7 One secret for another
An hour of silence had gone by since they had arrived at Tatsuki's house and they had nothing to say to the other about anything that wasn't a major secret until recently and that was an unwelcome topic between them at this point in time. Tatsuki had lain down and had been staring up at the ceiling for quite awhile now without word as Rukia watched the ground without care for anything that went on around her.
"So," Tatsuki started suddenly. "You and Ichigo, huh? It's hard to believe that no one ever figured that one out."
"We were always really carefully about it." Rukia said.
"Why though?" Tatsuki asked. "You two are teenagers so it's normal to be in a relationship."
"I'm not a teenager, I only look like it." Rukia stated. "I've lived far to long to still be called that."
"So then how old are you?" Tatsuki asked curiously.
"Even though I'm dead that's still rude to ask." Rukia said as she glanced over at her.
"Sorry." Tatsuki said. "I thought you were fine with it since you brought up your age."
"Age means nothing where I'm from." Rukia said. "I really don't care about it."
"Then why did you get offended about it?" Tatsuki asked.
"I just don't want to guess at how long I've lived for." Rukia said. "That's all there is to it."
"I see." Tatsuki said awkwardly. "I'm a bit curious, are you only interested in younger people or just people that are alive?"
"I'm interested in whoever catches my eye." Rukia said. "I don't go out looking for certain types of people. Besides, most humans can't even see me and their bodies are frail so why would I waste my time in search for one to love."
"You forgot that we also die." Tatsuki said.
"The dead can die as well." Rukia said. "Time does not affect our life but we do age at a slow rate and we can be killed."
"What then?" Tatsuki asked. "Is there an afterlife to the afterlife?"
"No, once we die we are reincarnated as human once more." Rukia said.
"Is there a time limit that you have?" Tatsuki asked. "Like can you only be dead for a hundred years or something?"
"If that's how it worked then I would have already been reincarnated by now and so would everyone else I know in Soul Society then the human world would be well overpopulated." Rukia said.
"There's a lot of dead people there I take it." Tatsuki said. "Is it really crowded where you're from?"
"It depends on the district." Rukia said with a shrug. "The richer districts are more populated then the poorer districts. The sectors in the Seireitei vary on the amount of soul reapers in the squad that run that sector."
"Is it crowded where you live?" Tatsuki asked.
"No, I live with my brother and the only others that are present are the servants." Rukia said.
"I'm guessing your family is rich then." Tatsuki assumed.
"Yes, but we're also nobles." Rukia corrected. "Do you have any other questions?"
Tatsuki fell silent for a moment as she thought about it some more before speaking, "Earlier you said I would be freaked out about all this but it doesn't really seem all that freaky. Unless you're holding back on what would really freak me out."
"Maybe we should go find a hollow then." Rukia said with a slight smile. "The one's that come here are usually big so maybe that would be enough to freak you out."
"I'll pass." Tatsuki said.
"Suit yourself." Rukia said with a shrug. "It's better if you didn't get involved anyways."
"Wait, if I were to get involved then there would be less danger for Orihime right?" Tatsuki asked as she sat up.
"That would only make things worse for her and everyone else already involved in these matters." Rukia said meeting her eyes with a stern look. "Don't entertain that thought any further."
Tatsuki's posture slumped as she said, "So I guess I'll be useless to her after all."
"What are you talking about?" Rukia asked.
"Back when we were in middle school I promised to protect her but with the way things are I can't do that anymore." Tatsuki said sadly as her posture slumped even more.
"I see," Rukia said distantly. "There isn't much you can do to protect her from hollows but you can still do everything you can to make sure she lives as much of a normal human life as she can. That's not something I can ever do for her no matter how much I love her. Even if the two of us become lovers you will still be able to do so much more for her then I ever could."
Tatsuki smiled over at her a little at her before saying, "But I wouldn't be able to protect her like you can."
"There are still things that you can protect her from that I can never protect her from." Rukia said. "Aren't there others that depend on you for the same thing or something similar?"
Her eyes widened a little as she mumbled something too quietly for Rukia to hear properly so she shrugged it off as something she wasn't supposed to know and didn't pursue it. They fell into a short silence before a slight smile formed on Tatsuki's face as she said, "I guess I've been overlooking a few important things lately."
Rukia placed a hand on her shoulder, "As long as you've realized that and you do what you can to change it then it's alright but if you don't do anything to change it then you have a problem."
Tatsuki's smile strengthened a little as she said, "Yeah, I know."
"Then you have nothing to worry about." Rukia said kindly.
"Yeah, thanks, Rukia." Tatsuki said with a warm smile.
They shared a smile before there was a slight knock on the door before it opened causing both girls to look over at the girl standing there. Tatsuki stood up with a paling face while Rukia held a look of confusion for the new presence. "Chizuru, what are you doing here?"
"Getting forgetful lately?" Chizuru asked almost angrily.
"No, things just came up." Tatsuki said.
"I'm so sure." Chizuru said as she crossed her arms. "What's she doing here?"
"You're over thinking this, Chizuru." Tatsuki said.
"That's not what it looks like." Chizuru said. "What is she doing here?"
"She's spending the night." Tatsuki said nervously. "I'm helping her out with a few things."
"Like?" Chizuru asked as the anger grew in her eyes.
Tatsuki met Rukia's eyes nervously for approval to speak of it but was denied with a stern look making her bring her gaze back to Chizuru and found her anger had grown to a further depth. Rukia remained silent as Tatsuki approached Chizuru and placed her hands on her shoulders as she said, "Look a lot of things happened today and-"
Chizuru cut her off with a slap and said, "I can't believe you."
Nothing else was said as Chizuru left the room while Tatsuki just stood there as if at a loss of what had just happened. There was silence between them for a few minutes until they heard the front door close loudly making Tatsuki's posture completely slump before she met Rukia's eyes with a slight smirk, "You're not the only one with a secret relationship. Well, I guess we're both single now too."
"I'm sorry, if I had known I would have explained everything to her." Rukia said.
"It's alright," Tatsuki said sadly as she walked over to her desk and opened the top drawer and pulled out a small box. "We've been together for a year now. Today was our anniversary."
"If I had known I wouldn't have come here today." Rukia said.
"Its fine, I knew it was our anniversary today and I still brought you here." Tatsuki said. "I didn't think she would overreact so much or just show up. We have this small rule that we email each other when we're hanging out with someone but since I thought she would have emailed me before coming here I was going to let her know then or at least after things settled down a little."
Tatsuki walked back over to the bed with the box and opened it with a slight smile, "What do you think? I know she likes things like this so I got it for her."
Rukia looked at the necklace with a slight frown before reaching into her pocket, "I'll make sure she gets it."
"What do you plan on doing?" Tatsuki asked.
"I'll slip it into her pocket then you'll call her and tell her about it." Rukia said.
"What if she notices you putting it in her pocket?" Tatsuki asked nervously.
"She won't." Rukia said. "Trust me, I'll make things right between you two."
Rukia swallowed her soul candy and separated from her gigai in silence before taking the necklace and looking Tatsuki in the eye with a look of pure determination, "Things will work out for you two. I'll do whatever it takes for it to work."
Tatsuki faintly nodded before Rukia took off using shunpo. She felt horrible for what had happened between Tatsuki and Chizuru and felt responsible for what had happened because she had wanted to keep things a secret but she didn't know that the two of them were in a relationship. It had already occurred to her what had happened in Chizuru's mind, yesterday at lunch she had spoken of a small dilemma with someone she didn't name and it was likely that it had been assumed that she was talking about Tatsuki since the two of them being seen together like that on that important day for the couple was enough to connect dots that didn't connect at all.
It wasn't long before she caught up with Chizuru and found she was in tears with her head hung low. She walked beside her and took the necklace out of the box and gently slid it in her pocket before putting the small box in her robes. She stood there for a moment and watched Chizuru continue home almost wanting to bring her back to Tatsuki's room to have things explained to her properly. In the end she knew it would be stupid to bring Chizuru back but she wanted things to work out between them.
She groaned in aggravation as she went back over to Chizuru while carefully looking around for any possible witnesses before she quickly got in front of her and placed a hand on her chest putting her under a rather weak kidou spell. Her eyes widened for a moment before closing and her body became limp and she fell onto Rukia who easily brought her over her shoulder and used shunpo to disappear from anyone that could possibly come across them.
Rukia made the trip as short as possible and was soon back in Tatsuki's room and found her pinned against the floor by her gigai with her arm in a bad position. She rolled her eyes and placed Chizuru on the bed carefully before saying, "Get off of her, Chappy."
Chappy obliged happily and hurried over to her side and looked at Chizuru, "Was it a hollow?"
"No, it's just kidou." Rukia said.
"What happened?" Tatsuki asked frantically as she rushed to Chizuru's side and took her hand. "Is she alright? Don't tell me she was attacked."
"Tatsuki, she's completely fine." Rukia said before handing her the empty box. "I put it in her pocket but I couldn't let her go home in tears so I brought her back."
"Then why is she unconscious?" Tatsuki asked as tears rolled down her cheeks.
"I put her under a kidou spell and I can take it off anytime." Rukia said. "But first we need to be able to explain to her how she got back here though it might be better to skip that part if we can."
"How would we do that?" Tatsuki asked as Rukia entered her gigai.
"Simple, we lie." Rukia said simply.
"I don't like lying to her." Tatsuki said.
"We can't tell her about me but I'll at least explain why I'm here and what happened in the past couple of days." Rukia said.
"Alright," Tatsuki agreed and slid her hand into her pocket took out the necklace with a slight smile, "I guess I should give this to her properly now, huh?"
"Do you want me to leave and give you two some privacy?" Rukia asked.
"No it's fine." Tatsuki said as she placed the necklace back in the box then put it in her pocket. "Can you wake her up now?"
"Of course," Rukia said kindly and brought her hand to her chest as it glowed a little. "Wake up."
Rukia stepped away so that Chizuru would only see Tatsuki as her eyes slowly opened, "Tatsuki, what happened?"
"Everything's alright now." Tatsuki said gently and placed a kiss on her forehead.
She pulled away and they shared a warm smile before Tatsuki spoke once more, "There's a couple things we have to talk about. Don't overreact about it."
Chizuru gave her a concerned look as she was brought into a seated position. When she was up she noticed Rukia's presence and looked back to Tatsuki, "What's going on?"
"You were right yesterday at lunch." Rukia said distantly. "We broke up yesterday evening but because of certain circumstances I was living with him. Now I don't really have a place to stay so I'm spending the night here. I should have another place to stay arranged by tomorrow evening."
"Sorry, I know I shouldn't have said anything about it yesterday." Chizuru said. "It wasn't any of my business."
"It's alright, he didn't love me the way I loved him." Rukia said. "He was just forcing himself to try and make me happy so we decided to just end it."
"Can I go kick his ass?" Tatsuki asked.
"No, that would bring too much attention to things." Rukia said. "Besides, we decided to be friends."
"Do you think that will actually work?" Chizuru asked with a smirk.
"It has to regardless of any feelings that remain between us." Rukia said.
"Why put yourself through all that to make him happy?" Tatsuki asked with outrage.
"It's not to make him happy." Rukia said distantly. "Now it's just orders."
"What do you mean orders?" Chizuru asked.
"Hold on," Tatsuki said sternly. "Tell me it's only him that this applies for."
"It's classified." Rukia said coldly.
Anger grew in Tatsuki's eyes as she got off the bed and leapt at Rukia enraged at her response but in her anger she was at a disadvantage. Rukia ducked under her swing and struck her easily in the stomach pushing her back from the force of the hit. Tatsuki was off the ground for a moment before stumbling backwards then falling as she struggled uselessly to get air in her lungs so that she could breathe properly. Chizuru was by her side instantly trying to get her to breathe as she choked on the ground.
It wasn't long before Chizuru glared over at Rukia, "That wasn't necessary."
Rukia watched her emotionlessly with a cold look and said, "I can use any force I deem necessary at the time that classified information is questioned."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Chizuru asked angrily.
"Don't… bother… asking." Tatsuki breathed.
Chizuru brought all her attention back to Tatsuki as tears rolled down her cheeks freely. Tatsuki was slowly getting air into her lungs as she tried to sit up. As she met Rukia's eyes she smirked and said, "Remind me not to piss you off in the future."
"That won't be necessary." Rukia said coolly.
"Still thinking about leaving?" Tatsuki asked.
"It would be for the best if everyone just forgot about me." Rukia said.
"That's not true and you know it." Tatsuki said. "I know you want to do things the right way but running away now isn't the right way to do things. Can you really just leave things the way they are, especially after what you started? You said it yourself, it feels right to you so why leave?"
Rukia didn't respond as Chizuru shifted her gaze between the two girls at a loss of what was going on, "Is anyone going to explain this to me or am I gong to continue being clueless?"
Tatsuki looked up at Rukia and asked, "Just how classified is everything?"
"Can you keep a secret?" Rukia asked as she looked at Chizuru.
"Yeah," Chizuru said. "I've got plenty of secrets that no one knows about."
"Except for our relationship." Tatsuki said with a slight smirk. "She found out."
"What?" Chizuru asked loudly. "How did she?"
"Well, I kind of gave it away after you collapsed." Tatsuki said nervously. "Oh, that reminds me…"
She trailed off as she reached into her pocket with a warm smile, "Considering the situation this is probably going to be the best time for this today."
"I'm going to out step out." Rukia said.
"Yeah, thanks." Tatsuki said with a smile.
Rukia nodded and left the room as a smile formed on her face at the two girl's relationship and how things were working out for them now. She leaned on the wall across from the door as she thought about how thing would work out with Orihime if it even could work but then she began wondering how she was even doing right now with the way things were left. A part of her wanted to go back to Orihime's apartment and be with her and make sure that everything was alright with her. Even if it would be hard to just sit with her and spend time with her and do nothing else she wanted to be there with her no matter what they did together.
She heard a slight excited squeal from Tatsuki's room making her bring her attention away from her thoughts as her smile widened as she tried to imagine the look on Chizuru's face right now at the sight of the necklace. How happy were those two now as they enjoyed their anniversary together while they could before she would rejoin them. She glanced down the hall as she considered leaving to give them their evening together without a third wheel ruining the evening that only comes once a year for them.
Her smile warmed a little as she walked down the hallway and through the house quietly to avoid another small conversation with Mrs. Arisawa to explain why she was leaving. She didn't know where she was going to go exactly but she wanted to spend the night with Orihime in her arms or even vise versa, it didn't matter all she knew was that she loved the girl. That was clear to her when she saw the look Tatsuki held in her eyes when she spoke of her relationship with Chizuru and when she held the necklace she saw the look in her eyes grow. It was at that moment that Rukia noticed how much Tatsuki cared for Chizuru and then she began to realize that she wanted what they had but with Orihime.
She managed to get through the house and leave without being noticed by anyone. As she walked down the street she considered where she should go before heading back to Orihime to be with her for the rest of the night. She walked down the street in the direction of Orihime's apartment as she walked to the river to relax there for awhile and think about what was going on now so she could work out her emotions properly so that she wouldn't hurt Orihime again. If she did then she wouldn't be able to face her again.
Her walk was slow and calm as she thought about her relationship with Ichigo, how it had begun at Soul Society after he saved her life and ended just the other day on the roof of a building like they didn't have anything special between them other then their interactions. She held him so dear to her and yet all they had were secrets and intimacy. They barely ever went out on dates and when they did it was never anything fancy to avoid suspicion. All they had were movies, lunches, dinners, and small walks that were to and from school most of them time.
Before she had realized it she was sitting by the river and looking into the choppy water as she sorted everything out properly. She sat there for a long time just thinking everything out as she lost track of time and what was around her. It wasn't until she noticed someone sit beside her did she bring her attention away from her thoughts as she found Orihime present beside her with a worried look, "Tatsuki said you took off without saying anything. Is everything alright?"
"Yeah, it just wasn't right for me to impose on her like that." Rukia said. "I decided to give her some privacy, it's a bit of a special day for her after all and I have no right to intrude on it. I just need to sort everything out on my own right now."
"I didn't know it was a special day for Tatsuki." Orihime said as she dawned a confused look. "She never mentioned that today was special at all."
"It's not so much special she just had plans already so I didn't want to stick around." Rukia said with a smile. "Besides, she helped me realize something important."
"Oh, and what's that?" Orihime asked with a smile.
"That I'm in love with you and I want to be with you." Rukia replied happily.
Orihime's face brightened and she jumped into Rukia's arms happily with a warming smile. Rukia held her without hesitation or care for restraining herself at this moment because she wanted to enjoy it more then anything else. It was clear that she had worried this girl a lot in the past couple of days and she wasn't pleased with being responsible for her worry. Orihime pulled away a little before taking Rukia's lips for a quick kiss that was more then welcomed. When they separated they held warm smiles and a look in their eyes that asked for more but they restrained themselves.
"Orihime, as much as I want to be with you I still need to sort out my emotions before we do anything more then a quick kiss here and there." Rukia said sadly. "No matter what we can't get carried away until I am completely over Ichigo because I can't stand there being even the smallest chance of me using you to forget him."
"I understand." Orihime said with a smile. "I can wait for you."
"It shouldn't be long." Rukia said with a warm smile.
"Will you be spending the night at my house again tonight?" Orihime asked with a growing smile.
"I'd love to." Rukia said kindly.
They watched each other for awhile with warm smiles before Rukia laid back on the grass and watched the cloudy sky above them. They were silent for a long time as Rukia thought out everything she needed to and came to a small realization that she was not too pleased about and made tears form in her eyes though they didn't fall as Orihime noticed them and took hold of her hand with a gentle smile to assure her that everything was going to be alright. Rukia smiled faintly in response before continuing to think back on what she never noticed about her relationship with Ichigo. She had never truly loved him as she had so foolishly believed that she had for the months that they were together.
There was someone else that she loved but had mistaken Ichigo for him as they looked identical. She had known that it wasn't him but the resemblance allowed her to have the relationship she had always wanted with the other man but could never have. The whole time she had been with Ichigo she had been using him to have a relationship that had never once been possible for her. When she had first met him she had acknowledged the resemblance but had known that it wasn't the same man but he was very similar to that man and somewhere along the lines their identities merged in her eyes but her heart knew it was a different man that she was with and it ached for the real thing not someone that looked like him.
With this realization she knew that she would have to apologize properly to Ichigo for what she had done to him so easily without even knowing what it was that she was really doing. After realizing it she couldn't help but wonder if he had caught on to it which made him pull away from her in the first place. No matter the reason for his distance it was still upsetting for her but it was understandable considering what she had done to him over the months that she used him unknowingly. There was no amount of apologizing that would make up for what she did and nothing she could do for him would amount to his forgiveness either. Once he found out he wouldn't want to see her again.
Rukia glanced over at Orihime and found that she was looking out at the water with a happy smile on her face as she continued to hold her hand. A smile formed on Rukia's face as she realized that no matter what happened she would be happy if she were with Orihime. She tightened her grip on Orihime's hand as she realized that there was no way she couldn't love this girl. Orihime looked over at her with a worried look in response to the tightened grip but smiled happily at the sight she saw.
She sat up and placed a kiss on Orihime's cheek and said, "Shall we get going?"
Orihime's smile brightened, "Sure."
They rose to their feet and walked up the hill and down the street to Orihime's home and they did so with happy smiles and little conversation that mostly covered school and life and how things could work out between them though she refrained from saying that they wouldn't have to be as secretive as she had been with Ichigo because Orihime wasn't being watched like Ichigo was giving them more freedom when they were together as long as Ichigo never found out about it or saw them together while they were being even slightly intimate with one another. The two girls could be seen together but not touching in any way or form that would raise suspicion around the others or anyone that could watch them.
When they reached Orihime's street Rukia took her hand making their smiles warm significantly but as they entered Orihime's apartment their hands were released as they embraced the other tightly while Rukia rested her head on Orihime's chest for awhile as she listened to her human heart beating strongly in her chest with a happy look in her eyes. Eventually she managed to pry herself away from Orihime's chest and looked her in the eye as the girl leaned down to take her lips for a simple yet deep and meaningful kiss that spread joy in each of their hearts.
When they separated Rukia smiled, and not the fake smile she had shown others for the years since that man died. This was a real smile that she held from her heart where all her love for this single human was held. The one human that was able to capture her so attentively in just a single day where she showed her that it was alright to find solace in another and let that single person in completely. She wanted little distance between them during their relationship but there would still have to keep secrets even though with this girl she didn't want to keep anything from her no matter what it was. Rukia wanted to be completely open with Orihime even though there were still a lot of things that were classified to her because she was human but that fact never bothered her and it wouldn't bother her even in the slightest in their future together.
End
