AN: Hey guys, its 2:43 AM – time to fork out my greatest works fanfiction has ever seen. Lol, right. Thanks for all the reviews, really appreciate the feedback.

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach


Return to no Home: Courting Memories (Part IV)


Rukia was there, obviously.

That usually wouldn't have mattered, but the fact that she was at his house, at night, in his room, did matter. And how she cute she looked in her pyjamas didn't help matters at all.

She has a boyfriend!

Taking another deep breath, Ichigo took one step into his room. It had acquired a different smell, no, scent, he noticed. Girl-like. He wasn't sure if he liked it, but the smell did remind him of Rukia so he let it slide.

Rukia looked up slightly as he stood in the doorway. She was sitting cross-legged on his bed, even though Ichigo had very kindly put out a mattress for her. Even though his bed was a double bed, there was no way in the world that they were sleeping in the same bed. He had almost had a heart attack when Rukia suggested that she do what they had done some Saturday nights back when they were six. Six, for crying out loud. That memory had come back to him once he had gotten the initial shock of the idea of Rukia sleeping over. Stupid girl. Even though, once he had recovered the memory, all he had thought of was fun, though he was struggling to keep out his normal teenage thoughts out of the equation.

But, he mused in his mind, she must really be lonely. He felt a twinge of pain mixed with guilt as he remembered that he was the one that left her, all those years ago. His fault. There was no way that was going to happen again.

Lost in his thoughts, he had been leaning against the doorframe, seemingly staring at her. Rukia had opened her mouth to say something, but couldn't, and started to blush. Ichigo was looking at her in a way she had never thought possible. Not that she minded, it was just that he wasn't trying to hide it one bit.

Finally, she got out his name.

"Ichigo," she said, with some difficulty. His gaze had impaired her speech.

Her voice snapped him out of his memories, and he shook his head. "Huh?"

Still feeling the after effects of her blush, she looked away. "Are you sure its ok…" she trailed off, leaving him to figure out the rest of her words, a trait common to most females, Ichigo noted.

"Yes. It's ok," he said, for the third time. He couldn't understand her, really. She had suggested the idea, would have killed him if he had said no, and then spent the rest of the time asking him if it was all right. It wasn't all right, really, because he was a teenager, she was a teenager, and more importantly they were teenagers of the opposite sex – it just wasn't proper for them to be sleeping in the same room. Even if they did do it when they were six, seven, and eight.

But, even though all laws of society were against this, Ichigo threw them all away, and had accepted that she stay in his house for the night. In his room, to be more precise. After all, he thought to himself, her brother is gone, and his family was gone – there was nothing wrong with the two of them catching up on old times. Even though, being with her, he hadn't been thinking about the 'old times' too much, he had been more pre-occupied with the present. Especially since she had grown to become so attractive. That was a big factor.

He sat down on the side of his double bed, looking down at Rukia, who hadn't moved from the middle of his bed. If he was a girl, they would probably be giggling right now, talking about the latest gossip, what clothes to wear, what guys they had met – except he wasn't.

That was why a big silence hung in the air.

"I didn't think you would remember," Rukia said softly, not trusting herself to look at Ichigo. She had decided that she was happy that Ichigo was looking at her like that, but she wasn't really sure if he meant it. Whether he did mean it or not, that would be a different story. And if he did mean it, she didn't know whether she would be happy about that – she did have a boyfriend – though recently she needed to consciously remind herself of that fact. Somehow, being with Ichigo had made her forget Renji. Oh, not totally forget Renji, as in, totally removed from her mind, just forgetting Renji like her brain had decided to put all thoughts and feelings for Renji in a special little corner for her to come back and take. She didn't know whether that was a good or bad thing.

"Hn," was his reply. "Of course I remembered," he said, telling a half-truth. "My mum suggested the damn idea to me."

"Oh?" she said teasingly. "And all these years I thought it was all you."

"Sorry to break your heart, then." He was referring to her finding out that the idea of a sleepover was not originally his, but his mother's. But, as soon as the words were out, he knew he had said the wrong thing. She obviously had some pretty deep wounds, because she just looked away, and mumbled a small 'Yeah'.

Damn, he thought in his mind.

A tender silence filled the air, and Ichigo was annoyed at the tension he had just created.

"Sorry," he muttered, not actually knowing what he was sorry about, just knowing that he wanted her to act normal again. Then again, who could act normal with a girl about his age in his room without any parental supervision this late at night?

More awkward silence.

Ichigo racked his brains. Or, more accurately, racked his memories. Something clicked, and he knew something they could do, though he didn't know if it would be safe.

"Hey," he said, trying to sound neutral.

She looked at him, some hurt evident in her eyes. Ichigo cursed silently, but he continued.

"That movie we always used to watch…I still have it."

He hid a grin as he saw her face light up. "Really?"

Ichigo really needed to exercise greater control of his facial expressions, as he couldn't help but give a small smile when she started blubbering on about how she hadn't seen the movie in ages, her favourite scenes, and why etc.

They headed downstairs to watch the movie. Ichigo, had actually, by pure chance had stumbled across it earlier in the week, and had taken note of its position in the house. If he hadn't, they would probably have had a hard time finding it.

He let her sit down on the couch first, while he made the excuse to quickly make some popcorn.

Just like before, Rukia thought, as she sat on the couch, except that his mum would be making it for us. Rukia had loved those sleepovers. Her brother made sure she was in bed at a certain time every night, so when her sleepover-with-Ichigo night came around, she was happy that she got to stay up way past her bedtime. And, she loved popcorn.

Just thinking about Ichigo's mother bought pain. For those four years where she had been with Ichigo, Rukia had begun to look at Mrs. Kurosaki as a mother – or at least, a motherly figure. Her lips tilted upwards a tiny bit, as she reminisced over the good times they had had together. And Ichigo. Always being such a mummy's boy.

Her ears pricked up slightly at the resounding ping of the microwave, and looked up expectantly. Sure enough, a few seconds later, Ichigo came in with a large bowl of popcorn. He placed it on the coffee table, and joined her on the couch. Rukia couldn't help but feel disappointed when he left a notably large space between them. It was like he was afraid of her, or something. She shrugged. She would fix that later.

Halfway through the movie, the popcorn finished, she quietly announced that she would be going to the bathroom. Ichigo paused the movie obediently and waited for her to return.

When he heard the click of the bathroom door, he let out a long breath. Throughout the whole movie he had been tense. With the lights out in the house, he had to literally restrain himself from moving closer and closer to Rukia. That was why, initially, he had made a point to sit the furthest he could away from her – the temptation was too great. Ichigo just thought that this was just due to his hormones, though his heart told him differently. What didn't cross his mind was that if it was any other girl he would not have done the same. Actually, he probably wouldn't have cared less. But with Rukia, it was like…

He heard her pad softly down the stairs, and he immediately tensed up again, inching away from her previous spot. He found himself on the edge of the couch, leaning on the armrest. While he leaned forward to get the remote, Rukia sat down.

There was nothing wrong with that. What was wrong, however, was that she sat down extremely close to him. When he froze, she looked at him questioningly. He realised what an idiot he would have looked like, having an open mouth while outstretching the remote, but not pressing any buttons.

He quickly pressed the play button, but didn't actually watch the movie. He was too busy thinking of what he was about to do when Rukia turned to look at him. She was so damn close, he thought, when she looked at him. He had to grip onto the armrest tightly to stop himself from leaning in just that little bit more to kiss her. He didn't know why, it was just that her shadowed lips looked tantalisingly desirable close up. It was her fault for sitting so damn close.

Even though he liked it. Taking in deep breaths – but not so deep that Rukia would notice – he slowly calmed himself down. Awkwardly, he placed his hand on the backrest, as the outside of his broad shoulders seemed to be getting in the way of his closeness with Rukia. Rukia didn't seem to notice. Anyway, he told himself, it wasn't like he was putting his arm around her, he was just putting his arm on the back of the couch, which also happened to be behind her. That was it. She seemed intent on watching the movie anyway.

However, when she silently moved her head onto his shoulder, he nearly broke his resolve. His mind was going crazy, he inhaled deeply to try and calm himself down, but all he got was a nice whiff of Rukia's scented shampoo. Great. So much for calming down. He was glad the room was dark, because he was blushing. God, all he wanted to do now was just put his arms around her and kiss her deeply. She, on the other hand, was watching a movie.

She must have noticed his unease by now, because took her head off his shoulder and asked uncertainly, "Ichigo?"

"Hm?" he replied nonchalantly, trying to mask his lack of composure.

"What's wrong?" she asked, softer than usual.

"Nothing. Watch the movie," he said, now wishing that she would just put her head back on his shoulder.

Lucky for him, she did just that. He had mixed emotions when the movie came to an end. Throughout the movie his hand had finally found its way from the top of the backrest to Rukia's nicely rounded shoulders.

The credits rolled their way through the screen, but neither of them made any movements. This was probably the closest they had been all day, Rukia thought, somewhat happily. When the screen finally turned black they just sat there in silence, both thinking 'What now?'

Eventually, it was Ichigo that moved. Reluctantly, he lifted his arm from behind her, and said in the dark, "It's a bit late."

Rukia nodded, even though she knew he couldn't see her. They both got up from the couch, and when Ichigo turned off the television, it was pitch black. He made a mental note to get the popcorn bowl in the morning.

"Rukia."

"Mm?"

He reached out tentatively and touched her arm. He trailed softly down it until he felt her hand. She instinctively tightened her fingers, and let him guide her to his bedroom. At first she had been slightly confused, but in the end she smiled to herself when she figured out what he was doing. Ichigo. Funnily enough, beyond his tough guy act he was always thinking of others.

After performing the traditional bathroom-toilet routine, they climbed into their respective beds.

After a few moments of silence, Rukia spoke.

"Ichigo?"

"What?"

"Goodnight."

"Oh," she heard him mumble. "Goodnight," he said, after a few seconds of quiet.

When he closed his eyes, he slept.


She hadn't. She could swear it had been an hour since she had heard his even breathing and had deducted that he was asleep. She couldn't. She kept thinking back to the events that had just happened – she was glad Ichigo had placed his arm around her. In truth, she wasn't actually watching the movie, she spent more time wondering what Ichigo would do if she put her head on his shoulder. She had noticed he had been slightly uneasy, but after the initial unrest, she had found that he had got settled quite quickly.

Actually, she didn't know what she wanted him to do. One side of her brain was telling her that she had a boyfriend, but the other side was telling her that her supposed boyfriend had left her to pursue his career. Oh sure, that was a pretty good excuse, but to Rukia that seemed like the most unreasonable thing ever. Plus, Ichigo made her feel…like herself. She wanted to be herself, something she couldn't properly be in front of Renji. Even in front of her brother. But with Ichigo, it felt like she could just be herself, and he wouldn't give a damn.

She opened her eyes suddenly. What would Ichigo do if she crawled into his bed? It was warmer than on the floor, and besides, it was a double anyway. And, Ichigo was Ichigo, she couldn't imagine him doing anything bad. Well, she couldn't get to sleep on the mattress she was currently on, that was for sure.

She did just that. She lay on the pillow, smiling to herself. Ichigo was on the other side of the bed, this bed was warmer, and he didn't even know she was there. She would just go back to her bed in the morning, before he awoke, she thought.

She closed her eyes, almost falling asleep, when she felt the blankets shift slightly. She opened one eyelid, and saw that Ichigo had rolled over and was lying directly in front of her. For one who liked making grunting noises as his main form of communication, his breathing when sleeping was quite soft. She resisted the urge to reach out and touch his forehead, where his scowl was. Except now, she thought – it wouldn't be there when he was sleeping. It would be like when he was a kid. That last thought was also the last straw, and she gently put her finger on his forehead, just to remember what it was like before Ichigo scowled. When he smiled.

She gasped quietly when he grabbed her wrist.

"Rukia?" she heard him say softly in the darkness.

She didn't reply at first. "Mm…"

"What…what are…"

"I was cold," she said, making up a lame excuse. Even though, it was partially true.

"Oh." His voice sounded unusually quiet, Rukia noticed. Much like the Ichigo she knew. He let go of her wrist.

"Sorry. I'll move back down," she said.

"No. Don't worry," he muttered wanly, obviously tired.

"But –"

She felt him close his eyes.

"Just go to sleep."

She didn't have anything to say to that. She tried to close her eyes, but found that it was awkward trying to avoid Ichigo while sleeping.

"Ichigo," she whispered.

"Mm…" he mumbled sleepily.

"Give me your hand."

Ichigo still hadn't opened his eyes. He lazily lifted his hand up to his face, where Rukia took it.

"Thanks."

"Mm…" he mumbled wanly, still not opening his eyes. Though, after about two seconds his eyes shot open.

"Rukia, what…"

Rukia had placed his arm around her, and she snuggled into him, now properly attempting to go to sleep. Now she wouldn't have to worry about accidentally touching him or anything like that. That was what she told her head, but her heart had something different to say about the matter.

Way to make it obvious that you like him.

I do not like him. At least in that way.

Don't lie. You like his arm around you.

Rukia sighed into Ichigo's chest. It was true. She actually did enjoy Ichigo's hold. It made her feel secure, something she needed to feel, and hadn't, in a very long time. Bu, this was just a friend thing, right? Friends did this, she told herself shutting out her conscious.

Ichigo stayed silent for a few seconds, mostly because he was trying to fight the intoxication of her scented shampoo. He failed miserably. She was making him crazy. Experimenting, he tightened his hold on her body to see her reaction. She snuggled deeper into him.

"Rukia?"

No answer.

It seemed like he wouldn't be getting any explanation for her behaviour, so he just let it be, and held her. Well, if she wasn't going to give him any explanation for her behaviour, then he would do something…He pulled back an inch or two and then gently leant down and kissed her forehead. He felt her murmur something quietly, and he was glad that she didn't react badly to it, but that was probably because she was sleepy. He kissed her forehead again, but slightly lower this time, finding it addictive. Before he could stop himself, he leant down lower, and kissed her nose. It was honestly her shampoo scent. When she still hadn't reacted, aside from a few soft noises, he took that as a good sign.

Finally, he pecked her lightly on her upper lip, almost immediately pulling away. What the hell was he doing?

This time, she opened her eyes, and even though he couldn't see her properly, he could feel her eyes burning questions in the dark. He sighed and closed his eyes before he got too carried away. He didn't want to ruin the friendship they had just put back together. He started to pull away, but Rukia's arms reached out to grab him.

"Ichigo…"

This time, it was Ichigo who didn't say anything.

"Stay with me…please."

Something in her voice struck a tender note in his heart. If this was what she wanted…He placed his chin neatly on top of her head, pulling himself closer to her in the process. He closed his eyes and waited for sleep to come. It was fairly easy, being in the comfortable position that he was, but he heard that annoying voice again, before he drifted off into dreamland.

Do something!

Shut-up. I'm going to sleep.

Loser. She wants you to do something.

How do you know? We're…we're just friends, that's all.

Haha. What kind of friends holds each other in the same bed? Loooooverrss…


AN: Cool. Another chapter finished, and Ichigo and Rukia are closer. That is my aim. In life, basically. Hehe. Drop in a review if you liked it. If you didn't like it then review me and tell me why. I'll fix it up if I can. Thanks!