Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach; I only own this story.
This is an alternate universe. Please Review! Thank you JadeRent and Aldo Montoya for reviewing last chapter! Edit: Fixed a couple typos.
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With Friends Like These
We are advertis'd by our loving friends.
William Shakespeare, King Henry the Sixth, Act V., Scene III
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I'd rather let hot wax drip into my eyeballs…
"—And he's quite handsome—"
…slam a hammer into my teeth…
"—Not to mention he has a great personality—"
…or jump off a ten story building with my underwear on fire…
"—So…what do you say?"
…rather than go through the hell you have planned for me.
Rukia forced her lips to curl in the biggest smile possible.
"He sounds marvelous, Nee-chan!"
Ohhh, the hell I go through for sisterly love…
Hisana Kuchiki smiled joyously at her baby sister. She had been apprehensive; Rukia didn't like interference in her social life, and could be quite cross and loud when faced with "meddling", as she put it. Hisana had been worried at Rukia's decision to talk in a public café, but so far things were going well.
"I knew he'd sound appealing to you! I'm not saying you have to see him, but when Isshin-san talked about him—"
Rukia's smile dropped like a brick. "What? You mean…you didn't actually interact with this guy? You just heard someone else talk about him?"
The older woman looked puzzled, idly stirring her tea. "Well, yes, but Isshin-san is very truthful. Why wouldn't I take his word for it?"
Because I've met him, and your doctor is a well-meaning, melodramatic nutjob. "Because, how do I put this…Kurosaki-sensei is known to exaggerate things, Nee-chan. If he thought he was a helping out a friend, wouldn't he be tempted to, eh, embellish his good qualities to get him a date?"
"Oh, it's not a friend!" Hisana beamed brightly. "It's his son!"
Rukia's forehead rammed onto the table.
"Rukia!"
"Nee-chan!" Rukia lifted her eyes pleadingly. "If the guy's his son, of course he'd try to make him look good! The kid could be a total sociopath, but his loving papa would just say he's shy and misunderstood! You're putting my life on the line here."
Hisana took her sister's hands in hers. "Rue-chan," she wheedled, "couldn't you give this guy a chance? It doesn't have to be romantic, you could just use it as a chance to leave your dorm!" She tenderly brushed Rukia's stubborn lock of dark hair off her nose. "Rue-chan, if you didn't leave your room for classes, you'd be a hermit."
"What are you talking about, I go out with friends!"
"Hoofing it to the Urahara Ramen Shop twice weekly hardly counts."
"I go with Orihime, and Tatsuki, Momo, Nanao, Rangiku…"
"And that girl Chizuru right?" Hisana pretty face frowned. "She seems nice enough, but I get bad vibes from her…"
"Don't worry, between 'Hime and Rangiku, her attention span's too full to bother with me."
"What do you mean?"
"My boobs aren't big enough."
"Rue-chan!"
"But anyway, I have dinner with you and Nii-sama on Sundays. Dinner, ramen, classes, and my part-time job—my life is teeming with activity! If I included dating, my calendar would explode, Nee-chan." Rukia glanced down at her watch. "Sorry, I have to go to my afternoon class!"
Hisana sighed, watching her sister dig out money for her tea and a tip. "Oh, don't bother, I'll get the tab. You're a poor college student, right?"
Rukia put the money down anyway. "Not as poor as some, you and Nii-sama give me a pretty nice allowance."
Hisana pushed it back. "I'll pay—and you promise me to consider Isshin-san's boy. He's your age, you know, and I'm sure you'd become friends at the very least."
Rukia smiled—genuinely this time—and squeezed Hisana's hand. "I promise, Nee-chan." She knew when to bow to the wishes of her normally undemanding sister.
It was only when Rukia walked off and turned the corner that it struck Hisana that, in her rush to tell Rukia all the Kurosaki boy's good points, she had completely forgotten to say his first name.
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Rukia felt fortunate to not only have classes that concerned subjects she enjoyed, they were classes where most of the people were friendly and amusing. Her Creative Writing class was full of people she had quickly befriended, including two of the people she "hoofed" to the Urahara Ramen Shop with.
As soon as she entered the room, filled with students jabbering away, Orihime called her over. "Rukia-chan, thank goodness you're here to back me up!"
Rukia looked at her warily as she climbed up the steps to her seat.
"Tatsuki-chan says peanut butter and string beans shouldn't be mixed, but I disagree. You have to help me make her see reason!"
Sitting beside her bubbly friend, Tatsuki shot Rukia a pleading look.
"Eh…Y'know what, I think I'll sit out on this debate, 'Hime-chan." She hoped her face wasn't turning green at the nauseating combination.
"But Rukia-chan…!"
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek
People shrieked at the excruciating squeal of nails raking the blackboard.
"Get in your seats and quit yakking, my pretty little minions," a wickedly-pleased voice reverberated. "Time is short and I'll need all the time I can get to slice and dice the drivel you cough up and dare call 'writing'."
The class gulped in unison, staring in fear and reverence at their professor, Ms. Yoruichi Shihoin. It wasn't that Yoruichi was evil; she was merely unafraid to voice her honest opinion about someone's work, whether to provide encouragement or correction. She just took sadistic pleasure in scaring the pants off her students.
"Your assignment was to write about how you see yourself in the future. Speak loudly, don't slouch, and you lose one point for each "um" that escapes your lips. Yes, I'm looking at you, Yamada-kun."
Hanataro Yamada blushed and slid down his seat.
"Ishida, you're up first, Kojima, you're on deck, Asano, you're third, and yes, I did pick random names out of a hat."
As Uryuu Ishida stepped down to present his assignment, Rukia turned to whisper to her seatmate, Hanataro. "Hey, Hanataro, do you know a Kurosaki? His dad runs the clinic in town."
"Um, no, but I've heard of him. I think his name's Ichi…Ichiro?"
"What else have you heard?"
"Well, um, he's got orange hair—"
"Orange?"
He nodded. "And he's always scowling, and he's a fantastic fighter! Um, they say he could freeze your blood with his eyes, and kick out your teeth before you could say 'Mommy!' "
Rukia laid her head on her books and groaned softly. Note to self: Tell Hisana never to believe another word out of her doctor's mouth unless it pertains to medicine.
"What's wrong?" Tatsuki twisted around in her seat at Rukia's groan.
"My sister nearly set me up to date a murderous punk."
"Huh?"
"She went for a checkup yesterday, and the doctor talked about his son, how he's a junior at Karakura University, and he's handsome and charming and smart," Rukia grumbled. "But the doc's known for his tendency to exaggerate, so the guy's probably a hunchback with the charm of a rock and possesses the intelligence of one. And now Hanataro tells me he's this monstrous brute…"
"Oh, well, remember Quasimodo! He was a wonderful hunchback!"
Tatsuki sighed. "Hime, I'm not sure mentioning Walt Disney will help. What's the guy's name?"
"Kurosaki. What?" The girls had gone silent.
"Uh, we know him, we went to high school with him in fact."
"Yes, your family only moved here the summer after we graduated, didn't you Rukia-chan? So you wouldn't know him."
"It's true he can fight; we grew up taking martial arts classes together. And wherever there was a fight, he was probably involved, but to be fair, it was other people who'd instigate it. He always caught flack 'cause of his hair. And he always scowled, which didn't exactly invite people to make friends." Tatsuki sighed. "We always had to drag him to parties, or else he'd hole up in his room to study."
"Oh yes, he's very studious," Orihime interjected. "He wasn't in any clubs, so he'd go straight home and do homework. He was always on the honor roll. And now he's studying to be a doctor! He's just here at Karakura to get basic courses out of the way and save money."
"He shouldn't be concerned about money, he's racked up enough scholarships…"
Rukia raised an eyebrow. "So…then it's true he's smart, with good work habits…but he's also unsociable, bad-tempered, and violent?"
"He's only violent when provoked!" Orihime protested.
"Are you talking about my wrath, Inoue-san?"
The quartet froze. They slowly turned and raised their eyes to see Yoruichi-sensei looming beside them, arms crossed, her eyes shining down at her students.
"You're among my best pupils, so I'll consider this as simply an aberration from your normal good behavior. But since you seem so eager to talk, why don't we cut Asano-kun a break and have you four present?"
The room heard Keigo Asano sigh loudly and aim a "Thank you!" at the group before Orihime cried "Oh, may I go first? Please!"
"Sure, take it away, Inoue-san."
The class listened in mounting confusion and shock as Orihime described how, in the future, she would be a chef serving delicious meals of varying creativity (such as string beans topped with peanut butter, cinnamon rolls topped with foie gras, broccoli and banana ice cream, and so on) to her clients.
"…And so, I very much look forward to my future."
Rukia bristled when she and the rest of the class heard Keigo sputter, unable to contain his hysterics.
"That was wonderful, Orihime," she said, staring straight at her disrespectful classmate. "You showed you have imagination by the truckload. I bet your future's bright, unlike some people who couldn't even finish their assignment and have to scribble it down while they think the teacher isn't looking."
Quiet snickers were heard as Keigo did his best to be invisible.
"Very true, Kuchiki-san." Rukia was surprised to see Yoruichi smiling at her. "Mind reading yours next?"
"My pleasure, Sensei."
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Dinner that evening was a lively affair.
Rangiku Matsumoto slammed open the door to the Urahara Ramen Shop and threw up her arms, her chest bouncing merrily. "Ohhh, Kisuke-san! Look who's back!"
"Ah, Rangiku-san! Things are always so hum-drum until you arrive. And you brought the rest of the Ramen Gang!" Kisuke Urahara swept out from behind the counter, twirling his cane jauntily. He took off his hat and bowed gallantly to the ladies.
"Tatsuki-san, Nanao-san, Chizuru-san, how wonderful to be in your presence again! Rukia-san, Orihime-san, Momo-san, your shadows darken my doorway while your faces light up my shop! Come, sit, eat, and be merry, for when you're done you must pay the tab!"
"Don't talk about the bill, just give us the grub!" Rangiku shepherded them to the counter and their usual seats. "You know our usuals, Kisuke-san!"
Rukia commented, "You know, we eat here so much he's gonna have to give us ramen on the house one of these days."
"There'll be snow in July before that happens," Tatsuki scoffed.
As they slurped through their food, Rukia told them about Hisana's matchmaking attempt.
"Kurosaki? I know him," Rangiku muttered, narrowing her eyes as she tried to remember. "He's quite handsome. He has the whole 'bad boy vibe' about him, and he's got a sense of style—he likes wearing colorful t-shirts with words artistically printed on them. All in all, I'd say he's pretty damn sexy. I heard he dated three girls at once, and they weren't the wiser 'til he broke up with them all. Why are you dragging your feet about dating him?"
Rukia stared at her. She shook her head despairingly and quipped, "I prefer to stay away from guys who might go Mr. Hyde on me, or cheat on me with various girls."
"Multiple personalities and multiple partners—you can be so discriminating with guys, Rukia-chan!"
She groaned. "What about you, Chizuru? What's your take on this guy?"
"I don't pay much attention to guys, Rukia-chan!" Chizuru sighed, as though Rukia really should have thought before asking such a question. "I have much better things to be concerned with."
She turned her gaze adoringly on Orihime, who sat innocently beside her. Her cat-eyes shaped glasses helped make her eyes look positively predatory, immediately alerting Tatsuki on Orihime's other side.
"Oh, princess, you look so precious cutely slurping your noodles like that…"
Tatsuki planted her hand in Chizuru's face before she could pounce. "Cease your perversion until dinner's done, you freak!"
"I don't know him personally, but my Shiro-chan does!" Momo pushed her bowl away and leaned toward Rukia, her dark eyes dancing. "Shiro-chan's good friends with him, but apparently he gets annoyed by Kurosaki-kun a lot too."
"Why?"
"He never calls him 'Hitsugaya', only 'Toushiro'. And Kurosaki-kun's a lot taller."
Rukia snorted and giggled. "I see, I see! Well, your boyfriend's taller than me, remind him of that next time he starts griping."
She turned to Nanao. As usual, Nanao idly picked at her bowl with her chopsticks while engrossed in a book.
"Nanao?"
Not lifting her stare from her book, Nanao pushed up her glasses and said, "Kurosaki's in my Advanced Human Anatomy course. Very intelligent, astute, quiet, and industrious. He's also a tough talker, as the rumors say. He dispatched my stalker quite nicely the other day."
"Kyouraku-kun counts as a stalker? He doesn't follow you everywhere, Nanao… Besides, you share five of the same classes, he can't help but be around you."
"His presence irks me. Kyouraku-san knows this, and disregards it. In fact, he violated my personal space."
"When he kissed your cheek that one time?"
Nanao blushed. "Shut up, Rukia."
So…he's awful-tempered and a player? Astute and quiet? I'm getting scared thinking just how much of the cons might be true and how many pros might be false. Is it worth trying to find the truth about you, Kurosaki?
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Once she said goodbye to her ragtag band of friends and had her hand kissed by Urahara as thanks for her patronage, Rukia went back to the dorm. She tugged on jeans and a purple t-shirt with Seireitei embroidered in flowing silver on the front pocket.
She looked at herself in the mirror and braced herself for the coming shift. On Friday nights, the Seireitei night club was always hopping.
When she walked through the back entrance, she immediately spotted Mizuiro Kojima and Keigo Asano talking near the door to the club proper.
"—I'm sure a lot of people found it funny how Orihime-san did the assignment, but at least they were polite enough to control their laughter!"
"I said sorry! I said sorry a thousand times to her! Come on, we've known her since freshman year of high school, she knows what a nuisance I am at times!"
"At times?" Mizuiro shook his dark head. "And you wonder why Rukia-san never consents to a date with you. It's a wonder you're not an ice sculpture from the way she looked at you."
"Help me shove him in the freezer and we may still have a chance!"
Keigo leapt a foot; Mizuiro merely turned and chuckled. "Good evening, Rukia-san!"
"'Evening, Mizuiro-kun." She glared coldly at Keigo. "'Evening, jerkwad."
"Rukia-saaaan!"
Her sudden frosty smile stopped his whine in its tracks. "Move your butt, Asano. I'm shift leader tonight. Prepare to drop dead from overwork."
Gleefully ignoring Keigo in his devastation, Rukia turned back to Mizuiro, her smile warming. "There's a bachelorette party in Private Room C, and the women are late twenties, early thirties—and all very good-looking. Why don't you serve the drinks? With your baby face, you should be raking in the tips, Ladykiller Kojima."
Mizuiro's dark eyes gleamed cunningly, shocking in contrast to his sweet face and small stature. "Will do, shift leader."
"Asano, you can take out the trash. Oh, and help Ikkaku-san and Yumichika-san haul the Johnny Walker to the storage room, we got twenty crates today."
"Oh, infinite powers of the universe, help me…."
Rukia smirked and strode off, pushing the door to the dancefloor.
The large room would have been pitch black but for the light hanging over the band stage at one end and multicolored lights sweeping periodically over the writhing mass of humanity swaying and grinding in the center. Rukia jogged to the other end of the club, vaulting nimbly over the swinging door to get behind the bar.
"Hey Renji, Tatsuki."
Tatsuki grinned, topping off a martini and handing it to a customer. "Two minutes late, shift leader. Wouldn't do to be late on one's first time as shift leader, shift leader." She whipped off the towel on her shoulder and snapped it at her friend's behind.
Renji Abarai laughed. "Can I have a sixty-minute break, shift leader? And a fifty-percent raise, shift leader?
"Watch it, minions!" Rukia giggled and turned to the next customer, a rather stern looking guy with—of all things—an old-fashioned fedora covering his head. "What's your poison, stranger?"
"Just a coke, if you don't mind."
"Sure thing. Renji, slip some ice in a glass!" She reached under the counter for a small fridge stocked with sodas and pulled out a glass Coca-Cola bottle. The customer looked on in amusement as the smaller woman popped off the metal cap using the edge of the counter.
"Glass bottles, huh?" he commented as she poured the pop into a tall glass.
"Hey, nothing but the best here, we're not one of the cheap dives. Besides, old-fashioned seems to be the theme tonight." She nodded up at his hat.
"Uh, yeah. I wanted to wear a hat, and this was all I could find."
"What, you bald?" Rukia grinned cheekily, pleased when he finally cracked a smile in return.
"Naw, but with the homework my professors are trying to choke me with, I just might lose all my hair."
Rukia glanced around, but there was were no others waiting with orders—they were all staring and rooting Tatsuki and Renji. They were causing a well-practiced and well-orchestrated scene, flinging bottles of various alcohols back and forth, making drinks the longer, but more entertaining, way.
"Hey, are you old enough to be working at the bar?
Rukia shot him a cutting look. "I'm not in junior high, if that's what you're implying."
He held up his hands in defense. "I didn't say that, I was just wondering if you were legal."
She sighed. "Sorry, it's just I sometimes get that. I'm short and…unendowed in some departments, so people assume." The fact that the counter just brushed the undersides of her breasts didn't make her feel any taller.
The stranger took a seat. "I can't see how people would think that." To his credit, his eyes didn't stray downward.
"Thanks."
A lull in the conversation passed in which they discreetly eyed each other.
"Just so I don't have to resort to calling you Bartender Girl, what's your name?"
"Rukia."
"It's nice getting my old-fashioned poison from you, Rukia. Name's Ichigo."
"Hey, Rukia-chan!"
Ichigo turned away just as Orihime bounced up to them, her arm entwined with Uryuu Ishida's.
"Two Sprites, Rukia-san," Ishida said while he pulled out his wallet.
"You're the second and third people in a row wanting sodas. What gives?"
Orihime giggled. "Uryuu's driving me back to the dorm later, and I get much too silly when I drink! Remember that one time I was drinking at Rangiku's party, and there were carrot sticks, and those rubber duckies—"
"All too well, don't make me remember!" Rukia exclaimed, waving her hands in mock horror. She started prepping their drinks. "Oh, yeah, Uryuu-kun, I ought to ask you while you're here. You heard of a Kurosaki-kun? He's a junior."
"He's an ass."
"Uryuu!" Orihime gasped at his deadpan frankness. "He's one of your best friends."
"Exactly, which puts me in a position to know he's an ass. Why do you ask, Rukia-san?"
As a few more people came up with orders for her to fill, Rukia regaled Uryuu with Hisana's matchmaking and everyone's opinions on the mysterious Kurosaki kid, from Hanataro's fearful warnings to Nanao's glowing compliments.
"…And now you're telling me he's a Grade A Ass."
"Well, that's just my opinion. You'll have to meet him in person to get an accurate measure of him for yourself. I'll say this, though; he acts like an ass toward me, but he won't tolerate anyone else doing the same."
"See! You are friends!"
"Maybe a little bit, 'Hime…"
The happy couple departed. Ichigo turned back to Rukia.
"Sorry, couldn't help but hear your interesting tale."
"Sure you couldn't."
"So…you gonna ask me?"
"About what?" Rukia started wiping down the counter with a rag.
"This Kurosaki guy."
She rolled her eyes and tossed the rag to the side. "Why not? It feels like I've asked everybody and their uncle about him."
"Well…" Ichigo sipped pensively at his coke. "It's true he's a bit rough around the edges. He doesn't like to start fights, but if it's to defend himself or someone else, he'll sure as hell end it. He's not a violent psycho like you're imagining him to be," he said with a small grin.
She made a face. "A girl can't be too careful!"
"And it's true he's pretty smart," Ichigo continued, "since he's got scholarships and crap. Got common sense too, but that's when he's not going on instincts. He'd do anything for his friends and family, love and loyalty and all that."
"So, the stuff I heard about him dating three girls at once—"
"Is absolute bull. He's not one for chasing girls; he's more the type to blush like a sunburned tomato if a girl ever came after him." Ichigo leaned in slightly, eyes on hers. "And you know what?" he whispered.
Rukia leaned in slightly herself and whispered, "What?"
"He's a guy to be pitied."
"Huh?"
"With the friends he's got, telling wild descriptions of him, who needs enemies?"
She burst out laughing. "You've got a point!"
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They stayed like that for three solid hours. While Rukia mixed drinks for customers, Ichigo chatted with her about their professors and classes, the national news, part-time jobs, the best food joints in town ("Urahara Ramen Shop, hands down!" "Yeah, but the guy who runs that place is kinda weird.") and the wild antics of Rukia's friends ("You seriously call yourselves the 'Ramen Gang'?")
I feel like I've known him forever.
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The pattern continued the next Friday...
And the next…
And when Rukia came to work on the fourth Friday, she was literally running to get to the club, not caring that most people would think her crazy for being enthralled with a guy she chatted with but once a week.
She stuttered to a stop when she saw that Ichigo was already at what had become "his" bar stool, and gave herself a quick perusal. It wouldn't do to look rushed and eager, she had to give off the impression of coolness and dignity.
"Happy to see me, Fedora Boy?"
Ichigo smiled as she jumped over the bar door (how did she jump so high?) and slapped down his money.
"Sure I am, Bartender Girl, I don't trust anyone else to give me an old-fashioned coke."
She mock pouted. "You just want me for my soda."
"Damn straight."
"Finals are coming up. Choking on the homework yet? What are you studying to be, anyway? I can't believe I haven't asked that yet."
"I know they are, when am I not choking is the real question, and a doctor."
"You're in for more school years than the rest of us then. God, I can't even imagine putting up with it."
"Yeah, sometimes I wanna cop out and become a dentist."
Rukia gasped. "Dentists are serious medical professionals, Ichigo!" She wagged her finger teasingly before his face. "Without them you wouldn't own pearly whites, just dentures to stick on your gums."
"My pearly whites are just fine. See?" Without warning he snapped at her finger, catching it gently in his teeth.
Rukia gave a small shriek and shoved his shoulder. "You're such a flirt!"
Ichigo released her finger and winked. "Only with you."
Two hours sped by with similar banter. Rukia's mind told her it was nice to have such silly talk with a guy, but her hormones whispered, Is this flirting? Even if he isn't, you are!
Finally, Tatsuki came up and bumped her hip with Rukia's to call the engrossed pair back to Earth. Neither noticed Ichigo averting his face once again. "Take thirty, shift leader. Ikkaku and Yumichika said they'd watch the bar for us." She bent to hiss in Rukia's ear, "Go enjoy it with your lover boy."
"He's just a friend!"
"Friends don't nip fingers and flash bedroom eyes!"
Rukia stripped off her apron and vaulted over the barricade once more. "Wanna do something, Ichigo? I've got a half-hour to kill."
"You've been on your feet a while now, Rukia. Sure you don't wanna rest?"
"Hey, I'm still spry and chipper. Don't act like an old man, Ichigo!"
Funny, how it never occurred to them to use honorifics.
Ichigo slid off his stool and looked around. "Ah…We're at a dance club…You wanna dance?"
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It was awkward at first. After seeing that most of the dancers executing provocative, sweaty, grinding moves with each other were concentrated at the middle of dance floor and near the stage, they silently agreed to stay at the crowd's fringe.
Rukia was unsure what to do. Should she move her hips a bit? Sway her arms to the beat of the rock song the band was pounding out? She didn't have to decide—Ichigo put one hand low on her waist and hesitantly lifted her hand in his other one.
"We had dance class in gym once in seventh grade," he muttered sheepishly. "Hope you're okay with this, 'cause it's all I know how to do."
She put her free hand on his shoulder. "Uh, yeah, it's fine…"
Ichigo started guiding them around the small area between the dancefloor and the tables, their dancing form totally unsuited to the squeals of the electric guitar.
Rukia spotted Renji and Tatsuki swaying a few feet away. Their bellies were pressed together; Renji's arms were crossed behind Tatsuki's back, his head dipped to her neck. Tatsuki's hands lovingly cupped the back of his head; she was laughing at Renji's obvious kisses.
A streak of envy flashed through her. What she wouldn't give to have someone to dance with like that.
Rukia jumped as her partner's lips tickled her ear. "Ah, so you do want to dance that way."
Ichigo dropped her arm and placed both his palms higher on her sides. Rukia gripped his biceps and lifted onto her toe tips, her breath hitching as their middles rubbed together. His dark red dress shirt was unbuttoned; daringly, she slipped her hands into it, trailing them up his back, covered by the black tee he wore underneath.
But still…it was so wickedly intimate.
The band was playing so loudly, each beat of the drums echoed in their chests, summoning something primal. Ichigo grinned and slipped his fingers up the back of her t-shirt, warming the small of her back with his large hands. Rukia in turn grew bolder and bent backwards at the waist, swinging down, around, and up like a pendulum. Ichigo's eyes—that beautiful golden brown—trailed over her mussed hair and glowing face.
Her mouth turned dry. No one's ever looked at me like that.
He tugged her closer, her soft chest cushioning his lightly muscled one.
Keep looking at me like that. With want. With desire.
"We gotta get out of here, Rukia."
She nodded; there was no way they could continue like this with an audience. She tugged him back to the bar and led him to a door marked "Break Room". She pushed him in and locked the door.
Immediately, he pounced on her and hauled her atop the table in the room's center.
"Listen, I have to tell you something—"
"You don't go this fast with girls?" she said with a smile.
"That, and…" Ichigo took off the fedora.
His hair was orange. Dark, sunset orange.
Her violet eyes took in the shade, and his tight, apprehensive expression.
The blood in her veins, which had hummed in excitement a minute before, turned cold in shock.
"Ichigo…Kurosaki?"
Ichigo nodded. "Yeah."
She looked down. "Well…don't I feel embarrassed."
He pressed his forehead to hers. "Don't be. It's unfair to you, 'cause you've only just heard about me, but it feels like I've known you for a long time. Nanao Ise mentions you in class, despairingly, as her friend who has the brains to become a doctor but not the will. And Keigo, whining on and on about the Ice Princess who's too wise to give him the time of day. Orihime and Uryuu think the world of you—they loved how you set Keigo in his place the other day. And Dad…he yammered for hours about how I should go out with his patient's sister, 'cause she's so beautiful and smart as a whip and her smiles rival my mom's."
Rukia felt her face warming. She pulled in a breath. "…Tatsuki said that normally you don't do parties and the like. Is that why you've been coming here? To see the girl your dad's been badgering you about?"
"Yeah. And lemme tell you, this might the best thing he's ever done for me." He cupped her face tenderly. "Not that you'll ever catch me telling him."
They gazed at each other quietly. Rukia reached up and tangled her fingers in his blazing hair, laughing softly. "Are you mad that I've had this extremely distorted picture of you in my head for a while?"
Ichigo chuckled, wrapping her in his strong arms. "Naw, I blame my so-called friends and acquaintances for that. What I'm most concerned about is: what do you think of me now that you know me in person?"
"Amazed that for once, Kurosaki-sensei wasn't exaggerating." She sweetly pecked his chin. "If you won't thank him, I will!"
"You're not mad that I didn't tell you who I was?"
"I ought to be. But if you'd told me who you were in the first place, I'd have made Renji or Tatsuki switch sides with me to avoid you. And that would've been tragic." She kissed both his cheeks.
"Rukia…"
"Hmm?"
He slowly leaned into her, easing her onto the table. "I want you to know I don't normally kiss girls on the first date, much less ones I haven't taken on a proper date yet."
"Well, if we count this as the fourth date, not only do we qualify for a kiss, but multiple kisses. Right?"
His warm mouth covering hers provided an eloquent yes. He went in for the kill, his tongue swiping against hers, drawing out a contented moan. With a gasp he pulled away and checked his watch.
"Ten minutes before your break's over."
"Dammit." Rukia eyed him. "You good enough to make ten minutes last forever?"
He smiled hungrily and nipped at her warm neck. "First time for everything."
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Tatsuki stared at them when they came back to the bar.
"Ichigo? Rukia's mysterious paramour is Ichigo?!"
Ichigo shrugged and put his hat back on. "Hey Tatsuki. And yeah, I was kinda surprised you didn't figure it out. I had my hair covered, but I thought you might've glimpsed my face once."
"But—it's dark—and—you—I didn't expect—" She caught sight of Rukia with her mussed hair and flushed face, and her t-shirt completely untucked.
Her expression was reminiscent of a mother bear. "Ichigo, you idiot, what did you do to her!"
"Nothing I didn't want done!" Rukia burst.
"You didn't—"
"Of course not! We just kissed…thoroughly…and a lot." Rukia slipped her hand into Ichigo's and blushed more.
"Tatsuki, you know me, I'd never do anything like that!"
"Well, the Ichigo I know doesn't do random makeout sessions either!"
He grinned. "Take it as a sign of more good changes to come."
"Tatsuki, is there any way I can get off early? We'd like to have a late night dinner someplace."
She grumbled and ran her hand through her short black hair. "I'll tell the manager you caught a bug."
"Will that excuse fly?"
"As long as I don't tell 'em it's the love bug, I don't see why not." Tatsuki turned to her childhood friend. "Rukia's room mate is Nanao. If I call her in two hours and she says Rukia's not home, your ass is mine, Kurosaki!"
"Sure thing, Tatsuki."
Rukia laughed and walked out of Seireitei with Ichigo. She pulled out her cell phone.
"Hey, Nanao? It's me. If Tatsuki calls in two hours, say I'm home. No, I plan on staying out all night. With who?" She glanced slyly up at her lover. "Ichigo Kurosaki. We decided to have our first official date now. Yes, I'm serious, I'll explain later. Bye!"
Ichigo looked at her in amusement. "So, what are we planning to do the whole night?"
"I dunno. There are late night cafes, and parks we could walk around in. I don't really care; I just know that I don't want to part from you any time soon."
He bent to kiss her once more. "Me neither."
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Later that morning, Isshin Kurosaki was surprised when the phone rang two minutes after he entered the back door to the clinic.
"Kurosaki Clinic, Dr. Kurosaki speaking."
"Isshin-san!"
"Hisana-san?"
"Go to your door right now!"
Taking the cordless phone with him, Isshin stumbled to the front door just in time to see a delivery truck drive off, leaving a large arrangement of flowers on the step.
"Did you get one too?"
Isshin sat on the step, balancing the flowers on one hand. "Uh, yes, a bunch of blue flowers…?"
"They're blue Canterbury Bells!"
"Should that be significant to me?"
"Yes! In the language of flowers, they mean gratitude! I got a bouquet of them from Ichigo-kun!"
"Why would he—wait, there's a card."
Dear Kurosaki-sensei
Thank you for meddling in Ichigo's social life. It's early days yet, but I can't see myself letting him go anytime soon!
With immense gratitude,
Rukia Kuchiki
"WAH-HOOO!! GRANDFATHERHOOD, HERE I COME!!"
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Important Information! Please Read!
Sheherazade's Blah Blah Blah
Hullo! If you are reading this, Thank You for reading all that is above! Goodness, it's long, but it didn't feel right to cut it and post parts separately.
So yes, this hit me quite randomly. I was looking through some Shakespeare quotes I'd collected that I thought might make good Ichiruki pieces, and the one about 'loving friends' jumped at me for some reason. I thought of Rukia and Hisana, and things just sorta flowed from there.
Also, I'm quite happy to say I don't drink, being underage and all that, so if anything about the bar scene is incorrect, it's from lack of knowledge, not sloppiness. I remembered Mizuiro had a thing for older ladies, so I thought it'd be amusing to incorporate that into this AU. And finally, I got the idea of the 'future' writing assignment from early in the Bleach series (can't remember which volume) where Orihime did an art project on the same theme and drew herself as a robot with missiles shooting out of her. I wrote a similar story in this oneshot, but pared it down to her being a crazy chef. Gosh, I love that girl!
Thank you very much for reading this! Please review, they absolutely make my day!