A/N: This chapter focuses mainly on IchiRuki, although the twins do make an appearance. It hints towards Ishihime as well, although mostly in Rukia's head. Also, those of you who are observant should be able to guess what's going on with Ichigo by now, even though it isn't directly stated in this chapter.
bcsaturdai, I'm not doing a complete time skip and skipping them entirely, because some things that happen during the academy are important, but neither am I going to specifically go through each year. I'll just hit the milestones. (I'm really excited to get to the good stuff, divisions, pairings, and zanpakuto, but ground work has to be laid first.)
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. At all.
CHAPTER 9: The most difficult decision
"Congratulations to Kuchiki Rukia-fukutaicho, for making the biggest rank jump in Seireitei history without killing someone," said Matsumoto with a grin, raising her sake cup. "Kanpai!"
"Kanpai!" chorused the rest of the room, raising their cups as well. The room filled with the sound of applause.
"Congratulations, Kuchiki," said Uryu once the toast ended and people began talking to each other again. He was standing in front of her, a parcel wrapped in brown paper in his hand. The Quincy pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, the light reflecting off them. He was dressed in a new Quincy outfit, one that he had probably sewn himself. Beside him stood Inoue Orihime, dressed in a light blue blouse and a white skirt. She was carrying a paper bag with her, its handles clasped in both hands as she held it out in front of her. She smiled.
"Congratulations, Kuchiki-san," she said. "Or should I say Kuchiki-fukutaicho?"
"Ah, thank you, Ishida, Inoue," said Rukia. Unlike the other two, she was still wearing her shihakusho, her vice-captain badge tied around her arm. She still felt slightly awkward about her new rank. People had been congratulating her about it for the past two days, but it was taking a little getting used to. Especially since the new recruits expected her to know what she was doing.
"This is for you," said Uryu, handing over the parcel. She accepted it with both hands, tearing open the wrapping and frowning. Inside of it was a casual sleeveless white dress, the sort of thing she would wear while in the human world. She frowned and turned it over. Her face fell when she saw the back of it, her fingers twitching. The back of the dress had one huge Quincy cross on it. Uryu pushed his glasses up again and raised a finger. "The fabric is light and perfect for wearing in the summer, and the cut is modest enough for someone of your status and personality."
Rukia's eye twitched. Inoue smiled, and handed over the paper bag she was holding. "And I baked you some of my famous peanut butter, red bean paste, hot and spicy chocolate chip cookies!" she said. "I hope you like them!"
She paled at the description, accepting the paper bag with her free hand and lowering her eyes to the ground. "I pity your future children…" she muttered.
"Hmm, what did you say?" asked Uryu, looking up. Orihime frowned. "I didn't catch that," she said.
"Nothing, nothing," said Rukia, looking up and shaking her head and putting on her biggest smile. "Ano…I'll just leave these here until the party's over!" And conveniently forget them on the way out…she added silently to herself as she put the presents in the corner. "Please, help yourself to more food and drinks!"
She remained there, frozen for a few moments as Uryu and Orihime left to greet other people. Once they were gone, she let out a sigh of relief, her shoulders slumping forward.
That was close…she thought, running a hand through her hair.
She frowned, looking around. The party had just started to kick off, and it looked like everyone was enjoying themselves. She smiled, taking note of Karin baiting Renji, while Yuzu and Hitsugaya—who had shown up earlier just to scold Matsumoto for abandoning him during work hours and had ended up staying at Karin's request—looked on and sweatdropped. The twins were easy to pick out thanks to their red and white academy uniforms. It looked like they were adapting well to life in Soul Society. That was a good thing.
"AH, MY LOVELY DAUGHTERS!"
Isshin's voice rang out over everyone else's as she rushed at them, his shihakusho trailing behind him. As Rukia watched, Karin sidestepped his rush, her leg swinging around as she kicked him to the ground. She stomped on him, her foot on the small of his back. "Don't embarrass us like that, baka-oyaji!"
She smiled, and her eyes drifted away from him and over the rest of the room, where people were sitting down. Rukia frowned. Ichigo was sitting at one of the chairs with a dark look on his face, holding his cup loosely in one hand as he studied the crowd. She blinked, then crept up behind him.
"Hey, Ichigo," she said, tapping him on the shoulder.
He jumped about three feet in the air, spilling the sake in his cup and turning around to face her angrily. "Don't sneak up on me like that, midget!"
"My name isn't midget," said Rukia, folding her arms. "It's Ru-ki-a. Or Rukia-fukutaicho. Or even Rukia-sama."
"Like hell!" said Ichigo, glaring at her. She glared back.
"Aw, how sweet," said Matsumoto, grinning as she walked over to them. "Relationship issues?"
"We are not a couple!" they said at the same time, turning towards her.
"Yet," said Matsumoto.
They both gave her flat looks. "I think Ichigo might break your record soon, though, Rukia-chan~," she said, her smile becoming slightly more evil. She leaned forward, fluffing up Ichigo's hair slightly, and at the same time pressing the back of his head against her…erm…assets.
Ichigo flushed. It lasted about a moment before his eyes narrowed and he turned around, his arm lashing out towards her. "Oi! I never said I was going to do anything yet!" he said. Matsumoto jumped out of his reach, a grin on her face as she went to go find someone else to pick on. Rukia frowned, watching as Ichigo ran a hand through his hair, his face still slightly red.
"Sheesh…that woman…" he muttered. He turned towards Rukia. "Oh, congratulations, by the way."
"Thanks," said Rukia. She frowned. Something that Matsumoto had said…"You were thinking about that, weren't you?" she asked.
Ichigo blinked at her for a moment, before nodding his head. "Yeah," he said. "After next week, I'll only have half a year left to figure it out."
"Do you think you're closer to deciding now?" asked Rukia, glancing at the other shinigami in the room.
"I've been thinking about it more, yeah," said Ichigo. He hesitated for a moment, then took a deep breath. "I think I'm gonna accept. After all, Yuzu and Karin are here. There really isn't that much for me to do…over there, you know."
She sensed something else coming. When he didn't say anything, she prompted him. "But?" she asked.
Ichigo shrugged. He sat back down in his seat. Without waiting for an invitation, Rukia took the seat across from him. "Don't know if I can do it, I guess," he said. "And I don't know if I want to. I don't exactly have the best history with the Gotei 13."
"Well, I guarantee you'll never be any worse than your predecessor," said Rukia, smirking slightly.
Ichigo glanced at her for a moment, before giving her a small grin. "There's that," he said, taking the last sip from his cup and setting it down. "So…fukutaicho," he said, turning towards her. She sensed the change in topic and decided not to pursue the previous one. "How's that going?" he asked.
"It's…" She paused suddenly, listening as an outburst between Sentaro and Kiyone escalated. "…It's going," she said, sighing at the end of her sentence. "It's taking a little getting used to."
"Kuchiki-fukutaicho likes me better!"
"No, she likes me better!"
Ichigo glanced at them and scowled. "Well," he said. "Looks like they like you."
"I can't tell if they're competing for my attention or if they just like competing," replied Rukia, sighing and refilling the empty cup in her hand. She took a sip. Ichigo frowned down at her.
"Oi…" he said. "You sure you should be doing that?"
She frowned, looking up. "What do you mean?" she asked. "It's my party."
"Well…" said Ichigo. "You know…you're kind of…" She raised an eyebrow, silently telling him to continue.
"…small," he finished, looking down at her.
Rukia's eye twitched. The next thing Ichigo knew, he was seeing stars as she drove her fist into his face.
"Oi, what was that for?" he yelled, leaning forward towards her.
"Hmph," said Rukia, turning away from him. "I know my limits."
"Just don't want to have to bring you home drunk," said Ichigo, rubbing at his head. "Byakuya'll skin me and Renji alive." He frowned, looking around. "He's not here, is he?"
"No," said Rukia, "He's not. I invited him, but nii-sama said he would just see me when I got home."
The sound of footsteps running towards her drew her attention and she looked up, watching as Karin ran over, grabbing onto Ichigo's arm. "Hey!" she said, dragging him away. "Get over here! You haven't spent any time with us all evening, damn it!" Yuzu stood just over Karin's shoulder, giving Rukia a sheepish smile as her twin sister dragged Ichigo away.
"Hey, hold on a second!" said Ichigo.
Karin frowned and tentatively released him. He turned towards her. "Rukia," he said.
"Hmm?" asked Rukia, looking up at him.
Ichigo stared at her for a moment, as if he was going to say something. He met her eyes, keeping up eye contact for a few moments. Rukia stared at him, waiting expectantly.
He turned around. "Nothing," he said. "Never mind."
What was that all about? she thought, frowning slightly as Karin dragged Ichigo away.
She reached her hand up to her face, wondering for a moment why it was so warm.
Karin walked ahead in silence, kicking at a loose stone in front of her. It skittered along the pathway through Seireitei, bouncing against another rock and against the wall of the building they were walking past before exploding in a small burst of reiatsu. Toshiro watched it fall with a frown, remembering the soccer ball that Karin had infused with her reiatsu the first time they met. The academy student placed her hands on the back of her head, turning towards him.
"You didn't have to walk me back," she said. "I know the way."
He shrugged. "My division is down the same route, so it's not too out of the way," he said. "Are you sure you don't want to stay with your father?"
Karin grimaced, remembering the scene Isshin had made after Ichigo left to drop Yuzu off at the academy. The other girl had been tired out from her first day, and was practically falling asleep at the table. She made a face, remembering the even bigger scene Isshin had made when she walked out on him.
"My Yuzu is so grown up!" he had wailed, tears streaming down his flushed cheeks.
"Okay, that's it! I'm leaving!" said Karin. "Oi, Toshiro! Let's get out of here!"
The captain was one of the few sober people left at this point, aside from an increasingly frustrated looking Rukia, a nervous Hinamori Momo, and Orihime.
"MY KARIN IS LEAVING WITH A MAN!" yelled Isshin as they left, pointing dramatically at them. That had earned him a solid kick in the face from the soccer player.
It served him right for taking up Matsumoto's challenge for a drinking contest. Half the officers of Seireitei would probably be waking up with killer hangovers the next day, and there was no telling what the Third and Ninth were going to do, considering by the time it was over, Abarai, Kira, and Hisagi were all under the table, and her dad was blubbering like an idiot. Ishida had gone down in the second round, and Ichigo—who had shown up late but was dragged into the contest as soon as he arrived by Renji pushing his 'Are you afraid to lose?' button—was passed out in the corner by the fifth.
Part of her should have been concerned about how her family would get home after that, but really, if they were going to get hammered, then it was their own damn business how they would get home.
"Never mind," said Toshiro at the look Karin was giving him for even suggesting that she might want to stay there.
"I have class tomorrow anyway," said Karin, folding her arms. "And I'm not falling asleep on day two."
"Nice that you're serious about this," said Toshiro, frowning at her.
Karin shrugged indifferently. "I've gotta be strong, right?" she muttered, causing Toshiro to look up.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
She shrugged again. "Nothing special." There was something about the way she said it that told him there was more to the story, but he didn't press her for it. After a few more steps, Karin sighed.
"So…thanks for coming with me," she said. "I know you wanted to come to tell off Matsumoto, but thanks for sticking around."
Toshiro shrugged, looking away and placing a hand on the side of his head. "It's not a big deal," he said. "I had the chance to talk to Hinamori."
Karin frowned, hugging her arms close to her chest slightly as she looked away. Toshiro had spent most of the evening that he wasn't spending yelling at his vice-captain talking with the fifth squad vice-captain. It wasn't really that she could blame him for that. She had heard from Matsumoto that he and Hinamori were friends. Besides, if she were Hinamori's friend, she would have been concerned too. The girl had looked a little worse for the wear. She had dark circles under her eyes and looked like she hadn't been sleeping much as it was. She definitely looked more stressed out than Hisagi, even though they were both running their divisions alone.
Matsumoto had explained that Hinamori was very close to Aizen before he betrayed them, and his betrayal had hurt her a lot. There was more to the story, but in one of her rare serious moments, Matsumoto told her that Toshiro would have to tell her the rest himself.
"You should have walked her home then," she said, not looking up. "She looked like she needed it more. And besides, I'll be fine."
She couldn't explain why, but when she had watched the two of them together, it felt as if someone was stepping on her chest. It had only lasted a moment, though, before she got dragged into another stupid game by her father.
Toshiro shook his head. "Hinamori is a fully capable vice-captain," he said. "She doesn't need protection."
Karin's eyes narrowed at the implication. "What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, looking up. "That I can't get back by myself?"
"You're an academy student," he said, frowning at her. "And Seireitei isn't perfect. Anything could happen. It's not smart to take chances, that's all."
"It's not that far of a walk," she said. "And it's not a big deal. Most academy students get through without any problem."
"Well, most academy students don't have a brother with a list of enemies longer than Ichimaru's bankai," said Toshiro, turning towards her. "Karin, stop being so stubborn." he asked, his eyes narrowing icily.
"I'm not a member of your division," she said. "You don't get to order me around!"
"You're still an academy student, and I'm still a captain of the Gotei 13!" His voice came out a little sharper than he had intended, and he turned towards her, his eyes narrowed.
She glared at him. "I may not be a captain or vice-captain, but I'm not weak, Toshiro!" she said. Where was this coming from? She had no idea, but it felt like everything she had been holding back for the past few months was starting to leak out, little by little. "I can get home on my own!"
He didn't know where this was coming from, but at that moment the image returned to him, as if it had been burned in the back of his mind.
What Isshin and Ichigo probably didn't know was that he had gone back to the clinic before heading to the shop that night.
It slipped out of his mouth, before he even realized what he was saying. And for a few moments, he almost thought he could see the words hanging in the air between them, could see himself futilely trying to grab them and take them back.
"Yeah, because that worked out so well the last time."
Her hand whirled around, heading towards the side of his face. Out of reflex, he caught it, his hand catching her wrist. Karin looked up at him, breathing hard. Her eyes were on fire as she glared at him, an angry look on her face.
No. There was more than anger in her eyes. There was something else there, quickly covered up. Toshiro's eyes widened as he saw it.
Pain.
He hadn't meant it like that. Not that way.
"Karin…" he said, releasing her hand. She pulled it back. "Listen…"
She straightened up stiffly, and for a moment, the scowl on her face reminded him of her brother. She was glowing slightly. Her hand had been coated with pale blue reiatsu. His fingers burned slightly from where he had grabbed it.
The look in her eyes was worse. She looked…betrayed. She had the same look in her eyes that Hinamori had had, the night she believed he killed Aizen.
"I…" he began.
Karin raised her hand, cutting him off. "I'll see you around, Hitsugaya-taicho," she said stiffly, turning around and walking down the street.
He never would have thought his name and rank—things he valued that highly—could ever sound so much like an insult.
TO BE CONTINUED
