Hey! Sorry it took so long for me to write this chapter, I was busy! But here it is, finally!
Disclaimer: I don´t own Bleach or any of it´s characters, or anything related to it.
Rukia and Ichigo were walking on the cold and dark street. They hadn't said even a word after they had left from Urahara´s. Rukia didn't mind the silence, but she really wanted to know more about the family, she was going to meet, but she didn't want to be the one to brake the silence.
Then suddenly Ichigo just stopped like he had hit a wall and because Rukia was walking right behind him she almost crashed on him. Then Ichigo suddenly turned around and looked at her with serious face.
"We have to make some things straight, before we go inside", Ichigo said.
Rukia looked at him very confused.
"Like what?" She just asked.
"Like the fact that my family doesn't know that you're a shinigami or that I am a one, so I would like you to keep hidden", he said as calmly as possible. Then he just kept on walking. Rukia was very hurt by the way he handled that situation.
"Wait a minute!" Rukia said and rushed to catch up to him.
"You want me to hide, why?" Rukia demanded to know.
"Because, at the moment; you're a spirit and no one can see you", Ichigo said. Rukia looked at him like he was an idiot.
"So where is the problem, if no one can see me then why should I hide, there is no sense in hiding", Rukia said and started to feel really frustrated.
"Because my sister can see you and that is the problem", Ichigo said and his frustration was heard from his voice.
"So…" Rukia said, she still didn't get what the problem was,
"They know about you, the older version of you, so if my sister would see a child version of you as a ghost, do you have any idea how bad that situation would be!" Ichigo yelled.
After a while thinking about it she actually did get it.
"So I just keep out of her way and just do what the spirits usually do", Rukia said cheerfully and tried to think, what spirits usually did do.
"And there we get to another problem, you can't stay like that just as a spirit", Ichigo said.
"Why?" Rukia asked again.
Man, Ichigo really was starting to hate that question. If it would really be Rukia he wouldn't have to answer all these stupid and so simple questions.
"Because if you're like that, a hollow will come after you and eat you or a shinigami will come and sent you to Soul Society", Ichigo said and hoped that she would shut up now, he was wrong though.
"What's a hollow?" Rukia asked and Ichigo sighed out of desperation.
"It's a monster which eats human spirits and we shinigamis kill them", Ichigo said. He could have never believed that he would have to explain something like this to Rukia; of all people to her.
"Ok so; I can't be seen as a spirit neither can I be seen by your family either, so how am I supposed to do that", Rukia said and put her hands to her hips.
"Well we put in a gigai and then other hollows or shinigamis won't know that you're a spirit", Ichigo said cheerfully, which was obviously faked, and then started to walk away.
"What's a gigai?" Rukia asked and rushed after him.
Ichigo sighed and wanted to scream out of frustration; this was going to be a long night.
It took them a while but finally they arrived at Ichigo´s house. By the time they got there he was already so frustrated that Rukia could sense it from him, and because of that she walked few steps behind him, just to be safe.
Rukia stopped to look at the house and then she had weird flashback; she was standing in front of the house and rushed with amazing speed, to save a boy from a monster which had a weird mask. She couldn't see the boys face, but she could feel the pain when the monster almost bit her arm of. Just when she was about to watch the boy's face; she was back in the present.
Ichigo had put his hand on Rukia´s shoulder and tried to get her attention. She was just standing there with empty look on her face.
"Rukia", he called and then she woke up. Her face looked very confused and she stared at Ichigo for a while.
"What is it?" Ichigo asked.
"Nothing", Rukia said and shook her head.
"So this is your house, it looks nice."
"Yeah…", Ichigo mumbled and started to walk away.
"We'll go through from back, from my window", Ichigo said and walked at the back of the house, Rukia following right behind him.
At the back of the house, Ichigo grabbed Rukia into his arms and jumped to his window. He opened it slowly and jumped inside. When he was inside he put Rukia down and went to put on the lights. His body and Rukia´s gigai were exactly at the same place where they had left them; lying on the floor.
Ichigo went and grabbed his body, and went inside it. Then he went to check on Rukia´s gigai, when he was about to move he realized that Rukia was staring at him.
"What?" Ichigo asked out of annoyance.
"How did you do that?" She asked and rushed to check on him.
"So this is a gigai, huh?" She mumbled and pinched Ichigo´s arm, making him to gently slap her.
"Stop it! This is not a gigai, this is my real body!" He yelled at her, which made her look at him with questioning face.
"Your real body? So, does that mean that you're not really dead?" Rukia asked.
"That's right", Ichigo said and lowered down to look at Rukia´s gigai.
"Then how are you a shinigami?" Rukia asked.
"It's a long story", he said and his voice sounded very sad. Then stood up and walked to the door. At the door he turned around to look at her.
"Stay here I'll go get some clothes for you", he said and walked out of the room.
"Wait!" Rukia tried to yell after him but he didn't listen. He just left him with her gigai.
Rukia lowered herself to watch the body that was just lying on the floor. She watched her face, her hands, her legs, her hair; all and all she was beautiful young lady; if she was allowed to think. She was surprised to see how similar she really did look compared to her current form. Even though that body on the floor was much older than she herself. Then she suddenly realized something that body was way too big for her; so what she should do.
She stood up and looked the door, hoping that Ichigo would show up at any minute. He didn't show up and for a minute she thought that she should go look for him, but she didn't want to risk that she would run into Ichigo´s sister. Her eyes found their way back to her body and then she suddenly decided to lift it up to lean on the closet's door. But the moment she touched it a bright light started to glow, which almost blinded her.
"Rukia? I brought the clothes…what the…", Ichigo said and entered the room, but he was cut off by a sudden appearance that was lying on the floor in front of him. It was Rukia, well almost it was the small Rukia in her gigai and the gigai had got as small as she was.
The small Rukia lifted herself up and looked really confused of the situation, and when he realized Ichigo she started immediately to apologize.
"I´m so sorry! I didn't mean to! I just touched it and then suddenly I was inside it and…" she explained in a panic and all of her words got mixed and soon he couldn't understand a word that she was saying. Then he just sighed and threw her the clothes he had picked up. She looked them with surprised face.
"Put them on. I'll have to go downstairs and explain where I and Rukia suddenly disappeared", he said and was about to leave but then he suddenly turned around and pointed her with his finger.
"And you, stay hidden", he said with serious tune and then left.
Rukia looked after him very confused and lost, but got herself soon together and looked at the clothes he had brought. He had brought her a violet dress which was sleeveless and a black cardigan.
She dropped the towel on the floor and put the dress on. The clothes Ichigo had picked suited her surprisingly well. She looked around the room if there by any chance could be a mirror. But it was a boy's room so of course there wasn't any. For a second she thought the opportunity of going out of the room and finding a mirror, but she didn't want risk to be seen by anyone, so she just stayed at the room and sat down on the floor.
She waited quite a long time and she started to get anxious, then she stood up and walked to the door. She opened it and looked outside, and then she heard sound and quickly closed the door. She listened as the footsteps were getting closer and then she figured that she should hide and quickly. She looked around herself and saw a small closet, without thinking she opened the door and jumped inside. And not even a minute too early because the next moment the door opened and Yuzu and Karin came inside.
They walked around the room for a while until Yuzu noticed the towel on the floor.
"I guess she really did leave", Yuzu said and she sounded really disappointed. Karin just lifted her shoulders and took the towel.
"Well Ichi-nii did say that she had something to take care of", Karin said but she couldn't help but worry a little.
"I hope Rukia-chan comes back soon", Yuzu said and her voice, was filled with sorrow.
Rukia felt great need to go outside and show herself to the sisters, but her promise to Ichigo made her stay on put. She didn't even understand what made her feel that way, she didn't even remember their faces, and she couldn't even recognize their voices. She leaned at the back of the closet and hugged herself.
Yuzu looked around the room and then walked away with the towel. Karin was about to follow her sister when she suddenly turned around and looked straight at the closet, she didn't know why she had done it but she just could feel something through the door. Then she just let it go and walked out of the room.
On the closet, Rukia had held her breath and could finally breathe freely. She let herself fell down and stayed down. She felt so comfortable in that tiny closet, it felt like home and weird, but true it also smelled like home. She let herself get deeper in her own thoughts and before she noticed it she had fallen asleep.
It took an eternity to make his family listen to him, but finally he had got through. He had told them that Rukia´s family member had contacted her and that they wanted to discuss some minor business with her. He hadn't asked her what they were and so he had let her go, and so, and so. Then he said that Rukia would be back in couple of days.
He wasn't shocked that he had to lie to his family, heck he lied to them all the time. But he didn't like lying about Rukia because his family was clearly fond of her and he had no idea what to say to them if something would happen to her.
His head was filled with dark thoughts as he entered his room. He immediately noticed that her sisters had been there, first of all the towel which Rukia was wearing was gone, and secondly…well the towel was good enough. He also noticed that the clothes he had brought for Rukia were gone and in the matter of fact so was Rukia. At first his face showed a small panic but then he looked in to the closet; and there she was sleeping wrapped into a blanket that had been there.
For a while he just looked at her sleeping there. She looked so peaceful and defenceless, but Ichigo knew that that wasn't the case. Even without her shinigami powers she had kicked his butt countless of times, so he didn't have to worry about Rukia. She was mentally and physically so strong that it sometimes scared the shit out of him. But that was Rukia.
Ichigo closed the door and started to change in his pyjamas. Then he went to bed. For a while he just lied in his bed and thought of the situation. He should have probably told her what Urahara had told him. And he was about to tell her, but when he saw her like that sleeping defencelessly like a normal little girl, he just couldn't make himself to do it.
He sighed out of desperation and hoped that he would never have to tell her that. Or that he would have to tell his family that Rukia wasn't going to come back. Many thought in his mind he finally closed his eyes and fell to sleep.
