IchiRuki Week Day 4 kicks off with a bang. I realize that this is only the second time in four days I've actually had these two physically together in the same scene. Yesterday and the day before that they were a world apart. But the fact that they don't need to be together to make the ship work is a good thing, right?

Anyways, I'm still trying to be really subtle with the whole romance thing. Ichigo and Rukia aren't supposed to be the most grandly romantic of people, after all. Any development that we would and have seen in canon would be and is subtle. Hopefully I captured that well enough.

Day 4: Rukongai

"Ichigo, I thought you were supposed to be on vacation. Why are we all the way out in Inuzuri?"

The man in question turned to face his shorter comrade. She'd been hesitant when he told her that he wanted to take a look around the Rukongai – there was a pretty mixed opinion amongst the districts about Shinigami, and they tended to be especially poor ones all the way out here.

"Can you blame me for wanting to learn my way around? This place is huge, Rukia. It's gotta hold like ten percent of the souls in the universe or something."

"Which is why you wanting to take a grand tour all around. There are three hundred and twenty districts that make up the four sectors of the Rukongai. Seeing them all would be impossible to do in the five days you'll still be here."

"Not all of them, Rukia, just the ones the people I care about have called home."

Rukia frowned. Ichigo had spent the past two days going around to each of the Gotei 13's main offices and delivering some of the most sincere thanks she'd ever seen him give to each of the captains and lieutenants. He'd even bowed his head to Zaraki-taicho, who almost immediately took the opportunity to attack.

The moron was still lucky to have his stupid orange head attached. If he'd blocked even a fraction of a second later…

"Then why start all the way out here? Matsumoto and Gin were from the 64th district. Toshiro was from the first. We could have worked our way outwards and saved time."

"This one's the first stop because it's more important, idiot."

Rukia seethed. How dare he insult her with that name and with a fragile excuse like that. As if some stupid, smelly old town could take precedence over actually enjoying his time here. He probably just brought her out here to make fun of her old home.

She was about to reply, but a sudden collision with a sprinting boy holding a pot over his head stopped her. Water went spewing out, soaking her robes and her right glove. The boy, quickly followed by his two compatriots with more water and stale-looking loaves of bread, shouted a quick apology before an older man – probably the shopkeeper they'd just stolen from – rounded the corner, fury painted on his face and fire dancing in his eyes.

"You little bastards get back here this instant!"

Ichigo, suddenly more focused on the scenario than his words from earlier, turned to the man with a cool expression on his face.

"Hold up. I get that you're frustrated, but how hard can it be to come across water and bread? They live around here, right? It shouldn't be too hard to track them down if it's that big of a deal."

"And what the hell would you know, Shinigami? You've probably never been this far out in your life. It takes two hours just to get out to the nearest well. That bread was supposed to pay for a month of expenses. Now all of that's been snatched out right from under my nose!"

Rukia's hands found their way into her coin purse smoothly and elegantly. Back when she was younger, if it was making sure she and Renji she wouldn't have thought twice about telling the man to sod off. Now, though, she knew there was a solution that would make everybody happy.

"Here. It's not much, only a few thousand kan, but it should keep you going for the month, so long as prices haven't gone up too much."

The old man was silent under Rukia's stern gaze and her palm outstretched with what he considered to be a large sum of money. Would his pride really allow him to take it?

"What the problem? She's paying for what those kids took. The way I see it, you can either take it and call it a fair sale, or donate what you lost to those kids out of the kindness of your heart," Ichigo added, his own scowling look piling on top of Rukia's.

"Th-thank you for your patronage," the man submitted, taking the golden coins from Rukia's hands before walking back towards his shop, shoulders slumped in defeat.

There was a pause between the two remaining figures. Ichigo's head turned slightly, the motion causing Rukia to turn her head and catch his eyes. She gave him a questioning look, to which he responded with that irritatingly cocky smirk of his.

"I half expected you to trip the guy. I've heard stories from Renji about your mean streak."

Surprisingly, Rukia chuckled. Her hand came up to cover her mouth, and her head turned downwards as her eyes shut. Ichigo's expression fell into one of surprised neutrality. Rukia wasn't supposed to do…whatever that was. What was that?

"Maybe I've grown up a bit. Stealing isn't good for anyone in the long run. Besides, I've always wanted to find some way to help out back here. I know I can't save them all, but I want to help out everyone I can."

"Rukia."

She turned, catching Ichigo's gaze and freezing under it. How many times had she seen his eyes like that? Only a few, and usually only when she'd come back after being away for a while. What was he thinking? It was embarrassing, getting looked at like that.

"You can make a bigger change than you think. There are people out there that think you…that think the things you care about are important. When you want help, if you want help, just ask. They'll be there for you no matter what."

What was he saying!?

"Y-you idiot! Of course I'll ask for help if I want it. I don't need your permission!" she asserted, turning away from him and crossing her arms with a huff.

"No," chuckled, "No, I guess you don't."

He grabbed her wrist, making her flinch as he broke her arms apart and gently pulled her after him. She wanted to berate him a little more, but when she turned to face him he was still looking at her like that. Her expression softened without her telling it to, and the words died in her throat.

"C'mon. We've got a lot more ground to cover today. Give me the rest of the tour, will ya? I want to see where you used to live."

Something about Ichigo's words upon their arrival here – about how he'd wanted to come here first because it was "more important" – rang true for her just then. He wanted to know where she grew up.

"Yeah. Okay. Come on, it's just over here."

Maybe this trip wasn't such a bad idea after all. Seventeen months had been a long time to be without Ichigo. No one could fault her for wanting to make the most of his visit now. Besides, his hand was warm around hers. That was enough of an excuse to keep him around.

Hope you guys enjoyed this one. I've noticed that these are getting progressively longer the further I go, and I wonder if that's a good or a bad thing...

Leave anything that bugs you about spelling/grammar/characterization in the reviews. I thrive off your hatred; it feeds my own self-loathing.