Not to be used loosely
Chapter 20
A/N: I do not own Bleach and its characters. Happy birthday, Rukia!
"Hey..." Ichigo nudged the short shinigami by his side as they were walking back from school.
The girl hummed absentmindedly in reply while she texted her weekly report on her denreishinki to Ukitake-taichou.
Before he could continue what he wanted to say, the two of them were ambushed by their brown-haired classmate who fell on his knees, grasped Rukia's hand, and started kissing the back of it.
"Kuchiki-san!" Asano Keigo exclaimed.
Surprised by his sudden appearance, Rukia lost her grip on the denreishinki, causing it to slip out of her hand. The device was, however, saved by Ichigo's quick reflex as he grabbed it before it landed on the hard concrete sidewalk beneath them.
"Y-yes, Asano-kun?" Rukia stammered after recovering from her shock.
Keigo stood back up with a goofy grin. "May I take you out for dinner tonight?"
Ichigo rolled his eyes in annoyance while checking Rukia's report on the denreishinki. The cursor was still blinking where she had stopped typing before she was interrupted. She was not done yet. He silently pushed the device into her backpack.
"Err..." the girl began, unsure of what to say. Realising that Keigo still had a hold of her hand, she gently tried to pull away from him.
The insistent boy tightened his grip on the shinigami and said, "It's your birthday, right? Let me treat you to that new restaurant in town."
"Oh!" Rukia hid her schoolgirl smile delicately behind the tip of her fingers, to which her orange-haired friend again, rolled his eyes. "Thank you for your invitation, Asano-kun. But I've already got other plans."
At that, Keigo began to weep. "Oh, what a shame! I've been planning this romantic date for a long time. Please tell me you would reschedule your plans for me instead."
Tired of his perverted friend's antics, Ichigo slammed the sole of his black shoe on Keigo's face. "You heard her. She said no. Now, get the hell out of here!" he growled, as he stepped over his friend's body to continue his walk home.
"I'm sorry, Asano-kun. Thanks again for the thought," Rukia said, taking a quick bow before catching up with Ichigo's long strides.
They decided to ignore Keigo's wailing behind them about how his cruel 'best friend' only wanted the goddess to himself.
Just as they were turning into a street corner, they ran into a bubbly big-busted girl with her orange hair flailing behind her as she skipped towards them. "Kuchiki-san!" she exclaimed, waving her hand in their direction.
"Hello, Inoue," Rukia greeted back with a smile.
Having noticed that Ichigo was there, Inoue joined her hands nervously in front of her as she stuttered, "Kurosaki-kun."
Ichigo grunted and averted his gaze from her. It was still kind of awkward between them after Inoue had confessed to him a month ago.
Sensing the tension, Rukia decided to speak up. "Are you shopping around here, Inoue?"
The taller girl's mood immediately changed back to her jolly self. "Yes, Kuchiki-san! And I was also looking for you," she replied.
"Looking for me?"
Inoue nodded vigorously. Rukia was worried her head would come tumbling off her neck but the girl lifted up her transparent shopping bag and shoved it about an inch from Rukia's face to show her the contents. "I would like to invite you to my house for dinner tonight. I know it's your birthday and I'm cooking my specialty. Also, I'll be making a birthday cake for you. Can you guess what cake it is?" she asked excitedly.
Ichigo turned away, preparing to hide his gag. He didn't need to guess what it was going to be. Anything from Inoue's hell kitchen was definitely not worth knowing about.
Rukia shook her head with an anxious smile.
Inoue giggled as she dropped the bag to her side. "Why, red bean paste cake, of course! I'm also going to include a bit of unagi, some Thai chilli sauce, a bit of turmeric..." she rattled on, totally oblivious to how the birthday girl's face was starting to turn green.
"Sorry, Inoue," Ichigo said, his hands gripping Rukia's shoulders to steer her to move along. "Rukia has other plans tonight. Maybe next time?"
"T-that's too bad, Kurosaki-kun. But i-it's okay. Happy birthday, Kuchiki-san!" Inoue bowed again as she watched them walk away.
It took Rukia about twenty steps – and probably ten for Ichigo – before she finally felt her throat open up and she was ready to talk again. "That was..."
"Nauseatingly disgusting, I know. You're welcome, Midget," Ichigo mumbled, earning him an elbow in the gut. "What the hell, Rukia!"
"That was so rude of you, Berry!" Rukia snapped, her hands planted firmly on her tiny hips.
"How was that rude? I was saving you from food poisoning, and possibly even a second death," Ichigo muttered, nursing the sore spot on his abs.
Rukia sighed. "Yeah, well, you could've given me the chance to decline gently."
The shinigami daiko scoffed. "Like next year? You were completely impaired of your ability to talk, Midget," he teased, just in time to dodge her attempt at his shin.
"Whatever," the petite god mumbled as she rolled her eyes. Digging into the back pocket of her skinny jeans, she fished out her phone that was vibrating against her.
From: Kojima Mizuiro
Hey, Kuchiki-san. I was just wondering if you would be available tonight...
Rukia hummed as she stared at the screen of her phone. The male next to her glanced curiously at her but didn't bother to take a glimpse at what was on the screen. Whatever got to that phone was solely her business. They both only shared the denreishinki.
To: Kojima Mizuiro
I do have something planned already, Kojima-kun. Anything I can help you with?
Rukia typed before flicking the switch on the side of the phone to turn it off silent mode. After waiting for his reply for a bit, she shoved the phone back into her pocket as they walked in comfortable silence to the Kurosaki clinic – the place she affectionately called her home in the World of the Living.
Just as they were entering Ichigo's room, they heard a beep signalling that another message had come through.
"Who's that?" he asked, unable to hold his curiosity any longer.
From: Kojima Mizuiro
Oh... I was hoping I could take you out on a birthday date tonight.
Mizuiro sure isn't going to beat around the bush... she thought.
Ever since he had found out Rukia's real age after she had helped return Ichigo's power to him, the well-esteemed playboy had been turning on his best charms to try to get her to go out with him.
With a sigh, she typed her reply to him, ignoring for the moment the fact that Ichigo was waiting for her answer.
To: Kojima Mizuiro
Sorry, Kojima-kun. Some other time, maybe?
"Ru..."
"It's Kojima-kun," she snickered.
Her shinigami partner who was settled on his bed scowled. "He doesn't seem to get it, does he?"
"Get what?"
"That you're not interested in him," Ichigo replied, his brows narrowed under his golden bangs.
Rukia shrugged. "Who says I'm not interested? It's just his bad timing all the time. I might consider going out with him someday."
Ichigo scoffed again before lying down on the mattress with his arms folded behind his head. "Right..."
The girl smirked and climbed into her – his – closet. It was nearly 6.30 pm. Dinner at the Kurosaki's usually began at 7.00 pm. They might as well rest a little before Yuzu came up to call for them.
Fifteen minutes later, right about the time when Rukia's eyelids were feeling a bit heavy after she finally completed and sent her report to Ukitake-taichou, she heard Ichigo calling her from the bed. His voice was quite faint but she managed to hear his question through the two-inch slit of the closet door.
"What did you have planned for tonight?" he asked.
Her eyes opened up to stare at the ceiling of her tiny 'room'. "I thought I'd just have dinner here with your dad and the girls. Yuzu told me this morning that she would be preparing my favourite dishes. Not sure what those are. I love everything she cooks," Rukia giggled.
Ichigo felt the corner of his lips tilted up a bit. Ever since he got his power back, ever since he got back the life he missed so much after those empty 17 months, ever since Rukia came back into his world again, he had started to have this sense of fulfillment in his life. He wouldn't tell her, though. Not yet, anyway.
There were nights when he would stare at her sleeping form in the closet, wondering if that was just her gigai lying down on the layers of futon. There were times when he would hover a finger close to her nose just to make sure that she was breathing. He found it hard to believe that she was finally back in his life, kicking his shin and slapping him upside the head to keep him in line. He truly thought he would never see her again.
It had always been the lull of her warm reiatsu and her soft snoring that helped him sleep better at night. Even though she had crashed into his life uninvited and turned it upside down, Ichigo had come to see her as the constant presence that kept him grounded.
He loved it that she could adjust so easily to his world despite the fact that she came from a noble family where everything was done and prepared for her by her servants. He loved it that she could simply kick off her shoes and be herself around him instead of pretending to be a stick up the ass rich kid like her primed and proper brother despite all her training to be one. He loved it that she was always so comfortable and at home with his family even though they were a whole bunch of weirdoes. Most of all, he loved it that she would still come back to him and his tiny little closet even when she knew she had other options now that she had made more friends.
Someday, he just might tell her all these things. But today, he was just grateful for her presence here with him and he didn't want to ruin the moment by being all sappy and shit.
"You want to catch a late night show after dinner at the cinema?" he asked, surprising even himself.
There was a moment of silence. Rukia found herself smiling at his offer but he wasn't aware of that. He didn't need to know about it.
"Sure…"
Ichigo grinned at the ceiling of his bedroom upon hearing her reply. "Happy birthday, Shinigami…"
He never planned to take her to the movies. And she never expected him to do something like that either. But she decided that she loved how her birthday was going so far.
I'm sorry this birthday chapter came in a few days late. I was so busy with so many things that I just couldn't write past the first couple of paragraphs. This is a flashback, as you can see, of Rukia's birthday not too long after the Fullbring Arc.