Kyaaa! My first attempt at a Bleach Fanfic! It turned out a little more cheesy than I had wanted it to. --; I meant to fix it, but I can't think of a way to tweak it that doesn't destroy the whole mood. I hope you enjoy it anyway. I wanted to leave in the fanservice, fanservice is, after all, the whole point of this fic for me.P
So I guess this takes place after the Soul Society Arc, just wherever it makes sense. Try not to think of it in a timeframe, if you can. With that aside, I have another fic that starts off the same as this one but it has an "alternate" ending, meaning less fanservice so Ichigo and Rukia can stay in character. That should be up shortly, however it's in no order. So forgive the liberties I'm taking here and thanks for reading, reviews are more than welcome.)
Disclaimer: I wish I owned Bleach, well I do own bleach, but not this Bleach…er Bleach the manga and anime series do not belong to me, nor do the characters. However this little scenario is mine and I doubt highly we'll see anything like it in the actual series. So to sum up Bleach not mine.
Simply Rukia and Ichigo
Sometimes this boy was so infuriating. He was always so reckless, so foolish, such an…idiot. They had just had another argument; as far as their arguments are concerned this one had been pretty bad. Rukia had been about to make her point and finish the argument when the signal for a hollow had gone off. Normally she wasn't so worried about them, Ichigo was good enough to handle them, but normally Menos Grande did not appear.
Not only had a Menos appeared but also eight other hollows accompanied it and if Rukia knew Ichigo, he was bound to get hurt. No sooner had she re-laid her information then Ichigo was out the window and down the street, his body falling with a soft thud on the mattress. Rukia would have pulled out her hair in frustration, but being who she is, she is above such human emotions as frustration, and certainly above pulling her hair because of that foolish boy.
Already Rukia has lost sight of Ichigo; sometimes she wishes he would learn to control that temper of his. Did she say sometimes? No, she means all the time. Rukia runs into the clearing where she takes in the situation. The hollows surround Ichigo, only one of them is missing, and the fool-boy already has a wound running from his shoulder across his chest. Rukia bites back a curse as she calls out to him. Unfortunately, she forgot what an idiot Ichigo is, he turns to look at her and the hollows attack.
Now Rukia really does curse. She moves to run and help but in her hurry to catch up to him she had forgotten to leave her gigai. Rukia hastily takes out her Chappy soul-candy dispenser and pops the little pill in her mouth.
Her discarded gigai runs to a safe distance as Rukia jumps into battle ready to save Ichigo's ass, again. "Ichigo! The Menos!" The Menos Grande, it seems, took no notice in them. It was making its way toward the houses on the other side of the street. Ichigo understands and is breaking away from the circle of hollows to stop the Menos. Wonderful, Rukia thinks, five left for me to deal with.
Rukia draws her Zanpaku-to and in a haze of beautiful white ribbon she gets rid of three of them. Stupidly she looks to see how Ichigo is fairing and a hollow strikes nearly taking her head off. She receives a wound from her mid-thigh to her waist for that lapse in common sense. She quickly finishes off the last two hollows just as a huge light blinds her from Ichigo's direction.
As soon she her eyesight is good enough Rukia rushes over to Ichigo watching as the Menos retreats, its foul face the last thing to disappear. Rukia finds Ichigo standing with his back to her, his sword held loosely at his side, his head upturned toward the place where the Menos disappeared. Rukia's first impulse is to run over to him and smack his head a couple of times and demand he never do that again. Something in his stance though, makes her slow down, and then stop a few steps away from him.
"Ichigo?" Rukia inquires softly. Ichigo turns; his expression unreadable, but the almost ever present frown is gone. Rukia is a bit taken aback by the look on his face and fights the urge to take a step back. Instead she continues to look at him and watches as he turns fully and takes two steps toward her. "I could have taken care of them myself. You didn't have to get so worked up about it."
Rukia takes a moment to react. "What! You know very well that it is also my job as a shinigami to slay hollows! You are too arrogant for your own good! Those wounds there are proof that you are reckless! If someone level-headed isn't around you at all times you're bound to get yourself killed!" Rukia's hands are balled into little fists as she awaits Ichigo's reply. To her utter amazement however Ichigo just smirks at her. He looks up at the full bright moon and says so softly she almost misses it, "Maybe."
For a second Rukia thinks she imagined that answer and then Ichigo turns back to her and says, "It's late, we should get going." Rukia doesn't like the feel of this; she doesn't like the way this is going. Something dangerously close to desperation is suddenly fighting to the surface and it's all that Rukia can do not to cry out. As calm and collected as she is, Rukia can't stop her legs from moving, much less her hand from reaching out and clutching Ichigo's sleeve. He stops immediately and Rukia can feel the fast pounding of her heart. She wants to say so many different things, she wants him to say those things, she wants, she wants…
You fool, Rukia thinks. This boy is just that, a boy. He's emotionally unstable and you know that better than anyone. He can barely deal with his own feelings; he cannot deal with yours too. You are here as his mentor, his partner, your job is to keep him safe, you are shinigami first, Rukia second. Rukia lets go of Ichigo's sleeve and says in a falsely cheerful voice, "Oh nothing! I was going to tell you something but then I forgot!" Her laugh is too forced and she knows it. She stands there and hopes Ichigo will ignore this and simply continue on his way, he doesn't.
Ichigo turns back to her. He's wearing that same indescribable expression and this time he is much, much closer. Rukia can feel his breath on her face, warm and inviting. She is about to take a step back and Ichigo senses this, he grabs her wrist and holds her firmly. "Ichigo, let go of me."
"No," he says simply.
"Ichigo, let go of me now, please."
"No," he repeats. Rukia looks up at him, she looks into his eyes. Ichigo's eyes are so deep; they are so full of many different emotions, anger, fear, hate, determination and something…something Rukia doesn't want to name.
"Rukia…"
Ichigo's hair really is such a ridiculous colour. Even if the moon were not so bright she still wouldn't have any trouble finding that hair in the dark. Though somehow it suits Ichigo, not many could pull it off. She certainly couldn't, not that she even wanted to try.
"Rukia…"
Ichigo really did have a nice face. If he wasn't frowning so hard all the time more people could appreciate it. That constant scowl on his face really gave you a bad impression of him. That's really the first thing you see about Ichigo, other than his bright hair, it's his scowl that scares people off.
"Rukia…"
Rukia finally brings her mind back to the present; to the warmth of Ichigo's hand on her wrist, to the closeness of his body. Rukia opens her mouth to say something, anything, but Ichigo is faster. "Rukia…I…I love you!" He shouts roughly. Rukia looks up at him, he's not looking at her. His jaw is set and he looks like he has a foul taste in his mouth. Typical, she thinks. What does Ichigo know about love, she thinks bitterly.
Rukia is ready to shake off his hand and remind him that they are shinigami working together, nothing more, when he turns to look at her. His face is set and there is the smallest hint of a blush on his cheeks. "Ichigo…" Rukia begins; she curses herself for the trembling in her voice. It's enough to encourage Ichigo however. Ichigo's hand is under her chin carefully bringing her face up. Rukia can stop this, she can be out of his grasp and gone far away in a matter of seconds. She doesn't want to.
Ichigo's mouth is soft and warm. His taste is intoxicating; far better then she could have ever imagined. Ichigo is gentle and he kisses her as if he's afraid she'll break. It is achingly sweet and somewhere in Rukia's mind she registers shock at how gentle and loving Ichigo is being. Though somehow she always knew he would be like this, he would never hurt her.
Ichigo pulls away, that unnameable emotion, more pronounced than ever, in his eyes. Rukia is at a loss for what to do. It seems that Ichigo is as well. They look at each other in silence for a moment, each desperately conveying their feelings with the looks in their eyes. Neither wants to say another word, neither wants to move, and neither wants to break the spell.
Finally though, Rukia speaks, "Ichigo…You…" Ichigo cuts her off. He shifts his hand from under her chin so that his thumb is on her lips, silencing her. "I know," he says simply, "I know." Rukia looks up into his eyes, yes he knows. He knows that she loves him too, that she is unsure about this, that "this" may only be the kiss they shared now, it may advance no further. They are, after all, shinigami first and Rukia and Ichigo second. However Ichigo knows too that Rukia doesn't regret it and if for only those few seconds in time, they truly were simply Rukia and Ichigo.