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

Author's Note: Hi! Welcome back! So here's Rukia's version of last chapter with the resolution. I'm glad you guys like the previous one-shot. We do love an overprotective Ichigo. Now let's see what Rukia thinks about it once she knows why Ichigo acted in that way.

As always, thank you so much for all of your support! You guys rock!

Hope you guys enjoy this one-shot!

See ya!

thank you

Prompt: overprotective

Summary: Rukia's never needed anyone to protect her. But now there he is, knowing he doesn't have to, but wanting to protect her anyway.

Rukia has never needed anyone to protect her.

Ever since she was a young child, she has known how to take care of herself.

The world hadn't been kind to her, so she had never really expected anyone to care about her.

Even when she had found friends ─ a found family ─ she had always been the leader.

And though Renji, Byakuya, Kaien-dono and Captain Ukitake had been protective on their own ways, at the end of the day Rukia hadn't needed their protection.

They hadn't expected her to, either.

So they had mostly left her to her own devises, to solve her own problems.

Ichigo, though.

He's different altogether.

In his defense, he has always been protective of those he cares about.

From his early childhood, it seems.

It's never mattered whether or not he's got the power to protect them.

He's done it anyway.

In particular those he will protect no matter what.

And Rukia is included in that group of people.

She's flattered, really, that he considers her that important.

Yet she can't help but think Ichigo overreacts sometimes when it comes to her.

She's not sure if the fact she almost got executed has got anything to do with it, but he gets upset if even one inch of her body gets hurt.

If it were up to him, nothing, not even the wind, would ever touch her.

It's gotten worse after the war.

And yes.

They both had almost died.

Multiple times.

So Ichigo has his reasons to be worried.

But they had been victorious each time, hadn't they?

Not that it matters to him.

If he can take a blow for her, he will take it.

Each and every time.

And Rukia understands it's not that he doubts her abilities or her power.

It's just he hates the sight of her getting hurt.

(She hates seeing him get hurt too)

But it does get annoying.

Especially when Ichigo wants to shield her from emotional pain.

She can handle it.

Really.

All of her life she's gotten hurt.

She's been called every name in the book.

Nothing anyone says can surprise her anymore.

But she doesn't need anyone's approval.

Because Rukia knows who she is.

Although she will admit that sometimes those words do hurt.

And yet, they are not enough for her to break.

She's already fallen to pieces many times before, and has put herself back together, stronger and stronger each time.

And Ichigo knows that.

Which is why he probably doesn't want her to feel pain anymore.

But it's not something either of them can stop.

Life is life.

And there are times life's painful.

It's alright, though.

Not that he gets it.

He still meddles even when he shouldn't.

Annoyingly, Ichigo meddles especially when he shouldn't.

Such as the other day, when he fought her trainees for disrespecting her!

His actions were completely out of place.

(Even if they were satisfying to watch)

Rukia needed to be the one to scold them and probably penalize them.

But Ichigo had taken matters into his own hands and had probably made the situation worse.

Now they wouldn't take her seriously without him in tow, acting very much as a guard dog ─something she had told him.

But he had refused to listen or to stop!

He had looked very proud of himself even.

Which Rukia had found particularly bothersome.

And she won't admit it, but she would've liked to be the one punishing the trainees instead.

"The nerve of that guy." She mutters as she walks through the barracks, in an attempt to clear her mind after she had tried to unsuccessfully finish her paperwork.

Will there ever come a time when Ichigo listens to her?

Probably not.

"Damnit."

So all that she can do is mutter curses under her breath directed at him.

And she would have probably kept cursing him if random chatter hadn't distracted her.

A little to her right, she can see Kiyone and Sentarō gossiping.

Not a rare sight if she's being honest.

They have been the same from the time she had joined the division to this day.

Still, you'd think that without a captain to lead them, they would be taking their jobs more seriously.

Whatever.

Rukia's been itching to reprimand someone, and since Kiyone and Sentarō have so gracefully presented themselves as prime subjects, she will take the chance.

Except, she doesn't.

Because just as she approaches them as silently as possible, she can overhear their conversation.

"But no! You should've seen him, Sentarō! He was really pissed."

"Well no wonder Kurosaki kicked their asses. He had every right to be mad."

"I think they deserve a greater punishment!"

"Really? One would think that getting your ass handed to you by the Kurosaki Ichigo would be enough of a lesson."

"Yeah, but after they insulted our lieutenant in such a way, they need to be penalized or even expelled from the division!"

"On that we can agree."

Alright.

Was this the end of the world?

Because Kiyone and Sentarō have never agreed on anything for as long as Rukia has known them.

Well, not counting today, that is.

So whatever those foolish trainees had said about her must have been way worse than she had imagined if her two third seats were plotting on having them expelled.

And that possibly meant Ichigo hadn't been in the wrong.

At least partially.

"What are you talking about?" Rukia decides to make her presence known and says as casually as possible.

Kiyone and Sentarō, startled, jump when they hear her.

"Fukutaichō!" They exclaim.

Rukia simply looks at them, expecting an answer.

"N-nothing! We were talking about nothing, right Sentarō?" Kiyone is quick to reply, nudging her companion with her elbow, very hard from the way the man yelps.

"R-right! Who would talk about anything with Kiyone anyway?" He adds, nudging her back.

This quickly annoys Kiyone, though.

"Hey! What do you mean by that?!"

"Why are you even so upset?! I thought we'd agreed we were talking about nothing!"

And so, they start bickering like always.

Rukia sighs and shakes her head.

These two will never learn.

"Alright. I've heard enough." She intervenes and stops their squabble.

"Look, I overheard you earlier. I know you were talking about that incident with the trainees. I just want to know what they said to punish them accordingly."

She explains and, in return, both third seats look at each other and start sweating copiously.

"Nothing important!" Sentarō quickly says.

"What he said!"

"So Ichigo really had no reason to react that way. Good to know. I'll have a word with him about it, then."

Rukia tells them coolly, knowing the two won't be able to throw Ichigo under the bus.

"Wait! They did say some things!" Sentarō is the one to take the bait, just like she had expected.

"But we're not sure we should be repeating their words." Kiyone interjects, staring grumpily at her friend.

Rukia raises their eyebrow then.

"How bad was it?" She asks them.

The two share one look

"Very bad." Sentarō answers.

"Profoundly insulting." Kiyone confirms.

"I see."

When they don't add anything else, Rukia prods them further.

"So you two aren't going to tell me?"

They shake their heads.

"Is that so? Then how can I possibly take action if I don't know what they did?"

Kiyone's sense of justice is what leads her to talk.

"They said several bad things about you. But there was one thing that was beyond insulting." She admits.

"But what were their exact words?" Her tone is biting and accepts no nonsense.

Kiyone just looks down and fiddles with her thumbs.

"Well, they were insulting your capabilities as a lieutenant."

Nothing new there.

"Really? What else?"

Kiyone doesn't look like she wants to keep talking, so Sentarō takes her place.

"They were saying that you shouldn't be in charge if you spend so much time with Kurosaki."

Huh.

So Ichigo had actually been involved in the situation before he had taken matters into his own hands.

That is something Rukia needs to know.

Now she wonders why Ichigo hadn't told her in the first place.

There must be something else going on in here.

"And then?" She keeps grilling them.

Kiyone doesn't look like she wants to answer that.

"And then they called you… well…"

She stutters and then grumbles something under her breath, but Rukia can't hear her.

"What was that?"

"I…"

At a loss, she turns towards Sentarō

The other third seat sighs and answers for Kiyone.

"They called you the Substitute Shinigami's whore."

Oh.

So that was the reason then.

"I see." She simply replies. "I will see to it that they are punished accordingly. Thank you for your cooperation, Kiyone, Sentarō. Good day."

Both of them can't tell if she's mad or not, so they simply wave her goodbye as she returns to her office.

That Ichigo.

That stupid, stupid, Ichigo.

Rukia thinks as she walks back.

No wonder he had gotten so pissed.

In his own way, he was defending her honor.

And Rukia doesn't know what pisses her the most.

The fact that he hadn't told her or the fact that she had admonished him for his actions.

Truth be told, it still wasn't right for him to beat the living daylights out of the trainees.

But, she can admit he was justified.

And, really, it shouldn't make her so damn happy.

Rukia has a hard time keeping herself from smiling all the way back to her office.

And when she does get there, she covers her face with her hands to avoid grinning like a fool.

She feels touched in so many ways.

Because Rukia has never needed anyone to protect her.

But now there Ichigo is, knowing he doesn't have to, but wanting to protect her anyway.

It shows he cares about her.

As if it wasn't obvious enough, it is a nice reminder.

Even if his overprotective nature tends to be bothersome, Rukia wouldn't have it any other way.

Because that's just the way Ichigo is.

She's not going to make it any easier for him, though.

So next time she sees him, she can't help but grin at him.

"I'm not going to thank you, you know?"

Ichigo blinks twice and then smiles.

"Yeah, I know. Didn't expect you to."

A/N: Though Rukia will never admit it out loud, she's so happy Ichigo stood up for her, lol.

So glad you guys didn't think Ichigo was being sexist and that he was justified in what he did. Now Rukia knows the truth and agrees.

There's not much I want to say other than Rukia accepts this part of him too, as annoying as it can get.

She knows why Ichigo acts the way he does, and that he isn't underestimating her.

And of course those trainees were sent to the 11th as punishment.

Let Kenpachi drill some sense into them.

Anywya, hope you guys like it!

See ya!