21. Home Intrusion

Prompt: The key is under the mat

Setting: Modern AU.

Genre: Romance

1,000 Words

The rattling of the key in a lock jolted Rukia awake from her jumbled dreams. Disoriented, she blinked at the light streaming into her bedroom, wondering what time it was. Her head felt heavy, so she simply rolled over and pulled the covers tighter around herself. She didn't really care about her roommate's antics, not when her mind was foggy and sleep still weighed down her eyelids.

Comfortably nestled in her bed, Rukia was about to drift off when a nagging realisation finally bloomed: Hinamori had left yesterday right after classes. With her roommate gone to visit her family for the whole weekend, who was out there stomping around in their living room?

Rukia sat up. Her head swam, her palms felt clammy as she rubbed her bleary eyes. Ignoring her weariness and sluggish limbs, she slid out of her bed and tiptoed to her dresser and grabbed her bokken off the stand on top of it. She opened the door and saw a young man crouching by the bathroom door.

Rukia crept across the living room, swift and silent as a cat, and drove the blunt end of her bokken into the small of the intruder's back.

"Who the hell are you and how did you get in?" she demanded, her voice low and steady.

He jumped and cursed, his hands flying to cup his back. He looked over his shoulder, his eyes wild.

"I – I'm here on a job," he stammered hurriedly. "I used the spare key."

"What job?"

"Can you put the sword down?"

"I might, once I get some answers." Rukia prodded him again with the bokken.

He scowled at her as tense silence stretched before finally he grumbled: "My back pocket."

Rukia held onto her bokken and with nimble fingers fished a neatly folded piece of paper out of his jeans pocket. Keeping an eye on him she smoothed out the paper slip and skimmed it. There was her roommate's name and their address, followed by what seemed like a work order: Fix the lock on the bathroom door. The key is under the mat.

Rukia glanced up from the note. "You don't really look like a repairman to me."

"I'm not, really," he admitted. Then, he sighed and raised his hands. "Look, I'll explain it to you, but please just put the damn sword down."

Rukia studied him for a moment and lowered her bokken.

"All right then, explain."

He turned to face her and for a moment seemed to struggle for words. He stared at her and his jaw slackened a little, and Rukia realised she was probably underdressed in the pair of satin shorts and the tank top she had worn to bed.

Then, his eyes darted to the bokken Rukia was still holding in a relaxed grip and he swallowed.

"I work part time in this jack of all trades shop called Unagiya. Basically we do anything from looking after pets to gardening, so while I'm not a repairman, I really am here to repair this lock."

"A jack of all trades shop?" Rukia raised her eyebrow. "That's the first I've ever heard of it."

"I can give you the shop's number, if you want to confirm with my boss."

She took in his scowl and the way he carried himself. Though he was sullen he didn't seem dishonest and Rukia finally relented.

"All right then, go on."

"Thanks."

He crouched down to look at the bathroom door lock and Rukia wandered over to the living room couch where she could watch him work.

"The lock's been busted for weeks," she said after a moment of silence. "We just never got around to fixing it."

"Well it shouldn't take long," he replied gruffly. "I'll be out of your hair in a few."

"Hey…" Rukia heaved a sigh. "I'm sorry I jumped on you like that. I really thought you were intruding; my roommate's the one who put in the order and she never told me about any repairs being done this weekend."

"You scared the shit out of me," the young man huffed, casting a quick glance at her over his shoulder. "Judging by the key comment I didn't think anyone would be home."

"Maybe that's why Hinamori didn't say anything. I wasn't supposed to be home."

"Also a word of advice," the young man drawled, "practice sword or not, you could do some real damage with that thing so you should be careful – even when attacking intruders."

A peal of laughter escaped Rukia's lips. "Oh, trust me, I can do a plenty of damage." She smirked. "I was going to participate in a kendo tournament today, actually."

He paused in his work to look at her. "Why didn't you?"

"A fever rose last night so I had to cancel. I'm not fit to fight as long as I feel this weak and woozy."

The young man snorted. "I thought it was bad enough I almost got my ass handed to me by a girl who's a full foot shorter than me, but a sick girl at that?" he shook his head.

"I could still change my mind," Rukia offered, smiling sweetly and tapping at her bokken.

"No thanks, one bruise is more than enough."

He fiddled with the lock for a few more minutes until he straightened and rolled his shoulders. He tried the lock a couple of times and then turned to her.

"There, all done."

"Thanks for your help."

"Just doing my job."

Rukia looked at him.

"I was wondering," she hedged, "if you're not too busy with other work, could I hire you to run a quick errand?"

"What kind of an errand?"

"Just to get some cold medicine and pain killers from the pharmacy."

He looked at her, and Rukia wondered if she looked as terrible as she felt.

"Sure," he replied, his lips twitching in a smile for the first time.

"Great," Rukia breathed in relief. "Thanks. Er…?"

"Kurosaki Ichigo."

"Nice to meet you, Ichigo."