Morning Lullabies
Of course, everything had started with his father. Otherwise, there was no way they would ever have gotten into this ridiculous position on their own.
"I'm going to rearrange my bedroom, son, so I need to shove some things into your closet temporarily," Isshin mentioned one afternoon.
"Sure, whatever—huh, what?" Ichigo stared. "Why my closet? Karin and Yuzu have one, use theirs." And if you use mine, Rukia's out of a place to sleep.
"A mouse couldn't live comfortably in their closet!" Isshin said breezily. "Besides, I'm helping them rearrange their room as well! So they'll have to cram some stuff in there too!"
"J-Just leave everything in the hallway!"
"And risk my precious children's lives by having things littered willy-nilly in the hall for them to trip on and snap their tender necks? For shame, Ichigo! Unless—" Isshin's eyes flashed slyly—"there's a reason you don't want us looking inside your closet, hmmm? Is my son feeling manly urges and hiding naughty magaz—"
"Shut up, ya senile old lecher!" Ichigo shoved Isshin out of his way and stalked off. "There's nothing to hide! Just make sure everything's in the closet, I don't wanna kill myself falling over random crap."
Thank God his mother wasn't around to hear how her husband was talking to her only son. Her presence must have really tamed Isshin's asinine antics; otherwise, it was impossible to think Masaki Kurosaki could have had a such misguided taste in men.
One of these days, I'm gonna demand a paternity test…
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"What?!"
Rukia jacked up off Ichigo's bed, her manga flopping forgotten to the floor.
"I tried to say no at first, but then he started asking why I'd mind. I didn't use that closet for much of anything besides storing spare futons before you arrived; it would look pretty suspicious if I kept protesting."
"Well…how much stuff are we talking about? If it's only a bit, I wouldn't mind taking it out at night and putting it back in the morning."
"If it was only a few things, my closet wouldn't be needed. Besides, we're talking about dad and the girls' rooms."
"But Ichigo, where will I hide? Where will I sleep?"
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"Ichigo, I don't think I need to stress this…but if you decide that now is the time to at like a horny teenager, I will kick—"
"Don't flatter yourself—yeow!"
"Serves you right."
"You brought it up."
This was surefire proof that there was indeed a higher power in the universe. Only a divinity with a twisted, sadistic sense of humor could have shoved them into this predicament.
"Tell me again why Urahara can't take you in."
Rukia sighed, fluffing a pillow before tossing it on Ichigo's bed. "I told you—tons of merchandise he hadn't ordered were delivered to him at the same time he's been cleaning out the shoten. The place is a mess right now, and it's already cramped with the four of them. "
"…Bull."
"It's true!"
"It's too frickin' convenient, Rukia: Dad's messing with his room, Karin and Yuzu fiddling with their room, Urahara cleaning out the shoten…" Ichigo grabbed the edge of his bedspread and yanked it back.
"Convenient for who? This wasn't in my plans, just so you know."
"Convenient for Dad. He's always harpin' on me to get a girlfriend and practice giving him grandbabies."
"I guess it's plausible…if he knew I existed."
"True…" Ichigo paused. "You sure you couldn't stay with Orihime?"
The fluffed pillow slammed into his back. "Stop trying to kick me out, dammit! What do you want me to say to her? 'Oh, Inoue-san, could I sleep over at your apartment a couple days? Kurosaki-sensei is cleaning his house and I'd just be in the way—oh, you mean you didn't realize I lived with Kurosaki-kun? It's a funny story, actually!' "
"…Tatsuki?"
"NO! It's the same situation, numbskull!" Rukia tackled him onto the bed and proceeded to pummel him with a second pillow. "I'm staying right here! Listen—"
"Get the hell off, pipsqueak—"
"No, listen, listen!" His attacker straightened, straddling his chest while she pointed a commanding finger at him. "There's no need for this to be awkward! Know why? I'll tell you why!"
Rukia bent again, angling her face toward his. "Do you feel sexual tension between us?"
"HUH? Hell no!"
"Do you have erotic daydreams about me?"
"Dammit, dwarf, no!"
"When you go to sleep, do you dream about—"
"You? Once I imagined tossing you off the roof, does that count?!"
"Excellent."
Ichigo's hands, two inches from grabbing her shoulders and shoving her off him, stopped. He looked at her quizzically.
"And you interrogated me, why?"
"Connect the dots, Strawberry. If you don't feel anything for me, you won't want to do anything with me, so why would you be nervous about sharing your bed?"
Ichigo processed this…and smirked. "And those questions...the same goes for you?"
"Yup. Zero attraction, zip imaginings, zilch dreams."
"Well, that's pretty strange, or do you always straddle the stomachs of guys you're not attracted to?"
Rukia took in her position (bottom resting on his abdomen, thighs wrapping the barrel of his chest) and Ichigo's face (that damned grin and those laughing eyes) and the low rumble she felt vibrating around his rib cage and the shaking of his taut stomach as a chuckle swelled in him. She promptly whopped him in the face once more with the pillow before he could see her flush a thousand shades of red.
"Stupid carrot-top," she snapped, hopping off the now uncontrollably laughing boy.
Ichigo shoved the pillow off his face, now red with mirth. "Shoulda seen your face, Rukia! God, you looked like I'd walloped you!"
"Stupid strawberries shouldn't talk! Now come on, I wanna take a shower. Stand guard so your family doesn't walk in."
"Getting ready for bed, huh? Can't wait to hop in with me, I guess?"
"CLAM IT!"
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Ichigo slept lightly, unused to having to share his one-man bed, unused to having a warm little body curled next to him, her breath lightly fanning the back of his neck.
He'd normally relish sleeping in on Sunday mornings, but now, now he wanted day to break and give him an excuse to leave the bed. If sunrise pierced his window, it would be understandable if he woke up and couldn't reclaim slumber. It would be understandable if he went downstairs, puttered around, and made himself an early breakfast, doing anything but staying in that warm little room with that warm, peaceful, soft little body. Hell, cleaning the entire clinic would be a great way to keep occupied…
But somehow, while plotting his escape, he dozed off. When his eyes next slid open…he found that he'd moved.
He was no longer facing the wall beside his window, but had flipped over to his left side in the night. His mouth was nuzzling a soft mop of tousled dark hair; his arms curled around the petite frame he'd loathed in the wee hours of the morning.
A small part of his mind whipped into full-blown panic—What the hell are you doing, Ichigo? What the hell are you doing? Your arms, her hair, and your legs, good God, your right leg and hers are tangledtogether—but the rest of his body didn't respond in kind.
Actually, this was the most peaceful he had felt in ages.
Her neck was on his left arm—when did that slip under there?—and the hair he hadn't pressed his face against was spread haphazardly over the smooth white pillow.
A song floated unbidden through his thoughts, a smooth string of notes Rukia fell in love with just a few days before…
Yesterday….I woke up…with your head on my arm…My hand was numb…circulation gone…
Ichigo drew back a little, not enough to disturb her, but just enough so he could fully see her sweet face, free from the worries and determination it showed through the day.
But I dared not move the pretty sleeping one…
As if it were someone else's, Ichigo saw his right hand lift and trace the dappled spots of early sunlight and shadows across her cheek.
The sun had painted…patterns on your face…as you breathed Sunday air…
Rukia shifted. Had the feathery touch woken her? No, no, she rolled a couple inches across the mattress, her head shifting further up his arm, her chest—her chest—pressing against his own, her breath tickling his collarbone. His hand moved on its own again, fingers ruffling through her dark mane—good God, this could become a compulsion—
You rolled onto…my open arm…I became your pillow…you let me smooth your hair…
He hadn't lied last night. He certainly hadn't! He'd never dreamed of her, never fantasized anything between them.
Damn, he sucked at lying even to himself.
But now….now…everything he felt for her (the protectiveness, the frustration, the gratitude, the feeling that she was one of the few people in either world that truly understood him) seemed to combine and hint that these feelings were indicators of something else all along. Something he'd laughed off time and time again.
No, it couldn't be that…
But…
I will sing you morning lullabies…You are beautiful and peaceful this way…I know you have to close your eyes on everyone…Let me help you, I'll sing you to sleep…with morning lullabies…
Rukia started unconsciously pressing her head back against his teasing hand, her neck curving to give him a wonderful glimpse of it.
"Ichi…"
Wait.
"…go…"
Her back arched, her chest pressed more firmly into his.
Let me lie in the curve…of your body tonight…And I will hear you tumble into sleep…I will watch you here, I'll watch you here with me…
Had she said what he thought she had? His heart threatened to slam through his ribs. A mirror wasn't needed to know his face was stained scarlet.
"Nnn….Ichi…go…" The corners of parted mouth curved in dreamy smile.
Ichigo slowly lowered his face…pressed his forehead against Rukia's…and sighed. What should he do?
A knock and Isshin's voice boomed through the room.
"Ichigo, get dressed!! We have a lot of stuff to get out of there and back into our rooms!!"
Rukia jerked awake against him, her dazed mind slamming into the twin realizations of just where Kurosaki Senior's voice was blasting and just where Kurosaki Junior's arms were.
"Best to get an early start, m'boy, people die in bed!! Do I have to get in there and test your self-defense skills?!"
Blue eyes stared into brown in confusion, then horror.
The door clicked and started swinging open.
Ichigo tightened his arms around Rukia and flipped. She wound up half under him, tangled and hidden in the sheets, pressed against the wall out of sight of the doorway, with only Ichigo's back visible.
"Aww, Daddy, he's still sleeping. Can't you wait 'til later? He's been studying so hard lately, he deserves it."
"Well, if you insist, Yuzu my child, I can indulge you this once."
"Thank you, Daddy. I'll give you extra pancakes."
"Goody! If I knew being lax with Ichigo would get me such rewards, I'd have done it more often…"
Not really, Isshin thought. My boy can't afford not to have his fights with me each morning, keeps him sharp!
But I think Ichigo will be active enough now that my "Grand Master Plan to Get My Son and His House Guest Together!" has gone so well…
And they were gone.
And Ichigo and his stowaway were left tangled in each other as intimately as they could be still clothed, staring at each other, breathing heavily from their frightful close-call.
Rukia gulped and said on a gasp, "You can get off me now."
Ichigo shifted—but not off of her. Instead he propped himself up so his weight wouldn't crush her, but his frame loomed over her smaller one, caging her.
Her eyes narrowed warily. "Remember what I said about kicking you, Kurosaki?"
"You weren't acting like you wanted to kick me before Dad came in. You were snuggling."
Rukia flushed spectacularly. "Y-You liar!"
"Tell that to the pins and needles in my arm, you were using it as your pillow. No—" He cut off her sputterings. "Listen, listen. You wanna have a hypothetical conversation?"
"No—"
"Great. Hypothetically…if I told you I liked sharing a bed with you…would you feel likewise?"
Those piercing blue eyes measured him. "Hypothetically…yes."
"Hypothetically, if I told you I like feeling your body wrapped in mine…"
"Hypothetically, I just might like it too."
Ichigo started leaning in, his voice growing softer with each word. "Hypothetically, if I told you this…new experience…showed me I can't keep telling myself I don't feel…something more than…friendship…for you…more than… 'like'…for you…"
Rukia lifted her head and whispered as well. "Hypothetically…I might say what the hell took you so long…"
And somehow his mouth was on hers and her mouth was on his, and they had to let their minds take a second to stop reeling and figure out that yes, this was happening, or how else could they suddenly break apart and stare in wonder at each other, lungs desperate for air.
It wasn't long before Ichigo broke into a slow grin.
"So…you really don't dream about me?"
"Huh?"
"For someone who never dreams of me…" Ichigo slowly smiled. "…you sure do say my name a lot in your sleep."
"I…I what…?"
Rukia's breath caught as Ichigo once more wove his fingers into her midnight hair. Her dazed eyes widened—So it was him making that wonderful move—then turned bright and welcoming.
"C'mere, Carrot-Top…"
And their mouths melded.
I will sing you morning lullabies…You are beautiful and peaceful this way…I know you have to close your eyes on everyone…Let me help, I'll sing you to sleep with morning lulla-bye, bye, baby, close your eyes and I will sing you…morning lullabies…
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Sheherazade's Blah Blah Blah
Hello! This is SheherazadeSohma. This is my first Bleach one-shot. Please be gentle with me. (bow) The song used in this piece was 'Morning Lullabies' by Ingrid Michaelson. I cut out a few words in the last stanza of the song, otherwise it's all intact. I also put the lyrics in a different format from the usual paragraphs since I thought it would more interesting, and perhaps flow a bit easier.
Also, I plan on putting a few more drabbles together with this story—one song story, two not based on songs. And probably any more I think up, we'll see how it goes.
If anyone is reading this who is a follower of my other story The Juunishi Host Club, no, I'm not abandoning that one. I just need to figure out how to construct the next chapter. But I'll work on it!
Thank you for taking the time to read this story! Please review with praise and/or constructive criticism!
