Disclaimer: All characters of Bleach belong to Kubo Tite.

Rukia: My Life As A Rabbit

Chapter Three –The Lion, the Rabbit and the futon closet

Rukia: Seriously, you don't have to sympathize with Ichigo. I didn't bite him 'that' hard –not really. And I'm sure it didn't hurt –not much anyway.


Ichigo unceremoniously dropped the rabbit to his bedroom floor. The dirty stray had turned out to be a white-furred, black-eared bunny beneath all that dirt. After subjecting it to a rubdown accompanied by the blast of warm air from Yuzu's hairdryer, the fur on its tiny body had poofed out considerably.

Rukia winced when she caught the sight of her own reflection in the bathroom mirror. "Ugh, I'm having a bad hair day!"

She looked as if she had bitten down on a live wire instead of Ichigo's finger.

Now, Rukia observed her surroundings and thought wryly how spacious Ichigo's bedroom seemed. Talk about taking a look at life from a different perspective! This was a little extreme though..

Ichigo watched as she hopped lightly across the tatami mats. The rabbit propped her fore feet up on the sliding doors to the futon closet.

"There's nothing interesting in there," Ichigo said. "Well, not now at least.." he added, amused.

Rukia backed up as she saw Ichigo's feet padding towards her. In her new fragile form, she was feeling a little delicate. Rukia wasn't comfortable with the idea of being held at all.

Ichigo's hands were sort of… big. She knew he could wield an oversized zanpakutou in battle with ease. But right now, it concerned her more that he could very well squish a bunny single-handedly if he was careless with his unreasonable strength.

The boy stopped in his tracks when he realized the rabbit was scuttling away from him with a wary look in her eyes, velvet-black ears twitching nervously.

He frowned slightly. Well, it couldn't be helped. He supposed that bath hadn't been a pleasant experience for anyone.

To Rukia's relief, Ichigo seemed to change his mind about picking her up. Instead, he settled down at his desk and opened his school texts.

Watching his form at the desk, it was almost as if today was no different from any other day before. Rukia felt a little downcast.

How can things be the same when I'm…

Her thoughts were loudly interrupted by a familiar voice. "So, you're the invading pest who's trying to replace me in sister's affections? Dream on! It'll never happen..."

Rukia rolled her eyes as Kon went on and on about his charming self and his prominent position in nee-san's heart. So much for hoping that somebody closer to her own size would be more understanding of her predicament.

Rukia jumped on the possessed toy. Kon landed flat on his back with the rabbit nonchalantly sitting on him.

Ichigo shook his head at the unlikely sight of a lion being subdued by a rabbit. It was just so wrong.

"Get off me, you big bullying, deceitful Easter rabbit!"

"Try to stand up for your pride as a lion once in while, Kon," Ichigo said dryly as he plucked Rukia off the raving stuffed-toy.

oooOooo

At 11.00 p.m., the sound of the bedroom door closing woke Rukia up from her nap. Ichigo strode in with a bowl of freshly washed strawberries.

He set them down on the table and scowled at the time on his clock. Every hour that ticked past without any sign of a certain petite shinigami girl returning home was getting on his nerves more and more as it grew later into the night.

The bowl of strawberries were left untouched as Ichigo distracted himself from the manga in his hands by glancing surreptitiously at the clock every few minutes.

Finally, to assure himself that has was not actually waiting for anyone like some anxious parent staying up for a kid out past curfew time –he reached for one of the red fruits and munched down viciously on it.

Then he realized that the rabbit had actually moved closer and was making little hopeful snuffling noises, ears perked up in interest.

The rabbit was watching him eat strawberries. Or rather, it was watching the strawberries he decided. Her nose followed the path traced by the small fruit in his fingers as he moved it hypnotically before her.

Abruptly, he popped the berry into his mouth and snickered slightly at the reproachful look that earned him from the bunny.

"Do rabbits eat strawberries?"

Ichigo picked up another fruit and mused, "They only eat vegetables, right? So, I'll eat the strawberries and you can have the leafy stem bit. How about that?"

Rukia sniffed disdainfully. It's cruel to tease the bunny!

The boy held out a fruit to her, relenting it when she snatched it quickly from his fingers before hopping out of reach again. He watched her finish it before he offered another one.

This time, when she tried to pull it from his fingers, he held on. She nibbled at it warily, stopping only for a moment when he tentatively reached out to pet her lightly.

Suddenly, the peaceful night was broken by the shrill, piercing alarm of a Hollow alert. Ichigo grabbed his shinigami representative license and moved out for another night of Hollow hunting.

Rukia watched as Ichigo jumped off the window ledge into the shadowy streets. Strange… She felt as if she was being left behind. But, that was just silly.

oooOooo

Later that night, when Ichigo sneaked in through the open window, he scanned his bedroom silently and his eyebrows knitted together as he frowned.

He walked downstairs to place the bowl of remaining strawberries he had kept for Rukia into the fridge. When he closed the door of the kitchen refrigerator, he slammed it harder than necessary.

Ichigo waited. But, Rukia did not return that night to climb up to his window with an explanation.


Author's Note: Ichigo had Rukia eating out of the palm of his hand… heh.

Procrastinator-starting2moro -If Rukia were in the state to do so, she would probably report Ichigo for breaking those animal cruelty laws.

Kushiro –Rukia can handle herself alright, most likely exploit the situation too.

Syneiam –Thanks for looking forward to this chapter. I hope I can live up to expectations.

BlackSun-WhiteMoon –Well, there's a difference between 'taking a bath with Ichigo' and being 'given a bath by…" –coughs!- Don't make me say it.

Makino114 –Haha. I guess you can understand Rukia's "outrage" about that incident.

Seaplue -The clothes! Wow, you're really thinking ahead about this!

Luna12 –What happens? Well, as much suffering as possible would be high on the list.

tin797 –Rukia's cute, even when she's torturing Ichigo.

inugrlluvsanime –Seriously, Pringles? –wonders how on earth one writes about Pringles..-

Zero-Vision –SMFO (smiling my face off) at your review!

flOofymikO –You have just made the most Orihime comment I've ever heard. "My stomach can handle it!" –Sweatdrops!-

LadieAnimeFreek –Hmm.. how indeed!

j6girl –Updating! Updating..

Faith the Apostle –Haha. Ichigo must feel sad that everyone thinks Rukia's cute even after all his pain.

Elizabeth D. O'Connell –I'm glad you found it funny!

Ringo Nonohara –The one person who feels more for Ichigo! Yes, Ichigo's definitely "going to get it" at the end.