DISCLAIMER: I don't own Bleach...-sigh-

A/N: Okay, so I've really been lacking inspiration lately, so it's been very hard for me to update. I finally sat down and was like: OKAY! WRITING! NOT GONNA STOP! So, here's the end result. I didn't cut out the Hollow scene, because it kinda had to be there, but it's not very detailed, because I'm not very good with action scenes...especially like this. I hope you still enjoy it though. There's a little IchixRuki tension later on, which was interesting to write.

Chapter 4: Closed Off

"Damn it, Rukia!" Ichigo yelled as the two of them raced down the nearest alleyway in pursuit of their latest Hollow call. "Couldn't this wait?"

"Of course," Rukia answered sarcastically. "Because I'm the one who controls when and where the Hollows are going to attack. I'll make sure the next one doesn't interfere with your lunch!"

"Good!" Ichigo shot back. He hadn't been serious, but it was nice to vent some of his anger sometimes.

Rukia sighed angrily and hurried forward, leaving him quite behind. Taking longer strides, he caught up quickly, smirking at Rukia haughtily. Rukia allowed him to move ahead, but fell behind, taking a sharp right turn down another alley. Ichigo, realizing he didn't know where they were going, stopped, taking notice of Rukia's disappearance.

"Rukia?" he called out. "Where'd you go?"

Rukia peeked back around the corner. "Are you coming or not?"

Ichigo followed, but failed to answer her question. He had wanted to argue with her that they didn't have times to play games, but in reality, he'd been the one competing with her in the first place, therefore it had been his fault. He was certain Rukia was aware of this.

The towering monster loomed ahead of them, high above the city buildings. It was rather quiet for a hollow, which seemed to catch the two Soul Reapers off guard. Rukia stared up at it in confusion.

"He looks different from the others..." Ichigo pointed out. "Are you sure he's a Hollow?"

Rukia nodded slowly. "That's what the order says."

"Then let's kill him..." Ichigo moved forward, but Rukia threw out her arm to stop him.

"No," she insisted. "Wait. Something doesn't seem right..."

"Who cares?" Ichigo said impatiently. "We have to stop him, and I'm not going to wait around all day for you to make a decision on whether he's a normal Hollow or not."

Before Rukia could speak again, Ichigo had hurried off into the direction of the Hollow, seeming to forget that he had yet to become spirit-form. Rukia sighed, irritated, having no choice but to follow him once again.

"Ichigo, you idiot!" she called after him. "You're going to get yourself into trouble! You could be throwing yourself headfirst into a trap!"

Ichigo froze, feeling something tug sharply at his heart. Perhaps Rukia hadn't meant it, but she'd said something that he'd thought about many a time before. He had thrown himself into a trap once, he could certainly do it again, subconsciously of course. He'd never want to have that happen again on purpose.

He didn't want to lose any more loved ones.

Without warning, Rukia hit him sharply on the back, causing his soul to leave his body. Glancing back at her, Ichigo waited for further instructions that never came.

Rukia watched as he darted forward toward the monstrous creature. Ichigo's zanpaku-tô flashed in the sunlight, sending shards of color across the asphalt. Catching the Hollow's attention, Ichigo managed to catch it by the tail, knicking it slightly.

It roared loudly, making it's first sound since their appearance. Rukia did not find this out of the ordinary for a Hollow, but did find it suspicious that it failed to say anything else. Usually Hollows tended to be rather loud and quite talkative.

It turned to look at Ichigo through onyx colored eyes, it's bonelike mask nearly covering one. Ichigo braced himself, raising the zanpaku-tô above his shoulder.

"Ichigo!" Rukia called out as Ichigo executed another attack. "Watch his tail!"

The same tail that Ichigo had sliced before found its way around him, knocking him backward. Rukia smothered the urge to move toward him, feeling a strange sense of fear wash over her.

"Ichigo!"

With a sharp slash, the Hollow reared back, roaring once again. Ichigo only turned momentarily to look back at Rukia who was still watching him intensely. He had never noticed the way she watched him while he fought and it greatly intrigued him. He was certain that no one had ever looked at him in that way before.

In that brief moment of vulnerability, Ichigo had let his guard down, leaving him wide open to the Hollow, who chose immediately to attack. As he regained his balance from the latest blow, Ichigo was certain he'd heard the Hollow laugh.

"AARGH!" Ichigo struck the side of the Hollow's head, only to ricochet off the edge of his mask.

For some reason, Ichigo was finding it difficult to fight off this Hollow. He kept forgetting about the tail, which made frequent trips behind Ichigo, knocking to his knees. Rukia felt helpless as she continued to watch the battle beside Ichigo's discarded body.

"Ichigo! Look out!" she shrieked.

Ichigo managed to keep his focus, placing another fierce blow to the side of it's face. The Hollow, however, seemed distracted by Rukia's outburst, finally taking notice of their audience. It stared at her, as though recognizing her from somewhere before. Rukia's eyes grew wide as it began to move toward her.

Ichigo's zanpaku-tô caught the underbelly of the Hollow as it moved swiftly toward Rukia. It took him a moment to realize the motive behind the Hollow's actions.

"RUKIA!" In short bursts, Ichigo managed to catch up with the Hollow easily. Each one of his footsteps seemed to echo in his mind.

With a death-defying leap, as ironic as it sounds, he landed on the back of the Hollow's neck as it leered down at Rukia. He couldn't understand why she wasn't moving. He couldn't understand why she was merely staring the Hollow in the eye, making not attempt to save her own life.

"Ku...chiki..." a voice finally emerged from the crooked mouth. Rukia's heart seemed to stop as she heard her own name being spoken.

The Hollow, however, would never speak another word, for as it spoke, Ichigo brought the final blow atop it's head. With a deafening scream, it vanished into thin air, causing Ichigo to fall painfully to the ground.

Rukia continued to stare up at the space where the Hollow had occupied only moments before, feeling as though she'd just watched an old friend vanish before her eyes. She couldn't tell what made her feel that way, but the voice wouldn't leave her alone. It attacked her mind repeatedly, as though taunting her.

"I'm fine..." Ichigo said, getting to his feet. "Really. No worries. Don't even bother to thank me."

Rukia finally looked away, taking notice of her friend who was brushing himself off, moving toward his body, still lying a few feet from where they stood.

"I'm sorry," she said absently. "Are you alright?"

Ichigo didn't answer her, replacing himself in his body and bringing himself to full height. Slowly, he started back toward the school, his mind reeling with just as many questions as hers.

"How did that Hollow know your name?" he asked, finally breaking the silence that had grown thick between them. They had taken the long route back to the school, finding that they would miss the rest of their classes, and the journey itself was pointless.

"I don't know," Rukia answered honestly. "I told you there was something different about that thing."

"Is it perhaps an old friend of yours?" he asked, a bitter tone rising in his voice.

"It's possible, I suppose..." Rukia thought the idea over. It would make sense, but she couldn't place the voice.

"Or maybe an old lover?" Ichigo continued, stuffing his hands into his pockets in an irritated fashion.

Rukia stopped abruptly, watching him as he stalked away, his shoulders hunched over in his usual slouched demeanor. She couldn't believe he would say something like that.

"No. It's not!" she said loudly. "Not that it would be any of your business anyway!" When he didn't respond, she hurried after him. "I don't go butting into your business, so I'd appreciate it if you'd keep out of-"

Ichigo laughed sarcastically. "Ha! You stay out of my business?" he couldn't help but laugh again. "Let me remind you that you live in my closet..."

"I wouldn't have to live in your closet if you hadn't been so noble in the first place," she retorted. "You have no one to blame but yourself. I could have taken that Hollow on all on my own, but no, you had to storm in and be the hero."

Ichigo stopped to stare at her. "Oh, so all of this is my fault?"

Rukia nodded, folding her arms across her chest. "Yes."

Ichigo's mouth hung open wordlessly, as though he were going to say something. Changing his mind, he shut it forcefully, and huffed away. Rukia wasn't going to let him back out of this that quickly.

"If you must know, it's not exactly easy for me to watch you fighting them all this time." She explained. "I want to help you, you know, but you're too stubborn to even listen to me. If you tried, you'd probably leave some of your battles with less injuries than you usually receive."

Ichigo refused to look at her, however, his silence was making it seem like she was winning this argument, which was the last thing he wanted at this time.

"All I'm saying, is that I could help you, if you'd just let me..." she stated bluntly.

"And the only reason you want to help me is so that you get your powers back, is that correct?" he asked sharply.

Rukia felt insulted. Did he honestly think that she was that shallow? That she didn't even consider him anything more than just a partner in a business deal? "You're wrong." she said, her eyes growing more fierce by the second. "Y-You're wrong." she repeated.

Ichigo scoffed, not believing her.

"I don't want you to get hurt," she told him honestly. "You had a normal life before I came along. You'll go back to that someday. I just don't want to change that. I don't want you to miss out on the chance of being normal again. "

Ichigo fell silent, his frown more intense than usual. "When you disappear...and everyone forgets..."

"Yes..." Rukia said, their angry movements slowing down to a casual walk.

"Well," he laughed half-heartedly. "If you must know, you've failed already."

She looked at him. "How so?"

"I've never been normal," he told her. "I'm never going to be normal. I've accepted that fact."

Rukia didn't say anything. She had to agree, but that wasn't what she meant. Ichigo's everyday life had been the norm for him. Now, it was nothing but waiting for another Hollow attack. He was no longer what he could consider normal for him.

She'd turned him into a Soul Reaper.

Even if it were a temporary one, she'd turned him into one of her people.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly, staring down at her feet as they cast shadows into the orange light on the pavement.

"What are you sorry for?" he asked. "You said that this was all my fault. Why would you be sorry?"

"Because, it's not all your fault..." she said, her eyes unblinking. "I've had some say in this too. I never had to save your life in the first place. I didn't have to save your life any of these times. I never had to help you."

"Well, it would certainly make you an ass if you didn't..." Ichigo said, hoping for a laugh. Not receiving one, he frowned. "Why are you helping me?"

"I told you," Rukia said, finally looking up, though avoiding his gaze. "I don't want you to get hurt."

"I know that," he said, sounding serious. "But I don't think that's all. What else is it? Why don't you want me to get hurt?"

"I may be dead, Ichigo," she said, glancing up at him. "But I'm not heartless. I care about you."

Before Ichigo could ask anymore questions, they'd entered the house, avoiding all signs of Ichigo's family. When he finally turned to ask for an explanation, he was met with a slam of a door, Rukia locked tightly inside his closet.

He opened his mouth to speak, raising his fist to knock on the door, but paused in mid-air. Changing his mind, his fist relaxed and he sighed deeply. Pressing his hand and forehead against the wood, Ichigo closed his eyes.

Why was she always so closed off?

A/N: Okay, so yeah, I'm going to try and update sooner this time, because I know you've all been waiting quite patiently. It's getting harder for me to write, because I've been majorly stressed out lately, and not to mention my muse is still being majorly stupid. You might see even more angst involving Ichi and Ruki, and I apologize (unless of course you like that kind of thing) but that's just inspiration from my life. All that good angst of growing up, ya know? Anyways, please review!! I want to know what you guys still think of this. Thanks!