I am soo sorry it took so long to update! I am posting this a bit rushed, so I will leave it at that. One more thing, Thank you all for Reveiwing!
Ichigo inched out of his room and glanced down the hall. Seeing it vacant the young man took off at a sprint, diving out of the open window across the hall and doing into a freefall towards the ground.
Immediately the humidity enriched air swaddled him, turning his skin to syrup and making his clothes stick to his body. He hit the ground with a jolt that rattled his teeth and made his muscles ache and tense slightly.
Ichigo slowly ascended from his crouch and took a tentative step forwards, testing his capabilities after the normally suicidal stunt. A low growl of annoyance broke the silence as his muscles cramped, and he cursed under his breath. "Damn it… Thirteen years of no action and this is what happens, eh? Well, guess I am going to have to call Kenpachi, hell I am going to Renji and Grimmjow too. It almost makes me long for the war."
He shook his head in annoyance and then, with one final curse, he leapt forward into the night.
Rukia glanced up from the grass as a shadowed body approached. Though it was only five the night was already falling, though it was probably aided by the simmering black thunderclouds swirling above.
A smirk graced her lips as Ichigo stumbled into the light, muttering something about 'the goddamned school' and 'going soft'. He sighed as the light broke across his face, glancing up at her with his dark amber eyes. A smile made his lips twitch upwards and he made his way across the clearing that separated them, sinking to the ground with a thud at her feet.
"Ugh… all this immaturity has made me go weak. I never thought I would say this, but… someone go call Kenpachi for me!"
"Fool… you could never go weak. I am sure you could try but you would never succeed. There is too much power in you for that to happen!" She poked him in the chest sharply and he coughed, batting her hand away playfully.
"So you say, midget, so you say. You are not the one who had a thirteen year long vacation, though, were you? I was looking forward to kicking some ass when I got here." Rukia raised an eyebrow at his teasing tone, and responded in kind.
"Ahh, is Ichigo bored? Did life bore you? I am sorry; do you want me to kiss it better?"
Ichigo grinned, "Well, of you insist." He leaned forward and plopped his head down in her lap, staring at her with puckered lips.
Rukia's eyes widened and she slapped the top of his head, forcing him to turn it to the side. "Ichigo!" His chuckle sent vibrations traveling up through her leg, making her shudder slightly.
"What? You offered." She narrowed her eyes at him, annoyed by his innocent reply, and slapped his head again, though this time more playfully.
"Idiot." Ichigo pulled his head out of the crook of her leg, where he turned it to hide from her previous assault.
"What is this? You don't want to kiss me?" The fake despair in his voice made Rukia giggle.
"Not now, not ever Strawberry. Go find someone else if you want that kind of action; I would happily fight you, though." He sighed in forged resignation.
"Very well, midget. If that is your wish I will respect it." He stared at her solemnly for a moment, trying to stay in whatever character he had made up. Rukia met his gaze with an arched eyebrow and after a few moments his lips began to twitch. Suddenly they both burst out laughing, their bodies shaking with the force of their mirth.
Their laughter filled the silence, seeming to brighten the dying sun and making the previously tense atmosphere noticeably lighter. As the sound died out, returning to the night the fragile stillness that reigned supreme, the two did nothing but bask in each other's company, staring up at the steadily awakening stars. As the minutes wore on in silence Rukia began to twine her fingers in Ichigo's hair, fondling it idly as her eyes scanned the heavens.
Ichigo's eyes widened, but he made no move to stop her. A soft sigh escaped his lips and he leaned back into the embrace, a contented smile tugging at the corners of his lips. Finally, Rukia's voice broke the silence.
"So, what has happened since yo- since that night?" They both winced at the implications of her words, the silent referral to the unmentionable moment. Ichigo's eyes grew hazy and distant as his life flashed before his eyes.
"Not much, at least not much that is very important. Somehow I made it through high school unscathed and in the top twenty percent in the school, the top ten in the state, and the top five percent in the country. Although I most likely have Aizen to thank for that…" The last few words escaped his lips were bitter, scathing and full of hatred. Unbidden, Rukia's fingers tugged at his hair slightly.
"Ichigo…" He shook his head sharply and cut her off, his powerful baritone overtaking her own soprano.
"No, it isn't your fault it's just… I don't regret it, is saved your life and all three of dimensions but I still wonder sometimes, what would've happened if I didn't have to lose my power to do so. Where I would be," He sighed, but forced a smile through his despair. "Anyway, the past is the past. It doesn't matter anymore. But anyway; I left Karakura for college in Tokyo on a full scholarship. I majored Biology and Japanese history." A genuine smile played on his lips. "I figured out who Yamamoto-ossan was while he was alive. The damn man just can't keep a low profile, can he?"
Rukia whacked him over the head, snapping his neck to the side and causing him to scowl at her. "What? It's true! He was an old Japanese emperor named Koan, and I mean an old one. Somehow a few paintings and drawings of him sneaked through the hands of time and wound up in the university. Imagine the looks I got when I saw it. I all but screamed, 'What the hell' in the middle of a lecture, nearly got thrown out. I was lucky that was the first thing out of my mouth, I very nearly added 'ossan' to the end of that." Rukia shook her head at him, but raised her hand to her mouth to stifle a giggle.
"Well, on with the story: it took eight years for me to graduate with my doctorate; normally it would take longer but I knew a lot since I grew up in a clinic. After that I went home and enlisted in Uryuu's hospital as a surgeon and oncologist, helping to study and treat cancer. I spent about two years doing that, before I was diagnosed with it myself. You know the rest." He shot her a meaningful glance, and Rukia shrugged before she began to answer the unspoken question.
"I haven't done much, just train and fill out paperwork. It has been really slow here since the war ended… I guess we all got used to the constant fighting and adapted to it, because we were all really jumpy for a while there; actually all of us still are. I don't think those reflexes will ever go away. It scares a lot of the new recruits, and even some of the officers, because they come up behind us or we don't notice them approach and when they say something we automatically pull our blades on them." She smiled and laughed softly, shaking her head.
"I have spent a lot of time with Sode no Shirayuki, whether talking or training. You don't see many captains or vice-captains without their zanpakuto; they are always out and about. It has become a common sight in Sereitei to find Matsumoto or Renji chasing Haineko or Zabimaru around screaming. It is actually quite funny to watch. Obviously I got promoted," She fingered the badge around her shoulder, tampering with it. "I think the war convinced nii-sama that I was powerful enough to handle anything it threw at me. Also… I think he allowed it to take my mind off of things, you know?" The conversation died down again, the awkward silence overwhelming them completely.
Ichigo shifted in place and her gaze fell upon him, again; or more specifically the sword strapped to his back. It looked different from his original, but in a good way. It was beautiful. She leaned forward and ran her finger along the side of the blade, tracing the golden dragon that ran along its length.
"Ichigo?" She asked, still mesmerized by the blade. "Can I see Zangetsu for a moment?"
His eyes furrowed, and he glanced between her and the blade swung across his back. "Rukia, I would love to let you see him but the last person to touch him was shocked. I don't think it is safe for anyone to touch him other than me.
"Let her see me, Ichigo. I will not harm her. My barrier only repels those who are not of your family, and those who touch me uninvited."
"Please, Ichigo? I already know he won't hurt me. I was touching him just a moment ago." Surprise flickered across Ichigo's face and he handed the blade over to her without a word. Rukia took the handle and grunted; her whole arm was shaking as she struggled to support the weight of the blade.
"For the love of Kami, Ichigo, how do you hold this thing? Renji told me it was heavy but this is just ridiculous!" She slid her other hand under the blade and quickly lowered it so it rested across her thighs, her calves already being occupied, used as a cushion by the man whose blade she was holding.
Her fingers trailed across the golden dragon and came to rest on the silver moon. She traced the crescent almost reverently before turning her attention to the golden butterfly inside of it. "The butterfly… the soul, representation of rebirth and timelessness; Ichigo, do you have any idea what these mean?"
Ichigo flipped over and rested his chin on the inside of her foot. "No idea, midget. Why, should I?" Rukia lashed out with her foot, sending Ichigo flying backwards few yards. He landed with a thud and the whoosh of air from his lungs made her smirk.
"Don't call me midget, strawberry." Ichigo leapt to his feet, his chest heaving, and cried, "Why shouldn't I? If I can't call you midget you can't call me strawberry!"
"Fine. Now shut up before I do it for you, giant." Ichigo simmered in anger. Rukia laughed and grinned at him. "What, you said I couldn't call you strawberry, you never said anything about other names."
"Rukia…" His growls only made her grin grow wider.
"Yes, Ichigo?"
"Run, Tsuki; I want to make this fun…"
"Oh, does Taiyo want to have some fun?"
Ichigo's grin became almost predatory. "Oh, Tsuki; I crave fun. You have no idea how boring it is here."
Rukia smirked and stood up, drawing Sode no Shirayuki from her sheath and tossing Ichigo Zangetsu. He caught his cleaver smoothly, holding it in a way that belied its true weight. "Shikai?"
"Of course; we are far enough away to leave the students unharmed…maybe…" Her fingers locked on her zanpakuto's hilt as she settled into her stance, her blade held point-up towards the sky. "Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!" A silver flame of power encased her in an aura, shooting up towards the sky in a steep arc until it disappeared into the depths of the sky.
The grey of the steel melted away, replaced by the deep white of Rukia's shikai. As she spun the blade around in a half-circle so that the blade pointed at the ground a white ribbon fluttered around the blade in a circle. A ripple of frost stiffed the grass around her.
Ichigo watched the familiar scene with a smile, his eyes glittering with anticipation and happiness. He took a half step forward and crouched, his blade held out so that it pointed directly at Rukia. His left hand came up to clasp his right bicep as he braced himself. "Now it is my turn. Calm the storm; call forth the power of the Ancients so that we may protect what we must. Awake and Rise to the heavens, Zangetsu!" A grey wind blew around him in a vortex, completely encasing Ichigo and hiding him from view. His reiatsu skyrocketed, obliterating the wind and revealing the gold-rimmed black that now surrounded him. His power condensed into a hundred foot high arc, but the earth around him was crushed with the density of the power he released. The grass underneath him began to wilt, pressed to the ground by his reishi. Rukia's eyes widened.
"Ichigo… wasn't Zangetsu already in shikai?" Ichigo shook his head.
"Not, truly. We have found a compromise. While in the school I will either keep him in a sealed state, or keep him in a semi-sealed shikai state. He prefers the shikai state, because that was he isn't suppressed into such a small space. Either way there is little to no reiastu in him, and therefore none to leak out." He shrugged his shoulders. "It doesn't really matter to me, as long as he is happy. The compromise works."
Rukia raised her eyebrows, but said nothing. She shifted so that she was leaning forwards slightly, focusing all her weight on the balls of her feet. Ichigo noticed the change and tensed slightly. His eyes bored into hers, searching for any clue as to her next move. Her eyes seemed to spark.
Rukia leapt forwards, covering the ground between her and Ichigo with astounding speed. Ichigo shifted to the side and twisted, contorting himself so that she flew past him. The tip of her zanpakuto dug into the ground, jerking her to an abrupt stop. Rukia used her remaining momentum to pivot around so that she was facing Ichigo once more and skidded across the ground towards him. Sode no Shirayuki slid smoothly out of the frosted ground.
Ichigo jerked backwards in surprise, not having seen that move before. Rukia smirked at her partner and drug her blade along the earth lightly, moving it in a trail that pointed towards Ichigo. "Juhaku!"
The shifted earth froze as a trail of solid ice inched its way across the ground. It accelerated until it was speeding towards Ichigo, who cursed and jumped up. Strands broke away from the main line and crisscrossed the ground, completely encasing everything it touched. There was a sudden flash, and then the sound of shattering glass as the previously grounded ice shot upwards, totally freezing everything within its area. Ichigo winced as the sharp bite of the freezing substance grazed the whole left side of his body, coating it in ice.
"Dammit, Rukia, did you really have to do that? It hurts! God, never knew I could get so cold." He rolled his shoulder and the coating cracked, and then it shattered. The pieces fell to the ground like frozen rain.
A dark figment materialized in the space behind Ichigo, the outline of his ragged shihakusho barely visible in the night. "Use Getsuga Tenshou, manipulate the ice into walkways."
"Getsuga Tenshou!" The blade of reiatsu extended around Ichigo in every direction, shattering the ice above it and leaving a smooth walkway in its wake. Ichigo descended onto one of these and stood, perched like a bird. A single eyebrow arched as he looked down upon his friend.
Rukia leapt up and stood upon the branch across from him. Ichigo swung Zangetsu and a thin cut appeared across her chest, slicing her shihakusho open. A small stream of blood ran from the superficial wound, and Rukia gasped.
"A little trick I learned a few days ago, while I was sparring Tatakai. Do you like it, Tsuki?" Rukia narrowed her eyes at him.
"Some no mai, Hakuren!" The white blade of Sode no Shirayuki sank into the air around her, the four points making a semicircle. Snow rose from the points, joining together and swirling in a shield-like motion in front of her before they exploded outwards. "Shield yourself, Ichigo."
Ichigo gripped the velvet wrapping of Zangetsu and began to swing it in a circle above him, carefully imbuing it with reishi until circle of power glowed in front of it. He lowered the still-twirling blade until it spun before him, forming almost a shield. The Ice split around him, leaving him unharmed by the blow. In the foggy aftermath Rukia stood in place, smirking triumphantly at the spot where she assumed that Ichigo stood frozen. She barely had time to dodge the spinning wheel of reiatsu that came rocketing towards her out of nowhere. Even so the edge tore across the underside of her arm and cut a gash across her ribs, and she doubled over.
"Ichigo…" The fog cleared, revealing a smirking Ichigo as he sauntered over to her. He knelt down beside her and murmured, "Well, how about we finish it here?"
"Come, Rukia; we cannot allow it to end like this!" The white form of Sode no Shirayuki wavered in the air behind her, a small smile spread across her lips.
"Not until I get payback, Taiyo." Rukia's form flickered and disappeared, and before Ichigo could so much as move her blade tore a long cut across his back. She disappeared again as Ichigo, wincing, spun around to face her.
"Shit…now where did she go?" He spun in a circle, gazing every which way as he searched for her.
"Some no mai, Tsukishiro!" Ichigo's eyes widened and he leapt to the side, but not fast enough to fully dodge her attack. The whole left side of his body was frozen, caught completely in the ice.
"Now we are done." The words were whispered in his ear, and if he was free he would have shuddered. Her fingers brushed up the torn sleeve of his shihahkusho and against the bared skin of his arm. He clenched his jaw against the sigh fighting to break free.
Then the feeling was gone, and he was on his knees on the ground. The ice crumbled around him as Rukia laughed and whirled away.
"Shit, Rukia; when you said you were training you really meant it, huh? That was amazing! I have never seen you use half of those moves before, and you really amped up the dances. Kami…" Ichigo wheezed, bent double as he tried to regain his wind from the ice's punishing grip. Rukia approached him from behind, touching his shoulder lightly and running her fingers along the cut on his back. The wound closed as soon as she pulled back.
"I can heal any wound caused without malicious intent, a courtesy granted to me through Sode no Shirayuki. You may not have noticed it, but look." She pulled back the shihakusho from her collarbone revealing smooth, unmarred skin where the slit flesh once existed. She did the same with her arm and side, and Ichigo took it all in with a look of confusion.
"Our zanpakuto have minds and wills of their own, Ichigo. They will not harm someone they do not wish to harm, and they can reverse any damage they wish to. It is a side effect of Muramasa's actions, but one that is beneficial to us. This way we can spar without constraint."
Ichigo was still gaping at her three minutes later. Rukia smirked at her dumbstruck friend, shaking with suppressed laughter as she gazed at him. A loud rumble echoed overhead, drowning out even the silence in its enormity. A crack of lightning broke the dark night, and as if on cue rain began falling out of the heavens to pummel the ground with fierce savagery.
Rukia squealed and jumped forwards, cowering against Ichigo's immense form. The young man started as she pressed up against him and wrapped his arms around her instinctively, pulling her closer against his chest.
"What is it?" Rukia stared wide-eyed at the sudden storm, some of the fear in her eyes starting to ebb away.
"I don't like lightning…" Ichigo's booming laugh rolled across the stormy landscape until it was drowned out by the loud cry of the thunder.
Well, there you have it! So, how is it? Good, bad, horrible? I kind of had to write this when I had time, which meant it was sort of a forced write, something that I hate doing. Personally, I think it makes it sound and read fake, I am very picky with what I write.
So, how did I do with Ichigo and Rukia's interactions? Was it to OOC? That was my main problem with this chapter.
-Some changed were made regarding the story: Orihime and Chad are not married any more, simply living together for the sake of money. Room mates, basically. Also, was the revised previous chapter better that it was originally?