Author's Notes: This is my first Bleach fanfic.
Please be nice on criticisms.
Standard Disclaimer Apply
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The leaves were falling over them as they walked across the park. They were 6 inches apart from each other. They were friends. But then again, there were certain events that would make observers ask themselves – are they together-together?
He was silent. He wore an emotionless face as he walked side-by-side with her. At that moment, he wasn't at his job as a shinigami or a soul that saves and protects souls from Hollows finally rest in peace. Instead, he was Kurosaki Ichigo, a fifteen year old student.
She was also silent. She, as always, wore an expressionless face as she walked side-by-side Ichigo. Before, it was her job to be a shinigami. Until that night, when she gave her powers to Ichigo, she lost her powers. So now, she was a normal school girl who always accompanied Ichigo everywhere especially when they had work to do. She was Kuchiki Rukia.
It was a peaceful afternoon. They had no work to do whatsoever. Ichigo suddenly had an idea, "Rukia, since we're already outside, want to do something?"
Rukia looked at her companion as if he said something weird. "What do you mean by something?"
Ichigo raised his hands and placed his palms over the back of his neck. "Oh you know, non-shinigami stuff."
"Like what?" She asked coldly.
Ichigo thought, 'Is she really this hard to convince?' He shrugged and answered, "Well, maybe you would like to eat ice cream or maybe watch a movie just like the other girls?"
Rukia stopped from her tracks. Her eyebrows twitched as she said the words: "Just like the other girls?" Ichigo looked back and saw a very angry Rukia. Rukia stomped toward him and hit Ichigo hard in the head. "I'm not an ordinary girl!"
"Ouch!" Ichigo rubbed the part of his head where Rukia hit him. "Why did you have to do that?"
Rukia went back to her emotionless face and said, "Well, I just felt that I have to knock some sense into you." Rukia walked on but then, she looked back. "But then again, if your offer still stands, I'd go with you."
Ichigo looked at her, puzzled. 'First she hits me for comparing her to other ordinary girls. And now she agrees to go with me. She's really weird.' But then, he smiled to himself. He quickly stood up and caught up with her.
They walked until they reached the end of the path. They crossed toward the commercial site of the city. They were a string of stores on the other side of the road ranging from clothes to food.
After they crossed the road, Ichigo asked his companion, "What do you want to do first?"
"Why are you asking me?" Rukia just stared at the ice cream shop right in front of them.
"Well," Ichigo said, "In instances like this, it's usually the girl's choice."
Rukia looked at him with the same emotionless face. "So now you're saying we're on some sort of date, aren't you?"
Ichigo shrugged. "I guess we are…" He gave her one of his grins that meant: "Yes and I have no idea why we are doing this."
Rukia, for once during that day, smiled at him. "If we are, then it means that you're going to pay for everything today?"
Ichigo could sense that Rukia was planning something. He could feel that something was going on inside her head. He hesitantly answered, "Yes. It's my treat."
Rukia's smile even got wider. "Then, let's go!" She pulled Ichigo and started to come in and out of the shops with paper bags held by Ichigo.
Ichigo sighed as they left the last clothing store on the block. 'Dad's going to have a fit when he sees the credit card bills.' But when he looked at Rukia's smiling, eager face, he himself smiled. 'But what the heck? If she's happy, I'm happy.'
They walked side-by-side again. But this time, it was different. It was a picture of a couple – two different people happy together.
Rukia pondered loudly, "What to do next? What to do next?" Then, she remembered her shopping bags. She turned around and started walking backwards. "Ichigo?"
Ichigo raised his eyebrow. "What is it?" In his head, he kept saying, "Please don't say you wanted to shop for more… Please don't say you want to shop for more…"
Rukia asked him, "Well, what do we do next?" She thought, 'He seriously believes this act? Ha. Stupid Ichigo.'
Ichigo answered her, "Well, we can eat or maybe, if you want, we'll watch a movie."
"Hm…" Rukia thought of it for a moment. "Let's eat then. After that, we can watch a movie or whatever."
Ichigo gave a sigh of relief. 'I really thought she wants to shop for more…' Ichigo asked, "So where do you wanna go?"
"Well," Rukia looked around. Then, her eyes sort of shimmered when she saw the tea house. "Let's have cake and tea."
They entered the small tea house and sat at the nearby booth. Rukia and Ichigo sat facing each other. Rukia returned to her emotionless face once again. Ichigo did the same. They were silent once again. Their order came and they ate silently.
They left the tea house after eating. But they didn't go to the movie house because of the paper bags that carried all of Rukia's clothes and shoes. Instead they went to the coast to see the sunset. But before they went there, they dropped her things to Inoue's place.
After Rukia returned from the other side, (This is the part of the series where Rukia was taken back to the other side and sentenced to death. Then, she was saved by Ichigo) she decided to stay with Inoue Orihime from now on. Inoue Orihime was one of the people that saved Rukia from the other side.
Inoue was home, cooking one of her "special" meals. Rukia and Ichigo didn't want to eat Inoue's "special" meals lately because the last one was really revolting. They snuck inside the house and left the bags inside Rukia's room.
After that, Ichigo and Rukia headed for the coast. They had a very silent train ride. No words were spoken. Both of them stared at the peaceful scenery outside. They left the train when they saw their stop.
They walked side-by-side again, wore emotionless faces – just like before. They made it just in time to see the sunset.
Ichigo broke the ice first. "We're here." The water was sparking with the sun's rays. The water was calm. Everything seemed peaceful.
"I can never find this scenery back home." Rukia answered him, "Thank you for bringing me here."
Ichigo smiled at her. "No problem. We can always go here if you like."
Rukia stared at the water. "Thank you, Ichigo, for everything."
Ichigo looked at her. She had a grim expression on her face. "What's wrong, Rukia?"
Rukia answered, "Nothing really…" But she added, "I just realized that if I stayed on the other side, I wouldn't be here with you, watching this scenery…" She paused for a moment. She took a deep breath and said, "I would be dead if you didn't save me."
Ichigo didn't know what to say to her. He knew the risks of saving her from the other side. But he wanted to save her.
"Why?" She clenched her fists. "Why did you save me back then? Did you know that if you weren't careful, they could've killed you? So why?"
"It's because you're my friend." Ichigo answered her. Rukia looked at him with a mixture of shock and happiness. Ichigo inched near her and whispered, "And maybe, perhaps, there's more than that."
Rukia's eyes grew wide. "What are you saying, Ichigo?"
Ichigo stood straight and looked into her eyes. Rukia felt scared. Her heart was beating faster and faster. Ichigo started to move closer and closer to her. When he stood right in front of her, she froze at her spot. When Ichigo tilted her head, Rukia felt like running but her body was immobile – as if she became some sort of statue. As Ichigo inched closer, the scenery started to fade away. They, too, started to fade away. After a few more moments, everything went black.
Sunlight entered the room through her window. Rukia slowly opened her eyes to the blinding light of the sun. She rubbed her eyes and opened her eyes again. She sat up from her bed and saw Inoue sleeping on the other side of the room. 'How did I get here? Was I only dreaming that Ichigo was…?'
Rukia stood up and looked at the floor. There were paper bags from different stores. She opened one of them. There were clothes inside them. Her eyes grew wide. "So that means…"
"AAAAHHHHH…." Rukia screamed from the top of her lungs.
Inoue woke up and immediately sat up. "Is there another Hollow, Rukia?" Inoue saw Rukia's surprised face and then, she smiled. "I see you woke up already."
"Tell me what happened…"
Inoue narrated that Ichigo brought her back here last night. Ichigo told Inoue that Rukia passed out because the Hollow suddenly hit her with some sort of sleeping mist. Rukia gave a sigh of relief. 'So he really didn't…'
"But," Inoue added, "Ichigo did say that the Hollow ruined a perfect moment."
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Author's Notes:
I know, I know. They're OOC. So sorry about that.
Please review.