Loving Humanoid (AU) Ch.10

"It's sooooooooooooooooo hoooooooooooooooooot!" whined Rukia.

Ah summer. The break from school, the time to stay out of the heat, and the time of using fans and eating cold watermelon. Currently, that's what Ichigo and Rukia are trying to do. Staying inside the house was too boring, so they decided to go outside with all the required materials to stay cool along with the shade provided by the roof on the patio. Rukia fanned herself with a handheld Chappy fan and munched on some watermelon because the electric fan just wasn't enough. The watermelon was perfectly cold and she was in a comfortable position by laying her head on Ichigo's lap. Ichigo, who was also hot (both temperature and sexy wise), also fanned himself as well and wore no shirt.

At least he has some pants on, or else I would've had a major nosebleed, thought Rukia.

"You two seem pretty cozy!" said a familiar voice.

Rukia looked to where the voice was coming from and saw that it was Hisagi at the gate. He was wearing a Hawaiian flower print shirt, black shorts, flip-flops, sunglasses and a hat. Rukia also saw that he held a brown briefcase in his hand when he opened the gate.

"You look like an American tourist," said Rukia fanning herself.

"Ooh is that watermelon? Be nice and share!" he said getting away from the gate.

Nemu appeared behind him as usual, wearing once again a gothic lolita black dress. This time, it had a black bow on the chest, ruffles from the collarbones down, bows on both arms, the skirt was short in length that it went above her knees, a veil-like flower pattern was over the dress, and she had a black velvet collar with another bow around her neck. The only thing that wasn't black was the thin white headband she wore with Hello Kitty on it.

"Um Nemu," said Rukia staring at her outfit. "Shouldn't you wear something...different in this weather?"

"Yes Nemu-chan. I'm getting a heat stroke just by looking at you," said Hisagi eating a watermelon slice.

"It is short and light, is it not?" responded Nemu.

"Never mind," said Hisagi licking the leftover watermelon juice off of his fingers. "I never win an argument with you."

"I gonna get more glasses of iced tea," said Rukia getting up.

When she went inside, she went to the fridge, poured tea into some glasses, and grabbed more watermelon pieces as she put them on a plate. When she got outside, she saw that Hisagi held a small handheld iron rod with an iron ball at the top and was putting it on Ichigo's tongue, whose mouth was wide open. He was also peering into Ichigo's left eye with a small flashlight. This would be considered out-of-the-ordinary, but most of the times when Hisagi visited Rukia's house, it was more like he was Ichigo's personal doctor giving him check-ups. So she was used to it.

"Okay, say 'Hisagi Shūhei is the best creator in the whole wide world," he said as he switched the flashlight to Ichigo's right eye.

"Hisawe Shoehey it da dest keywator in da hole wyde wolw," said Ichigo with the small iron rod in his mouth.

"Really Hisagi," said Rukia as she handed Nemu a glass of iced tea.

"Hey, I can dream," he said as he took the small rod out of Ichigo's mouth.

Going through his bag, he took out a small container, put it under the rod as the small iron ball came off the ion rod and fell into the container.

"Doctor's diagnosis: Patient seems to be doing well and I'll learn more once I get this spit sample back to the lab," he said as he tapped the container with his finger.

Rukia gave him and Ichigo a glass of iced tea as she sat down.

"Thank you," said Hisagi as he sipped the tea that was given to him.

"Thanks Rukia," said Ichigo as he gave her a quick kiss on the lips.

Rukia blushed.

"Oh, I see you two have gotten even more comfortable together," said Hisagi smiling pervertedly. "Does that mean you guys have-"

"No," said Rukia sternly.

"You know, you got a pretty nice house Kuchiki-san," said Hisagi changing the subject.

"Now that I think about it, why do you live alone?"

Rukia explained that her older brother worked overseas to Hisagi as the four of them sipped tea and ate watermelon.

"Oh so you pretty much have it given to you," said Hisagi.

"Eh?" responded Rukia.

"Well your brother must really trust you and spoil you for him to believe that you could handle living by yourself," said Hisagi cooling off by the electric fan.

"Nii-sama doesn't spoil me!" said Rukia in a defending tone.

"Well I may not know your brother, but even though he trusts you to live by yourself, he probably sends you money to support yourself and, let me guess, he probably pays all the electric and housing bills online for you."

Hisagi was right. Every. Word. He. Said. Was. Right. Byakuya paid all the bills online and he sent Rukia ¥100,000 a month, enough for her to buy groceries and clothing, should she need any.

Now that I think about it, it IS practically given to me, thought Rukia. I've never had a job, nor have I ever worked in my life.

"Although for him to trust you enough, he probably would've never expected you to order a humanoid lover," said Hisagi.

Suddenly, Nemu threw a bobby pin at such speed, that it hit Hisagi in the middle of his forehead, along with a kick on his thigh by Ichigo. Both harmful acts were meant for Hisagi to shut up, but Rukia didn't seem to notice since she was in deep thought.

"I believe my colleague and I are done for today. We shall not bother you any longer," said Nemu getting up.

"Oh you were never bothering us. Come back anytime," said Ichigo.

Hisagi got up (as he rubbed his forehead and thigh), collected his things, and walked out with Nemu. Now that the two were left alone, they continued to fan themselves to keep cool. But then Rukia started to feel something warm touch her collarbone. Looking to see what it was, she saw that it was Ichigo was starting to trail kisses on her collarbone, up to her neck.

Has it become a habit of his to kiss me out of the blue? Then again he does kiss me all the time, thought Rukia as his lips went to her right cheek. Maybe this is how a normal relationship goes, where one of the partners will start to shower their lover with kisses and why am I thinking about this?

Ichigo gently turned her around as his hand caressed her cheek and his lips met hers. He carefully laid her on her back as he kissed her tenderly.

Nii-sama does pay for everything and I know he's working hard over in the United States and what am I doing? Nothing. As Kuchikis, we need to work hard and try to excel in everything. I work my hardest at school, but then again, maybe Nii-sama does spoil me because if he was strict, then he wouldn't have accepted my crappy grades in math and science. Maybe Hisagi's right, but what can I do to solve all of this?

All this thinking, while making out with Ichigo, in the hot 5 o'clock sun was not good because combining the heat and Rukia's over thinking mind caused her to faint.

"Ru? Ru?" said Ichigo realizing that his petite girlfriend was unconscious.

Picking her up, he ran into the house, laid her down on the sofa bed, and ran to the fridge to grab an ice pack. Once he had it, he went to Rukia's side, placed the icepack on her forehead, and fanned her.

Did the heat get to her? thought Ichigo as he continued to fan her.

When her body cooled up, Ichigo took off the icepack and stopped fanning her. Even when she was unconscious, Rukia was still the cutest girl Ichigo had ever laid eyes on. Smiling, he placed a small kiss on her lips and laid next to her on the sofa bed, holding her hand. There, he fell asleep.

Now I know what I must do! thought Rukia as she left the house.

Rukia had decided that in order to repay Nii-sama, she was going to get a job. After looking over the job ads, she circled a few jobs that looked good and told Ichigo that she would be out today.

If I can work more than one job, I can collect the money and try to pay back Nii-sama!

So Rukia went around town to each job offering she circled, but sadly it wasn't that easy. She was usually given these responses:

"Sorry, we already hired someone."

"Are you sure you're sixteen? You look twelve."

"We need tall people for this job."

"We only higher girls eighteen and up."

Till finally, when she came to an ice cream parlor, the manager said that he would hire her. Serving ice cream was easy, so Rukia would work at the parlor three times a week for four hours and soon, luck was once again on her side because she found two other jobs! One was at a sports store and the other was at a bookstore. There were just two problems working three jobs. She would be working all week, except for Sundays, so she would come home exhausted and take long baths. Plus, she didn't exactly tell Ichigo that she was working. The only thing she did tell him was that she was 'doing something important to pay back Nii-sama.' Ichigo always trusted Rukia and never questioned her actions, but he was starting to get a bit suspicious. What exactly was Rukia doing that made her come home exhausted? He really wanted to spend summer vacation with just him and Rukia relaxing, sleeping together (in a non-sexual way), swimming to avoid the heat, going on dates, and if possible, start taking baths together even though he knew it was a long shot, but sadly, he would not be able to do any of those things if she kept coming home tired. Finally, Ichigo had enough and decided to follow her to wherever it was she was going to. So the next day, when Rukia left the house, Ichigo followed her and made sure he was not in her sight. Heading towards downtown, he saw her go into an ice cream parlor. As he looked through the window, he noticed that she put on an apron and a visor and went to the cash register as she talked to the customers.

So she's working here, he thought to himself. Why didn't she tell me?

He waited outside in the blazing hot sun for four hours, till Rukia's shift was over. He followed her once again, but this time to the sports store, where she put on a different apron and a nametag.

She's working two jobs? he thought.

He watched her put up new sports balls on shelves, hang up jerseys, and straighten baseball bats and tennis racquets. He was really tempted to help her reach things she couldn't reach herself since she was small, but he held back the urge. He watched her work for three hours and when her shift was done, he headed home first so she wouldn't suspect anything. The next day, Rukia went off to work once again and Ichigo stayed home in the backyard. As he sat down on one of the white lawn chairs, he thought to himself. Why didn't she tell me she was working? Does she not trust me? Does she not want me to worry? Because I'm already worrying about her! What if some guy comes up to her and starts hitting on her? What if someone tries to take advantage of her? She already comes home tired, so what if she overworks herself to death? What if she breaks a bone or something because she's so fragile ad small? Or what if-

"What's up Ichigo, my creation?"

Ichigo looked at the gate and saw that it was Hisagi, once again in American tourist clothing, waving at him.

"Hey Co-creator," said Ichigo in a sad tone.

"Wow. That's not like you to respond to your totally awesome and handsome Co-creator like that. What's the problem?" said Hisagi as he sat in the next lawn chair.

Ichigo explained that Rukia was coming home exhausted for the past few days, so he spied on her and found out that she was working.

"Why is she working when her brother already pays for everything? I know for sure, that Rukia doesn't need any extra cash because her brother sends her some as well," said Ichigo.

"That's probably my fault," said Hisagi chuckling nervously.

"What the hell did you do to Rukia?" said Ichigo quickly getting up and putting his hands around Hisagi's neck and chocking him.

"Gak! I...didn't...do...anything! Stop...chocking...me!" said Hisagi trying to get Ichigo's hands off of him.

Ichigo took his hands off his neck and Hisagi started to breathe heavily.

"Geez, a man shouldn't have to protect himself from his own creations! What happened to your admiration for me?" said Hisagi accusingly.

"What admiration?" said Ichigo annoyed.

"That is so cold!" said Hisagi on the verge of fake tears.

"Anyways, why is it your fault?" asked Ichigo.

"Well, I think it's because I said she has it given to her. If it's one thing I don't understand about women, besides why they want romance before sex, and why they cry over chick flicks, is that a lot of women want to prove people wrong. They want to show that they are capable of handling something and that's just the way it is," he said. "Other things I don't understand are-"

Ichigo didn't pay attention. He was too busy thinking to himself. Now that I think about it, during finals, she didn't come to me for help till I came to her. Then when those girls were picking on her, she didn't tell me about them. She said she could handle it herself, but I knew she couldn't.

"Anyways, all in all Ichigo," said Hisagi looking at him.

"Hm?"

"What I'm trying to say is, is that another reason she didn't tell you, is because she thinks that if she asks others for help, she'll become a burden to them and that's the last thing she wants," he said.

"But Rukia is never a burden to me!" said Ichigo defensively.

"I know, but that's just the way she thinks. Sometimes even if you say she's not, she won't accept it. That's just the way her mind works. Just try talking to her Ichigo. Because when she's with you, I know she feels safe and loved," said Hisagi getting up from the lawn chair.

"Okay," said Ichigo.

"Oh! But before I go, I need one of these" said Hisagi plucking off one of Ichigo's orange hairs.

"Ow!" said Ichigo rubbing the top of his head.

"Sorry, but I need another sample for some lab testing," responded Hisagi putting the hair into a small container.

Hisagi headed towards the gate, but before he left, he said, "Just talk to her, Ichigo my creation!"

As Hisagi closed the gate, he thought to himself, smiling, You know, the lover part of your mind, would have told you to stop her right away the moment you saw her working, but you didn't. You told me instead. Kurotsuchi would think you're malfunctioning if I tell him, but I'll keep this a secret between Nemu, Ulquiorra, and myself.

Right now may not be a good time to talk to her, so I'll just see, for a little while longer, how she's doing at work, thought Ichigo as he watched her serve ice cream at the parlor the next day.

So Ichigo spied on her, while she worked. He would watch her take change and put it in the cash register, put up new sports supplies on the shelves, and when she was working at the bookstore, he would watch her arrange the new books that came in. Occasionally, he saw her snatch a manga and read it when no one was looking. He would smile at her for being so cute. This went on for about three weeks, till one day, Ichigo was caught red-handed. While Rukia was working her shift at the bookstore, she was on a ladder, reaching the highest shelf to put the last book away, but it was so high, that she had to stand on her tiptoes. She would have almost put it in, if she didn't sneeze and loose her balance. Luckily, Ichigo, who was spying on her, ran with his super-human speed and managed to catch her just in time. He also blocked the falling ladder with one of his arms, while he held Rukia in the other.

"I-Ichigo?" said Rukia in shock.

"Uh, hi?" he said nervously smiling.

"So let me get this straight. You've been following me and spying on me for the past three weeks?" said Rukia in disbelief.

After Ichigo saved Rukia from falling, the manager came running to the area because she heard something fall. When she got there, she saw Ichigo holding off the ladder and holding Rukia. She helped take the ladder off of him and Rukia asked for a break. The manager, who was a manga otaku, giggled and told her to take all the time she needed and to shower her Prince-like lover with kisses for saving her life.

"Kinda," said Ichigo scratching the back of his head nervously.

"Can you tell me why?" she said infuriated.

Ichigo looked at her and said, "Why didn't you tell me that you were working?"

Rukia looked back at him and sighed.

"Because I knew you'd be against it," she said.

"Of course! Rukia, you don't need to work," he said.

"Yes I do!"

"Why?"

"Because if I earn enough money, I'll be able to pay back Nii-sama for all he's done for me!"

Ichigo sighed and said, " Rukia. You don't have to work to pay back your brother."

"Yes I do! I want to show him that I'm not a spoiled brat and that I'm able to support myself," she said.

"Ru, if he thought you were spoiled and you needed to learn how to support yourself, he would have left you with no money and would have made you look for a job to support yourself," said Ichigo.

"Even if that is the case, I still want to show him that I'm capable of earning money for myself!"

"How long were you planning on working to prove your point?" he asked.

"Just for a month, that way next month I would be able to finish my summer homework before school started," she said.

"Summer homework?" he asked.

"Yes. Those sheets of papers you finished on the first week of summer break!" she said completely annoyed.

"Oh yeah!" said Ichigo as he remembered.

After school was out for the summer, the students received summer homework. Ichigo didn't know it was summer homework, he just thought it was some kind of test or extra credit the teachers wanted him to fill out, so with the microchip in his brain, he completed it in less than a week. Damn Microchip.

"Anyways, I'm only gonna work two more weeks and then I'll quit my jobs!" said Rukia.

"Why don't you quit now?" asked Ichigo.

"Because I told myself I wouldn't quit till I did one full month of work," she responded.

"Come on Rukia! I'm sure you've worked hard enough and you have enough money by now!"

"No I don't! And why are you so eager for me to quit?"

"Because."

"Because why?"

"Just because."

"Because you're jealous?"

"Possibly."

"You are."

"So what if I am? Ru, think about it! What if some guy tries to hit on you?"

"That's highly unlikely."

"Well it's possible!"

They continued to argue, until Rukia came up with a very...regretful solution.

"Tell you what. How's about we make a deal?" she said.

"I'm listening," he responded.

"I'll continue my jobs for the next two weeks, but you can...supervise me in plain sight." Even though it is creepy, she mentally added.

"Deal," he said putting out his hand.

She shook it, but then Ichigo pulled her forward and gave her a quick kiss on the lips.

"Hey!" she said caught off guard and covering her mouth.

"Sorry, but one, that's to show you what might happen if you shake a weirdo's hand, and two, you're so cute when you're determined that I just couldn't help it," he said as he pulled her into a close embrace. Rukia blushed.

So, for the next two weeks, Rukia continued her jobs at the ice cream parlor, the sports store, and the bookstore. It was pretty weird seeing Ichigo stay in the shops till she finished her shifts and to make things even weirder, he would stare at her while she worked.

I regret my decision. If he continues to do this, the managers are gonna think he's some kind of perverted stalker and call the police, she thought to herself.

Rukia didn't have to worry about her manager at the bookstore though. Every time she saw Ichigo and Rukia together, she started comparing their lives to a shojo manga in her mind. Another thing Rukia also hated, was that she saw girls flirting with Ichigo. She would watch them talk with him, ask him what flavor was the best, what his favorite sport was, or if he wanted to get a coffee with them. Ichigo, being kind and oblivious, would talk and laugh with them, that it took a lot more than necessary Kuchiki willpower, to not go over there and pour chocolate syrup on their heads or kick a soccer ball at their faces.

He was all worried about guys flirting with me, but all these airheads are flirting with him! Even if he is kind and collecting data, this is just pissing me off!

But she would forgive Ichigo, when he would tell the girls that he was waiting for his girlfriend to finish her shift. Finally, after the two weeks were up, Rukia quit her jobs. Her bosses were sad that they were losing a hard-working employee, but they understood that soon, she would be going back to school and that she would want to have fun for the last of her summer vacation, instead of working. After her last day of work, that night, she took a cool bath to relax. When she finished, she dried her hair with a towel, changed into her pajamas, and noticed that the house was empty.

"Ichigo?" she called.

No response.

"Ichigo?" she repeated as she searched the house.

She then went searching outside, in her bare feet, and repeated once again, "Ichigo?"

"Up here Rukia!"

Rukia looked up with wide eyes. Ichigo was at the top of the roof, waving at her.

"Ichigo! What are you doing up there?" said Rukia.

"Come up here and find out!" he said smiling.

"Ichigo. Come down now," said Rukia sternly.

"Aw, but if I come down, then you won't be able to see the surprise I have for you," he said pouting.

"What surprise?"

"Come up and see!"

Rukia climbed up the ladder to see what Ichigo was talking about. When she got up there, she saw that Ichigo had laid a couple of blankets on the top of the roof. He also had a bowl of chocolate covered strawberries by him.

"Surprise!" he said grinning.

"Ichigo what is all of this?" she said as she got on top of the roof.

"Well, I wanted just the two of us to spend the summer together relaxing. So I set this up for us!" he responded happily.

Rukia sat down on the blankets with him. Both her and Ichigo shared the chocolate covered strawberries as they laid on their backs and watched the stars.

This is a bit much, but it's very sweet of him, thought Rukia. Ichigo always does nice things for me and he never asks for anything in return.

"Rukia, you don't have to repay me," said Ichigo.

Rukia jumped.

"Is reading my thoughts one of your specialties?" she said annoyed.

"No, but every time you're worried or thinking too hard, your cute little face shows it," he said smiling.

Rukia frowned.

"Ru, you don't need to do anything for me. As long as I can see your smiling face, I'm happy," he said grinning.

Rukia blushed, but then she said, "Ichigo...come here for a sec."

Ichigo scotched closer to her and said, "Is something wrong?"

"No, just...close your eyes."

Ichigo obeyed and Rukia inched her face closer to his. Blushing even more than necessary, she caressed his cheek, and brought his lips to hers. Rukia kissed him and started to caress both of his cheeks. She could faintly taste the strawberries and chocolate they were eating earlier and as she kissed him, he kissed her back. Ichigo moved his hands to her waist as he brought her close to him in a warm embrace. She ran her fingers through his orange hair and than he started to stroke her back, tenderly. The more they kissed, the more breathtaking it became. Rukia once recalled that when she and Orihime had lunch with the girls, Chizuru, when she wasn't trying to feel up Orihime, said that supposedly during perfect kisses, you feel sparks or fireworks. The Tanabata festival must have come early, because Rukia felt as if fireworks were continuously exploding inside her head! Soon, they broke apart and both their foreheads touched each other. Rukia looked at Ichigo. He was smiling as if he was the happiest person in the universe.

"Well that's a first," he said as he gave her a chaste kiss on the lips. "You kissed me!"

Rukia blushed.

"Well...you know..."

Ichigo placed his lips on Rukia's once more.

"I love you Rukia," he said smiling as he held her close.

Rukia blushed once again. That night, the two lovers must have counted at least a hundred stars before they both fell asleep in each others arms on the rooftop.

Sorry for the long wait! This was a very fluffy chapter. I want to thank Black Sun Upon An Icy Sky for the roof idea! Check out her works because they are awesome! Anyways, enjoy and review this chapter!