The Dragon's Queen

by Jo Terry

A/N: I do not own Bleach and its characters.

Chapter 28

'Go with me to Shibuya?'

Ishida has to read the text a few times over to make sure he isn't seeing things. It's been 10 days of almost silence between him and Rukia. Ever since he revealed to her the truth about what has been bugging him, they haven't had the time to have a proper conversation.

He reluctantly left her for work that evening after their talk. The entire time during his shift, it was a struggle to keep his focus on his patients. During the three days that followed, Rukia stayed at Urahara while her gigai was undergoing maintenance. They needed her reiatsu to be close by as much as possible. She brought her laptop over to begin designing for Sugino Nami, while calling in sick for her classes. It was part-truth, anyway. Her body really was 'ill', as fake as it is.

Being new to the job and wanting to make sure her first designs made a good impression, Rukia threw herself into her work even after she returned to the apartment, while catching up on the few days of university assignments that she missed.

Ishida couldn't bring himself to bother her the past week. They exchanged a few texts while he was at the hospital, and a few spoken words while he was at home. But that was all the communication they had. He did also want to give her some space after their talk, figuring maybe she'd be at least a little upset that he had chosen to keep those things from her for so many months.

'I'm submitting the designs to Sugino-san in person. Thinking of staying in Shibuya for the weekend.'

Ishida switches the app on his phone to his hospital schedule to check if he could have the weekend off. Otherwise, he would probably have to get Tanaka to swap days-off with him.

'Of course,' he texts back to Rukia. 'Let me know the exact days and I'll make arrangements with Tanaka.'

'Thanks. I'm planning to leave early Saturday morning. Will see Sugino in the afternoon. Then, I'll be free until we come back on Tuesday.'

Four days is a little tough for him to work around his schedule. But after the cold silence between them, Ishida is determined to spend some time away together with Rukia to make up for it.

"Your designs are going to make a great debut as our new line, Rukia. I have no regrets at all for choosing you over several others I had in mind," Sugino Nami says as she walks Rukia out of her building.

They both instinctively shield their eyes from the sun as they exit through the automatic glass doors. It's almost evening in Shibuya even though the sky is still bright. Across the street, the number of pedestrians have already begun to pick up as most people are on their way home from work.

"Thank you, Sugino-san. To be honest, I was quite nervous about this first submission," Rukia confesses.

Sugino chuckles. "It's natural to have a little doubt about your first design work or even many others that follow. I've been there before. But it helps to have a supportive partner," she smirks, gesturing to the white car at the side of the road.

Rukia's cheeks burn under the teasing twitch of Sugino's eyebrows. She blames the sun. "Ah, yes. I believe Sugino-sensei has been there with you all these while as well."

"Not until four years ago, Rukia. We were both so busy building our careers that we never met people we wanted to spend our lives with. But yes, he has been a great support to me, much like Ishida-sensei has been to you, I'm sure. And for him to drive you all the way to Shibuya in this crazy jam… he must love you very much," Sugino says before telling her she shouldn't keep Uryuu waiting.

The ladies bid each other a brief goodbye as Sugino re-enters her building while Rukia walks towards Uryuu's car parked by the curb. At this point, the shinigami feels like her face has been engulfed in flames. She was the one who invited Uryuu to come to Shibuya with her. He could've said 'no', as busy as he is with his shifts… but he didn't. And she's thankful for that because she truly wants to spend some time with him after their stifling period of silence. The 45-minute drive from Karakura to Shibuya was mostly silent as well. She is partly to be blamed as she was so stressed out about coming up with an impressive debut that she didn't make some time for her and Uryuu to properly reconcile with each other. Now that she has submitted her designs and Sugino has approved of them, Rukia feels more at ease. Tonight and the next three days will be just her and her Dragon.

"Is there a place you have in mind for dinner?" Uryuu asks when she has settled in her seat.

Rukia takes some time to study the man next to her as he pulls out from his parking space. Uryuu seems relaxed in his polo shirt and blue jeans, a white Adidas cap covering his dark head to only show his undercut. It's quite a rare sight, this ensemble of his; makes him look years younger. She feels a little stir within her as she stares a little too long at his restful profile.

"Rukia?"

She blinks, barely registering that she hasn't answered his question and… how long is my face going to remain on fire? "Sorry," she says, tucking her hair behind her ear as she turns away from him. "I didn't really think about where to go 'cos I don't really know Shibuya. Anywhere would be fine."

"Alright. I'll take you to this place I used to go to when I attended training here," he says, turning on the car signal to indicate he would be making a left at a junction ahead. "Are you okay?"

"Yes."

"You're red. How did the submission go?"

Rukia bites her bottom lip as she mentally curses the stupid reaction this gigai has. She wonders if Urahara has done something to it during those three days when he was repairing it. "It was good. Sugino-san likes the designs. It'll be out at the store in two weeks."

"Did she over-praise you? Is that why you're blushing?" Uryuu asks and Rukia can tell he's suppressing a laugh with the way his lips are trembling a little when she whips her head to the right to cast him a glare.

Crossing her arms over her chest, Rukia inhales deeply and tries to bring down the heat in her face but the more conscious she is of it, the more flustered she becomes. "It's this stupid gigai," she grumbles. "Is it that obvious?"

Uryuu finally chuckles. Reaching over to take her hand in his, he briefly swipes his thumb across her cheek. "Does it matter? You look adorable."

"Are you trying to make it worse?" she snaps, even as she laces their fingers together and covers the back of Uryuu's hand with her other hand.

"God, I want to kiss you right now. Can we just head back to the hotel and order room service?" he pleads.

"Uryuu!"

"Not helping, Rukia."

"Urgh…" she grunts, looking out her window to hide her smile. She remembers that night when Uryuu mentioned how the way she calls him by his first name affects him. In all honesty, she wants to head back to the hotel as well. But she knows they will probably skip dinner if they do that now.

"We're here, Joo-Heika," Uryuu says as he parks his car at a small parking lot outside a nicely decorated single-storey building.

He walks around the car to Rukia when she comes out from her side, trapping her against the shut door with his larger body and cupping a hand under her jaw. "Are we okay?" he murmurs, his blue eyes piercing into hers.

"Of course," Rukia says, just as soft, her arms stretching up to entwine her fingers behind his neck. "We'll always be."

Uryuu removes his cap and bends down to capture her lips, his other arm encircling her waist to tug her against him while his body pins her to the car door.

They remain wrapped around each other outside the diner, savouring a few more slow kisses before they reluctantly make their way into the building with his arm still holding her tightly to his side.

"Oh yeah. Now I remember you. You're the guy Cang Du stole the bankai from. Mr Ice Captain, aren't you?"

"I'm Hitsugaya Toushiro, Captain of the 10th Division."

"I'm Sternritter H! The Heat! Bazz-B! I do think we're a nice match. Don't you think?"

"Indeed," Hitsugaya agrees, throwing an attack of ice at Bazz-B.

The mohawked Sternritter is quick to counter with his flames, melting the thin ice before it hits him. His flames, however, flicker for a while longer before they dissipate.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey! Jeez, this ice is so freaking thin. It takes me an instant to melt it with my flames. And it's getting hot in here!" Bazz-B remarks with a smirk. But as the smoke clears, he hears a female voice summoning an attack from the shinigami captain's side.

"Howl, Haineko!"

An ice wall appears between him and his opponents.

"Pfft! That's just an ice wall! What is so different from before?" Bazz-B chuckles, throwing his flames towards the wall.

Again, he hears the female shinigami's voice shouting from the other side, "Haineko! House!"

To his surprise, the flames he threw had no effect on the ice wall this time around. "I can't melt it?"

Hitsugaya appears beyond the transparent wall and Bazz-B wonders how a person of such a short stature could look so tall with an aura that commands absolute authority.

"No… the surface did melt. What's going on?" Bazz-B demands.

"It's a vacuum multi-layer ice wall created with the ashes of Haineko. I covered the surface with a thin layer of ice. Then, Haineko returns to the shape of a sword, leaving an ice wall with multiple empty layers. Among the zanpakutou of all the captains, my Hyourinmaru is probably the one with the least power difference between the shikai and the bankai. The only difference is simply that the quantity of ice it can create is extremely small. To make up for that, I had to find a way to fight with little ice. To stop flames like yours, I guess this quantity is more than sufficient."

What the fuck is he talking about? Why do these shinigami like to get so long-winded about their powers? One of us is going to die without remembering any of these, anyway, Bazz-B thinks, not a single word spoken by the short captain making sense in his head. "Bastard!" he screams as he tries to break through the ice wall again with his flames but to no avail.

The smoke clears and Hitsugaya remains unaffected on his side of the ice wall. "I said it won't pass. Your flames cannot pass through the vacuum ice wall."

Bazz-B mentally curses, sneering at the stoic look on Hitsugaya's face. Impossible!

"Well then, let me slash you with a vacuum ice blade."

The last thing Bazz-B remembers of that battle with the white-haired captain and his vice captain was the oncoming ice blade that was headed towards him.

After that, he found himself bleeding from his chest in an alley beside a black-haired figure slumped against the wall. They were found by a man named Yukio Hans Vorarlbena who told him he was walking through the alley when the two of them appeared out of nowhere with grave injuries on their torsos.

"It was as if the seam of the universe was split open right before my eyes and there you were lying on the grown," Bazz-B remembers Yukio telling him.

As the other man was still unconscious, Yukio decided to come back for him after taking Bazz-B to his house. He couldn't possibly manage two injured men at the same time. But before Bazz-B was picked up from the ground, he saw Yukio slapping something black on the arm of the dark-haired man. He was later told that it was a tracker which dissolved into the man's reiryoku, in case someone took him away. True enough, the man had disappeared when Yukio returned for him.

All was not lost as they followed the tracker to where the woman who rescued him had taken him home. On New Year's Eve, Yukio 'teleported' Schiffer to the Karakura Train Station and the three of them discussed their plan to destroy Kurosaki Ichigo and Ishida Uryuu for the first time that night.

"Does His Majesty still appear to you in your dreams?" he asks, lighting a cigarette with his Burner Finger.

"Y-yes…" Yukio stammers, the deep, dark circles around his eyes are proof of his answer.

Yukio, Bazz-B learns, is a spiritually-aware human in his late twenties with powers to manipulate souls residing in physical matter. During his own time as a human being over a thousand years ago, Bazz-B had never heard of such abilities. He supposes the spiritual world has evolved since. It doesn't surprise him, though that His Majesty would know about this. Yhwach had, after all, the power of The Almighty.

Bazz-B remembers a time when his goal in life was to put an end to Yhwach. He remembers training day and night with Jugram Haschwalth only for Yhwach to pick Jugo as his right-hand man in the end. Bazz-B was furious about the turn of events. He'd thought Jugo was born without any powers and that he was the gifted one himself. But according to Yhwach, it was because of Jugo's presence in Bazz-B's life that the latter had developed his abilities called The Heat.

That moment when Jugo defended Yhwach from his Burner Finger attack, Bazz-B felt utterly betrayed by his own friend. But three years later, Bazz-B decided to join the Sternritter anyway. That's when he discovered how powerful Yhwach really was. Bazz-B never knew of a single weakness of Yhwach despite how hard he tried to look for it in all his time with the Sternritters.

However, according to the last memories His Majesty left him with, it was ultimately Ishida Uryuu and Kurosaki Ichigo who ended him - with Ishida's master archery and the last of Kurosaki's remaining bankai powers. Yhwach's inevitable defeat only truly began when Ishida shot the arrowhead made of his mother's silver blood clot to freeze the abilities of The Almighty. It was at those last moments when Yhwach collected all the resources his limited powers could manage - Yukio Hans Vorarlbena, Ulquiorra Schiffer, and Bazz-B himself - to make possible this future of destroying Ishida and Kurosaki.

"You are aware that the three of us are meant to die during the course of this plan right?" he asks, puffing his smoke across the table at his companion.

Yukio's fingers pause on his game console before he slowly looks up at Bazz-B with bloodshot eyes. "I know."

"I suppose for him to want to destroy his only successor, even His Majesty knows the reign of the Quincy needs to come to an end."

"You mean that Ishida guy?"

"Yes, 'that Ishida guy'. It pisses me off to say that he's, in fact, more powerful than His Majesty. The only thing that is withholding him from conquering all three worlds is his disgustingly pure heart."

"A double-date? Really?" Uryuu pauses midway through drying his hair with a towel.

The couple is getting ready to head back to Karakura after three days of spending most of their time cuddling under the covers in the hotel room. Well, they did go out to eat and do a little sightseeing. 'A little', being the keywords here.

"Yes…" Rukia stammers. "I'm sorry I forgot to tell you. I just thought since we're going to be back before evening and you're only working tomorrow, maybe we could hang out with Tatsuki and Renji for a bit."

Uryuu sighs in defeat, taking the shirt she has in her hands and making quick work of folding it before laying it in their shared cabin luggage. "Sorry. I'm just feeling a little selfish," he says as he sits on the bed, pulling her into his lap.

Rukia snickers at the adorable pout he probably doesn't realise he spots at times like these. "We've spent over three whole days alone together, Uryuu."

"Two days and 20 hours, to be exact. Our road trip does not count. The five hours you spent with Sugino certainly doesn't count."

"Are you kidding me?" she laughs. "You are the cutest!"

"That's embarrassing."

"We'll just have to keep it between ourselves, then."

"What, were you planning on broadcasting it?" Uryuu bumps her chin up to nuzzle his nose against the column of her neck.

"Why not?" Rukia replies, trying not to moan. "I have an adorable boyfriend and I think the world should know."

If Uryuu is at all surprised by this declaration, he doesn't show it. But he continues to drag his lip across her jaw, nibbling as he goes along. "Who are you and what have you done with Kuchiki Rukia?"

"Maybe I'm Chappy."

At that, he jerks back to give her a disgusted look. "Eww?"

"You are horrible."

"And also adorable, you did say. But yeah, I've been wondering…"

"Yes?" Rukia says, even as she is quite distracted by his lips on her throat once again.

"Does the clan know about us?"

The question is far from what she has expected and her gasp shows. But she hopes he sees that as the effect of his kisses.

"The clan does not need to know about your temporary affair with the Quincy. It would be rather troublesome for you if word were to get out about this," she remembers Nii-sama saying to her that night after he told her he was okay with her dating Uryuu. But it isn't something she wants to tell Uryuu, particularly because it would remind them of their brief relationship. Or affair, as Nii-sama has called it, she mentally sighs at that.

"Rukia?" With a hand on her cheek, Uryuu turns her face towards him.

"Sorry. I was distracted," she says brushing her thumb across his lips.

"So… do they know about us?" Uryuu asks again, playfully nipping at her thumb.

Rukia hesitates before she replies, "No…"

There is a flash of disappointment across his face, no denying that. But he hides it well with a chuckle as he kisses the palm of her hand before he goes for her lips. It would seem that the conversation ends with them making out for the next few minutes, deciding to continue packing with reluctance right before noon.

She doesn't know about Uryuu, but even while they are checking out at the reception, the thought lingers in her mind.

Tatsuki asks the moment the door shuts behind them, "Are you alright, Rukia?"

"What?" Violet orbs widen at the sudden question from the tomboy.

"C'mon, you can tell me what's bothering you. I dragged you out to the washroom for this purpose."

"I'm fine." Rukia dismisses. They have left the two men to queue for their popcorn and drinks.

"Really? Then, I'm a Hollow."

"With the way you throw your opponents on the mat, that is not at all surprising, you know?"

Tatsuki rolls her eyes. "Okay, okay! Just tell me."

"It's the same thing," Rukia sighs. "I keep thinking about whether it was a mistake to accept Uryuu's feelings when we both know…"

"That it's all temporary?" the other girl finishes for her.

"Yes! And… you and Renji. How did you even agree to start dating? He has less time in the World of the Living than I do. My brother could just stop him from coming over anytime. Did you guys even consider all of this?"

"Of course, we did, Rukia."

"Then, how…"

"We made a pact," Tatsuki tells her, pulling herself back to sit at the sink.

"Huh?"

"Sounds kind of immature, I know. But yeah, that's what we did. Every time he leaves the World of the Living, we see it as his last time here. So we won't be too disappointed if he does not return ever again. And every time he does come back, it's like a great surprise for me and we start dating all over again."

"That's… insane. Sooner or later, Renji and I are going to leave the World of the Living for good, and it's not fair for you and Uryuu."

"I know. But how else can we emotionally manage this, Rukia? We're from different worlds. Unfortunately, there is absolutely no happy ending to this. We need to accept that we will never have our happy-ever-after. We just have to make do with what we have. But you shouldn't ask if it was a mistake for you to accept Ishida's feelings. You shouldn't feel bad only for him."

"What do you mean?"

"You do have feelings for him, don't you?"

"Absolutely," Rukia replies within a heartbeat.

"So it's more than just accepting his feelings. You're also putting your own feelings on the line here. Both of you are going to face that inevitable heartbreak just like Renji and me. And that's why you need to enjoy the little time you have together while you still can. And remember, Rukia. It's not just Ishida you are leaving behind. It's me and Karin and Nichibotsu Bar and TUAD and that designer boss of yours."

"Now, you're making me feel worse than ever," Rukia grumbles. She supposes she really has been too self-absorbed about her relationship with Uryuu to think about the other people who might miss her when she's gone.

Tatsuki shrugs. "I'm just trying to show you the reality of it."

"I know…" Ruki sighs again, leaning back on the sink as she wasn't tall enough to sit on it. "Uryuu and I talked about this at the beginning of our relationship. And yeah, we felt the same thing about making the best of the time we have with each other even though we know it's not going to last. But as time goes by, it starts to get more real and the uncertainty of when it will end just… scares me."

For a moment, the two women ponder in silence over their similar situations. Tatsuki probably feels the same about not knowing how long her relationship with Renji would last.

"I'll be honest with you. I don't keep to the pact. I can't. Every time Renji leaves, I continue to hope I'll see him again. It breaks my heart so bad. I wish I could tell him I love him."

Rukia raises her well-shaped gigai brows at her coach.

"I do. Why do you look at me like that? You think I'm incapable of love?"

"It's not that I think you're incapable of love, Tatsuki. I just wasn't expecting you to admit it to me. I feel like I'm eavesdropping on something I shouldn't know about."

"You're an arse, Kuchiki Rukia," Tatsuki chuckles.

"What? It's true!"

"Anyway… I was the one who set the rule on not ever saying those words. I guess I wasn't expecting to fall in love with him. We thought we'd just get to know each other because we liked each other. And that breaking up each time he leaves would be perfect as a no-strings-attached kind of relationship. But we were obviously just fooling ourselves."

Ruki sighs again and she realises she has been doing that a lot more lately. "So what do we do now?"

"What do you mean, 'what do we do'?" Tatsuki asks incredulously as she slides off the sink. "We continue dating and celebrate every moment of it until the time comes when we have to part ways."

"That's… easier said than done."

"It's going to hurt, sure. But Rukia, from a mortal point of view, having a relationship with someone literally out of this world is a huge gift to us. You and Renji are practically gods compared to Ishida and me. And being chosen to be your partners is something we treasure deep within our hearts. Even if it's for a day or a week, we could never ask for anything more remarkable than this."

"You're making me cry, Arisawa," Rukia scowls, punching Tatsuki in the shoulder. The human girl barely flinches at that and Rukia wonders which one really is the god between them.

"You're welcome, Kuchiki. Open the floodgates, and let out your fears and anxieties here, so you can go back out there and enjoy your time with your dragon."

Joo-Heika = her majesty the Queen or my Queen

I made some changes to Kubo's original text for the battle between Hitsugaya & Matsumoto and Bazz-B, but Hitsugaya's explanatory speech remains the same. Bazz-B's musing about the shinigami's long-windedness is my sentiment about Kubo's writing. Most mangaka would explain situations in narratives instead of their characters' dialogues. But Kubo has a habit of having his characters give the explanations on their powers during battles, which does not make sense at all because, who would have the time and breath to spend on speeches when they are busy attacking their opponents and defending themselves?

And of course, for the sake of my storyline, I chose to end Bazz-B's involvement in the Thousand-Year Blood War during the first half of this battle with Hitsugaya. If you have read the manga, Bazz-B eventually decided to assist the shinigami and he lost during his fight with his friend, Jugram Haschwalth. I didn't want him to have those memories. I wanted him removed from Wandenreich while he was still motivated to destroy the shinigami and suspicious of Ishida.

Fun fact: Bazz-B and Yukio share one thing in common - they both fought Hitsugaya Toushiro.

Thank you all for your reviews. Thank you for your patience and faith in me. I'm definitely going to finish this fic, but it may take some time for me to get to the next chapter because of work, which also involves a lot of writing. And it can be so exhausting sometimes to write for hours on end, even though writing is really my passion.