Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach mmk?

Just to let everyone know, this is more of an introduction and explanations of things (as most first chapters are) so please read and enjoy it!!

The Secrets We Hide

Ch.1 Goodnight

"Kurosaki-san? Hello? Kurosaki-san?" Hanatarou shouted through the doorway. He really hated coming all the way to Rukia's bedroom but he had no choice.

Some grumbling and shuffling around was heard for a few minutes and finally Rukia answered the door. "What is it Hanatarou?" She asked groggily. Hanatarou tried not to blush. The only thing covering her body was a thin robe that she failed to tie on properly. The front was opened and traveled well, pretty far down.

"Yes Hanatarou?" Rukia asked annoyed. "Oh right! Sorry! I have a message from Ukitake-taichou." She nodded for him to proceed.

"He said he wanted to see you today around noon, he had a few matters to discuss with you about a mission." Hanatarou said nervously. Rukia's clothing was really distracting him. "Why didn't he send someone from my squad?" She asked.

"Well I just happened to be in the area so he asked me." He said scratching the back of his neck and chuckling. She smiled and rolled her eyes. "He's just too lazy to find one of his own men to pass on the message." She muttered smirking.

"Thanks Hanatarou. I'll see you around I guess." She said. He smiled at her and couldn't stop himself from glancing down one more time. After gulping nervously, he grinned and walked away.

As she closed the door Rukia finally realized why Hanatarou was so nervous around her and quickly pulled her kimono closer to her body blushing slightly. "What was that all about?" A voice from behind asked sleepily.

"Just a message from Hanatarou saying that my captain wants to chat with me later." She responded, sitting down next to her husband. "That's sort of weird that Hanatarou sent it." Ichigo responded.

"He said he was in the area and the captain told him what to do." She said smiling. "Ok, well let's go back to sleep." Ichigo said, pulling an arm around Rukia. She pushed it away.

"It's 10:30 in the morning Ichigo. So come on and get up." She said pushing on Ichigo's bare shoulder. He sighed and turned flat on his back.

"You really are annoying." He muttered. That comment earned him a slightly harder shove to his shoulder. Rukia stood up and started to change into her clothes. She noticed that Ichigo was being rather quiet.

Curiously, she turned to look at him. He was still lying on his back with his arms pulled behind his head. He had the biggest smirk on his face. "What's so interesting?" She asked.

He shrugged his shoulders. "Not much, just enjoying you changing your clothes in front of me." She rolled her eyes and pulled the rest of her clothes on. "Why did I have to marry such a pervert?" She asked.

He chuckled. "My father is a pervert, not me." He said sarcastically. "Like father like son!" Rukia exclaimed. She picked up her kimono that was lying on the ground and threw it into the hamper.

"Now really Ichigo, get up." She demanded. He laid there for another minute or so and finally stood up, the only thing he was wearing were boxers. "Well aren't you going to enjoy me changing?" He asked. Without glancing at him she shrugged her shoulders.

"There's not much to enjoy." She waited for him to walk over to her and say something else, but he never came. Rukia finally looked up at him and saw his clothes already on.

"What no interception?" She asked. He shrugged his shoulders mockingly. "I offered you enjoyment but you rejected it, sorry." She placed her hands on her hips.

"Why should I enjoy it when I can get it anytime?" She asked seductively. Ichigo was shocked by her words but he stayed calm. "Not anytime Rukia." He threatened back daringly.

She walked up to him slowly and placed her hands on his shoulders. "Oh really?" She whispered into his ear. He blushed slightly, yes, after seven years of being married to the little midget, he was blushing.

He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him. "Then try it." He whispered back. She giggled quietly and started to move her face to his. Just as she moved to close the small gap between their lips, there was another knock at the door.

"Kurosaki-taichou!" A boy yelled while banging on the door. Ichigo immediately removed himself from Rukia and opened the door.

"What is it Haru?" Ichigo asked his vice captain. "Uh, right, well," the boy tried to think. "Oh yes now I remember! There's a captain's meeting at 3 today, so don't be late, and there's also a bunch of paperwork that needs to get done!" The boy shouted.

Ichigo rubbed the back of his head. "Alright, thanks for remindin me." Ichigo muttered as Haru turned around and left. Haru was a great vice captain, but he could be really obnoxious sometimes.

Rukia was chuckling behind him. "Looks like you have a great little vice captain." She said. Ichigo sighed. "I really do forget about that stuff easily, so it's a good thing I have him to keep me in track, but honestly, he's more of a nagger than you, my own wife."

"Well I better get going. I have some paper work to do myself." Rukia said, glancing at the time. "We can't all be captains you know."

"We can't all be vice captains either." Ichigo said grinning. Rukia kissed him on the lips and opened the door. "I guess I'll see you tonight then." She said, opening the door.

Rukia started to walk out but Ichigo grabbed her arm. "Ichigo?" She asked as she was spun around. Her lips immediately met his again, but this time he deepened the kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back, letting the moment last a bit longer than necessary.

When he pulled away slightly he smiled. "Yah, I'll see you later." He said. Rukia kissed him one last time and finally strolled down the hallway.

She couldn't stop the smile that curved on her lips. Rukia felt truly happy. "Ichigo" She whispered, chuckling to herself.

Rukia decided to walk to her division instead of using shunpo, which she wasn't too great at anyways. The sun was out and there wasn't a cloud in the sky, so she decided to enjoy the moment.

Her life had changed so drastically since the first moment she met Kurosaki Ichigo. She saved him, and then he saved her, again and again. Everybody knew the story. But what a lot of people in Soul Society didn't know about was how the two truly fell in love.

After everything happened with Aizen, things quickly settled down in Soul Society. Rukia was asked pretty soon afterwards to become the vice captain to the 13th squad, which she was surprised by. She gladly took the position and felt quite proud of herself.

But because she had become vice captain, she was always busy. Rukia could rarely go and visit Ichigo, which was pretty hard on the two. The longer Rukia was away, the more Ichigo missed her and thought about her.

As Ichigo grew older and older, the distance that Rukia and Ichigo spent away from each other continued to increase. At one point, Rukia didn't see Ichigo for a year.

When Ichigo turned 25, another terrorizing enemy struck Soul Society and the human world, causing Ichigo to have to once again fight. He hadn't fought much in the past years before that, so he was worried about the oncoming battle.

But of course, he shocked everyone by somehow being even stronger than when he had fought Aizen. After Ichigo defeated the enemy and his fifty hench-men on his own, Soul Society finally decided to do something about Ichigo's immense powers.

Ichigo was offered a position as the 3rd division's captain just a year later. After training a bit more and taking several tests, Ichigo moved into Soul Society permanently and was given the honor of captain.

Due to the many absences away from Rukia, he felt he couldn't stay away from her any longer. They both got to see one another much more than before. One thing led to another, and after five years of sneaking around, Ichigo finally proposed to the girl.

Lucky for him, Byakuya agreed to the wedding. Byakuya said that the only reason he allowed the marriage was because Ichigo was now a captain and good enough for his baby sister to marry.

So now, seven years later, Ichigo and Rukia worked in Soul Society where they lived happily together. Of course it wasn't always happy and fun. They both had missions to go on and enemies to fight. Rukia sometimes stayed up late worrying about her husband who could sometimes get too big in the head and Ichigo was well, Ichigo.

No matter what Rukia would do, he would always be overprotective of her. Rukia was much stronger now, not being capable of reaching bankai anytime soon, but she had achieved several more abilities with her zanpaktou and had completely mastered her older techniques.

But Ichigo still had to once in a while travel with her to exterminate hollows where he would always be the one to fend them off instead of Rukia. Sometimes they didn't see each other for months at a time. Ichigo had a division to run and Rukia was well aware of that.

It sometimes made things better when they were apart from one another. Just like any married couple (especially with Ichigo and Rukia) they could sometimes get pretty into their fighting. Rukia would leave on a mission furious at her husband, but by the time the mission was done, she missed him and was of course no longer angry at him.

Every time they were apart from one another, their love only grew somehow. Ichigo could sometimes get distracted at his division by thinking about her and Rukia would end up getting yelled at by her captain because she wouldn't finish the needed paper work due to her wondering thoughts.

Ichigo and Rukia were quite good at the marriage thing now-a-days. Seven years probably doesn't seem like that long of a time for the two, but in reality, it felt like a century. Ichigo now devoted his life to Soul Society, and he would be there for the rest of eternity.

Sometimes he felt a little bit afraid knowing that Rukia was going to be his wife forever, but he knew he shouldn't think like that. "We have to live not knowing what to expect Ichigo." Rukia had said to him once a few years ago.

"We don't know what lies down the road, but if we are prepared, we can get through anything." Those words made Ichigo smile. He thought they were sort of korny at first, but she was right.

Ichigo had changed so much. He still had a scowl on his face, but when the time was right, it would disappear. Ichigo was much more sensitive and mature than he used to be, especially with Rukia. They still argued like they used to when they first met, but they understood one another 100 percent. Rukia wouldn't have to say a word and Ichigo would immediately know that something was bothering her.

Ichigo had always been a leader in a way, but he now controlled a segment of Soul Society, so somewhere in the years, he fully understood how to take charge. Ichigo still talked sarcastically to his comrades and officers, but he was no longer depressed like he had been when he was a teen, he was truly happy.

"Great, I guess I better go to the meeting." Ichigo mumbled. Flying out the window, Ichigo hastily made his way towards the meeting.

"Kurosaki-san?" One of the younger shinigami asked. "How will we know if the hollow is around?"

Rukia smiled at her young comrades. "You have to be able to sense it. Hollows have a sort of different reiatsu than shinigami so you just have to know what it is." The young shinigami still looked confused.

"Well how will we know though?" Rukia looked out at the sky. "I'll be taking you to the real world soon so that we can begin your training with hollows."

"Rukia, come here for a second." Her captain called with a grin set on his face. "Yes sir!" She shouted.

"The meeting already finished?" Rukia asked confused. "Yah, that's what I wanted to talk to you about." Ukitake's face became serious.

"It seems there's another enemy hiding around in the human world. Your husband, Hitsugaya, and I were asked to go and investigate with a few other people." Rukia's eyes averted downwards.

Ichigo had only been home for a week and he already had to leave on another mission. "When do you leave?" She asked sadly. "Tomorrow morning." He responded.

She sighed. "Do you have any idea of how long this one will be?" She asked. "I don't know at this point. It could be a few days or it could be a few weeks. When we find out more about it I'll be sure to tell you."

Ukitake turned to look at the shinigami training. "They're getting better Rukia; you're doing a great job training them." She let a small smile escape her lips. "They've all been working hard. I told them we'll be going to fight some hollows soon."

Ukitake chuckled. "They just don't get to see enough of hollow action when they are in school. You should probably wait until this problems clears before taking them for safety reasons." She nodded in agreement. "That's what I was thinking."

"Alright, well train with them for a few more hours, finish your paperwork, and go home." Ukitake said. He had a warm smile on his face. Out of all the captains (minus Ichigo) she really looked up to him. He was very considerate and caring.

She nodded her head and walked back over to the shinigami. "Watch your footage!" She yelled at one of the smaller girls. After finishing everything, she quickly returned home.

Rukia figured Ichigo would still be with his division, but she hoped that he had gotten home early due to his oncoming mission.

She walked into their mansion and headed up the stairs. She turned down the hallway and opened her bedroom door. The room was completely empty. Rukia tried to see if Ichigo's reiatsu was anywhere nearby, but she couldn't pick it up.

The sorrow Rukia felt inside was starting to release itself. She hated getting upset about Ichigo leaving, but she couldn't help it, he was going to be gone for who knows how long. Rukia hated acting like a worried wife.

She changed into her yukata, feeling tired suddenly and collapsed onto her futon. Before Rukia fell asleep, a few tears flowed down her soft cheeks.

She was sort of surprised by the strange wetness, for Rukia rarely cried. "Don't let it bother you Rukia. If I think about it too much then I'll be depressed the whole time." She whispered.

"Rukia, are you talking to yourself?" Ichigo asked as he walked in the room. She quickly sat up and wiped the tears away from her eyes. If Ichigo saw her crying, he would be worrying about her the entire night.

Unfortunately, the first thing he saw was Rukia's slightly red eyes and her attempt to wipe away her evidence. Letting the concern sink into his face, he crept down next to her.

"Hey, why are you cryin?" He asked softly. She shook her head and didn't look up at him. "I'm not crying." She whispered. Ichigo caressed a hand across her cheek. "Then how come your cheeks are wet?"

"You better get to sleep pretty soon Ichigo. You have to leave in the morning." She said, keeping her head down. It all made sense now.

"So, I'm guessing Ukitake already told you about it?" He asked. She just nodded her head. "I don't think I'll be gone for too long, so don't worry so much about it."

She finally looked at him, another tear falling. "You've only been back for a week, and you already have to leave on another mission." Ichigo sighed. "Rukia, you know there's nothing I can do about that. I don't decide when I go on missions."

"I know. I don't know why I'm crying really." She chuckled, wiping a tear from her face. Ichigo knew why.

His last mission had lasted for three months and only after a week of being home he now had to go on another one. It was hard to be away from Rukia for so long and then barely get a chance to actually be with her, but he had no choice.

"It's ok Rukia." He whispered, wrapping his arm around her waist. He pulled her into his lap and leaned against the wall. "We've hardly been around each other. I promise when I get back, I'll make it up to you."

Rukia smiled warmly at her husband. It was rare that Ichigo was this sensitive towards her, and she absolutely loved it. She tightened her grip around his kimono and kissed his shoulder.

He leaned his head down towards Rukia, his hair falling into his face slightly. "Rukia" He whispered. She breathed in his scent and kissed his neck. He turned his head more so that Rukia was facing him.

He brought his head forward more and latched his lips onto Rukia's. She wrapped her arms around his neck and placed her legs onto his. He pressed his hands onto her back and pushed her closer to him.

This kiss quickly became intense and Rukia's hand ran through his hair. They somehow moved to the futon and Ichigo hovered over Rukia. He started to kiss her neck and she closed her eyes, enjoying his touch.

"Ichigo, Ichigo." She whispered with a hint of demand. He stopped abruptly and moved his head to her face. "What is it?" He asked breathlessly. She smiled at him.

"Let's just go to sleep." He was sort of surprised at first, but smiled back at her, kissing her one last time. "Yah, I'm pretty tired."

Instead of climbing off of Rukia, he moved his head to her chest and moved his body to the side. He placed his hands around her small waist and closed his eyes. She ran her fingers through his hair and they stayed there silently, enjoying the company of the other.

Because Ichigo left so often, Rukia told him not to say goodbye to her when he left, it just made it too hard. So she knew that he would be gone in the morning.

She was pretty used to it after seven years, but it could still be hard at times. Ichigo kissed her collar bone and lifted his head to face her.

"I guess this is goodnight then. I love you." He whispered. She grinned light.

"Goodnight, I love you too." He kissed her lightly on the lips and laid his head back down.

She kept her left arm around his head and wrapped her other arm around his back. They both fell asleep, knowing that in the morning, they wouldn't see each other for a while. They weren't sure how long it would be, but they knew that the time apart was going to be difficult

"Everything is working out exactly as I want to." A man wearing a cloak whispered to himself looking at an image of Ichigo and Rukia sleeping. "Rukia, you'll be mine very soon."

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Authors note: Oh man I absolutely loved writing this first chapter! I know it was a lot on Ichigo and Rukia's relationship and not on the plot, but I couldn't help myself and decided to write all about how they got together and stuff xD. So tell me what you guys thought about it! And if Ichigo and Rukia seemed sort of OOC or anything (like at the end) sorry. But I think it's hard for them to not be a bit OOC because it's 17 years in the future! I hope you guys liked it! Please REVIEW!!!