You don't need to know anything about Madame Butterfly or Miss Saigon to understand this. I promise. In fact, I'd like you to know as little as possible so that nothing is spoiled. :)

Disclaimer: The only bleach I own is the kind you put in the wash. I only own the Miss Saigon soundtrack. I do not own Madame Butterfly, the opera or the ballet. I think that just about covers everything.

Warnings: There will absolutely be some OOC-ness, but I will try my hardest to keep all of that to a minimum ... as well as I can. But since they're all filling in roles... it's inevitable. Sorry. The first few chapters will be SLOW AS CHRISTMAS, but I promise the pace will pick up around chapter 4. But chapter 4 needs the first three. So just bear with it.

Title: Miss Rukongai

Chapter Title: Sun and Moon

This chapter is based on the song Sun and Moon. It is not a songfic chapter.

Lyrics:

[GIRL]

You are sunlight and I moon

Joined by the gods of fortune

Midnight and high noon

Sharing the sky

We have been blessed, you and I

[BOY]

You are here like a mystery

I'm from a world that's so different

From all that you are

How in the light of one night

Did we come so far?

[GIRL]

Outside day starts to dawn

[BOY]

Your moon still floats on high

[GIRL]

The birds awake

[BOY]

The stars shine too

[GIRL]

My hands still shake

[BOY]

I reach for you

[BOTH]

And we meet in the sky!

[GIRL]

You are sunlight and I moon

Joined here

Bright'ning the sky

With the flame

Of love

[BOTH]

Made of

Sunlight

Moonlight

A/N: I got this idea two days ago when listening to Miss Saigon. I was listening to this song and thought, "OMG!!! ICHIRUKI SONG!!! There has to be a way I can write a fanfic with this song... But I don't want to copy this story... not really... maybe a little..." The idea was too tempting. So here it is, Madame Butterfly/Miss Saigon à la Bleach.

Flames are always accepted. :)

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Rukia shook her head and sighed. "Really, Ichigo. Have you ever had a battle where your opponent did not beat the crap out of you?"

Ichigo grittend his teeth. "Yes, as a matter of fact I have. Many. And that Hollow did not beat the crap out of me."

"No, but he still nicked you pretty bad." Rukia poked the gash on his arm (which she just so happened to be performing a kidou on) to emphasize her point.

The male shinigami winced. "Urusai. Do your job, Midget."

"For your information, Strawberry, my 'job' is not serving as your nurse. You're just lucky I'm nice enough to do this for you..." Ichigo scoffed and she whacked him firmly on the head before continuing, "And don't call me 'Midget'." She sat back on her heels. "There."

"It's finished already?" Ichigo rubbed the previously bloody spot on his upper arm.

"Iie. You'll hurt like hell when you get back into your body. It might even open up again." She stood up.

"What happened to 'I'm so nice' and all that crap?"

"You exhausted my kindness for one night. Let's go."

Ichigo followed her to the spot where they had left their respective gigai and body. Chappy was playing with a colouring book and Kon was... tied to a tree. Neither shinigami asked any questions. Rukia simply stepped into her gigai and placed the soul Candy in her pocket as Ichigo hesitantly walked up to Kon.

"NEEEEEEEEEE-SAAAAAAANNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Kon wailed in agony. "That thing tied me to this tree! She's been tormenting me all night and–"

Rukia gave Ichigo a firm shove and he became one with his body. "Ite!" He gritted his teeth as she cut the ropes. "You weren't kidding."

"Not at all." She lightly touched his right shoulder and muttered a few more words.

He watched her as she helped alleviate the pain, marveling at how beautiful she looked in the moonlight. Absentmindedly he reached out to brush back that one darn stray bang.

She jumped. "What was that about?"

He smiled. "It was just bugging me."

Rukia rolled her eyes and went back to her kidou.

Ichigo chuckled softly as the bang fell back into place.

"Stop." She slapped him on the chest.

"Gomen." He leaned back and continued to watch her intense face as the moonlight highlighted her violet eyes. "You know, you're like the moon in some ways."

"Nani?"

"You're like the moon. Cold, small, horribly pale..." Beautiful...

"Hmm." Rukia took a step back and brushed her hands together while he circled his shoulders. "How does it feel?"

"Still a little sore, but just the running kind of sore." He bent down and picked up the obnoxious mod-soul. "It looks so ordinary and peaceful."

"But when it's in something..." Rukia shuddered.

Ichigo sighed and put the tiny pill into his jeans pocket. "One of these days I'm going to grind him into powder and go bankai over the remains."

Rukia laughed. "Let's go home."

They started walking along the river. After a while, Ichigo tapped her on the shoulder. "Let's walk along the street instead."

She nodded in understanding. They were nearing the place where his mother had been killed. It's still such a painful place for him, even though he's grown so much since he fought Grand Fisher... That was three years ago... We've come a long way since then... Even if we weren't– She was shaken away from her thoughts by Ichigo's arm as it wrapped around her waist and pulled her abruptly aside. "WHAT WAS THAT FOR?"

"Sheesh. No need to get excited." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I was just pulling you into the middle of the walk so you wouldn't run into a telephone pole. You know, like that one." He gestured to the pole next to them.

Rukia realized that if he hadn't grabbed her when he did, she could have been experiencing quite a headache at that moment. "Doumo," she murmured.

Ichigo blanched. "Are you alright? You just said–"

"I know what I said," Rukia shot as she folded her arms over her chest. "Don't get used to it. That's probably the only time you'll hear it in the next few centuries... Or any time after that. And I'm fine." Except for the fact that you keep reminding me how damn sweet and wonderful you are!

"The next few centuries or any time after that"? Either she's saying she'll stay by my side forever or she's saying in a roundabout way that I shouldn't bother bringing breakfast to the closet tomorrow... Knowing her she's telling me she's leaving again. "Fine." His scowl intensified. "What's with you tonight? You're being so tetchy... More than usual."

"What's with me? What's with you? You're the one being all weird and stuff." She glared up at him.

"I'm being weird? Doushite?" He glared right back.

"With all of your 'moon' crap!"

"I was giving you a compliment!"

"Compliment? By saying I'm cold and horribly pale?"

Ichigo threw his hands in the air. "Whatever! Let's just go." He began stomping off un the direction of the clinic.

"Oi! Matte!" Rukia scurried to catch up with him.

For a while they walked side by side, not saying a word. Then, at a crosswalk, a strong wind blew over them. Rukia shivered.

Suddenly, she felt a heavy, warm garment cover her shoulders. She looked up and saw Ichigo without his jacket. That one act of kindness almost made her forget everything and lose herself completely. Almost.

She giggled.

Ichigo stared at her openly in shock. Kuchiki Rukia had giggled. Like a high school girl. And Kuchiki Rukia did not giggle. Laugh? Yes. Howl with laughter? Yes. Chuckle darkly? More times than he'd care to count. But giggle? No. Absolutely not. Not seriously, at least. And certainly not around Ichigo. Maybe when hell froze over and Matsumoto decided paperwork was fun and Byakuya decided a roller disco was a great place to spend his evenings and Kyouraku decided to take a vow of celibacy. No... not even then would Kuchiki Rukia giggle. "There's something seriously wrong with you," he said bluntly.

"I was just thinking..." She hugged the jacket tightly around herself. "If I'm like the moon then you are definitely like the sun."

"Hontou desu ka? Doushite?"

"You're bright orange, hot-headed..." Warm.

"The sun, huh?" He grinned. "Well, I like that. After all, the sun is the center of the solar system."

"I forgot to mention arrogant."

"Plus," he continued as he wagged a finger in her direction, "let's not forget that the moon can't even shine without the sun."

"What sort of nonsense is that?"

"Seriously, Rukia. What century were you born in?" He grinned even wider. "Everyone knows the moon only reflects the light from the sun."

Rukia stared, mouth agape. Then she straightened up and laughed. "Don't be absurd! The moon can't reflect the light from the sun! The sun isn't out at night!" Then she folded her arms and smirked as if she had just won that argument.

Ichigo gave her a weird look. "Do you ever pay attention in class? Science has proven it! Face it," he continued hurridly, "The moon is useless without the sun."

Rukia opened and closed her wouth several times. "Well... I... What are you implying? That I'm useless without you?"

"Here we go again," Ichigo muttered as the sign changed to the walking man. He shoved his hands in his pocckets and began to cross the street.

"Don't ignore me!" She ran to walk next to him. "Are you saying that I can't do anything on my own? Are you saying that I need you?" By this time they were already across the street. "Are you saying that if I leave, then–"

Ichigo turned and pointed at her. "So you are leaving!"

Rukia glared at the finger only centimeters from her nose. She pushed his hand away. "What are you–"

"Absolutely not! You're not just walking out again! You can't do that!" He grabbed her shoulders.

"Ochi-tsuku! I never–"

"NO!" He bowed his head before looking back into her eyes earnestly. "You can't leave. You just can't."

"When did–"

Once again she was cut off. Not by another outburst from her orange-haired partner, but by a hard and very urgent kiss from said shinigami. After a moment he pulled away.

"You can't leave again," he whispered.

"I- I wasn't- wasn't planning to..."

He stepped back from her quickly and she almost immediately missed the weight from his hands on her shoulders. "Then you– So I– That just– Damn!" He ruffled his hair in frustration. "Just forget that happened. Please?"

"Ichi–"

"Forget it!" He began walking quickly.

Did he just... Rukia shook her head. It's just a type of greeting... or something... But he told me not to greet people like that. Does that mean it meant more than... Does he actually...? She looked up and noticed that Ichigo was a considerable distance away. "Oi! Ichigo! Matte!"

He stopped but didn't turn around. After running the distance, Rukia came to a stop just behind him.

She stared at his back, unsure of how to begin. "Ichigo..." She noticed how he tensed at the sound of her voice. Finally, she simply reached over and took his hand. "You're right. The moon does need the sun. She needs him desperately." (A/N: YAY!!! Extremely cheesy line number one!)

And now we're going to allow these two what their roles as manga characters so often deny them: privacy. Let's skip forward to about six the next morining, shall we?

"We didn't even go to a hotel..." Rukia sighed and laced her fingers through Ichigo's.

"Why does that matter?" he asked as he kissed the back of her hand.

"Well, aren't we supposed to do it now?"

Ichigo stopped dead in his tracks and felt the colour in his face rise. Slowly, he murmured, "Where did you get that idea?"

"Well, in a manga I read, the couple confessed and then they went to a hotel. It was very descriptive so I know what to do and–"

"WHAT KIND OF MANGA DO YOU READ?!"

Rukia shrugged. "Urahara-san buys them for me."

Ichigo rubbed the back of his head and groaned. "Of course he does." He placed both hands on he shoulders and took a deep breath before continuing. "Listen. Doing... that... right off the bat is very fast-paced. That sort of pace is for people who are afraid of running out of time. That sort of pace is for people who don't have what we have."

Rukia looked up at him with her big, violet eyes. "What do we have?"

"Forever." (A/N: YAY!!! Extremely cheesy line number two!) He leaned forward and kissed her passionately. A while later he pulled back and looked up. "Rukia, look."

"Hmm?"

"The moon is still out even though the sun is up." (A/N: It so happens. ALL THE TIME)

"Wow. I've never seen that before." She pulled him back in for another kiss.

After a few moments, Rukia broke away and asked, "Are we going inside."

Ichigo looked up at the sign that quite plainly read "Kurosaki Clinic." "Yeah, but be really quiet. Chances are, since it's summer break, no one will be up yet."

"And tomorrow we'll go see Nii-sama?"

"I guess so. It's inevitable."

"Oh, come off it, Ichigo. He doesn't hate you."

Ichigo gave Rukia an incredulous look.

"Ok, he hates you. But I'll be there too. It will be fine. It's not like we're getting married. We're just dating."

"Right." He quietly unlocked and opened the door.

The two tiptoed towards the stairs... and then...

"OHAYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, ICHIGOOOOOOOOOOO!!! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL NIGHT, MY DELIQUINT SON?"

Ichigo and Rukia quickly side-stepped as Ishiin literally dove from the second floor to the first.

The man, after crashing quite loudly onto the floor, jumped up and gasped dramatically. "And with Rukia-chan, no less! Tell me, Rukia-san, did he do anything inappropriate to you?"

"Uh... Well... He–"

Ichigo gritted his teeth.

"Which hotel did he take you to? Was it a five-star worthy of my third daughter?"

"Actually, we–"

Ichigo twitched.

"I am so proud! My son has officially become a man!"

"URUSAI, OYAJI!"

---

Arigatou – Thank you

Doumo – Thanks

Urusai – Annoying/Shut up

Iie – No

Nani – What

Gomen (nasai) – Sorry (leaving off the "nasai" is very informal)

Doushite – Why, but in a sort of "how" sense of the word

Matte – Wait!

Hontou desu ka? – Really? Is that so? ...

Ochi-tsuku – Calm down

Oyaji – Old man (referring to one's father. Not the most polite term...)

YAY!!! A Japanese lesson!

R&R!!! I really want to know what you think so I can decide whether or not to continue!

And this has not been BetaRead so if you find any errors or if you would like to be my best friend EVER and Beta this for me, please let me know!!!

Now, I usually have a tendency to start a project and try to tailor it to whatever is happening in the series because I hate, loathe, despise, and abominate reading a story written before a certain character died. Then I'm filled with sadness whenever said character appears. Stuff like that. Because I'm always trying to tailor the story, I typically run out of fuel trying to fix everything. So I shall make this promise right now: Whatsoever may come to pass in the Bleach series (manga or anime), I hereby do give my word to continue this story as I have planned it out so as to not waste any time fitting the story to the current plot. I also hereby do give my word to finish this stupid thing. So help me God.