Chapter Twenty-One: Ruminations

Rukia woke with a start. It was late. She was late. The Division Thirteen demonstration was scheduled to begin in fifteen minutes and she was still in bed, naked, lying next to Ichigo. The realization that she was lying next to him made her smile.

Ichigo was sound asleep. For just a moment, she watched him sleeping, peaceful. She gently kissed him on the cheek so as not to wake him, and dressed quickly. Time to shift gears, to put last night aside and focus on her work, something she loved nearly as much as she loved him.

Rukia arrived at the Thirteenth Division training grounds just as the demonstrations were about to begin. Kiyone and Sentarou looked relieved as she walked onto the field to meet them. "Sorry," Rukia said, "I overslept a little." They probably figured she had spent the night at the house with Byakuya. Rukia was relieved. She knew it wouldn't be long before everyone knew about her and Ichigo, but she was enjoying keeping the secret to herself as long as she could.

Rukia climbed the stands to get a better view of the demonstrations as the first group of four pairs of shinigami took their places on the field. Kiyone and Sentarou stood between the groups, acting as informal referees for the matches. Rukia took notes about each pair's fighting styles, relying on one of the lower-ranked seated shinigami to provide her with names and background information for each combatant. Each demonstration lasted about fifteen minutes, and, by lunch, nearly half of the squad completed his or her turn before Rukia.

All in all, Rukia was pleased with the caliber of her troops as well as the amount of information she had obtained about their abilities and potential. She had no doubt that the knowledge she gleaned from the demonstrations would assist her in crafting an effective training program, and, more importantly, in developing battle strategies for the future.

Most of the shinigami had left the field as Rukia finished scribbling some notes about the last group before they broke for lunch. She was trying to remember the name of a woman in the second pairing when she heard a familiar voice behind her.

"Not too shabby, Captain Kuchiki," said Ichigo, his lips so close to her ear that she could feel his breath. She shivered, involuntarily. "Join me for some lunch?" he asked, his face so close to hers that she felt a strand of his hair tickle her check.

He was too close, she thought, it made it hard to concentrate. "Ichigo, are you trying to make me forget what I was writing?" she said, in half-hearted exasperation.

"Yep," he replied, this time brushing his lips against her next and kissing her there, "that was the general idea."

She sighed and put down the notebook and pen she had been holding. Sixth Seat Kyo, the young female shinigami who had been helping Rukia all morning, openly stared at Ichigo. Then she blushed deeply and said, "Kuchiki-taicho, I'll go back to the barracks and get these notes organized." She scurried away before Rukia could say anything, leaving Ichigo and Rukia alone in the stands. Ichigo grinned.

"You enjoyed that, didn't you?" chided Rukia, looking at him sternly.

"Definitely."

"Sentarou," she yelled down to the field, "I'll be back in an hour or so. Good work!" Kiyone looked disappointed to have been left out of the compliments. Rukia chuckled, "You, too, Kiyone, excellent job." Kiyone appeared satisfied. They turned and left towards the barracks.

"You seem to be settling in," said Ichigo, grabbing her hand from under the sleeve of her haori. His hand was warm. Rukia remembered how that hand had explored every inch of her body the night before. She shook her head slightly, as if to clear those thoughts, and turned to Ichigo.

"Not shy, are we?" she said, coyly, turning to him.

"Never," he said, "at least, I try not to be. We don't have anything to hide, do we?" They walked out of the stands and exited the field, still holding hands.

"No," Rukia replied, "of course not. Besides, after that little show in front of Kyo, the entire Seireitei will know about us by the end of the day whether we like it or not."

"I like that," he said, this time pulling her close to him and kissing her. "I like that a lot."

Rukia laughed and he kissed her again. He smelled so good, she wanted to devour him. Her stomach growled loudly and he laughed.

"Good thing I brought lunch," he said, holding up his free hand to show her several boxes, "Sushi, this time."

"Read my mind, Ichigo?" she said, thankful that there was something to distract her from her thoughts and silence her complaining stomach.

"Just like last night," Ichigo answered with a devilish smile, sitting down under a tree not far from the entrance to the training grounds and placing the boxes on the ground.

So he had felt it, too, she thought. Strange. She sat down next to him, still lost in thought.

"You look far away," he said, looking at her with some concern. "Something wrong?"

"Not wrong," she said, thinking out loud, "just…unusual, I guess." She wasn't sure how to explain it to him.

"Ichigo," she began, after a moment or two, "last night, when we…"

"Mmmm," he said, grinning broadly, "I remember." He moved closer to her, so that their legs touched, and put one of his arms casually around her shoulders.

"Ichigo, I'm being serious here." Ichigo did his best to wipe the grin off his face.

"Last night, there was a moment when I felt like I was looking directly into your soul, like I could see everything inside of you, every thought, every fear…"

"Every dream," he finished. "I felt it, too. I just figured that's what usually happens when two spirits come together, if you'll pardon the pun." She elbowed him playfully, but quickly became lost in thought again.

"It is what usually happens, isn't it?" he asked, when she didn't respond.

"Not that I've ever heard or experienced," she said. He wasn't sure he liked the implication in her answer that there had been others before him. What did he expect, though? She was over a hundred years old, after all.

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After lunch with Rukia, Ichigo returned to the Division Five barracks. He walked through the door to his office to find Renji, sitting on the desk and looking irritated.

"How long were you going to wait to tell me, Kurosaki?" demanded Renji, eyes narrowed.

It certainly hadn't taken long for word to get around, thought Ichigo, ignoring Renji's question and sitting down in his desk chair.

"By the way," Renji continued, "you look like shit."

"Thanks," said Ichigo, yawning. "Didn't get much sleep last night."

"No kidding." Renji pulled a bottle of sake out of his pocket and slammed it down on the desk. "You know, I should kill you," he said, scowling. "She's like a sister to me."

"I won't hurt her," said Ichigo, seriously.

"You can't guarantee that," said Renji, popping open the sake bottle and taking a swig. He passed the bottle to Ichigo, who followed suit, but said nothing. They drank in silence for a while.

"Hey, Renji," said Ichigo after some thought, "before the war, there was some talk about a key. Something Aizen was looking for. The reason he targeted Karakura Town." It had been on his mind since last night, when he had dreamed about Aizen, and he just couldn't put it out of his mind.

"Yeah," said Renji, who had downed the entire bottle by this point, and was in the process of pulling a second bottle out of yet another pocket, "Old Man Yamamoto said something about a key. So what?"

"Just something I heard," said Ichigo.

"Some of the kids in the Rukongai used to tell stories about the Royal Family. Fairy tales, I guess." Renji squinted at Ichigo, trying to read him. "You're up to something, Kurosaki, aren't you?"

"Nah, Renji, forget about it," said Ichigo, trying to convince himself to do the same. "It was just a dream I had." He grabbed the nearly full bottle away from Renji and chugged the rest of the sake. It warmed his shoulders and he felt himself relax somewhat. He closed his eyes. "I'll sleep just for a few minutes," he told himself.

"Ichigo? Renji?"

Ichigo was sitting on the floor of his office, looking up at Rukia, bleary-eyed. "Hey, Rukia," he said, smiling up at her weakly, "how are you doing?" Renji, lying on the floor a few feet from Ichigo, waved at her.

"What are you two doing?" she said, dumbfounded.

"Just having a friendly drink," said Renji, doing his best to sit up without falling over.

"In the afternoon?"

"Captain's prerogative," responded Ichigo. "Renji and I were…uh…talking."

"About what?"

No answer. Rukia tapped her foot, irritated. "You look horrible, Ichigo. Let me take you back to your quarters. You need to sleep." He was not going to argue with her. Besides, he thought, she looked pretty when she was mad. Rukia helped Ichigo to his feet. She was a lot stronger than she looked.

"See ya later, Rukia," said Renji, who had finally made it up off the floor and was straightening his uniform. "I better head back or your brother will have my head."

Rukia managed to get Ichigo down the breezeway and through the front door to his quarters. She took off his clothes, and led him to the bedroom. By then, Ichigo's head had cleared a little, and he said to her, "Mmmm. Trying to take advantage of me, huh?"

Rukia guided him to the bed, and sat him down on it. "I'm just going to lie down for a few minutes," he said sleepily, smiling at her. He was asleep before he hit the bed. She sighed and went to make herself some tea. It would be more than a few minutes, she knew.

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Rukia sat on the couch. It was now dark in the Seireitei and Ichigo was still asleep in his bedroom. She was tired and hungry. It had been more than three hours since she had helped Ichigo back to his quarters, and her head ached. "Damn. I probably look as bad as he did," she said to herself, yawning deeply.

Rukia had never had headaches before she returned from Hueco Mundo. She figured these were probably due to the stress of her return and of taking on a command so suddenly. She closed her eyes briefly, trying to relax and, as she did so, an image flashed in her mind. A room, white and sparse. Her room in Hueco Mundo. Her prison.

Rukia found herself shaking. She remembered very little of her time in Hueco Mundo after her last conversation with Aizen. What she did recall was always hazy, experiences seen through a thick fog; bits and snatches of people, of thoughts, and of voices. Still, thinking about it made her uneasy, anxious.

She got up and headed over to the small kitchen. She needed to eat something. That would make her feel better. Not surprisingly, however, there was little to choose from - just a box of sesame crackers and some wasabi peas. She grabbed a handful of the peas and put some water up for tea, leaning against the kitchen counter and looking out at the garden. She took a deep breath and tried to relax.

"Sorry I don't have much to offer for dinner," said Ichigo, walking over to the kitchen. He seemed back to himself, refreshed. He wore only his hakama pants. The distraction of seeing his bare chest put all thoughts of Aizen and Hueco Mundo out of her mind. She wrapped her arms around him.

"I could get one of my lackeys to pick us up something to eat," he said, enjoying the feel of her head against his skin. "One of the benefits of being a captain."

"In a few minutes, maybe," she said, "I'm enjoying this right now." She didn't want to think about anything right now, she just wanted to enjoy the feel of him. "Feeling better?" she said, looking up at him after a few minutes.

"Much," he said, smiling. "Sometimes I forget that Renji can drink me under the table and still beat the shit out of just about anyone. The guy's incredible."

Her head throbbed again, and she let go of him, rubbing her temples unconsciously.

"You okay?" he asked, noticing her uncharacteristic behavior.

"Yes," she said, realizing what she was doing and putting her arms back around him, "just a little headache."

"I'm getting you some real food," he said. He kissed her briefly and walked out of the house to the main barracks, still shirtless. In a few minutes, he was back. "Dinner will be here soon. Why don't you sit down and I'll make the tea." She nodded.

About a half hour later, they were seated on the floor, enjoying steaming hot udon which a young recruit had brought to Ichigo's door. "Better?" asked Ichigo.

"Much," she answered, "thanks." Her head still hurt, but much less now that she had something in her stomach.

"I didn't know souls got headaches," said Ichigo as he slurped a pile of noodles that were suspended from his chopsticks. "Guess I never really thought about it before."

"We don't, usually," she said, giggling to herself as he splattered himself with soup. "Some people think it's imprinted on our souls when we are in human form and that, when we're tired or stressed, we remember how we reacted when we were human and feel pain. Something like an instinct."

"Feeling stressed, then?" he asked her as he poured her another cup of tea.

"Honestly, I'm not sure. Sometimes, when I get these headaches, I think about what happened in Hueco Mundo. Maybe it has something to do with the memories of that place." She sipped her tea, watching the steam rise off its surface.

Ichigo looked thoughtfully at her for a moment. "What do you remember about Hueco Mundo?" he said gently, not wanting to pressure her, but immensely curious all the same.

"Not much. I spent the first few months training almost every minute I was awake. Then, things got sort of fuzzy. I remember being really tired, and this woman kept telling me that I should rest, that I needed to sleep. And then everything was just white, empty, and the only person I ever saw was her," said Rukia, her eyes far away, remembering.

Her words startled him. With dawning comprehension, he asked her, "What did this woman look like, Rukia?"

Rukia looked up at him, surprised. "Why do you ask?" she said. She couldn't understand why it mattered now.

"Just curious," replied Ichigo, his tone casual. He didn't want her to worry, but he needed to know.

She looked at him for a moment, slightly intrigued and then, dismissing the thought that he had some reason for asking her the question other than simple curiosity, she said, "Tall, beautiful, with long dark hair. She wore a red dress. She had a zanpakuto."