Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or the characters! Thanks to CrystalRaindrop007 for Beta'ing!
If you slip . . . I'll catch you. And if you fall, I'll help you stand. Trust me. Trust me, and let go . . .
Before The Rain — XII
Rukia blinked her eyes a few times before lifting her head off of the dark blue blanket that was currently covering Ichigo. Yawning loudly and stretching her arms over her head, Rukia smiled when she reached out to grip Ichigo's hand again. He still had yet to wake up after his fight with Renji, and she had been sitting at his bedside for almost six hours now; she hadn't left once.
"Hey, Ichigo, when are you going to wake up?" Rukia said softly, reaching out her free hand to gently touch his face. Her violet eyes half closed as she sighed, letting her hand drop back to her side. "Wake up soon, please."
He still didn't answer her.
Yawning again, Rukia climbed off of the chair she was sitting on and pulled Ichigo's blanket to the side, sliding into the bed next to him and cuddling to his side. She breathed in deeply of his scent before closing her eyes and resting her head on his chest.
So tired . . .
"What do you think the chances that whatever she's doing in there could be used as blackmail?" Hinamori asked, swinging her feet back and forth on the couch. Hitsugaya, who was sitting next to her, rolled his eyes.
"Why do you care so much?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "Do you really like poking into your cousin's personal life?"
"Yes!"
Ever since Hinamori had been spending the week with Rukia, she had become more open and hyper.
Or was that the mass amounts of tea she had consumed that morning?
Either way, her answer was more enthusiatic that he had imagined, and as he dropped his head back and sighed, he wondered what in the world ever made him love this girl so much.
"Is he awake?"
Rukia, who was awake now, but still hadn't moved from Ichigo's side, snapped her gaze up to meet her brothers, who was standing in the doorway. She quickly sat up, letting the blanket fall from her thin body. Blushing, she shook her head. Byakuya nodded, and the awkward silence that came afterward lasted only until they heard a light moaning coming from the bed beside Rukia.
" 'The hell happened?"
Rukia turned around to see Ichigo rubbing his orange head and trying to sit up in bed. She frowned and shoved him back down gently.
"Stay still, Ichigo. You were hurt."
"I'm fine. I don't know how, though," Ichigo said, frowning and putting his hand to his stomach. However, his eyes went wide when they landed on the scar in his thumb; it was still glowing light red. "Huh? What the-"
"I don't know," Rukia said, holding out her own hand, in which her scar was glowing, too. "It's been doing that since this morning when . . . " she trailed off and clenched her fingers closed. Ichigo frowned and reached his finger up to his face.
"Huh. Why does mine look funny? I clearly remember cutting it so it was only a line."
Rukia reached over and took his hand into hers, her eyes going wide when she saw the pattern. It was different from hers; instead of it being a line with flowers and vine's twisting down it, it was the same line with a phoenix half wrapped around it. The Phoenix's tail was on one side of the pole while it's body was on the other side.
"I didn't see that there yesterday," Rukia said, frowning as she ran her own fingers over the scar.
"I saw it earlier," Byakuya said, walking over. "It must have happened last night or this morning."
"Last night probably," Ichigo said, not realizing that he was speaking in front of Byakuya. "I saw both mine and yours glowing," he pointed out to Rukia, still staring intently at his finger, shaking every now and then, as if this action would make it do something impressive, like dance.
"Last night?" Byakuya said, an edge to his voice as he raised his eyebrows.
If it was possible, Ichigo blushed deeper than the shade of Rukia's red sweater. Whoops. Ichigo dropped his head in his hands, sighing. Rule number one of having a girlfriend; don't ever make references to your first time around big, powerful older brothers.
"I heard Renji speaking this morning," Byakuya continued.
Ichigo winced. He then said,
"Um . . Kuchiki-sama, could I have a moment with Rukia? Alone? I need to talk to her about something."
Byakuya didn't say anything as he nodded and walked out of the room. Rukia, who was still sitting on the edge of Ichigo's blanket, bit her lip while waiting for Ichigo to start speaking.
He moved his hand to cup her cheek and gently rubbed his thumb back and forth as he murmured,
"Last night . . . it wasn't a mistake . . . Right?"
Rukia leaned forward and captured his lips with hers, gently pushing her tongue inside his mouth and quickly kissing him before pulling back.
"No."
He smiled and wrapped his arms around her neck and pulled her closer to kiss her again. She sighed into the kiss, but broke it before things could go too far. Her brother was right outside the door, and probably, if she guessed right, her cousin, who was hyper from lots and lots of sugar in her tea that morning.
"Good. And sorry I hurt you last night," he whispered, burying his face in her neck as he pulled her close. Rukia muttered something that he didn't hear. Pulling back, he looked into her eyes as he asked her what she'd said.
She kissed him on the lips and dropped off of the bed, whispering in his ear, "It didn't hurt for long. Besides . . . it felt wonderful."
Ichigo smiled a crooked smile as he watched her walk over to the door, opening it and telling her brother that they were done talking. All traces of the huskiness that had been in her voice were gone. Byakuya walked back in and raised his eyebrow as Rukia climbed back onto the bed beside Ichigo. He sat down on the chair that Rukia had been sitting in hours ago, and faced both Ichigo and Rukia, who were sitting side-by-side on the bed.
"Kurosaki," Byakuya began, getting the teenager's attention. Ichigo turned his gaze on the older man. Byakuya continued, "I know that my sister was with you last night. I know that you love each other, and there might actually be a way you can stay together."
Ichigo's eyes snapped up.
"What?" he asked, trying not to let the hope in his eyes show. Byakuya sighed.
"I have to start at the beginning. Rukia . . . this concerns you. Do you want to be alone when I tell you?" he asked, nodding his toward to Ichigo. Rukia shook her head and gripped onto his Ichigo's arm tightly.
"No, I want Ichigo here with me," she said firmly. Byakuya nodded.
"Very well. I'll start with the day I first met her. The day I first met Hisana was when she came to my door, asking for a place to stay. Mother and father were still here, and I was almost sixteen when it happened, and, like you, I was to be married on my sixteenth birthday. I still had a month to choose a partner, and while Hisana was here, we spent a lot of time together, and one day, not quite sure why I had even done it, I asked her to marry me. She said yes and we were married. I broke too many rules to count by marrying her. Then, it was about a month after our marriage that she told me about you."
"Is Rukia your . . ." Ichigo began, but didn't finished his question; Byakuya understood what he was asking.
"No. She is not my daughter."
It finally hit Rukia what Byakuya had said.
"She told . . . wait, I'm your sister!" Rukia said, gripping Ichigo's hand tighter in hers. He looked down at her with sad eyes. He understood what Byakuya was saying, so, instead of letting Rukia respond again, Ichigo said,
"She was adopted."
Byakuya nodded.
"Rukia . . . you were Hisana's sister. When she was fourteen, both her parents died, leaving a newborn baby with her. She took care of you as long as she possibly could, but one day, she couldn't do anything else for you and left you in the middle of a big town, where you were sure to be found and taken care of. She ran away in order to save you."
"I'm . . ." But Rukia couldn't say anything else. Seeing that she was on the verge of tears, Ichigo leaned over and took her into his arms. She rested her head on his chest and clenched her fists tightly, trying to hold in tears. She said, "Mom . . . she wasn't . . . my mother?"
Byakuya looked down sadly. He shook his head.
"Right before Hisana came into my life, mom had found out that she couldn't have anymore children. So, when Hisana asked for me to help find you, mother said that if I did, you would have a life with us."
"When . . . when did you find me?" Rukia asked, her voice still shaking.
"I found you when you were two. By the time I had, Hisana was deathly ill . . ." Byakuya trailed off, still looking down at the ground; it was appearentally still hard for him. "Hisana . . . all she wanted was to see you, and to know you would have the life she had always dreamed of you having before she died. She never got that chance. And . . . when I found you, I found Renji also; he was four, and I set him up with one of the families around here, as my mother didn't want a third child. But we adopted you into our family; by that time, father was dead. But adopting you was against the rules, and it got mother in a lot of trouble. I swore on my father's grave that I would never break the rules again."
"And letting me be with Rukia would be breaking the rules, right?" Ichigo asked, gently running his fingers through Rukia's hair as she continued to shake in his embrace, not quite believing everything that was being said.
"Yes."
"What happened after that?" Ichigo asked quietly.
Byakuya continued,
"After that, mother raised Rukia like the daughter she never had, and we both agreed that we would never tell her. But then, when you were about four, mother fell ill with the same sickness that killed Hisana. When she died, you were too broken that I couldn't bare to do anything but raise you the best I could. You loved mother so much, you followed her everywhere and did everything with her. I never wanted to tell you any of this."
"Thank you, Nii-sama," Rukia said, gently pulling out of Ichigo's embrace. "But it doesn't matter; I will always think of mom as mom, please, let me."
Byakuya nodded.
"Yes, of course. Just because I have told you everything, I do not wish for you to believe that we were not your family."
They were all three silent until Byakuya continued again.
"Rukia . . . there is a way you and Ichigo can be together."
"How?" Rukia asked, her violet eyes meeting her brothers.
"Since you were adopted, you are not related to the noble family by blood. You could marry Ichigo; you would get banished from the throne now or at any future time and you would most likely have to leave this house and live in one of the villages. You'd be breaking about fifty different rules, but if you truly love him like I loved Hisana, you would be willing to do that."
Ichigo didn't speak as he watched the emotions flicker across Rukia's face. She needed to decide this on her own. She needed to know, for herself, that she loved him enough to give away the place and people she had called home for so long.
Slowly, Rukia nodded. She looked up at Ichigo and said,
"I'll do anything."
Ichigo would have kissed her, but that would have been awkward with Byakuya in the room.
"Very well. Now, I must insist that, while you're staying here, Kurosaki, that you and Rukia maintain separate rooms."
They both blushed.
"Hey, Rukia, can I talk with Yuzu?" Ichigo asked, taking her hand as they walked along. Rukia nodded, then said,
"Yeah. I'd think it best we tell her about, you know, us, too."
Ichigo nodded and Rukia led him to the kitchen. As they walked along, Ichigo began to wonder exactly why Byakuya was letting him stay in the castle anyway; he was a slave. But Byakuya had informed the guards that Ichigo had been removed from active duty due to unforeseeable reasons. Reasons: He's marrying a noble.
But he doubted that Byakuya had included that part, and he had a feeling that Rukia had something to do with his staying in the castle, because, while he had been sleeping, he had been awake enough at one point to hear a slightly heated conversation between her and Byakuya about his sleeping arrangements.
"Hey, Yuzu, someone's here to see you," Rukia said softly, letting go of Ichigo's hand to walk in the kitchen before him. Soon, the little girl bounced up to Ichigo and hugged him, hauling him inside and asking him if he wanted some tea.
"With lots of sugar?" Ichigo asked, still holding her small hand in his.
"Yeah!"
They both giggled, and as Ichigo began dumping many spoonfuls of sugar into his tea, Rukia walked over to Orihime and poked her from behind. The two girls started talking, and when Ichigo heard Rukia say 'Ishida', he told his sister he would be right back, and walked over to them.
"Hey, do you mean Uryuu? Ishida Uryuu?"
Orihime nodded happily, though blushing as she stared at Ichigo's face.
"Yeah, I bring him and the other workers lunch everyday!"
"Ah. So, you must be Orihime. He mentioned you."
Orihime blushed deeper and turned away, nodding her head. Ichigo raised his eyebrows, then turned to Rukia. She shrugged, smiling, as she poked him in the chest.
"Go talk to your sister, she hasn't seen you but a few times in five years."
Ichigo smiled and reached out to grab her hand. He nodded his head toward Yuzu.
"Come with me."
Rukia nodded and allowed herself to be hauled over to where Yuzu was inspecting Ichigo's cup with raised eyebrows.
"How much sugar did you put in there?" Yuzu asked, holding it up under his nose. He shrugged.
"Thirteen spoonfuls. Why?"
Both Rukia and Yuzu gaped at him. He shrugged and began sipping it. He smiled.
"I haven't had tea, or much sugar, for that matter, in months. So . . . I like to have a lot of sugar when I can."
Rukia stick out her tongue at the tea. Ichigo stuck his tongue out at her, and then the tea spilled. However, it did not spread across the floor. It just sat there in a sugary lump. Yuzu and Rukia started laughing, and soon, Ichigo was laughing with them. Even Orihime and Ururu, who were washing dishes on the other side of the room, smiled.
Then, Yuzu noticed that Ichigo was still holding Rukia's hand.
"Brother?" she asked, staring at their entwined fingers. Rukia blushed a little and moved closer to Ichigo, who wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Yuzu continued, "Did you finally get a girlfriend?"
"Yeah, you could say that."
"Well, you don't have to put it that way," Rukia said, sending Ichigo a mini-glare. He stuck his tongue out at her.
Yuzu laughed and began scraping the sugar . . . tea? . . . off of the floor.
Again, the thirteen spoonfuls of sugar comes from Trinity Blood. And I hope you liked this chapter. I had to calm it down for a bit for Byakuya to tell them about Hisana and how they could be together.
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