(Sigh) I seem to be doing this Forbidden Love type of thing a lot... (by a lot I mean the first two on this account...) Oh well... Enjoy! And Feedback is always appreciated!
Standard Disclaimer applies, and enjoy "The Wrong Woman"
Sometimes, Ichigo Kurosaki pondered happiness.
He thought about the choices he'd made in his life and how he'd gotten to where he ended up and wondered if doing something differently would have made things easier. Better.
The answer came to him one ordinary day, when it was raining.
He'd woken up one morning with a sudden sense that everything was wrong, somehow, and the feeling wasn't new. He studied the sleeping features of his wife carefully, as he did every morning, and sighed, getting out of bed, hopefully without waking her.
He made himself a coffee and leant against the counter in his pyjamas, glaring around the kitchen diner with a scowl. An enlarged photo of his wedding day hung on the largest wall, along with several smaller photos of their honeymoon and trips out with friends.
"You should have woken me, Ichigo." Orihime's sleepy voice murmured from the doorway.
Ichigo turned and shrugged. "Thought you'd appreciate the rest." He lifted one side of his mouth in an attempted smile. "Coffee?"
Orihime brightened up. "With ketchup?"
Ichigo turned to the kettle. "You can add the ketchup yourself." He bit back anything further; whenever he let his mouth run away with him he's end up insulting her and she'd go all quiet and sad, and he'd feel bad and they'd end up tense for weeks.
Not worth the effort.
Orihime sighed. "Thanks." And got out the ketchup bottle. "What are you going to do today?"
Ichigo glanced up and passed her the steaming mug. "I've got a shift at the hospital, and then I'll probably do some rounds." He said, shrugging. "I'll probably be back late."
The redhead smiled, fingering her ring absently. "That's okay... do you want me to cook?"
"Nah." Ichigo shook his head. "I don't want to keep you up. You go to bed."
"I don't mind-..."
"It's fine." Ichigo said, putting the empty mug in the dishwasher and striding upstairs, returning shortly after in a white shirt and jeans, ID badge swinging cheerfully from his belt. "See ya." He said, not looking at her. He threw on his jacket and was gone.
Orihime sighed and looked around the empty house.
"So I said to Gracia..." Ichigo closed his eyes as Maes continued chattering about his wife and child, exchanging a long suffering look with Roy, he kept pace as the three surgeons came to a stop at the nurses desk, checking their schedules even as Maes produced several hundred photos of his toddler daughter from nowhere. "And she clapped! How adorable!"
"How's your pretty little wife then, Ichigo?" Roy smirked, leaning across the desk. "I heard you're taking out your holiday tomorrow... gonna spend the day with her?"
"Huh?" Ichigo shook his head. "No. I'm gonna go to see my family for the day."
"Orihime not going?"
"No... I didn't think to ask her." Ichigo shrugged and the two other consultant surgeons exchanged a knowing glance. "...What?"
"Just seems a bit weird, man." Roy shrugged. "I've met the girl a couple of times... she's nice and everything... I don't know why you seem so keen to avoid her."
"Avoid her?" Ichigo scowled. "I'm not avoiding her, she's my wife for fucks sake."
"And how often do you say 'I love you'?" Maes said seriously, and Ichigo raised his eyebrows.
"Come on, man. I don't say stuff like that."
"Ever?" This time Roy raised his eyebrows, and Ichigo turned his eyes skyward. "You've never said it to her?"
"Well, do you say it to Riza every day?"
"I'm right here, Ichigo." The nurse interrupted. "Discuss me in the office if you must, Roy."
"Will do babe." Roy smirked, and as the three men headed up the corridor he shrugged. "Not every day like Maes says... but he calls his family every hour... But I do say it, even if it's just a whisper in bed."
A clipboard flew through the air, knocking the dark haired doctor over, and Riza's voice echoed off the walls. "I said in the office, Roy."
"Yes ma'am." Roy straightened up and met Ichigo's eyes. "Just... make the effort, Ichigo. You married her for a reason, right?" And with that, the three separated, Maes dialling his home number.
Married her for a reason, huh?
Ichigo dug out Kon's pill from the little box in his pocket at six, eyeing is mistrustfully. "I don't like you, and you don't like me... but I cut it too close with the badge last time." He muttered, and clenched his eyes shut as he swallowed the green pill.
Stepping out of his body, he scowled as Kon stretched his arms and legs languidly. "Ugh... That feels better." He glared at Ichigo. "You know that box gives me bruises in all kinds of places."
"Ichigo." The man in question looked up to see the short, dark haired Shinigami at his window. "You ready?"
The orange haired man grinned quickly, jumping onto the sill beside her. "Sure." He turned to Kon, who was eyeing Rukia as though about to launch himself at her chest. "Get my body home, Orihime'll know it's you so don't... humiliate me." He scowled briefly then turned to his partner. "Let's go kick some ass."
Rukia smirked.
It was a quiet night, and the two ended up sitting together on a roof in the town centre, looking up at the stars.
"We still on for tomorrow?" Ichigo checked, turning to the petite Shinigami beside him- the Captains had organised a meeting and, as was now usual, he was privy to all things the captains and Lieutenants knew. Since Rukia had been made Lieutenant of squad 5 under Momo as Captain, she'd been his main source of all the information he missed out on, and patrolled with him at night.
Renji had once said it was weird for a married man to hang out with a girl so much... but it wasn't. Ichigo and Rukia were best friends, and Momo practically ordered Rukia to take breaks for patrolling with Ichigo, saying that she would contact her if she needed to.
Byakuya was happy enough with it- Ichigo was a married man, and so didn't pose a threat to his little sister. Just like Kaien...
But that was going into a whole load of weird.
Rukia had idolised Kaien, and with Ichigo... well if anything then he was the one doping the idolising.
"Yes. Captain Hinamori said that the meeting will start at ten in the morning." Rukia sighed. "You're sure it's okay to use up a holiday like this? What about Orihime?"
"Orihime understands. It's fine." Ichigo lay back with his hands under his head.
"How is she? What's she up to?" Rukia smiled. "I've not seen her in ages... I miss her."
Ichigo opened his mouth, then closed it again. Honestly? He had no idea what she was doing. "Uh... she's good. Doing the housewife thing, I guess."
Rukia glanced at him appraisingly, but said nothing.
"Hollow." She said as he phone started to beep. "About five." She looked up, game face on. "Let's go."
The two sped off towards the park, and centred themselves in the ring of Hollows, about to chow down on the ghost of a teenage boy.
"Normal positions?" Ichigo checked, and Rukia scoffed.
"Why change perfection?" And they attacked as one. Years of training and battling together had honed their moves so that they were perfectly in sync- Black and White... Strawberry and... Cream? Whatever, point is that they were in tune to one another.
"Sode no Shirayuki..."
"... Zangetsu!"
The first four were gone in a flash, not even knowing what had hit them, and then the final one went to devour the spirit, who was sheltering behind a slide.
"Hey!" Rukia shouted, angrily leaping forward before Ichigo could react. "I'm not done with you yet, bastard!" And she threw herself in front of the giant's gaping jaws.
And Ichigo lost sight of her.
Time seemed to slow right down... Ichigo was frozen as he listened to his heart stop for one painful moment...
She was so small... that thing could easily swallow her whole.
In his mind's eye, he saw everything... from the moment she'd first saved him that day in town, and the time she stepped through his wall... and everything since then.
His heart thudded once, painfully, as he remembered her face, waving him off the first time he left her behind in Soul Society... so full of determined peace.
The rain stopped falling.
"RUKIA!"
"What?" She sounded exasperated, and he blinked; the Hollow was gone and the soul was too. It was just him and Rukia, standing in the park. "Stupid giant."
"Uh..."
"You completely spaced out." She leaned over and hit him on the head. "You feeling okay?"
"... Um."
She sighed. "Idiot, you're overworked. Go home. Rest up. Orihime would kill me if I got you hurt." She thought about it. "No she wouldn't... she'd probably apologise... God knows why... OH!" She grinned. "I'll take you home! I want to see that girl! I miss her!"
She happily skipped off, leaving Ichigo to follow her in a daze.
Everything had seemed wrong all day.
No, not just today. Something had been wrong for several years now...
And he'd just realised why.
Just so ya know, I will continue this, and change the rating to 'M'... I like Orihime... I just... prefer Rukia. Hehe x
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