This chapter has something in common with "The Rebellious Novice" but please remember that this story is NOT related to my other fanfics.
Enjoy!
Chapter 5
Chickens are family.
Ichigo tried to focus, he really wanted to get in as much knowledge as he could but his mind was not following his orders so he groaned while looking at the computer in front of him. Ukitake had been really kind and sent him all of the topics, and some documents, that would come in the exam and Urahara didn't hesitate to lend Ichigo his laptop. So, once Yoruichi made sure that Ichigo had everything to study she sent him to his room and told him to stay there and only come out for meals.
Like a prisoner.
The orange haired teenager seriously thought that he could use one distraction or two, but all he could do was to stare at the computer's screen or to turn slightly to look at the woods behind the cottage. He frowned when he realized that there was a perfect sunny day out there waiting for him and now, thanks to his irresponsibility and stupidity, he was forced to waste all of the sunlight and the interesting place around him while studying.
Life was certainly unfair and if Renji could see him he would probably made fun of his predicament. Ichigo sighed heavily while trying not to think about his friends back in Karakura and wondered what Rukia was up to, he leaned on his chair and looked at the ceiling while remembering the rules that Yoruichi had given the midget before sending Ichigo to his room.
"Well," Rukia said while walking downstairs "now that my business in the bathroom is over we should start studying, carrot top" she smiled at him "I'll help you and…"
Ichigo beamed at the idea of having studying sessions with a cute girl in the middle of the countryside but Yoruichi crushed his hopes and dreams before he could actually start to fantasize.
"Not a way in hell!" Yoruichi exclaimed "he'll be inside this cottage studying without a single moment to rest and you will not interfere, that's an order."
Rukia frowned.
"What? What am I supposed to do then?" she questioned.
"You'll enjoy the town, your cottage, your grandfather's and your dog's company," Yoruichi listed "I'll visit you on a daily basis to make sure that you're not torturing the maids or escaping into the woods to look for the witch," she narrowed her yes dangerously "and as long as Ichigo is studying and preparing for the exam you will not be allowed inside this cottage, at all."
Rukia's eyes widened as tears threatened to come out of her eyes.
"You are forbidding me from coming home?!" she asked with a broken voice "you don't want me here?"
"Child…" Yoruichi warned.
"I mean," Rukia said while clenching her fists at her sides "it's okay that now that you have a boy you have a new favorite," she croaked as two fat tears rolled down her cheeks and then looked at Urahara "you don't want me to visit you anymore either?"
Ichigo wanted to laugh, he knew that Urahara wouldn't give in so easily, no way in hell. Ichigo had known him ever since he was a baby and he knew that Urahara Kisuke had an iron will, that's why when he noticed his conflicted face, and the way he seemed to be holding back for hugging and comforting Rukia, he gaped surprised.
"Well," Urahara said nervously "I'm pretty sure we can manage to find a better agreement…" then he looked at Yoruichi and gulped fearfully under her glare "I mean…" he paused and then looked at his goddaughter again "I'm sorry, but this arrangement will be over until Kurosaki-kun aces his test," he patted her head affectionately "I promise."
Ichigo thought that Rukia would scream and cry louder than it was humanly possible but she surprised him again by pouting and in a matter of seconds there were no tears on her eyes. She looked at Yoruichi, who smirked at her, and scoffed.
"You win this one," Rukia told her godmother "but I'll be back."
"Sure, kiddo" Yoruichi said "I'll be keeping my eyes on you."
Rukia scoffed again and looked at Ichigo.
"Hurry up and ace the test," she ordered him "we have things to do."
Without looking back she walked towards the front door and left the cottage.
"That's one hell of a spoiled brat," Yoruichi muttered and then looked at her husband "her puppy eyes shouldn't work on you anymore, idiot! She's not five!"
Urahara shrugged, he obviously had a soft spot for Rukia.
"Now, go to your room" Yoruichi ordered Ichigo "and don't you dare to come out."
"I wonder how Yoruichi and Urahara handled her during her childhood…" he muttered to himself before forcing himself to look at the computer again "study, idiot, that way you can ask her all you want the rest of the summer."
Rukia sighed as she looked at her bedroom ceiling and wondered how Ichigo was holding up, he certainly looked in pain at the thought of having to study while in vacations and she couldn't blame him. She was laying on her bed with Kon by her side and while she was not bored to death she certainly believed that she needed to do something to keep herself busy, considering how her summer partner was not going to be available for a few days. Why did he have to be an idiot? His tests couldn't be so different from hers, could they?
"School cannot be that difficult…" she muttered as she stood up and walked towards her grandfather's studio, Kon followed her without hesitation and once she was in front of the double wooden door she knocked twice and she heard a "come in" almost instantly.
"Granddaddy," she greeted while stepping inside "are you busy?"
Ginrei smiled softly at her.
"Luckily I'm not," he answered as Rukia walked to take a seat on the chairs in front of his desk "what brings you here?"
She sighed heavily as she flopped on the comfortable leather chair, Kon sat faithfully next to her and rested his head on her lap.
"I'm bored," she admitted "Yoruichi and Urahara are taking care of their new favorite and the idiot…"
"Idiot?" Ginrei questioned.
"Yeah, idiot" Rukia nodded as if she hadn't insulted someone "his name is Kurosaki Ichigo."
"Ichigo is here?!" Ginrei asked smiling.
Rukia looked at him questioningly.
"Now that I think about it he mentioned he knew daddy," she said as her eyes narrowed "you know him too?"
Ginrei nodded.
"Yes," he confirmed "his father is your father's best friend," he said and Rukia's eyes widened "remember when Byakuya asked you if you wanted to visit him for a few days? Ichigo was going to visit the mansion and I thought that it would be nice for you to have one city friend."
"So, you're the one who told him to invite me?" Rukia asked.
"Yes," Ginrei admitted "you rejected him, of course" he sighed "but apparently you ended up meeting Ichigo, how come?"
Rukia shrugged.
"He's Yoruichi and Urahara's godson," she said and then scoffed "you obviously knew that too" she muttered "the thing is that he was sent here because he fought with his father or something," she explained as she caressed Kon's head "but he's busy for the time being and Yoruichi forbade me to get close to the cottage."
Ginrei blinked twice as he processed everything Rukia told him. Isshin and Ichigo fought? That was unusual and the fact that Ichigo had been sent to the countryside was even weirder, that meant that the fight had been serious. The only thing that made Ginrei sort of happy was the fact that Rukia had met Ichigo, thinking back he realized that he was the new friend she tried to tell him about at breakfast, now he wanted to know all the details, and he was curious as to why Ichigo was grounded.
He was about to ask about it but Rukia had a question on her own.
"Are schools back at the city hard?" Rukia questioned suddenly.
Ginrei's eyes widened slightly, the city topic had always been a taboo for Rukia and mentioning school was even worse. He wondered why the sudden curiosity and made a mental note to talk to Byakuya about it, perhaps he would be able to finally approach his only daughter about all of this, was this thanks to Ichigo?
"I personally believe that school is mostly the same around the country," Ginrei answered calmly "some are better than others, some are public others private, but the system works almost the same" he looked at Rukia "you went to one for two years, remember? You hated the whole experience."
Rukia scowled.
"Well," she said "I guess it was a stupid question."
"Not at all," Ginrei said "but if it's educational difficulty what you're asking about I would say that your personal classes are harder" he continued "we always tell you, don't we? Your tutors claim you are on a higher level and they insist that you would do marvelously inside a good school."
Rukia seemed to ponder that for a second.
"A good school? Like Ukitake-sama's school?" she asked.
Ginrei didn't hide his surprise this time.
"Are you considering moving to Karakura? Do you want to go to that school?" he asked.
Rukia was about to answer that it didn't sound that bad, especially now that she had a friend who studied there but she bit her tongue to prevent herself from speaking. Looking aside she remembered her time at her old school, she remembered the hellish, suffocating place it was and the horrible classmates. No, it was not worth it, she was not going to give anyone the pleasure of making her miserable ever again.
"No," she answered icily "I don't ever want to leave this place."
Ginrei pretended not to notice her defensive pose or her hard eyes, but he was definitely going to talk to Byakuya and Soujun about it, Rukia's curiosity had finally being picked and as far as Ginrei was concerned that meant progress, it was just a matter of time before she decided to go and live at the mansion with Byakuya, that was her rightful place after all. He made a mental note to ask Urahara and Yoruichi about it, if someone knew what was going through Rukia's head were her godparents but for now he would have to drop the subject.
"Hey child," Ginrei said kindly "I don't have any meetings left for the day today, do you want to do something?"
Rukia beamed and Ginrei thanked God for that, he hated to see her sad or upset.
"Yes!" she said as she stood up quickly and then she seemed to remember something "just let me go and tell something to Lucy!"
Ginrei nodded.
"Sure," he said "go ahead and I'll be waiting for you at the backyard, apparently the maids will start to prepare the lunch soon so we'll eat together."
Rukia's smile couldn't get any wider.
Yoruichi looked around her cottage and wondered when the last time she felt so much peace was. She tried to enjoy the silence and the peace around the whole place, it was really unusual. The Kuchiki earthquake was inside her cottage and ready to enjoy Ginrei-sama's company, she had been informed about it and was happy for Rukia. She needed to spend more time with her family, especially Byakuya.
Yoruichi frowned as she remembered her last phone call with him, it had taken place a month ago.
"What do you mean you can't contact her?" Yoruichi asked "you literally gave her a cellphone the last time you were here!"
"She turned it off," Byakuya's cold voice answered at the other side of the line "on our last call she hung up on me and then I couldn't reach her phone any longer," he sighed and Yoruichi could picture him closing his eyes with annoyance "that was almost a month ago."
Yoruichi's eyes widened.
"I don't get it," she admitted as she looked at her garden, Rukia was there with Kon and Urahara, apparently she was working on her homework or drawing on her sketchbook over a picnic blanket "why is she avoiding you?"
"Because of the same old topic," Byakuya muttered upset "she's way too fond of the countryside."
Yoruichi winced.
"You asked her to go and live with you, uh?"
"Yes," Byakuya confirmed "my request was not well received."
Yoruichi sighed heavily.
"Shit," she muttered finally "what do you want me to do? You know that no matter what I say..."
"I know you cannot convince her," Byakuya interrupted her "no one can, she's just as stubborn as..."
Yoruichi closed her eyes.
"Hisana," she said finally "yeah, I know."
There was a silence of a few seconds at the other side of the line. If it weren't for the fact that she knew him well she would've believed that Byakuya had hung up.
"Just let her know that I want to talk to her," Byakuya requested finally "she cannot avoid the topic forever."
Yoruichi bit her lower lip.
"She's happy here," she retorted before she could stop herself "she's..."
"My daughter," Byakuya interrupted her "we made a deal when she was four, don't forget it" he said and the line went dead.
Yoruichi scoffed.
"Have a nice day too, asshole."
Yoruichi rolled her eyes as she decided to make her way towards the Kuchiki's cottage. If Rukia was chatting with Ginrei then it was the perfect opportunity talk about her father, Rukia was more likely to listen to her under Ginrei's watchful eyes. Yoruichi was about to leave her cottage when she realized that Rukia left hers first, she met Rukia's eyes from across her porch and she tensed.
Yoruichi's eyes widened as she observed the Kuchiki heiress determined eyes.
"Don't you dare," Yoruichi mouthed "I mean it."
Rukia simply frowned at her.
"Why the long face, Kurosaki-san?" Urahara asked as he stepped into his room.
Ichigo thought about throwing a smart remark about his privacy and how Urahara should've knocked before intruding like that, but then he remembered that he didn't have a door so what was the point?
"I mean," Urahara continued while taking a seat next to Ichigo with a huge grin "it's not as if you're wasting your whole summer and your free time because..."
"I get it," Ichigo muttered upset "I'm an idiot."
Urahara shook his head.
"You're not," he said kindly while crossing his arms "it's just a phase, son" he joked.
Ichigo rolled his eyes.
"It's not a phase, mom" he said while running a hand through his hair.
Urahara looked at Ichigo for a few seconds.
"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked finally.
Ichigo looked at him questioningly.
"Talk about what exactly?" he asked.
"Everything," Urahara suggested shrugging "about your grades, whatever it's upsetting you, the fight with Isshin..."
Ichigo scoffed.
"No thanks," he hissed lowly "I seriously don't want to talk about any of that."
Urahara nodded.
"I understand," he said, although he didn't, he seriously wanted to know what was going on with Ichigo so he could help him but the boy was a tough cookie.
"Besides," Ichigo added after a couple of seconds "if I were to tell you everything then you would tell my father everything, right?"
"No! Of course not! Urahara promised with a slightly shocked face "scout's honor!"
Ichigo chuckled.
"As if you were a scout," he scoffed "that's impossible."
"Don't I look like an adventurous young man to you?" Urahara asked smiling.
"You strike me more like the introverted nerd that ended up dating the most popular girl around school and then became a millionaire," Ichigo said "and now, since you're married you got bored with the dull and cold city so you bought one hell of a cottage to live peacefully."
Urahara gaped indignantly.
"This is a humble cottage!" he excused himself.
"You live right across Kuchiki Ginrei," Ichigo said "this is literally something that common folks will never get to afford."
Urahara shook his head.
"Should I sell this?" he wondered aloud "then I can buy a little candy shop in Karakura and live there with Yoruichi..."
Ichigo raised an eyebrow.
"And leave the Kuchiki heiress by herself around the woods?" he asked and noticed how Urahara grimaced as if the whole idea was a sin.
Ichigo smirked.
"What?" Urahara asked.
"Yoruichi and you seriously love her, right?" Ichigo asked "but I don't get it, why?"
Urahara blinked confused.
"She's our goddaughter?" he answered/asked as if that was enough explanation.
Ichigo frowned.
"Come on! Tell me the story!" he said finally "because I am your godson but I've never been invited to live with you and you've never given me horses as birthday presents."
Urahara sighed.
"Fine," he agreed finally "I'll tell you, but you'll have to ask some details to Yoruichi, some parts of the story are quite personal for her."
Ichigo blinked.
"Did you adopt her?" he asked "was Byakuya way too busy to deal with his own daughter so he named you the godparents?"
Urahara chuckled.
"Not exactly," he said "Yoruichi was a close friend of Hisana-san..."
"Byakuya's late wife" Ichigo said.
Urahara nodded.
"Exactly," he confirmed "they were, for a lack of a better word, sisters."
Ichigo's eyes widened as he let that sink in.
"But I thought that Byakuya and Yoruichi didn't tolerate each other," he said "Yoruichi calls him a "bastard" quite often and Byakuya frowns more than usual whenever he hears her name."
Urahara laughed.
"Between you and me I don't believe that they hate each other," he said "the thing is that they parted ways after Hisana-san's funeral, in fact, it was then when Yoruichi stopped going to the city."
"Why?"
"She didn't want to remember Hisana-san, I guess" Urahara said "but Yoruichi was feeling guilty because Hisana-san asked her to be there for Rukia as her godmother and I could tell that Yoruichi was dying to go and talk with her four year old goddaughter..."
"So, did you encourage Yoruichi to go to the city and look for Rukia?" Ichigo asked smiling slightly.
"That was my plan," Urahara admitted "but in the end there was no need for that."
"What do you mean?" Ichigo questioned.
"Well," Urahara started "before I could even propose a trip to the city a little visitor surprised us..."
"You should stop sulking, Yoruichi-san" Urahara said playfully as he kept picking the best lemons around the farm, having so many fruit trees came with a lot of benefits.
Yoruichi glared at her husband.
"I'm not sulking," she excused herself while leaning against the fence and crossing her arms "I'm just... thinking."
Urahara sighed dramatically, he already knew what was bothering his wife so much, he could actually see the guilt behind her eyes and he hated to see her like that.
"If you want to visit the child..." he started but Yoruichi scoffed.
"She's four years old," Yoruichi said frowning "I haven't seen her ever since Hisana was alive, it's been more than a year, she doesn't remember me."
"It must be sad," Urahara said while counting the lemons that he had on his basket "having your only goddaughter forget you, I mean..." he cleared his throat "Hisana-san..."
"Shut up," Yoruichi ordered "she was an idiot, me? A godmother? That's the joke of the century, I live miles away from her."
Urahara frowned as he turned around to see what other fruit he could pick and when he did his eyes widened with shock.
"I would have to travel to the city," Yoruichi continued annoyed "how am I supposed to be there for a child for whom I would have to travel hours to see?! Besides, I do not have a single maternal bone on my body and I…"
"Well, you might not need go to the city to see her" Urahara interrupted her "since she's trying to climb our fence, right now."
"What the fuck?" Yoruichi asked as she turned around to see whatever Urahara was talking about and when she did she gaped.
Kuchiki Rukia, her four years old goddaughter, was trying to get into her farm by climbing the white fence around the property.
It was impossible not to recognize her, her hair was the same shade of black as her parents, her skin was white and her face was way too similar to Hisana's face. Yoruichi noticed immediately that the little girl was barefoot and alone, she was wearing a blue sundress and she looked sort of tired, did she walk all the way here?
"What the...?" Yoruichi muttered shocked.
She wasn't able to move from her spot due to the surprise, Kuchiki Rukia was supposed to be at Karakura, with Byakuya. If she was at the countryside it meant that she was visiting Ginrei but it didn't make sense, what about school? And, wasn't Ginrei extremely busy to be taking care of a child?
Urahara and Yoruichi stood there, both wearing the same shocked faces. They observed as Rukia struggled with the white fence, she was too short to simply climb over it, so she jumped a little and she managed to get on top of the fence, but as she tried to get down her legs didn't reach the floor so she fell clumsily with her face flat against the floor.
Yoruichi gasped as she ran towards the child before she could even think about what she was doing.
"You idiot!" she couldn't help to yell as she kneeled down next to her.
Rukia surprised her by standing up and laughing. There was dirt on her face and her dress was dirty too, why was she laughing?
"What is it?" Yoruichi asked confused "why are you laughing?"
Rukia looked at Yoruichi and smiled at her. Yoruichi couldn't help but notice her gorgeous and unique violet eyes, it was madness, her eyes were even prettier than Hisana's.
"My apologies, ma'am" Rukia said politely while bowing slightly "is this your farm?"
Yoruichi nodded dumbfounded and Rukia smiled wider.
"It's wonderful!" the child said happily "I saw the stables from the other side of the road and I was dying to see the horses!"
"From the other side of the road?" Yoruichi asked aghast as she observed the child's face carefully, her cheeks were red, she was breathing heavily and her forehead was sweaty "you came all the way here walking?!"
Rukia nodded, the smile wasn't leaving her face.
"My, my..." Urahara said approaching them "we seem to have a little intruder."
Rukia shook her head.
"I'm sorry, Sir" she said just as politely as she greeted Yoruichi "I just wanted to see the horses."
"Oh," Urahara said with a smile "then there's no problem but I must ask, where are your shoes?"
"Oh," the little girl said while blushing and looking at her feet "the maids are silly, they saw me looking for my shoes and they giggled, I think they hid them from me."
"What?" Yoruichi asked angrily.
Rukia nodded, she didn't notice Yoruichi's angry expression.
"But I couldn't let that stop me from coming here!" She said happily "yesterday I saw your farm and I decided that I was going to come!"
"But, what about your father?" Yoruichi questioned "why are you alone?"
Rukia shrugged.
"Daddy is in Tokyo, yesterday when granddaddy came back I hid with his luggage inside the trunk," she explained carelessly "no one noticed I was inside the car until we arrived!"
Yoruichi gaped.
"What the..." she tried to ask but cleared her throat "what about school?"
Rukia pouted.
"I don't like school..." she said while looking aside.
Urahara chuckled.
"I never liked school either," he agreed and Yoruichi glared at him.
Yoruichi didn't know what upset her more, the obvious neglect Rukia was suffering or the fact that the child was trusty enough to tell all of this to a couple of strangers. Had the girl gone to any other place there's no way to tell who would've found her, was she crazy? Didn't anyone teach her basic surviving skills? And why were the maids hiding her shoes?
Nothing made sense.
"Ehm..." Yoruichi said awkwardly "listen kiddo, we're not bad people, I guess, but didn't anyone teach you how to take care of yourself?"
"What do you mean?" Rukia asked.
"I mean," Yoruichi tried to explain "shouldn't you be more careful around strangers?"
Rukia blinked at her and then shrugged.
"No one who loves animals can be a bad person," she reasoned finally and Yoruichi held back a groan.
The girl was an idiot.
Urahara laughed at Yoruichi's expression, it was evident how conflicted she was at having her goddaughter here and he was quite conflicted too, was this a coincidence? Didn't the Kuchikis care about the only heiress?
"So, you're a new neighbor?" Urahara asked finally "will you be living here from now on?"
"Daddy doesn't want me to," Rukia said "but granddaddy says that there's no problem at all, he says that I can have online classes with some good tutors."
Yoruichi tried to calm down, the Kuchikis were obviously having some sort of problems about deciding what to do with Rukia.
"So granddaddy told the maids I would be their responsibility now," Rukia continued "but they agreed to let me go and do anything I want as long as I don't tell granddaddy."
Yoruichi wondered if the Kuchikis would send her to prison for setting their cottage on fire with all the maids inside, or perhaps they would just buy another house and pretend that they never had maids.
"And your online classes?" Yoruichi asked.
"They'll start next week," Rukia said "I'm still on vacations!"
"So, Ginrei-sama does not know where you are?" Urahara asked.
Rukia tilted her head.
"How do you know granddaddy's name?"
"We've been neighbors for a long time, Kuchiki-san" Urahara said while bowing slightly and Rukia chuckled "my name is Kisuke Urahara and the beautiful woman right next to you is Shihoin Yoruichi.
"Nice to meet you both," the little girl answered "my name is Rukia, Kuchiki Rukia."
Yoruichi sighed.
"I know who you are," she muttered and then frowned at her "you need to clean your feet and to wash your face," she ordered as she picked the child up "have you eaten something already?"
Rukia blushed slightly as she hid her face on the crook of Yoruichi's neck.
"What? What is it?" Yoruichi questioned and then she heard it.
Rukia's stomach growled and Yoruichi felt the need to kill the maids that were supposed to be looking after her.
"Fine," Yoruichi said as she started to walk towards Urahara's jeep "we'll give you a sandwich first."
"But I wanted to see the horses…" Rukia complained.
"The horses are not going anywhere," Yoruichi said as Urahara opened the passenger's door for them "you can see them after washing yourself and eating."
"Okay," Rukia agreed finally while making herself comfortable on Yoruichi's lap "besides, I also wanted to see your cottage, it's like another part of the woods."
"That's my fault." Urahara admitted as he started to drive "I always forget to cut our grass."
Rukia chuckled and together they made their way towards the cottage.
"She was being neglected?" Ichigo asked aghast "the Kuchiki heiress was being neglected?"
Urahara nodded.
"It was quite shocking to see," he agreed "that's the kind of thing you hear from families without resources and the like, no one would imagine that from the Kuchikis."
Ichigo nodded.
"So," he pressed on "you decided to take care of her since then?"
Urahara smiled.
"Not at all," he said "we just decided to give her a sandwich and then send her towards her home, Yoruichi was still unsure about revealing the fact that she was the godmother."
"Then, what happened?"
Urahara sighed dramatically, he was about to continue with the story, he loved the part that followed but a high pitched scream was heard and both, Urahara and Ichigo, were on their feet instantly. At first Ichigo thought about leaving the room and running downstairs to see what was happening, but then he remembered Yoruichi's warnings and he decided to look from his bedroom window instead.
His eyes widened at what he saw.
Rukia was holding a chicken on her arms and she was running around the garden followed by Kon and Yoruichi. Ichigo gaped as he realized that two maids were trying to help his godmother to stop Rukia and Kon, although judging by the dogs happy barks he probably thought they were playing, Ichigo turned around to ask Urahara if this was normal around the house but the mad hatter was no longer inside the room.
Ichigo blinked confused and looked down at the garden again.
"Leave the chicken!" Urahara ordered Rukia as he stepped in the garden "that's our lunch!"
"You're not killing an innocent being just to feed your new favorite godson!" Rukia yelled while running around the garden, this time followed by her godparents and the two maids "every single animal around the farm is like family to me!"
"Hypocrite piece of shit!" Yoruichi yelled "you're not even vegetarian!"
"Now, now…" another voice said amused "we should all calm down."
Ichigo noticed how Kuchiki Ginrei stepped into the garden. He was wearing some casual clothes and a kind smile, it was weird to see him without an expensive suit but Ichigo supposed that he liked the countryside because he could be less uptight. Thing that would totally explain the fact that he was smiling while his only goddaughter was trying to stop the murder of one chicken, if Byakuya was here he would be embarrassed and annoyed beyond belief.
"Tell them, granddaddy!" Rukia pleaded "tell them that they cannot kill my pets!"
Spoiled brat, Ichigo thought while rolling his eyes.
Ginrei laughed.
"Rukia," he said calmly "chicken are not pets."
Ichigo was about to yell something at Rukia, technically speaking that wouldn't break any rules since they were not together and she was not inside the cottage, but before he could open his mouth he heard someone stepping into his room and he turned around just in time to see a maid bowing at him.
"Young master Kurosaki," the pretty maid greeted almost emotionless "my lady sent you this."
Ichigo blinked as he extended his hand to grab a tiny piece of paper.
"Thank you…" he said and then frowned "what's your name?"
"Lucy," the maid answered "I'm my lady's first maid."
Ichigo wondered if the three maids had the same mannerisms or cold behavior. Lucy was blonde and she looked young, she had blue eyes and, if it wasn't for the fact that she had quite the professional aura, Ichigo would've blushed at being alone with her in his room.
"Read the instructions on the paper," Lucy advised "I'm following lady Rukia's orders but she might get in trouble with Yoruichi-sama if she were to discover this, so keep my visit to your chambers to yourself," she said coldly "I don't like to see my lady in trouble, especially because of boys."
Ichigo scoffed.
"I'm the one who's in trouble because of her!" Ichigo excused himself "and what's up with the accusatory look?!" he asked aghast "I didn't do anything!"
Lucy simply frowned deeper at him and, after a few seconds of silence, bowed again and left the room, Ichigo gaped and then looked back at the garden. Rukia was now running towards the woods behind the backyard and once she reached the white fence she jumped as if she had done it several times, she was still holding the chicken on her arms, and Yoruichi ran after her leaving everyone else in the garden extremely dumbfounded.
Ginrei was the first one who started to laugh and Urahara joined him.
Ichigo chuckled as he opened the paper to read what was inside.
"Don't tell anyone about this, just go to the tree house today after dinner. Don't worry, we won't be breaking any rules." – KR.
"You're seriously something else…" Ichigo muttered as he wondered what other funny things he would be able to see while staying with his godparents.
Suddenly, he didn't miss the city that much.
Guess who is back?! I would love to answer your reviews but I'm seriously running out of time, I just want you to let you know a few things:
I have a new job, that's why I don't have much time to write or update my fanfics, but I'm not abandoning my stories.
The Rebellious Novice is the one I'm updating next, the new chapter is almost done.
Your reviews are the only thing that keeps me going so keep them coming.
Thanks again!
I apologize for my grammar mistakes.