A/N: Hi all, here it is, as promised, enjoy it cos I aint updating until about a month as I leave for Japan soon, yay! I will write a little over there but I won't be posting anything, sorry! I am also going to finish this story soon and both my other 2 stories have been postponed until this one is finished when I get back!

I don't own Bleach

This chapter has not been proof read- sorry for mistakes!

WARNING: CONTAINS, Language, Violence, Adult themes, Limes and a Lemon. M for a reason! Enjoy!

Chapter Three

Day Three: Protector

It was Rukia who awoke first that early afternoon; neither of them had planned to sleep in that late however the ease of being with each other had prolonged their time together. Rukia stretched, yawning as she did so before massaging the back of her neck with one hand as she felt a crick in it. She looked down as she felt restricted, seeing how Jūshirō had his arms wrapped around her, almost as if he were keeping her for his own. She couldn't help but smile as he shifted a little, tightening his grip on her and pulling her back so she was lying next to him again. Even though they weren't in a relationship and she had no idea where they currently stood in relation to each other, she had to admit that she enjoyed his possessiveness even though he only seemed to show it in his sleep. She took the opportunity to study him asleep, noting how tranquil he looked and undisturbed he appeared to be. She turned back again after a few minutes, closing her eyes and hoping to fall back to sleep again.

As Rukia tried to fall back into a slumber, she quickly glanced at the time and found herself bolt upright in shock. She gasped loudly as she read the time over and over again, checking she had read it correctly.

"Half twelve?!" she nearly yelled, her loud voice waking Jūshirō immediately. He too sat upright, still holding her tightly as he was still half asleep.

"What with the what now?" he asked sleepily before blinking a few times to adjust to the light.

"Captain, we've slept in until half twelve in the afternoon," Rukia said quickly, however making no attempt to get up.

"I see," he said as he came to his senses and stretched, removing his arms from her for the first time in hours. They sat for a few minutes before Jūshirō smiled, placing his arms back around her and pulling her backwards as she half squealed, "Let's go back to sleep, we still have time."

"Captain!" she muffled into his chest as she was now facing him again. However as she lay she couldn't help but lightly touch his chest through his thin nightshirt, making him open his eyes suddenly and watch what she was planning on doing.

"What are you doing?" he asked as he suppressed a groan, desperately trying not reciprocate.

"Nothing," she replied quickly, removing her hands and clamping them to her sides before turning her back to him.

He laughed lightly to himself as he sat up, conceding that he had to get up and stretching as he did so. Rukia, at this point, got up as well, sliding off the couch and stretching, only to cry out as she did so. Jūshirō was by her side in a second, holding her to him, making her gasp at his actions.

"What's wrong?" he asked, his voice saturated with concern, "Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine," she assured him, despite the ache in her shoulders and neck.

"No you're not," he replied, "You don't cry out in pain for no reason."

"No, seriously," she continued, fooling no one, "It's only an ache in my neck, I must have pulled a muscle is all."

"Still," Jūshirō said, "We need to be on top form if we are to meet any hollows, menos, and vizards. I think it would be best if I sorted it out for you."

"H-How?" Rukia stammered, her heart beat rising by the second.

"I can massage it for you, to try and release the pent up tension," he suggested.

"Some tension cannot be released by a simple massage," she said quietly to herself, underestimating his hearing as he caught its meaning.

"Well this is only muscular tension, not emotional tension," he pointed out; however he too was suffering from the emotional tension of living together, the tension that he wanted to end so that he could finally indulge her. Did this mean that she too felt the tension between them? Did she feel the sexual pressure too? The overwhelming need to be together constantly? Was it even possible that she liked him as much as he liked her?

"I suppose," she said, snapping him out of his fantasies, "If it will help." Rukia conceded.

"Do you mind if you sit on the bed?" he asked, holding his breath for fear she would think he were a pervert, "I need space so that I can sit behind you."

Rukia nodded as she blushed, slowly shuffling towards the bedroom and slowly sitting on the bed as he followed her. She perched on the edge of the bed, feeling a little nervous, though she had no idea why she should; it was only a massage to make her feel better.

"Are you ok?" he asked as he say her anxious face, "You look as though I'm about to eat you."

Rukia couldn't help but give a small laugh, easing her a little. However she gasped as he sat in the middle of the bed, sitting cross legged and patting the space in front of him. She nervously crawled over to him, sitting down and keeping absolutely rigid.

"I'm a little anxious," she explained slowly, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry, Rukia," he replied, "I can see how it is slightly unnerving, since we have never been this close and it breaks the separation from captain and vice-captain."

Rukia nodded, "Ok, I will try to calm down."

Jūshirō smiled as he waited for her to take her top off, however when she didn't and only sat there, twiddling her thumbs, he frowned.

"Um, Rukia," he said with a slight blush, "You have to take your top off for this to work."

"What?!" she replied quickly, "I can't do that!"

"I'm sorry, but I have this muscle cream that penetrates deep heat into the muscles and softens them, ridding you of stiff muscle pain," he pointed out, "So I need to apply it to your skin."

"I see," she replied, blushing all the more as she realised that he was right. She was relieved however that she had fallen asleep in her bra that she had worn under her pyjama top, "I will t-take it o-off then."

Rukia's fingers fumbled with her top button, slipping as she tried to unbutton her shirt-style top. She inwardly cursed as she moved to the bottom button and found that she had the same problem; her heart was beating too fast and her nervous too wild to control. She gasped loudly however and her hands froze in mid air, away from her buttons as Jūshirō helped her. He leant forward, resting his head on her shoulder and slowly unbuttoning her top, moving upwards slowly, taking pleasure in every single second for he feared that this would be the first and last time he would ever undress her. She remained stiff as his hands brushed against her breasts, desperately trying not to think about what he could to if she were to turn around and explain her feelings for him that seemed to be growing by the day.

A small shiver ran down her spine as he took off her top, throwing it onto the pile of clothes to be washed. As he was sat behind her, he realised that his hands shaking slightly, something he had not experienced since he was a teenager and was losing his innocence; no later relationship had made him feel like this, he felt like he was in virgin territory again, and even though he was no virgin, he still felt nervous around her. He found himself smiling however as his fingers made contact with her smooth skin. He felt her flinch a little at his touch, before relaxing a little more as he began to lightly caress her, taking the opportunity before he put the cream on her. However as he did so, his fingers itched to undo her bra, the need to stroke more of her controlling him.

"I'm sorry, Rukia, but I need to undo this too," he said as he ran his index finger under the rim of her shoulder strap, "I don't want to get anything on it that may ruin it."

In all fairness, this was partly true, but Jūshirō couldn't help but try and spoil her by giving her as much pleasure out of it as he was getting. He quickly hopped off the bed, before seizing a blanket and passing it to her, seeing her blazing face with a small smile gracing her lips. She pressed the blanket to her front as Jūshirō unhooked her bra, smiling as he did so and watching as Rukia did a few quick and graceful manoeuvres so that it was next to her as the blanket covered her front completely. Her bare back nearly sent him over the edge as he appreciated how delicate she was, and how graceful she appeared to be due to her petite size. He continued once more, stroking her first before quickly finding himself pressing his lips to her skin, kissing her lightly as he got slightly carried away, unaware of Rukia's both confused and yet elated feelings.

As he kissed her, Rukia frowned, she knew what he was doing, was he stupid enough to think she wouldn't notice? No, he wasn't stupid by any means, he knows that she could feel it and he knows that she knows this too. But that still didn't answer the question of why he was doing it. She couldn't deny that she didn't like it, his touch was gentle and caring and she felt truly loved for the first time, even though she knew she was kidding herself, this wasn't love, this was lust for she and Jūshirō were only 'human,' love couldn't have formed in this short time, could it? She shook her head, mixing the confused thoughts up even more, and staring at the duvet cover.

"Are you ok?" he asked against her skin.

"Yeah," she replied, "I'm fine."

"As long as you're sure," he said, reluctant to stop but taking her action as a sign to discontinue. He picked up the cream, squirting some into his hand before apply some to her neck and upper back, gently rubbing it in and covering the affected area in it. Rukia could immediately feel the cream take effect, feeling the blazing heat infiltrate her aching muscles. She gave a tiny noise of pleasure as Jūshirō carefully kneaded her neck, applying pressure in all the right places and aiding the work of the cream so that her muscles began to feel better instantly.

"What is that stuff?" she asked as she closed her eyes and let the wonderful feeling consume her.

"It's my own personal cream," Jūshirō revealed, "I had the squad twelve captain design it for me to use on my chest when my lungs are in bad shape because of my illness."

"Oh," Rukia replied, opening her eyes quickly, now realising that his illness must be a factor as to his lonely life, how can he sustain a relationship whilst being ill constantly? "What exactly, is your illness?"

"I contracted tuberculosis when I was young and my hair turned white after three days of having it," he told her, "Its particularly bad in the winter months, when it's colder and my lungs are sensitive but I can also have the odd rough patch in the summer, when I am bedridden and coughing a lot."

As if on cue, Jūshirō turned away from her quickly and coughed, luckily only a small one, and not enough to cause alarm. Rukia turned around however, suddenly worried about him as she secured her blanket around her and grabbed the cream.

"Don't worry, Rukia, I'm fine," he managed to say between small coughs. She shook her head as she guided him backwards, letting him rest against the head board. After he had finished coughing, he watched in fascination as she sat in his lap, lifting his night shirt over his head and dropping it before she rubbed the cream into his chest, taking care to make sure than none was wasted as touched his muscles. He surveyed her as she seemed to inspect his chest, feeling all the grooves of his chiselled chest and gasping as she found the one flaw on his torso.

"What happened?" she asked, running her finger over the light scar, her mouth slightly open with shock.

"A fight I had gotten into when I was young," he said, keeping his mind straight as her touches made him feel slightly light headed, "I was being reckless and challenged this guy at school and took a deep wound, it wasn't a long slash but a deep, small one, so it left a scar."

"Oh," Rukia replied, "It must have really hurt you."

"Yeah, I spent a while in the relief centre."

Rukia nodded as she continued; generally stroking him as the cream had already been rubbed in, not noticing how he was staring at her. Only when she admitted that there was no reason for her to continue, as she figured that he had noticed this as well, did she look up, locking eyes with him and realising that he had been staring at her.

She was rigid as they stayed like that for a few seconds, seeming like centuries to her. His brown eyes that emitted so much warmth and kindness seemed to be fixed onto her deep blue eyes, making her blush as she moved closer to him slightly.

"What?" she eventually asked, tearing her eyes from his as she looked down, too embarrassed to look at him any longer.

"Nothing," he replied.

"Why were you w-watching me?" she said nervously.

"I wasn't watching you," he said as she looked up once more, now closer so that he was only inches away from her.

"Yes you were…" she responded as she watched him close the gap, turning his head slightly as she moved closer to him, closing her eyes as her lips crushed against his. She inwardly gasped as she realised just how different he was from Ichigo. He was a completely new ball game to her, one she found that excited and intrigued her. Her heart was pounding against her chest as he nibbled on her bottom lip, making her dizzy as his tongue touched hers, and tasting her as she savoured him. Her hands involuntarily moved to his cheeks, holding him for sudden fear that we would break away. His sweet flavour made her crave more as he kissed with more zeal, getting up on his knees before gently guiding her down as he placed himself above her, never once breaking contact.

However he found himself inwardly groaning as he was interrupted by his telephone that rung loudly from the bed side table. Only then did he break away, his breathing a little heavy from the lack of air as he stared at Rukia for a few seconds as she came back to her senses. He sat up, bringing Rukia with him as he pulled her up and held her to him as he answered his phone with reluctance.

Rukia inhaled deeply as he had robbed her of her breath while she opened her eyes, her dizziness fading now. She buried her head into his shoulder as she rested against him, smiling as she heard his soothing voice and felt the static from his touch as he undid the blanket and caressed her back and shoulders with his other hand. Even though she knew that when she came to her senses, she would be mortified with her behaviour, she allowed herself this pleasure, not caring for the first time in a long while.

She frowned however as Jūshirō's touches became fainter until he stopped altogether, his hand resting on her side. She also noted how his voice had suddenly become graver, causing some alarm and concern to rise in her. She rose to her knees so that they were now the same height as she held the coverage to her front. She watched as he sighed before hanging up, snapping his phone shut before replacing it back on the side table.

"We have to go," he said as he pushed the few strands of stray hair from her face and stood up, quickly putting his dressing gown on and grabbing some of his clothes, "There are some menos on their way to the northern part of the city, we have to stop them before they make a mess of things."

Rukia nodded, remembering that she had work to do, the reason that they two of them were even there. She got off the bed, grabbing her own clothes and heading towards the bathroom.

"I won't walk in on you again," he promised.

Rukia found herself laughing as she entered the bathroom, locking it behind her and hastily getting dressed; her body feeling more relaxed already.

xxxxxxx

Rukia tapped her phone once more, scowling at the apparently broken phone. It wasn't picking up anything on the radar and it seemed to be unresponsive, so she decided to take it apart and put it back to clean any dust out of it. However as she began to take the back off, she heard the loud cry of a hollow, prompting her to spring into action. As she flash stepped towards the cry, she heard a sound to the side of her and gasped as she saw her captain beside her, keeping to her pace despite his superior skills.

"You came here quickly," she said, shocked at his speed.

"I was around," he told her, "Just preoccupied, but around."

"What were you preoccupied with?" she asked as they rounded a corner, looking up at him and meeting his gaze.

"It's a secret," he said with a smile, reluctant to tell her that he has been watching her from afar, only feeding his already strong addiction to her.

Rukia raised her eyebrows as Jūshirō smiled at her inquisitive mind. There light banter was short live however as Jūshirō, his reflects faster than lighting, veered to the side, swiping Rukia off her feet and placing her down several metres away as they dodged a crushing blow from a Hallow that appeared from above. Rukia looked up, twigging onto the fact that he had just saved her life and she had been careless as she had not seen it.

"I'm sorry, captain," she said, "I did not see it, how careless of me."

"Don't worry about that," he pointed out, "Just worry about taking down these Menos."

She nodded in gratitude as she pushed off from the ground encountering a Menos instantly, causing her to draw her sword and split it into two with one foul sweep of her katana. She looked round to see Jūshirō, slicing his way through the menos and hollows that had turned up, each firing things at him and missing him as he dodged effortlessly.

"Mmmm," came the voice of a hollow from behind her, "I nice soul reaper for me to eat, how tasty. A female too, even better…females are always more delicious."

Rukia could feel her skin crawl as the hollow licked his lips, laughing a low chuckle as he did so. She watched Jūshirō, suddenly wanting his protection even though she knew she could defend herself. She shuddered as the hollow continued to taunt her, making her turn around and face it. As to be expected, the hideous beast-like hollow smiled before launching itself at her, sending its deadly spikes flying towards her as she defended herself. It was easy enough for her to dodge it and cleave it from behind before moving onto her next target, a menos who had spotted her. She dodged the beam that was fired at her, but instead of finishing it off she spotted something in her peripheral vision, prompting her to flash step out of the way. It narrowly missed her, making her flash step to the nearest building and land on it.

However she screamed out in pain as something hard hit her side, pushing her further across the room and making her foot twist into a painful position as she tried to stop herself, finding herself on the floor as she collapsed.

"Rukia!" Jūshirō called out after hearing her cry, fuelling the sudden anger that had aroused within him. He quickly finished off the menos that we around him and pursued the hollow and menos that were towering over her. He slashed them from behind, clearing the place of hollows before flash stepping to her side, bending down to take her within his arms. He picked her up, his body consumed with concern as he took her into the town, desperate to find a hospital and she continued to wince in pain.

"Are you ok?" he asked, his voice dripping with worry.

She nodded, "I'm fine, my ankle and side hurts is all."

"Still," Jūshirō insisted, "I will take you to a hospital to make sure that nothing is broken."

She was about to protest when she was pushed into her Gigai by Jūshirō who slipped into his quickly. He rushed her to the nearest hospital, placing her down on one of the chairs, ignoring the looks from the other sitting patients before waiting in the queue at the counter, clenching his fists at the slow service.

"Hey, look at her," said a young man to his friend who had joined the queue behind Jūshirō, pointing at Rukia as he did so, "She's a pretty one, bet she would make a good girlfriend, look how thin she is."

"Yeah," said the other man, the conversation making Jūshirō's blood boil as his possessiveness over her controlled him, no one else was to have her, ever. "I bet we could have some fun with her."

"I would prefer it," Jūshirō snapped at them, making Rukia look up at him, as she was sat only a few metres away, and causing the young men jump out of their skins, "if you didn't talk about my wife that way."

"We're sorry, man, we didn't mean anything by it," said one of them, his careless voice pissing Jūshirō off despite his usual temperate nature.

Even though Rukia wasn't his wife by any means it still felt nice to say it and it did shut these little perverts up. He glanced at Rukia as the two young men edged away, terrified of Jūshirō, meeting her shocked eyes. She blushed as he smiled at her, making her all the more embarrassed. Mrs. Ukitake? Could she really be that one day? Did she want to be that? She watched as Jūshirō talked to the lady behind the counter as she gave him a clipboard and some papers to fill in. Even though the pain throbbed, she concentrated her thoughts on Jūshirō, why wouldn't she want to be Mrs. Ukitake? It would mean having him there every night when she got lonely, having him there to protect her, to love her, to care for her, to make love to her, to help her when she needed it. She looked down as she backtracked on her thoughts, could she really imagine that? Imagine what it would be like to make love with him? She shook her head, even if she let herself it would never happen, and thinking about it would make her covet it more, and that was the last thing she needed.

But underneath that gentle and calm being, could there lie passion within him? Could he be an incredible lover? Part of her wanted to desperately find out, but her feet were planted to the ground, as well as they knowledge that he was her captain and nothing more, nothing more.

"Here," he said, snapping her out of her thoughts as he handed her the papers, giving her a pen with them, "You need to fill them out so that you can see the doctor."

Rukia nodded as she filled in her name, using her new alias of 'Rukia Ukitake,' but found herself unable to continue as she read the next questions.

"How old am I in living years?" she asked him, making him frown as he read the question also.

"Um, well you can fill in your birthday and month," he suggested quietly, "But you need to make up a year, say that you are in your early twenties or something."

Rukia nodded as she filled in the rest of the information, smiling to herself as she noted how Jūshirō peered over her shoulder, curious to see what she was writing. She looked up at him, rolling her eyes as he continued in his efforts to watch her. As she finished, she took the papers back to the reception before sitting back down and staring into her lap, her eyes widening as she saw his hand next to her thigh, his little finger stroking her in a comforting way. She wasn't sure whether to be angry or happy, for one thing he was feeling her up, but the way he did it relaxed her, making her feel tranquil for once. She timidly looked up, realising that he was purposefully doing it as he watched what he was doing.

"Do you l-like feeling me up?" she asked, startling him so that he stopped immediately and looked up at her.

"Of course, dear," he said with a nod as people began to look up from their magazines to watch them, "Seeing as our marriage is such a happy one."

Rukia nodded, playing along also as she smiled, anything to make it more realistic. Luckily however, her 'name' was called out on the speaker and she got up, limping as she could not put any weight on her foot. Jūshirō swept her off her feet with ease, carrying her past the baffled patients and taking her into the specified room and popping her down on the bed as the doctor asked.

"What happened here then?" the doctor asked as Jūshirō hovered by her side, taking her hand within his as she reached out for him.

"I was running, and the next thing I know, something hit my side and then I think I twisted my foot as I tried not to fall over," Rukia told him, unsure as to what to say, what excuse could she give?

"I see," said the doctor as he thought for a few minutes.

"Will she be ok?" Jūshirō asked quickly as he held onto her hand tightly.

"Yes," the doctor assured him, "If there were broken bones, we would know it by now. I still need to examine the affected areas however."

Rukia nodded as she quickly pulled off the top that her Gigai was sporting before giving it to Jūshirō who was nearly incapacitated with desire as he saw her topless. He watched as the doctor touched the bruise on her side, feeling her ribs and finding himself wincing as Rukia muffled several exclamations of pain. Satisfied that her side had not suffered much damage, he moved to her ankle, rotating it and hearing her gasp in pain. Jūshirō felt the insane need to smash into the doctor and push him out of the way as he hurt his little Rukia, she should never be a subject of pain.

"The good news is that you only have slight internal bruising, that will heal quickly," revealed the doctor, "And you have sprained you ankle so that is fixable. The bad news is that you will need several days rest to recover and try not to walk on it and it will only become increasingly worse."

Rukia nodded, "So just rest; is that all I need to do?"

"Yep," the doctor replied, "I will give you some medication to reduce the swelling and to numb the pain."

"Thank you," Jūshirō said gratefully as he picked Rukia up off the chair and out of the room, carrying her down the hall and towards the small chemists. Rukia's medication was ready as they came to pick it up, making the trip somewhat quicker, much to her relief as she wanted to get back and rest her swollen foot and to perhaps spend her resting time in the arms of Jūshirō.

Jūshirō lowered her as she grabbed it, thanking the chemist as she bought her medication and was whisked home by a very concerned Jūshirō.

xxxxxxx

"Is there anything else I can get you?" Jūshirō asked as Rukia lay on the bed, having taken her medication already.

"I'm ok," she said, "But I'm a little lonely, will you come and lie with me?"

Jūshirō rolled his eyes comically, only teasing a little as he looked forward to the prospect of sitting with her. He perched on the edge of the bed, watching her a little as she shifted under the covers. She patted the space next to her, beckoning him to her. He moved to sit on top of the covers next to her; however she pushed the quilt down, off of her.

"No, please could you…" she began to ask.

"If you insist," Jūshirō replied with a smile as he lay under the duvet with her. He rested his head on one of the pillows as she propped herself up on one elbow, watching him as he looked up at the ceiling. Her heart was pounding as she moved closer to him, her nerves running a riot within her as she closed the gap between them a little more. Jūshirō turned his head, nearly jumping out of his skin as Rukia was hovering above him, however he remained perfectly still as he allowed her press her lips against his for the second time that day. He found himself reciprocating, kissing her back with equal fervour as he cupper her face with his hands.

"Rukia, why did you…" he began to question.

"I wanted to thank you for helping me," she replied as she sat back down, her tone casual, as if it had been nothing. However the two of them had known that is was more than "nothing", infinitely more in fact.

"It's ok, don't worry about it," he said, "Though I want to thank you for a nice thank you present, I wasn't expecting that."

Rukia blushed as she too lay down, facing Jūshirō whose gaze was transfixed upon her, "I'm glad you liked it, I was worried that you wouldn't."

"Why wouldn't I?" he asked, curious now.

"I dunno, maybe because I am your subordinate," she mused.

"You're more than that," he replied, his voice barely above a whisper, but Rukia heard him nevertheless.

"In what way?" she asked him and she got up on her elbow again.

"Well," he said quickly, "You're my companion, my partner on mission, someone whom I can trust and reply on."

"Oh," Rukia replied, startled as she had never been called told anything like this before, "Thank you."

Rukia nodded as the silence fell upon them once more, making both of them desperate to say something, but neither knowing just what to say.

"May I ask something?" Jūshirō said after a while, remembering what he had wanted to ask her.

Rukia nodded as she, with Jūshirō's permission, rested her head on his shoulder, smiling at the position she was in.

"What happened between you and your previous boyfriend?" he asked, saying it slowly and gently as he was desperate to know which moron dumped her.

"What? Mine and Ichigo's old relationship?" she replied as he nodded, Jūshirō surprised that she had picked Ichigo over Renji. Jūshirō nodded, prompting more from her.

"Nothing really," she admitted, "We were friends, went out, did couple things and then split up because he found someone else. The break-up hurt a little, but that's to be expected though."

"I see," he said slowly, "So the experience part of the relationship was presumably the good part of splitting up?"

"Yeah," she replied with a blush, "You could say that."

They talked about this further over the next few hours, Jūshirō learning of Rukia's relationship with Ichigo, her lack of innocence as she had become a woman in her relationship and that she, like him, had her eye on someone. He of course teased her a little and repeatedly asked her who, but since he refused to tell her who he liked, she refused to tell him.

Rukia however soon learned about Jūshirō's family and his last relationship. Finding herself laughing and the slight kookiness of his many siblings and the anecdotes he told her from his childhood with them.

It was only when Rukia yawned did Jūshirō realise that it was the early hours of the morning and the two of them found themselves in a familiar position, fast asleep and within each other's caring arms.

A/N: Please review! Thanks for all those who reviewed and who support this story, you guys keep me going! As I said, no upload for a while but I will be posting more when I get back! Thanks, Moon Ash xx