Chapter 11: These Are the Moments
~Rukia~
She huffed at the gleaming jar of honey miserably taunting her while perched at an impossible height from Earth.
Words could not even begin to describe her hate for the sheer impossibility of high kitchen shelves. Just who in the right mind would think that 'up' was the way to go? Couldn't they have come up with some ingenious idea of building one rack in front of the other?
Or some built-in step ladders that unfurled the minute the shelves were opened?
With the hefty down-payment she had to put down for her apartment, you would think that the money would have afforded some form of consideration for people who are vertically challenged like her.
She scowled. This situation would have never happened to her if she had been living alone. But since Ichigo moved in the bastard seemed to take immense satisfaction in watching her struggle- be it placing things on impossibly high shelves or making stupid out-of-the-blue confessions that leave her feeling more confused and conflicted than she should, he wanted to see her suffer and fate did not seem to find it fit to intervene so in short, she was doomed.
The Kuchiki heiress angrily brushed the hair away from her face as she tried her luck at reaching the jar yet again. Balancing herself on tiptoes and stretching her body as far as she could she gave a little 'whoop!' of victory as her straining fingers tapped against the base of the glass jar.
Just before she could wrap her hand fully around the jar though, he stepped in.
Her body stiffened and froze in mid-stretch. She hadn't even heard him coming. Easily towering her, his shadow loomed over her and she became embarrassingly aware of her body's innate reaction to his presence as he moved in to occupy the previously empty space behind her.
The air around her was an intoxicating musk of him and her floral-scented laundry detergent and the longer she was exposed to the heady concoction the more potent its effects became.
Her face felt hot and her skin tingled. Her out-stretched arm and extended calf muscles stayed in that position for what seemed like an eternity- simply too nervous to move, afraid that even the mere exhale of breath would upset the balance between them.
She heard nothing but the sound of her own thundering heartbeat- the organ was pounding away like the wings of a hummingbird on steroids, second only perhaps to the roar of wild elephants stampeding in her stomach.
Ba-thump!
Ba-thump!
Ba-thump!
XXX
Anticipation, excitement and trepidation coursed through her veins, fueling her already tightly-wound clockwork body, gathering momentum and building up pressure until she felt as though she was in danger of bursting from the sheer intensity of nervous energy.
With simple ease afforded by the height advantage, her tormentor set the honey jar wordlessly on the kitchen top for her. Seconds passed and she forced herself to look past his presence and focus on the jar of honey instead.
Slowly, she exhaled- deeply and shakily and for a second she could almost breathe. Like a release switch had somehow flipped on somewhere inside of her- she relaxed, settling the balls of her feet firmly on the flat ground with her arm falling limply to her side.
The world was mercifully quiet again as she rested her head against the lowest kitchen rack, feeling like she had been running a marathon with dead-weights strapped to her ankles. She was reacting too strongly to him.
It wouldn't do.
Rukia threw herself back into the game with the single-minded objectiveness of winning it. Even as she felt the weight of his stare on the back of her head, her mind was sound and better yet, her mind was made.
Whatever Ichigo- her former best friend/ex-nakama had in mind, be it the Smolder™ or that stupid kabedon-shit he pulled that night- she wasn't going to fall for the same trick tw-
OH merciful mother of GOD!
XXX
He leaned in, completely pressing himself to her back. Her eyes widened- she felt everything, from the toned pectorals on his muscular chest to the scratchy texture of his worn pajamas as they rubbed against her bare legs.
She gulped. It was enough to make a weaker woman moan. Up close he was the delicious temptation of a lazy Sunday morning sleep-in on a working Monday morning, his warmth radiated like the first glow of daylight on her face as it filtered through her bedroom window and he smelt like her very much slept-in comforter; it was all sorts of warmth and fuzziness and all she wanted to do was to dive back under the covers and snuggle.
With her face burning from the mixture of anger and embarrassment, Rukia had half-turned to face him- hell-bent on giving him a piece of her mind on how he was being a pervert of the worst degree by pulling those moves on her.
Like honestly who the hell did he think he is? Was she going to fawn over him just because he's good-looking and smelled like home and all kinds of delicious to her?
She regretted her decision the instant her eyes connected with his. His sleepy half-lidded stare was hungry, piercing, a colour shifting between liquid gold and melted chocolate and every shade of temptation in between, and how it made her heart race. She really was tempted to just go back to bed and cuddle with him- never mind the fact that she was a working adult and this was a work day morning and really she had responsibilities!
Her mouth went incredibly dry as he wrapped his arms around her, encircling her waist before boxing her in against the kitchen counter top. She swallowed thickly as he nuzzled his face in the crook of her neck. She leaned back against him, her body responding to his touches when her fervent mind wanted nothing to do with him at all.
She clenched her clammy palms tight as she forcibly forced herself to keep her breath steady. His warm exhales of breath tickled her already flushed skin as he dipped his head low and purred into her reddening ears.
"Good morning, Rukia."
Had she been in a different position at that very moment in time, perhaps the Kuchiki authoress would have been amused by his behaviour- likening it to being greeted by a giant humanoid goofy house cat that just woke up and was demanding to be fed. Head boops and heavy purring are by far his favourite means of seeking attention and the thought of Ichigo with cat ears almost made her giggle.
Of course, this house cat had a very different idea of food in mind and his wants from his 'owner' are perhaps a great deal more complicated than a normal feline's.
A hand grasped the ends of her baggy T-shirt, tugging it low and her breath caught. A shudder ran through her system, kicking her jaunty little machine on steroids into overdrive while she valiantly tried to suppress her body's reaction to him. Her ribcage was ill-equipped to deal with the heavy battering involved and every agonizing second that followed was a test to see if mere bones would hold against the onslaught of her emotions.
"Your shirt was riding up," he told her.
Barely awake, he had walked into the kitchen that morning for breakfast to be greeted by a different sort of treat. He saw the woman haunting his dreams bouncing up and down and his well-intentioned greeting immediately went flying out of the window. His eyes had latched on to the sight of her ass- round, perky and just peachy fine- as they bounced in time to her little jumps and simply refused to look away.
He hungrily followed the lines of the soft curve of her butt, clad in simple cotton shorts and it was exactly the sort of delicious forbidden fruit he was dying to sink his teeth in. And when she wasn't jumping, the little minx was stretching.
The glimpse of naked skin on the small of her back as she leaned and stretched on her tiptoes was a sight he had not expected to see when he woke up that morning but far be it from him to complain. As she tried in vain to stretch more the T-shirt inevitably rose, showing more skin. He was content to simply observe but the minute he caught the hint of purple lace peeking from her shorts though, he was pushed to action.
He chuckled. To think this was all just to reach that pesky little jar of honey. If he didn't know any better, he would have thought she was doing it on purpose- just trying to make him lose his control on the fragile hold he had over his libido and almost crushing need to touch her in some way, shape or form.
"S-So?" she challenged him, "me showing a little naked skin to you is hardly anything new. It's not like I intentionally stripped naked in front of you."
He chuckled. The throaty laughter rumbling from his chest made her pulse quicken and liquid heat pooled between her legs as his warm body remained plastered to her. She could feel something poking at her back and her face blushed from the not-so-innocent implications.
"You sure that's what you want to do- give a man who just confessed to being in love with you suggestions of you stripping naked in front of him?"
She growled as the frayed ends of her nerves twitched from the sensory overload, "You know that's not what I meant. You're twisting my words."
"Maybe you should be more aware of yourself," he suggested, pressing butterfly kisses along the column of herthroat. His sensitive ears had caught the light gasp from her and every fibre of his manly pride was singing.
"I am that man who just confessed to being in love with you, you know."
Annoyed, she huffed, "should I start covering myself from head to toe now, Mr. I-can't-stand-the-sight-of-naked-skin? Maybe I should just start dressing myself in grandma dresses."
He stopped trailing his kisses and for a second, she thought he was seriously considering the idea and she was just itching to give a thorough bout of tongue-lashing –no, not that sort of 'tongue-lashing' you perverts – if he even dared to entertain stupid archaic notions of her covering herself up just because he couldn't control himself around her.
"You could if you want to but I think it would just make me want all the more to tear them off."
"Ichigo!"
Colours rose to her cheek and she was beyond outraged but the man had simply laughed and sneakily placed a chaste kiss on her lips before she could react.
"Have a lovely day at work!" he told her before he disappeared into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him with a loud bang before she could react to the sneak attack and reprimand him.
Left alone, she could only scowl viciously at the jar of honey sitting at the kitchen top. She had forgotten why she wanted to get it in the first place. A quick glance on her wrist watch had her cursing and making a mad dash for the closet.
Traffic was insane and she needed to leave the house now if she wanted to be on time for work. Before that though- she was in desperate need for some clothes other than her baggy sleepwear.
Angrily rushing out, once again almost forgetting her phone in her haste, she thought to herself that it was all stupid Ichigo's fault!
Him and his stupid stare and stupid dare and stupid everything!
She was just so frustrated and he's just a complete and utter idiot! And why was she still thinking about him- she was going to be late damn it!
XXX
She wasn't herself today.
Her outfit of the day was less than inspired and her normally immaculate work blouse had a crease on the sides. She felt like a sham- the way she had answered Yoruichi's questions and responded to her team during the group meeting.
"Ano, Rukia? You might want to let go of your 'p'," a feminine voice rang out and knocked her out of her daydream and sure enough there were at least three rows of 'p' dotted across the entire of her page. She cursed; hitting 'backspace' with such ferocity that even her mild-mannered colleague seemed taken aback.
She grimaced.
Trying desperately to salvage the awkward situation and what remained of her tender pride, she cleared her throat. Momo was her colleague at work and it certainly wouldn't help in her workplace if her co-worker found her spacing out when she should be working.
The other woman merely smiled and said, "Yoruichi left 20 minutes ago. We're the last two people left in the office. Do you have a lot of work left because I'm almost done but I'll stay a little while longer while you finish up so we can go together unless you've got other plans?"
Inwardly Rukia was calling herself a million kinds of fool because honestly- how could she not notice the time? Speaking of which- her stomach was growling.
Mentally face-palming herself, she thanked the kind woman and gladly took her up on her offer. The car park was hardly the safest place at night and Momo was such a kind soul for even offering. Now that she's officially removing Ichigo Kurosaki from her BFF list, Momo was definitely new best friend material.
For starters she's a woman and she had a steady boyfriend- so there was absolutely zero chance of any romantic interlude getting in the way of this relationship. And also Momo liked cute bunnies and happen to find her drawings nice- Ha! Take that Ichigo!- so they definitely have things in common.
By the time the pair made their way to the lobby of the building, they were deeply engrossed in the discussion of Monet water-lilies and Degas ballerinas. Momo was an Art History graduate and wonderfully knowledgeable about French Impressionism and even spoke the language fluently.
Rukia was just about to share her love for Renoir paintings when she spotted the tall familiar figure of her former best friend. At first she thought she was mistaken, simply too exhausted and really she shouldn't be surprised, that man had been plaguing her thoughts the whole morning with how boorish his behaviour was- but as she got closer, she would recognize that mop of orange hair from anywhere and of course when she saw his face, that's when she knew she really wasn't hallucinating.
Ichigo Kurosaki was waiting for her in the lobby of her office building!
XXX
"Ichigo!" she shouted, surprised to see the injured man out-and-about with his arm in a cast and lounging in one of the many armchairs dotting the building's lobby. She rushed to him, curiosity burning a hole through her soul as to what he was doing here. Questions began tumbling out of her mouth before she even got to him.
"What are you doing here? How did you get here? Where's the security guard?"
A smile rose to his lips as he saw the way she was fretting over him, inspecting him from side to side to make sure he wasn't hurt and insisting he turn around just to make sure. Brushing off her concerns, he shrugged and told her, "I took a taxi. Mr. Khan let me in once he recognized me as the brave doctor from the news."
She frowned. She was going to have words with the man first thing in the morning. Really the portly man was simply too trusting. He can't let a stranger into the building just because he was featured in the news for crying out loud!
"Yes but what are you doing here?"
"Oh," Ichigo's expression turned thoughtful, "We need to do some grocery shopping- we're completely out of milk and eggs. I want to go with you to make sure we got everything we wanted."
"Rukia?"
Oh how could she forget about Momo. The petite woman was looking at her friend quizzically and Rukia could almost hear the wordless request for an introduction, so she dealt them out as simple and as cordially as possible.
She gestured to the man dressed in a hoody and jeans- looking for all intents and purposes as far removed from the image of a professional doctor as possible.
"Momo, this is Dr. Ichigo Kurosaki. Don't let his appearance fool you- he really is a doctor. My former best friend who also happens to be the brave doctor Seattle News had so graciously decided to feature as their headline a few weeks ago."
"Ichigo, this lovely lady is Momo Hinamori- my colleague and we were just going to the car park before you showed up."
The two shook hands and exchanged pleasantries as expected and in hindsight she shouldn't have been surprised when the other woman asked her.
"Is Dr. Kurosaki your boyfriend?"
Rukia choked on her spit and spectacularly overreacted.
"NO! NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS! LIKE HELL HE IS!"
The vehement way she had denying it made the poor girl jump but with her aggressive stance, Rukia honestly thought she had the other woman convinced and that was crisis averted.
Of course, then the unhelpful oaf had the gall to say, "Yeah, we just live together."
"Oh!"
Rukia face-palmed and glared at him.
"Temporarily! He's only living with me temporarily," Rukia added hastily. But alas, the damage was already done.
At the end of the day all the troubles in her life have a habit of developing from that idiot and his stupid mouth- it's the careless things he said that really make her life hell. Judging by the way Momo's eyes kept darting between the two of them and her thoughtful expression that she might have accidentally discovered something no one else was supposed to know about, Rukia was pretty sure the woman had misunderstood their relationship.
She was now Rukia with the hot live-in doctor boyfriend in Momo's eyes. By morning, the whole office would know.
XXX
The three made their way to the car park in silence. After making sure that Momo got into her car safely, the pair waved goodbye and once the woman was out of sight, Rukia's smile quickly fell and she practically stomped her way into her car.
She slammed her car door shut and once he was seated in and safely buckled, drove off. Inside the car, she was livid and she didn't bother to hide it from him.
"You shouldn't have come here," she hissed, "And why did you tell Momo that we're living together?"
She was beyond embarrassed and he had no business saying things like that to her co-workers.
Ichigo shrugged.
"Because we are?" he suggested sarcastically and Rukia gripped her steering wheel hard- half imaging it was his neck she was gripping at. That man did make her feel murderous at times!
Scowling she told him, "People might get ideas."
"Oh yes the horrors!" he deadpanned, "Rukia Kuchiki lives together with her boyfriend- how scandalous! Someone call Nii-sama." He rolled his eyes.
"Wake up, Rukia- it's the 21st century! No one, well apart from your stick-in-the-mud brother, is going to bat an eye if they hear you're living together with a guy who they all think is your boyfriend!"
Her grip on the wheel tightened. "But that's just it! Ichigo, you're not my boyfriend!"
"Well in that case, you might want to hurry up and confess that you like me too or maybe make-out with me right now, whichever one is fine so take your pick, just to make it official," he teased, "that way everyone will think it's perfectly normal."
She growled.
"You're just impossible to deal with sometimes you know that?"
The doctor merely raised an eyebrow and drawled, "well hello pot."
Rukia snorted and decided that she wasn't even going to humour him with a reply- it would only encourage him. She stepped on the accelerator in response.
Seconds turned into minutes inside the car as the two drove down the Seattle downtown in tense silence. Ichigo inevitably broke the silence when he sighed.
"You weren't back by dinner time. I got worried."
His admission was whispered so quietly that she almost missed it but the fact that he got worried and came looking for her because of that stunned her. It was hard for her heart not to melt a little at that and upon reflection, she didn't exactly handle the situation well either.
If he was man enough to break the silence then the very least thing she could do was to be a decent human being and apologize.
"I'm sorry I yelled at you earlier," she said, no longer aggressively stepping on the pedals, she was much calmer and sincere as she spoke, "I overreacted when I saw you at the lobby. I'm still processing things. You and the confessionand that stupid bet! And then what happened this morning. Then Momo was there and I-I-I," she gulped, "I panicked."
There! She admitted it!
Rukia Kuchiki- Ice Princess Extraordinaire, panicked- lost her cool because of him.
She gulped nervously before continuing, "You make me feel things, Ichigo. But I don't know what these things are and I don't even think that I should feel them. You confuse me and you shouldn't because you're my nakama and I know you. I just," she paused, biting her lips, "No matter what happens at the end of the day- you're still going to be my friend right?"
His silence made her nervous and she counted the seconds that passed by until he finally answered yes.
She had smiled at him. It was the answer she had wanted to hear but the words were hollow to him. It was humbling to hear her honest response of what she felt for him because that sort of honesty was what made them well- them. They told each other everything and their nakama-hood was built on that trust that they are each other's person and they would never lie but this time, he didn't want to be her nakama.
He clenched his jaw. She didn't seem to understand that.
He wanted to be the man in her heart and the man of her dreams- the man she woke up to in the morning and crawled into bed with at night, the man she did all sorts of domestic chores with like grocery shopping and taking out the trash and more than the man who made her breakfast, he wanted to be the man who is the reason they're having breakfast in bed and then some.
The fact that she felt those feelings but was still trying to deny them, it hurt.
He wanted to confront her- to call her out on her bullshit because they both know perfectly well what it is that she felt for him. She just wouldn't admit it because she's scared! If she would only look past her own insecurities and her own stubbornness, she'd see them for what they truly are; she would come to see what had been there all along.
That they were meant to be, even if it was messy and troublesome and sometimes downright frustrating- they're the better halves of each other.
"I made a new friend at work today. Momo's very nice and she knows a lot about Art and she really likes my bunny drawings!"
Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw him smiling and then she felt the weight of his large hand patting her on her head gently. She normally hated it when he ruffled her hair in any way but she'll let this one slide.
"Well done!" he told her fondly, "I'm really proud of you. I know how you don't always find it easy to make friends so I'm glad to hear that."
She beamed. It's moments like these that she really couldn't ask for a better nakama than him. For all his borderline-caveman and rude behaviour, the idiot really did have her best intentions in mind and he knows her- knew all about her soft spots, the things that make her who she is, the causes she hold dear and champion, the lines she draw at, and the things that make her smile, knew about her struggles and how far she had come from the isolated Kuchiki heiress she was all those years ago.
They've seen each other through a lot over the past years- at their caffeinated, cram-study-sessions' worst and their graduation ceremony highs; seen themselves at the nervous pre-job-interview jitters and also the celebratory parties that come after each job offer and promotion.
Ichigo was there to help when she moved into her new apartment and she had been the one to organize his house-warming party when he moved into his. She was the designated packing supervisor when it came to moving house and he was the one who told her to keep her money and practically volunteered to do the wall-painting for her.
Really the only momentous occasion left for them to witness now would be them at their respective wedding days.
Rukia sneaked a glance at her passenger. Ichigo was a good man- sure he was brash and downright childish sometimes but he was also kind, brave, smart and selfless. Despite his rough and somewhat callous approach to others, he cared enough to step in when someone threatened a pregnant woman. Of course he was also tall, objectively good-looking and a doctor- practically marriage-material to girls of any social class at this time and age. He would make a good husband and he deserves a good, simple woman who would make him happy and Rukia wasn't sure –
"You just missed the turn to Walmart!"
His outburst nearly had her hitting the brakes and this earned her a very loud and angry honk from the drivers behind her. She glared at the man.
"What did we say about shotgun driving?"
He grumbled under his breath about midgets and their horrible, less-than-dependable driving skills and she pinched him.
"OW!" the big baby had yowled in pain, "what was that for, you abusive woman!"
She merely rolled her eyes at him and said, "I'm hungry. Let's go to Uwajimaya. I have a craving for Korean BBQ."
"You want to go to Shilla now?" he asked incredulously and when she nodded yes, said "Rukia, I want Mongolian hot pot!"
She squinted at the man. "You didn't even want food in the first place! You wanted to go to Walmart."
The man folded his arms defensively, "well that was until you offered!"
Rukia rolled her eyes, "Well I thought you already had dinner! Better watch it or you'll really start expanding horizontally, Ichigo. And eating such a full dinner at this time," she tutted disapprovingly, "you should know better, doc."
As if on cue his stomach started growling and the fool didn't even have the decency to look embarrassed and instead whined, "See!"
"Fine!"
Begrudgingly, she agreed to his request. His smug expression was practically grating on her nerves but she bore the irritation by reminding herself that he was injured and she was the bigger person.
Reaching over, he turned on the car radio and funnily enough Rukia had it tuned to a K-pop station so the song that popped out was IU's Friday. As the chords started playing, the woman turned and told him, "I like this song."
Ichigo smiled softly and told her to keep her eyes on the road which of course prompted them to banter about driving with the radio on. He teased her about listening to songs she didn't even know the meaning of the lyrics to and she had playfully stuck her tongue at him and called him a snob for judging her taste in music.
"And while we're on the subject of my health, I should warn you that the only women allowed to lecture me about it are my SO, my mother and my sisters in that order," he smirked, "And since the last two are already permanently filled, I don't suppose I could interest you in taking up the only position left?"
She scoffed good-naturedly at his cheeky suggestion and told him to dream on before turning her attention back to the road.
While she wasn't watching, he looked at her. He liked the way her slightly upturned nose wrinkled and the disapproving shake of her head as she observed some of the road users, silently judging them. Her elfin features were sharp and delicate; more so under the street lights and her curious habit of tapping her fingers against the wheel while waiting for the lights to turn green made him smile.
Every moment spent with her was another reason to fall deeper in love. Be it this playful banter about her odd music taste, where to eat or the sight of her barely clothed ass this morning, he wouldn't have it any other way.
2.5 month makes up roughly 11 weeks, which equates to 1825 hours. The night was still young and he was going to make every second of those hours count.
Eventually she would say yes.
He wouldn't know what to do with himself if she didn't.
Hese's corner:
Edited.
Happy birthday Ichigo! Just to make it official- I am a feminist and this fic officially passes the Bechdel test although just barely. XD
I support female solidarity and girls, this means accompanying each other and keeping an eye out for each other when it comes to going home, especially in dark and practically deserted places like car parks. There is strength in numbers and it pays to be vigilant.
Also I have never been to Seattle so all the stuff you see here is based on stuff scoured from Google and the Internet. I would love to get in touch with a native Seattle resident and tell me if there's anything that I can add to the story that would make the setting all the more real and grounded.
And a pretty obvious shout-out to IU but that song is seriously cute and no, I don't speak Korean so I don't really know what it's about but I think the tempo really suited this scene in my head.
PS. Ichigo doesn't really care about grocery shopping or Walmart. He just wants to spend time with her. ;)
Enjoy!