Ukitake leaned back in his leather chair, his feet comfortably propped up on his oak desk; he calmly took a sip of the cup of tea in one hand, the newspaper held in the other.
"Hmm." he hummed to himself as he read. After a moment of deliberation, he leaned forward and pressed a button on his telephone which would immediately connect him to his secretary.
"Hello Mr. Ukitake! What can I do for y-"
The female voice was interrupted by another, deeper voice. "Mr. Ukitake! What can I do for you?"
"Go away Sentaro! Mr. Ukitake doesn't need you, he called me!"
"Because he feels bad for you and wants to make you feel useful because he's such a nice guy!"
"That's not-!"
"Kiyone, Sentaro," Ukitake broke in. "Either one of you, call up Kurosaki and Kuchiki. Tell them to meet me in my office."
"Yes, Sir!" two voices answered in unison.
"Thank you." he sighed, rubbing his temples. He settled down on his seat properly and set down the newspaper on the desk before him.
Around five minutes later, he heard voices just outside the door.
"This is all your fault!" one voice hissed.
"My fault? Who was it that couldn't write a damn article without including rodents in it?" another hissed back.
"Rabbits! Not rodents! And you say it like I didn't write about what I was supposed to!"
"You weren't supposed to include any form of fluffy animals in it! And newsflash, they are rodents!"
The voices sounded closer and louder each time. Ukitake listened to their quarrel go from rabbits vs. rodents back to exactly whose fault it was.
Ukitake blinked as the doors to his office burst open and a pair of very different-looking people stumbled inside.
"Good morning, Mr. Ukitake." said the petite raven-haired girl politely, at the same time as the tall orange-haired man beside her mimicked her words mutely and with added facial expressions that earned him what was probably supposed to be a subtle elbow in his gut from the girl.
"Morning, Ukitake." grumbled Ichigo, sorely rubbing his side and managing to glare at the one beside him out of the corner of his eye.
"Good morning to you too." The white-haired editor smiled at the two, already used to the dynamic of his bickering secretary and assistant. Really, could there be no peaceful people in his life?
"You…called us up here?" Rukia asked tentatively.
"Yes, yes. Sit down." Ukitake urged, and the other two shared a look, then did as he said and settled in the armchairs on the other side of his desk. "I wanted to talk to you about an article released last Friday." he informed them.
Ichigo and Rukia shared another look, which they probably thought Ukitake didn't see…They were wrong, of course. Ichigo looked like he was trying a bit too hard to remain unruffled. "What about it, Sir?" he asked through grit teeth, with unusual politeness.
"I do believe I told you to write the article on home appliances, correct, Ichigo?" Ukitake asked the man.
The orange-head gulped. "Err…Correct."
"Well," he went on. "I'm pleased to say that the article was a success. There were plenty of calls from people saying how they were eager to try these Chappy home appliances, and many informed how pleased they were with their products on our webpage. I did not have such high expectations for this article, I'll admit." Ukitake looked directly at Ichigo. "But you've surprised me. I must say though, I was shocked that you would write on Chappy merchandise, Ichigo. I did not take you to be a fan, and from this article, it sounds like you even own some of these products yourself, am I right?"
"Umm…err…you see…" Ichigo muttered, beads of sweat beginning to form on his face. He pulled at the collar of his shirt nervously and looked away.
"It was me!" Rukia blurted out, causing all eyes to turn to her. "I mean," she continued. "I gave him the idea…And I told him about the supplies…"
Ukitake raised a pure white eyebrow. "Is that so, Kuchiki?" he questioned, watching with some degree of amusement as perspiration began to form on her forehead as well.
The black-haired girl looked to Ichigo for aid, apparently, but the man just shrugged and looked as helpless as her. "Um, yes." she said finally.
"Oh." Ukitake said, purposely looking disappointed. "Because, I had wondered if, maybe, it had been you who wrote the successful article. That would have looked great for an intern such as yourself…" he trailed off. "And, forgive me, but Ichigo here just doesn't seem like the type to write such an article. I suppose, though, that I'll just have to give him the credit-"
"Alright, alright!" Ichigo interrupted bluntly. "It wasn't me, okay? I told the Intern to write it." he admitted in apparent defeat. "I told her you'd given her the article; she didn't know it was supposed to be mine, so don't punish her for it or anything." he explained, and Ukitake had to admit that he was surprised the hot tempered man was willingly putting his own neck on the line to help the intern.
"Ichigo, what the hel-" Rukia had started, looking alarmed.
"I see." Ukitake cut her off with seeming calm. "I'm very disappointed in you, Ichigo. You kept this from me and you lied to an intern that is supposed to be under your responsibility."
"Sorr-" Ichigo started.
"But," Ukitake went on before he could apologize. "Seeing as the article was done in time and it was a definite success, it seems you have proved my initial decree wrong, by showing that Kuchiki was more than capable of doing this job. I am sorry I doubted you, Kuchiki," he nodded once to the shocked-looking girl. "And I'm sorry I didn't trust your own judgment, Ichigo."
The two before him gaped comically.
"I will make sure word gets out about your doing in this, Kuchiki." he said. "And if you continue like this, I think you could be saying goodbye to the internship and hello to a new job by next month." he smiled.
Rukia's face split into a wide-eyed smile, and she seemed to be trying to contain herself. "Really? Wow, that- that would be great, Sir!"
"So, let me get this straight," Ichigo interrupted, leaning forward in his chair and looking at Ukitake. "I'm not in trouble for this?"
"On the contrary!" Ukitake exclaimed laughingly. "What you did shows your good judgment and initiative, on top of displaying a great example of your carrying on the task of supervising the intern."
Ichigo stared back at his unblinking boss. "If we're not in trouble…Why'd you act all gloom-faced and dark before?"
"Did I?" Ukitake looked pensive. "I suppose I just wanted to tease you a bit." he smiled charmingly.
Ichigo and Rukia's mouths dropped open. The former then grimaced and looked like he was about to spray a few colorful words, but he was stopped by a hand clamping down on his mouth and muffling his complaints.
"Thank you for everything, Mr. Ukitake!" Rukia put on a prize-winning smile, looking unperturbed by the fact that she was holding out the orange-haired man. "We appreciate your time." she said, then yanked Ichigo up from the chair and started dragging him out of the office with her.
"Good day to you, Sir!" she called as she exited, a surprisingly willing Ichigo in tow.
In moments, the two were out and Ukitake was alone in his office again. He tried to decide whether the pair that had just left hated each other or where surprisingly close.
These things were hard to tell, but Ukitake vowed to observe them until he found out. It seemed he'd found his entertainment for the following weeks, he mused with a detached smile.
-x-
"Holy shit that was close." Rukia breathed a sigh of relief as she and Ichigo arrived on the fourth floor again with a ding of the elevator.
"Tell me about it. I thought we were screwed for sure." Ichigo said as the two stepped out together.
"Yeah." she agreed with a slight laugh -the type of relieved chuckle one gives when they know they narrowly escaped a dark fate-.
For a moment the two just stood there, the elevator long gone behind them, staring at each other with a look of almost complicity.
Then they both realized they had just gone over some unspoken limit of time without arguing or glaring at each other; quite suddenly Ichigo cleared his throat and Rukia coughed lightly into her closed hand. After a short awkward glance from the corner of their eyes, they wordlessly parted ways and walked off in opposite directions with rushed steps…Until Ichigo realized that his office was in the same direction in which Rukia was going, and was obliged to turn and started on the right direction.
Smooth.
-x-
Rukia hummed joyfully as she typed, completely unaware of a pair of eyes looking at her strangely. With mechanical movements, she checked one of the many articles given to her for revision that day, eliminating what she deemed unimportant and adding a quirky line here and there. Her lips where slightly tugged up in a tell-tale smile as she worked with an air of contentment that didn't match the atmosphere of the fourth floor of the Seretei building.
"Give me a warning if you're gonna start whistling soon."
Rukia finally snapped her head up away from her work, startled when the voice interrupted her private little world. "What are you talking about?" she questioned.
Kaien leaned against his side of the cubicle, giving her a wary look. "You're awfully cheerful today."
"I didn't realize that was a bad thing." she said evasively.
Kaien wasn't one to be evaded. "You're not telling me something." he declared.
Rukia looked up at him dubiously. "I don't know what gave you that idea."
"Oh no, I see what this is." Kaien said seriously. "You are hiding something from me, Rukia Kuchiki. It's because you don't trust me, I get it."
Rukia waited in silent amusement with folded arms as Kaien went on.
He waved his hands before him like he was dismissing her behavior. "But that's okay. Fine. Don't trust me. I don't care." he put a hand over his chest and with closed eyes lowered his head. "There is no reason for you to trust me; even though I thought we were friends, and I brought you coffee and doughnuts every week, and-"
"Alright, already!" Rukia interrupted, before Kaien brought out the tears. "If you must know, Mr. Ukitake liked my article on home appliances." she couldn't help the grin that light her face as she spoke proudly. "I think I might not be an intern for long."
"Seriously? That's great!" Kaien exclaimed, beaming. "We should celebrate!"
"Thanks, but I have work to do." Rukia said, deciding she needed to use the high she'd gotten from the good feedback to finish as much work as she could today.
"Don't be such a downer." Kaien immediately protested. "It's just about time we have our lunch break anyway."
Rukia glanced at her wristwatch briefly and confirmed that Kaien was right. Maybe lunch wouldn't hurt… But still, if she could just finish two or three more articles…
"Come on." Kaien persuaded. "My treat."
"Let me grab my purse."
-x-
Ichigo's eyebrows furrowed in discontent as he read over some paperwork, when he heard light knocking on the door to his office.
"Come in." he called vaguely, not taking his eyes off the paper.
"Ichigo!" said a light and familiar cheery voice.
Ichigo looked up to meet the Seretei's advice columnist's large brown eyes. "Hey, Orihime." he greeted her.
The girl was smiling as usual, her long dark orange hair spilling casually over her shoulders as she took a few steps into his office. "I was wondering if you were busy." she said.
"Actually, I am." Ichigo motioned to the paper in his hands.
Orihime pouted instantly, like a kid who had been about to go play putside only to discover it was raining. "Aww, are you sure?" she asked like she genuinely hoped for a different answer.
"Ye-"
"Because I was thinking-" she went on without letting him finish. "-that it's been so long since we went out for lunch together, and with Uryu being around all the time, we hardly get a chance to speak anymore and with the wedding coming up-"
"Ah, I know," Ichigo cut in, knowing she'd trail on for hours if he didn't stop her. "But I'm busy today, maybe we can go for lunch tomorrow-"
Once again, Orihime didn't wait for him to continue. "But I'm going to have lunch with Uryu tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that and-"
"Okay." Ichigo put his hands up in a surrendering manner. "We can go today."
"Yay!" Orihime threw a fist in the air in celebration and beamed.
"So where are we going?" Ichigo asked, only mildly curious as he closed and locked (yes, he was paranoid, so what?) his office behind them. He and Orihime walked to the elevator without taking notice of the recently vacated cubicles right outside his office.
"Oh this sushi place just opened down the street, I've been dying to go, but Uryu is allergic to seafood and-"
"Sushi it is."
They went out and started down the long street of buildings and business establishments, the wind whipping about them making Ichigo glad he'd thought to grab his leather jacket before leaving. He noted vaguely that the sky was slowly turning gray with the promise of rain.
Hopefully it would hold up until they had returned.
Less than ten minutes later, the two orange-heads were walking into the establishment - decorated and furnished in a classic oriental style- about to ask for a seat for two when-
"Ichigo, look!" Orihime urged, her face braking into a wide smile as she waved at someone sitting on a table inside.
Ichigo followed her gaze and his eyes landed on a sight he didn't expect to see.
"How many?" asked the waitress that stood by him with a practiced smile.
"T-" he started to answer but was cut off as Orihime seized his wrist and started pulling him in the direction where she'd been waving.
"That's okay, we're with somebody!" she informed the waitress cheerfully, ignoring Ichigo's protests as she dragged him to the table.
Orihime was completely oblivious -either that or she was tremendously good at ignoring- to Ichigo's hushed pleas to stay head back to another table- or another restaurant. In the blink of an eye, Ichigo was silent and awkwardly standing before two pairs of eyes staring up at him with different emotions; one was of casual friendliness, the other of alarm.
The eyes were an opaque teal and a bluish violet; the alarm belonged to the latter.
"Hey," Ichigo waved uncomfortably.
"Hi! Do you mind if we join you?" Orihime asked brightly, not at all faced by petty feelings of awkwardness.
"Not at all. Grab a seat." Came the friendly response of one of the occupiers of the table. The other shot him a look that clearly yelled 'What are you doing?', but it went as unnoticed as Ichigo's.
Orihime wasted no time and pulled up a chair to sit at the table with her coworkers, and seeing no other option, Ichigo reluctantly did the same, having to move around the table to sit across from Orihime.
"Long time no see, Orihime." smiled Kaien.
Orihime returned the smile. "Too long." Orihime agreed. "How's Miyako?"
"Same as ever." Kaien replied, using a tone of playful dismay when speaking of his wife. Everyone knew how ridiculously happy the married couple was; all the females at the Seretei gushed about it -there had even been a page-long article about the wedding-, you just had to mention the Shibas and it would instantly make the nearest woman sigh and gain a dreamy look in her eye.
It was sickening, Ichigo thought.
Kaien and Orihime went on talking for a few moments in which Ichigo went unnoticed, same as the raven-haired woman currently sitting to his left.
Rukia was pretending to study the menu while Ichigo acted like he was interested in Kaien's anecdote of his wife burning toast the other day…
How did one burn toast, exactly? He wondered vaguely when the conversation was cut off.
"And who are you?" Orihime asked suddenly, looking at the up-til-then unnoticed Rukia.
"Oh, my bad, I forgot to introduce you guys." Kaien slapped his forehead lightly. "Orihime, this is Rukia."
"Nice to meet you." Rukia said automatically with a nod towards the orange-haired girl.
"It's great to meet you too, Rukia." replied the other girl cheerfully. "You're new at Seretei, aren't you?"
Rukia nodded once. "I'm an intern."
Ichigo looked at Rukia and saw immediately that, though she tried to disguise it, she wasn't too happy about admitting her current position.
"Now don't be modest, Rukia." Kaien cut in. "From what you tell me, you won't be an intern much longer, isn't that right, Kurosaki?"
It took Ichigo a moment to realize he was being spoken to, and everyone was by then looking at him. "Uh, sure."
"That's good, Rukia!" declared Orihime. "Do you like Seretei so far?"
"Ah, I do." Rukia smiled. "Save for some…defects."
Ichigo didn't know if he was being paranoid, but he could have sworn the little devil had glanced at him when she said 'defects'.
No one else seemed to notice, and the conversation between Kaien and Orihime flowed fast and easy. He already knew Orihime to be a big talker, and apparently Kaien wasn't too far behind, because between the two of them, it was nearly impossible for anyone else to get a word in.
A while after ordering their food and still no lull in Orihime and Kaien's conversation -which had apparently gone to the subject of odd dreams, including some vivid illustrations from both parties- Ichigo, being the incredibly nice guy that he was, decided to attempt to strike a conversation with the very girl he normally avoided, despite his better judgement.
"So," he leaned slightly towards Rukia, just enough that she'd know he was talking to her, not enough to actually be considered close to her. "How are those articles coming along?"
Rukia, who had been smiling and pretending to be interested in Orihime's description of the seven evil dwarfs in her dream -which had sported fangs-, dropped the smile and leaned towards him in the same way he had. "You're not my supervisor during lunch break." she spoke lowly without looking away from the other two people, like she was doing it in secret. "None of your business."
And that had been the end of that attempt at conversation.
-x-
Rukia was surprised when dinner arrived and Orihime and Kaien still managed to keep their conversation going almost without pause.
She was more surprised that Orihime somehow did this without ever seeming vulgar, whereas Kaien obviously had no problems against speaking with his mouth absurdly full. Throughout it all, she listened in quiet amusement to their antics.
Halfway through the meal, Orihime suddenly gasped loud enough to call the attention of everyone on the table.
"What?" Ichigo asked, chopsticks holding a sushi roll halfway to his mouth.
"I forgot!" Orihime exclaimed, simultaneously standing from her chair. "I was supposed to feed Quincy!"
"Her boyfriend's cat." Ichigo who explained at Rukia and Kaien's dumbfounded looks.
"I'm sorry, I have to go now-" she started frantically picking up her purse, rummaging through its contents in a hurry. "I'll leave you the money to pay for my-"
"Leave it." Ichigo stopped her. "I got it."
"Oh, thank you Ichigo!" she said and started to leave.
"Hey Orihime," Kaien called after her before she got too far. "Where'd you say your boyfriend lived?"
"Right next to the Karakura Hospital-"
"Across town?" Kaien started to get up. "Come on, I'll give you a ride." he said to the orange-haired girl. "I wanna stop by Miyako's workplace anyhow; it's on the way." he started to go after her on the way out, then paused to look back at Ichigo and Rukia. "You two don't mind being left alone, right?"
Ichigo didn't react, but Rukia could read the double meaning in Kaien's words clearly; she shot him a dark glare.
Kaien chuckled. "Just make sure you get back to work at some point."
At this, Ichigo could no longer remain oblivious. "You're overstepping your place, Shiba." he growled menacingly.
Kaien was unfazed; he shot Rukia a wink before heading out after Orihime.
And just like that Ichigo and Rukia were left alone.
They sat in awkward silence for a long moment, looking from the ceiling to each other and back at their half empty plates of food.
"I'm not hungry anymore." Rukia declared when the awkwardness became too much. She pushed her plate away from her for effect.
Ichigo let out what sounded like a relieved sigh. "Me either. Check please." he called to the passing waiter.
A few minutes later, the two started to head out…
Except, they didn't get further than the entrance of the restaurant, as the two looked at the outside with deep set frowns.
It was raining.
No, that was putting it mildly. It was pouring cats and dogs out there. Sheets of rain wavered and soaked the street and the cars lining the sidewalk.
"You don't happen to have an umbrella beside that stick up your-"
"No." Ichigo snapped before she could finish. "So I hope you don't mind getting your hair wet." he said as he started to step towards the flood.
Only to be pulled back by the back of his jacket by her. "I am not going out in that."
Ichigo didn't even hesitate. "Fine, but I'm not signing in for you if that's what you're asking." Then he started out again…
And Rukia yanked him back once more. "You can't just leave me here. Don't you have a car?"
"Yes." Ichigo turned to look at her. "It's up the street on the Seretei parking lot."
Rukia frowned in annoyance. "How are we supposed to get past the Great Flood?" she motioned to the outside.
"I don't know about you, but I'm not waiting for it to pass. Good luck to you." he started out again, but really, by this time he should have expected the forceful pull that nearly ripped his jacket off.
"Okay, that's getting really annoying!"
Rukia ignored him and looked pensive. "Maybe if we wait a few minutes it'll ease up."
As if on cue, a bolt of lightning lit the gray sky with boisterous thunder.
"Right." Ichigo said sarcastically. "Call me when it does."
This time, Rukia didn't stop him as he started out.
She stared for a moment as he went out into the rain. Her mind whirled with the options; stay in the restaurant and stay dry -down side: she'd get busted for being late from her already early lunch break-, or run up the street, get soaked, but get to work on time?
After the split second it took her to make the decision, she bolted out of the restaurant and caught up to Ichigo, who had only gotten about as far as two steps.
The moment she went out, she was soaked through almost instantly, the furious wind whipping about her. She tried going further than just a few steps, but it was hard just to look up and see where she was going. The rain fell on her face and into her eyes if she didn't keep her head low; she couldn't look in front of her!
She stopped, not knowing where she was going, and about to turn to Ichigo when she saw that he wasn't beside her. Before she could panic, a hand shot out from seemingly nowhere and pulled her into blessed dryness.
Out of mere reflex, Rukia's own tiny fist shot out and connected with flesh -hard.
"Ow! What the hell?" Ichigo shrieked, taking a hand up to his reddening cheek.
"Oh." Rukia said, seeing that it had just been Ichigo, no serial killers or rapists to be worried about. "It was just you."
Ichigo glared at her. "You could at least apologize."
Rukia rolled her eyes, but said anyway, "Sorry."
She took a moment to inspect her surroundings; she and Ichigo were wedged in an alley between a couple of buildings. Their side entrances had makeshift boards acting as roofs for the torrential rain.
Rukia's hair was matted to her face and neck and dripping water; her drenched clothes stuck to her body and made her shiver. "Great idea, by the way. Going out into this." Rukia muttered sourly, motioning to the weather as she wrapped her arms around herself for warmth.
"No one made you go along with it." Ichigo scoffed, water dripping from his orange spikes unto his pronounced scowl.
They stood there like that for a moment, the sound of the rain crashing against the floor and the louder clang of it hitting a nearby dumpster filling the silence. An occasional thunder roared as well.
"Now what?" Rukia asked up.
Ichigo responded by settling down on the ground and resting his back against the side of the building. "Now we wait."
Rukia glared down at him. "Says mister 'I don't care about a little rain; I'm going to work like a good little soldier!'"
Ichigo shot her a glare but otherwise didn't respond. Not seeing any other options, Rukia flopped down beside him, a sour look on her face. She lifted her knees and wrapped her arms around them, again, looking to escape the cold November winds.
"We could have at least waited it out in a nice restaurant." she complained.
"Too late for that. They wouldn't let us in now, anyway." Ichigo said, referring to their soaked clothes.
The rain didn't look like it had any intention of letting up anytime soon.
Rukia let her mind wonder at the irony of things for a moment; of all the people to get stuck with during a storm, it had to be him.
Suddenly, she let out a humorless laugh. Ichigo eyed her questioningly and she said, "This is like a flash of déjà vu."
When he didn't seem to understand, she elaborated. "You and me, stuck in a tiny space. Except we've upgraded from a closet to an alley. Or downgraded, depending on how you look at it."
"The closet was dry." he said thoughtfully, as if he was really thinking about it.
"So was the restaurant." Rukia added.
Ichigo seemed to consider it, then said nothing. Rukia assumed this to mean he was conceding her point, for once.
"Who would have thought we'd end up on the same spot…Figuratively speaking." she muttered, more to herself than to him. She rested her chin on her knees and let looked at nothing in particular.
"Guess I'm just destined to get stuck with you." Ichigo responded with a light scoff.
Rukia raised an eyebrow without looking at him. "You say that like it's a bad thing."
To her surprise, he looked at her then. She felt his amber gaze on her, like he was examining her…More like he was trying to decide if it was a bad thing or not.
"It wasn't." he said, finally.
Rukia raised her face to look at him, shocked. "It wasn't?" she repeated incredulously, but of course Ichigo was already looking away like he hadn't said anything. "You sure acted like it." she said with a grimace.
Ichigo continued to look away, but he reached a hand up to scratch the back of his head then. "Yeah…sorry about that." he muttered gruffly.
Rukia had to blink. "I'm sorry, did I hear right? Did Ichigo Kurosaki just apologize?" She saw his scowl get deeper and couldn't resist the chuckle that escaped her. "Do you mind repeating that?"
"Fine, I was a jerk; happy now?" he practically growled, finally turning to look at her with an almost comical scowl.
"Surprisingly so." Rukia answered, a smirk playing across her features.
She waited until they had looked away from each other to speak again. "What I want to know is why."
Ichigo turned to her, questioning.
"Why did you act like that? And I don't mean the pretending not to know me part." She quickly added before he could use the excuse of 'no relationships at work'. "I mean the rest of it; being a jerk and a grouch and all that. You still act like it never happened." she explained as neutrally as possible. Even then, there was the tiniest note of disappointment when she said the last part.
For a moment, Ichigo didn't say anything and she thought he was going to resort to ignoring her. But then he sighed. "I don't know. I was weirded out, I guess."
"By…?" she kept looking at him, curiously, while he avoided her gaze.
"By seeing you again so soon. I mean, it was just two days after…it happened." he said, never saying 'kiss' out loud.
"It's not a bad word you know. You can say 'kiss'." she told him, watching with some enjoyment as his face went from neutrally scowling to shocked and flustered. "Or 'French kiss', or 'tongue', 'making out'-" she started listing, just for the heck it.
Ichigo's reaction was priceless. His eyes nearly jumped out of his skull and his ears turned pink. "Alright, I get it! You don't have to be so graphic about it." he slumped back against the wall looking like an annoyed teenager.
Rukia laughed. "You act like we did something wrong. I mean, it's not like we had sex. It was just a kiss; we're both adults." she said calmly.
Ichigo's cheeks continued to change to a darker pink.
"That isn't something you do often, is it? Kiss strangers?" Rukia asked, though she could tell by his earlier reactions what the answer was.
"Do you?" he shot back instead.
"I was at a party hiding in a closet. You have to ask?" was her response.
"Fair enough." said Ichigo.
They sat in silence for a few moments, before Rukia broke it again.
"Ichigo?"
"Yeah?"
"Did you really think we'd never see each other after that?" she didn't need to expand on what 'that' was.
Ichigo looked down at her and met her eyes. "I'm…not sure." he said, an unreadable look on his face. "I mean, the chances were so slim…"
"...Still…" Rukia looked at him. She didn't know if it was the somewhat similar situation, but for that moment she didn't see him as her irritating supervisor, and she was suddenly looking at the handsome masked man she had met in a closet. His amber eyes held an almost soft look in them, maybe it was just caused by the rain matting his hair down, which made him look, dare she think it? Almost cute…
Her eyes involuntarily trailed down to his lips. The lips she had -consciously or not- avoided looking at ever since knowing him as her superior. They looked as soft and inviting as they had that night; and she knew what they would feel like against her own. Like they were meant to be against each other…
Stop! Mental alarms went off in her head and she snapped her eyes away from him, focusing instead on the wall opposite her.
"I guess it really is better if we pretend it never happened." she said, very conscious that Ichigo's eyes were still on her.
She almost turned back to him to see what his reaction was; she could sense hesitation coming from him…
"Yeah." he agreed at last.
Rukia wrapped her arms around her knees again and looked upwards, as if in thought. "But we don't have to be so cold to each other." she started. "I mean, from what I remember, you were actually halfway decent when I met you."
At that, he raised an eyebrow. "And what exactly was I afterwards?"
"An ass." she didn't miss a beat. Rukia looked up at him with a smirk. "What I'm saying is that there's no reason for us not to be friends. There's no reason to feel weird about that. Attractive people can be friends."
He looked at her with a quirked eyebrow. "Who said I find you attractive?"
"I find you attractive." she said bluntly. "Doesn't mean I have to be attracted to you. In fact, I find you ill-mannered and irritating." she said casually.
Ichigo blinked. "So you're saying want us to be friends?"
"I'm saying, why not?" she looked at him, waiting for some kind of refusal or complaint. None came.
After all, she reasoned, when they had first met they'd talked for hours. Why couldn't they get along now? She knew Ichigo had kept their contact minimized to as scarce as possible for fear that their first meeting's ending would come back to haunt him at work, but like she'd said. They were both adults. It was silly to get so squirmish over a silly kiss in a party. What were they, in high school?
"Unless you're too damn lustful for me and can't handle being 'just friends'." Rukia mock, just for the sake of teasing.
"Like hell I'd be." Ichigo scoffed. "Okay." he said after a moment. "Friends then." he nodded, as if getting used to the new concept.
After that, the two sat back against the wall; the rain, wind, thunder and lightning a backdrop to a newly comfortable silence.
"Oh and another thing." Rukia spoke up, like an afterthought. Ichigo waited for her to continue. "Friends don't call their friends 'intern'."
"What would you prefer then? Shortie? Midget? Just tell me, I have a vast array of-"
She punched him lightly on the arm. " 'Rukia' is fine." she said pointedly.
"Rukia it is then."
She realized it was the first time he actually said her first name alone casually. She vaguely noted that she liked the way it sounded on his mouth.
Maybe the friendship thing could work after all...
A/N: I liked this chapter. Don't know why I just did xD Took me a while, though. I suffered from a little writer's block halfway through it (i almost considered dropping the story...but i didn't of course :P) But it's done and I'm happy with it.
Now that Ichigo and Rukia have gotten over their squeamishness over each other, they have accepted to be friends. But they'll soon find it can be pretty tough to be friends with someone you made out with...especially if you can't help being attracted to that someone ;) Good chapters are up ahead!
To those lovely people who reviewed:
AwesomeAnimeStarIchiRuki
MN
Sa Rart
Lunar
leedakay
youtubesam
M.O.N.S.T.E.R. EATS. .POCKY.
Selenithe
ali6220
shnizlefritz
reaper baby xp
xXBleachluverXx
Black Sun Upon An Icy Sky
09ice
BleachOrcalover13
Thank you guys a lot! Your reviews keep me going when the writer's block tells me to stop xD
I saw some people asking when is the loving gonna start: Patience. All in good time. But worry not, now that they're friends, feelings (and sexual tension) will develop faster!
To those who asked if there will be a love triangle: No. Not with Kaien, or with Orihime, or with Renji, or any other character that appears in the story. This is strictly IchiRuki. Leave the triangle angst for another fic! lol
Oh and, kudos to anyone who caught the reference of Ichigo's: "Like hell I'd be." (from the recent manga) ^.^
Ciao for now! Hope you enjoyed :D