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i do not own bleach (i wish) copyright of kubo tite!
first fanfic, please review after reading! thankyou in advancee :D
hope you guys enjoy it!
(ps: a few grammatical errors that i'm too lazy to fix, i apologize for it ;; )
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UNSPOKEN.
It started, and ended as an ordinary day at school. As usual, Rukia had to take her time to get her things packed up and ready after the school bell had rang to dismiss everyone for the day. As the sun started to set on the horizon, the orange glow from the setting sun colored the surrounding in a tint of amber orange, and blended in with the orange-haired boy who was leaning against the cast iron gate that separated the school from the sidewalk. Ichigo wore his usual frown, (some starting to think it was now permanently stuck on his face), as one hand was loosely in his pocket, and the other holding up his schoolbag that was draped casually over his shoulder. He tapped his foot impatiently and checked his watch every few minutes to see the time. After checking it for the fifth time, he unknowingly let out an exaggerated sigh.
"Where the fuck is she?" He said as he looked around, not even noticing that he was talking to himself; but then again, no one was around to accuse him of doing so either. He kept looking around for another good two minutes, in search of his ebony-haired sidekick, until his stomach let out a loud growl, indicating that it's almost time for dinner. He scratches his head and huffed loudly.
"Man, she's going to make me late for dinner, what an inconsiderate bitc-" The small and slender figure in front of him had made him stop in mid-sentence, as he shifted his gaze and lowered his head, in order to have to look at her.
"You were saying?" She had been standing in front of him, arms crossed, for about a minute, wearing an authoritive look on her face as she interrupted the complaining substitute Shinigami.
"Nothing. What the hell took you so long anyway? It's not like you need to get your things in order, you don't even do the homework anyway." He growled, but was then answered by her schoolbag hard against the side of his face.
They started walking away from the school without any exchange of words after Rukia had "given him a dose of his own medicine." Neither of them realized that they both started walking at the same exact time. It was like an unspoken agreement, but then again, that was how their relationship worked. Neither had to say a word to know what the other was thinking. It was like an invisible bond.
They walked in unison, almost as if they were two front wheels on a car, except the fact that Ichigo's steps were long and dominant, while hers were short and subtle. By the time they reached the front of the Kurosaki residence, they looked at each other and nodded, each going a different direction. Ichigo had continued through the gate and into the front door to enter his household, while Rukia went through the alleyway that separated Ichigo's house from the neighboring one, and climbed up somehow and entered through his window.
After satisfying his hunger needs, and waiting for Yuzu, Karin, and his lunatic father to finish eating and cleaning, he got a little bowl of rice and whatever they had had for dinner that wasn't eaten, and put it atop of a tray and began to go up the stairs. He fumbled with the doorknob to his room for some time, until someone had opened it on the other side. Rukia was standing there in Yuzu's stolen pajamas, staring at him like she already knew he was coming. Ichigo barged in rudely and set down the tray on his desk. He abruptly turned around and looked at Rukia angrily as she closed the door to his bedroom.
"What the hell were you thinking, opening the door up like that!?" He spitted out as his eyes followed her figure walking across his room.
"Idiot, show some appreciation. I could've left you to try and open the door by yourself, and then that tray of food would probably be all over the floor about now." She sat down on his bed and began reading from where she left off before she heard the doorknob.
Ichigo twitched, seeing her this calm in a disagreement was pissing him off even more and sort of worried him, "Didn't you ever consider that it could've been my dad, or Yuzu, or Karin that was behind that door!?" He was too fixated on his anger to even notice that she had tied her hair up in a tiny little ponytail, something she's never done before.
Rukia then slams her book down and looks up at him with fiery eyes, "Well, since you can't even control your reiastu, it wasn't hard to figure out that you were on the other side of that door!" Ichigo pulls at his hair in frustration, but is washed over with a sense of relief seeing her angry, like how she always gets in their useless quarrels.
"Whatever, I'm going to take a shower."
Ichigo grabbed his clothes that were in his dresser on his way out, and then walked out of the door, being careful to close it as he left the room, and headed towards the bathroom. Rukia had let out an angered grunt while picking up her book intending to read it, but then glanced at the tray of food that was still left untouched on his desk. After a few seconds of deciding what to do, she placed her book down, then rolled her eyes as she went over there and started to eat it slowly, not even thanking him in her head.
It was a good half hour until Ichigo managed to show back up in his room, still drying his wet, orange hair. The tray of food was long gone. During his long absence, Rukia had thrown it out the window after finishing it without even giving it a second thought to how they might've needed the utensils and plates later on in the future. He threw the towel into the laundry hamper that was in the corner of his bedroom, not even remembering that he had brought up the food for her, nor remembering the quarrel they had had before he took his leave.
He sat at the edge of his bed and then sighed, thinking about his day and how long it was. He lifted his gaze slightly and let his eyes dance around the room, until they stopped at Rukia, looking at her unconsciously. It was then that he noticed her hair, as she stood outside of his open closet, setting up her bed for the night. He was surprised, but said nothing of it, but seemed to be looking her intently, as if he was burning that image into his mind.
Rukia set the pillow in the correct spot, and placed her hands on her hips and let out a breath, satisfied with her bed as she turned around and accidentally caught Ichigo's gaze, who was still staring at her.
Her eyes grew wide in shock, but then habitually converted it quickly to anger to try to cover up the fact that she was surprised. She crossed her arms, her whole body facing him now.
"What are you looking at?"
Ichigo then realized that he had been staring at her this whole time, and then blinked and turned around, trying to hide his embarrassment and also to make his bed at the same time to try and not make it obvious.
"You were just taking so damn long that I was going to ask you if you needed help." Ichigo threw back, but then realizing that it didn't seem so cool spoken verbally, then it did in his mind when he said it mentally.
Rukia pouted and then gritted her teeth, "I'm not that useless, you asshole! I can make a bed by myself, as if I needed your help for that."
"Whatever." he retorted, as he climbed in under the covers and got comfortable, "Get the lights, willya? You're so slow at making a bed, so you must be slow getting into one then. And besides, you're nearer. Night." Ichigo had turned his back to her and fell silent, as if he was asleep, before she could protest. Rukia grunted, then walked over to the light switch and violently turned it off, before getting into her closet bed.
While facing the wall, he could hear her close his closet door. He then turned on his bed and laid on his back, facing the ceiling and let out a sigh. The image of Rukia with her hair up came back into his mind. Before he knew it, he caught himself thinking of her and then shook his head violently.
'What am I thinking!? Why am I thinking about that bitch?' He thought in silent, as he looked over at his closet, imagining the sleeping Rukia inside, and then looked at the digital clock that was beside his bed.
'11:45, maybe I just need sleep.' Ichigo frowned at himself, and then let out a soft yawn and turned to his side, slumber then consuming him in an instant.
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Rukia laid on the cushion that was above the boxes and relaxed. She clutched her blanket as she thought of Ichigo while looking at the woven door of the closet close by her side. She thought of when he saved her in Soul Society, even though she never asked. She thought of when he stood up to her brother and Renji, even though she told him not to. She then thought of that look he had given her before she went to bed a few moments earlier.
'What was he looking at, anyway?' She had thought about it and then held his expression in her head, but then blushed as soon as she found herself thinking about him.
'T-That idiot..' She turned to her side, and with a small smile, she fell asleep.
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The next morning, Ichigo was awoken by the unpleasant sound of thunder. It was a Saturday, and rain on a Saturday didn't seem very fitting in his mind. He rolled over on his side and groaned as he sat up. He cracked his eyes open slowly, usually being blinded by the sunlight, but that wasn't the case today. He looked at his closet, which was open, and then opened his eyes wider, to see where Rukia was. He then looked to his left and found her sitting in his chair. She was reading her book, as usual, and wore a dull, and unpleasant expression. As he sat there, he thought to himself that everytime it rained, she always wore that same sullen expression. At least he wasn't the only one that hated rainy days.
Rukia looked up and over at him and then closed her eyes as she turned back to her book.
"You slept in more than usual, Ichigo." Ichigo clicked his tongue and got up, going to the door to go get ready.
"Stop your complainin', I just woke up, give me a break already." He had opened the door and walked out, forgetting to close it, something he has never done before.
'Damn, he's so moody during rainy days.'
Rukia thought, but didn't even seem to notice the ajar door, which is quite out of the ordinary as well. Before she could realize the open bedroom door, something else had caught her. She stood up and went to the closet and looked in. Her cellphone was beeping and glowing in the dark space. She quickly grabbed it and then flipped it open, causing her bunny keychain to rattle in response. She stared at it, almost in horror, as she ran out of his room and barged into the bathroom, interrupting the spike-haired boy who had a toothbrush sticking out of his mouth.
"Ichigo! Hurry, there's a Hollow nearby, and it's strong!" Rukia exclaimed as she put on her red, skull-embroided glove at the same time.
Ichigo's eyes grow wide as he quickly slams the bathroom door closed and then spits out the toothbrush and the contents that were in his mouth into the sink.
"WHAT THE FUCK!? ARE YOU CRAZY?? MY FAMILY COULD'VE SEEN Y—"
It was too late, Rukia had already shoved his soul right out of his body. She grabbed his Shinigami robes, along with him, and ran, making sure that the bathroom door was locked from the inside and that the water was still running to make it seem that Ichigo was in there. They'd find a way to deal with the lock later when they came back, but for right now it wasn't important. She could've easily transformed into her Shinigami state, but decided that she shouldn't waste her powers, that were recently regained, on a little Hollow.
Ichigo had caught up with her and started running alongside her instead of being dragged by her. He was heaving and wiping the toothpaste from the corner of his mouth still as he gave her a death glare.
"Look, just because it's my duty as a Shinigami to fight off Hollows, doesn't mean it can't wait for a few damned seconds!"
"A few 'damned' seconds can mean deaths of a few people, idiot! This is your job, don't complain, just do it. You brought this upon yourself in order to save your family." She didn't look at him, not even once the whole time they were running towards the Hollow.
Ichigo then decided to give up and leave it at that, knowing she was right in a way. He always hated to accept the fact that when it comes down to her, he was always defeated no matter what.
'Damn, she's so fucking moody during rainy days.'
By the time they reached the location to where the Hollow seemed to be on Rukia's phone, they stopped and looked around cautiously. Ichigo already having his Zanpaktou out, and ready. Rukia stood behind him and constantly checked her phone to see if the signal had moved. How much time they stood there, neither of them knew, but the signal was right there that whole time as well. Rukia stared at her phone, and subconsciously gave it a few whacks to see if it was working right.
"Man Rukia, if you dragged me all the way out here, and there's no Hollow, I swear I'm going to – " He sentence was then cut short as a black blur flew down towards him. He put up his arms up in defense and felt a strong gust of wind. His feet staggered and, to his surprise, he had to take a few steps back to keep from falling over. He then lowered his arms a bit and thought to himself that the stupid Hollow had missed, but then the eery silence hit him. His eyes grew wide as he turned around, his gaze already lowered to the height of Rukia. But, there was no Rukia there.
"Shit, that bastard wasn't aiming for me to begin with!"
Ichigo whirled around and then was suddenly frozen at the sight. Right in front of him was a human. He was so used to seeing the typical hole-in-chest and masked face Hollows, but this one wasn't. He would've confused it for another human such as he, except for the wide, devilish grin it wore, and the strong and foul stench of Hollow that it gave off. That wasn't the main reason why he hadn't struck at it, no. Besides the fact the Hollow looked human, it looked like him, but a little more mature. It's hair was a tad bit longer, but held the same style of spikes. The expression of it's face was the exact same as Ichigo's, except Ichigo's was more humane and shocked, while the Hollow's was more empty, and menacing. But the main difference that stuck out most, was the hair. Both their hair color contrasted in the gloomy rain, almost as if fighting to see which one stuck out most. The orange-haired boy faced the raven-haired look-alike, not saying a single word.
'W-Who..is this guy?..Where's Rukia?..Why am I fucking shaking!?'
Ichigo then balled up his fists in anger to try and stop his arm from drastically shivering, which, strangely enough, wasn't from the cold, rainy weather. He had gotten fed up with the awkward silence that fell between the two contrasting twins, and then swung his zanpaktou, and in an instant, it seemed as though Ichigo only swung and sliced thin air. He had looked around confused and still shocked from what he had seen a few seconds ago as he was then overhelmed by the odor of Hollow and then swung his head to see the man in the dark Shinigami robes, marking him at Vice Captain rank, atop of his Zangetsu.
"Tsk, what do we have here.. you seem like such an immature, boy." He had bounced off Ichigo's zanpaktou, causing Ichigo to lose balance. It was either him, or his zanpaktou that landed in the mud, unfortunately for Ichigo, he wasn't going to make this day more worse by getting mud in his face, so he let Zangetsu fall into the mud with a heavy impact as he used it for support from falling.
The Hollow had landed a few feet from where he had jumped from the big blade, and laughed, which was filled with hints of disappointment and pity. Ichigo had tried to pull his zanpaktou out from the mud, but from the force of the Hollow jumping off of it, it had caused his sword to be stuck in the mud, which had made Ichigo even more pissed, knowing he was making an impression of a weakling, something he hated more than anything.
"You're pathetic.. You're nothin' like me. I don't know what Rukia sees in you that might resemble even the slightest fuckin' thing about me." Ichigo had raised his eyes coldly and glared through his damp, orange hair to look at the fake Shinigami with crossed arms, but also secretly wondered what that damned Hollow was talking about. One should be phased by the death look he had given the Hollow, but in this case, it had only bellowed out a loud laughter in response.
"What the fuck did you do to Rukia!?" suddenly ending the imposter's laugh, as he wore a frown, much like the one Ichigo always wore.
"What's it to ya? Ya like her?" The Hollow grinned slyly, as he looked at the orange-haired boy who was twitching and shaking so hard from anger. "But you're so young.. You shouldn't even be wasting your time trying to save her. You're probably going to die in the process. Judging from what I've seen so far.. you're not going to last very long, boy."
The Hollow then turned back to Ichigo and walked away slowly, letting all his guards down as Ichigo started to glow a light, serene shade of blue, as his reiastu started to skyrocket. The Hollow didn't even sense it until it turned around abruptly, with wide eyes as Ichigo screamed.
"BANKAI!"
In an instant, Ichigo had transformed into his Bankai form, and was already charging at the Hollow in black robes. The Hollow was slow to respond and Ichigo had plunged his sword right through the side of it's stomach, blood gushing out and spraying all over Ichigo's merciless face, and onto both of their matching robes.
Ichigo flew back, pulling Zangetsu with him as he stood with his sword pointed at the Hollow, who was on his knees, both hands holding his wound and coughing out blood onto the already stained grass.
Ichigo's glowing eyes narrowed, and his reiastu still rose from when he transformed. Unlike any other Hollow, he had never gotten so angry and had never had so much spirit energy flowing through him as he did at that moment. Ichigo was too angered to even notice that, but something that had to do with harming the sake of Rukia's safety, always found a way to piss him off.
"Zan Getsu." His blade began to shake from so much spirit energy the boy had unconsciously given it. He jumped up in the air and then swooped down for the final blow.
All of a sudden, Rukia was in the way. He hadn't even noticed her until she was practically in front of him. He had been too blind by his anger to see her run in the way, but wasn't blind to see the tears running down her face as she stood, arms outstretched to her sides. He could've easily mistaken her tears for the pouring rain, but he knew that those were tears, not drops of rain.
He slowed down and then his attack started to fade as he landed in front of the two, with an expression he couldn't even explain himself. He had his sword at his side, as he looked at her and questioned her through his gaze, giving her a disappointed and confused stare.
"Ichigo..please.." Rukia had barely stumbled those two words out of her mouth as she went back to biting her lip, trying to choke back the tears as she stood in front of the Hollow, protecting him with her whole body.
"Ru-Rukia.. but..why..?" Ichigo just stood there, dumbfounded, and thought to himself that he must look like the biggest idiot.
The Hollow smirked behind Rukia, letting out a chuckle that only Ichigo heard. It stood up slowly, ignoring his bleeding wound and straightened out his body. He was a whole two heads above of Rukia, and to Ichigo, he had thought it looked funny in a way. He didn't think though, that that was how Ichigo looked compared to Rukia's height when they always walked side by side together.
Ichigo tightened his grip on the hilt of his Zangetsu, and then clenched his teeth.
"Move, Rukia. He's a Hollow, and you've given me the job of extinguishing it. So get your fucking ass out of the damn way and let me do my job!" He had brought up his zanpaktou and started to run towards them, thinking she'd move out of his way as he was charging forward.
When he finally reached the two of them he stopped in his tracks and stared down at the unmoving, and determined Rukia. She had lowered her head to ignore his gaze as she shook gently, Ichigo being the only one who saw her since he was the closest one to her.
She looked at him, and for once he just froze and stared into her endless celestial blue eyes that were glossy from the tears. He hadn't understood why she wouldn't move, and why she would protect a Hollow, for crying out loud. His anger faded away slowly, both of them forgetting the Hollow and the surrounding, almost as if it was just the two of them in an empty room. He looked at her with much concentration, as she did to him.
' Why are you doing this Rukia..'
Ichigo tightened his grip on his sword.
'I never told you..I didn't want to share that part of my life with anyone.'
Rukia slowly put her arms at her side, balling them into fists, so hard that her nails were making indentions into her palm.
'He's a Hollow, Rukia..'
Ichigo looked at Rukia, and couldn't help but to want to outstretch his arms to embrace her all of a sudden, but didn't move an inch.
'Please, understand Ichigo..'
Rukia closed her eyes slowly and lowered her head, letting more tears to flow from her eyes and roll down the side of her cheek, merging with the raindrops.
Their moment was suddenly broken with the sound of a sword piercing through a body. Ichigo's eyes grew wide in shock, as blood flew in his face, and everything that was surrounding him, the images, the sounds, the rain, all disappeared in that one moment.
He stared, dazed, at Rukia, who had a metal sword pierced straight through her body. Her eyes were just as big, compared to his. She slowly fell forward, as if everything in his mind were playing every movement out in slow motion. The next moment came, and she was in his arms as he kneeled on the mud, cradling her fragile and thin body.
The rain never sounded so harsh against his ears.
The Hollow had already retracked it's sword back, as it gently placed it over one shoulder, looking down at the two with no remorse, or smile. He stared down coldly at the two, but mainly at Rukia, who was slowly opening her eyes weakly. Through the small slits of her eyelids, she searched for the sight of the Hollow, and soon the both of eyes met.
"..K..Kaien..dono.." She had a pained expression on her face, one that Ichigo had never thought she could've worn in all the years she had lived.
"..payback's a bitch,Rukia."
Ichigo was so confused, but then slowly began to understand. He didn't really get the whole story, just the main parts of it. He knew that they had a past together. He knew that maybe, Rukia might've hurt, or even killed, this "Kaien", since he is a Hollow, afterall. He hid his saddened emotions with anger very well, as he placed Rukia down at his side slowly and stood up, his orange hair covering his eyes.
Kaien had ignored Ichigo, since his eyesight never left Rukia's.
"..if you really loved me, then why did you do it. Just because Ukitake said so!?" He pointed his sword blamingly at her as she started to shout, which made Rukia's expression even more hurt than it could've ever gotten.
"YOU FUCKING BETRAYER!"
Right then, Rukia broke off their invisible link of eyes. She closed her eyes and then laid there, actually wishing the million raindrops that were falling upon her were daggers instead. She wanted to die before, for what she had done, but now after confronting him and knowing how he really felt, she wished that he had pierced her heart when he stabbed her.
Ichigo couldn't stand on the sidelines any longer, nor wanting Rukia to take anymore verbal abuse. He got in between them, as Kaien's attention now diverted to the 15-year old Shinigami high school student. It was then that the Hollow noticed his remarkable reiatsu, and then snitched, thinking that it was time for things to get serious.
Kaien had then brought up his sword and pierced his own heart, as Ichigo watched in horror and killing angst. The Hollow had screamed and then was enveloped in a black light as the light around him grew and grew until it reached the treetops. It slowly dissipated and there stood something Ichigo was used to seeing. The Kaien that stood before Ichigo was now long gone. In his place, there stood a Hollow, much like the one that looked like the one that had killed off Kaien, except much more bigger and stronger.
Without any hesitation, both of them darted at eachother, swinging carelessly and throwing every punch or blow they could. It wasn't like Ichigo to be fighting like this, he had never gotten so angered like this before, so his reactions were quite slurred. With Ichigo's messy fighting, the Hollow got in a few good attacks. It had stabbed Ichigo in many places, and then wrapped him with it's arms as it threw him hard into the ground, causing a crater to form from impact. Ichigo heaved himself up into a sitting position and breathed heavily, ignoring the long line of blood flowing down the side of his face, mixing with the sweat and rain. The Hollow had stepped into the crater above Ichigo, creating sort of a cage with it's many arms and legs as one of the legs purposely stepped on Zangetsu, pushing it into the ground so Ichigo wouldn't be able to get it. The Hollow had let out an evil laugh as it closed the gap between the two quickly, trying to devour Ichigo.
'Well..this is it. What the hell was all this for.. going through all this trouble to be eaten by a measly damn Hollow.. I fucked up bad this time.. Rukia,..'
'………………..sorry.'
Ichigo waited for the impact. He waited and waited, and seemed like it dragged on forever. It never came. He slowly opened his eyes, surprised to see a black, thinking if he was dead, this really didn't feel like it, because he definitely felt the pain still. It took him a few more seconds to start hearing the rain, and then feel the wetness of the rain and blood on his body, soaking his black Shinigami uniform. But he also felt something else, his neck and head were embraced. He slowly lifted away to see who it was, and it was Rukia, in her Shinigami robes. The Hollow was just a few inches, maybe even centimeters, away from Rukia, as she held Ichigo close to her body, protecting him with everything she had left.
"Kaien..I know you can hear me..please listen," Her muffled voice called out to the Hollow, as it froze in it's track. She still embraced Ichigo tightly, breathing heavily from her wound, but also from taking Shinigami form. "Kaien…I'm sorry..I had no choice. You would've done the same thing, I only did it because I cared, I didn't want to see you in pain. You were my captain. I looked up to you.. what good was it to look up to someone who can't even win their own battles?.. Please, Kaien, Miyako would've done the same thing.. and you know that's true." The Hollow flinched a little, seeming as what she had said actually affected it. Maybe, she thought, maybe Kaien really is still in there.
"Kaien, don't hurt him anymore.. I don't want to be in pain for as long as I live. I still regret what I did to you and I will never forgive myself, but I won't let it happen again! Kaien..I….I…" The Hollow roared loudly, as he brought up it's arms and formed a long, spike, meaning to stab both of them with one blow. As started to bring it down, she clenched Ichigo tighter, causing a few of her teardrops to fall onto his face, suddenly relieving him from the pain he had been in for the past hour or so.
"I LOVE ICHIGO!! PLEASE STOP!"
As if the Hollow followed her order, it did stop. Rukia had only shook uncontrollably, still holding the injured Shinigami as Ichigo stared into the darkness of her robes.
'R..Rukia..what…why..?'
Ichigo then started to relax. He felt his whole body go numb as he let her hold him, never feeling so relaxed in his entire life.
The Hollow then lifted up off of them, giving them room to take in much needed air as he started to grab it's own face, tugging and pulling.
Rukia had let go of Ichigo already, as she started up the crator, towards the creature who seemed to be fighting himself. She had one hand outstretched to the Hollow, as if reaching for it, and one on her flowing and still opened wound. Ichigo then grabbed her foot weakly, signaling for her to stop, and she did.
"Rukia..why did you say tha-"
"Fool.. did you want..to die…or not.." She then broke away from his grip and started back up to the Hollow once again.
Ichigo laid there, still having his arm outstretched from reaching for Rukia. Her words piercing his heart much more than he thought it would. He laid there motionless and replayed what she had just said over and over, as if there was a rewind button in his head.
'She didn't mean it, you idiot. YOU FUCKING IDIOT.. How could you have thought that?! It's Rukia..come on.. stop dwelling on such a stupid thought!'
As soon as she reached the struggling Hollow, her stare softened as she reached out with both hands and cupped it's hands with her own and smiled. The Hollow had stopped struggling and then with the help of Rukia, they both pulled off the mask, revealing Kaien's kind, yet arrogant face. Well, there's another thing that Ichigo can mark on the "how-much-I-have-in-common-with-Kaien" list.
He looked at her and smiled softly, closing his eyes and grinning wider.
"Never thought I'd see the day my pupil sent me off with a soul burial, huh." Rukia smiled weakly as she took out Shirayuki. She had lifted the blade and then started the ritual that she has grown so used to.
She lowered her sword to her side right after finishing as she watched him slowly fade. He gave her one last looked and winked at her.
"He's a keeper, Rukia. Don't let him go, y'hear me?"
Rukia had blushed and then looked away. A smile crept onto her face as Rukia nodded subconsciously, as if agreeing. She then realized what she was doing and then looked back within a second to try and find Kaien, but he was already gone. The thought of what he said played in her mind again, and within a few moments, she collapsed.
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She awoke slowly, as she felt no raindrops pounding on her skin, but only heard and smelled the rain air. The pain returning to her a few seconds after her awakening, but subsided a little as she felt a tight band of bandage around her stomach. She looked up and saw that she was in Ichigo's lap, who had been leaned against a tree, watching her sleep until she woke up.
"You alright." He looked at her with his usual frown, but had a hint of worry in his expression that was directed to her, and only her.
Rukia smiled at him and then nodded, deciding not to move from his lap.
"Hey, Rukia.." Ichigo balled his robes into his closed fist that rested on his thigh, "..what you said to Kaien earlier..about you know.. you loving me..was it really true.."
Rukia did not respond, nor did she look at him. Ichigo had looked down at her to see if he could get an answer, any answer. But there was none, at least not verbally. After about three minutes of silence and no motion, she shifted her head and laid her head closer to his body, and wrapped her arms around his waist.
Ichigo let out a silent sigh of relief, as a small smile crept on his face. He hadn't smiled in a long time, and it had felt uncomfortable, but in a way, it felt right.
He leaned back and let her rest against him as he put his arm over her, making it seem like he was protecting her from any danger, even though they were alone.
"I love you, too." He quietly replied, so that only she could hear him say those words that meant everything to her. She knew that he meant it and meant it only her. A smile soon formed across her face, right before they both fell asleep in the middle of the forest, on a rainy day.
Maybe, they won't hate rainy days that much anymore.