Title: Fall in Love like A Shoujo Manga

Author: Bleachedinubasket-

Genre: Romance/Humour

Characters: Ichigo Kurosaki, Rukia Kuchiki

Summary: Ichigo is kicked out of the house, Rukia is asked to tag along and they end up living together. Will this tear them apart or will they grow to realise something deeper? And is Rukia slowly turning human?

--

Fall in Love like a Shoujo Manga

Chapter One: Missing Bed

--

Ichigo quickly put on his uniform and picked up his bag. He walked downstairs and sat down for breakfast. He greeted his family and started to eat, he glanced at his father who was giving him a serious look in the face.

"What?" He asked rather rudely.

"Have you seen Rukia-chan around?" He asked. Ichigo paused, come to think of it; it's been a while since he saw the short shinigami.

"Yeah, at night I see her. Why?"

"Oh, I was just wondering, 'cuz usually I see you around with her all the time." Isshin snickered. Ichigo just rolled his eyes.

It's been three years since the war with Aizen, and luckily the world made it out alive. Ichigo found out his old man was a shinigami from a near death rescue. So pretty much anyone close to him knew about soul society, like Keigo, Tatsuki and his whole family.

"Good morning family!!" The plush lion flew down the stairs and the Kurosakis ignored him. "Humph. Days like this I wish nee-chan were here."

"It's not like she left." Ichigo said, finishing up.

"Yeah, but she seems to be busy with something all the time, and this morning I saw her packing." Kon muttered with arms crossed.

Ichigo found that a little odd, was she deciding to leave after she's lived with him and his family for three years? Well, it would make sense when there's nothing new going on… no new enemies or anything related to hollows. But why now when she could've left a long time ago? Is she really deciding to leave? I'll ask her, he thought.

--

He arrived at the school in record time and looked around the class for Rukia. They were in their last senior year and it's been a strange high school life.

"Oi, Ichigo!" Keigo rushed towards him. "So? Are you excited for graduation?" He asked.

"Have you seen Rukia?" Ichigo asked, clearly ignoring the question.

"Yeah, she's on the roof with a bunch of girls. Why?"

"'Cuz I've been meaning to ask why she-" Ichigo stopped, right, no one knew about their living situation and he had no intention of letting anyone know due to the suspicions. "Never mind. I'll see you around."

He dropped his bag onto his chair and made his way to the roof. Hands in his pockets, with the usual scowl, he walked up to the giggling girls and as Keigo had said, Rukia was with them. The girls looked up to see the scowling man, and then they looked over to Rukia.

"Rukia." Ichigo said. The small girl looked up and with a big fake smile replied:

"Yes Kurosaki-kun?" Ichigo shivered at the high-pitched voice.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" Ichigo asked with an even deeper scowl.

"Alright." Rukia said, standing up. "Excuse me girls." She said and Ichigo grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her near the fence.

"They sure seem to have a lot of tension." Chizuru muttered.

"Not really," Orihime said with a smile. "It's quite the opposite." Tatsuki sighed as she turned her head to watch the two talk.

"Where have you been lately? I was- that is, my family has been worried about you!" Ichigo said. Rukia shook her head.

"They're not worried about me, you are." She said simply, smiling.

"You're not there for breakfast, or dinner. What's going on?" He asked.

"You'll find out soon enough, and I wasn't very happy when I found out." She said.

"What? Find what out?"

"You'll see." Rukia answered, poking his chest. Ichigo grabbed her wrist and glared at her.

"Are you leaving?" He simply said. Wow, how straightforward, Rukia thought. But he was serious. Rukia sighed.

"You idiot. Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere." She smiled and then a soft pink tinge coloured her cheeks. Ichigo was relieved and then noticed that he still had her hand. He quickly let go and scratched the back of his head.

"Alright." He answered, and for some reason he felt as if a huge weight had just been lifted off of his chest. "Uh… you can go now… but promise me you'll be at dinner tonight?" Rukia nodded.

"Okay." Rukia ran towards to her friends and then sat down back at her place.

The girls stared at her as if expecting an explanation, and Rukia looked back at them in the same manner.

"So? What was that? He was holding your hand! Explain!" Chizuru said. Rukia shook her head.

"Did it look like that? He does that when he's annoyed that's all." She answered. The group groaned. "What?"

"Are you blind?" The girl version of Chad asked. "He clearly likes you! I know I've asked this before, and that was two-ish years ago. What is your relationship with the guy? Ever since second year ended, you two have been even closer!" Rukia was caught in surprise, is that how it seems?

"We're just… friends." The group shook their head.

"We're not going to agree with you because you clearly don't see what everyone else does."

"But when it comes to things like that, Ichigo is a bit… not caring? And besides, we'll never be like that." The group murmured in disapproval, and the bell rang.

--

At the end of the day, Rukia was talking to her friends again. Ichigo scratched the back of his head, contemplating on why he was going to do what he was about to.

"Rukia, can I walk you home?" Ichigo asked, a frown on his face, not a scowl, a frown.

Rukia laughed inside her head, in truth, there was no point on asking that since they lived in the same house. But, she remembered how worried he was about her and decided to cut him some slack.

"Alright." She said.

"See you Kuchiki-san!" Orihime said, waving quickly.

"Okay, bye guys." She smiled and walked over to Ichigo's side.

Ichigo stuffed his hands into his pockets and then wondered why it was so silent. He glanced to his right and then sighed. He looked over again and then saw that she was a bit farther. His eyebrow rose and then he furrowed them.

"What's wrong?" He asked. Rukia looked up and then paused.

"Don't you wonder what this might look like to other people?" She asked. Ichigo shook his head.

"It doesn't matter because I never really cared about what they thought." He muttered.

"Yeah right." She said. "If you didn't care what they thought you would've told them eons ago that you were shinigami."

"Rukia, what's your point?"

"My point is… are you aware? Are you aware of what other people have thought of us?" Rukia's stare seemed to pierce his soul. Of course he was aware, he was aware a long time ago. He didn't want to make it a big deal because she needed her there.

"I'm not an idiot Rukia." He simply answered, and then started walking again.

"I know. That's why I'm asking you like a smart person would." She said. Ichigo paused.

"If you're not an idiot you should have thought into my answer and then understood that I already knew about what they thought. Even though none of my friends asked… well maybe Keigo, doesn't mean I haven't been aware of it." Ichigo said.

"Then? What do you make of it?" She asked. What was this now? A simple walk home had turned into an interrogation. Ichigo sighed.

"I didn't make anything of it because… rather, what did you make of it?" He asked. Now Rukia paused for a while as if thinking for an easy way to say it.

"I've said we were just friends… although they seem to be pushing me to say something entirely different…" She looked away. "What were you going say?" Rukia was now certain that he wouldn't say what he originally wanted to say, but waited for an answer anyway.

Ichigo turned his head and ran a hand through his hair then looked her in the eyes. "I guess… I didn't make anything of it because I was so used to you being there… or knowing you were somewhere I could reach you… I thought it was normal, to have someone like that in a not so normal life." He had a lot of time to think about it, so much time that he didn't think it would sound so needy.

Despite the somewhat needy answer, Rukia smiled genuinely. She didn't even think of what he might have thought, though it was true… even though they don't rescue each other as much anymore, they still felt whole together. Or at least, that's what Rukia thought, though she'd never admit it. Judging by Ichigo's answer, she predicted it was the same for him as well.

"Wow… that was deep." Rukia said, in a slight mockery sort of tone; and it reached Ichigo's ears in that way.

"Yeah well whatever, I'm starting to doubt I said that." He said, scratching the back of his head. Rukia laughed and then sighed.

"Okay! Let's go home!" She grabbed his wrist and then gently tugged him home.

--

The Kurosakis and Rukia had all sat down to dinner, and it was a tense atmosphere for some odd reason. Ichigo glanced at his father who would usually be trying to feed Karin or Yuzu, or maybe Karin would talk to Ichigo about his powers, or Isshin would start questioning Rukia about Ichigo but none of that was happening, which really started to bother Ichigo.

"What's going on?" Ichigo asked. They looked up at him and then Yuzu burst into tears. Karin shook her head and sighed.

"Yuzu, it's okay, don't cry." Karin said, rubbing her twin's back.

"But…" She said, and then glanced up at Ichigo. "I'm going to miss you so much Ichi-nii!"

"Wow, wait… I'm not going anywhere." He said. Karin glanced at Rukia who shook her head.

"I haven't told him yet… I'm waiting for your father to start it off." Rukia answered. The fourteen year old simply nodded and then looked at her father.

"Right, well Ichigo, I had a discussion with the family… or to be more exact, I have come to an important decision." He looked up at Ichigo and then put his cutlery down. "I've decided for you to live on your own." He said.

Ichigo looked at his father in shock. "Why?" He asked. "Rukia, did you say something to him?" Rukia shook her head and then cleared her throat.

"Even though he knows about your shinigami situation and such, he decided that this way would be better since you'll be on your own in this anyway and that with your powers, it could end up attracting some badies to your sisters." Rukia said. Ichigo looked down at his plate, well, that he could understand, that's how he ended up with powers anyway.

"But, why didn't you ask for my opinion?" Ichigo asked.

"Because, I didn't feel like it." Isshin simply replied. Ichigo's shoulders dropped and he sweat dropped. "And besides, it was around your age that I met your mother." He said. Ichigo had a look of forlorn on his face.

"But you won't be alone." Rukia said and Ichigo looked up in surprise.

"That's right, I've asked Rukia-chan to live with you." Isshin grinned. Ichigo's eyebrow twitched.

"WHAT? I'm still going to be stuck with that midget?" Ichigo yelled. Rukia sighed.

"Fine, I'll leave you all by yourself to die and wither in that apartment. I bet you can't even cook." Rukia muttered.

"Don't worry Ichigo, remember what I just said? This was around the time I met your mother?" Isshin winked and then received a blow to the face; he looked up, in pain, to the person who hit him, who was surprisingly blushing.

"Shut up old man." He said. Isshin snickered.

Ichigo packed his clothes away and then sighed. He's been in this room for who knows how long, and he couldn't seem to leave it. It was always his safe-haven, a bed to rest on and a place for privacy… although it was that way until she came. So instead, it became a meeting room and a place where hollows could find him but still a place to rest and recuperate; although it had the annoying hundred year old midget living in his closet.

"Ichigo, are you ready?" Rukia asked, carrying her own bag. Ichigo nodded and picked up his own bag.

"Here hand me your bag." He grabbed her bag into his other hand and Rukia thanked him.

"Hey, you've turned into such a gentleman." She laughed.

"Ah, shut up." He muttered. They made their way down the stairs and then were met by sorrowful sobs from Yuzu.

"Nii-chan! Rukia-nee! Please, be careful out there." She said, crying. Rukia gave her a reassuring smile and patted her on the head.

"We'll be alright, don't worry." She smiled at Karin, who tried to hide her tears. Ichigo sighed and then looked at the twins.

"You've always done fine without me! And besides, I'll visit." Ichigo grinned then Karin and Yuzu hugged him. He returned the hug with a soft but sad smile.

"Now Ichigo, you should go, if you don't leave soon it will only make it harder for you to go." Isshin smiled, and patted his son on the back.

"Thanks dad." He muttered.

"No problem." Isshin grinned.

On their way out the door Ichigo suddenly noticed something.

"But wait… where are we supposed to go now?" Ichigo turned around to his father who had his hands crossed proudly.

"I left that important job to my third daughter." He answered and Ichigo looked at Rukia who was smirking.

"Don't worry Ichigo, everything is ready." She said, and then Isshin pushed them both out the door.

They walked down the dimly lit streets and they came near Orihime's building. Wait; were they living with Inoue now? No, because they just passed it and about two buildings later, they finally walked into a gate to the building.

"Here, this is our building, don't forget." Rukia said. They climbed up the stairs and went to the third floor. Rukia fished in her pockets and pulled out the keys. "There, you open it." She smiled.

Ichigo nodded and put the key in the lock; he pushed the door open and turned the light on. He was surprised to see a fully furnished living room complete with even a PS3. He picked up the bags and went in slowly, looking around and then he scratched the back of his head.

"What is it?" Rukia asked, as she closed and locked the door.

"Well… was it because of this that you weren't home for dinner in a long while?" He asked, turning to face her.

"Yeah… I mean, your father just told me to find you a place that I could live in as well. And then I asked why I needed to be with you he simply answered that you still needed me." Rukia muttered. "So… he handed me his credit card and told me to go nuts." Ichigo smirked and then started to laugh. Rukia's vein pulsed. "What is it now?"

"I don't know, don't you find it strange that first we were living in the same room now in the same house… alone? Seems I'll never be able to get rid of you, you midget." He muttered. Rukia narrowed her eyes and then kicked Ichigo in the shin. He cursed and then glared.

"What now?!" He said.

"Stop calling me a midget, it's disrespectful." She said.

"Oh, I'm so sorry mother." Ichigo said sarcastically. Rukia glared once more and slowly walked down the hall and then slammed the door behind her.

Ichigo looked at the down the hall in surprise at her reaction. He walked up to the locked door and gently tapped it.

"Oi, Rukia…"

"Go away." She said, you couldn't even say thank you! Ichigo ran a hand through his hair.

"What? What did I do?" Ichigo asked.

Rukia sighed, that's right… he didn't do anything that bad. He just called her 'mother' and in a sarcastic way too. But it struck her so hard because in a way it was true… she could have been his mother, considering her age. No, not a mother, a great grandmother! For some reason that fact made it clearer to her that she didn't belong in the human world; after all, she was dead right?

"Nothing…" She whispered. She looked up and noticed that she had run into the right room, it was hers anyway. But… where was the bed? "Oh my God!" Rukia unlocked her door and then bolted out of the apartment.

Ichigo quickly followed and then found her in front of the gate glancing at her watch.

"My bed hasn't come yet!" She said.

"Rukia, there's no point in waiting now, it's ten!" He said.

"But I won't have a place to sleep if I don't get it soon!" She looked down the road as if expecting the truck to come. Ichigo shook his head.

"We'll call first thing tomorrow morning, in the meantime you can sleep somewhere else."

"Where? Your closet?" She asked with her arms crossed.

"No, my bed." He said, walking to the apartment without turning his head.

"Wait… what?" Rukia said, as she followed him.

"For tonight you can sleep in my bed and I'll sleep on the couch." He muttered. Ichigo picked up his suitcase and then handed Rukia hers. "But until we go to bed we should unpack."

He made his way down the small hall, and opened the doors. First, he opened the door to the right, which turned out to be a closet. He walked down a little more and opened the left and knew that it was Rukia's room, from the telltale vacancy that was supposed to be for a bed. He went down the hall just a bit more and opened the door right beside Rukia's and found his room.

It was simple and a bit bigger than his old room with a desk, a chair, and a closet embedded in the wall, a medium window and a bed with dark blue sheets. He looked up at the wall and saw picture frames of him and his friends and another of his family. He looked around and then smirked, for some reason, it fit his tastes very well.

Placing his suitcase onto his bed he unzipped it and took out his clothes. He quickly placed them in his closet, hanging his shirts and some of his pants. There was even a drawer for his undergarments and socks. After he was done and changed for bed, he heard a knock at the door and saw Rukia in her pyjamas as well.

"The bathroom is down the hall. Want a snack first?" She asked.

"Wow, you unpacked quickly; considering the fact that you're a girl."

"Yeah, I had most of my stuff here beforehand, and you seemed to have a lot of stuff for a boy." Rukia crossed her arms and glared. Ichigo glared back and followed her to the kitchen.

She handed him a glass of milk and they sat in the dining room, it was near the living room. Rukia munched on her cookies and Ichigo just stared at his cup. He looked around the fully furnished house and sighed.

"Hey midget, thanks for doing this." He said, without looking at her. Rukia smiled, although he didn't know.

"No problem I guess; I decided I had no choice but to stay with you. So might as well finish the shopping and furnishing early so we wouldn't have to waste time shopping." She said.

"But I could've helped you with that."

"Eh, it's okay." She waved her hand at him and swung her legs under the table. Ichigo smirked and then finished his milk.

"Well, the bed is ready for you and my stuff is already out of the way, I'll just go clean up and then grab my own blankets for out here." He stood up and placed the cup in the sink then headed for the bathroom. Rukia had a somewhat annoyed look on as she watched him walk into the bathroom and shut the door.

Ichigo looked around the bathroom and found it cute. It was nice and clean and seemed spacious considering the size. He washed his face, brushed his teeth (with his new toothbrush) and then left the room. He was surprised to see Rukia carrying blankets and pillows out of his room.

"What're you doing?" He asked.

"Oh, just setting up your bed, since you so kindly offered yours." She grinned. Ichigo's eyebrow rose and followed her to the couch.

He watched as she lifted off the huge pillows of the couch and then start pulling on a cloth handle. Oh, a sofa bed? Ichigo chuckled as he watched her struggle.

"Oh very funny, you could at least help you jerk." She threw a pillow at her and he deflected it with his arms.

"Sorry it was just entertaining to watch, and you looked like you could handle it." He grinned. Rukia punched him in the arm and he rubbed the sore spot. Ichigo pushed her aside gently and then pulled on the handle. "There, happy now?"

"Actually I am, thanks." She answered. Then she applied the sheets and placed the pillows randomly on the bed. "There you are, are you sure you still want to sleep out here? I mean I'd rather sleep on a nice humongous bed like this." She fell back on the futon and the supports squeaked. Ichigo shook his head.

"Now that you say that, yes I still do want to sleep on this." He pushed her aside again and then fell on the bed beside her, nearly crushing her arm if she didn't move it.

"Hey! You nearly killed my arm!" She yelled. There was no response. She looked down at his face and then leaned in. Was he sleeping? "Hey, Ichigo." She said.

"What?" He said suddenly, and then noticed her proximity.

"Ah, nothing." She quickly slid off the bed and turned the lights off. "Night," she said and then walked down the hall to Ichigo's room.

He leaned on his arm and watched as she shut his door, then sighed, and he was so close to grabbing her… wait, what was he thinking? It was probably his hollow's thoughts just then. From somewhere he heard 'yeah right!' He shook his head and realized that he was going nuts.

Rukia hugged her stuffed bunny as she sat up in bed thinking about the circumstances they were under. It's not like she wasn't used to living with Ichigo, but that moment when she was looking at his face, he seemed a lot more different and a lot older. She couldn't ignore the fact that when he grabbed her hand at the school, her heart was pounding like mad. I'm going crazy, she thought. He's done many kind things before, why would she take it to heart now? She groaned loudly and fell back onto the pillow. Contemplating on a simple problem such as this was so… human.

--

The next day came quickly and Rukia woke up to the sun hitting her eyelids. She had woken up just in time and left the room with her bunny to go get dressed in her own room.

Around the same time, Ichigo had woken up and he scratched the back of his head, taking note of the time. It was much too early, he heard a door close and then he looked down the hall. Was Rukia awake? He picked up his pillows and blankets, folding them up neatly and then placed them in the closet of his room. He changed into his uniform and then walked out.

Rukia looked beside her and saw Ichigo looking down at her; he smirked as they exchanged greetings.

"Good morning." They said in unison.

"I'll go make breakfast, you put away the sofa bed." She said simply and then left for the kitchen. Ichigo scratched the back of his head; she seemed to be in a bad mood.

After the annoying task of arranging everything back into order in the living room, he sat down for breakfast at the table and looked at his food with a questioning face.

"What?" Rukia asked, as she ate her eggs and toast.

"Oh, just checking if you didn't poison it, considering your mood today."

"Well I'm so sorry." She said simply, eating her food even quicker.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Why do you care?" Rukia picked up her finished plate and cup to the sink. Ichigo narrowed his eyes as he finished his own food. Rukia paused at the sink as Ichigo put his own dishes into it.

"Because I do." He said. Rukia sighed, what was the point of fighting this? She was going to end up telling him anyway.

"I found a text message from your father saying that he's not supporting us in the rent and food costs, in other words we have money for now, but not a lot. So that means, I have to work!" She stomped her foot.

"No sweat, I'll help." Ichigo muttered as he turned the tap on and washed the dishes.

"Yeah right, you still have your apprenticeship."

"Duh, I can ask to get paid for it." There was a pause. "Rukia, I don't want you to work."

"Why? Think I can't handle it?" She crossed her arms.

"No, you've done enough." He said. "Besides, when I come home, I want dinner." He grinned.

"Oh, so now I'm your housewife."

"If you put it that way, I guess so." Ichigo wiped his hands on the side of his pants and leaned on the sink, watching her expression.

"Why would I marry someone like you?" She answered, and Ichigo just laughed.

--

"Kuchiki-san!" Orihime called as she saw him walk up to the gate with Ichigo beside her. Rukia waved happily to her friends who were cheering at the person walking beside her.

"Your friends are weird." Ichigo muttered. Rukia just stepped on his foot casually and he narrowed his eyes.

"They're your friends too." She said.

"Oi! Ichigo!!" Keigo called out. "I see you finally hooked up with Kuchiki-san!" Ichigo shook his head.

When they finally arrived with their friends, Ichigo was pulled away by Keigo before he got a chance to bid farewell to Rukia, while Rukia was being gently pushed towards the other direction. The two turned their heads to look at each other slowly get farther away.

Around lunchtime, Ichigo looked in his bag to find that his lunch wasn't there. He cursed under his breath and then sighed, well so much for lunch, all he found was a juice box. Ichigo followed his friends to the rooftop and leaned back on the fence as they ate.

"Hey Ichigo, where's your lunch? I wanted some of your food." Mizuro said.

"Uh, I forgot it." He said.

Suddenly he heard his name and Ichigo watched as Rukia ran towards him and his group. He stood up and walked up to her mid-way. He looked over Rukia's shoulder to a bunch of girls who were intently watching with a few blushing. Then he heard his friends say something about a confession. Ichigo looked down at Rukia who was digging in her knapsack and then pull out a bento.

"Here, I saw you forget it so I picked it up for you. You better eat all of it, money doesn't grow on trees." She handed him the lunchbox and then Ichigo gazed at her. "What?"

"Are you sure it's not rotten or old or something?" Ichigo asked, smirking. Rukia narrowed her eyes and then pushed the bento onto his stomach and he quickly grabbed it, in pain.

"No! If you don't want to eat it, then I will! And I can cook you know!" She said. Ichigo laughed, and then suddenly realized what it looked like.

Usually in shojo mangas, the girl who liked the guy would give him a homemade lunch. His eyes widened in surprise, and then Rukia suddenly clasped her hand over her mouth from realization. She blushed and Ichigo smirked.

"Wow, Ichigo actually smiled!" Chizuru muttered.

"No, he wasn't smiling!" Tatsuki said.

Rukia heard them talk and then she suddenly noticed the fact that they had been standing in front of each other without a word for a while now.

"Well, see you." Rukia turned to leave only to be grabbed by the arm and spun around.

"Thanks." Ichigo muttered, blushing slightly and then he leaned down and planted a kiss on her cheek. Rukia's face turned beet red, and her eyes were glued to his shoes, unable to look at his face.

"What-What the hell was that for?" She asked timidly. Oh great, she was acting like a middle-school student in love.

"For the lunch." And with that Ichigo walked away. Rukia paused.

"YOU IDIOT! I'm gonna get you for that!" She yelled.

"Why don't you try?!" Ichigo said, glaring.

Rukia sat down with her friends and then sighed as she opened her own lunch to eat.

"Dude, did Ichigo just kiss you?" Chizuru asked.

Rukia sighed again, now the questions would never end.

--

A/N: Yes, a slow start… but don't worrryyyy, more will come. This is basically like an everyday life thing, only… not as boring and full of ichiruki moments. Yes, there is an actual plot, but… not for the first few chapters. : ) I'd like to call this a story of mindless fluff. : D which are my favourite kinds. I hope they weren't too out of character.

Next chapter: "Oh… hey Inoue."