A/N-I want to thank each and every person who made my story one of their favorites or who reviewed the story. I'm so excited that it is well liked, and it means a lot to me that people are telling me it's their favorite fic. The story still has quite a ways to go, so please enjoy it all, even the suspense...here's chapter 20 without further delay! (as always bleach belongs to Kubo Tite!)
Theresa Crane
Chapter 20
Aftermath
When Rukia and Ichigo wake up in each other's arms, they both blush furiously. Isshin barges in the room and his mouth drops open when he sees that Rukia spent the night last night in their house. The teenagers quickly sit up to stare at Isshin.
"Ichigo!" Isshin starts to yell but Rukia stops him.
"My house was broken into last night, and that's why I stayed the night here." Rukia tells him. Isshin's mouth drops open.
"Your house was broken into?" He asks with wide eyes.
"Yeah. We were working on our homework late last night when we both dozed off while working. Rukia woke up around one in the morning and noticed shadows walking through her room. I went next door and Shoko-san had been tied up. When I went to confront the criminals, I overheard what they had planned for Rukia, only they didn't find her there. They're in police custody now." Ichigo explains quickly and quietly.
Isshin's mouth opens and closes like a fish for a moment.
"Is Shoko alright?" Isshin asks quickly. Ichigo nods.
"I'm going to change, and then I'll walk Rukia over to her house so she can change into a fresh uniform too." Ichigo informs his father. Isshin just nods his head silently. He leaves the room.
Isshin thinks it's far too coincidental that this girl has just been hunted down for a second time in her life. The odds of it happening once are low enough, but twice? He wonders what Byakuya has to say about all of this.
Isshin walks out the door to contemplate the situation.
Ichigo hurries and changes, right in front of Rukia, her face is red the entire time as she watches him. When Ichigo finishes getting dressed, he glances at Rukia and blushes as he realizes her eyes didn't leave him the entire time.
"You still need to shower right? Lets hurry to your house," Ichigo says as he quickly gathers his homework together. Rukia follows suit and she hurries behind him.
"Yeah, I can be quick though. I wouldn't have minded joining you last night when you jumped in though," Rukia tells him, and Ichigo realizes she heard him showering before he came back to the bedroom to lay down with her.
"Can you imagine what my dad would say if he caught us doing that?" Ichigo asks with a shudder. Rukia giggles.
"No!" She whispers. They hurry over to her house and let themselves in. In the day it's far easier to see how much the men had messed things up last night. Rukia is really upset when she sees the condition of her bedroom.
"I'm sorry, Rukia." Ichigo says from the doorway as he watches her enter and look around in a panic. She sees her videos and Ichigo's recent pictures scattered by the door, and it looks like the room has been completely ransacked.
"They touched everything!" Rukia says with a gag. "All of my stuff, they put their filthy hands all over it!" Rukia says angrily. "It gives me the creeps." Rukia admits in a broken voice.
"It's going to be okay because they didn't lay one dirty finger on you. Everything here can be cleaned, sanitized, disinfected, but they didn't touch a hair on your head." Ichigo says in a comforting whisper as he steps through the doorway to give her a big hug.
"Thanks, Ichigo. I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have you. I probably wouldn't be here now if it weren't for you." Rukia says shakily.
"I wouldn't have it any other way." Ichigo says reassuringly. "Go ahead and get ready quickly. Try not to think about what they did touch, and be glad for what they didn't touch." Ichigo says meaningfully. Rukia's reminded of the virgin that the men had been bragging about raping while in Ichigo's hearing distance.
He's right. It could have been a whole hell of a lot worse. She can't even begin to imagine what it would be like to be totally scared and have four men degrading you like that, having your virginity stolen like that, and to know they had liked doing it so much that they had planned a repeat for last night was enough to make her stomach turn.
Rukia quickly locates another clean uniform in the back of her closet and hurries into the shower. She can't help but be grateful that Ichigo is so strong and protective. She's not going to deal with any of this all by herself. They'll confront the future together. She smiles at that thought, she feels like she can confront any situation as long as she has him by her side. She doesn't ever think there will be a situation that they can't take care of if they confront it together.
J J J J
As Rukia and Ichigo are leaving her house to go to school, Tatsuki happens to be waiting out front. She looks up at them in surprise before asking the question that's been on her mind.
"What happened last night? I saw the police were here." Tatsuki looks back and forth between them as she waits for an answer. Rukia looks at her and says softly.
"My home was broken into by some men and Oba-chan got attacked." Rukia says, referring to Shoko. She prefers to let Tatsuki think Shoko is a relative than a servant.
"Is everyone okay?" Tatsuki asks, worried.
"Yeah, she's okay now. Thankfully the police have the men in custody who broke in." Rukia explains with a breath of relief. Tatsuki feels the relief too.
"Nothing like that has ever happened in this neighborhood before, I wonder why they broke into your house?" Tatsuki asks with wide eyes.
"I don't know, but I told her I'd keep walking her to and from school." Ichigo tells Tatsuki, and she nods her agreement.
"If ever you're worried or scared, you can call me and I'll come hang out too," Tatsuki offers in a friendly voice. Rukia looks at her in surprise.
"How nice of you, thanks." Rukia responds to the very kind offer.
"I mean it, let me give you my number." Tatsuki says as she fishes a pen and paper from her bag.
Rukia and Ichigo watch as Tatsuki write her phone number down and hands it to Rukia.
"Thanks, again." Rukia says as she accepts the paper. She carefully tucks it into a pocket in her bag and the three start to head to school together. Partway there, Tatsuki stops.
"I'm supposed to meet Orihime here, I'll see you in class." Tatsuki says apologetically. The couple nod and Rukia waves bye as they continue on.
"That was really nice of her." Rukia tells Ichigo who nods his head in agreement.
"Tatsuki's a good friend to have. She used to help me when I was younger and getting picked on by multiple kids. The truth is, she was superior to me in karate up until we hit eleven or so." Ichigo admits. Rukia looks up at him in surprise.
"She's really good, huh?" She asks him. Ichigo nods his head yes.
"She's a really talented martial artist. She's as tough as a guy. I think you two will get along great," Ichigo says, giving her a smile.
"You could be right about that." Rukia says, smiling back. They turn a corner and Ichigo touches her arm gently.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Ichigo asks, wondering just how traumatic the night before actually was for her. Rukia gives him a reassuring grin.
"Thanks to you, I'm alright. It seems like you're always saving me when I'm in any kind of trouble." Rukia tells him in a happy voice.
"Damn straight." Ichigo replies in a firm voice. "I wouldn't want it any other way." Ichigo tells her in a heartfelt voice.
"It's one of the reasons I love you so much." Rukia tells him.
When they finally reach the classroom, several students look in Rukia's direction. Ichigo wonders if the attack on her house was in the newspaper. He forgot to check this morning, nor did he listen to the morning news. Keigo bounds over to them.
"Kuchiki-san! Are you okay?" He asks worriedly. Rukia gives him a confused look.
"Yes, why wouldn't I be?" She asks him.
"I heard on the news this morning that four men were arrested for breaking into your house. They said the occupants of the house were okay, and only shaken up. I was worried about you!" Keigo says, and Mizuiro nods his head. Ichigo and Rukia look back at both of them with a bit of surprise on their faces.
"We were all worried." Mizuiro says honestly.
"Wow, I didn't realize it had made the news," Rukia says in a sheepish voice. "I'm perfectly alright, I wasn't harmed at all. The police arrived before the men could do anything other than damage some things in the house." Rukia assures them.
"They mentioned that your teenage neighbor next door was the one who alerted the police." Mizuiro says, looking at Ichigo.
"Yes, I'm very grateful Kurosaki-kun woke up and noticed the disturbance." Rukia says slowly, wondering what else the morning broadcast had said about last night's incident.
"As long as you're alright," Keigo chirps, as he notices a threatening glare coming from Ichigo.
Inoue and Tatsuki walk into class and Inoue glances in their direction before joining the group. She looks at Rukia before speaking.
"I heard you had to deal with a scary situation last night, I'm so glad you're okay." Inoue says softly. Rukia smiles at her gratefully.
"Thanks." Rukia tells her .
"It's a miracle nobody got hurt." Inoue says softly.
"The thugs didn't leave the situation unhurt," Rukia says with a grin. Everyone looks at her, but the teacher walks into class and so everyone rushes to their respective seats.
The morning passes by quickly and when it's time for lunch, everyone wants the details on what happened at Rukia's house last night. Rukia doesn't seem too eager to give the details either, since she doesn't know what the news did or did not reveal about the circumstances last night.
"I saw it on the news," Chizuru says as she sits down with them. "Kuchiki, they say Kurosaki came in and got the occupants out of the house and took them to his house before he went into your house and called the police." Chizuru says as she opens her lunch bag.
"You beat the living tar out of them didn't you?" Tatsuki asks in an accusing voice at Ichigo. Rukia blushes a little bit. She hadn't expected to be the center of attention first thing in the morning over last night's events.
"It's very true, if he hadn't come to the door when he did, I don't know how it would have ended up." Rukia says softly.
"What a scary story." Inoue says in response to all that.
"Do you know who they were?" Chizuru asks Rukia.
"No. I'm sure the police will handle everything though," Rukia says confidently.
"What did you do to them?" Tatsuki asks Ichigo. He glares at her for a second before answering her.
"I made it so they wouldn't be able to escape when the police came to arrest them, that's all." Ichigo tells her.
"You went in and confronted four people by yourself? You're crazy!" Tatsuki tells him with a shake of her head.
"You would have done the same thing," Ichigo says with a scoff.
"It's a bad habit you have, confronting groups of people by yourself. You should be more careful." Tatsuki says in a low voice.
"Shut up." Ichigo says with another glare. Rukia looks back and forth between them.
"You do this kind of thing often, I take it?" Rukia asks with a tiny grin. Of course she already knows the answer, but she waits for it anyways.
"Only when the situation calls for it," Ichigo replies as he fights the urge to grin at her.
"He's fearless." Tatsuki says with a laugh.
"That's good though, otherwise things may have gone differently last night," Rukia says giving Ichigo a quick look of gratitude. Everyone notices the way Rukia's eyes soften as she talks to him.
"How did you know people had broken in?" Inoue asks, and Ichigo turns red and so Rukia answers for him.
"I woke up and heard them breaking in. I slipped out of my room, and when they came upstairs, I slipped downstairs and out the house. I woke Kurosaki-kun up when I pounded on the door. When he opened his door, I knew our nightmare was over!" Rukia says with a grin. Everyone looks back at Kurosaki for his input.
"They ransacked the entire upstairs. I think they were searching for valuables." Ichigo says in a gruff voice. No way he's going to repeat the guys nasty words to all of his classmates. It was one thing to tell Rukia, since their plans had been for her, but he wasn't about to tell everyone what their true intentions had been.
"Wow, you sure did think quickly on your feet," Tatsuki says in an impressed voice.
"I'm just lucky Kurosaki-kun woke up when I knocked." Rukia tells them. A few of the girls nod. Everyone quiets down when Noriko saunters over to Keigo.
"I need to talk to you in private," she tells him against her better judgment, considering what happened the day before. When she sees his eyes light up she realizes maybe she shouldn't take him somewhere secluded, just out of hearing range of the others.
Ichigo rolls his eyes as they all watch Noriko attempt to drag Keigo only far enough away to talk to only him, and Keigo grabs her hand and keeps on dragging her away so that they can actually be in private. Noriko is clearly not excited about Keigo's actions, but that doesn't stop Keigo. They all hear it clearly when he stops and yells at her.
"You're the one who said you needed to be in private, so shut up!" Keigo's voice carries. Noriko turns red and allows Keigo to drag her off into a completely private area.
"Want to spy on them?" Mizuiro asks Ichigo who cringes visibly.
"No thanks." Ichigo tells him looking disgusted.
"I'll go." Chizuru says with a grin, and Mizuiro nods his head yes as they both quietly hurry in the direction of Noriko and Keigo.
"This should be interesting." Rukia says to Ichigo, who rolls his eyes.
"You have no idea." He tells her, and she winks at him.
"Oh yes I do. I don't have to know Keigo to know that this will be a priceless moment. We should go too." Rukia says with a smile. Ichigo starts shaking his head no.
"I really don't want to see anything though." Ichigo protests. Rukia considers.
"Don't you think it will be funny?" She asks him. Ichigo shakes his head no.
"I think it will be pathetic." He answers.
"You could be right." Rukia says. Everyone waits as Mizuiro and Chizuru disappear from their sight.
"I wonder what will happen next," Tatsuki says to Inoue.
"Chizuru-san will tell us." Inoue assures her.
Everyone silences and looks in interest when they hear a girl screaming.
Mizuiro and Chizuru come sprinting into sight a minute later, red faced. They take their seats and wait.
"So, what happened?" Tatsuki asks Chizuru.
"Lets just say Keigo was successfully convincing Noriko that she needed to be without her clothes for their discussion, since he was already out of his own." Chizuru says in a tight voice.
"He didn't lie." Mizuiro adds to Ichigo. "They noticed us as they were um, you know, starting." Mizuiro says with a blush.
"Who screamed?" Rukia asks with a laugh. She thinks she already knows the answer to that though.
"Noriko. Keigo just smiled," Chizuru says as she rubs her arms from getting goose bumps from the creeps. Tatsuki acts like she wants to gag, and Inoue looks shocked. Sado has no reaction.
"You were right," Rukia tells Ichigo. He nods.
"Told you." He says in a knowing voice.
"Yes you did," Rukia agrees with a smile.
"I can't believe you actually saw that," Ichigo shakes his head at Mizuiro. "You really should know better." Ichigo tells him and Mizuiro laughs. Ichigo can't stop shaking his head at Mizuiro though.
"Keigo had the stupidest smile on his face, so it was worth it," Mizuiro says with a laugh. "Noriko was mortified when she looked up and saw Chizuru and I just standing there." Mizuiro adds, earning a few giggles among the group.
"Ugh, I can't believe he actually slept with Itou, gross!" Tatsuki says with an audible gag in her throat.
"I can't believe they did it outside!" Inoue whispers to Tatsuki.
"At least the rumors aren't on us right now," Ichigo mutters and Rukia grins.
"It didn't bother me when they were." Rukia tells him with a sideways look.
"Lunch is almost over. I'll walk you home, after class." Ichigo tells her, earning a nod of agreement from Rukia. Rukia and Ichigo stand before the warning bell rings and start to head back to class at a slow pace. Everyone glances in their direction and then shrugs as they wait for Keigo to reappear with Noriko.
J J J J
Rukia and Ichigo are walking home when Byakuya calls Rukia on her cell phone. He tells Rukia he wants her to come to his home tomorrow after school until Sunday evening. He tells her that it will be safer while new security measures are added to the house in Karakura Town. Rukia sighs and agrees reluctantly.
Ichigo had heard the entire conversation, and even though he doesn't want Rukia to go, he understands why Byakuya is doing it, and he also knows he needs to stay near Rukia's true home and his family to keep an eye on things.
"I was looking forward to our weekend together though," Rukia says in a disappointed voice.
"There will be other weekends. Your brother is right about you needing to be safe while new security measures are added to the house." Ichigo says as he shudders at the memory of Shoko all tied up.
"I know you're right, but I'm still disappointed." Rukia tells him in a soft voice.
"Why don't you just come over tonight then? We'll work on our homework together, eat dinner together, and then we can make out." Ichigo tells her with a sideways grin. Rukia smiles back.
"It would sound like a dream if we didn't have homework in that sentence," Rukia says with a sigh.
"You're right, homework sucks. It shouldn't even exist. We'll go through it quickly though, and then I'll hold you in my arms and kiss you until you have to go home. Do you think they were able to get your room in order today?" Ichigo asks her.
"We should check before we go to your house." Rukia tells him, and Ichigo nods.
Rukia's room is nearly completed and she's assured it will be the same as before by the time she gets home from Ichigo's house tonight. Both Rukia and Ichigo are surprised to find a body guard in the house.
"I'm only here for the evening, and then I'll accompany you to your brother's house tomorrow after school." The man informs her. "My name is Ikkaku." He adds. "Don't worry, you'll be able to sleep safe tonight." He tells her with a cocky grin.
Rukia and Ichigo had quickly left and gone to his house to work on their homework. They only half heartedly worked at it though so that they would finish more quickly. Neither worked as thoroughly on their homework as what they normally would. They finished just before dinner would be starting and so they head downstairs together.
Rukia tells his family that she'll be out of town for the weekend while a new security system is installed, and Isshin nods sympathetically.
"What about tonight?" Karin asks Rukia who blushes.
"There's a bodyguard over there now." Rukia tells her.
"Really? That's cool." Karin says with a nod of her head.
"No, it's scary!" Yuzu says wide eyed.
"You'll be back Sunday evening though, right?" Isshin asks her. Rukia nods.
"That's good, that means it's really only one full day the two of you will spend apart." Yuzu says, being positive.
"I still wish it didn't have to be like this," Rukia says with sadness evident in her voice. "I planned to have you girls go through a box of clothes to pick out stuff you want. Maybe we can do that next weekend." Rukia tells them.
"I'll get all my homework done on Saturday so that we can hang out when you get back on Sunday," Ichigo tells her with a grin. Rukia nods.
"I'll do the same." She smiles as she thinks maybe Sunday will come sooner than she had at first believed.
"That's the spirit," Isshin says with a smile. Ichigo and Rukia grin at each other. His father has always been a goofball.
They finish dinner and hurry upstairs. They make out and they go much further than they ever have before.
They start out just kissing, but they slowly lose all clothing except for their underwear, at first. Ichigo kisses her stomach, her nipples, her neck, and then her ears before he whispers in her ear how beautiful she is, and that she tastes intoxicating.
Rukia had shivered at the air touching her body and at the heat from his tongue warming her wherever he explored her body with it. They touch each other frantically in uninhibited abandonment as they get lost in the wondrous feeling of being in each other's arms. Ichigo slips a hand under her rabbit themed panties and he starts to rub her in her most sensitive place, causing sensual moans to come from her barely parted lips.
Ichigo had watched her face as he'd touched her and he'd felt like he was on top of the world at the way she responded so wildly to just his touch. When he feels a rush of moisture on his fingers, he slips her panties completely off, causing Rukia's eyes to open all the way up. She opens her eyes even wider when he replaces his fingers with his tongue. He reaches up to slap his hand over her mouth when she shrieks at the intimate touch of his tongue on her like that.
He keeps his hand on her mouth as he slowly moves his tongue up and down and all around her most sensitive and private areas. He lets out a pleased moan as he gets more and more into it. Rukia is taking ragged breaths and she's squirming all around at the feelings his intimate touch is invoking and she jumps in surprise when he uses a finger to enter her.
She has never felt anything like what he's doing to her with his tongue and with his hands, and she feels like her body has waves of intensity rushing from her toes to her brain and back down again. She arches her back as another wave of ecstasy shoots through her body at the way he's touching her so boldly and so intimately. She hadn't imagined they'd be going this far tonight, not that she could even say the word no now. She wants him more desperately than she's ever wanted anything. She decides to tell him so with passion tinting her eyes to a much darker hue of blue than usual and Ichigo comes undone.
"I want you more than anything, Ichigo!" Rukia says in urgent need.
He pulls off his boxers so quickly, Rukia's not sure how he did it, and then he's on top of her, kissing her, and whispering really romantic things that don't make a whole lot of sense, but they send shivers through her body all the same.
"So beautiful...I want you to be happy...I want you so bad…I love you so much, you know that don't you? I've never felt…god you're perfect…Rukia!" Ichigo mutters all kinds of things in her ears as he uses his hand to move his hardness all around the areas he had just been licking. Rukia breathes hard and fast at how good it feels, since it's smooth, hard, and wondrous at the same time.
She's moving her body at a rhythm to his strokes on the outside of her sensitive spots, but he hasn't entered her, and she lets her hands squeeze into his shoulders and then push onto his back.
"I want to…" Ichigo whispers achingly as he pulls back and stares into her eyes with his own half open from all of the pleasure coursing through his body. Rukia nods in understanding.
"I want it too…" She replies in consent and Ichigo needs nothing more.
He feels no guilt, no regret…holy shit, he feels nothing but ecstasy and fire as he pushes himself into her very tight and very wet opening. He buries himself completely in and mutters incoherently from the waves of ecstasy that threaten to stop everything if he doesn't relax for a second.
He pulls his face away to look into the eyes of the woman he loves, of the woman he's making love to and her eyes are shining with love. He decides to take this moment to tell her one more thing before he continues.
"I love you so much, I'll love you forever," he swears before he starts moving back and forth. It feels so damned good to him and he's worried he won't last long enough and so he makes an effort to hold off as long as he can. His desire to make sure she liked it too, made him try all that much harder not to end things early.
Rukia didn't know something as wonderful as all of this could even exist. She breathes hard at all of the feelings his thrusting motions are having on her body. She meets his hips and helps him rock faster and harder until he explodes inside of her. He falls limp against her shoulder and he kisses her shoulder and neck. He can hardly believe what just happened. It hadn't been his goal at the beginning of the night, but things had progressed and he hadn't used a condom. He worries about that as he slides out of her.
"Rukia." Ichigo says in a breathless voice.
"I never knew." Rukia says softly, "that it could be so wonderful," she finishes quietly.
"I didn't know being in you could feel like heaven." Ichigo whispers as he gives her a passionate kiss.
"I'm just going to miss you more while I'm gone now," Rukia says with a bit of a pout.
"Me too." Ichigo tells her as he kisses her again.
They hear Isshin yelling Rukia's name from downstairs and they both jump up. They both get dressed at lightning speed and they rush downstairs. Isshin takes one look at their disheveled appearance and he raises an eyebrow at Ichigo.
"It's time for Rukia-chan to go home, although I think maybe she should run a comb through her hair before she does," Isshin says with a knowing stare, and they both blush furiously.
Rukia runs to the bathroom and Ichigo folds his arms and glares at his father. Isshin glares right back.
"You were a complete gentleman tonight, right?" Isshin asks his son.
"Of course," Ichigo growls back.
"Don't be in such a rush for everything," Isshin says softly. Ichigo averts his eyes.
"Shut up." Ichigo tells his father in a low voice, and Isshin just keeps staring at him.
"I still think you ought to be careful, and not rush things too much." Isshin tells him worriedly.
"Don't worry, Rukia and I have a very good handle on our relationship. I love her, and I'm going to marry her and protect her just like I always vowed I would. That's what I want to do." Ichigo tells his father in a serious tone.
"I know you want to do all of that and I know you're serious when you say that, but you're still pretty young, only sixteen." His father reminds him. "And she's even younger, she's still fifteen." Isshin continues and Ichigo turns around and glares at his father.
"Shut up! I'm not doing anything wrong, I love her!" Ichigo insists, and Isshin sighs.
"Alright then." Isshin says in defeat. "You'd just better make sure you follow through on every single promise you've made to that girl or you'll have to deal with me." Isshin warns him. Ichigo nods.
"Gladly." Ichigo assures him, and Isshin smiles.
"I'm glad to hear you say that, it warms my heart." Isshin grins happily as Rukia finally comes back looking much neater and a lot less ravished. She blushes again. Ichigo grabs her hand and walks her outside and over to her front door.
"I'll see you in the morning." Rukia tells him, and Ichigo nods his head yes. He gives her a quick kiss, before he watches her walk into her house
J J J J
Aizen sips his drink as he slowly calms down. No police have shown up at his door, and no phone calls have come in. He figures he won't see his men for a few years when he reads the news on the internet of what happened.
Aizen groans in frustration at the bad luck of having the teenager next door to the girl notice something was amiss. At least the men had been caught before they'd attempted to rape or kidnap her which would have meant a more serious punishment.
Aizen had mailed the letter to Rukia first thing in the morning and he had worried all day. He contemplates what his next plan of action will be. He wonders what Rukia's daily schedule is, and when would be the best time to target her.
He should really be there. Aizen sighs as he takes another sip of his drink. It would be so very easy to capture her if he knew what she did day and night. He has a job to do at Tokyo Institute though, and he can't just leave, no matter how much he may want to. It's a large part of his cover. The professor is just the mask for the real Aizen, and very few people know the real Aizen Sousuke.
"I was too hasty." Aizen says with a sigh. He had allowed his desire to get the girl come before being careful. He should have had his men observe and report on her habits before he sent them in there. Now they're caught. At least he's still safe though. Aizen is glad he picked men that would not rat him out if caught.
He finishes his drink as he contemplates the lovely Kuchiki-san's treatment when he gets her here. If Gin ends up being the one who grabs her, she'll arrive without being raped and he won't have to wait as long to bury himself in her. He smiles a creepy smile at the thought of presenting Gin with her child. Maybe he would do it right in front of her. That would definitely be interesting to watch as a psychologist. He wonders if she would lose her mind on the spot.
He thinks that if he does do that, he'll wait and let her bond with the child first. That will make it so much more devastating when he hands Gin the kid. Aizen can even picture what smile he'll use as he does it. First I need to capture her though. If I share that last thought with Gin, he'll probably go all out to grab her.
J J J J
Ichigo and Rukia walk to school quietly for the most part, except that Rukia turns to thank him for showing her so much joy last night. Ichigo had grinned and thanked her back.
When they walked into class, they were a bit early, and Rukia just heads to her seat when Keigo calls Ichigo over. She figures she probably shouldn't listen to whatever Keigo is going to say.
Ichigo looks at the shit grin on Keigo's face and he rolls his eyes. He's a bit annoyed that both he and Keigo lost their virginity within a day of each other. Even worse, Keigo had lost his first. Not that it was a competition, but Ichigo scowls as he joins Keigo.
"What?" Ichigo asks in a growl.
"Did you hear? I got it on with Itou Noriko again yesterday at lunch! It's so great, she snubbed me so bad last year, but guess who's boning her now!" Keigo says with grinding motion.
"You're sick." Ichigo informs him, and Mizuiro laughs.
"She didn't look all that excited, it looked more like you coerced her." Mizuiro says, pinning Keigo with a look.
"Not true! I simply told her that I could walk away from her or I could listen while I touched. It's not my fault she took too long to say what she had to say, by the time she was done, I already had her panties off!" Keigo says loudly. Ichigo covers his ears.
"Way too much information you pervert!" Ichigo snaps at him, and Keigo grins.
"I'm spending the weekend with her too. She has a hot tub, you should try and convince Kuchiki to come over." Keigo tells Ichigo, repeating word for word what Noriko had demanded he say in exchange for what she gave him at lunch the day before. She had assured him she'd give him the kind of sex he dreamed about if he could actually get Kurosaki to come over during the weekend with or without Kuchiki.
"She's going out of town this weekend." Ichigo tells him in a monotonous voice. Keigo grins.
"You should come over and get in the hot tub, how often can you do something like that?" Keigo asks him.
"If I have to be around that bitch, it's not worth it." Ichigo tells him flat out.
"Oh come on, just come over and get in the hot tub, I'll keep her busy, she won't be able to bother you." Keigo insists. Ichigo rolls his eyes.
"I'll think about it." Ichigo says with no intention of going. Keigo knows him well enough to know this and so he thinks desperately of a way to get Ichigo over to Itou's house so that she rewards him in the way she promised she would.
"What if I give you a twelve thousand and one hundred yen to show up for twenty minutes? I just need a friend to confirm what I'll be saying I did on Monday." Keigo says with a wink. Ichigo blinks.
That's a lot of money, he could buy Rukia a really nice present with that kind of money, and Keigo said he'd keep Noriko busy. Ichigo wonders if he should go.
He walks back to his seat and gives Rukia a quick look. Somehow he thinks she'd be unhappy if he stopped at Itou's house for twenty seconds, let alone twenty minutes. He think he probably shouldn't even go for that much money.
Ichigo carefully considers it and decides to ask Rukia at lunch what he should do. He'll tell her he wants to spend the money on her if he goes, but that he'll only go if she's alright with it. Somehow just the thought of bringing that up makes him nervous. He doesn't even want to go over there.
He figures if he can't bring himself to ask her, then he definitely won't go over there.
The morning passes quickly and Ichigo drags Rukia off to a private spot.
"Keigo offered me a heck of a lot of money to pop over at Itou's house while he's spending the weekend there. He said I only have to come over for twenty minutes and he'll give me over twelve thousand yen." Ichigo tells her immediately.
"What are you going to do?" Rukia asks him as she looks up into his eyes.
"I wanted to ask you what I should do. I thought I'd be able to take you out somewhere nice or buy you something nice with that kind of money, but I don't want to go if you don't like it." Ichigo tells her honestly. Rukia grins at him.
"I'll think about it and let you know right before I leave." Rukia tells him. Ichigo nods and they walk to find his friends.
When they find his friends, Tatsuki is pointing at Keigo and telling him he's probably contracted a disease from sleeping with a slut like Itou. Rukia smothers a giggle as Ichigo nods his head in complete agreement.
"She's right Keigo, that girl is probably riddled with gonorrhea." Ichigo tells him, causing Keigo to glare at him.
"Shut up!" Keigo had yelled at Tatsuki and Ichigo in a furious voice. Keigo smiled hugely when Noriko appeared, and he glared at his friends as he dragged her off like yesterday. He was going to milk it for all it was worth while he still could. Nobody follows him today.
"He's hopeless," Tatsuki had sighed, and everyone had agreed. The rest of lunch had passed without incident and to Ichigo's horror the afternoon flew by too.
He gets more and more unhappy the closer he and Rukia get to their homes on the way home from school. Ichigo entered her house with her only to see Shoko has Rukia ready to leave already with her bags by the door.
"You got a letter," Shoko says absently as she hands Rukia an envelope. She sits down and opens it. Her eyes widen when she sees who signed it.
"Wow! It's from a professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology!" Rukia says in an impressed voice. "He was impressed with my gymnastics talent!" Rukia tells Ichigo excitedly. "Wow, what a prestigious institute!" Rukia breathes excitedly. Ichigo frowns.
"Is that so great?" Ichigo asks her. Rukia grins at him.
"He says if ever I'm in the city, we should go out for a cup of tea!" She tells him with sparkles in her eyes.
"A date?" Ichigo asks in an annoyed voice.
"No, silly! Just a chance to give him my autograph and let him ask me some questions!" She tells him with a smile. "Can you imagine, getting to talk to someone so distinguished and intelligent, I would really like to speak to him." Rukia tells Ichigo excitedly.
"I don't like it." Ichigo tells her stubbornly. Rukia's eyes light up with amusement.
"How about this? I'll say it's okay for you to visit Keigo while he's at Noriko's house if you say it's okay for me to have a cup of tea with this professor." Rukia bargains with him.
Ichigo has a bad feeling about it when he nods his head in agreement. She kisses him on the cheek as Ikkaku impatiently waves her to come out to the car. When he watches her drive away, he suddenly wants to take back their deal. No tea and no Noriko. He feels like an idiot for agreeing while she looked at him with that excited and happy look in her eyes.
Ichigo can't help but think there's something strange about a professor writing to a fifteen year old girl and asking her on a date. No matter what Rukia calls it, in his mind it is a date. He'll be happy when she comes back Sunday evening.