Author's note: This is my first fanfiction EVER so please don't judge too harsh))

Ichigo was slowly waking up. While he was still somewhere in between the world and his dreams, he felt something... Different. He couldn't tell what it was, but it felt amazing. It was familiar too, like, something that he missed for a long time, finally coming back to it's place. He slowly opened his eyes, and a realization hit him- he felt HER reiatsu. He slowly turned his head to the closet and his eyes widened- the door wasn't shut completely, just enough for him to see a ruckus of black hair. It was still early, and a golden sun ray lit up her beautiful face. Ichigo looked At her with a smile that he didn't have for 17 months. A smile of happiness. "Rukia" he whispered. She smiled in her sleep as she hugged her pillow and murmured "Ichigo).." Ichigo sat there, speechless. (Not that he had to say anything but the scene surprised as well as enlightened him) hell knows how long he would just look at her, but his attention was drawn to the pillow that Rukia tightly held to her chest.

Quiet giggling was coming from... the pillow? Ichigo rubbed his sleepy eyes and saw it. It wasn't a pillow. It was

"Kon!"- Ichigo shouted. Rukia quickly opened her eyes, looking at Ichigo with a look that he knew way too well- he was going to be killed.

'What the hell are you?.." she suddenly stopped as she felt something rubbing against her chest. "Heavenly valley, heavenly valley, heavenl- MFFGHH!.." Kon was sent flying across the room, right into Ichigo's hand.

"Well now, how should we kill him? I say rip hi apart and then burn down to the last stitch, what do you think, Rukia?"

"Let me beat him up first"

"Sure" Kon was kicking in the air, trying to get away from Ichigo's death grip. Just about when he was about to be ripped to pieces, the door suddenly opened and Isshin flew inside with a war cry "Good morning Ichigoooo!" the said teen easily evaded the attack and threw Kon in his pathetic father's face. Isshin broke through the window along with Kon. Ichigo yawned and went back to sleep.

"Its lively as always here, I missed this so much..." rukia said with an innocent sleepy smile. Ichigo sat on his bed, with a sad smile on his face

"It wasn't even close to lively while you were gone. Why didn't you ever visit? Everyone missed you so much..."

"Yeah, I missed everyone as well... "

"So why didn't you?" Ichigo looked at her with a sad frown

"I-" she was cut off as they both heard a hollow scream.

"Heh, let's go, it's been a while since I've hunt hollows with you)" Ichigo said with a smirk

"Just like the old times, eh?" Rukia said before she threw a soul candy in her mouth

Ichigo took off his shirt to to get a clean one, Rukia blushed a little as she saw his nicely shaped torso. Ichigo noticed that and muscevously grinned

"Like my abs, midget?)) well I guess you can't help it with a body as hot as mine."

Rukia rolled her eyes

"Aw, but you're as flat chested as ev... ev..." Ichigo couldn't finish the goddamn sentence. When he was about to finish, Rukia stretched with a yawn. Only then did Ichigo notice, that Rukia's breasts have obviously gotten bigger. He started to blush himself. Rukia victoriously thought

"Looks like Rangiku's diet really paid off! Look at him, he can't even put two words together!" then she spoke out loud with a mischievous smile

"What were you saying, Strawberry?)"

" Y-you sure have grown." Ichigo was really stunned, as he noticed all the other changes- Rukia herself has grown a lot about 4 inches or so, so did her hair. Now it was a little below her shoulders. But of course, the main thing that knocked him off was her chest. It didn't grow that much, but considering her previous flat chest, the growth was quite noticeable, it was weird that he didn't notice all of that before. Rukia was always beautiful, she had that gentleness to her, and now all of her best features were sort of emphasized. She was the same old Rukia, just... hotter.

All of those thoughts fit in about 5 seconds in Ichigo's head.

"L-let's go, before that hollow messes something up..." he muttered and was about to jump out the window, when she touched his shoulder from behind.

"Wait, I wanna try something out. It's been a while since I rode on your back. You better hold me tight" Rukia said. Good thing he wasn't looking at her, because she would die of embarrassment, as her face was already tomato red. She wrapped her hands around his neck and jumped on his back. Ichigo reached for her legs, but went a little lower and grabbed her butt. His face quickly became red, and then pale as he was expecting her to smack him. However, she did no such thing, instead she was quietly sitting there, with her face about to explode. Ichigo was surprised, and he couldn't hold back his thoughts

"That's one nice butt.." then he quickly shifted his hands to her legs and jumped out of the window, with both their faces red as hell.

Isshin looked at them from the grass that he has landed before, smiling happily

"I'll be having grandchildren!" Ichigo heard that, so did Rukia. Ichigo screamed

"Shut the hell up!" His father only smiled, thinking

"I still have a lot to teach you, boy" Ichigo definitely could read his father's mind. He took his Zangetsu and shouted "GETSUGATENSHO !" a huge moon fang flew towards Ssshin who was thinking with a smile

" It's ok, I can die happy now. " Ichigo kept going as he watched his father's toasted body, when he saw Isshin raise his hand gave him a thumbs up.

"I swear I'm gonna kill him next time… Che, damn that old geezer... Where is that hollow again?"

Rukia pointed in a roof of a certain building

"Your sense of direction still sucks as hell" Rukia gave out a gentle, rather cute chuckle, while Ichigo frowned

"Whatever, midget" Ichigo grinned when Rukia started blush in anger:

"I've grown, you said that yourself!" Ichigo made a trollface:

"Everybody lies" Right after that he felt a slipper hit his head quite hard. But then Rukia smirked

"You didn't seem like you were lying. Your face stated quite the opposite. I wonder what exactly surprised you that much" Ichigo's face flared up in an instant, as another realization hit him-her chest was pressing against his back. He really felt it right now. Rukia understood what was going on in his head right away. To make it worse, she "accidentally" almost fell off, which caused Ichigo to grab her butt once again to keep her from falling. He had an indescribable face. A mixture of shame joy, confuse and anger. Rukia was blushing, as that was very bold of her. In her mind she cursed and thanked Rangiku for everything she has done to her, long hours of training, dress ups and make ups. Rukia didn't enjoy any of that, but she wanted to make a certain someone acknowledge her… as a woman. And so far, it was working perfectly.

"So what was it?" Rukia wanted to hear an answer, even though she knew that Ichigo's face was hot enough to melt an iceberg.

"Damn it, that hollow is about to eat a soul!" Ichigo shouted as he flash stepped right to the scene

Ichigo quickly landed behind a hollow, and let Rukia down.

"This should be quick..." he said with a still face. He drew Zangetsu and hit the hollow from behind, slicing it in two. As the hollow disappeared, Ichigo put the sword aside, coming up to Rukia.

"You wanna grab something to eat? I know a nice cafe near this place, they've got some pretty good pancakes, and they draw rabbits with honey on top"

Ichigo smirked as Rukia's eyes were glowing with excitement

"I do I do I do I do! Let's go, why are we still standing there, damn it? Chappy get over here!" Ichigo chuckled-It was the same old Rukia, nothing has changed.

"I'm here Pyon!" Rukia quickly got into her body. Chappy already changed from pajamas to a blouse with a skirt, and Ichigo couldn't help but be stunned once again.

"You are so damn beautiful…"

Rukia tried to do her best not to blush, as she quickly thanks him and grabbed his hand.

"Let's go)" they went to the cafe, Ichigo ordered everything as if he knew what would Rukia want before even she did. After the pancakes with honey bunnies on them, the desert came. It was vanilla ice cream with a lot of strawberries on top of them. They silently ate for a few minutes, until Ichigo asked:

"So… do you like this place?"

"It's incredible, nothing like soul society! The food is relly delicious too!"

"I'm glad you like it, I've been coming here almost every day after you left, I thought you might like this place too" Ichigo smiled a little

"You definitely thought right" Rukia's face melted in a gorgeous smile, as she dug into her pile of strawberries. Ichigo couldn't help but smile at her. Rukia noticed that, and asked with a full mouth

"What?" Ichigo chuckled, as he grabbed a tissue and wiped Rukia's nose, since it's tip was covered in ice cream. Rukia didn't see that one coming. Hell no she didn't. It surprised her to the extent, that she spit all of the strawberries and ice cream that was in her mouth, on Ichigo's face. Silence. Then she exploded, laughing as hard as her body could handle. She kept laughing as Ichigo took another tissue, and started to wipe his face with it.

"I don't think this will help, I'll go wash it" Ichigo plainly said.

"Yeah, go Ichigo(strawberry)" Rukia said, still laughing.

"Very funny" Ichigo rolled his eyes as he walked.

"Weird, he's not angry one bit. Ichigo…" Rukia's face became concerned, as she was in deep thought about what to do

"Can I tell him? Do I have the right to do so? After all, I've been nothing but a nuisance to him, I practically ruined his life… he would be so much better off without me…"

"That's not true, Kuchiki-san" a gentle but cheerful voice behind her said. It could be no one's but

"Inoue-san!" Rukia's eyes widened as she saw her "You heard me talking to myself?.." Rukia slightly blushed.

"Yeah, and you are definitely wrong. You know, before you came, Kurosaki always frowned. I mean he still does it, but it was different back then" Rukia was confused

"How so?" she asked with a troubled look

"Well, at that time, it was more like… his frown meant nothing more than sadness, anger, indifference to everyone, coldness, even loneliness sometimes. He had all of his friends, but something was still missing. But then you came, Kuchiki-san" Rukia's eyes widened, as Inoue smiled

"Kurosaki actually started to smile, truly smile. His frown didn't disappear, but it most certainly changed. It no longer meant sadness, anger, indifference, coldness or loneliness. Now, it was confidence, concern for his friends, and the power to protect them. I couldn't do any of that, no matter how hard I tried…" Inoue looked a little down

"Inoue…" Rukia looked concerned

"But you were able to, Kuchiki-san. You changed him, saved even. And when you were gone, that frown, that desperate frown returned. But there was more loneliness than ever. He missed you, Kuchiki-san, that much I could tell. He wasn't himself, really. And he never, ever truly smiled in those 17 months. He tried to fake one, to prevent everyone from worrying, but he didn't fool me. Kuchiki-san" Inoue held Rukia's hand

"He needs you. And from the looks of it, you need him just as much" Inoue mischievously smiled

Rukia blushed, but still replied

"I really do" Rukia looked at Inoue, with a grateful smile

"Well then, I gotta go, Uryuu is waiting for me outside (slight blush), see you later, Kuchiki-san!" Inoue ran out as sudden, as she had appeared. Rukia smiled, as she thought "Uryuu, huh"

Ichigo finally came back. His face was now clean, but there was something about him, something different. As if he was hesitating to ask or say something.

Flashback

Ichigo walked to the bathroom, just to find Renji inside.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Ichigo asked with a sincere surprise.

"Nothing much, just dropped by to have a bite. On the other hand, what are you doing here? And why are you covered in strawberries and some white-ish substance?" Renji looked at Ichigo, trying hard not to laugh

"Aw, I just brought Rukia here, I thought she might enjoy the place" Ichigo replied quickly, with a slight blush on his cheeks. That moment Renji's face spread in a huge grin.

"Ho, you're on an early date then?" Ichigo blushed even more, so he just started to violently wash his face.

"Nn wr nrtrt nn dtt" Ichigo replied while washing his face

"Stop washing your face, I can't understand a damn thing" Renji rolled his eyes "You love her, don't you?"

Ichigo almost choked. Renji chuckled, and then said "No point denying it now-"

"Even if I do, that doesn't mean anything. I'll never be good enough for her. She needs someone like you. If you asked her, I'm sure she would tell the same-"

"And what if I did ask her?" Renji said seriously. Ichigo's eyes widened at those words.

"What exactly did you do?" Ichigo's heart was beating slow, but every beat was like a kick in the chest.

"I confessed that I love her" Renji said plainly.

"And?" Ichigo couldn't feel the earth at that time

"She apologized, and said that she already loves someone." Renji sighted.

"Sh-She rejected you? But weren't you friends, since, like, forever?" Ichigo couldn't believe in Renji's words

"Yeah, we are, but apparently, that is not something that she needs. And I think that something, is you, Kurosaki." Ichigo looked at Renji with wide eyes

"What?.."

"You heard me. She needs you."

"That can't be true. After all the pain I've brought her, she most definitely can't even like an idiot like me. She always saves me, and I'm never really helpful to her. I won't deny, I need her more than anything else in this world, but that won't do. That thought is selfish. I want to be useful, I want to protect her, I want to make her happy. But will she really be happy with me?"

"You really are dense, Ichigo." Renji massaged his temples

"What did you say?" Ichigo replied angrily

"I SAID YOU ARE DENSE, KUROSAKI ICHIGO! SHE NEEDS YOU GODDAMN IT, WHY IS YOUR SKULL SO THICK THAT CAN'T EVEN SEE THAT? For those 17 months, the only thing she did talk about, aside from work, was you. And whenever she wasn't talking, your name was written all over her face. All those physical changes were all meant for you, idiot. She wanted to attract you, since she thought that she wasn't pretty enough for you. So stop being a coward, get out there and tell her what do you REALLY think of her!" Ichigo stood there in shock. Renji took a deep breath after that long speech. Ichigo quickly got a grip on himself, and said, with a face as serious as ever

"Thank you, Renji, I will" Renji only smirked, and walked out.

Flashback end

So he said, but apparently, it was more difficult that it sounded

Author's note: Sort of a crappy cliffy) I'll continue even if i only get 10 reviews, they will be greately appreciated ^^