Okay, chapter 2 v2.0! Once again, didn't change anything from the plot. It pretty much just sounds nice :)


Chapter | 2

Slowly Rukia looked in front of her, her breaths coming out short.

Ichigo was still a few steps away, but he was closer than Rukia wanted him to be at that moment.

They looked at each other in silence, the others looking at each of them in turn. Chad was the first to catch on and gestured for Uryu and Orhime to follow him.

"Hay," Rukia said once Ichigo had moved closer.

"Hay," he said back, putting both his hands into his pockets.

"How have you been?" Rukia asked first, unable to bare anymore awkward situations. Ichigo seemed relieved by her question and relaxed a little bit.

"Fine, just fine. And you? You were gone so long that I wasn't sure if you were ever coming back," Ichigo said, sounding a little like he was apologizing for something.

"Yeah, things got a little out of hand," Rukia said sheepishly "But I'm back now, I don't think I'll be sent on another mission for a while now."

Ichigo opened his mouth to say something, but he was stopped by one of the guests that came up to him.

Rukia didn't recognise the man, but he and Ichigo seemed to know each other well. She wondered if it wasn't one of Ichigo's dad's work friends. Now that she thought about it, she didn't even know what Ichigo was doing with his life. All of them must have finished school already.

When the man saw that Ichigo had company he said his goodbyes and turned to someone else he could talk to.

"Sorry 'bout that," Ichigo said once he had turned back to Rukia.

"It's fine. Is he one of your dad's friends?" Rukia asked, accepting another glass of champagne from a passing caterer.

"Sort of, he went to university with my dad, but now he's one of my lecturers at Tokyo University," Ichigo explained, taking a sip from his glass.

Rukia hadn't had any alcohol on her mission, which meant that her head was already starting to spin a little bit.

"Oh, I'm guessing he's an acquaintance of Uryu's dad, since he's here?" Rukia asked.

"I think all doctors know each other in some way or another," Ichigo said, laughing at the idea. Rukia joined in, wondering if it could actually be possible.

It wasn't long before they fell back into old habits, talking to each other like they had never even been separated.

About two hours passed before the party was called to an end. The five of them had spent the whole night together, catching up. Rukia enjoyed it a lot, but when they asked about her mission, she redirected the question.

"Thank you everyone," Uryu announced, holding his glass up. "Please drive home safely," he said before the guests started leaving. "Same for you guys," Uryu said when he turned around again, facing all of them. Orihime pouted and Rukia followed her lead.

"Come on, I have to get this place neat again," Uryu said, pushing them all towards the door.

Once outside, Chad offered to walk Orhime home. She accepted and they waved their final goodbyes at Ichigo and Rukia.

"Where're you going now?" Ichigo asked once they turned the corner.

Rukia was about to answer, but realised that she actually didn't know. She had planned to ask Urahara if she could sleep there while she was visiting, but her plans hadn't worked out that way.

She explained the situation to Ichigo who nodded understandingly.

"Guess there's no choice then, you'll have to spend the night at my place," Ichigo said nonchalantly, almost as if they were six year olds having a sleep over.

Ichigo looked down when she didn't reply. "In, in the closet of course," he stammered when he saw how red her face had gotten.

"Of course, idiot, where else could you have meant?" Rukia asked, jabbing him hard in the ribs. It's true that she hadn't thought of the closet first, but she'd rather go back to hell than admit that.

"That hurt!" Ichigo yelled out, rubbing his side.

"What? You've become weak again?" Rukia mocked, walking out in front of Ichigo.

"Of course not, but I might not be used to midgets attacking me anymore," Ichigo said, causing Rukia's eyebrow to twitch a little.

They bickered all the way home, occasionally stopping when Rukia tried to attack. In the end they raced the last bit home, Rukia in the lead, until Rukia saw a figure standing in front of Ichigo's house.

It was a girl, but not one that Rukia recognised.

She looked up when she heard them, easing herself off the sidewalk and running up to them. Rukia was about to say something, but the girl shot straight passed her and threw herself into Ichigo's arms.

Ichigo looked down at the girl for a moment, then up at Rukia, then back down. Finally he wrapped his arms around her, "Hana," he said, "I didn't know you were here already."

Hana, upon hearing this, stepped away and looked up at Ichigo. "I wanted to surprise you," Hana said before putting her hands on Ichigo's shoulders.

Rukia watched as Hana stood on her toes and kissed Ichigo right on the lips.

Growing up, Rukia hadn't really been around lots of couples. Her days before joining the Thirteen Court Guard Squads were pretty much filled with running and hiding. When Byakuya finally came for her she was introduced into another lifestyle, but where social ruled dictated that public displays of affection is wrong.

The only place Rukia saw true affection was from Kaien and the occasional wrong turn into a dark alley.

She hadn't thought about having a physical relationship herself, she was too busy focusing on her growing rank. Also, the few times she witness people kissing, it hadn't bothered her. But now, watching as Hana kissed Ichigo, Rukia stood stunned. She couldn't believe it. Didn't want to believe it.

Before she stop herself she spun on her heel, walking quickly to the house. The front door was unlocked so Rukia slipped inside, not bothering to close it before going upstairs.

There were more than a few places she could hide out in, but she still found herself in Ichgio's room, her fingers wrapping around the handle of the closet.

She slid the closet door open, surprised to find that it was as empty as the day she left. She didn't allow herself to thing what that could mean, knowing that she was only hurting herself.

When she heard the front door open she quickly slipped into the closet, sliding the door shut when she heard someone coming up the stairs.

Rukia pulled herself into a little ball, wrapping her arms around her legs and pressing her head into the rift between her knees. No matter how hard she tried, her and Ichigo's last moment slipped into her head anyway.

She held her breath when she heard the bedroom door opening.

"Rukia?" Ichigo's asked hesitantly.

Rukia didn't reply, instead she clutched her legs tighter against her chest. She heard him close the door behind him and walked until his footsteps stop in front of the closet.

"Rukia, please," Ichigo whispered, putting his hand on the door handle. It seemed like he was waiting for her to say it was okay, but instead Rukia said, "Don't," and then she added, "I'm not upset, Ichigo, it just took me a little by surprise."

She heard him sigh before removing his hand. "Can we at least talk about it?" Ichigo asked.

Rukia could almost see him threading his fingers through his hair. Letting go of her legs, she sat with her knees facing the door. After taking a deep breath, she pulled it open. Ichigo had sat down on his bed, head in his hands.

"What is there to talk about?" Rukia asked softly, her voice coming out extremely sad. Ichigo looked up when he realised he could hear her voice clearly.

"I mean, it was two years ago," she continued, "Neither of us knew I would be gone so long. The mission was only supposed to go on for two or three months. How can I blame you?" She knew she was right, but that didn't mean that every single word didn't burn as they left her tongue.

Ichigo looked at her, "I guess you're right," he said, resting his elbows on his knees and intertwining his long fingers. "So what now?" he asked.

Rukia jumped out of the closet and sat down on the bed next to him.

"Now we continue as if we never said those things, as if that moment never happened" Rukia said, leaning back and looking up at the ceiling. Ichigo didn't say anything, but it was a silent understanding the two of them made.

"Where's, um, Hana?" Rukia asked, "I'd like to meet her, she seems nice enough."

Ichigo looked over at her, one eyebrow raised. "She left for the night, I told her you and I had some things to talk through," Ichigo said, making it sound like any sane girlfriend would be fine with it.

"Oh, that's nice of her," was all Rukia said.

Ichigo looked over at her. "She's a great person, we've been going out for about five months now," he said, almost as if that would make their situation any less confusing.

"Were did the two of you meet?" Rukia asked, hoping that talking about her would make things easier on both of them.

Apparently Ichigo had met Hana on the first day of university. At first they were only friends, but soon they found out that their father's knew each other, which meant they started spending more and more time together.

Rukia didn't really want to know those things. She didn't want to know about the day Ichigo asked Hana out, she didn't want to know where they spent their afternoons, but she put on a smile and laughed along when he told something funny.

After a while Rukia yawned and they decided it was time to sleep, that and the fact that it was almost one o'clock in the morning.

"Goodnight," Rukia called from the closet once Ichigo had turned the lights off. She heard him mutter something back, but couldn't properly hear him.

It was until she was sure that he was asleep that she put her hand up to her face, brushing a single tear from her cheek.


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