Disclaimer: I. Don't. Own. Bleach


Chapter 8 – Rumors Kill

Rukia and Ichigo's friendship was definitely on the rocks these days. It had gotten to the point where they could barely stand to be alone together; Ichigo was sick to death of Rukia's high and mighty attitude. Rukia was tired of having to act so cold and uncaring, though, on the upside, it had a bit of a numbing effect on her body, and made it so much easier to act the way she did towards Ichigo.

Ichigo had gotten to the point where he was literally ready to strangle someone. He couldn't stand the tension that had grown between him and Rukia, it was driving him insane. He never thought he'd see a day where he couldn't talk to her. She had once said about being there to listen if he wanted to talk, but these days Ichigo felt as though talking to her would be impossible. Maybe it was because she was the main source of all his problems.

Rukia, meanwhile, remained oblivious to Ichigo's pain. She knew he was upset with her, because of the way he always acted when she was around. But she took it at face value, not bothering to look past his usual scowl. Instead she focused on her own problems; the foremost being that there were still rumors about her and Ichigo going around. And it was driving her crazy. No matter what she did, she couldn't seem to get people to shut up. Rukia was really beginning to wish she'd never gone to that damn party.

"So?" Rukia looked up from the sandwich she was eating.

"So what?"

Her friends exchanged annoyed glances, and Michiru said, "So are you really going out with Yukio?!"

Rukia blinked. "What do you mean?"

"We all thought you loved Ichigo!" Chizuru declared loudly, enough to make everyone in the vicinity look around.

"Shush!" Rukia tried to get them to quiet down, "I've told you before – a million times in fact – Ichigo and I are just friends! Really, I'd love to know where you guys get these ideas from!"

"Well, for one thing you're always together"

"And you seem really close"

"And then there's the party..."

Rukia swore that she'd never go to another party for as long as she lived. "Really, you girls have such a wild imagination!" she laughed, cringing on the inside, "Ichigo and I...we're just friends, that's all"

"So you and Yukio...?"

Rukia started plucking at the grass, "Yukio's a good person, I like him"

"And you and Ichigo are...?"

"Just friends"


"I can't believe she's actually going out with Yukio," Keigo muttered under his breath, his arms folded, "I mean, what does he have that I don't?"

Ichigo would rather rot in hell then admit that he had been wondering them same thing about himself. Instead he just said, "Keigo, shut up, no one cares"

"I care!" and with that he went off on a long rant. Ichigo rolled his eyes and tuned him out.

"You know, it is kind of interesting," he looked over at Uryu, who had, up until that point, been quietly eating from his spot next to Chad.

"I don't think so," Ichigo shrugged, "I mean, for one thing, it's just Rukia. Why should anyone care what she does? And for another thing-"

"It's Rukia," Uryu cut him off, "I'd think you cared quite a bit"

"Why would I?"

"Well, everyone knows you like her-"

Ichigo resisted the urge to throw his juice-box at the Quincy. "I liked you better when you didn't talk"

Uryu just shrugged, but to Ichigo's great relief he shut up. The orange-haired teen wasn't in the mood to hear that everyone knew he liked Rukia. He wasn't in the mood to let his mind be brought back to the damn party that started all of this. He just wanted to be left alone, alone to the company of his thoughts. He didn't want to have to deal with real life right then.

By chance, he happened to look down at the ground below. And he saw Yukio walking over to where Rukia was with her friends. When she looked up and saw him, her eyes lit up in a way Ichigo had never known was possible. And he had to resist the growing temptation to throw himself over the fence and off the roof. He deserved a reward for great self control.

The day passed more or less uneventfully, though Ichigo couldn't stop himself from throwing devilish glares at the back of Rukia's head every now and then. When the last bell rang, the raven-haired Soul Reaper darted out of class. Ichigo took off after her.

"Rukia, hang on!" he caught up with her just outside the school grounds. She didn't turn around, but she stopped walking.

"What's up, Ichigo?"

"Look," he shoved his hands into his pockets and looked around, "We...have to talk"

He was surprised when she looked around at him. "Yeah. We do, don't we?"

They started walking down the street together, quiet. Rukia was the first to break the silence. "You know, Ichigo, I hate the way things are now. Us not really talking, I mean. Things have been...weird, the last few weeks"

"You can say that again," Ichigo muttered, slinging his schoolbag over his shoulders, "And I hate it too. I dunno why, you're...I mean, why things have been like this, but they-"

"Wait a sec," she stopped walking and looked up at him, "What were you going to say before?"

Ichigo blinked, knowing full well what she was talking about. "What do you mean?"

"'I dunno why, you're...'. You're what? What am I, Ichigo?" her voice had taken on a cool tone.

"Nothing. I didn't mean anything by it, Rukia," he turned to start walking again, "I wasn't thinking when I started talking-"

"No, you were thinking just fine," she stood rooted to her spot, "Now, what were you going to say?"

He was going to say that he felt as if a lot of the distance between them was her fault, that if she would just ditch Yukio and allow them to admit that something really had happened that night, then things would be better. But somehow, he knew that wouldn't roll well with her. "Nothing. I wasn't going to say anything"

"You're lying," maybe it was the cool, sure way she said it that threw Ichigo off. Or maybe it was the way she was glaring at him. Maybe she knew what he was going to say before.

"No, I'm not," he insisted, "Stop being so paranoid"

"Come on Ichigo; what were you going to say?"

"Nothing"

"You're lying"

"No I'm not!" he turned away from her, fuming now.

"Just tell me what you were going to say"

"Fine!" he lost his patience, "I was going to say that this all your fault to begin with! That if it wasn't for you insisting that nothing could have happened, then turning around and going out with Yukio, we wouldn't be like this right now!"

"My fault?!" she repeated, "Well excuse me, but last time I checked I was perfectly entitled to do what I wanted, and that includes going out with someone!"

"After you told me that the Soul Society would never allow a human and Soul Reaper to be together?"

"That's different"

"Oh yeah?" Ichigo scoffed, "How so? Because it's me?"

"Exactly," he whirled around to look at her, but she had turned and taken off down the street.

"Hey!" he yelled after her, "Get back here! Rukia!"

She didn't listen. What a surprise.


"Okay, I'll bite. What's wrong?" Rukia looked up from her food at Yukio, who was watching her with an amused look.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean you haven't said two words in the last hour," Yukio explained, playing with his fork, "And I get the feeling you haven't really been listening either. I mean, I enjoy talking to myself as much as the next person, but crazy people enjoy company every now and then as well"

Rukia smiled at this. "It's nothing. Don't worry about it. I...had a fight with a friend, earlier"

"Oh yeah?" Yukio cocked his head. "What about?"

"Oh nothing big," Rukia tried to make it look like it wasn't that big a deal, "We're...kind of in a rough patch right now, and he thinks it's my fault"

"He? We wouldn't happen to be talking about Ichigo Kurosaki, would we?" Rukia's eyes widened in surprise.

"How'd you know?"

Yukio laughed. "I listen. You should hear some of the rumors going around, kinda put me off when I first started hearing them"

Rukia bit her lip. She knew people were talking. She didn't know Yukio had heard them. "Those rumors are actually part of the problem. We really are just friends, but everyone's making it hard on us because they like to think we're more than that, and we keep getting into these fights over it..."

"That's too bad," Yukio said as Rukia's voice trailed off, "Kurosaki doesn't seem like that bad of a guy, and obviously he's okay if he's friends with you. You shouldn't let a bunch of rumors get in the way"

"You think so?"

"Of course; hell, if I'd listened to rumors I probably wouldn't be with you right now," Rukia smiled and allowed a light blush to scatter across her face.

They finished eating in silence and left soon after. It was just past eight, and the streets of Karakura were still fairly busy. Rukia looked up at the sky; the stars were twinkling above her, almost mischievously. "It's a nice night," Yukio broke through her thoughts.

"Yeah, beautiful," she sighed. She was trying to keep her mind off Ichigo for a little while. It wasn't working.

"Hey, Rukia?"

"Yeah?"

"What...made you decide to say yes? When I asked you out, I mean," Rukia made a face. She couldn't tell Yukio the real reason for why she had agreed. So she decided to try something totally different for her; she lied.

"Because...you seem like a good person, and I thought I'd give you a chance," she shrugged, "And I know how it feels to be the new kid, it's lonely. I figured the least I could was help a fellow outcast feel welcome"

"You're not an outcast, you have plenty of friends"

"They've known each other all their lives though," Rukia frowned, "I'm still just the new girl in that group"

"That's the problem with moving to a new town," Yukio shoved his hands into his pockets, "You're always invading on someone else"

He understood, just as she knew he would. They walked along in silence for a few, until Rukia finally made her decision. "Yukio?"

"Yeah?" he looked down at her; she pushed herself up on her tiptoes and kissed him.


Chizuru, Michiru, and Ryo were walking down the street, talking aimlessly, when Michiru happened to look across the street. She stopped dead, her eyes wide. Chizuru and Ryo looked around. "What?"

Michiru raised a finger and pointed. Standing on the opposite side of the street were Rukia Kuchiki and Yukio Ryuichi. And they were kissing.

Even Ryo didn't bother to hide her shock. "They...they're..."

"Well," Chizuru said finally, "I guess...Rukia wasn't lying. She and Ichigo really are just friends"

"Yeah," Michiru continued to stare. "Yeah. Guess so"


Author's Note/half way through building a bomb shelter/ Oh. Crap. You're done reading already. Well then, I'll keep this short and sweet. Any review number between 190 and 200 or above would be wonderful. Thank you /grabs a helmet and a baseball bat and dives into half-built bomb shelter/ Oh, and here's the taffy for everyone that reviewed last time. Don't ask what you'll get if you review this time; not sure yet. Maybe cake /dives back into bomb shelter...again/ Oh, and one more thing: major Ichigo/Rukia interaction (in a good way) in the next chapter. So if you have to kill me, wait until I post that chapter. Okay, I'm done /dives into bomb shelter for the last time/