Knights of the Island Counter, a bleach fanfic

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, if I did Ichigo and Rukia would have been together a long time ago.

Taking a break from A Sophomore Life I'm sorry for those of you who are waiting for it… I got SUPER busy :( Anyway… my birthday passed… and I'm happy about that. Don't worry I'll have a chapter up soon!

Anyway, this oneshot is inspired by Dave Melillo's song "Knights of the Island Counter" I dunno, after hearing it, I just had an urge to write a oneshot… it's kinda angsty… and it's usually not what I write, but hey, you're got to try new things! So I hope those of you who read this will like it.

Enjoy.

p.s. To add to the feeling, you should listen to the song while reading.

Knights of the Island Counter

So we sit at this table with our hands in our laps
And we have a few drinks
And we share a few laughs
But now those days have passed
And they're not coming back
It's a shame, because that's all that I had

"Ichigo" Rukia began, not knowing what to do or say.

"What….?" The older teen replied back coldly, "Why are you here Rukia? It's been almost 4 years since you left, why did you come back?"

The two were sitting in the park, around 7 o'clock in the evening. The sun had just set and the stars were beginning to twinkle in the dark sky.

2 hours ago, Ichigo had sensed a hollows presence and changed into his shinigami form to go and get it. Once he got to the place, however, he found that it was already taken care of. A certain short raven haired woman was standing before him, her violet eyes staring directly at his face. He had to blink a couple of times to make sure he wasn't dreaming. Kuchiki Rukia was there right in front of him, they haven't seen one another for over 3 years. The two exchanged awkward greetings to each other, and sat down together at the park near by to catch up.

"You've matured quite a bit huh Ichigo…" Rukia said back, ignoring his questions. She noticed his face was more angled, his body looked more muscular through his simple t-shirt and black jeans, and his auburn eyes were still just as piercing as she remembered it. He may have gotten taller, but Rukia was always shorter than him. Lastly, his trademark spiky orange hair was still as bright as ever.

"Four years is a long time, and people change Rukia," Ichigo told her, sighing.

"I guess so…"

"So are you gonna answer my question from earlier?" he started up again after silence passed by them, "Why are you here Rukia?"

"I-… I don't know…"

And we'll sing out loud for hours
Until the morning that we know we can't avoid
These nights are notable and priceless
I swear that every word I say
I mean until my dying day
It's a shame when I wake I can't recall a thing
It's a shame when I wake I can't recall a thing

4 Years Ago

"Rukia, don't go, I love you," Ichigo called out to the girl walking away from him. She immediately stopped and turned back around. They were outside in the pouring rain, both of them were soaked to the bone, but they didn't notice. Thunder rumbled in the distance.

"Ichigo, I know, I love you too, but… I can't… we just can't right now," Rukia whispered to him, her tears mixing with the rain that fell down her face. Ichigo ran up to her and caught her in an embrace.

"Rukia… don't… don't do this, it took me long enough to find out how much I care for you," he said back to her, his right hand held the back of her head close to his chest while his other hand secured her back. He heard her scoff, and felt a small smile creep on her face.

"It did, but now it's too late…"

"Don't give me that shit!"

"Ichigo, please…"

"Hell no, I've finally figured out why I did everything I could to save you, why I feel different around you, why it hurts to just be away from you for a couple of hours, You are who I'm suppose to be with," Rukia looked up, their eyes looking directly into their hearts. She immediately pulled down Ichigo's neck so her lips could meet his. The kiss at first was light, but it began to unravel into something more. All the passion and feeling that the two had been holding in was unleashed. Their tongues intertwined while their bodies came as close as they could to one another. It ended all too soon, they were panting and trying to catch their breaths once they let go of each other. The rain continued to fall down on them.

"I'm sorry Ichigo…" Rukia said, before turning and running away from him. She felt her heart grow a million times heavier and the tears wouldn't stop falling. A huge lump was in her throat and it began to get hard for her to breathe. After about 10 minutes, she stopped running and just fell down in the middle of the road. Not bothering to stop the tears, she let her bangs cover her face as her hands and knees were on the hard, cold ground. Her forehead touched the floor, water dripped down her face, and she tasted the saltiness of her tears along with it.

"I'm so sorry Ichigo…" she whispered to herself, before pulling herself up and running off into the darkness.

Ichigo just watched as the love of his life walked out on him. He looked up into the dark cloudy sky, the rain blurred his vision. The cold suddenly made itself known as Ichigo began to feel the wetness of the rainwater seep into his clothes. His felt as if his heart was just ripped out of him, and it was, metaphorically. Emptiness came over him, the same feelings of the day his mother died returned. He let his mind replay what had just happened, and he felt his heart break a thousand times worse than it already was. His gaze went down at the ground, he waited another couple of minutes, before walking back to his house, alone. There was silence around him even though he saw the rain rushing down everywhere.

"Love, is nothing…" he said to himself before going inside.

So keep things quiet
Until the rest of the street falls asleep
Then we'll break out
And show everyone just what we're made of
We're so young
Let's abuse it all and have a little fun
Ill drink to that lets all drink to that

"That's not it…" Ichigo stated, "Rukia, I told you that I loved you and you just go and run off, and now you're back after 4 years, why are you here?" She looked down at the bench they were sitting at.

"I… missed you…"

"Yeah, well, you know what? I've been missing you ever since you left me," he replied back, the words stung her heart. Rukia said nothing in response. Her bangs covered her face and her eyes.

"God, Rukia! You're not making any freaking sense in my mind! You're the one who left me in the rain, you know how hard it's been for me to keep on living without you?! I feel like I'm in the dark all the time, nothing is the same, it's amazing to me that I'm still breathing at this second!"

"Ichigo! It was hard on me too, alright!" Rukia finally said back, "Everyday since I left, it was as if my heart was weighing me down and it got heavier every second. Every time I woke up in Soul Society, you were the one that I would think of first! What you were doing, how you were coping… I tried to keep it in the back of my mind, but I just couldn't keep it down, so finally, I just decided to come here with nothing to say, but to just see you again…" A wave of silence washed over them again. Ichigo stood up and did not make any eye contact with the girl next to him.

"Yeah, well it's a little late for that now, huh?" he answered, looking straight in front of him.

"Ichigo, I still love you…" Ichigo felt her eyes on him as she told him this. He sighed heavily and looked at her before saying,

"Rukia, I'll always love you…" she saw the hurt in his eyes as he said that, the hurt that she had caused, it was all her fault that he was like this now, but, it was for the better.

I've got some problems
But we got ten dollars
That's enough to get us wasted before the night is over
These past five days I've been completely sober
But tonight I'm getting ripped wide open

"You know, I tried to get over you, but I can't," she said in response.

"I never tried, because I knew that you're the one for me,"

"Ichigo, stop… I know what you're trying to do, and I can't be with you still… not yet… I need more time,"

"Why Rukia? What's the freaking problem? We love each other, you know how hard it is for people to discover that?!"

"I know… but just trust me, I swear, I'll tell you when I'm ready," Ichigo opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out.

"Fine," was all that came out. Rukia stood up and hugged him. Her small body fit perfectly into his.

"Thank you Ichigo…" she said quietly into his chest. She looked up at him again, and then she felt his warm lips on hers. Her grasp tightened on his shirt, but then it loosened. His hands held onto her waist as if he didn't want her to leave. Her mouth moved with his. Memories of the kiss they shared flooded her mind, and she remembered every single thing. Her reoccurring dreams of that night haunted her, but now that they were actually kissing for real again, it was better than her dreams had it. His taste was just as appealing as she remembered. Her taste to Ichigo was just as sweet, he had missed it for so long. The kiss lingered on for a couple of minutes before it ended. They both pulled away, but both wanted more, to heal the aching in their chests. Again it was too soon for the both of them, but everything has a conclusion.

"I should get back to Soul Society…" She told him.

"Yeah…"

"I'll be back Ichigo…"

"Yeah…"

"I love you."

"I love you too…" With that Rukia kissed his cheek and walked out on Ichigo's life again. But she left something in his heart this time. Instead of taking it away from his heart, Ichigo felt hope enter in again.

Awwwwwwww! I hate this story, yet, I love it so much! :(. How'd ya like it? Not sad enough? Sucky? Well –sigh- here it is. All you really need is hope… Reviews are nice… tell me what you think. Now that I'm done with this, it's time for A Sophomore Life! Yay! Thank you for reading.

Song: "Knights of the Island Counter" by: Dave Melillo

Good Song :).

-The Bleach Guardian's Heart