Chapter four: Ichigo
A week passed by without a single appearance and Rukia really considering the thought that she was going mad. The boy had been on her mind and the terrifying nightmare did not repeat again. She was glad for this, and soon found no reason why the dream could have been real. After all, she did not know his name and she was not in Worcester, so the event that led her to wake up again in the middle of the night had nothing to do with the fear that wrapped its slimy finger over her heart. The dream wasn't real.
But other things could not be forgotten even if she wanted them to be. Every time she closed her eyes, she could feel his experienced lips softly touch hers that made her knees weak. Her first kiss. And what was worst was whenever she thought of this kiss, her cheeks would become terribly warm and her heart would have a heart attack just like that.
Erasing furiously at her cute little bunny drawing, she stabbed her pencil rather forcibly into a boy bunny that looked remarkably like the mysterious boy.
Two twin black duffel bags sat pitifully near her bedroom door. She had gotten overly excited for the trip and this was the horrible outcome of it. When her brother came in a few minutes ago he quirked an eyebrow and a secret grin spread throughout his face. He teased her about the extent of her excitement and teasingly said he would take away her trip so that she would stay here with him, in which earned him a glare. Of course this had no effect on him and he kissed her on the cheek before leaving the room for her to continue her bunny drawings.
She couldn't wait to go back home and be able to do whatever she wanted. She'd probably hang with Renji most of the time near the lake behind his house and then to the small marketplace in the morning and her home, isolated from the entire town and everyone else which she enjoyed the most. Not only because when she was by herself, she was really able to indulge in the stars and daydream her summer away. A fantastic idea really, but she had to admit that she couldn't help, not even now, stop herself from glancing towards the window every minute of the day.
Just the other day while her French instructor was attempting to teach her about the importance of conjugating verbs perfectly, her head turned -only on instinct to the window balcony. Her instructor scowled rather ugly and questioned if a thousand year old language of elegance and couture was less interesting than a window. She blushed in embarrassment and shame at being caught, but her mentor found this unexceptional and told her brother about her inability to stay focused. Disappointed and ashamed of her failure to do such a simple task, he ground her with no music, reading or phone calls with Renji. Though that had not been a problem at all for her since Renji had not called in a while.
She picked up a postcard that had a picture of a cold winter day, snow and snowflakes falling on the pine trees in the background, looking peaceful and beautiful in the snows embrace. Two warmly dressed friends with their backs to the camera making a small trail of footprints.
Turing it over, she read over the words Renji had sent her after a just awful day at school when a tall and leggy upperclassman decided to use Rukia as her entertainment.
She hated that she was so different from the girls. Blond, green eyed, tall, skinny and beautiful. Instead she was fated forever to have black hair, blue eyes. But not only that, she also looked like a midget that looked like she just got out of elementary school.
She received this postcard a day later that sure enough, made her smile the second she got it.
Princess Rukia!
Your prince shall come and rescue you from the evil queen. My beautiful snow white, whose skin is as white as the snow and lips red as a rose and hair black as ebony, do not fear, you prince shall come! I miss you. Love ya!
Your prince, Renji
Renji was the only boy, absolutely the only boy she knew who could make her smile and laugh at the same time, all the time. He was always able to make her happy and smile with anew meaning in her life. He was her true friend. He was the only one who understood her and accepted her before her parents died and even after when she acted cold and indifferent to him, not bothering to waste any time with him and giving up. But that didn't bother him, he loved to waste his unlimited energy on her until it eventually melted her cold exterior and bring forth a laughter that would bring her back to society.
Still smiling at the postcard she turned around in her chair and gasped! The boy with those memorizing eyes and bright ginger hair was here, staring at her amusingly by her window.
"Hello". He said to her lightly, conversationally, smiling when her jaw dropped in shock and disbelief that he was here. The gates of memory opened and just as suddenly as she saw him, her cheeks began to heat up and she diverted her eyes away from him. She closed her mouth and sneaked a glance at him, only to find him laughing at her and she turned away from him with a snort and returned her attention to her drawings.
He was already much more handsome than the last time she had seen him. Her memory did no justice. Dressed in grays and blacks, he wore a black trench coat, with matching black slacks and a gray wool sweater and a dark gray plaid scarf. The contrast between his clothes and his hair made an almost artificial illuminate to his form, making him seem unreal when the London wind blew though his tousled hair. His tan skin, looked warm and remarkably masculine with the curve of his jaw. She was still surprised by his beauty, wondering how he could be so handsome without trying.
"Why are you here again?" she asked snidely. She didn't know why she felt so mad at the moment. All she could think about was the insane thought that he was elsewhere with another girl.
"I think you missed me," the boy said to himself. He walked into the room and peered over her shoulder to look at what she was doing, but Rukia stopped him by furiously flipping it over and draping it over her arm protectively. The boy shrugged it off and walked to her bed and flopped onto it, his hands behind his head in a lazy, laid back position.
Rukia found it odd how he didn't seem to listen to her at all and moved to his own beat, but nether less look so… intimidating. Just the way he moved, his body language practically throwing out to whoever was watching exactly who had the authority and dominance- just like her brother, but he just didn't seem like the kind of business shark her brother was. More like a git, a sexy git.
Rukia stood up from her vanity mirror and walked to her bed and glared at the boy who was currently snuggling into her pillow like he belonged there.
"Christian". She called to him, wondering if her dreams were just a figment of her imagination.
At her call, one suspicious, darkened brown eye looked at her indifferently. "Christian?" He asked. "My names not Christian". He turned his head away from her so she wasn't able
She asked him again. "Why are you here Christian?"
The boy fully got up and went to sit in her chair, straddling it from the back and staring at her oddly.
"Don't call me that. I told you that my names not Christian." He mumbled grouchy as if the name she called him was rubbish.
"Then what is it? We didn't exactly start off with our names and a handshake". She told him before turning to him and inquiring him about it.
He laughed, rocking the chair he sat in and running his fingers through his hair. The sound so genuine it intrigued her.
Lifting a leg so that he sat in it properly, Rukia thought that he looked so silly in her tiny chair with his big frame. He lifted up the upturned picture that she left sitting on her table and answered her question.
"Ichigo. That's my name". He said staring still at her drawing before looking at her with a sly smile, and flipped the picture to her. "Who's this?" He asked teasingly, although the tone of his voice enquired that he did.
Blushing in embarrassment, she swiftly tried to grab the picture, but failed when he stood up, making her jump up and down to get it. The bright pink blush spread down her neck when he chuckled and held it up so that he could see it but held it up so that she couldn't reach it.
"Who is it?" He questioned again, smiling a wide grin, when her blush deepened.
"Orange hair, brown eyes and black clothes. Sounds very familiar"
Rukia glared at him, lips pouted at him in a childish whine.
"Jerk". She mumbled through gritted teeth and tried again to grab the picture at his hands, but the height difference was too unbalanced.
"That's not very ladylike," he taunted at her, that familiar twinkle back in his eye. What was with this git that made him want to tease her so much.
"I don't care". She responded back, not caring that she sounded even more like a child and with a twinkle of her own mischief, she kicked him in the shin and he immediately dropped it to cradle his shin with a moan.
Clutching the drawing to her chest, she quickly got out a key on the desk and stuffed it into an antique dollhouse and locked it.
"You didn't answer my question still" She accused him. How was he able to do that?
"I did. You were just busy kicking me. But to refresh your memory it's Ichigo."
"Not that one" She said, frustrated, but enjoying his company all the while.
"Which one?" He asked genuine forgetfulness kicking in.
"Ohhh, you mean why I'm here," He said as if he just caught on.
"Yes" She said, just a bit too quick. Hell, she was just to eager for this and way too frustrated and mad to care. She waited for his reply but he didn't respond and seemed to just stop talking altogether, absently began to play with her stuff lion animal Kon.
"Are you going to answer me?" She asked again. He ignored her again and then blocked her face off with Kon, making it skip around.
"Stop that" She warned, walking to him and snatching it from him, then placed it back on the shelf. He whined, but got bored and slumped right back into her bed. His feet dangled off the mattress edge despite the fact that it was a full sized mattress. She was stopped from her musings when he peaked open one eyes to the lingering luggage's waiting to go to Worcester.
"Going somewhere?" He asked indifferently.
"Yes." She said, not willing to go into details.
"Where?"
"Somewhere" She said. At her response, he sat up from the bed exactly when she lay down, across the feet of the bed. She lay down horizontally while he vertically.
"Where exactly is this somewhere?" He asked more insistently and she wondered why he decided he cared where she was. She didn't even know where hewas. Bloody hell! She thought. I'm already becoming clingy!
She ignored him feeling strange in her stomach but comfortable in her bed, although she found that odd because she thought she would've felt a bit awkward with a boy practically sleeping on her bed while she still on it. If her brother found out, he would go mad!
He poked her this time, but she swatted his hand away as if it was a fly and that earned her a laugh.
"Roxanne"
Rolling over onto her stomach, she stared at him as if he just told her that he like hardcore bunny sex. "Who the hell is Roxanne?" She gritted out, so surprised that she was feeling so much rage towards this boy who hadn't done anything, but instead she ignored it and glared at him when he pointed at her.
"That's an awful name for me." She said, making a sour face at the very idea of that being her name.
He chuckled. "Well, you called me Christian, so I thought, -Hey might as well give you one too".
Looking at him suspiciously, she rolled back onto her back and closed her eyes.
"It's Rukia".
"Ru-kia. Yeah that sounds like you," he said, testing her name on his lips. Whenever he said it, she felt like he was saying a spell, her name making the fire of magic grow larger and larger and tickle at her senses. She shivered in its warmth.
"Ru-kia"
"Ruk-ia"
"Rukia"
"Ru-my-kia"
"Kia-my-ru"
"Rukia, Rukia, Rukia"
"Stop saying my name", she mumbled, trying hard to fight off the incredibly bright blush that spread across her face and disappearing to her chest.
She cursed him darkly and with deadly intent if he continued with the pronunciation of her name. She couldn't stop the loud thumping in her heart and the butterflies fluttering in her stomach.
He laughed loudly, making the entire bed shake from the rumbling in his chest. Without thinking she spoke to him.
"You laugh a lot" She stated and rolled back onto her stomach to see his reaction turn from surprise to that silly grin again.
"I don't usually laugh a lot," He admitted.
"Why?" She asked, but immediately clamped her hand over her mouth. She didn't want to seem so nosy!
"Your so curious today" He teased, but answered her question.
"There aren't many funny things to laugh about, or joke about I suppose." His face screwed in a serious scowl, an expression she was definitely not used to.
Hoping to lighten up the conversation, she let herself become the object of his entertainment. "And you think I'm funny?" She asked him.
It proved to be the right thing to say. "Yeah, your hilarious" And to prove it he began to laugh when she scowled, holding a hand to his stomach in an tempt to keep in his loud, thundering laughter that filled her room.
"Well I'm so happy you find amusement in my torture" She said sarcastically, glancing in the corner of her eye to see his reaction, but he only smiled in thought. They laid there on the bed in comfortable silence, the open window still blowing in some warm summer air. She shivered and tried snuggling into the wall for some warmth. The bed dipped in from some weight and she opened her eyes, surprised to see him move the warm blankets on top of her.
So surprised and strangely happy that that he was concerned about her welfare, she smiled and whispered a thank you.
"Your welcome." He said softly. His voice smooth and sweet as honey. Just perfect.
Warm, and feeling her body slip into an abyss of dreams, she was called out of her slumber. "Rukia".
"Uh-huh?" She whispered, trying hard to fight off the weight of her eyelids from falling down.
"Where are you going?" Then there was a pause as if he was afraid to say something next. "Why aren't you afraid of me?" His voice asked her clearly, so softly that it hurt to hear him saying it with so much despair, but she couldn't tell with her mind so hazy.
"Of course… I'm not afraid of…you" She answered him with a yawn before snuggling into her pillow and smelling fresh winter snow, wift into her nose. "Your not…scary at all. The luggage's are for a trip to town".
"I see". He said sounding relieved.
The bed dipped again and she peered open her to see his looming body near her side of the bed.
"Sleepyhead". He whispered to her teasingly, smiling down at her with those beautiful hazel eyes.
"Ok, just one more question and I'll let you sleep". He promised and chuckled when she groaned.
"Which town?"
"Worcester" Another yawn, before adding "I used to live there".
Silence filled the room and Rukia peeked to see if Ichigo was still there and caught him staring at her with that funny look again. Dark brown eyelashes shielded his deep brown eyes that peered down at her. He bent his head and Rukia closed her eyes feeling a featherlike touch kiss touch her forehead. Surprised she looked up to find him already halfway out onto the balcony.
"Goodnight Rukia".
And like last time he disappeared to his flat. Rolling over, Rukia dug her head into her pillow, smelling that same smell of winter and forest air before sleeping the instant she closed her eyes.
