A Few Steps Closer
Ichigo gazed at Rukia through heavy lids, breathing hard as he swore at himself to take things easy. Even though the woman in his embrace looked flushed with wanton desire right now, Ichigo knew he was pushing a clear boundary between them. Their flirting had been more or less simple thus far, maybe even a little innocent, but this...with his hand between her legs and his body aching for her...this was far from innocent now.
There was no telling if Rukia would wake up tomorrow and regret this moment with him if he pushed it. And fuck, he really didn't want her to regret anything with him. He just needed to show her that there was something here between them, something worthwhile if she gave him a serious chance.
"Ichigo, you can't," Rukia gasped, rubbing her thighs together with his hand between them.
"Shh," Ichigo murmured roughly, massaging his fingers against her panties. He was resolved to give her this at least, he wanted her to feel the desire she tried so hard to suppress. Ichigo's throat went dry as she rolled herself in his hand. He groaned, feeling wetness coat his fingers as presses an index finger gently in and out of her folds, keeping a continuous rhythm. His groin tightened as he watched her moan in pleasure, head titled slightly back cheeks flushed with want.
Rukia said something jumbled then and tried to wiggle away from his hand, but he didn't let her budge an inch. "Ic-higo…"
He leaned down, kissing the base of her exposed throat. "Harder, Rukia?" He asked, teeth grazing her heated skin.
Rukia began to sink as her knees started to give out, but Ichigo held her up and moved them backwards to the couch. They bumped into the dining room table though, the lamp on it tumbling over the edge with a slight crack. Rukia nearly fell, but she managed to step up onto the table, his hand slipping from her body briefly. She stood on the table breathing harshly, a trickle of sweat running down the side of her cheek. Her eyes looked glassed over and he knew that she wasn't going to last much longer against him.
Ichigo held Rukia's waist fast so she didn't topple off the table. If she thought her position was somehow troubling for him, she was quite wrong. In fact, it was a better angle for him to work. Ichigo looked at her with a smirk, even standing on the table she wasn't taller than him.
Lowering his hands to her thighs, Ichigo carefully spread them apart again. "Hold onto me," he grit out brushing the back of his hand against her wet center once more. Rukia clutched at his shirt desperately, pressing her nose to his chest, the soft moan she emitted partially muffled by his body.
Fucking hell, he wanted her so badly.
"I-Ichigo," she pleaded in a ragged whisper, nails digging into him harder.
Ichigo leaned back to watch her face as the trembling of her body increased. His hand was soaking wet as he whispered to her. "That's it Rukia, I want you to come. Come for me." The table shook as she shuddered on the glass. Ichigo didn't take his eyes of her violet ones as he pressed in and out of her so vigorously, she cried out from the utter pleasure of it.
Rukia's head fell back as the orgasm ripped through her body, his named repeatedly falling from her lips. "Ichigo," she whispered in the most quiet voice he'd ever heard from her lips. Rukia's legs gave completely out then but he caught her in time when her hands slipped from his shoulders. Holding her tenderly Ichigo set her feet back down on the carpet and held her close to him, kissing her forehead. He was aching for release, but tonight didn't have shit to do with him and his desires-it was only for her.
Ichigo looked at his glistening fingers for a minute before bringing them to his lips, closing his eyes as he tasted her on him. Rukia stepped away from him, hair hanging in her face, slip wrinkled. She flushed a deep red when she saw where his fingers were now.
"D-Don't, do that. Idiot!" Rukia's words maybe have been sharp but her tone was sluggish, lacking the usual punch. Ichigo chuckled, ignoring her embarrassment. He was pretty damn sure the look on his face said very explicitly that he enjoyed the taste of her.
"Relax," he soothed, scooping her up gently. "Everything's fine. We're fine. It's okay," he reassured, immediately picking up on the sudden panic that was starting to show in her expression. Rukia's muscles slowly unwound as he set her on the couch and lifted her legs up. Grabbing a blanket on the armrest, he spread it out over her, watching her with amusement as she pulled it up to chin, face still red. He would rather have taken her up to her own room, but he figured she needed some degree of privacy now to process what had just happened between them.
Also, if he got up to her bedroom right now he might not leave it. So, yeah, he should definitely take a step back.
"Um..." Rukia began, eyes darting several times between him and the blanket.
"Relax," Ichigo repeated. Leaning down he kissed her forehead gently before whispering in her ear. "I'm here whenever you need me. Don't overthink it." With a small sigh, Rukia's hand came out from under the blanket. She brought it to his cheek and he reveled in her warmth for a moment before standing up again. Ruffling her hair, he smiled at her cute pout before picking up the lamp on the floor.
Brushing a hand through his messy hair, he reluctantly glanced at the door. "I'll head out now, okay." Rukia nodded slowly, sinking back into the couch.
"O...kay...get home safe," she replied a bit awkwardly.
Heading over to the door, Ichigo ignored the pounding in his chest. "Goodnight Rukia," he said before opening the oak door and stepping out into the chilling air.
He closed the door softly behind him, standing on the porch for a minute. Taking a deep breath he rubbed at his chest, willing it to calm the fuck down. As he made his way back to his car, Ichigo could feel the prominent ache in his own body, but he knew that waiting was the right thing to do.
He was more than willing to wait for her.
"Somehow, you really look like sex. And it's only like 9 in the morning." Senna commented as Rukia walked into her workroom.
Rukia pressed a finger to her temple, starting to pace across the floor. Senna stopped working on a bright yellow skirt that she was putting through a sewing machine. She had a pair of glasses on her head as she looked at Rukia, grinning.
"Oh my god, you guys must have done it!"
"No, we did not," Rukia groaned.
"Oh." Senna replied, glumly.
"Why do you sound so disappointed?" Rukia snapped. "It would be even worse if we did."
"Do you think he'll rip you in half, or something?" Senna asked jokingly.
"What?! No, he…ah." Rukia stopped partway through her reply. She didn't what to think about that particular area of Ichigo that had been pressed against her last night. She was barely keeping her composure as is.
Senna walked over in her heels and shook Rukia by the shoulders. "Hey, what happened? I thought for sure you guys would have super hot sex and get it out of your systems."
Rukia sighed. "It's just, we had this amazing date, and then…" Rukia leaned over to Senna's ear, even though no one else was in the room. She whispered a general description of what happened he night before.
Senna's sharp intake of breath was followed by a huge smile. "Niiiice. Now you're at the good stuff. He must have a knack for knowing the right time to pounce," she said with a laugh.
"I let him pounce." Rukia corrected, backing up against the wall. "But god...it was...I can't even explain."
Senna giggled. "I want details, woman."
"No way! That's enough already," Rukia replied, eyeing Senna with interest. "You know, you have to tell me why you're just now coming back from Hisagi's place."
Senna batted her eyelashes. "Oh, nothing much."
Rukia smirked. "Is that so?"
Senna raised an eyebrow. "Not like that, you perv. Besides I'm sure he's got a big-"
"Senna!" Rukia warned.
"Yeah, well, we didn't do anything," She said innocently enough. "I do think I stressed him out though," she giggled. "We ended up sleeping on the couch together, and I slept better than I have in a while," she continued. "And I guess, I almost did it."
"Did what?" Rukia asked slyly.
"Stop being a dirty." Senna laughed.
"I'm just asking for clarification." Rukia sniffed.
"Well, sure I wanted to go there with him, but I meant that I was about to tell about…me and stuff."
Rukia raised her eyebrows in surprise. Senna rarely spoke about her past to other people. "You were?"
"Yeah, I think he can handle it, but I just couldn't go through with it in the end."
"You'll find the right time. You guys are good together."
Senna giggled, "I wonder how good, exactly."
Rukia rolled her eyes, and headed to the door. "Who's the perv now? You were probably trying to grope him all night, thus why he couldn't go to sleep."
She snapped her fingers. "Darn, how'd you know?" Senna grinned. "But at least I had my panties on."
Rukia cleared her throat. "Right well…that doesn't make me a pervert."
"Uh huh." Senna replied. "On the dining room table, that must have been nice."
"We didn't do it on there!" Rukia retorted. "Not…really."
Senna laughed and went back to sewing.
Rukia huffed and exited the workroom. "Not a pervert," she mumbled, turning to go down the hall.
Tatsuki stood in front of the counter holding a stack of wrapped sandwiches, gaping at the sight of the men in front of her. She looked from one to another and cringed.
One looked like he'd been up all night with no sleep-for whatever reason she really didn't want to know about. The other looked like he was replaying some undoubtedly perverted act in his head. And naturally, the last of them was grinning like a damn cat who'd just eaten the stupid canary.
"What the hell is the matter with the three of you?!" She yelled.
Their gazes briefly focused on her face and she almost puked.
Grimmjow, as usual, was first to speak. "Nothing, hon. I'm perfectly fine. Don't know about these suckers though," he grinned, nodding his head over to Ichigo and Hisagi who were unusually quiet. Well, Hisagi was typically calm, but Ichigo, not exactly.
Tatsuki balanced her load of food in one hand, poking at Grimmjow with the other. "Why are you grinning like that? It's creepy."
He looked up from where he was cutting a loaf of freshly baked raisin bread, and smirked. "If you really want to know," she didn't. "I had a fantastic night, if you know what I mean," he winked. "Favorite position and everything-"
"Oh my GOD, I did not want to know that!" She yelled.
He shrugged and went back to his loaf of bread. "You asked." He glanced up at again. "If you want, I can have a little chat with that redhead of yours… you know, tell him all the secrets of making you real happy," he added smugly.
Tatsuki blushed a fierce red and slapped her hand on the counter, glaring at him. "We don't do any of that, you freak."
"Uh huh."
"We don't! And anyway, he's a gen-tle-man. Unlike you." She sniffed. "And we're going out on a date, a nice date, like normal people do."
"Sure thing, hon." He said, still grinning.
"Ugh! Stop calling me hon!" She snapped, moving down to Ichigo. "And what the hell is your problem? You look completely out of it."
Ichigo was standing up against the back counter, a pensive look on his face. Tatsuki's jaw wanted to fall to the floor; she'd never seen Ichigo look like that in all the time they'd known each other. He looked…entranced, like he was in love or something.
"That's just disgusting," she muttered with a shudder.
Her gaze then settled on Hisagi, who was frying up a ton of hash browns in a large skillet. He used one hand for that, while using the other to hold his forehead. He looked up once he felt her glaring at him.
"I'm sorry Tatsuki, I have a headache," He said.
Her eye twitched. "Are you sick?" She asked annoyed.
"No…"
"Then what's wrong with you?"
He sighed, not answering right away. "The woman wouldn't let me sleep…" He grumbled, not all that quietly either.
Tatsuki dropped all her sandwiches to the floor and stared, mouth open. Grimmjow burst out laughing, now on the other side of the store by the side tables.
Swearing that she had the worst work environment ever, Tatsuki scrambled to pick up all the sandwiches, constantly dropping one to have to bend down and pick it up again. Once they were all in hand, she headed around the counter to the kitchen area. "I am the only normal person in this damn place." Tatsuki complained, very much looking forward to the end of the day.
"What…do I need this for?" Rukia asked later that evening, cringing at the lacy black underwear, aka single strip of cloth, that had been thrust into her hand.
Hisana looked through the racks of lingerie in the expensive shop, ignoring her question. She pulled out a matching bra, and held it out to Rukia.
"I am not taking that." Rukia said, through clenched teeth. Senna giggled from across the store, and Hisana held the back of her hand to her forehead.
Rukia rolled her eyes at the theatrics to come next.
"Oh my heavens," Hisana began. "I have such a terrible headache, oh, I can't see in front of me. What will I ever do if my last, dying wish, isn't carried out?" She breathed in fake puffs of air, fanning herself. "My dearest sister, won't even do this one thing for me before I pass." She sniffled. "It's just a bra." She said, fake crying. Senna was dying of laughter over by the corsets and Rukia growled, snatching the bra from Hisana's lose grip.
She shoved it under her arm and glared at her sister. "Only you would make fun of your own illness like that, while using it to your advantage." Rukia said.
Hisana blushed, holding both cheeks. "Oh thank you, little sister. You flatter me too much."
"Do you use that on Nii-sama?" Rukia asked irritated.
Hisana thought about that. "Not really. Sometimes, I mean, if he's too busy to have se-"
"That was a rhetorical question, alright!" Rukia screeched, not even wanting to think about her older sister seducing her brother in law into bed.
Rukia looked up at the ceiling of the store, hold in very bad swear words, as Hisana scurried around, giggling at every piece of fabric in the store.
She sighed, and went to following Hisana around, reluctantly taking whatever fabric that was dumped into her arms.
"You know that I'm not gong to where any of this crap, don't you?" Rukia said glaring. Hisana hummed, and picked out this sheer, black, slip looking thing, with holes where a woman's breasts should be.
"This," Hisana said, twirling around in the store. "Is not crap, it's works of art." she said, putting the sheer thing on top of Rukia's pile.
Rukia picked the sheer slip off in disgust, growling. "It is not art." Rukia snapped. "This is…I don't know what." She sighed. "Why are we even here, Hisana?"
Her sister stopped, and stood in front of Rukia, tapping her foot. "We are here, because you need to be prepared." She winked, "You never know when opportunity will strike again."
"…!"
"Am I right, Senna?" Hisana asked, her friend who was coming over with a few things (no corset, thank goodness)
"Uh…yeah." Senna replied, dodging Rukia's death glares.
"See, now stop being difficult." She held up two more sexy ensembles. "Which one would Ichigo like more, red or pink?" Rukia's mouth was in a tight line, so Hisana turned to Senna, who was watching amusedly.
"I say red, strawberries and all." She snickered. "Besides, Rukia hates pink."
"But pink is such a wonderful color, Rukia. It won't kill you to try it out once," Hisana said, putting the red on in the pile, and the pink one back.
"Whatever, can we leave now?" Rukia answered, feeling a headache just by being in here.
Hisana sighed. "The man obviously wants you, Rukia. And you want him. Two plus two equals four. And your four will likely end up being an amazing night in bed. There's nothing wrong with that. Thus, why you need to be prepared." She said glancing at the lingerie.
"We are not going to sleep together." Rukia mumbled, as they went to the line with Senna. Said friend coughed, and glanced around. Rukia elbowed her. "Traitor."
"What?" Senna asked, smirking. "She has a point. There's plenty of unresolved sexual tension between you two."
"There you go." Hisana said, clapping her hands.
"Whatever." Rukia said, turning red at the thought of sex with a certain orange head. She then shook her head to get those thought out.
"That's not going to happen, okay."
Matter of fact, the next time I see him, I'm going to make it very clear that we should keep things PG for awhile. Maybe PG-13.
"Daydreaming, Rukia?" Hisana giggled, once they were at the cashier. Rukia set her pile of clothes down on top of Senna's stuff, glancing up at the smiling employee, a busty woman with piercing, and tattoos.
"You'll make a man very happy with all this." She said laughing. Rukia blushed again, and turned around grumbling, to walk out of the store quickly. She heard giggling behind her, and the start of hosannas interrogating Senna about when she was going to move in with Hisagi.
Rukia stepped outside of the boutique, located in the pricier part of the downtown area, and held her head.
"Shameless, she's absolutely shameless." Rukia said to herself. While she tried to regain her train of thought, her cell phone vibrated in her shorts pocket. She pulled the phone out and grimaced at the name flashing on the touch screen.
Strawberry calling.
Rukia looked at it for a few seconds, before glancing back in the store to make sure Hisana wasn't coming out. Finally, she pressed the talk button on the screen. "H-hello." She said in a shakier tone than she would have liked.
"Evening, midget." Ichigo said suavely. Rukia immediately reddened, knowing just how deep that voice could become.
"Ichigo." Rukia replied evenly, trying to stay calm. She still hadn't figure out what she would say to him yet.
"Would you just so happen to be standing outside of that one lingerie store, looking extremely annoyed?" Ichigo asked offhandedly.
"What! You…" Rukia frowned and started looking around, holding her phone by her ear.
She caught sight of his orange hair up ahead. He saluted her sharply as he walked steadily across the street. He had his phone to his ear as well, and she could see his lips move when he asked.
"Aren't you a little too violent for this kind of stuff?" he teased.
"As you can see, I don't have any bags. And why do you care anyway," she sniffed "I didn't come here for you."
"Sure you didn't," he snarked, "Just so you know I don't like lace," he said, standing in front of her now. "But silk is definitely nice. It's smooth, classy. Like the kind of stuff you wear." Ichigo added cheekily.
Rukia blushed and took the phone from her ear, pressing the end button. Ichigo stuffed his phone back in his pocket, watching her fidget with a smirk. He was standing so close... Annnd cue, the panic. Rukia glanced away from him, still too disoriented from the intense shift in their relationship.
Just as she considered kneeing him and making a run for it, Hisana and Senna bounded out of the store bickering loudly. The latter was red in the face from fighting off Hisana's questions.
"I am so not going to go there with you, Hisana." Senna said, completely flushed.
"But Senna, he must want you to stay, if he told you to 'come back whenever you want'…"
"You can't assume that-" Senna halted, seeing as she nearly crashed right into Rukia. Her eyes widened when she saw the male figure in front of her. "Oh, my. How lovely to see you, Ichigo. You have impeccable timing." She grinned.
Yeah, too perfect. Rukia thought.
Hisana tugged Rukia by the arm, and spun her around. "We were just out shopping, but it's okay if you want to haul Rukia away." She said smiling. Ichigo grinned and looked back at Rukia with amusement.
"I think I will." He said looking into her eyes.
"We have things to do, Hisa-"
"No so much that you can't go out with your boyfriend," her sister replied, pushing Rukia forward and the gliding off down the street with Senna close behind.
Rukia stepped back from Ichigo to glare at them for leaving her alone with the strawberry.
Suddenly, Hisana skid to a halt, and broke away from Senna's grasp. She scurried over and held up a bag from the store.
Oh god.
"Rukia, you can't forget the stuff you bought." She chimed innocently. She held the bag up unnecessarily high, so Ichigo would be able to clearly see the label on it from the store.
"Make sure you try this on tonight," Hisana continued. Rukia felt Ichigo tense behind her. "Everything has to fit you just right. Especially, the undies."
God, please kill me now. Please.
Rukia felt Ichigo's eyes burn into her, and she started to breathe irregularly.
Why is he staring at me like that? God damn it!
"Thank you Hisana." Rukia said tightly, snatching the bag from her and glaring at her sister, who was beaming like she'd had the best day ever. "Anything else?" Rukia asked.
"Hm, no that's all," she smiled at Ichigo. "Feel free to keep her as well."
"Go away!" Rukia yelled, Hisana blew her a kiss, and scurried off to a giggling Senna, and they took of down the street.
Rukia coughed, and gripped her bag of undies and more. Slowly, she turned to Ichigo, as she stared at her sandaled feet.
"Um. Sorry about that. She's very-"
But her sentence was cut off, when Ichigo reached up in a second to lift her face, and pressed his lips into hers, in one smooth motion. Rukia's eyes widened, as he traced her lips with his tongue, and parted her lips with his own. He began planting these small kiss on her, making her moan lightly, and her hands to shake.
He pulled away finally, and she slowed opened her eyes. His were heavy and dark. "You just made my night a hell of a lot more difficult."
Before she could say anything back to him, he was already pulling them somewhere, down the street, his hand tightly wrapped around her as they went.
"Ichigo, where are going?" She said weakly.
"To cool off, and pick up some stuff." He replied, smirking. Rukia was silent after that, not knowing what to say, but she definitely agreed that they need to cool off.
A bucket of ice water would do perfectly.
Inoue walked slowly in the dimly lit room, near the back of the line of people walking through the passageway. Her gray eyes were wide in fascination as the leader of their group pointed out different sorts of fish and creatures of the sea.
The aquarium was huge, it was built with one walkway down the middle, and long windows of glass to either side of you, that allowed for a mind-blowing view of the legions of fish kept here.
It almost felt like you were walking right through the sea itself, which was a little scary, given some of the species in there.
She pulled her bag closer to her bosom, and continued to walk on, covering her mouth a bit when a really big fish swam close to the glass, and sped away. The line was still now, as people dispersed briefly to look at whatever interested them, and Inoue stayed where she was, on edge.
What if a shark popped out of nowhere? Could it break that glass? It could eat her, right?
A voice behind her chuckled lowly, and wrapped an arm around her waist.
Inoue gasped lightly, but then relaxed at the familiar embrace. She blushed, which could barely be seen in the dim lighting, but he always knew, anyway.
Grimmjow, leaned down to her ear, a few strands of his blue hair tickling her skin. "You scared, Hime?" He asked in a smooth voice.
"N-no." she stuttered. "Well, yes. What if something breaks out? We're all doomed." She said biting a finger.
"Che," He remarked at the absurdity of the idea. Wrapping another hand around her waist, he held her tightly. "S'not gonna happen, Hime."
"How can you be sure?"
"I'm sure." He said turning her around. "And anyway, this was your idea to come here. I'd rather be at home doing other things."
Inoue looked around them to make sure no one was watching them. "You can't say things like that in public." She chided, turning red.
"Eh?" Grimmjow laughed, pulled her forward against his body. "Just stating facts, Hime," He said. "There's nothing to be afraid of, you know."
Inoue nodded her head vigorously. "Yes there is. There are lion sharks, an piranhas, and eels, and poisonous things…" she went on, waving her hands around. "And, and more sharks, and-"
Her mini rant was cut off, when Grimmjow leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, holding her chin still, as he kissed her lightly, but with enough force to grab her attention. He pulled away and Inoue's hand rested on his shoulder. He looked at her seriously for a long moment.
"You forgetting what I told you already?" He asked, still holding her chin.
Inoue thought about what he was referring to, blushing again at the memory of words he'd told her when she'd felt at her worst and most alone:
"I'll look out for you then." He'd said gruffly. "Cause it's fucking obvious you can't do it yourself." He smirked. "So don't start crying and getting all weak and shit."
Grimmjow tugged her hair, and she looked up at him, tears streaming down her face, and he growled. "You've got your own personal fighter from hell. Nothing's gonna hurt you."
In the present, Inoue looked up deeply into his azure eyes; eyes that had always been able to see through facades, to her real feelings better than anyone, even her closet friend.
"I remember."
"Then why are you looking all pathetic?" He said frowning.
Inoue put a hand over his, and held it. "If you're always looking out for me, who's going to protect you?"His eyes registered surprise at her question but Inoue continued. "What if a day comes when you need someone to watch over you? Would you even let me?" She asked him honestly.
He was silent for some time before releasing her chin to grab her hand, pulling them forward.
"You're thinking too much, Hime." He said. "You don't need to worry about that kind of stuff, because it won't happen." He then glanced at her, smirking. "What you should worry about, is finding a good hiding place when we get home." He added, pulling them into the next aisle.
Inoue shook her head. "W-why? What are you going to do?"
"Take a wild guess," he replied, with a wicked grin.
As they caught up with the rest of the line, Inoue squeezed his hand when they saw an intimidating tiger shark swim past, and other deadly critters. She looked up Grimmjow discreetly, watching his laid back expression as they moved on, wondering if he knew that he still hadn't answered her question.
Rukia fumed as Ichigo held her hand tightly in the kitchen appliance store, while he spoke to a some old, middle aged lady, who though she knew everything.
She tried to pull out of his grip several times, but he would just give her a sweet look, and go back to talking to the woman.
Who the hell does he think he is? She yelled in her head.
"Alright, wonderful." The lady said. "We have a wide range of top of the line food processors, over in aisle 14. They come in different makes and models, and whatever color you like, to suit your home décor."
"Thank you." Ichigo said politely. He glanced at Rukia, then smirked. "That's just what we need."
"Not a problem at all," the woman said, looking back between them, and smiling widely. "Such a lovely couple. How long have you two been married?" She asked.
What. The. Hell.
Ichigo rubbed his neck, pretending to be embarrassed which ticked Rukia off even more. "Oh, just a few months, we got married in spring, so now we're furnishing up the house and stuff." He said, playing along.
Rukia was ready to strangle him. And that old lady…was she assuming that they were a couple?! A married couple at that? Rukia squeezed Ichigo's hand as hard as possible and saw him squint. Well, I think we'll be off to get that processor, now. Thanks for the help."
"You're very welcome, come to the front if you need any help." She said, before walking away, smiling at Rukia who gave a fake smile back.
When they were alone, Ichigo immediately let her hand go, and she kicked him in the back of the knee, making him curse and stumble.
"Damn it midget! You have to kick so hard?"
"Shut up, strawberry!" she said. "I can't believe you went along with that!"
Ichigo stood up slowly, blatantly laughing at her. "Didn't want to shatter her image of us, as a lovely couple." He said mockingly.
"Whatever, she replied, stalking off to aisle 14 with her purse and bag of underwear." Let's get your sister's stuff and go." She grumbled.
Ichigo followed behind her, "Yes, dear." He said chuckling.
"Don't make me have to kill you, Ichigo." she said.
He continued to laugh at her as she blushed, and went over to their destination.
Fifteen minutes later, they were arguing about which processor to get for Yuzu. Ichigo wanted the ZG-3000, it was good quality, and stainless steel, all black. "Sleek and does the job right," he told Rukia.
Rukia scoffed and held up an all white processor from the other side of the rack. She had to constantly jump up to see Ichigo's face between her height, and all the machines situated on both sides of the aisle. She held her choice up above her head, jumping on occasion to see Ichigo's stupid face laughing at her.
"Shut up, Strawberry. This one is way better."
"Why's that?" He asked amused.
"Because…" she jumped up. "It's prettier, and isn't so damn high tech, since it's the model before yours. Yuzu will be able to handle it easier without all the fuss, and…I chose it, so it's better."
Ichigo chuckled again, and went around the rack to Rukia, holding his choice. "Well, I'm sorry, wife." He said smugly. "But I'm her brother, and brother knows best, so I'm getting this one."
"What?" Rukia said shaking her fist. "Listen up, husband." she spat. "I'm telling you, your processor sucks, Yuzu will like this one much more." She stood up on her toes.
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Then call her and ask, unless you're afraid I'm right."
"Fine." Ichigo said, taking out his phone, and dialing a number. He waited for a second, before a voice came on from the other line.
"Yuzu, it's me…yes, I'm getting the processor…that's why I'm calling. I can't decide between two of them…well there's this one, the ZG-3000, which I think is be-what do you mean no?" Ichigo scowled. "You saw it in a catalogue already, and didn't like it…but it's the best one…"
"Tell her about mine, it's the SN-2000." Rukia said, loudly.
Ichigo glared at her, and scowled more into the phone when Yuzu replied, having heard Rukia's choice. "What…you can't be serious…what do you mean its perfect…fine whatever you say…should have told me this before…"
Rukia did a little victory dance, and grinned at Ichigo who mumbled, and set his choice back on the rack. Her ears perked when, he turned away, and continued to speak with his sister.
"Why do you want to know?….Maybe….okay, yes it is, so what…..Yuzu, I swear to god, if you tell dad….no we're not coming over for dinner…I don't know," he glanced back at Rukia and sighed, "Alright, some other time, jeez…yeah, yeah….you know how much this thing is, right…Yuzu? Yuzu?"
Ichigo grumbled, and stuffed his phone back in his pocket. "Come on midget." he said with a scowl.
"Oh Ichigo," Rukia said making kissy noises. "Don't be such a spoiled sport."
Ichigo glared, but then smirked as he took the processor from Rukia. "Sure thing, wife, now let's go and pay for that so we can put in our beautiful home that we share together." He said evilly, walking away.
Rukia stomped her foot on the smooth floor, and balled her fists. "You are going to die!" Ichigo covered his mouth to stifle his laughter. "Stupid Ichigo, thinks he so cool…"
Hisagi shifted on his feet, keeping his eyes on his opponent as they boxed in the gym. He didn't have any clients at the moment, so he'd been called over to spar with the gym owner,and his role model-for years.
"What are you grinning for, kid?" Kensei barked at him, throwing a left hook, which he dodged nicely. Hisagi stepped out of the way, and countered with a right jab, that missed, staying on his feet.
Hisagi shrugged, and, dodged again, holding his hands up to protect his face. "You wouldn't want to hear about it." He said with a grin.
Kensei grunted, and continued to circle him, much more focused on the spar, then he. "Is it about this woman Mashiro keeps blabbing about?"
"Maybe." He replied, still grinning, and looking for an opening to land at least one punch on the man.
Kensei snorted and threw a series of quick jabs, causing Hisagi to jump around a lot, and the last one almost got him. Hisagi stumbled back a bit, but didn't give up. He moved in and made a nice left hook, that came fairly close to Kensei's body, but of course, the man was too good to take a punch like that from his pupil.
"What's this girl like, anyway?" He asked, rotating his shoulder to get the kinks out. "Not that I care." He added, trying to sound as coolly uncaring as possible.
Hisagi grinned again. "She's feisty for one thing." Kensei snorted again. "She's really independent and doesn't like opening up to me that much, but she's starting to."
He dodged another punch. "And…she's talented, beautiful. She has these amazing eyes, they're golden. And her hair's dark, looks violet kind of, and she has the most beautiful smile I've ever seen in my-"
"-Very short life." Kensei growled, as he knocked Hisagi out, who wasn't paying attention to any of his movements as he talked. Hisagi laid out of the floor of the ring for a minute, before slowly sitting up. He squinted an eye shut, and held his bleeding nose. He groaned, but when he looked up at Kensei's frowning face, he burst out grinning again.
The older man scowled in disapproval. "You're supposed to be in pain damn it, stop smiling!"
Hisagi got to his feet, a little wobbly. "Can't help it, I guess."
"Keeeenseiii." A shrill voice called out from across the gym, where a group of worn out looking women were exiting an aerobics class.
Mashiro pouted when Kensei ignored her. "Keeeensei!" She called again. Hisagi laughed, but then cringed when his nose throbbed.
"What, woman!" Kensei shouted.
"Stop beating up him up, you meanie. Shuuhei can't looked all bruised up. He has a girlfriend, you know."
Kensei's head snapped over. "She's your girlfriend?" He asked.
"Uh, yeah. Duh." Hisagi replied.
Kensei growled again and stepped under a rope of the ring. "Well…I'm not happy about it." He said awkwardly.
Hisagi grinned, knowing he didn't really mean it. "I really like her." He said simply.
His mentor turned back and raised an eyebrow, frowning. "Clearly, to get the shit knocked out of you, and still grin like that after talking about her for half a minute." Kensei shook his head then, and jerked his head over to the bathroom. "Clean you face, kid." He threw over his towel. "And, uh, this girl what's her name, again?
"Senna." Hisagi replied.
"Senna." Kensei repeated the name to himself. "Yeah, well if I see her, don't expect to be nice." He said.
"I wouldn't." Hisagi chuckled.
The other man nodded and saluted Hisagi sharply. "Then get your ass cleaned up. You look pathetic."
Hisagi grinned again, long used to Kensei's way of affection, and took off to the bathroom to fix his bloody nose. After all, he couldn't meet Senna later with blood all over his face.
The two of them sat at a small round table, a green umbrella covering it, outside of the Smoothie Shack, in the waning heat of the evening. Rukia tucked some of her hair behind an ear, and wiped her forehead of the beads of sweat. The day had been hot in comparison to yesterday.
She kept her eyes on her mango drink, hands set on her very bare legs, courtesy of her shorts, and sipped her smoothie, glancing up at Ichigo on occasion, only to see him watching her every time.
After a few minutes of this, she gave up, and stopped drinking. Rukia's hands set on the table, and she looked at Ichigo cautiously, violet eyes specked with the rays from the sun. Ichigo was sitting back in his chair, his drink untouched-and they'd gotten here twenty minutes ago-one arm was draped over the side of his chair, and the other propped his head up, his long legs stretched out underneath the table.
Did she say how he good he looked already? Well she'd say it again. The man was candy to the eye, even in his usual work get up. A short sleeved white shirt, showing his sculpted arms, the top buttons undone, and a simple pair of jeans. Today they were light blue, and Rukia felt her mouth water as she looked at him.
A low chuckle escaped his lips and he sat up to the table, bringing a hand over to take one of hers firmly.
"I'm gonna take a big risk to my poor knees and ask what you're thinking about so damn hard," Ichigo said, one eyebrow quirked.
Rukia bit her lip, Ichigo following the action, and put her free hand around her cold drink. "Just…stuff." She said lamely before pushing on. "Ichigo, about last night, I…"
"Wanted more?" He interrupted. "My thoughts exactl.,"
Rukia huffed. "I wasn't going to say that."
"But did you?"
"That doesn't matter."
"It does to me."
"Why? Is your ego dying to know."
"Partly. But mainly because if you do want more, that means your attracted to me as I am to you."
Rukia blushed deeper and shrugged. "And?"
"And…" he scoot his chair up. "It means that we should continue."
"Continue what?" She said, looking at hum suspiciously. "That's not going to happen again."
"Why not?" He asked, face serious.
"Because. We can't do that kind of thing." Rukia insisted.
Ichigo scoot his chair next to hers and she glared at him. He ignored it, leaning his face close to hers.
He began easing his other hand down from her thigh to her knees, making her shiver. The strand of hair always in her face brushed his nose, that's how close he was to her.
"It sounds to me," he began in a rough tenor. "That you're tying to convince yourself that we shouldn't."
"I'm already convinced." Rukia said turning away only to give her him her neck.
He kissed her softly, bringing his hands back up to her thigh. "W-what are you doing?" Rukia snapped.
Ichigo sighed, a determined look on his face. "How about this, then. We go out as a couple, no getting out of it on your part, and I'll try no to jump you. No promises, though." Ichigo offered, smirking.
"You wont give up will you?"
"Not anytime soon."
After a moment of thinking about it, Rukia deflated. How much did she have to lose anyway. Why torture herself further? "Um..."
Ichigo turned her chin up to him. "What's that?" He said, dangerously close to her lips.
"I said, fine." Rukia replied louder this time, blushing.
Ichigo folded his hands in his lap, a sight scowl on his face. "Are you always going to be like this?"
"Am I upsetting you?" She asked venomously.
"I'm just trying to get you to loosen up." Ichigo said without raising his voice. "You don't need to be so stiff around me. I would think after you'd had some time to relax that you'd feel easier about being around me," he finished, looking at her with intensity.
Rukia said nothing. She picked up her bag, and smoothie. "If anything, after what we…did..."
"And what did I do to you, Rukia?" Ichigo asked, scowling. "Tell me."
Rukia gripped her drink. "You…ah…" she was completely flushed now, unable to put into words what happened between them.
"Why can't you say it?" He asked. "Are you embarrassed? You don't have to be. There's no shame in those things, Rukia. All you have to do is admit that you like it." He paused. "Say it."
"N-no." Rukia said.
Ichigo gently pulled her down back into her seat, and brought the chair close to him as he could. He turned her face to his, the scowl on his face dissolving as he touched her lips with a finger.
"It's better if you can say it out loud Rukia."
"I refuse."
He brushed his lips against hers, as she clutched her bag to her chest so she'd have something to hold onto.
"All you have to do." He said lowly. "Is say," he continued kissing her. "That I made you come," he kissed her again. "And that you liked it." He pulled away, and looked tenderly at her blushing face, serious with his words. "Say it, Rukia."
Her lips trembled, and she fought inwardly to say it. But she figured he wouldn't let her go until she did…and maybe she really did need to say it, and stop denying it.
"Y-you…" Rukia began, looking at her legs. God, this was embarrassing. "You made me…" she struggled to say the next part. "C-come…and I…I liked it." She finished, turning very red.
She couldn't believe she just said something like that in public, even more surprised because he'd managed to get her to say it all. "Happy now." She asked, nastily.
Ichigo chuckled, and brought her face up. He kissed her lips hard, and then went to her ear. "That wasn't so hard, was it?" She huffed in reply. He laughed and brushed his nose along her cheekbone. "Mm, I should torture you like this more often."
Rukia rolled her eyes. "If you think you can, haughty idiot." She said pulling out her phone.
"I know that I can." Ichigo replied confidently.
She rolled her eyes at his comment, and texted Senna her location so they could pick her up. When she glanced back at Ichigo, he was looking at her deviously. "What now?" She snapped.
"Are you gonna show me what's in the bag?" He asked, smirking.
"So you can have dirty fantasies? I don't think so."
"Already had those. He replied smugly. "I'm just curious to see what you got."
"Pervert."
"I call it masculine curiosity."
Rukia glared, but then decided to mess with his head a little. She reached into the bag, and pulled out the really thin lacy panties the Hisana had bestowed upon her. His gaze followed her hands as she brought the underwear out of the bag slowly, and stretched them out with both index fingers
"That's…tiny." He said looking at the fabric.
"Yes, but they stretch, so everything fits in there nice and snug." Rukia twirled them around. "But they're so easy to rip." She said as if she were sad. "Too bad that's not gonna happen." She added, shooting the panties to Ichigo's chest.
He picked them up, and dangled them from a finger. "You planning on wearing this?" He said, gaze hot.
"Maybe, but I'll make sure it's on a day that I don't see you." She said with a smile. Ichigo scowled, and she laughed.
Rukia turned around when she heard the honk of a horn, and saw the limo that drove members of the Kuchiki household around.
Hisana's face poked out of a window and she waved. Rukia stood up then, grabbing her smoothie, and held her bag out. Ichigo held the underwear out of her reach, and he wasn't going to put them back in the bag.
"I won't give them back unless you wear them for me."
"Hmph. You're not going to see them anyway, what's the point?" she said, leaning in.
His face lifted further to almost touch her lips. "I'd like to see you in them, but it'll be enough if you tell me that you have them on." He said huskily, his lips coming to hers all the way. Rukia heard hooting from far away, but she focused on the taste of his lips on hers. Once again, Ichigo pulled away first, his eyes clouded as he took the panties, and stuffed them partway into her top.
She looked down at her shirt and raised an eyebrow. Ichigo frowned and gripped his hands on the arms of the chair. "You should go now. Unless you want to come home with me." He said.
Rukia stayed where she was though, moving her knee against his thigh as she leaned down to his ear, biting faintly on the lobe.
"Goodbye, Ichigo." She said as calmly as she could. His hands lifted off the chair to catch her waist, but Rukia had already jumped out of the way and took off.
As she approached the limo, Senna's smug face held the door open from the inside and Rukia nodded to herself in approval.
That round so went to her.
