I'm sorry this took so long but there were a lot of hard things about it. Once I had it mostly done I realized that this wasn't how I wanted it to go at all so I had to rewrite it and the ending was really hard. I hope you like it and I'll try to get the next one up faster. Oh, I dedicate this to YELLOWCARDFMAFANS and wally4ever. Thanks for the English lesson! Enjoy!
2) Go out and buy you pads, tampons, Midol, etc.
Rukia winced as the pain shot through her stomach. She rolled over on Ichigo's bed desperately trying to find a more comfortable position. Rukia felt a tear roll down her cheek but she quickly brushed it away.
'Soul reapers don't cry' She reminded herself as more tears slid down her face. The strange thing was she didn't really know what she was crying about. Sure she had some reasons but nothing that was bad enough to make her bawl like this. The realization at how pathetic she was only made her sob harder.
Yes, Rukia Kuchiki was having her first period. Poor thing didn't even recognize it. She had died fairly young but she wasn't stupid. Rukia knew about puberty and stuff like that but it was all tucked away pretty deeply inside her mind.
Earlier that morning Ichigo had been awakened by Rukia's whimpers. He was about to skip school to stay with her but if he missed any more school chances were pretty good he'd get expelled. Of course Rukia missed just a much as he did but she was able to talk her way out of most of it. She had no clue what was going on and Ichigo had never been a medical genius so he passed it off as something she ate. Rukia, relieved to have an answer, didn't doubt him and crawled into his bed after he had gone to school. Her closet had never been all that comfortable.
Rukia slid back under the covers after going to the bathroom. She had thrown up in the toilet and felt a little better knowing the worst was probably over but the cramps returned bringing more tears with them. Rukia started to regret telling Ichigo to go to school. She had been taking her PMS induced rage out on him and more tears came as she remembered how mean she had been to him. They had been small things, reprimanding him for not getting a hollow, a kick between the legs when he was being an idiot, but they seemed a lot worse in her current state of mind.
She continued on like this for the rest of the day until Ichigo got home from school.
He knocked on his door. "Rukia? Are you feeling any better?"
He peeked his head through and saw she had her head buried in his pillow. He cautiously walked across the room and sat next to her. He reached out and touched her shoulder.
"Rukia? What's wrong? Are you hurt? Why are you crying?" Ichigo became more and more worried.
"I hate you! Just leave me alone!" She yelled at him. She had become a bit mad at him for leaving her.
"What? What the hell has gotten in to you?" Ichigo was completely baffled. She had been cross with him for the past week but he didn't know she was this mad at him. She threw the pillow at him and slammed the door as she walked down the hall to the bathroom. Ichigo sat there, stunned. She returned a couple minutes later. Her face was white.
Rukia had noticed the blood in the toilet and after a few moments of thinking she was going to die something clicked. The cramps, the mood swings, the blood, it all made sense! She let out a long sigh of relief and flopped down on Ichigo's bed again. She gasped as another cramp hit.
"Rukia, what's up with you? Are you okay?" Ichigo rolled her on to her back so he could look at her face. It was scrunched up in pain. "Rukia! Tell me what's wrong!" The pain subsided.
"I'll be fine. Don't worry about me." She managed a small smile but it soon turned into a look of worry. She couldn't keep going like this. Not for five days. Tears filled her eyes again but she shook them away. She couldn't cry in front of Ichigo.
"Rukia? Are you…crying?" He was confused. He wanted to help but he didn't know what to do and it frustrated him. Rukia ignored him and once she got her feelings more in control she thought. She worked out every way to get tampons, pads, whatever she needed without completely embarrassing herself. It didn't take long because there really was only one way. She would have to go out, by herself, find the store, by herself, and pay for them, by herself. As soon as Rukia stood up to leave she realized the error in her plan.
She couldn't go anywhere in her state. The cramps practically crippled her and who knows if she would start crying again.
"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Ichigo pulled her back down causing her to wince again. There was a mumbled sorry but Rukia didn't notice. What she did notice was the Ichigo could walk, knew where the store was, and had money. Then, she noticed that this was Ichigo. There was no way she was going to ask him to buy her tampons. The pain seared through her stomach again and she felt her panties getting wetter.
"Ichigo, I need you to buy me some…" Rukia stopped. She couldn't do this. He would never let her live it down. Then she looked at his face. It was filled with confusion and worry. Rukia looked back down at the bed. She took a deep breath and forced out the words, "I need you to buy me tampons."
Rukia stole a quick glance at his face. Her cheeks were a tad pink but Ichigo was bright red. He opened his mouth but no words came out. She flinched as his gaze met her's. Ichigo's eyes betrayed the concern he was feeling along with the disbelief. He shook his head.
"Right." He stood up abruptly. "I'll be back soon." Then, he walked out the door.
The walk to the store was uneventful but as he entered the store he realized something. He had no idea where that kind of stuff was. Heck, he didn't even know where to look. Ichigo began wandering around growing more frustrate with every aisle he passed.
"Can I help you?" Ichigo whirled around to find a pretty brunette standing behind him. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you." She looked at him with a pair of silvery-grey eyes.
"Uhh yeah… umm… where are the… the umm…" Ichigo was having a hard time forcing out the words.
"I'm pretty sure we're all out of umms but maybe there's something else I can find for you." She giggled. He scowled. Fine then, if she was going to be annoying he would just go find them himself.
"Forget it." And he continued his walk along the aisle.
"Hey! Wait up mister!" She scurried after him. "I didn't mean to laugh at you, I'm sorry. What are you looking for?" He took a deep breath.
"Where are the…the 'feminine hygiene products'?" As soon as the surprise passed she snorted. He glared at her attempt to stifle a laugh.
"Follow me, sir." The girl tried to keep a straight face as she led him to the other side of the store. "Right here." She pointed to a couple shelves. "Anything else?"
Ichigo browsed through the multiple choices and his frown deepened. How was he supposed to know which kind Rukia wanted?
"I recommend that one." She handed him a purple box. "Unless she wants pads then you should probably get this kind and of course you would need to choose depending on her flow…" Ichigo looked at the boxes she had given him. What did she mean by Rukia's flow? He sighed and shifted the boxes so it was easier to carry all of them. Then, he headed toward the check-out lines.
"Wait a second! You're getting all of them?" Ichigo looked at her, at the boxes, then back at her.
"Yeah… why?" The girl gave him a strange smile.
"Ok…but may I suggest one more thing?"
"What?" She picked up another box. This one was a lot smaller than the rest. He read it to himself 'Midol does it all' Ichigo looked at the girl.
"What's this for?" She giggled again. "She'll appreciate it, trust me. Everything comes with directions so don't worry about that. Have a good day, sir!" She smiled brightly and walked off.
He unloaded everything at the cash register and blew out a sigh. The person working there gave Ichigo an odd look as he filled the bags and Ichigo had on his trademark scowl. He was more conscious of whether or not people were looking at him and was relieved when he finally made it home.
"Here. The lady said this should all work if you read the instructions." Thankfully Rukia wasn't crying and she hadn't thrown anything at his head. She walked silently down the hall and was even more solemn when she returned. Ichigo gave her a strange look. She ignored him, picked up a manga, and hid in her closet.
"Rukia, I brought you some dinner." She stayed in the closet. "Come on, you've been moping in there all afternoon." No response. "I said get out here!" He wrenched the door open just in time to have Rukia kick him in the stomach.
"I'm not hungry!" She slammed the door closed again.
"Fine! Starve then! Excuse me for being concerned!" The door slid open and Rukia poked her head out.
"You were concerned? About me?" Her face perked up with interest.
"Well yeah… just eat the food, ok?" She frowned, grabbed the food then shut the door again. That was the last time the spoke to each other for the rest of the night.
"Rukia, hurry up. We're going to be late for school!" Ichigo rapped on the door.
"I'm not going!" shouted Rukia. This time she didn't even bother opening the door.
"Why not? Doesn't the stuff work?" The door flew open and Rukia glared at him
"The 'stuff' works fine," she said in an icy tone. He caught the door just as she was about to close it again.
"Come on, tell me what's wrong. I thought you'd be in a better mood after I got you the…the stuff." She shook her head and let out a hollow laugh.
"The stuff?" Then she looked at him and sighed. "I'm just a little embarrassed…"
"About what?" She looked at him like he was nuts, which he is but we won't go into that now. "Well, I mean… If you ever need help you can always come to me… I here for you" Rukia smiled.
"I know…" Then she leaned forward but blushed and leaned back again. "You'd better get going or you'll get detention…again"
"Hope you feel better." And then he gave her one of his rare, true smiles and went on his way to school leaving our poor little shinigami dumbstruck and blushing like mad.
So…. Was it ok? I tried to do the new line for quotes thing, did I do it right? I know it makes it easier to read with the shorter paragraphs. Again, no more than 2 votes a review please. Hope you liked it!
Luna