Song of the Sky
Broken Quill and Scattered Ink
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach in any way.
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
He wasn't sure how to approach. At first, he thought that a manly 'good morning' would do. Then his options opened new doors. He could skip over to her (would that seem too gay?) and smile a dashing smile before greeting her. There is also that little ice-breaking Don Kanoji 'bwahaha' laugh too, complete with the crossing of arms at the chest. All were good choices to greet the wonderful Rukia Kuchiki.
Every morning, Keigo would follow the same routine and ask the same question: how do I greet Rukia Kuchiki this morning?
Today was no different.
I must speak to the fair maiden.
Undecided of which method to use, Keigo used the easiest of all the options.
He walked towards her, finding himself praising the heavens that her back was facing him instead of those intense violets. It was much easier to think when she wasn't facing him.
With much simplicity, Keigo uttered out: "Um…good morning, Kuchiki-san." His voice was more tender and gentle than he had expected. Maybe the fact that he had seen Ichigo and Rukia fighting off that snake-like monster a few days before had this strange effect on him. He was able to see his beloved Kuchiki-san in a new light—a light not so dainty and girlish; a light he did not know that the perfect and gentle Rukia was able to stand in.
Maybe that explained why he felt his heart beating rapidly in fear as she turned to face him.
It was ironic, really. Before, when Rukia spoke to him, Keigo would answer back with some stupid comment (followed by laughter of his peers). Back then, his heart would beat rapidly, too. But it was different then. He felt his heart flutter every time he saw her laugh behind her tiny hand. He felt like saying more stupid things just to see her smile. When she politely offered him her hand when he fell out of his chair, he wanted to fall out of his chair one hundred more times just to see her face worry for him all over again.
Now, his heart did not flutter. It beat from pure fear. Fear of Rukia, it seemed.
"Keigo!" she shouted, much less dainty than the personality she shows in class. "Get out of here! You don't know what's—"
The way she had yelled at her the few days before seemed to faze him. A totally different light…
"Are you alright, Asano-kun?"
Keigo blinked once he heard the melody of the sky. He offered her a smile, sulking his shoulders a bit once his ears detected the familiar sweetness in her voice. It was something not worth listening to. To Keigo, her use of the sweet tone of voice gestured that she did not trust the brunette with her true voice.
The true song of the sky. The one she had shown him a few days before.
Rukia frowned. "If you're such a good friend of Ichigo's, then why can't you understand that I'm staying? I don't want him to die! He needs me! If you're such a great friend, why can't you understand that he can't do this alone?" She was yelling now, all of the anger pouring out of her soul.
And frankly, he must admit, he loved her true voice so much more.
"Asano-kun?" Rukia clasped her hands behind her back, leaning forward with large violets. "Are you alright?"
Don't give me your fake self. He thought.
"Asano-kun?" Rukia called for the umpteenth time.
Keigo began to laugh, stretching his arms high into the air. "Of course I'm alright, Kuchiki-san! I just wanted to greet you a manly good morning, is all!"
So instead of speaking his true thoughts about her, he gave her his fake self too.
Rukia's innocent violets suddenly hardened into his brown orbs. Keigo stepped back involuntarily. This chick is scary when she wants to be.
Throwing a few glances around herself, to make sure everyone had dispersed, Rukia glared at him again. She opened her mouth to say something, then shut it again. She turned away uncomfortably.
"What is it?" Keigo ushered.
Rukia's eyes met his again. Keigo almost fell from his knees buckling. "About yesterday…" Rukia started.
"Yeah?" Keigo whispered, a hushed voice. Flashing pictures of the monster and Rukia and Ichigo wearing that gi and hakama came into his mind's eye.
"I need to see you after school to talk about it." She said firmly, none of that 'school-girliness' in her tone, which made Keigo's heart jump with joy.
"Sure," he said, unable to hide the giddy happiness floating in his soul. Keigo began to hop up and down. "Yeah, I'll see you after school!"
In a smooth move, Rukia had her hand over his mouth. Her face, a few inches below him, looked as if she was listening to his heartbeat—she was so close.
"Don't tell anyone about what happened, understand?" she whispered, keeping her eyes on their surroundings. The other students seemed preoccupied with bombarding the hurt Ichigo with questions to care about the two in the corner of the classroom.
Keigo nodded. Through her hand, he muffled out: "I understand, Kuchiki-san."
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
"What happened to your arm, Kurosaki-kun?" the orange-haired girl—Orihime—asked worriedly. A few other surrounding classmates stood by also, eyes widening and ears perked—they obviously wanted to know the answer, too.
Annoyed by unwanted attention, Ichigo rolled his eyes and slouched in his chair. Once an excuse miraculously fell into his lap, he answered: "Fell down the stairs."
A classmate crossed his arms incredulously. "Same excuse Ishida used the other day. How boring. You didn't get hit by a bus, Kurosaki?"
At this, Orihime's orbs softened. Ichigo caught her worried glance, sending her an eyeing look.
"No." he said, and it seemed directed towards her. "How would I be here with a broken arm from a bus? Don't be stupid."
Tatsuki ran a hand through her hair in annoyance. "Stop giving Ichigo attention. He'll just get a big head."
In the midst of it all, Orihime stepped in.
"Does it hurt, Kurosaki-kun?" Orihime asked, approaching him. She drew out her hand from her back, reaching for the white cast around his arm instinctively. "Do you need help with it after school? I can fix it for you."
Ichigo understood what that meant. When she said that in front of the other simple classmates, that meant that Orihime wanted to give him some healing from her powers. He gave her a small smile, shaking his head briefly.
"I'll be fine. Thank you, Orihime." He patted his arm a little bit, giving her another reassuring glance.
She nodded. It was only a Hollow, nothing else.
The rest of the class quietly took their seats as the teacher came in.
And Ichigo watched as Rukia sat down beside him. She had just returned from the corner of the room—with Keigo.
He gave her a knowing glance. "When do we tell him?" he whispered.
Rukia opened her textbook. With a serious look at the page in front of her, she mouthed: "After school today."
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
Keigo stood there, hands shoved deep in his uniform's pockets. His small attention span led him to stare at the brick wall beside him, counting them, tracing the mortar on the cracks and crevices with his nail. He started to whistle some random tune he had heard on the radio that morning, focusing on that instead of a stupid wall.
He shifted his weight uncomfortably, repositioning his backpack on his shoulder. Was this the right place? Rukia had told him that it was in the front schoolyard…
"Yo Keigo!"
The brunette looked up to meet the polished Mizuiro Kojima walk up to him, hand running through his sleek black tresses.
"What's up?" Keigo asked absently.
"Why are you just…" Mizuiro blinked. "…standing here?"
At the opportunity, Keigo did not only leap. He soared.
With a boastful chuckle, Keigo seized the moment. "Waiting on the lovely Kuchiki Rukia." His old personality washed over him.
Mizuiro raised an eyebrow. "Really, now?"
"Yep." Keigo threw back, hands on his hips victoriously. "The hottie Miss Rukia Kuchiki is who I am waiting for. She is kind, thoughtful, gentle—" his conscience reminded him of her harshness a few days ago with that snake-like monster, but Keigo ignored it. "…quiet, sensitive, caring—everything you'd want in a woman. The perfection in a tiny, beautiful package!"
Mizuiro laughed. No…laughed nervously. At that, it was Keigo's turn to raise a brow.
"Why thank you, Asano-kun." A voice behind him replied. Keigo grinned, then whirled around to meet Rukia.
"Kuchiki-san!" he shouted gleefully, blushing. "Did you hear every truthful word I said about your heavenly being?" And although it sounded as though it was in a fake, high-pitched voice, Keigo meant every word.
Rukia nodded, hiding her laugh behind her hand. "Of course I did! And I'm very flattered. I think you have such a fantastic way to compliment women."
It made Keigo wonder if—although her voice was fake—if she meant every word too.
Both of them hidden by outer shells.
Keigo heard Mizuiro gulp behind him. "Dude," the black-haired boy warned. "Don't push it."
"What?" Keigo forced out of the corner of his mouth.
"Hey, Keigo." As if on cue, Keigo watched as Ichigo's tall, lanky form appear from the school doors, the scowl pinching his face more than ever. "I'd watch what you say about Rukia. Nothing is said about her unless I'm there…supervising. Got it?"
Mizuiro took this time to run for his life.
Rukia gave Ichigo a lazy scowl, Ichigo responding with a small 'what?'
Keigo smiled, finding a path he knew would irk Ichigo. "Well now, I had no idea that you and Kuchiki-san were dating, Ichigo."
"I just don't want to hear any perverted junk from you, alright? You know perfectly well we're not dating." Ichigo stood beside Rukia, taking her backpack for her. Ironic. Keigo snorted.
"Her arm hurts from getting hit by that monster the other day." Ichigo explained in a growl. "Don't get any stupid ideas."
"I'm perfectly fine, Ichigo." Rukia whispered harshly once Mizuiro was fully out of sight. She reached for the bag, but Ichigo quickly dodged her arms. "I can handle myself!"
"You were bleeding on the arm the other day. You expect me to let you carry this on your shoulder?"
"Stop being such an annoying idiot. You're more protective than Renji, you know that?" Rukia shouted, reaching for the bag.
"Look, the burden is on me. You should be grateful!" Ichigo continued to dodge her.
Keigo rubbed the back of his neck and coughed awkwardly. "Um…guys? You wanted to tell me something?"
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
"Wait!" Keigo shouted frantically, feeling Ichigo's grip on his arms tighten. "You didn't say that this was going to happen!"
Rukia, hovering over him, held a strange contraption in her hand—what did she call it?
Oh, the memory replacer.
Didn't sound perfect. Despite having the strange animal on top of the spring, it may even feel painful.
Rukia's violets softened. "I'm sorry, Keigo. But you have to forget all about that day. It's not that big of a deal. You are a mere mortal. There's no need for you to live your days with the thoughts of invisible monsters haunting your mind."
Ichigo tightened his grip even more. "We're doing you a favor, Keigo!"
Keigo's eyes narrowed. "Ichigo's a normal mortal too! You aren't wiping away his memories!"
Rukia paused in her path. "That's because…"
"Because what?" Keigo yelled out, pulling out of Ichigo's hold. Ichigo grabbed him again.
"Keigo! You don't know what's going on! You're in the way of our work!"
"What's the big deal with letting a few people know about ghosts?" Keigo continued. "Why are you making it a big deal?"
"You're the one making it a big deal!" Ichigo roared angrily behind him.
Rukia's eyes flashed with a tiny bit of pity. Before he knew it, she put up a wall of no emotions again. Then Rukia frowned. Firmly, she pushed Keigo against Ichigo.
"Hold him still!" she ordered. Ichigo grunted in response and held the wild Keigo by the arms again.
So Keigo fought against it all. He struggled, kicked, and flailed his arms. And in a matter of seconds, he was running down the road before Rukia Kuchiki could flash the memory replacer in his face.
Ichigo looked around, rubbing the tip of his thumb against the point of his nose. "How embarrassing. I can kill Hollows but can't even hold that stupid kid down."
Rukia watched Keigo's fading form wistfully. "Yeah." She answered absently. "Embarassing."
That earned her a grunt from Ichigo, and he picked up his bag and began to lead the way home. Rukia quickly snapped from her daze, running to catch up with the substitute soul reaper.
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
"So when are you going back to the Soul Society?"
Ichigo heard her put her chopsticks down. "I don't know, actually."
Ichigo rolled his eyes, then continued to read his manga. He tucked a hand behind his head, then shifted a bit on his bed. He hated it when she answered as though it wasn't a big deal.
"Ever since you went to get me from the execution…they haven't really minded me crossing over to this world every now and then." Rukia swallowed a bit of her sushi. "Besides, you need someone to watch after you." She turned over to him, a grin on her face; awaiting his reaction.
"Che." Ichigo whispered, dropping his manga on his stomach. "Maybe they sent you here so that I can watch you."
Rukia huffed disdainfully, continuing to eat her dinner. "Yeah right."
It was how all of their conversations of the Soul Society ended, Ichigo noticed. They always ended in inconclusive arguments. He narrowed his eyes against the manga, picking it up again. She never tells me when she leaves.
He coughed, starting up again. Once more…
"So you're sure you're not gonna leave when I ain't looking?"
Rukia sighed irritably. "I told you—I'm staying to look out for you. I'll be here for awhile."
What's your definition of 'awhile'? What's your definition of 'a long time'?
Because to me…I'd like it very much if you stayed forever.
"Whatever." Ichigo turned a page.
Rukia looked at him, staring at the manga book in his hands as if trying to burn a hole in it in order to find Ichigo's face. She straightened from the chair, then took a seat on the edge of the tiny bed, only a few centimeters from his long legs.
"What do we do about Keigo?"
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
Author's Notes: Aww…a few romantic thoughts from Ichigo. Of course, he's not showing it.
Oh btw, this is after the SS, but Rukia comes back with Ichigo and stays in the living world for a few months.