A/N: Next chapter. Named after "Speechless," by The Veronicas. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: No.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Chapter 17: Speechless

"I'm tired of always being saved by you. Why can't I save you from monsters now?" Ichigo's ten year old self complained with his arms crossed in a pouting way.

"Oh stop trying to be a hero!" Rukia said beginning to swing her invisible sword around.

"Rukia! Come on! I can save you just as good!"

"Just as well. Geesh Ichigo, learn your language," she said as she continued to make swooshing sounds when she swung her sword.

"Ruki-" he began but was interrupted.

"Alright, alright," she said walking over to him. She pulled a small keychain out of her pocket and held it high above her head. She lowered her voice to sound as if she was godly. "I now give Ichigo Kurosaki the power to fight!" she said and then brought the keychain down into his hands.

He smiled at it and looked up at his best friend. "Don't worry, Rukia! I'll save you!" he said as he picked up his petite friend and threw her over his shoulder.

"Ichigo! Let me down!" she yelled as he continued to run around with one arm holding onto her and the other swinging his sword.

"Ichigo!"

"Ichigo!" her voice blended with another's.

Ichigo's left eye began to open as a familiar face spoke to him again. "Rise and shine birthday boy," the man said.

"I can't believe you're another year older. Wow, I feel old."

"Oh shut up. You're only like four years older than me. You shouldn't be feeling that way when I'm turning twenty-three," Ichigo said with irritation as he flopped down into a chair of the kitchen table's. Kaien was standing up at his brother's island as he made a check list for what was needed.

Kaien pretended to give him a heartfelt look, "Ah, little brother, but seems like I've been the one to raise you during all these years."

Ichigo rolled his eyes and began to rub his hand through his hair. "Wouldn't be surprised seeing how crazy dad is," he ended with a yawn. He had just been woken up by the man standing in front of him jumping up and down on his bed singing happy birthday.

Kaien laughed in response. Ichigo took this moment to complain. "I really don't see the need in having party. I doubt if people are going to be able to come since you only started planning this, what? An hour or two ago?"

The darker haired man didn't look up from his sheet of paper and pen. "That's not exactly true," he said in a suspicious way.

Ichigo raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

The older Kurosaki let out a nervous laugh. "I kinda, well, had this planned for a month."

The younger Kurosaki's eyes opened wide, despite his sleepy attitude. His palms hit the table as he pushed himself out of his seat. "A month?!"

Kaien just smirked and made a check next to 'call family.' "Oh don't give yourself an aneurysm. It'll be good for you. You should be thankful it's not a surprise party. You'd have really lost it," he ended with a chuckle.

"No, you already used up your little surprise with your greeting this morning," Ichigo said through gritted teeth as he slowly sat back down. His arms were now crossed over his chest and it looked like he was almost pouting.

Kaien finally looked up at his brother. "Yeah, but you can imagine my surprise when I saw that shiner on your face. You still haven't explained that one. What kind of gang bang did you get yourself into?"

Ichigo raised his left hand to feel the wound on his left cheek bone. It was definitely black and blue with an obvious healing cut in the center of it. It stretched from the edge of his cheek bone, closest to his nose, all the way to the outside corner of his eye. He flinched at the contact his fingers made with it. "Damn it," he hissed. "It still hurts like a bitch."

"I'd think so," Kaien added. "When did you get that?"

Ichigo sighed and let his hand drop from his face he closed his eyes as he leaned back in the chair. "The night of the fundraiser."

Kaien raised an eyebrow and leaned on the island. "You've got my attention. What happened?" he said with a curious smile and glowing dark blue eyes.

Ichigo looked at him and frowned at how eager he was to learn the story. "Is there anyway you'd believe I fell down some stairs?"

Kaien grinned, "Nope."

"How about hit by a car?"

"Nope."

"Playing football?"

"Nope."

"An angry fan forced me to do things with her?"

"Unlikely."

"I head-banged against a table by accident?"

"Come on, Ichigo-" Kaien began to complain, but was interrupted by another possibility.

"I got punched in the face because someone is jealous?"

Kaien eyed his brother curiously. "Who could you possibly make jeal-" he began before his eyes went wide and his mouth opened in understanding. He pointed his finger at the orange headed man. "Shuuhei punched you in the face because he knows you're in love with Rukia!"

Ichigo exhaled at the memory and then looked at his brother in shock. "What the hell?! I'm not in-"

"Oh cram it. You can fool everyone else but you can't fool me. You totally sang to her that night," he said as if it was obvious.

Ichigo opened his mouth to deny it, but what was the use? He let his body relax. "Can I really fool everyone else?"

Kaien chuckled, "Well, I don't think they think you're head over heels. They do catch ya starin' at her at times, which is what Renji's told me. That gets 'em suspicious. But Rukia," he paused. "Yeah, I don't think she has a clue. So you're golden," he said with a thumbs up.

Ichigo threw a hand over his face and dragged it down dramatically slow as he groaned. "I've been trying to not feel this way towards her."

Kaien frowned, "Why? This is great! You two always get each other. It's perfect."

Ichigo shook his head. "No, its not. We have a past. It's complicated."

Kaien waved a hand in the air, "Who cares! Hasn't anyone told you stop livin' in the past?"

Ichigo gave a disgusted chuckle. "Yeah, that's exactly why I'm trying to stop."

The elder of the two looked at his brother with serious eyes. "You're taking it the wrong way." He continued to stare back at him. "Forget what happened before. Forget all the trouble it caused you. Focus on what's going on now. Focus on how you feel now." He titled his head curiously to the side, "Now tell me," he began. "How do you feel about her?"

Ichigo looked down to his lap. "I- I don't know if I could take away our past. It's too hard-" he could barely finish the sentence.

"Concentrate!" Kaien yelled eagerly rather than angrily. "You had feelings for her back when you first ran into her at the award show after party. But then things happened and you went two separate ways. You even dated Senna for months. You had feelings for another woman besides Rukia. Then you ran into her again. What happened? Did you find you had feelings for the old Rukia or just… Rukia?"

Ichigo furrowed his eyebrows as he thought about the question. His gaze stayed at his lap. He did have feelings for Senna. Could he have been in a relationship that long without feeling strongly about her? No. His feelings toward Rukia faded and he moved on. He moved on. It felt so strange for him to think those very words, but he did and he knew they were true. He thought about seeing her at his photo shoot months after their last meeting. He thought about how drunk she had gotten and how he had to carry her home. He began to smile at the memory. Then, he thought of the magazine cover they had starred on.

'The Most Beautiful And Electrifying Couple Who Refuse It To Be True' a caption that he laughed at when he first read it. Now, he found it hard to deny its truthfulness; at least for his part.

He then began to think it through again. He thought about that day at the photo shoot again. His mind flashed to holding her in his arms as he caught her from falling. He remembered her surprised violet eyes staring up into his amber as her hands rested against his chest in an effort to steady herself. The feeling of her icy touch burned through his shirt, through his chest and into his heart. He then smirked as he found it ironic how he had caught her from falling and instead of her catching him. He slowly turned to look at his brother with a light smile on his lips.

"I've fallen in love with her all over again."

Kaien smiled warmly at him and gave a single nod. "So at least you know you're not living in the past."

Ichigo rubbed the back of his neck in stress. "Yeah, but what does that tell me?"

Kaien smirked, "That that girl will always have some power over you. And you can't do anything about it."

Ichigo let his head fall and his forehead hit the table. "Ow," he said effortlessly feeling the pain of the impact somehow affect his cheek wound. He added to his brother's statement. "Don't ever let her hear those words. She'll go wild with power," he joked, yet was surprisingly serious.

Kaien laughed, "So," he began with his chin resting on his open palm. "Shuuhei got that angry about a feeling he got? Sounds so unlike him."

Ichigo groaned. "I may or may not have provoked him."

Kaien raised an eyebrow. "Why the hell would you do that?"

The younger brother sighed and picked his head off the table to look at Kaien. "I was hoping to get some anger out by starting a fight with him."

"What were you so damn angry about?"

Ichigo broke eye contact and looked to the side at nothing in particular. "I told Rukia I missed Senna."

Kaien gave him an incredulous look. "Are you a complete idiot?!"

"I know," Ichigo said regrettably.

"Why would you do that?!"

"Because she clearly doesn't feel the same way about me. She's in a good relationship with Shuuhei. I was upset about it and she wanted to know what was wrong with me. I couldn't tell her the truth. It would have made things awkward and Shuuhei was on his way over by the time I had to answer," he explained. "So I said I missed Senna." He sighed, "She seemed to take it pretty fine too. Kinda stung."

Kaien shook his head at the whole situation. "Rukia is either really oblivious or better at being an actor than Uryuu, Renji or Momo are," he said to himself more than to Ichigo. He directed his words to Ichigo next. "Do you understand where that leaves you right now? She thinks you still care about Senna."

"I know," Ichigo agreed sadly.

Kaien shook his head and huffed. "How did Shuuhei come into the picture?"

"He came into my dressing room to say that he sees I care about her and that it's fine, unless I act on it. Plus, the media has been getting to him. Ya know, all the rumors and such."

"Okay. So how did that lead to him punching you?"

"I told him the truth; that she only comes to me when she needs help and that I'm the only on she'll ever care about so strongly."

Kaien raised both of his eyebrows with surprise. "He got angry over that? I figured it would be more offensive whatever it was that made him get violent."

Ichigo gave a nervous chuckle and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, I kinda said I was the one making her happy behind his back and well… yeah. The suggestion was made."

"Oh. Yeah, you deserved that," Kaien said truthfully and casually. "So how much damage did you do to him?"

"None."

Kaien looked at him in disappointment. "Come on. Are you serious? I thought you knew how to fight? Didn't you kick some kid's ass in high school? I figured you'd be able to get a broken nose out of him, not go home the loser."

"No, you don't get it," Ichigo began to explain. "I didn't fight back." He saw his brother's face show shock, so he explained. "I hated myself for stooping so low and forcing him to hit me. He didn't deserve to get a hurt. He didn't do anything wrong. He was just telling me to back off because he cares about his girlfriend. I had my own issues that made me want to fight him. I totally deserve this," he ended pointing towards his cheek.

"Jesus Christ, man," Kaien began. "You're a mess."

"Thanks," Ichigo replied softly, but his sarcasm still evident.

"But we're still having this party tonight," he said with perkiness.

"Come on, man. I haven't seen anyone in two days. You were the first to see this wound of shame on my face!"

"Well you're gonna have to come up with a good story then, huh?" he replied with a smirk.

"You seriously suck."

"Live with it."

"Why do you care about me having a party so much?" Ichigo complained again.

"Don't you want to have a party as good as mine are?" Kaien asked going back to his check list.

"I could care less."

"Well I want to go to an awesome party so your birthday is a great excuse to throw one," he explained finally.

"Love your underlying reason," Ichigo said sarcastically. "Need an excuse to get drunk and laid."

"We all have our own reasoning. Mine just happens to please everyone in the process," he said with a satisfied grin.

"Except the one you're supposedly doing it for," Ichigo said in a monotone.

"Kiss my ass. You'll enjoy it and you know it. Besides, Rukia is gonna be there," he said wiggling his eyebrows.

Ichigo gave him an incredulous look. "How is that a good thing?!"

"Tell her you love her and make babies already."

"Okay, seriously, fuck you."

Kaien laughed. "You'll be fine. Shuuhei's probably too afraid to tell her anything."

"Whatever. Do what you have to with my house. Call me when people start showing up," he said getting up out of the chair and heading to his room.

She was a little late, but it was better than not at all. How could she miss her best friend's birthday? The part she was still shocked about was how desperate Shuuhei was to keep her home tonight. She brought up going to Ichigo's party the previous day and he completely shot it down. She was completely stunned to see him so passionate about not attending. When she asked him why, he told her that he had plans for the two of them to go out and have a night all to themselves.

Now that the night came, she found that these plans that Shuuhei said he had planned a long time ago were not going to happen and that his night for the two of them was turning into a night on the couch watching whatever was on TV.

Rukia pretended to get a call from her editor and that they were in desperate need of help with the latest chapter she gave them. She told Shuuhei it wouldn't take long and then left. She didn't want him to think she was ditching him for something not important; well, not important to him anyway. Thank god she didn't call earlier and say she couldn't come.

When she arrived, she was definitely aware that Kaien threw it. There was a mountain of presents that she knew Ichigo would not be eager to open at all. Someone would have to basically urge him to open them. She then heard the amazing sound system blaring through the house. Also, the amount of people was enough to explain Ichigo had no hand in the creation of this celebration. He would have never taken time to contact all of them in some way or another just to celebrate something he could care less about.

People were everywhere. There were at least two hundred people present. The possibility of finding the man everyone was there for was growing slim as she realized he would be off hiding somewhere. She walked in deeper wearing a light blue summer dress, which flowed easily and went down right below her knees.

She smiled and greeted acquaintances that she passed by before finding a more familiar face. "Kaien!" she yelled his name through the music.

He turned and raised his cup of beer to her as a greeting, "Rukia! Glad you finally made it!"

"Yeah. Sorry I'm late. Looks like a great party," she said holding her matching blue purse to her side.

"Even better now that you're here," he said with a smirk. Rukia rolled her eyes and smiled.

"Do you know where I could find-" she began to ask but was interrupted.

"Oh, Kaien," a woman said seductively as she placed her hand on his elbow. He turned and looked at her before grinning. "Sorry, Rukia. Could you excuse me?"

Rukia raised an eyebrow and tried to hold back a chuckle. "Sure." She watched him walk away with the woman next to him and tried not to think about what they intended to do.

She looked around the room again and her eye caught red hair. She made her towards the brute and found him pushing someone against a wall and completely making out with them. His hand was on the verge of going up her shirt; that's how bad it was. Rukia began to turn away in disgust from the display before her eyes focused more on the woman. She began to smile at the realization. Renji was making out with Tatsuki. She chuckled and turned around. She didn't want to interrupt them.

Her search continued. Finally, she found the living room where she saw Orihime sitting next to Uryuu on the couch. She began to walk up to the two who were staring at each other intently, but then stopped. They kissed once and then hesitated before continuing. Before Rukia knew it they were also making out. Not as ruthlessly as the last two, but making out nevertheless.

She turned around suddenly. 'What the hell?! I just want to ask a simple question!'

Rukia began to walk in a different direction and saw Karin Kurosaki talking to Chad. She began to walk closer and noticed Karin pull her hair behind her ear and smile up at him in a certain way that stopped Rukia. 'Are they… flirting?' she thought in surprise. 'She's eighteen now, but has always been pretty mature,' she thought to herself. The five year difference wasn't too much of a problem, she guessed. But she couldn't bring it to herself to interrupt them. 'Why is everyone coupling up all of a sudden?' she gave one final thought before walking away.

Now that she thought about it, she doubted that anyone had any idea where he was. It was pointless trying to ask. So, she began her search.

She made her way towards the beautiful winding staircase, but froze as her fingers grazed the railing. 'Hiding in his room would be too obvious,' she thought and then turned around.

Rukia then made her way towards the den stairs. She began to walk down them as the music still blasted in her ears. Her eyes caught sight of a game of poker going on between about ten people. She noticed that the one holding the most chips was Toushirou. 'No surprise there,' she thought as she saw Momo cheer behind him and kiss him on the cheek over his shoulder. Rukia sighed and turned around to go back up the stairs.

She took a deep breath and stood in the middle of the huge, open room in front of her. She scanned the entire room and frowned. Then, her eyes were brought to a slightly open sliding glass door. Curiosity took over. She slipped out of the room unnoticed.

The little rock path took her away from the house. It winded down hill and as she looked back up at the house, from where she stood, it seemed to be on the peak of a mountain. She then continued down the slope eventually turning her away from the house completely and leading her to a dead stop. About thirty feet in front of her was a small wooden dock that went out into the lake. This was the same lake she would go to the local park for and write. But standing and leaning against the railing of the dock was a man she could only guess was who she was searching for. She walked up quietly.

"Figured you'd run and hide," she said with a smile as she leaned on the railing to the right of him.

He jumped slightly, but when his eyes landed on her, he melted. "Surprised you found me."

"Me too, actually. Took me awhile," she said honestly as she turned her body to face him. Her elbow rested on the railing beside her. "Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves."

Ichigo let out a disgusted chuckle. "I bet."

She smiled at his attitude, "Come on," she said reaching out with her free arm and resting it on his right bicep. "Somewhere inside Kaien's head he was thinking purely of you."

Ichigo wanted to push her hand off of him. It was completely ice on his bare skin. It chilled his bones and could have caused him to go into some form of shock if he didn't know any better. He wanted to get rid of the intoxicating touch. He wanted to stop it and stop what it was doing to him. It was making things harder for him. Thankfully, she pulled it away herself.

"Yeah, I bet he's thinking that right now while he's with some low class chick," he said was he continued to look forward.

"Well look at it this way," she began leading away from that subject. "All these people are here for you. Look at that mountain of gifts in there!" she exclaimed with a smile.

"They're not here for me. There here because of my name, not me. And you know I could give two shits about what any of those presents are," he explained in annoyance.

Rukia looked at the side of his face in thought. Then she spoke, "You think everyone's here for your name? I'm pretty sure your whole family is in there. I know I saw Karin. Plus all your friends are here. Chad, Orihime, Uryuu, Toushirou, Renji, Tatsuki, Momo. I didn't see Rangiku, but she's probably drunk in there somewhere so it's fine."

Ichigo let out a sigh, knowing what she said was true. Rukia continued though. "I'm here for you too."

He wanted to stab himself in his hopeful heart. He swore his heart had no common sense. It couldn't tell the difference between a friendly remark and one of something else…

He continued to not stare at her. It was too hard. Rukia saw his facial expression relax, which made her smile. "Thanks," he said in almost a whisper.

"So," she began with a grin. "How's it feel to be so old?"

He smirked, "You can tell me in five months."

She hit his arm, "Hey, don't rush it. I'm still enjoying twenty-two."

He rolled his eyes. She then jumped. "Oh!" she yelled in remembering something. She pulled her purse off of her shoulder and went through the bag. He peaked at her from the corner of his eye as he tried to hide his curiosity. She pulled out a small rectangular box with a purple ribbon tied on it. She smiled sweetly at him and held it out to him. "Here."

He looked at it with surprise and hesitancy. She tilted her head childishly to the side, her hair rested neatly on her shoulders. She raised her free hand to brush a few strands behind her ear as her hand still held the box out to him. "Come on," she pushed with a smirk. "It won't bite."

"How many times do I have to tell you that I don't like presents," he said taking the box out of her hand, but a small smile visible from the side of his face.

"Well you always seem to like mine," she said with a big grin.

"Shut up," he said with his eyes going back to the box. She raised an eyebrow as he stared at it.

"Can you open it already?! I can't take the anticipation!" she yelled with excitement bleeding through.

He jumped at her outburst. "Jesus. Alright, alright," he said shaking his head and pulling off the ribbon. He opened the box and stopped. His hand froze before he could pull it out. He looked over at Rukia slightly, who was smiling sweetly and then looked back down at the possession in the box.

Inside rested a small keychain. It had a faint skull carved into it. It was something he had forgotten about for years until this morning. It was the same toy he had seen in his dream or memory. It was a childish game they created and whoever held this trinket was able to have special powers that they would use to fight monsters. His stomach tightened at the significance of it.

Feels like I have always known you
And I swear I dreamt about you
All those endless nights I was alone
It's like I've spent forever searching
Now I know that it was worth it
With you it feels like I am finally home

"Like it-" she began to ask but found he had wrapped his arms around her tightly and pulled her into a close embrace. She was taken by surprise and her palms were against his chest. They remained like that for what seemed like a lifetime. She was able to take in his more than familiar scent as his neck brushed against her cheek. His hold on her was so tight, yet she was perfectly comfortable. "Thank you," he whispered into her ear. The shivers she felt up her spine were surprising.

Falling head over heels
Thought I knew how it feels
But with you it's like the first day of my life

He pulled away from her and began to reach into the box when Rukia was startled. "Ichigo! What happened to your face?!" she yelled as she instinctively reached up and brushed her fingers against the wound. Her icy touch felt so good against it, but he couldn't help but flinch. She pulled her hand away fast seeing how it must have hurt him.

Cuz you leave me speechless
When you talk to me
You leave me breathless
The way you look at me
You manage to disarm me
My soul is shining through
Can't help but surrender
My everything to you

He panicked. He didn't think about her seeing his face. Luckily he had not shown his entire face to her this entire time they had been talking. Besides, the moon was the only lighting outside at the moment. But she saw it now.

He knew what his brother had told people inside, but Rukia had come late and didn't hear that he had 'gotten himself into a little scrap up with his motorcycle.' Could he tell her the truth? That Shuuhei punched him in the face? Could he end their relationship just by saying that her boyfriend punched him because he was jealous? He probably could. But he knew that he had a conscience. He knew that playing the game that way was hitting below the belt considering he provoked the hit. He hated having his own Jiminy Cricket.

"I got in a little trouble with the bike," he said looking away from her. It was hard to lie to her face.

I thought I could resist you
I thought that I was strong
Somehow you were different from what I've known
I didn't see you coming
You took me by surprise and
You stole my heart before I could say no

Her eyes widened. "You crashed your bike? But you're so careful on that thing!"

"I know. Weird," he said trying to not press on the subject.

"Were you not wearing a helmet? You're face is the only injury I can see," she said beginning to inspect him more now.

He felt uncomfortable letting her look him over the way she was. "No, I was rushing to get to the store before it closed and I forgot to put it on. Yeah, my face is the only problem."

Rukia smirked, "You could say that again."

Ichigo glared, "Go ahead. Make fun of my injury."

Falling head over heels
Thought I knew how it feels
But with you it's like the first day of my life

"Can we call it your handicap? It sounds funnier that way," Rukia said with a chuckle. He continued to glare, but Rukia spoke. "So how did you manage to only get your face hurt?"

You leave me speechless
When you talk to me
You leave me breathless
The way you look at me
You manage to disarm me
My soul is shining through
I can't help but surrender
Oh no
My everything to you

'Come on, Ichigo. Fast thinking! Go!' "Well… I hit a puddle and… skidded off into a curb. I went flying off and my face was the first thing to hit the asphalt." 'Nice job,' he told himself as he mentally wiped the sweat off his forehead.

Rukia huffed and brought her face closer to his to examine the wound better. "What are you do-" he began.

"Shut up," she said roughly as she gripped his chin and gently turned his head to the side so she could get a better look. Ichigo looked at her from the corner of his eyes. Her touch was again crystallizing his skin.

"How scary was it?" she asked softly.

Ichigo felt his heart in his throat. He was lying to her about it and getting false sympathy. It felt wrong, but her tone and touch felt so right. "Not too bad," he said softly in return. "I've had worse."

You leave me speechless
(the way you smile, the way you touch my face)
You leave me breathless
(it's something that you do I can't explain)
I run a million miles just to hear you say my name
Baby

"You're face is all cut up," she stated sadly with caring eyes. Her hand began to rise.

"Tell me about it," he said with a chuckle.

There was a pause as her hand floated beside his face. "Does it hurt?"

He had to lie again. He couldn't help it. He loved the feeling of her caring about him, but this wasn't a true reason to have her care for him. He deserved that pain on his cheek. "Not really."

You leave me speechless
You leave me breathless
The way you look at me
You manage to disarm me
My soul is shining through

She then gently rested her fingers on the black and blue part of his cheek. It felt so good. It was as if a piece of ice was on his face, numbing the pain. He closed his eyes at the touch. He felt her softly trace her fingers around the cut that was covered by a small bandage. Every sense in his body was taken over by this insignificant act.

I can't help but surrender
My everything to you

She pulled away and looked at him with a stern look. "I told you that bike is dangerous."

Ichigo rolled his eyes despite his attempt to get over her dispersing touch on his skin. "I was careless. I didn't pay attention. That's rare. The bike isn't dangerous. I was just using it dangerously."

Rukia shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest. "You're an idiot. You're still defending that thing after it did that to your face."

"Yes I am. I love that bike," he said in defense. He had to defend it. It was innocent.

He looked down at the box still in his hand. He smiled and took the trinket out into his palm. "You've had this for all these years?" he asked looking into her eyes.

She smiled back, beginning to forget about the previous discussion. "Yeah. I figured I had my time with it. Now it's your turn."

He nodded and smirked as he looked back at his gift. "You're right. I do always like your presents."

Rukia smiled bigger, "Don't I know it."

Ichigo laughed, "You just made my day a hell of a lot better. What took you so long?" he asked jokingly.

Rukia sighed, "Sorry. Shuuhei had some special plans for just the two of us. Apparently they fell through and we were spending it home tonight. I lied and told him my editor needed help with my latest chapter. I actually should be going soon."

Ichigo raised an eyebrow. "You lied?"

Rukia turned to the railing of the dock and looked out onto the lake. "For some reason I felt like he didn't want me to come here tonight. Its weird, but I swear that's what I felt."

Ichigo looked at her and knew Shuuhei was playing the game. 'Keep her away from Ichigo,' he thought in his head of what Shuuhei planned. "Well I'm glad you made it."

Rukia looked back at him with a smirk. "Me too." She leaned away from the railing and looked at her watch. She hated that she had to leave so soon. Being here; just she and Ichigo felt so good. They could just stand here next to each other and enjoy themselves.

She sadly looked up at Ichigo. "I-"

"You gotta go," he said assuming that's what she was going to say. She smiled sadly and nodded.

She stepped closer to him and leaned up and placed her lips against his unhurt cheek. Ichigo's eyes shot open at the cold rush throughout his body. She pulled away after a second or two and looked up into his eyes. She smiled sweetly, "Happy birthday, Ichigo."

He was speechless. He was breathless. He watched her quiet retreat as she began to walk back up the stone path to his house.

He looked back at the lake as he gasped for air. He frowned and closed his eyes as he leaned into the railing. "Damn it!" he yelled through gritted teeth. He looked back up at the lake as he breathed in heavily. He brought his fingers back to his cheek to feel the skin she had kissed.

He then opened his palm to look at the keychain. Then, he gripped it tightly in his fist. "I'm gonna fight for her."

I can't help but surrender
My everything to you…

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

What? He's gonna what?! Oh yeah. He's gonna fight. With his shinigami badge in hand. Sweet. Alright. Tell me what you think. Later