Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or Maplestory, though I would be quite the happy camper if I did! (Maybe not a camper since I'm not fond of such things, maybe a happy person who savors indoor air conditioning.)
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"Gah! No that's not right."
"Rukia, what are you do-"
"No! I don't want that hairstyle either!"
"Hey hey! You know that costs real-life money right? Are you using your own-"
"My own generous friend Ichigo's money that he kindly donated to me?" Rukia finally turned around to flash Ichigo a cheeky grin.
The corner of Ichigo's mouth twitched in annoyance. "You do know how much time and energy I put into getting that money! Workin' with my dad tending the clinic, all the drool I have to dodge from those little brats, the long-winded stories those old ladies-"
"Oh my god Ichigo! I finally got it!" Her hands slapped loudly against Ichigo's study desk as she stared into the computer screen with twinkling violet eyes.
Rolling his eyes after being interrupted for the third time, Ichigo craned his neck forward to peer curiously at the computer. "What did you get?"
"See look! I finally got the hairstyle that matches my own!" She pointed her finger towards a small pixel, and sure enough, sleek jet-black hair framed its' face and then jutted outwards from the shoulders. A stray bang rested between its' large amethyst eyes, strikingly similar to Rukia.
Ichigo tilted his head to the side and scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Well…yeah I s'pose that does look a bit like you…"
"I know right!" Her eyes darted away from the game to beam brightly at Ichigo. He cracked a soft smile, admittedly amused by Rukia's childish enthusiasm…
"And now I need to pick out an outfit to match it perfectly!"
….but not that amused.
The orange-haired boy snorted and crossed his arms sternly. "Rukia! Real life money can obtain food, clothes, uhh you know, stuff…But what will these virtual items ever get you?"
"Mhmm…" Rukia nodded absently, the cursor already selecting the "Buy" option for a strapless black dress sprinkled with red polka dots.
"Oi!" Ichigo ruffled Rukia's raven locks. "Are you even listening to me?"
"Oh Ichigo lighten up and just relax! I didn't spend that much! It only took seventeen tries to get my hair." She spun around on her chair to poke the grumbling boy in the stomach.
He jolted upright, glaring at the petite midget whose eyes were already glued back to the infuriating game. "Seventeen? What's with your definition of 'not that much'?"
With a sigh, Ichigo ran a hand through his blazing orange hair. "Geezuz why is it so dark in here…" He murmured quietly.
Ichigo walked over to the window and pushed his lime green curtains to the side. The sun was a gleaming tangerine sphere behind dark silky clouds, illuminating the town with a soft golden glow that soothed the creases furrowing on his forehead. The twittering of birds and bubbly laughter from children perforated through the air, giving Ichigo an instinctual urge to join them. "Hey Rukia, it's a beautiful day."
"Huh?" She swung her head to briefly look outside, a small smile crawling on her lips at the stunning weather. "Oh yeah, it is."
"Have you not turned around to look outside all day?"
"Don't be silly Ichigo! I had to look outside when I closed the curtains! The sun was putting some weird glare on my computer."
Ichigo snorted, resting his forehead against the cool, smooth glass.
Suddenly an urgent beeping noise blasted from Rukia's cell phone, its red flash visible through the thin cotton material of her pocket. One hand slipped down from the keyboard to quickly fumble for her blaring cell phone. While her other hand continued to mash buttons, her eyes rapidly roved through the message
"Ichigo, there's a Hollow."
The orange-haired teenager slammed his Substitute Shinigami Badge to his chest and dumped his limp body onto his bed. "Ah, okay I'm ready. Let's go."
"Uhhhh…."
"What is there to 'uhhh' about?" Ichigo raised an eyebrow. "If there's a hollow loose we gotta get rid of it!"
"Well…you are a pretty capable Shinigami aren't you Ichigo?"
Despite the complement Ichigo scowled, he knew Rukia well enough to see where this was going. "Get on with it Rukia." He deadpanned.
"It's a double experience event right now and I don't want to lose my map. Sooo…" Rukia drawled while batting her eyelashes. "Do you think you can handle it yourself?"
"What the hell Rukia it's a dumb online game! You can play that after-"He stopped short in his tirade when he realized Rukia had somehow materialized right next to him, staring up at him with shimmering doe eyes and quivering her pouted lip.
"Ahh!" Ichigo gasped and tumbled backwards towards the wall. "D-don't look at me like that it's plain freaky!"
"Please…?" Rukia begged shyly in her high-pitched school girl voice.
"Ohhh no! Your weird nice girl act isn't going to work on me! Stop doing that!" He pointed an accusing finger towards the midget Shinigami.
Rukia cocked her head slightly to the side, confusion riddling her expression. "What ever are you talking about, Kurosaki-kun?" Her voice was coated with syrupy sweetness and her eyes widened innocently.
She fought to suppress her grin as Ichigo visibly flinched and recoiled to the window. "Okay, okay I'm going! But for the record you didn't win, I'm leaving because who knows what damage that Hollow could have caused by now." And with that firm closing statement, Ichigo flash-stepped through the window and disappeared.
Giggles a bit too filled with glee flew out of Rukia's mouth as she resumed her position in front of the computer.
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"What the hell, why is Renji here now?"
"I'm introducing him to the game, obviously." Rukia stated as if all was normal.
"Obviously." The red-headed newcomer echoed.
Kurosaki Ichigo was eagerly anticipating flopping onto his bed after a long day of tedious school, lending a hand to his crazy father's clinic, and Hollow hunting. (Because that one hollow became two and two became four and so on, but Ichigo vehemently continued to assure himself that he chose to go alone.) And he was going to get his nap damn it! No arguments!
"Ichigo you look tired go to sleep." Rukia shot him a look from the corner of her eye, traces of concern in her glance.
"Pft I'm not gonna take orders from you." He declared as he stood up on his lanky legs to stretch after settling back into his body.
The raven-haired girl shrugged nonchalantly.
After a few moments of silence, Ichigo made some sort of grunting noise and collapsed onto his bed. "Fine…I will, but I was going to anyways!"
But once he sank into his soft mattress all was not peaceful. The sounds of clicks and booms and zaps seemed to flow in a looping circle past the thin fabric of his covers and even through the downy pillow slammed over his head.
"Gah!" Ichigo bolted upright and fumed like a boiling tea kettle. "What is this stupid game even called?"
Whipping a laptop from seemingly out of nowhere, Rukia unceremoniously plopped it onto his bed where it bounced a few times on the mattress springs. "I already downloaded it on your computer while you were at work, it's called Maplebook."
"What the- You crazy midget why would you do that?"
"To encourage you to play with me, obviously." She shook her head from side to side. "What's with you and asking all these stupid questions today?"
A vein popped on the orange-haired boy's forehead. "They're not stupid questions! And why is Renji here anyways?"
"I'm staying over at Urahara's for a mission, but they kept sayin' I was a freeloader so I thought I'd drop by here for a while." Renji scratched the back of his head sheepishly and grinned at Ichigo.
Hopefully that didn't mean Ichigo was getting an extra guest tonight, the said boy narrowed his eyes and sighed wearily. "I see. Can't you guys go do something else? Like I don't know, go outside into this wonderful evening?
Momentarily pausing in slaying virtual mushrooms, Rukia contemplated Ichigo's suggestion before replying. "Well you see, Soul Society already has plenty of wonderful evenings and calming nights, but we've never seen anything like this before! It's only natural to get so excited."
"Oh, oh Rukia! Go quickly quickly! Get that item before it disappears!" Renji was nearly bouncing on the tips of his toes as he pointed frantically at the screen.
"I see it, I see it. Don't get your underwear all twisted in a bunch Renji." She scolded her childhood friend like a parent would to a child.
"Ergh…what is wrong with these people..." Ichigo mumbled under his breath. The drowsy boy flipped onto his side and pressed his pillow over his ears in defeat.
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"Kurosaki you look terrible."
"Shut it Ishida. I don't wanna hear you ramble."
It could have been the mass sleep deprivation but Ichigo could have sworn he saw a smirk on Ishida Uryuu's usually expressionless face. With a scowl, Ichigo smacked his face onto his tan school desk and relished the coldness for a few moments before turning his head to the side. "Ishida, do you know about online games?"
"I thought you stated you didn't want to hear me ramble." The Quincy answered with his smirk noticeably growing.
"Answer the question!" Ichigo demanded.
"I suppose I have dabbled in a couple games, but in all honesty I prefer sewing. Why do you ask?"
"I have a…problem."
Ishida pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and flipped a page of his book. "You're going to have to be more specific since you're practically infested with all sorts of problems."
"Damn you Ishida!" Ichigo seethed weakly. "Well, Rukia started playin' this online game, Maplebook…and she's so addicted to it I think she's even cut her bathroom time to once a day. Plus Renji keeps barging in, and I think I've even seen Ikkaku and Yumichika show up in the middle of the night. I couldn't sleep at all this week with everyone playing all the time!"
Ishida didn't even bother to conceal his snickering. "Is that why Kuchiki-san has been missing school all week? Only you would have so much trouble from such a petty dilemma."
"It's not funny!" The tired substitute Shinigami wailed.
"Have you considered just telling Rukia how you feel?"
Ichigo remained silent, the scowl permanently intact on his face.
"Oh I see how it is. Kuchiki-san has you wrapped up around her little finger am I right?" Ishida wasn't really one to tease, but Ichigo's reactions were so entertaining he couldn't resist poking the bear with a stick.
"No that's not it!" Ichigo heatedly denied, crossing his arms in an X shape to emphasize his claim. "I do tell them to shut up, but she just—all of them just say they only want to have a little fun. They never had the opportunity to be kids without fighting for their lives everyday. In some way I sympathize, but they're destroyin' my sanity!"
"If that's the case," Ishida glanced away from his novel to look at Ichigo with his steel cobalt eyes. "Why don't you join her and defeat her from the inside?"
"Eh?"
"I'll lend you my old Maplebook character out of the kindness of my heart."
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Username: TheLastQuincy
Password: KurosakisAnIdiot
LOGIN
Ichigo frowned as he typed in the password, jabbing each keystroke slowly with his index finger. When questioned, Ishida had defended that his previous password had been "DeathToShinigami," and the amended one should be seen as an improvement.
"Stupid four-eyed freak…" Ichigo grumbled as he clicked the login button to be transported into the wonderful world of Maplebook.
Sitting next to him, Rukia was casually licking the pink strawberry coating off a pocky stick before shoving the whole thing into her mouth. "Glad to see you're finally joining us Ichigo." She said in between bites.
"Hn. Kinda…" He trailed off as he entered through a shining blue portal and teleported into Rukia's map.
"Ichigo are you TheLastQuincy? Naming your character after Ishida huh? Maybe you guys really are more than friends….Hey hey what are you doing?" Rukia exclaimed as a shower of azure arrows came raining down on all her monsters.
"Trying to get you off your ass and so I can sleep at night without hearing discussions of price checks on equips and the most efficient training areas." Ichigo flatly stated.
"Hey stop ksing me!" In the virtual world, Rukia moved her character to whack Ichigo's avatar with an intricately decorated staff. In the real world, Rukia grabbed the nearest manga book and flung it at Ichigo's head with a loud thwack.
"Hey that hurts!" The victim of Rukia's book rubbed his head gingerly. "And what's this 'ks'?"
"It stands for 'kill steal,' which means you're lowering the amount of experience I get!" Rukia growled angrily.
"Am I?" Ichigo asked innocently as he continued raising a hailstorm of arrows that easily decimated all the characters on the map.
"Ichigo stop that!" She ordered with an intense glare from her violet eyes.
"Then limit your god damn playing time it's driving me crazy!"
"Ugh!" Rukia slammed her hands against the desk in frustration and promptly stood up. She then proceeded to stomp out the room without sparing a glance back. Silence permeated his room aside from the rhythmic ticking of a clock and the rustling of leaves on a nearby tree.
Ichigo sighed in relief and slouched against his headboard. "Finally." He muttered triumphantly and closed his tired eyes. The window was slightly ajar, allowing the soothing breeze to occasionally flutter in and cool his legs. His bed was also especially cozy as Yuzu had just laundered his bed sheets and they now smelled of springtime flowers after a recent rainstorm.
It was very tranquil, very serene, and the absolutely perfect conditions for sleeping.
Except for some reason something much stronger was overpowering his fatigue. He cracked open one eye, glinting amber in the light, and stared at the now empty swivel chair in front of his computer. With a resigned groan, Ichigo clutched his bright orange spikes and swung his legs over the bed. He trudged down the stairs slowly; somewhat apprehensive of what an angry Rukia's wrath would have in store for him.
But when Ichigo reached the bottom of the stairs, he was surprised to Rukia not defacing his shoes with mustaches in black sharpie, throwing sofas out the window, or hurling darts at a crudely drawn picture of him. Instead, Rukia was perched on one of his kitchen stools chewing on the red flesh of a freshly washed strawberry. "Hey Ichigo, done enjoying the peace and quiet already?"
Sighing, Ichigo yanked out the chair next to Rukia's, the wooden legs scraping noisily against the tile floor, and dropped down into it. "Listen Rukia…I'm sorry. I didn't really want to upset you. Well I did, but not too much." He confessed in a lighter tone.
Rukia didn't respond right away, opting to pick up another strawberry and chomped through most of it in one bite. She then gestured with her hand for him to continue.
"I know you get really excited by new things in the real world, and that's fine, but I think you're going overboard with this whole Maplebook obsession. Plus, it's really creepy to be woken up at 3 AM to the sound of grown adults seriously discussing whether to buy an Elemental Wand or save up for a level 100 hat. Yeah really where are Ikkaku and Yumichika staying?" Ichigo knitted his brows together and threw his arms up in the air.
The corners of Rukia's lips quirked upwards and she chuckled softly.
"I guess the bottom line is I don't like seeing you sit there like an android all day lookin' like you've been brainwashed by Hollows…again. And I-" He paused abruptly, debating whether or not to carry on.
"Come on Ichigo, keep on talking." Rukia tried to urge indifferently, yet curiosity was written all over her face.
"I miss you." He blurted out hastily in a low, nearly inaudible voice.
"Eh? I couldn't hear you Ichigo, care to repeat yourself?" Cupping her hand to her ear, she leaned closer to the boy who was turning away to hide his rising blush.
"You heard me perfectly fine you idiot!" He barked out. "I miss spending time together just doing normal things. You know like, eating lunch together on the school roof, ignoring you as you gawk at the stupid bunnies in pet stores, or even when you just read cliché shoujo manga on my bed and giggle weirdly to yourself. We should take advantage of all the peaceful days we have left…who knows how long that is?"
"Ah. Our halcyon days are limited." Rukia nodded in agreement, a distant look overtaking her eyes. She twirled the stem of the strawberry between her thumb and index finger and watched the green leaf spin in dizzying circles.
"What? That's it? You agree with me?" Ichigo said with mild disbelief.
"Well, yeah."
"Wait wait. Don't tell me you purposefully extended your annoying obsession?"
Rukia laughed heartily, flashing Ichigo an innocuous smile. "Well, not really. I really was intrigued by such human activities! But then I decided I also wanted to teach you that it's okay to express your emotions instead of just scowling all the time. Heck, if you were this sincere earlier we would have stopped much sooner, or would have all gone to Urahara's place." She leaned backwards and locked her lilac-colored eyes with Ichigo's. "True friends will respect what you have to say."
For once Ichigo was at a loss of words. His seemingly etched on scowl melted into a slight smile.
However, since neither of them was really accustomed to prolonged sentimental moments, Rukia sat up straighter and patted Ichigo's orange locks. "And truly close friends will be extraordinarily annoying to teach you these lessons! I couldn't help it. Your reactions were endlessly entertaining since you always make the strangest faces." She contorted her face into deep scowls and scrunched up her nose to give some pretty accurate examples.
Ichigo's eyebrow twitched at Rukia's huge, ear to ear grin after making her brief imitations. "Stupid midget…OW" His eyes narrowed to thin slits as he clutched his shin tightly, glaring at Rukia who innocently tucked her legs back underneath the counter.
"You want one?" She extended her hand to offer him a glossy strawberry, the sudden kindness completely contradicting her previously violent actions.
"…Is it poisoned?" Ichigo cautiously questioned.
The petite woman smirked. "Don't be a baby and take your chances."
Ichigo plucked the strawberry out of her hand and popped it into his mouth. "I don't take orders from you. I was going to eat it anyways…"
Living with Rukia was not very tranquil, not serene at all, and far from perfect. But it suited him just fine.
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Author's Note: I'm uncertain if Rukia would actually shirk her duties, it's been a while since I've watched Bleach. Let's just say it was a really low level Hollow!
Read and review please, it's amazing how a few words can really make your day.