The hospital cafeteria turned out to be a rather depressing place after all.
The pale walls around them seemed to match the bland expressions on most of the people present. Most of them sat on tables by themselves, their gazes fixed on a spot on the table only they could see, shoulders slumped in a defeated position, and many sporting dark circles under their eyes. A few people sat in groups of two or three, but it was a rare exception; and even they seemed meek and exhausted.
In fact, taking a quick survey of her surroundings, Rukia could hardly see anyone actually eating. A few people picked at their food absentmindedly, never actually consuming it; while most didn't even bother to pretend and left their plates and cups untouched.
A sigh escaped her. It was really depressing to be in a hospital.
Turning her gaze forward, she saw the orange-haired man seated across from her wasn't too different from the rest in the room; his hand idly playing with the tiny straw in his coffee while his other arm rested on the tabletop. His brown eyes were fixed on the dark surface of the liquid, watching the ripples created by the movement of the straw without much interest.
Rukia frowned. "Didn't anyone ever tell you not to play with your food?" she said disapprovingly.
After arriving at the cafeteria, Rukia had gotten herself a sandwich while her companion opted just for a black coffee, despite her not-so-subtle suggestions that he should probably get some solid food. They had sat down continuing a slight banter, but the gloomy mood had quickly taken its toll on the spiky-haired male.
Ichigo looked up, blinking as if she had just woken him up from a nap before registering her words and allowing his face to resume his trademark scowl. "Who's playing with their food?"
Rukia quirked an eyebrow and looked pointedly at his untouched coffee then back up at him.
Ichigo grunted, muttering something about it "technically not being food". Rukia rolled her eyes at his behavior but didn't comment any further. Swallowing a bite of her sandwich, she gave an exaggerated sigh and leaned back in her chair, patting her stomach and closing her eyes for effect.
"Ah, I'm stuffed." she announced with what almost sounded like a whine.
Ichigo raised an orange eyebrow at the half-eaten sandwich left on the basket in front of Rukia. The black-haired woman opened one eye, glancing at the leftovers of her food and pursing her lips before looking up at him.
"I don't think I can eat anymore." she declared.
Ichigo gaped. "You've got to be kidding me!" he exclaimed, despite himself. "That was barely enough to fill a grown adult as a whole. And you only ate half!" he said accusingly.
"Well I'm, already full." she said with a shrug.
"How is that possible? I know you're a skinny, pint-sized, miniature little-" he was cut off as he received an icy glare from across the table. "But even so, you couldn't possibly-"
"Believe what you want." Rukia interrupted, holding her hands up in an appeasing gesture. "But I know for a fact that I am done. It's too bad this whole sandwich half will have to go to waste…" she trailed off with regret coating her voice. "That whole entire half of a sandwich, which could probably feed so many people suffering from hunger…If only there was someone who could eat it and not let it go to waste…!" she raised her voice theatrically near the end, putting a hand to her forehead as if she were going to swoon before looking at Ichigo out of the corner of her eye.
"No way." he stated flatly. "I'm not falling for that." he crossed his arms before him to form an 'x' shape.
"Falling for what?" Rukia asked innocently. "I'm merely lamenting the loss of a perfectly good sandwich because no one in the vicinity could possibly eat it. It's actually truly sad. Do you have any idea how many people are starving as we speak? And to think we'll just throw away something like this-"
"Stop saying 'we'!" Ichigo cut in. "I'm not the idiot who ordered too much food for a midget-sized stomach. The only one wasting anything here is you."
As if she hadn't heard a word he said, Rukia sighed deeply. "Oh, all the poor children right now…Cold and alone, searching for something to eat…Just wishing for that…one…piece…of…bread…"
"FINE!" Ichigo snapped irritably, seizing the previously discarded sandwich from the basket on the table with more force than necessary. "You're so fucking twisted…" he mumbled as he took a bite of the already-munched on bread.
Rukia allowed the corner of her mouth to twist up. Sometimes it took a little effort to get the man to do something…In this case, eat.
"Really," she scoffed, feeling the absurdity of the situation. "Men are usually the ones scraping for any meager leftover…"
Ichigo glared at her through a mouthful. "Shut up." he managed to say after swallowing forcibly.
Despite his protests, Rukia could clearly see the gusto with which he devoured the uneaten half of her food. She was willing to bet that this was his first real meal ever since he had heard about his friend's situation. She couldn't say she blamed him though; if she were in his position…
Shaking herself out of those thoughts, she felt her eyebrows knit when she saw Ichigo suddenly pause his devouring, stopping to look at the sandwich in his hand like it had sprouted a face or something. He gulped loudly and…Was he blushing?
Ichigo looked at the small portion that was left of the sandwich that had been Rukia's. The same sandwich that Rukia had eaten half of. The same sandwich that Rukia had bitten and had had in her mouth, where…
He gulped, feeling the temperature rise with his thoughts.
"Something wrong, Ichigo?" Rukia asked strangely.
'I technically just kissed Rukia…'
"Hey!" Rukia waved a hand in front of his face, clearly annoyed. "What the hell, idiot? Are you feeling sick or something?"
Ichigo shook his head immediately to banish the childish notion from his mind. 'What am I? In middle school?' And even so, the notion itself was ridiculous concerning their…history.
"N-no, I just…" he searched for a quick excuse. "…thought I saw…a fly."
Rukia's face deadpanned; Ichigo chuckled awkwardly. There was a moment of silence before Rukia shook her head, muttering something that sounded like "Men…". Ichigo continued to eat the unfinished sandwich, forcefully ignoring his earlier childish thoughts (along with the tiny voice in his head that told him 'It's nothing you haven't done with her before') as he chewed away. In the meantime, Rukia reached for her previously ignored juice carton and went to open it.
It took a few minutes of her attempts at sticking the straw in to fail and for Ichigo to finish gulping down the sandwich for him to level a look at the raven-head. Rukia was frowning at the juice box, her eyes narrowed in concentration as she tried, once again in vain, to poke a the straw through the hole.
"Need help?" Ichigo couldn't stop the condescending note in his voice even if he'd wanted to…which he didn't.
Rukia turned her narrowed eyes on him. "What makes you think that?"
"You've been poking at that thing for like five minutes now without any results." He indicated with his finger to the juice box.
"This box is faulty." she replied almost immediately, her face defiant.
Ichigo let out a dry laugh. "Yeah right. Nice try. If you need help you just have to ask, ya' know." The smug smirk on his face as he said so caused Rukia's glare to intensify.
"...Fine." she growled after a minute, setting down the carton along with the straw and folding her arms. She turned her nose in the air and shut her eyes. "You try then, let's see if you can…" She squinted one eye open as the subtle sound of plastic being poked through reached her ears. "…open it." she finished her sentence lamely as Ichigo presented the juice box, straw sticking out, ready to be drunk from.
Rukia resentfully took the carton from him and sipped from it, allowing the cool orange liquid to fill her mouth and rush down her throat refreshingly; grumbling a "thanks" with her lips still sealed around the straw.
Ichigo leaned back in his seat watching her drink, not noticing when his smirk eased into a soft smile.
Rukia paused in her drinking and looked at him sideways, quirking an eyebrow as she noticed the calm smile on his face while he looked at her. Instead of questioning it for once, she merely allowed her own lips to twitch upwards in a returning smile.
It seemed Ichigo noticed just then that he had been caught staring and smiling, and he quickly straightened in his seat, smile falling as he hastily cleared his throat and averted his eyes. "We should probably go back…The others must be wondering where we are."
Rukia wasn't sure where the feeling of disappointment came from, but she felt her own smile disappear as she nodded. "Right." she stood, gathering hers and Ichigo's garbage and throwing it away in the nearest trash can before the two set off to go back to the waiting room.
Once they arrived, they saw the tired faces of Orihime and Uryuu, now joined by a third individual that Rukia did not recognize, but judging by the way Ichigo stopped short and immediately tensed, he did know the man.
All three people turned to look at them upon their arrival, the third -a lanky silver-haired man- standing up to meet them with a sickening smile on his face.
"Ichigo!" he greeted with unusual familiarity as the orange-haired man's scowl deepened considerably. "We were just talkin' about ya'!" the smiling man informed him. "Nothin' bad though, I promise!"
"What are you doing here, Ichimaru?" Ichigo paid no mind to any pleasantries and spoke in a tightly controlled voice, the underlying anger just barely seeping through. His glare was burning with full force, however.
"My, my." Ichimaru gave him a look of mock surprise, before regaining his smile. "Not very polite, are we, Ichigo? I guess it can be understood, given the circumstances and all."
Ichigo's hands clenched into fists at his sides. "What do you want?"
"Ah, always so serious." Ichimaru lamented. "I'm just doing my job here. A member of the police getting gunned down is headline news; you should know that, people are morbid like that. I was sorry to hear it was our dear Sado, however. We only met briefly but he seemed like such an eager young man… It'd be a shame if he died."
The light tone in which he spoke contrasted with the dark nature of his words. Sensing how Ichigo would react before he did, Rukia acted quickly and put a calming hand on his arm, taking a step forward.
"I think that's enough." she spoke up, both to the surprise of Ichigo and the silver-haired man.
The latter then turned to look at her, seemingly surprised, like he'd only just noticed her presence. It was then that Rukia took a good look at him. He was tall -taller than Ichigo- and skinny, his limbs long and languid. His skin was a pale color and his hair an unnatural hue of silver with lilac tones. She couldn't see the color of his eyes, for they were tightly shut as he smiled that eerie smile he'd had since she saw him. There was something unsettling about him; about his smile, about him. Rukia was reminded of a serpent toying with its prey.
He seemed to have been doing an equally thorough analysis of her, and he even leaned down to inspect her more closely, his smile turning into a look of light surprise as he did. Rukia had to fight the urge to step back, away from him.
"What's this cute lil' thing?" he asked cheerfully, turning back to look at Ichigo. "Is she new? Where have you been hiding her?"
Rukia felt slightly sick at his words, but did her best to keep her face neutral and her stance steady.
"She's none of your business." Ichigo said in a voice that was deadly serious, taking a step forward and lightly pushing Rukia back to stand between her and the silver-haired man, who only chuckled in response.
"Ah, relax, relax!" Ichimaru said lightly. "I'm not planning to steal her away or anything." He moved to look around Ichigo and meet Rukia's eyes, sending a chill down her spine. "She's not that cute."
There was a moment of tense silence as Ichigo and Ichimaru stared each other off, before the silver-haired man straightened up and lifted his arms in apparent defeat. "Ah, I see this is a bad time for you. How insensitive of me." He didn't look regretful. "I'll just come back later for that interview. The front page can wait a little longer." he turned to Rukia. "It was nice meeting you, I hope we can see each other again soon." He told her, his words carrying an uncomfortable sense of foreboding that made her barely suppress a shudder. With that, he turned and started to walk away, waving a hand lazily over his shoulder and turning his face slightly as he spoke once more. "Bye, bye!"
Then he was gone. Rukia let go a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding as she saw him disappear behind dark-paneled doors, his words resonating inside her mind: 'I hope we can see each other soon.'
"Who was that man?" she asked, suppressing a slight tremble in her voice while Ichigo glared at the spot where he'd been for a moment longer before turning to look down at her.
"Gin Ichimaru." he spoke, the darkened scowl still upon his face. "He's a reporter for Las Noches."
Rukia nodded, recalling the name of the other high-ranking newspaper in Karakura. She knew that as members of competing newspapers there would naturally be some tension between the reporters…But the dark atmosphere and the feeling of what could almost be called fear just from that other man's presence were past work rivalry. Not to mention, the look in Ichigo's eyes as he had glared at the other man would have been the very reason for the origin of the phrase 'if looks could kill'. She searched Ichigo's eyes for some form of answer but could find nothing as the brown orbs hardened into an unreadable expression.
"Kurosaki," Uryuu spoke up, the slender man coming to his feet and pulling up Orihime -who was clinging to his arm- with him. "We're going to go home now. They'll call us as soon as anything changes. Will you be okay here by yourself?" the black-haired man asked, his voice not betraying any emotion, despite his words.
Ichigo seemed to relax slightly. "Ché, I don't need you worrying about me." he smirked slightly, returning to himself.
Uryuu narrowed his blue eyes at him as light reflected off his glasses. "We'll leave you to it, then. You probably should get going soon too; you can't do anything for him right now."
Uryuu's words seemed to strike something in Ichigo, but the former man either didn't notice or didn't mind. Rukia unconsciously tightened her hand on his arm -which she had yet to remove since the meeting with Ichimaru; whether for his reassurance or her own she didn't know-.
"I'll see you later, Rukia." Orihime said, smiling at the shorter girl as she allowed herself to be pulled away by her fiancé. Rukia smiled back and waved at the couple, the two waving back at her before disappearing out the exit, leaving her and Ichigo alone.
Rukia turned to look up at him, and was surprised to find his own gaze already on her. His eyes seemed to be holding her in a certain scrutiny, almost as if he was trying to figure something out.
Then Ichigo spoke up. "Thanks for…" he paused to clear his throat. "You know, staying…You didn't have to." he turned away and reached up to scratch the back of his head as he spoke.
Rukia felt her hand move down his arm as she offered him a tentative smile. "It's alright. Uryuu is nice." she said, referring to meeting his friend.
Ichigo scoffed. "Heh. He's just polite to impress Orihime. He's nothing but a stuck up, arrogant, smart-mouthed, sissy prick."
Rukia looked thoughtful for a moment. "So he's like you?"
"What? NO!" Ichigo immediately exclaimed in an outburst inappropriate for the waiting room at a hospital. "I'm no sissy!"
Rukia nodded and folded her arms, in the process taking her hand off Ichigo's arm. He missed the small portion of warmth almost instantly but hid it well.
"So you agree about everything else?" Rukia asked, a smirk playing at her lips.
"No!"
"Umm, sir…" a meek looking girl clad in a nurse outfit with her dark hair braided down her back came up to them. "I'm afraid you are not supposed to yell in here. If you cannot lower your voice, I will have to ask you to leave."
"Nice going, fool." Rukia muttered beside him nonchalantly, making him gape and turn to look at her.
"You-!"
"Sir," the nurse interrupted, her tone calm but dangerously hard. "Please control your voice."
"Eh…right." Ichigo lowered his head shamefully, while Rukia turned away to hide her smirk. "I'll do that."
"Thank you." the nurse nodded before walking away, leaving a very embarrassed Ichigo.
The orange-haired man turned to glare at the petite girl beside him as her snickering reached his ears. "You think this is funny?"
His annoyance only made her laughter increase and he intensified his glare, though for some reason he found himself fighting to control the twitching of his lips. He settled for crossing his arms over his chest and stubbornly looking away. Still, he found that he couldn't remain quite so tense as he heard her chuckles. It was an odd thing, being able to relax for no particular reason.
There IS a reason for it. A voice in the back of his head quickly interrupted his line of thought. He quickly shook his head and with it the sound of the annoying voice.
"Let's just go." he said as Rukia's laughter died down. "I'm sure you have things to get back to."
She looked up at him and he felt like she was analyzing his words, or analyzing him; as if she was checking to see if he was telling the truth. Though in this case, it was more like she was checking if he was truly okay with what he said. After a moment, she gave him a simple nod.
"Will you go to work tomorrow?" she asked as they walked together towards the exit.
"Why?" he replied as he casually held the glass door open for her. "You gonna miss me?" he felt a slight grin surfacing.
"You wish."
-x-
Rukia didn't know whether to be surprised or not when the next morning, she arrived to find Ichigo diligently working in his office, bright and early. From what she'd seen yesterday, she'd thought that he would be absent yet again.
But apparently not. She was actually relieved in knowing that he was well enough to be back.
Perhaps it was that relief mixed with a sense of leftover worry that when the time for her lunch break rolled around she knocked on his office and after his usual disgruntled "Come in" she opened the door to his office and asked,
"Hey, Ichigo, want to have lunch today?"
The orange-haired man looked up from the screen of his computer, having been apparently in great concentration as he read something before he turned at her question. "Actually, I'm pretty busy. I'd thought I'd-"
"You're not skipping lunch, Ichigo." she interrupted him before he could finish, speaking with finality as she crossed her arms over her chest.
Ichigo frowned at her. "I want to get a lot of important things done. I don't have time to-"
"To eat?" she cut in yet again, adding an eye roll this time. "Come on, you have to eat sometime. It'll be my treat." she included a smirk this time, seeing him perk up at her last words.
"Maybe I could have a bite."
And that was how twenty minutes later the two found themselves seated at the table of the nearest fast food eating greasy hamburgers and sipping soda loudly amongst the background noise of people ordering food and the employees shouting instructions at each other.
"Classy choice." Ichigo commented in between bites.
Rukia looked up at him, pausing to swallow before speaking. "Not what you had in mind, eh? Sorry to disappoint." she grinned slyly before taking a large bite of her burger.
"Nah. I'm just surprised actually." he said thoughtfully.
At this, Rukia looked up with mild curiosity. "Surprised, how?"
He shrugged, not really sure of the answer himself. "I guess I didn't take you for the burger type of girl." He said with a slight smirk.
Rukia raised an eyebrow. "And what were you expecting?" She suddenly looked very interested.
"Dunno. Something like salads, soups and vegetables. Small proportions." he said, fighting to keep a straight face.
Rukia narrowed her violet eyes at him. "Are you implying something?"
"Nothing at all." he said innocently. "It's just that I had a theory that a poor diet might have been the cause for your stunted growth. My dad's a doctor, I've seen this happen a lot with-"
Ichigo's words were cut off as an a wad of napkins was chucked with more force than he would have thought possible and with unnervingly accurate aim at his face. As the napkins fell harmlessly into his lap, a pair of murderous violet eyes were revealed. Ichigo restrained the grin that threatened to take over his features, if only to prevent some sort of heavier object being hurled in his direction.
The rest of the lunch went by uneventfully, filled with casual conversation and periodic bouts of banter. As the two started to walk out side by side when they were done, Ichigo lightly teasing Rukia about her massive appetite after having witnessed her finish off her own food as well as most of his fries, he mentally noted that in the last weeks or so things had gotten much more comfortable between him and Rukia. Or rather, he had gotten more comfortable. It was strange, because in a sense he had always felt that he could easily relax around her, but at the same time he had felt strained.
He realized now that he himself had been causing the strain by trying too hard to keep her strictly at arms length. Given the circumstances of their first meeting, he had been instantly wary of her when she suddenly showed up at his workplace. His immediate reaction had been to pretend he didn't know her, while later on he simply tried to push her away. Even after they had come to terms and agree to be friendly with each other, he had been almost subconsciously trying to stay at what he considered to be a safe distance.
He playfully scowled at her as she made a remark about him having a 'girly appetite for someone so big', and he thought he knew the reason why he had been acting like that before.
It was scary. The way he clicked with her so easily, their interactions feeling so completely natural even if they had only known each other for a relatively short time, it was a bit scary for him; someone who was used to finding it difficult to fit in with people in the first place. His permanent scowl and unusual hair had always had a knack for keeping people away, and his less than developed social skills were no help. But somehow, even on that first night were he had met her in a closet of all places, talking with her and just being around her felt like they'd been doing it for years.
Maybe he had been stupid, trying to fight against that feeling. Regardless of that, as of recently he had found himself giving up on the attempt altogether. Especially after the previous day at the hospital…She hadn't done much, she hadn't even offered many words of comfort or even tried to pry about the situation, she was just there. And in that moment it had felt like that was all he needed.
That was when he finally accepted it. It had been inevitable since the beginning, but only then had Ichigo accepted it. His relationship with Rukia might not have been a very conventional one, but somehow he knew that it was right.
"Oi, what are you-?" he started to ask as he got into the driver's seat of his car.
On the passenger's seat, Rukia rubbed at her left eye with almost furious fervor, gritting her teeth as she did so.
"Stop doing that!" Ichigo scolded. "You're hurting yourself, idiot."
"I've just got something…in my eye…" she grunted as she continued to rub purposefully.
The orange-haired man felt his brows furrow. "Don't rub it like that! Stop," Seeing that she wasn't listening to him, he reached over and pulled her hand away from her face, keeping his hold lightly around her wrist as he looked at her face. "Let me see." he instructed. Rukia seemed to consider this for a minute before finally turning her face to him.
Ichigo leaned across his seat and, letting go of her wrist, he used his hand to place his fingers on the side of her face, firmly but gently angling it to get a better view of the bothersome eye. It was predictably red and watery, irritated from whatever the cause was for her discomfort as well as her own harsh rubbing. He leaned closer, as far as the seating would allow him, to see what was the source of the problem; Rukia sat in complete stillness, hardly breathing as he tipped her face slightly downwards and looked intently.
A moment later, he spotted the source of her problem hanging precariously in between the edge of her lower lid and the white of her eye. Using the hand on her face to hold it steady and reaching up with his free hand, he carefully pulled on the soft skin right under her left eye, hearing only a slight intake of breath from her as he did so.
"Hold still." he advised just as she began to squirm. Surprisingly, she became still under his touch. It seemed that time held still for a moment, as he went about the task with impossible care and precision. "There." he declared after a moment, holding up the irksome black eyelash on the tip of his finger for her to see.
After blinking rapidly a few times to clear away the redness and excess moisture, Rukia's eyes moved to see the lash with mild surprise. Ichigo's own eyes left the tiny hair and went to see the woman's face, and he saw the slight awe in her features before noticing a fading pinkness on her face.
And it was like he was suddenly made aware of the position the situation. He still had one hand carefully holding her face in place, while his face was so close to hers that he could see the intricate mixture of blues and violets in those large thick-framed orbs of hers.
He pulled back immediately and cleared his throat awkwardly, fighting down the sudden redness in his own cheeks. "Err, let's go back then." he said, hastily moving to wipe the eyelash on his jeans before being stopped by a pair of dainty hands holding his wrist in place.
"Wait!" Rukia said, snapping out of her previous silence. "My eyelash!"
Ichigo stared at her in confusion before she pulled his hand towards herself and used one slender finger to carefully pick up the eyelash. Once she had it, she let go of his arm and inspected it closely.
"What the hell do you want that for?" Ichigo asked, the scowl returning to his features.
"To make a wish, what else?" she looked at him like he was stupid…Like he was stupid!
"Oh don't tell me you believe in that stuff." he rolled his eyes exasperatedly. "It's all a load of bullshit for people who have nothing better to do than wait for shooting stars or falling eyelashes and hope that'll fix all their problems."
Rukia gave him an annoyed look. "Or it's just a harmless way of allowing people to have a little hope. Sometimes a little hope is what someone needs for that little push to be able to do what they have to and reach their goals." She said, looking somewhat thoughtful
"That's stupid." Ichigo said bluntly. "It's no use sitting around waiting for some sign that might never come for you to go and do something. If someone wants something then they just have to do what they have to, to get it."
Instead of arguing, Rukia stared at him as if she were analyzing him for a moment, and without warning, a soft smile graced her lips. "You're right."
"Damn right I- wait a second, did you just agree on something with me? Without so much as a witty reply or rude comment?" Ichigo asked incredulously.
Rukia moved to wipe away the eyelash on her jeans as he had been about to do earlier. "Don't get used to it. Everyone has a moment in which they are right about something…Even you."
"What do you mean 'even you'?" He gave her an irritated look.
Rukia ignored him and finished wiping her hand on the fabric of her jean, sitting back with an almost content smile as she folded her arms over her chest. Ichigo glared at her without any force before she turned to him with a questioning look.
"Aren't you going to start the car?"
-x-
"Hell yeah!"
Kaien pumped a fist in the air exuberantly as he cheered out loud; fortunately, his behavior had come to be expected and no more than a few heads turned in his direction.
Ichigo and Rukia were just arriving on the fourth floor when they came upon the spectacle. Beside Kaien, Rangiku was leaning against the thin wall of his cubicle grinning widely and beside the two stood Orihime, a quieter smile on her face. For a short instant Rukia recalled the orange-haired woman's crying face from the previous day, but quickly banished the image, focusing on the present. More specifically, on Kaien's latest outburst.
"What are you so happy about?" Rukia asked as she came up to him, arms folded over her chest as she raised an eyebrow. She was barely aware that Ichigo walked up to the small group as well, instead of heading straight into his office.
"I'm merely rejoicing over the fact that I will have an all-expense-paid night at the prestigious Gotei Hotel this weekend for me and Miyako!" Kaien declared like he had won some sort of competition.
Rukia looked at him incredulously, her mouth falling open. "No way! How did you manage that?"
"We all did," supplied Rangiku, cutting in swiftly as she remained in her relaxed position. "Seretei is giving all the employees a night at the Gotei this Saturday, for the Christmas party."
Rukia took a moment and recalled that indeed the Christmas party would be held at the Gotei Hotel's ballroom. But she didn't remember seeing anything about a free stay…
Rangiku must have seen the question in her eyes because she quickly added, "We just got the email saying so. I'm surprised; last year it was just some cheap three-star place, Seretei has really upgraded." the blonde smiled with a slight faraway look, probably mentally envisioning how the Gotei would compare to that 'cheap three-star place'. Kaien still looked giddy with the news.
Rukia rolled her eyes at their excitement, heading to her own cubicle while absentmindedly hearing Orihime ask Ichigo if he'd gotten the email as well and the orange-haired man's vague response that he hadn't checked, which launched a small outburst of disbelief from the brown-eyed girl and a flurry of comments from the other two employees. Their lively conversation played as background sounds as Rukia started her computer and went about her routine, logging in to her email first…
Her eyes widened as she clicked on one of the more recent received mails, and only widened further as she read through it.
She was barely aware of the four pairs of eyes that followed her questioningly as she wordlessly got up from her seat and started to make her way wedging between the many cubicles on the fourth floor and headed towards the elevator. She didn't turn as she heard Kaien call her name and ask where she was headed to; she only stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the fifth floor, keeping her eyes on the lit numbers at the top of the elevator as the doors slid closed.
"Kiyone," Rukia said the moment the doors opened and she stepped through. The bobbed-hair secretary turned to look at her and smiled.
"Hey Rukia!" the girl greeted amiably. "Did you have an appointment to see Mr. Ukitake?" she asked with a quirked eyebrow, wondering if she'd somehow forgotten.
Sentaro hasn't said anything either so maybe he forgot too… he dirty blonde started to reason mentally as the raven-head shook her head.
"No, but I was hoping I could see him if he had a moment…" Rukia asked hopefully.
That stupid idiot Sentaro probably didn't tell me just to be bother me, Kiyone inwardly continued, her face beginning to scrunch up in annoyance.
"Err…Kiyone…"
He's probably trying to get on Mr. Ukitake's good side by making me look bad! That oaf!
"Kiyone…"
But I'm on to him now! Next time I'll just check in Mr. Ukitake's personal agenda and I'll know even before that stupid Sentaro-
"Kiyone!" Rukia finally had to shout to snap the blonde secretary out of her musings.
"Oh, Rukia. You're still here."
Rukia resisted the urge to slap her palm against her own forehead.
"I'm sorry, I'll alert Mr. Ukitake right away that you're here." Kiyone said, momentarily putting aside her plotting to pick up the phone and do her job.
Rukia was surprised when a few moments later the door to Mr. Ukitake's office opened and the white-haired man himself stepped out, smiling.
"Hello Kuchiki! What a nice surprise." he said, looking warmly at her. Rukia found herself smiling back quickly as she usually did whenever she was in her boss's presence.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Ukitake." she greeted politely.
"Come inside, Kiyone says you wanted to see me." he quickly waved her into his office, lightly shutting the door behind them and going to take his seat behind his desk while Rukia sat on one of the chairs opposite. "So, to what do I owe this visit?"
"Well…" Rukia hesitated for a moment before she started. "It's about an email I got, I was confused," she began to fidget with her fingers. "It said something about this weekend…"
"Ah," Ukitake nodded in understanding before she had to go on any further. "I should have figured you would ask about that."
Rukia smiled sheepishly. "It's just that, it seemed odd." she admitted. "I'm only an intern, why would the company pay for me to stay at the hotel as well?"
"Yes," Ukitake said. "You were right to be suspicious. Seretei doesn't normally go giving interns free nights at one of the best hotels in Karakura after all." he chuckled lightly before leaning resting his elbows on the wooden desk and leaning forward. "It still doesn't actually."
Rukia felt her eyebrows furrow slightly. So it was a mistake?
"It was no mistake." Ukitake said quickly, as if reading her thoughts. He paused then, a sigh escaping his lips, the hint of that gentle smile never leaving his face. "I had hoped to surprise you at the Christmas party, but I suppose it can't be helped…"
Rukia found herself leaning forward in her seat, her interest piqued. "Mr. Ukitake…?"
Said man met her eyes and a bright smile suddenly lit up his face.
"You're no longer an intern, Rukia."
A/N:Yay another chapter! This one didn't take much over a month did it? And in my own defense, it would have come out even earlier if I hadn't had finals week(s) . *shudders* But as soon as I was done I got to work here! This chapter was a bit shorter than the others but I liked the content as it was, so I didn't push anymore into it.
Also: You know you're really invested in your own story when you start to laugh and squeal in delight when you make something good happen. Rukia isn't an intern anymore! I was so happy for her...which is stupid because I'm writing the story...And this isn't even real. This isn't even real within a story that isn't real (the actual Bleach). Lol, i love it anyways haha
Anyway, thanks to: unknownkyitty, NightDiamond358, forever-will-love2112, Poisonfish, 1999, MN, ireadtoomuch139, SupaCrazee, MONST3R, blackwingsgreeneyes, KatLady13, xXBleachluverXx, jenaca, falconrukichi, Kaoru Kato, dArkAnge04, ali6220, Fire331, shnizlefritz, morte-hourglass
Waah you guys outdid yourselves with your latest reviews, so triple thanks!:'D Most of you did what I asked you to and answered what you wanted me to change/alter/improve in the story, and the answer was pretty much a general consensus: more romance.
Hahaha bunch of fluff lovers XD Don't worry, I know I'm taking it really slow with the romance, but it's because I wanted to play it in an IchiRuki fashion. You know they've been dancing around it for over 400 chapters in the manga, so they're not very quick on that lol But don't worry, I'm not as slow as Kubo. Things are going to start heating up soon...And by soon I mean possibly-next-chapter-soon ;) But hold your horses, I'm not going to make them magically be in love all of a sudden, I hate that in stories, so you'll have to bear with me :P We'll get there, don't worry. I just hope that you enjoy the journey there ^.^
So don't hesitate to comment on this chapter! Reviews really make my day :D Oh and, I got TWENTY reviews this chapter; I'm not sure but I think that's a personal record!...Would it be too much to ask to see if we can top that? *wink*wink*
Hehe, 'til next time! It's going to be the big 10!