A/N: Hello all! This is my first Bleach fanfic…I hope it isn't complete crap!
Spoilers for Chapters 423 and up. And for the sake of this story, let's just say that Ichigo gets his powers back through his fullbring and there aren't any evil dude's butts that he has to kick.
This story is a one-shot. Please Enjoy!
The Longings of My Heart
Even Rukia's presence is slowly fading, Ichigo thought to himself.
I really have…lost my powers.
"This is goodbye…Ichigo," said Rukia.
"So it seems," Ichigo replied.
"What? Don't look so sad," said Rukia. "Even if you can't see me, I can still see you."
"What? That doesn't make me happy at all!" said Ichigo indignantly. "Anyway, I wasn't looking sad."
Rukia stepped in front of Ichigo and he said, "Give everyone my regards."
Rukia looked down at the ground. "I will."
As Rukia faded from sight, Ichigo said, "Bye, Rukia." Then Rukia was gone. "Thank you."
(Bleach Chapter 423)
Rukia stepped into Karakura Town for the first time since she last saw Ichigo. The clean-up of the mess caused by Aizen had taken quite a while and despite requesting Captain Ukitake for leave to visit the mortal world numerous times, it was only now, one and a half years later, that she was finally returning to see Ichigo.
It didn't matter that he couldn't see her. Just the knowledge that he was doing well and being able to see his face once more was enough for her. His messy orange hair, his attitude, even how he walked—all of it, she missed all of it. The fact of the matter was that distance did indeed make one's heart grow fonder. She didn't know how it happened, but one day she woke up in the Seireitei and realized she was in love with Ichigo.
She sighed to herself as she headed toward Urahara's shop to get a gigai. Of course I realized it too late.
Ichigo had given up his powers to defeat Aizen, which meant that he could no longer see her—unless she was in a gigai, of course. But a gigai was only a quick fix. The only times she would be able to see Ichigo were when she would be on leave, which wasn't very often.
As she alighted in front of the shop, Kisuke Urahara was already standing outside waiting for her with a gigai at the ready. "Hey, Rukia. I felt your spiritual pressure and thought you might be on leave, so I prepared this for you. Looks like I was right."
"Thank you, Urahara," replied Rukia politely.
"Always willing to help out my best customer," said Urahara. As he turned to walk back into the shop, he said, "Just don't forget to bring it back when you're done with it."
"Of course," said Rukia as she slipped into the gigai, which was wearing Yuzu's dress, her favorite item of clothing in the living world.
Flexing her limbs and muscles to test them out and become reacquainted with using the gigai, Rukia started heading toward Ichigo's school, where it was currently approaching lunchtime.
She arrived partway into lunch and slipped in unnoticed, going to the roof, which was where Ichigo and his friends always ate. When she got to the roof exit, though, she stopped in her tracks as she heard Ichigo's voice.
"My career path, you mean?" he asked somebody.
By the sound of the responding voice, it seemed that he had been speaking to Keigo. "Exactly! What else is there?"
"There's still time," said Ichigo, obviously unconcerned.
"There's gonna be career guidance at the end of the semester. You'd better start thinking about it soon," Keigo said. "Your grades were so good when you started here, but the really dropped off in the second half of tenth grade."
"Shut up," said Ichigo. Rukia was just relishing the sound of his voice before she would actually go out and speak to him. "I was really busy then. I had no choice. Besides, they're still above average."
The pair were silent for a minute and just when Rukia was about to step out and greet Ichigo, Keigo said, "I wonder what Rukia's doing now."
Rukia waited eagerly and apprehensively for Ichigo's response. This was her chance to find out if he had missed her as much as she had missed him. "Why're you bringing her up now?"
Rukia felt her heart drop a bit, and Keigo said, "I mean, she could at least show her face once in a while, right? I haven't seen her once since then. Kinda cold, don't you think?"
"It's not cold," replied Ichigo and Rukia felt her spirits lift a little. "She was never supposed to be in charge of Karakura anyway, so there's no reason for her to come back."
"Except for you, you idiot," Rukia said to herself under her breath.
The two boys were silent once again and once Rukia was about to give up and show herself again, Keigo asked the million-dollar question. "Don't you miss her?"
Rukia held her breath and Ichigo bluntly said, "Of course not."
Rukia felt her heart twist painfully in her chest. She could hear the truth and resolve in his voice. He really didn't miss her. "After 16 years, I've finally got a normal life. If it stays peaceful until the day I die, that'll be fine with me."
Clenching her hands into fists at her sides, Rukia made her way away from the roof and away from Ichigo. As she left the school and walked aimlessly around Karakura, she began muttering under her breath to herself. "Finally has a normal life, does he? Well who is he to say that? He could've let me take care of that first hollow and we would've never gotten into this mess. I thought he wanted to be able to protect his friends and family! He had that ability thanks to me! Stupid Ichigo."
It was the first time since Kaien that she truly felt strongly for someone. But Kaien was more of a sibling love. Ichigo was the first man Rukia had truly fallen in love with. And it was her second time experiencing how much love truly sucked. It seemed that every time she loved someone it only resulted in unimaginable pain.
Rukia sighed and looked around before deciding on a course of action. She would go back to the Soul Society and never show her face around here again. If she never saw Ichigo again she would be the happiest Shinigami in the Seireitei.
So Rukia, heavy-hearted, dropped the gigai off next to Urahara's shop's door and went back to the Soul Society.
***LMH***
(3 Months Later)
Ichigo Kurosaki looked at his hand, flexing it around his Zanpakutou's hilt. It felt good to be holding and connected with Zangetsu again…really good. He didn't realize how much he had missed it. He was sitting in Urahara's shop eating some Ramen along with Chad and Orihime.
"So what are you going to do now, Ichigo?" Chad asked him.
"I don't really know," Ichigo replied. "I still have my substitute Shinigami badge, I might just help the afro dude out with the hollows."
Orihime looked at him seriously. "Aren't you going to go to the Soul Society to see everybody?"
"Nah," said Ichigo. "Most of those Shinigami are annoying and have big heads."
"But what about Rukia?" Orihime asked. "I know she would want to see you."
"She didn't visit even once," Ichigo said. "She obviously doesn't want to see me."
The door slid open and Urahara's head popped in. "Oh, Rukia did visit, Ichigo. About three months ago, I gave her a gigai and everything. She said she was going to see you."
"That's weird," said Ichigo. "Because she didn't come and see me."
"That is weird, except for the fact that I was hanging around your school to see what would happen between you two," said Urahara nonchalantly.
"What?" exclaimed Ichigo, jumping on his feet and pointing an accusative finger at Urahara. "You were spying on us?"
"I was bored and I wanted some entertainment," said Urahara simply. "My point is that Rukia was about two feet away from you when your friend asked you if you missed her."
Ichigo felt his stomach clench, for he knew what was coming next. "And you said that you didn't," Urahara recalled correctly.
"Ichigo!" said Orihime. "You said that when Rukia was right there?"
Ichigo could feel his heart racing and fought to keep his face calm. He actually had missed her, but he had his reputation of not caring to keep up! "I didn't really mean it, and how was I supposed to know Rukia was right there?"
Urahara disappeared into the bowels of his shop and Orihime stood up in front of Ichigo and crossed her arms. "Ichigo, you better go to the Soul Society right now and apologize to Rukia!"
Ichigo crossed his arms and looked anywhere but at Orihime or Chad. Finally, he sighed and said, "I guess you're right. I'll ask Urahara to get the Senkaimon ready."
"It's already ready!" came Urahara's call from under his shop.
The trio raced down to the underground training facility to find the Senkaimon completely ready, and Ichigo just nodded at the other three before racing in and through it. Even though he didn't have to run because the Janitor wasn't in there anymore, he wanted to hurry to fix his mistake.
Ichigo appeared right outside the East Gate of the Seireitei and asked the guard, who was almost as big as Jidanbo, to let him in. The guard, recognizing the famed Ryoka and Substitute Shinigami, opened the gate. On the other side, oddly enough, was Hanatarou, Ichigo's friend and ally from the fourth division.
"Hey. Hanatarou," said Ichigo.
"Ichigo?" asked Hanatarou, who was thoroughly perplexed. "But Rukia said you had lost your Shinigami powers!"
"I did," said Ichigo. "I just got them back. Do you know where Rukia is?"
Hanatarou, sensing that Ichigo really wanted to go talk to Rukia, just said, "She's probably either in Kuchiki Manor or the 13th Squad Headquarters."
And with a swish Ichigo was gone, leaving Hanatarou to scratch his head.
Kuchiki Manor was the closer of the two possible locations, so Ichigo headed there first, avoiding any contact with Shinigami to avoid conversation. It was midday when he arrived and against all social rules, Ichigo just opened the door and shouted Rukia's name. After a few more calls with no response, Ichigo made a sound of frustration and headed for the Squad 13 Headquarters.
He arrived a while later, slightly winded. He leaned on his Zanpakutou for support, but immediately regretted it when he felt a sword point being pressed against his right side. "What are you doing here, Substitute Shinigami?"
Ichigo spun to face the person who had their Zanpakutou pressed against his ribs and said, "What are you talking about, Rukia?"
Rukia narrowed her eyes and raised her Zanpakutou so it was inches away from Ichigo's face. "The Squad 13 headquarters is confined to Squad 13 members only. If you wish to speak to Captain Ukitake, I am sorry, but he's currently resting."
"What are you talking about?" Ichigo asked, voice rising. "It's me, Rukia. Ichigo? Your friend?"
Rukia started stalking toward Ichigo and he warily backed away from her, Zangetsu clutched tightly in his hand. Ichigo didn't understand women all too well, but it was obvious that Rukia was mad. He just didn't know exactly how mad she was and therefore was prepared for all possible consequences. "I know who you are. Ichigo Kurosaki. Ryoka and Substitute Shinigami, inhabitant of Karakura Town. Other than that, I know nothing."
Rukia looked down and sheathed her Zanpakutou, then turned around and began walking back towards the Squad 13 Headquarters. Ichigo sighed and just when Rukia was about to open the door, said, "Rukia…I'm sorry."
Rukia slowly turned around. "Sorry for what?" she asked in a cold voice.
"I didn't mean what I said," said Ichigo. "The truth is…" Ichigo then looked down at his feet and mumbled, "I missed you."
"I didn't hear you, coward!" shouted Rukia. "Speak up!"
Ichigo shouted back, "I missed you, okay? I missed your scowl, I missed your laugh, I missed your hair, I missed your eyes, I missed arguing with you, I missed your company…I missed everything about you!"
Rukia still had one hand on her Zanpakutou, which scared Ichigo a bit since he knew he would never be able to fight her. After a tense moment, Rukia's hand went limp and fell off of her sword, and she said, "I accept your apology. How did you know that that was why I was mad?"
"Urahara was spying on us the day you came in the gigai," said Ichigo, obviously still a bit disturbed.
As Rukia started talking like their argument had never happened, Ichigo felt some emotions he had never felt before stirring inside of him. He hated it when Rukia was angry—truly angry—at him, and he hated having not seen Rukia for over a year and a half. What he had said earlier was true—he did miss everything about her. It kind of scared Ichigo because he had never felt that way about anyone before. What was happening?
And then it hit him like a ton of bricks. He knew what it was, but he really hadn't expected it to happen to him for some reason. Ichigo was now having an out-of-body experience and staring at his hands while Rukia went on about what he had missed over the past 20 months. "Ichigo? Ichigo! Are you even listening to me? What's the matter with you?"
Ichigo, who was still dazed, stupidly replied, "I'm in love with you."
Rukia's jaw dropped before she quickly recovered herself. "What?"
Ichigo, who was always the epitome of calm, had to fight to keep his emotions hidden for the second time that day. "Nothing," he said calmly.
"Ichigo Kurosaki, you better tell me what you just said," said Rukia threateningly. "Because there is no way I heard you correctly."
Ichigo snorted, succeeding in keeping his panicking on the inside. "And what do you think you heard?" He asked her, calm once again despite the raging emotions inside of him.
"I thought you said that you were in love with me," said Rukia confidently despite the fact that she also was a being berated by a whirlwind of emotions.
There was no denying it. Ichigo had no choice but to test the waters. He looked up into her eyes and calmly asked, "And what if I did?"
Rukia marched right up to Ichigo, who defensively put a hand on the hilt of Zangetsu again in fear for his wellbeing, and did the craziest thing. She grabbed his face between her hands, pulled it down to hers and kissed him. After Ichigo got over his initial shock he began kissing her back, and they only stopped when a scared voice sounded from Ichigo's left, saying, "I'll just…go…now."
They both looked up to see Kiyone looking frightened and backpedaling away. After she had disappeared from sight, the pair looked at each other. This time it was Rukia who looked down at the ground and grumbled. "I love you too, you idiot."
Ichigo smirked. "I didn't hear you, coward," he said with amusement in his voice. "Speak up."
Rukia looked up into his eyes. "I love you too, you idiot," she said affectionately. Then she scowled, "No need to gloat about it."
"Pssh," said Ichigo. Then he relaxed a little. "What do you say about seeing everybody? I need to catch up a bit."
"If you had been listening to me earlier, you would've heard it all," Rukia said angrily.
They began walking out of the Squad 13 area and towards the center of the Seireitei. "Yeah, well," said Ichigo indignantly, "I had more important things on my mind."
Rukia glanced at Ichigo and burst out laughing. "What's so funny?" Ichigo asked her.
"I just missed you," said Rukia simply before grabbing Ichigo's hand and walking through the streets with him.
A/N: Well, there it is, my first Bleach fanfic.
Hope you liked it and Please Review!