...
...
...
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Hell yeah, I'll be caught up in the moment
All up in my feels, you're the one that controls it
On my last day, all I wanna do is
Look you in the eyes and fall asleep right next to you, yeah
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...
(Two Months Prior - October)
Ichigo straightened the dark, smooth fabric of his coat as he stepped out of his car, shutting the door. He locked it and glanced up at the apartment complex that loomed ahead of him before beginning his walk to it, feeling nervous but excited. It had been quite some time since he'd seen his sisters... months, in fact. He was looking forward to seeing them again, especially since he had something important to tell them.. it would feel so nice to get to sit and have dinner with them.
He picked up the tote bag he'd brought with him from the ground and slung it over his shoulder, walking over and going up the steps to Karin's apartment, he walked until he found her house number, pressing the doorbell button, he heard the chime of it ring through the small apartment.
The door swung open, and he momentarily reveled in the warmth from inside as he grinned at the sight of Yuzu, who was as tall and slender as ever, her blonde hair gathered in a short ponytail that fell over her shoulder as she beamed, "Ichi-nii!"
"Hey, Yuzu," he gave her a side hug and followed her inside, taking off his shoes and leaving them at the door for slippers, "Where's Karin?"
"In the kitchen! Come on." she shuffled back to the kitchen, and he followed her, finding Karin mixing a salad in a bowl.
"Hey, Ichi-nii," Karin flashed him a grin, "You bring the soup?"
"Yeah," he set his bag down and removed a tupperware bowl from it, setting it down. "Made it after work, hopefully, the taste is okay."
Yuzu opened the lid of the bowl, beaming at the steam that rose from it. "It smells pretty good! Did you follow my recipe?"
"Yeah." he picked up the stack of plates Karin had set for him, "I've actually been enjoying cooking these days."
He walked over to the small table, setting three plates out in front of the chairs as Yuzu placed down a carafe filled with iced tea, "I thought so, Rukia-nee showed us the sukiyaki you made. She said it was really good."
"Really?" Ichigo glanced up, pausing only for a moment from setting down the cutlery he held.
Karin brought her dish to the table and set it down on a mat, waving the steam away as she gave him a mischievous look, "Yeah, she sent a picture in the group chat."
"You three have a group chat?" Ichigo questioned, only getting giggles from both sisters in response as they sat down at the table. Ichigo poured soup for them and they had dinner together, Yuzu narrating recent experiences on a Hawaii vacation and Karin telling the same with some of high schoolers she taught PE for.
"So, Ichi-nii," Karin leaned her chin in her hand as she stabbed at her salad, "How are things with Rukia-nee? I was hoping you'd bring her today."
"No, she's still at work right now." Ichigo sipped from his water glass. "Besides, I have something kinda important I want to talk to you two about."
"Eh?" Yuzu glanced at Karin, then back to her brother, "Karin said she had to tell us something, too.."
"Don't you, too?" Karin questioned her with a raised brow, Yuzu nodding tentatively in response.
The three siblings exchanged looks, Ichigo raising a brow as well. "Well?"
"Okay, let's all say it once," Yuzu suggested jovially, and Karin nodded with a laugh, "I'm down." Ichigo merely chuckled.
"Alright, ready?" Yuzu looked to Ichigo for confirmation, then to Karin.
"One. Two. Three!"
On three, Karin held out her left hand. Yuzu also held out her left hand. Ichigo held out a navy blue ring box, the lid opened to reveal what was inside.
Ichigo gaped. Karin blinked. Yuzu gave a dramatic, high gasp.
"You're-?!" Karin pointed at Ichigo in shock, Yuzu covered her mouth.
"Wait, wait wait-" Ichigo pointed back at Karin, then to Yuzu, "You two- what's- are you both-?"
Yuzu looked at Karin. Karin looked at Yuzu. And then they looked down at each other's left hands.
"Toshiro-kun proposed to you?!" Yuzu squealed grabbing her sister's hands in hers. Karin's cheeks were red, and she could only respond, "Well- wait- Tasuku proposed to you?!"
"Wait, wait- what's going on?!" Ichigo put the ring box in his hand on the table, unable to keep himself from laughing, "Karin- just go first."
"...Toshiro and I are engaged." Karin's voice was firm but almost shy, and she held up her hand again, revealing an elegant pear shaped emerald. It was mounted on a silver band with smaller, round white diamonds creating a thin halo around it.
"Oh, Karin! That's so wonderful!" Yuzu hugged her sister tightly. Ichigo nodded in agreement, reaching out and taking her hand across the table.
"Congrats, Karin. This is a big deal for you, and Toshiro."
"Thank you." Karin said with a chuckle, "That's why I wanted Rukia-nee to be here. So I could tell her in person,"
"We can video call her later," Ichigo suggested, before looking pointedly to Yuzu. "Now, come on, you're next."
"Oh!" Yuzu held up her hand then, beaming with excitement to reveal the delicate 1-carat round diamond, which was set with two small stones on either side on a gold band. "I'm engaged, too! Tasuku proposed last week when we were on vacation in Maui."
"Damn, both of you! This wasn't really planned?!" Ichigo reached out and took Yuzu's hand as well, the latter giggling at the idea.
"No, definitely not- might've planned better if we did," Karin cackled, Yuzu nudged her teasingly in response as Karin continued, "What about you? What's the box? Are you proposing to Rukia-nee?"
It was a predictable question for them to ask, and yet it still made Ichigo blush. "Well... yeah, I am planning to soon."
"Ohh!" Yuzu clutched her hands together, "Oh, Ichi-nii, that's wonderful!"
"We've been hoping you'd propose to her soon, it was a matter of time." Karin teased, earning an eye roll and a smile. Yuzu tugged his hand gently. "How are you going to propose?"
"Well, I haven't planned that far quite yet," he let go of them, picking up the box he'd set on the table again and opening it. "Before that, I just wanted your opinions on this.."
The two girls leaned forward in their chairs to peer across the table at the little box. Inside was a ring, white-gold in color, with a toi-et-moi setting. But oddly, only one of the settings had a stone- one was empty, and the other held a glimmering, 2-carat emerald-cut white diamond.
"Eh? Is it broken?" Karin questioned, her eyes flickering from the piece of jewelry to Ichigo, who laughed.
"No, no. It's just unfinished." he took another box from the bag he'd brought, lifting the cardboard lid from it. "Do you guys remember this? It's one of mom's old pieces."
He handed the box to Karin, who nodded as she lifted the thin pendant from the box. It was a simple gold chain with a white diamond pendant- a 1.5-carat pear diamond with two smaller empty studs supporting on each side, the jewels once secured there having long fallen out.
"Yeah, I remember it," Yuzu nodded, leaning on her hand. "It's one of those heirloom pieces she inherited from her family. She used to wear it a lot until the diamonds fell out.. why'd you bring this?"
"I want to use the diamond in the ring." he pointed to the empty setting in the ring, "But since it is one of mom's old pieces, I wanted to see how you two felt about it before I do anything with it. The jeweler who made the ring said if you guys aren't comfortable with me using mom's stone, then he can just add a pear diamond from his shop, so.. no pressure if you aren't okay with it."
"Well-" Karin glanced at her sister, "I don't want to speak for Yuzu, but, I'm cool with it. I think mom would be really happy if you used one of her stones in Rukia-nee's ring."
"I agree," Yuzu added readily, "Besides, dad divided mom's jewelry between us three long ago, this one was from your half. The necklace is broken anyway, I think it's lovely to use the stone in something new. And I think mom would be really happy if she were here."
Ichigo looked at the pendant again as Karin had placed it back into its box, memories of their mother flooding his mind as he did. It really was a special thing. He recalled his mother wearing it a few times until she'd put it away after the stones fell out one by one. She'd never gotten it repaired- he didn't know if it was because she never felt the desire to, or because she felt the family needed the money for more important things. That was just the kind of person she was.
"She would've loved her." Karin mused as she sipped her iced tea. "And I think Rukia-nee would've taken to her, too. Considering she can tolerate dad so easily.."
"Mom would've been a total breeze." Yuzu finished her thought easily, and the three of them chuckled over it.
Karin clapped her hands together, "Well, I have a bottle of sake that I saved for today, let's have a drink and celebrate."
She stood up to fetch it as Yuzu waved, "Ichi-nii, call Rukia-nee!"
"Ah, right." he put his things away before pulling his phone from his jacket pocket, going into a video call, and pressing on her name, which was unsurprisingly at the top of the list.
It rang for 2 chimes before she answered, still in her captain's uniform and looking very sweaty, but Ichigo could tell she was home because he recognized she was standing in her bathroom, "Ah, Ichigo. I just got done with training, so I'm going to take a shower. What's up?"
"I'm over here at Karin's place," he said quickly, in the hopes it would stop her from saying something embarrassing in front of his sisters that she'd normally only say in private. She as always caught on, and he watched keenly as she pulled the end of the ribbon tied in her hair, causing it to unravel and her hair to fall down loose.
"Oh, really?" she questioned ever so innocently.
How could she be so pretty even after such a grimy, long workday? He'd never understand her grace, watching her and almost forgetting about his sisters, who were now teasing him in the background for not yet handing the phone over so they could talk to Rukia. Instead, he continued, "Yeah, they wanted to talk to y-"
"Rukia-nee!" The phone that was in his hand was suddenly gone, and he turned in mild surprise at how quickly Karin had managed to take it from him. Both she and Yuzu crowded in front of it, both talking somewhat at the same time as they showed their left hands in front of the screen as Yuzu exclaimed, "Karin is engaged, and so am I!"
Ichigo fell quiet as he focused on them; he always felt pleased with how easily Rukia had always assimilated into their lives. It was as if she was their born-sister... as if she'd never left. Having an older brother had its own unique experience, but having an older sister must be different in its own ways, he supposed. Still, it made him happy that the three of them could support each other like real sisters.. especially since Rukia didn't seem to have many close female relationships. She did meet with Rangiku-san and Hinamori-san occasionally as she had mentioned to him.. but that seemed like a casual friendship, not so much a close one. And she and Orihime... well. He had no clue where they stood at this point. Perhaps choosing him meant that Rukia couldn't also choose Orihime. That made him feel guilty, but in the end, it had been her choice to make. Of course, everyone's friendships couldn't suddenly revert back to the way they were 20 years ago. Life simply could not be that idyllic.
'If it could, then Ishida...' he began to think, but was shaken from his pondering when he heard Rukia ask, "This wasn't planned right? How are you two engaged at the same time?"
"It was really a coincidence!" Yuzu said with a laugh, "Apparently Toshiro-kun proposed a few weeks ago, but Tasuku proposed last week when we were in Hawaii!"
"Ahhh, I see." Rukia said in between rubbing her face with a gua sha, "I was wondering when Captain Hitsugaya would propose. If I'm remembering right, he's had the ring for a couple of weeks now."
"Eh?!" Karin pushed her face in front of the camera, Yuzu handing it into her grip. "Rukia-nee, how did you know?"
"He asked me for advice for your ring," Rukia said as she turned on the faucet, watching her tub fill up slowly. "It was really sweet. He was super nervous about it. Went into a lot of details for it, too. Hopefully, I didn't steer him wrong?"
"Not at all." Karin held her hand up again, looking at her ring again as Rukia spoke, "He had the stone and the metal and all picked out already. It was mostly the shapes he was still undecided on. It was nice to see him so focused and worried over it, he's usually so nonchalant. He's definitely in love with you, kid."
Both girls exchanged an amused look. It was still funny to them that Rukia called them both kid, even though they were in their 30s now.
Ichigo, who'd finally run out of patience, let a dramatic sigh. "Can I have my girlfriend back now?"
.
"Rukia... let's get married."
.
Rukia's crystalline eyes widened at the words, and for a few moments, it felt as if time were in slow motion. The only thing her mind registered was the sounds of the waves crashing behind them... a rather squawky seagull that was flying somewhere in the distance. The wind was chilling, biting at her bare legs, her lips, nose, and cheeks. Being in a human body always heightened her senses to things like heat and cold.
She could only stare breathlessly down at him, unable to think of anything past the look in his eyes- a mix of nervousness with that firey surety that she'd never seen in any other person's eyes before.
She tried to speak- say anything- but nothing came out. Ichigo held on to her hand, continuing as he seemed to get that she didn't have words. "I don't want to be without you anymore.. I don't want to go home to an empty house. Tell me how you feel, what you want... I'll give you anything you ask for. All I know is that at the end of the day, I want to come home to you."
He held the ring box up to her then, and Rukia's eyes flickered to it, widening as she stared at the two-stone ring glinting in the sunlight that was beginning to peak over the horizon. It was beautiful. He was beautiful.
Should she say no? Maybe. Did she want to say no? She didn't think she could get the word out even if she wanted to.
He certainly wasn't the only one that felt this way. She was sick and tired of it, too- tired of never knowing 100% when they'd see each other next. Having to plan around each other's schedules. Living in two separate places. He was alone in the living world, in the same three-bedroom home he'd grown up in, with no one else living there now, working the regular adult human job he'd held for the past many years in order to make ends meet. She was alone in the Soul Society, living in a giant, five-bedroom sprawling mansion, Ichika having long gotten her own place.
Rukia knelt down slowly, the sand under her was cold and smooth. "I don't want to live without you, either," she said softly, her icy hands taking his. "I want to go to sleep with you and wake up with you. Every day, until we're old and grey in a thousand years."
Ichigo felt breathless, barely getting out a whisper of, "You do?"
"Yeah." her voice was so quiet and a little raw, but she was smiling at him with wet eyes and he felt as if he could drown in her sapphire eyes.
The ring suddenly paled in comparison to the way Ichigo smiled at her when she said yes.. so soft and authentic. He took the ring out of the box, and she watched through teary eyes as he slid it onto her finger on her left hand. She knelt down then, her small hands slipping around his waist as she tucked her face into his neck.
He held her protectively as if she were made of marble, his large hand encompassing hers as he took the moment to admire the ring on her finger- after all the time and effort he'd put in to get it made, his dream had finally come to fruition. He stared out at the waves crashing on the beach, the sky a pale grey-blue from the newly rising sun. He felt the biting, cool air, but didn't register how biting and cold it was- he was just too happy to care.
He let go of her hand and slid his hands down to her waist gently, finding himself unable to look away from her and he whispered earnestly, "I love you."
Rukia, whose delicate fingers had been toying with the button on his shirt, looked up at him then, and, as if she were surprised to hear it, whispered back in an almost disbelieving, teasing tone, "What..?"
"Rukia," he murmured again, wishing that if he ever died, he did so whilst staring into those perfect, gemlike eyes that had saved him so many times in the past. "I love you."
She smiled, and let herself be whisked away into another kiss by him, no longer feeling the cold at all.