Stormy Night
Pairing: IchiRuki
Summary: Stormy nights make Ichigo sad, and Rukia can't get anything done with him moping around.
Disclaimer: Do I sound like a Tite Kubo to you?
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Kuchiki Rukia sat on top of a pile of blankets in Kurosaki Ichigo's closet, her cell phone in hand. She leaned back against her pillow and tried to think of what else she needed to put into her report to Soul Society. I've already told them about the recent Hollow attacks and everything I've found out regarding them...
Crraack.
Ichigo looked up from the textbook open on his desk and cast his gaze to the window. Rain hit it, making soft patters against the glass. Ka-chan... he thought, transfixed by the tiny drops. "Why?" he whispered. "Why did it have to be you?"
"Ichigo..." Rukia looked up from her report and regarded him softly for a moment. There are tears in his eyes, she thought, amazed and saddened at the same time. He'll be alright. I hope. With that cleared up, she picked up her phone and studied the screen for a moment before tapping away at the keypad again.
"Why did you have to save me?" Ichigo lamented quietly. "Why couldn't you have just let me drown?" He sniffled audibly and wiped at the tears that had gone past his eyelids and now slid down his cheeks. Sighing, Rukia abandoned her report and crawled out of the closet, walking over to her orange-haired friend and placing a hand on his shoulder.
"It's alright," she said soothingly. "If she would have let you die, I wouldn't have gotten to meet you. Yuzu and Karin would have been killed by that Hollow. Karakura Town wouldn't be as safe as it is." Ichigo turned around, the tears in his brown eyes catching the overhead light. He blinked a few times, trying to clear them away so he could look at her face properly. However, it was a losing battle.
"Rukia...do I really mean that much to you?"
She nodded and thought, More than you'll ever know, Ichigo...
Unexpectedly, the Substitute Shinigami rose from his desk chair and hugged her. "Sankyuu, na?" he said as always, wiping away the last of his tears.
"Anytime," Rukia replied, hugging him back.
A/N: Ugh. Looked so much longer on paper. But then again, things always do.
