Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, and, even more depressingly, I do not own Byakuya Kuchiki. Hopefully, the story so far has not confused you, and I'd really appreciate reviews, and constructive criticism, as I'm still fairly new to this.
Somehow, during the fall, I'd ended up under the hollow, and face palmed the ground.
"Kurosaki, take the left, I'll take the right." Together, with seemingly no effort on either person, the hollow was lifted off, and I scrambled up. Ichigo was bright red, so much so, that it rivalled his hair. "What?" I looked down. Oh. I quickly righted myself, and picked Sode no Shirayuki up, tying her to my back.
"Now that that's all sorted out, what are we doing now, Captain?" Byakuya and I blinked in surprise. What is Ichigo up to? He never calls Byakuya by his title. So why start now?
"We should head back to the apartment, you two can take the rest of the day off, and I'll file what happened here. Rukia, if your injuries need tending to, go see Captain Ukitake,and he'll transfer you to a first aid centre if he thinks you should." I bowed my head.
"Thank you." I got a rare, but sure, corner of his mouth tilt up, in an almost smile. And, without another word, Byakuya turned and started walking back to his apartment. I turned back to Ichigo.
"What do you want to do, Rukia?"
I shrugged. "Get out of this stuff, then go and sit by this river I've loved since I was a child."
Ichigo nodded. "Sounds good." I smiled.
"Thank you for saving me, Ichigo." He shuffled about awkwardly, and turned a nice shade of subtle pink. "It's no problem. You were falling."
"Are you okay?" His eyes flickered to my face, and then away.
"Yes." I went to call him a liar, but his face made my eyes soften.
"You know what I mean." I kept my tone gentle.
"Yeah, and I said I'm fine. So leave it off." He was suddenly enraged, and I then knew that I was teetering on the edge of cliff that contained touchy- and normally-, unspoken of material.
"Okay." I briefly touched his arm, and then started walking back to the apartment.