Disclaimer: I do not unfortunately own bleach, or anyone from bleach… depressing? I know! They all belong to Tite Kubo.
There were often times when Ichigo thought to himself what if? What if he never met Rukia or Urahara? Would he have been caught up in the Gotei thirteen, would Chad and Orihime have gained supernatural powers or would he have become acquaintances with Uryu? Heck he didn't even know Uryu existed before Rukia showed up. Ichigo normally found himself asking these questions when he was lying in bed late at night unable to sleep. There was no denying he'd one day find himself in the midst of Shinigami affairs for his father had once been a part of the Soul Society and there was no running from the fact.
Ichigo's mother before she passed away told him there was no point living in the past and to just look forward to the future and never ask yourself what if, but it was hard. Who wouldn't ask themselves what if, after going through everything Ichigo has. If he hadn't met Rukia was there a chance something could have happened between him and Orihime? He doubted it, Orihime Inoue was a nice girl but nothing could have ever happened between them, it wasn't possible for their personalities to co-exist with each other, other than friendship.
There was something about Rukia that made her so perfect for him. She was everything he was and more, they were both stubborn and willing to fight to protect the ones they loved and better yet each other. It was fate they had met; both were surrounded by people they cared for yet both so alone. Ichigo and Rukia... they completed each other.
It had been a year and a bit since the winter war against Aizen and when Ichigo found out about his father being a Shinigami; which also meant it had been just as long since Ichigo had heard or seen from anyone in the Soul Society including Rukia. The defeat of Aizen made the number of hollows in Karakura town die down excessively meaning the Soul Society didn't need someone patrolling the area and left the rest to the Substitute Soul Reaper. Although the Soul Society and Hueco Mundo didn't agree on many things, they have learned to accept each other and with the leader of Los Noches now being an actual Arrancar, Grimmjow to be exact and Jushiro Ukitake for the Gotei Thirteen seeing as unfortunately the Captain Commander hadn't made it out of the war alive.
Both Grimmjow and Ukitake were able to come to an understanding between the two worlds since they no longer had any reason to fight. They agreed Arrancars and Shinigami would no longer fight against each other but rather with each other if needed, with the exception of hollows who invade the World of the Living. Grimmjow ended up being one the of the few original Arrancars to survived along with Szayel Aporro Granz (who somehow regenerated after his battle with Mayuri Kurotsuchi), Starrk Coyote, and Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck. As it turned out Grimmjow ended up being the most powerful of the Espada but unable to find his true power until his last fight with the carrot top Shinigami. Ichigo, like with Renji, found himself becoming good friends with the new leader of Hueco Mundo over the past year, he also saw a lot more of Grimmjow than the others from the Soul Society for he had more business in the World of the Living, trying his best to keep hollows away from humans. With the frequent visits from the former Sexta Espada, it kept the substitute soul reaper's questioning thoughts to a minimum, but didn't stop them completely. If only the strawberry and the midget could be reunited once again.
-:-
"Damn it Rukia! What's your problem you've been acting like this for months now!" shouted the red pineapple haired man, getting frustrated with his oldest friend's behavior.
"I don't have a problem, Renji! And you're one to talk," Rukia shot back at the former Lieutenant of the Sixth division. "You've been acting all high and mighty ever since you got promoted to Captain of Squad five."
"Don't you turn this back on me! You're the one who's been acting as though the world ended!"
"Well it might as well have!"
"What's that suppose to even mean?" The two friends continued on shouting at one another while others around them shook there heads.
"Those two are like brother and sister, I swear," Ikkaku whispered to Yumichika who was sitting several tables away from the two fighting.
"It's rather sad though, seeing Rukia so upset everyday, unable to see the love of her life," sighed the flamboyant fifth seat.
"What are you getting at Yumichika?"
"Couldn't you tell? Rukia is madly in love with Ichigo! That's the reason why she's been so depressed lately, no one has seen or heard from Ichigo since after Aizen was defeated in the war," explained Yumichika as he watched the noble and the street rat continue to argue.
"The only reason they let an idiot like you become captain in the first place is because you're one of the only ones who has a Bankai!"
"Are you sure? Rukia and Ichigo seemed to fight quite a lot like her and Renji. Does that mean she likes Renji as well?" asked Ikkaku raising his eyebrow towards Yumichika.
"You're an idiot Ikkaku, Rukia and Ichigo fought with passion, Rukia and Renji fight as if they are going to kill each other," stated the 'beautiful' man as if it were obvious.
"I'm going to kill you Renji!"
Yumichika smirked at Rukia's comment and did a little hair flip as he looked at his best friend. "See what I mean?"
-:-
"Ugh that Renji… he's so… so… UGH" screamed out Rukia in frustration, stopping in her tracks as she made her way back to the Kuchiki residents. "I've tried my hardest to put past my time in the world of the living, but then he just has to go bring it up!" The young noble continued walk back home, wondering, 'What if…'.
-:-
"We could always fight, you know? Like old times," suggested a certain blue haired Arrancar as he laid on Ichigo's bed, arms behind his head as said person did his homework on the desk next to him.
"You mean the times when you were trying to kill me, and prove your strength while Aizen was trying to destroy Karakura town? I'd rather not thanks," replied the orange haired boy as he continued to write in his notebook.
"But it's so boring here," complained Grimmjow.
"I am doing homework. Why are you even here?" snapped Ichigo glaring at the feline hollow for distracting him from his work.
"Because I'm bored, and there's nothing to do in Hueco Mundo, and neither is there here, seeing as you've been depressed lately."
"I have not been depressed."
"It's about that Shinigami right? The short one with the black hair," continued Grimmjow ignoring the boy's last comment.
"Rukia…"
"Rukia… she's the one I drive my hand through the first time I fought you wasn't she?"
"Drop it, Grimmjow!" threatened Ichigo through gritted teeth, getting angry from the reminder of the first time he'd met the Espada. But Grimmjow didn't stop there, paying no mind to the Substitute Shinigami's threats he continued to push the matter further.
"It's been like what? More then a year since you last saw her? Or anyone from the Soul Society for that matter." The man paused to think about sometime before he began to speak again. "She was rather pleasing on the eyes if I remember correctly."
In a flash Grimmjow as off the bed and held against the wall by his throat, Ichigo standing in front of him seething. "I. Said. Drop. It!"
"Al-all right, all.. Right," The Arrancar growled in vain as he tried to pry the teen's hand away from his throat. Ichigo gave one last shove to the wall hitting Grimmjow's head against it before he dropped him to the floor and sat back down in front of his homework.
Groaning in pain the former Sexta slowly stood up off the floor and looked at his neck in the mirror hanging on the wall inches away from where Ichigo had pinned him. "Damn, Nel's going to be upset when I get back."
"Nel?" Ichigo voiced, turning around to look at the blue haired man, shocked to hear the name come out of his mouth.
"Uh… Yea," replied the man looking every where in the room trying to avoid eye contact with the teenager.
"What about her?"
"Well… you know, she's part of the Espada again… and kind of…" Grimmjow trailed off his sentence as he started to blush, not knowing how to word his thoughts.
"And…" pressed the orange haired boy.
"You know what? You didn't want to talk about Rukia, I don't want to talk about Nelliel," snapped Grimmjow, getting touchy on the subject.
"You never told me, you and Nel were a couple," chuckled Ichigo, all thought of being angry from before, now gone.
"You could say that," mumbled Grimmjow rubbing the back of his neck, face going more red then anyone thought possible. "But that's the beside the point! When are you going to man up and actually admit you have feelings for the girl?"
Ichigo glared at the blue haired Arrancar and sighed. "The next time I see her, I'll tell her."
"Alright, I'll hold you to that," said Grimmjow, a smirk slowly forming on his face, and something about that look told Ichigo he'd made a big mistake.
-:-
"I thought Grimmjow was keeping the hollows in check?" asked Rukia as she read over her assignment for a fifth time.
"He is, but there's something about Ichigo going away and Grimmjow can't guarantee nothing will happen," replied Jushiro Ukitake, with a kind but knowing smile.
"Oh… so Ichigo won't be there?" stated the woman with disappointment in her normally strong and opinionated voice.
"Is there something wrong Rukia?" the new Head Captain asked his subordinate with concern. "Would you like me to pass this assignment on? I just thought that since you've been there so many times before that…"
"No, no!" shouted Rukia waving her arms frantically. "I'm fine really, I was just kind of… hoping…"
"You'd see Kurosaki again?" Rukia nodded her head in shame and Jushiro smiled and winked. "You never know you might catch him before he leaves, or when he returns."
The woman blushed furiously and thanked the Captain for his kindness, before running out of the office as fast as she could. She needed to get to the Material World as fast as possible, in hopes to catch a certain orange haired man before he left.
AN: Tada! My awesomeness of not actually finishing the story that was originally suppose to be a one shot! =D. Although this will most likely not become a full story, I could potentially in the future add another chapter explaining more. =)!
I hope people enjoy this… it's nothing special!
xD Please be kind and review!