Rukia Kuchiki stood in Ichigo's room, hugging herself tightly as her stomach churned. As hard as she tried, she couldn't seem to steady her breathing. Her mouth was dry, and her thoughts were stuck on an infinite loop of the last few moments.

Ichigo's words rang in her ears like sirens, drowning out all else and sending shivers down her spine.

"I… I think I love you, Rukia."

Unbeknownst to the Kurosaki household, Rukia had previously lived with Ichigo, staying in his closet. Still, she had never felt such an uncomfortably tense atmosphere in his room before. Neither their most heated arguments, nor their most serious war meetings had ever contained such strained silence.

Rukia swallowed past the painful lump that had formed in her throat, chancing a glance at Ichigo. The pair locked eyes for the briefest of moments before he had turned away from her scrutiny.

Suddenly, Rukia's confusion was replaced with an odd jumble of emotions that did absolutely nothing to help her piece together a coherent response.

On one hand, she was upset and annoyed. Things had only just begun to return to normal after their battle with Ywach and his Sternritter army. Not only that, but the way Ichigo had left his confession open to response meant that he undoubtedly expected some sort of reply.

To the soul reaper, it was supremely selfish of Ichigo to drop such a bombshell on her, and even more so to expect an immediate response! The pressure of such a burden was no easy weight to bear, and one wrong word on Rukia's part could turn their friendship on its head. All of this, compounded by the fact that Rukia had visited Ichigo to take leave of her shinigami duties, left her fuming.

"W-What exactly do you mean by that?" Rukia asked warily.

Ichigo couldn't help but to frown.

He'd spent an awful long time working out how to tell Rukia how he felt about her. To say he was flustered by her question was an understatement. Had he misspoke? He didn't think so… but then, why was she looking at him like he was an idiot?!

The substitute soul reaper was unsure of what to do next. He'd never really done anything like this before, and for a moment, he couldn't quite remember why it was he'd suddenly told her. Was it because of the painful knot in his chest every time he looked at her? Or maybe it was the way the moonlight seemed to spear through the curtains and paint her face with ethereal light, or maybe it was…

"Hey, Ichigo!"

Rukia kneed him in the thigh, sending him toppling to the ground. He rolled on the floor, tears streaming from his eyes as he massaged the charlie horse in his leg.

"What the hell was that for?" he groaned.

"You ignored my question," Rukia stated flatly, "what exactly did you mean when you said that you love me?"

She cocked her head, her hands on her hips as she stood over Ichigo. If Kon had been in his place, the pervy stuffed animal might have tried to sneak a peek under Rukia's skirt, but Ichigo was too preoccupied with Rukia's stern expression to bother with her state of dress. A part of her was on guard, as if Ichigo had drawn his sword and levelled it at her. From her stance, it was almost as if she were sizing him up… and what was with her eyes? They seemed to be piercing straight through Ichigo, as if she were staring into his soul.

"Well," Ichigo pushed himself into a sitting position, his legs crossed, and his hands folded in his lap as he stared at the floor. "For starters, I said 'I think I love you.' I'm not exactly sure how this works, either, but lately…"

He thought back over this last school year. While everyone else had been worrying about getting a job or furthering their education, Ichigo had just sort of been going through the motions. In truth, the only thing going through his head as he sat in those classes and scribbled at the margins of his notebooks were thoughts of Rukia.

After Ywach's failed attempt to destroy all the worlds, Ichigo had been hailed as a hero, and then unceremoniously booted out of the soul society. He wasn't sure what he'd expected, but in all honesty, his great victory felt sort of stale. After defeating a being whom had absorbed and then subsequently become the most powerful spiritual entity in existence, one might think there would be raucous celebrations, passionate kisses, maybe even some fireworks. Instead, Ichigo got a pat on the back, a 'thanks for helping out' from Head Captain Kyoraku, and more hollows than he knew existed in all Hueco Mundo.

He had spent countless hours between his studies diligently hunting down hollows, as the barriers between worlds had been temporarily weakened after Ywach's narrow defeat, allowing the evil spirits to pour in from all over.

From what Rukia had told him, the Soul Society was quickly being put back into working order, though there was some damage that would take years to fully repair. In fact, hers was the first news he'd received from anyone in the Soul Society.

But in that year long slog before her arrival, Ichigo had been undergoing the crisis of a lifetime. No, his family had not been kidnapped. His friends were all safe and sound. Even his classmates were ok.

Ichigo's was a crisis of the heart.

After his triumph, after his shining moment, he was returned to the world of the living. He was expected to go about his daily business, do his homework, and go on with his life as if he hadn't just vanquished the single greatest threat to the Seireitei.

It made his blood boil to sit in class for hours when he longed to grip Zangetsu's hilt. It put a bee in his bonnet to be constantly thinking of Rukia, and how she was doing. It cut him to his core to think that she didn't even enough about him to send a postcard.

'Hey, Ichigo! Repairs in the Seireitei are underway! Wish you were here!'

-Rukia xoxo

Seriously? How hard was that?!

But back to Ichigo's crisis, he found that his daily life was a bit lackluster. Even after fulfilling his obligations, he realized something was missing. It was most apparent late at night, when he would lie awake, reminiscing about all of the good times he had spent with his friends.

Somehow, it always devolved into him thinking about Rukia. Was she thinking of him? What was she doing to help rebuild the Seireitei? Were she and all the other shinigami having a grand old time of it while Ichigo was stuck in a loop? Was he at least gonna get a plaque on the wall for all of his blood, sweat, and tears? Would Rukia see it?

Soon it was a daily occurrence. Rukia was the first thing on Ichigo's mind when he arose in the morning, and the last thing on his mind before he drifted off to sleep. After going through so much together, it was completely normal for him to spend so much time thinking about her... right? It was normal for him to be worried for a friend. It was only right that he be concerned for her wellbeing. It was totally natural for him to be jealous of that bastard, Renji, who got to see Rukia whenever he wanted.

Now, the substitute soul reaper had never claimed to be the sharpest sword in the dojo. All he knew was that there was something missing in his life. It was apparent in the hours he spent locked in his room, laying on his bed and staring at the ceiling. It was encompassed in his dissociative attitude, and how he blew off his friends after school to go home, do his homework, and fall into his bed.

He hadn't realized that the thing that had been missing, the one thing he'd wanted more than anything else, was Rukia until she had rang the doorbell, handed him her coat, and pushed past Ichigo like she owned the place.

That had been almost two weeks ago.

Since then, Ichigo had been noticeably more boisterous and exuberant. Karin and Yuzu both seemed to share strange glances when Rukia told lame jokes at the dinner table that only Ichigo found funny.

Somehow, living with Rukia had suddenly changed Ichigo's perspective.

Every day he went to school, but Rukia stayed at home. Every afternoon, Ichigo raced home, and found himself face to face with the smiling black haired shinigami. Every time he saw her, something within him seemed to come alive, as if he'd been a zombie for months, and she had suddenly restarted his heart. There was something mesmerizing about her, as if everything she did was perfect. Whether she was trying (and failing) to make dinner for Ichigo, Karin, and Yuzu, or fast asleep on the couch when Ichigo came home, something about her always made him pause for a moment and ponder. Everyone time he did, something twisted in his brain, and he thought about the future.

Any future where Ichigo came home to Rukia was a future worth fighting for.

Had that have been why he fought Ywach? Sure, the whole 'end of the world' thing was a pretty compelling reason to fight on its own, but he always felt that there was more to it than that. Now, here he was, staring his future in the face, and somehow he knew that the only future he wanted was one with Rukia in it. His job couldn't matter less. His social status could go to hell. So long as he got to see Rukia's smile each and every day, he knew that he could live a happy life.

That was the night he resolved to finally tell her how he felt, and that was why he was sitting cross legged on the floor as Rukia stood over him, staring at the top of his head as if trying to peek through his skull and figure out what he was thinking.

"I dunno… I just have this feeling. It's like… I can't picture a future without you in it."

Rukia's heart seemed to skip a beat. As mad as she was, she found that Ichigo's words were never without meaning. Even if he didn't fully understand what he was feeling, his ability to verbalize those feelings was something she could never do.

"I'll always be your friend, Ichigo," Rukia said slowly. "You know that, don't you? I'm not going anywhere."

"I know that, Rukia." The high schooler pushed himself to his feet. His expression was inscrutable, as his eyes were hidden in shadows, but Rukia could feel his mind at work.

"Listen," he said finally, "I'm not gonna beat around the bush… I have feelings for you, Rukia. And when I say I think I love you… well, I mean to say I'm pretty damn sure I do. I value our friendship as well, but I feel like it's grown since we first met. Like I said, this has never really happened to me before, and I never really thought it would happen like this, but…"

"I'm a soul reaper," Rukia reminded Ichigo, "I'm quite a bit older than you! And it would break my heart to lose such a good friend."

"You're occupation and age aren't really of any concern to me," Ichigo stated, taking a bold step towards Rukia, "and our friendship mean a lot to me, too… but I feel like if I don't get this off my chest, I'll never be able to live with myself. Everything is changing, Rukia. I'm staring my future in the face, and I think I'm finally ready to reach out and grab it. You can feel it, too, can't you?"

The orange haired young man held out a hand, as if he were about to pluck Rukia's heart from her chest as easily as one would take an apple from a tree. Instead, the world seemed to turn faint, and Rukia felt her body tingle. Ichigo had increased his spiritual pressure so that she could easily feel it.

Each person's spiritual pressure was like a fingerprint, unique to each individual. Over time, Ichigo's had grown so strong that it was almost overwhelming. The core of his spirit energy, however, was just as it was always been.

"It's like our souls recognize each other," Ichigo said, "ever since you first stabbed me and awakened my powers… it's like I'm constantly drawn to you. For all I know, my spirit energy could still recognize you as the person who awakened it in the first place… but you can't deny that you and I have… well, something."

As if to emphasize his point, Ichigo's bluish aura began to show. It outlined his body, streaming off in tendrils of azure power. They seemed to pull towards Rukia, swirling around her and activating her own spiritual energy. Even in a gigai, her own whitish aura appeared, and frost danced across her skin as the temperature in the room dropped suddenly.

Rukia couldn't deny it.

Ever since she'd first laid eyes on Ichigo, she'd known there was something special about him. Ever since she'd stabbed him, it was as though her own spirit energy was a part of his, making up a core that he had added many layers to since he'd gained his powers, but it was also more than that. Their quickly developed bonds of friendship were a testament to the powers of their souls, which had become attuned to one another.

There was a term for it in many languages, and no matter how hard Rukia tried not to think about it, it popped into her head anyway.

'Soul mates…' she thought wondrously.

But there again, she was standing in a room, and Ichigo was looking at her as if she shone more brightly than the moon itself. Suddenly, Rukia was forced to ask herself a question she wasn't sure she had ever asked before.

Did she love Ichigo Kurosaki?

One part of her wanted to nod and proudly proclaim "Of course, he's my best friend!" She wanted to go on being best friends and having adventures together and fighting hollows. Another part of her, the realist that had just spent the better part of three months compiling the names and records of thousands of dead soul reapers, wanted to scoff at the notion of love. It wasn't something she had time for, neither as a Kuchiki, nor as a member of the 13 Court Guard Squads.

And yet another part of her seriously considered it. What if she just stopped being a shinigami? What if she had Kisuke Urahara rig up some sort of permanent gigai for her so that she and Ichigo could live together in the world of the living? What if she completely vanished, like Kisuke Urahara, and stayed with Ichigo and his family, and made dinner and watched TV? What if they grew up, got married, and had a family?

Rukia wanted that, more than anything. She wanted an end to all the fighting, and dying, and bleeding. She wanted to do something crazy, drastic, and daring. For an instant, sunlit visions of herself and Ichigo played out in her head, and she found that she did love him, in a way.

This was Ichigo Kurosaki, the guy that had saved her life. The guy whom had fought tooth and nail against the Soul Society, all because he knew, deep down, that their judgement was skewered by tradition.

Would it be so strange of her to fall in love with him? Sure, his looks were a huge bonus, and he certainly had a charm few other guys possessed… but were they compatible? Was he a good kisser? Would he take her on dates and buy her nice things? Would they even be able to have children?

There it was again. Rukia Kuchiki was a soul reaper, and Ichigo Kurosaki was, for all intents and purposes, a human being.

"So… uh… I'm not really sure where to go from here…" Ichigo admitted.

"Wha- hold on, you mean to tell me that you've never asked out a girl?!"

"Well, no. I've been kinda busy," Ichigo mumbled, scratching his cheek. "I mean, I've been doing this whole substitute soul reaper thing on top of my school work and it's kept me pretty busy until recently."

Rukia didn't have to ask. She knew that Ichigo was referring to his countless forays into enemy territory ever since he discovered his powers. What was more, she'd been with him during most of these dangerous missions. Even so, for a guy like Ichigo to not have any sort of experience with woman seemed unreal.

And then reality hit Rukia like a train, and the absurdity of the moment was gone, filled once more with a silence that seemed to grow with each passing moment. She bit her lip, tempted by so many things to just say yes, and give in to the optimist in her heart.

"Ichigo…" her voice was soft and uncertain. The way she said his name made his heart feel weak.

Author's Notes:

Y'know, I was really looking forward to getting one of these projects finished. Instead, I now have two more projects vying for my attention.

Moving right along, I was at work one day, and I had this idea to write something sappy and romantic, but this time about Bleach. I know, very original. And now, after having finally finished reading the Bleach manga, I decided to give it a go (also because that ending did not give me the closure I was looking for), so here we have Ichigo doing his best to try and convey his feelings for Rukia. Wonder what she'll say... Carry on, my wayward son! If you've never read any my stories before, you'll be new to this, so I'll clue you in. Shit might get kinda heavy. If you're cool with that, stick around. Also, considering my massive workload, and my incredible amount on unfinished writing projects, updating will no doubt be slow. That said, if you are the type of person to enjoy slow, angsty stories, this should be right up your alley.

Oh, and credit to Laikkuseia from Deviantart for the cover image! If you enjoy IchiRuki, you'll love her artwork!

*MUSIC* Because it helps inspire me to write.

Sing To You- Monty Datta ft. Shiloh

Movement- Hozier

Like I Need U- Keshi

Ghost-Hydde & Hawkes

Coffins- Bohnes

Thanks for reading.