Of Love and War

Chapter 2: Hard Awakening

0By: Raven612

Disclaimer: Don't own Bleach or any of the chars.

Summary: Ichigo awakes after being knocked out by Renji only to find Renji along with Rukia gone. He wants to find out what makes Rukia stay with Renji, its pretty obvious to Ichigo that he abuses her, and that really makes his blood boil.

Ichigo awoke from unconsciousness. He rubbed his head and looked around himself. Everyone from Renji's gang had gone away, even Rukia. But he remembered her scream, was it for him, or had something else happened while he blacked out. No he couldn't bare the thought of her possibly being hurt.

"What the hell happened?" Ichigo questioned as he pushed himself to his feet.

"Renji kicked your ass," Kiego stated simply scratching the back of his head.

"Why the hell didn't you guys back me up?" Ichigo yelled suddenly furious.

"Sorry Ichigo but after he laid you out he and his gang just took off." Mizuiro said simply, and Chad only shrugged with a humph.

"Whatever," Ichigo said as he walked away from them.

"Hey Ichigo where are you going?" they asked as he walked away from them.

"I'm going home, and having my dad check out this gash in my head," he stated as he rubbed the bloodied gash on his right temple.

Ichigo walked into his house, and yelled for his father, there was no answer so he decided to check in their clinic. Looking in and yelling for his father once again with no response Ichigo decided to check the kitchen. He opened the door as was greeted with more silence and darkness. That's when he noticed the note on the counter.

Ichi, sorry we didn't ask you to come along, but we're bringing mommy her cake and then catching a late supper, there's some leftovers in the fridge if you'd like.

Love Always,

Yuzu

"Pheesh, just like them to leave me here with a bleeding cut on my head," he said half heartedly as he made his way to the bathroom and set out to patch himself up the best he could. Just then there was a knock on his door.

"Coming," he screamed from the bathroom he hissed loudly as the antiseptic stung his wound. He quickly threw on a band-aid and bound down the stairs as another knock sounded.

"I said I was coming," he said in an annoyed voice.

"Sorry," a tiny voice said as she started to back away.

Ichigo looked down to see Rukia at his door, "No wait, sorry, I just thought you were someone else." He said managing a small smile.

Rukia's eye immediately went to his bare chest. Her cheeks heated slightly as she found herself looking upon a nicely sculpted body. "Here, you dropped this earlier," she said handing him his wallet.

"Thanks, but I wouldn't guess that a rival of mine would want my wallet returned to me," he said slightly heatedly thinking of Renji.

"Well you could thank me instead of being a pig about it," Rukia said her hands on her hips as she looked up at him.

"Sorry, it's just that I don't particularly like anyone who socks me in the head with no reason."

"He can get angry sometimes, but you just have to deal with it," she said fidgeting with her fingers as she studied them.

"Heh, but that doesn't give him a right to go out and pick fights with everyone." Ichigo said hating Renji more than anything at this moment, "I mean what right does he have fighting with poor defenseless kids?" he said raising his hands into the air.

"You know, you shouldn't be too quick to judge, I mean how do you know that that kid didn't deserve what he got?" she shot back tiny hands on her hips again and her violet eyes piercing his own amber ones.

Ichigo laughed at her.

"Why the hell are you laughing at me? I didn't say anything funny!" she shouted to him as she kicked his shin.

He yelped more in surprise then in pain as he grabbed his leg. "Well it's kind of hard to listen to a girl that's at least a foot shorter than me," Ichigo smiled.

"Humph, at least I don't have stupid orange hair," she shot back with a snicker. Then she seemed to straighten with fear, "Oh no, I gotta go Renji's waiting, he'll be mad if I'm not back soon, bye Ichigo." She shouted as she ran away from him. Again he had to watch her run away from him and into the arms of the man he hated most.

As Ichigo shut the door he shook his head, 'Women, their so much trouble,' he thought silently, but he knew in his mind and heart that he wouldn't mind putting up with Rukia.

Just after he finished his homework did he hear his father and two sisters arriving home. He bound down the stairs once again to greet them. He saw his father rounding up with a kick, but then Isshin saw the bandage on Ichigo's head.

"What happened to you?" Isshin asked with a slight hint of concern for his son.

"Nothing really, just fell on some stairs while I was skating with Mizuiro and Kiego." Ichigo lied.

"Well my boy you need to be more careful, don't scare that pretty face of yours, because if you do, then how will I get my grandchildren?" Isshin asked happily smiling as he punched Ichigo lightly on the shoulder.

"Why me? You have Karin and Yuzu to supply you with plenty of grandchildren." Ichigo shot back quite angrily.

"Oh no, not my precious little girls!" Isshin said as he pinched their cheeks, they both shouted and grumbled in pain and annoyance.

"Feh, whatever, I'm going back to my room to study and go to sleep." And with that Ichigo left his sisters and father to fight.

Ichigo entered his room chuckling, "Ichigo?" a soft voice questioned.

Ichigo about jumped out of his skin when he saw Rukia sitting in his window seat. "What the hell are you doing here and how the hell did you get in here?" he gawked at her.

"I'm sorry, I really shouldn't be here, but the window was open…" she trailed unsure of how to correctly explain herself.

"I'm sorry for snapping, but it was quite a surprise, you have to admit," he said as the shock wore off of him. He couldn't believe that Rukia was in his room right now.

"Sorry," she said again sheepishly, and that's when Ichigo noticed the black and blue mark on her arm, it was kind of odd that is was in the shape of a hand. It wasn't Ichigo's place to pry, but it hurt him to see it afflicting his angel.

"So what do you want?" he asked scratching the back of his head while he studied her.

"I'm not quiet sure, something pulled me here," she said fidgeting with her hands again, "you probably think I sound pretty stupid about now huh?" she asked with a small smile as her shimmering violets caught hold of Ichigo's amber.

"Not really, you just kind of sound like a doofus," he chuckled then soon regretted as a familiar sting wound up his shin.

"How dare you," she said her tiny fists on her hips as she stood before him in mock anger.

"Sorry, just couldn't resist," he sputtered through grit teeth.

"Well I should probably go, Renji doesn't know I'm here, and I hate making him worry," she said as she turned and climbed out of his window and jumped to the street below.

"What a weird night," he muttered to himself as he lay down on his bed his head resting on his hands. Soon sleep took him and whisked him away to dream land.

DREAM

It was a bright sunny day and Ichigo was lying on a grassy hill watching the clouds in the sky. A soft tiny hand grabbed his, "Hey Ichigo look there, doesn't it look like a bunny?" a soft voice asked with joy and excitement.

He looked over and noticed that Rukia lay next to him giggling softly, "Yeah it does, and that looks like a hungry wolf just behind it," he joked laughing, but he wasn't laughing long when pain shot through his head.

"You forget that we can be the same height when we're lying down" Rukia said her hand still balled into a fist.

Ichigo rubbed his sore head but smiled as he pulled her into his lap and snuggled her close. "I don't want to let you go," he whispered into her ear as she turned to look at him with those beautiful violet eyes.

"You don't have to worry about that Ichigo," she chuckled softly as she pulled on his orange feathered hair and pulled him in close.

END DREAM

Just as their lips gently brushed did the brutal beeping of Ichigo's alarm jar him awake.

"Damnit all to hell," he almost screamed as he awoke painfully from his dream. He threw his blankets to the side and jumped from his bed. He yawned loudly and went to the window to make up his own forecast, and when he looked into the sky he noticed a cloud, oddly in the shape of a bunny, he laughed to himself. 'Must be a sign,' he thought joyously for a moment.

Reality hit and Ichigo slowly made his way through the morning and his walk to school. He entered his class and today was greeted by a smile from Rukia. Before she hardly looked at him and he hardly her. He smiled back happy that she had finally noticed him.

The class dully wore on and Ichigo randomly jotted down notes, instead he was thinking about Renji and just how the hell he had snagged Rukia. Renji was 18 and a high school drop out, certainly didn't seem like Rukia's type, then again Ichigo didn't know her type. And besides that why the hell did he care, he had other girls to choose from anyways!

The final bell rang and Ichigo was about to head home when he was suddenly stopped just a block away.

"Well, well, well," Renji sneered as he cracked his knuckles, "seems someone has been trying to get with my girl, and I'm here to tell you Kurosaki that that is NOT going to happen," and with that being said he lunged for Ichigo.

Ichigo jumped out of the way in time, "What the hell are you talking about?" he asked as he quickly dodged another attack.

"Don't play stupid, Rukia ran screaming and crying her eyes out to me that you had tried to get with her, and that didn't sit well with me!" Renji yelled as he landed a swift kick to Ichigo's abdomen which doubled him over in pain. As Ichigo began to right himself a punch landed on his already wounded right temple.

"Fuck," he screamed as he punched Renji hard in the jaw and jumped away from Renji's fast moving fist.

"I'll fucking teach you to touch Rukia!" Renji yelled, his red hair was escaping his ponytail and slightly obscuring his vision, and thus he didn't see Ichigo jump away and kick to his groin.

"I never touched her, she was lying to you," Ichigo spat as he walked, well more like limped away from a groaning Renji.

"This is not over Kurosaki," Renji promised as Ichigo disappeared to his house.

'Damn her, what the hell, she was just setting me up, and I thought she may have liked me," he thought bitterly as he entered his home. For once he was glad that his family was out. He didn't need a pity party just yet. As Ichigo entered his room, there she was once again on his window seat.

"And what the hell do you want, checking to make sure your boyfriend kicked my ass for you, well he did a good job, but I got him better, and what the fuck did I do to you to make you lie to him?" Ichigo rambled a mile a minute his head and his heart were aching.

"Look Ichigo I'm sorry that this happened to you, I knew it would, that's why I came here, to tell you, it's not my fault," Rukia said as she helped him to sit on his bed.

"We only meet a day ago, and already you have him on my ass?" he asked bitterly.

"No Ichigo I didn't do this, it was Ooshima, he's Renji's spy, and I guess I wasn't careful enough last night," she said biting her lip as she sat next to him. She didn't quite know why but something inside of her told her she could trust him and there was also something warm and new growing inside of her.

"Pheesh, I'd say," he muttered as he looked down at her, she was playing with her fingers.

"Look Ichigo if your not going to accept my apology then I'll just go right now," she almost whined as she rose from his bed.

"I'm sorry, so just out of curiosity, were you careful tonight?" he asked not wanting a repeat of today tomorrow.

"You'll have to see for yourself tomorrow," she said with a devilish wink as she once again escaped out his window.

'DAMN WOMAN,' he thought to himself angrily.

A/N: So how do you guys like this chappie? Kind of lemony, I was aching for some Ich/Ruk fluff and just had to add a little! I hope that it's not going to fast, like I said; I somehow have a way of moving too fast! Well R&R!! Oh and I have figured out how to update daily! Both of my stories! I write a chapter for one during the day before I go to work then I write a new chappie for the other one when I get home from work!! Work well for me, but in the next few days it won't work since I'm gonna go to the state fair, but don't you worry yourselves, cuz I'm gonna update like crazy!!!!!!