The Dragon's Queen

by Jo Terry

A/N: I do not own Bleach and its characters.

Chapter 10

It should be no surprise to Ishida that Kuchiki Rukia practises kyudo with natural poise. She is a trained noble heiress who executes elegance in every task she undertakes and it matters not whether she's an expert or an amateur at it. Everything is a form of art to her and she performs them with absolute finesse.

She is currently standing in front of him in her ready position, placing the arrow against the bowstring. He watches from behind her as she turns her head to face the target which is 28 metres away from them. She raises the bamboo bow above her head, her back straight and her feet rooted to the floor in a 'V' shape to balance her entire body weight. As she spreads her arms, drawing the string with her right arm and pushing the bow with her left, she brings the bamboo down to her cheekbone. Once she reaches a full draw, her right hand releases the bowstring, sending the arrow spinning towards the target and piercing it with a thump. Rukia then lowers both her hands to rest on her hips, turns her body to fully face the matoba where the targets are lined up and slides her feet a few steps back before she sits down in a seiza.

It is now Ishida's turn and he does it exactly the way he used to do with his Quincy bow and Heilig Pfeil. When the shaft hits the target, he emulates Rukia's closing gesture and sits down beside her.

"Not bad," she comments.

Ishida scoffs, "I should be saying that about you. It's your first time."

"I had a great coach."

"Yeah, I can't believe you asked to do this, of all things," he says as both of them get up from the floor. They have had a few rounds in the past one hour after Rukia made him teach her 'the way of the bow'.

"I've always wanted to try kyujutsu. Never had the time to do it back at home because I have strict training hours when I'm not doing paperwork. Priorities, you know?"

"So what do you want to do next? Something you don't usually fit in your 'priorities'. We still have a whole day," he asks as they arrive outside the changing rooms. Ishida is a sucker for traditional costumes and Rukia looks really good in her attire. Like a professional martial artist, even though today was her first time practising the Japanese archery. She's a fast learner and quickly looks the part of an experienced archer.

Rukia shrugs, her posture remains straight as she holds her quiver in a gloved hand and her bow in the other. The human world cannot take the discipline out of a warrior when they are dressed like one. "Did you reach munen muso?"

"Yes. I managed to empty my mind," he smirks. "That was really thoughtful of you."

"Is there anything else you want to do that will help elevate your mental state?"

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

Rukia doesn't say anything for a while and just stands there looking back at him. Deciding, he thinks, if he is telling the truth.

"I'm serious," he affirms her when the silence begins to make him uncomfortable. Eye-contact isn't something he is accustomed to. "Death is a reality that I cannot avoid every day of my life as a doctor. I've only started practising and I have many more years to go. Got to get used to it."

The death god appears to be considering his reply before she suggests, "Well then, let's get changed before we go grab a bite somewhere. I'm buying."

Ishida nods with a smirk as they go into the respective changing rooms. He is pleased she lets his mental state issue go. She's done enough for him and he appreciates it, including getting food to replenish the energy drained from acquiring his zen.

When Rukia proposed this morning that he taught her kyudo, he didn't think much of it until he went through the steps himself and felt the calmness after emptying his mind. It was only then that he knew she was doing it more for him than herself. She probably wanted to be subtle in case she stepped on the Quincy pride he used to boast about. She is a shinigami, after all, and probably understands all too well how a Quincy wouldn't take advice from one.

Ishida muses that she doesn't realise, how after the war, he has kept that pride to himself. Being associated to a tyrannical king who wanted to rule over all three worlds for his own selfish reasons isn't something to be proud of. And Ishida is glad he is the last of the Quincy race. That means he holds their fate in his own hands - he is determined to be the last of them because the human side of him cannot bear to be responsible for another Quincy scheming to take over the world again.

Rukia knows what it's like to lose someone. Shiba Kaien's death alone was devastating enough. He was her mentor and the only person who truly put in the effort to make her feel at home when she first started as a shinigami. It wasn't easy because everyone else thought it was unfair that she, some loose soul from the worst part of Rukongai, could be adopted into one of the noble houses. Furthermore, she didn't have to finish all her years in the academy before she became a shinigami. But Kaien was always so supportive of her.

Losing her former captain, Ukitake Juushiro was just as bad. He was also another person who was kind to her. His encouragement was what convinced her to replace Kaien as a fukutaichou. And when Kyouraku-soutaichou appointed her to replace Ukitake-taichou, she knew she had to take up the role because he would've wanted that of her as well. But until this day, she still carries the grief deep within her.

It is worse for Ishida. His job as a doctor is to cure. Watching his patients die would make him feel hopeless. Although, he'll probably learn someday to accept the fact that he can't save all the lives presented to him. Until that day comes, it will always be a stab in the chest for him every time a patient dies.

While she was out patrolling last night, she thought about what she could do for him to help him get through the death of Yakimura-san. She knows she can't make him forget his sorrow. But maybe she could think of a way for him to initiate the process of healing for his mental state on his own.

That's when the practice of martial arts came to her mind. All martial arts have a way of reaching the state of zen through meditation. Through this method, he will be able to find peace with himself. She remembered the Quincy being an archer so he must have mastered kyujutsu as a child.

She also knew she couldn't just tell him to go for a kyudo session to help overcome his grief, though. He would probably dismiss the idea and say he was fine when he really wasn't. So she devised a plan to get him to teach her instead. He can't say 'no' to that, right?

And he didn't. She is gratified to see how different he is from last night as she sits across from him at this breakfast cafe where they are having their brunch.

Ishida's phone rings just as he is about to scoop his rice and a barely-there scowl forms in his face. Rukia snickers at that. In the past two months she's been living with him, he has never been thrilled about receiving phone calls.

"Ishida Uryuu speaking," he says when he picks up. He bears no expression as he listens to the person on the other end of the line talk. "Yes, I'm on leave… Basketball? No, I can't."

Rukia waves silently at him and when she gets his attention, she mouths to him that it's okay for him to go.

He raises a brow as he looks up at her, still listening to the caller before he replies. "I'm busy the whole day."

Again, Rukia tells him 'it's okay', tapping the back of his free hand with her fingers.

Ishida sighs audibly into the phone. "All right. 5.00 pm it is." And hangs up, glaring softly at her.

She tilts her head with a victorious grin. "Go have fun. When was the last time you played with your colleagues?"

"Last week before I picked you up from work."

"Oh…" she says as her smile turns sheepish. "But no harm playing again since you're on leave."

Ishida nods, picking up his chopsticks to resume eating. "No harm at all. You're coming with me later."

"What?" she almost shrieks. "I don't know how to play!"

"Then, you'll learn another sport today."

"Any progress?"

"No. She refuses to talk about it."

"Are you even trying at all?"

"What do you think, Tatsuki? Kazui asks about her every day. I can't keep telling him his mother is busy with work. Last night, he asked me something that made me want to hurl something against the wall. So I tried to talk to her when she got back but she kept saying she was tired," Ichigo replies between clenched teeth, the hand not holding his phone in a tight fist as he remembers Kazui's question: "Is work more important than me to okaa-san Of course, he told his son 'no'. Because no one should be more important than Kurosaki Kazui.

"I'm sorry, Ichigo, I didn't mean to sound so accusative," Tatsuki sighs apologetically. "I did call her yesterday, though. And she told me she was in the middle of frosting or something like that. But she sounded like she had just woken up. Maybe you should go and check on her at the apartment."

Ichigo nods, even though Tatsuki can't see him. "All right. But I can't go today. Yuzu is away at a camp this entire week. I have to fetch Kazui soon and I don't want to take him to the apartment." He never wants his son to step foot in that apartment where his mother always has her episodes. He doesn't want Kazui to see his mother like that.

"I understand. Look, let me try to reschedule my sessions later. Maybe I'll be able to watch him for you," Tatsuki offers.

The doctor doesn't say anything. He wonders if he's the right person to go and look for her. There's a small part of him that thinks he might make things worse.

"Ichigo?"

"Yeah…"

"You know you have to do this, right? I can't go and check on her for you. She needs to know you care… as her husband."

"I know, I know. I just…" Ichigo inhales deeply. "I don't know how to do this. It's not something I'd normally do. I was so relieved that the treatment was working at the beginning because I knew I wouldn't be good at this."

"You're doing fine and you're doing it for Kazui. He needs his mother. Maybe you can think of her as another patient?"

Ichigo pinches the bridge of his nose, feeling a migraine coming. "No. No, I shouldn't. I should be doing what's right for her because of who she is to me. Not some stranger."

It is Tatsuki's turn to be silent. She must be trying to absorb what he just said. "It's nice to hear you say that, Ichigo," she finally says. "I'm glad you're putting in a lot of effort; despite, you know…"

"Whatever it is, she is family, whether I love her like that or not," he confesses, surprising himself that he does.

"Ichigo…" And probably her, too.

"I'm sorry, Tatsuki. What do you expect me to say? You know it's never going to happen. I've lived with her for five years. We have a son together but it's still nothing because I can't… I don't think I can or ever will feel anything for anyone ever again." He has been very careful about this since Orihime's diagnosis. He would've preferred to be honest with her but he can't risk triggering her meltdown. Kazui needs his mother. So he avoids the issue like the plague. And to her credit, Orihime never brought it up. In fact, no one ever did. Everyone knows not to speak of the huge white elephant in the household.

"I wasn't expecting you to say anything. Just… thank you for wanting to care for her despite it all."

Ichigo thinks it's curious that Tatsuki should have to thank him for caring for his own wife. But sometimes he is guilty for feeling like he's doing Tatsuki a favour when it should be his own obligation as a husband to care for Orihime. You know how people say it's not called babysitting if it's your own child? What do you call caring for your own wife whom you were forced to marry? He does not think there's a term for it. Because caring for your own wife is the whole deal of marrying her. And that's what he has resigned himself to accept.

Especially now that even she has moved on.

"So all this name-calling…"

"What…" Ishida drawls. He is in the changing room with the doctors he played basketball with earlier on. They are all just waiting for their turns to get in the shower. Rukia is in the ladies', or probably already done since she was the only girl playing with them.

"C'mon, Ishida. In all of the years I've known you since we were coursemates in medical school, you have never been close with or interested in anyone. All of a sudden, this Kuchiki chick turns up and you're calling each other names, but you're saying there's nothing going on?" Dr Tanaka says with a smirk.

Ishida drags the sports towel over his sweaty face and grunts irritably. Everyone's been asking him about Rukia since she stepped onto the court. He is getting so annoyed. Some people believed him when he said they are just friends and they left him alone after that. But there are some insistent ones like Tanaka-sensei who just doesn't know when to quit. "That's what I'm telling you."

"Then, I call bullshit."

"Call it what you want. She's a high school friend of mine who has been away for many years. She came back two months ago and rents a room from me. That's all," he repeats the same thing he's been saying for the past two hours. Heck, no one even cared who won the game. They were more interested about his relationship with Rukia.

"Yes, you've said that. But the connection… we've been roommates before but you were never that comfortable around me if you claim she's just a friend like I am to you."

Ishida puts his glasses back on and glares at his colleague. "That's because you're an arsehole. And I never said you were my friend. What is your problem, anyway?"

Tanaka gives him a lopsided smile. "That hurt. A bit. Because you are my friend. And I'm just wondering if it would break the bro code if I asked her out."

A shower stall opens and Ishida gets up from the bench. "You can try. But I don't think she'll be interested."

The other man scoffs. "I will try. One more question, though…"

Ishida pauses in his strides to the shower stalls to hear him out.

"Why 'shinigami'?"

The Quincy shrugs. "She's an agent of death."

And Tanaka thinks he is being hilarious.

"Your colleague asked me out."

Ishida hums, his eyes focused on the road ahead of him. They are on the way back to the apartment after picking up dinner from the usual place.

"Is that how this dating thing works in the world of the living?" Rukia asks.

"What do you mean?"

"You just ask someone to go out on a date with you after meeting the first time?"

"Kind of a Western influence but yes, that's how it is."

"Don't you need to get to know the person first before you decide if you're interested to date them?"

"Well, in this case, dating is getting to know the person. You go out with them, spend time with them to know them better," he explains.

"Weird. I always thought dating should start after you've come to know the person well enough as a friend."

"That's the conventional way, I suppose."

"Huh… No wonder people think we're dating."

He snorts. Tell me about it… "So are you going out with Tanaka?"

"Nope," Rukia replies within a heartbeat.

Ishida chuckles. "Did he ask you why?"

"Yes."

"What did you say?"

"I didn't answer," she begins and he doesn't hear the full-stop so he waits. "But he asks if we were dating."

Ishida grunts irritably. "What did you tell him?"

"Nothing. I smiled and walked away."

"Rukia…" A warning tone in his voice.

She snickers. "I'm glad I don't have to deal with him anymore."

"But I do!"

"I know, right? Sucks to be you."

"You are going to be the death of me," he grumbles as he parks his car in the designated parking space for their apartment.

Rukia nods. "That's why you call me 'Shinigami', Dragon."

He arrives at the apartment to find the front door ajar. That's weird, he thinks. Why would she leave the door open? As he pushes through, the old hinges whine in protest and Ichigo makes a mental note to put in some repair works to the apartment to show a little support for her side business.

Shutting the door gently, he hears her voice from within the bedroom and his brows come together in a tight knit. Who is she talking to? Instead of heading there, though, he takes a peek at the kitchen and sees that there isn't anything baking in her gas oven. The counter is also empty and it shows that there hasn't been any activity there. At least, not today.

Ichigo approaches the bedroom door with caution, wincing at the memory of what happened the last time he came here. He has never stepped foot in this apartment since then. This was where his whole life took a different turn. Not exactly the time to think regrettable thoughts now, he tells himself as he wrap a hand around the door knob.

"That's not fair. Stop blaming me for everything. You don't know what it's like to be alone," she says, sitting at the edge of the bed with her back facing the door. Her face is turned towards the headboard.

The young doctor clears his throat before asking, "Who are you talking to?"

Orihime gasps as she stumbles out of the bed.

He remains standing at the open doorway, surveying the entire room. When his eyes fall upon the bathroom, he sees shards of glass littering the floor. A frown forms on his face. "Did something happen here?"

It takes her a while to answer, but when she does, she stutters like she used to years ago when she was always nervous around him. "W-what are you d-doing here, Kurosaki-kun?"

Ichigo's brows narrow further. She has not called him that since the day they got married. He remembers himself shrugging in acquiescence when she asked for his permission to address him by his first name. "I came to…" he pauses. He can't possibly tell her he's here to check on her, right? "I came to take you home."

"Home?" she asks, quizzically. "Your home?"

He realises then that she is probably not herself right now and he needs to figure out a way to bring her back. "Our home,... Orihime."

Tears well up in her eyes as she covers her quivering mouth with her hands, trying to control the sobs coming out of her.

Ichigo heaves a long sigh before he decides to tread slowly towards her, his hands fisted at his side. When he stops in front of her, he carefully draws her into his arms and let her continue to cry. Foreign as it may be, he knows he needs to perform the gesture to earn her trust. He hopes the physical contact will be able to snap her out of whatever she was doing earlier on.

In the meantime, he looks around the room again. Everything is still where they are it seems. If they aren't, he can't tell because he didn't notice much aside from the bed and the floor the last time he was here. But he does recognise the blouse and the skirt she wore this morning when she left the house. They are draped over the chair at the study table.

"Are you ready to go?" he asks, gently pulling apart from her.

She nods and inhales deeply, calming herself down. It looks like she has returned to the present. "But I need to change."

Ichigo hums and walks back to the door, casting one more look at the bathroom and its mess. "I'll be waiting outside."

"Thanks, Ichigo."

He shuts the bedroom door and pulls out his phone as he wanders into the kitchen. After a few taps on the screen, he puts the phone to his ear and listens until the person he is calling picks up.

"Moshi moshi."

"Hajime-sensei…"

I'm sorry for the delayed update. I was not well for an entire week. Thanks for the reviews! Hope you like this chapter, too. I'll try to post a few chapters in the next few days to make up for my weeklong absence.

Oh, and dear Guest, I know who you are. You used to invade my IchiRuki fics and reviewed them, pretending to be an offended IchiRuki shipper even then, for whatever reasons beyond my understanding. It's quite obvious you're definitely neither a fan of Rukia nor shipping Ichigo with her. Your reviews always show you're butthurt for Inoue. I'm sorry I can't have your comments that represent your misconception of my fic on the review page. It is far from its completion and already you're judging it for what it isn't. I have received some messages from readers of my previous fics who asked me if what you said in your comments are what I have planned to happen in this story, which is far from what I have in mind. They won't even read it, thinking I'm going to trash IchiRuki. If this isn't your kind of fic to read, you don't have to read it. I don't go around reading IchiHime fics and dropping unpleasant reviews on their page. I think there needs to be a certain amount of respect here. You can ship whoever you want with whomever and so can I and the rest of Bleach fandom. If you want more fans for IchiHime, then go ahead and write more fics or draw more fanarts for them so you can recruit more fans. You don't have to put non-IchiHime ships down to get on top. Anyway, normally I wouldn't delete reviews because they are opinions of my readers that I treasure, whether they are good or bad. But I have to remove yours because of all the PMs I'm getting about it. I hope you understand. Unfortunately, I will also have to delete any of the reviews you will post after this as well.