But Rukia couldn't hold her emotions any longer. It was just too much to handle, she burried it all a long time ago, and now the barrier was collapsing. She closed her eyes tightly, a sob fighting to get out of there.

"But how can I? I can't Ichigo!"

She was about to literally break in tears when suddenly, she felt something on her mouth. It took a few seconds before she realize it was Ichigo's.

He pressed his mouth to hers, then, parting his lips, his own breath entering Rukia and envelopping her completely, "Breathe..."

Ichigo then took her tiny hand on his, placing it on his chest so she'd feel his steady breathing. After that he, gently as possible, placed his own hand where he could feel her heart, right above her breasts. She was wearing a gray v-line shirt which meant Ichigo had his hand directly on her skin.

Too much was happening for Rukia's brain to act normally. She had her eyes widened, staring right through the amber circles like everything else had disappeared, his mouth still touching hers. When she felt his skin touching her close to her chest, a new sensation appeared in her stomach, and in her heart. It was...warm.

That's when Ichigo closed his eyes again, and pressed his lips with hers, almost lovingly, but this time it wasn't to breath, it was a true kiss.

Rukia soon found herself lost in Ichigo's actions and closed her eyes too, as she opened her mouth slightly to press it to Ichigo's more longer, their pink entrance dancing together in harmony.

When they backed off, they both opened their eyes a bit, having access to the other's soul. Rukia spoke in a whisper, as if she had understood the meaning of it now, "...Breathe..."

Ichigo blinked then crushed his mouth with hers, his eyebrows distorted in a way that showed he was craving for her. Was craving to show her everything: every single pain, every ways he cared for her, every aspects of her he needed with him, every fear, every thing he felt... He wanted to tell her... And the best way to do it was with no words at all.

Rukia instantly reacted by pressing her body and lips even more than before, closing her eyes again, lost in the moment. Ichigo let out a moan, of pleasure yes, but mostly of pain. It was almost all gone for now, he could finally feel free again.

Ichigo suddenly took hold of Rukia's hips by grabbing it with his hands, and flipped her so that she was on top of him.

Rukia gasped but didn't let him go, instead she grabbed his orange hair, deepening the kiss even more as Ichigo passed his arm behind her back, holding her close to his chest and passed his hand on her creamy thigh, earning a beautiful moan of despair from Rukia.

Giving her one last soft kiss, Ichigo opened his eyes and saw that, thankfully, Rukia's face was pink too.

Their forehead resting against each other and Rukia lying down on top of Ichigo, they tried to calm their wild breathings, but this time, together.

"Rukia," said Ichigo calmly after a few minutes. The girl looked at him to see his intense gaze, deeply settled into her. "If you can't leave Soul Society, I'll go there to see you. I don't care who I have to take down for this, but whatever gets in my way, I'll take care of it. Trust me, they won't win anymore."

Rukia widened her eyes at him. "Ichigo, you can't-"

The young man silenced her with his words, "Just trust me, Rukia..."

Rukia saw it in his eyes. She didn't know exactly what it was but she understood it. Every single thing of it.

He told her, before. She felt all of his pain, all his emotions... They went through it together, without really knowing it.

They were truly one. No matter what problems they will face, it will be together.

They slept like that. Rukia on Ichigo, listening to his heart beat, and him, holding her hand and stroking her hair softly. The rain outside seemed to have stopped, or at least, it was forgotten.

No matter what will happen, they will always breathe, as one.