1 A distant morning
She opened her eyes and found she was alone on the bed that she normally shared with someone she cared for deeply. Her hand moved to where he normally slept as a frown formed on her face. This wasn't the first time she had woken to an empty bed nor was it the first time she wondered what he was really up to. She trusted him completely but she got this feeling on occasion that something was wrong and that their love wasn't as strong as it was before. It was like it had faded away between them and there was no more point in romance.
A sigh escaped her as she sat up and glanced around the empty room. She already knew he wasn't in the house and he was off somewhere again. Most of the time she knew where he was and he usually told her when he had to leave but lately he had stopped. They both knew that putting voice to his leave wasn't completely necessary as she knew where he went and was able to find him no matter what but without it being voiced she felt almost left behind.
She got off the bed and walked to the closet where she left the small amount of things in her possession. It wasn't long before she was dressed in her school uniform and heading for the window to glance out of it in hopes of seeing him on his way back only to be disappointed once more but not surprised as she found that his presence wasn't anywhere close to here but she always looked for him anyways in hopes of him returning to take her in his arms.
To her it felt as though things were starting to fall apart between them and she wasn't fond of that thought but it always lingered in her mind and she feared putting voice to it. This thought was very persistent for her however and it continued to press worry into her mind as her fears and uncertainties grew. She closed her eyes and turned away from the window as the alarm clock went off on the bedside table.
It was shut off as she sat back down on the bed with a saddened mood as she wondered when he left her. There were still a couple hours before she would have to leave for school. At least he would be there and they could spend some time together out of the house and without any danger. But even at school there was always the possibility that danger may appear. Maybe not close to them but it wouldn't matter since it would still be their duty to take care of it.
She sat on the bed in deep thought for awhile as there wasn't much else for her to do in the time that she had before heading off for school. However she wouldn't be sitting there quietly the whole time as she originally thought, "Up already?"
Her gaze turned over to the door where she found her lover walking in. A warm smile dawned on her face at the sight of him as her worries were put aside and she rose from the bed to go over to him, "Good morning, Ichigo."
When she got to him she wrapped her arms around his waist as he did the same while he leaned down to kiss her. It didn't last long before they separated and they looked deep into the others eyes, "You look beautiful this morning, Rukia."
Her smile warmed at his words but the look in his eyes concerned her. He looked as though he was hurt but there were no wounds on his body so it must be something else that's going on. "Is everything alright, Ichigo?"
He let out a slight sigh and said, "Everything's fine, I'm just a little tired right now."
"Do you want to get some rest before school?" She asked kindly. "I'll wake you up as well so you don't need to worry about oversleeping."
"I think I might stay home today." He replied. "I'm not feeling the greatest."
She reached up and placed her wrist on his forehead with a concerned look, "You feel fine but if you're not up for it then you should relax. You've been pretty busy lately so maybe things are just starting to catch up with you."
"Maybe," He agreed as he released her and walked over to the bed and laid down with a bit of a sigh.
Rukia followed him and sat by his side as she took his hand and leaned over to kiss him once more. Their kiss extended as she shifted to a laying position on his side and they continued. He placed his hand on her waist and slid it around her lower back as he pulled her closer to him. The kiss soon became heated and Ichigo's hand went lower before going back up under her shirt.
A sharp twinge in Rukia's chest made her stop and pull away from the kiss but she didn't let it seem like she pulled away because of what he was doing, "I thought you were tired."
"I thought you wanted me to relax." Ichigo said with a slight smirk. "Wasn't that your plan?"
"Do you honestly believe I need a plan for this?" Rukia said.
They smiled a little before they resumed the kiss and Ichigo entered her mouth. Rukia repositioned herself over him as she allowed her hands to rest on his waist. They continued without rest or pause as their intimacy became more heated. Once more there was a sharp twinge in Rukia's chest but this time she ignored it and continued on at a quicker pace. There were no complaints on either side as they both went farther.
Ichigo let his hand move to Rukia's chest as her hand went to his pant line. The kiss halted as Rukia pulled away with a smile and undid her shirt with her free hand. When she was finished their lips joined once more and they continued with more ease until they pulled apart at the sound of small beeping. They both sighed as Rukia got off of Ichigo and began doing up her shirt. When she was done she got off the bed, "I'll take care of this one, you should get some rest while you can."
He gave her a concerned look as she swallowed a soul candy and left her gigai before going to the window where she stopped and glanced back at him with a warm smile, "I'll be back soon so try to get some rest."
"Yeah," Ichigo said as she hoped out the window.
Rukia hurried to where the hollow had appeared so she could return to the Kurosaki house sooner and have some time with Ichigo before she had to head off to school for the day. The hollow was on the other side of town making this more time consuming then she would have liked it to be. A sigh escaped her as she realized how much she hated it when hollows appeared while she was being intimate and it was even worse when they were far away as it not just ruined the mood but the time they had together.
While she travelled through the air her mind was once more drawn to the uncertainty with Ichigo as well as the twinge she felt in her chest whenever the two were intimate. It had been subtle at first but then it just started to get worse and now each one carried a sharp pain with it and it was always followed by a brief sadness. She had always done her best to conceal this from Ichigo but she was no longer certain that it was really working as he had become almost distant towards her.
She reached the other side of town and searched the area for any signs of the hollow and soon spotted it nearby. Her zanpakutou was unsheathed and she lunged at it not caring much whether it saw her or not. This one was small and practically helpless under her amount of skill. When it did spot her it was already too late as her blade cut through it with ease. But as it began to disappear neither Rukia nor her blade found satisfaction in this. It was time for her to become stronger and fight more challenging battles.
Once more she sighed sadly while sheathing her zanpakutou before heading back to her lover as fast as she could. She flew over the town while occasionally looking down into the streets for familiarities in the humans below or just the street or houses. She hardly recognized any of the humans but she did recognize some of the uniforms as the one for Karakura high school. The most she recognized were the houses and streets as she had gone over them many times before while she was on duty. Now she didn't do it as much because her orders had changed and her relationship prevented small patrols over the town for the sake of time spent with her lover.
As she reached the Kurosaki home she snuck back into Ichigo's window only to find he was already asleep on the bed. A warm yet sad smile formed on her face at the sight of him. It was warm for the simple fact that he was here as well as resting but it was sad because he wasn't awake so they couldn't spend time with one another for a little bit more before school. She went to his side and sat on the side of the bed to take his hand while her heart ached inside her chest at their growing distance.
For a long time she just stayed there by his side watching him sleep with the same expression on her face. She wanted him to wake up and look at her with a smile. She wanted things to be the way they had been before all the awkwardness began between them. A small content breath escaped her as she released his hand and went back to her gigai so she could go to school and let him rest in peace.
He got one final glance before she left the room from the window as she always did. Rukia walked down the street at a slow and saddened pace as she continued to feel the distance between them grow even more. As she reached the corner of the street she found a familiar face and it brightened her mood a little as this small chance at conversation would take her mind of her relationship problems for a short while at least but that would be enough to clear away all the uncertainties and doubts the circled her mind.
"Good morning, Tatsuki." Rukia called brightly catching the other girl's attention. "Are you off to meet up with Orihime again?"
"Morning," Tatsuki replied with a lesser attitude. "Yeah, it's on the way so I meet her every morning. If I didn't she'd probably sleep all day."
"It must be nice to be able to do that." Rukia said kindly. "I'd be lucky if I got to sleep past eight."
"It figures you'd be an early riser." Tatsuki said with a slight smirk. "You're always in a bright mood."
"My mood is perfectly normal." Rukia argued. "There is absolutely nothing wrong with it."
"I never said there was." Tatsuki said. "I was just saying that nothing ever seems to bring you down, whether it's school or anything else."
Rukia just shrugged, "My mood can be brought down. It's not like I'm a robot or something."
"The day you're in a bad mood is the day pigs fly." Tatsuki stated confidently. "I should get going before Orihime thinks she got up early and goes back to bed. You're welcome to join though if you want to."
"Sure, I wouldn't mind." Rukia said brightly but deep down very grateful that her mind would be put off her distance with Ichigo for awhile longer.
The two started down the street in a direction Rukia didn't normally take to get to school since she found it to be a detour. A slight smile formed on her face as she glanced over at Tatsuki, "You know this isn't actually on the way to school and that it's actually a detour, right?"
"It's close enough." Tatsuki shrugged. "Besides, Orihime's my best friend so I don't mind going out of my way too much for her. She'd do the same for me also so I can't complain."
"If you lived closer to the school you'd still backtrack to go get her." Rukia said with a slight laugh.
"If I didn't get her every morning she'd sleep all day." Tatsuki stated once more.
"It doesn't change the fact that you would go out of your way for her regardless." Rukia said with a warm smile. "You two must be really good friends to have that between you."
Tatsuki looked over at her almost taken aback by the sudden warmth in her voice only to smile with her as she said, "Yeah, we're really close and that won't ever change."
Rukia's smile faded as she remembered having those thoughts when she and Ichigo had first became lovers. At that time she believed nothing could ever go wrong between them now there was distance and uncertainties. "Try as you might some things change and it's just out of your control."
This time Tatsuki was taken aback by the depth of sadness in Rukia's voice, "Is everything alright?"
"Yeah, it's nothing to worry about." Rukia said as she forced the usual bright mood she had around the humans she wasn't close to. "Things will work themselves out in time."
Tatsuki gave her a concerned look as they came to a stop at Orihime's home. Her concern didn't let up even as Orihime came down the stairs in a hurry with apologies of oversleeping. Rukia paid little mind to it as they continued on while Orihime's main focus was on Tatsuki but it occasionally went to her as her upset mood seemed to have snuck up on her in the conversation. Now she just wanted to go back to Ichigo and express her concern to him but she continued on with the two girls as they talked.
Most of the trip was made in silence on her part but the other two conversed in conversation but it began to die down when they had picked up on her bad mood as it wasn't exactly hidden but neither of them knew what to say to her as they didn't want to make things worse. The silence continued on as all attention had gone to Rukia even though she feigned ignorance to it so that she may avoid any conversation on the matter that concerned them. But conversation was inevitable as Orihime asked, "Is everything alright, Rukia?"
"Yes, it's fine." She replied without looking over or trying to fake a bright mood. "There's no need to be concerned about me, everything is fine."
Orihime and Tatsuki exchanged a worried look. It wasn't long before Tatsuki brought it on herself to attempt something, "Do you want to talk about it?"
"There's nothing to talk about." Rukia insisted.
Once more the other two shared a worried look but their worry grew deeper as they pried once more, "If you need to talk about it you can always come talk to once of us and we'll do what we can to help out."
"That won't be necessary." Rukia said without much of a care.
This time they both stopped her in her tracks and looked her in the eye as Orihime said, "Rukia, if something's bothering you then let us know because we're worried about you. You're a good friend so I don't want to see you upset."
"I assure you everything is fine." Rukia said reassuringly. "I just have a few things on my mind and nothing more then that."
They both gave her a concerned look so Rukia smiled and said, "If anything were bothering me then I would tell you so don't worry so much."
Their worry continued to grow in their eyes but they halted their pursuit all the same as they continued to school. Even with their concern silenced Rukia could still feel it as well as their eyes as they shifted towards her every now and then. She chose to ignore it and focus on more important matters and more of the cheerful times she had spent with Ichigo as he was still on her mind a lot. As much as it bothered her she ignored all the problems arising between them. It was an unwelcome subject for her to think about.
It was a few minutes before they arrived at the school but by this time Rukia was in no mood for others so she left the others girls without word but as she left Orihime called out an invitation for lunch so she waved her response though had yet to even consider it properly. It was safe to say that it depended vastly on her mood at the time.