Breath of Life
~Twisting the Fate Line~
"Should I think of him as being the real Kaien or not though?"
Ichigo's words caused Rukia to take a deep breath as she hadn't wanted to think about that. It was bad enough that she was having to deal with the idea that a man she had seen die twice was right there in front of her eyes. She folded her arms across her chest and directed her eyes towards the ground. "I don't know. I don't want to think about it really."
"So... what can you tell me about my uncle?" The orange haired teen's words caused the girl to suddenly glare at him.
"Could you not call him your uncle until we prove that he is in fact your uncle?" Rukia frowned at him.
"And what else am I supposed to call him." One of Ichigo's hand's reached up to scratch his head. "Come on, if he really is family I want to know more about him. I obviously can't ask him."
The small female stretched her fingers out in front of her. "There isn't much to tell."
"The fact you are avoiding the subject makes me wonder if you have a crush on him or something." The next thing Ichigo knew an eraser was flying right at his forehead and knocking him back onto the bed. He sat up slightly and clutched his head. "What the hell was that for?"
"I do not have a crush on Kaien-dono!"
"Could have fooled me. Your face is turning red and you're getting mad at me." The boy sat up and leaned forward while continuing to glare at the girl.
"Your idea is just sick!" Rukia snapped the words out.
"Why? It isn't as if he is married, right?" Ichigo's mouth remained open as he took in the nasty look directed at him."
"Kaien-dono is... was married." The small female found herself glancing at the ground. "She died right before he did."
"So... are you saying you don't have a crush on him because he is, was married?" The orange haired teen pointed his finger at her.
Rukia closed her eyes and shook her head. "You are such a moron. Kaien-dono and his wife... I looked up to both of them while they were alive. Kaien-dono taught me how to use my zampaktuo and his wife was the person I wished most to emulate. They were my mentors."
Ichigo remained silent and folded his arms across his chest. "Why then did your face turn red when Yuzu said that you and I were boyfriend and girlfriend? I mean, we aren't..." The boy paused as he watched Rukia's face turn red in the face. "... seriously. What is the matter with you?"
"I don't want to pretend to be your girlfriend in front of Kaien-dono!" The words came out of Rukia's mouth. "I mean, I don't have those kind of feelings for you. Ha... ha... ha. Ha... ha... ha."
"Your laughter is creepy. I can explain things to him later on. I mean, it isn't the first time Yuzu's decided to play match maker. It was really funny when she decided that Toshiro and Karin were boyfriend and girlfriend." Ichigo watched as Rukia suddenly fell out of the chair thinking.
"Hitsugaya Taicho!" The female couldn't get the words out.
An orange eyebrow raised up. "That's more normal laughter. But it gets better. Karin had invited him over for dinner and I was busy reading the newspaper. I knew they weren't dating, but Yuzu kept pestering them and Karin asks me to tell Yuzu that I'm friends with Toshiro as well. I turn around and ask him what the hell he was doing."
Rukia's laughter continued and finally she pulled herself into the chair. "You told a taicho... oh my gosh. Why did you do something like that?"
"Because Toshiro is a kid."
"No. Well, I mean he is a kid which is why the idea of him dating Karin is laughable. It goes right over his head." The small female shook her head. "But really..."
"His reaction was so worth it." Ichigo laughed.
"It was mean though. I mean, he doesn't have a crush on her. He told me they were just friends." Rukia shook her head.
"I don't know..." The boy frowned at the small female shinigami. "One of the reasons I teased him was because I figured he did have a crush on her."
"That's also mean. You don't know Hitsugaya Taicho enough to make that kind of judgment."
"Perhaps it is a good time to change the subject."
The small female stood up. "I need to be getting to Orihime's place as it is getting late. I'll meet up with you at Urahara's shop to discuss where we'll go from here."
M
Rukia went over to Orihime's apartment and knocked on the door. The door opened up and the orange haired female stuck her head out with a toothbrush still in her mouth. She spoke through a mouth full of toothbrush suds. "Oh, Rukia. Are you in need of a place to stay?"
"Thank you so much Orihime." The small female slipped into the room and eventually she bedded down for bed. However, she couldn't find herself sleeping and got up in the morning and headed towards the shop. She found Ichigo there already in his soul form. "What exactly are you planning on doing?"
"I'm going to go to Soul Society to ask Kukaku myself."
"Are you crazy!" Rukia shook her head at him. "And anyways, I am supposed to be figuring out what is going on here in the world of the living that caused such a problem."
"Think of something." Ichigo let out a deep sigh.
The small female opened up her phone and clicked a few buttons. "Ahh. Hello Hitsugaya Taicho. I need to head back to Soul Society for a couple of hours to do something important." There was a pause. "Does it relate to the mission?" Rukia pushed her lips together. "No, it is something I forgot to do before I left and I really need to get it done." She then blinked a couple of times. "Oh..."
She then hung up her phone. "Well that may be a bigger problem."
"Why? What is going on?" Ichigo frowned at her.
"Hitsugaya Taicho apparently spoke with the head captain about a certain issue and he's been cleared to come himself. He had been planning on coming himself anyways, so I can take a few hours out and then come back."
"That... felt too easy."
"Well, there is a chance now that a second person can now find out." Rukia frowned at him. "But we really can't do anything about that now can we?"
"No... wish we could. I trust Toshiro though not to do anything stupid."
