After a long adventure, which included breakfast at a local diner, two near death experiences with traffic in the family's turquoise minivan, a walk (which turned into a race) in a local park near the family's house, shopping downtown (in which the women dragged the men along), and lastly dinner at the house, the group was utterly exhausted.
Yuzu and Karin were sitting on the floor of the living room, watching a movie like they had eight years ago. Isshin, who would spontaneously jump up and sit back down, was currently reclined next to Masaki on the couch. Ichigo was on the love seat, Rukia lying down next to him with her head resting on one arm and her legs across Ichigo's lap resting on the other arm. It was a very pleasant scene to anyone who might have looked.
"How did you get into singing, Rukia?" Masaki asked pleasantly, always the most polite, interested person in the family. She always takes interest in others…another reason why she's the best mom in the world. Ichigo thought happily. Rukia sat up slightly, elbows propping her up from her reclined position. She thought for a moment, biting her lip, before answering the question.
"Well…I'd always liked singing when I was young, and when I was in middle school I found that composing songs really helped me get away from the world, which could be stressful at times. Anyway, I started singing more and in high school found out that I could go a long way, so when I went to Julliard for college, I got more serious. After I graduated, I decided that music was what I wanted to do, so I formed a band with some of my high school friends. The rest is history." Ichigo grinned at the cliché and absentmindedly stroked her leg. Not all that aware of what he was doing, he looked down at Rukia with surprise on his face as she giggled.
"Ichigo! S-stop, that t-tickles!" Ichigo, suddenly aware of his actions, blushed and smiled sheepishly, not looking all too sorry. Isshin was squealing like a little girl presented with ice cream at the display, but quickly stopped when Masaki gave him a not-so-subtle pinch. Karin and Yuzu, who had turned temporarily from their movie, were laughing at the awkwardness radiating from all four people—or three, since Isshin was practically shameless. Masaki, being the first one to recover, kept on asking Rukia questions, always interested and polite. The night was spent like this: Isshin trying to say things but being stopped by Ichigo, Rukia answering Masaki's questions, and Karin and Yuzu occasionally saying something.
"You're family is so nice, Ichigo." Rukia said, patting his arm sleepily and rolling over in his bed. Ichigo grunted a response and readjusted himself so that his back was touching Rukia's. Rukia bumped him a bit, wanting a spoken response. Something between a groan and a chuckle came from Ichigo's mouth, but he opened his eyes.
"Yeah, they're good. Dad's a goof, but otherwise my family's pretty chill." Rukia, laughing, reached behind her and laced her fingers between Ichigo's, sighing as his skin met hers.
"Hey, Ichigo?"
"Yeah?" He heard a smile—and mischief—in her words, and turned his head to see her expression. Instead, he was met directly with her lips. Surprised, he didn't respond for a few seconds, but soon recovered from his initial shock and kissed her, too. Soon, though, he broke away.
"Rukia, not here. I can guarantee that my dad will be snooping around and will hear us, see us, something. And believe me when I say that that would not be good." Rukia's eyes widened at the thought of Ichigo's father peeking on them and quickly pulled away, suddenly uncomfortable with their proximity.
For the rest of the night they talked, reminiscing about their pasts and laughing quietly at the other's childhood stories. Just outside the door, Isshin turned to Masaki, who was behind him. "You shouldn't be listening to them." Masaki whispered once they were safely down the hall. Isshin smiled but didn't make a silly comment in response. What he had seen had made him happy. They both returned to their bedroom, Isshin flipping the lights on.
"Look at them, Masaki! I'm guessing that there'll be a wedding soon enough." Masaki smiled back sadly and sat on the bed, thinking.
"It would be nice to see Ichigo married before I go." She said quietly. Isshin's shoulders drooped as he was reminded of his wife's imminent and most likely unavoidable death.
"There must be something I can do…" He murmured, stroking her back as he thought. "I'm a doctor! I can't perform the surgery for you, but I must be able to—"
"Stop, Isshin." Masaki interrupted, tired of hearing Isshin blame himself. "There's nothing you can do. You know that I will get the operation in about a month, and we'll see what happens from there. And even if I die, I've had a very happy life with you and the children." Isshin hugged her tightly, saddened further by her optimistic words that showed her inner strength despite the grim reality of the situation.
Please let that strength heal you.
"ICHIGOOO!" A flying mass of Isshin hurtled toward Ichigo, who was looking at the breathtaking sunrise at the window. Ichigo, used to this type of entrance, calmly stepped aside and watched as Isshin cracked the glass with his head. Whimpering, he pulled away and put his hands to where blood had started to slowly trickle down the left side of his face.
"What was that for, son? Why would you hurt your old man?" He asked, amusement thinly masked by his veil of fake pain and bemusement. Ichigo, rolling his eyes, answered with sarcasm almost tangibly dripping from his words.
"Yeah, I really meant to hurt you, Dad. But no, you didn't mean to hurt me at all! That would be fucking absurd." Rukia, who had watched the whole thing silently from the bed, couldn't help but stare at the casual violence the father and son exercised with each other
"Uh…good morning, Mister Kurosaki." She said politely, wondering if he had simply forgotten that she was there. Isshin turned delightedly to Rukia, his slightly bloodied face lighting up with sheer delight.
"Rukia! It's such a pleasure to see you are well! Please tell Ichigo that—" Ichigo's hand covered Isshin's mouth none too gently, and he was silenced. Rukia cleared her throat and inconspicuously pulled the sheet over her, highly uncomfortable with the fact that she was only wearing a practically see-through black tank top and no bra.
"Hey, Ichigo? I'm going to take a shower, 'kay?" Without waiting for an answer Rukia dashed from the room and closed the bathroom door behind her, not paying heed to the fact that she had not planned on staying the night and hence had no change of clothes.
Ichigo, meanwhile, just raised an eyebrow at his father and threw on a shirt, swearing under his breath. "Dad, could you please try not to freak Rukia out? She's normal. She doesn't get how your freakish mind works. Save it for later." Isshin giggled like a little girl but reluctantly agreed with some cajoling, still fond of Rukia.
After showers, the family enjoyed an enormous breakfast courtesy of Masaki and Yuzu, who seemed all too happy to cook.
"So, what do you think we should do today? Any ideas?" Masaki asked as they were eating. Rukia and Ichigo looked at each other, making a silent agreement.
"Actually, Mom, Rukia's going back to the city today." Masaki's face fell minutely before setting into an accepting smile. She brushed a lock of golden hair from her warm eyes and nodded.
"Oh, I see. I was hoping that you two could stay a bit longer before leaving, but you two probably have things to do. Rukia, how is your band doing? I know that you're group is fairly new, but I must say that you four are going to be famous." Pink tinted Rukia's cheeks and she looked down, hiding behind her bangs.
"Thank you, Masaki. We're doing pretty well. As I mentioned before, we've landed some gigs—er, I mean concerts—around the city and a few in Tokyo, so our faces are getting to be known. Honestly, though, we play because we love music and know that other people love music. Fame and money are byproducts." A collective laugh.
"That's wonderful. I'd love to see you perform soon. Are you singing any time soon?" Rukia thought for a moment, her violet eyes glazing over for a split second before refocusing.
"I think we have a concert on Friday night…" Masaki beamed, delight radiating from her warm features. Rukia quickly checked the clock on the kitchen wall and started slightly.
"Shoot. I really should be going. I'm so sorry to have to run like this, but I promised my band that we would get in some practice for a few new songs of ours today." And so she was off. A commotion was made as Rukia got her few things together and said her goodbyes, hugging Yuzu and Masaki, shaking hands with Isshin and Karin, and kissing Ichigo.
Ichigo insisted that he accompany her back to the bus station, but Rukia wouldn't hear of it. She said her last goodbyes, whispered something in Ichigo's ear, and then was out the door. Ichigo was left with his family. As soon as the door shut behind Rukia, all four were yelling things at once.
"Ichigo, Rukia's so nice!"
"What a wonderful girl she is."
"Our third daughter!"
"She's actually not that bad." All of these things, being said at once, weren't quite discernable and left Ichigo with a comical expression on his face as if he'd had to screw up his features to be able to hear everything.
"Jeez. You guys are way too energetic. Nice ta' know that you like her, though. It's not like the relationship is serious or anything—so don't get your hopes up, Dad. Wow. I can't believe that school's over." Masaki beamed at him proudly and patted his back.
"I'm so proud of you, Ichigo. You can become successful at whatever you choose to do. For now, I think that a low-key day would befit us well after yesterday's little venture."
"Little? Please," Karin muttered. "That was the biggest shopping trip I've been on in my life. It was complete torture." Ichigo nodded and earned a slap on the head from Yuzu.
"It was not! We were trying to get to know Rukia and figure out what she was like, so it wasn't even about the shopping."
"Well, it sure seemed like that. You brought home seven huge, heaping bags of new clothes. Don't make excuses about new clothes for college, either. You don't need that much." Yuzu pouted and stomped her foot on the ground like she would when she was little.
"You wouldn't even understand! You have no taste in fashion!" As the two bickered, the others drifted off, Masaki to the kitchen, Isshin to the living room, and Ichigo to his bedroom. A thought hit Ichigo as he sat down on his bed. I haven't checked my Facebook account for days…he grabbed his laptop and sat up, opening the lid to log in.
His Facebook wall had dozens of posts on it, but as he scrolled down, one in particular caught his attention. It was a post from…Kurosaki Isshin. There was a picture of Rukia and Ichigo in the park they had visited yesterday, holding hands and walking away from the camera. The caption read: "LOOK AT THE LOVEBIRDS! THAT'S MY THIRD DAUGHTER!" To this post there were thirty-seven comments, all praising the relationship, some in rather inappropriate ways. Ichigo's eyes snapped open so much that it actually hurt, and he was off the bed and out the door in less than two seconds.
"DAD! What the hell did you do?" Isshin looked up from his puzzle book, a devilish grin spreading across his face. "You have a Facebook, Dad?" All of it was news to Ichigo. His father was not the best nor the brightest in the technological department, so the fact that he had figured out how to do what he had done surprised him.
"I don't know what you could possibly be talking about," Isshin said with a girlish giggle. Ichigo stomped over to where his father was sitting and whacked him over the head, satisfied by Isshin's pitiful wail.
"Damnit, Dad! That's my fucking reputation on there! Could ya' not go and just announce to the world that I'm dating Rukia?" Isshin looked at his son with wide, pleading eyes, fake tearing brimming on his lashes.
"Please, son, forgive me. I never knew that you were so sensitive to the subject. It's fine—I know it's because your having sex, but if you could possibly find it in your heart to forgive your old man, I—"
"Shut the fuck up, Goat Face! W-we're not having sex!" Ichigo stuttered out angrily. Masaki walked over, a wooden stirring spoon held in her hand.
"Honestly, you two. Stop the swearing and arguing," She said matter-of-factly. The spoon cracked down on both of their heads and then she was back in the kitchen, working diligently and humming jubilantly as if nothing had ever happened. Ichigo and Isshin looked at each other and shared a grin. This was one of the rare occasions that they could be temporarily put at peace; Masaki was always involved.
The door opened silently and Rukia entered, expecting everyone to be asleep. As soon as one foot was through the door, however, she was grabbed into a strangle-hug by none other than Rangiku.
"Rukia! You're back!" Rukia tapped Rangiku's arm and pointed to her mouth. After a minute or two, Rangiku caught on and let Rukia go. She gasped for air and looked at Rangiku.
"Seriously? I was gone for one day and you have to give me the strangle-hug?" Renji and Kira both emerged from their room, rubbing their eyes and adjusting their skewed clothes. Kira smiled blearily and gave a wobbly wave.
"Hey, Rukia. Where were you?" Rukia motioned vaguely to the door, mumbling something incoherent.
"Speak up, Rukia," Renji said impatiently. Rukia huffed and practically yelled her answer.
"I was at Ichigo's house for the day!" Renji laughed and set a hand on his hip.
"Figures. You practically live at his apartment."
"Not his apartment, numbnuts. I was at his parents' house after his graduation ceremony. Jeez." She shook her head and headed to her and Rangiku's room to change. The others went to the practice room to turn the amps on and warm up on their instruments. Rukia, who had thrown on old shorts and a tank top, walked into the room and fiddled with the microphone for some time before nodding to the others. Their newest songs were set, and they knew what to play. With that nod, she launched into song, letting the music carry her away to her own world that was her heaven.
The doorbell rang, making her voice stumble. Everyone's playing came to a halt and Rukia looked around confusedly, wondering who it was. Usually visitors were called up to the person they were visiting to make sure that they were expected, but there was the occasional exception—this seemed to be one of them. The four friends walked down the hall, Rukia in the lead.
Taking a deep breath and straightening her hair, she took hold of the doorknob and threw the door open. A crisp, black suit greeted Rukia's eyes. She looked up into a face that was horribly, undeniably familiar. That black, silky hair. Those grey eyes.
"Nii-sama?"
