The Dragon's Queen

by Jo Terry

A/N: I do not own Bleach and its characters.

Chapter 11

"Shinigami, I need you… hang on."

Rukia rolls her eyes as she waits for her roommate to continue what he is supposed to say.

"Sorry. Call you later." With that, he hangs up on her.

The girl removes her phone from her ear and glares at it as if it is Ishida himself. She then opens her chat with him and texts, 'What had you professing your need for me, Dragon? Going patrolling. Call me within the next two hours and all you'll get is Chappy.'

Ishida is on a night shift tonight and as usual, Rukia has already texted him that she is home from work. Fifteen minutes later, she received a call from him - something he has not done in a while since the last time, weeks ago, she threatened him that she will "so change my number if you don't trust that I can get home on my own".

She waits for his reply for five minutes before she shrugs to herself. It's probably not that important, then, she thinks. And leaves her gigai to Chappy, who crawls into bed so her faux body could have her rest.

Ishida tries not to show his irritation at the nurse that is chattering beside him while he is filling out discharge certificates by the counter of the male ward. This woman has been bugging him for months. They have not shared the same shift the past few weeks and he has been so glad for that. But he knows he can't avoid her forever.

"I'm one of the few selected nurses attending the medical conference next week, Ishida-sensei," she tells him, oblivious to his exasperation at her presence. "I could be your date to the gala dinner on the final day."

Ishida snaps up from the paperwork he is doing and narrows his brows at her. "What makes you think I need a date?"

The girl shrugs. "Well, I know you don't have a girlfriend. And…"

"I'd usually go to these dinners on my own."

"And now, you don't have to!" she exclaims. The set of teeth framed by her bright red lips are blindingly white. There is always so much makeup on her face that some male staff speak of hiring her as a stripper for bachelor nights because she looks like one. "I got the organiser to put me at the same table as you so I might as well be your date, right?"

Ishida tries - really hard, he swears, because it's 11.30 pm and he is only halfway through his night shift - not to pummel her with the endless case notes he has next to him. She's a girl. You don't hit girls, he reminds himself. "I already have a date," he blurts. It's the less violent way of rejecting her.

The nurse gasps, a delicate hand on her mouth as her thick, mascara-coated falsies flutter in disbelief. "Who?"

"You don't know her," he says, going back to writing those discharge documents.

"But I checked with the organiser! They said you are not going with anyone."

"Aoi-san, I'd appreciate it if you do not meddle with my affairs."

"It's Kuchiki, isn't it?" Tanaka appears out of nowhere and throws an arm over Ishida's shoulders.

The Quincy glares sideways at the other doctor. "None of your business."

Tanaka chuckles and faces the flustering nurse. "He's got this really hot bartender slash university student staying with him, haven't you heard, Aoi-san?"

The girl in question furrows her brows, turns on her heel, and leaves the doctors at the nurses' counter.

"You're welcome," Tanaka smirks, slapping Ishida on his shoulder as he removes his arm. "But Kuchiki best be there at the dinner or Aoi will know you're lying."

Ishida snarls, "You're the one who's lying. I don't even know if there's space at the table for her."

"Then you should call the organiser to reserve a place beside you. Knowing how persistent Aoi is, she'll probably swap seats with whoever is sitting next to you."

Ishida hates to admit it but Tanaka is right and it's going to be a long night for him if Aoi does sit beside him. She will be annoying him with her babbling the whole time.

As Tanaka is being summoned to a patient's bed, Ishida picks up his phone to make the reservation as suggested by the other doctor. It's a good think he knows a member of the organising committee from a previous A&E team assignment. He is relieved that there is still one extra seat at his table and quickly tells them that he is bringing a plus-one… before it dawns on him that next Friday is in fact a working night for Rukia.

So he calls her up to ask if she could get the night off, knowing she should be at home by now even though he hasn't checked the text she sent to him a few minutes ago. He doesn't get far with the conversation, though, when he is called to the OT for an emergency surgery.

There were two souls to perform konso on the night before and Rukia found out that they have passed on quite some time ago. When she told them she was sending them to Soul Society, they begged to stay a few hours more to pay their last visit to places which were nostalgic to them when they were still alive. So she combed the entire Karakura to make sure that there were no Hollows going after them and only managed to get home at 6.30 in the morning, where she passed out the minute she returned to her gigai.

Having no morning classes today, she chooses to sleep in and wake up right before noon. Ishida is probably still asleep as he was on a night shift. Speaking of the Quincy… Rukia grabs her phone from the nightstand and checks for his reply. And there it is: 'Talk to you at home.'

She lets out a yawn her Kuchiki self would usually refrain from doing in public and drags herself out of bed to wash up. It's Friday and the only thing she is really looking forward to today is her training with Arisawa. She finds her only class today, The History of Fashion Design boring because her lecturer speaks in a monotonous voice and no one listens to him.

The bar is going to be busy and will end late since it's the start of the weekend. Her only consolation is that Nichibotsu has hired a part-time bartender to help her on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. He is also a student but he has had some experience at bartending from before.

Rukia exits her bedroom in her baby-T and jogging shorts - what she always wears at home - and saunters towards the kitchen to prepare lunch. Ishida usually wakes up an hour after she does so she has a little bit of time to cook something instead of calling for a takeout. As she checks the fridge to see what they have, she hears someone clears their throat from the dining table. Her immediate reflex is to reach for her zanpakutou as she straightens up, which is silly, considering she is not in her soul form.

"Kuchiki-san?" comes a gruff voice.

It takes a while for her to register who the person is because she has not seen him in years but when she does… "Sado-kun!"

Ishida appears from his room at that moment and glances at the two sheepishly. "Oh, that's right…"

"You're awake," Rukia states, cutting him off.

Sado raises a brow, probably waiting for an explanation judging by the surprise on his face when he greeted her earlier.

"Yeah, got up this morning to pick Chad up from the train station. He's back here for a visit," Ishida explains, rubbing the back of his neck - and are those pink...

"Kuchiki-san lives with you?" Sado asks, seemingly amused by that. Right… so Ishida is embarrassed? Because the tint on his cheeks is getting redder.

The doctor nods curtly. "Yes, she's renting a room here," he says and proceeds towards the kitchen.

Rukia smirks, her eyes follow his movement when he passes her. Unbelievable, she thinks. Ishida Uryuu gets embarrassed that easily? Where has the Quincy pride gone? "Well, yeah. I've been staying here for over two months now," she tells Sado as she tries not to let her amusement show. Not an easy task. She has to bite her lower lip to keep from snickering at her rattled roommate.

Ishida busies himself with the kettle, while Rukia returns to look into the fridge. He retrieves three cups from the top cabinet and places them on the counter before he reaches for the can of tea leaves beside the fridge.

Rukia catches him stealing a look at her and she flashes him a mischievous smile, earning her a rare Ishida Uryuu eye-roll. She lets out a snicker before she decides to break the awkwardness. "Chicken teriyaki for lunch?"

"Sure," he replies, getting back to his tea-making.

"Kuchiki-san is cooking?"

Rukia chuckles. "Yes, Sado-kun. And please, just Rukia."

"Because Kuchiki makes her feel old, which she is but refuses to acknowledge," Ishida comments.

Rukia likes that Ishida has gotten to know her well enough to crack jokes like that. She doesn't get offended by this whole 'age' thing because she knows the truth about human existence. "Technically, we're all the same age. Humanly, you're older than me. I was a baby when I died. And now I'm in the gigai of a 21-year-old," she says, her hands busy with the marinade.

Sado chuckles. "You don't look 21, Rukia-san."

"She looks like a brat," Ishida quips.

Rukia gasps and glares incredulously at her roommate while Sado laughs louder at the exchange. And she thinks it's nice that the three of them - comrades from a war that almost ended the world - are sharing a light moment. But she misses the other two and wonders if it would've been the same if they were here. She doubts it. Ishida probably thinks so, too. However, she is thankful for Sado, who is the neutral one among them.

It takes 40 minutes for her to finish cooking the teriyaki dish and the three enjoy a mostly silent - but comfortable - meal; except for the few times Sado asks her about what she's doing in the world of the living, that is. And the dining table is finally used for eating instead of sewing.

She is about to take the dishes to wash when Ishida scoops them off her and demands she gets ready for her class. "What about you? Don't you have work?" she asks, a scowl on her face.

The doctor chuckles. "Not until this evening and besides, I'm driving you there."

"I can get there on my own."

"It's just this once, Shinigami. I'm dropping Chad off there, too."

"Oh?" She glances over at the silent giant who has moved to the couch. He looks up and smiles.

"He's going to start coaching MMA in your university next month," Ishida replies.

"Whatever happened to your professional boxing career, Sado-kun?" she asks.

The man shrugs. "I didn't feel comfortable about it after that one match. So I quit. Tatsuki-san put in a word for me and got me this job."

Rukia nods before she realises she has forgotten to book the kendoka for a session this evening. "Kami, I need to call Arisawa," she exclaims and excuses herself to her room.

It doesn't take long for the other girl to answer and when Rukia asks her if she could train her today, she is told she has to schedule it for another time.

"Is everything all right, Arisawa? You've been shifting your training sessions a lot lately, especially the evening ones. And it's not just mine," Rukia asks with concern.

Arisawa is silent for a while before she finally speaks up again, "Kuchiki, Hime was admitted to the psychiatric ward two weeks ago. Ichigo and I are taking turns to see her. We are only allowed to do so during visiting hours. He goes there early in the morning and noon time. But he has to take care of Kazui in the evening, so I'm there to accompany her for dinner."

Rukia is taken aback by what she hears. She honestly thought everything was okay with them because Arisawa has not mentioned them since the first time she spoke to her about Orihime's condition. And it never showed on the kendoka if something was bothering her. "I'm so sorry to hear that, Arisawa. Is there… is there something I can do to help?"

She hears Arisawa sigh into the phone. "At the moment, I think it's best if it's just me and Ichigo. He's not too keen on people knowing about her condition and I'm pretty sure she feels the same. We do not know what could trigger her. The good news is that she is responding well to the new medication they are giving her and she has two therapy sessions a day to keep her busy."

"That's good. I hope she gets better soon. I can't imagine how much her son must miss her," Rukia says.

"Ichigo has brought him there to see her on weekends where the visiting hours are longer and the patients are allowed to spend more time in the garden. But yeah, the boy looks for her every day after school. It's heartbreaking to watch, especially when he has had a bad day in school and needs his mother."

Even Rukia's heart breaks at that. She remembers how attached Kazui was to his mother at the party three months ago. If he's anything like Ichigo, the boy will probably grow up sulking and dragging his feet like him after Masaki passed away, too. The former shinigami-daiko was a mama's boy. "How's Ichigo?"

"Tired," Arisawa replies. "He says Kazui wakes up crying for Hime at night. And he has to work during the day so he doesn't get much rest."

"Is Yuzu around to help out?"

"She cooks for them. Hime doesn't like the food at the hospital. So we send Yuzu's cooking to her," Arisawa tells Rukia. "I'm sorry, Kuchiki. I would've moved our session earlier today but Chad is coming over to the university. I got him a job as a coach here."

"It's fine, Arisawa. I know about Sado-kun."

"You do?"

"He's here actually. Ur… Ishida is giving us both a lift to campus. I've got a class at 3.00 anyway," the petite girl explains.

"All right. Maybe I'll see you later, then."

Rukia hangs up after a brief 'goodbye'. She turns around and is startled out of her wits when she finds Ishida standing behind her. "Kami, Uryuu!"

"Sorry," he says. "You left your door open. Was going to ask if you need a ride to work after your training."

"I won't be training today. I just got off the phone with Arisawa."

"Yeah… I kind of heard a little of your end of the conversation," he confesses.

"Nosy," Rukia smirks, but her expression quickly turns sombre. "It's Orihime."

Ishida hums.

"She's been in the psychiatric ward for two weeks."

"Why is Arisawa telling you this?" Ishida asks, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"Because I asked her if everything was okay."

"Rukia," he huffs. "You don't have to know if it's going to make you feel guilty again."

"Who says I'm feeling guilty?"

Ishida purses his lips as he regards her and she suspects he sees the torn expression on her face. "Sorry. I shouldn't have…"

Rukia sighs. "No. It's fine. You're right. I do feel bad. But mostly because there's nothing I can do to help."

"Hey…"

She looks up and realises she has been staring at their feet.

He takes a couple of steps closer and reaches out to give her upper arm a squeeze. "I'm sure they'll let you know if they need your help. Don't beat yourself up over this, okay?"

Rukia nods.

"Actually, there's another thing…" Ishida begins.

"What is it?"

"Last night, I called to ask if you could get next Friday night off."

"Oh? Is there something going on?"

"Yes," he says, sliding his glasses up his nose again. "I'll be attending a medical conference every day next week. It ends on Friday night with a gala dinner. And there's this weird nurse who wants me to be her date but I told her I'll be bringing someone. You."

Rukia smirks, "Wow, a date with Dr Ishida Uryuu? Who would pass that up?"

"It's not a date, Rukia," the doctor opposes. "I just need you to be there with me because she is going to be at the same table."

She feigns a gasp of disbelief. "How could you, Sensei! I feel so used!"

Ishida crosses his arms and scowls at her. "Are you going to help me or not?"

"Let you know tonight? I have to ask Nichibotsu."

"All right," he says with a nod. "Go get ready, Shinigami."

Rukia watches as he exits her room. She shuts the door after him and leans on it, exhaling a long breath. They'll let me know if they need my help… she runs Ishida's words through her head as she remembers her conversation with Arisawa. An idea comes to her mind - a rather risky one. But she needs to do it, at least for her peace of mind.

Sorry I didn't update sooner. I was going to post this one first but I ended up writing too much so I had to chuck the overflow to the next chapter, and then I decided to finish the next chapter before I post this one up. So now, you have two chapters to read. I hope that makes up for the delay.