AN: Wooh. Day off school. Gotta study though, so I have to write this chapter in between breaks. Or just all at once. I don't really care. Anyway, once again thank you to my reviewers…you guys make me write the story. Lol – and their excuse when they get back…I have no idea. That just makes you feel so secure doesn't it? But I'll work something out. I promise. Maybe execution or something…hahaha, joking..
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach
A Summer Job: Business Trip (Part VII)
"Um…so, where do we sleep?"
Rukia turned to look at him, looking slightly irritated that he had broken the comfortable silence that had nested its way between them as they were looking at the sky. Yet, his question was a valid one.
"Well, we could make our way down to that side of the lake there," she said pointing out a place on the edge of the forest.
Ichigo turned around to see where she was point. Rukia must have had sharp eyesight to see that, he thought. He examined the place she was pointing at. At the edge of the forest, the trees seemed to have kindly parted out in a small semicircle to reveal a small half clearing. It would have to do, he thought, but they would have to trample down the grass a bit before it would be sleep-worthy.
"Well?"
"Hmm. It seems ok. Want to go now?"
She huffed at him as she stood up. "Of course it's ok. I found it after all," she said with an air of superiority in her voice.
He ignored her as he stood up along with her. "Whatever. Lets go."
She didn't say anything, but fell in step with him as they walked to the water's edge. Walking along the water's edge would be the fastest way to get to the place Rukia was talking about; they didn't want to wade through hip high grass.
Ichigo stopped at the water's edge. It wasn't like the lakes around their place; they always had some sort of machinery, or something that polluted the scene. Also, the water back in the real world had cans, bottles, and general rubbish around and in the lakes. He wasn't really an obsessed greenie, but he appreciated the cleanliness that the water of the lake showed him. It was crystal clear, even in the moonlight.
Rukia, as if reading his thoughts said, "Its nice, isn't it?"
He nodded, not saying anything. He would probably ruin the moment with a stupid comment. They stood there for about 5 minutes, relishing the view, when Ichigo felt Rukia move. He turned around to see her walking away slowly, towards the place they had agreed to sleep at. He lengthened his stride to keep up with her, but he noticed that she pretended that he wasn't there.
"Rukia?"
"…"
"Rukia," he tried again, and yet again was unsuccessful.
She didn't say anything, if anything she quickened her stride. Talk about mood swings.
"Oi, what's wrong?" he asked, frustrated that he would have to ask something stupid like that.
"…"
Running a hand through his hair, he let out a loud sigh, making sure she could hear it. She was acting as if he had done something wrong. In actual fact, Rukia was a bit annoyed at the whole day. Well, of course, she had kissed Ichigo…but did that mean anything? She had been wondering about the issue the whole time they had been silent, and when they were at the edge of the lake she thought he would do something, anything, even an explanation. But he just stood there.
"Rukia, stop," she heard him say, and she looked straight ahead. He was standing there, his arms outstretched. "What the hell is wrong?" he asked rather angrily, though his words betrayed his voice.
She turned her head away to the side. "Nothing."
"Bullshit."
She didn't deny the fact that it was, and they both knew it.
"I've been around you long enough to know what you're feeling."
"Do you?" she asked lowly, not knowing why she was feeling the way she was.
"Yes," he replied after some obvious deliberation. "What's wrong?"
She let out a calculated sigh. "Nothing. Nothing's wrong. Let's just keep going," she said as she started to walk past him.
A few minutes ago, Ichigo wouldn't have done what he did, because he still thought she was feeling…almost scared to be with him. After they had kissed, Ichigo could swear he felt something go strange about her. He grabbed her wrist as she was walking by, and pulled her into a strong hug. She tried to resist at first, but he was too strong. She then sunk into his embrace, but it was over too soon. He released her, but he took her hand in his as they walked towards their destination.
After a few minutes of awkward silence, even though they were holding hands, Rukia said, "Ichigo."
The orange haired captain looked down on her. "Hmm?"
She pulled away from his hand to stand in front of him. In the dark moonlight, she looked…nice, even if she was wearing the same clothes from three days back. Somehow, she had kept her clothes from becoming too dirty, and if he had just met her today, he would have thought that she had been wearing her clothes for just one day. He shook his head to stop himself from looking at her clothes, or more precisely, at how well the clothes fitted her.
"Tell me something, Ichigo."
Her voice snapped him further out of his thoughts.
"What?"
"You know…" she said tentatively, knowing it was a rather tender topic, "At the inn…how you…"
Ichigo had to mentally tell himself not to change his facial expression. He knew exactly what she was talking about. They had made it a taboo topic when they were walking, but now…
"…"
"Did you…" she said, continuing, "Did you…really mean it?"'
There was an extended period of silence. Ichigo really didn't know what to say. He had expected her to reprimand him, telling him never to do it again, but…Judging by her earlier actions, she clearly was uncomfortable around him, something that hurt him without him understanding why. If he said that he really meant it, it would be something that would impact their whole relationship – perhaps they wouldn't even be friends anymore. That was not something Ichigo wanted to give up, believe it or not. He didn't really know his feelings for the petite shinigami, but he knew that she didn't like him. Or at least, didn't like him in that way. Of course, he had fights with her, but he had come to appreciate her as his close friend. There was no way he was about to break that.
"I –" Rukia began, but Ichigo cut her off.
Taking a deep breath, he said quietly, "I didn't mean anything by it. Just forget about it, ok?"
Instantly, he knew it was the wrong answer. A flash of emotions appeared in her dark blue eyes, but instantly crumbled behind the strongest emotion. Hurt.
Then, she disappeared. He was sure she had used the flash-stepping skill, but it seemed too fast. Even he could barely follow it. All he saw was a blur heading into the trees where they had planned to sleep.
He cursed underneath his breath for saying the wrong thing – what the hell did she want him to say, anyway? – and flash-stepped after her.
Rukia kept running, ignoring the branches and trees that got in her way. She just had to get away, had to get away from him. How could he say that? How dare he say that? Her mind was in turmoil, thoughts rushing one way, thoughts rushing against each other. All the while, she just kept running away, the tears that had made their way out of her eyes, were now flying behind her, due to her incredible speed. Her tears were soon joined by drops of rain, the weather had conveniently changed to suit her mood.
Ichigo barely kept up with her. All he could see was the yellow blur of her top. Finally, they both slowed down as they saw a cliff face. She panted a bit, then backed up slowly against the cliff.
"Rukia."
"Get away from me," she said, her voice shaking. Her eyes widened as he appeared in front of her, placing his hands on either side of her face, barring any way of escape.
"Get away from me!" she yelled, her voice coming back to her. The slight drizzle had turned to a heavy downpour, soaking her hair to the skin. She didn't notice the flash of hurt that appeared in his brown eyes.
"I will. Just let me say this," he said, his voice cool and controlled, orange hair dripping with water. He didn't want her to hear the hurt that was trying to force its way into his head.
She refused to look at him, angrily wiping out the hair that had fallen in front of her eyes.
"That night…I did what I did…because I didn't want to see you sad. Sorry if you didn't like it. But I'm not sorry for what I did."
At his explanation, Rukia turned and looked at him, her deep blue eyes locking in with his brown orbs. And for the third time that week, Ichigo felt his impulses take over, and he leant down and kissed her. Rukia was shocked, his mouth was still warm even though the temperature around them had cooled considerably. She had just started kissing him back, but just as quick as it had started, it finished. She looked at him now, but she couldn't say anything.
"I-Ichigo…" her voice trailed away, she couldn't really voice her feelings into words. She felt her knees go weak from under her, and she buckled down. She looked up at him helplessly, and tried to say something, anything.
He placed a finger to her lips, and then picked her up gently, bridal style, and flashstepped away into the rain.
That night, she woke up, soaked. Ichigo hadn't done much, he had just bought her back to the place where they were supposed to sleep. They felt asleep as soon as they got there, unaware of the wet ground. But, the only thing that was different was that he slept away from her. He had made sure he placed her on the other side of the clearing, while he took the opposite. There was just too much chance that he would collide with her during the night, and evoke different feelings; feelings he knew were not meant for him. He had found that out now, she didn't like him. She didn't like the closeness, for some reason it had made her uncomfortable. He had cried last night, watching her sleep.
The sun hadn't come up yet, and the cold wind blew over her, making her shiver because of the dampness of her clothes. She glanced over at Ichigo, on the other side of the clearing.
Idiot, she thought. He probably placed himself over there because he thought they would somehow meet during the night. She crawled over to him, and as she neared him, she saw sadness reflected on his face. Sadness from what, she didn't know, but she knew she didn't like it. It wasn't the regular scowl, or glare, but it was pure sadness, like someone close to him had died. She frowned, then curled up close to him, pulling his hand over her to keep in an attempt to get warm. He didn't wake up, even when she had pressed her back against his stomach. She closed her eyes, but didn't sleep, and absentmindedly laced her fingers around his hands. What did she feel about this guy? Was she…no…
Am I falling…in love?
No way. There was no way that she was falling in love. She admitted that she had been surprised when she kissed him, but that didn't mean she was falling in love, did it? She let out a small sigh, careful not to wake her friend. Her friend. She had almost made him not her friend last night, by running away. She had let her feelings take over herself; as soon as he said he didn't mean the kiss he gave her, she felt a whole new range of emotions she didn't know existed take over her. She felt like she was being used. Opening her eyes again, she stared off into the distance. Light was coming and she could see the outlines of grass that stood close by. More wind blew, and she shivered unconsciously. She felt his hand tighten against her waist, and she grinned a bit at that. Did she love him? There was just too many muddled up feelings she had, too many different feelings she had for Ichigo. He could be so annoying, so blunt, but at other times he could be so doting, even cute. And, if she decided that she did love him, what did he feel about her? Sure, he had kissed her, but even then…
"That night…I did what I did…because I didn't want to see you sad. Sorry if you didn't like it. But I'm not sorry for what I did."
What did he mean by saying that he wasn't sorry for what he did. Did he mean the kiss? Of course, what else could he mean? Even though her body was still, her mind was raging in a debate she found herself participating heatedly in, in the last few days. The last few days with him. That must have been it.
Maybe…I'm in love.
She weighed those words carefully in her mind. If she really did love him, would he return her feelings? And what did he feel, anyway? He acted like he liked her, and then suddenly he tells her he feels differently. And guys thought girls were confusing, she thought, shaking her head silently.
But she had to admit, being close to him, and feeling his hand around hers – it was a feeling that felt like butterflies, trying to lift her stomach against gravity. It was almost hard to breathe.
So what if I'm in love…? What happens?
She thought for a moment, and then murmured, "Ichigo…" It came out as a whisper.
After a few seconds of silence, she spoke again. She didn't really expect a response, rather, that was just a test to see if he was awake.
"I…think I'm in love," she said softly.
No sudden movements. She sighed. Maybe it was better he didn't hear this. But she needed to say it out loud anyway.
"But I don't even understand…"
There, it was out. The words hung in the early morning air. Then she thought, thinking of how to structure her next statement. "I…But what do I mean to you? Do I mean anything?"
She knew she wouldn't get his answer, let alone any answer.
"I mean…we did do…some…certain things, and I thought you meant them."
Silence.
"And then you tell me you didn't mean them at all. But then, you tell me that you did mean them? I don't understand," she whispered, almost whimpered.
If anything, she thought she felt his hand wrap tighter around her body. That was all she needed, she closed her eyes and slept.
Meanwhile, a small tear made its way down Ichigo's seemingly still face. He had woken up when she had pulled his hand. Well, he hadn't fully woken up, just became groggily aware that he was wet. When he had blinked open his eyes, he found that his hand was now around Rukia's waist. He had to stop himself from jumping back; didn't he make sure that he was on the other side of the clearing? Didn't she not want to be with him? A quick inspection to his surroundings, and he found that she was the one that had come over. He relaxed, a tiny bit, and listened to her breathing. It wasn't even, so he could tell that she hadn't fallen asleep.
Then she had started talking. He hoped that she hadn't felt his heart skip a few beats when she had said the word 'love'. Even though she hadn't said she was in love with him, it still hit him, and had made the butterflies in his stomach go wild. Then, when she explained the situation from her point of view, he had cursed in his mind, over his stupid answer the day before. He would never, ever again make her hurt like that, he vowed to himself, and he held her tighter.
AN: Sorry guys, I'll have to stop it there for now. Getting a tad late for my liking. Anyway thanks for everyone's reviews last chapter; I broke another record for myself. :D all thanks to you guys. Anyway, this section containing IchiRukiness is getting longer than I expected, but oh well. I have fun writing about them. I suppose you like reading about them as well, judging from the high amounts of reviews I get when I write their chapters. Hehe, well keep reviewing, and I'll update as soon as I can.