Chapter 11: Coming closer
Subtitle: What's wrong with Ichigo?
Ichigo stared at the dropping rain plopping against the classroom window. The pitter-patter of the moist droplets mocked him uncontrollably. He rubbed his temples and sighed, catching the attention of Rukia.
It had been almost a month since Ichigo and Rukia became an actual couple. Rukia loved the way he would rap his arms around her waist and rest his face next to hers for comfort, the way he pouted when it was time for her to go home, the way he would scowl all day but give her a genuine smile that only she, not even his family, saw. But something was wrong today; actually he'd been acting a little strange all week. He seemed, suddenly depressed. And not just his regular indifference, but he was getting distant, and Rukia was afraid he was pushing her away.
The bell rung, alarming the sleeping students and signaling kids to their next classes. Quickly, Rukia intertwined her fingers with Ichigo's, glared at the gawking girls and they began their way to the next class in routine. Ignoring the dirty looks she was getting from Ichigo's "fan clubs", Rukia looked up at Ichigo's distant look as he looked the other way in deep thought.
"Ichigo…" She said looking up at him. He looked down at the smaller girl.
"Hm?"
"Is something bothering you?" she stopped in front of him looking him straight in the eyes. Again, she could find nothing but a mystery in them.
"No…why do you ask?"
"Well…I mean…never mind" She sighed and they continued walking again. Thunder boomed loudly as the rain grew heavier.
"God I hate the rain" They said simultaneously. They looked at each other curiously, as if wondering why the other hated the rain and why he/she hadn't told. Realizing this, they both turned away looking to the ground. It was official, something was wrong with Ichigo.
"Have you tried talking to him?" Tatsuki said taking a gulp of water.
"Yes but he won't tell me, he just keeps giving me that same old 'I'm fine' attitude" She sighed "You know how Ichigo is…"
"Oh boy your first couple conflict!" Matsumoto clapped. Rukia looked at her like an idiot "I mean…we really need to do something about this! If he keeps all his feelings inside you can never have a healthy relationship!" Tatsuki nodded in agreement.
"Fine…I'll go talk to him" Rukia stood up and looked over at Ichigo eating solemnly with his "friends". Slowly but surely she made her way over and tapped him.
"Ichigo?"
"Hm?" he turned around
"Can I see you for a second?"
"Err…sure" Ichigo stood and followed her out of the lunchroom.
"So, what did you want to see me about?"
"Look, Ichigo…I don't mean to pry but…You haven't been acting normal lately and I really want to know what's wrong" She looked at him pleading. He made no facial expression but just sighed.
"Rukia I'm telling you I'm fine…" he turned the other way as if hiding something
"No…No Ichigo I refuse to believe that! Something is wrong…" She gripped his shoulders. Ichigo's eyebrows furrowed. He was irritated now.
"Look Rukia!" Rukia's eyes widened at the irritation in his voice "You said you don't mean to pry so don't! Whatever is going on with me is my business and I don't need you butting in" she slowly let her arms fall in disappointment. They never fought, but I guess it is a first time for everything.
"Okay…alright" Rukia looked at him and her face read 'shame!' "If you don't want to tell me fine! But you don't have to go around acting as if the world is falling apart!" Rukia stomped off back into the lunch room.
Ichigo sighed and thunder boomed again "That's just it Rukia…" he leaned against the locker "My world is falling apart" As he stood silently he heard a chuckle and turned around quickly. There stood Renji with a smirk.
"My, my… Your first fight" he laughed again "How adorable"
"Beat it Abari, I'm not in the mood" Ichigo growled
"Oh, big bad Ichigo doesn't want to fight today" Ichigo swung around picking Renji up by the collar.
"I said I'm NOT in the mood!!" he snarled putting Renji down roughly
"Temper, temper Kurosaki" he wagged his finger "Keep this up and Rukia will run into the arms of another strange haired hot-head" Ichigo looked at him and Renji winked before walking away.
Ichigo woke up in a huff, sweat glistening off of his back. Thunder boomed and lightning cracked as he gasped for air. The rain was mocking him again. He looked at his clock that read 3:30. Today was the day. The anniversary of his mom's death. It pissed him off so much that he couldn't be there to see her grave, to read the cursive writing and have wonderful memories flood back to him. It pissed him off how everyone else was normal; no signs of pain, happy even. Why couldn't he be happy? Could 'she' make him happy? Maybe…but she could never fill the void in his heart where his mother used to be.
Sighing deeply, Ichigo laid back down with a THUMP!, trying desperately to sleep.
Rukia looked down as the trio walked to school, thankfully it had stopped raining. She sighed as she thought of the episode her and Ichigo had in the hallway. Orihime looked at her thoughtfully.
"Kuchiki-Chan, is something wrong?" Orihime patted her shoulder. The others turned to her also, expecting an answer.
"I just…I wish Ichigo would open up to me" Her eyes strayed to the sky.
"I think you should give him a good kick in the a-" Tatsuki started
"Kuchiki-Chan, just be patient" She smiled sweetly "Ichigo is not an open person, and isn't good at expressing his feelings. You think he won't tell unless you push him, just like you thought he wouldn't ask you to the dance, but now you're together! So just wait, don't push, and slowly but surely he will open up to you and you'll both be a lot happier" She smiled again. They all stopped walking, their mouths hitting the ground. After many shocked and dumbfounded looks, Rukia smiled back.
"Err…thank you Orihime…" Orihime grinned widely skipping ahead. Tatsuki, mouth still wide open, followed behind them without a word.
Plip-plop-plip-plop
The rain danced outside the window in alight drizzle. Oh god why'd his seat have to be right next to the window? Ichigo frowned again as he strived to pay attention to the boring lesson. Anything to get his mind off the rain, and what day it was. Finally, before his head exploded, Ichigo raised his hand requesting to go to the nurse. With a nod of permission, Ichigo took his leave. Rukia looked up worriedly. Was he sick? Did he need help? Something was definitely up.
After the long and boring class, Rukia swiftly grabbed her things walking into the hallway. It felt weird as she walked alone without the comfort of Ichigo's hand holding hers. Rukia began to think. Did his going to the nurse have anything to do with his strange behavior? Most likely he went home; no one ever really goes to the nurse. Rukia wasn't taking this lying down; she wanted to know what was up and wanted to know now. Waiting for the hallways to clear, Rukia grabbed her things from her locker and stepped to the door. She couldn't believe she was skipping. Taking a deep breath she opened the door, stepping out, and the wind pulled the door shut.
"Arrrgggg" She growled as she pushed against the wind "It wasn't this hard a few seconds ago!!" Each step made her shoes more wet and her legs ache. The wind blew harder, nearly knocking her over. Finally gaining her composure, she gathered enough energy to (somewhat run) across the field. The grass gushed as her shoes left prints in the mud. The fog made it hard to see, so she didn't know exactly where she was. She heard an alarm go off back at the school. It was faint but she knew what it meant, deadly storm. Wishing she had never left the building, Rukia walked on knowing there was no turning back now. Branches slashed at her legs and arms but she never made a sound.
"How…could…he…have made it…through this…SO FAST!!?!" She yelled grabbing a tree. She squinted through the fog and saw a figure walking calmly through the rain. The figure turned, and Rukia could see his hair was orange.
"Ichigo…Ichigo!?" She yelled. He smirked at her before continuing to walk. Her eyes widened.
"Ichigo!!! Ichigo wait!" She let go of the tree trying to run to him, but the wind roughly pushed her into another tree. She groaned as branches blew hardly at her legs. Her hair stuck to her face annoyingly as the water poured down on her small frame. Her head felt light, and she squinted as the rain slowed. She took 3 more steps before her legs gave out and she fell to her knees. She saw a door open and a tall figure hurry to her side catching her before she collapsed.
"Rukia!? Rukia what are you doing here!?" The voice was strained and worried.
"Wait…wait Ichi…go" her eye lids closed shut and all she saw was black.
Her legs ached, her head hurt, her arms stung, and her fingers were sore. Rukia's eyes fluttered open as she looked at a white ceiling. She blinked furiously and sat up. Searing pain shot through her abdomen and she laid back. She let out a gasp as she tried to sit up again.
"Hey, hey" She turned to see Ichigo looking at her intensely. He softly pushed her back down "Lay down, you need to rest" Rukia's eyes went wide. She looked down to see many bandages on her body. Then she remembered walking through that storm. She looked over at Ichigo.
"Where am I?" She said in a soar throat.
"You're in my dad's clinic"
"Where'd you go?"
"I came home, I wasn't feeling well so I walked home while the rain was still light" he looked at her and frowned "Did you come looking for me?" She looked down.
"Y-yes, I was worried…"
"Man Rukia! You could've killed yourself!! Sometimes you're just so…!" he gritted his teeth and looked away. Rukia strained and gasped as she sat herself up. Ichigo tried to help her but she pushed him away.
"No…I'm fine" She sighed "Ichigo…why don't you trust me?"
"Trust you? What's that got to do with anything?" he said confused
"You don't trust me to understand…" he looked up "You don't trust me to understand your problems and what's wrong. You don't trust that I know how you feel. You don't trust that I can help with the pain…" she touched the side of his face "Ichigo, I want to understand…I want you to trust me and I want to understand you…tell me what's wrong"
Ichigo opened and closed his mouth. He turned the other way and looked down. Then he looked at the rain hitting the window. He grabbed Rukia's hand that lay on his face, and caressed it with his thumb.
"I-it was raining that day…" he murmured "We were walking home…I-I was only 8…" Rukia listened intently "there was lots of glass everywhere…f-from the broken border…it separated the o-old parking lot from the r-road" he took in a breath and she caressed his cheek "there was a cat… I was so stupid! I-I let her hand go chasing the cat right to the border!! He jumped the border…I-I tried to jump too…" He squeezed her hand "She screamed my name so many times but I-I didn't listen! She jumped for me…we landed on the ground…I-I opened my e-eyes and she was laying on the ground…c-covered in blood…glass straight through her chest…" A tear went down his cheek. His face didn't hold sadness, but anger and frustration, deep sorrow "It was all my fault Rukia!" She grabbed his face in both her hands and looked in his eyes.
"Listen to me Ichigo" She said sternly tears in her own eyes "I know what you're going through…I know how you feel…but you cant let yourself think that its your fault! It is NOT your fault, okay!?" he smirked down at her and they embraced in a tight hug. She ignored the pain from her wounds and hugged tighter. She could tell he needed it.
"So…" he said sitting up "I guess you have to call your brother, ya know, let em know where you are?"
"Oh…yeah" she looked around "Where's my phone?"
"You mean this" he said holding up bits and pieces of what use to be Rukia's phone. Rukia's mouth flew open "I think I'll get you the house phone…" As Ichigo stood Rukia took a look at her bandages and gasped.
"Ichigo! Wear are my clothes!! Did you bandage me??" Ichigo blushed and frowned
"No! Karin and Yuzu did! Yuzu's drying your clothes now!"
"They better had!" She smiled playfully. Ichigo rolled his eyes.
"Probably got nothing to see any way" he mumbled and felt a very large pillow hit the back of his head.
Me: WOOOHHH!!!! Yeah! Finished chap. 11! Hope it was good…I had a hard time trying to figure out a way Ichigo's mom died…seemed accurate but whateva! Basically this chp. Was about them "coming closer" to each other!
Emily: took her a LONG time to come up with that
Me: hey shut it! They weren't supposed to know that
Emily: sorry gosh!
Me:whatever! Next Chap on the WAY!!!!!
