Chapter 9: In Other Words

~Rukia~

Their current living together arrangement is strictly platonic because:

A) Her best friend is injured. What sort of friend is she if she turned him away at a time like this?

B) Like he said, he's practically a live-in tenant at her place. Him moving in to her spare bedroom was not going to disrupt her daily life any more than usual.

C) Well, they're best friends.

There's no way in hell that Ichigo would ever think of her as anything more or take advantage of her, right?

The blanket was wrapped snugly around her as she nuzzled against her pillow. She gave a soft moan at the feel of the Egyptian cotton lapping against her tired body. It has been so long since she let herself succumbed to the luxurious temptation of sleeping in.

Her article of the month had been handed in to Meow Meow!, so there was to be no work emergencies happening anytime soon. The alarm is switched off, the blinds are on, and her bed is so hopelessly soft. It was a good day, a perfectly nice way of spending her morning, she mused as she hovered between wakefulness and sleep.

She sighed as a wave of absolute contentment flowed through her veins. She curled her toes and smiled as she buried herself deeper into the warm cocoon. Drawing the blanket up to her chin, she turned to her side, intent on sleeping the entire day away.

Her best laid plans fell apart as quickly as they were formed when her sensitive ears caught the sound of her bedroom door being opened. Stubbornly though she refused to open her eyes and naively told herself that her sleep-deprived brain was making things up.

It wasn't until she felt the dip in her mattress that she began to admit that something was amiss. Through her sleep-addled senses, she could feel someone pulling at her blanket and sliding underneath the heavy covers.

Her nose wrinkled. Stupid blanket thief, she thought as she wrestled the heavy duvet towards her and tucked her feet in; go get your own blanket. Silently, she sent a telepathic message to the unwelcomed intruder- willing him to leave her alone.

Yet the mysterious entity paid her no heed- she could feel a warm-blooded body cozying dangerously close to her, close enough that she could feel hot breath fanning her cheeks and she lazily swatted the intruder away.

"Go away," she muttered groggily with her eyes still shut and hands clutching her blanket protectively.

Rukia.

She must be imagining things because that voice sounded awfully like Ichigo's voice but huskier. She frowned. Clearly, it was impossible. Best friends they may be but the busy doctor rarely stayed overnight for sleepovers because he needed to get up early for work and even then, he was not bold enough to interrupt her sleep.

Not like this anyway.

XXX

Throughout their friendship, she was always the so-called space-invader.

Cue the eye-rolling.

She had lost count of the times when they first became friends of how Ichigo would admonish her for being so weirdly intrusive and his words, handsy- despite her noble upbringing.

It was a lie of course. She can assure her beloved Nii-sama and will gladly swear on her pride as a Kuchiki that her actions were perfectly ladylike.

The stupid strawberry was just being a prude and if she did end up touching him- taking more liberty in initiating physical contact with him than she would of others, well it was perfectly justifiable.

Those occasions were serious enough to warrant such contacts and besides, the idiot towered over her for crying out loud, if he didn't want the contact, he could have stopped her or at the very least said something throughout all the years.

Unless of course he really didn't like her touching him but he was simply too polite to tell her that. No, she shook those thoughts away; this was freaking Ichigo- you think he would put up with something he didn't want to just because of politeness?

The dark-haired noble frowned as the cogs in her brain started turning. Maybe she should start setting up some physical boundaries between them. With the recent events, she did notice that there had been more instances of her touching-

Rukia.

She scowled, hiding her head under the covers now. Stupid voice wouldn't even let her think in peace.

Rukia.

She willfully ignored the incessant badgering and when she felt a weight being lifted off her bed, gave herself a mental high-five.

Finally!

XXX

It doesn't matter now, she comforted herself. She can think about all physical contact no-no's and careful subtle ways of avoiding his touch when she wakes up later and possesses the full capacity of her mental acuity.

For now, she smiled; she could settle back into the comforting arms of sleep and doze off.

She should have known better.

Things between her and the blanket thief were far from over.

In fact as she was getting ready to dive back into the arms of dreamless slumber, the assailant was bidding the time waiting to strike. Before she could even register the surprise, the no-gooder proceeded to yank the covers completely off her, leaving her angry and cold.

The petite heiress bolted upright immediately. Enough was enough- she had been more than kind dealing with whoever this person was. Breaking and entering was a criminal offence but did she ring security?

Did she ring the police?

No; so the least they could do was let her sleep. Her violet eyes were ablaze with fury as she fully-intended to stare down her unknown assailant until the latter became flooded with guilt at interrupting her beauty sleep.

Imagine her surprise when she met the gaze of her best friend, his right arm in cast- sporting a wide smirk that was screaming to the world how pleased he was with himself for interrupting her sleep.

Sleep was now the further thing from her mind as she quickly remembered that the neurologist was on paid medical leave, still recovering from a broken arm and she had graciously offered to let him stay with her.

XXX

"Good morning, sleeping beauty," he teased and she could feel her eyes twitching. She was barely through half of her day and already she could feel her blood pressure spiking.

Suffice to say, she was quickly regretting her generous offer.

Annoyed, she threw her pillow at him, only to watch it sail harmlessly past and land on the wooden floorboards instead. She threw herself back onto her bed, covering her face with another pillow.

"Ichigo," she groaned, "it's too early."

He chuckled and without waiting even for her permission, flopped down next to her on her king-sized bed. She could feel goosebumps rising as he inched his way towards her. The weight of his stare was heavy and the heat from his approaching body was getting to her.

It felt much too crowded on her sprawling bed. She must be coming down with something.

"Rukia, wake up," he whined.

She resolutely refused to give him any acknowledgement. Letting him know she was too affected by his presence to speak was giving him power in a war she had no intention of losing.

"Well, I guess I just have to make myself comfortable then," he concluded.

Before she could even process his words or even object to his decision, she found herself pulled towards him. She hastily placed her pillow in front of her, shielding her front as she found herself coming face to face with his 'Nice Vibe' T-shirt.

She gulped unsteadily as she could feel her heart beating erratically.

Her violet eyes widened. This is much too close for comfort. His injured arm had placed a hand on the small of her back- not one inch further, he wouldn't dare- their knees touching and if she wanted to, she could just as easily entangled their legs together- not that she wanted to, mind you.

The close proximity was making her senses go into overdrive.

Goosebumps erupted like wildfire across her chilled skin as his hand stayed. Pressed up against him, she could feel the body heat radiating from him despite the pillow between them. She could feel the rise of his chest with every breath he took and the tiny flutter that she felt in her that came with it.

The constant thrum of his beating heart was slowly being mimicked by hers as his familiar scent flooded her senses. It was male and she associated it with a certain degree of animosity but yet it was just too familiar to ignore.

So much for maintaining distances and setting up physical boundaries.

XXX

Valiantly, she craned her head upwards trying to see just what was going on in his head that morning. Ichigo wouldn't- would never sacrifice this careless amount of space on his part just to snuggle.

They were not that sort of friends.

She stilled- remembering the warmth of his hand and how close they had been in each other's presence that day in the hospital.

They had stayed in that position- hands linked and fingers laced until she heard the sound of a curtain being drawn. Even then he didn't let go and she had to sign the release forms somewhat awkwardly with her free hand. Thankfully the nurse who had brought them the paperwork wasn't someone they knew.

Rukia didn't think she could live with the embarrassment if they had been seen in that intimate position by Ishida-san.

The rest of the evening happened in a blur- she remembered dragging a sleepy Ichigo along with her as they made their way to the parking lots. Her heart was pounding away as she buckled his seat belt for him and climbed into the driver's seat.

The big baby had finally relented to let go of her hand when it became evident that she needed both hands to drive. And even then, he had sulked and was asleep throughout the journey as they weaved through traffic.

The silence had suited her just as well. The steering wheel probably had groves made into them with how hard she had been gripping it the entire day. She hadn't even dared to exhale during the car ride for fear of waking him up and then inevitably opening that can of worms.

She especially dreaded having the conversation about what she was trying to do when he caught her kissing his cheek.

Friends don't just kiss their platonic best friends- not even on the cheek.

Of course, neither do they hold onto each other's hands and lace their fingers together while keeping a silent vigil.

XXX

She had written off what happened that night as a byproduct of his opioid-induced madness and her overwhelming sense of relief when she found out he wasn't dead. To put it simply, he was drugged and injured while she was trying to mommy him. That idiot probably wouldn't even remember what happened when he woke up the next day whereas she had spent the whole night staring at her bedroom ceiling, dreading the confrontation.

So when he didn't bring up the topic the morning after, she had been all too happy to put the incident behind them. Ignorance was bliss and in this case, the best solution because whatever that had happened- well nothing happened so there was really no need to look into the matter any harder than they already have.

What happened that night at the hospital was nothing.

Or at the very least Ichigo wasn't making a big deal out of it so she doesn't see why she should.

She chewed at her lower lip- if only she could say the same for what was happening now.

Could it be cabin fever?

He had been cooped up indoors for a while since his injury. Maybe he was just bored but if this was his idea of a prank out of sheer boredom, Rukia scowled; well he had no right for using her as some sort of life-sized teddy bear.

"Ichigo," she began but he rudely interrupted her by cradling the back of her head against his chest and she found herself too shocked by the move to even finish her sentence.

Who was this person and what had he done to Ichigo-respect-my-space-Kurosaki?

"Sleep," he told her, like it was the single easiest thing to do in the world in her situation, like snuggling was something they did on a regular basis in their friendship, like he hadn't just completely turned her world upside-down with the gesture- as if he wasn't Ichigo Kurosaki and she wasn't his best friend.

She gulped nervously. This cannot be happening.

Futilely she tried calling his name again but he seemed to have fallen asleep or at the very least, fully intent on ignoring her.

She pouted. She could try worming her way out of the tight hold but then her eyes fell to the sight of his injured arm and decided against it. She didn't think she could live with herself if she worsened his injuries in any way.

Pursing her lips, she curled into fetal position and made herself as comfortable as possible. This was Ichigo they were talking about after all, she reassured herself- her best friend would never do anything inappropriate to her, especially in her sleep.

Even if her brain was screaming at her to roll away, to push him away because this was dangerous territory that she had very limited control in; her body and her heart didn't.

Slowly, she shut her weary eyes and focused on the steady thrum of his heart beat. She was hazily aware of him nuzzled his chin against the top of her head and breathing out her name but by then she was already snoring lightly.

XXX

She woke up to the scent of sizzling bacon and pancakes. Lying alone on her king-sized bed, she had her covers drawn to her chin and feet tucked in as her violet eyes opened and lazily took note of the time displayed on her alarm clock.

It was one in the afternoon and her grumbling stomach decided it was high time they fed themselves or in this case, steal food to sustain themselves.

Yawning languidly, she decided to pull herself up from bed- a bone dead tiredness setting in with her head feeling too heavy and her senses too dull for her liking. It was like she had been asleep for half a century and her head was only just getting used to the idea of thinking.

What a weird dream that was!

Imagine that- Ichigo climbing into bed with her to snuggle. She snorted, pressing a hand to her forehead- she must be coming down with something.

XXX

Dragging her feet, she trudged noisily into the kitchen where she saw her best friend bustling away at the stove. Mesmerized by the way he was flipping the pancakes with one hand, she let out a low whistle as she perched herself on to a bar stool with her legs dangling off the side.

"Look at you being all domestic. Never pegged you as house-husband material," she teased, stifling a yawn with the back of her palm as her eyes adjusted to the glare of the afternoon sun.

It really wasn't fair, thought the petite woman glumly. Here she was looking like an absolute bedraggled mess with her horrible bed hair sticking out all over the place and across the kitchen island was her best friend, looking every inch like a domestic kitchen god who had mastered the art of cracking eggs with one hand while simultaneously rocking the look of 'just-rolled-out-bed-but-still-too-hot-for-you-to-handle'.

He turned to face her and she could feel herself very clichély floored by the sight of him. The streaming sunlight just had to hit his jawline at just the right angle and surely some crazy sorcery must have been invoked to have his entire face look so soft.

His face was all angles and contours- arranged and sculpted in that perfect golden ratio the Greeks were crazy about. He had no right to look so utterly urgh - her stupid brain is just impossible to work with today- where was that biting snark always by the tip of his tongue, the little smirk that played on his lips?

She gulped hard- nope, it wasn't fair at all; not when his golden eyes finally made contact with hers and with absolutely no warning at all, directed a 'melt-me-down, make-me-gooey' smile at her. Her insides twisted and she could feel her heartbeat speeding.

She shifted her eyes to focus on her brunch- the bacon was sizzling hot on the pan while the stack of pancakes lied somewhere further- reluctant to meet his half-lidded stare.

No one, least of all, her neurotic best friend who reads Shakespeare and gets all teary eyed at the ending of Romeo and Juliet à la Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes, has the right to look so perfect on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

He snorted, successfully breaking her out of her blatant staring fest and she scarcely knew what to do with her hands.

XXX

"Well good morning to you too, sunshine," he said, as he set the two plates of brunch on the table, one after the other; each with a small stack of pancakes, dripping with gooey honey and crispy bacon on the side, "do us both a favour and go wash your face. I think you're drooling."

She could feel her face colouring at the off-handed remark. She was so not staring at him or his stupid face- however chiseled and good-looking and perfect-, nope, she bit down on her lip, they are so not discussing that.

"I was NOT staring at you!" she had all but shouted.

He froze but then something warm seeped into his whiskey-coloured eyes that made his eyes so unbearably bright and a smile teased at the corners of his mouth.

She told herself that she felt nothing but annoyance at that- no, go away stupid fluttery feelings.

"I meant the food," he smirked. Rukia practically wanted to sink into a hole and just let the earth swallow her up.

She didnt even look back as she slammed the bathroom door shut. Behind the door, she could hear the roaring laughter erupting from her best friend and she cursed, seeing her reflection in the bathroom mirror.

Just who was this hot mess staring back at her- she twisted the faucet, splashing cold water onto her heated face as she tried to drown out the sound of his echoing laughter with the sound of running tap water instead.

Be still my heart.

XXX

By the time she emerged out from the bathroom, teeth brushed, hair sleek and most importantly brain function fully in check. She was almost disappointed to see the injured doctor greeting her normally at the breakfast table, like the embarrassing incident hadn't even occurred in this dimension.

She stabbed at the bacon with more viciousness than intended. Just what was wrong with her!

She was hardly the sort to be acting so weirdly self-conscious around her best friend and to think that she was ogling at him. She felt like such an animal- it should feel wrong and she shouldn't- Since when?

And of all people, Ichigo?

She was attracted to freaking Ichigo Kurosaki?

"Stop it."

The dark haired authoress frowned, annoyed at having her train of thought disrupted.

"Stop what?" she huffed.

He rolled his eyes and told her, "You're thinking too loud. It's affecting my appetite."

Rukia frowned. "It's nothing," she lied, her gaze returning to her laden plate. Her appetite was gone and she was disgusted with herself.

Her guilt worsened when she heard him setting down his cutlery and the concern ringing in his tone as he asked her what the matter was.

"Are you feeling sick?"

"N-N-No, of course not," she lied again but she would much rather be coming down with the flu than behaving like this love-sick idiot with a stupid schoolgirl-crush around him. She averted her eyes but he wouldn't have it.

Without skipping a beat, the doctor had carelessly pressed his good hand against her forehead, checking for signs of fever and she could feel her body temperature spiking at an alarming rate.

Oh my GOD!

XXX

Her face was burning and her heart was practically hammering against her ribcage, demanding to be set free. The alarm bells in her mind were blaring as she hastily swatted his hand away.

This was too much, she thought as she gathered her wits about her; there had been waaay too much skin-to-skin contact between them these past few days to be normal. Heck, things between them had been weird ever since her meeting with Kaien to be honest.

They definitely need to put some goddamned distances between them or at the very least set physical boundaries because the amount of skinship contact was becoming alarmingly high.

They need to go back to being Ichigo and Rukia- BFFs in the purest sense of the word and not this.

Because Rukia Kuchiki didn't do this, let alone want to know what this is. She can't be his nakama if she was too distracted by him to be a platonic friend.

The heiress raised her head to meet his gaze, "Stop being all touchy-feely with me."

He didn't even try to deny it. Instead, she watched with abject horror as he drew himself to his full height and caged her in. She could feel her pulse racing.

Staring deep into a pair of hazel eyes swimming with heat and insolence, she gulped when he told her, "Well too bad, because I want to."

He flashed her a smirk, "what's the matter Rukia? Afraid that I have the cooties?"

She dug her nails into the arms of her chair.

He doesn't think of you that way.

XXX

"Be serious, Ichigo," she huffed, gently massaging her temples, "You need to stop invading my space and all that touching," she stared at him dead in the eyes, "you have to stop doing that. It's bad enough that I have to deal with you during the day, now I am starting to see you in my dreams too."

The doctor had his hand to his mouth in mock surprise. "Rukia, you naughty little girl- have you been secretly pining after me all this while? A regular of your X-rated fantasies? You have but only to ask-"

Rukia couldn't help but snort. It was hard to be mad at him when he knew all the right ways to get to her.

"First off, you need to stay away from Urahara because he's rubbing off on you. And second, ewww," she made a face at him, "don't flatter yourself. You were only ever there for the weird ones. Like this morning," she told him, "I dreamt that you were there on my bed, snuggling with me. But that's stupid because I obviously woke up alone and you would never think of me like that. And-"

The man opposite her suddenly turned very still and then whispered to her, "Rukia, it wasn't a dream."

XXX

She froze but quickly recovered, laughing it off as a joke, "Ichigo, you dolt. You almost gave me a heart attack. That was a good prank. What were you thinking? Trying to make me think I'm seeing things-"

"What if it wasn't a prank?"

She chuckled nervously, "Come on- stop it, Ichigo. You don't mean it like that."

He licked his lips and his eyes softened. She suddenly dreaded what was going to come out of his mouth next.

He doesn't think of you that way.

XXX

"Rukia," he said as he began making his way towards her and her baser flight or fight instincts waged war within her.

He doesn't think of you that way.

XXX

"What if I don't want to stop being all touchy-feely with you?"

She gulped nervously. He was down on his knees before her. She wanted to tell him stand up and stop this madness but he was much too close and she couldn't even feel her legs- let alone get up herself. Scratch that she wanted to run- to be anywhere but here at this very moment.

"What if I like touching you like that?

His touch was unbearably gentle as he tucked her stubborn bang behind her ear. Like a man who was just on the verge of meeting the stars, he held her face with such reverence as he forced her midnight blue eyes to meet his.

The vulnerability and rawness of his emotions simmered and bubbled, and she found herself held captive by them. But more than that Rukia saw herself reflected in his eyes- scared, torn and laid bare.

XXX

She used to think that she had a perfect suit of armour to shield herself from the questioning looks of her peers when it came to her relationship with her best friend. She liked to think that she was so accomplished in her task that she had even convinced Nii-sama and Renji.

She had forged it, sealed it and bound it with layers upon layers of rational platonic reasons as to why they were each other's most important person, why Ichigo was always her first choice for a Chappy Convention or a last-minute date for a formal noble gala, why they seemed to disregard each other's privacy and space, why they always gave the feeling that others were merely extras in a scene when they were together.

Heck if pressed, she could even design a freaking pie chart or graph to illustrate how perfectly unromantic they are!

But here at this very moment in time, the armour that she thought to be as indestructible as diamonds turned out to be nothing more than glass. When faced with the weight of his gaze- of what truly mattered, they shattered into pixie dust and she might as well be stripped naked before him.

She didn't doubt his sincerity- or the depth of his feelings but she was supposed to be the level-headed one in this relationship and she can't- simply could not and would not let whatever this is get in the way between them.

You don't think of him that way.

XXX

"Rukia, what if I-"

Rumour… rumour has it…. Rumour… rumour has it… Rumour…

XXX

Her latest ring tone interrupted their intense eye stare. They both shifted their gaze towards her bedroom where the phone continued to ring on the bedside table and there was never a moment in the history of time that Rukia had ever believed more in the existence of a God than now.

"I should go and get that," she mumbled while she pushed the chair away and made her hasty escape.

She was a coward- the absolute worst, a disgrace to her noble name but she couldn't just sit and watch on passively as he destroyed their friendship all for the sake of this- a stupid spur of the moment fling.

The fallout would destroy her so she ran.

"This isn't over," he told her, but deep in her heart, she feared that it was already over- their friendship was now tainted and things could never go back to how they were.

Hese's corner:

Ichigo: In other words, in other words~ I love you!

A nice and short little chappie for y'all. Sorry about the wait. Work has been kicking my ass and I apologize for not replying to the wonderful reviews that I have received.

To darklover-san, it's always a pleasure and I would love to read anything you come up with, especially the long-awaited chapter as soon as I got the time.

To jobananasan, read on and ye shall see the trials awaiting our two protagonists.

To all my reviewers, thank you for all the awesome feedback and I will try to update soon.