WARNING: Chapter 423 spoilers! If you have not read it and don't want to be spoiled, please do not read this one-shot! I don't want to make anybody mad because they didn't see this warning.

After reading chapter 423, I was feeling very very happy about what I read, it was just the cutest IchiRuki moment ever, so… I wanted to write about it, and here we go.

Disclaimer: I do not own bleach, but I do own, "How to train your Ichigo," and, "How to train your Rukia," (both can be found on my profile page) but no matter how many stories I write, I will never own bleach.

IchiRuki IchiRuki IchiRuki IchiRuki IchiRuki IchiRuki IchiRuki IchiRuki IchiRuki IchiRuki

"Thank you…" these words hang over Rukia's heart as she backs away from the orange haired teen, who is staring straight through her soul, all though he doesn't know it.

She turns her head to hide the tears that threaten to fall, before realizing that he won't be able to see them. The door to the Kurosaki household swings open and Ichigo spins around to face his friends. "Hey," he greets them, hiding his sadness.

Uryu nods at him, but his eyes are trained on Rukia, she sniffles once, and then suddenly straightens, her Kuchki heritage kicking in. "I must return to the Soul Society," she tells Uryu.

He nods, "Yes, Ichigo can not see or hear you now, correct?"

Rukia nods wistfully, "That is correct, I need his substitute soul reaper badge back before I go, can you ask him where he left it? He won't be able to see it now, so I will go get it later."

Uryu nods and turns to Ichigo, who is listening Orihime babble about what she is cooking for dinner. "Hey Ichigo, where did you last put your substitute soul reaper badge? Rukia needs it."

Ichigo reaches for his pocket where he knows he placed it last, but hesitates. "Can I keep it?" he asks tentatively.

Uryu shrugs and looks at Rukia for the answer. She takes a deep breath and thinks it over. "I guess… it can just remain lost, if I don't bring it up, they will probably forget that they gave it to you."

Uryu repeats Rukia's words to Ichigo with a brief, "You can keep it, and try not to lose it."

"Yea yea…"

Rukia pulls out her soul phone and checks the time, "I have to go," she says quietly to Uryu, "I don't think I will be back. I will try, but I doubt it…"

Uryu simply nods, doing his best to not give away Rukia's exit.

Orihime on the other hand, is not so tactful, "Oh Rukia, you have to leave? Why don't you think they will let you come back?"

Uryu sighs impatiently into one hand, "You see Orihime, Rukia has no more business down here, and the chance that she will come back before we all die is very slim."

"Oh, ok then Rukia, take care now!" Orihime shakes Rukia's hand rapidly, smiling widely.

"You too Orihime, you too, now I really do have to go."

Rukia takes a step back from the teens, and takes a moment to try and memorize all of their looks. From Orihime's bright hair to Uryu's skinny figure, to Ichigo's tall, mesmerizing gaze, Rukia wants to remember it all.

She scoffs to herself at such a notion, soul reapers aren't supposed to feel, especially not Kuchki's, she will leave this world, and never see any of these humans ever again.

Rukia calls up a Senkaimon, and walks through it soundly, not looking back.

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That night

"I would like to be reassigned to the world of the living to fight hollows in Karakura." Rukia states loudly as she kneels before head captain-Yamamoto.

"No"

Rukia looks up from the ground, her eyes blazing with passion, "Why not sir? I am very capable, and they need help, have you seen the guy down there right now? If Ichigo and I hadn't been there to figh…."

"That is enough!" roars Yamamoto. "Ichigo Kurosaki is no longer a soul reaper, and he should never be mentioned in the Soul Society ever again, am I clear?"

Rukia bows her head, the passion slowly fading away, "Yes sir, you are clear."

"Good, this meeting is adjourned." Yamamoto exits quickly and Rukia sighs, letting the tension drain from her body. She heads back to her barracks, but is stopped on the way by a certain red-haired Shinigami.

"What do you want Renji?" Rukia asks, annoyance creeping into her voice.

"You really love him, don't you?" Renji asks quietly as he leans against a nearby wall.

Rukia snorts, "Why would you think that?"

"It's obvious Rukia, even though he can't see you, you still want to go down to the retched world of the living to be with him. You stayed down there for a whole month waiting for him to wake up, and the first thing you do when you get back is request to leave again!" Renji crosses his arms and looks at Rukia expectantly.

"I… don't know how I feel," Rukia admits, "I don't know why, but I want to be around him, he has changed my life, for the better, something no one has ever done before, it's hard to explain."

Renji puts up a hand to stop her, "It's ok, Urahara and I have a plan."

"What?" Rukia's jaw drops slightly, surprised at Renji's comment.

Renji pushes her jaw up to its normal place as he continues, "Urahara can make a gigai that Ichigo will be able to see, you could live side by side with him like a normal human, then go and fight hollows when need be."

"How do I do that? Yamamoto told me no already." Rukia huffs in frustration and joins Renji against the wall.

Renji laughs, "That part is easy, just tell Yamamoto your in love with a human and he will exile you to the world of the living like he did with Isshin, peace of cake."

"Maybe…" Rukia stares into the night, wondering whether Ichigo is staring up at the same sky (kinda cheesy… I know)

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One week later

Ichigo sits down in his favorite seat in the classroom, all the way to the right, back corner. Here he can sleep without being disturbed, and that means he can dream of her again… He puts his head down between his arms to catch some shut eye.

"Excuse me sir, is anyone sitting here?" A high-pitched voice rings in Ichigo's ears and he groans at its fakeness. "No," he grumbles out.

"Ok, are you going to ignore me all class period just to sleep? That's foolish of you Ichigo."

Ichigo looks up to glare at the new intruder, "Oy, I can do whatever I want, and how do you know my na…. Oh." Ichigo's gaze softens and he stands up, glowering two full heads above the new girl.

"Miss me?" she asks playfully, giving his arm a gentle shove.

"R-rukia," he stutters out, unable to form any other words.

Rukia nods, "Yea that's me, what's with that pitiful face Ichigo, I told you I wasn't dying. Jeez."

Ichigo sits back down at his desk and motions for her to sit in the one next to her, "How did you get back? How can I see you?"

Rukia chuckles at the clueless expression on Ichigo's face, "Well to start, I'm in a gigai, so everyone can see me. Secondly, I got exiled from the Soul Society."

"What? How the hell did that happen Rukia?"

"Well you see," Rukia lowers her voice and leans in towards Ichigo. "I professed to the council that I am in love with a human, and they exiled me because it is against the law."

Ichigo's confused face gets even more confused as he process's her words. "Is it Uryu?" he asks, suspicion edging into his voice.

Rukia sweat-drops slightly at Ichigo's stupidity. "No you fool…. It's you."

Ichigo freezes, and a light blush sprinkles across his face, "Me?"

Rukia nods tentatively, hoping to not be rejected. "How do you feel about that?"

Ichigo pauses for a moment, before a smile cracks on his face, he pushes his hand out towards Rukia, "That sounds great."

Rukia accepts the hand, smiling at the newfound feeling. "Great."

The bell dings overhead and the two are forced to face front, but their hands remain locked together, for now and for always.

Fin

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This is a very random story… I'm not really sure where it spawned from, but I hope you all enjoyed it.

Please review, I really want to know what people think of my writing, so please please please please review.

I'll give you a cookie!