Minus Reiatsu
By Uchiha Xairylle

It was the strangest feeling among the strangest of feelings.

Ichigo was lying in bed and looking up at his ceiling. The lights were off and the room gave off a dark bluish feeling of thick silence. Nothing was moving or making a sound and he almost swore he couldn't even hear his own breath. His arms were stretched on either side and his long legs were apart. On the floor lay his discarded shirt and the polo of his school uniform along with each of his socks. It was the only thing that was not in order in his room, as it was always in order because of two things. Either he had too much to do that he couldn't even touch his stuff or he had nothing to do that he had all the time in the world to fix everything that wasn't in order.

But then again, he never knew he'd forgotten what his ceiling looked like until now. He had been too busy to even glimpse at his ceiling. Everything was coming back to him now – things from before he became Shinigami.

And now he was too idle that he was just staring at his own fricken ceiling.

It's been a week without Shinigami powers. He'd been trying to make himself useful to no avail. He tried helping out the house but Yuuzu told him it'd be better off if he just rested. It made him wonder if that had anything to do with the Teflon he had dented but he was guessing she found out he nearly burned down the garden. His father, well, when it came to clinic stuff, Isshin always just expected Ichigo to be a good son and sit in one corner where he couldn't bother anyone. A lot of help that was. And Karin, well, Karin was just being her usual self and in all silence told Ichigo that she needed no help from him or anyone for that matter.

His sisters had grown up to quite a noticeable extent now. It was almost like he missed it. That or maybe he hadn't seen them for so long. What was he doing? Oh, yeah, that's right he was busy. He was being too busy getting stronger, chasing after Aizen, winning over his Hollow, chasing after Hollows, becoming Getsuga…

Too busy being Shinigami…

Too busy to even come home.

It was at this point that he turned his attention to the open window of his room.

It was around this time when she entered the room.

For some reason, his body seem to have roughly remembered the time when Kuchiki Rukia stepped into his room for the first time. He hadn't noticed until recently. For a week now without fail he'd end up looking at the window as if expecting for something to arrive at this time of night.

But even if something did arrive, he'd be too clueless to even look at it.

Well, if only he knew he was already looking at it.

At her, actually.

What am I doing here?

Rukia sighed inwardly to herself as she sat on his window sill. It was probably her imagination that he was looking at her right now. For all she knew, he was looking at whatever visible things beyond that open window. He drew his head back to look at the ceiling again for a few seconds before he turned to lie on his side and yawned. Ah, the bastard. Lying shirtless on his bed on a cold night like this. She couldn't see much of his features with the dim light. The thick silence had never been this melancholic before because back then, there was this some sort of noise that made the silence a bit more interesting or the darkness a bit more amusing.

Now what was that noise again? It sounded like something knocking inside her. Her chest felt a bit...

Ah, well but what does it matter? Rukia shook her head, got up and prepared to leave had she not seen his slightly open closet door.

She stopped.

And then swallowed.

No, Kuchiki Rukia, you are not going to—

Too late.

Okay, perhaps this just might be a tad bit teensy-weensy stupid.

What the HELL am I doing?

Rukia sighed in her Shinigami garb as she sat curled with her arms holding her knees to her chest. It was dark. It was considerably hot. It was crammed. It was anything but physically comfortable but somehow emotionally relieving. Whoever thought closets could be so nostalgic?

It had been a week since he lost all ability to see and feel her.

This used to be her room.

All the things that didn't used to be there were all there now. Shirts, pants, shorts, tank tops, sweaters and other things Rukia could no longer identify. She was sitting in the corner. There was only a faint light coming from the small hole on the door so she could barely see anything. But there was this long or large thing that was covering her face. She couldn't really tell what it was but she could recognize his scent on it. That or this small space was so full of that smell. After all, it is his closet.

Mmm, so if it's his closet, what was she doing here?

Well, most certainly not waiting for him since, after all, he could no longer see her. He could no longer feel her. There was no point in trying to wait for him to get up. She was just resting, of course. Yes, in here. She was resting in here because of… habit. Yes, out of habit. She would grow out of this resting-in-his-closet habit. But not that she was weak or incompetent that she had to rest. She was just… tired. Even Byakuya-Niisama had to rest sometimes. She was, of course, not reminiscing the days she spent in this human world or perhaps even just his world – not just him. If she had wanted to just see him, she could've easily done it but what she really wanted to do was kick him or bonk him in the head just to relieve her from stress. It would work. She just knew it.

Hitting him had always been productive for the both of them.

In fact, thrusting a sword into his midsection turned him into Shinigami, right? And that was something productive, right? The last time he tried hurting himself, he turned into Getsuga and then turned human.

They should've just let her hit him instead.

It would've worked.

It always worked.

And then her senses perked up. She could sense someone human walking around the room. Rukia's eyebrows furrowed a bit. She hated this unfamiliar tinge she sensed from him. He used to spew so much of strength, of vigor, of energy. It was so… faint. No. That wasn't it. It was so… different. It was so different that she didn't know how to call it anymore.

"Awhr, jeez…"

His voice came from beyond the closet door. Rukia fidgeted but didn't bother to move from her spot. She could hear his footsteps walking across the room and doing whatever. Moments later, she heard him start towards her or rather the closet.

"Pff."

When had he been so fond of making weird senseless audible expressions?

The door slid open and Rukia looked up at him.

Ichigo.

Now that there was more light entering the closet, Rukia realized it was his spare Karakura uniform that had been covering her face the whole time. She smirked lightly and her eyes moved towards the clueless shirtless orange-headed thing. The light was behind him and it was almost just his silhouette that she could see. But his orange hair was so vibrant, she'd see it even in the dark. He was looking into the closet as he frowned that frown that had always been glued onto his face.

Looking at him now, Rukia remembered she wanted to tell him something. She opened her mouth. No sound was coming out but the thoughts were flowing into hear head. It was almost like she could hear herself saying something and in her mind, she was already engaged in a conversation with him.

He would've yelled at her if he had seen her. Or he would've came here with a tray of food. Or maybe…

He was now reaching out to get something from the closet. It was most probably a shirt. Rukia still wasn't moving for some reason. Her mouth was still open though but slightly. It was annoying how stupid he had become when it came to reiatsu. Well, he had always been stupid but now he had become stupider. She was right in front of him but…

Perhaps she was feeling this way because she had never experienced "not being seen by him" in the past?

"Ichigo..." she managed to say listlessly as if he could hear her, "I've been promoted."

And the door slid closed with another audible but senseless expression from him.

- END -

AN : I want to continue all my other stories but I keep getting these one shots in my head. I was so sad when Ichigo lost his powers especially the part when Rukia was disappearing from his sight. Plus the ending song video with Rukia's PoV. I just wanted to cry so loud that KT would hear me and bring Rukia back. I seriously needed my IchiRuki doses again. They should make shots for these things. Like insulin. Ah, I talk too much. Anyway, R&R!

Cheerios, cookies and a whole lot of Bankai love!