My first Bleach fic, and about the best couple, Ichigo and Rukia.

Sorry for all IchiHime fans for the way Inoue is showing in the fic. Don't think badly about me.

I hope you enjoy and tell me what you think so I might write a sequal to this one. This same fic is also in and I have put it there on my own

so it's not copied.

I don't own Bleach nor it's characters, it belongs to Tite Kubo.

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After the storm

It was raining outside. Rukia sat on Ichigo's floor, looking at her skirt's hem, thinking what's been happening these days.

They have gone to Hueco Mundo to rescue Inoue Orihime. They had succeeded in that, but not without incident. Some of them came out of it quite injured, and at the moment Hanatarou, Sado and Ishida were being treated in Soul Society, in the care of Captain Unohana. The central 46 and Captain Commander Yamamoto had ordered that two captains must remain in Karakura town at all times, in case Aizen or espada attack. They have concurred rescuing Inoue, but defeating Aizen was a totally different story. Somehow, in the fight between Aizen and Sereitei, the captains managed to harm the Hōgyoku, so Aizen wouldn't be able to attack in an instant again, but it was good to be careful about it.

Rukia looked at Ichigo. He was sitting on his bed, looking out of the window. Rukia stood up and walked over to him. She sat to his bed and looked at him.

"Ichigo..." she said and put her hand on his shoulder.

"Mm..." Ichigo responded, not even looking at her.

"Are you okay? You look like you haven't slept at all. How long you have been watching the rain?" Rukia asked.

"I'm fine Rukia, thanks. I just don't know what else to do other than watch the rain" Ichigo murmured.

Rukia sighed. It has been raining every day since they had gotten back from Hueco Mundo. Rukia looked at Ichigo again and saw pain in his eyes. She knew why.

Ichigo was thinking about Sado, Ishida and Hanatarou. He blamed himself for causing those wounds to them. And then there was Inoue, she was at Soul Society at the moment, unharmed, but was protecte there. Espada couldn't come to Soul Society as freely as Karakura town, so it was clear that Inoue was safer in Soul Society than in the human world. She's vanished from everyone's memory, just like Rukia was when she had gone back to Soul Society. Inoue stayed in Ichigo's and everyone else's memory, although Rukia sometimes wished she wouldn't remember her, at least that moment when the battle was over and Sado, Ishida, Hanatarou and Inoue were sent to Soul Society.

Flashback

Rukia watched as Sado, Ishida and Hanatarou were carried away to Soul Society. She and Ichigo were saying their goodbyes. Inoue was the only one that wasn't even harmed. She stood there and watched as three boys were carried away. She then looked at Rukia and Ichigo.

"Thank you, Kuchiki-san, for coming to save me" she said smiling at Rukia.

"No problem. You did the same for me, didn't you? It wouldn't be nice if I didn't return the favor" Rukia said, also smiling.

"Don't talk about us as some kind of housework" Ichigo said.

"Shut up" Rukia retorted.

Inoue smiled at these two and turned then to Ichigo.

"Kurosaki-kun..."

"There's no need to thank me, even if I don't answer the same way as Rukia did" Ichigo said and Rukia hit him on the ribs.

"Ouch, you little..! Sorry Inoue, you were going to say something, right?" Ichigo said and turned to Inoue again.

Inoue looked at Ichigo for awhile and then, to Ichigo and Rukia's surprise, hugged said man tightly.

"I... I love you Kurosaki-kun" she whispered, but not so quietly that Rukia didn't hear her.

Inoue broke from Ichigo and before he could say anything, she was gone.

End of flashback

Rukia stood up from his bed and walked over to the closet. She was about to open the door, but changed her mind. She spoke to Ichigo, even though she was looking at the door of the closet.

"You shouldn't be upset and depressed. No one died, right? Everyone's okay and they are being taken care of. We did survive and rescue Inoue, there's nothing that could worry you so much that you should be looking out the window with such a sour expression. And if you're thinking about Sado and everyone else, you shouldn't. They are in the care of Captain Unohana, they won't die. So take a grip on yourself and start to think about your duties as a shinigami and also what you should do to the espada and Aizen when they come back" she said, kind of angrily.

She was about to open the door, when she heard a few footsteps behind her and turned around just in time to see Ichigo face to face with her.

"Everyone's okay and no one died, what bull shit!" Ichigo yelled and slammed his hand hard on the closet's door, near to Rukia's head.

"You're one to talk. You almost died there, didn't you?! And now you're telling me not to worry? Do you know how I felt when I couldn't sense your spiritual energy anymore or come to help you?!" Ichigo yelled at her.

"Yeah, you didn't come, you helped Inoue instead, didn't you?!" Rukia yelled back.

"We were going to save Inoue in the first place, so what should I have done? I wanted to come to you, I wanted to make sure you can breathe again, but..."

"But you chose Inoue. Like you're always going to choose her, over me" Rukia said, and felt tears in her eyes. She didn't want Ichigo to see them, so she turned around to go to sleep, but Ichigo stopped her.

He slammed his other hand on the door to and with his other hand he turned her around.

"Choose her over you? Don't be stupid" he said.

Rukia looked at him. Ichigo was looking at her with the same eyes he had looked at her with when Grimmjow had almost killed her. He smiled at her and pulled her closer.

"There's nothing that could make me choose anyone over you, you idiot" he said, pulling her even closer then ultimately kissing her.

Rukia was amazed by this, but didn't break away, just answered to his kiss. Ichigo pulled her into a even more passionate kiss, his hand went to her silk black hair.

Then, Ichigo broke away, looking at Rukia, whose eyes were still full of tears.

"What, was it that bad?" he asked.

"No, it's not that" Rukia said and waved her tears away.

"Good" Ichigo said while picking her off the ground and carring her to his bed, laying her down there, then finally laying next to her.

He did nothing but look at her, stroking her cheek. Then he kissed her again, giving little kisses to her cheeks, which made Rukia tingle and laugh a little.

He moved to her neck, kissing and licking it, which made Rukia tremble and moan.

Ichigo's hand caressing her soft skin.

'I never even realized how soft her skin was. This feels like feathers,' he thought to himself.

His hand went under her skirt and then to her stomach. He could feel her breast with his fingertips.

"Ichigo... Are you sure..?" Rukia asked.

"Never been this much" Ichigo answered her and started to open her skirt.

Rukia didn't know what to do. She wanted and didn't want. She felt Ichigo's gentle hands around her body and his warm breath on her skin. Her body was enjoying it, but her mind resisted.

'What are you doing? You're a shinigami! This can't happen. You... you couldn't be happy, he couldn't be happy... I can't break his heart...' she thought.

She snapped out of it, rose to sit up and pulled Ichigo's head up, which had been on her stomach.

"What is it?" he asked, looking at her.

"I... I can't... It would cause pain for both of us, nothing else. I can't live here forever and you can't live in Soul Society either. This... this would just break our hearts, and then there wouldn't be anything else but pain... and I don't want to hurt you Ichigo..." Rukia said, tears in her eyes when she touched his cheek.

Ichigo smiled.

"I don't care about that" he said.

"Huh?"

"I don't care even if you live in Soul Society and I here. If you can't live here I'll live there. Karin already knows who I am. What's so bad leaving here to got to the place where I should be with other shinigami... and with you" Ichigo said while getting closer to Rukia to kiss her.

But she didn't let him.

"What about everyone else? They won't look this with a good eye, especially Nii-sama. We couldn't..." Rukia started, but Ichigo put his finger on her lips to stop her.

"I don't care about that. If I have to break Soul Society's rules again, I'll do it. I did it last time for you, I'll do it again just for you" he said and stroked Rukia's cheek.

"But..."

"No buts, I don't care if my heart will break, my hands cut, my legs amputated or my head decapitated so be it, as long I can protect you, in this world or in the next" Ichigo replied whole-heartedly and leaned closer to Rukia and this time she didn't protest.

"I love you Kuchiki Rukia" he whispered before his lips met hers.

Her hands found their way under his shirt and touched his muscular body. She took his shirt off and kissed the nicely toned stomach, kissing everything on it. Because now she knew. Now she knew that she loved him, everything about him, she'd always loved it, but was just blinded to the truth. She belonged to him, no one else, just to him. She belonged to those strong arms and to that body.

Ichigo took her skirt away, then her bra. His big hand touched her little breasts and Rukia started at that. She started to kiss his cheek and neck, wanting him to get closer and closer to her. During that time he took his trousers off.

It felt to Rukia as if she didn't remember anything, just a good feeling. And heavy breathes. Ichigo's body against hers. Just one thought crossed her mind; this wasn't just sex, this was love. Love from the first sight. Love from the first touch. Love from the first kiss. Love, something that could never be broken apart. Love, that came from Ichigo who had saved her from the darkness.

After, when Ichigo powerlessly laid next to Rukia, she said so quietly, that only she could hear it;

"I love you, Kurosaki Ichigo" and then she fell asleep.

Ichigo woke up. It was already morning, Rukia was still sleeping next to him, trying to get something warm on her naked skin. Ichigo just watched her before he realized then that there was something odd.

He looked out of the window. The sun was shining and the rain had finally stopped. Ichigo smiled and leaned closer to Rukia and kissed her cheek.

"Thanks to you Rukia, the rain has finally ended" he said quietly.

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Edited by: Neko.Writer

Thanks to Neko.Writer who edited this. I don't think this would be like this without her.