Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. Reminder: Please pardon my grammar errors and typographical errors. :)
Summary : Kurosaki Ichigo and Kuchiki Rukia: Started as enemies, then became best friends. Join these two as they juggle their school works, coffee shop job, live performance, friendship and of course, love lives. It was always part of the equation. IchiRuki, HitsuHina …
—You Are My Love—
A Bleach AU Fanfic
Written By: Mari Kia Aishiteru
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Last time in You Are My Love…
After the Renji fiasco, the protagonists had their peaceful lives back; however not for long as Rukia and Momo's cousin, Luna, appeared! She fell in love with Toushirou, causing Momo to realized and even blurt out his feelings for her childhood friend in front of everyone. They both talked and decided to be a couple.
And now…
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Chapter 19
Welcome Home
It had been a month.
She checked her mails and saw some notifications regarding her studies. She had to go back now or she would be having a hard time catching up. She would like to graduate with her friends after all.
Even so, she will miss someone. Noticing the picture on her dresser, she smiled sadly.
Well, I can't do anything about it.
It has been decided since a month ago, and they both knew it.
She placed her phone on top of her dresser and dusted her blue dress. After tying her curly auburn hair in a high ponytail, she left her room to her father's study room.
She knocked on his door, waiting for the confirmation to come in. "Yes?"
"Dad? It's me."
"Come in."
She opened the door and saw her father behind his desk, with his eyeglasses on, reading some documents.
"Good morning, my dear daughter." He smiled at her. "Do you need something?"
She breathed in and said, "Dad, it's been a month… and I am receiving notifications from the school already." She informed.
Her father hummed in realization and looked at her. "Do you want to go back?" he asked. "I noticed that in these past few days, you've been having fun seeing that…"
"Da~d." she whined. "I don't you telling me that as well. I heard it from Mom already."
He laughed. "Yeah, but it's fun seeing you this flustered."
She pouted.
"Okay! Okay!" he chuckled. "But seriously, Ran. Are you sure you want to go back at this time?"
She nodded. "Yes, he knew that I have to go back to continue studying there sooner or later."
"Oh? So you already talked about it?"
"Hmm."
"I see." He nodded. "When do you plan to go back then?"
"Tomorrow."
"What?" he stopped what he was doing and stared at her. "Are you sure?"
She nodded. "It's the weekend. It's better to go back tomorrow to return to school on Monday."
Her father sighed. "Okay, if that's your decision. Does your mother know?"
"Yes." She said with a nod. "I emailed her. She's in the office now. I'll go check on her later though, since she will be in Namwon by tonight."
"I see." He said. "I'll book you a ticket to Japan then.
"Thanks Dad. I'll packed up then."
"Okay. See you at lunch."
"Hm."
She left the room.
…
After packing up her things, she sent a mail to him, asking to meet her under the bridge where they first met.
Sure, I'll see you in ten minutes.
She read with a sigh. She didn't know how to break it up to him. It will be so sudden and she knew he would be sad or a little bit upset at her.
Shaking her head, she dressed in a simple green dress and black ankle length boots. She fixed her hair a little, tying it properly once again in a high ponytail before leaving the house.
Walking along the sidewalk, she was reminded of the things happened in the past month. She took short walks, enjoyed shopping sprees, attended business parties with her parents, and met amazing people.
Especially him.
He was an artist; always busy with work and shootings. However, he still found the time to meet up and spent time with her. The both of them enjoyed each other's company.
And, after thinking about her feelings for him for a whole week, she realized that she was in love with him.
How could she not arrive with that conclusion with her heart beating fast when he was next to her? the stuttering… the loneliness when he cancel on her sometimes… the jealousy every time she saw women flocking around him… the happiness she felt whenever he smile and laugh with her.
She remembered her best friend and cousin. The both of them had symptoms like hers too back then. She giggled a little.
She missed them, too.
Looking around, she realized she arrived already. Walking down the stairs to get under the bridge, the wind blew, swaying her hair and dress. She breathed in and out.
"I love the wind."
"Sure, you do." A voice reached her ears. She stared down at the end of the stairs and found him looking at her with those amber eyes of his. He smiled.
"Hey."
"Hm."
She continued to walk down and reached him. Now in front of him, she stared at his form. He wore a white shirt covered with a black leather jacket, black pants and black rubber shoes. He was wearing a face mask but removed it that was why she saw him smiling at her.
"I'm happy to see you." He spoke.
"Me too."
The both walked under the bridge. After all, he was an artist and they didn't want any commotion. They both sat on a bench.
"Thank you for taking time to meet me. I hope it isn't a bother." She said apologetically.
He shook his head. "No. We just finished recording. I'm free."
"I see."
Silence ensued between them. She sighed lowly. She had to tell him now.
"Ji Jae."
He was looking at the river. "Hm?"
"I… will go back to Japan tomorrow."
She saw his eyes widened. "What?"
"I said… I will go back to Japan to—"
"Is it too sudden?" he cut off, averting his gaze from her. She sighed.
"Yeah, but I am receiving notifications from school since Monday. I have to go back soon if I want to catch up to everyone."
She heard him sigh deeply. "I'm sorry." She told him.
He shook his head. "No, I should be the one to say that." He said. "I know this will happen but it's just too sudden for me. I guess I am not prepared yet."
She looked in front of her. "I..." she bit her lip. For once, she wanted to be honest with him. After everything that they had been through, he deserved that.
"I… I will miss you." She still couldn't say her real feelings for him though. But, it was enough.
She saw him smile sadly as he looked at her.
"I will miss you too, Ran."
They both stayed like that under the bridge, just enjoying each other's presence next to each other.
Because… tomorrow… they would have to be apart for some time. They didn't know for how long but definitely, they would meet again.
For sure.
…
"I cannot make it to the airport tomorrow but I pray for your safety." He told her, holding her hand in his.
She smiled. "Thanks. Tell the others to take care, ne?"
He nodded. "Sure."
Rangiku hopped inside the gate of her house and faced him. "I… will see you soon."
He patted her head and letting go of her hand. "Yeah, see you."
She moved to close the gate but to her surprise, he held her wrist and pulled her against him. He wrapped her arms around her as Ran's eyes widened.
"I…" he began. "I... will call you."
She nodded lightly against his shoulder. He smiled. They stayed like that for who knows how long before she pulled away slowly. But he wasn't finished. He leaned down on her. Ran, feeling a kiss coming, closed her eyes…
…only to feel his lips against her forehead.
Her eyes opened. He pulled away with a smile. She smiled up at him.
Rangiku's heart beat fast. He was such a gentleman. She found herself falling in love with him again.
"I… I need to go now." She said.
He nodded. "Hm. Take care of yourself, Ran."
She smiled as she closed the gate. "You too, Ji Jae."
Ran reached the door and glanced back at him, seeing him waving at her. She returned the gesture and grinned.
Closing the door, she bit her lip and placed a hand on her chest. She could still feel the fast beating of her heart.
"Ji Jae…" she whispered.
Outside, the young man was looking at the door where she just disappeared and touched his lips. He shook his head and walked down the path away from her house.
He smiled. "Someday… I'll tell you." He whispered as he stared at the sky.
…
They both walked with their baggage behind them. Holding hands, they checked out of the airport and hailed a cab to take them to the Shiba mansion.
He smiled at her as she stared at the window of the cab, with a nostalgic look in her eyes.
"Ne, are you hungry? Do you want to stop by the coffee shop for lunch?" he asked. He grinned when he saw her smiled at him so brightly and excitedly.
"Of course! I missed your sister's specialty." She said brightly. He couldn't help the blush that he was so sure spread on his cheeks.
She looked so adorable.
"Kaien?"
"Hm?"
"What's wrong?" she asked. "You are smiling like an idiot there."
He smirked. "Because you're so adorable." She blushed in return.
He still couldn't believe that this beautiful and adorable woman was his girlfriend.
"No teasing please." She whispered, as she averted her eyes. He patted her head.
"Sorry. I just can't help it."
She playfully punched his shoulder.
He smirked.
"Oh yeah, what about Nii-chan?" she turned to him with a worried look. "Did you contact him?"
He nodded. "Yeah, I think went back to Taiwan for some business partnership." He told her. "I don't know when he will be back though."
She nodded as she looked outside the window once again. "I see."
Kaien sighed. He heard from Momo what had happened to Rukia before. He still couldn't believe that his best friend would do that to his sister. He contacted him and asked for the truth and he admitted it to him, because they were best friends. He was mad at what he had done. He had hurt his sister and no one hurts his sisters even if he was his best friend. Renji never apologized for it but told him to take care of his sister for him and never tell her anything that happened.
That he understood. He was an older brother too, and he didn't want to hurt Senna with the truth. Kaien had another reason why he hid the truth though.
He love Senna as more than a little sister and friend.
He confessed to her after she regained her voice and she said yes. He was so happy he could die so he couldn't tell her about his brother. He didn't want to hurt his girlfriend.
But he knew he couldn't hide it from her forever.
Renji told him that he was out of the country doing his job as the heir of their company but he didn't say where. It was his prerogative to tell Senna that it was in Taiwan. He didn't want to worry her.
"Kaien, we're here." She said. He looked and well, she was right.
He apologized for spacing out and immediately moved to pay the driver. They both went out and removed their luggage from the trunk and opened the gate. Kaien told his parents they were coming and allowed Senna to stay in the Kuchiki mansion.
"Kaien!" a woman walked down from the staircase slowly. He ran towards her and held her both hands in his.
"Mom!" he smiled worriedly. "I thought I told you to just stay in bed. You don't have to welcome us."
Yoruichi shook her head. "No, your father was called in the company and I feel lonely too so I want to see you."
He smiled. "Okay, but you're going back to your room now."
The woman nodded. "Okay, boss."
They both laughed. Senna smiled at her caring boyfriend. He was really kind.
Yoruichi turned to her and grinned. "Hi Senna, welcome to our home. Don't worry about anything and please be at home."
The young girl nodded with a small bow. "Thank you very much for your hospitality."
"No need to be formal." The older woman said. "You are Kaien's girlfriend. It's fine to call me Mom if you want." She winked.
"Mom!" Kaien blushed and Senna giggled. "Hai, mom."
The man turned to her with a blink and she giggled loudly. He sighed. "Senna, I'll take Mom to her room for a while. The maids will help you settle down. I'll meet you later here."
She nodded. "Okay."
…
After all the teasing and blushing, the couple was on their way to the coffee shop. It was Sunday and for sure, all of them were in the coffee shop. They both couldn't wait to tell them the good news.
Opening the glass doors, the chime ran announcing their arrival.
"Welco—" Momo was cut off when she saw who arrived. "Nii-chan!"
Rukia from the counter, heard her sister and looked over as well. She smiled widely when she saw Momo embracing their older brother.
"Kaien nii-chan!" she exclaimed with a grin.
She couldn't leave the counter so they went over to her. "Yo, Rukia! How are you?"
"I'm fine. I'm so happy to see you!" she said. Momo was clinging on her brother's right arm. "When did you come back?" the youngest Kuchiki asked.
"Earlier today, actually." He shrugged with a grin. "I want to surprise you two."
Rukia chuckled. "Well, you got us good."
He patted her head. "I'm happy."
They heard a throat clearing from behind and was surprised to see another familiar face. "Senna!" Rukia, finished with the coffee she was preparing, ran towards her friend and hugged her. "You're back!"
The purple haired girl grinned.
"How is your voice now?" Momo asked in worry.
Kaien and Senna exchanged looks. Rukia noticed and smiled teasingly. "Eh~ what is this, you two?"
They both turned to her. "Hm?"
"There's something different from the both of you." She said. "I wonder what it is…"
Momo wondered as well.
"Ah… actually we are—"
"Are~ Kaien nii-san?" a voice cut off what he was going to say. He turned to the glass door again and saw Ichigo and Toushirou with shopping bags on each of their hands. They walked by the counter and settled the bags on it before turning to the newcomers.
"Ichigo, Toushirou, it's nice to see you again."
"Likewise." Ichigo told him. "When did you come back with Senna?" he asked, glancing at the girl. He wondered if she knew what her brother did to Rukia a while ago.
"Earlier this morning. We stopped by the mansion to drop our luggage and came here for lunch."
"Oh I see."
"Then why don't we have lunch while we talk?" Rukia asked as she looked at the wall clock. "It's almost time for that anyway." She smiled and turned to Momo. "Why don't you lead them to an empty seat for now? We don't have that much customers at this time anyway."
The youngest Shiba nodded. "I'll prepare lunch for now. Take a break, nii-chan, Senna."
The two mentioned nodded in agreement and walked behind Momo. Toushirou went back inside to fix their groceries while Ichigo offered to help Rukia in preparing lunch.
…
After they were all settled and eating their lunch, Ichigo asked the thing that he was curious about. "So Senna… how's your voice?"
The rest waited because they were also curious. The girl smiled and nodded. "I'm fine now, thanks!" she grinned widely.
They all cheered and smiled. "Woah! You have a cute voice!" Momo praised, making the girl blush. "Thanks."
Rukia, once again, opened the topic from ealier. "So… what's with you two?"
Ichigo and Toushirou frowned at her question. "Rukia?"
"No… I just noticed something different." She answered her boyfriend, before looking once again at her brother.
"Well…" the oldest Shiba began as he averted his gaze. "We… are together… now."
Silence.
And then…
"EHHHH!"
The two sisters of his screamed loudly and the boys had to cover their ears. "Momo!" Toushirou exclaimed.
"What?"
"You're loud."
"Shut up, Shirou-chan! I'm just happy for my brother."
The white haired boy sighed. Ichigo, meanwhile, wasn't able to attempt to stop Rukia since she was already asking her brother how that even happened.
Kaien sighed. He knew this would happen. Senna just giggled.
"Well, I confessed to her when she regained her voice and she said yes."
Rukia pouted. "That's it? Details please!"
Kaien shook his head. "Rukia."
"Nii-chan!"
"No."
"Please?"
"I said, no."
"Fine, we'll just ask Senna."
"Wa—"
"Sure, I'll tell you the details." The girl answered. "…later though."
"Yay!"
His sisters high fived and Kaien shook his head with a sigh.
Ichigo chuckled and Toushirou continued to eat his share.
"What about you guys? How are things here?" Kaien asked, looking over at Ichigo. The orange haired boy smiled. "Things happened but we can manage."
"I see."
Rukia turned to him. "And oh yeah, Momo and Toushirou are together now."
"Woah… that's—"
"Did I hear that right?" a voice cut off Kaien and they all turned behind them. The four teenagers' eyes widened in surprise. It had been a very long time since they saw her after all.
"RAN!"
"NEE-CHAN!"
"Hey guys!" she moved closer to them and embraced her brother. "Missed you little brother."
The boy tightened his hold on her. "Me too."
They pulled away and she patted his head. "Congratulations! You finally got your first love." She winked as Momo blushed a little. Rangiku laughed. She missed teasing these little kids.
"Ran…"
She grinned at her best friend and gave a hug. "I'm glad to see you, Rukia."
"Hm… I missed you."
"Me too, so much."
Rangiku turned to her cousin. "Yo Ichigo. Thank you for taking care of Rukia for me."
He chuckled. "Of course. Nice to see you so full of energy, Ran."
"Yeah." She turned to her best friend's brother. "Kaien nii-san. Pleasure to see you again."
"Me too, Ran. I thought you're in Korea."
"Yeah, I came back to catch up in school."
"I see."
Rangiku saw a purple haired girl sitting next to Kaien. "And you are…?" she stood up and bowed a little with a smile. "Nice to meet you, I'm Abarai Senna. I'm Abarai Renji's little sister and Kaien's girlfriend."
The auburn haired woman nodded. "Hmm… so you are Abarai Renji's sister. I'm Hitsugaya Rangiku. I'm Toushirou's sister, Ichigo's cousin and Rukia's best friend. Nice to meet you too." She said. "I've been in Korea all this time so I haven't met you."
"Yeah, we met her a few weeks after Christmas." Rukia told her. Ran nodded.
"So nee-chan, would you like to have lunch with us?" Toushirou asked. His sister nodded. "Of course! I'm so hungry."
The younger brother pulled a chair from the next table and gestured his sister to sit. "Here, nee-chan."
She smiled and sat down. "Thanks."
Rukia went to the kitchen to get a lunch for her best friend as Ichigo carried Ran's luggage in her room.
They were so happy talking about all of the good things happened to them. Meanwhile, Rukia noticed Ran checking her phone every once in a while.
"Ran?"
"Hm?"
"Are you waiting for a call?"
"Ah, no…"
"You sure?"
"Yeah…"
And that was it. However, Rukia felt that there was still something that she wasn't telling and she would get answers from her.
She wasn't her best friend for nothing.
That night, the four performed once again in celebration of the return of Rangiku, Kaien and Senna.
…
The next day, Ran came to school and had a long girls' talk with their classmates. It had been fun because she truly missed them after all these time. However, still, Rukia noticed how she check her phone every five minutes. She was wondering what it was all about. She decided to corner her best friend on their way home.
"Ichigo, Ran and I are going somewhere for a while. Can I take a little time away from the coffee shop today?" she asked as her boyfriend frowned. "We'll be back before the performance." She smiled assuringly.
Ichigo nodded. "Okay, then." He walked home with a wave with Toushirou and Momo beside him. Momo knew what her sister will do. They already talked last night and she also noticed that action of Rangiku. She decided to leave it to her sister.
Rangiku smiled as she sat down the grass. "It's been a long time since we had a talk here, ne?" she asked her best friend with a smile.
"Yeah…" Rukia replied. "So you knew why I took you here?"
"Of course." She said. "The reason I was checking my phone, right?" Rangiku sighed. "I knew you wouldn't let it go. You are not Kuchiki Rukia for nothing."
The raven haired girl smirked. "Great, this will shorten everything."
Silence ensued as the wind blew past them.
"So…" Rukia began.
Ran sighed.
"Well… remember the phone call we had last time?
Rukia nodded. "Yeah… about the man you met?" Rangiku averted her gaze from her.
"Actually, I have been seeing him for these past month."
Rukia's eyes widened. "What? Why didn't you tell me?"
"Well…" Ran scratched her cheek in embarrassment. "I forgot. Sorry."
Her best friend sighed. "And then…"
"Well… when we last saw each other, he told me he would call me…"
"So that's the reason why you keep on checking your phone."
She nodded.
Silence.
"Why don't you call him instead?"
Ran's eyes widened at her friend. "No way! He's busy! I cannot possibly disturb him!" she exclaimed, wrapping her arms around her knees and placing her chin on it.
"Ran…" Rukia looked at her best friend. "So… what's his name?" she asked.
The auburn haired girl glanced next to her and sighed. "Shin Ji Jae."
Rukia's eyes widened. "Shin Ji Jae? White feather's vocalist? Toushirou's favorite singer?"
Ran nodded. "Yeah, the one and only."
"That's…. amazing. I can't believe you fell in love with your brother's favorite."
She looked at Rukia. "How can you say that I…"
Rukia grinned at her. "Easy… it's the first time I saw you acting worried and timid like this, Ran."
The girl pouted. "You're really my best friend."
She laughed. "Of course." Rukia patted her friend's shoulder. "You love him?"
"Yeah. He makes me happy."
"Happy for you. You finally found your first love."
"Hm. I cannot believe it."
"Ne, call him will you?"
"Right now?"
"Yes, I mean, right now."
Rangiku breathed out. "But, what if he's busy?"
"What if he's not? Just try it! At least you made the effort to inform him. If he couldn't answer your call, I'm sure he'll call you back as soon as he see that you called him."
She gripped her phone tightly. Rukia was right. She had to try. She dialed his number and placed it on her ears. She heard that it was ringing and stared at Rukia.
She raised her both fists as if saying, "Fight, Ran! You can do it!"
She didn't know whether to laugh at her best friend or cry in nervousness.
The ringing continued and she almost screamed when she heard his voice. "Hello?"
"Um… it's me."
"Yeah, I know." She could hear a smile from his voice. "Your number is saved in my smartphone remember?"
"Hm, you're right."
Silence.
"So… how are you doing? I hope I didn't disturb you."
He laughed. "No you didn't." He sighed. "Sorry I wasn't able to call you sooner. There was something we had to do as a group but I am really planning to call you after."
"It's fine. I'm sorry if I cannot wait for your call and called you instead."
He chuckled. "I'm happy you called. I miss you already, Ran."
His whisper made her blush. Rukia smiled. This was the first time she saw her best friend blush. She didn't expect this.
"Ji Jae! It's your turn!" someone shouted in Korean behind him. She heard it through the phone. "Oh I'm sorry! You're in the middle of something."
"It's fine, but I need to go. I'll call you later, I promise."
Rangiku smiled. "Yeah, I'll wait."
"Take care, bye."
"Bye."
And she hung up.
She sighed deeply and turned to look at Rukia who was looking at her with a weird smirk on her lips.
"What?"
"Nothing… I'm just happy to see you blush. I've never seen that in my entire life."
Ran averted her gaze. "I…"
"I'm just teasing Ran. You're not used to it, are you?" Rukia giggled. "You always tease us that is why you are not used to being teased."
"Rukia~" she whined.
She laughed. "Well, come on, let's go back to the coffee shop." She stood up. "I promised Ichigo to come before the performance."
Rangiku smiled. "Okay." She stood up as well.
"Why don't you join us in the performance, Ran?"
"Hm… well… maybe next time… I want to watch you guys a little longer."
"Huh?"
"The four of you looked so great in the stage."
"Ran…"
She laughed happily and embraced her from the side. "Thank you, Rukia."
The raven haired girl nodded and returned the gesture. "You're always welcome, Ran. Welcome home."
Rangiku grinned widely. "I'm home."
…
Song/s Used: None.
A/N: I'm so sorry for the delay. It has been four years since I've posted the last chapter. Since it was ECQ, I hope to finish this story as much as I can. I hope you, the readers, are still there to support this piece. Thank you so much!
Announcement :
I am planning to revise chapters 1-9 after I completed this. There were so many typographical and grammatical errors and I want to fix it. I hope you could wait a little more. Thanks!
To those who knew my first fanfiction, My Love Your Love All the Way to Our future, I revised the whole story and posted it again here days ago. If you have time, please read that as well and review. Thank you! I changed its title to Our Love Towards Our Future and it has eleven chapters already. I finished editing those chapters so I reposted it here in ff. The last three chapters will be posted as well after I make it from scratch.
Thank you very much for the support!
Please R .
Next Chapter: The Last Conversation
Yours Truly,Mari Kia Aishiteru. 05.06.2020. 4362 words