"Warmth"
"Rukia-chan!" Isshin, Ichigo's dad, cried out loud, extending his arms towards the angel who brought his son home. Rukia staggered to the living room, still unsure where she was at. Instead of running into the man's arms, she bowed, thanking him for helping her. He sobbed lightly before asking her to join the Kurosaki family for dinner.
Ichigo came into the main room from the kitchen; he paused, dropping the bowl of apples in his arms at the sight of Rukia. He had been helping Yuzu help cook dinner. "What are you doing up Rukia?" Ichigo asked. "Rest some more..."
"How much will the cost be?" Rukia asked Isshin while completely ignoring Ichigo's pleas.
Isshin smiled broadly, radiating like a sun in the winter. He waved his hand down, "Your Ichigo's girlfriend right?" he asked, a little too excited. "It's all free of charge," he grabbed Rukia's tiny hands, shaking them.
Rukia's eyes widened a little, surprised by how gentle the giant man actually was. Despite his huge build and the fact that he looked quite intimidating, he was quite generous and adorable. "Well... thank you then," Rukia returned a grin. "I didn't know you had connections," she murmured to Ichigo.
Ichigo gave a nervous laugh while trying to think of an escape plan out of the Kurosaki home. The last thing he wanted was his father to bring out the old stories and photos of Ichigo. "Well, he's my old man so... Anyway," he turned to his father. "Sorry but Rukia and I aren't going to stay for dinner."
Rukia quirked a brow, kicking him gently on the leg when she saw the disappointed look in Isshin's face. With the way he was beaming earlier, she didn't even think it was possible for him to feel despair, but apparently he could. "Of course we'll stay. I don't mean to impose and freeload, but dinner seems nice." And instantly, Isshin's face glowed again with joy.
Ichigo grabbed his head in pain, just wishing for once that Rukia would listen to him. "Well, I have to cover for one of my coworkers early tomorrow morning since he got sick too. Besides, I'm sure-"
"Oh, I'm feeling weak... I'll need to rest here for tonight," Rukia dramatically moaned, pressing the back of her hand to her forehead while falling against Ichigo.
Despite knowing Rukia was just lying so that they could spend dinner there with the Kurosaki family, Ichigo couldn't force her out the door with the state she was in, even if she was just pretending. Sometimes Ichigo wished he wasn't so head over heels for the girl; he was really a fool in love.
Dinner
"And so Ichigo kept crying and crying! There was no way to stop him; I really thought he was going to flood the house!" Isshin exclaimed, slamming his fists on the table while roaring with laughter. Yuzu laughed, enjoying the story even though she heard it about a thousand times already. Karin on the other hand just sighed while she ate quietly. "Ah, his mother was the only one able to cheer him up," Isshin turned to the portrait of his wife hanging on the wall. He gave it a few kisses while hugging it with much adoration.
Rukia, like Yuzu, listened intently. Every few seconds, she'd give a snicker to Ichigo; he buried his face in his food, wanting to die on the spot as his father went on and on about the horrific stories of the past. And to make it worse, it was all of Ichigo's most hated memories. His father was the reason why he never had the courage to bring home a girlfriend.
As the dinner came to an end, everyone helped clean the kitchen. When that was done, the house became quiet as Yuzu and Karin were the first to go to bed. "Well, we'll be going now," Ichigo said, eager to go home before his father brought out another story.
"In this rain?" Isshin asked, pointing out the window and revealing the heavy downpour. "Rukia-chan just recovered and you want her to risk getting sick again?" He shook his head, "You don't know how to treat a woman, do you?" Ichigo turned to Rukia with a face that told her to tell his father that he was the best boyfriend anyone could have. Rukia shrugged. "You two stay the night. Your room is the same as it was before you left, Ichigo. You two can occupy that room-"
"Alone? Together?" Ichigo asked, almost shouting in shock. He knew how sensitive Rukia was about this topic. She hated sleeping with him. Okay, she never said she hated it, but it was implied. "Ah, nevermind. I'll take the couch in the main room-"
"Don't be a girl Ichigo," Rukia dragged Ichigo by the arm. "We'll see you in the morning Mr. Kurosaki. Thank you for the dinner tonight; it was wonderful."
Eventually, they made it to the front door of Ichigo's room. Ichigo prayed it was clean. He usually kept his room clean of trash, but still... he'd been gone for months. Maybe the furniture inside was collecting dust. Perhaps sleeping over wasn't a good idea... Ichigo panicked. It was the first time he'd let a girl into his room. Well, he let Orihime in once back then, but that was different because she was his friend. This time, it was Rukia, his girlfriend. He rubbed his sweaty palms on his pants while he panted, unsure of what to do.
"Are we going in?" Rukia asked, waiting for Ichigo to open the door first. Shrugging, she barged in.
"Wait!" Ichigo followed after her. "I can explain about the mess in here-..." Surprisingly, everything was the same as it was before. There was no signs of dust or mold growing anywhere. It was clean and smelled nice. He sighed, mentally thanking Yuzu for cleaning his room. She was always cleaning the house and never neglected cleaning any one room, even Ichigo's room.
Rukia seemed impressed with the environment. She never would've thought that the ex-prostitute who she hired long ago would have such a well kept room. His single bed was pushed to one corner by the window while across from it was a closet. There was a single drawer and that was about it. Everything seemed pretty normal. "Well then," Rukia said, turning around to face Ichigo.
Ichigo nodded, "I know," he held his arms up, "I'll go grab a futon and sleep on the floor. I'll also find some clothes for you. Since you're quite small, you can borrow one of my sister's clothes."
Before Rukia could speak, Ichigo left to grab what he needed. Even though the day had been pretty bad, the only good thing that probably came out of it was that he got to spend a little more time with her. He'll even get to sleep in the same room with her this time. It was an improvement, he thought. He'll take whatever he can get at this point. That's how desperate he was.
After grabbing a pair of new and unused PJ's and underwear from Yuzu and a futon, Ichigo returned to the room. "Asleep already?" he asked Rukia, who was already getting cozy in his bed. Ah... Ichigo turned pink, crossing his legs. Seeing her under his bedsheets... Ichigo shook his head, quickly throwing the clothes at her.
"Is something wrong?" Rukia asked, completely oblivious to the erection forming between Ichigo's legs.
"N-Nope," Ichigo lied while setting up his futon on the ground beside the bed. "Wh-what are you doing?" He jumped, seeing Rukia rustling beneath the sheets. Suddenly, something flew out from under the covers and onto the floor. His eyes narrowed down at the bra that lay on the floor; Ichigo nearly fainted.
"I'm changing underneath the covers. What else?" Rukia poked her head out of the covers, revealing bare shoulders. Ichigo grabbed his groin in pain. Rukia was doing this on purpose, he just knew it. A naked woman in his bed? Was that not an invitation!? "Oh, and earlier, I was going to say that you don't need to bring the futon out. Just sleep in bed with me."
Ichigo lost it.
"If your dad see's us like this, he'll think we aren't dating," Rukia explained.
"Oh..." Ichigo saddened a little. So that's why she was so kind today. It was because she didn't want to make Ichigo's dad worry. "Forget it, I'll just sleep down here." He threw the sheets over himself, feeling stupid because he got happy for no reason.
Rukia wasn't too dense to not realize the rainy cloud over Ichigo's head. She sighed, thinking he looked like a child throwing a tantrum. "Sleep up here with me. I want you to," she said sincerely. Ichigo looked over his shoulder to see Rukia dressed up; she looked like an eight year old.
"No thanks. I don't want to look like a pedophile- ow," Ichigo winced, feeling her throw her shoe at his head. Reluctantly, he turned off the lights and climbed into the single bed beside Rukia. She didn't seem to mind too much, but Ichigo wasn't sure how to behave.
This was the first time in a while since Ichigo was able to get this close to Rukia. "Why so tense? Never been with a woman before?" Rukia joked.
Ichigo growled at her before resting his head against his pillow. He was quite surprised that the tiny bed would fit the two of them. He could feel Rukia's warmth beneath the sheet - he could hear her breathing. Her back turned against him; he even was able to smell her strawberry scented hair. "Can I touch you?" Ichigo asked unconsciously.
Rukia frowned, turning around to look at him. The room was dark, but the moonlight allowed her to see clearly. Ichigo looked almost sad. Being like this was torture, he thought. He was so close to her yet he couldn't have her... Carefully, Rukia wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into an embrace. Ichigo's face was pushed against her small chest. He turned a bright shade of pink. Staying in that position through the whole night? Ichigo didn't mind a single thing about it.
"I've been meaning to ask," Rukia spoke quietly, almost whispering into Ichigo's ear because of how close they were, "I don't mean to impose but... what happened to your mother? If you don't want, you don't have to answer."
Strangely, Ichigo didn't feel bothered by her question. Usually when people asked about his mother, he'd instantly shut down and cut off the rest of the world. However, he felt calm around Rukia. Perhaps it was because of her soothing voice or her loving hold on him? He couldn't explain it. "She died protecting me from an accident. It was about a decade ago," he murmured against her collarbone.
"I'm sorry."
Ichigo closed his eyes, remembering his sweet mother's face. Her orange hair was just like his, except her hair was long and beautiful. Her kind eyes were always smiling and loving. Her smile too... She was saint-like and was like an angel on earth. Maybe his thinking was biased, since she was his mother, but that was how he really felt. "Her death was the reason why I ran away from home and did what I did. I blamed myself for it."
"Ah," Rukia nodded, "that's why you were so reckless. You have strange methods of facing your fears."
Ichigo glared. "What about your family? Today you found out about my family. I want to know about yours," Ichigo said.
"You don't want to know about my family. It's a boring tale."
"No, tell me," Ichigo insisted. It was only fair that he knew about Rukia too. He couldn't wait to go see her family and have them tell humiliating stories of her as well. That way, they both would be equal.
Rukia sighed, wondering where she should start. "My family is quite... prestigious. Strangely, I was adopted into that kind of family."
"You're adopted?" Ichigo asked, amazed he never knew until now. Well, how could he know? Rukia was always quiet about her life. He only knew her name and love life. That was it. Realizing how little he knew of her only made him want to know more about her.
Rukia nodded. "My brother Byakuya adopted me into the family as his sister."
"Weird... Where is he now?"
"Probably back at home. I haven't seen him in years so..."
Ichigo snorted. "So we're quite the same. Do you have any other family members?"
Rukia shook her head before gasping. "I did have this one pet bunny before - unfortunately, it ran away long ago. Byakuya never liked having pets in the house, so I've blamed the disappearance of my rabbit on him ever since," she moped, depressed at the terrible memories.
Ichigo couldn't help but think how cute she was being. He placed his palm at the top of her head, pressing his forehead against her. "I'll get you a rabbit next time, so don't make such an ugly face," he comforted.
Rukia gave a dumb look before roaring, "Who comforts a girl by calling them ugly?" She thrashed around, kicking him beneath the sheets. Ichigo caught her tiny fists, pinning her down beneath him with ease. "Oi..." Rukia threatened, "what do you think you're doing?" She glared her violet eyes at him. Even so, she still looked pretty. It was then that she saw a glint in his eyes. Her heart beat a little faster.
Rukia could see the yearning look in Ichigo; the frown he always held to ward off others eased as he caged her in. Rukia pushed back into the mattress, trying to get away from his grasp. Finally, his nose touched hers and his forehead touched hers. His fingers entwined with hers; Ichigo never closed his eyes nor took them off her. "I want you," he whispered huskily.
"Ichi-"
Rukia's lips were shut tight. Ichigo pushed his lips against hers, hungrily tasting her. 'Soft...' she thought, closing her eyes as she indulged herself in the kiss.
A/N: Please review and stay tuned for the next chapter :)
