Disclaimer: I wish. If you didn't get it. Here's another clue. I really, really wish.

*****

Flying On Ice

By: anaime

Chapter 4: -(to peel away slowly)

Rukia tested the flexibility on her ankle. A little uncomfortable when she twisted it, but not the intense pain it had produced before. Good. At least now she'll be able to start school without limping. Rukia laced up her skates. It would be nice to be back on the ice again.

She entered the rink and put pressure on her injured leg. It wasn't too bad. Rukia started with a slow pace and enjoyed the slight breeze the speed produced. She lifted up her bad leg into a front scale. Okay, now to the other leg. A little wobbly, but she caught her balance.

As Rukia was skating (very quick, the rushing wind helped her think), she was pondering on her skate partner, Kurosaki Ichigo. He wasn't such a bad ass, no matter how much he wanted others to think he was. Any guy who liked Shakespeare must be extremely sentimental inside. Rukia shuddered. Sentimental and Ichigo just didn't mix.

Speak of the devil, now Kurosaki was skating alongside her –how long had he been there?- and humming a familiar, yet irritating tune. "Hey, Princess. How are you doing?"

Rukia responded by sending him a glare and skated faster. Like she expected, he was still skating right beside her. Stubborn mule.

"So, midget…" That ended with Ichigo's face on the ice. Usually, it shut him up effectively, today, he was just talkative. "Your ankle okay now, midget?" Ichigo dodged a swing from Rukia's skates, "I thought so. Hmm, you know, you really are short. Girls who are nine are taller than you!"

Rukia stopped abruptly and a spray of ice hid her small figure for a fraction of a second. That was it. The last straw, not necessarily one that broke the camel's back, but it will break and tear apart and stomp on Kurosaki's ugly, stupid, infuriating face.

*****

Yoruichi had a good laugh when she came to coach Kurosaki, yet again, on the proper etiquette of throwing a lady. Said lady had all but wiped out the natural tan colour that was Kurosaki's face into a grotesque array of blue, purple, red, and green. It was all very amusing. Rukia was considering to be an artist after ice skating, it seems she'll be very successful. That, and a professional boxer.

*****

"How come you let her do all that to your face, Ichi-nii?" Karin asked interestingly over dinner, "you can beat up five burly guys at once during high school, but a girl can scratch up your face like that?"

Ichigo grunts. His face is still buried in Yuzu's homemade meatballs and spaghetti. Besides, this was a question that he didn't want to answer. Hell, he didn't even know Rukia had punched him until he landed on the ice.

"OH! Our Ichigo has become a gentleman! Keep it up, my son! In a year I'll be a grandfather!" Isshin jumped up and down.

Ichigo grunts again and launched his fist at his father's face, and while his father was clenching his bloody nose in misery, Yuzu had exited the kitchen. She immediately went to her father's side and offered him a napkin. Yuzu's kind eyes looked up to meet Ichigo's, "Ichi-nii, you should offer Rukia-neechan to come for supper sometimes! What does she like?"

Rukia-neechan, Ichigo thought angrily. Curse Urahara, and curse the friendship between Urahara and his dad, and curse Urahara's old woman's gossipy mouth. Oh yeah, and curse his dad. If things went his way, his family wouldn't know he was spending eight hours at the ice rink each day, and in a few months time, he would have what he originally wanted when he started doing skating again. And it would be done, over with, and he could finally stop skating and stop the memories. But no, Urahara just had to tell his father that he had taken up pair skating with a female –a potential wife for your son, was what he really said- and that they were getting along very well. As if Ichigo didn't have enough on his plate already, dealing with Satan's pawn everyday.

"Ichi-nii!"

"Oh, yes, Yuzu?"

"I asked if Rukia-neechan would want to have dinner here!"

"Er…" Ichigo prayed for a lightening strike, "I don't think that she'll like something like that, Yuzu. She's very… um, particular about, er, her food…" Ichigo stopped abruptly. His sister's eyes were filling up with tears, "Oh, come on, Yuzu, don't cry! She's just a very strange," sadistic, evil witch, "teenager…" Yuzu's tears were now spilling, "Yuzu..." Brown puppy eyes filled with tears glanced up to meet Ichigo's own, panicked amber ones. "Okay, okay, fine! You can invite her! But I'm not going to be here, stuck with that bit-, er, I mean, I'll be busy then, so, um…"

Ichigo wasn't so sure that two thirds of his family heard him, because his father and Yuzu were hugging and giggling and jumping up and down.

Evil bitch was making his life hell.

*****

Rukia slept fitfully the night before school, she was filled with murky dreams of dark, luscious hair and cerulean eyes. Of memories of drifting, and flying, and laughing, and happiness. She was disturbed by the dark black background of her dreams, and the misery it brought.

Rukia woke the next morning and glanced sleepily at numbers blinking in green, showered, and started going down to the rink with her backpack. When she got to the rink after a long and refreshing walk, she found Ichigo there, training again. Deciding that she wasn't in a foul mood, she put on her skates and went to join him.

"Kurosaki!"

Ichigo landed a double axel and faced her, "Yeah, Kuchiki?"

"Throw me again."

Judging by the widening of his eyes, he probably hadn't expected Rukia to do anything expect lash out at him. Also, Rukia had violently denied trying anything to do with him and throwing her in the last four practices.

"Come on, you stupid strawberry, I want to get this right! And you are going to do it right," Rukia whose back was turned away from Ichigo's, turned her face and consequently the full force of her glare on him, "Or else. Got it?"

Ichigo only reacted in a defensive way by muttering bitch under his breath and skating over to her.

"Okay, skate alongside with me and build up speed," Ichigo obliged, "hmm, I suppose should start with a loop jump, since you're really bad at throwing… Okay, Kurosaki, now you're going to follow my instructions very, very carefully. Can you do that?" Rukia said in a tone of voice that could be often heard when reprimanding very small children.

"Just shut your trap and tell me what do to already!"

"Fine, fine, fool. You do know how this goes, right? I don't want you to catch me, but I want to land on my feet. When you're about to throw me, don't put your hands on my waist, but put it near my hips, that'll give you more power and leverage. Throw me high, but not upwards, okay?"

Ichigo was concentrating very hard on trying to locate Rukia's hips and not waist with his hands that he didn't answer.

"Moron! It's here!" Rukia took action once again, and grabbed Ichigo's hands and firmly put it on her hips. "Okay, you've seen this throw a thousand times on television and you've heard Yoruichi lecture about this throw maybe more than you've seen this on television. Pressure on the legs… A fast fling from your arms… On the count of three."

Rukia breathed in slowly as she had always done, and imagined a thin, flying red ribbon for some reason. The mental image calmed her and she might have sworn she felt the rushing blood in her body, charging her up. Rukia did not know why this felt so special, maybe it was the paciying moment and Ichigo was not being a complete ass. Or maybe it was his firm hands on her hips and steady air that was fluttering on the nape of her neck. It might have been the secluded atmosphere, but who knows? It still wasn't the first time Rukia was going to make a jump…

Just the first time with this arrogant ass.

One… Ichigo slowly lifted Rukia up, secure grip on her hips –Rukia didn't want to think ass, which will make her loose her concentration-.

Two… Ichigo skated faster, and the rushing air was a blur on Rukia's face… get ready now…

Three!

Ichigo made a throw, and the mannequins actually proved to be excellent practice, and since Rukia wasn't a wooden doll, she twisted through the air –how good it was to defy gravity once again, spinning, spinning, weightless- then reality crashed around her again. She had landed successfully.

Rukia didn't know why, but she was proud of herself. She, who had landed dozens of jumps and throws and won a dozen competitions, was proud of herself for landing a simple loop jump. A wide grin was on her face that she quickly disguised as a haughty countenance when she heard Ichigo skate over.

"Bravo!" Slight clapping, but that wasn't Ichigo's voice… But more like the voice of a certain man who likes to wear clogs and a green striped hat.

Urahara immerged from the shadows with a far too predatory smile on his face… It reminded Rukia of a creepy Cheshire cat.

"Since Rukia has now landed a throw jump, Yoruichi and I have decided to enter you in your first contest. It's a minor one, don't worry. Actually, it is the Annual Karakura Skate Competition. Consider it practice, you two, for the competition in Tokyo later. We'll be there to see how you do. It's in a month." Just like that, Urahara started speaking and Rukia's brain swerved to catch up "Yoruichi and I will get your free skate chorography ready, but we want your input in it. It'll likely be the one you will do at the all Japan championships, too. You can decide on the song, if you would like."

Rukia nodded. She's been at the annual Karakura skate competition when she was younger. It included everyone in the whole district. It was mostly great fun, and wasn't at all competitive. But still, this first competition… she wanted to win and prove her worth again.

Ichigo stole a glance at Rukia's face, as usual, it was unreadable and cold. Two weeks of her ass-bitch attitude had made life not worthy to live, but Ichigo could now see a glimpse of the emotions she hid behind her wide, liquid sapphire eyes. Right now, it was a passing glance of reminiscence, determination and just a hint of dread.

In conclusion, her emotions mirrored his exactly.

*****

This was harder than she thought it would be. Rukia let out a breath of frustration. Three days of private school, catching up with so called friends, internally glaring at sadistic teachers, and arguing with Ichigo at every single skate practice on the song they were going to use was total and absolute hell. It was her last year of high school, despite everything, Byakuya had insisted on her skipping a grade to further extend her lack of vertical endearment, and Rukia wanted to go into art next year. Maybe writing, -music industry? Hmm... She had all year to decide, after all- Hisana had loved both.

Rukia flipped to another page, and the CD that greeted her –even though this half week had been sent down personally to meet the devil- made her smile.

*****

Soft drifting music flowed through the freezing skate arena. Ichigo stopped skating. This music… it sounded so familiar. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Rukia coming towards him, skating in a very relaxed fashion.

"Somewhere over the rainbow…" Ichigo muttered under his breath. Rukia didn't look it, but she was the classic chick.

"Let's have this one," Rukia whispered when she was half a meter away, her soft breath misted over the cold air. The hopeful, serene music floated around Ichigo and Rukia, enveloping them in their own cocoon.

What compelled Ichigo to say it, he didn't know, maybe it was the dim memory of luring sleep and a woman's promising voice slowly humming this tune, but Ichigo whispered back: "This one."

*****

Uh... really late update? If I told you I stepped into a puddle on a rainy day and I fell into the puddle into a 2D world with jumping faeries that imprisoned me and fed me nectar 24/7, could you excuse me for this absurdly late update and absurdly short chapter (I had hoped it was a bit longer, next chapter would probably include some... people)? And, possibly, just possibly, review?

Oh yeah, and happy Easter everyone! Anyone here go to those church meetings and have excellent food afterwards? I know I will. =)

-anaime... reviewreviewreview... yay!