Hi, there! It's been quite a while! ...the reason it's an initial intention of cancelling the story. However here it's a new chapter. It's not something extraordinary. Mostly there are IchiRuki moments...a smooth chapter ( just like the calm before the storm). Things will precipitate later.
Again, english it's giving me a hard time so please be indulgent with my mistakes.
And last but not least. A question for all Bleach fans...( especially for Buyakuya's fans). I was shocked after reading the 502 manga chap. It's Byakuya really dead?
A VERY SPECIAL THANKS TO CJ WHO STOOD 6 HOURS TO REVIEW MY SPELLING/ GRAMMAR MISTAKES
"May I sit next to you?" asked Ichigo with a wide grin across his face, attempting not to anger her yet again.
She turned to him with a straight face, but before she could even give him permission he had already sat down on the roof beside her.
"Ichigo…it's late. I think you should be heading to bed" said Rukia with a tired voice. "No matter what you'd say I'm sure that you're…"
"No, my wife is not waiting for me…" Ichigo interrupted with a soft voice and gentle smile on his face.
"I thought you said she's not your wife" added Rukia trying to keep her rather cold composure.
"Well, she's not…yet!" he said, mimicking her earlier words.
The irony in his voice led to a slight smile to appear on her face.
"See?" he added. "You finally smiled!…which means that you're no longer upset with me anymore, right?"
She sighed, but didn't say anything. Ichigo simply laughed.
"So I guess that you're still playing the upset one huh?"
Rukia turned to him rather surprised. It was the first time in years that they were having a proper conversation… and she couldn't help but notice how much he had changed. He was insistent, sure of his actions and was playing with words in a way that she was unable to even respond. She lowered her face, wondering to herself where the child that not so long ago she could play around her fingers had gone to. Ichigo had grown into a man. She clinched her fists. Was that regret? Or was it insecurity?
"It's kind of hot here…I was really getting used to the cool weather in Tokyo…" he said with a relaxed expression.
She bit her lip. What was she supposed to say now? His confidence and his natural air about him were making her truly nervous. She felt like a little girl and not a shinigami five times older than him.
"Too hot, don't you think?" he added with a sigh, as he lay next to her.
'This is too stupid. I'm acting as if I were….No! No! No! It can't be! I must pull myself together!' she told herself and drew her zanpakuto. She cut the air above them and suddenly a cold winter breeze chilled the atmosphere. "Better?" she added.
Ichigo lifted his eyebrows:
"Nice… I didn't know you could do something like that with your zanpakuto…"
"There are a lot of things I can do with Sode no Shirayuki actually."
"Then you must have a close relationship within your inner world…" he whispered.
"Why do you make it sound as if you are envious of me?"
"Because I am, a little… I haven't visited that old man Zangetsu in years"
"You could do that now if you wanted…the sealer is still broken"
"I wonder about that…" he said and closed his eyes, enjoying the blessing of the cool breeze in the hot summer night. "To visit him now…it would be as hard as having a proper conversation with you"
Rukia's eyes widened.
"Ichigo" she mumbled.
"Don't mention it Rukia….because I know; time has passed…and things have changed… and I'm afraid from it all, the thing that has changed the most is myself… so in this state it would be hard for me face Zangetsu."
"You just need time Ichigo…" she said gently.
"Time you say?... And then you promise that everything will go back to normal?"
She smiled:
"Of course…"
"Even the two of us?" he added troubled.
Her eyes widened, while her lips remained half opened and mute. Watching her reaction, he gasped sadly:
"I'm sure this will truly take some time…But I really wonder how much time we have together…"
Her eyebrows frowned.
"You don't have to think about it right now…"
"Right…" he whispered, obviously unpleased with her answer. A reaction which only made her feel more uncomfortable.
"We better think about those escaped prisoners which could return any moment now…" she added in an attempt to comfort him by changing the subject. "Didn't you say that you wanted to help?"
He immediately grinned.
"Ooooh….I see! So you do need my help!"
"As if!" she answer stifled. "I was just trying to be nice!"
"Admit it! You do need someone to watch your ass!"
She rolled her eyes annoyed at his comments.
"First of all…even if I needed someone "to watch my ass" I wouldn't be asking someone who hasn't trained himself in over 6 years….and secondly, I really don't need anyone to keep me safe…You were there this evening…you saw my bankai"
Ichigo remembered then, the ruthless goddess dressed in snow and moonlight that cut into pieces an army of hollows and prisoners without any hesitation. A terrifying strength should be the words to describe her bankai best, yet there was another word which echoed throughout his mind at that moment:
"Your bankai is so….beautiful" he whispered.
Her eyes immediately softened and her expression had filled with pride.
"I should remain modest…but Sode no Shirayuki munaraito is the most beautiful bankai in the Soul Society…"
"Of course" added Ichigo "Nothing less than what I was expecting from the most beautiful zanpakuto!"
Rukia smiled.
"Well I trust your being honest… since you know quite a lot about my zanpakuto"
"However I am the only person except from you who has fought with it"
"I think Nii-sama also fought with it…in its materialized form"
"That stiffed guy fought against your zanpakuto, not with your zanpakuto itself…"
"Ichigo!" she riposted. "I will not tolerate anyone speaking improperly about my brother!"
Ichigo's eyes widened:
"Geez, Rukia! Calm down! You're starting to sound like him…"
Rukia's eyebrows frowned giving a menacing look, but Ichigo simply snorted with amusement.
"Still…that makes me kind of special, right? Being the only one who ever held your zanpakuto… or should I say, the most beautiful zanpakuto in the Soul Society?"
Rukia's expression softened yet again and a slight smile appeared in the corner of her little and thick lips.
"When you fought with her, it wasn't beautiful at all…It immediately took the shape of your strength and it looked more like a butcher's utensil…Poor Sode no Shirayuki"
"Oi! Don't make jokes about my strength!"
Rukia laughed.
"Honestly Ichigo… It was ugly!"
"It was not ugly…It was just….different!"
"Yeah…right!"
"Really…it was a truly different and unique experience to fight with someone else's zanpakuto…"
Rukia turned to him her eyes filled with curiosity.
"How was it fighting with Sode no Shirayuki?" she asked.
Ichigo turned his eyes to the starry sky with a dreamy expression. After almost 10 years bringing to life all those old memories. It was the same as trying to recall a dream from his childhood. His very first dream:
"At the beginning I felt as if all the power that I unconsciously held inside me awakened. At that moment I knew nothing about your zanpakuto, not even its name…but somehow, I felt that no matter how much of my strength was transferred within it, it would never really belong to me. Your zanpakuto never failed me. It responded consciously to each and every of my commands but despite that, I knew that its true loyalty never laid in my hands… and for that reason I perceived it as a stranger…a little…"
Rukia didn't respond immediately and for a couple of seconds they remained silent.
"Ichigo…as a shinigami you should know very well that our souls lay in our zanpakutos…So when you held my zanpakuto…you could have also said that you help my soul into your hands"
He smiled.
"I guess that's what made our relationship so special"
Rukia turned to him with a sarcastic expression.
"You just said that that you felt strange when you were holding my zanpakuto."
"I said "a little…strange" he added trying to defend himself. "And wasn't it normal? Sode no Shirayuki belongs to you. It would have been wrong for it to become attached to me!"
Rukia's eyes widened.
"Wait!...don't tell me she really did" Ichigo continued almost shocked. "What did she tell you when you got her back?"
Rukia gasped:
"She said she missed me"
"Only that?" he added not fully convinced.
"Well at that moment I was pretty surprised even by those words. Sode no Shirayuki has never really been to open when it comes to her feelings. After all, she is an ice zanpakuto, right?"
And Rukia lied on the roof with closed eyes, admiring the starry sky she was starting to draw in her mind. Again, silence cut in for a few seconds.
"She also added something else when she returned to me" she finally said. "Her words were:" I saw in you the same strength he unleashed. Hurry up and bring it to light! Hurry up and surpass him!"…But it wasn't my strength that was the problem. My heart was the one who was weak and didn't want to surpass you because somehow deep down I always wanted to rely on you so that you would be forced to never leave my side"
Ichigo's eyes widened and something in him seemed to crush under the weight of his emotions. His arms almost moved toward her in order to embrace her.
"Oh! I shouldn't say these things to you…I must have been such a child to think that way back then…."
Immediately he retrieved his arms, embarrassed by his reaction, by the misunderstanding of her words.
"So in the end I understood that I needed to become stronger." She continued. "Nii-sama was so proud when he saw my bankai. But during the training I was so scared… You know all the prejudging that happens to beautiful girls where people believe they are either weak or stupid. That same prejudging applies to zanpakutos. So the weight on my shoulders was pretty heavy since I already possessed the most beautiful zanpakuto. Nii-sama encouraged me and was next to me during all my training and in the end Sode no Shirayuki munaraito proved to be much more than I was expecting. A normal bankai has one power… The skilled shinigami's like Nii-sama have two shapes for their bankai… but despite all the expectation anyone could have, my bankai turned out to have three all of which could be unleashed separately or simultaneously… Remember those white stripes of my reiatsu? …they work as a shield for me and as a destructive storm against the enemy. It's the easiest shape to control since the stripes work almost on their own and every time they sense a danger even If I don't have the time to they react to protect me instantly. The second shape taken by my zanpakuto breaks into splinters which follows the enemy. The splinters are just like a deadly cocktail since some of them are filled with a poison which paralyzes the enemy guaranteeing a painful death. Some are freezing the blood turning the enemy into ice, while the rest are so sharp that no matter how strong the enemy might be, they would become perforated by the splinters of my zanpakuto. The third shape makes the connection between my zanpakuto and the stripes of the reiatsu. The stripes form a trap around the enemy and as I pass my zanpakuto through the white reiatsu, it lends all the power to my shield. The blade that forms from the shield is made of glass so it can encounters the enemy just once, but during that single touch all its power spreads into the enemy's weapon and body just like a venom, freezing the body of the enemy until it breaks…
Ichigo was surprised:
"Wow!... that's your bankai?"
"Yeah…Pretty much"
"No wonder why even Byakuya is impressed…"
Rukia blushed.
"But it's not as if I can control all this power that easily…sometimes I fail…because fighting with this bankai is almost like dancing. Forget a step and everything falls apart!"
Ichigo grinned.
"Soooo…. In the end it seems that you do need my help!"
Rukia laughed.
"Personally, I don't need your help! … But I'm sure that people like Orihime are still relying on you. As for me, I haven't been a part of that group for a long time now.
After she had said that she got up in an attempt to leave.
"This again!" he growled. "You can't even begin to imagine how much you are annoying me with this cold and superior attitude!"
Rukia's eyes widened a bit amused.
"Bear with me a little longer then…"
Hearing those words, he turned to her shocked and worried:
"A little longer? …W-what…do you mean by that?...Aren't you back for good?"
Rukia turned to him with a troubled expression.
"Ichigo…" she mumbled and then, the only explanation she could come out with was: " I'm the heir of the Kuchiki clan now…"
Ichigo's eyes widened but it was not surprise that filled his heart in that moment. It was pain. His blood froze in his veins and he knew it wasn't because of the coldness of her zanpakuto. It was the coldness and the irony of fate: "The heir of the Kuchiki clan". He knew exactly what that meant.
She lowered her face and prepared herself to leave. She made a step in to the air ready to jump from the roof.
"Rukia!" he called in that moment.
She turned to him, stopping in place
"Yes, Ichigo"
"Rukia…" he repeated sadly.
Yamamoto opened his eyes as he heard the slight sound made by the delicate wings of a hell butterfly which just entered his dorm. He growled, annoyed by the fact that his sleep had been interrupted, but in the moment he heard the name of Ichigo Kurosaki in the message, all his numbness and sleep had disappeared.
"That reckless child… I was wondering when this would happen" he thought to himself.
He growled again and dictated to the hell butterfly two messages.
Byakuya was alone in the gardens with his eyes fixed on emptiness. His figure impartial and composed as ever would have never portrayed that there was a reason for his lack of sleep, other than the pure pleasure for nocturne walks. His feelings hidden even from himself…and as long as he couldn't feel them they were as if they had never even existed… so, there was no reason for him to be worried or nervous. And yet…
"Strange…" he whispered.
Indeed; Strange was the familiar feeling of loneliness, after a small period spent next to someone almost built after the shape of his heart.
"I cannot fall sleep…and it will soon be morning" he added. "So strange…"
And then he saw a hell butterfly approaching him.
"All the captains are to be informed that Ichigo Kurosaki has broken the seal and has regained his shinigamis powers. First hour in the morning all the captains are hereby summoned to a meeting at the principal headquarters by the order of the head captain Yamamoto"
Byakuya lowered his eyes. This weren't entirely shocking news however this wasn't pleasant news either. As a matter a fact, this wasn't news at all but rather something that was expected from the very beginning. When Rukia came with the surprising proposal of giving Ichigo Kurosaki a little vacation, all the captains agreed in unanimously even though their reasons were different. There were only a few who really wanted to repay Kurosaki for all the times he had saved the Soul Society by giving him the chance of enjoying the life with which he was born (before he could take in forever the responsibilities of the shinigami). Except from Ukitake, perhaps no one else had this intention in mind when they agreed to seal Kurosaki's powers. In a moment of honesty, Hitsaguya even confessed that Kurosaki has already done enough for the Soul Society and that he should take this break as a chance to go back to his old life. He shared the same opinion as he felt indebted towards Ichigo Kurosaki, but he never wanted him near Ru…
He suddenly turned his head to the mansion. His eyebrows slightly frowned as something seemed to disturb his thoughts. There was a faded and distance presence which carried the perfume and the songs of childhood:
"Crystalline sounds of laughs, sneaking outside the house, the feeling of holding hands in complicity and the feeling of going against the rules when the parents were asleep."
"It's hardly possible…" he whispered to himself and turned to the hell butterfly that was leaving his gardens. And then, the thoughts and worries turned back to him again.
The prisoners were outside, somewhere in the real world… and Rukia also, among them…
"What is it, Ichigo?" asked Rukia as she stood in the air next to the roof.
He made a weary face.
"The heir of Kuchiki clan?"
Her lips trembled but no sound came out. He smiled sadly.
"No wonder your bankai looks so much like your brothers" he added.
She gasped uncomfortably and turned her back to him.
"Oi! Where are you going? Are you heading back already?"
"No… not yet"
"Then…where are you going?"
"Ichigo!" she exclaimed. "Are you questioning me?"
He scowled and turned his face from her.
"Fine! Your plans are none of my business anyway!
She gasped again and she gave up.
"I'm going to find my luggage. When I came to the real world I immediately entered the fight and I dropped my luggage"
"Need some help?"
"I think it might have dropped it pretty far from here…"
"Well I can turn in my shinigami form and then we can both shunpo!"
"The spiritual pressure…it's not stable and you will collapse if you change into your shinigami form…I'm wearing a sealer that's why I can breathe"
For a few seconds silence fell between them and then Ichigo drawn a smile in the corner of his mouth:
"Would you mind a long nocturne walk?"
She looked at him silent for a few seconds and then, from where she was, standing in midair, she extended her hand towards him.
"Are sure, Rukia?" he said looking down from the roof of the second floor. "I'm pretty heavy, you know…"
"Strawberry…You don't trust me anymore?"
Hearing those words he brutally got up on his feet and before he could lose his equilibrium she caught his hands and pulled him to her. He only had time to see an amused smile on her lips and a strange sparkle her violet eyes. After that, everything else around him faded as she shunpo-ed to the sky holding his hand.
"Woooooooooooooooooooooohoooo o!" he yelled with enthusiasm. "It's sooo different when I'm in human form!"
She laughed.
"You just grew out of the shunpo sensation these past six years!"
"Nooooo! Reeaaally! It's sooo different when I'm human!" he continued. "It's like riding in a roller coaster without a safety belt! You know that if you drop me I'm dead, right?"
She turned to him with an evil grin on her face.
"No!" He yelled. "Don't you even think about it!"
But the next second she let him go:
"Ruuukiaaaaaaaaa!" he yelled as he was falling.
One second later she descended to a lower altitude and reached his hands. She was laughing.
"That was not funny!" he riposted.
"Oh! Ichigo! You grew so old! It's just a bit of fun!...You should have seen your face: Rukiaaa! Rukiaaa!" she kept laughing as she was imitating him. Then she suddenly stopped as she looked beneath her: "Oh, my! Is that my blue kimono? The one from Nii-sama?"
Ichigo also look down and he saw hanging on the branches of a tree something which looked like a silk material. She immediately shunpo-ed and grabbed it.
"Oi! Rukia! Slow down!"
But she kept using shunpo with a worried expression as she collected her stuff.
"They must have fallen from my suitcase when I dropped it! Do you know how expensive these things were?" she said as they were scattered across the ground and she continued trying to recompose her luggage. He looked among her stuff with a skeptic expression. There were a lot of kimonos and pieces of jewelry.
"Really, Rukia? This stuff belongs to you?" he said while he lifted an obi which looked very expensive.
"Be careful with that! It's from Nii-sama!"
He frowned distrustful.
"Name one thing among these which was not bought by Byakuya!"
She threw him an annoyed look.
"What is wrong with receiving gifts?"
"And all of this jewelry…" he continued. "Honestly, Rukia, all of this is stuff a husband would normally give to his wife"
Her eyes widened scarred.
"Husband? Who said that? You're joking…right?" she immediately riposted troubled.
"Oi! Calm down! Why are so anxious?" he said surprised.
"W-well…y-you shouldn't make comments about my clothes!" she mumbled.
Ichigo lifted his eyebrows.
"Rukia, I wouldn't make any comments on these things if you were wearing them in Soul Society, but you brought all these kimonos to Karakura… and I'm just wondering… for what occasion are you actually thinking of wearing these?
She stopped to think for a second before finally realizing that he did have a point.
"Ichigo…You're kind of right… I packed my luggage in such a hurry that I wasn't thinking of what I put in it…I just took from the stuff I usually wear…"
His eyes widened as he watched the colorful and elegant kimonos.
"This is what you're usually wearing?"
She turned to him confused.
"Weren't you always wearing your shinigami uniform?" he added.
"Well… as I'm sure you know I can't wear my shinigami uniform during my meetings with the elders!"
He smiled sadly.
"I see you're the Kuchiki heir now…Your habits must have changed…"
"No…not really…" she said while still packing her clothes." It's just that I have a busier schedule. For example, now, on every Friday I have meetings with the elders and it takes two hours just to prepare my hair and clothes. Then on Monday afternoons I always take the place of Nii-sama and welcome the guests. Nii-sama even gave me my own personal study for this. He said I must make a good impression and a personal study gives a way better official image then the dining room. He taught me a lot about diplomacy, manners and how to be a leader … So being surrounded at home by all these official faces while I represent the Kuchiki clan…I guess I can't act like a tom-boy anymore, right?
"It's just an impression on mine….but are you actually enjoying this whole 'Kuchiki heir' thing?"
She bit her lips thoughtful.
"hmmmmm….I don't really know…I never really put much thought into it. I mean it just became part of my life…"
"I thought being a shinigami was your life…"
Her eyes frowned.
"I see what are you trying to insinuate…But I have never neglected my duty as the lieutenant of the 13th Division and the most obvious proof if that is my presence here right now."
"I didn't insinuate anything…But I was wondering how a delicate Kuchiki lady will fit as the lieutenant of the 13th Division…"
She burst into laughter.
"Ichigo…I'm Kuchiki Rukia …Not Kuchiki Hisana…I'm not preparing to take the place as the manor's lady, a pleasant presence which only has to smile to the guests. I'm preparing to take the place of Kuchiki Byakuya himself… and a 'delicate lady' it not exactly the essential quality for that, don't you think?
He didn't answer.
"Oh!" she added with a satisfied smile. "It seems that I also brought some clothes which will fit in the human world afterall. Look! Do you think these will do?"
She gave him what seemed to be pile of t-shirts and jeans. Then she immediately turned her head on the opposite side. Ichigo tried to focuses his attention on the clothes. He also felt it, but at this hour, he wasn't in the mood for…
"A gate from Soul Society has been opened. The captains must already know about your broken seal." Rukia said. "But I don't sense any reiatsu…"
"It's just a hell butterfly…" Ichigo said bored and annoyed at the same time, without raising his eyes from her clothes.
In a few seconds a black butterfly stopped in front of her and she repeated with a loud voice the message it brought:
"Lieutenant of the 13th Division, Kuchiki Rukia, The Gotei 13 has been informed about the unauthorized realization of the powers of the substitute shinigami, Kurosaki Ichigo. By the order of the head captain Yamamoto you are to escort Kurosaki Ichigo to the Soul Society as soon as possible."
"Great!" mumbled Ichigo annoyed. "If they really want to see me so badly why aren't they coming here themselves?"
Rukia immediately turned to him with wide, menacing eyes:
"I-C-H-I-G-O!" she growled and then she lowered her voice, whispering: "Just keep your mouth shut! This butterfly will take every word you say to the head captain"
He looked at her with a "so what" expression and then turned back to sorting her clothes.
"This is the lieutenant of the 13th Division, Kuchiki Rukia. Allow me to confirm the realized shinigami powers of Kurosaki Ichigo as a consequence of Prisoners attack. I also confirm that he is with me, unharmed, and that I will bring him to the Soul Society in a 2 days period in order to first ensure the safety of Karakura town by the elimination of prisoners and hollows…"
"This looks kind of hot!... I didn't know you had clothes like this, Rukia! I really want to see you wearing it!" Ichigo's voice was heard on the back.
Rukia turned to him, her face glowing red as he was pulling out what seemed to be a black dress.
"What?" he said with an innocent look. "Don't tell me that Byakuya bought you this to!"
"ICHIGO!" she mumbled. "The butterfly is still recording!
Ichigo immediately burst into laughter as she was desperately sending away the hell butterfly.
"Don't tell me that the entire Gotei 13 will hear the last part!"
"That's not funny Ichigo! You just made a fool of me!"
"Oh! I'm so sorry!" he began with a tone of sarcasm. "I just embarrassed the heir of the Kuchiki clan"
Annoyed and still glowing red she kicked him in the shin.
"Oooi!" that hurt.
She kicked him yet again.
"Ok!" He reposted. "That one I didn't deserve!"
She closed her suitcase:
"Come on! Let's go!"
She reached her hand to grab him in order to shunpo again, but he didn't take it. Instead he took a few steps ahead.
"Where are you going?"
"Home…."
"By foot?"
"Ahaammm" he answered as he was walking with his hands on his pockets.
"Ichigo, we're in a forest, outside of town!"
"The highway is right over there. It will lead us home…"
"Ichigo, it's still a long walk!" she insisted but continued following him.
"No problem! I'm in the mood for a long walk…Plus, we might even catch the sunrise soon…"
"The sunrise?" she asked a little surprised as she had completely forgotten how quickly time flew when she was beside him.
"Yep…The sunrise…" he repeated as he took her luggage.
She raised her head to the sky and noticed that it started to gain that crepuscular color. Then she lowered her eyes to see the highway right there in front of her.
"I wonder what time it is…" she said with a dreamy voice.
He looked at her and smiled:
"It's 5 O'clock in morning…" he said.
She stopped as a familiar feeling took over her with the sound of those words. He removed his cell phone from his pocket and played a song:
"It's 5 o' clock in the morning…Conversation got boring..You said you'd go into bed soon…So I snuck off to your bedroom"
She smiled.
"You remembered!" she acclimated with such happiness that she couldn't explain.
The song that left her with such a bitter taste at the party just a few weeks ago. The song she never got the chance to sing with him. The song she never got the chance to turn into reality. Not the sorrow…not the love…not even the lack of sleep or the familiar smell of his room…all of those little things that she wasn't even allowed to miss. And now he remembered…. He remembered the song…
He approached her and put an arm around her shoulders:
"Come on let's go home!" he said smiling. "I'll sneak you into my room…"
She bit her lips as her face turned uncontrollably red. After a few steps he stopped:
"Are you wearing heels?"
"No!" she said laughing. After I gained bankai I become taller. I'm 1.65 meters now…"
"But you know…you will always be a midget to me!" he added as he was looking serious at her. His eyes were so intense that she began to feel a bit uncomfortable.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Nothing special…The last time we were together…I didn't get the chance to tell you, but you look very nice with long hair"
She immediately lowered her face and started to pattern her hair.
"Oi! Rukia! I said it looks nice!... You don't have to fix it now…" he added worried.
They continued walking as his cellphone continued repeating the same song over and over. Somehow those lyrics gave them the impression that time had stood still on that highway so that it would forever be "5 o'clock in the morning". They took advantage on that temporal loop and had the conversation they skipped a few weeks ago. As if the time itself had never passed between them they started to talk about the things they have done recently. Kuchiki duties…shinigami duties…kimonos and bankai…familiar faces and faces that they both missed. College…engineering… campus…summer work…summer loves…money….career…family…things that never seem to change…things that change to fast. Smiles…Laughs… Shouts and whispers… and before realizing, the sun was already up and they were in front of the Kurosaki's clinic. In the middle of the street where last night, the cab which brought Ichigo home was stopped, Rukia saw the broken sealer: a delicate gold necklace. She took it into her palms.
"Don't you even think about giving that back to me!" he said as he was passing the gateway of the house.
She slightly gasped.
"I wonder if this should make me worried or happy…maybe a bit of both…"
"And you said that I'll be in Seireitei in 2 days time?"
"Yes… as soon as I make sure that the spiritual pressure here is restored…Until then you are under my watch.
"Under you're what?" he said laughing.
"Strawberry…" she begun annoyed. " In case you might have forgotten, as a substitute Shinigami you are assigned to the 13th Division …That makes me, a lieutenant your superior."
He looked at her for a second and then, once again he started to laugh.
"It's 5 O'clock in morning…The conversation got boring…" he begun to sing as he was entering the house.
She thought for a second of scolding him but something made her change her mind and she ended up continuing the lyrics of the song:
"You said you'd go into bed soon…So I snuck off to your bedroom"
"Hmmmmm…You are huh" Ichigo hissed.
She frowned at him and kicked him in the shin, but she continued to follow him up the stairs until he opened the door to his room.
Once inside a peaceful silence came. The room was empty. It must have been empty. Otherwise she was sure she will collapse on the threshold as a beggar waiting for that place to be giving back to her. Ignoring the strong morning sun, she closed her eyes inhaling that familiar smell: his furniture, his books, his clothes. It wasn't the feeling of being home, but the feeling of meeting the perfect holiday home. She made a few more steps as she knew the room even with eyes closed and she threw herself on the bed. Before following her example, Ichigo stopped for just a second and he enjoyed the view.
"So, in the end…you did sneak off into my room" he told himself and lied on the bad. He felt asleep before he could feel her body next to him. But she knew he was there and as the numbness took over she had that feeling of finally being able to rest after so many years of a lack of sleep. Now, losing her body among the clean sheets and the soft mattress, she remembered that this was the only place she wanted to be, ever since she got a foothold in Karakura. But why didn't she do this earlier? Why did she waste all night taking long walks and have futile conversations none of which she could even remember. Those words continued to drive her mad. Why hadn't she come to his room from the beginning to get the rest she had longed so much for…Wasn't this room waiting for her to return all this time? Wasn't Ichigo waiting here for her? And wasn't this warm feeling giving a part of this room to her A small piece which will always belong to her…Years ago it was that big closet…And now, as she grew and didn't fit into it anymore, this small corner of the bed was given to her. Why didn't she come here from the very beginning?
A strong noise of a slammed door startled her and she brutally opened her eyes. In that moment not only was her sleep driven away but also all of her dreams and questions. With her eyes wide open, the first thing she notices is a photo on the bedside, she then remembers all the reasons for which last night she held herself away from this room. It was a photo of Ichigo….and Orihime. He was dressed in black…and she was wearing a sparkling, tight dress…He was holding her in his lap, in which seemed to be an expressive tango position. All the reasons for which she kept herself away from this place seemed to be enclosed in that picture. She reached out and grabbed the picture. She wanted to hold that frame if only so she can convince herself that it is indeed real… so she can regain her senses and admit the reality she forgot about even if only for a few minutes.
"Rukia?"
She turned as she heard her name and her eyes widened. The noise of the door that had woken her up was the door of this room: Dressed in a nurse uniform, Orihime was in front of the bed.
Speechless, Rukia froze with the picture in her hands.
With a straight face, Orihime watched the scene in which Rukia was sleeping in her bed, next to her…boyfriend.
Thanks you in advance for reading!
Good news! Next 2 chapters (9&10) are already written...i've also started the 11th...i'm wanting only for the spelling/ grammar correction!
Until then R&R! :)