Bittersweet

Disclaimer: I do not own neither Bleach nor any of the characters and stuff like that… I'm just a wannabe Kubo Tite. Not the real one. Nope.

Rated T for Teen: Violence, and suggestive language

Warning: Around Chapter 200 and all that fun shnazz.. If shnazz could be lucky enough to be a word….

Pairings (AKA, love triangle):

RukiaKaien

Kaien his wife

IchigoRukia

OrihimeIchigo

IshidaOrohime

RukiaIchigo

OrihimeIshida

Make since:D

Last time on Bittersweet…

His dad had to rush him into the clinic, but nobody could figure out what was wrong with him. They gave him some pain killers to calm down, but when the pain was still noticeably bad even through the pain killers, they had to put him out with oxygen.

Wednesday – Morning of Guilt

Rukia happily copied down the notes on the board. She knew not of what she was writing, but of the brilliant thoughts bubbling in her head. Rukia thought for sure if there is a cloud 9, this must be it! Everything has been so perfect since Renji has told her what her heart sings about now—Kaien's return.

Of course, there was some conflict going on within her about his lovely, lovely, dear wife of his; the only woman she ever really respected and wanted to be like, but as for now, she's decided to not trifle too hard on these matters so close to his awakening.

I wonder how Kaien-dono and Ichigo will get along. Rukia giggled inwardly at the identical furrowed eyebrows of the two boys. Her heart sighed. "I really do wonder, though," she thought out loud, but her thoughts then got interrupted.

The brisk sound of the classroom door being swung open with the doorknob threatening to rip off abruptly caught Rukia's attention. Kaien-dono?

No, it wasn't Kaien, it was some other man—the principle. He looked around the room swiftly, until his eyes met with that of the adoring Kuchiki Rukia.

"Kuchiki-san, you must come with me! Your father has told me of an emergency!" The man said stiffly, making the whole class just as shocked as she.

Rukia stood up. "Father?" What father? She pondered, and ran out of the classroom with the principle without a near glance to the teacher.

"What's the meaning of this?" Rukia asked the principle, almost tripping over her own feet to keep up.

"Kurosaki-san is in the hospital! Your dad wanted me to pull you out to see him. It looks critical."

Something struck Rukia right there. It struck harder than when she heard Kaien would return; though, the difference was, it hurt. Her heart suddenly filled with this queer emotion, and it sunk deep in her chest where she couldn't reach it.

Why hadn't she realized that her favorite Shinigami replacement wasn't sitting near her as always? Why hadn't a single thought of where he was, or why he was late occurred to her? Her stomach turned a little, but she pushed the feeling off, only to have the feeling of guilt trickle down her neck and shoulders.

Not long after was Rukia transported to the hospital.

Wednesday – Noon – Hurt

"Kuchiki-san," Isshin looked low at Rukia, waiting out in the waiting room with her. "I apologies for pulling you out of school like this,"

"Is he alright?" Rukia rushed into the conversation, anxiously.

Isshin nodded his head only slightly. "He's alright right now. He isn't in any pain at the moment. He'll be fine though, he'll get out of this! My boy is tough!" He grinned, forcefully at Rukia.

Rukia took note at this. Death isn't much of a problem for Kurosaki Ichigo, seeing how they could just meet at Soul Society instead but, for some reason this felt strange.

Her facial gesture twitched. "Aren't you worried, Kurosaki-san?"

A frown marked Isshin's face, and he made a little grunt, she couldn't quite make out.

"Well, can I see him?" Rukia asked anxiously, making a move to the door behind Isshin.

Isshin didn't answer or look up when she asked, but just let her through. Sadness for his son filled his heart. He knew exactly what was wrong, but in his current condition.

Resisting the urge to just barge in and yell "Ichigo!" out of habit and concern, she kept herself quiet, opening the door and closing it behind her.

There was a lump in bed. She suspected it was Ichigo's warn body. Next to him were allot of beeping machines, and oxygen tanks.

Rukia quietly walked over and sat into the chair next to him. "Ichigo…" she called out quietly.

The lump rolled in the bed, and the blanket was pulled down to revealed Ichigo's stern, yet exhausted face. When he saw Rukia's shocked and concern face, he wanted to just pull her close to his chest, but he resisted that urge; especially since he couldn't seem to find the strength enough to sit up.

"Ichigo… are you alright?" Her voice was only that above a whisper, but she was sure he could hear her.

He nodded, and smiled. "Don't say you're worried about me, Rukia."

An odd feeling, like cold hair, brushed around her, and she was taken back, matching that smart-ass, caring smile to that of Kaien, and she was suddenly confused how to take this new feeling. Soon, the emotion of that, and the emotion of seeing Ichigo look so pathetic in a medical bed showed up clearly.

Her eyes reddened and watered. "Baka! Don't say that! Of course I am! You should look at yourself, it's pathetic!" Tears fell out, betraying the eyes that once held them. Her head held low as she tried to get a grip on herself.

Ichigo, pained by seeing this, smiled to reassure her everything was alright. The moment didn't last long though.

Soon the machines he was tied to start beeping rapidly and Ichigo started rolling about, digging his fingers into the bed he was fascine to. It was happening again; he had no control over it. Ichigo sounded like a monster with all he was screaming.

Rukia jumped up and placed her hands on Ichigo, as to try to think of what to do. Part of her screamed at Ichigo from inside to stop being in pain, but that couldn't solve anything. Soon she remembered; if it's his body in pain, she could just take his spirit out and bye-bye pain!

She found the spirit glove somewhere in her pocket, being that she hasn't put it on in a while, she fumbled trying to get it on in time, but before she could get it on…

"I wouldn't do that, Kuchiki-san." came a familiar voice coming from the door. Rukia looked to find Urahura standing next to Isshin.

Rukia foolishly wiped the tears previously there to mask her concern. "Why not?" She asked hastily.

Both of the men looked at Rukia with hurt in their eyes, as the young teenage man churned in his bed, screaming for help, and as an oblivious girl stood next to him wanting to do something naïve to help.

They're looks continued to stick at one another, until doctors and nurses rushed into the room to panic what to do.

Wednesday – Afternoon of Regrets and Denial

The three of them sat in the waiting chairs outside the room. The two men sat beside tiny Rukia to support her if they needed to.

"Kuchiki-san," Urahura began softly. "Shiba Kaien is dead, and you as a Shinigami should know we don't bring the dead back to life; that's not our job."

Rukia looked over at him feeling insulted. "What's your point?"

"What he's trying to say, Kuchiki-san," Isshin came in. "is that there's a reason why you don't bring people back to life."

Rukia looked at Ichigo's father and then thought a bit. "Wait, Urahura?"

"Kurosaki-san is a Shinigami! So is Kurosaki-san!" he added in happily.

Rukia looked concerned. "What does any of this have to do with Ichigo? I want Kaien to come back, I really do, and I don't care what you say about it, he'll be given life whether you like it or not!"

"-even if that means killing my son?" Kurosaki looked at her calmly, as to hoping she'll catch on.

"Ichigo?" Rukia looked at his father, frightened. "Ichigo is in that hospital bed because something happened, not because of Kaien! How could Kaien hurt him from all the way over there? Plus, he has no reason to attack Ichi—"

"Your not listening to what we're saying, are you?" Urahura sighed.

Something swirled up Rukia's chest, causing her to get dizzy, and yet, she was frantically trying to create a story in her head to safeguard Kaien.

"What happens when somebody dies in the living world?" Urahura quizzed her.

"They go to soul society, or if they're bad they—"

"Correct. Now where do you think people who die in the world of the dead go?" He asked her now.

"They go…" Sudden thoughts engulfed her head, remembering everything she knows about Shiba Kaien and Kurosaki Ichigo. She wants to be with both of them. She loved Kaien, she really did. Her heart swims in light air at the mere thought of Kaien. Though, Kurosaki Ichigo, they're so similar. The more she gets to know Ichigo, the more he reminds her of Kaien. At first, he didn't at all. He never smiled truly, and it was a rare treat, but the more she's around him, the more he allows her to see his protective smile—the same smile that Kaien—

Rukia stood up, staring into nothingness, afraid of where her head was getting to. "That- that's not right… It can't be right… Ichigo is Ichigo… Kaien-dono is Kaien-dono… I love Kaien… He's coming back…" Her emotions made it hard for her to admit to what her head was coming to, eventually blocking out all possibilities. She turned towards Kurosaki Isshin and stared blankly at him. "I'm going to go see Kaien now. He'll be here soon, and I'll get to see him right off."

"Kuchiki-san!" Urahura stood up to catch her wrist before she ran off- but she had already got away. "Kurosaki-san! What we going to do now?"

Isshin stared at the "Caution" sign in red light over his son's door. "Kuchiki-san is a very sweet girl…" He began muttering quietly. The screams in Ichigo's room weren't quieting down. Isshin didn't meet the look of his companion.

Urahura sat back down. "Will you be fine here by yourself?"

Isshin nodded slowly, keeping the image of Rukia's face firm in his head, from when she said she's leaving. "I'll be just fine."

Outside, Rukia had pushed the useless body off of her and placed it on a near by bench. She called for the gate to Soul Society, and like it should, it appeared with fluttering death moths, delivering messages to individual Shinigami out there. She took a step into the traditional Japanese-door, and stepped into her room in Soul Society.

I'm back.

A/N:

That was fun to write! - Up since 5 in the morning just typing away! I kind of enjoyed this chapter, though I think I've gone sorta "ooc", but not too bad, considering… Ah, this was so fun to write… I hope you enjoyed it:D Please drop in a line, eh?

nya Reviews? Flames?

Thank you for reading. :3

Side thing… I would just like to mention some of my favorite Ichiruki fanfiction here! I mean, if you like this, you'll really love what they've made… - Most of them is a work in process and I'm waiting for the next chapter… but anyway! Here are my favorites:3


"To the wind" (That nice type of "in denial" romance that I love so much! XD)

"Rukia: My life as a rabbit" (Fluffy! X3)

"100 yours" (Oooh, it's so mean, it's cute! xD poke, poke, prod, prod)

"Kekkon Trouble" (All I can say to that is… amusing. 3)

"Too Close to Dawn" (Really sweet! 3)

and a few others.. but those are my current tops. 3