Rukia let out a sigh of exhausted relief as she saw the digital numbers on her computer screen mark 11:30am.
Lunch break.
Without a moment's hesitance, she gracelessly dropped her head on her cluttered desk, not minding when her face landed on some papers that may or may not be important- too tired to do anything but allow her eyes to close and get some well-deserved rest.
The last two weeks had been mentally and physically draining for her; she couldn't remember the last time she felt so exhausted. And Rukia was used to working without rest- she had gone through college doing a double major -which meant double the work- and working a job every weeknight. But now she felt like she might just be breaking her record- then again, maybe she was just getting old…
The fleeting thought was immediately discarded as impossible and she attributed the extra tiredness to emotional stress.
The reason for Rukia's exhaustion was that for the last two weeks she had been working eight hours on her internship at Seretei, and then going every night to work a part time shift as a waitress at a local restaurant. The job was awful; the people were moody and extremely choosy in their orders, and ready to snap at an innocent waitress if -God forbid- so much as a pickle was out of place in their hamburger. Rukia had to fight the urge to strangle a stranger almost every minute of her time in the restaurant, on top of trying to remember the orders, cleaning tables, and dealing with her boss. All that after a long day at Seretei.
And as if that wasn't enough, Ichigo had been insisting she write more articles that could be published on the paper, which he would always pass by Ukitake and gain her more and more points for that steady job -which was all fantastic, really; except that all the extra work meant that when she came home, sore and in a foul mood from her shift, instead of getting to sleep, she had to do more work and somehow find inspiration to come up with good articles that would get Ukitake's attention and approval.
Rukia barely had enough time to eat, let alone sleep. Which was why she had taken to bringing protein bars in her purse and devouring them quickly when she got hungry, and using her lunch hour to nap on her desk. Not exactly a comfortable practice, but it was all she could do to not collapse from sleep-deprivation before noon.
If she didn't get that job soon, she'd be in serious trouble.
"…Is she really sleeping?"
A voice spoke.
"I don't know; you check."
Said another. The voices sounded far off, distant to Rukia. As if they were speaking through a tunnel. She didn't bother trying to figure out what their words meant.
"Oi…Rukia."
Spoke a third voice.
"You don't think she could be dead, do you?"
Said the first voice. There was a moment of silence before…
"Maybe you should poke her. You know, just to check."
The second voice said; it was followed by hushed arguing and some nudging before…
Rukia felt something jab her arm. At first it was only a quick feeling, followed by silence, but then it was followed by another. And another, and another…
"She's not moving…Oi, Rukia!" One of the people said next to her, the jabs to her arm continuing with higher frequency.
Her peaceful rest was being rapidly shattered as the poking and voices went on, until finally, Rukia could take it no more and…
"WHAT?"
"Whoa! Someone got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning." He said with his hands in front of him defensively.
Rukia groggily opened her eyes after sitting up and let her vision clear as three figures came into focus. Kaien's broad-shouldered outline stood out in front of the other two, slighter figures standing slightly to the background. Rukia immediately recognized the voluptuous blonde, Rangiku, and Orihime. All three were looking at her curiously.
Barely suppressing a yawn, Rukia addressed the bunch. "Hey Orihime, Rangiku…Kaien." she accompanied the last one with a light glare in his direction as she pointedly rubbed her poked arm.
"Morning, Sleeping Beauty." Kaien said cheerfully, ignoring her dark look.
Orihime and Rangiku wore identical smiles. "We thought you had passed out on us." Rangiku commented. Orihime nodded before speaking.
"Aren't you getting enough sleep at home? You know, a lot of times stress issues and bad moods are caused by lack of sleep -or insomnia-. You might want to talk to a doctor about your sleeping problems and start taking pills-" Orihime was cut off as Kaien took a step in front of her.
"Something the matter, Rukia?" he asked, looking at her without grinning now. He looked almost concerned. Rangiku and Orihime both looked at her, expecting an answer.
Rukia, who did not particularly feel like burdening her friends with her own personal troubles was silent for a moment as she thought of things to say… And was coming up pitifully empty.
"Not really, I just…" she started, stalling as she searched in her excuse bank for anything that would ward off any more questions. "Uh…"
"Oi, what is this? Social club?" A new voice, that she was surprised she could feel so relieved to hear, interrupted her fruitless struggling as everyone turned at the sound of it. "Get back to work already!"
The tall orange-haired man with a signature scowl appeared with his arms crossed over his chest and an imposing glare to his coworkers.
"Actually, I'm on lunch break." Kaien said non-chalantly.
"Me too!" chimed Orihime.
"Me-" Rangiku started to join in, when another voice interrupted.
"MATSUMOTO!"
Everyone cringed and the blonde woman froze as someone walked up behind her, his expression shadowed but his tone murderous.
"I told you to have the Hosho story on my desk an hour ago!" The newest arrival growled, looking up to scowl at the blonde with an intensity that seemed unfit for his apparently youthful face.
"Uh, that's right!" Rangiku agreed, turning around to look at her boss with a nervous laugh. Despite his height -or lack thereof- Toshiro Hitsugaya was a force to be reckoned with when pissed off. And no one had quite the talent for doing exactly that like Rangiku.
"And could you tell me…Why, it's not there?" Hitsugaya said in a low, dangerous tone.
"I…" Rangiku smiled awkwardly before saying, "…Forgot?" she finished, and no sooner had she done so, did Hitsugaya's face turn five shades of red, veins beginning to throb visibly all over his forehead and neck. He was just opening his mouth to say something -or perhaps let out some steam, Rukia thought wistfully- when Rangiku interrupted. "But I'll have it there in an hour, I promise!" she hurried to assure him. "I won't let you down, Boss!"
"You better!" snapped Hitsugaya. "To your office, NOW!"
"Right away!" Rangiku started to rush away, the eyes of her coworkers all watching the spectacle. "…But first, I have to grab a quick lunch!"
"WHA-!" Hitsugaya looked about ready to blow.
From the distance and already at the elevators, Rangiku conjured up a sunny smile. "It'll be quick! I can't work on an empty stomach you know!" The elevator doors opened just then and as Rangiku stepped inside, she held them open for a moment to look back towards her boss. "Do you want me to bring you anything?" she offered in a chipper tone.
"NO!" Snapped the white-haired young man, and without further ado, Rangiku disappeared into the elevator.
Hitsugaya was left standing alone, rubbing the bridge of his nose slowly with his thumb and forefinger in an attempt to calm himself as everyone else watched.
"All of you back to work!" he barked, effectively removing all eyes from him in an instant. Rukia marveled momentarily at the fact that, despite being short almost two feet of Ichigo's height, Hitsugaya still had the same effect on those he worked with as the former man. And as the remaining people around him stayed as they were and were about to remind him that they were on their breaks, he snapped once more- "I don't want to hear it!"
"Well, you heard the boy." Ichigo said nonchalantly. "Scram." he looked at Kaien, Orihime and Rukia; then at Hitsugaya as he started to walk away. "Later Toshiro."
"It's Hitsugaya to you!"
Rukia momentarily wondered if Hitsugaya's hair had turned prematurely white due to being subjected to too much stress. It wouldn't surprise her if it had.
"So," Ichigo started once again. "If you're all on your lunch breaks; how about you go have lunch?" He suggested sarcastically.
"Hmph." Kaien muttered mock indignantly before placing a hand around Orihime's arm. "Come on, Orihime. We can tell when we're not wanted." he turned his nose up in an exaggerated gesture and pulled a confused-looking Orihime along with him away to the elevators.
Ichigo muttered some not-very-nice names under his breath before turning to Rukia. "Alright, so I talked to Ukitake again."
"Did he say anything about a job for me?" Rukia asked too quickly, letting the sudden hope show in her face.
"Sort of." Ichigo looked away for a moment then returned his eyes to her now wary face. "He said that he's sure he wants to give you the job."
"…But?" Rukia asked, sensing the negative side and already deflating.
"But- now is just a bad time." Ichigo finished. "There are no new job openings, and on top of that-" Ichigo suddenly caught himself off, an act that didn't go unnoticed by Rukia.
"What?" she questioned.
"Nothing." he said quickly. "It's just not possible at the moment. But it's practically a sure thing that you'll get it…We just don't know when."
Rukia finished deflating at the sound of that. And endless streak of sleepless nights working at Seretei and at the restaurant flashed before her eyes like a horrible premonition of months -or maybe years!- to come. She wasn't sure she could take it.
Then all of a sudden, an image of her brother standing with her back to her flashed through her mind. He was silent in disappointment as she informed him that she had been unable to get a real job at Seretei…And what a waste her time in college had been; she'd be a failure. Just like he'd always known…
No.
She would not disappoint him again. She didn't care if it took working twenty four hours a day, seven days a week- she would get that damn job if it was the last thing she did!
"Hey…" Ichigo spoke up, looking at her oddly. "You okay?" he asked, sounding unsure. Like being openly concerned was not something he did often…Which Rukia didn't doubt. "You look, sort of…" he frowned as he looked at her, as if he was trying to pinpoint just what was wrong. "White." he concluded lamely.
Rukia could have laughed if she hadn't been so tired- and so dreadful of what was yet to come. "It's nothing for you to worry about. Just tired, that's all."
Ichigo quickly turned away and shoved his hands in his pockets, looking slightly flustered. "I never said I was worried." he muttered defensively. Rukia had to smile at that, but she quickly turned away to hide it.
"Was there anything else?" she asked, not looking up at him. She suddenly felt a little lightheaded for some reason that she couldn't figure out.
Ichigo cleared his throat before speaking. "Uh, yeah actually." His tone was back to his usual seriousness. "Hinamori is taking some time off on maternity leave, so we'll be needing someone to fill in for the food segments. Are you up for it?"
"The food segments?" Rukia was unable to cover the groan in her voice. One article a week on some culinary piece… The last thing she wanted to think about after her shifts at the restaurant was food.
"Yeah. It can't be too hard for you. I'm sure you'll find some Chappy related dishes to write about for two or three weeks." Ichigo shrugged, and Rukia had to fight the urge to reach for the stapler and throw it at his mocking orange head. Sleep-shortage and teasing did not work well for her self control against annoying others.
"Idiot." she settled for muttering sullenly. To her surprise -and infinite annoyance- she caught Ichigo smirking in response before he walked away saying,
"The first article is due Thursday." Then he disappeared behind his office, kicking the door closed carelessly.
"Sure thing." Rukia grumbled after he was gone. "There goes my time for bathing as well." she checked off an imaginary list. And with that, she allowed her frustrations to be exhaled in a loud groan before she dropped her head on the table with a loud bang.
That should knock her out for at least a half hour of sleep.
-x-
Ichigo nervously tapped his hand against his leg as he sat in his car and waited. His eyes kept darting from one window to another in search for a familiar car or figure. His hand kept tapping out nervously; he finally shoved both his hands in the pockets of his jeans and stilled them.
It was only about ten seconds later that his leg started jittering up and down.
He grimaced in annoyance at himself and was just about to turn on the radio to distract himself when he felt a shadow on his side, just before someone tapped against the window. With an immediate sense of relief, he saw the bulking figure of his best friend looking back at him.
"Thanks for coming, Chad." Ichigo greeted as he stepped out of the car, putting a hand on the giant's shoulder and giving him a friendly squeeze.
"No problem." He answered in his deep voice.
Ichigo turned to walk into the establishment he had parked outside of, when he noticed that the other man wasn't following. He looked back to see Chad standing at exactly the same spot beside his car, his expression unchanged and half hidden by his shaggy hair falling over his eyes.
"It's right here." Ichigo gestured with his thumb to the restaurant behind him. "Come on." he began to walk away again but was stopped by Chad's voice.
"Ichigo,"
"What?" he turned, not bothering to disguise the annoyance in his tone.
Looking at Chad, he saw the man point to the sidewalk beside his parked car and then look at him expectantly. It took him a minute to understand.
"You gotta be shitting me." Ichigo growled. With one disbelieving look at the man, he grumbled his way over to his car and got back into the driver's seat.
Ten minutes later he scowled beside Chad as they waited to be seated in the restaurant.
"You know it was a yellow line, Ichigo." Chad spoke up, seeing the orange-haired man sulking with his arms crossed over his chest.
"'You know it was a yellow line'" Ichigo repeated in a mocking tone, making a face as he did. "You know finding a parking spot is almost impossible at Urahara's." he complained. "You were such a stickler for the rules."
"Sorry." Chad said, though he was beginning to smile. "I guess the police academy rubbed off on me."
"Che." Ichigo resisted the urge to roll his eyes. A smirk made its way to his features. "At least it did on one of us." he commented. Chad's response was cut off by the arrival of the young girl in pigtails that held two menus and spoke shyly.
"Follow me, please." And with a bowed head, she led them inside the restaurant to a booth near the very back, just as Ichigo preferred.
"Thanks, Ururu." Ichigo said lightly as he slid into his seat. The girl blushed slightly before bowing again.
"The waiter will be here to take your order." And with that, she left, leaving Ichigo and Chad to their suddenly hushed conversation.
"So Aizen was at the ceremony…"
-x-
"Rukiaaaa!" sand the rapidly irritating cheerful voice of the blond man who had suddenly appeared behind her.
Rukia didn't respond immediately as she closed her eyes and took one deep breath.
Her shoulder-length black hair was pinned up, loose strands coming loose messily all around her face and standing wildly on her head. The sleeves of her blue sweater were rolled up to her elbows and over her torso a green apron was tied securely. Her face showed her weariness and her increasing annoyance with the night's customers and her overall state showed that she had been working almost non-stop for two weeks.
Overall, she would say that she looked as she felt.
After counting backwards from ten in her head, she turned to look at Urahara, who stood a few feet away in the kitchen amongst all the rushing around of cooks trying to fill in orders.
"What is it?" she asked through gritted teeth with as much politeness as she could muster.
"We've got people at table 14 who need your services." The shaggy-haired man announced. The striped green and white bucket hat that he normally wore served to shadow his eyes as he smiled cheekily at Rukia when he delivered the news.
"Alright…" Rukia said, mentally preparing herself for another polite smile and well-taken order. She headed out of the kitchen and towards the eating area and was on her way to table 14 when she noticed the two figures sitting there.
One sat facing her way but unaware of her presence; though remarkably big and broad shouldered, it wasn't him that caught her attention. It was the mess of bright orange spikes that could only belong to one person sitting across from him that made her suck in a sharp breath and quickly turn back to the kitchen.
"Let Ururu take that table!" Rukia said in a rush to Urahara, who was just exiting the kitchen himself.
"Eh?" he looked confused. "That's not Ururu's table. Besides, she's busy sitting people now. She can't take it."
"Then tell Jinta!" Rukia suggested pleadingly.
"I don't think it would be a very good idea to let our busboy wait those people." Urahara said diplomatically, noticing the seemingly frantic state of Rukia's. "And Tessai is busy too, before you ask." he anticipated her next words.
Rukia let her mouth close as she ran out of options. "Well…can't you sit them somewhere else so that Ururu can take them?"
"I'm afraid not, Rukia." Urahara said. "But why are you so against waiting on these people tonight?" He inquired.
Rukia let out a sigh. "No reason." she lied. "I just…Ururu!" she suddenly squealed, seeing the young girl walking past into the kitchen- probably on her way to deliver an order. Before Urahara could stop her, Rukia was rushing after her and smiling as she spoke. "Ururu; I know this might seem weird but…Let's switch tables." she proposed.
The timid girl's brow furrowed slightly as she processed the words. "Why?" she asked simply.
"Just…Could you do it as a favor?" She settled for saying. "This one time and I won't ask you for anything else." Rukia promised.
Ururu only took another second before very softly saying, "Okay."
Rukia breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, thanking the girl quickly before heading over to the table that she had accepted to take for herself.
The night progressed in the usual blur of orders and plates after that; other than the times when Rukia had to serve a table near the one where Ichigo sat, when she almost comically attempted to hide her face behind her small notebook for taking orders and tried to keep her voice down so that the orange-haired man wouldn't hear it by chance and recognize it. It resulted in a few hushed but heated discussions with the people on the table who were annoyed at the fact that they couldn't hear their waitress talking…
She might have made a slight fool of herself with her excessive precautions, but it was highly preferable than to suffer the humiliation of letting Ichigo see her in her current state. She didn't know what she would have done if that had happened; the horror and embarrassment and surely the mocking she would be subjected to…She was just relieved that it was all avoided.
"Oh, sorry, I didn't see-" Rukia started to apologize lightly after bumping into someone while she was deep in thought. That is, when she looked up at that someone and immediately saw bright orange. "…You…" she finished dumbly.
"Rukia?" Ichigo went bug-eyed for a moment. "What are you-" he began to ask when he looked down at her and noticed the tell-tale apron and messy pinned up hair. "Are you working here?"
In that instant, a thousand different mortified thoughts ran through Rukia's mind, and she stood petrified and mute. But that only lasted an instant- because immediately after the shock, her instincts and impulses took over…Never really a beneficial event.
Ichigo barely had time to blink -let alone react- before he felt something knocking him aside like a bullet. By the time he had time to blink and get a hold of what was happening, Rukia was pinning behind the wall that led to the restrooms, her hand clamped over his mouth and her eyes looking around wildly before settling back on his own startled orbs.
"You can't tell anyone!" she hissed at him, keeping her voice low. "If word got out about me being a waitress here…It might just reach the wrong ears and- and I really don't want that. So I need you to do me a favor and act as if I had never been here, okay?" she said it all in one rushed mouthful.
Ichigo, being pinned to the wall by a woman about half his size, was feeling a mixture of surprise, admiration and a definite blow to his pride. But other than that, as he looked down at the petite girl -wordlessly, as she still kept her hushing hand over his mouth- he couldn't help but feel himself caught in her eyes, a dark shade of indigo in the medium lighting, as they pleaded him for silence.
A moment later, muffled words broke the silent staring. It was another second before Rukia realized he was trying to speak and she still had her hand over his mouth. She took it back quickly, embarrassed that she'd forgotten. Ichigo exhaled theatrically and then scowled down at her. For a moment, she feared that he would run off to announce to everyone of her current situation; then she wouldn't just have to deal with the present humiliation, but she'd have to take all the opinions from her coworkers -which she didn't really care about that much; the problem was if the rumor spread well enough, it might reach Byakuya's ears. He certainly had enough connections everywhere to be well-informed; as it was there was a chance he might have found out already.
Byakuya finding out was definitely out of the question. And her hopes lied with the orange-haired man…
She shrank back as she waited for him to open his mouth and either mock her or inform her that he'd be telling all heir coworkers next morning over coffee…Instead…
"So this is what had you so tired lately, eh?"
Rukia had started to cringe before his words registered. She warily peeked up at him and saw that his face was set on the usual scowl as he asked her the seemingly normal question.
And then she realized exactly what his question was, and was surprised -if not shocked- to realize that Ichigo was more perceptive than she had given him credit for. Go figure.
"How long have you been working here?" he asked when she didn't answer his earlier question, taking her surprised silence as an affirmative.
"The last two weeks." Rukia found herself answering, suddenly finding it easy to tell him. He didn't seem to care at all or find it degrading in any way that she was scraping by as a waitress because she couldn't get an actual job as a writer.
"Well no wonder you've been so tired." Ichigo said. "It's been showing in your work too. Sloppier than usual." he shrugged, and Rukia gave him a light glare. He wasn't tormenting her at all…He was taking it all so casually…
The exact opposite of what she'd feared. The exact opposite of what would have been Byakuya's reaction. She found herself feeling thankful towards Ichigo.
"You try working all day on other people's articles to then come work five more hours in here and then start writing." Rukia finally said, crossing her arms over her chest and scoffing casually, suddenly at ease. If anything, she felt stupid for her earlier need to hide.
"I'd probably do a better job than you." Ichigo smoothly replied, maintaining a straight face for almost a full two seconds after finishing before the smirk painted his features.
Rukia mirrored his smirk and for a moment the two stood contentedly between the restrooms and the wall that hid them from the dining area, their eyes meeting and reflecting their grins. Rukia felt so unexpectedly comfortable that it took her a while to notice just how close they were standing…And in a dark, hidden location that could easily lead to wrong assumptions….Which she desperately needed to avoid. With him especially.
"I should get back to work." she chimed all of a sudden, jumping back a few steps and creating room between her and Ichigo. "Still have an hour left to fill in, tips to catch and all…" she said hurriedly, backing away further.
"Right." Ichigo said, starting to become aware himself of what their previous situation could have been misread as. "Don't let me stop you." he said simply. With that, Rukia turned and left to work. Ichigo stared after her retreating back only for a second too long, before remembering what his original purpose for getting up had been.
He all but ran into the restroom.
-x-
"I'm done for the night, Urahara." Rukia called, exhaustion and relief crawling into her voice as she pulled the worn apron over her head -her sore muscles cracking in the process- and folded it before putting it away under the cash register.
She was just starting to head towards the exit when Urahara's voice stopped her. "Not yet, Rukia." he chimed, coming up beside her seemingly out of nowhere. She might have jumped, had she not been so tired. "We still have one more customer on his table."
"But we're clo-" Rukia started to say, but let the words die as Urahara motioned towards the tables near the back of the restaurant, and there she saw him. She said nothing as she started to make her way to the last customer in the establishment, Urahara smiling suggestively behind her.
"You're still here." Rukia stated, coming up to the table with her arms crossed over her chest.
"Thanks for pointing that out." Ichigo responded sarcastically.
Rukia noted that the guy he had been with earlier was gone; Ichigo was alone at the booth.
"Well, I hope you're not expecting extra after-hours service just because my job may or may not depend on you." Rukia told him. "Because I'm not planning to wait on another soul tonight."
"Don't worry, I don't need you to do anything." Ichigo said in his usual grumpy manner. "I was just leaving." As he said it, he started to slid out of the booth and to his feet, rising above Rukia in seconds. He started to step away to the exit when he suddenly stopped and turned to look at her. "Aren't you coming?"
Rukia stood dumbfounded for a moment. "What do you mean?" she asked, genuinely confused.
Ichigo's brow furrowed ever so slightly further; he seemed annoyed that he had to explain. "I was going to offer you a ride back to your place."
Rukia had to blink in order to absorb that. Had Ichigo just…Not just offered to do something nice, but actually waited at the restaurant for over an hour to do so… She had to stop herself from looking out thee windows to check for any flying swine.
"Why would you do that?" Rukia asked, unable to contain herself.
"Because I'm a freaking saint." Ichigo scowled at her. "You don't have a car, do you? So come on before I take back my offer."
Perhaps a bit unorthodox in methods, but it was the thought that counted. Rukia actually felt a smile tugging at her lips. Obviously sensing her change in manner, Ichigo quickly intercepted her smile. "Don't go getting any ideas about me. I'm only doing this because I owe you for…last time." he cleared his throat as he said 'last time'. Rukia didn't have to ask to know that he was referring to the time a couple of weeks ago when she had driven him to his house when he was sick- and brewed up a remedy to boot. A remedy, which she might add, had worked wonders almost immediately.
She realized that this was Ichigo's way of thanking her. Ever the man, he couldn't do so with words; he needed to assert his higher species by doing something to even the playing field. Rukia had so many important men in her life that this was a custom she could understand, and was more than used to.
"I'd be happy to take you up on that offer." she said finally, and Ichigo seemed to relax ever so slightly. "But," he stiffened up again. "It just so happens that I live in an apartment just down the block. I'll get there faster by walking." her smile was half sheepish, half amused. "Rain check?" she suggested.
Ichigo shook his head. "Then I'll just walk you there."
Again, Rukia was not expecting that.
"You heard me." Ichigo attempted to sound exasperated. "Now let's go."
Not really seeing any further reason not to, Rukia quickly grabbed her jacket, pulled it on and followed Ichigo out of the restaurant and into the cool night.
The cold early winter air hit her with shocking contrast to the warmth inside Urahara's, causing her to shiver visibly before rubbing her hands together for some warmth. Ichigo gave no outward reaction to the temperature, but watched Rukia's carefully. After the first moment getting used to the temperature change, she let her hands fall limply to her sides and closed her eyes for an instant, taking a breath as if she was breathing in the winter air. For that moment, she looked simply content. Ichigo found himself staring as he remembered one girl who had been interested in him during college, who stepped out of a building with him and as soon as they were out she made a show of shivering and pulling her arms around herself so tightly it looked nearly painful; he even remembered her teeth shattering increasingly audibly. After a few ridiculously conspicuous comments on the "hellishly awful cold", Ichigo had been practically forced to offer the girl his jacket.
He wasn't sure why his mind had conjured up that horribly awkward and annoying memory at the time, but as he looked at Rukia -visibly at ease with the low degrees- he couldn't help but note how refreshingly comfortable being there with her was in contrast to other women. Not that he thought of Rukia that way- as a potentially attractive female-, he barely thought of her as a friend. At least he did now; he would prefer to attribute the happenings of that night at the Halloween party to the effects of a long tiring night and an even longer dry spell. It had nothing to do with his view of her now.
"Ichigo," her voice called him out of his thoughts. "Were you planning on waiting to see snow or walking me home?"
Ichigo's face quickly slipped into a familiar scowl and he started walking, muttering about annoying sarcastic little dwarfs. But he was stopped by the sound of Rukia clearing her throat behind him. "What?" he snapped.
The corner of Rukia's mouth lifted into a smirk and she pointed in the direction behind her. "My apartment is that way." Ichigo wordlessly turned and started in the correct direction, making himself purposely deaf to the sound of Rukia chuckling as she walked to catch up with him.
The two fell into step quickly and they walked at a calm, easy pace through the night; their hands shoved in their pockets against the cold. At one point, neither would have known when, their walking turned into something closer to strolling. Ichigo looked down at her from the corner of his eye and saw her contently making her way in the routine direction, with him as company. As he looked at her, he saw the way her raven strands of hair fell in a careful disarray around her face as they escaped their restrictive pins; he saw her pale skin beginning to turn rosy from the cold biting at her cheeks, and he noticed the way she walked with her head held high even after such a long day of work. But the tell-tale signs of her exhaustion were evident in the darkened area beneath her eyes. Ichigo felt a strange sensation pull at his chest when he saw her and realized just how tired -and just what an effort of pretending otherwise- she really must have been. Pity, probably…Though it felt like something more akin to empathy, maybe. He felt the need to say something.
"You know, I just realized something." he spoke up, breaking the silence between them. He kept his gaze ahead of him but felt Rukia turn her eyes in his direction. "Michiru had asked me to give her Hinamori's article session the day she asked for maternity leave. I think she really wants it, and I had told her I'd see-"
"Ichigo." Rukia stopped him, slowing her pace a little. "You don't need to pretend; you feel sorry for me so you don't think I can handle the extra work." she said, Ichigo slowing all the way to a stop as the accuracy of Rukia's words sunk in.
"I don't think you should handle it." he said slowly, trying to pick his words carefully. Rukia, who had just stopped a few steps away from him, looked at him through slightly narrowed eyes.
"Don't do that." Rukia said firmly. "I know my own limits, I don't need you to decide for me. I already accepted the responsibility; I don't want special treatment."
"It's not special treatment." Ichigo hurried to clarify. "It's a professional decision when I see that you aren't able to commit to more than you already have."
"If I don't publish more articles, I'll have less of a chance of getting the job." Rukia argued. "I need to do this."
Though it was fairly well-disguised, Ichigo still caught the slightest note of desperation hidden in Rukia's last words. She was exhausted; she knew she was exhausted. But she wasn't giving up. And deep down, Ichigo knew she was right: the more she published, the closer she got to a real job at Seretei, and the sooner she could stop killing herself working two jobs.
"Then I suggest a compromise." Ichigo finally said.
Rukia paused, considering him before speaking. "I'm listening."
"You share the work with someone else," Ichigo proposed. "Write an article every other week instead of every week. You'll have less of a burden and you'll still get frequent published pieces. Nanao can alternate with you." He suggested the responsible bespectacled woman who was always ready to take on more wore work.
"That's-" Rukia started to complain, before pausing and looking mildly surprised. "…Not a bad idea, actually."
"You don't have to sound so surprised…" Ichigo frowned down at her; she of course, acted as if she didn't hear a word.
"Not a bad idea at all." Rukia added, starting to walk again, with Ichigo following closely. "I'll take you up on that. I'll have my article ready for next week." she stated confidently; Ichigo might even say that she sounded relieved, as in a weight had been at least partially lifted off her shoulders. He couldn't blame her.
The rest of the walk to Rukia's apartment was in silence. In any other circumstance, it would have been an uncomfortable and awkward silence; but to Ichigo's surprise, it wasn't like that at all. He had always hated small talk and was never nay good at it, which usually meant disaster for these sorts of situations. But Rukia walked on beside him without making a single effort to start up any kind of meaningless conversation and simply allowed him to follow her without a word. He couldn't help but note that it felt so easy to just be beside her; no strained conversation or awkward fidgeting, as most people -particularly females- put him through on an almost daily basis.
In his comfortable musings, Ichigo didn't notice Rukia had stopped until he nearly crashed into her and sent them both toppling down. Fortunately, he was quick enough to stop himself before any potentially embarrassing accidents occurred.
"Here we are." Rukia declared, looking towards the steps leading up to a wooden door with faded paint. The narrow building was tightly wedged in between two others and had a window on each floor.
Ichigo almost subconsciously studied over the place, memorizing the place where she lived automatically.
After a moment of the two of them just standing there, not moving but not saying anything either, Ichigo felt the need to break the moment before things could get weird- or he could get curious about the light smirk playing over Rukia's lips. "Well, aren't you going in?" he asked roughly.
Rukia rolled her eyes before looking back up at him. "Ever the charmer." she commented. "Thanks for the walk." she added, before starting towards the steps. She had just stood on the first step when Ichigo spoke again.
"Yeah, whatever." he muttered, his hands shoved in his pockets. Rukia looked back at him and bit back a smile. He looked boyishly flustered as he tried to appear nonchalant about his act of kindness, or gratitude, whatever he might call it. The way he buried his hands deeply into his pockets and looked away to scowl at a lamp post made him look almost-
Rukia caught herself before the thought could complete itself. Shaking her head, she quickly turned back to start up the stairs again; she hadn't noticed the smile that had formed on her lips until it fell in her haste. But before she could get past the door, Ichigo's voice stopped her again.
"Rukia,"
She stopped, already halfway under the frame and holding the door open with one hand and looking expectantly back at him, still on the sidewalk.
Ichigo hesitated and opened his mouth then shut it again once before finally looking up to meet her eyes with his brown orbs. "Get some rest." he said finally, holding her gaze.
Rukia, caught for a moment in the surprising mixture of softness and intensity in his eyes, took a second to reply. "Yeah…I will."
Ichigo held her eyes for a fraction longer before looking away hurriedly. "Okay. I'll see you tomorrow then."
"See you tomorrow." Rukia repeated, and now that his eyes weren't on hers she found her easy voice and allowed a friendly smile to appear on her face. "Good night, Ichigo."
" 'Night." With that, Ichigo walked away and Rukia disappeared behind the door. Once inside, she hurried up the stairs to the third floor and into her small apartment, falling back against the door once she was safely inside.
Once she was alone with her thoughts, she finally allowed herself to wonder privately. Why had her heart skipped a beat the moment Ichigo called her name and met her eyes…?
-x-
Jushiro Ukitake stood in tense silence accentuated by the dim lighting in his office. It was ten o'clock at night -usually it wasn't recommendable for him to work such late hours, but as an editor it was just sometimes part of the job description. Normally, he even found some comfort in the quiet peace of the office at those late hours.
Not tonight, however. Tonight, he stood behind a closed door and blind shutters; a tense silence extending between him and the figure standing across from him on the other side of his desk, his hand stretched and holding out a folder with his name on it.
"Ukitake, I assure you this afflicts no one more than I- except perhaps Yamamoto himself." The brown-haired man spoke. "But he feels that it is best for the newspaper; let's face it. Your health has always and will always be a problem and liability. We need someone steadier to run Seretei."
The whole time, the bespectacled man smiled calmly, offering the folder. Ukitake stood in silent shock, before swallowing and clearing the lump in his throat. "I…suppose it was inevitable." he reached out with a shaky hand, before he forced it to be steady- savoring every ounce of dignity he had- and took the folder detailing his forced early retirement.
"I'm glad you understand." said the man, still smiling. "The announcement will be made at the Christmas party, in three weeks."
"If I may ask," Ukitake forced his heavy eyes to look up at the younger man. "Who will be taking my place?"
The other man's smile widened.
"I will." said Aizen, the light gleaming across the lenses of his glasses as he spoke.
A/N: Hey, look who hasn't died! Me, that's who!
I won't make excuses for this late update...(okay I will- college, plus friends going through rough times, plus my own lack of inspiration for this story...It all contributed) But alas, I am here, presenting a chapter. It was kind of boring but I wanted to show Rukia having a hard time after a while of working for Seretei without pay- and of Ichigo seeing what she's going through. Also added a little foreshadowing thing there at the end- you may not want to forget that Aizen subplot, it'll become fairly important to the main plot later on...I'm not saying anything else! ;)
Oh and I wanted to address some people's unease about last chapter, when Rukia slapped Ichigo. First of all- it wasn't mindless violence and I am NOT turning this into another cliché IchiRuki story of physical abuse for the lulz. The reason she slapped him was because he was being stubbornly stupid and jeopardizing his own well-being; she knows Ichigo wouldn't listen to words so she had to do something to knock some sense into him. Ergo, the slap. That being said, I'm sorry to see some people were so put off by that, especially to those who actually dropped the story because of it :S Oh well XD
To my reviewers: ddr, V, Ninny, Lunar, MN, HigurashiAlchemist, ali6220, xXBleachluverXx, AnimeFanx3, TopHatsNPyros, Chappygami, Nivek01, SupaCrazee, Black Sun Upon An Icy Sky, youtubesam, Aika Ray Kuroba, shnizlefritz, LazierThanShika-Kun, falconrukichi, Scarlet02, Alyssa, and AwesomeAnimeStarIchiRuki
Thank you all! Your support and enthusiasm is always so great and was the reason I was guilt-tripped into sitting my butt down and writing this chapter at last xD I have so much fun reading your reviews, they give me all these tingly feelings :3 lol Thanks for that!=)
I hope this chapter was to your satisfaction. I know, it was slow, but I did enjoy that little scene of them walking at the end^^ And just so you don't get frustrated with my pacing, I'm going to leak a little teaser and let you know that things will start speeding up in a couple of chapters. Hehe, I won't say no more! Muahaha!:)
Til next chapter!:D