Hey everyone sorry�I haven't updated in a while, well here's the next chapter, i hope you enjoy this one.

Waiting for You

By lilaznbabe

"So Ichigo," Rukia spoke. "Who was that special girl you keep talking about?"

Special moment now ruined and Ichigo calm and eased feeling is replaced by a panic undergo.

'Shit, did she hear me this whole time?' Ichigo doesn't know what to do at the moment. Should he tell her the truth or just straight up lie his ass off.

"Um… well…" Ichigo stalled for as long as he could, hoping that something would interrupt this moment. "Well she's…" beep, beep a familiar ringing sound interrupts him. Rukia reaches in her dress and takes out her phone. "It appears we have some duties to attend to." Ichigo sighs with relief, 'yes, never thought I would say this but thank you hollows for appearing.' "Don't think our little conversation here is over, we'll finish this later."

'Damn maybe I should just let the Hollow kill me before we speak ofit again.'

They both ran towards the location of the Hollow, he seemed pretty basic so it should be an easy kill for both of them. Ichigo felt really happy and strong; it was like his powers had finally returned to him after a long period of time. Fighting alongside Rukia was a blessing to him, he longed for Rukia to return and fight with him, encourage him and care for him, he needed her. It was just like the old days when they would run around town killing hollows and other powerful beings. Together, they've gained so much and their relationship grew every moment they were together.

Once they've reached their location, both of them took on their shinigami form. Now, even though the Hollow was a weak one, it was no fool. Every strike they made on the hollow, it would dodge it without getting any scratches on it.

"Damn, this Hollow won't fucking die." Ichigo yelled in frustration.

"Stop complaining and just slice him." Rukia yelled back.

"Rukia, watch out!" slash That distraction was all the Hollow needed to strike Rukia.

'Damn, I was reckless.'

Ichigo quickly shunpon (sorry idk how to spell that) to Rukia and carried her away from the Hollow. Her arm was dripping a trail of blood for the hollow to follow. Ichigo couldn't stand looking at Rukia like this, even with a small wound, would make Ichigo tick.

'No, not this again, I won't let you die again Rukia, not as long as I'm here to protect you.'

Ichigo ran towards a park and placed her under a tree for her to rest. Then the hollow pops out from the forest pursuing both Ichigo and Rukia. But Ichigo wouldn't allow anyone or anything for the matter, harm Rukia. His Zanpakto blocked the Hollow's attack, reflecting it's assault. Ichigo then leaped on to the Hollow and sliced it in half, killing the Hollow. He returned to Rukia and carried her back to his home so that he can tend to her injuries.

(Later that day)

"OW! Dammit Ichigo, pull it any tighter, my arm might as well pop right off." She yelled.

"Well, deal with it!" He yelled back. "Its not my fault you had to be an idiot and get yourself hurt again. You know you could have lost your life again if you weren't anymore reckless." Rukia's grouchy expression changed into a confused yet sorrowful look. She placed her hand on Ichigo's hand where he was wrapping her bandage.

"Ichigo, how many times I have to tell you," She reassured him. "I can take care of myself, I'm not helpless, you don't have to worry about me."

"But that's the thing Rukia," he argued "I can't help but worry about you."

He gripped her hand a little tighter and placed his head down so that she won't be able to see him cry.

"When you died, I felt guilty." "Well, it is my fault anyway."

"You know when I lost my mother when I was little, I felt like my world was coming to an end."

"Her death to me was like life with no meaning."

"She was the reason I was happy all the time, I felt strong when she was around me and I loved her so much."

"But in the end, I lost her."

Rukia began to get teary herself, she didn't know what to say to him at the moment, she couldn't even bring up the strength to smack upside the head and call him an idiot. She was about to speak when Ichigo raised his head up.

"Then you came along,"

"I don't know how you did it, but because of you I was able to protect again."

"That meant everything to me."

"ha, you know when I first met you I thought you were some annoying midget that won't get off my back," That comment made Rukia angry and she was about to retort until.

"But your annoying ass made my life worth living."

"Because of you I can feel happy like I did when my mother was still around and I owe you so much Rukia and I don't ever want to lose you like I lost my mother."

After his confession, he held on to her hand and placed it near his lips and gave it a peck while his dark brown eyes were looking straight into her's. Rukia was very astonished of what Ichigo said and the funny thing was she felt the same way.

"You know," Rukia finally spoke. "It's funny but I feel the same way about you."

Ichigo looked confused.

"I mean I didn't lose my mother or anything like that, but I did lose someone very important in my life."

"When I became a Kuchiki, it was nearly all the honor I could ever receive."

"But the bad thing about it was people treated me differently because I belonged to a higher class family."

"That's when I met Kaien Shiba," "He was my superior in my squad."

"He would treat me no different than the other people in our squad."

"He's not afraid to yell at me or even insult me."

"I was thankful to him because of that and I began to admire him."

While Ichigo was hearing this, he became a bit jealous of this Kaien guy, but he was happy that Rukia was confessing to him about her secrets. But this isn't the type of thing he wanted to hear.

"Sadly he had a wife, which I idolized."

"So what happen to this Kaien guy? Is he still alive?" Ichigo asked.

"Unfortunately, no he died by my hands." She felt the guilt rushing right back to her heart and started to gripped Ichigo's hand more.

"That night his wife was taken over by a Hollow, he asked if he could fight his wife alone, I couldn't stand watching him fight to his death."

"He ended up losing and the Hollow consumed him as well."

Her eyes began to well up as she described her horrible past to Ichigo. Ichigo wrapped his strong arms around her and rested his headon hers in hopes to comfort her.

"I couldn't recognize him at all, it was his body, but what I saw in that body was a monster."

"At first I ran away, but for some odd reason I stopped and faced him."

"He threw himself right at me and that's when I plunged my sword through his chest."

Tears flowed right down her cheek and Ichigo had no clue how hard it must be for her to carry that sort of burden with her all this time. He rubbed her arms to ease her pain.

"I'm sorry, it must have been hard for you to deal with that."

Rukia smiled a bit at that comment. It was true, it was painful, heartbreaking and she couldn't live with herself for what she did.

"You have no idea Ichigo," she said.

"But you know what got me back on my feet after all those years of pain and regret?"

Ichigo lifted his head and wanted to hear her secret.

"You,"

Ichigo looked really confused, what did she mean by him.

"Thanks to you I don't feel any burden of the past."

"I owe you so much for that as well."

"Heh, I guess we're even then." He said to lighten up the mood.

Rukia giggled at his comment and stared straight into his eyes.

"You know," she moved her head closer to examine him. She moved close enough that their noses touched. "You sort of remind me of him."

"Your face, attitude, pride, spirit, your whole being reminds me so much of him."

"But you know what the difference between you two is?"

She paused and began to blush a dark pink and then she made a supriselip contact with Ichigo's lips. She wrapped her arms around him to get more comfortable. After Ichigo got used to the shock of it all, his arms took over her waist and pulled her closer and he made the kiss much more deep and passionate. They soon ran out of breath and parted an inch away.

"I love you more than I could ever love him." She finished her sentence.

Ichigo smirked and pecked her lips one more time.

"Likewise,"

Ichigo than consumed her mouth with his own again and a new beginning has finally unfolded.

Well hope you enjoyed it PLZ� review and i'll write more. thx