"Thunder"

Pairing: Ichigo x Rukia

Anime: Bleach

Requested By: Aki666

0-0-0

Rukia was all alone.

Her parents had gone out on business. Her sister was ill and confined to her bed. Byakyua, Hisana's boyfriend, was curled up in front of the fire at his million-dollar home. Rukia was trembling on the sofa with a blanket wrapped around her like a cocoon. Her big, violet eyes were wide with terror. Her skin was deathly pale. Her lips were quivering with the urge to scream.

Outside rain poured down by the truck-load and splattered against the windows. Lighting flashed over head and thunder clapped and roared. And with the thunder came Rukia's shriek of terror. She leapt off the sofa and dived under the coffee table. Tears glistened in her eyes.

Rukia was only seven. Thunder was her most hated foe, the monster she feared more then death itself. It was like the boogie-man to Rukia, only painfully real. She wished Hisana would come down stairs. Hisana had a weak body, but she was Rukia's fiercest protector. She would hold her sobbing sister till the storm receded, even if it hurt to sit upright.

But Hisana was fast asleep and wouldn't wake till morning. Rukia was utterly alone...

And the storm relished in her fright.

0-0-0

Ten years later...

The sky was growling. It was dark and black and grim; thunder rumbled menacingly and lightning flashed ominously in the distance. Vertical rain tricked down from the sky. Pitter-patter pitter-patter, went the rain hitting the roof. The sound haunted Rukia as she tossed and turned in her bed. Pitter-patter pitter-patter.

She eventually gave up on sleep and bounced down the stairs. Making as much noise as she possibly could without waking the others, all to drown out of the noise of the fast coming storm. She walked into the kitchen and thrust open the fridge and hunted for some edible food. She plopped the jam on the table and fished for some bread and butter.

Ten minutes later, she was curled up on the coach with the TV on and she took a large bite of her sandwich. She chewed with excessive force and was extra careful to make sure she heard it loud and clear; the chilling squelch of food being crushed into non-existence. She ran her tongue over her lips as she stared intently at the monkeys dancing across the screen with banana's clutched between their teeth. Little red bows wrapped round their necks.

Rukia tried to focus on how silly they looked, how cute they looked, in an attempted to block out other, more disturbing thoughts. Like how she would react when the storm finally arrived, with its claps of thunder and lightning flashes and howling winds.

Kurosaki Ichigo was staying over at her house tonight because he'd gotten into yet another fist fight with his father but had been unable to stand the man's mindless gibberish afterwards, so had come here; Rukia didn't want to look like a coward in front of him. She had a reputation for being strong. For being fearless. Nothing was going to change that.

But as the minutes drawling into hours and the storm rumbled closer...Rukia wasn't so sure.

And all of a sudden a blinding flash of lightning filled the room and was closely followed by a ferocious roar of thunder; and Rukia screamed. She screamed at the top of her lungs and raced into the kitchen. Threw open the cupboard. Pulled everything out and spilled them on the floor.

Then she hopped inside and closed the door and left her pride where she'd been standing. She covered her ears with her hands and slapped her eyes shut and pressed her legs against her chest. She took a long, shuddering breath. She could feel the water works coming. Another shuddering breath. Another clap of thunder and another scream. Tears sprang into her eyes.

Up stairs, Kurosaki Ichigo stirred. He blinked wearily at the ceiling and groaned, annoyed by the fact he'd been woken, before rolling out of bed and getting up, straightening and stretching. He stood still and listened to the rain and the wind; flinched ever so slightly when lightning split the sky and thunder shrieked-

A scream? Ichigo blinked. Alarm bubbled in his stomach. Did I just hear a scream?

He waited. Listened. For a moment all he could hear was the monstrous rains and the equally monstrous winds; but as the lightning struck and thunder roared, a fainter, but much more terrifying sound met his ears: the sound of his best friend, Kuchiki Rukia, screaming the house down.

"Rukia!" He cried and instantly he was out the door and taking the steps two at a time. He crashed into the wall in his haste and tripped down the final few stairs. He managed to catch himself on the corner. Panting, the orange haired teen scanned the room for Rukia.

"Rukia!" He called. "What's wrong? Oi, Rukia, answer!"

No reply. Ichigo twitched. He was about to yell again when the thunder came and she suddenly screamed again. He followed the sound of her shriek and stopped outside the kitchen pantry and stared at the noodles and soup cans and taco shells that had been scattered carelessly across the floor. His frowned hardened. Ichigo looked up at the door and saw it was closed.

He approached it slowly, carefully. He didn't want to startle her.

"Rukia?" He said softly and gently touched the door. He didn't try to open it just yet; he didn't want her to freak out and kick him in the face. "Oi, Rukia. Are you alright?"

"O-of course I am, fool!" Rukia snapped back. But her voice shook, and Ichigo immediately knew she was lying. Rukia's voice never shook.

"Rukia..."

"I said I'm fine! Just go back to sleep-"

CRASH!

"EEEIIYYAA!" Came Rukia's frantic cry. Ichigo jumped in surprise; then his face softened. He could hear Rukia's hushed sobs. If she was trying to hid her fear, she wasn't doing a very good job of it.

"Rukia...I know you're scared. But it's just thunder. It can't do anything to you." He soothed and went to open the door but he barely got it open enough to slip his hand through before Rukia grabbed the other side and held it still.

"I'm not scared!" She snarled. "I know thunder can't hurt me. I'm inside, for god's sake! I'm not scared of thunder! No way-"

Another crash and Rukia's hand with drew to cover her ear. She closed her eyes again and began to tremble.

"I'm not scared..." She whispered. "I'm not scared...I'm not scared...I'm not scared..."

"Rukia..." Ichigo could hardly believe his eyes. He'd never seen Rukia like this before...she was like a different person entirely...

"Hey, it's okay. Rukia. You're not alone."

"I'm always alone..." Her voice was barely audible now. "Always...mum and dad always disappear when there's a storm; Hisana-nee-san is sick; Nii-sama doesn't care..." She sniffed. "I'm always alone..."

"...Well, I'm here, aren't I?" Ichigo pressed. "You're not alone, Rukia!"

And as a final clap of thunder filled the air Rukia bit back her scream and burst out of the cupboard; she buried her head in his chest, clung to his singlet, sobbing uncontrollably. Sobbing, sobbing and sobbing. For a moment, Ichigo wasn't sure what to do other then stand and gap, wide-eyed, at the petite creature huddled against his torso. Then he allowed himself a small smile and stroked her hair and hugged her back.

"You're not alone, Rukia."

And for some reason, that filled with Rukia with a joy she could not describe.

0-0-0

"Oi, Ichigo." Rukia mumbled. It was daylight now; the sun shone proudly in a sky of pale blue. Not a cloud in sight.

Ichigo blinked himself back into reality. They'd both fallen asleep at some point on the sofa, while watching a show about dancing monkeys. "Yeah?"

"If you tell anyone I'm scared of thunder, I'll kill you."

"I figured you'd say that..."

!I don't own Bleach!

DONE! Grr, IchiRuki is hard to fight. Mainly because I suck at writing with these too...but it was fun.

I apologize for using the Ouran High School Haruhi-is-scared-of-storms plot X3 But it was all I could think of, honestly. I repeat, IchiRuki is hard to fight.

Well, Aki666, I hope you liked you very long one-shot ^/^ Thanks for reading!