4:00 AM
Pain laced through Rukia's ankle. She yelled out, and pulled the bed sheet roughly aside. She sat up blearily in the darkened cupboard, rubbing her injured limb. Although she was a very small woman, she wasn't exactly used to sleeping in such close quarters. Thanks to this, sleep hadn't been coming easily to her.
Especially since it was the fourth time that week she had dreamed about him.
Severely agitated and disturbed by her memories, she drew her knees up to her chest, clutching them grimly. It had been months since she had had consecutive nightmares of that day. After years of forceful forget, she had assumed that she had been successful in pushing all thoughts of him out of her mind.
She sighed.
Rukia needed to get out of the closet and fast; she felt as if the walls were suffocating her, caging her into the dark recluses of the smallest corner. Desperately, she opened the door and crawled out.
The red lights on Ichigo's alarm clock blinked 4:00.
With the quiet ease of a cat, she approached his bed. Something heavy dropped in her stomach.
Kaien-dono…
Tentatively, without really thinking, she tapped the boy on the shoulder. "Ichigo, I—"
His legs shuffled against the sheets, and with unbearable slowness, he turned to face her, blearily opening one eye.
"Alright then, get in," he said gruffly, tugging his sheets and pulling them aside. He moved over, and beckoned her to lie down. His eyes were immediately closed again.
Rukia had a look of pure horror on her face. "What?!"
"It's cold, so you better get into bed. Dad'll get mad if you catch a cold."
Rukia was silent for a long moment. Then, reluctantly, she climbed onto the bed and lay down, stiffly, next to Ichigo. With brotherly care, he covered her with the sheets.
"Another nightmare?"
Rukia's head turned quickly to him. "What?" she said again.
"I won't tell anyone," he murmured, "It's okay, I dream about Mom too, sometimes."
Rukia fell silent. Ichigo didn't make a move, only continued to breath slowly in sleep.
"…Does it hurt?" she asked.
"What kind of question is that?" Ichigo said roughly, to her surprise, turning onto his other side so that his back faced her. "Just go to sleep, Karin."
And then he was quiet, only emitting light snores. Rukia, feeling more agitated than before, clutched the sheets closer to her.
"Sorry," she whispered, closing her eyes. A small tear escaped her eyes.
Without warning, Ichigo turned and grabbed her. Rukia gave a surprise yelp as Ichigo drew her against him. He held her tightly.
"Don't be stupid," he said. "It's not your fault."
Rukia's face, buried in Ichigo's pajama shirt, burned. "Leggo of me you—!!"
But he was already fast asleep, drooling on top of Rukia's hair. She sighed.
"You fool," she muttered, edging closer to his warm body. "You foolish boy."
The red lights on Ichigo's alarm clock blinked 4:00.
