Rukia Kurosaki

Chapter 9

-Rukia-

I yawned and stretched as sleep slowly left my body. Much to my dismay, I can still fit perfectly in the cramped space the small and oh-so familiar closet offered despite already extending my arms and body to their fullest. Sigh. I probably haven't grown as much as I thought.

Annoyed at my own realization, I quickly sat up and slowly slid one of the closet doors slightly. The sight that greeted me as I peeked through the small crack made me smile. There lay the very same person my heart belonged to, only younger. My husband, or in this case, soon to be husband snored softly on his teenage bed.

But as tempting as it was to torture him in his sleep, I decided it was better for him not to see me in this form since it would lead to a lot of questions. So as quietly as I could (contrary to popular belief, Ichigo is actually a very light sleeper), I slid out of the closet and tiptoed towards the window. It wouldn't be a very good idea for the Kurosaki family to see me either.

It's weird though. Somehow, my body felt a lot lighter as I moved though I couldn't really explain why. Maybe it's the gigai? Or a side effect? I'm sure though that all my training have at least made me weigh as a normal person would. Not that that's important at the moment.

As I reached the window, I paused and turned back to the sleeping substitute. His scowl was lost on his face making him look so peaceful and I just couldn't resist. Just one peck. I smiled then jumped down and landed on the ground. But not before checking if anyone could've seen me.

I wasn't really in any hurry so I took my time strolling down the streets to Urahara's. It was way too early for anyone to have woken up anyway. Besides, walks like these were rare with all my Captain, Motherly, and ehemm.. Wife duties.

I continued walking when suddenly, the air around me shifted and the atmosphere changed. Years of experience alerted me of what was coming. I took my soul candy from the pocket of my… skirt? Huh. I swore I wore pants. Dismissing my stupidity for not noticing my change of clothes, I popped the candy in my mouth and felt my body separate from my gigai.

My eyes widened at what I saw. It was my face, staring back at me. And while that would have been a normal occurrence considering it was a gigai, the fact that it was my face eight years ago was what surprised me. I mean, I knew about the whole time travel thing. Duh. It was my idea. And I knew I was going back exactly eight years ago. I also knew I was dragging my body to a freaking different time space. What I didn't know, however, was that it had… side effects? Damn Urahara.

Okay, it's not that I mind looking younger, but this could mean other things like—

My thoughts were cut off as I felt many strong spiritual pressure suddenly surround me. And when I looked up, I saw five Menos Grande make their way to me. Though they were slow, their ceros could inflict a lot of damage on Karakura so I have to make this quick. I reached for Sode no Shirayuki and, without a second wasted, yelled,

"Bankai!"

…

…

…

Huh? Nothing happened?

"Bankai!"

"Bankai!"

"I said Bankai dammit!"

Shit. This is exactly one of the "other things" I was referring to. If my body/soul reverted back to its state eight years ago, then I could only expect my spiritual pressure to be the same. With my current abilities, I can't finish all of them off. Well, at least not easily.

But if there's one thing I learned ever since meeting Ichigo, it would be to never give up.

"Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!" I shunpoed to the nearest Menos and prepared to deliver its fate. I swung my sword, "Some no mai, Tsukishiro!"

I watched as the pillar of ice encased the oversized hollow and shattered it to pieces. One down, four to go. I shifted my attention to the second Menos but as I turned my head, only the bright light of a cero entered my vision.

I stood there frozen as I waited for the impact…

… but it never came.

Before the cero reached me, a very strong and familiar force not only repelled it but went through until it hit the Menos who attacked, slicing off its mask.

"Getsuga Tenshou!" and with one swing of his blade, all three remaining Menos vanished from my sight.

Releasing a small sigh of relief, I turned to my orange-haired savior and smirked. "What took you so long?" I expected a smart-ass reply but I was instead greeted with a scowl. "What the hell were you doing, going out here and fighting them alone? You were almost hurt, you idiot! "

I rolled my eyes. He really didn't change that much.

While an upset older Ichigo was very easy to appease with a few kisses here and there, I can't just do it to this poor virginal substitute. Plus, this teenage version is as moody as I remember. Well, since I already looked the part (which I will talk to Urahara about later), I might as well act it.

"Nghh.." Ichigo groaned as I delivered a kick right on his shin. "That's for calling me an idiot, idiot!" I returned to my gigai and headed to the direction of the Kurosaki Clinic. Urahara can wait. Going there now will only cause suspicion so might as well get some more rest.

"Sigh. Rukia." I turned to look at the still scowling teen. He was crouched down with his hands extended backwards. "Get on." I hid my amusement at the nostalgic action but did as I was told without a word. Well, I'm not gonna say no to a free ride.

It was a quick trip, with shunpo and all. We arrived just in time to hear Yuzu knocking on his door to wake him up. I wondered why Kurosaki-san was not kicking Ichigo's ass awake this morning, but I'm not complaining.

As Ichigo headed to the bathroom to get ready, I sat on his bed and contemplated if I should attend school as well. I still have three days until it happens and it's not like I had much to do before that. Also, it's been years since I last went to school.

I just made up my mind when an idea suddenly popped into my head. Standing up and turning my back to the door, I lifted up my blouse and took it off just as Ichigo returned to the room.

"R-rukia!" He sputtered. "Wh-what the hell are you doing?"

I fake yelped as I turned around, crossing my arms in an attempt to cover my upper half. "I'm obviously changing, idiot! Learn how to knock!"

Ichigo was beet red. "This is my room! I shouldn't have to—" he gulped as his eyes travelled downwards. Holding his bleeding nose, Ichigo bolted out of the room muttering excuses.

I smirked. Oh this is gonna be fun.

-End-

A/N: I'm back. xD