" ICHIGGOOOOO"
Ichigo heard his loud idiot father yelling outside his door.
" Shut up ! " he yelled back.
It had been 3 weeks since he last switched with Rukia.
He hated to admit that he missed the quiet mornings and peaceful time he had alone.
"Where the hell is she" , he thought.
The date with Renji was tomorrow !
He now regretted accepting the bastard's invitation. He was just trying to get back at her for accepting Orihime's invitation. There was no way anything would happen between them but he honestly couldn't say if Rukia felt the same about Renji.
" What the hell does that even matter to me anyway? He scowled at the way that made him feel.
Groaning, he slowly made his way out of bed and stretched.
What another day..
...
" Yo Ichigo! " Tatsuki yelled from the front of his house, " Let's walk to school together. "
Ichigo paced to her, " What's up Tatsuki"
They slowly started their walk to school together quietly before Tatsuki spoke up.
" So you and Hime huh? " she shoved him teaslingly.
" Stop. Nothing like that " he scowled.
Tatsuki crossed her arms. " And why the hell not Kurosaki? Hime is the perfect girl."
"Maybe, but not for me."
" That's not what you said a month ago, you even called her beautiful and how stupid a guy could be if they didn't date her!"
Dame Rukia and her feminine support.
Ichigo sighed in irritation, " Just leave me alone Tatsuki , will you?"
" Just what is it with you? You like her or not?"
" As a friend."
" How do you know if its not more than that if you don't give it a chance?"
" Cause I do."
"How"
"Because."
"Because how"
" I just do! I have liked a girl before you know !"
Tatsuki was shocked. Ichigo liked a girl? Who ? And when?
" Who ?"
" You don't know her. "
" You don't know that."
" Trust me, she's like no one else."
Tatsuki made barfing sounds, " When did you get all pansy Kurosaki."
" Shut up." he said blushing.
" So , Hime really doesn't have a chance? " Sighing , "You'll have to let her down easy"
" I know."
" Thanks". She suddenly shoved him, " last one to the courtyard buys lunch!"
" Oyi ! "
The day had come. Ichigo's date with Orihime and Rukia's date with Renji.
Ichigo woke up and again disappointed that he woke up in his own body.
He was really hoping they would switch.
He sighed heavily. He'll just have to do his best with Orihime today. Actually that might have worked out because if Rukia was in his body, she'd probably end up dating her for him.
He cringed.
Yeah better him then her after all.
Yeah that's it. He was trying not to think about Rukia's date outcome.
His dad tried to barge in like every dame morning, yea even on weekends!
He went downstairs to have breakfast, then took a shower and a short nap. Before he knew it, it was time to get ready for the date.
He decided on his purple "Nice Vibe " shirt , a pair of black skinny jeans and a pair of black vans.
He ran his hands through his now longer orange hair. He should really get a haircut.
Finally, he headed towards Orihime's apartment. He hoped that by the end of the day, he still had his friend.
He softly knocked at her door.
"Coming!" He heard her muffled voice.
She opened the door dressed in a pink dress. Her hair was in it's usually state.
Orihime shyly put a strand of hair behind her ear, "Hi Ichigo. Thank you for coming"
" No need to thank me, uh, thank you." He already knew this was gonna be hard.
" We can go get something to eat first if you'd like?"
" I'm fine Orihime. Do you?"
" Oh no! I'm fine , I'm fine !"
" Okay well let's head out then. "
They made their way to the subway to catch a ride downtown.
"So Ichigo, how is your family?" Orihime asked.
" My family is great. Annoying but they are good. Dad still running the clinic." Ichigo responded.
" Oh that's wonderful! I remember the first time I met your father! He was so funny! Like Ironman fighting off robots!"
"Her and her weird imagination " Ichigo thought.
" Live with the guy and you won't be saying that much longer"
The subway finally reached its destination and they made their way to the art museum.
Walking downtown, Orihime was so nervous. She was finally on a date with Ichigo!
" Umm, so Ichigo.. um.. what do you want to do after high school? " she asked.
Ichigo hadn't really thought about it all the way. He thought about following his dad's path but Rukia constantly nagged him to persue his love for literature.
" I was thinking of following my dad's path and become a doctor too but Rukia nags me not too, she'll kick my ass if I choose that actually" he chuckled.
" Rukia?" Orihime suddenly felt cold.
Oh shit. Ichigo thought.
" A friend. You don't know her. " Ichigo quickly said.
" Oh okay.. uh well we're here. " she quietly pointed out.
Karakura Art Gallery Museum
" Don't worry about the admission fee, My treat" he offered.
" Oh no Ichigo! That's okay really! " Orihime stabbered while blushing.
" It's fine Orihime, really" he insisted.
" Ah..um.. thank you" she quickly bowed .
" You don't have to thank me so formally Orihime, really."
" Oh.. okay sorry! Umm thank you!"
He internally wanted to shake her and ask her not to be so nervous, it was making him nervous!
"let's head inside " he opened the front door.
With Orihime following behind, they made their way to a small group who was just starting the little tour.
They received information packets about different sculptures and statues.
This wasn't just an art gallery but also a museum filled with some famous art from back in the 1800s.
Ichigo knew Rukia would love it.
He felt an ache in his heart. Although she sort of stomped on his heart, he missed her. He truthfully wanted an explanation from her and not just assume.
Their group were lead to a room filled with paintings of space. They were amazing.
" Look at this one Ichigo! It looks like a little ball made of hot cheetos! " Orihime excitedly clapped.
And it really did.
" And wow look at this one! This is the one meteor we saw 3 years ago! It was beautiful! Wasn't it ? " She pointed at the huge painting of the meteor. But something wasn't right...
" It says here, Meteor 2017. Seireitei. The Town that was wiped off in seconds " Orihime read.
" That's horrible! I never knew that! " she continued.
Ichigo slowly made his way to the painting. He couldn't feel his body, he felt sick like he wasn't physically there at that moment anymore.
There. There was no mistake. The temple. It was standing there completely broken and burned. There were ashes everywhere, burying the whole little town in the painting.
He touched the painting so softly, afraid to break it. He quickly scanned the painting with his eyes. He knew it. He so desperately wanted to not know. But there was no mistake.
That was her town. He was just there experiencing it almost a month ago! How could it be gone..?!
Rukia...
" How.. " he whispered.
" It says here that there were no survivors, Orihime gasped, " that's so sad.."
Ichigo wasn't hearing what Orihime was saying anymore. He felt numb and sick at the same time.
The room was spinning.
" Ichigo? You don't look so good..Are you okay.. " he could faintly hear Orihime asking.
Somehow he couldn't talk. He couldn't move.
" I..."
"Ichigo ?"
"I.. have to go .." and he took off running.
"Ichigo!" he heard her yell after him.
He wasn't listening, he was just running. He ran past crowds of people, harshly bumping into some.
He ran until his lungs burned, until he felt his body on fire.
This cold feeling, this crushing and heart wrenched feeling, he wanted it to disappear.
Coming upon to a park, he stopped and finally took a deep breath,
" Ughhhh! " he yelled.
He fell to the ground.
He couldn't wrap his head around this.. How?
"Dammit!" he yelled punching the ground.
How could she be gone? How ?
He felt like he was losing his mind, were all the notes, the interactions, the body swaping..were they real?
Was he crazy? Completely out of his mind?
No. He knew it was all real.
SHE was real.
She was alive.
She had dreams and goals.
She was strong.
She was Rukia fucking Kuchiki.
And he was going to find her...