When you mess with fate

Chapter 5

A/N: I do not own Bleach and its characters. If I did... Never mind…

Still ten years after Yhwach...

Rukia studied her reflection in the mirror at Urahara's gigai room. The getaboshi – as Ichigo used to call him, I wonder if he still does that – had built her a new gigai to better match her new look: black waist-length hair, yellow sleeveless dress (the colour suits you, Kuchiki-san, he had said), an inch taller. She could feel her heart thumping restlessly within this faux body. It seemed to amplify the beats like a wooden speaker.

"Are you ready?" Renji asked from behind her.

She nodded as she looked over her shoulder at his reflection. "Yup."

He cleared his throat as he took in her human girl look. She will always be the most beautiful girl he had ever known, human or shinigami form, it didn't matter. But he knew she would never be his, and he had come to accept that for a long time now. "I mean, to see him."

She scoffed, "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Rukia..."

"I'm fine, fool. It'll be like old times." No, it won't. "Besides, he's married now." To Inoue, our mutual friend, comrade. "I heard they have a son," she said, sounding cheerful but Renji could still see through it all.

He just hoped that distance and time had somehow dulled Ichigo's senses. He highly doubted it, though. That usually oblivious idiot was always tuned to Kuchiki Rukia's behaviour and moods. Even better than he was.

"The boy had better take after Inoue. Looking like that orange-haired berry will be so, so unpleasant for him as he grows older," she continued.

"Okay." Renji nodded. He needed to get them out of here soon. He would rather impale himself upon Zabimaru than put up with her horrible acting skills. "Let's go, please."

She turned around, the bottom of her dress spun at her knees and for a moment there, Renji could see the happy glow in her violet eyes. Rukia always, always looked so at home in the human world. It pained him to know that she couldn't stay here like she used to.

Kyouraku-soutaichou had assigned her back to Karakura when Kurotsuchi-taichou confirmed the reopening of the senkaimon. The head of the Gotei 13 reasoned that Rukia was the shinigami who was most familiar with the human world. Ukitake-taichou used to handle that area, anyway. But the new captain of the 13th Division immediately submitted an appeal to have her posting swapped with someone else. Kyouraku then reassigned her to take charge of the 'rouge' shinigami. That post was originally Renji's. So now, he would be the one travelling to the world of the living – something he would've been more than thrilled to do ten years ago. But, not anymore.

"Where's Ichika?" she asked, panicking when she realised that her daughter wasn't with Renji.

"She's outside with Yoruichi-san," he replied.

Rukia heaved a sigh of relief. "I don't get why Yoruichi-san insisted that I brought her. She's still a kid. The human world is such a crazy place. She also doesn't look like a human her age. And what's with that shinigami garb on her gigai? Stupid Urahara. Couldn't he have gotten her a pair of jeans and a t-shirt instead?" she ranted.

"Alright, come on, Rukia," Renji grunted impatiently, as he pulled her by the elbow.

"Let go of me, idiot!" She tried to tug her arm out of his grasp but whenever they were in their gigai form, he would usually be the stronger one.

"No. If we don't leave now, we'll never get there. And if we don't get there, we'll never get it over and done with." And this anxiety about whether I'm going to have to carry your weeping ass back tonight is killing me.

They found Ichika playing on the floor with Yoruichi in her cat form at the compound of the shoten. "Okay, Neko-san, I think I have to go now," the girl giggled. She had quite a mature voice for a child who had the appearance of a five-year-old.

"Now, remember what I told you about humans, Ichi-chan," Yoruichi said when Ichika stood up. Rukia visibly flinched, both from hearing Yoruichi's male voice and the way her daughter was addressed. "They do not know about the shinigami. They think it's a Japanese anime. So you're just cosplaying as one. I've also sent one costume to the little boy you will be seeing soon. So just pretend, okay? We don't want to scare them away."

Rukia furrowed her brows. "What are you talking about? Doesn't Ichigo's kid know his father is a shinigami?"

Yoruichi decided to transform into a human. It was a good thing that Rukia's shunpo was much faster now. She could even do it in her gigai. She managed to protect her daughter's eyes from seeing the flash Queen in her bloody naked form. Renji, however, couldn't turn away fast enough. With his face the colour of his hair, he started cursing, earning a glare from Rukia who was trying to cover Ichika's ears now.

"Ichigo doesn't tell the human kid about our world. He has been on reiatsu suppression himself since the child was born. So Kazui-kun will not know a thing about shinigami and the Soul Society until he is 21. That's how long the suppression is set to last," Yoruichi explained, completely undeterred by her friends' discomfort about her state of nudity.

Keeping his eyes shut, Renji turned around and tossed a piece of cloak he found nearby at Yoruichi. "Cover yourself up, please!" he growled.

Yoruichi cackled as she wrapped the cloak around her body. "I didn't know you were such a prude like Ichigo, Abarai-fukutaichou. Seems to me that the both of you have much more in common than I thought," she goaded, smirking at Rukia.

The petite shinigami narrowed her eyes but chose not to say anything. A reaction would only encourage the cat lady to come up with more nonsense.

"We're going," she declared, taking Ichika with her.

Renji quickly fell in step with them. His patience was running low. Women, and their habit of wasting time, he thought.

"Remember to tell them you're a shinigami apprentice, Ichi-chan!" they heard Yoruichi yell as they walked out of the shoten.

"Shinigami apprentice," Renji mumbled. "What the fuck is a shinigami apprentice? It's either you're a shinigami or you're not."

Rukia tipped toe to slap her childhood friend behind the head. "Just go with it. And watch your language around the girl!"

"I've heard enough foul words to know what they are, mum," Ichika whined, as she tugged at her shihakusho. Back at home, she would only wear a yukata. There were fewer layers, which made it easier for her to climb trees. "How do people move around in these?"

Rukia snickered. "Shunpo, my dear."

The girl rolled her eyes. "It figures. Shihakusho aren't for people who want to enjoy their lives filled with adventures."

"A shihakusho is for the shinigami. And the job of a shinigami is to die protecting people, not prance around annoying others," Renji mocked.

Ichika pouted as she crossed her arm. "I do not prance around annoying people, Abarai-fukutaichou."

"Otou-san!" Rukia corrected before turning to Renji with her hands on her hips. "Why do you let her address you like that? It's disrespectful!"

Renji shrugged. "I don't think it's disrespectful. At least it comes with a proper honorific."

"She takes after your family name, Renji. She should address you accordingly," Rukia insisted.

The redhead only scoffed and continued walking. Karakura Town had not changed much in the last ten years. Everything they had passed by so far was familiar enough for them to remember how to get to the Kurosaki Clinic.

Ichika was walking a few paces ahead of them now. She was probably bored listening to the argument between the two adults. Renji always had something practical to say but mum would always counter with her uptight opinions and rigid rules which she had gotten from years of Kuchiki training. The sprightly young soul hated the Kuchiki clan. But she held a silent adoration for her artistically elegant uncle, Byakuya. Rukia always thought that she hung out at the 6th Division office because she wanted to spend time with Renji. How wrong she was. Ichika had her energetic moments and her quiet moments. It was during her quiet moments that she liked to be around Kuchiki Byakuya.

"You're alright there?" Renji nudged his elbow at Rukia's shoulder.

She sighed as she continued to stare at the back of her daughter's head. "I'm kind of nervous," she admitted, biting her lower lip.

"We don't have to do this, you know?" Renji halted his steps.

Rukia did the same. "Ichika, could you stop there for a while, please?"

The girl swayed about as she spun around to face them before taking a seat by the curb in her typical pre-teen behaviour. It looked suspiciously weird to the people walking by because she had the appearance of a kindergarten kid but the attitude of a rebellious teenager. And just like a teenager, she couldn't be bothered at all about what people thought.

Without really looking away from where Ichika was sitting, Rukia began, "We need to because Inoue invited us to their gathering. She heard about my promotion from Urahara. It would be impolite to decline. And rude to not show up."

"Impolite and rude are the same thing," Renji huffed as he shoved his hands into his pockets. Do you have a plan to beat this nervousness of yours?"

Rukia smirked. "I'll just act jovial."

"You suck at acting," Renji scoffed.

"I do not!" she cried. "We're two blocks away. I need you to walk first. I've got to psych myself up."

Renji shook his head.

"Oh, come on. I want him to feel your reiatsu first!"

"Didn't you hear what Yoruichi-san said about his reiatsu suppression? He wouldn't know you're there even if you sneaked up on him."

Rukia pouted. "Then, could you hold my hand and act like, you know..."

"Hell, no!" Renji half-shouted, half-whispered. "That would be so out of character for us, you know that!"

"Are we done?" Ichika asked in a bored tone. "It's beginning to feel like we will never actually get there."

Renji sighed as he tugged at the hair-tie that was holding his braid. "Just act like your crazy self, alright? Let's go," he urged, clenching his teeth at the last two words.

As they approached the clinic, they caught sight of a little boy waving at them from Ichigo's bedroom window. He had orange hair and gentle brown eyes. That shinigami costume he had on over his hoodie was a dead giveaway to who he was. He probably recognised Ichika's costume as well, and that was why he was waving at them.

"Ichika," Rukia called. "See that boy over there? That's Kurosaki Kazui."

The girl looked up and scowled when she saw the small smiling face. "And that's the silliest grin I've ever seen."

"Abarai Ichika!" Rukia chastised, ignoring the chuckling baboon beside her. "You're going to put on your best behaviour. Look, he's still waving at you. I'll let you climb up that tree to his window. Just remember what Yoruichi-san told you, alright?"

Ichika tilted her head at her mother as she raised a brow.

"Neko-san," Rukia offered.

"Oh." The little girl nodded in understanding. "I'll see you in the house later then," she said as she ran towards the tree closest to Ichigo's bedroom.

The two adults watched as she climbed up and was let inside the room by Kazui after they heard her introduce herself as a 'shinigami apprentice'.

"Let's go," Renji prodded, pushing Rukia gently towards the house.

"I know, I know!" she hissed in annoyance. Taking a deep breath, she walked in front of Renji with her chin up. I can do this, she told herself, feeling confident as the light breeze caused her dress to sway with every step she made.

And then, the confidence plunged into her stomach when the glass door slid open.

"Yo!"

I didn't know 686 was out until I read some of the fanfictions that carried remarks from their authors about how disappointed they were with the ending of BLEACH. I had a feeling that, aside from the unsatisfying ending to the war, the pairings were another issue the fans were unhappy about. So when I saw the boy with the gentle eyes (urgh… that's just so un-Ichigo), I put off tapping 'next' for a while. I was so afraid I would have a meltdown, a nervous breakdown, a cardiac arrest, or some kind of panic attack by the time I've finished reading 686. The way I'm writing this chapter is almost like that. I'm actually scared for Rukia. I'm terrified of their first meeting after ten years. That's how this chapter got so long. Well, longer than the ones before this, that is. I've been stalling.