There's a Karakura without Rukia and there's a Karakura with Rukia, Ichigo is familiar with both and he knows which one is his favorite.
Missing You
It all starts a week after he recovers his powers, X-cution is gone and life is turning back to normal, whatever that means, and Ichigo hates how much he loves being a Shinigami again, why? Because Rukia, the hellish midget that is staying at his house ("Where else is my third daughter going to stay?!") becomes way too smug and extremely insufferable for his taste.
"I mean," Rukia says as she sits on top of the counter while Ichigo prepares dinner for both of them "remember when you said that you would absolutely never help me with the Shinigami work?" she smirks "well, look at you now, the moment you don't have your powers you get depressed."
Ichigo scoffs.
"You're quite talkative today, midget" he points out "would it kill you to keep quiet for, I don't know, five fucking minutes?"
Rukia chuckles and is in that moment that Ichigo realizes how much he missed that sound and he tries not to smirk, has her voice always sound that good or is he becoming quite a pansy? Well, it wouldn't be weird for a guy who reads Shakespeare, right?
"Oh, come on!" Rukia laughs "don't be an idiot!"
Was it always like this? This normalcy? Cooking for her and talking about how they started? Ichigo doesn't want to think about it, doesn't want to remember, all he wants is for her to shut up and eat her dinner. Because her voice, her presence and her eyes on him while he moves around the kitchen is making him feel things and he couldn't remember getting nervous around her before.
So he has to ask himself again, was it always like this? Or is it because of her haircut? Has she always looked so damn pretty?
"No but think about it," she insists as she swings her legs "you seriously need me around."
Ichigo frowns at that but the smirk doesn't leave his face.
"Do I?"
"Yeah," Rukia nods enthusiastically and Ichigo knows she is about to throw a nasty remark about his depressive seventeen months "the moment I turn my back on you, you go and join a criminal organization, who does that?"
Ichigo runs a hand through his hair.
"You're not going to let me forget about that, right?" he asks casually.
"Nope" Rukia smiles and he decides that he wants her to focus on something else, he doesn't want her to talk about the last seventeen months.
He doesn't want to think about Karakura without Rukia.
Because he cannot deny that the fact that he lost his powers is actually depressive as fuck, but if Rukia keeps asking she'll eventually figure out that it was not just the fact that he was powerless that drove him into desperation, his anguish didn't start there, his anguish started the moment she disappeared from his sight, knowing she was there and not being able to touch her, to see her, to feel her.
That was the real hell, that's when Karakura changed and suddenly it was not normal and it didn't feel right, it was the Karakura without Rukia. It was going back from school with no one by his side, coming to his room where there was no midget reading his mangas as if they belonged to her, no gorgeous black haired girl arguing with Kon and dragging him out of his body to slay Hollows in the middle of the night.
It was not just the fact that he was powerless, and normal, like he was before meeting her.
It was the fact that she had left him, again, that made him realize how nightmarish Karakura, and his life, without Kuchiki Rukia was.
"It does not matter anymore," he mutters low enough, just to himself "you're back."
"Uh?" she asks frowning slightly, she didn't catch that "speak louder, Carrot top."
"Shut the fuck up!" Ichigo says this time, louder just like she asked, and then he walks towards the refrigerator and takes out a juice box, he puts the straw on it and hands it to her.
Rukia takes the juice gladly and sips.
"Oh," she says smiling "I missed these."
Ichigo rolls his eyes and focus on dinner again, he refuses to talk about juice boxes and about how he kept buying those every fucking week because he knew that she would eventually come back and she would be expecting to have one.
Fuck, he was really a pansy.
"But fine," Rukia says "let's change the topic."
Ichigo nods gratefully.
"What else have you been up to the last few months?" Rukia asks "what have you been doing?"
Ichigo knows why she's asking and insisting, and not shutting up, it's because the last five days they have been catching up and he mostly listened, he listened about how Ukitake promoted her to lieutenant ("Seriously, what took Ukitake-san so long?" Ichigo asked), he listened about Byakuya becoming even richer ("Is that possible?" Ichigo asked "doesn't the bastard own half of the Seireitei already?") and how Kenpachi kept bitching around the Kuchiki mansion looking someone worthy to fight him ("Apparently, after you only Nii-sama can keep up with Zaraki-taichou" Rukia explained.)
It was interesting and Rukia noticed that he didn't talk much, but what could he say? Not much happened to him and he wanted to keep listening to her, after not being with her for so damn fucking long could anyone blame him for not getting enough of her voice?
Besides… she was going to kill him once he were to explain how he fell on Ginjo's trap like a fucking idiot.
"Carrot top, I mean it" Rukia insists "what were you doing this whole time?"
Ichigo finally recognizes true worry behind her eyes and now he really wants her to shut up.
He doesn't want to worry her and he won't tell her everything, at least not for now, so he simply puts himself in front of her and, as she tilts her head confused, he closes the distance between them and kisses her before she can even figure out his intentions.
It takes three seconds for her to melt into the kiss and once her legs are around his waist and her hands on his hair Ichigo smirks victoriously.
Once the kiss ends and they look at each other breathing heavily Ichigo decides to answer.
"Missing you," he says hoarsely "that's all I've doing, I've been missing you."
"Fool" Rukia whispers and closes the distance between them again.
This is the Karakura with Rukia, and Ichigo wouldn't have it any other way.
