I dunno, guys. This one started to feel kind of weird. On another note, I really like the next chapter. So that kind of balances it out.


Chapter 9

Ichigo groaned at the sound of his alarm clock going off.

He took a deep breath to prepare himself and pushed the warm covers off his body. The morning air was crisp against his skin and Ichigo sat up, rubbing his face sleepily.

He stood up, stretched, and walked to his closet. His hand had just grabbed a plain black t-shirt when something clicked in his brain.

What the- "What the hell are doing in my room!" Ichigo sputtered, not bothering to filter his thoughts.

Rukia smiled widely back at him. "Took you long enough," she teased. "Not much of a morning person, are you?"

Ichigo struggled to find the words to voice the slow realization his brain was shifting through.

Rukia, the vampire, is sitting at my desk. It's possible that she has been there all night. And I am wearing... Shit, what I am wearing?

Ichigo blushed furiously, immensely grateful his last-minute decision to at least wear boxers to sleep that night. He quickly pulled on the shirt that he had been holding stupidly in his hands when he noticed Rukia looking him over approvingly.

"I told you it was chilly outside," she said, still snickering quietly to herself.

Ichigo decided against using a few choice words, settling instead for, "I thought you said you weren't going to follow me around anymore."

"I didn't follow you anywhere," Rukia said defensively. "I wanted to talk to you."

Ichigo yawned. "Can't it wait? I have to get ready for school."

Rukia rolled her eyes. "I think you'll want to hear this, Ichigo."

"Ichigo?" A deep voice called from outside his bedroom door. "Are you talking to yourself again?"

Ichigo flushed again. "I do not talk to myself!"

"You have a girl over then!" The voice sounded excited. "But it's a school day! Ichigo, my son, surely you can wait until the weekend to create my future grandchildren?"

"I don't have anyone over, Dad!" Ichigo yelled back. "Just go away!"

Finally, heavy steps walked away from the door and Ichigo sighed. Rukia was happily watching the exchange from his desk. "Is that your father?"

"Unfortunately," Ichigo grumbled. "Look, you have to go. Someone's going to hear you."

Rukia protested, "But, Ichigo-"

"You can tell me at school, ok? I'll see you then." Ichigo insisted, escorting the petite girl back to the open window.

"I'll find you after school," Rukia said, obviously annoyed.

"Did you really climb up here?" He asked in disbelief, watching her effortlessly climb back through the window.

"It's not that hard," Rukia said. She perched on the windowsill and paused, looking up at Ichigo.

Her face was closer to his than Ichigo had realized. He felt his heart race as she reached up, her hand lightly brushing his chest.

"You should probably fix this," Rukia whispered, tucking his shirt tag into the front of his backwards and inside-out shirt.

Then, she jumped to the ground, without making a sound. She glanced up at him one last time before walking down the sidewalk in the opposite direction of Karakura High.

Ichigo focused on calming his warm face and forgetting the feeling of Rukia's touch. He yanked the offending shirt off and straightened it out before putting on a pair of jeans and going downstairs.

.

The school day could not have passed any slower for Rukia.

She found herself just a block away when the last bell rang. After a few more minutes, Ichigo appeared around the corner. He didn't seem surprised to see her.

"How long have you been waiting here?" He asked.

"I was just walking," she said, trying to hide the fact that she had been standing in the same spot for at least 20 minutes. "Will you listen now?"

The carrot top nodded.

"All right," Rukia started, eager to share the news, "I checked with someone last night, after you dropped me off, and it turns out that you were right. It was a werewolf that attacked your mother."

Ichigo looked at her in surprise. "You mean it? You really found out for sure?"

"Mhmm," she nodded. "I'd offer to track the wolf down for you, but it's already dead."

Ichigo didn't acknowledge her statement right away, lost in his own thoughts. Finally, he gave her a small smile.

"That's... I really appreciate you doing that, Rukia," he said slowly. "It helps, just knowing what really happened."

Rukia returned his smile. "I'm happy to help."

He glanced at her again, before looking away shyly. "You want to walk with me? I still feel bad about yesterday. We could go downtown or something."

Rukia's heart fluttered unnaturally in her chest, but she suppressed it. There was nothing wrong with spending time with a new friend.

The fact that he was human, and incredibly attractive had nothing to do with it, she told herself.

"Sure."

.

"So, your brother is actually going to come here?" Ichigo asked as they walked down the street. They had stopped by his house so he could drop off his things, and now they were strolling along a line of shops.

Rukia had just finished telling him about her brother, between short comments about how the street had looked years ago, when she was a child.

"That used to be a restaurant. They had really good ice cream." The dark haired girl pointed across the street before grinning at him. "Byakuya said he'd try to visit soon, but with him that probably means I won't see him for another month, at least."

Ichigo thought about the siblings' situation for a moment. His own family drove him nuts sometimes, but he couldn't imagine not seeing them for months at a time.

"I guess it'd be hard for vampires to have a normal family," he commented.

Rukia shrugged. "It was difficult without my parents at first, but I guess I kind of forgot about them after the first hundred years."

Ichigo chuckled quietly, unsure if she was making a joke, or simply stating a fact.

"Why do you drink human blood if your brother only kills animals?" He asked, trying to shift the topic.

Rukia sighed and Ichigo realized that question must be difficult as well.

"My brother... has never forgiven himself for certain actions in his past. He's always regretted that I became a vampire, and I think he stopped eating humans as a way to relieve his guilt." She paused before starting again, "I've never felt that guilt, because he always took care of me. I only kill criminals, and it feels like I'm actually doing something to help people."

"You do help people," Ichigo insisted. "You saved that woman's life last Friday, and you found out how my mother died."

Rukia shrugged. "I guess."

Ichigo realized that the issue was more complicated than he could even begin to understand. Fortunately, he was relieved of the responsibility of continuing the conversation when a familiar face stepped out of the grocery store in front of them.

"Ichigo! What a pleasant surprise!" Orihime exclaimed.

"Hey," he greeted her. "You know Rukia, right?"

He realized it was loaded question; he remembered all too well their intense conversation at lunch, but he hoped that she would reveal what they had been talking about.

The redhead continued smiling and took Rukia's hand warmly. "Rukia Kuchiki, right?"

Rukia drew her hand back, barely hiding her disgust. "Elisade, please," she said shortly.

Ichigo frowned, and Orihime's eyebrows furrowed into the angriest expression he'd ever seen on her face.

"You must be mistaken. No one calls me by that old nickname anymore. Please, just call me Orihime now," the taller girl's voice was sweet as ever.

Rukia just rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say."

"I didn't realize you two were so close," Orihime commented, the underlying question apparent in her tone.

"We met a few days ago," Ichigo tried to explain without explaining too much.

"But there's nothing for you to worry about," Rukia added, wrapping her arm around Ichigo's and winking. "We're just friends; I'm not trying to invade your territory. He's all yours."

Ichigo glared at his short companion, and Orihime giggled awkwardly.

"Well, that's good to know, but I assure you Ichigo and I are just friends as well," the redhead said through a tight smile.

"I'll keep that in mind," Rukia said, still clinging to Ichigo's arm teasingly.

"It was nice seeing you, Orihime. Have a good night," Ichigo said quickly, eager to end the silent discussion the two were clearly having right in front of him.

"Good bye, Ichigo! Tell Yuzu and Karin 'Hello' for me," Orihime chirped. She reluctantly let them pass and Rukia gave a taunting wave as they walked by.

"What the hell was that?" Ichigo hissed once they were farther away.

Rukia glanced over her shoulder, before putting a finger to her lips. They had walked another two blocks in silence, when she finally broke out into laughter.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Ichigo," she said between short giggle fits. "I just didn't want her listening in on what I'm about to tell you."

Ichigo frowned. Is this something I really want to know?

Rukia looked up at him, dark eyes glinting humorously. "Elisade, your Orihime, is an elf."

"You're joking," he stopped, mouth hanging open.

"Nope!" The petite girl shook her head. "She's furious that I'm spending so much time with you. She's worried that I'm going to tell you all our secrets, which I already have, but she doesn't know that."

"Wait," Ichigo needed time to let his mind catch up. "How do you know she doesn't know?"

"Because I told her," Rukia said, as if it were obvious. "I said I wasn't 'invading her territory,'

meaning I wasn't doing anything wrong."

So they were talking over my head...

"Why do you call her Elisade?" Ichigo asked next.

Rukia took a deep breath, like she had started doing every time he asked a question that required a lengthy explanation. "Elves live long lives. Not as long as vampires, but pretty long. And they also have the ability to change their appearance."

She paused again, like she was having trouble articulating her thoughts.

"I guess a better way to put it would be that, they can only look like themselves, but at any age. Elisade is about 200 years old, but she can appear just the same as she did when she was an infant, or how she looks as an old woman. This way, elves can live among humans, pretend to grow old, and then pretend to die, and start a new life by changing so they look young again."

"So... Orihime has lived in Karakura for 200 years? And no one noticed that she looks exactly the same every time she... starts a new life?" Ichigo asked skeptically.

"Sort of," Rukia supplied. "Elisade didn't come to Karakura until she had fully grown into her powers. And as long as she stays out of pictures, and 'outlives' the people who were close to her during that lifespan, she can go pretty much undetected."

"But why do you call her Elisade?" Ichigo repeated his question.

"Elisade is her elven name. She'll keep that one for her whole life. And then she picks another name to use with humans every time she starts a new human life. For some reason, she thought 'Orihime' would be a good choice this time around."

Ichigo ran a hand through his hair. This was giving him a headache. He couldn't believe how much Orihime, bright, bubbly, Orihime with no secrets, had been keeping from him.

And then, he realized, that means...

"You said elves are supposed to protect humans?" Ichigo looked at Rukia for approval.

When she nodded, he continued, "And Orihime has been in Karakura for ...a really long time, right?"

"I don't know what you're getting at," Rukia said, frowning.

"Well, if Orihime was supposed to be protecting everyone in Karakura, why didn't she stop the werewolf that killed my mom?" Ichigo asked, his voice rising.

Rukia realized her mistake immediately. "It's not that simple, Ichigo. She wasn't there when it happened, she was traveling and-"

"Why would she leave the town she's watching over?" His anger was about to explode. "And why didn't she come back when she sensed the werewolf? You said elves have powers; she could've save my mother's life!"

Rukia looked up at him with deeply sad eyes. "Ichigo..."

"Don't try to make excuses for her!" He fumed. It all made sense now.

That's the reason she's so nice to me and Yuzu and Karin... Not because she likes me, but because she feels guilty.

"You expect too much of us," Rukia said sharply, grabbing his upper arms tightly to get his attention. "Everyone makes mistakes. Even with our powers, we can't do everything. Accidents happen."

But Ichigo wouldn't accept that. He could never forgive Orihime for her carelessness. And he couldn't understand why Rukia was suddenly so quick to defend the air-headed girl.

"My mother might still be alive," Ichigo whispered, mostly to himself.

"Stop it, Ichigo. I know it's hard on you." Rukia shook her head. "Really, I understand what it's like to lose someone you care about because of another person you care about, but you have to try to understand. You'll never feel better until you forgive her."

"I won't forgive her," Ichigo decided. "I can't."

Rukia stepped back, taking her hands away. "You're making a mistake."

"I don't think I am," Ichigo said. "What were you saying about losing people you care about? Do you mean your parents?"

Rukia didn't meet his eyes, but she nodded 'yes.'

"Did Byakuya kill your parents?" Ichigo asked, prepared to be horrified by this petite girl's history.

"No," Rukia said emphatically. "Byakuya has always taken care of me. I already told you that."

"Then who-"

"I don't want to talk about it," she cut him off. "Don't blame Orihime, ok? I know it'll take time, but it'll break her heart if she finds out that you know. I don't like her, but it's not fair to put her through that pain."

Ichigo frowned. "I'm not going to confront her. I said I wouldn't tell anyone what you tell me, remember?"

Rukia managed a small smile and it made Ichigo feel slightly better. "I do. Thank you."

"So, what was this store when you were a kid?" He asked, pointing to the hair salon behind them, knowing she'd be pleased by a question with a simple answer.

"Well." She looked thoughtful. "I think it was a toy store. My parents used to bring me here sometimes, and when I was 8, they bought me a doll."

"And this one?" He asked as they passed the next one.

Rukia smiled. "It was a food store. I'm afraid it wasn't very good though."

Ichigo found himself smiling back. They continued their innocent conversation until they had reached the end of the street at the edge of town. The sun was setting, and Rukia insisted that they turn back so she could return him home before it got dark.

That night, he had the same dream as before. But this time, it was Orihime who attacked and killed Rukia.

And when the stunning, glowing girl opened her eyes, they were still a deep purple. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him ardently, as if she had never been happier to wake up alive.


So a dyslexic man walks into a bra...
I'll be here all week ;)