Chapter 7: Chapter 7
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Hazards
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"We're going to be late, Ichigo."
"You keep saying that," he said into his pillow, "but I still don't care." He grunted then as the added weight of her came to rest on his back, her skin against his and the warmth of her breath on his neck.
"Ichigo," she whined in that annoying voice of hers, a curl of black hair brushing against his cheek as she rested her chin against his shoulder. "Chad and Ishida are already downstairs."
"They'll survive."
For a moment there was blessed silence before he felt her fingers trailing down from the nape of his neck to trace the vertebrae of his spine. The light touch had him drifting back to sleep until she dug her fingers into the dimples at his lower back, her digits lingering at the waistband of his boxers. He hissed. "Rukia, damn it."
"Get up."
Already am, he thought grimly. "Stop it," he said instead.
"We're going to be late," she emphasized, bouncing slightly as if that would encourage him to leave the bed.
He growled in warning, but when all she did was move her leg slightly so that it was between his; her knee brushing against a certain appendage tauntingly, he knew he had to do something. Half on instinct and half in reprimand, he had them flipped around in mere moments. With her below him, jet black hair scattered across the once vacant pillow and pink lips parted in slight surprise, he growled again.
"You don't know when to quit, do you?"
Her eyes widened for only a fraction of a second before she had the audacity to smirk at him. "You're awake now though, aren't you?"
Bitch.
"Come on," she probed, poking at his sides. "Get dressed – we're going to the beach."
Rolling his eyes and exhaling a breath through his nose, he scowled down at her. "The beach isn't going anywhere."
"But I might."
With a furrow of his brow, his sleep addled brain recalled, "Did you see Urahara yet?"
She nodded and opened her mouth to tell him so until the sound of his bedroom door being thrown open interrupted her – along with the bellow of his father, "My son becoming a man! Look at that form!"
The hazard of being back under his father's roof: his father.
His scowl deepened.
Goddamn it.
"A-ano, Kurosaki-kun?"
There was something weird going on, Ichigo decided, and it definitely wasn't because his morning had started off as violently as it usually did when he was at home.
And even if it were, it wasn't like his day was totally ruined as a result.
The weather, it turned out, was surprisingly warm and everyone was coerced into the waters for a dip. Though Tatsuki did send Keigo flying with an ill-made decision to accidentally grope her and use the waves as an excuse.
Chad had even brought his guitar, and after growing bored of splashing each other, he returned to the sand to set up camp and laid out on the towels before serenading a lone seagull. Mizuiro, who had brought his girlfriend of the week, was more than happy to use the romantic tunes to his advantage.
"A-ah, Kurosaki-kun!"
It was a good day, in all. Not a Hollow in sight, and not a single notification on Rukia's phone.
But something was wrong; he just knew it, and not knowing what wasn't going to stop him.
Though, he also wasn't crazy, and decided that the only way he'd get to the bottom of things was through a process of elimination:
He had managed to drive to the beach perfectly safe, his car providing ample space for Chad, Ishida and Rukia, the latter of the two arguing over what music was "beach occasion" with Chad refusing to break the stalemate and Ichigo declaring that if they didn't shut up, he'd turn the car around.
Mizuiro was easily entertained with his girlfriend (Yuki – something or other), and Keigo was more than willing to drool over how feminine Tatsuki apparently looked, and Inoue-chan looks amazing – and Kuchiki-chan, kya Ichigo, you're holding out on me! So, Ichigo assumed he was fine too.
Tatsuki, irritation over Keigo aside, was as competitive and abrasive as ever – demanding they battle it out to see who was better. She was like a less deranged version of Kenpachi, ever since his childhood friend got into the Olympics she was her competitive edge seemed to double. Though, her beach version was apparently playing volleyball and racing down sand dunes.
"K-Kurosaki-kun!"
But something still wasn't right.
"Oi, Ichigo," Tatsuki called out, voice irritated. "Orihime's trying to talk to you."
He only managed a distracted "huh" noise before reminding himself that Rukia said she's fine, and asking neutrally, "What's up?"
Flashing him an awkward smile, Inoue asked, "I-erm, I wanted to know if maybe you'd like to walk on the beach with me, Kurosaki-kun?"
Shrugging, despite the alarmed look on Tatsuki's face, he nodded his assent. "Sure."
Though Inoue bumped him slightly on the side as she came to join him, he said nothing and for almost two minutes, they walked in silence which was just fine with him because he was still preoccupied with figuring out what was wrong, until he saw it in the distance:
"What are Ishida and Rukia talking about?"
"O-oh, I didn't even realize they were together," Inoue said, looking away from him to spare his friends a glance. When Ichigo only narrowed his eyes in thought, she continued in a bit of a rush, "I saw them talking earlier; I didn't realize they had so much to say to one another…"
Which he couldn't fault, Rukia herself admitted that she didn't have friends besides him, and he doubted that she had suddenly gotten closer to Ishida. It wasn't like they talked – at least Chad was with them at the university –
Tentatively, Inoue interjected, "Well you know, walking along the beach is pretty romantic maybe that's what they're doing?"
They – looked cosy enough? They weren't holding hands or anything, but she seemed to be interested in what he was saying – and Ichigo was sure that they had stuff in common, of the non-romantic variety anyway.
Last year, Rukia petitioned Ishida to help her cosplay some character and when they came to Karakura to collect the finished product over the weekend, she was gone almost the whole day. But that was –
"Actually, K-Kurosaki-kun, the reason I asked if you wanted to take this walk with me is because -"
Damn it, was this what he was missing? Ishida and Rukia, being a thing?
Jesus, I can't be that dense, he thought with no small amount of desperation as he shook his head to relieve the images that appeared unbidden into his mind's eye.
Before he'd even met Rukia, and found out that Ichigo was her substitute, Ishida hated shinigami; even if that wasn't the case anymore, and the two seemed to commiserate over Ichigo leaking reitsu like a fire hose and running off like an idiot and trying to get himself killed, it still didn't mean anything –
And what about Inoue, didn't Ishida have a crush on her or something?
Though, he did recall that Tatsuki did say that someone gained some perspective on unrequited love and maybe she was referring to Ishida (admittedly, Ichigo hoped it was Inoue). Could it be possible that Ishida had moved on so fast – to Rukia?
Impossible – it was the first time they were even seeing each other for months – it wasn't like she was going to leave him for Ishida, right?
"But I might."
Wait – she couldn't leave him for anyone, Ichigo reminded himself, Rukia wasn't his anyway. She was free to go off with whoever she wanted, she didn't need his permission and so what if she left him, it wasn't like his world would end.
This time, maybe.
He cursed. Damn it, this is why he shouldn't be allowed to overthink.
Inoue was startled out of the sentence she was apparently in the middle of when he called out, "Oi, Rukia!"
The pair turned towards them, and Ichigo comforted himself that she didn't seem annoyed with the interruption and only waved back. Ishida too only adjusted his glasses, and Ichigo had to withhold the urge to smirk in triumph at an inward battle he was sure they had no idea they were a part of.
(He was going to blame this mental breakdown on Hichigo if anyone ever found out. This entire thing was just a hazard of having Rukia in his head anyway, so it was essentially her fault that he was going crazy.)
Inoue, however, seemed to have some idea that no one else had won but Ichigo, and sighed quietly before suggesting they return to the others.
Ichigo couldn't even remember why they were walking along the beach to begin with.
As the day ended an oncoming storm caused the wind to grow fierce, and the sea to churn menacingly in the distance.
A clap of thunder woke everyone from their dozing and had them scattering to pack up the cars and quit the beach before it got worse.
Chad was out like a light in the back seat after babysitting Keigo all afternoon, after Tatsuki, successfully managed to chase away Mizuiro's admittedly clingy girlfriend of the week, it had left Chad with the responsibility of soothing their broken hearts.
Ishida, in turn, was sitting quietly beside the sleeping man, and taking loud sips of a juice box Rukia was kind enough to show him how to use.
Speaking of, Ichigo finally got to join her on the steps overlooking the beach when the car was all loaded up, sitting pensively with her chin on her knees, waiting for the rain to come down.
"You okay?"
She nodded.
"Come on, I feel like I haven't seen you all day," he probed. "You can't give me the silent treatment on top of that."
"I didn't mean to, it just kind of worked out that way." She paused. "Did-did Ishida talk to you yet?"
"About?"
Exhaling deeply, Rukia cut a glance at him and began, "He's coming to Tokyo."
Oh. "Okay…"
"Which means that no one will be here," she continued slowly a moment later.
"And…"
"And there'll be no representative for Karakura Town against Hollows?"
"There haven't been any Hollows for months," he reminded. "And Urahara's around anyway, not that it'll stop Soul Society from sending some unseated officer here in a few days, though Sandlehat's probably going to end up doing all the work anyway."
What should have comforted her only made her thin her lips. That wasn't a good sign.
"Rukia," he began, "what's this about?"
Another exhale was expelled and lost to the wind before she answered, "I spoke to Urahara today about my gigai malfunctioning."
"It's been malfunctioning?" She hadn't told him that. "Are you okay? Were you in pain or something?"
Shaking her head, she repeated, "No" a few times more than necessary that he was starting to worry that she was saying it to convince more herself than him, and then the other shoe dropped: "He said souls aren't meant to stay in gigais, at least not for long periods of time. The few occasions that I've been Hollow hunting haven't been enough to compensate especially since the last time I was in Soul Society was almost a year ago."
For a moment the only noise Ichigo could hear was the waves, before finally, he summarized, "You're going back."
Her nod was miniscule, but enough.
He swallowed. "How long?"
She took a shaky breath in and out, before whispering, "I…I don't know."
The hazard of going to the beach was that no one ever thought to bring an umbrella.
Okay, now I'm leaving you guys! I'll only be back home on the 1st of December, though I can't promise any updates immediately after, I will still try so have some faith and I'll see you guys in December!