Title: Between Us
Summary: Despite their strong bond, Ichigo finds himself becoming more nervous around Rukia. IR
xxxx
Ichigo tensed and let out a pained groan. Rukia remained unfazed.
"I told you to hold still," she held a bandage in between her teeth. "It's one thing to get hurt in your shinigami form, it's another in your mortal body."
Ichigo looked away embarrassed, a scowl on his face. He stared out the window, hoping the falling snow would distract him from the pain.
"There." Rukia said, patting his now neatly wrapped abdomen. Ichigo flinched.
"Thanks." He replied, pulling his shirt on. He watched as she packed away the first aid kit she brought up from his dad's office. "How'd you explain it to my dad?"
She smirked in pride, "Acting," to which Ichigo rolled his eyes. "I said that I found a stray cat that needed some medical attention, so he quickly brought me a box of materials saying something about having a doctor in the family."
She stood, her dress lightly grazing Ichigo's bare legs as she passed to leave his small room.
"Do you need anything else?" She stood at the door, holding the box at her side.
Ichigo paused for a moment, still fixated on the feel of her dress on his skin. "No- I mean, thanks."
"You don't need to repeat yourself. Anyway, good night." She smiled, and slipped into the quiet hall, closing the door behind her.
Ichigo stared at the closed door for a while, a little confused at why he felt increasingly embarrassed whenever Rukia patched him up. When he was just starting out as a shinigami she was always there to heal him and he never felt shy, although he had to admit he was usually unconscious. But as time wore on, he seemed to become more mindful of the girl. He marvelled at her composure during the situations. The way her hands were firm, yet gentle, even though he was extremely familiar with the strength they held whenever he pissed her off. He placed a hand on his bandages and applied slight pressure to parry the pain of standing on his abdomen. He continued his thoughts as he lay on his bed, a hand supporting the back of his head.
xxxx
The next morning, Ichigo got out of bed groggily. His wounds were fully healed now, thanks to Rukia's kido.
Suddenly, said girl burst into his room. "We're late, you fool!"
Ichigo fell back in surprise, "Don't just rush in like that you idiot!" He then flushed upon realizing that he was still clad in underwear.
Rukia noticed his flush and looked at him in confusion. "What?"
"Nothing, just get out of here. I'll be out in a minute." He quickly pulled his school pants on.
Rukia smirked. "Are you finally aware that we're healthy heterosexual people?"
Ichigo glared at her, "Just get out!"
"Alright, alright," she waved him goodbye, "I'll be waiting downstairs, Kurosaki-kun."
Ichigo let out a frustrated sigh as he finished dressing and collected his school bag.
He arrived to a dining room of the usual chaos.
"Rukia-chan! He's here!" Isshin exclaimed, walking over to Ichigo. "You're late, son. You're going to make her look bad!"
Ichigo ignored him, and grabbed the lunch Yuzu prepared.
"Really nii-san, you have to eat your lunch! It upsets me when you don't, it's like you don't enjoy what I make!" Yuzu said.
"I'd eat it all for you, Yuzu!" Isshin grinned.
"Shut up you creep." Karin interjected.
"Aw Karin, why don't you appreciate all that papa does for you?" Isshin asked.
"Quit it with that 'papa' stuff! It's gross!" Karin exclaimed.
In the noise, Ichigo slipped past his bickering father and sister towards Rukia who was waiting at the door.
"Ah, see you tonight, nii-chan, Kuchiki-san!" Yuzu waved from the kitchen as she watched the pair disappear.
Rukia looked up at the young man beside her, and sensed that he was unsettled. "Your family is as lively as ever." She said.
"Chaotic." Ichigo muttered, scratching his head.
Rukia laughed. "By the way, what was that back there? You've only ever blushed like that in front of Yoruichi-san."
Ichigo shrugged, "I was just surprised, the way you appeared out of nowhere."
"Uh huh?" Rukia replied, and looked up at him, expecting a more decent explanation, only to receive none. "Ichigo, I've seen you half-naked many times. Are you afraid I'm judging you or something?"
"Judging me? How?" He replied.
"I don't know, boys your age start to become sensitive about their bodies, right?" She replied.
Ichigo rolled his eyes, "You sound like an old lady."
Rukia ignored him and continued, "My point is, you've got nothing to worry about."
"Oh?" Ichigo said, his tone piqued in curiosity.
The small woman realized what she implied and didn't reply, hoping that the silence would wash away the conversation all together.
"What do you mean by that?" Ichigo asked.
Rukia looked away, giving him nothing.
"Come on, you seemed like you had advice to tell me. I'm listening. Why shouldn't I be worried about this?" Ichigo asked again.
"The issue itself is not that important, that's what I meant." Rukia replied curtly.
Ichigo smirked, seeing that he had now trapped Rukia in her own words. "No no, I got that. It sounded like you had evidence, that you had logic behind why I shouldn't be worried."
Rukia glared at him, Ichigo stared back coolly. "I'm saying that you're developing fine, okay?"
"Developing fine?" He reiterated.
Rukia's pale cheeks tinted a soft pink and she turned away to hide it. "For... For a seventeen year old, you're well on your way to- "
"Kuchiki-san, Kurosaki-kun! Hurry up! The teacher's late too!" Inoue called out from the class window.
"We'll have to continue this discussion another time." Rukia said, quickening her steps.
Ichigo easily matched her pace, "No, continue, it seemed like you were almost finished."
"Ichigo, drop it." Rukia said angrily. The young man blocked her path and stopped her. Rukia let out a frustrated sigh, realizing she had been defeated. "I'm just saying, you're developing into a fine man. There, are you happy?"
Ichigo blushed slightly, and felt his heart quicken. He cleared his throat and threw his bag over his shoulder. "I just wanted to understand what you meant."
"I hope it helped." She brushed past him and into the open doors of the classroom.
xxxx
Rukia sat among the girls of her class, observing her peers as she ate quietly.
"Kuchiki-san?" Inoue asked.
Rukia snapped into attention and let out a polite smile, "Yes?"
"Would you like to come with us to a shrine for New Year's?" Inoue asked eagerly.
"Sure," Rukia replied.
Inoue watched as she began to clean up and put away her empty lunchbox. "Could you ask Kurosaki-kun too?"
Rukia paused, and without looking up, said "Yeah, no problem."
There was an awkward silence, "Ah... if you don't mind…" Inoue asked a politely as she could.
"Of course." Rukia replied, and quickly stood with a smile.
The group watched Rukia approach the scowling teen, his friends lighting up at her presence.
"Kuchiki-san!" Keigo exclaimed, grabbing her hand.
"Hello, Asano-san!" Rukia replied, smiling politely.
"Ah, radiant as ever!" He said, pulling Rukia's hand to his lips.
Ichigo watched as casually as he felt he could, and felt relieved when Rukia smoothly pulled away.
"The girls were wondering if you were all interested in going to the shrine for New Year's." She said, taking an empty seat beside Chad.
"Sounds like a good idea, it's been a while since I've done that." Mizuro replied with a polite smile. "What do you think Ichigo?"
"Are you going?" Ichigo responded, looking at Rukia.
There was an awkward pause as the males turned to her. She nearly stammered upon realizing that Ichigo was interested in her answer above all. "Yes, I am." Rukia quickly filled the silence, allowing a bit of her confusion to leak out of the answer.
"Then we'll go." He said, sipping on his juice box.
Later in the day, the class was deep into their art period. Their objective was to paint a landscape of their imagination, a task which left most of the class silent and concentrating. Keigo was busy snickering as he sketched his idea onto the empty white canvas, contrasting the calm Ishida and Chad. Inoue was happily running her brush across the entire space, and Tatsuki made sure she wiped Inoue's face clean of paint. The peace was broken, however, when Keigo stood too quickly and knocked over a jar of paint water due to his excitement while drawing his 'Babe Heaven'. The teacher just sighed, rejected Keigo's idea, and then sent Rukia and Ichigo to retrieve cleaning materials.
"I have no idea where the janitor's closet is." Ichigo said, scratching the back of his head.
"I think I know where it is." Rukia said, leading him down the hall.
"So what did you draw?" Ichigo asked, bracing for the answer.
"A field of bunnies." She replied calmly, but the sparkle in her eyes impossible to ignore.
Ichigo scoffed.
"And is yours any better?" She glared.
"I'm just going to draw some sort of landscape, not that it reflects anything, just something normal." He joked.
"Normal is boring, Ichigo." Rukia replied. Ichigo smirked in response. "Here it is."
They stopped at a small white door in the empty school hallway. Rukia pulled it open and walked in, her small frame almost perfectly proportional to the little closet. She pulled the broom and mop into her hands and looked around for the bucket. Ichigo walked in, and found just enough room for him to slip behind the girl and retrieve the bucket from the top shelf.
A substitute teacher passed by the open closet and shook her head, muttering about the 'dangers of open doors'. She shut it smoothly and continued down the empty hall.
Suddenly, the door closed. Rukia and Ichigo jumped at the sound, and darkness immediately filled the small space. Their eyes adjusted slowly, aided by the scarce light leaking in from the crack underneath the door. It was a tight fit. Ichigo hovered behind her, only an inch apart. It was a bit too dark to really survey the proximity between them, and both were too uncomfortable to say much about it. Rukia slid past Ichigo, her back brushing his chest, towards the door and let out a frustrated sigh.
"There's no damn handle." Rukia said. "Unbelievable." She turned around and leaned against the dusty shelves.
Ichigo sighed, placing the bucket onto the floor by his feet. "What now?" He asked.
Rukia could feel his breath on her head, and felt herself heat up. "I don't know, I guess we'll have to wait for someone to come find us." She felt Ichigo nod, and lean back, knocking various bottles off of the shelf behind him.
He jumped and leaned into Rukia, instinctively wrapping an arm around her small frame, and supporting himself with his free arm on the shelves behind her. He felt her hair on his chin.
"Are you okay?" She asked, and she gently placed her palms on his chest, helping him back up into position.
Ichigo felt himself hesitate as he let go. "I'm fine, it just surprised me."
"Don't tell me you're afraid of the dark." Rukia teased.
"I'm not afraid of anything." Ichigo replied confidently.
"You seem to be afraid of me seeing you shirtless." She replied.
Ichigo was a bit stunned at the statement, quickly recovering with: "Shut up!"
Rukia laughed then let out a content victory sigh. "Maybe I should knock on the door and attract attention?"
"Good idea. Any longer with you in here and I'd probably go mad." He replied, shuffling aside.
"My apologies, I am clearly too interesting for you to handle." Rukia slid to her right, but knocked her feet on Ichigo's shoe causing her to tip over.
Ichigo quickly grabbed her waist and pulled her into him. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I guess I just need to readjust my feet." She replied, peering through the darkness at her shoes lit by what little light they had.
Ichigo held her close, and she held onto his arms lightly as they re-positioned themselves. "Is that okay?" He asked, looking into where he thought her eyes would be.
"Yes, thank you." She replied, both heating up at the proximity of their bodies and voices. She let go of his arms, and gently leaned back to cue that he should let go.
Ichigo didn't let go. Instead, instinctively held on to the opposing movement. He could feel her warmth on his skin and her skin brushing his as she fidgeted. He could smell the lavender in her hair, reminding him of the early school mornings when the smell riddled the hallway and lingered in the bathroom after her showers.
"Be careful not to trip on me, again." He joked, trying to calm himself down.
She tensed in his hold, her heart beating loudly in her ears. Other than his showy rescue back in Soul Society, Rukia never fathomed being held tenderly by the same arms. She realized that it never crossed her mind, especially since most of the time his arms were crossed in defence, or his hands gripping swords.
Rukia lightly pulled Ichigo's arms off of her. "Yeah." She replied.
Suddenly the door swung open.
"Ah, Kuchiki-san, Kurosaki-kun." Inoue said slowly, as she tried to process what she caught before her.
Rukia quickly slipped out, "Sorry about that, somebody closed the closet on us." She opened the door a little more, "See, no handle."
Inoue let out a weak smile and nodded. "Do you have everything?"
Ichigo nodded, and stretched.
"Good." She smiled, "Let's go, the teacher's waiting!"
Ichigo trailed behind the two girls, his free hand in his pocket.
"Don't worry," Inoue said suddenly. "I won't tell anyone what I saw! But then again, they've already assumed worse." She laughed awkwardly.
xxxx
A few days later, the pair prepared for the get together separately and silently. They walked down the stairs deep in their own thoughts, miles away from the event at hand. Then, they pulled on their thick winter coats, knitted scarves and gloves. They exited the home into the dark, a soft snowfall surrounding them. Despite the silence, the pair still naturally fell to step side by side. Ichigo eyed the small woman beside him, wanting to break the silence.
"I'm sorry, I'm still not sure what to say." Ichigo said, watching for her reaction.
Rukia shrugged. "It is what it is. It's unfortunate that we got caught... in such a compromising circumstance."
Ichigo scratched the back of his head. "Would it have been better if we weren't caught?"
Rukia turned to him this time. "What?"
There was a brief silence, and Ichigo finally replied with: "Nothing. Never mind."
They walked the rest of the way immersed in the quiet of the late wintery night. The pair came to attention as they neared the shrine.
"There they are!" Keigo exclaimed, pointing them out to the group. "You guys sure took a while, even though you live pretty close."
"Let's go! I want to get my fortune read!" Chizuru said excitedly, "I wonder if I'll finally find love from a hot babe."
"Maybe you should adjust your personality first." Tatsuki joked.
"This coming from the queen of tomboys." The red head stuck her tongue out in response.
As they neared the grounds, the crowd began to thicken.
"There sure are a lot of people. Stay close together." Ishida said, as he pushed up his glasses.
"Check out the girls in kimonos!" Keigo ogled the passing young women, a red blush on his cheeks. "Why didn't you guys wear any?" He turned to the girls in the group, only to receive a glare from everyone but Inoue.
"It's a bit troublesome to put on, Asano-san." Inoue replied politely explained.
"Not that you'd want to put it on especially with guys like him around." Mizuro added casually.
They made sure to visit all of the booths for Inoue wanted to experience the sights and smells with everyone, especially since they found it rare to gather them all at once. They lingered at the snack booths longer than most, enjoying the warm tea and buns. Upon receiving their fortunes, many yielded anticlimactic predictions and forecasted neutral luck; with the exception of Keigo's which doled bad luck. This launched the group into a humiliating discussion about the reasons that brought Keigo the worst luck they had ever seen, ultimately deciding that his perversion probably brought on years of bad karma. The said teen could only listen passively, his voice becoming hoarse after protesting Mizuro's sharp mockery. When things grew quiet between them, they realized they had arrived at the shrine.
They approached the fencing as a group and stood before it solemnly. Rukia gazed up at the quaint structure, taking a deep breath of the winter air and closed her eyes. She was unsure of what blessing to ask for, eventually settling on the protection and happiness of her friends. She opened her eyes and felt Ichigo finish as well, they exchanged glances, somehow knowing that they asked for the same thing. Ichigo gave her a lighter scowl, then watched as her face changed into one of concern.
"Where did everyone go?" She asked. The pair looked around, the crowds revealed not a trace of their peers.
"Maybe you can trace their reiatsu?" Ichigo said, as they moved aside to allow others to approach the shrine.
She closed her eyes and Ichigo could feel her reiatsu rise and fall evenly. "It's-"
They whipped their heads to the right and watched a large hollow wander in from the forest. It let out a shriek, and gazed in their direction.
"There are too many people here." Ichigo said, as he turned to sprint away. Rukia quickly grabbed his arm.
"If we leave, he might not chase us. There are others." She looked up at Ichigo and he in turn looked out into the crowd.
The hollow lumbered over, its steps shaking the ground underneath it.
"We have no time." Rukia said, and pulled Ichigo to a sprint. "We'll go towards it."
"Don't worry, I'll go on my own." Ichigo said, speeding up slightly.
They heard a few more shrieks coming from behind the large hollow. "You aren't." Rukia said, catching up to him.
She cast a blast of kido at the large hollow, directing its attention towards them. It chased them into the forest, its loud steps echoing in the silent night. They arrived at a clearing, and several hollows surrounded the pair.
"This isn't natural." Rukia said. "I understand that this is a high density city-" They jumped apart as a large bone scythe came down on them from a mantis-looking hollow.
"No time to think about it." He fazed out of his human body.
"Ichigo, wait!" Rukia exclaimed, only to be too late. A smaller hollow slipped out of the trees stabbed Ichigo's human body through the back, clearing through his abdomen. He fell onto the ground. It hovered over his form. Ichigo kicked it off of his chest and it landed a few feet away. She cleared a path towards him and exited her gigai.
"I guess I didn't sense him there." Ichigo said, as he surveyed his human body now bleeding out.
Rukia quickly wrapped their scarves as a tourniquet around the wound. Luckily, she surveyed, the wound wasn't large, though its depth caused more damage than its size. She glanced at Ichigo's spirit form and noted a similar wound on his abdomen, though not deep. She considered that maybe Ichigo's soul exited in time, but found it odd. She stood, sighing inside her head, keeping note of her findings and possibly discussing them with Urahara in the future.
"You shouldn't underestimate hollows in large numbers." Rukia replied, her sword glinted as it slipped into shikai. "Or overestimate your sensing abilities." She smirked.
"Shut up." He replied, and came out in his shinigami form.
"Can you still fight?" She asked.
"Why do you bother asking?" He replied. Ichigo walked casually towards the smaller creature and sliced it in half with ease.
She smiled and hopped onto the closest hollow, quickly dodging a grab and slicing off its arm.
"Leave some for me." He called out.
"Maybe you should hurry, strawberry." She replied from behind a disintegrating hollow.
He smirked, and then used shun po to slash another hollow from behind.
"Is it just me or are these guys slowing down?" He joked, his movements a blur in Rukia's eyes.
"Do you want me to say you're getting faster?" She replied, freezing a rather annoying hollow a few meters away.
"You don't have to say it." He replied confidently, killing off the last two with one getsuga tenshou.
They landed by his body, neither had broken a sweat as Rukia slipped back into her gigai and Ichigo hoisted his body over his shoulders.
"Where's Inoue when you need her? In fact, why didn't anyone come rushing in?" She asked as she climbed onto Ichigo's back, holding the body close and healing what she could. "Having Inoue here would be helpful."
Ichigo jumped from roof to roof quickly. "Your kido is enough for me." He said.
Rukia couldn't restrain a smile, as she concentrated on the glow emitting from her hands.
They arrived at Ichigo's home and entered through the open window. It had become a habit for him to leave it open. He discovered that if he closed the window, Kon (who regularly wandered at night now) would be left to Yuzu's devices again, and the stuffed lion would not let Ichigo hear the end of it.
"I closed up your wound." Rukia said, as she closed the window behind her and helped Ichigo position the limp body on his bed. "I'll put on some bandages and then you can get some rest."
Ichigo nodded but then pointed to the bloody hole in his shinigami robes. "Don't forget this." He added.
She glared at him and said, "Of course I won't." She pushed him down to sit and kneeled at his side.
He watched her place her hands on the cloak, slightly stiff from the blood.
"Don't move." She added.
Ichigo couldn't dare. He felt himself heat up again, unsure if it was the kido or his nervousness soaring to new heights. He looked away, trying to draw his attention to something else. For instance, when did his desk become so unruly? There were papers layered on top of each other covering the desk's entire surface. He focused his eyes a little more and saw Rukia's doodles on a few of the scraps, connecting it with the markers that were haphazardly laying near them.
"Done. Kido works much faster on your soul form." She smirked with pride at her work and Ichigo lay back into his human body. "This might hurt, but can you sit up? It'll be easier to wrap you."
He sat up slowly, taking care not to open the wound. He sat there and watched as Rukia pulled off her winter clothing, leaving her barefoot in her yellow dress.
"Take off your clothes. You know the deal." She said, looking at him expectantly.
He flinched at her demand, after realizing he had fallen into a daze while watching her. He took off his jacket and sweater slowly, but stopped at his t-shirt.
Rukia shook her head and let out a small sigh. "What would you do without me?" She joked.
Ichigo couldn't say anything, and watched Rukia remove his boots and socks. He felt his heart slowly climb to his throat as she placed her hands at the hem of his shirt, tucking her fingers underneath the material and gently rested them on his skin.
"Hm. This shirt isn't much good anymore, is it?" She ran her fingers across the hole, brushing his exposed, freshly closed skin.
Again, Ichigo was unable to reply.
"Your family will wonder. Let's just remove it with scissors." She said decisively. She turned, her dress flaying about her legs. She looked around Ichigo's desk and opened the drawers, yet the scissors were nowhere to be found. "I guess we'll have to take your shirt off the old-fashioned way."
Before she climbed onto the bed, she spread his legs apart to make room for herself. She did it with ease due to habit, and placed herself in front of him.
"Okay, be ready to lift your arms." She said.
"Hold on," Ichigo interrupted, looking her in the eyes.
"What?" Rukia inquired. "Will it hurt too much?"
Ichigo wondered about what he was going to say, realizing how incriminating his suggestion would be, a betrayal to the cool façade that the week's events slowly wore down. "You can just rip it off."
Rukia looked at him in confusion, and then blushed madly. "What- Why would I-"
"It's practically gone, hanging by shreds." Ichigo reasoned, relishing her reaction. Perhaps he wasn't on his own, that he wasn't going crazy about the little touches and glances. "I would do it myself, but-"
"Fine." Rukia interjected, placing her hands on his arms stopping him from doing the deed.
"You sure you can do it on your own?" He joked.
She glared at him, then ripped the shirt apart. She smiled triumphantly at him, and was met with a confident smirk. Rukia looked away, feeling her cheeks heat up in response. What a fool, she thought, noting that she had fallen into his trap.
Ichigo watched as her expression rested into one of concentration. He had to admit that Rukia always had the laser focus of a warrior, always appropriate and rarely brash (save for when she dealt with her boys: Renji, Kon and himself). Ichigo felt himself lull into her usual patterns of healing, peace and calm slipped into their atmosphere, though excitement still lingered whenever they touched.
"You doing okay?" Rukia asked a few minutes in as she began wrapping his abdomen with a pressure dressing.
"Doing fine." Ichigo managed to croak out, and then he cleared his throat.
Rukia seemed to go slower than usual, and it was taking all his strength to maintain composure. She leaned in and away as she wrapped her arms around her, expertly handling the bandage from years of experience. However, Ichigo noticed, her hands shook slightly, she radiated more warmth, and he bet all his money that really was a blush he was seeing.
Ichigo's chest rose and fell evenly. Yet, whenever Rukia leaned in close to wrap around his back, she could hear his heart beating wildly. She did her best to keep her own breathing relaxed, but her heart responded just as intensely. Her skin began to heat up, and she shook slightly. She pretended not to notice, for Ichigo was daft most of the time, but at this proximity and with such a laborious, intimate task her stamina began to waver. It didn't help that the young man was built like an athlete, nor did his gentle, steady gaze.
"What?" Rukia muttered, eyes still on her work.
"Nothing." Ichigo replied, finally turning away.
At least he'd stop looking now. She felt her body ease as she finished the last row of dressing and clasped it in place.
She placed a hand gently on his chest, and with a smile said: "You're good to go."
"Thank you." Ichigo replied, looking down at her hand.
Rukia blinked, catching herself slip into comfort again. "Don't mention it." She cleared her throat and receded her touch. Without much thought, Ichigo grabbed her hand.
"Really, Ichigo, if you thanked me like this every time-" Rukia paused at the look on his face, so similar to when she stood before him as she felt his reiatsu fade away. "Are you alright?" She too, without thinking, placed a hand on his cheek.
Ichigo suddenly pulled her close and their lips met. He held her waist and back, his fingers sliding into her dark hair. Ichigo felt her form relax as she wrapped her arms around his neck and shoulders, allowing him to pull her closer.
Ichigo was the first to pull away to kiss her cheek and place more down her neck.
"Ichigo-" She breathed in meek protest.
His hands came down her back and onto her thighs. Rukia pulled his face up to hers and kissed him passionately, she glided her hands from his neck to his arms and felt his muscles tense as he held her tighter. Rukia pushed him down onto the bed.
Ichigo let out a painful groan, wincing at the sting in his abdomen.
"That's enough for tonight," Rukia replied quickly, trying to climb off of him.
He grabbed her and pulled her back closer to him.
"Ichigo, your wound!" She said, concern ringing in her voice.
"Don't go." He whispered, while looking away.
"You need to rest." She said sternly.
"You started it." He said coyly.
"I didn't do anything, you pulled me in." She replied.
"Technically speaking," He felt himself heat up again. "You did."
Rukia rolled her eyes. "No wonder you've been so nervous. Do I have that much of an effect on you?" Ichigo grabbed her and they flipped positions smoothly. She looked up at his smirk, her red face hidden by his shadow. "Do I?" He replied.
There was a brief silence, then Rukia said, "I bet that hurt."
Ichigo fell onto her and she let out a huff of air at the sudden weight. "It did." He replied.
Rukia rolled him over to his side. "Then get some rest, fool." She pulled up his blanket.
"You still need to take off my jeans." He said.
"Shut up and go to sleep." She retorted, and left the room. Outside, Rukia let out a sigh and couldn't help but smile.
Ichigo smirked and watched the door close, hoping for her return but soon fell asleep.
xxxx
A/N: If you are reading this it is because I have decided to post this story. It's filling a prompt from a year-ish ago, and has collected dust for a while until now. I would put this in the suspense genre considering how much tension happens and how little sexual release there is muahahahah
It's a oneshot.