Chapter 9: Telephone

We have a slight problem- this chapter was done and edited in two hours- TWO HOURS. I have no life! Wait, no- no life is exactly what I wanted this Winter Break! Instead, I'm working working working, studying, cleaning, trying to sleep- what the hell! This story I can probably do okay with such updates (not really, but still)... but SMD? Fuuuuuuuuu-! :'(

We shall see what happens... don't expect a Telephone update until after a Strawberry Meets Death update- I'll make this work somehow, damn it!

Anyways, THANK YOU ALL for your reviews last chapter- I haven't had time to reply to them :'( I hope you enjoy this chapter... really pointless but I HAD to get something down. I skipped days- the next chapter should be able to be a lot more meaningful and delicious with this out of the way.

Disclaimer: I do not own any brand/copyrighted names used in this story. They will always be italicized. I do not own any songs mentioned, or any characters/concepts from Bleach.

Chad and Inoue followed behind Ichigo as they made their way down the dimly lighted hallway within the large apartment complex, bags of McDonald's in hand with their book bags over their shoulders, all three Karakura alumni done with lectures already in the chilled Tuesday afternoon; "Hey, Chad- did you ever look into that apartment you and Inoue could split?"

Ichigo looked over his shoulder, pulling his sweater's hood down to look at him, assuming Chad was meeting his gaze from beneath his loose curls hiding his eyes.

"Too expensive."

"Ah." Coming up to his door, Ichigo suffered his usual struggle with the lock, kicking it open to make his way through, Chad at the end to close it. Moving to the couch with her blankets, Inoue dropped her bag by the couch's end, turning to the males in the kitchen; "Do you guys want to watch a movie while we eat?"

Digging into his paper bag, skipping out on the plate Chad held out to him, Ichigo pulled out his burger, quickly unwrapping it to take a large bite, swallowing painfully; "Crap, that hurt…. And I'll have to skip out, need to eat quickly and shower."

Chad and Inoue looked at him, curious as Ichigo took another monstrous bite out of his burger, his friends barely taking their food out to place onto plates.

"Are you going somewhere, Ichigo?"

Chad's greatest friend nodded at him, stepping aside for Inoue to grab a plate Chad held out for her over the breakfast counter.

"Yeah, need to catch the railway to Karakura before it gets too late."

The plate bumped into the counter chair beside Inoue, the males looking over at her, Chad's eyes hidden by brown curls, Ichigo staring with his brow raised- cheeks round from the food he had yet to swallow; "Un-noeh?"

"S-sorry, hope I didn't scratch anything…." She turned away from them, heading back to the coffee table where she'd left her food. Shrugging, Ichigo swallowed his food as Chad bit into his own, a hand running through Ichigo's mane already growing again; "You need my laptop? Take it if you do, Chad."

His giant shook his head, wiping his mouth of ketchup.

"Kuchiki-san having trouble?"

Ichigo finished off his burger, shaking his head with a smirk, swallowing hard; "Nah… she's coming to live with me."

Chad stopped short of taking a bite, brushing his bangs back to look at Ichigo, the orange-haired male chewing on a few fries.

"Was Community that bad?" Chad was met with another shake of his head, more fries rammed into Ichigo's mouth; "It was bad, but honestly, Chad- I don't know why I left her behind to begin with."

Chad nodded with a bite of his burger as Ichigo balled up his trash, moving into the kitchen to throw it away.

"Alright, don't go crushing anything of mine while I shower!" Chad simply chuckled as Ichigo playfully beat his fist onto sculpted biceps, rushing into his room and slamming his door behind him. Moving further into the kitchen for a drink, Chad lost sight of Inoue sitting quietly in the living room as she flicked through channels, her bangs hiding her eyes brimmed with tears as they looked at the door Ichigo closed behind him.

"She's coming to live with me."

"Yuzu! Karin!" Rukia dropped her keys into the dish as the door closed with a bump of her hip, leaning down to unzip her boots. Footsteps hurrying down the stairs, Rukia looked up to find Karin and Yuzu rushing over in their flannels and hoodies, fresh out of the shower by the look of their hair; "Hey, Rukia! We were wondering where you were."

"Was out at the center…." Rukia slipped off her jacket, left in a black v-neck, worn and stretched out, still one of her favorites. Picking up a black shopping bag by the door, Rukia beckoned the twins to follow her into the living room, sitting down at the couch with Karin and Yuzu on either side of her; "Since tomorrow your brother is kidnapping me to live him, I thought I'd get you two a little gift…."

Brown and black eyes looked curiously at the black bag Rukia held in her lap, a sly grin on Rukia's lips as she reached into it and brought out a large, black box, turning it so that its image on its front was caught by the twins' gazes- both wide with shock, soon laced with excitement; "A Macbook!"

Handing the box to Yuzu, Rukia tugged on Karin to switch seats with her, the twins looking over the package together, their bright gazes looking up at Rukia above wide grins.

"Oh, Rukia, thank you so much!" They carefully dropped the box onto the floor, pouncing onto Rukia with tight embraces and loud laughter, the three women of the Kurosaki household in a tangled mess on the couch, Rukia fighting to catch her breath, cheeks already hurting from smiling so widely; "You're welcome, girls- I need a way to look at your beautiful faces stuck with your brother's scowl all the time from now on!"

Yuzu beamed at her, slapping Karin's thigh, her twin scowling at her as she rubbed at her tender skin.

"Oh yeah! Ichi-nii has one just like this; we can easily chat with you, Rukia-chan!"

Rukia nodded, brushing her hair back from her eyes, her stray bang falling back in place; "Exactly. He won't be able to deny it from me if it's to talk to you."

Settled into the couch, Karin and Yuzu thanked her over and over again, Rukia's hands reaching out to grab theirs.

"You know, your ani comes tomorrow for me- you're sure you don't need me to stay-?"

Karin shook her head, her black eyes locked with violet.

"We're positive we want this most, Rukia. Maybe having you there and no longer needing to be stuck to his phone all day long, every single day- Ichi-nii can focus more!"

They laughed lightly, a faint tinge of red on Rukia's cheeks, shaking her head with her black tresses following her movement; "He's not always on his phone with me-."

Karin snorted, shoving a decorative pillow into Rukia with a roll of her black eyes; "And I'm not always a girl."

Yuzu turned to look at Karin, her expression blank-

"I knew it." She broke into a devious smile, another of their pillows handled violently; turning her weak glare from Yuzu onto Rukia, Karin smiled softly, Rukia matching her lips.

"Want to watch a movie marathon with us one last time?"

Tugging lightly at Karin's long, soft hair, Rukia nodded with a grin, moving off the couch with them; "Let me get my flannels, and you two check whatever poison we have- especially for ice cream."

To: Kuchiki Rukia

Got your stuff ready for tomorrow?

Ichigo layered a white thermal sweater over a wife-beater, pulling on his black jacket with his beanie, his Torch vibrating in his jeans' pocket.

From: Kuchiki Rukia

…pretty much. I'm sure I'll finish by the time you come tomorrow- which is…?

He slipped his Macbook into his messenger, texting Rukia as he put his chargers in with his laptop, amber eyes scanning his room for any book he could interest himself to read on the way.

To: Kuchiki Rukia

I'll be there five in the morning, sunshine.

From: Kuchiki Rukia

HA! You'll be waiting at the station til ten, then. No way in hell I'll wake up that early for you.

He smirked down at his cell in hand, sliding his screen up to reply, shutting it to slip back into his pocket, his messenger carried off the desk onto his shoulder; stepping out of his room, Ichigo closed his door behind him just as Chad was moving into the kitchen with dirty plates, Inoue on the floor and watching the large screen.

Resting his arms on the breakfast counter, Chad standing across from him within the kitchen, Ichigo grabbed his keys off the marble top, pocketing them with his cell phone.

"I'll be back probably late, tomorrow night. You gonna come by?"

Chad nodded slowly, his large, sculpted arms crossed comfortably beneath his chest; "Of course. Did you already call Kuchiki-san to pick you up later?"

A small laugh left Ichigo as he straightened up, shaking his head.

"I'll be calling up a taxi- she thinks I'm not showing up until tomorrow."

Chad only smiled, he and Ichigo looking over at Inoue coming up by the kitchen's entrance, her hands toying with her long hair over her shoulders as she looked between them, her voice small and light; "S-should I have the other couch ready for Kuchiki-san… Kurosaki-k-kun?"

He looked away from her hopeful eyes, pushing off the counter and slowly making his way towards the door, grey eyes following him; turning around, Ichigo dug his hands into his jacket's pockets, his amber eyes on her; "Don't worry about it, Inoue. Sleeping in the same room is nothing new for me and Rukia…."

Shifting his bag on his shoulder as Inoue's gaze dropped, her hands clutching tightly onto her tresses, Ichigo smiled tightly at no one in particular, turning to open the door.

"Stay as long as you want, Chad. I'll see you both tomorrow…."

"See you, Ichigo." Not expecting anything from Inoue, Ichigo waved over his shoulder before closing the door, the lock turned into place seconds later, Inoue looking up at the door, whispering; "Good-bye, Kurosaki-kun."

Karin cussed lightly as she tried taking off the freshly baked cookies from the pan, Yuzu swatting her hands away and sliding it over to herself, grabbing each cookie with a chef's ease, dropping them onto the plate Karin held out for her; "Geez, Yuzu, you really have lost any nerves in your fingers if those don't burn you at all…."

Her sandy-haired twin only laughed, Rukia coming into the kitchen with hands pulling her hair up into a clip, moving to the counter beside them, all three females in flannels-

"Just called your father and he dropped by for the ice cream. He should be here soon."

Yuzu nodded, Rukia and Karin grinning deviously as they worked on the hot chocolate warming up at the stove and snuck in more chunks of chocolate, Yuzu pouring various snacks into a large bowl, shaking her head as she watched the chocolates and pretzels and candies fill up.

"We're going to be in a coma by the end of the night…."

"Good, then!" They smiled as the chocolate finished up, grabbing their mugs to fill as the front door slammed open, Isshin's loud voice yelling out to them; "I've brought delicious treasures for my beautiful daughters!"

Rukia laughed with Karin rolling her eyes, all smiling nonetheless, Isshin rounding into the kitchen moments after, hands holding bags of groceries, one in particular held out for Rukia to take.

"Thank you, Kurosaki-sa-." Rukia bit her tongue at the light glare Isshin gave her, the bag recoiled back from her reach; "Ah, Rukia-chan! You mean…?"

Rukia clicked her tongue, sighing in defeat with a small smile; "I mean, otou-sama, of course…."

Isshin beamed brightly at the petite shinigami, ruffling her hair as he handed her the bag, moving further into the kitchen to drop the other ones onto the counter. Taking out the ice cream he'd brought for them, Rukia looked over at the elder death god, frowning at the tired look to his eyes; "Are you too tired to join us? We're watching movies…."

He smiled over at her, shaking his head.

"Not today, Rukia. I'll just head to bed for tomorrow. Try not to fall into a coma from all these sweets, will you now?"

Karin scoffed from her place beside a giggling Yuzu, popping a chunk of chocolate into her mouth; "That's our sole purpose tonight, Beardy." Isshin's hefty laugh made his precious females smile, Karin leveling it out to just smirk, her father making his way from the kitchen with one last look at them; "I'll be sure to check for pulses when I leave in the morning. You better be up in time for school!"

Karin and Yuzu pouted, calling out together as Isshin slowly headed upstairs-

"We will!"

The end credits rolled onto the screen three hours later, the first of the Lord of the Rings trilogy done, Karin standing from the couch with the second movie in hand; Yuzu and Rukia bickering about whether Legolas or Aragon kicked more ass, Karin switched the movies inside the DVD player, turning back as the movie player whirred and buzzed before quieting down, previews coming onto the screen.

"Refills on the hot chocolate?"

Rukia nodded, grabbing hers and Yuzu's before standing, shivering at the chill outside of the blankets' warmth; "C'mon, I'll help you."

Left alone in the living room, Yuzu pulled her legs out from underneath her, stretching them out before dropping them down to hang over the cushion, a vibration humming from within the mess about her. Patting down the blankets, shuffling the pillows about, Yuzu discovered Rukia's iPhone, turning her body to look over the couch; "Rukia-chan! Your phone was vibrating!"

Mugs in hand, Karin with marshmallows to add, they made their way back into the living room, the movie menu on screen as they settled back down; placing her Chappy mug down on the side table, Rukia took her sleek cell from Yuzu's hand, sliding the lock aside, Karin selecting 'play' on the menu.

"I bet a bag of Hershey's that it's Ichi-nii." Karin's smirk reached her eyes as she looked over at Rukia, met with a glare, black watching violet eyes move onto the iPhone's screen, rolling themselves with a sigh; "I'll get you that bag before I leave tomorrow…."

The twins snickered, Rukia shoving Yuzu lightly into Karin.

From: Tatsuki-chan

Hey! Did you ask him about tomorrow, Hime?

Inoue slid her screen up, feet propped up onto the armrest of the couch and head resting on the pillow, the television on mute, its dynamic light casting dancing shadows onto her and the walls of the dark living room, Chad already home.

To: Tatsuki-chan

Couldn't ask him. I was going to mention the center while eating, but he left for Karakura….

She turned her head to rest on its side, grey eyes on the closed door to his bedroom, her chest painfully tight.

From: Tatsuki-chan

What the hell is wrong with him? Does he realize not everyone has a day off? He'll have to head back home before he could even have dinner with his sisters. Or is he making Kuchiki skip classes?

From: Tatsuki-chan

Traveling 4 hours by train to play hooky! I can't believe him!

Inoue's eyes closed, her hand rubbing at her forehead as she frowned.

To: Tatsuki-chan

…he went to go get Kuchiki-san and bring her back here.

From: Tatsuki-chan

She has days off? I didn't hear about Community having holidays already….

Sitting up, rubbing at her tearing eyes, Inoue dialed Tatsuki's number she had memorized by heart, picking at her pajamas' pants as the line rang, the line cut to Tatsuki's voice-

"Hime?"

Breathing deeply, Inoue somehow managed to steady her voice; "He's… Kurosaki-kun's bringing her to live with him, Tatsuki-chan-!"

The Story Continues

On Disc Two…

Rukia could have fooled any eyes into thinking she used shunpo to make it to her bedroom, tossing her door open carelessly, heading straight into her bathroom; making off upstairs for relief of her own bladder, Yuzu yelled back at Karin to make ice cream sandwiches with the second batch of cookies, her twin moving off the couch into the kitchen, stopping short at the sound keys slipped into the front door's lock.

Stepping back and looking around the wall, Karin eyed the front door start to open, black eyes growing wide as a tall figure stepped through, tuffs of orange hair reaching out from beneath his beanie, amber eyes looking up into hers; "Ichi-nii!"

A handsome grin broke out on his handsome face, a finger hurriedly brought up to his lips, gently closing the door behind him. Karin threw a short glance at Rukia's open door as she finally brought herself to hurry over to her brother taking off his shoes and jacket, pulled into his strong embrace as soon as she came close, Ichigo's lips pressed into her crown with her smaller arms tight around his waist; "Ichi-nii, I thought you weren't coming until tomorrow-?"

Pulling back to look at her, Ichigo shook his head, glancing over to Rukia's bedroom with still no sight of her.

"I thought I'd spend some more time with you all." He looked back at Karin, pulling off his beanie; "Right now, though, I have a soul reaper I need to surprise."

Smiling up at her brother, Karin nodded as she gently pushed him along, his tall body quiet and quick to move to Rukia's door, rounding it. Heading back to the kitchen, Karin found Yuzu making her way down the steps- snatching her arm as Yuzu stepped off the last step and pulling her aside, whispering excitedly into her ear as they looked over to Rukia's door only slightly ajar now.

Rukia ran the water as she leaned over and spit out the toothpaste, hoping the strong taste would discourage her of eating more sweets, sure her stomach was appreciating the break; scooping water into her mouth and spitting it back out a few more times, she shut the faucet off, straightening up with a small towel to dry her mouth and hands, violet eyes looking up into her reflection.

Her body was petite as ever- short as hell as Ichigo was fond of describing her- and nearly pin-straight and flat compared to Inoue and some of the other students she had studied with… but she had her fair share of curves, smiling as she thought of the twins, their growing bodies similar to hers….

"Except that even they're taller than me." She sighed as she reached over and pressed the light switch down, turning around- jumping at the tall figure suddenly cutting her off at the doorway, large hands cradling her neck, a strong, heavy reiatsu revealed and immediately running closely over her skin before she could react violently, her small hands gripping onto a thin sweater instead as she looked up into amber eyes.

"…Ichigo?"

Rukia was pulled out of her bathroom's darkness into her lit bedroom, her hands tight around his white thermal, Ichigo's hand on the nape of her neck as the other reached up to loosen her hair, entangled within her soft tresses; only 'midget' was breathed out, Ichigo wasting no time leaning down to peck at her lips, his petite shinigami pushing up into him with a swift move onto her toes, lips parting to lock together gently, Rukia's hands venturing up his abdomen and chest to circle around his neck and pull him down further.

Their breath was heavy as they moved their lips against each other, neither letting the other pull back just yet, hands keeping each other close; her feet straining to stay on her toes, Rukia dropped down onto her heels, Ichigo losing the feel of her softer lips against his; "Ru-."

She pushed against his firm abdomen for the back of his legs to hit her bed, Ichigo falling down into it, his face now leveled with hers; a haste kiss was pressed onto his mouth with her hands buried into his growing hair, pulling back with a weak shove on her part, stepping back away from him.

"Whatever the hell happened to coming tomorrow? You know I hate not knowing things-!"

"Oh, get over it!" Ichigo's hands reached out easily to hook high behind her thighs, pulling her back to himself, Rukia holding herself up and steady by his shoulders, her petite body pulled up to straddle his lap. Grabbing a fistful of her hair, Ichigo pulled her down roughly against his mouth, nipping at it with her hands moving back into his mane, her chest heaving with her heavy breath.

Ichigo pulled on her hair enough to break their kiss, their warm breath mixed with each other; "Do you have any idea how long these days have been? Why the hell wouldn't I come sooner?"

Rukia looked at him, tracing his brow with her thumb, moving to trace along his amber eye and strong cheekbone.

"Because we're starting to act like those fools you used to scowl at in Karakura in front of your sisters-."

"We're not in public-." He pulled her in to kiss her, breaking away shortly after; "-and we're in your room, not in front of my sisters. Don't ever compare us to those idiots from high school, unless you do want me humping you in some crowded hallway, Kuchiki."

Rukia failed trying to hold back her laugh, burying her nose into his soft, orange mane, arms circled over his shoulder as he hugged her waist, violet eyes looking over at the door as she quieted down.

"Let's head back, Ichigo…."

Standing slowly from the bed, he let Rukia slide off from his hold, ruffling her hair before she pulled away, a swift punch meeting his strong stomach as she walked off towards the door, Ichigo laughing as he caught her rubbing her pained knuckles; "Serves you right for abusing me."

Rukia opened the door wide, glaring back at him before stepping out, Ichigo soon following behind her; met with a smirk fiercely alike to her brother's, Rukia pursed her lips at Karin to keep from teasing them, Yuzu walking out from the kitchen with a wide smile at the look of them-

"About time you finished sucking each other's face off! Let's finish the movie before it gets any later!"

"Yuzu!" Rukia blushed heavily as Ichigo could only smirk beside her, Yuzu dropping into the couch beside Karin nearly wheezing from laughter, a pillow thrown at the dark-haired twin by Rukia's hands, the petite shinigami glaring at her.

"What? I didn't say anything! It was all Yuzu this time!" Karin struggled to keep from choking on her laughter, trying to subdue it, Rukia pouting at her; "But she definitely got it from you!"

Stomping over to the couch as Ichigo turned off the lights for them, Rukia sat down in her place amongst various blankets, Yuzu handing her a plate with a strawberry ice cream sandwich with cookies, the death god unable to resist it despite her toothpaste plan of rejection and supposed fit at her teasing; they yelped when Ichigo rounded the couch from behind, dropping onto all their laps on his stomach as they held their plates out of his way, his head on Rukia's lap.

"Oi, Berry!" "Ichi-nii, you're heavy-!"

He ignored them with a smirk hidden to their eyes and didn't move from his place, his sisters covering him with part of their blankets, Karin selecting 'play' from the menu for the second disc of their movie, the twins biting into their treats.

The movie picking up where it left off before, Rukia bit into her own ice cream sandwich, the twins fixated on the television in front of them, violet eyes on the male resting his head on her lap, arms somehow circled around her through the chaos of blankets; running her finger along the melting ice cream without much thought, Rukia gathered up a fair amount of the pink, delicious poison on the tip of it, moving it to ghost over Ichigo's lips as she leaned over enough to look at him, smirking as he parted his mouth for her to slip her finger in, Ichigo's warm tongue lapping up the sweet as she dragged her finger out with a light graze of his teeth, pulling away to sit back against the cushions, his arms tightening around her through the blankets.

Eyes on the screen before them, Rukia bit her lip, running her finger over the ice cream again, bringing it up to her own mouth, sucking gently on it before gathering up some more.

It was near midnight when the twins gave in to sleep, Ichigo having carried them up to their room as Rukia cleaned the living room and their plates, gathering up her blankets left last on the couch, moving into her room as Ichigo moved down the stairs; tossing her blanket open above her large bed, Rukia let the warm material fall slowly over her comforter, smoothing out its end as the door closed to her room, arms soon circling around her waist with Ichigo's strong body enveloping her from behind.

"Surprised you're not dead from all that junk you three have been eating for hours…."

She leaned back into his embrace, scrunching her nose at the stomach ache she felt barely building up, deciding not to admit defeat; "If an Espada didn't finish me off- no damn food orgy will."

He laughed with his arms tightening around her, their bodies slowly beginning to sway side to side, in a comfortable silence as their reiatsu ran over each other calmly, violet eyes closing softly, not missed by Ichigo's amber gaze as he nuzzled her jaw.

"Let's get you to bed, almighty food master."

Rukia didn't bother to even verbally abuse him for his teasing, letting Ichigo literally sweep her off her feet as he cradled her in his arms, Rukia's smaller frame curled against him, her tall shinigami moving around her bed to its side.

Ichigo laid her gently onto the welcoming bed, blankets drawn over her, her breathing and reiatsu instantly slow and softer, his violent, short, demonic midget fast asleep without another word; moving to the other side of her bed, Ichigo stripped of his thermal and belt, carefully climbing onto her bed on top of her blankets, dropping down just an arm's reach away from her sleeping body.

The lamp on her night stand switched off, the rest of the lights connected to it turned off as well, Ichigo surrendered himself to sleep, listening to her breathing until he could no more, the Kurosaki home completely silent and dark.

Night, midget.

It blows, I know- but now I have crap out of the way- next chapter will be Rukia moving in with Ichigo~! :)

Much love, KurosakiLove