-17-

The shop is closing when Rukia arrives, flashing a smile at a customer, as she slips inside; Rukia makes herself at home on the couch she collapses into while Ichigo finishes the last of his duties for the day. To the empty store at large, she declares, "I'm emotionally compromised."

"Gross," he deadpans, "should I get you a bucket?"

She nudges a foot at him as he strolls past, books in hand to re-shelve; he grabs her ankle in response, gently squeezing it before continuing on his way.

Rearranging herself so she's up on one elbow, she pouts at him. "You're not gonna ask?"

"Ask what?"

Rukia makes a face which he feels because she can see his shoulders shake. With a roll of her eyes and a dramatic sigh, "Fine, since you're dying to know: Tatsuki told Inoue to leave."

That, finally, garners his attention, even if he's still mostly focused on the shelves. "Oh?"

"Yeah, it was hard to watch." Rukia lies back down on the couch, propping her feet up on the armrest as she stares up at the skylight and says, "It hurt her to do it, but it's for the best. Tatsuki seemed almost relieved that it was over, even if Inoue isn't going to be leaving the apartment at this exact second."

"And you're emotionally compromised because…"

"It hurt her," Rukia says, "Tatsuki's a big girl but she still got her heart broken. And, I mean, Inoue did the hurting, but I feel bad for her too." Even if Rukia was still vindicated to see Inoue finally getting called out for her behavior. It mustn't have felt good. Though, Rukia supposes that's the point.

Inoue was just lucky that Rangiku had kept it together before she fled to her room.

"You shouldn't," he grunts, and Rukia doesn't necessarily bristle, but she still admonishes, "Ichigo!"

"She called Yuzu," he says, and she can hear his scowl. "She asked if she could stay with her." Then he's muttering, "It's just bullshit."

Rukia's brows furrow. "Well, I mean, Yuzu was the healthcare professional in charge of her during her heat. It's not…the best situation. But -"

"Inoue knows she's my sister," he reminds and. Just.

"You think she's trying to pull the same thing on your sister as she did with Tatsuki."

His silence is deafening.

"She can't be serious," Rukia deadpans.

"Yuzu said no, for professional reasons, of course," he allows. "Yuzu told Inoue to check in with the omega dorms administration office instead," he exhales, a tinge of relief that's almost eclipsed by how he's clearly trying not to get upset about it.

Not that Rukia doesn't get it. Because she does.

It's actually really boggling her mind how unwavering Inoue seems to be towards her goal of reaching Ichigo. It's…insanity. "Why is she so obsessed with you?" He makes a face which makes her roll her eyes again. "Oh, please, we both know you're hot Kurosaki, you don't need the ego boost."

Ichigo snorts. "If I knew what I was doing, I'd stop. As it stands, I'm going to have to tell her myself."

"Why haven't you?" Rukia asks and at that, he pauses in his shelving.

In fact, he stops shelving entirely to face her and admit, "I never thought I'd need to." Something about her expression prompts him to explain, and he does, "We've been going to the same school for years, we've never talked. Outside of her becoming friends with Tatsuki, becoming her housemate all within the past year; I haven't thought about her at all beyond the fact that we're from the same town. Inoue has no reason to be the way she is about me. Inoue doesn't know me."

Drawing herself up to sit properly, though pulling her knees to her chest, Rukia says, "She used to tell us her plans of how she'd meet you. I didn't…I didn't realize how messed up it was until this thing with Tatsuki happened. I just thought she was infatuated by you."

"She is."

At her sarcastic look, he holds his hands up. "Unlike her, you have personal experience of how great I am."

"Okay," she drawls, laughing. "Well, Mr. Great, you're going to have to be less of yourself when you tell her that you and her aren't ever going to happen."

"Never ever?" he mocks, feigning shock. "Do you intend to keep me, Kuchiki?"

Humming, Rukia teases, "I'm tempted, but if you keep at it, I could always return you."

"Yeah," he stretches the word, "that's not how this works." By now, Ichigo has long abandoned his task of putting books away and is balancing on his knee to hover over her.

"You know, just because you're gonna kiss me doesn't mean we're gonna have sex on this couch," she says, like a liar.

"Yes, well, we did agree that next time we wouldn't sleep with one another."

And.

Damn it.

They did agree, didn't they?

He chuckles at her pout, and drops a chaste kiss on her lips anyway.

To his retreating form, Rukia sighs, "Probably for the best, I don't think your boss would approve."

Ichigo snickers. "It's okay, I know the owner."

"Oh?"

At that he actually fucking winks at her.

And.

"No."

He wiggles a brow and just continues on his way like he didn't just imply – "You own the store." He doesn't answer which is an answer onto itself. "How the hell -" Rukia shakes her head. "You know what, we don't know each other that well and that's changing right now." She's on her feet and dragging him off by the arm to his laughter.

"Wait, wait don't you – you have a date right about now, don't you? You haven't told your mom yet -"

While true, Rukia hasn't had the time to loop her mother in yet to the change in her relationship status considering all that's happened today with Inoue and Tatsuki, but. "So? The point of a date is to get to know someone, and I want to get to know you."

"So," he begins with an arch of his brow. "You're taking me on a date."

At his tone, she gives him a look that says you got a problem with that? And he lifts his hands up in mock defense. "I'm just saying, traditionally, alphas do the asking. Or at the very least, the guy does."

Rukia's expression doesn't waver. "And what part of our relationship says it'll be traditional, Kurosaki?"

"Fair enough," he allows with a smirk and then allows himself to be led.

Halfway down the street, though, he hesitates enough to say, "I don't…think I'm dressed right for this."

Pausing to take in his khakis and button-down with an actual honest-to-god cardigan thrown over it, Rukia decides, "I already know what you look like under that."

"Fair."

She has. No idea what she's doing in hindsight, and tells him so about three minutes later as they board a bus which is full of commuters heading home for the day, "I've never actually done this before."

He steadies her as the bus jostles, grabbing onto the loop hanging from the bar above them for support before he clarifies over the loud rumbling of the bus, "Been in charge of a date?"

"Been on one," she corrects before she amends again, "At least one where it wasn't either a prelude to something else, or an arrangement by my mother."

Ichigo pauses. "When you say it isn't a prelude…"

She digs her elbow into his abdomen eliciting a snort. "What?" Rukia teases, "You think I won't like you if you aren't, as you say, on your knees?" Which is a question she punctuates with an innocent kiss on the cheek that he grunts at.

Beneath her lips, she feels his face heat. "You really were set out into the world to torture me, weren't you?"

Her shrug is careless, her following smile innocent, and teasing or no, they don't have sex that night.

They go to dinner at a hole-in-the-wall ramen shop, and she teases him over the fact that he likes his food bland: "I like my food edible," he corrects, pointing at her bowl with his chopsticks, "That looks like the gateway to hell."

It's a worrying red color, Rukia will admit but also, "It tastes a lot better than it looks."

"That is not comforting, at all," he informs. "I should get you some milk. Or a fire extinguisher."

"You worry too much," she laughs.

"How are you going to eat it?" he teases, "Your utensils will melt in the bowl. I'll have to get a new girlfriend if it dissolves you too."

She snorts, and eats just fine thank you very much. Rukia doesn't even need the milk. Though, once she coaxes him to taste, he finishes an entire glass on his own. But the fire extinguisher suggestion was still unnecessary and he knows it.

They stay until closing just talking.

Rukia finds out that Ichigo is a library science major with a minor in history. He'd chosen his degree based on how little contact with people he'd actually have to have after he graduated. And, in his words, "I like books."

The bookshop was where his parents met, though neither of them had owned it: "I found it in freshmen year on that scavenger hunt. It was the exact store in my mom's photographs at home. They had a Help Wanted up, and I figured it was a sign. In my third year, the owner wanted to sell to some developers and retire out in the country, and I managed to convince him to sell it to me instead."

"So now you just own a bookstore," Rukia says.

He shrugs. "It's not hard. The previous owner had a pretty extensive collection of private and first editions. Put some new paint up, add some furniture, bear the pain of stocking some recent books on the bestsellers lists, and boom; the place practically pays for itself. I just stick around to clean up afterward and make sure all the bills get paid." Then, "What about you?"

"I don't own a bookstore you've never been to; I promise." At his huff, she laughs. "I'm a biology major. I'm still working out what I want my focus to be, but my aim is academia though I wouldn't turn down a research position if it ever came up."

"Huh, and here I thought your knowledge on mating cycles was strictly limited to high school biology," he teases.

"That knowledge was purely theoretical in my defense, until recently," she allows with another more sheepish laugh.

They talk about their siblings.

Apparently, there a was a bit of drama when his sisters, twins, presented the way they did: "We all thought Karin would be an alpha and Yuzu an omega, or barring that, both of them would turn out to be betas. The latter would make the most statistical sense."

"But," Rukia prompts.

"Alpha and beta," he replies. "Karin went through a bit of a crisis, Yuzu too, now that I think about it. They'd both had expectations of who they were, and then they presented and it was like they didn't know themselves at all."

"I can understand that," she says with a shake of her head. "I thought I'd be a beta, if not an alpha like my nii-sama. But."

"I wouldn't've been surprised if you were an alpha."

She nudges him. "Would you still like me if I was an alpha?"

Ichigo huffs a laugh. "I think I'd like you no matter what."

Despite her flush, she toasts to him with her bottle of soda, "Very smooth." He accepts her praise with a noncommittal hum and another wink, and it's probably the best date Rukia's ever been on.

"This is not actually an accomplishment," she lets him know as they stroll towards the bus stop, not holding hands, but bumping elbows and hips. "You've heard the kind of dates I've been on."

"I'll still take the compliment if its all the same to you," he says, then as they board the bus, "Speaking of, has your mom bugged you yet, about your date?"

"Surprisingly not," Rukia answers, pausing a beat to check her phone, letting Ichigo steer her along to an empty pair of seats as she checks her messages. "That's suspicious," she notes, "almost as soon as I ruin her plans for me, she's got an entire novella acted out on my voicemail."

"Quite a talent."

"She's just incredibly bored with her life," she corrects with a snicker. Then, "Ah." Rukia rolls her eyes, "speak of the devil."

Seated next to the window with Ichigo beside her, she presses her phone to her ear on the side where he's sitting so he can hear, and answers, "Yes, Mother?"

"Oh, dearest! Good, if you're answering you mustn't be busy," she says, practically aflutter, "I'm so excited, how did it go?"

"Go?" Rukia echoes.

"Well," she huffs, "I didn't get any phone calls from any irate alphas or their parents so I assume it went well?"

Her brows are furrowed now. "What are you -"

Her mother, as usual, steamrolls over her, "You know, I wasn't sure about the family. But apparently, they're related to the Shibas. Dear, do you know the Shibas? The big hotel chain Shibas, Rukia! Anyway, the Shiba's have an alpha son but he's already taken, and while their daughter is an alpha, she's well. Hmm," she makes a dismissive noise before continuing on, "They have a cousin, and his pedigree isn't as nice as I would've liked, both his parents are alphas. But his father is a doctor with his own practice, and -"

"Mother, I don't -"

"His name is a little odd too, Ichigo's a girl's name, isn't it?" And at that, Rukia turns to look at him beside her, where he's frowning and correcting, "Actually, it means 'the one who protects'."

Her scandalized expression apparently entertains him, even as she threatens, "You -" In her ear, her mother continues to chatter and she's forced to interrupt herself, "I'm gonna have to call you back."

"What?" Then, "Oh, oh! Are you still with him dear? See, I told you, fourth time's the charm! Well, let me know what you think of him then. Ta!"


A/n: I'm not even kidding. This story REFUSES to finish. HELP.