What is Ichigo's problem?

Rukia watched him as he stood there, staring at the floor. He didn't want to look at her, that was clear, but why?

She tilted her head in an attempt to catch his eye, which was hidden by his fringe, "Everything all right?" she asked. Was there something wrong with the way she looked?

His gaze came up from the floor, but not without passing over her legs, stomach, chest and finally her face, when he looked her in the eye.

"Yeah, fine..." he replied, but very flustered, she had never seen that look in his eye before. She had seen him flustered plenty of times, it wasn't exactly hard to do and she had been doing it recently for fun, but this was different. Something about the way he looked at her made her pulse quicken.

Putting that sensation from her mind, Rukia turned away from him and headed towards the door. She must admit she had felt a little nervous, the clothes were infuriatingly uncomfortable, how was anyone supposed to walk in these things? The jeans were so tight she could feel them fighting her as she moved her legs, Yuzu said that she would wear them in but that was little comfort tonight.

Why was she even wearing them? She couldn't help thinking that as she attempted to get into this Taxi thing that Ichigo's father had arranged, even sitting down was uncomfortable. Rukia had always seen clothes as functional, they kept you warm, protected your modesty and allowed you to move freely. That didn't seem to be the case in the human world, it seems if you looked good and made a spectacle of your body it didn't matter if you were cold and couldn't walk.

Even so, she had noticed these clothes had a strange effect on Ichigo. She knew these were the jeans she was wearing when she had first caught him looking at her and even though she had teased him about it yesterday, she still wasn't sure how she felt about that.

Is that why I'm wearing them?

Once everyone was in the car it moved off, Rukia was pleased to find it was quieter, cooler and more comfortable than the bus from the other day. She was sat in the back with Karin and Yuzu. Ichigo and his father were in the two seats in front of them, and ahead of them, someone she didn't know who seemed to be driving.

Deciding the stranger must be some kind of servant, she turned and looked out the window. She had been back in the human world for just over three days now and in that short space of time she had settled straight back in to human life, as if she never left.

She sighed inwardly, while many things were exactly the same as she remembered, other things had definitely changed, first and foremost was Ichigo. She looked at the back of his head, he was saying something to his father but over the radio the servant had on she couldn't hear what it was.

He was still Ichigo, hot-headed, arrogant, impulsive Ichigo, but he had definitely changed. It was subtle at first but Rukia picked up on it almost instantly, every so often he would look at her differently, like he just had, or he would say something completely out of character, almost playful. To her horror however, she had found herself doing the same in response. She knew she shouldn't, but she couldn't help it, the truth was she enjoyed it.

She knew Ichigo was a prude, that was obvious from the day she met him, but was that changing? Was Ichigo interested in women now? She felt silly just thinking it, like a schoolgirl. No, that wasn't Ichigo's style and even if it was, why should it affect her?

She turned and looked back out of the window. Why was this bothering her so much? She disciplined herself mentally for letting her thoughts stray into such areas. Ichigo's personal life was none of her concern, she was a Shinigami and Shinigami don't dabble in human emotions, such things were a burden. Shinigami don't get dressed up, they don't go out to dinner with a human family and they certainly don't spend twenty minutes looking through clothes, trying to decide what one human male might like the best!

She looked down at herself, suddenly feeling silly, this wasn't her. The pathetic truth was, she enjoyed Ichigo's attention, she hated herself for it, but she did. Rukia looked over at him once again, thinking back over last night and the drawer full of her favourite books. Did he buy them for her? He certainly didn't read them. They must be for her, if so, why?

Taking a deep breath, she tried once again to clear her head. She had gone over this in the closet that morning, before Ichigo himself banged on the door as if he wanted to irritate her further. She knew she had been a little short with him and had felt bad for that, but it was his own fault for making her obsess over if his actions meant anything. Of course she had then learned that it was his birthday and she felt even worse.

It wasn't long before the car came to a stop and Rukia realised they had reached their destination.

"Aww Dad!" Yuzu whined, "Couldn't we have gone somewhere fancier?"

"This is fancy enough..." Karin sighed, clearly not looking forward to tonight. Rukia looked over at the restaurant, it was a broad, glass-fronted affair, through which she could see people sat at long tables. Some in pairs, others in groups, one or two were even eating alone.

"Yeah, this will do" Ichigo breathed as he pulled open to door. Despite that fact that he invited Rukia along, he seemed to be about as enthusiastic about this as Karin. As they slowly filed out of the cab, Rukia watched Ichigo's father exchange what looked like money with the servant.

After Yuzu and Karin had exited the vehicle, Rukia shuffled across the seat to the open door. To her surprise, Ichigo was stood, holding the sliding door with one hand and while extending the other towards her.

Clearly he wanted her to take his hand, although his eyes were fixed firmly on the restaurant and his face was set in a signature scowl. Deciding that getting out of the taxi in these jeans would be difficult enough by herself, she took the offered hand.

"Thank you, Ichigo" she said as she stepped onto the pavement.

"...Yeah" Ichigo snapped as he slid the door shut and the car moved away. Outwardly he appeared calm but Rukia could see his Adam's-apple was working overtime as he swallowed, was that a sign of nerves?

"I thought you liked it here, Yuzu!" Isshin cried, looking dismayed. Clearly Yuzu was still giving him a hard time over his choice of restaurant.

"I do! But seeing as it's Ichi-nii's birthday I thought we might go somewhere fancy, like last year!"

Ichigo breathed a mixture of a sigh and a scoff and rolled his eyes at Rukia. Clearly last year wasn't a happy memory for him.

As soon as Rukia stepped inside the restaurant, she began to regret her choice of clothes. The interior was heavily air conditioned and compared with the muggy, early evening heat from outside, it was almost too cold. She could feel goosebumps spreading up her exposed back.

They were seated at a table next to the window, Ichigo sat opposite Rukia, which seemed to be becoming a habit. Then, much to her confusion, Rukia was handed a laminated card. On it were was an assortment of food, none of which she had ever heard of, was she supposed to eat all of this?

She looked up at Ichigo for help, fortunately he seemed to be expecting it. "Its a menu..." he murmured.

Rukia's expression remained blank.

Ichigo sighed, he flicked his gaze across the table, his father was in conversation with the waiter regarding drinks. "Pick what you want..." he hissed when he was confident the others weren't listening. He didn't want to embarrass Rukia.

"I don't know what any of this is!" she hissed back, urgently.

It was true, based off the pictures it looked similar to what Yuzu cooked for her, but she never actually asked what that was, she just ate it. It was delicious, but she still didn't know what it was.

In the end, she trusted Ichigo to order for her, just like he had at breakfast the day before. He seemed to have a good idea of what she liked and what she didn't, so Rukia was confident she would enjoy her meal.

"So...Rukia-chan" Isshin beamed once the waiter had gone, "...I assume you're still unsure of when you will be on your way again?"

Ichigo shot his father a dark look for being so forthcoming.

"Oh...I err..." Rukia started, unsure of what she was supposed to say here.

"Dad!" Yuzu snapped at her father, "When you say that you make it sound like you want her to leave!"

"Oh not at all!" Isshin replied, holding his hands up in defence, "I was just asking! After all I'm sure Ichigo would prefer you didn't leave either, isn't that right son?"

Rukia just stared open-mouthed, her eyes flicked from Isshin, to Ichigo, who was looking less than impressed at this particular moment.

"Just because this is a public place..." Ichigo hissed through clenched teeth, "..does not mean I wont kill you!"

"So you aren't denying it then?" Karin deadpanned.

Rukia looked back at Ichigo, who simply cross his arms, huffed, and looked out of the window. No, he wasn't denying it. Rukia put on her best smile. "No, I don't know when I'll be leaving..." she beamed, keen to get the conversation back on its original track, "...but I wouldn't mind staying a few more days, if that is okay with you?"

"Of course you can, Rukia-chan!" Isshin replied, still watching Ichigo for a reaction.

Fortunately further conversation was cut short by the arrival of food. Rukia had no idea what the dish was and was about to start picking at it in her normal, suspicious manner but then she decided, bravely, to just trust Ichigo's instincts. Rukia took a mouthful and smiled, Ichigo had nailed it again, it was delicious. She still had no clue what she was eating, but she was very much enjoying it.

As she ate, she looked around the restaurant and watched other people doing the same thing.

There were a few family groups, but most of the other diners were couples. They looked mostly happy, except for a couple in the corner who seemed to be having somewhat of a disagreement. The male was clearly getting a stern talking to about something, he just sat, picking at his food with a face like thunder. He reminded her of Ichigo.

As for Ichigo himself, he was seemed to have recovered from his tantrum, he was now talking to Karin and looking at her meal, clearly there was something he wanted to try. Rukia smiled, despite his mood swings, he did seem happy. After all he had been through, she was glad his life was finally getting back to what it should be. Dinner out with his family should be a regular occurrence, not a special occasion.

Speaking of special occasions, Rukia was momentarily saved from her thoughts when Isshin cleared his throat, stood and raised his glass.

"Oh Dad, please don't..." Karin breathed, pulling her hat low in embarrassment, "...seriously every year?".

Isshin shushed his daughter, "I just wanted to quickly say Happy Birthday Ichigo!.." he beamed, tilting his glass in the direction of his son who was mouthing at him to sit back down, plus a few more colourful words that even Rukia could lip-read. "You're eighteen now..." his father continued, "...You're a man...and let me tell you there are a few things that a man needs!"

Ichigo gave up and instead turned and started tapping the window with his knuckle. Rukia was unsure if he was signalling for help or was gauging the thickness should he want to dive through it. She couldn't blame him, she didn't like where his fathers speech was going.

"A man needs, a good education..." Isshin said, holding up one finger, then he raised a second, "...a Good family...", he spread his arms wide as if to gesture to Yuzu and Karin. "...and..." he smiled at Rukia.

Oh no...

"A good woman!" he beamed.

And there it was! Ichigo face was now one of pure rage, Rukia reached forward to prise Ichigo's own glass from his hand before it shattered from his anger-fuelled grip. Unfortunately, now free of anything to hold, Ichigo seemed intent of wrapping it around his father's throat.

"Ichi-nii no!" Yuzu snapped, grabbing Ichigo's arm. "Not in public!", she had no issue with anything Isshin had said, in fact she agreed with it all, but for once she wanted a nice meal without the pair of them attempting to kill each other.

Once both Ichigo and Isshin had returned to their seats, they set about ordering dessert.

Embarrassment and attempted murder over, Rukia sighed and sat back. To being with she listened to the family talk amongst themselves but she quickly became lost in thought again. After that It wasn't long before the same, nagging thought that had plagued her mind since she had returned to the human world resurfaced. Ichigo's life might be back to normal, but as for her, this wasn't how her life should be. Despite how warm and welcoming Ichigo's family was, including his father, despite how all Ichigo's friends accepted her without question and despite how much she enjoyed Ichigo's company, she was still an outsider. She wasn't human, she was a Shinigami.

Are you seriously on this again?

Rukia looked around at all the other people once more, a young family was sat behind Ichigo and she watched them over his shoulder. Two parents had their young daughter sat between them, they were trying to coax her to eat something on her plate but from the look on her face, she was having none of it. Even so both the parents where smiling and laughing encouragingly, they seemed happy.

Rukia smiled too, but it was a sad smile. She couldn't lie to herself, that young family pretty much represented everything she wanted, everything she'd never had. She found herself more than ever wishing not to return to Soul Society. She was still watching the family when Ichigo tilted his head into her line of sight in order to get eye contact. He had a concerned look on his face but gave her a warm smile, well as warm as a smile got for Ichigo anyway.

She returned his smile and focused instead on her dessert, which had just been placed in front of her, which was good as it gave her something else to concentrate on. She needed to stop this, she had been here before, two years ago, and she knew that if she didn't cut away from these thoughts then she would be setting herself up for a painful fall when she had to return to the Soul Society. She was proud of what she was, she is proud. That was her life, and this was Ichigo's.

She glanced back up at Ichigo without raising her head, as hard as it was going to be she was going to have to try and keep him at a distance. If his views towards her had changed then fair enough but she didn't want to hurt him when she left, whenever that was. Once upon a time she would have welcomed the male attention, but that wasn't her life now.

Typically however, for the first time she wasn't exactly short on offers.


So, I was back on a roll and decided to post two chapter, because I'm such a generous person. Hope this was enjoyable, I had fun writing it.

Thoughts and critique is, as always, very welcome.