Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.
A/N: Hi, guys! Thank you so much for reading and leaving kind reviews, your supports mean a lot to me :D Here is another chapter I wrote for this story.
Really sorry that I, again, failed to make it short hahaha. This is originally this was going to be the last chapter (the next was supposed to be the epilogue), but I kept adding and adding more stuffs and details to the point I couldn't stop, and suddenly this chapter turned into this long… so I decided to make it in two parts.
Another note: Ichiei Shiba (Isshin's brother) is going to make an appearance on this chapter, and I think we don't have his face on canon? I just googled his face and on Bleach wiki fan page, some people put other anime character that fits his characteristics and it somehow just sticks in my mind that's just how Ichiei looks like hahaha.
So, guys, Friday is #Fanfic day after a long tiring week, I hope you enjoy The Last part 1 :D
Warning: It is a long chapter… and NeverReal on AO3 commented I didn't praise Rukia enough hahaha XD, so… guys, if you found more and more compliments of Rukia, I already warn you, okay… XD
The moment Tatsuki and Uryuu arrive, they brief the others about their punishment. Uryuu and Ulquiorra are suspended for a week (since they did strike Grimmjow first). Grimmjow is suspended for 5 days for actively being provocative. Tatsuki and the girls are suspended for three days for getting into a useless catfight and making a scene. Ichigo, Chad, Renji, and the baseball guys are off the hook.
As the two are waiting for Orihime to get ready, Rukia serves them dinner because she is such a good host and she knows they must be starving after hours and hours of interrogation with the teachers.
"So, are they always like that?" Tatsuki asks, her mouth full of the delicious broiled salmon the chef at Kuchiki mansion has prepared earlier.
Renji, leaning his broad back against the wall, asks, "Huh? Like what?"
Renji scratches his neck nervously. He tries hard to act like usual, but he just can't do it. He doesn't know why. The image of Tatsuki from the catfight that transpired earlier is still fresh in his mind.
Get yourself together, Abarai Renji. So what if she beats up crazy bitches as she owns them in a prison?
Uryuu scoffs. "Like that," he tilts his head slightly to the doorway connecting the dining room and the huge family room where Rukia and Ichigo are. "Kurosaki is taking a nap on Kuchiki-san's lap. Make it make sense,"
In the living room, just the two of them now as Keigo and Mizuiro have gone home already, Ichigo is comfortably taking a nap on his little girlfriend's lap and the said girlfriend is just sitting there, her feet propped up on the coffee table in front of the sofa, busy caressing Ichigo's hair and scrolling an online shopping platform to buy, again, cute accessories for her cat (which by the way hasn't even left the couple's side even for a moment and won't stop growling like a mad cat at Ichigo).
Renji laughs. "Never thought he was one of those, huh?"
Uryuu nods, and here he thought Ichigo was just a jackass for his demeanor towards Orihime all this time, but now he finally gets to see the reason why his cousin never acts lovey-dovey is simply just because he hasn't found the right girl. "Seriously, I must say I expected better,"
The redhead pinches the bridge of his nose. "Well, accept disappointment. He's down that bad, Ishida. Can't even defend him anymore."
Ichigo's friends really have no one to compare. Rukia is Ichigo's first, and she already sets the bar way too high, and Renji (being called a naïve teenager be damned), genuinely thinks there will be no other after her.
Hearing this, Tatsuki's eyes soften. So, they're truly official now?
She is happy for Ichigo. She really is.
Tatsuki somehow knows that finding out that Ichigo and Kuchiki are now together is not that surprising.
Kuchiki is an amazing girl.
Exactly as Renji thought, she already sets the standard way too high.
Almost everyone—who has always been wondering why the great Kurosaki Ichigo who never pays attention to any girl before suddenly becomes atrociously down bad for a girl—gets it in an instant when they know it is her.
Like, of course.
Of course, it has to take someone like Kuchiki to eventually make Kurosaki fall in love.
She is happy for them. Ichigo deserves as much.
However, Tatsuki also can't help the numbing pain in her chest.
What about Orihime?
"Tatsuki-chan? Ishida-kun?" as if to answer her doubt right away, someone particular's sweet voice makes Tatsuki's head quickly turned to the doorway.
And there is Orihime.
Orihime, with the same smile, the same pretty face, but different hair.
Tatsuki can't find the familiar auburn long hair that used to pass to her waist. Here in front of them, Orihime is standing here, looking fresh, new, and not that sad anymore.
Her new haircut looks nice, albeit short—just reaching a few centimeters passed her shoulders, and she looks…
…absolutely stunning in Uryuu's eyes.
Too stunning that Uryuu drops the salmon and gapes like a fish needing to be in the water to breathe. His face is boiling red.
Fucking hell. Renji thinks as he watches the dynamics of the two.
The redhead smacks Uryuu's head from behind and repeats the exact same words the blue-haired teen used earlier, "I expected better, you idiot."
Wasn't he making a whole speech about how bad Ichigo was down for Rukia? And now he is doing the exact same thing with Inoue.
"Hime…" Tatsuki is speechless, "Hime, you look…" the tomboy is the one who gets up first and approaches the ex-cheerleader captain.
"It's a little bit short, isn't it, Tatsuki-chan?" she smiles shyly with everyone's eyes on her.
Hearing her sweet voice, her radiant, full of positivity voice, Tatsuki can't help but throws her body at her and hug her best friend.
It is her. She is here. She is finally here. Orihime is finally herself again.
Orihime laughs and Tatsuki can't even explain the relief in her heart.
"Kuchiki-san cut it for me, Tatsuki-chan. She did a wonderful job, didn't she? I really think she should be a hairdresser! But, looking at all this, Kuchiki-san is already living in a castle—oh, like a—like a princess, so she probably doesn't have to work for the rest of her life, does she? And—"
Tatsuki misses this—the innocent, funny, incessant rambling—just her random rambling, without the tears, without the pain the one-sided love has been inflicted on her all this time, without Kurosaki-kun this, Kurosaki-kun that.
Tatsuki smiles and almost wipes the stubborn tear threatening its way to roll down her cheek.
Tatsuki never cries. Never. But it pains her that much to see Orihime suffer.
And now.
Orihime finally recovers. Relief washes over her in an instant.
Thank God, thank God, thank God. Tatsuki doesn't really believe in God, but it is the only thing she can say right now.
"I think the short hair looks pretty," a voice of certain someone approaches the two best friends.
Tatsuki pulls away from Orihime slightly and sees Kuchiki.
The raven-haired teen comes to stand next to Orihime and pats Orihime's shoulders gently to wipe off some stubborn remnant hair on her shirt.
And in an instant, the tomboy just knows whom she should be saying thank you to.
It's so much clear to her, that Rukia did so much more, more than just cutting Orihime's jagged hair.
And Tatsuki can't be more grateful.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Call it acting way out of character or anything but, here, in front of the boys—Renji, Uryuu, and Chad—
Tatsuki moves on a whim and pulls Rukia into a group hug.
And really, she doesn't even care that the stubborn tear is finally falling, she doesn't care if anyone will ever make fun of her because she is being too sensitive, Tatsuki doesn't care.
Rukia is so tiny that she so easily gets lost in the group hug and Tatsuki thinks it is adorable.
Orihime can't help it either, hearing Tatsuki's muffled sobbing. Orihime cries again, but this time, it's genuine happy tears.
Here in a group hug, Tatsuki remembers her thoughts all these months, 'can she be friends with Kuchiki if they try?'
How come she never tries hard before?
How come she let all those toxic, brainless, cheerleaders talk shit about Kuchiki every time they get the chance?
Suddenly Tatsuki feels embarrassed. Thinking about all that time back then, with the cheerleaders, about how they make a drama on their own and make it a competition for Orihime.
A competition with this girl whom they think is a threat to their Orihime-obsessively-pinning-over-Ichigo-to-the-point-it-made-her-pathetic agenda.
This girl? This selfless girl who never even tries to compete with Orihime for Ichigo's attention? Because let's just be honest, Kuchiki Rukia doesn't even have to compete in the first place.
It's never a competition for the Kuchiki, and it even gets more blatantly clear from the way Kuchiki willingly helps Orihime, despite her own situation with Ichigo.
The tomboy smiles and sobs again, she hates it that she's crying but she thinks she just doesn't care anymore, "Thank you, Kuchiki, thank you, thank you, Kuchiki—"
Rukia smiles—all kind, genuine, and beautiful—and finally moves her stiff arms to hug the girl back. "It's not Kuchiki," she replies softly and kindly, "it's Rukia,"
Today has been a horrendous day. A nightmare, especially for Orihime.
She thinks she wants nothing more than to erase this day from her memory forever.
But at this moment, Orihime—ever positive thinking and always looking for the best in everything—decides she will never, ever, forget about this day.
This is the day when she starts a new bond. A friendship—so pure, kind, and supportive.
This is the day where she finds herself anew and gets the chance to truly start over.
This is the day when Orihime finally decides to stand up for herself.
This is the day when she decides to stop hating and doubting herself so much that she stupidly lets other people's toxic traits get into her head.
This is the day when Orihime is going to love herself for her.
For herself.
Not for anyone else's acceptance.
Not for Tatsuki-chan. Not for Ishida-kun. And certainly not for Kurosaki-kun.
She is going to love herself enough for her.
To Rukia, she decides she is not going to forget this day either.
She remembers Hisana-neesan's tender voice a few moments back then.
Live your life for you.
Live for life for you, okay, baby?
It is something that Rukia hasn't been able to do for somewhat like forever.
But today, she realizes, she already has it, the life she wants to live for herself.
She finally knows how it feels to finally live her life as a normal, ordinary, functional 16-year-old—Having a boyfriend that loves her dearly, having back her stupid best friend who always makes a fool out of himself, having a genuine and fun group of best friends with Momo and Hanatarou at school, having classmates over at her place without her family's scrutiny of them, and now—
And now it is like a complete puzzle.
She also gets to have girlfriends.
She remembers being devastated to go back to Japan. She remembers hugging her cat dearly and wishing she doesn't have to move from the US to a new school.
But right now, Rukia knows it all finally works out for the best.
Moving back to Japan and transferring schools to Karakura High has been the best thing that ever happened to her.
Seeing the girls, the boys—Renji, Chad, and Uryuu—can't help themselves. Renji can't contain his grin and pats Uryuu's shoulder as if he is saying, 'this is it. This is finally it.'
Chad, ever always so silent without anything to say, gives a little smile knowingly.
And Uryuu… Uryuu tries so hard to get back to eating his salmon but the stupid, relief smile on his face just refuses to go away.
His girl. His girl is finally back to who she is.
Thank you.
Thank you, Kuchiki-san.
Orihime ends up joining to eat dinner with Tatsuki and Uryuu. Renji is still there, too, with a stomach that is never full, the red-haired baboon is having his second dinner in the last three hours. Rukia, the host, is still so busy going back and forth from the kitchen to the dining room with all kinds of fancy food the Chef at the mansion has cooked, despite the maids at Kuchiki mansion's protests, telling her that Kuchiki Rukia-sama doesn't need to bother—they will deliver the food, so she should just stay still.
Once done with their dinner, the group is getting ready to finally go home. It's 9 PM already after all.
"Is Kurosaki still sleeping?" Uryuu asks.
"I know. What is this, Rukia, are you going to let him spend the night here or something?" Renji jokes. "Your brother won't be amused, you've been left alone for only two days, and you already bring home a strange guy into the house?"
Rukia rolls her eyes and banters back. "I've been bringing home a strange guy into my house for years, Renji, you know that."
Renji knows Rukia is referring to him so he just shuts up right away.
"Should we just wake him up?" Renji asks Chad, looking at the watch on his wrist. His stomach is full, it's getting late, and he thinks he just wants to go home and have a nice sleep.
"Just let Ichigo sleep for a little more, Renji," Rukia scolds Renji. He knows Ichigo has trouble sleeping, so why doesn't he just let him rest whenever he can.
"Until when? Until the sun comes up?" Renji grunts. He is about to walk over to Ichigo, who by the way is still sleeping with his arms crossed on the cozy big sofa in the living room, but Rukia pulls his hand to stop him.
"I'm tired, I want to go home, Rukia," Renji whines again.
"Then you just take Ichigo's car and go, I will have Kurumadani-san drive him home later when he wakes up,"
Renji finally loses it and laughs. He almost thinks that Rukia just doesn't want Ichigo to go home. It's ridiculous. So, she is just down as bad as Ichigo then? Really, they will meet again at school first thing first in the morning anyway.
"No, I will just wake him up with my fist." Renji is already blowing his breath to his clenched fish when Uryuu suddenly chimes in, "No, let me,"
Tatsuki looks amused when Rukia's face, albeit concealed perfectly, kind of literally says, what? No. No one will leave another bruise on her man's face when she has so diligently patched him up.
But apparently, that message doesn't reach her cat, because right at this moment, the group gets to see how the cat—named Kon, Rukia introduces him every time—suddenly feels that he has had enough, growls, and jumps on Ichigo's face and pulls his hair and scratches his perfectly handsome face.
Ichigo yelps from the sharp pain of Kon's claws and jumps awake in an instant. He lets out all various kinds of curse words he knows, and it is almost comical how Rukia's eyes go wide and go straight to Ichigo to stop her cat.
"Kon!" the Kuchiki heiress pulls Kon away from Ichigo's face and her orange-haired boyfriend clutches his face in his hands and still whines in pain.
"Told you that cat was crazy!" Renji is on the floor laughing, silently remembering the time Kon has pulled on his ponytail too before. Just what the fuck, that cat is still crazy as hell!
Ichigo is furious. It's not that surprising, he is not a really friendly man, to begin with, even to felines. He curses when he tries to pull the cat that is struggling to get away from Rukia's arms to save his life, "oi, cat, come here, you little—"
Kon finally gets away and runs to the huge grand stairs and probably is going to sulk in his room.
Rukia is not amused by Ichigo's demeanor towards her cat. It's ridiculous how fast her mood changes.
Wasn't she the one who fondly wanted Ichigo to rest and stay a little bit longer? But the Kuchiki princess is outright yelling at him now, "stop calling him 'cat' like that, Ichigo, I told you, he has a name!"
"It tried to kill me, Rukia!" Ichigo argues back, his face is still red. "I told you, your cat hates me for some reason," Ichigo asked Rukia before, before he fell asleep, he asked why her cat wouldn't stop glaring and growling at him, and Rukia told him, don't be ridiculous. It's all in your head.
Uryuu only shakes his head at the absurdity, "Stop being a dramatic little shit, Kurosaki,"
Ichigo turns to glare at his cousin, "you stay the hell out of it, Ishida, it's between me and the cat!"
Rukia is still having none of it, "stop calling him the cat!" she protests, "just how many times do I need to tell you, Ichigo? His name is Kon, you're being rude," Rukia knows Ichigo has never been good at remembering names. Heck, he keeps calling Rukia's driver Imoyama-san when his name is Kurumadani.
Tatsuki sighs and asks the same question as before, only now it is directed to a totally different situation, "are they always like this?" it's the complete opposite of what she saw of them earlier, being lovey-dovey and all.
Renji snorts and also shakes his head, "Way often more than necessary,"
Sensing this—this sense of normalcy—Orihime smiles.
Seeing the two and how Ichigo and Rukia argue with each other like an old married couple, Orihime doesn't feel the stabbing pain in her chest anymore.
This feels nice. This feels good.
The group gets to the huge gate of Kuchiki manor. There is Ichigo's black range rover parked a few meters away from Uryuu's VW.
Uryuu then asks Orihime's permission to drive her home. He knows his house is located opposite her place, but Uryuu insists because he wants to, and Orihime smiles sweetly and says, "Okay, Ishida-kun,"
Tatsuki doesn't drive here and the tomboy tells the others she will just take the bus. Uryuu tells her he will drive her too, and it's no problem at all, but Tatsuki knows Uryuu must have wanted a private moment with Hime, so Tatsuki tells him it's fine.
Ichigo is about to offer Tatsuki a ride, but he is a little bit surprised when someone beats him to it.
It baffles everyone that Renji Abarai just offers Tatsuki Arisawa a ride home.
Having seen how Renji gulped and acted stupidly star-struck like a freaking fanboy when he watched Tatsuki in a brawl before, and also with the way the red-haired baboon keeps stealing here-and-there glances from his childhood best friend, Ichigo rethinks it and decides maybe it shouldn't be a surprise at all.
"Ugh, you don't have to, if you don't want to, or anything, really," Renji blushes and even in the dark, Ichigo can see how his face turns as red as his ridiculous, stupid red hair. "Just think that it's dangerous to take a bus, this late of the night, that's all." Renji almost stutters.
"Not that, not that I think you can't take care of yourself, Arisawa—"
"—I mean, for fuck's sake, you did, you did own those girls back then, you know what I mean?"
"But at night, there are lurkers, ya know?" Renji doesn't even know where he is going, he just says stuff and hopes they somehow make sense, "and creeps? Lots of creeps on the bus, on the midnight train, on the subway, and what the heck, taxi is not safe either—"
Goddamnit. He is outright rambling like Inoue.
Fucking hell. Get yourself together, Abarai. At this point, he may be worse than Ichigo.
Tatsuki, still oblivious of Renji's change of demeanor towards her, only tilts her head and raises an eyebrow.
What is Abarai saying? Is he on drugs?
Uryuu, ever the witty and sharp one, is amused and asks Ichigo, "did Abarai just list all kinds of transportation modes to her?"
"I know. That idiot," Ichigo replies, shaking his head and chuckling lightly as he flips the car keys in his hand and walks to the driver's seat to start his car's engine.
Uryuu does the same, and he opens the front car door for Orihime. When the ex-cheerleading captain is about to get in the car, Orihime halts her step and makes a pivotal turn to Ichigo's car instead.
She just realized it now. She hasn't said anything to him at all, after all this.
"Kurosaki-kun?" Orihime calls him.
Ichigo, still busy setting up the driver's seat and wiping off some bread crumbs Renji left on the driver's seat, looks up from his car door and his eyes finally met hers.
Ichigo notices the difference, in Orihime's hair, but he doesn't care about all that, really. What he cares more about is the change of expression on her face when Orihime calls his name. It's no longer there, whatever it is she used to feel or think of him.
"I'm sorry,"
For all the unfortunate drama she has bestowed upon them.
"I'm sorry for everything, Kurosaki-kun…"
Orihime says this because she thinks this is the right thing to do. She needs to apologize to all the parties involved who got hurt in her dramatic mess—Kurosaki-kun, Grimmjow, Ulquiorra-kun, Ishida-kun, Tatsuki-chan, but mostly, mostly Kurosaki-kun and the certain blue-haired jock.
Ichigo smiles at her, ever so handsome as he always is, but unlike before, for the very first time in as long as she can remember, Orihime finally gets to see him give her his genuine smile. It is no longer a smile that is given out of polite courtesy he used to direct at her.
"You have nothing to be sorry about, Inoue," His voice is soft, so soft for someone as rough as Kurosaki-kun.
Orihime smiles and nods, "thank you, Kurosaki-kun…" and then she walks away to the man that is waiting for her in his car, a little smile is plastered on her face.
"You don't have to thank me, either," Ichigo mumbles, shaking his head as he gets back to clean his car seat.
Orihime gets on Uryuu's car. Her smile is still there, and she blushes when Uryuu leans closer to her and helps her put on her seatbelt. She looks up and he catches her gaze and it's only now that the two realize just how close their faces are to each other. Uryuu blushes and clears his throat.
And Orihime's heart skips a beat…
…For the right guy this time.
Chad really thinks Renji needs to stop because he is now blabbering about how shitty the government is, "I mean, we are paying taxes,"
Chad wants to correct him that they're still 16, or 17, and they are not paying taxes yet.
Renji is not stopping, "We pay taxes, and we can't even get decent security on public transportation,"
Tatsuki is still wondering if Abarai is on drugs. Or maybe he smokes weeds. He has to. Or maybe that jerk Ulquiorra really did punch him too hard in his head that he had brain damage.
It is Ichigo that finally puts an end to Renji's poor effort at flirting (my God, it can't even be categorized as flirting at this point). The redhead makes fun of his flirting skills all this time, and yet he is just so much worse to the point it's embarrassing.
"Oi, Tatsuki, just get on the back seat," Ichigo calls Tatsuki from his car.
"And you, Mr. Public Transport Social Justice Warrior, just stop talking nonsense and get on the back seat as well,"
Renji blushes even harder.
Just what the hell? He rarely gets to sit in the back seat. Renji is always driving or sitting next to Ichigo in the front seat because he acts like a noisy back seat driver when Ichigo drives and he hates that.
When Renji gets to the car door, sending Ichigo 'the looks', the orange-haired football captain only smirks and pats Renji on his shoulder.
Tatsuki is already in the car so she doesn't get to hear this.
"Shut up," Renji eyes Ichigo darkly.
Ichigo is still standing there, arms crossed in front of his broad chest, one eyebrow raised, and still smirking like a menace.
"I'm not even saying anything,"
Renji rolls his eyes and his blush gets darker. "I swear to God, just shut up,"
"Should I give you the pep talk, Renji?" Ichigo sneers back. It is the same question Renji asked him the very first day Ichigo met Rukia and the redhead caught him red-handed checking out his childhood best friend.
"Why you little—, just shut up, I don't want to hear anything from you,"
Ichigo chuckles, boyish and cocky like he always does. He still remembers every word Renji told him that day.
Renji glares again and curses at him. And Ichigo pats him on the cheek roughly.
Renji is not amused to have his own words shoved down his throat. "One more word and I will kill you in your sleep," He glares at Ichigo some more but gets on the back seat nonetheless.
Ichigo chuckles even more. He does it on purpose. Usually, Chad is always the one who gets to sit in the back seat.
Now, is he the best wingman or what?
Everyone has already been nicely seated in the car, but Ichigo jogs back to the front door where Rukia is watching. There is her cat again, in her arms. The crazy cat is done sulking, as it seems.
He bids his goodbye to Rukia and jokes a little, staring down at the growling cat in her arms, "looks like the cat will never let me have a goodbye kiss from you?"
Dork.
Why is he like this, seriously, sometimes Rukia can't even ask.
She scolds him again, "It's Kon, Ichigo,"
"Nah, it's hard to remember,"
"It's Kon, it's literally just one syllable," Rukia protests back. What is so hard about that?
Ichigo only mumbles, "who the hell has a name Kon?" he thinks it is a weird name. Why Kon? Why not something cooler, like Kai?
"What are you saying?" Rukia narrows her eyes at him, and Ichigo sighs. This can go on forever.
They're always like this, going back and forth between flirting, being lovey-dovey, and bickering.
Ichigo takes a step closer to her and looks down at her with those eyes and that look and tucks her stubborn bang away behind her ear, "so I will see you tomorrow?"
Rukia nods and pushes him slightly, "just go home already,"
In this close proximity, Rukia's cat is close to grabbing the front of his t-shirt. Ichigo chuckles. It looks like he really doesn't have a chance to get his goodbye kiss after all.
The orange-haired football captain steps back and waves his hand, but he stops midway.
Ichigo still has this one question in mind. No matter how much he tried to just let it go or to just forget it by taking a nap, he just can't shake it off.
Ichigo didn't get to ask Rukia earlier since everyone was there. But it is still bothering him.
Even though he knows this is his first relationship ever, Ichigo strongly believes, when in doubt, you ask, when in doubt, you have to communicate. It's just the basics of a healthy relationship.
"Rukia," he turns around. Rukia raises her eyebrow, confused.
"About earlier," Ichigo begins and scratches his neck, uneasy, watching the shift of expression on her face again.
"Does the fact that I am a Shiba bother you?" Because Rukia acts weird and all that.
"Or that Kaien guy," it's the first time Ichigo has his cousin's name on his lips.
"Is there anything you want to tell me about him?"
There is no beating around the bush. Ichigo's question is direct and clear. It is a simple question that should've been answered by an equally simple answer if there is, indeed, nothing between Rukia and the guy.
Rukia's beautiful violet eyes widen again and it is as clear as day to Ichigo that she is still acting uneasy with just a mention of his name.
After a while, Rukia finally replies, in a low voice, softly, "No, it doesn't bother me," she pauses, "and there is nothing to tell,"
Ichigo knows Rukia now. He knows her better than he used to. He can tell the difference when it is Rukia—just Rukia—or when it is Rukia, the Kuchiki. With the mask. With the high walls no one can reach in. Sometimes Ichigo thinks he has crumbled it, her wall, but even then, it always feels like there is more than just one wall with Rukia. He crumbles one, and he still has to get past another, and another, and another until he finds all the locks to the locked doors.
"Okay," he replies and decides to not force her to talk about anything she is not ready to, even though the doubt is still heavy in his heart. Even though, there is this feeling, an unpleasant feeling close to jealousy that Ichigo can't just ignore.
When in doubt, ask.
"Tell me, Rukia, do I have anything to be worried about?" Ichigo asks. It is fine if she doesn't want to tell him yet. He just needs this.
Rukia watches him, and his eyes bore into hers. The mask is still there on her beautiful face, but Rukia answers this one question quicker than the former. "No," she answers, her voice still so soft, "no, Ichigo, you have nothing to be worried about,"
"Okay," Ichigo repeats and nods, trying to be understanding.
He watches her again and she looks up at him.
Fine. If she doesn't want to tell him now, he should respect that.
If she tells him that he has nothing to be worried about, then he should believe her.
"Just go home and rest, will you?" Rukia tells him, and there is a half-smile on her face.
Ichigo steals a quick peck on top of her head and jogs back to his car. All the way he laughs when Rukia's cat starts growling and meowing again.
Ichigo gets to the car and his range rover starts moving, he pulls over when the car passes Rukia again.
He rolls down his car window and waves, and Rukia knows—
Knows that even though said that it was okay, that he believes her, there is still doubt he tries to hide and deny. But he is trying to act mature and let it go this time, and Rukia just doesn't know where to begin, doesn't know how to explain, because it is still so hard for her to open up—it is still so hard for her to let people know anything that matters about her heart.
But seeing him, and how understanding he tries to be, Rukia wants nothing more than to make Ichigo understand that she didn't lie.
She told him her honest answers. There is nothing between Rukia and Kaien that has anything to do with what she has with Ichigo. There is nothing to be worried about. Nothing.
So, Rukia lets go of Kon in her arms and walk to the car, and she doesn't even care that her friends are watching. It is hard to care about other people when sometimes she wants the world to be just for Ichigo and her.
She takes his face in her slender hands and kisses him on the lips. Her lips are warm and soft on his, and Ichigo forgets his friends are there, and he just wants to deepen it, kiss her more, gets off the car, takes her in his arms, but Rukia pulls away, and Ichigo groans in protest.
She pats his cheek lightly and she is smiling at him, all honest, all beautiful, all her—Rukia without the Kuchiki mask.
Rukia still has his face in her hands and she whispers, "You have nothing to worry about, Ichigo, you hear me?"
"Okay," he nods, resting his forehead on hers.
"Okay," she repeats.
And for now.
It is all good enough for now.
Kaien Shiba's and Miyako Shino's wedding is held in a luxurious hotel near the beach just a few miles outskirts of Karakura Town. It is semi-exclusive but still a grand wedding nonetheless since this is the wedding of the next head of the Shiba clan. Noble families from all over the country are invited.
Ichigo and his family arrive earlier than ordinary guests. The orange-haired football captain leaves in a foul mood for multiple reasons; he thinks this is pointless; he doesn't even know the guy; spending time with his dad gives him a thunderclap headache; and his girlfriend clearly had something going on with the guy but some kind of reasons she just refuses to elaborate.
Even though Ichigo tries to understand and never really asks her about it, the annoyance—the jealousy he isn't even sure he is justified to have—is still there. It just won't go away.
He wants to know, just who the hell is this Kaien guy?
Isshin leads the kids to the VVIP room reserved only for the groom and his family to get ready. The moment the senior doctor opens the door, he is greeted by a man that looks similar to him, but older, and bulkier.
"Isshin, Isshin, Isshin," the older man greets Ichigo's dad and pulls him into a friendly hug. It has been a long time since he met his brother in person.
"Ichiei, everything going well?" Isshin grins and returns the hug and pats his older brother on the back. "You've gotten fat."
"Good. Good," the older Shiba says. "Marrying one-off. Two to go. Although I am this close to giving up on Kuukaku," Ichiei jokes. "And don't even let me start on Ganju."
"Cut the kids some slack," Isshin starts off scolding but ends up laughing instead. "You don't want any more Shiba runaways, don't you?" Now that they're older, they get to make fun of the things that happened in the past.
Ichiei lets out a deep breath. "They're not kids anymore. Freaking hell, when did time fly?"
The head of the Shiba clan then shifts his gaze to the kids behind Isshin. His eyes lock with Ichigo's amber eyes and his black eyes soften in an instant. There is a proud smile on the older man's face and he pulls Ichigo for a manly hug. "And look at this! My nephew is all grown up."
The last time the head of the Shiba clan saw Ichigo was when he was only five. Now, he has become tall, almost the same height as Isshin. He has a well-built body for a 16 or 17-year-old. His hair spikes out stubbornly out of control just like Kaien's. He looks kind of mature for a boy his age, with that furrowed eyebrows and annoyed scowl, but still holds that boyish, rebellious teen aura in the way he acts, standing tall, his hands shoved in his fancy dress pants pockets, and looking bored in a family gathering.
Ichigo just reminds Ichiei of Kaien when he was 17.
"Look at you," he pulls away and gives the teen a more thorough look. "The Shiba blood runs thick in you, boy."
His uncle sounds so proud and Ichigo only raises an eyebrow.
Ichiei turns to Isshin. "What the hell, Isshin? Ichigo is basically Kaien with orange hair."
Isshin laughs, especially at Ichigo's deepening frown. He knows his son acts like an arrogant, stubborn brat sometimes and that he always hates being told that he is an exact copy of the cousin he never even meets in person.
"Oh, come on, my son is obviously more dashing than Kaien, taking after his old man and all." Isshin banters back.
Ichiei roars in laughter. He misses this. He misses Isshin. He wishes his family never lost him. He wishes Isshin and their late dad could work it out back then.
"Don't try to be funny. It's all thanks to Masaki," Ichiei's voice never hides the fondness he has for his late sister-in-law.
Even though Masaki was the reason his brother left their family, Ichiei was always fond of her. After all, she was the sun—the source of happiness in Isshin's life.
The head of the Shiba clan turns to the twins next and his eyes absolutely glint with joy and pride. He pulls both Yuzu and Karin in a tight embrace. Yuzu yelps and Karin almost curses, she doesn't like physical contact. The twins' uncle pulls away and smiles. Their nieces have no idea just how much it means to him to have Isshin and his children on this special day.
"Now, this one, Yuzu, eh? You look like a carbon copy of your beautiful mom, Masaki," he says to Yuzu.
And he laughs again when he sees Karin. Her black hair, her sharp, bashful look. "Karin. Karin here is just another prototype Shiba." He pats Karin's shoulder adoringly and Ichiei realizes, not only does she look like her brother, Karin acts like him too, with the scowling and the baseline annoyed expression on her pretty face.
Isshin grins. Yeah. Karin takes after him too.
"So, who's the lucky bride?" Isshin asks.
Who is the bride that wins the heart of the mighty prodigy Kaien Shiba? A dashing, handsome young Shiba man, complete with a wise, playful, witty, and friendly personality merged into one, with a bright career and future.
Ichiei clicks his tongue and scratches his neck in a way that reminds Ichigo of his dad. The football captain just realizes it then, just how much the two brothers look alike.
"This pretty girl from high school," Ichiei replies. "A kindergarten teacher," he pauses like he is contemplating whether he should or should not elaborate. "Pretty, sweet, smart, and kind, and perfect, really,"
But.
From Ichiei's choice of words, Isshin knows. There is always a but with these noble folks.
Pretty, sweet, smart, and perfect.
But.
A girl with no family name is no use for the family business.
And that. That is exactly why Isshin stayed away.
Isshin's eyebrows are furrowed deeply. "Ichiei," he warns him.
Not this in front of his children. The older Kurosaki thinks he doesn't like where this is going.
Reading his expression, Ichiei sighs. "I know. I know. Judge me all you want," the head clan takes a deep breath, he seems tired already.
Isshin knows Ichiei is no stuck-up typical nobleman. After all, The Shiba has always been built differently from the other traditional noble clans, but—this life, this expectation of being the head of a big noble clan—gets to him. It eventually gets to him too.
"You don't get to be in my place, brother,"
If he did. If Isshin did, Ichei just knows Isshin would've understood their late father better.
"Kaien is going to be the head of the clan. The face, the brain, and the heart of our family business," Ichiei states, reminding Isshin that it is an established fact.
"There are certain expectations of him," Ichiei is not wrong. Isshin is just seeing things from a different perspective.
"A lady from a strong family background will secure his place—will secure our family—in this harsh business world. Don't be too naive, brother. You know I am right,"
Isshin knows. If they were to switch places, if Ichigo was the one who would be the head of the clan, would Isshin want the same thing for Ichigo? To save him from any trouble, to make sure that he was secured and safe with stronger support and protection?
But, still. It is his son's wedding day. Ichei shouldn't even be talking about this.
Ichigo watches. He doesn't know this side of his family. His dad never tells them anything so he isn't really familiar with the tradition and the culture of rich, noble clans. And at this moment, Ichigo has realized just how different life is for these rich folks.
Somehow his mind drifts to his girlfriend. Rukia tries so hard to act like an ordinary teenager, and in front of everyone at school, she is pretty good at that—pretending her life is ordinary. Maybe it is because she is just that down-to-earth in her nature.
Ichigo imagines, by going to their school, Rukia finally gets the chance to taste what normalcy feels like, to know how it feels not to be an outlier. And to Rukia, maybe, if she pretends hard enough, it will eventually become her truth.
But the other half of her time isn't spent at school. In her other time, in another part of her life, when she gets home, is her life like this too?
His uncle's next words bring Ichigo's focus back to the conversation.
"Don't get me wrong. I adore Miyako. We all do. Kuukaku, Ganju, we all love her," Ichiei begins again.
"I just muse over the fact that Kaien just threw away his chance like that. Sometimes we can't help it. It is hard to get away from the thoughts of the 'what could've been', no?"
Isshin raises an eyebrow. He doesn't get it. "What chance?"
Ichiei chuckles. His brother really cuts ties and never pays attention again to the gossip mill of the noble families?
Isn't he friends with Yoruichi?
Doesn't the famous Shihouin lady ever give him updates on the life he left behind?
"A chance to be with a Kuchiki,"
Ichiei answers carelessly like it is an everyday fact everyone should've known about.
A Kuchiki?
Who?
Still paying attention to the conversation between the two older men, Ichigo's amber eyes widen and his shoulders become stiff and rigid. Looking at the way Isshin pauses midway when he is about to take a drink from a glass a nice server offers him earlier, Ichigo knows he didn't hear it wrong.
"A chance to secure a liaison with a Kuchiki, Isshin. Imagine, our clan, with them, just how goddamn powerful we all could be together?"
Imagine all the business the two big bad noble houses could do together if given the chance? Imagine how the business world would rock and go down to its knees to the merger of two of the top five multimillionaire noble family companies?
"A Kuchiki?" Isshin asks, careful in his tone since his son is there and even though Ichigo mostly acts like he doesn't care about his surroundings, Isshin knows Ichigo is paying attention from the beginning.
Ichiei scoffs. "The Kuchiki, Isshin," he adds with an emphasis on the word the.
Oblivious of Isshin's surprised expression, Ichiei continues, taking a drink from a server that walks by him. "The famous Kuchiki Byakuya's precious pride. His little sister,"
That's it. Ichigo coughs this time and he just can't stop.
Karin and Yuzu are looking at each other, back and forth, back and forth. The two girls are confused. A Kuchiki? Like Kuchiki as in the same Kuchiki like Rukia-nee?
Isshin slides his gaze to his son knowingly. He is as surprised as Ichigo is.
How come Yoruichi never told him this?
"What do you mean?" Isshin asks again, still carefully watching Ichigo from the corner of his eye.
"Yoruichi really never told you? Kaien was betrothed to Kuchiki Rukia, Kuchiki Byakuya's little sister,"
As if this is it—as if he finally has had enough, Isshin watches as Ichigo finally turns his head away. His fists in his pockets clench and his posture becomes way more rigid than before, and the annoyance on his son's face becomes even more obvious and palpable.
Is this why Rukia doesn't want to answer the questions about him?
It is still here, stronger than it was before, Ichigo's doubt and jealousy.
Isshin's eyes are narrowed. Yoruichi has told him things before about his third daughter. When Isshin found out that Ichigo was dating Kuchiki Byakuya's little sister, Isshin asked Yoruichi, 'is there, is there a probability of my son getting hurt as the outcome of this?'
Because Isshin knows the old, traditional noble families like the Kuchiki. They're not going to make it easy for Ichigo, not when his son doesn't grow up as a noble.
But Yoruichi told him then, it shouldn't be a worry. It looks like his third daughter is really in safe hands. It is common knowledge amongst the noble families that Kuchiki Byakuya's precious little sister is off limits. No one is going to come close enough to court her. Byakuya is not going to have none of it.
Yoruichi assures Isshin that Ichigo not being raised as a noble will not even matter, because Byakuya and Hisana are not going to marry their sister off to some guys just for the sake of the family business. As long as Byakuya remains as the head of the clan, nothing—no one will ever be able to force something on the Kuchiki princess.
Ichiei sighs, "well not exactly betrothed, betrothed," he explains, "Byakuya is still so strict about all that."
"But about two years ago, I think, back in the US, Kaien and I had dinner with Byakuya and his wife, and also the Kuchiki Rukia herself,"
At the more blatant mention of her name, Ichigo is this close to just fleeing the scene. He has heard enough. He doesn't think he wants to hear more.
There are those boys, at school, who clearly has a thing for Rukia, like Keigo, or some random seniors from the 3rd year. Ichigo is jealous, too, of them when their stare lingers too long at her. But this one is different. This one feels like a real threat and Ichigo hates that he is feeling this way. And the fact that Rukia evaded his questions about the man when he asked her pisses him off to no end.
Just an acquaintance, my ass. Ichigo thinks, even more annoyed when he remembers the fond Kaien-dono suffix in the way she said his cousin's name.
Ichiei shakes his head, reminiscing the memory. "We had dinner for business, at first. But then I just knew, you know? Hisana Kuchiki was obviously fond of Kaien," Ichiei laughs.
"Even that cold asshat Kuchiki Byakuya was impressed. That's my boy to you, Isshin, my boy. Even the mighty Kuchiki can't say no to Kaien's charms,"
Picturing his perfect nephew again in his mind is not that hard to believe.
Ichigo still diverts his gaze away and Isshin can't even imagine what things are playing in his son's jealous little head right now. Ichigo is still a mere teenager. He doesn't understand this kind of thing yet. He is still not good at controlling his emotion yet.
"I just went straight about it, you know? To Byakuya. My son is staying in the US, too, after all. And little Rukia-chan just moved to the US. She was alone and clearly had no friends. So, I said, 'why just don't let the two get close and see where things go from there?'"
So, no, it's not exactly a courtship, not a real, official one. But Byakuya agreed. Byakuya and Hisana let Kaien get close and be friends with their sister, and no one, no guy from the other noble families was ever given permission to go that far. So, that is why Ichiei thinks Kaien has just thrown his chance away.
Isshin asks, "shut it, Ichiei. What were you thinking? Isn't she too young for that?"
Isshin knows he won't ever do that to his own daughters. To have their lives, including the man whom they're going to marry, decided so early in the course of their life.
Ichiei snorts. "Do you think I am crazy? We didn't plan to marry them off right away. Wait until she turns 20 or older, and answer me then, what is the 6-10 years age difference when they're both adults?"
"Things went pretty well, I thought. Kaien even went on a holiday abroad with the Kuchiki. Was it to Peru? The Maldives? Egypt?" Ichiei scratches his chin, trying to dig into his memory.
"But again, it's a shock to me too when he gets back together with Miyako, his ex from high school, instead." Ichiei sighs again, "So, high school sweethearts do last forever, I guess. After all, a heart wants what it wants."
Isshin nods and hopes that his son hears that more than anything. First love, when it is genuine and coming from the heart, does last forever.
The older Shiba sighs then, "I know Byakuya Kuchiki isn't too happy about it. Although it was nothing official, imagine the disrespect Kain pulled?"
"But we got their RSVP for tonight, so I guess, Kuchiki Byakuya is a good sport, after all." Ichiei thinks the Kuchiki can let it go because it just reflects on his own story. The head of the Kuchiki clan himself refuses women that have been betrothed to him and chose to marry Hisana, a nobody with no family name.
"Anyway, no use crying over spilled milk," Ichiei adjusts the tight bow tie around his neck.
"We don't want another Shiba runaway, do we?" and a wide grin spread on his face.
Isshin can't hold back a smile at his brother's harmless jab. "Don't be an asshat, Ichiei," he tells his brother, "Just be happy for your son,"
Ichiei pinches the bridge of his nose, sighing, "I am, I am," he lets out a low chuckle, "it's just the little 'could've been' you know, Isshin? Having a Kuchiki on our side?"
Ichiei shakes his head again, "Ah, what the hell. Knew it was just too good to be true,"
Isshin snickers then, trying to ease the tension, especially for Ichigo. "Now, you're just being pessimistic, aren't you? Maybe it's not that far stretched, brother,"
"It doesn't have to be Kaien," Isshin adds.
It is not Kaien that is going to bring home the Kuchiki princess into his family.
Isshin knows.
It can be another Shiba, and it will work this time because it will be for all the right reasons.
Love.
Not family name or business.
Ichiei doesn't get the mischievous glint in his brother's dark eyes. "Huh, what are you saying?"
The older Shiba roars in laughter this time, "Surely you don't think my Ganju stands a chance to win over the Kuchiki princess?" If his prodigy Kaien didn't even make it, what chance does Ganju have?
Isshin grins back, "Oi, aren't you being too hard on Ganju?" he shakes his head.
Ichigo knows where his dad is going with this. And the orange-haired football captain can't even mask his annoyance anymore. Ichigo has never been good at controlling his annoyance. He knows he is this close to snap. Any more of this, he thinks he can't take it.
He decides that he is done with this, so Ichigo is about to leave—maybe to cool off somewhere along the beach, or he should just drive home and text Rukia later (they promise to just meet here when Ichigo asks her if she wants to go together, but she says she is going to come here with her family), maybe he should—
"Uncle Isshin!" the husky voice of someone Ichigo has never heard before diverts everyone's attention from the conversation.
Ichigo turns his head to the voice and sees, there is this guy.
This guy Ichigo recognizes just from one look despite having never met him in person before.
This guy.
This guy that has been bothering his mind for the last 5 days since he found out Rukia knew him too.
Ichigo watches as this guy, Kaien—the groom, handsomely clad in his classy tuxedo—approaches the three Kurosaki and goes straight pulling Isshin into a manly hug.
Ichigo watches. And watches. And watches with his own eyes.
There are people's words in his head—Yoruichi-san, his dad, his uncle.
There is Rukia's face when she finds out Ichigo is related to Kaien.
Ichigo's jaw hardens.
Goddamnit.
Shiba Kaien has his face.
Rukia first met Kaien when she was 15, a year after she settled in with her sister and brother in the US. Rukia remembered the first time she saw him was when her Nee-san and Nii-sama invited Kaien and Kaien's dad for dinner. They didn't tell her much about him, only said that this was a family acquaintance that was currently studying business at Harvard.
Rukia didn't remember much about the first meeting. For normal high school teenagers, a guy like Kaien was everything. It was that easy to fall for his charms—handsome, tall, smart, or close to a genius, with a body to die for, and he just had to play lacrosse, wear a leather jacket, and ride a Ducati.
Rukia, however, wasn't really a normal high school teenager. The things she learned in noble etiquette lessons stuck to her like glue; a Kuchiki shouldn't show any feelings, and a good Kuchiki shouldn't have any feelings in the first place. They're useless, they're just going to be a burden.
Ever since the dinner, Kaien showed up often at their house—he mostly went there to see Nii-sama, for what Rukia assumed was business talk. But, sometimes, when Nii-sama wasn't home, Kaien still kept coming, and he only drank tea and had a chat with Hisana Nee-san, and when Rukia was home from school and he was there, her Nee-san always, always called Rukia to join them.
One day after being scolded in her etiquette classes because she failed to sip her tea right, Kaien was there, watching her. Her Nee-san told her then, "Kaien-sama will help you with your math from now on. Every Friday evening."
Kaien was studying at Harvard. He was mathematic smart. He was going to be Rukia's math tutor. It was only fitting. It was just that. Rukia was told nothing else.
Ever since then, Kaien-dono (Rukia's way of calling him) was a constant in her life.
There was Friday, then there was Kaien-dono.
He was one of a kind. He was from nobility, the successor of his father, the next head of the Shiba clan. But Kaien acted nothing like a noble man. He was brash and he joked and he sent her harmless but playful flirty remarks a lot. And Rukia—Rukia wasn't accustomed to his casual friendliness.
Tutoring was supposed to last for 2 hours. But with Kaien-dono, they only studied for one hour, and for the other hour, he asked her to go out for dinner. He asked her to get on his Ducati, he wore his cool motorbike helmet and Rukia got to use the cute Vespa one, and when the wind got too rough, he told Rukia to wrap her arms around his waist tightly.
Unlike the fancy dinners Rukia was used to, Kaien brought her to a lot of places she had never been to, somewhere not at all fancy, somewhere not at all lonely white, luxurious walls, with classy servers—just some food truck on the street, some recommended street food in the area, some food festival, somewhere ordinary—somewhere ordinary.
One day eating the best street hotdog in the city, after witnessing just how much Rukia got scolded again and again for her table manners lessons and the words of her tutors still stung in her heart, 'a street rat like you would never ever be good enough for this family,' Kaien-dono told her then.
"Don't let them get to you, Kuchiki." He said, all serious, and it was weird because Kaien-dono joked around all the time, "you're good enough. You're you, and you're enough,"
He told her, over and over again, "You're not your clan, Kuchiki. They don't get to define—they don't get to decide who you are."
"Just remember, Kuchiki, the only thing that matters is that you have a good heart,"
And Kaien knew. Kuchiki, someone as selfless, as kind, as pure as Kuchiki, did have the good heart, the best heart, even.
And after that—after all that—Rukia always, always, always looked forward to Fridays.
Unbeknownst to her, it was the same for Kaien-too, Friday suddenly became his favorite day too.
Kaien knew how lonely Kuchiki was. She was the new kid, she had no friends, she was closed off and she acted like a cold Kuchiki princess in a way that was expected of her.
Kaien asked her one day, "so, high school, huh, Kuchiki?" munching off his sandwich messily, Kaien teased, "any angry boyfriend that will flip the table when you spend so much time with me?"
He teased again, "anyone I should be worried about?"
Kuchiki blushed furiously and Kaien thought she was adorable. Boys were taboo in her etiquette class. "Kaien-dono!" she scolded him in a hushed whisper and Kaien laughed. She was just that innocent.
But Rukia asked him back, with that adorable blush still on her face, "what about you, Kaien-dono?"
Is there a girl? Rukia wanted to ask.
Of course, there is.
It's Kaien-dono after all.
Kaien remembered someone, from high school, someone whom he left behind to pursue higher education in another part of the world.
There was someone.
But the words that came out of Kaien's mouth were another as he joked around and ruffled Rukia's hair adoringly instead, "No. No one, why? Are you interested in me Kuchiki?"
Rukia was only 15, but she already held a weight so much heavy from her clan. It was like she never lived for herself. Everything was decided for her. And if she kept living like that, Kaien wondered, could it be called living after all?
In other circumstances, in an alternate reality, Kaien truly believed he could easily fall for Kuchiki. She was still so young, but her beauty was already off the charts. And her beauty didn't just come from the looks, but her heart.
In other circumstances, if only Kuchiki was older, if only Kaien was younger, if only Kaien didn't see her as a little sister, if only Kaien had never met Miyako—or if only Kuchiki saw him more than a mentor she looked up to—Kaien truly believed he would gladly wait for her.
The Shiba truly believed, in other circumstances, when they were older and both adults, he could let himself admit that he loved her—not as a mentor looking out as his prodigy—but maybe as a man and a woman.
But this wasn't an alternate universe, and Kaien met Miyako, and Kaien loved Kuchiki as his prodigy, and Kaien thought Kuchiki would never even look at and think of him that way.
So, Kaien went home to Japan for three months and he met Miyako again.
When he came back to the US, Kuchiki had big news she wanted to tell him.
"We're moving back to Japan, Kaien-dono,"
Hisana's health was deteriorating and they needed to seek treatment closer to home.
Even if she was sad, Kaien couldn't even picture it on her stoic Kuchiki mask.
The older Shiba nodded and there was a lump in his throat, and his voice was suddenly dry, "I'm getting married, Kuchiki."
The last Friday they spent together—on Kaien's Ducati—on their way home after another late-night hotdogs and sandwiches and ice cream, Kaien took Rukia's arms and wrapped them around his waist. He still found Kuchiki adorable with the Vespa helmet, and Rukia still thought Kaien looked dashing and cool with motorbike one.
"You take care back there, Kuchiki," he told her.
There was the wind, there was the helmet, but Rukia could hear his voice, loud and clear. "Remember, you're good enough, you're not your clan, you have a good heart, and above all, start living like you want to live."
Rukia hugged him tighter and tighter and hid her face on his back.
Kaien smiled behind the helmet, "if you ever get lonely, just remember that you're not alone," he paused, "you've got your brother, your sister, and me, you've always got me, Kuchiki, I am only one call away, you hear me?"
Kaien could feel Rukia's nod on his back.
On the plane, Rukia mused over her crush on Kaien-dono.
Was it just a crush?
Was it something more or nothing at all?
As she tried too hard to act like a normal 16-year-old with a broken heart, listening to a playlist of break-up songs on the plane, Rukia found that her eyes were always dry.
A Kuchiki shouldn't show any feelings, and a good Kuchiki shouldn't have any feelings in the first place. They're useless, Rukia, they're just going to be a burden.
A/N: I think… I have some explanation to do hahaha. So, I know in the manga, we are more likely implied that Kaien had no feelings for Rukia (in a romantic way), but in this fanfic, I chose to go with the path where Kaien did have some feelings too for her, but he stopped, because he thought it wouldn't just be. And the Rukia in this fanfic was like colder and more heartless than the one in the original manga, so she did have feelings for Kaien, but she refused to acknowledge her broken heart—thus she always evades any questions about Kaien that are being directed at her. So that is my explanation :D
Guys, I am trying, I hope I can update the next chapter soon, I hope the next will be *the last* with/without the epilogue in one chapter or separated ones (it depends on how much words I keep typing XD)
I am getting emotional, I enjoy writing this fic, but I also can't wait for this to end XD
If you like this story, please tell me in the comments? :D
Take care, everyone, thank you for reading!
PS: Sorry for the grammar mistakes…