Change, a bleach fanfic

Author's Note: So, I re-watched Fade to Black and I've just realised how mushy Ichigo really was in that movie. There was a line he said in one of the trailers which, in particular, made me squeal like the fangirl I am: "It's all right if you (Rukia) don't remember me; no matter what, I'll still protect you!" Ahh, happiness. Fade to Black never fails to make me smile. This story is something I've always wanted to write since the time chapter 423 of the manga was released, but I'm only able to do it now. I think this story contains a little of everything and I particularly hope the flashbacks make you smile and make you see the contrast between before and after the time skip. With that said, lastly, I'd like to say: happy birthday, Ichigo! You, sexy stud, you. Lots of love from this fangirl of yours half across the world.

PS: This story is veeeeery long, perhaps the longest one-shot I've ever written. It's also a songfic (though I obviously didn't copy-paste the entire lyrics and try to weave a story around it) so take note of it if you hate songfics. Nonetheless, I hope I did a decent job and don't lose you halfway through the story. Of course, any review will be cherished and appreciated abundantly.

Disclaimer: Kubo owns everything, including my soul and my eternal admiration. chAngE is a song by one of the sweetest J-Pop songstresses ever, miwa.

Spoilers: Up to Chapter 423. I'm continuing from there onwards, so the plot may not be parallel to the current canon storyline. Also, the flashbacks are products of my imagination.

Change

No matter how many times I'm reborn,

I'll run whilst embracing my sadness

A diary.

A Chappy diary with lots of horrible drawings in it was one of the couple of things Ichigo had left of Kuchiki Rukia.

Not that he was complaining about its existence. It was of incredible importance to him, despite the crooked drawings it contained. In fact, he'd die protecting it if he had to. The rational part of him berated himself for such asinine thought, but the more emotional part of him, one which had been left sullied since the object of his affection departed, approved of it. Hell, death didn't seem too unappetising any more now that she was gone.

Raindrops pelted the outside of his windows, snapping him out of his wandering thoughts. Rain had always been his enemy since day one his mother left the world. The soft pitter-patter sound of the unfriendly weather only served to send his mood even more down south and to be honest, he didn't need it. He had always been in the state of angst for as long as he could remember; he didn't need the external world to approve of and encourage its existence.

Flipping open the diary, he found himself resting a finger on the name scrawled behind the cover. Kuchiki Rukia. The name felt so far away, so nostalgic. It felt like something which came from another lifetime. It was another world, another time, another Kuchiki Rukia…

He was now on the first page of her diary and found himself walking down the memory lane he knew so well. Once again, he was in the world where she existed. Where there was no sadness. Where the days were troubled yet at the same time, they were alive. His eyes scanned the page in front of him sadly. The scene had been burnt in the back of his mind so well that he could recall every single hue it contained.

Ichigo bought me this diary as a Christmas present. I don't even celebrate Christmas, but he told me to shut up and accept it. I don't mind, truthfully. I can always make use of an empty book. After all, I need to hone my drawing skills. Nii-sama will surely be proud of me if I do…

Bitter smile adorned Ichigo's chiselled face. Nii-sama. He knew how close the two siblings were, and even though he had his own share of doubts towards the nobleman, he knew that the two siblings were more similar than anyone could possibly think. And it just happened that one of the things they shared was their below-than-average drawing skills. Of course, he would never tell her that. Well, he did tell her that her drawings were awful, but at the same time he secretly thought that the drawings were amusing and rather cute in an unfortunate way. They were comical in their own sense, and now, her drawings were practically the only remnants of their history.

At the bottom of the page was a drawing of two bunnies: one scowling and one smiling cheekily. The scowling one was, unmistakably, orange-haired whilst its companion was black-haired and violet-eyed. He knew whom they were supposed to resemble. The bitter smile on his face grew just a tad wider.

He flipped over to find another page. His eyes rested on a small drawing at the top of the page, this time. It was the same orange-haired bunny as before, scowling even deeper, slicing a hollow. A talk bubble was added to the side of the drawing. The word inside the bubble read: 'Zangetsu!'

Zangetsu. How nostalgic. How long had it been again? Seireitei. Zangetsu. Gotei 13. The Winter War. Rukia. It seemed so long ago, like it had happened in another lifetime. He still remembered how he trained like a madman just so that he could save Rukia from the death sentence. Back then, he thought of her as an important friend, and the title stuck for quite a while. It was only after she left that he realised how much more important she really was to him. Stupid. So incredibly stupid. I guess it's true when people say you don't know what you've got until it's gone.

He absently turned over a large chunk of paper and found himself staring at another bunny picture. It was the same orange-haired bunny, but instead of the black shihakusho, the bunny's choice of clothing was a summer yukata. A smile graced his lips. He remembered…

Flashback

Summer has never excited Ichigo that much. One, June is the month in which his mother was killed. Two, July is his birthday month.

He doesn't like the hullabaloo associated with birthdays. Firstly, his annoying father becomes even more annoying on that day (though he still isn't quite sure how it is possible). Secondly, people who usually avoid him like a plague suddenly become considerably nice, even though they know that he sees right through the lies. And there is also his traitorous Biology textbook which states the fact about how many brain cells he loses each year as he grows older. To top it all off, there's the party. He liked 'em fine when he was younger, but now, birthday parties only serve as a humiliation ground, or at least so he thinks. The only good thing is the birthday cake Yuzu bakes for him. For as long as he can remember, it's always been chocolate cake; his beloved little sister knows how much Ichigo loves chocolates.

Anyway, Rukia had been bugging him to go to the summer festival, which coincidentally fell on his birthday for that year. He had utilised every single arsenal he got to resist the force, but it proved that in the end, Kuchiki Rukia always prevailed. Between the ear-splitting arguments and the puppy eyes, he relented and eventually went with her to the summer festival, albeit begrudgingly, in summer yukata she bought for him. And surprise, surprise (or maybe not so much), she wore a matching one. Those who didn't know better would suspect of them as a couple.

Rukia loved human festivals. It was like the bees' knees for her. She loved summer festivals in particular because she liked to watch the fireworks show a lot. Also, there was a lot of shiratama stalls at the festivals, and Ichigo knew how much she loved shiratama. It was hard to believe how many shiratama the girl could gobble down within five minutes. She could have applied for a world record.

"Ichigo!"

Said girl waved to him amidst the sea of crowd. She had wandered off from his side a moment ago when something interesting caught her eyes. Ichigo, who was by now already holding a few shopping bags in his hands, including two bags of goldfish Rukia made him catch and a packet of yakitori, rolled his eyes at her.

"What?"

"Come here!" Rukia was now jumping up and down excitedly. Ichigo sighed. The thing he did for Kuchiki Rukia. He weaved his way through the crowd to get to her side. When he did, he saw what was so enticing to her.

He saw a game booth with a humongous stuffed Chappy as the grand prize. Oh no. Ichigo knew exactly what was coming and no, he'd pass on the offer, thank you very much. It would be a cold day in hell before he would be willing to play some stupid games to get a stuffed Chappy for Rukia.

Flashing him her best puppy eyes whilst donning her high school girl persona, Rukia smiled meaningfully at the apprehensive guy, who was by now busy planning an escape route from the trap. She took hold of his hand and sweetly implored, "Ichigo, let's play some games! I want that Chappy."

"Hell no, Rukia!" Ugh. This had to be the worst birthday ever. He knew how obsessed Rukia was of the darned rabbit, and even though he was fond of her, he couldn't bring himself to like Chappy the way she did. Hell, he didn't even want to. He had a reputation to hold—a tough, bad-ass one at that—and the fastest way to commit a reputation suicide was declaring his love for the rabbit. He'd rather bury himself in a hole and never emerged again.

Rukia was now adding her infamous pout to the assault. Ichigo had to turn away before the effect caught up to him. She always got him before, but now, he pledged that he would stand strong against Rukia's Army of Puppy Eyes and Cute Pout. He resisted with all his might, looking at anything but that…adorable…face. Obviously he had forgotten how he always succumbed in the end.

"Rukia! For goodness' sake…please stop!" Ichigo exclaimed exasperatedly. By now their antics had attracted a few onlookers. Some people smiled knowingly whilst some others giggled at the comical scene. Ichigo's face became redder by the minute.

"Come on, Ichigo! It'll be fun!"

"Hell no!"

"You're such a wet blanket," Rukia huffed in disappointment, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "Whatever. You can be my faithful supporter and watch me while I play, then."

Before Ichigo could respond, he was tugged—no, dragged—enthusiastically towards the game booth. The bags of goldfish he was holding swayed ominously, and the aquatic creatures looked distressed from the sudden turmoil. Rukia then approached the stall owner.

"I want that Chappy," she said as a matter-of-factly. The stall owner, a middle-aged lady, smiled at her.

"Oh, so you want Chappy the Bunny?" Rukia's eyes flashed at the mention of her favourite rabbit. The stall owner seemed to have caught sight of her excitement because she smiled widely at the enthusiastic girl before informing her helpfully, "It's the grand prize for the couple game. You're lucky you brought your boyfriend along."

"What?" Ichigo squeaked. His face, which was still reddish from Rukia's earlier appeal, instantaneously went several different hues of red. "Wait a minute, I'm not—"

The stall owner immediately cut him off, "Oh my, don't be so shy! A lot of you young people always act this way; I wonder why?" She laughed lightly. "There's no need to be ashamed of love. Especially when both of you look this good together. You two are quite the couple."

The strawberry was now as red as his namesake. He turned to Rukia, hoping for some support. Tough luck. Instead of obtaining a solid reinforcement, he received the puppy eyes and cute pout once more. It was a critical hit; Ichigo sighed wearily and growled, "Seriously, what the hell. Okay, how do we do this?"

We. Ichigo couldn't believe his own mouth, but he did refer to himself and the midget as 'we'. The hell must have frozen over yesterday, because he was suddenly willing to get tangled in this ridiculous affair. He could feel the heat creeping up again.

"That's the spirit! It's easy if you have the gut; you only have to play three games and pass everything: first one is cake feeding, second one is whacking the goldfish monsters and third one is seven minutes on stage."

Ichigo gulped. "What was that again…the third one?"

The stall owner turned to face Ichigo and smiled before explaining, "It's a spin-off of seven minutes in heaven. You guys go on stage and do anything you want, as long as it's entertaining, for seven minutes." The owner then gave Ichigo and Rukia a once-over before chuckling, "I'm sure it'll be a breeze for you two. Now, I'm not trying to sound like a gypsy matchmaker or something of the sort, but you guys have the chemistry, dear."

Ichigo almost choked. Chemistry? Okay, this was getting more and more ridiculous. They weren't even real couple to begin with! He only…tried to help the midget to get a stuffed toy she wanted. If they got it, it would probably make her entire week, or even month. He let a small smile bloom. He really was fond of the midget, after all. Darn those lovely eyes and smiles and…

"Ichigo, what are you doing? Let's go!"

Ichigo immediately snapped out of his reverie. Apparently the two ladies didn't even waste any more time, because now he was facing two plates of strawberry shortcakes on a small table in front of him. Evidently, the cake-eating game must have been prepared without him noticing it. The stall owner then said, "Okay, here's the rule: you have two minutes to feed the cake to each other. Make sure you don't choke."

Ichigo eyed the slice of cake and gulped. It wasn't an entire cake, but two minutes? Furthermore, it was Rukia feeding him the cakes. If he were to gobble it down unceremoniously himself, he might still have a chance, but with Rukia involved, no one could ever be sure of what chaos would ensue.

The stall owner was about to start the timer when Rukia stopped her. Looking up meaningfully at the lady owner with her signature puppy eyes, she politely inquired, "Excuse me, but is it possible to swap one of the cakes with a slice of chocolate cake instead? He doesn't like strawberries, despite his name, and I'm sure he'll appreciate chocolate better…"

Ichigo's eyes went wide in surprise. He didn't mind strawberries, but he was surprised that Rukia remembered what kind of cake he liked. His heart warmed a little. That midget had him good, all right.

The lady kindly accommodated Rukia's request and changed Ichigo's cake to a chocolate one. Rukia smiled meaningfully at her partner. She mouthed, 'It's your birthday, after all,' to him, soundlessly. He could feel an idiotic grin forming on the edges of his lips.

Rukia really, really had him good. At this rate, he might, yes, might just fall for her…

"Okay, begin!"

Their small stunt began, with a few onlookers as their supporters. Ichigo shovelled bites upon bites of strawberry cakes into Rukia's mouth and she did the same with his chocolate cake. Ichigo was actually kind of surprised when he witnessed how fast Rukia chewed. Then again, he immediately remembered the deal with Rukia and how many shiratama she could eat in five minutes so he rested the case. He tried to keep up with her pace. Good thing the chocolate cake was delicious and Rukia was surprisingly fast yet gentle with her shovelling. Never once her spoon crashed into his teeth or lips.

Not to be outdone by the petite shinigami, Ichigo soon contracted Rukia's excitement and chewed faster. Apparently, the midget had noticed it too because her shovelling became even more rapid. If Rukia could smile, she would. Too bad her mouth was occupied with a mouthful of strawberry shortcake at the moment.

"Finished! One minute and thirty two seconds!" The stall owner smiled at the two, who were busy catching their breaths after all the chewing and swallowing. "That's a good one! In fact, it's our record for today!"

The crowd cheered appreciatively. Rukia grinned at Ichigo. Obviously she was happy that she was closer to the stuffed Chappy she desired. Despite his initial rejection, he had to admit, this was kind of fun. Any stuffed Chappy included with the deal was only a bonus. He really liked spending time with the girl, after all.

Second game of whack-the-goldfish-monsters went as well as expected. The mechanical goldfish didn't stand a chance against the two, who were used to whacking hollows around. Ichigo even almost smashed the whole table down; good thing Rukia took the initiative to whack his head using the rubber mallet before he could bring destruction upon the game table. In the end, they beat the previous records of the day by a landslide and thus advanced to the third game.

Ichigo's stomach started to churn. The third game was the most problematic of all, and he suspected that the failure of the previous couples who took on the challenge and failed to bring the stuffed Chappy home could be accounted to this diabolical set-up. Seven minutes on stage didn't sound too appetising or promising, after all. Worse even, entertaining people wasn't exactly his talent. More often than not, he scared people away with his scowl and loud hair; how was he going to appease the ever-growing crowd?

Rukia seemed to have sensed his plight. Tugging Ichigo towards the stage, Rukia stared into his amber eyes and said, "Just follow my lead. I have an idea."

Okay, so, Rukia's ideas weren't always the brightest and Ichigo honestly had his reservations, but again, if he still wanted Rukia to get the stuffed Chappy she wanted, he didn't have any choice but to oblige. He didn't even realise when was it that he started taking these stupid games seriously. All he knew was he wanted the midget to be happy.

Standing on stage, Rukia addressed the crowd below cheerily, "Good evening, everyone! My name is Rukia and this is my…boyfriend…Ichigo." She didn't slip up on her act. Truly, Rukia's acting façade was flawless. Had she been a normal human, she would have made a fortune being an actress.

The crowd applauded politely. Rukia then turned to the crowd once more and asked, "Does any of you know what day is it today?"

Ichigo didn't know what this had to do with the show, so he only watched as Rukia controlled the audiences from her spot on the stage. Someone from the audiences piped out, "July 15th!"

"It's true," Rukia replied in agreement, flashing the guy a smile. Ichigo could see how enchanted the crowd became once Rukia threw her million-watt smile out. "Now, does any of you know what's so special about today? Apart from the summer festival, of course."

Murmurs erupted amongst the watchers. They clearly had no idea of what was so distinct about the day. Meanwhile, epiphany struck Ichigo right on the forehead. He knew exactly where this whole darn show was going. Oh no. Oh no! One, he didn't want the whole world to know about his birthday and two, how was this going to help Rukia win that darned Chappy? He opened his mouth, eager to voice out his opinion, but before he could do anything, Rukia clapped once to attract the crowd's attention and informed helpfully, "I'll tell you now: today is Ichigo's birthday."

Ichigo's face became red again. Truly, the petite shinigami was oblivious to how much he hated birthdays, or, if she wasn't as dense as Ichigo thought, she pretended to forget about it. He instantly berated himself for getting involved in the ordeal in the first place. He should have rejected her invitation right from the beginning and sulked in his room with Yuzu's chocolate cake and a lot of Shakespeare's instead!

The crowd went rowdy. Taking the opportunity, Rukia then led them on, "Therefore, if you don't mind, I would like to invite all of you to sing a birthday song together for him."

The next thing Ichigo knew, the audiences and Rukia broke into singing 'Happy Birthday' for him. Rukia's alto was so clear and pleasant over the microphone, and he found himself marvelling at her as she sang through the whole song and an encore. She really did have a nice voice. He wouldn't mind hearing it every day…

He inwardly sighed. I'm supposed to still be angry at you, Rukia. Instead, he found himself captivated by the girl. Ichigo glanced embarrassedly at the crowd. From the look of it, it appeared that he wasn't the only one caught by Rukia's charm.

Afterwards, Rukia walked over towards Ichigo and gave him an impromptu hug. Upon watching Rukia's arms encircling Ichigo's waist, their audiences went all 'aww' and 'ooh' at the public display of affection. Staring at her tall friend with sincerest eyes, Rukia whispered softly that only Ichigo could hear it, "Happy birthday, Ichigo. I wish you'll be happy."

It was hard to tell whether it was part of her act or not; nevertheless, Ichigo smiled back at her. He was at a loss of words, so he only said, "Thank you, Rukia."

He hugged her back, despite a little awkwardly, and pulled her head against his chest. He was sure Rukia could hear how loudly his heart was beating against his ribcage, but it didn't matter. If her wish was for him to be happy, then she already had it come true. He was happy. He truly was happy. Seven minutes was enough to convince him that Rukia was indeed full of her own kind of magic.

End Flashback

Yes, he remembered. Not only was it the most memorable birthday of his life; it was also an awakening. It was then that he started to realise how fond he was of the girl. Yet, he was still too adamant to let his guard down and wear his heart on the sleeve. What was I waiting for? He regretted it immensely now. He, of all people, should have realised that one day Rukia would be gone. He didn't think it would be this soon, though.

He averted his gaze away towards the stuffed Chappy from that night. The other thing he had left of the girl he was so fond of. The bunny now occupied a cat basket on top of a corner table near his bookcase. Rukia never got around to hauling it to Soul Society, so Ichigo acted as the bunny's caretaker whilst she was gone, albeit begrudgingly. And now that she was gone forever, it looked like the bunny had found its permanent residence. He almost threw the bunny away after Rukia left as it reminded him too much of the girl he lost, but eventually, he didn't have the heart to do so. He thought it would be worse than sin to dispose of one of Rukia's most prized possessions. And maybe, if he was lucky, the bunny would be enough reason for her to come back.

How foolish. She probably won't come back, not after I lost my powers. He never felt more powerless than right now. He might have saved the world, but look at where it got him to. He lost his custody over the midget. Well, she wasn't exactly his to begin with, but she was the most important person to him, ranking even above his family members. He laughed hollowly. Judging from his state of mind, the rational part of him must really have abandoned him when she departed.

He picked the world over her. He had always thought that when he found the one he loved, he wouldn't be swayed by anything when it came to protecting the object of his affection. Not even the world would be more important than she would be. Yet, in reality, he did pick the world over her. He knew that she'd kick his sorry arse if she knew that he would have hesitated to save the world just so that she wouldn't leave. More probable than not, she might even consider the act as unforgivable. In the end, the path he took was politically correct; it was what she outwardly endorsed, it was what the world needed, yet it wasn't what he wanted.

All that he wanted was for her to come back. She couldn't be gone.

When will you come home, Rukia? If only I can go back in time, I will. I will even go to hell and back…

A thunder erupted outside, highlighting the inside of his room in a brief moment of light. He closed the diary and looked outside. The weather was still unfriendly, but maybe, a soak in the rain was what he needed. The more he thought of Rukia and her absence, the more depressed he became. He couldn't even begin to comprehend his predicament and his horrible luck even after nearly two years trying to search for a decent answer or justification. It was hard for him to bring himself to believe that Rukia was actually gone. He spent nights searching for her, only to be reminded cruelly that she wasn't there. It was worse than playing Super Mario and getting the 'your princess is in another castle' message over and over again.

He was imbibing himself on thoughts that she was only playing hide-and-seek from him. He was still waiting for the day she'd burst in the door and save him once more.

He felt like laughing at himself right now. How pathetic. He was supposed to protect—it's in his name—but he recently came to realise that while he might be strong enough to protect everyone, he was as helpless as a babe thrown into the woods when it came to saving himself. Rukia was always the one who snapped him out of whatever stupidity or self-pity he wallowed himself in. She was always the one who saved him when he thought any hope had perished. If he catalogued his entire arsenals, Rukia would be his first and last line of defence against stupidity, cowardice, self-pity and practically anything which would leave him unsure of what he was capable to do.

Truly, the reason why he could save the world was because Rukia was in it. Countless times when his resolve wavered, Rukia came crashing to his side gallantly and returned him back to track. She would never let him go out of the line too much. She was the best keeper anyone could ever ask. Indeed, she's a keeper.

He picked his jacket up and walked out of his room. He prayed that nobody caught him sneaking out. He didn't need another one of his father's lectures about how dangerous lightning could be. He couldn't care less. Maybe if I die, I can go to Soul Society and I can meet her once more.

While his thought didn't materialise, his prayers were answered. No one was around when he approached the entryway. After putting his sneakers on, he opened the front door. Strong wind blew into the house, splattering the entryway with raindrops and several stray fallen leaves. Closing the door behind him hastily after muttering a string of muffled curses, he took off running into the rain. He didn't know where to. It didn't matter. The inside of his heart had been raining for the past two years and he was sure it didn't matter where Zangetsu stayed inside that upside down world once the rain started. In one way or another, he'd still drown. Just like his sinking hope.

Why are you hesitating?

Where did that endless hunger of yours go?

To Inoue Orihime, Kurosaki Ichigo was her first love.

Not only had he been her first love. In all actuality, she had actually gone great length to even proclaim that she'd love him for five lifetimes. Whilst she kind of regretted her cheesy, spur-of-the-moment line now, she definitely didn't regret falling in love with him. Yes, even after facing unfruitful and miserable two years, she was still pining for him and his love.

She knew that it was a stretch for her to hope that her affection would be reciprocated, so she tried her best to at least not get in his way. In her own ways, she tried to help him out. She was kind at heart and a nice girl to begin with, so it wasn't hard for her to help Kurosaki-kun and his friends out when they needed her. She'd always done it selflessly and with utmost devotion.

Nonetheless, she hoped that one day, Kurosaki-kun would love her back. She wasn't asking for too much. She just wanted Kurosaki-kun to show her the same level of affection as he did Kuchiki-san. Alas, instead of noticing the girl who loved him, Ichigo had been sinking deep into another world, a limbo between consciousness and his past memories. He was barely amongst the living. Orihime's heart broke for the man she loved, and she wished so badly that she could mitigate his pain, but there was nothing she could do for what he was searching for, she could not offer. Only Kuchiki-san could.

Still, she tried her best to support him in her own ways. She was a stronger person than people gave her the credit for, actually. Sticks and stones could hurt her physically but despair and loneliness wouldn't even nick her soul. She had gone to Hueco Mondo, witnessed and lived the horror and eventually, while she had not always been perfectly wise in her judgments, she survived to tell the tale. That was a testament of how strong she could be.

Orihime wondered why Kuchiki-san didn't come back. True, Kurosaki-kun lost his powers and thus he wouldn't be able to see her any more, but it would be nice if she could be around once or twice. Was Kuchiki-san afraid of more goodbyes? From the look of things, the next goodbye would probably kill both Kurosaki-kun and Kuchiki-san. Maybe that's why Kuchiki-san has been acting as if she has perished forever. Well, in Ichigo's world, she probably already did.

Orihime understood that the two were fond of each other. They never talked about it, much less admitted to it, but their actions were enough indications. The way they looked at each other, the way they talked to and about each other, the way they'd laugh and cry together, the way they protected each other…those were more than enough to tell that it was no ordinary friendship, even if neither realised it. Orihime was a little envious of the bond they shared. She wanted to be in Kuchiki-san's shoes even just for a little while, so that she knew how it felt to be loved by Kurosaki-kun. She wanted him, period. When her so-called rival went away, she thought she finally had her chances but the prospect flew out of the window the moment she saw how broken Kurosaki-kun was in the aftermath of Kuchiki-san's departure.

The gentle girl wasn't sure whether she should be angry at Kuchiki-san. On one side, she was a little thankful that the shinigami girl was gone, though she felt like the biggest villain of all just for thinking that way, beating even Aizen. On the other side, she hated seeing how depressed Kurosaki-kun became. He was no longer the man he was previously. It was as if Kuchiki-san brought Kurosaki-kun's soul away with her, leaving Orihime with an empty shell devoid of resolve or will to live.

A thunder snapped Orihime out of her reverie. She took one look out of her windows and sighed. It was the third rainy day of the week, and it was barely Thursday. She had been holing up in her apartment with a cup of hot chocolate and a sappy drama. Her hot chocolate had long gone cold and the drama had gone astray to a part she didn't remember she had been watching. Clearly, she had been spacing out for quite a while.

After putting the drama she had on her television on pause, she picked up her cup of hot chocolate and sauntered over to the kitchen to reheat the beverage. She never knew how fond Kurosaki-kun was of chocolates until one day the comrades had a meeting at her place. That was before the war. They were having a small break in between the meetings; Kurosaki-kun had gone to the toilet and Orihime decided to offer her guests some refreshments to lighten up the sombre mood. She had intended to wait until Kurosaki-kun finished with his business before asking him personally, but Rukia informed her helpfully in Ichigo's absence.

"Hot chocolate will do. He loves chocolates."

Orihime didn't want to know how Kuchiki-san knew about it. She nodded politely and did as she was asked. True enough, when she served the chocolate to Kurosaki-kun, his eyes lit up a little. He thanked her and it warmed her heart, until she saw the look Kurosaki-kun gave Kuchiki-san.

It was your idea, wasn't it? His eyes whispered.

Shut up and drink. I know you want it. Rukia's eyes replied him silently. A gentle smirk adorned her beautiful face.

Since then, Orihime had made it mandatory for her to drink hot chocolate at least once a week. She thought it would be great if she could also like a thing which Kurosaki-kun liked. She tried a thousand different recipes before finally finding one which suited her palates best. The golden recipe called for hot chocolate cooked with several spices, chai masala-style, then topped with whipped cream, wasabi paste, sweet soy sauce and sweet red bean paste. She loved it the instant she drank it, and thus it became the official drink of Orihime Nation. None of her guests loved it as much as she did, though.

Orihime put the microwavable cup containing her now cold chocolate into the kitchen appliance and reheated the drink. Her mind wandered over to Kurosaki-kun again. She couldn't stop wishing for him despite knowing that her efforts would be rendered futile, eventually. Watching the glass table make its round inside the microwave, her mind suddenly brought up a memory from a distant past. She remembered…

Flashback

Orihime wasn't really fond of training days.

It wasn't as if she could fight like the others to begin with. Countless of times, she had received comments of how, instead of getting involved in the fights, she should stay on the side and wait until one of her people got injured. Only then, her ability as a healer would be needed. Anything else would be unnecessary.

Naturally, she started to begin feeling so useless; her pride as well as confidence had been eroding by the minute as she watched her other comrades engaging in a practice battle. Ichigo and Rukia had, not too surprisingly, been on the same team, whilst Renji, Chad and Ishida became their opponents.

Orihime watched the battle from her spot on the side line with a heavy heart; she wished so badly that she could do something to be with them. To be amongst them. She knew that if Kuchiki-san were to be in her shoes, she wouldn't take it as docilely as Orihime did. The petite shinigami would take it as a blatant insult to her pride, and no, no one would ever get away in one piece after sullying a Kuchiki's pride.

Kurosaki-kun had released his bankai right from the beginning, so had Abarai-kun. Kuchiki-san, too, had released her shikai, and her white blade contrasted Tensa Zangetsu elegantly. Kurosaki-kun and Kuchiki-san moved nimbly in tandem, deftly avoiding several attacks launched by their practice opponents. Orihime watched the battle silently for a few more moments before deciding that she should make herself useful in the way she knew how and set off to the kitchen to get her friends some tea. The training had been going for quite a while; surely they would take a break soon enough. Orihime picked herself up and walked over to the staircase leading out of Urahara's basement. Unfortunately, she accidentally slipped on the first few staircases.

"Ahh!"

"Inoue-san!"

"Some no mai, tsuki shiro!"

A pillar of ice which froze the height of the basement appeared right on the spot where Ishida was standing. The quincy had been taken off guard a split second ago, when he heard Inoue-san yelp. The bad news was he totally forgot that he was in the midst of battling Kuchiki-san, and the petite shinigami didn't realise until she executed her zanpakutou's first dance that Ishida's focus had just split.

The result was a nicely frozen Ishida, like a piece of fruit inside a Popsicle.

"Crap! Ishida!"

In addition to her initial outburst, Rukia spat out another string of innovative curse words which attracted Renji's attention. The red-haired lieutenant happened to be standing within the vicinity anyway as he had intended to assist Ishida previously. Upon being alerted to the recent incident, Renji immediately turned to the rest of his sparring partners.

"Stop! Guys, time out!" Renji called out to Ichigo and Chad, who were still going at it. Meanwhile, Rukia had taken off to Orihime's side to find out about what happened to her, leaving Ishida to the boys' care. Ichigo and Chad turned to look at Renji and Ishida.

"Wait, what?" Ichigo rested Tensa Zangetsu on his shoulder and scoffed at the sight of the quincy, catatonic and frozen solid, inside the ice pillar. "Ishida, what are you doing in there? It's not even summer."

"He was caught in Rukia's attack when he let his mind wander for a little while," Renji offered helpfully. "At any rate, we should set him free before rigor mortis sets in."

"Oi! You know what rigor mortis means, right?" Ichigo protested. He knew it was a bad idea to lend Renji his Biology textbook. The clueless shinigami did read the book, yet his understanding of it was as bad as Kenpachi's understanding of kidou. Ichigo was about to say another thing when Renji interrupted him.

"Hadou #31, shakkahou!"

A red ball of fire erupted from the palm of Renji's hand and hit the ice pillar. Water vapour burst like leaked gas, and Ishida landed on the ground with a loud thud as his cold prison vaporised away. He looked shaken, yet pretty much fine. As bad as Renji's kidou could get, today was Ishida's lucky day as the 6th Division lieutenant seemed to have executed the spell safely.

"Seriously, I thought I was going to die…"

"Your fault for not paying attention, dumbass," Ichigo quipped. He looked around for his petite partner and spied her a good distance away. "What's Rukia up to?"

"Baking some muffins in the toy oven with Inoue," Renji joked sardonically.

The fish bit the bait. Ichigo looked confused yet taken into the delusion. Running his hand through his dishevelled locks, he commented, "Well, I didn't know that Urahara-san is so generous that he even provides the means for the girls to craft us some baked goods…he must have tasted one of Rukia's fabulous strawberry muffins."

It was then that Renji decided that Ichigo was hopeless with a capital H, and the guy was definitely suffering from Alzheimer's, too. Had he forgotten that until a few minutes ago, Rukia was still fighting alongside him? No, scratch that, how could he even forget about what happened to Ishida just a moment ago? Or was Ichigo simply too dense to sense sarcastic jokes? Even Chad couldn't help but roll his eyes underneath his bangs. No wonder Rukia could never resist subjecting the strawberry to physical abuse whenever she hung out around him for too long.

A few feet away from the guys, Rukia handled Orihime's left ankle gently and asked the girl, "Was this the one you injured?"

Orihime nodded. Her ankle throbbed slightly from the pain, but it was nothing much. "But it's all right, Kuchiki-san. I can heal it later."

Rukia smiled kindly at the girl and started to heal the minor injury with her kidou. "I'll heal you for now. I believe my kidou is good enough to heal this kind of ankle sprain."

The auburn-haired girl felt warmth enveloping her ankle and a few moments later, it definitely felt better. In fact, it had been healed fully. Rukia nodded and said, "It should be fine now."

"Thank you very much, Kuchiki-san!"

"It's nothing." Rukia offered another smile to her human friend. "It's really nothing compared to your dedication for us, Inoue."

"My…dedication?"

"You never fail to heal us when one of us gets injured, don't you? Plus, you're getting really good at it."

Orihime nodded shyly. "But it's my responsibility, Kuchiki-san. Healing others is what I'm supposed to do."

"And helping my friends when they need it is also part of my responsibility," Rukia said in kind. "Let's take a break and get some drinks."

"Oi, you guys! We're taking a break!" Rukia shouted to the men. All of them nodded in unison. Together, all of them ascended the stairwell to the ground floor.

It was around halfway across the long stairwell that Ichigo remembered something. "Wait, how about the muffins?"

Rukia stared questioningly at the strawberry. Renji only coughed loudly, hoping that the petite girl would let the matter slide. He was doing his orange-haired friend a favour here to save what little was left of his dignity. Too bad Ichigo was utterly a basket case.

"No, seriously, aren't we having those for break?" He even stole one look behind his shoulders to spy on the imaginary toy oven.

Hopeless case, for sure.

"So, how's the training going, Kuchiki-san?"

All of them, plus Urahara and Yoruichi, were now sitting in a circle around a table full of tea and sweets. Renji had begun to tuck into a piece of taiyaki whilst Ichigo was picking up some chocolate dango onto his plate, apparently forgetting about his imaginary muffins already. Rukia took a sip of her tea.

"It's going well, I think. At least, all of us are definitely getting stronger."

Urahara nodded appreciatively. He chewed on his green tea cookie before crusading further with his interrogation, "Do you think we're on track?"

Rukia rested her cup of tea on the table and sighed. "Honestly, I don't know. I mean, none of us knows exactly how strong the arrancars will be, and any extrapolation will only result in wild guesses."

"I heard 12th Division is currently working to fix that. We need to at least know what we're going to face," Urahara supplied. "Well, it's not that I'm not doing a research of my own. Thus far, though, results have proven to be inconclusive."

"What do you mean, inconclusive?" Ichigo piped in. He didn't like this at all. Aizen and company knew exactly the inside workings of Soul Society, whilst Soul Society and its allies were kind of left in the dark. He was hoping Urahara could shed some light to the lack of knowledge they were currently suffering from.

"I have managed to infiltrate their data system, but they apparently didn't store data of the espadas there." Urahara paused to gather his thoughts, then continued, "Tracking their reiatsu proves to be useless as well. The results lack any comprehensible pattern."

Ichigo gritted his teeth. It wasn't what he expected or wanted to hear. He stopped chewing on his cake and fell into deep contemplation.

"At any rate, you guys should continue with the training." Yoruichi took a glance at Orihime before adding, "And Inoue, you too will have to practice battling starting now."

"Me?" Orihime almost jumped in surprise. "But you know, Yoruichi-san…I…"

"You can start by fortifying your Santen Kesshun. At the very least, it will save lives, including your own, if you can utilise its full power."

Orihime looked disbelievingly at Yoruichi. Her Santen Kesshun was useful, yes, but it didn't deserve to be glorified that much, or so she thought. "But…"

"Don't worry, Inoue." Ichigo turned to look at the nervous girl and offered his opinion, "Your Santen Kesshun has saved lives before, including mine. I think it'll be great if you practice to use its power better and become stronger." He added a warm smile to the end of his statement.

Orihime could feel her face reddening when she saw Kurosaki-kun's compassionate smile. She could feel her heart pounding and her resolve building up. Maybe, just maybe, if she could become stronger, she could bring herself closer to him. And next time, she definitely wouldn't have to stand on the side and watch Kurosaki-kun's back as he protected her.

End Flashback

The microwave beeped thrice, indicating the end of its heating cycle. Orihime carefully removed the hot cup from the microwave chamber and went back to her television. The paused image from the drama she was watching showed a pair of lovers entangled in each other's embrace, yet neither of them had the heart to look into each other's eyes. Orihime was instantaneously reminded of Kurosaki-kun and Kuchiki-san. He was toughing it out right until the very end, but anyone with a good pair of eyes would be able to see right through the mask easily; Kurosaki-kun was definitely not all right when Kuchiki-san took her departure.

Sipping her spiced chocolate, Orihime looked out of the window and stared right into the rain. A wish from the past resurfaced in her heart. If I were the rain, will I be able to connect the heaven and the earth, who otherwise in all eternity would never mingle?

Deep down inside, she knew the answer right away, though she refused to believe it. Holding tight onto the belief of 'if you don't believe it, it doesn't exist', she dismissed the truth right into the deep crevices of her unconsciousness. If she had the courage to face it, though, she'd find out that being the endless rain, the only thing she did was drowning the earth until there wasn't anything left. For amongst the things that she did, instead of connecting heaven and earth, she was now drowning the barren land as heaven seemed to move further and further away.

I set off to a loveless tomorrow

Don't hold me back, even though I miss you

I want to move forward

If there's a thing that Kuchiki Rukia so ardently believes in, it's that everyone is useful in his or her own way.

After all, as the old adage goes, 'never underestimate the power of a thousand idiots'.

Not that she thought of her subordinates as idiots, by the way. She was just grateful that her people knew that teamwork and camaraderie can patch any weakness there is. Many of the younger shinigami in her department lacked experiences, but they always worked together to improve each other. One person's strength became the key to overcome another's weakness. No words could ever justify the pride she felt for them.

Being the lieutenant of 13th Division, she grew to realise that her days had become more and more hectic. She had more paperwork to do, more responsibilities, more working hours…not that she was complaining. She was merely doing what she could to chase the depressing feelings away.

She sat behind her desk in the 13th Division office and started writing her reports for today. The kidou division she was supervising had been doing extremely well, and she felt that the rookies should be commended for their tireless efforts. None of them complained when Rukia called for overtime training; in fact, they could have trained endlessly if Rukia didn't stop them. Everyone worked hand-in-hand to become stronger. Rukia smiled.

It was just like before, during the training days in Urahara's basement. Yes, she remembered the past, which, despite the time that had passed, didn't become vaguer at all. She remembered Karakura-cho, Hueco Mondo, Arrancars, Espada, her human friends and most importantly, Kurosaki Ichigo. How could she forget him? He was nearly her entire world. He was so important to her that he became everything.

It wasn't her job or obligation, but Rukia always tried her best to help him in whatever way she could. As it turned out, she was successful with that. In fact, too successful her endeavour was that the boy became a coward each time she looked away. It was almost shameful, but a tiny part of her realised that Ichigo was only a fifteen-year-old high school student who suddenly got caught up in the war between Soul Society and Hueco Mondo. He was just a child who needed as much support as he could gather, and if her existence in the world was meant to help him stand, she was willing to overlook how pathetic he became every time she was gone, for now. It's something she'd have to work on with the strawberry if she ever met him again.

Aside from the occasional loss of focus, Ichigo's conduct throughout the entire conflict was actually praiseworthy; not only he lent his power to aid Soul Society, who once declared him an enemy, but he also sacrificed himself so that the villain could be locked away. He exchanged his entire world for the victory everyone so badly needed but couldn't achieve. Truly, Ichigo was the real hero.

Rukia felt her heart clench at the thought of Ichigo and she hastily penned down her reports before her mind wandered even further. It had been almost two years since she last saw him. She was worried of his wellbeing, but she didn't have the heart to meet him in the current condition. One, she knew he'd be furious and frustrated if she was there but invisible to him and two, it broke her to see yet another episode of Ichigo spiralling down the abyss.

She wondered if it was so self-serving of her to deliberately avoid him, since one of the reasons behind the act was mainly to preserve whatever little was left of her sanity.

She remembered it all too vividly. In the moment of their separation, she heard him clearly when Ichigo said he wouldn't be making a sad face, but that was just a bad, bad lie. Hadn't the boy learnt from past experiences that he was a horrible liar? He might have fabricated some weak statements about not being sad and all, but the truth was written on his face, plain as day, despite whatever crap he said to convince both of them otherwise. She, too, was at fault for not being honest to him about her true feelings. Stupid, Rukia, stupid. To hell with the Kuchiki pride; all she wanted was to break down there and then. To run towards him and hold onto him until the time stopped or…or…she didn't know. Until eternity? And to hell with the consequences.

She never wanted to leave. She didn't have a choice, but if she did, she would have never left. How would she? Why would she do that? It was the saddest moment of her life, beating her entire lifetime's worth of miseries combined and quadrupled.

Ever since, she kept devising many excuses for herself to justify her action. All of them only served to douse her wounds in salt water. The memories of Ichigo stung her badly and by now, she had run out of ideas to alleviate the pain. She wanted to meet him once more, to come back to him and never leave again. She left him way too many times; this time, she would make it conspicuous that no matter what, she'd never let go of Ichigo again. They'd be the closest of partner, if needed be. However, as easily as the worldly border might be traversed, she could do nothing to fix the physical and spiritual ravine which currently existed between them. She sighed wearily. Her reports suddenly felt like a big burden, not a pleasant distraction.

Placing her pen on the wooden desk, she decided that she should take a stroll around the compound to calm her heart down.

It was a beautiful day outside, with only a bunch of clouds tainting the otherwise clear blue sky. The sun shone warmly on the land of Seireitei and Rukia could feel gentle breeze blowing amidst her now short tresses. Nobody dared to question the motive behind her impromptu trip to the hairdresser. Whilst everyone else except Yamamoto-soutaichou and Ikkaku seemed to be sporting longer hair styles, Rukia chopped off her tresses. It was a public secret that people cut their hair because of one of these two reasons: either they got fed up taking care of their long hair or they went through a particularly bad episode of heartbreak. Although the petite shinigami never gave any explanation, everybody knew it was because of the second reason. Even Byakuya had looked at her funny when he first spotted her with the short hairdo, though eventually the brother ended up cutting his hair as well, using Senbonzakura, no less. It's true when people say that Byakuya is the type of brother who loves his sister so much, he doesn't even know how to begin to express it and ends up doing whatever he deems appropriate.

Rukia turned her head to gaze at the beautiful garden. Wildflowers seemed to sparkle under the intense sunlight. Various bonsai trees could be seen around; all of them were perched gingerly on wooden racks. Even Ukitake-taichou's koi fish were having the time of their lives swimming in the main pond. Rukia let a small smile blossom on her lips. How contrasting the outside weather was to the one inside her heart.

After feeding her mind with the beautiful scenery, Rukia decided to go to the training range to observe her subordinates. That was one of her responsibilities as a lieutenant, after all. She took a detour around the garden and arrived at the training ground a few minutes later.

Her subordinates immediately stopped training the moment she stepped into the range. All of them bowed politely at the amicable girl. Rukia gestured for them to continue, and they did. A few pairs were focusing on their swordsmanship whilst a few others worked on their kidou skills. A few were having a small break, drinking water by the porch. Rukia joined them.

"Rukia-sama! We're so honoured that you take the time to visit us here!"

It was one of the new girls she had been training for the past few months. While she wasn't exactly the brightest rookie, she was willing to learn and put in extra efforts to work on her weaknesses. Rukia smiled at the young shinigami. Her brown hair was gathered up in a ponytail, and there was a bandage on her cheek. Rukia noticed this.

"What happened to your cheek?" she queried genially.

"Swords fight," the girl replied sheepishly. "Next time, though, I'll be better!"

Rukia's heart swelled with pride, again. Her subordinates weren't her underlings; they were her friends. She always thought of them as her comrades and they, in turn, respected her abundantly. She was so grateful to have such people in her division. Then again, 13th Division was famous for its close-knitted community. None other division had the teamwork they had.

"How about the kidou sessions?"

"It's great!" the girl exclaimed enthusiastically. "I've worked on my hadou, especially, and the other day, I succeeded in firing shakkahou without any incantation!"

Nodding approvingly, Rukia commended the rookie, "That's excellent, Yui. I'm glad you work hard, and so that you know, I'm very proud of you."

The girl, Yui, looked like she was about to burst from happiness. A few shinigami in the training ground waved at her and Rukia and chastised playfully, "Yui, stop hogging Rukia-sama and let her train with us here!"

Rukia laughed. "Come on, let's join them," she offered. Yui, who had previously pouted, quickly replaced her scowl with a huge grin and picked herself up from the porch to join the others.

Standing in the middle of the training ground, Rukia was about to release Sode no Shirayuki when a messenger intervened with the practice battle.

"Excuse me, Kuchiki-fukutaichou," the messenger said formally. "Pardon the interruption, but you're needed for a mission in the real world."

Rukia visibly tensed. Her subordinates exchanged worried looks at each other. A few of them even looked like they were about to stop their favourite lieutenant from leaving. Sensing the uneasiness spreading amongst the group of young shinigami, Rukia excused herself from her subordinates as confidently as possible and followed the messenger. Once she was at someplace private, she began to listen to her orders.

"You're to open a Senkai gate and go to Karakura-cho within half an hour from now. There has been a disturbance at the junction connecting Hueco Mondo and Karakura-cho; you're hereby ordered to investigate the threat further."

Rukia's stomach dropped. Karakura-cho? Never before in the past two years had she been ordered to go to Karakura for a mission. In fact, there was barely any order for her to descend to real world at all. Yet now, it seemed that something major was about to happen, so much that Seireitei had to send a lieutenant-level shinigami to the real world.

The messenger's words wrapped themselves like a mantra around Rukia's mind. Red lights flashed at the back of her mind like warning sign. The order itself wasn't the real problem; it was the prospect of seeing Ichigo crawling in the chasm of sadness that numbed her.

After thanking the courier hastily, she immediately shunpo-ed to the nearest Senkai gate. No matter how perturbed her heart was, disturbance near Karakura-cho meant the town was in imminent danger, and the last thing she wanted was putting Ichigo's life on the line once more. She had to stop the uprising trouble, stat, at all costs. Once she reached the Senkai gate, she took her hell butterfly out and made haste for the real world, letting the butterfly guide her path in the severed world separating Soul Society and the other side. The faster she finished this, the better it would be, for the chance of Ichigo unwittingly getting involved in the commotion would be smaller.

Her heart pounded wildly with each step she took. She remembered how, once, she had wished for him to be happy. Since that wish fell on deaf ears of the gods, she tried to bargain and plead for another chance. Please, gods, if you can't let him be happy, at least keep him safe.

I won't stop, I won't look back,

I want to chase after the truth

I feel I can even grow fond of my tears

Rainy days are for sleeping.

Yet, Kurosaki Isshin was instead wasting his allocated nap time by lying flat, wide awake, on his bed. He stared at the white ceiling absently. The soft hum of air-conditioner from the other side of the room and the trickling of raindrops outside did nothing to lull him to sleep. He contemplated on taking a sleeping pill, but that stuff usually knocked him out for much longer than he desired. He thus decided to simply be content and relaxed.

On the other side of the windows, the rain didn't look like it'd be subsiding any time soon. He groaned. Karin had been out for a soccer practice with her friends; he sure hoped that she had been back by now. Karin might have been stubborn, but she wasn't stupid enough to continue playing in the rain and risk getting electrocuted. Nonetheless, Isshin felt a little bit of worry for his middle child. No matter how goofy and eccentric he could be, he was serious when it came to the welfare of his children. And that included Ichigo's wellbeing.

He didn't badger the teenager for details, but the astute father knew that whatever went down between his son and Rukia-chan had to be something major. Why else would his boy look like he had lost his mother for the second time? It was definitely a rerun of June 17 sans the rain, Masaki and Grand Fisher.

When he decided he'd do the world a favour by encouraging Ichigo to learn the Final Getsuga Tenshou in the final moments of Winter War, he didn't think it'd end this badly. Well, he did, in terms of powers and all, but never had he imagined that the boy would experience such immense emotional breakdown. On the outside, the strawberry was still cool, albeit more detached than usual, but Isshin knew that on the inside, it was like tsunami and hurricane thrown into one.

In other word: catastrophe.

He berated himself for not carefully considering the consequences of asking his son to learn how to use Final Getsuga Tenshou. He knew how much Rukia-chan meant to his son, and he hated having to rip her from his world. Yet, he also knew that he didn't exactly have the liberty to choose. Capturing Aizen, dead or alive, was the top priority at the time and he knew his son must have known about it too. Ichigo had wanted to protect his friends, he had wanted to protect Karakura-cho and eventually he had decided to sacrifice everything in order to protect those whom he held so dearly. Even after Tensa Zangetsu told the boy that the one he wanted to protect was the boy himself.

Nevertheless, Isshin felt that he should've taken his son's relationship with Rukia-chan even more seriously back then. His own son had even given off some hints about how close the boy was to Rukia-chan during the talk about not wanting to break into his heart forcefully and leave mud in there. He had had a feeling that his son had received the eloquent speech first hand from his preferred daughter-in-law-to-be. Where else could it be from? Ichigo read a lot of Shakespeare, yes, but Isshin was more than sure his boy didn't copy-paste the smooth speech from Hamlet or Macbeth or even Romeo & Juliet. The goofy father was certain Ichigo wouldn't go all mushy on him spouting some sentimental lines from Shakespeare's. That should be reserved for Rukia-chan when she comes back, son.

He had heard the front door being slammed earlier, followed by a muffled curse. It was definitely not Karin. Karin would have yelled and grunted loudly had she been in the situation, and even then, she usually restrained herself from slamming the door, because the adolescent girl knew that her twin hated the sound of door slamming.

Isshin knew exactly who it was. It was none other than his boy trying to play escapist again. He sighed and rolled in the bed. His stupid son had really outdone himself. As if moping around feeling sorry for himself wasn't enough, he just had to try in vain to escape from reality. Isshin had noticed the sharp drop in his son's school grades; while he didn't say anything to the boy, deep down he was worried. Not about his career. Not about his future. Isshin knew damn well that eventually, one day, Ichigo would gain his powers back and by then, he might even decide to continue living in Soul Society where he could take up a position as a lieutenant or even captain. No. The big goof was worried about Ichigo's feelings.

He knew all too well that Ichigo is a big softie at heart. Hell, the boy had been a crybaby when he was younger; it was after his mother passed away that he put up the stern and detached demeanour, complete with perpetual scowl and all. Losing an important person once was bad enough blow to the boy's feelings; losing another one simply broke him. Isshin had noticed how Ichigo hadn't been himself since the day Rukia-chan left.

He heard the door bell ringing and he decided he should answer the door since he couldn't sleep anyway. If he didn't, Yuzu would soon be abandoning whatever task she had in hand and Isshin didn't want it to happen. Yuzu was busy enough as she was; there was no need for her to play host to every guest that came knocking to their door. Though he couldn't imagine a sane person paying him a social visit in this kind of debauched weather, Isshin crossed the hallway and opened his front door anyway.

The person he saw wasn't exactly the one he had in mind.

Rukia had covered her last hundred metres in the severed world with a sprint that would put even world record's holder for 100-metre run to shame. She barrelled through the exit in a way not unlike a certain brash strawberry when he barged into Soul Society for the first time, and subsequently found herself standing in the rain, over Karakura-cho. She sighed. Rain was an indication that this was going to end badly. Keeping her eyes and ears sharp, she tried to pinpoint the source of disaster.

She was incredibly tempted to track down a certain person…him…, but being the responsible and stern lady that she was, she pushed aside all personal obligations to focus on her professional ones. She tried checking her phone to locate the hollow on radar; none was detected. Frowning, she decided she would patrol the town first. She kept her senses sharp, trying to track down any abnormal reiatsu. After she finished with her brief patrol, though, she still couldn't find what went wrong.

Sighing to herself, she decided she would check out locations which had a lot of inhabitants with higher reiatsu. She made a mental list of the places: Urahara Shoten, her former comrades' houses, the Visoreds' hideout and…Kurosaki household. Ichigo was no longer a shinigami, yes, but Karin and Isshin both still had high level of reiatsu. While she wasn't too worried about Isshin, she couldn't just risk putting Karin in danger. The teenage girl might have a lot of reiatsu, even more so than previously, but she wasn't a shinigami. She couldn't possibly beat a hollow or an arrancar without risking herself.

She hovered above Urahara Shoten and concluded that the inhabitants were there safely. She could feel both Urahara's and Yoruichi's reiatsu, which calmed her down. At least, should the Hueco Mondo loser decide to attack Urahara Shoten, the two former captains would be able to protect Jinta and Ururu. Tessai's reiatsu was nowhere near, though. Rukia suspected the guy had gone out somewhere before the rain started and was unable to return in time.

Next up were her friends' houses. She found Ishida, snug and safe in his room designing some clothes. She couldn't find Chad at first and it sent her Panic-o-Metre up for a moment, but she eventually sensed the big guy playing a gig at a café nearby. She found Inoue at her apartment. She was watching over the place when Inoue emerged through the front door holding an umbrella. Judging from the time, she must have intended to shop for groceries for her dinner. Rukia still remembered all too clearly Orihime's choice of groceries when they first ran into each other. Banana, butter and leek didn't exactly make Rukia think of a delectable dish, but this is Orihime we're talking about.

The Visoreds' hideout looked abandoned, so Rukia decided that it was either due to the barrier, or the Visoreds had left for greener pastures. Her bet was on the first one; after all, she knew personally that the barrier was exceedingly effective in concealing reiatsu of the inhabitants inside.

Content that at least her people were still safe, Rukia took off to the last place on her list: Kurosaki household. Wishing to waste no more time, she shunpo-ed to her last stop. She had saved it for the last since she didn't know how she'd react if she saw Ichigo again, but nonetheless, she had to ensure that he was safe.

She just hoped that this wouldn't be as hard as she imagined.

What is Kurosaki-kun doing here?

Orihime had given up on her drama right after she finished her hot chocolate. Somewhere between the lovers' embrace and the inevitable kiss in the rain, she decided that it wasn't worth watching. Whoever created the script for that drama must have been spying on Kurosaki-kun and Kuchiki-san, because the story looked awful lot like a sappy yet romantic spin-off of the shinigami's tragedy. Orihime sighed; the two idiots were really impossible with a capital I. Had one of them had the gut to be honest, they would probably be married by now. Kurosaki-kun, once given the kick-start, would be hasty and brash whilst Kuchiki-san would eventually yield to Kurosaki-kun's wish, no matter what her initial reaction might be, so long as he wasn't being incredibly ridiculous. And what was so ridiculous about marriage between two people who were so in love?

To clear her mind of the sentimental drama, Orihime decided she'd catalogue her kitchen's inventory. It was when she was checking out the fridge that she realised she had used the last can of sweet bean paste for the beverage earlier. She needed another one for tonight's dinner, anko ebi; the shrimps had already been marinated in honey and green tea since last night and it'd be a waste if she didn't have the sweet bean paste for the sauce. Faced with no other choice if she wanted to have a delectable dinner on the table tonight, she braved herself against the storm outside and decided that she'd go to the grocery store to buy a few cans of her favourite sweet beans.

It was near the store that she saw Kurosaki-kun, soaked to the bone, leaning against a wall.

"Kurosaki-kun?"

Ichigo looked startled for a moment before turning to look at her. He gave her a half-hearted smile and said, "Oh, Inoue. What are you doing here?"

Orihime felt like digging deeper, but she decided she should let the matter drop for now. Offering to share her umbrella with him, she replied, "I'm on my way to the grocery store. I ran out of sweet bean paste for dinner and I need to buy some. Come to think of it, I also need to pick up some pineapples and nori for my lunch tomorrow…it'll be Hawaiian-Japanese fusion food on the menu and I've planned some curry with seafood and pineapple…"

Ichigo let Orihime drone on the details of her meals as he stared at the pavement absently. He hadn't hoped to run into someone he knew, much less someone he was quite close to. He just wished that the auburn-haired girl was too clueless to sense the turmoil in his heart.

"…and I think bananas cooked in sweet bean paste and barbeque sauce will be great for dessert. Don't you think so?"

Ichigo was about to give her a polite reply and excuse himself afterwards when he felt an invisible force disturbing the air around him. He looked at the girl in front of him, who had apparently noticed it too. She looked worried and her eyes, which were already wide to begin with, became wider.

"Kurosaki-kun…"

"Tessai-san?"

Standing before Kurosaki Isshin in the doorway was none other than Tsukabishi Tessai. He looked soaked and his glasses were covered in raindrops, but serious. Isshin knew that whatever message the burly man brought had to be important. He invited the man in, but Tessai shook his head and stayed rooted to his spot, unmoving.

"Kuchiki Rukia is here."

Isshin's heart almost dropped when he heard the news. Had something happened? It wasn't every day that the quaint little town received a visit from the petite shinigami, and honestly, Isshin was curious as to what might have sent her down from heavens above.

"What's my third daughter doing here on Earth?" Isshin couldn't help but quip. Tessai rolled his eyes underneath his black glasses.

"You know, Kurosaki-dono, it sounds a little weird when you call Kuchiki Rukia your third daughter."

Isshin simply laughed half-heartedly. "I love her as much as I love my own children, Tessai-san. Is she in trouble?"

"I have no idea. Urahara-dono sent me here when he detected that someone was making their way to the real world from 13th Division's Senkai gate, and upon further inspection, the reiatsu was unmistakably Kuchiki Rukia's. I just had to tell you."

"She won't come here, Tessai-san. She's not ready."

An awkward silence ensued between the two grown men. That wasn't a subject either of them would willingly touch. The depression Ichigo brought upon the people around him after Rukia left was so devastating that his friends and comrades couldn't even go near the touchy subject without feeling remorseful or morose themselves. Many of them felt sorry for the strawberry boy; a few knew better than to plunge Ichigo further into depression. And to think that the guy couldn't even move a step from the place where she left him even after two years…Kuchiki Rukia was one hell of a heartbreaker; not that she intended to be one, anyway.

Keeping his eyes trained on an interesting spot on the front porch of Kurosaki residence, Tessai rebuked gently, "It's not for her to decide. It appears that she's here on a mission."

"Then," Isshin murmured silently, "that's even more reason for her to get down to business and skip the pleasantries."

Both men unconsciously closed their eyes, realising the gravity of Isshin's words. The rain continued to pour, drenching the pavement wet. How painful it must be for two persons to be so physically close yet so out of each other's reach. Even death wouldn't hurt as much, because death, in itself, tore everything apart. The predicament which trapped Ichigo and Rukia, however, tore only a thing apart: their ability to see the same thing. And that hurt more than death. That caused both to bleed more than if one of them died and never to come back. Because with death, they wouldn't get stuck in a limbo, waiting for the day whose existence no one could ever be sure of.

"Is she alone?"

"It appears so. Well, why don't you try tracking her reiatsu down yourself, Kurosaki-dono? It's unlike you to let someone else do all the callings."

"You know that your boss created this gigai as such that it blocks nearly all reiatsu in or out."

"Kurosaki-dono, I think we should send you a new model," Tessai advised, eyeing the man in front of him incredulously. "After all, Soul Society won't probably care about it anymore. You saved their butts; you know how fast they'd change their attitude from arse-kicking to arse-kissing once you appeal to their softer side."

"For the record, I didn't appeal to anyone or anything, Tessai-san, and I doubt Soul Society was arse-kicking anyone with the way their people organised themselves," Isshin retorted softly. He was smiling a little, though. "Well, what about my earlier question? Is she alone or is one of her entourages with her?"

Tessai closed his eyes for a moment before replying, "She's alone. From the pattern of her reiatsu's bearings, it looks like she's on a patrol right now. She must be trying to pinpoint the source of attack."

Isshin eyed his old friend in the eyes. "Sounds like an 'or' is coming."

"Or, she simply wants to ensure that her friends are all right. If that's the case, chances are she'll be here soon enough."

The old Kurosaki sighed and turned to the rain outside. "My idiot son isn't here, Rukia-chan. I don't know if you'll be happy or sad when you find out about this."

Ichigo might have been without his powers, but he could feel it—his primal instincts weren't as dull as they were commonly credited—when a danger was nearby. And with Inoue around, he just couldn't risk it. He was without his shinigami powers, he couldn't identify where the danger was coming from and thus he couldn't protect them both. Without hesitation, he ordered, "We need to find a shelter, Inoue. Now!"

The auburn-haired girl didn't need to be told twice. The two of them hit the slick streets running. Raindrops pelted their bodies viciously, yet neither seemed to care. Ichigo's eyes scanned the perimeter wildly, trusting his instincts to guide him. It was times like these he really regretted the day he lost his powers. That moment, he lost all reasons to exist for they had taken away the essence of his being. He couldn't protect anyone any more.

"Kurosaki-kun! This way!"

Now, Inoue might have been a human, but she could still sense reiatsu. Better than Ichigo could at the moment, in fact. She led both of them to an abandoned warehouse, which used to be the Visoreds' hideout. Ichigo knew the place a little too well, and understood the reasons why Inoue brought the two of them here. He only hoped the barrier was still intact.

"Inoue! Is the barrier still intact?"

Orihime hastily nodded, though she then added, "It's not as protective as before, but it'll do for now. Hurry up, Kurosaki-kun!"

Booking into the secure perimeter faster than the time needed to say "Go!", Ichigo found himself almost crashing into a tall stack of boxes in the middle of the warehouse. Clearly, someone had put in an effort to redecorate the inside architecture of the decrepit building. There were more boxes scattered all over the ground, and the stairwell connecting the ground floor to the basement had been blocked by a few empty barrels. None of the Visoreds was in sight. Ichigo guessed that they had moved somewhere else after the war.

Orihime took shelter behind a large stack of wooden crates and Ichigo followed suit. The roof of the place had been damaged at many places; raindrops poured into the building through the gaps between the metal sheets above their head and stained the ground underneath. Good thing the hiding place Orihime picked was relatively clear of such issue.

"Is it a hollow?" Ichigo asked, hating himself and his inability to sense spiritual presence. Orihime closed her eyes, trying to feel the reiatsu better before drawing a conclusion, and warily answered, "I don't know…it feels stronger, like…like a low-level arrancar."

Ichigo's fist almost made contact with the wooden crates in front of him. Damn it all to hell! Here he was, hiding away behind some warehouse junk, powerless and unable to defend both himself and the girl beside him. He tried to ping his brain for a decent solution, but it came up cold. He cursed heavily under his breath.

"I…I have my hairpins with me, Kurosaki-kun. I can probably ward the arrancar off for a little while if it attacks us…"

It was hard for Ichigo to break the champagne for that. For all he knew, Orihime didn't have any offensive power and if they couldn't attack the hollow or arrancar to get rid of it, they would eventually end up being dinners.

He scowled so hard he felt that his face was breaking. He had to do something, fast. Or maybe, just maybe…he could just succumb and die so that he could meet Rukia again. That certainly didn't sound like a bad prospect. Desperate, perhaps, but not bad. Not bad at all.

"Kurosaki-dono! This way!"

Rukia was running as fast as her legs allowed with Isshin hot on her heels. She had come crashing to his front porch five minutes ago, when he was still conversing with Tessai. Truthfully, Rukia hadn't even intended to get in touch with Isshin, but she felt a sudden increase of reiatsu when she was about to reach the Kurosaki residence. It was a split second afterwards that she felt Inoue's reiatsu spike to an unusual level. Like it or not, she'd probably need Isshin's help, so she might as well drag him into this trouble. Better safe than sorry. She was just glad that she wasn't feeling too awkward to ask for the former captain's assistance.

Isshin eyed the girl and muttered softly in the tone of a father who was both glad and disappointed that his daughter finally came home after a prolonged absence, "You didn't tell me you'd drop by, Rukia-chan. I was wondering when my third daughter would come home."

At the mention of her former title, Rukia turned several different shades of crimson. She then replied with a hint of guilt in her voice, "I'm sorry. I didn't intend to come around, actually. It's an emergency order and I didn't have time to inform you…"

"It's okay," the older shinigami replied kindly. "I know you have your own reasons."

The two of them sailed through the rain to get to the enemy as fast as they could. It was indeed an arrancar, and even though it was nowhere as strong as an espada, it could still wreak havoc if not dealt with as soon as possible. Judging from the increase of her reiatsu, Inoue was probably already in contact with the adversary. The monster really picked a vulnerable opponent.

Rukia's heart almost stopped when she felt Inoue's reiatsu dropped to almost half of the previous level. She could only wish the arrancar didn't pick on the auburn-haired girl before she could get to the rescue. Judging from the look on Isshin's face, it seemed that he had sensed it too.

Though, she felt a little relieved when she saw an abandoned building from which she sensed Inoue's reiatsu coming. The Visoreds' hideout. Inoue picked a great place to hide. The drop must have been caused by the barrier around the building.

"That building, Kurosaki-dono! The abandoned warehouse!"

As soon as the two of them entered the vicinity, Rukia released Sode no Shirayuki and stood guard before the ghoulish arrancar. Meanwhile, Isshin ran into the warehouse hastily and was thwarted roughly with a bang. After cursing loudly for running into a stack of boxes, he immediately scoured the place for his boy's classmate. "Orihime-chan?" he called out, hoping that the girl hadn't been mauled to death by the arrancar.

"Dad!"

Isshin turned to spy both Ichigo and Orihime hiding behind some wooden boxes. Hiding the surprise from encountering his boy and the boy's busty classmate together, Isshin ran towards them and ordered methodically, "Let's move. Rukia is dealing with the arrancar now and I can't be sure of your safety once the fight breaks…"

"Rukia is here?"

Ichigo snapped his head at the mention of his old friend. He charged towards his father and asked urgently, "Dad! Where is she?"

"Ichigo, let's—"

"Dad! No! Where's she? Where's Rukia?"

Orihime watched the scene silently, too stunned to say anything. Kuchiki-san is here? She didn't know how to react, honestly. Part of her was happy because she could finally meet Kuchiki-san again after two long years, yet another part of her was sad because this could mean that her chances with Kurosaki-kun would fly away even further.

"She's outside, Ichigo. She—"

"You know damn well that she can be injured or hurt by the arrancar!" Ichigo howled furiously. The inside of his heart was like a battleground. Different kinds of emotion flooded through his heart that he felt incredibly numb. "I have to protect her! Rukia is—"

Isshin gazed coldly at his firstborn. "And, pray tell, Ichigo, what would you do?"

Ichigo paused in the middle of his trance at the solemn question. "I…I…"

"Exactly. Let's go. Just be thankful that Rukia-chan didn't hear your stupid words; that's insulting to her and her abilities, you know. "

Orihime emerged from her hiding place behind the crates and followed the two men out of the building through the backdoor. Ichigo was still seething with rage, yet he looked very still. The numbness must have gotten into him.

Isshin gazed up at the sky and saw his third daughter thrusting her icy blade efficiently into the arrancar's head, thereby freezing the sordid creature. Smiling inwardly, he felt a surge of pride when he saw how stronger the girl had become. You're doing great, Rukia-chan. Much better than how my idiot son is currently faring.

"Dad, is Rukia…?"

"She's fine, Ichigo," Isshin chastised impatiently. He made a mental note to tell Ichigo later that his third daughter was perfectly capable of defending herself, so Ichigo should stop being a Negative Nancy and worrying over her. It wasn't as if she was made of fragile china. "Get your hero complex on a leash."

Ichigo's scowl made its return. "Old man, you know damn well that I—"

He, however, was cut short as shards of ice rained down from the sky like snow on Christmas day. Eyeing the frozen crystals with unfathomable eyes, he looked at the empty sky. Some of the ice melted on his cheeks, making it look as if he was stoically crying. He relished the cold yet familiar feeling it brought upon his skin. He sobered up immediately.

The arrancar vanished, particle by particle, after Rukia cut its head off with a swing of her blade. She turned to look at the ground below and found the person she had been both yearning and dreading to see.

It wasn't quite the imitation of her imagination, though.

What am I supposed to say?

Rukia had never been good with words. But unfortunately, neither had Ichigo been. Both of them were very physical people—they communicated with each other wordlessly through punches, kicks, fights…anything but heart-to-heart talk. Even when they talked, they inevitably bickered, and eventually they'd fight anyway. It wasn't like they hated each other. It was simply how they functioned. If Ichigo was being a pathetic self-wallowing dipshit, Rukia would swiftly kick him. If Rukia was being annoying about Chappy, Ichigo would knock her on the head. If Ichigo was having a bad case of hero complex, Rukia would argue with him heatedly before ending up smashing her knuckles into the strawberry's noggin. If Rukia was making ridiculous demands, Ichigo would engage her in a debate session before giving her forehead a series of pokes. It was almost endearing, actually.

So, it wasn't exactly Rukia's fault for not knowing what to do when she saw Ichigo, standing there, eyes directed to the heavens above him. She wasn't even sure of what he was seeing; most probably, all he could see was the sky.

She realised that she couldn't communicate with him because they lost the only way they knew how. The physical barrier between them was incredibly suffocating that Rukia was forced to close her eyes to attenuate the crushing feeling. That wasn't as successful as she had hoped it would.

Rukia wondered if it would be rude to immediately open a Senkai gate and make a run for it just to save her from the awkward and poignant situation. She wasn't ready to see Ichigo breaking down again, and no, she wasn't happy that she could still see him even though he couldn't see her, no matter what she had said before.

She almost raised her zanpakutou, now back in its sealed form, to unlock the Senkai gate when she heard Ichigo's voice, clear as the wind through the silence.

"Rukia?"

If we are able to see the same view again,

Someday, I want to come back to you

I can feel her.

I can't see her, no, but I know she's there. She's here. Not close enough to hold, but close enough to reach out to.

Unreadable amber traced Rukia's movement as she made her descent. Her heart raced. Have the gods finally taken pity on us? Have they finally gotten tired of forsaking Ichigo and me?

For a few moments, she stood there silently in front of him, just like what she did when she bade him farewell two years ago. This time, however, she was staring right into his eyes, and he was staring right into hers. No words were exchanged.

I can feel her.

Ichigo lifted a hand to graze the empty air in front of him. It was cold as death and he could've laughed at the unintended pun hadn't he been so captivated by the energy that suddenly poured into him. He couldn't see her, yet he could feel her as clearly as he could when he still had his shinigami powers. How do you call this feeling again?

Rukia was surprised when she felt a warm hand on her cheek. Her heart was bursting with a million different feelings she could never put into words. So, she ran into his welcoming embrace and held onto him like a lost child. For a few moments, it was all they could do.

You idiot.

The feeling seemed to have reached him, because Ichigo's face softened a little.

Now, if it had happened in another situation, Ichigo would've inevitably laughed at her crass greeting. Two years of separation and the first words she sent to him were 'you idiot'? They definitely had a lot to work on in the verbal communication department if they ever wanted to join the mainstream crowd and their standard pleasantries. Then again, what's the use of fixing something they were both comfortable with?

I miss you, Rukia.

Rukia smiled against his wet hoodie. What a dork. Ichigo had become even more sentimental in the past two years. She definitely needed to get her own emotions, which had been forced into submission two years ago, back on track soon.

I know.

Are you leaving again?

The inevitable question finally came. Rukia sighed and closed her eyes. I have to, Ichigo. But wait for me.

I understand. Well, let's make a promise, then?

Hmm?

When we're able to see each other again, please come back to me.

Do you seriously have to ask? Rukia raised an eyebrow incredulously, though when she realised that Ichigo couldn't see it anyway, she immediately re-adopted her forlorn look. Only Ichigo could make her pull out the emotions she didn't know she had.

Well then, I won't hold you back any further. Go, stay safe, be happy, make me proud…and come back to me.

The sad smile on Rukia's face could have torn her face into two. I will, Ichigo. So don't you dare wallow in self-pity until I come back. I'll kick your sorry arse nine ways to Sunday if I find you whimpering like a baby bird when I come back to you.

Do you seriously have to go there?

Your stupid expression is so asking for it.

Just because I can't see you doesn't mean you can use that advantage against me, Rukia.

Rukia laughed a little. Oh, I think it won't be long until that advantage disappears, my dear. Let me relish it for a little more while.

Right. Okay, go. I can't help you wriggle your sorry arse out of the trouble if Soul Society finds you using your working hours to catch up with your old friend.

Oh, I doubt they'll do anything.

Why?

Because I'm not catching up with an old friend, Ichigo.

Ichigo closed his eyes and let the words simmer in his mind. Not an old friend…huh?

If you know what I mean.

Rukia then peeled herself off of Ichigo and whispered in his ears right before she walked away, "I'll come back to you, so, don't you worry."

Sensing Rukia's absence from his hold, Ichigo looked up at the empty sky, which now had turned bluish as the storm subsided. He could feel a rare smile tugging at the edges of his lips.

"See you, Rukia."

It was like the rerun of their last goodbye, even though he wasn't lying to himself or his feelings now. Baring everything out in the open, he looked at a single ray of light which had just emerged from the gaps between the clouds. Ichigo watched as God's light, as it was commonly known, shone down upon him.

He smiled, albeit ruefully. "Thank you."

From the heavens where everything seemed so far away to Ichigo's reach, Rukia watched over her lost love and allowed herself to smile sadly. Turning her zanpakutou in a way not unfamiliar to a shinigami, she found herself unlocking the gate to Soul Society with a slight tremble in her hand. She turned to look at him for the last time before she stepped into the tunnel which would again bring her over to the other side of the ravine which separated the two of them.

She looked as a ray of light enveloped Ichigo in its warm embrace, as if it was the extension of her feelings and wishes for him. Ray of light. She remembered how once, in a distant past that felt so long ago, he had called her his ray of light. When was it that she became so important to him, just like how he was so important to her? Was it a few years ago? Was it a lifetime ago? Was it an eternity ago, when the bond between them was born for the first time? She would never know.

Glancing at the familiar sight of her former roommate as the gate closed behind her, Rukia found her lips gave wings to the words she had yearned to say all along.

"I promise I'll make you happy."

FIN