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A Game of Pretend
Ch 6
Being a cop had its perks. You got to carry around a gun, people feared you, and you got to do 12 hour shifts. Ok, the last one doesn't sound so awesome, but you get to work 3 days a week and 4 hours of working at your desk. So pretty much 4 days off. So see? Awesome. This was one of Ichigo's off days. And according to the arrangement he and Rukia had established, he had to help her with fixing the house. In the past couple of days he and Rukia had made a few changes to the guest house, they painted most of the interior and even shampooed the carpet. They didn't talk about the kiss. He wanted to ask about it, but he had the feeling that Rukia would say it was a mistake. So he didn't say anything. He wanted to do something nice for her, so before coming over in the morning he picked up a bouquet of flowers and a couple cheeseburgers and fries. Approaching the door he knocked, for once. He actually stopped knocking when he realized that Rukia always left her front door open.
Rukia swung open the door and her face lit up happily. "Flowers? Roses even?" Her voice was low and teasing. "How cliche." Ichigo reddened slightly, but still pushed them in the direction of the woman. Rukia wiped her hands on her dust covered jeans.
"Just take them." Ichigo grumbled with a smile, Rukia took the flowers and sniffed then slowly. Her eyes twinkled as she looked down at the flowers appreciatively.
"Thank you." Rukia said with a small smile.
"I hope you didn't eat." Ichigo held up the bag of food in front of Rukia.
"I actually didn't. Cheeseburgers? In the morning?" Rukia asked with a grin. The orange haired man combed his hand through his hair. The pair sat at Rukia's dining room table and ate in companionable silence. "These are awesome." Rukia mumbed, food nearly spilling from her mouth.
"Especially at 10:00 in the morning." Ichigo added with a grin. After eating, the pair set to work, painting the rest of the interior of the house. "Can we call it a day yet Rukia?" Ichigo whined wiping the sweat that was beading at his brow.
Rukia grinned at the less than chaste thoughts popping into her head. Those thoughts had been popping into her head constantly once he started to work on her house with her. He'd wear wifebeaters or muscle shirts that would show every toned muscle in his torso. It didn't help that he was pure muscle, not bulkly, just perfectly toned. Curse whoever invented wifebeaters. Rukia could feel the heat rising to her cheeks again. 'Bad Rukia.' She thought to herself. 'Clean, happy thoughts. Not ones of Ichigo. Especially not ones of Ichigo climbing into the shower.' "Dammit." She cursed aloud.
"What?" Ichigo smirked, Rukia was the most confusing person he'd ever met.
"Dammit, I'm hungry." She said in an attempt to correct her folley.
"Really?" Ichigo's eyes lit up. 'Maybe wearing all these muscle shirts and wifebeaters are actually working!' He thought to himself happily. "Do you wanna get dinner?"
Rukia frowned slightly, she didn't want this outting to end up like the last one. She'd been so good before the end of the night, but he was so damn good looking and his eyes were so hopeful... "Sure." She answered, a frown still on her face.
"You don't seem up to dinner." He paused and touched her bangs lightly. "It's okay. But I expect a raincheck." He kissed her cheek lightly and walked out the door with a smirk. "See ya."
The second the door closed, Rukia groaned. "Stupid." Rukia said to herself, smacking her palm on her forehead. "He's trying to be a gentleman! You had to go and ruin it. You coward."
xXxXxxxXx
The next day before Ichigo was supposed to come over, Rukia thought she'd pick up some supplies. They were gonna start changing out the fixtures in the house. As she walked towards the hardware store she saw the characteristic orange hair of Ichigo. He was in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. Even walking away from her he looked amazing. She froze for a moment, unsure of what to do. He was walking away, his back to her and his arm was resting on the shoulders of a short-haired blonde. The blonde was a little bit taller than Rukia with a skinny, but athletic frame. They were talking and suddenly Ichigo let out a laugh. He sounded genuinely happy. Rukia's voice caught in her throat and she had a sinking suspicion that she was feeling jealous. Fighting those emotions, her Kuchiki instincts kicked in. She threw her shoulders back, held her head up high, set her face in a neutral expression and... high tailed it into the hardware store. 'Maybe it's a misunderstanding.' She thought to herself as she perused the aisles. 'It's not like we were REALLY a couple. Geez, Rukia. Get a grip.' She took a deep breath, picked up the hardware she needed, then approached the cash register.
The old man who ran the hardware store smiled as he saw Rukia approach. "You just missed Ichigo." The old man said with a grin, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. Rukia frowned slightly and tried to block out whatever the man was saying. He had a tendency to ramble and tell you things you definitely didn't want to know. As she talked she focused on his bushy white eyebrows, they looked like caterpillars.
"Ok, well I'll just take these then." Rukia said, pushing the hardware towards the old man.
His face screwed into a puzzled expression."Are you sure you're gonna want extras?"
Rukia looked at the old man as if he'd lost his mind. "Excuse me?"
"You really weren't listening to a word I was saying." The old man chuckled with amusement then scratched at his head. "My wife does that too. I guess I have this tendency to ramble, you know. Small towns are always filled with small talk right?." Rukia held back the sigh pushing against her throat. She had never heard of anyone saying anything like that, but then again she was primarily a city girl."Anyhoo, I was saying Ichigo bought a set already just before you came in. Said it was for you. He came in with his sister. She actually picked 'em. Yuzu, the more pleasant of the twins you know."
"His sister?" Rukia paled. She didn't even know if he had a sister. He never said that he had a sister. Then again, she never asked.
"Ya, Yuzu. Not Karin. She scares the jeebus out of me."
Rukia smiled tensely. "I gotta go, well thanks." And she took off out the door, feeling like a complete idiot. 'His sister!' She repeated in her mind. 'I didn't even know he had a sister. I'm definitely not good at this fake girlfriend thing. These are things that a girlfriend, even a fake one, should know.' Not wanting to address the feelings of jealousy she felt earlier, she pushed them away.
xXxXxXxXx
Ichigo showed up at Rukia's house a few hours later, with two teenage girls in tow. One was the girl she'd seen earlier, with dirty blonde hair and the other had jet black hair and a scowl similar to Ichigo's. "These are my sisters, Yuzu and Karin." He introduced, with a proud smile on his face. "I thought they'd be able to help us today so that we can finish early because I am taking you to dinner." He said in a decisive, but cheerful voice. "No bailing on me today Rukia. I bought the hardware already, the tools and extra free labor."
Rukia laughed and extended her hand to both girls. "Nice to meet you."
"So you're Ichigo's new girlfriend?" Karin looked at Ichigo then at Rukia incredulously. She eyed his new brother's girlfriend warily. "You're pretty different compared to the kind of girls Ichigo usually dates."
Rukia's eyes widened. "Oh really? What do you mean different?" Her eyebrows raised and she looked over at Ichigo. " What kind of girl does your brother USUALLY date?"
Ichigo huffed and threw his arms behind his head, then whistled lightly. He did not want to be a part of this conversation. Karin chuckled lightly, "Ichigo usually dates taller women, super model type. You know, big boobs, zero brains and blonde." Ichigo wanted to pummel Karin as his sister drew an hour glass figure in the air.
Rukia simply laughed and looked down at her delicately curved body. "Not much in that department." She shrugged. "It's a wonder why Ichigo dates me at all." She heaved a fake dramatic sigh and placed the back of her hand against her forehead.
"You look fine." Ichigo growled inbetween grit teeth.
"Only fine?!" The three girls said, Rukia being the only one joking. Ichigo reddened and threw his arms up in defeat.
"You look fantastic. You always do." He looked over at Rukia and conveyed his seriousness. "I think you always look perfect." Rukia blushed and tried to change the subject to something that wouldn't leave her heart beating a million times a minute.
xXxXxXx
The four finished changing up all the cabinet hardware early and the girls took off pretty quick when Ichigo said they could go. "No sense of duty and nosy as shit." He gave her a sideways smile. "I'm pretty sure at this moment Yuzu and Karin are gushing to my dad about you." Rukia blanched at the thought of little Karin saying horrible things about her. "All good things, I'm sure." The woman's color returned and she affectionately held onto Ichigo's arm.
"So where are you taking me." Her eyes twinkled mischievously and Ichigo thought that his breath caught in his throat a bit. he fought the urge to grab onto her.
"I'm taking you to this Thai place in town. It's kind of casual, I hope you don't mind." Ichigo's cheeks reddened slightly. He hoped that he was going the right route by taking her somewhere nice and simple for their first.. outting together.
"Thai sounds great. Should I change now?" Rukia looked bashfully down at her worn down work clothes.
Ichigo eyed the woman for a moment, she looked great in anything and he was sure she looked fucking AMAZING in nothing, but that wasn't an option. Words wouldn't form in his throat so he had to settle for nodding.
xXxXxXx
The pair arrived at the restaurant and Ichigo pulled out Rukia's seat for her and even suggested some food which she might like. "Who would have thought Officer Kurosaki was a gentleman?" Rukia joked with a raised eyebrow. "Considering that this is the man who completely blew me off when I pulled into town."
Ichigo's face reddened at the memory. "A lapse in judgment. It won't happen again." Rukia laughed lightly and Ichigo leaned towards her to whisper. "I promise to make it up to you in the future."
This time it was Rukia who blushed and Ichigo who laughed. "You're just a walking ball of hormones." She commented to which Ichigo replied with a shrug.
"When it comes to you of course. Even Renji was blown away by you. He won't stop asking about you. Idiot." Ichigo frowned slightly, but Rukia reached out and touched his hand. His eyes were instantly drawn to Rukia's and for a moment there was a nearly tangible electricity between the pair.
"Are you two ready to order?" The voice of the waiter startled the two, causing Rukia to jump away from Ichigo instinctively.
"Yea." Ichigo said, a scowl settling on his face.
"Didn't your mom ever tell you not to scowl? Your face'll get stuck like that." Rukia joked, her hand resting once again on top of Ichigo's. The man's face fell and he looked away from Rukia. "Penny for your thoughts?" The woman prodded gently.
"My mom died when I was 9. Cancer."
Rukia frowned and looked into his deep from eyes, obviously affected by his personal statement. "I lost both my parents. Drunk driver. I wasn't even 1." Ichigo's eyes widened and Rukia smiled awkwardly. "I lived in foster care for a few years until Hisana found me. By that time she was already engaged to Byakuya. When they got married Byakuya had me adopted into the Kuchiki family."
"Wow." Ichigo sputtered.
"Ya." Rukia blushed at having divulged something so personal to Ichigo, but he took her hand in his and kissed it thankfully.
xXxXxXx
The rest of the dinner went smoothly, they talked about Ichigo's work, Ichigo's insane father and equally crazy the end of the night came..."That was great." Rukia smiled, her fingers intertwined with Ichigo's. She blushed when she looked down at their interlocked fingers. "You really didn't have to walk me to my door."
Ichigo pushed the wayward bang that hung in front of her face behind her ear. " I know. But if I didn't I wouldn't get to hold your hand like this." They stopped in front of her door. "Or kiss you goodnight." He leaned in to kiss her lips, but Rukia blushed and turned her face. Ichigo chuckled, unphased and kissed her cheek. "Crazy little woman." He whispered against her cheek and pulled back. " I work tomorrow." He stated and Rukia nodded.
"Maybe we can have lunch?" She suggested, Ichigo's eyes widened at her request. It seemed that even Rukia was surprised because her eyes widened too.
Ichigo smirked, "Sure. I'll drop by around noon." Rukia agreed and they parted ways. Ichigo smiled up at the sky on the short distance back to his car. It was a beautiful night tonight and it felt like nothing could ruin that moment.
xXxXxXx
"The number you have dialed is not accepting calls at this time. Please try again later."
Byakuya frowned even deeper and hung up his cell phone. She even shut off her phone, the Rukia he knew could never even live without her phone. Then again, the Rukia he knew wouldn't have run out on her own wedding. She'd had her fun in Karakura Town, now it was time to return to Tokyo.
A/N: That was chapter 6. What do you guys wanna see in my next chapter? Goal: 80 reviews. Random side note: I was drawing Chappy rabbits during my Telemetry lecture. Chappy had cardiac dysrrhythmias. Ha
