-Ichigo-
I didn't know what to do but I knew that if she had kissed me in that second I would have listened to the other me and never let her go. I'd protect her from her old memories selfishly knowing that she could stay with me forever. When I pushed her back I saw the confusion on her face and shortly after the pain.
She runs out of the door and I open the draw and grab Kon before running after her. I need to tell her about who she really is. She can't be expected to remember by herself so I've got to tell her and make sure she knows how sorry I am.
I run out of the front door and notice she's stopped running. She's sat against a tall wall with her head hanging down and tears dropping from her hands covering her face. I walk up to her slowly and then bend down just like before. I hurt her, I made her cry and I can't take it back. She didn't do anything wrong, all day I've admittedly been taking advantage that she has no memories and have almost been leading her on. I never indicated that I liked her but she saw it in my eyes and when she opened up to me and accepted my feelings I rejected hers but I had too because she isn't the Rukia I used to know and the Rukia I first fell in love with doesn't love me. That gives me know right to admit my love to this other version of her and selfishly take away everything she did have.
"Rukia-Chan? I understand you're annoyed at me but I need you to listen to me because I need to tell you I'm so sorry." Her shoulders shake and she tries to hold back the tears when she hears me speak but she keeps her hands over her face and I don't blame her. Even though almost everything about her has changed she still doesn't seem to want to look weak in front of other people. She is still as beautiful and as strong.
"Please Rukia…" I start in a soft voice.
"Ichigo?" She whispers in a pained voice. I reach out my hand and touch her arm gently to let her know I'm here.
"It's ok Rukia-Chan I'm right here." I tell her and her hands rub her eyes roughly before she takes a deep breathe but I notice her lip quiver.
"Ichigo!" She takes her arms away from her face and then throws herself at me. Her arms wrap around my neck and she buries her face into my shoulder and starts to cry again. I wrap my arms around her blinking away the tears in my own eyes. So many times I've dreamed of her burying her face in my shoulder and gripping onto me like she has nothing to lose. So many times I've wanted to wrap my arms around her and take away all the pain I know she feels and when it finally happens it's a different Rukia and I'm the one who caused her the pain.
We sit there with her crying into my shoulder for about an hour. It started raining after twenty minutes and so I took off my jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders in an attempt to keep her dry. We don't move all the same and just allow the rain to soak us both. After about fifty five minutes her crying turned into small sobs and just this second she's fallen asleep.
"Ichigo!" I voice yells and I look back up the road to see Yuzu, Karin and my dad.
"You're gonna get ill!" Karin yells in a worried but stern tone.
"Bring Rukia inside!" Yuzu calls and I just nod before looking down at Rukia. Her fingers still gripping onto the back of my shirt as she sleeps and the tears streaks are still visible against her pale skin.
I weave one of my arms under her legs and tuck her close to my chest with Kon snuggled against her. I stand up and start walking slowly towards the house. Karin, Yuzu and my dad all go inside and I can tell already they're gonna be at battle stations to try and help Rukia. Though I saw that they noticed this is more than memory loss they all still love her like family and so they're still going to stop at nothing to help her.
As soon as I enter the house Yuzu is cooking some kind of stew while Karin and dad are finishing making a bed on the sofa. I walk to the sofa and am about to put her down when Karin yells at me to stop.
"She needs to change Ichigo or she'll get ill. Let me take her upstairs and get her dry and changed." Karin orders and though I want to just get her warm in bed I know she needs to be changed and there is no way I can do it. Yuzu dashes out of the kitchen and her and Karin both manage to take a half asleep Rukia upstairs despite her shaking.
My dad looks at me for an explanation to what is going on with Rukia when I fall to my knees. I wipe my face with my soaking sleeve though it makes no difference and as my dad stands watching me. I clamber back onto my feet and look at him. He glances at the picture of my mum on the wall and opens out his arms and though I wish I was a child and could fall into them I shake my head and just stay stood facing him while the tears fall down my cheeks. My silent tears turn into sobs and after only a few minutes I can't stop crying.
"Ichigo when I lost your mum…" My dad starts.
"I didn't lose her. I never had her in the first place but then it happened and she's changed and now she loves me but I hurt her so much. She cried in my arms for almost an hour and I couldn't take away the pain I'd caused." I yell angrily. Not at him but at myself.
"Son, it is not your fault." My dad assures me.
"It is my fault, I spent the whole afternoon acting like nothing had changed. Acting as if she was the old Rukia, the Rukia I love so much, and because of that she loves me too but I can't be that selfish dad! I can't ruin her life just to satisfy my love for her." I drop to my knees again with my fists clenched.
"Whatever has happened to her is not your fault and no one can blame you for still loving her even if she's changed because she still is Rukia and being in love with someone means you love all of them whether they change or not." My dad uses a stern but soothing tone as I manage to reduce my cries into deep quaking breathes.
"But if I let her love me now I'll either end up destroying the old her but get to be with her or I can help her get her memories back and I will have my old Rukia back but I will throw away my chance with her." I say and look at my dad for guidance to see tears in his eyes as he glances from the picture of my mum to me.
-Rukia-
I hear the soft voices explaining everything to me gently why I'm also stripped. I open my eyes but everything is blurry. I blink a few times and look down at the different pairs of hands holding my arms and guiding me into a hot bath.
"Rukia, it's Karin and Yuzu, Ichigo's sister. You're going to get ill if you don't have a warm bath." I look at the girl with brown hair so light it's almost a golden blonde. She gives me and small smiles and without thinking I step into the bath and sit down, tucking my knees to my chest.
Yuzu slowly pours small mugful's of water over my hair while Karin hands her shampoo and other things like conditioner before handing me some soap which I hold between my hands which are slowly stopping shaking. I stay in the bath while Yuzu washes my hair but then she stands up and steadies me as I climb out of the bath while Karin wraps a towel around me from behind and rubs my back gently. I feel like a little girl being taken care of by aunties but part of me feels like this isn't the first time Karin and Yuzu have had to look after me and it won't be the last.
"Let's get you something to wear." Yuzu suggests as we leave the room. I automatically walk down the hall and into a room I recognise. Ichigo's room is dark until I turn on the light switch.
"Oh I guess Ichigo won't mind you wearing something of his but we'll have to lend you some underwear while yours dries." Karin says softly as she opens his draws and starts routing. My mind feels numb and I can't remember why I'm here but I remember crying and running and then Ichigo. He came and he stayed with me.
"Here we go." Yuzu says as I automatically change into the plain white underwear she hands me and then I put both my arms out and they help me slide my arms into the sleeves of a plain white shirt before they button all the buttons up. The sleeves hang over my hands and the shirt falls to a few inches higher than my knees but it's clean and smells like him.
"Ok now let me just plug this in." Yuzu says and a second later I hear the sound of a hairdryer and the soft blow of warm air through my hair. I think back to earlier. I ran out of the room but I don't remember why and I was crying but then Ichigo found me and he told me he was here for me. I feel my lips twitch and then the dryer turns off.
"Ok so you're all…" Karin starts.
"Where's Ichigo?" I ask.
"He's just downstairs in the…" I miss the last part as I again run out of the room, along the hall and then run down the stairs knowing for some reason I need to see him.
-Ichigo-
She pauses at the bottom of the stairs and to my surprise is wearing one of my plain white shirts. I flush slightly as her leg bends and the shirt lifts slightly higher up her leg. Her hair looks cleans and only slightly damp and she's no longer shaking.
"Ichigo!" She smiles and then runs towards me. She crashed into me, wrapping her arms around my waist, and buries her face into my chest. She inhales deeply and then lets out a happy sigh. I automatically wrap my arms around her in a protective way and rest my chin on the top of her head. I can't help but to inhale and smell her hair.
"Rukia you need to get into bed and eat something, you're going to become ill if you don't get warm." Yuzu orders from the stairs where her and Karin stand.
"Ichigo your bath's ready." Karin tells me and I let my arms drop form around Rukia and am about to move but her arms stay around me and her face still buried into my chest.
"Rukia, I need to go have a bath ok?" I say gently and she tips her head back and looks at me with a kind of panic and sadness in her violet eyes.
"Please don't leave me." She begs and I stare at her in shock. She clings onto me like a helpless child. "Please stay with me Ichigo. I beg you, just don't ever leave me!" She pleads. I should push her away like I did before and I should tell her everything but the young look in her eyes makes me feel so much love for her my heart aches.
"I'll never leave you. I promise you Rukia that I will always be there for you when you need me and I will never leave you alone." I say and she gives me a nod and takes a step back from me but as I head up stairs it only takes a second before another pair of footsteps come up after me.
I end up in the bath with her wrapped in a quilt leaning on the outside of the door. She doesn't say much but every now and again says my name as if checking I'm still there. Each time her voice becomes softer and each time I love her a bit more. I get out of the bath and change into the knee length black pants and baggy white shirt I usually sleep in. I open the door and she falls back into a lying position on the floor.
I shake my head and walk to her feet before grabbing both her hands in mine and pulling her to her feet. We go downstairs and Yuzu serves us both some hot stew which we eat in silence apart from a few yawns escaping Rukia's mouth. After eating Yuzu tells us she made Rukia a bed on my floor and so we both head upstairs and straight into my room.
"I'm right here if you need me." I say after she refused to swap beds with me and have me sleep on the floor. She nods and pulls the quilt over her before hugging Kon close to her. I'm surprised at the fact he doesn't say or do anything perverted but I know he has noticed the change in her and so he just lies there by her while she sleeps.
I fall asleep pretty quickly and the day replays in my mind. That morning I was so sure that I'd have some answers but everything changes when she came out of Orihime's room. It was like my heart recognised her more than I did because it fell for the new her much faster than I would have thought. I thought I'd be able to concentrate on helping her because she wasn't the Rukia I knew but really now I see she is still Rukia and I'll love her in every form.
I jump awake when a hand touches my arm gently. I look at Rukia and she stands by my bed looking down at me cutely. I roll over to my side to face her and then sit up and look at her for a second. She watches me with her violet eyes and then gently pushes me slightly closer to the wall before she pulls back my quilt and then climbs under the quilt next to me.
I stare at her in shock as she pulls the quilt back over us and rolls over to face me before tugging on the sleeve of my shirt until I lay down next to her. We face each other, both of us on our sides, with her hands pressed together and placed cutely under her head.
"Rukia what are you..?" I start.
"I had a nightmare about these things with horrible white masks and holes in their chests. I was there and they were chasing me but before they got me you came and you had this sword and you split the creature in half and saved me." She whispers, her warm breath blowing against my neck. Hollows, she dreamt about me as a Soul Reaper and hollows.
"They won't get you." I tell her.
"Do you promise? You won't let them get me Ichigo?" She says shaking.
"I promise that I'll protect you." I promise to her with a small smile.
She smiles at me and then takes her hands from under her head and rests one between us. Her left arm weaves under my right and around my waist. My shirt crinkled up slightly allowing her left arm to slide under it and her cold skin against mine. She pulls herself slightly closer to me, so we're only around four inches apart, my body relaxes when she closes her eyes and I watch her for a while she sleeps. Her arm stays wrapped around my waist the whole time and her other hand ends up holding loosely onto the front of my shirt. I watch her and though am slightly uncomfortable can't help but smile. I've never been this close to her before and I don't mind it one bit.