A/N: Thank you for any and all reviews, favorites, and follows, as well as all you other readers out there!

Bleach and all products thereof are copyright to Tite Kubo, et al.

Sunday, February 16, 2003

Ichigo and Rukia both walked to the nearby restaurant they had, with extreme reticence and more than a little animus, agreed to meet Chad, Inoue, and Ishida at. It had been Chad who'd called Ichigo and Inoue who'd called Rukia, as if it had been calculated to reduce their ability to be outraged. The simultaneous nature of the calls indicated that it was, once more, a conspiracy of some sort that had befallen them.

Ichigo had his hands shoved in his pockets as he walked. The entire universe is against us. Rukia had her arms crossed. I can't believe the nerve…! They walked side-by-side, together in resentment but separated physically. All of the few people they met, given the weather, were wise enough to get out of their way just from the looks they wore. Ichigo had not bothered to retrieve the glasses this time.

It turned out that the house they now occupied was rather centrally located both to Karakura itself and to their various interests in it; they were just about equidistant from everyone and everything. It occurred to them on some level as they walked that this was probably intentional.

They arrived at the appointed location somewhat later than they had grudgingly promised. They brought in with them a rather dire aura that seemed to make the chatter just a little bit quieter. The place in question was a domestic chain, MOS Burger, and it was decently busy for a Sunday lunch, mostly populated by people around Ichigo's age. He and Rukia grimly processed through the order line, getting a spicy cheeseburger and loin cutlet burger, respectively. Both got drinks, but only Ichigo got fries. Receiving their orders at last, they located their supposed friends and marched over as if going to their deaths, sitting down beside one another with their orders.

Chad, Inoue, and Ishida exchanged looks at the lethal silence and crabby expressions that their two long-time friends regarded them with. Putting this together with the tones of voice they'd had over the phone, they rapidly came to understand that they had interrupted something important. All three found they didn't dare address the matter, and so they awkwardly went back to their own meals.

Ever so slowly coming to regard the sheepishness of their friends as its own form of penitence, Rukia and Ichigo began to eat as well, Rukia persistently stealing Ichigo's fries while he was occupied with his burger. After the fifth time of glaring at her brash thievery, Ichigo finally spoke up: "You could have gotten your own, you know!"

Seeing an opportunity, and not wanting to lose it to a traditional round of their bickering, Ishida immediately interjected "Kurosaki-kun, what's actually going on?" before fixing Ichigo with a serious stare.

Ichigo shifted his eyes to Rukia and they regarded one another for a time, their potato-based spat immediately forgotten, before Ichigo met Ishida's expectant look. It was clear from the set of his jaw and everything else in his face that the Quincy had been paying far more attention to goings-on than anybody else who didn't already know. Ichigo audibly took in a breath and closed his eyes, leaning back in his chair casually. He drummed his fingers on the table for a moment as if in thought. At last he opened his eyes to look at his one-time rival and spoke, his tone sober: "Godzilla is going to destroy Earth and the US Army has hired us to form a sentai team to stop him."

Rukia felt her mouth drop both from how ridiculous and transparent a lie it was and also how dangerously close it was to the truth. She forced her jaw closed before anyone could notice.

Inoue leaped up at this, face gleaming, nearly knocking over the table "What?! No way! Can I join?! Come on, Kurosaki-kun, please, please, please…"

Ishida slammed an open palm down on the table, face twisted in what looked like both frustration and annoyance. This behavior was all too typical. He either didn't notice or didn't care about the looks it drew from around them—more likely the latter. "We're your friends, damn it!" he growled. His tone was cool, but it was clear he was losing his reserve over the subject. That meant he'd probably noticed quite a lot. Ishida lifted his hand from the table and drew it into a fist, pulling it back toward him, frowning at his own outburst.

Inoue sat back down and lightly touched Ishida's other wrist in a calming gesture. The archer flicked his eyes to her, before studying both Ichigo and Rukia. Here it comes, Ichigo thought, the lecture. They had done this dance many times and in this case he actually felt his friend had a right to be angry, so he sat passively and waited for it.

"Everyone knows how you were after you lost your powers," Ishida began, "And I think you know that we tried our best not to trouble you with things."

"I know," Ichigo replied, matching the Quincy's look levelly.

"And I think we can all guess that it had much the same effect on you, Kuchiki-san," Ishida said, his gaze flashing to the petite Shinigami.

Rukia said nothing, holding her look toward Ichigo.

Ishida pointed at Ichigo. "Day one, you're even more distracted and fidgety than usual. Day two, you show up wearing strange glasses and seem oddly happier—glasses you're not wearing now, I might note—and that night a still completely unexplained Hollow attack occurs only to end just as mysteriously as it began with some kind of unidentified and highly destructive reiatsu discharge. Day three, Kuchiki-san arrives to investigate and the two of you…" the Quincy paused, finger wavering for a moment, "behave highly uncharacteristically." He cleared his throat, before saying forcefully "Day four, you both disappear all day and the next thing we know we're called over to a party at a new house you've been gifted to celebrate the return of your powers! Do you think we're stupid, Kurosaki?"

"No," Ichigo said immediately.

"Ishida-kun…" Inoue muttered, looking between the two men. Chad was looking down at the table as if considering all this.

Ishida continued in a prosecutorial fashion: "That's without taking into account the way you entered the house, like you feared for the worst and were on a mission to do terrible vengeance. I've seen that kind of look on your face only a few times before and I know exactly what it means. Then you had that armband and badge on, as if you so brazenly felt no one would notice—"

"That's enough, Ishida-kun," Rukia declared. Her voice was quiet, but her tone was as unyielding as an iceberg. Ishida abruptly stopped and saw that she was staring him down with a high-handed look. It was abundantly clear she would have no more discussion on the matter. The unusual tension between them now drew the glances of both Inoue and Chad. Rukia could completely understand their concern, but at the same time the matters in which they were now involved were so vast…and she was still pissed that they had been interrupted. We were finally going to…and you had to bring us here to talk about how…!

Ichigo reached a hand over and tenderly grasped one of her wrists under the table. At that the iceberg came apart, façade calving in great sheets. Rukia's eyes swung to him in surprise to find the smallest of smiles. There was a determination in his eyes. Let me handle it, they seemed to say. Her own expression could only be read as But… and at this his smile increased another fraction. Trust me.

Rukia drew her arm back slightly so Ichigo's hand was around her own. At the same time she closed her eyes and picked up her drink with the other, sipping on it idly to help hold her tongue.

"You're right, Ishida. Inoue, Sado. We've been concealing things from you, and we've lied to you," Ichigo said with what sounded like every bit of his old swagger. He wasn't bragging, but was instead acknowledging it completely. Their eyes widened at this frank admission as his eyes tracked across their faces. He then bowed his head, but his tone didn't change in the slightest as he said "I'm sorry."

He gripped Rukia's hand and felt her grip back as she set her drink down and joined him. "We're sorry," she said expansively and with sincerity.

Ichigo looked back up at his friends then with a smile that was somewhere between assuaging and a bit disbelieving. "I would tell you that we were worried about you, that we didn't want you to get hurt, didn't want you to get involved, that we were in over our heads," he said, before letting a smirk cross his mouth, "but that would be bullshit: we know better than thinking like that by now, and it's not the reason at all."

The wonder of the pair's friends increased at seeing what seemed to very much be Ichigo's old self in front of them once more. They were momentarily struck dumb by it.

"The truth is," Ichigo looked up as if the whole thing was just another token burden, "it's pretty new to us too, everything, and we're still trying to figure out what to do ourselves." His fingers had slid in between Rukia's at the word "everything" and she was now busy staring at a salt-shaker to keep from blushing.

Ichigo looked back down at his friends, taking them all in. A genuine smile spread across his face "Everyone…Rukia and I can't tell you everything right now. It might even be some time until we can tell you everything. But we will tell you what we can when we can. All I can ask of you is: please trust us!"

A second passed before looks of determination flashed onto the faces opposite him.

Inoue was first, stating "Yes!" as forcefully as she ever would.

Chad, never much one for words, gave a deep nod and grunt.

Ishida glanced sideways at both of them before a small smile traced across his mouth. He pushed his glasses up and sighed in defeat. It was hopeless. "Okay, Kurosaki," he said at last. They basked in the moment then, reunited once more, and even Rukia found herself smiling at Ichigo. Somehow, you always…

The mood slowly ebbed, all five of them turning to inwardly contemplate, some staring at the table, others sipping their drinks. After a minute it was Ishida who continued: "What is it that you can tell us now then?"

"You know what I said when you first asked that?" Ichigo replied with just a hint of humor in his voice.

"Godzilla is real?" Chad asked with disbelief, but a tone suggesting he could be persuaded of it if Ichigo was convinced of it.

"You're forming a sentai team?!" Inoue exclaimed at the same time, her eyes lighting up once more at the thought.

Rukia had to stifle a giggle at their reactions. It was hard to stay mad at them.

"The other part," Ichigo said, looking at the three in turn with a more serious expression.

Ishida felt his brows draw down as he said "The American Army has…?" He mentally replayed the night of the party and focused on the badge that had been on Ichigo's left arm. He confirmed to himself that it had read "U.S." and there had been an emblem featuring a star on it.

"He's being flippant but it's close enough to the truth," Rukia said, catching the Quincy's widening expression. Ishida's eyes came back into focus and turned to her at that. She gave a polite smile, before continuing: "Ichigo's powers were restarted using a strange piece of technology provided to him by a…outside party…that is interested in working with Soul Society."

Ichigo smiled to himself and returned to eating his burger with his free hand. Rukia would show more discretion and explain things better than he could anyway. Since he had captured one of her hands, there was little to no danger of her suddenly producing drawings to illustrate her point either.

Rukia exhaled, lifting her free hand and gesturing with just a bit much theater as she said "Because Ichigo is a reckless fool he now technically works for this…outside party…and his immediate-if-maybe-temporary boss—who is an evil man I'll have you know!—conspired with Yamamoto-sōtaichō to put the two of us together into a special mission force."

"Combined Task Force Raven One, at your service, sir!" Ichigo sternly declared in Japanese-tinged English, saluting with his burger.

"Idiot!" Rukia harshly whispered at him with wide eyes, "We probably can't tell them that!" She also remained embarrassed at the name. It did sound kinda cool, but in a goofy and juvenile way.

"They surely knew that we'd tell our friends eventually, hell, they're probably banking on us recruiting them into the whole thing," Ichigo said dismissively. He had meant it facetiously, but the more he thought about it the more that sounded exactly like something SOCOM would have wanted to happen. He found himself wondering: Are we, even now, doing just what they expected?

"Don't just assume that!" Rukia admonished. She was as-yet unpersuaded by the argument and glared at him, but before she could continue, they both noticed their friends.

Each of them was in deep contemplation at the information they had just received, arms crossed in front of them. Ichigo and Rukia blinked and felt their expressions become incredulous as they could practically see what each of them imagined.

Chad was picturing both in Vietnam-era G.I. uniforms, complete with M16s and "Born to Kill" helmets. Ishida was trying to imagine the "evil man" who could manipulate the pair so easily and found himself thinking of some sort of shadowy American military version of Aizen. Inoue's thoughts were largely incomprehensible. It was, however, the tawny-haired girl who came to a definitive conclusion first.

Inoue's arm snapped up to point at them both as a smile of recognition took hold of her face "You're just like Trinity and Neo!"

Ichigo blinked, taking a moment to place the reference, while Rukia stared in creeping horror. Oh no, this again…

Inoue began in immediately: "I bet Kurosaki-kun met with his boss Morpheus while we were distracted by Hollows and they had a training fight and then Kurosaki-kun was like," before stopping to adopt her best Ichigo expression, "Woah, I know Getsuga Tenshō."

Rukia dreaded the teenager's bubbly enthusiasm but was won over by her award-winning mimicry of Ichigo's infamous scowl. She found herself laughing aloud. "I don't sound like that," Ichigo protested, giving his actual sneer in turn.

"No, Neo sounds like that, but you look like that," Inoue said with a smile, earning a further giggle from Rukia.

Ishida coughed to refocus their attention, and they all turned to him. "So, the two of you are like a trial run…" he said, working it out verbally, before he remembered something Rukia had said, asking "…special mission force? What's your mission?"

Rukia and Ichigo's expressions grew serious then and they looked at one another, silently evaluating what they could and couldn't say. Both looked back to their friends at the same time as they said "We can't tell you that yet."

Ishida found himself surprised at how much they now seemed to be able to communicate non-verbally. He couldn't recall them having been so synchronous before, and the way they'd been acting around one another… He'd heard of couples finishing each other's sentences before, but to actually see something like it from people who fought so much with each other was something else.

"But," Rukia continued, "We're under a standing directive to train and get stronger."

"We're probably going to be really busy for awhile," Ichigo added, leaving it unsaid that meant there wouldn't be much if any time to hang out like this.

"Then we'll get stronger too," Chad said forcefully, for once taking the initiative.

Everyone turned to look at the giant's unusual display of determination. Ichigo and Rukia just smiled as it was Ishida and Inoue who were left to nod affirmatively back at them.

They sat in silence for awhile, before Inoue piped up: "Kuchiki-san, are you coming back to school?"

Rukia nodded, saying "It'd be suspicious otherwise."

"Well, even if we're busy, as long as we get to see each other during the day, that's good enough!" Inoue said with confidence and calm delight.

"We can probably also meet up at Urahara-san's shop for training during the week," Ishida offered. Now was not the time to play up the usual Quincy-Shinigami rivalry gimmick.

Everyone nodded at this and the group once again fell silent for awhile in thought.

"Um," Inoue started nervously, trailing off as if she would stop. She instead bowed her head deeply "Sorry, for whatever it is we interrupted you with in calling you here." She politely did not speculate as to what that might have been.

Both Ichigo and Rukia's cheeks flashed with a bit of red at the too-close-to-home accusation. They immediately began to stammer in denial, Rukia waving one of her hands dismissively "W—What are you talking about, Inoue?! Saying such things?"

"Y—Yeah," Ichigo said, leaning forward on the table with one arm, "don't joke!"

Ishida adjusted his glasses such that they gleamed in the light, saying simply "Where is it that your other hands have gone, I wonder?"

The pair shot him a look that was both shocked and irritated at the observation, only to be forced to retarget toward Chad as he asked "Shouldn't special agents be good at hiding things?"

Both Ichigo and Rukia began to mount furious denials at their friends, who in turn only bowed and apologized before joining Inoue in laughing at the fact they still wouldn't bring their other hands up into view. There was no need for any of three to greatly tease the pair: they did most of the work themselves.

After a few minutes of this they turned to other matters, the three electing to catch Rukia up to speed with what they were studying in class. Ichigo took the opportunity to excuse himself to call Ikumi to let her know he wouldn't be coming in, reluctantly letting go of Rukia to let her focus.

He stood outside listening to the number dial. After a few rings a response greeted him: "Hello and welcome! Cheap! Fast! Safe! We'll do anything! That's Unagiya!"

"Ikumi-san," he greeted, not bothering with phone etiquette.

"Ichigo-chan? Why are you calling, idiot? I might miss an actual customer!" she declared in his ear.

Ichigo sighed, looking ahead determinedly, saying "I won't be able to come in any more."

There was silence on the other end for drawn-out seconds before she said with unusual softness "I know."

"Eh?" Ichigo said in response.

"Your friend, Alan, told me you'd be busy soon," Ikumi replied.

Hearing Alan described as his friend made Ichigo fume and lose his train of thought.

"By the way, Ichigo-chan, thank you for texting me his numbers, he forgot to give them to me; we've been having some interesting conversations!" Ikumi continued with unusual cheer.

Ichigo felt his face fault and his shoulders slump as it became clear that his and Rukia's revenge upon the man had been so easily countered. On the other hand, it was unusual to hear Ikumi so carefree about something, so maybe…

Ikumi interpreted her young employee's silence as fretting and said, with a new sudden determination "Ichigo-chan, oi, are you still there?"

"I'm here," he responded.

"Did you at least have a nice night out with that girl?" she asked. There was no ill-will or taunting in the question that he could hear.

The memory of the last three days shot through Ichigo's mind in fast forward at her question. "Yeah," he said at last, for once finding he didn't have the heart to fight her efforts to intrude on his life, "Yeah, I did."

"Is she part of why you won't be here?" Ikumi asked.

"…Ikumi," Ichigo began.

"I don't know her but I saw the two of you together before your friend called you, Ichigo-chan," Ikumi said past him, letting it hang for a moment before she added "She's special. So she had better be part of why you're not here, understood?"

Ichigo blinked and looked sideways at the phone "Special…?" He had his own opinions but to hear it from somebody else was new.

There was a pause at the other end before Ikumi stated as a fact "I haven't ever seen you smile like that, Ichigo."

Ichigo was silent for awhile. "Yeah, she's part of why I won't be there. A big part," he said, answering her earlier question honestly.

"I see," Ikumi said. She sounded happier. "Don't forget what I told you about talking to me if you need someone to lean on," she said.

"Ikumi-san," Ichigo sighed, before offering against his better judgment: "I'll ask one of my sisters if she'd be interested in the job. She recently stopped her last one. And…maybe we can stop by and help if we have free time."

"Okay," was all she said in reply. A pause hung between them for awhile. "Now get off the line before I lose any work!" she suddenly exclaimed, and the call disconnected.

Ichigo found himself looking at his phone with a faint smile before going back inside.

By the time he returned he found Rukia and their friends had begun drafting schedules for the week to try and align times they might meet up at Urahara's or elsewhere.

It had become clear to both of them after the earlier video that there was a lot of material from SOCOM to cover, and that had to be balanced with more traditional zankensoki practice. Rukia had blocked out large chunks of their time on a schedule accordingly, and was currently haggling over when the best times to meet up might be. It was as he watched her work that Ichigo fully appreciated for the first time her organizational abilities as a fukutaichō. It was also the first time he realized he would have to achieve some basic proficiency at kidō and other techniques, and somehow help her achieve bankai, if she hadn't already.

After watching them schedule for awhile and catching up, Ichigo began offering his own input and they spent the next few hours both getting their schedules lined up, covering school material again, and goofing off. At last, in the later afternoon, they split up to get ready for the upcoming week.

"Hey, let's stop by the old place," Ichigo said as they made their away from their friends.

"Did the movers forget something?" Rukia asked.

"Nah, but I have to ask Karin to do something for me and I figure Yuzu will have a pretty good idea of what we need to stock up on in terms of groceries, and maybe she can give you a cooking lesson while we're there," Ichigo replied.

"I know how to cook!" Rukia said with only a smidgen of offense.

"Yeah, you're great at ramen, now come on," he said, pulling her along.

She pinched his side but didn't resist, and so they went.

"I don't need a job, Ichi-nii. Besides, I'm underage," Karin said.

"Karin," Ichigo replied, "Urahara-san told me you've been going to get supplies from him while I…" he trailed off.

She said nothing at this.

"Thank you," Ichigo said, "For trying to take care of things when I couldn't."

She frowned and still saying nothing, looked away.

"That's why I'm asking you to do this. It's something I can't do right now and besides, I think…" he let out a sigh, hoping he wasn't making a horrible mistake, "I think you and Ikumi-san would get along. She sort of reminds me of you, in some ways."

She looked at him rather suspiciously at this remark.

"In a good way, "Ichigo added with a small smirk. "Look, as a favor to me, at least go see her? And if you don't like it then you can quit and I won't hold it against you or anything, okay? It's just…she's a good person who needs help," he finished.

Karin sighed and at last said simply "Okay," in such a way as to indicate she didn't want to hear any more pleading or gratitude from him.

Ichigo smiled knowingly and nodded before getting up to check on Rukia and Yuzu. He hadn't heard any yells of panic in a few minutes.

By the time Ichigo and Rukia returned home, each carrying a bundle of groceries in either hand, it was well after dark, and putting everything up in a fashion they both agreed made sense took up another half hour of their time. Reluctant to start in on the prodigious amount of work that confronted them just yet, they retired to the couch to idly watch TV and unwind.

It was sometime later when Rukia put her head on Ichigo's shoulder, and later still when he felt her increasingly heavily leaning against him. By the time he finally chose to investigate and look over at her, he discovered she had fallen asleep against him. Ichigo watched her softly breathe for awhile before quietly calling her name. She didn't respond and so after another moment he let out a soft laugh, whispering "I guess I have to carry you to bed after all, Kuchiki-dono."

He turned off the TV and slowly brought a hand up to cradle her head, bracing her upper back with his arm. He then shifted around her, hooking his other arm under her knees before lifting her up. She was surprisingly light. Gingerly he took her to her room and, leaning her head against his chest, pulled the covers back, setting her down and tucking her in. She didn't stir, and so after a lingering glance he quietly shut the door to her room before going into his and doing the same.

A yawn overtook him, but he dutifully marched to shower and brush his teeth before going to bed. It was going to be a long week.