I don't own bleach or any of characters, they are all property of Tite Kubo.
The next day Rukia was in a very good mood. Rukia was practically skipping as she made her way to the Kurosaki household. "Good morning Kojima – kun," she greeted as usual.
"Good morning Kuchiki – san, did you have a good weekend?"
With a big smile Rukia said, "Yes, I did. Thank you for asking."
Ichigo then stepped out of his house and said "Hey midget, quit bothering Mizuiro."
Rukia shrugged her shoulders and made her way to the house. Before she stepped in she said, "Have a good day at school you two." Ichigo however, was surprised that Rukia had nothing to say about being called a midget.
"Ichigo?"
"Right, let's get going Mizuiro," Ichigo said as he started walking towards school.
At school, Rukia was also in a great mood. Yuzu and Karin on the other hand had no idea why Rukia was in such a great mood. By the end of the day Karin was getting annoyed by the fact that Rukia hadn't told them what happened. So on the way home Karin rudely asked, "Rukia, why the hell are you in such a good mood?"
Rukia blushed and said, "I got a new boyfriend."
Yuzu squealed in delight and said, "That's great!"
"But it's only been 4 months since you and Hitsugaya broke up," Karin teased referring to what Rukia said when Toushirou and Momo started going out.
Rukia laughed and said, "Shut up."
"So who is he?" asked Yuzu.
"I'll tell you when we get to your room."
Once all three girls were in the room, Karin asked, "So?"
With a blush Rukia said, "His name is Renji."
"Is it Abarai – kun? The guy you and your brother would often have over the summer?" asked Yuzu.
"Yeah, that's him," answered Rukia.
"How long have you been going out?" asked Karin.
"Officially, since yesterday, but remember I told you I would hangout with him and his friends on the weekend sometimes."
"Right, so it probably feels like you've been going out longer," Karin said, while Rukia nodded in agreement.
"Wait…didn't you say before that Abarai – kun was the same age as Onii – chan?" asked Yuzu.
"That's right. Why?" Rukia asked.
"Then in a few months, he might leave for college," continued Yuzu. Rukia's happy expression quickly turned into a sad one as Yuzu's words sunk in. Yuzu saw this and regretted mentioning it. To try and salvage the atmosphere Karin asked, "So, when do we get to meet him?"
"Huh?" asked Rukia.
"Well, we've been hearing about this Abarai guy for quite some time now. Now that he's officially your boyfriend, I think it's time we meet him," Karin said.
"Yes, I agree with Karin – chan. I really want to meet Abarai – kun as well," said Yuzu.
"Well, he has exams next week, so he won't be able to come this weekend. But I think next weekend works. Is it okay for you two?" asked Rukia. Yuzu and Karin both nodded yes. The three continued chatting before they started on their homework.
The rest of the week went without incident, Rukia and Renji would talk on the phone every night for an hour before bed.
It was now the Saturday when Renji would meet Rukia's best friends and to be honest Renji was a bit nervous. Renji and Rukia were walking to the mall where they would be meeting Yuzu and Karin, at the food court.
"Do you think your friends will like me?" asked Renji.
"Of course they will," Rukia stated. She then added, "I've talked to them about you, so they already know a bit about you."
"You've told them about me?"
"They are my best friends, and you and I have known each other since we were little kids. Your name was bound to come up at some point. Plus, I've talked to you about them as well. So you really shouldn't be surprised," said Rukia. Renji then nodded indicating that he understood.
When Rukia and Renji arrived at the food court, they found Karin and Yuzu already waiting for them. "Hi Yuzu, Karin," greeted Rukia, she then continued "this is my boyfriend."
"Abarai Renji, it's nice meet you," Renji said as he introduced himself.
"It's nice to finally meet you Abarai – kun. I am Kurosaki Yuzu and this is my sister Karin," Yuzu said as she introduced herself and Karin.
"You know I pictured you looking different," Karin said to Renji. Renji gave a puzzled look and Karin continued, "I thought you would have a piercing or a tattoo on your arm. But I didn't expect you to have a tattoo all over your arm."
"Well, it's really just one huge tattoo that's connected from eyebrows to my neck, arms, and back," replied Renji.
"Ah," answered Karin.
"Okay, so how's about we go the arcade now," interrupted Rukia.
Once at the arcade Yuzu felt slightly left out because she was not an aggressive person like the others. Rukia, Karin, and Renji were all fighting for 1st place on some game, but Yuzu was just happy that everyone was getting along. After they all played a few games, they decided to walk around the mall. Yuzu and Rukia were walking in front talking about stuffed animals, while Karin and Renji were walking behind them talking about video games. After a few hours Yuzu said, "I had fun meeting you Abarai – kun, but Karin – chan and I need to go home already."
"Yeah, it was great meeting the two of you," replied Renji.
"Bye Rukia, Abarai," said Karin.
"Bye Rukia – chan, Abarai – kun," Yuzu said as well.
Rukia waved good bye to Yuzu and Karin and said, "I'll see you two on Monday."
When Rukia and Renji were walking home, Rukia said, "I told you, you didn't have to be nervous, they liked you."
"I can't blame them, I'm a pretty awesome guy," replied Renji.
Rukia playfully shoved him and said, "You're so damn conceited." The two laughed and continued talking about the fun they had.
After they got to Rukia's house Renji decided to stay for a bit, so the two sat on the couch in the living room. Renji was happily talking about something while Rukia listened. Once he was done talking, Rukia had a troubled look on her face. "Rukia?" asked Renji.
"Renji, what will we do when… when you go off to college?" asked Rukia.
"What do you mean?"
"You might go far away and I won't get to see you that often."
Renji gave her a small smile and said, "We'll make it work 'cuz it's already like we're in a long distance relationship. We don't see each other every day and we have fun when we do see each other. It'll work out, but for now let's just enjoy our time together," he then reached for Rukia, pulled her closer and gave her a big hug.
Rukia returned the hug and said, "You're right Renji."
Rukia and Renji got comfortable on the couch as they continued talking. After awhile, Renji put his head on Rukia's lap while Rukia ran her fingers through his hair. While Rukia was running her fingers through Renji's hair, she was also talking about something that had happened in school. Minutes later Rukia glanced at Renji, only to realize that he was sleeping and slightly snoring. Rukia smiled at Renji's sleeping form and she reached for the remote control to turn on the TV, and continued running her fingers through Renji's hair as she watched TV.
An hour later Rukia was trying to wake up Renji. "Renji, Renji wake up. Nii – sama will be home soon. Renji," she said as she lightly shoved Renji's shoulders. However, nothing seemed to work. Rukia was getting upset, so she quickly stood up, causing Renji to fall off the couch.
"What the hell?" Renji asked in a confused state.
"Nii – sama will be home soon, get off the floor," she stated.
Renji gave a silly grin and said, "Right, sorry."
"You will be staying for dinner, right?"
"Of course, anythin' to be around you as long as I can."
Rukia blushed and asked, "Do you think we should tell Nii – sama about us? Tonight?"
"Are you nuts? We can't tell him tonight!"
"Why not?"
"I can't ask Him for permission to date his precious sister while I'm in jeans and a shirt," stated Renji. "I need to be properly dressed," he continued.
"Precious?" questioned Rukia.
"Yeah, everyone knows how precious and important you are."
"You're just saying that because you're my boyfriend now."
"That's not true. You have always been an important and precious person to me. I've just been too shy to tell you before."
Rukia smiled at Renji and said, "You know just what to say to a girl."
"What can I say? I'm a charmer," Renji said with a cocky grin.
"Yeah, yeah. Let's just see you use some of that charm when we tell Nii – sama that we're dating."
Renji paled at the thought of asking Byakuya for permission to date Rukia. Rukia laughed at Renji's expression as the two made their way into the kitchen.
The following weekend that Renji showed up at the Kuchiki household, Renji asked Byakuya for permission to date Rukia. To both Rukia's and Renji's surprise, Byakuya gave his consent. Of course, Byakuya also had a man – to – man talk with Renji warning him not to hurt Rukia. The conversation was short and to the point, but it still scared the shit out of Renji.
Things from there were pretty well for the couple. Renji would visit on the weekends he was free. The good thing was that Renji got along with Rukia's friends and vice versa. Rukia was once again happy with her boyfriend and everyone in her life seemed to know about Renji. Everyone except for Ichigo.
It was another weekday night, so as usual Rukia was at the Kurosaki household. It was around 5 p.m. so Rukia, Yuzu, and Karin were already done with their homework and the three friends were just hanging out. Rukia was getting ready to leave because Yuzu need to start preparing dinner soon.
As Rukia was putting her shoes on in the doorway, Karin approached her.
"Rukia?"
"Yeah, Karin?"
"Oh…uh…you see…"
Rukia was starting to worry as Karin stared at her feet and was at a loss for words, which was uncharacteristic for Karin. "What is it?" Rukia asked, the worry evident in her voice.
"Y'know what, never mind."
"Karin, whatever it is you can tell me."
"Forget it, it wasn't that important. I'll just tell you tomorrow."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I'm sure. Don't worry it's no big deal."
Rukia gave her a skeptical look and replied with, "Alright then, I'll see you tomorrow. Bye Yuzu," Rukia said the last sentence a bit louder, hoping that the girl in the kitchen would hear.
"Bye Rukia," Karin said as she walked Rukia out. When Karin returned to the kitchen, Yuzu asked, "Did you tell Rukia – chan?"
"*sigh* No, I couldn't. But I'll tell her tomorrow," replied Karin.
As Rukia was leaving the Kurosaki household, she noticed it was a beautiful afternoon and decided to take a detour home.
While Rukia was walking around town, she ran into Keigo, Mizuiro, and Ichigo. "Hello Kojima – kun, Asano – kun, Ichigo," Rukia greeted.
Ichigo and Mizuiro nodded hello, while Keigo said, "Oh, Kuchiki – san, it's too bad that we're all going home already. If not I would have invited you as my date."
"That's okay; I don't think my boyfriend would have liked it if I went on a date with some other guy. Plus, I really need to get home. It was nice seeing you all," Rukia bowed and then walked away. Ichigo, who would be walking in the same direction as Rukia, also said his farewells and caught up to Rukia.
"That's not fair! Why does Ichigo always get Kuchiki –san all to himself?!" cried Keigo in the background.
"Why are you taking this way home? You'll just be going in a big circle," stated Ichigo as he walked beside Rukia.
"I know, but it's such a nice day. So I decided to take the long way home," replied Rukia.
"Ah, anyways nice cover 'bout having a boyfriend, but that won't stop Keigo from hitting on you."
"I wasn't lying."
"Really?" asked Ichigo in disbelief.
"Yes, REALLY!" replied Rukia, feeling somewhat offended by Ichigo's disbelief.
"Wait; is it that senior guy that Yuzu and Karin sometimes talk about?"
"Probably, Renji is a senior at his school."
"Rukia, are you crazy? You can't date a guy who's probably 18 already!"
"Why not?"
"BECAUSE! He's older and more experienced. He's gonna expect more things from you and he's gonna try to pressuring you into doing things you're not ready for. Guys at that age only want one thing from a girl."
"Thanks for the advice, but I don't think I should take advice from a guy who's never even had a girlfriend," said Rukia, who was getting mad at Ichigo for implying that Renji was only with her to have sex with her.
"Look, I'm only saying to be careful 'cuz I actually care about you," he said with a slight blush.
"You actually care about me? I find that a little hard to believe, especially because you ALWAYS seem to be able to knock me down even more, when I'm already feeling like crap!"
"I was only trying to help, but if you wanna sleep around with –"
"Sleep around?"
"Th –"
"Is that what you think of me?"
"It's not –"
"You know what? SAVE IT! I can handle myself! I don't need you protecting me and I don't need YOU in my life!"
"FINE! If you don't need me in your life, I'll just ignore you whenever I see you."
"Perfect! Just act like I'm some stranger you have never met!" with her last statement, Rukia crossed the street to continue walking home on the opposite side of the street. Both Rukia and Ichigo had frowns on their faces as they continued walking home.
