"Hey Rukia?" Ichigo asked her one night while they were lying on the roof of his house looking at the stars.
"Yeah Ichigo?"
"When a person dies here, they go to Soul Society, right?"
"Yeah."
"What happens when a person dies in Soul Society?"
"…"
She didn't answer this time either. He was starting to wonder if she even knew. "It's alright, you don't have to tell me, I was just wondering."
"Ichigo?"
"Yeah?"
"You think you'll see your mom again, when you go there?"
"I don't know, guess we'll wait and see, won't we?"
"Yeah…"
"Hey Rukia, what's your brother like?"
"Well, he's not really my brother, I was adopted into the family."
"Oh."
"Hey Ichigo?"
"Yeah?"
"What was your mum like?"
"The best person in the world…"
"Really?"
"Yeah, whenever she was around, I was always smiling."
"You hardly smile at all anymore."
"Yeah… I sort of blame myself. Myself and the Hollows."
"Is that why you want to fight them?"
"Sort of, but I want to protect those who are close to me, like you Rukia."
"…"
She didn't respond to that how he expected either
"I'm precious to you?"
"Yeah," Ichigo said, propping himself up on his elbow and facing towards her, "You are."
"I see…"
Definitely not how he expected her to
"Ichigo?"
"Yeah?"
"You're special to me too." She moved towards him, wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head on his arm, closing her eyes. Ichigo only smiled and took her into a protective embrace. She was just full of things he didn't expect.