Some Things Never Change

"You've always been the reckless type." She said, dabbing at the red marks that drove down his back.

"Ouch! Rukia, don't be so rough!"

"I'm not. Besides, how is this my fault? You're driving my crazy with these 'bravery attempts.'" She was beginning to become frustrated at how much he complained. He would always get himself in some sort of trouble, and who had to be there to clean him up afterwards? Who else but her.

She poured another shot of disinfectant onto the cloth between her fingers, slapping it on his back again. Why should she be gentle? The boy must learn.

"Hey! You did that on purpose!"

"Oh, be quiet Ichigo!"

"I don't need you're help, Rukia." He didn't ask for this. He was planing on just having a good ol' shower and hitting the hay, and hoping that tomorrow would be a little nicer to him. But she always made the biggest fuss over him, and did nothing but complain the entire way through it.

"So, would you like to be the one to put these bandages on, Mr. Invincible?" She huffed, slapping on some more disinfectant.

Okay, so, even if his arms betrayed him in the sense that he couldn't reach the wounds... He still didn't ask for this.

"So, if you want to go and bleed all over your bed, be my guest." She slapped the cloth down on his back one more time before deciding she had had enough.

"Okay, okay! Wait! I'm sorry, maybe I could use your help-"

"Pift. Damn right you're sorry." She grunted, picking up the cloth again.

Truth was, he loved her for this, and as much as he made out he hated her for it, all that anger inside him was actually more for him. It wasn't like he was trying to impress her, and he knew she could take care of herself, but...

"You don't have to be so obnoxious of it."

"Oh, I do."

He couldn't stop himself. The thought of her in harms way sliced him to the core. It didn't matter how strong or who well renounced you were as a Soul Reaper, one false move and you could be done for. As Ichigo had demonstrated more then enough.

"You could be a little gentler, I mean, I did save your life."

"Stop crying," Slap. "One, you did not save my life. Two, I can take care of myself. And three, you're telling me you can jump in front of a Hollow without a second thought, but you can't shut up for five minutes while I clean the wounds?"

Things became pretty quite after that, making it a lot less painful for both of them.

He was sick of their days ending like this. At least every second week he would find himself in one of these situations. whether if be because he was trying to protect her, somebody else, or trying to slice the carrots for dinner – she was always the one to fix him up. And she made a good point. Everything he did has consequences, he knew that – everybody knows that – but he didn't have the gut to bite his tongue while theses "consequences" were put into action?

Stupid midget.

She pressed down on the bandages, being a lot more considerate this time round.

Her eyes darkened and she cast them over the leathery skin of his back. Her eyes dawned on every individual scar, connecting each one with a memory. Each one scared her more then the last, and it seemed the only one taking this seriously was her.

"You know, I don't hate doing this..."

Ichigo lifted up his head, looking over his shoulder. "What do you mean?"

"I don't hate doing this."

"Yeah, I got that part..."

She stayed still for a while, tracing her fingers over his scars.

"I don't hate putting bandages on you, or spending the extra time trying to clean it all out... As disgusting as it may be sometimes."

She stopped, pulling her hand away and staring blankly at his back, noticing the rather vicious looking line of red coming down from his shoulder. One of the few injuries she had nothing to do with.

But she did remember how he got it.

He got it back in his first visit to the Soul Society, fighting Renji. All to save her ass.

"I'm just scared."

"Scared of what? Blood? Cause you know, my sister used to have a fear of bloo-"

"No, baka! I'm scared that one day you're going to stumble through those doors, and there is nothing I can do to help you. I'm scared that one day you're going to do something reckless, like you always do, and it will get the better of you."

They sat in silence for a while, and Ichigo took notice of the gentle, vulnerable look on her face. A rare sight.

"You have no idea what it's like, to see someone you love looking at you helplessly, pleading for you do do something, knowing all the while that there is nothing you can do to save them."

"Rukia..."

"Don't." She slowly backed away with her head down, but was stopped when a hand grasped her wrist.

"I don't want to know what that feels like, and that is why I do these things. I need to know you're safe Rukia."

He leaned forward, and placed his rough hand on her arm. His skin was prickly, but it was strangely comforting.

"I promise I won't be so reckless next time."

He said, slapping his lips down on hers. She hesitated for a moment, but it didn't take long for her mind to wrap around what was going on. Her body suddenly became more acute to her senses, and she found herself melting between his arms. He took her closer to him, and snaked his arms around her protectively, dragging his fingers through her loose black locks of untamed hair. His tongue began to beg for entrance, and after hesitating once again, she granted it; letting him explore.

She suddenly broke away, for a quick second, missing him already.

"You just said you wouldn't be reckless."

He gave a light laugh, looking down to the floor before reconnecting his eyes with hers.

"Okay, starting now."

She sighed. "Some things never change."

–

Okay, so I decided to take down a few of my stories and rewrite. So, I hope this is better then my last disaster, I think it is. XD

Thanks for reading!

'3rooke