Rukia looked up from her paperwork to check on her Captain if he's doing his work only to find him staring at the door with a scowl attached to his face. At first, it irritated Rukia to find her beloved Captain not being efficient in the office but as days passed by, it started to worry her due to the new found knowledge of the resurgence of Ichigo's inner hollow. It reminded her of the conversation she had with him the day prior.

-Flashback -

"Ne.. Captain.." Rukia called out.

No response.

"Ne… Captain…?" she called out with a slightly raised tone.

No response.

"ICHIGO !" She yelled out while shaking his shoulder roughly. This seemed to snap him out of his daze.

"H-huh ?! What? Did you need something, Rukes?" Ichigo asked, still recovering from his daze.

"You were daydreaming again." Rukia replied with a worried tone. "Are you sure you are ok? Is IT bothering you or something? Maybe we should talk to the Capt- KYA~!" Rukia's speech was interrupted by Ichigo's sudden action. Ichigo casually pulled her from where she stood and effortlessly placed her on his lap.

"You were saying?" Ichigo cooed.

"B-Baka ! What do you think you a-are doing ! This is unbecoming for a kuchiki such as m-myself!" Exclaimed rukia while wearing a mask of red.

"But, there's no one around, Rukes" Replied Ichigo while placing his chin on the crook of her neck and sighed blissfully. "And it's my barrack. I can do whatever I want."

Rukia slowly eased into her captain's embrace and released a sigh of content of her own. It took Rukia a while to get used to the impulsive behavior of her Captain with the sudden kisses and embraces. She's still not completely used to it but knowing how much of a mark Ichigo is for Romantic poetry, she could accept these traits as normal for Ichigo's standards even if he doesn't look like the romantic or physical type. "But Ichi, you didn't answer my question."

"Hmm? Oh.. Nah … HE's not being a nuisance or anything. I'm just tired, I guess." Ichigo answered. But Rukia could see it in his eyes that he is not telling her the whole truth but decided not to press on. They just stayed in that position for the rest of the day.

-Flashback ends-

Rukia sighs for the millionth time and thought to herself 'Maybe I should let the captain commander know about this. Knowing that strawberry, he'll never willingly ask for help and will try to shoulder all the burden on himself.'

Accepting this is the best possible solution for her dilemma, she quickly organized her paperwork and headed out to the Captain Commander's barracks.

Once she reached the barracks front door, she took a deep breath and tried to talk herself into believing this is the only plausible solution present to her at the moment and was about to knock on the barrack door when the door opened from the other end, and emerging from the barracks was none other than the Captain Commander himself, with an angry Lieutenant trailing behind him.

"Nanao-chan, I swear I'm only going to go for a light walk and get some exercise i-Oh ! Lieutenant Rukia ! What brings you to the the 1st ? " Shunsui asked as he scanned Rukia's facial expression behind his Sugegasa straw hat.

"A-Ano …" Rukia mentally slapped herself for stuttering in front of her commanding officer and straightened her posture and tried again.

"Kyoraku Soutaichou ! I wish to have an audience with you in regards to my captain's recent activities"

Rukia looked up to see the Soutaichou glancing down at her with mild interest but she couldn't help but to feel as if the Soutaichou was silently evaluating her statement.

"Ah ! about our hero eh? Well it's a good day to go for a walk, don't you think so, Lieutenant Rukia ? Come, lets walk while we discuss about your concerns" The Commanding officer of Gotei 13 replied lazily as he started to lead the way, silently asking Rukia to follow.


Sorry for the late update, you guys !
But my work doesn't allow me to write that often but I'll try my best to continue this series. But if anyone wants to adopt this series are welcome to PM me.