Author's Note: Heyy guyssss! Can you believe it has actually been 2 months since I last updated? I am so so so sorry people! I've been pretty busy lately. I just had my finals like a month ago. And after my finals, I went on a little vacation. (Yay!) and AFTER THAT, I had to plan my birthday party and then the party happened. And now, I finally have time to update. GAH, I'm so terrible at multi-tasking! Alright nevermind all these stupid updates about myself. I'm sorry I neglected this fic! But here it is!
SPECIAL THANKYOUS: curio cherry, zero09q, chuela7795, novicestar, Indie07, lish222, RosyDigzzz23, The Twisted Writer, Tazski, Pandorahh (So, sorry! But I haven't forgotten you people! Don't worry!), Anime Angel, Ginger-202, AkiraUchihaXD, thyme spirit, ichiruki497, Lawlipond, starbuck1127, Sana Kiryu, lunaxs, KC. , malenkaldz, Skult7013, hitsuruki4eva (Okay, honestly touched that a hitsuruki fan is actually liking my fic. I love you already!), batosaix, buchielle, angel cheesecake, intomyshadow, and xXSaphirexSoulXx.
NOTE: This would be the second last chapter of my story. I did try to think of ways to lengthen it, but after much consideration, I decided that I should just stick to what I've pre-planned for this story. I may be adding an epilogue, but we'll see. I apologise to those who expected more from this fic, but yeah…
NOTE-2: On a brighter note! I have a new fic in mind! So, if you like my writing, you can take note of that. But warning, as you know, my updates are really irregular. And, on top of that, to save time and graduate by next year, I am taking Summer School so I'm still busy now ;(
ALRIGHT, this has become my longest A/N. SORRY FOR THE RAMBLING! ON TO THE STORY!
Disclaimer: I almost forgot, I DON'T OWN BLEACH!
She stood atop of an unknown building; she didn't bother to check out what building it was, it didn't matter. She was feeling vexed, and annoyed. Annoyed by the actions of a certain orange-haired teenage boy. Annoyed by how he seemingly jump into every part of her life. Annoyed by how she can't seem to understand him these few days. And most importantly, she was confused by all the weird emotions that were currently swimming through her mind and heart. "Why was I so angry at Ichigo? Why did I even bother trying so hard to explain myself to him? It's not like he's… he's…. anything to me." Rukia brought her fingers to her temples and rub them gently.
"Love, companionship, and friendship… it's troublesome. It's really nothing… nothing but a saddening emotion."*
She was here once again. Crying. She has been crying for over 5 hours now. Her eyes were red and puffy, her eyelids and the skin around her eyes felt considerably thinned and they were starting to hurt from her constant rubbing. Her throat felt as if someone had been strangling her, it was painful and she was finding it hard to breathe. It was an awful feeling, but it had helped her finally come to terms with the fact that she was no longer in a relationship with Ichigo. Perhaps she never was, but Inoue wouldn't dare even entertain that thought as she knew it would've hurt even more. She forced herself to stand up; though, still unsure of what to do next.
Should she just move on, or continue waiting for him?
Bang bang bang!
The sound of someone pounding on her door intruded Inoue's thoughts.
Bang bang bang!
Inoue was never one to act all hostile and ignore people, but today, just today, she really did not feel like seeing anyone. She held her breath, as if hiding from someone, even though it was obvious that whoever was outside could not possibly hear her breathe.
"INOUE!"
She gasped. That voice. She recognized that voice. "That's… that's Kurosaki-kun…" A million thoughts ran through the auburn-haired girl's mind. Perhaps, he finally realized she had left right after he started yelling at Rukia. Perhaps, he was here to say sorry, sorry for hurting her. Perhaps, he was here to try and get back with her again. Perhaps…
Walking over to the door, she tried to calm herself down while slowly and nervously opening her front door.
"Ku-"
"Inoue! I need you, right now!" Ichigo cried out, before pulling her, by the hand, out of her apartment and into the cold dark streets of the night. Her mouth opened and closed several times as she ran behind him. She had so many things to say, so many things to ask; yet she couldn't find the words to say anything. "Oh silly me, it's not like Kurosaki-kun is going to ask me to elope with him or something… Elope?" She blushed at that thought.
Suddenly, Ichigo's frown deepened and he let out a grunt. "Too slow," he thought before turning around and picking Inoue up bridal style. Inoue blushed heavily this time, "Kurosaki-kun?" she asked as she stared at him curiously. It wasn't the first time he carried her, but this time, she actually got to look at Ichigo while he did. She allowed herself to admire his handsome features before realizing he was wincing with every jump he takes.
"KUROSAKI-KUN! You're… You're hurt! Are you okay?"
"Hmph."
"Argh, Orihime, why are you so stupid! He's probably mad at you now for not realizing the state that he's in." Ichigo was beaten up pretty badly; he had bruises on his arms and a small stream of dried up blood at the side of his face. He looked disheveled, and probably a little desperate. The girl in his arms became more and more confused with every step he hastily took; trying to figure out what in the world was going on.
"Ishida-kun?" Inoue called as Ichigo finally set her down atop of a random building. Ishida was standing a few feets away from the couple, his eyes carry a mixture of relief and worry as he looked at Ichigo but at the same time, he was clutching tightly onto his Ginrei Kojaku** looking like he was ready to bust ass anytime. Inoue looked around the place, in hopes of finding out more clues as to what was going on but she was rudely pulled down to the ground. "Please! Do what you can," the voice of her handler grunted. She widened her eyes at the image before her.
It was Rukia; lying on the ground, unconscious, bruised and battered.
"B-but Kurosaki-kun, you're badly injured too!"
"JUST DO IT!"
"Soten Kisshun, I reject!" Inoue said hurriedly and a familiar orange light glowed beneath the night sky. She held her arms out firmly while thinking, "Hang in there, Kuchiki-san, you're gonna make it! I'm sure you will." Inoue felt like crying all over again. She hated seeing her friends hurt, especially this badly. Rukia was bleeding profusely from a large gash just below her ribcage, while her face and arms bore many scars. She tried her best to focus, but Inoue couldn't shake the feeling of someone staring down at her. Hard.
"K-Kurosaki-kun? Erm… What happened here?"
"Hollows. As usual. Kuchiki-san was going against them alone before we arrive." Ishida replied as he continued to keep watch. After deciding that it should be safe enough, Ishida peeled his eyes away from their surroundings to look at the trio. He let out a sad sigh. "Pull yourself together, Kurosaki. It wasn't your fault." Ishida called out after some time, not really sure if he was trying to convince Ichigo that or trying to put Inoue out of the agony of having Ichigo glaring at her like that. Totally ignoring Ishida, the orange-haired shinigami knelt down beside Inoue with eyes glazed with worry, misery and fear. Inoue tried many times to comfort the man, but never once did he look away from Rukia.***
It was painful to watch.
"FUCK! I can't feel anything!" Ichigo suddenly exclaimed. Ishida jerked from his position to see Ichigo holding on to Rukia's wrist. He let out a quizzical look for a split second, before a huge twitch appeared on his forehead. Ishida started rubbing his temples slowly as Ichigo continued to freak out about the lack of a certain beating. "OF COURSE YOU CAN'T, YOU IDIOT! YOU LIVE IN A CLINIC FOR GOD'S SAKE! SHE'S ALREADY DEAD! SO IT'S COMMON SENSE THAT SHE DOESN'T HAVE A PULSE."
Then silence.
Eerie, and awkward silence.
"Oi." Ishida called.
"Kurosaki!" Ishida called again, and this time he had walked over to grip Ichigo's shoulder.
"D-D… D-Dead?" His voice finally came, albeit almost inaudibly. "W-what do y-yyou m-mmean… s-she…s-R-rukia?" Ichigo stuttered.
Ishida knew very well that this was a saddening scene. It was probably the only time Ishida could ever see the orange-head substitute shinigami shed a tear. It was the defining moment. He knew this was hard for Ichigo, perhaps even harder for Inoue. He could already see Ichigo trying desperately to grapple with the situation and, at the same time, forcing himself to hold back his tears. But…
SMACK!
Ichigo was sent flying across to the other side of the building. In Ishida's defense, he just couldn't help it.
"What the fu-"
"Kuchiki-san was dead like a century ago? REMEMBER? HOW IDIOTIC CAN YOU GET?"
"I-I KNEW THAT! WHAT DO YOU THINK I WAS THINKING?" Ichigo answered abruptly, as he stood up to face Ishida with huge blush on his face.
"Oh really? You're telling me that right after you almost reduce yourself into a small little speck of miserable-"
"SHUT UP!"
"Getting embarrassed now-"
"No seriously, SHUT THE FUCK UP ISHIDA!" It was then that Ishida realized Ichigo was no longer in front of him. He had already returned back to Inoue's side. Rukia was slowly gaining consciousness and was moving her head slowly. As Rukia stirred, Ishida noticed that Ichigo looked like the happiest man in the world and he let out a sad smile, unable to decide if he was happy for him or sad for Inoue.
"Perhaps it is time to move on." Inoue thought as she looked at Ichigo's face almost beaming with joy and relief.
"OI MIDGET!" Ichigo yelled as he banged violently on the closet door. "Midget! Get up!"
"Midget. Don't tell me you died in there! Quick get up!"
"OI RUKIA. If you're not feeling fine, I guess you can skip class for today. I mean, you were… in pretty bad shape yesterday. And… I was really… WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU NOT ANSWERING ME?"
"Chibi. Are you angry with me? I didn't mean to just barge in the middle of you and that hollow like that. I know you're mad. I really… I just…"
"YOU'RE THE LAZIEST, STUPIDEST, MOST ANNOYING MIDGET IN THE WHOLE WORLD. YOU HEAR ME? Midget? RUKIA? RUKIA!"
Ichigo peeled the closet door open to find the raven-hair girl curled up into a ball and tucked in the corner of the small wardrobe. Ichigo mentally scolded himself for yelling at her for the past five minutes when she was clearly feeling unwell. "Rukia?" He asked as he shook her shoulder in an attempt to wake her, but she didn't answer. "Rukia?"
Then, Ichigo went into panic mode.
"Dad! DAD! DAAAAAAADDDDD!" He yelled as he carefully picked Rukia up bridal style and ran down the stairs to the dining room where Isshin and the twins were having breakfast. "Dad! What's happening to her?"
Isshin quickly stood up from where he was sitting and walked towards Ichigo. He motioned for him to put Rukia down on the couch where he started to examine her. "Relax, son. She's just down with a slight fever. You didn't have to get so worked up and worried about it."
"I wasn't-"
"ICHIGOOOO! WHY IS YOUR FACE SO RED? DO YOU HAVE A FEVER TOO?"
"No! Get away from me!" He yelled as Isshin chased him all around the house. The twins giggled at their brother and father's antics before Karin shouted to them, "What he has is worse than fever! Anyway, we're off to school! Ichi-nii, you better get to school now as well! You're already late!"
"Yeah, off you go! Bye Yuzu and Karin! OI! WAIT! WHERE IS DADDY'S GOODBYE KISS?"
"What about Rukia?" Ichigo asked, as he sat down on the couch beside Rukia looking at her as she snuggled into the surrounding pillows. He let out a small smile at the sight.
"What about Rukia? She wants a daddy kiss too?"
"NO! I mean, she's sick. And…"
"Oh! Don't worry about it! Daddy will take good care of his third daughter!"
"In case you haven't noticed, that's exactly what I was worried about."
"AHHHHH! EGO-BURN! For your information, I am a full-fledged doctor." Isshin said before promptly landing a smack on Ichigo's head. "Get on to school, son. Rukia-chan would be fine." He added with a serious tone.
He couldn't pay attention in class. And this has been plaguing him for days lately. But today, he was just plain worried. Ichigo found himself constantly looking at Rukia's empty desk as if through that he could somehow be able to make out what she was doing at home right at this very moment. Was she feeling better? Has her fever gone down? Is she sleeping? Has she eaten?
"KUROSAKI ICHIGO. FOR THE LAST TIME, WOULD YOU STOP CALLING? IT'S SO ANNOYING. ONE MORE TIME, AND I SWEAR I'D BAN YOU FROM EVEN RETURNING HOME TO SEE HER. GODDDDDDDDDD!" Click!
He solemnly kept his cellphone back into his pocket before returning to class. Okay, so he has been calling home a little more than he should. But it's not like he was calling every minute! Okay, mayyyyyyybe it was like every 15minutes. But still! Why did Karin have to be so rude? He scowled. Sitting back on his seat, he watched the clock that was placed above the blackboard. Somehow, time never seemed to move any slower than this. Ichigo was increasingly frustrated and annoyed.
When the bell rang, signaling the end of school, Ichigo literally dashed out of class. Not even bothering to bid goodbye to his friends. He ran all the way towards the direction of home. All the while, thinking about how Rukia was now, and whether she was getting better. He needed to see his midget. Immediately.
Wait. His? When the hell did midget became his? Nevermind that.
"I'm home!" He yelled towards no one in particular, before frantically searching the clinic side of his house for a certain black-haired shinigami. "Hi, Ichi-nii! Erm, Rukia-neesan is in your room." Yuzu, donned in a nurse outfit, called as she prepared the necessary equipments for the next patient.
Taking two steps at a time, Ichigo reached his room in no time. Slowly, he pushed open the door and quietly tiptoed in. Rukia was currently sleeping on his bed, she was curled up into a tight ball and holding on to his blanket that was draped carelessly around her. Her hair was disheveled but she looked peaceful. Unconsciously, he reached out and touched her cheek, as if to reassure himself that she was fine, alive, and breathing. He jerked back upon realizing what he had done. "What the fuck is wrong with me?" He thought, as he looked at his hand as if it had grown an extra finger. Suddenly, he was reminded of other similar times like these. Like, when he learned of her execution, he felt lost, useless, shocked, desperate, and the sudden need to be there, right beside her. Or when he was unable to feel her reiatsu back at Heuco Mondo. His first instinct was to turn back and shunpo to her. It didn't matter that he was possibly leaving Inoue in the hands of a ruthless espada, and that he was going against the very objective of this rescue mission. He just needed to know that she was safe. That, and, of course, he had to kill the person who had the nerves to injure his midget.
And, all of the sudden, just like that, everything was so clear to him. All those awkward and confusing moments that had afflicted him recently were coming to light. And this time, he wasn't going to just run away from the truth. Ichigo had finally come to terms with how he was uncontrollably in love with Kuchiki Rukia. With that realization, he chuckled at his stupidity for the last few months.
"What the hell are you laughing about, weirdo?" Ichigo snapped his eyes open to find himself staring straight into her violet ones. She still looked, visibly tired, but her eyes flared with annoyance. He scratched the back of his head and sighed a little before asking, "How are you feeling?"
"Better." She answered, as she stretched her arms and legs, loosening her stiff and aching joints. The whole time, Ichigo just blatantly stared at her like it was the most natural thing in the world. "Could you not stare? It's annoying me."
"What? I wasn't staring." Ichigo blurted, trying his best to look everywhere in his room except the spot where Rukia was.
"Whatever you say. But you still have a stupid look on your face. Stop looking like that. You look like a worried sop."
"I AM JUST CONCERNED!"
"Con- OH! Right, so concerned that you're yelling at the sick one!"
"You made me yell at you!"
"I wasn't holding you at swordpoint, was I?"
"Gunpoint."
"Now you're speaking gibberish."
"It is not gibberish. You hold someone at GUNPOINT. There's no such thing as SWORDpoint."
"Well, there's no such thing as a gun. So, I take it upon myself to correct your silly metaphors."
"On second thought, why do I love her again?"
"Whatever. You still look stupid. Forget it, I can't take that face of yours any longer." She said after a moment of silence. Rukia stood up from the bed and walked past Ichigo towards the door. "I'm hungry", she announced before looking back at Ichigo. "Come on, cook me something."
"Alright alright." Ichigo sighed, before following behind her. "You're such a nuisance."
"Thank you." She replied, as she looked back at Ichigo and gave him a smile. Ichigo stopped in his tracks, and he felt as if his heart was no longer beating. Or maybe, it was, because he could practically hear it thumping. He wasn't sure.
"Oh right. Because she was Rukia."
Author's Note:
*Muahhahah, see how I incorporated Rukia's original speech there! Smart huh? Okay, I'm just being annoying now. LOL. I always thought that speech was meant for Ichigo. You know, like, she can't bear to leave him. For those of you who are lost, this speech happened in Chapter 52 in the manga and I think, Episode 16 of the anime.
**Ginrei Kojaku is that fancy web-shaped bow that Ishida has.
***MY FAVOURITE ICHIRUKI MOMENT IN BLEACHHHHH! OMGOMGOMG. This happens in Chapter 213 in the manga and Episode 121 in the anime. Okay, I'm gonna re-watch it now.
Thank you all for your continuous support despite my infrequent updates. I am really truly happy every time I read your reviews or just simply know that people are reading this. I love you people!
Once again, the next chapter would be the last chapter. Hope you enjoyed this story as much as I did! Thank you once again!