Love Handcuffs
When Inoue told Rukia the truth about her feelings for Kurosaki Ichigo, Rukia had looked at her stunned, before admitting to Inoue that she had the exact same feelings for Ichigo.
They hadn't known where to go from there and they had found themselves absentmindedly wandering into Urahara's store. They don't say a whole lot to one another, because neither of them know what to say.
"Kuchiki-san, are you going to tell him how you feel?" Inoue finally asks softly as she studies some of the odd objects in the store.
"I don't know. I really don't know what to do now that I know how you feel. I wish there was a way for us to find out what he wants so that the other could peacefully step aside and still maintain the friendship that we all have." Rukia says slowly. It kills her to think that another girl loves Ichigo, because she loves him with all of her heart.
"He never pays much attention to me," Inoue says in a sad voice.
Rukia blushes. She can't say the same.
"It's not as though he's confessed to me either," Rukia says softly, although she doesn't feel like those words cheer Inoue up at all.
They both jump in shock when Tessai pops up behind them.
"I have the perfect thing for you ladies." He says in a deep conspiratorial voice. Rukia and Inoue exchange glances.
"You do?" Inoue asks him hopefully with a smile. Tessai smiles back in a friendly manner.
"These here are called love handcuffs." Tessai says, pulling a pair of ordinary looking silver handcuffs from behind his back. "Watch!" Tessai quickly handcuffs himself to Inoue before she can protest.
"What are you-" She starts to ask but he interrupts her.
"Now say the magical words! Sun and moon! Heart and rain! Please undo us from this pain!" Tessai calls out and the handcuffs fall magically off of Inoue's and Tessai's wrists and clank to the floor.
"Ooh!" Rukia says, impressed.
"They only come off if the two people captured are not in love with each other." Tessai says with a smile. Inoue and Rukia grin and nod at each other.
Neither one of them think to ask him how you take them off if both people are in love with one another. They decide to go halves on buying the cuffs and they walk to Ichigo's house together, with the purchase hanging out of Inoue's hands in a small bag.
"Who should go first?" Inoue asks Rukia very nervously. Rukia turns white.
"You should go first." Rukia says immediately.
"How are we going to get him to agree to let us both handcuff ourselves to him?" Inoue asks next. Rukia grins at her.
"Well if he stays attached to you, it won't much matter will it? If he doesn't stay attached to you, I can force him to do the same trick with me." Rukia assures her. Inoue nods. They stay silent the rest of the way.
When they get to Ichigo's house, both girls are relieved to find that his family is not around. Rukia and Inoue let themselves in the door and walk up to Ichigo's room. He is laying down and reading a manga when the girls enter and he looks up at them with a questioning glance. Rukia doesn't waste any time.
"Ichigo! Check out this magic trick!" Rukia says excitedly, and Inoue pulls the handcuffs from the bag. She walks over to him and Ichigo backs away a tiny bit.
"Let her cuff you." Rukia orders him, and Ichigo doesn't move as Inoue cuffs herself to him with the handcuffs. She takes a few deep breaths.
"Sun and moon! Heart and rain! Please undo us from this pain!" Inoue calls out and the handcuffs drop to the floor. Ichigo's eyes widen at the trick.
"That was cool." Ichigo says with a small smile. "Where did you get those?" Ichigo asks, but Inoue's face is down, and she isn't answering him.
Rukia walks over and quickly grabs the cuffs. Before Ichigo knows what's happened, Rukia cuffs herself to him next.
"Rukia, what are you-" Ichigo starts to ask, but then he hears a sniffle come from Inoue. He glances at her in concern, but Rukia isn't paying attention to her. She'll cry with Inoue together if the cuffs fall off of her and Ichigo too.
"Sun and moon! Heart and rain! Please undo us from this pain!" Rukia says loudly, but nothing happens. Rukia's eyes widen at this. "They didn't come off!" Rukia whispers.
Inoue raises her face, and even though the tears are evident, she looks wide eyed at the pair who are cuffed.
Ichigo is glaring at Rukia for cuffing him a second time when he'd already been shown the trick once, and he's still glaring at her because they're both still cuffed.
"What now?" Rukia asks in confusion. Inoue's eyes widen and she stops being upset and starts to get concerned as she stares at the cuffs that bind them together.
"We never asked!" Inoue answers her in a tight voice. Rukia's mouth drops open.
"You're right!" Rukia says in a near wail.
"Try it again," Inoue requests softly. Rukia nods.
"Sun and moon! Heart and rain! Please undo us from this pain!" Rukia says a bit more desperately. She waits to see if it has any effect. "Shit!" Rukia says a moment later when she and Ichigo are still attached to one another.
"You two want to tell me what's going on?" Ichigo asks in a very annoyed voice. He looks back and forth between them as they both turn crimson.
"I have to go!" Inoue says, taking advantage of the fact that she's not cuffed to anybody.
"Inoue! Wait!" Rukia shouts, but Inoue hurries down the stairs. Rukia tries to follow but Ichigo digs his heels in.
"I asked you a question," Ichigo says in a low voice right next to her ear. Rukia blushes again.
"Ahem. You're right. You did." Rukia agrees. She doesn't add anything more though and Ichigo looks at her and then back at the cuffs again.
"Rukia! How the hell do we get out of these things?" Ichigo asks, having lost all of his patience.
"Um, well you see…I don't know." Rukia says very softly. Ichigo bends down.
"What? Care to say that again a little bit louder?" Ichigo asks her figuring she has a key in her pocket or something.
"I don't know. The magic phrase was supposed to work. Since it didn't, I have no clue how to get the cuffs undone." Rukia explains weakly.
"You're shitting me." Ichigo says as all of the blood drains from his face. He starts contemplating life cuffed to Rukia and he slowly starts to turn red.
"I really don't know." Rukia says pitifully. She pulls him over to the bed so that she can sit. "Let me think a minute." She says sadly. Ichigo glances warily at her and then back at the cuffs.
"Are you sure there wasn't a key that didn't come with these?" Ichigo asks, even as he realizes there would be nowhere to put the key even if you had one.
"No key." Rukia says absentmindedly.
"Where in the hell did you two get these things?" Ichigo asks her next. He is very aware of it when she blushes and turns her face away.
"Urahara's shop." Rukia answers haltingly. Ichigo grins at her.
"Why didn't you say so?! All we have to do is go there, and Urahara is sure to be able to get us undone." Ichigo exclaims.
"I'd rather not do that." Rukia says blushing harder.
She can't even begin to imagine the words that might come out of his mouth when he saw the predicament that they were in, especially since he probably knew the secret of the handcuffs. If not him then Tessai for sure.
"Would you rather just stay handcuffed to me?" Ichigo asks her pointedly.
His eyes widen at the blush that spreads all the way down to her neck.
"I didn't say that," Rukia protests.
"I don't even see a keyhole in these things." Ichigo says as he studies the cuffs. "I know! I'll use my substitute Shinigami license and I'll pop out of my body!" Ichigo declares with a smile.
He does just that, but instead of only popping himself out, he ends up popping Rukia out of her gigai and they both stare in surprise that the handcuffs have the same binding issue in spirit form.
"Shit." Rukia mutters, feeling dread rise up in her stomach.
"How in the hell are we supposed to fight hollows like this?" Ichigo asks her in disbelief. "We need to get these things off now!" Ichigo tells her in a very serious voice.
He tries to cut the chain that links their wrists but it doesn't work.
"I know." Rukia agrees in a whisper. She still doesn't want Ichigo knowing exactly what these cuffs being stuck like this meant.
"So lets go see Urahara!" Ichigo says frantically. Rukia looks at him pointedly.
"So you want to walk down the street in broad daylight handcuffed to me?" Rukia asks him with a raised eyebrow. The blood drains from his face.
"No! I mean…there has to be a way to hide this, right?" Ichigo asks as he stares at the cuffs.
"Short of wrapping a piece of clothing over our wrists and acting like we're holding hands, I don't see a solution." Rukia says in a defeated voice.
"How long do you really think we can stay like this?" Ichigo asks her in a very panicked voice.
Rukia blushes at that thought. It's making her tingle all over at the thrill of being stuck to him like this, and if they had to take a bath…she blushes harder.
"I don't know," Rukia whispers, refusing to meet his piercing gaze.
They sit there, staring at the cuffs, feeling sorry for themselves when they hear the door open and his father's voice booming as he arrives home. Ichigo and Rukia trade horrified looks with one another.
"My dad cannot see us like this! He'd never let me hear the end of it!" Ichigo says with horror clearly showing in his eyes.
Rukia blushes at the thought of the things that might come out of his father's mouth, Ichigo grabs a jacket and quickly wraps it around their wrists. Her idea will have to do. He pulls her to the window ledge and they hop out.
Ichigo and Rukia hurry to the store, and it seems nobody has noticed their predicament, and so Ichigo cheers up quite a bit as they are approaching the store. Rukia just feels even more dread than before.
It's not like she can escape Ichigo as he hears the explanation of the handcuffs.
When Ichigo and Rukia make it to the front door of the store, they both stare shocked at the sign that is on the front door.
URAHARA STORE CLOSED:
Due to a family emergency, the Urahara Store will be closed for several days. We're sorry for any inconvenience this may cause!
The Urahara Store Management
"Fuck!" Ichigo's voice is loud next to her and Rukia lets out a tiny breath of relief, which Ichigo notices. He glares at her.
"I wonder when he'll come back." Rukia says thoughtfully. She is carefully avoiding his suspicious stare.
"Fuck!" Ichigo shouts angrily again. Rukia can't help it, she starts to laugh.
Ichigo stares at her as if she's lost her mind when she clutches her stomach with her free hand and just laughs really hard. Ichigo sighs and just keeps glaring as he waits for her to gain her normal composure.
"I'm sorry, but if you think about it, this is pretty damned funny!" Rukia tells him as she struggles to regain her breath.
Ichigo starts to contemplate what it will mean to be cuffed to her like this, and he can feel his heart pounding and not in a good way.
"I don't see anything funny about this at all!" Ichigo growls as she finally manages to completely regain control of herself.
"I wonder what your father will say," Rukia says, causing Ichigo to turn bright red.
"Fuck!" Ichigo says again. It seems to be the only appropriate response to this particular situation. Rukia smothers a giggle.
"We shouldn't stand around outside like this more than we actually have to, come on." Ichigo starts to pull her back towards his house at a fast pace. Rukia glares at his back.
I don't think so.
Rukia balks and Ichigo realizes he's pulling along dead weight and he stops to glare at her, but she's already glaring at him furiously.
"Have you forgotten that we're attached? My stride isn't as long as yours, be considerate!" Rukia snaps before she takes the step next to him. Ichigo growls in frustration.
"I just don't want anybody to see us like this," Ichigo admits, red faced.
Rukia sighs in frustration. She carefully studies his face. He really is good at hiding how he truly feels. She can't imagine how he'll react when he finds out why the handcuffs aren't coming off. She smiles a tiny bit at the picture it creates in her mind.
"Maybe we should move closer together. Then our hands wouldn't be so conspicuous." Rukia suggests innocently, deciding to make the best of the predicament.
Ichigo blushes as he tries to decide whether or not it's a good suggestion. Rukia suddenly crowds into his side and Ichigo bites his lip. He doesn't move away.
"How are we going to explain this to my father?" Ichigo asks in a voice filled with despair. Rukia smiles.
"I say we just go inside and we don't hide it." Rukia says in a calm voice. Ichigo starts shaking his head.
"We can't do that! You don't understand, my dad is a nutcase!" Ichigo says, pleading with her to understand reason.
"If we act like it doesn't bother us, he'll be the one who's speechless." Rukia says, hoping her theory is right. Ichigo just gapes at her.
How could this situation not bother them? How is he supposed to act like it's no big deal to be stuck this close to her?
"He'll find a way to make it bother us," Ichigo says, pink faced. He knows all his father has to do is mention what they're going to do the first time one of them has to use the bathroom and Ichigo will instantly be bothered by this situation.
Neither one of them can have any privacy as long as they're attached this way. He is suddenly glad that he took care of his major bathroom needs today before he got cuffed to her. He won't need to bathe today.
He's pretty sure he'll be able to use the restroom with more comfort than she'll be able to. Ichigo suddenly remembers that they'll be stuck like this when it's time to go to bed too. His face is flaming red.
Rukia watches as an array of emotions briefly appear on his face. He looks embarrassed, worried, nervous, and then completely mortified. She wonders what he is thinking about. She looks at their connected wrists and she smiles a bit.
They're only like this because they love each other. She decides she won't mind one bit being stuck to him, since she can handle it knowing he loves her. Not that she'll admit that out loud of course, but Rukia isn't exactly in the habit of lying to herself about how she feels, even if she hides the truth from others.
Ichigo clearly gets more nervous the closer they get to his house. He does think they're damned lucky that they didn't run into anybody they know.
Ichigo feels Rukia's arm jerk suddenly and he follows her gaze. He thinks he was feeling grateful a moment too soon. There at the end of Rukia's gaze about thirty meters away stands Ishida, Sado, and Inoue, all looking like they're trying not to laugh at the predicament that they're in. Rukia feels a wave of worry rush through her.
"Just keep going!" Rukia tells him as she tries to drag him towards his house.
Ichigo doesn't know which is worse, having to deal with their friends or having to deal with his family. He lets her drag him towards the house, certain he'll regret it. He notices that Ishida is doubled over in laughter, and Sado looks clearly amused, even from far away.
"I told you!" Inoue's voice is heard by both Ichigo and Rukia.
"She told them? Who else did she tell?" Ichigo asks wide eyed, feeling his heart slam in his chest from the dread that is filling his body from head to toe.
"Hell if I know!" Rukia answers back. Ichigo was so busy wondering who all knew, that he forgot to drag Rukia up to the second floor window.
Instead, she just kicked off her shoes and entered his house. Ichigo barely gets his own shoes off in time as Rukia drags him into his own house.
When they close the door, the rest of his family, all sitting on the couch looked up, and didn't immediately notice the cuffs due to the jacket. They did however notice the way they appeared to be holding hands.
"You finally made a move! I can't believe my son will finally become a man!" Isshin yells at the top of his lungs. Ichigo races forward to punch his dad, momentarily forgetting he has a girl attached to him.
His sisters watch wide eyed as Ichigo drags Rukia forward with him to retaliate. Ichigo punches his father and Rukia falls into the couch from the momentum. His sisters stare transfixed as Rukia glares up at Ichigo and he tries to take a step back from her only to drag her back with him.
Luckily she'd managed to gain her balance as she'd glared and she'd been ready for him to move again. Ichigo frowns as he realizes he can't get away from her even when she's angry.
"Why don't you let go of her?" Karin asks logically.
Ichigo blushes and his family all stare back and forth between the two. Rukia smiles at them.
"He's not holding onto me." She informs them. She unwinds the jacket to reveal the handcuffs. Isshin takes one looks and falls back onto the couch in loud laughter.
His sisters look in interest at the pair handcuffed together.
"How on earth did you manage to get in that situation?" Karin asks, flabbergasted. Ichigo throws a very terrible glare at Rukia who looks at the family sheepishly.
"They were supposed to come off." Rukia says in explanation. Isshin manages to stop laughing long enough to comment.
"They're not off though," Isshin points out before he goes back to his laugh fest.
"Shut up!" Ichigo shouts at his father. Yuzu leans gets up on her knees on the couch and leans over to study the handcuffs.
"There are no keyholes!" Yuzu says suddenly. Karin looks too.
"You're right!" Karin says as she looks at them dubiously.
"This ought to make for some interesting sleeping arrangements," Isshin says while laughing. Ichigo and Rukia blush at that comment.
"Can't you rip the chains apart?" Karin asks Ichigo, wondering if he's even tried. Ichigo looks embarrassed.
"I didn't even think about that." Ichigo admits. He attempts in front of everyone to force the two cuffs to separate using brute strength but the handcuffs hold against his attempts.
Isshin knows better. He just keeps laughing.
"Rukia-chan, I hope you know what you're getting into," Isshin says with a knowing look in his eyes.
Rukia gets the sensation he is aware of the secret behind the handcuffs. Rukia stares at him as he laughs some more. He seems to be really amused.
"How will you bathe?" Yuzu asks with wide eyes. Karin guffaws, and the couple in front of them blush furiously.
"I already did today." Ichigo grumbles looking away from them. Isshin starts laughing harder.
"My stomach is starting to hurt," Isshin whines.
"Excuse us." Rukia says as politely as she can to his family. She glares at Ichigo. "Come here." She tells him.
She walks him into the kitchen, and she doesn't notice his father tiptoed after them and is listening out of view to their conversation. Isshin smothers a laugh at their conversation.
"What, Rukia?" Ichigo asks in a frustrated voice when she stops in the kitchen.
"I haven't bathed yet today." Rukia says in a small voice. Ichigo gulps and stares at her. "I like to bathe before I go to bed."
"What are you trying to say?" Ichigo asks nervously.
"How is this going to work?" Rukia asks in a worried voice as she eyes their cuffed wrists.
"It was your bright idea to put these damned things on us. I'm just grateful this didn't happen when Inoue cuffed me to her with these things." Ichigo tells her, realizing he's lucky he ended up with Rukia attached to him.
When his father walks in, they both jump.
"There's only one solution to this problem!" Isshin announces, causing Rukia to blush. Ichigo glares at his father suspiciously.
"You'd better be serious!" Ichigo warns him. Isshin nods and smiles.
"You'll have to bathe together!" Isshin tells them. Ichigo's eyes get so big they threaten to pop out of his head. Rukia's face turns completely white.
"What?" Rukia asks, even as an exciting tingle works its way through her body.
"There's no other solution! After all, you'll both want to be nice and clean when you sleep together tonight won't you?" Isshin asks them with a grin that shows his amusement. Ichigo growls at his father's cavalier attitude.
"How can you even say that?" Ichigo asks in mortification.
"I'm right though, aren't I?" Isshin asks Rukia. She averts her gaze and concentrates on the ceiling.
The idea of Rukia in the tub naked with him is enough to make Ichigo feel a reaction in his mini Ichigo. He lets out a loud breath in frustration and hopes his condition isn't noticeable.
"Shut up!" Ichigo yells at his father. He drags Rukia upstairs and pulls her into his room. "I can't even believe this is happening!" Ichigo says with a scowl. Their thoughts are both interrupted by her spirit phone indicating a hollow is nearby.
"We have to go!" Rukia tells him. Ichigo looks at their wrists.
"Oh yeah, this is the perfect way to greet the hollow, he'll die from laughter before we even have the chance to kill him!" Ichigo howls angrily.
Rukia smacks him in the head with her handcuffed hand, and his own hand smacks his head after hers does. He shoots an irritated glare at her.
"We have to go!" Rukia tells him. Ichigo sighs and smacks his chest with his substitute license, popping them both out into spirit form. Ichigo looks at her and then he grabs her cuffed hand with his cuffed hand and flash steps towards the hollows location.
When they're on their way back, Ichigo is in a really foul mood. The damned hollow had laughed, ridiculously hard, and it had called them stupid fools, and it hadn't taken them seriously at all.
Rukia had used her second dance to kill the hollow since it was the most efficient sword attack while attached to Ichigo. So not only had Ichigo been forced to stand and watch her kill the hollow, he'd been laughed at too.
"I really do need a bath," Rukia tells him in a nervous voice. Ichigo glares at her.
"No." Ichigo says in a resolute voice. He's answered with a slap up against his head.
"Yes!" Rukia insists.
It's embarrassing to her too, but she won't be able to sleep if she tries to go to bed without bathing. "I can't sleep if I don't bathe!" Rukia tells him. Ichigo glares at her with his face slowly turning red.
"How can you when we're like this?" Ichigo asks with panic in his voice, which has been a common occurrence today.
"You can close your eyes." Rukia tells him, "I will be bathing before we go to bed tonight though." She tells him in a voice that leave no room for his arguments. Ichigo closes his eyes in frustration.
"I can't believe you're going to be so stubborn about this!" Ichigo tells her in disbelief.
"Easy for you to say. You already bathed today." Rukia tells him with a sigh.
She knows he loves her, and so she can deal with this. She stares at him as she waits for him to open his eyes. When he does, she smiles.
"You seem to be much calmer about this." Ichigo tells her. Rukia grins.
"Not much we can do about it, is there? Come on, lets get it over with." Rukia tells him, as she pulls him towards his house.
They hop in through the window and get back into the bodies they left laying on his floor. Rukia immediately pulls him to the closet to get a towel.
She then tries to figure out how she'll get herself covered after her bath. She doesn't know how it will be possible attached to Ichigo like this. She pulls him into the bathroom with the towel after she realizes she'll have to sleep covered in the towel.
When she shuts the door, Ichigo turns bright red. He watches as she hangs up the towel and then turns on the water. She plugs up the drain and adds bubble bath to the water.
Rukia glances at Ichigo who is standing next to her with his eyes closed. She smiles and she uses her free hand to shimmy down her underwear underneath her dress. When she gets them down, she steps out of them and then she rips the sleeve of her dress on the cuffed arm.
She feels the dress fall to the floor and she rips her bra off the same way. She hurries to sit in the tub and she leaves her cuffed wrist on the edge of the tub. Ichigo sits down next to the tub, not looking at her.
She lets out a loud relieved sigh when she's sitting and the bubbles are hiding what is beneath the surface of the water. She's pretty sure Ichigo had respected her and not looked, although she's not a hundred percent sure that he didn't peek.
Ichigo can feel the heat radiating off of his face. When Rukia had been busy ripping off her bra, he'd glanced and caught a spectacular glance of her completely naked body. Once again his body reacted to her. He shakes his head as he hears the water moving around in the tub. He can hardly believe she's bathing with him right here.
They both jump when his father pounds on the door.
"Are you two in the bath?" He yells from the other side of the door.
"No! Go away!" Ichigo yells back. "Only Rukia is in the tub!"
"You're no fun!" Isshin yells back before walking away. Ichigo glances at Rukia's face and she too is blushing. She sees him look at her and she uses her finger to splash water in his face.
"If you want to get in, you can." Rukia tells him in a very quiet voice. Ichigo sputters in response.
"Don't joke with me." He mutters.
"It wouldn't bother me." Rukia tells him softly. Ichigo's eyes widen. The tub isn't that large…if he got in with her, their bodies would be touching, and he flushes in embarrassment.
"Shut up," Ichigo tells her quietly, although his heart is racing at the fact that she just offered for him to join her.
He keeps his gaze averted from her for the rest of her bath.
"Hand me the towel please," Rukia asks him, and Ichigo does so.
Rukia awkwardly stands and manages to get the towel wrapped around her. Ichigo realizes she won't be able to put on a shirt without it being ripped up the arm and he wonders how in the hell they're going to get through this and still be sane when it's all over with. She grabs up her dirty clothes to take back to his room.
They walk into the bedroom together and Rukia grabs some fresh underwear. She pulls them on, using both hands, and Ichigo blushes while she does. She rewraps the towel around her front and looks at him expectantly.
"What?" Ichigo asks her in a nervous voice.
"What should we do now?" She asks in a calm voice.
"How in the hell should I know?" Ichigo asks her in a very perplexed voice.
He tries to think of an activity that can occupy them until bedtime. He can't think of anything. She pulls him over to the bed to sit down.
"We could try and read," Rukia suggests, and Ichigo shakes his head.
He eyes her surreptitiously in her towel and he wonders how in the hell they're going to get through this situation.
"I don't feel like reading," Ichigo mutters.
They jump when they hear a knock at the door. Rukia clutches the towel more tightly against herself as Yuzu walks in with a plate of dinner for them. Rukia blushes as she feels a bit uncomfortable in a towel and underwear.
"Here's dinner for you." Yuzu says with a smile before setting the plate on Ichigo's desk and running out.
"This is so embarrassing," Ichigo moans as Rukia stands.
He's forced to stand with her as she sits at his desk and starts eating dinner. Ichigo sighs. When she finishes, she stands so that he can sit at the desk and eat. Rukia considers the night ahead of them.
When it finally comes time to lay down for bed, they blush as they get in side by side, making every effort not to touch. Rukia falls asleep first, with her head turned away from Ichigo and she's on her back.
Ichigo sighs. He can't sleep on his back like this. He likes to fall asleep on his side. He pokes her arm but she doesn't stir. Ichigo sighs as he gathers her into his arms and rolls to his side. He doesn't grope her, he just wraps his arm around her.
During the night however, Rukia's towel works its way down and they end up holding hands on the cuffed wrists side. In his sleep, he starts to caress her back with his free hand, and she wakes up to find herself smashed up against his chest, holding his hand with his other hand stroking her. She sucks in a quick breath and she works her free hand under his shirt and rests it on his washboard stomach.
She falls back asleep and doesn't wake up until she hears Ichigo gasping in shock. Rukia wakes up to find the towel is completely off of her and when Ichigo had woken up, he'd tried to pull away from her only to reveal her chest. Rukia pulls the blanket up quickly and then glances at Ichigo with a red face. His face is the exact same shade.
Ichigo and Rukia end up staying cuffed together for three days. They end up dealing with a lot of embarrassment, but Yuzu had taken pity on Rukia's plight and had altered a dress of Rukia's by sewing a zipper onto the sleeve so that she could at least be clothed during the day. Ichigo spent the second two days being handcuffed with no shirt on. Rukia thought that was definitely a silver lining in their situation.
Finally on the third day, Isshin took pity on them. Urahara still hadn't come back and these kids weren't going to figure it out without being told.
He called them into the family room and asked them to sit down. They did sit down and Isshin had given them a very serious look.
"Ichigo, how do you feel about Rukia-chan?" Isshin asks his son softly, earning a blush and a glare at the same time.
"Shut up old man!" Ichigo snaps.
His temper is short. There had been more than enough embarrassing situations in the past three days. He doesn't understand why his father wants to make it worse. Ichigo remembers the bathroom this morning. Rukia had sat on the floor next to him, holding her nose and closing her eyes while muttering loudly. She had earplugs in too. It was all they could do to give each other privacy and it was damned humiliating.
"Ichigo, you want those handcuffs off don't you?" Isshin asks with a serious look. Rukia's eyes light up.
"You know something about them don't you?" Rukia asks, she had suspected that he did.
"I myself was once trapped in handcuffs exactly like those ones once." Isshin says slowly to Ichigo, causing his son to stare at him in surprise.
"Why didn't you tell us that three days ago?" Ichigo shouts angrily.
"You weren't ready to hear this, and I truly don't think you're ready to hear it now, but the two of you may go insane before you're ever ready and so I've made the decision to tell you now." Isshin tells Ichigo.
"Bullshit. You just loved having us cuffed like this the past few days. It was one huge joke to you." Ichigo mutters, earning a smack from Rukia. Ichigo glares at her too.
"I'm interested in what he has to say." Rukia tells him as she leans forward a bit.
"You were trapped, you say? Who were you cuffed to?" Rukia asks him softly. Isshin grins at her.
"It is as you suspect. I was cuffed to Masaki!" Isshin reveals, causing Ichigo's mouth to drop open.
"Seriously?" Ichigo asks his father in a shocked voice. Isshin nods.
"There should have been a magic phrase that came with the cuffs." Isshin says to them. Rukia nods.
"I tried it twice but it didn't work." Rukia explains.
"Try it again, please." Isshin wants to see with his own eyes whether or not the spell works.
"Sun and moon! Heart and rain! Please undo us from this pain!" Rukia calls out loudly. The cuffs don't budge.
"It's as I suspected. You'll have to do it the hard way." Isshin says grinning. Ichigo raises his eyebrows.
"The hard way?" Ichigo echoes. His father pins him with an intense stare.
"How do you feel about Rukia-chan?" Isshin asks him again. Ichigo blushes.
"What does that have to do with the handcuffs?" Ichigo demands.
"Trust me." Isshin tells him seriously. "How do you feel about her?"
Ichigo blushes as he glances at Rukia. He really doesn't want his confession to be like this.
"I'm sick of your games old man!" Ichigo says in protest. He starts to get up but Rukia pinches his arm very hard in order to get him to stop.
"Why won't you answer the question?" Rukia asks him softly and he looks down into her hurt expression and he wants to swear.
He leans down to whisper in her ear.
"I promise to answer it when we're alone." Ichigo tells her very quietly. Rukia nods.
Isshin grins as he hears them run up the stairs. They've sure gotten used to walking and running together at the right pace the past few days. He suspects they probably didn't have too much trouble with that in the first place.
Up in Ichigo's room, he looks at Rukia in a bit of a panic as he knows he has to keep his end of the deal. He pulls her over to the bed to sit down.
"Well?" Rukia asks impatiently.
"Hush for a second." Ichigo snaps at her as he closes his eyes to gather his thoughts.
Rukia can tell he's trying to figure out the right way to confess and she holds her breath. Their cuffed wrists are proof enough of his feelings.
"Okay, I'll wait patiently." Rukia says as she watches him think.
She smiles when he finally opens his eyes to meet hers, and he gives her a very thorough stare that makes her heart tingle.
"If you want to know what you mean to me then I easily say you mean the world to me. If you want to know if I love you then I would say I love you very much, but it feels like those words don't do my feelings true justice. I don't think a word exists for how strongly I feel about you. I treasure you above all else." Ichigo whispers achingly. Rukia feels tears forming in her eyes at his touching words.
"I love you so much!" Rukia answers in return. Ichigo leans down to kiss her and they open their eyes in mid-kiss when the cuffs come undone and hit the bed and then clank to the ground.
"Seriously?" Ichigo whispers in shock. Rukia smiles back at him.
"It seems you won't be forced to drag me everywhere you go now," Rukia tells him with a happy sigh from their kissing.
"But you'll still be sleeping with me." Ichigo tells her with a kiss.
A Few Days Later…
Urahara and Tessai are relieved that Ichigo finally left. He had bloodied both of their noses for leaving town and not explaining Rukia's purchase fully to her before letting her put those damned cuffs on him.
Urahara had unwisely commented that it looked like it had turned out for the best and Ichigo had elbowed him in his broken and bloody nose after that comment. Ichigo's last words before he had stormed out, ring in his ear. It had been a mouthful, even for Ichigo.
Just because we're together doesn't mean it was alright for you to do that! We didn't even have privacy to use the bathroom! Do you have any idea how humiliating that was? Even worse, I come to find out that's how my parents confessed to each other! How could you make it so that me and my dad have that in common?! For two generations, Kurosaki men will have fallen in love with and married the woman they were cuffed to! That is not a cool tradition! Quit pulling shit like that!
"He's one violent kid." Tessai says with a gasp. Urahara thinks of the many times Rukia has smacked him around.
"They're perfect for each other." Urahara had stated before whining about the pain.
"He brought up marriage." Tessai says with a grin. Urahara smiles back at him.
"Like father, like son. With those two, it's terrifying how many similarities there are." Urahara shakes his head.
"I think it was worth it to get them together." Tessai says, smiling through his pain.
"Me too." Urahara says with a smile. They deserved to find happiness, and Urahara was glad that they had found it in a roundabout way through him.
They'll be happy together, and they deserve that.