Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. It's property of Tite Kubo.

Author's Note: Hi! Welcome back! This time I bring you a two-parter. So today and tomorrow's one-shot are linked together to the same plot. So you will have to read them together. In here I will tackle a very IchiRuki situation lol. Hope you guys like it!

I don't have much to say in here other than I want to thank all of you for reading and reviewing! Thank you so much!

See ya!

my love is so hard to disguise

Prompt: You can tell me anything. I won't listen though

Summary: No matter what Rukia says, Ichigo just cannot stop himself from protecting her.

"What the hell was that?" Rukia tells him as soon as they reach her office.

Ichigo shrugs in response. "Me putting some bastards on their place."

"Uhu… So that wasn't you acting like an ass for no reason?"

Her voice drips with sarcasm, something he doesn't appreciate, but he can see her point of view.

"I wasn't being an ass for no reason." He shots back.

"Oh really?"

"I had every reason to be an ass."

Ichigo probably shouldn't have said that with such pride.

He knows Rukia won't see the humor in the situation.

Still, he can't help it.

"Oh, and who are you to fight with my trainees again?" She replies, crossing her arms and looking less amused by the minute.

Crap.

"Look, I'm not going to apologize for that." He quickly admits.

"I may have gone overboard. But they had it coming."

Rukia sighs as she hides her face on her palms.

It seems that she's about to admonish him.

Yet, she doesn't.

"Ichigo, tell me, who is in charge of this division?" She asks instead.

"You."

"And after me, who is in charge?"

"Kiyone and Sentarō."

"And after them?"

"Whoever is fourth seat."

"So, tell me again, why was it that you had to scold the new trainees?"

He grumbles in reply.

"What was that?"

She raises an eyebrow at him, daring him to lie.

"I didn't have to." He says out loud.

"Glad you're self-aware."

Oh, the sarcasm continues.

Bad sign.

But Ichigo's not about to back down.

"But I wanted to."

That's obviously not the right answer as Rukia curses under her breath.

"Damnit, Ichigo! Why?" She whines.

And Rukia is not a whiner.

So that means he has really screwed up this time.

However, his position remains unyielding.

"They were talking shit about you behind your back, so I couldn't let that stand."

She sighs.

"When that happens, you tell me about the situation so I can solve it! You don't just step in and deal with something that pertains to me."

"Sorry not sorry, Rukia. I can't just let that stuff go."

He stubbornly continues.

"And why's that?"

"The moment someone is being rude to you, I must step in."

That gets her angrier.

"Ichigo, it's not your job to defend me, much less from my direct subordinates."

And he knows that.

He gets it.

Rukia is short, young-looking, and a woman in a very patriarchal society.

Not to mention she's fairly new at being a lieutenant.

Then there's the whole issue with her being from a noble clan and all.

In cases like this, she is the one who needs to assert respect.

But when he heard the new trainees complaining about Rukia, calling her every name in the book, from spoiled rich brat to incompetent Shinigami, he hadn't been able to remain quiet.

Much less when they had said she shouldn't be in charge as she was too busy being "the Substitute Shinigami's whore."

That he definitely couldn't let pass.

So Ichigo had followed his instincts and done what he had thought was appropriate.

Kicking their asses.

And he knows Rukia should have handled it.

But the name calling had bothered Ichigo way more than he would have thought.

It had been a dig to his own insecurities, of taking too much of her time, of Rukia being ignored or disrespected due to his presence.

And the way these trainees had defined their relationship had been the last straw.

Was that how they looked to the outside world?

He has to wonder.

Was Rukia seemingly nothing to him but someone he could use for sex?

That statement was beyond derogatory.

And Ichigo knows that Rukia has been called many names before.

From the time she was a child growing up in the Rukongai to when she was adopted by the Kuchiki Clan, she had been called many things.

Street rat.

Spoiled.

Robber.

Stuck-up.

Undeserving.

But Ichigo never wants to be the reason why someone feels the need to insult her.

So he had snapped.

In hindsight, maybe he should have just been mildly terrifying.

Maybe a bit of yelling would have sufficed.

That has never been his style though.

Truthfully, he hadn't beaten them up like he would've done in the past.

It had just been enough to scare them from furthering offending their very capable and admirable lieutenant.

Yet Rukia hadn't been amused or thankful.

Ichigo does get it.

It's just… he can't just let such things happen.

He can't watch silently as the woman he admires so much gets insulted by the people that should be respecting her.

It is the very least Rukia deserves after all she has done to improve and get to where she is.

"I get your point." He concedes.

"You do?" She says, clearly skeptical. "Because it doesn't look like you're listening to me."

"Oh, I hear you, Rukia. I'm just not going to stop doing things my way."

Yet, he stands his ground on this issue.

"Ichigo, we've been through this! I can take care of myself."

"I know that. And I don't doubt it. You're a badass. You've saved my skin more times than I can count. It's just... I can't just stand there and let other people insult you. Not on my watch."

Rukia sighs again.

"You know what they're going to think, right? That I have a guard dog waiting there to bite anyone who's against me."

Guard dog?

That doesn't sound so bad.

"Damn right you have. They're gonna think twice before being disrespectful now."

"That's not going to solve the issue here." She deadpans.

"Maybe not, but you can't deny it was satisfying watching grown ass men crying for their moms."

He jokes to ease the mood and it works.

Rukia chuckles and shakes her head.

"If they accuse me of being a tyrant, it's going to be your fault."

She gently admonishes him and Ichigo grins.

"Hey, I accept full responsibility."

She drops it after that, muttering something along the lines of "you never change."

Sooner or later it's going to come up again, though.

But maybe next time he won't get such a light scolding.

And it's not as if he doesn't know what Rukia meant.

He does and he respects it.

However, Ichigo cannot just listen to her on this one thing.

Let people think whatever they want.

Let them accuse him of being overprotective.

Of being her personal guard dog.

They might be right.

Because he will never let anyone hurt Rukia.

Ever.

And if she gets mad or if others criticize them, so be it.

It is the price he must pay for wanting her to be happy.

Because her happiness is everything to him.

A/N: So first things first, the title is a lyric from Guy Sebastian's song "Kryptonite." The story doesn't have much to do with that song, but even when Ichigo doesn't say it, he's so protective because he's so in love and, through his actions, it is very obvious lol.

As for the story in itself, I want to make clear I'm not taking a sexist approach. I'm not romanticizing men who get jealous or are overprotective as they feel they own their partners. It's not like that. What I wanted to portray is the feeling you get when you hear someone talking some shit about a friend, relative or partner. I'm sure all of you would get upset. Maybe you wouldn't actually fight them like Ichigo did, but I think most of us would do something about it. I'm very non-confrontational but I've called out people for this shit before. Hell, I've stopped talking to people because of situations like this. And though Ichigo knows Rukia can handle everything, he knows it'd hurt her. So he wants to spare her the details and do something himself. So he does.

Don't worry, Rukia will have more to say on the next one-shot and the two will reach a compromise.

Ichigo did a wrong thing, but he was coming from a good place.

He didn't want Rukia to get hurt, so he took matters on his own hands and resolve things in the one way he's more familiar with, through fighting.

Anyway, I hope you guys liked it and that you will tune in for the conclusion of this mini arc.

See ya!