I hope you guys like this chapter. It's a bit cheesy but hopefully in a good way.
Chapter 12
Silver Linings
"Every Christmas, Las Noches organizes a-" Rukia made air quotes- "'Christmas Spectacular.' Basically, patients can perform anything for their family and friends as long as it's 'appropriate.'"
Ichigo's heart sank. "You want us to dance, don't you?"
Rukia smirked. "It's good practice for the tournament."
"But we haven't fully decided on our choreography."
"Christmas is two weeks," Rukia said. "And I have a pretty good idea what I want us to do. We're not going to use the same exact routine for the tournament, but it will be similar enough." When Ichigo didn't reply, Rukia added, "We've never danced in front of an audience before. Whatever we do, it will help prepare us for the real deal."
"I don't like getting on stage," Ichigo confessed. He didn't exactly have stage fright, but the thought of dancing in front of many people, and possibly messing up, made him feel uncomfortable. He hated being laughed at.
Rukia placed her hand on Ichigo's arm and said in a surprisingly gentle tone, "As long as you focus on the rhythm, you won't mess up. We have plenty of time to practice, so don't think about the performance too much."
Ichigo stared at Rukia, slightly taken aback by her comforting words. "Yeah…"
Rukia smiled and removed her hand. She pulled out her iPhone. "There's one dance I want us to do for both the Christmas Spectacular and the tournament. Ever watched Singin' in the Rain?"
"Er, yeah a long time ago," Ichigo said. "All I remember was that there was a lot of singing."
Rukia raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? That's what your retain from one of the most famous films of all time? Lots of singing?"
"You're judging me, aren't you?" Ichigo said, smiling.
"Oh I'm judging you alright," Rukia replied with a smirk. She glanced down at her phone and tapped on the YouTube app. "Do you at least remember the songs?"
"No."
Rukia sighed and typed "Moses Supposes" in the search bar. She tapped on the first video that popped up and tilted her phone sideways.
"Pay attention to the dance," Rukia said as the video loaded. She held her phone up higher.
Ichigo leaned forward. Rukia smelled like peaches and he was reminded of their little trip. A few days had passed but the adventure was still fresh in Ichigo's mind. He could easily pull out any moment from his memory file and watch it play like a movie. Ichigo felt something flutter in his stomach when he remembered standing so close to Rukia.
Concentrate on the video, Ichigo told himself and pushed the memory away.
Gene Kelly and Donald O' Conner were on top of the desk and banging it like a drum. "Moses…Moses…Moses!"
The two actors stood on the desk and began shuffling and windmilling their arms, their tap shoes clicking on every step. They leaped off the desk and shuffled more. The way they swayed their arms and legs reminded Ichigo of an Olympic speed skater.
Rukia paused the video as Kelly and O' Conner twirled. She turned to Ichigo and said, "And that's what we're going to do."
Ichigo stared at Rukia like an extra head sprouted from her. "You actually expect me to learn that in two weeks? Rukia, I'm not that good."
"You're right," Rukia agreed. "That's why we're only going to do snippets of it for Christmas. We're going to do more for the tournament."
"I don't know, Rukia," Ichigo said. "We can barely do the jump-and-catch move-"
"Ichigo," Rukia interrupted. "Do you trust me?"
Ichigo stared into Rukia's violet eyes. The playful glint that had shone in them a few minutes ago was no longer there. Now, they seemed to be piercing into Ichigo's mind.
"I do."
Rukia smirked. "Good." She rewinded the video back a minute. "I was thinking of just doing the part after they jump off the desk."
"You mean when they're swinging their arms and legs?"
Rukia nodded. "I figured that it wouldn't be too difficult to learn, and it looks good when done right."
"I wasn't aware there was a wrong way to swing your arms and legs."
"You'd be surprised," Rukia said with a chuckle. She took a few steps back. "Now try it."
Ichigo leaned forward and swayed his right arm and leg forward while pulling his left arm and leg back. As he swung them back and forth, Rukia studied him with a blank expression.
"You're too tense," Rukia finally said. "Loosen up a bit."
Ichigo stopped. "I thought my arms and legs were supposed to be stiff. That's what Kelly and O'Conner did."
Rukia pursed her lips. "It's hard to explain." She paused, carefully choosing her words. "Your arms and legs were fine, it's just your face and the rest of your body."
Ichigo's eyes narrowed. "My face?"
"I don't mean it that way," Rukia said quickly. "It's just that dancing is more than just the choreography. You have to be expressive. "Moses Supposes" is a happy song, but you don't seem all happy and energetic, just serious." Rukia paused and slowly added, "Look, how about we don't dance today?"
Ichigo's body felt cold all of a sudden. Was he really that bad? "Rukia, it's fine. I can practice more. I'll try to look less tense."
"No, it's best if we just spend a day not dancing. Take a break, you know?" Before Ichigo could say anything, Rukia continued, "You need to work on expression. I think understanding the songs themselves would help. So for today, we're just going to listen to all the songs we're using. We're not going to even watch the video, just listen."
"Oh." A smile tugged at Ichigo's lips. "So I don't actually suck?"
Rukia gave Ichigo a strange look. "No. You're a lot better than you think." She sat down cross-legged and gestured Ichigo to do the same. As Ichigo sat, Rukia placed her phone in between them.
"Close your eyes," Rukia said. "Don't watch the video." She hit the play button.
Ichigo shut his eyes as the song played.
"Moses supposes his toeses are Roses,
But Moses supposes Erroneously,
Moses he knowses his toeses aren't roses,
As Moses supposes his toeses to be!
Moses supposes his toeses are Roses,
But Moses supposes Erroneously,
A mose is a mose!
A rose is a rose!
A toes is a toes!"
The song was catchy, but too cheery for Ichigo, and even the routine Rukia was thinking of doing. Ichigo wondered if they were just using the dance, and not the song and decided he would ask Rukia later.
The song came to an end and Ichigo opened his eyes.
"Not yet," Rukia said and played another song. Ichigo shut his eyes.
Ichigo immediately heard the soothing notes of an alto saxophone, ranging from low to high. Drums and a piano played softly in the background.
Ichigo didn't know why, but he slowly opened his eyes. Rukia still had hers closed and was gently bobbing her head. She looked so at ease, just like the time Rukia fell asleep on Ichigo's lap. How long ago was that anyway?
The song was still playing, but Rukia was opening her eyes now. She seemed to have sensed Ichigo staring at her. Instead of looking annoyed, Rukia held Ichigo's gaze.
Her violet eyes wore an unreadable expression. They often did, Ichigo was starting to realize. Why, and how? Rukia was able to read him like a book, no matter how hard Ichigo tried to hide his emotions. But he couldn't do the same for her. Her eyes that glowed with intelligence always showed that Rukia was feeling something, but what she was feeling was difficult to decipher. It was as if she built a cage around her heart. Why? Why so hostile to everyone? Why so…alone? Not necessarily lonely, just alone. Always sitting by herself, doing things by herself, even sleeping by herself. Ichigo remembered the night they broke into Urahara's office. She seemed fine when they separated, but she cried as soon as she shut her door.
For the first time in his life, Ichigo wanted to reach out to someone. Not to comfort them or anything, just understand.
Rukia looked down and Ichigo blinked. "Song's over," she murmured. "Close your eyes, I'm playing the next one."
Rukia shut her eyes immediately as the next song played. Ichigo watched her for a second before closing his own.
Just before Rukia closed her eyes, Ichigo saw the tiniest flicker of pain.
"You seem happy today," Urahara said without looking at Ichigo.
"What makes you say that?" Ichigo asked.
"I have an antenna under my hat," Urahara said. "I can detect anyone's emotions if they're within a five feet radius."
Ichigo crossed one leg over the other. "Well, you're right about me being happy. Rukia and I are almost finished with our routine." A few days had passed since Ichigo and Rukia listened to the songs. Rukia turned out to be right; listening to the songs helped Ichigo dance more expressively. To Ichigo's surprise, he was finding himself looking forward to practice.
"You two going to perform for the Christmas Spectacular?" Urahara asked.
"Rukia wants us to."
"Do you?"
"I'd rather not," Ichigo admitted. "But Rukia's the boss."
Urahara placed his notepad aside. That's weird, Ichigo thought. Urahara never let go of that thing.
"The routine you're using for the Christmas Spectacular," Urahara said. "Is it going to be the same as the one you're doing for the tournament?"
"Rukia said it will be similar but not exactly the same," Ichigo answered, staring at the notepad. He could see words on the paper, but Urahara's handwriting wasn't very neat. "I think she wants a more complicated routine for the tournament."
Urahara smirked. "Wanna give me a little spoiler?"
"What do you mean by that?"
Urahara gestured at an empty space. "Dance for me."
"What? Hell no!" For some reason, Ichigo was smiling. "You're just going to have to wait."
Urahara pouted. "Meanie."
"Well it's fair that way."
"No one said life was fair," Urahara pointed out. He picked up his notepad. "So why are you so happy?"
Ichigo cocked his head. "I already told you."
Urahara shook his head. "That's only a part of the reason. There's more to it, I can tell."
"No I'm pretty sure there's not," Ichigo said.
"How do you feel about living here?" Urahara asked. "Do you still hate being here?"
Ichigo looked up at the chandelier. Each jewel twinkled in the golden light. "I still wish I were at home, but I don't hate living here anymore."
"That's good," Urahara said.
Ichigo leaned back in his chair. "Living here has actually made me realize something."
Urahara raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
Ichigo glanced back at Urahara. "I was never really an optimistic guy. I thought that if you always stayed super positive, reality would hit you hardest. So for the majority of my life, I would tell myself, "if you can't do this, you can't do that. You'll fail everyone," and whenever I failed, I would dwell on it for days. I remember this one time, Uryu and I got into a huge fight and I blamed myself for it. Chad had to literally throw me at a wall in order to cheer me up." Ichigo looked back up at the chandelier. Was it just him, or was the light glowing brighter than usual? "My old of thinking got me helped me succeed financially, but despite everything I had, I was never truly happy. I couldn't let go of things in the past."
"And now?" Urahara asked.
Ichigo looked at Urahara and smiled. "And now, I realize that you have to do everything you can and if you stay positive, you have a shot at a silver lining."
"That's beautiful," Urahara said sincerely. "Really, Ichigo I'm impressed. Dancing with Miss Kuchiki made you realize that?"
Ichigo nodded. "Rukia told me a long time ago that dancing helped her release her emotions. I guess she felt…free. I didn't get it then but I'm starting to."
"I'm glad, Ichigo," Urahara said. "You seem to know your way forward."
Ichigo shrugged. "I don't know about that, but," a smile tugged Ichigo's lips. "I feel different. I'm still Kurosaki Ichigo, but I feel like a different person at the same time."
Urahara smiled. "Well, whoever you are now, I'm rooting for you." Before Ichigo could say something, Urahara said, "Time's up! Goodbye and good night!"
"Night," Ichigo mumbled and rose to his feet. He walked to the door, pondering Urahara's words. I'm rooting for you.
Ichigo stopped and glanced back. "Urahara, thank you."
Urahara tipped his striped hat, revealing his dusty blonde head. "My pleasure."
"I don't know why, but we always have so much trouble with the jump-and-catch move," Rukia said as she walked across the studio. She bent down slightly, placing her hands on her knees as if unable to stand, and stared at Ichigo. "I'm not that heavy, right?"
"You weigh like five pounds," Ichigo said.
Rukia smiled. "That's what every girl likes to hear." Her eyes suddenly widened and her back straightened. "Oh, I almost forgot! I gave Inoue the letter this morning."
Ichigo had expected to feel a lot of things: anxiety, shock, relieved, glad…anything except hollow. He raised an eyebrow. "This morning? Nice of you to tell me earlier."
"Sorry but you were derping around with Rangiku, Toshiro, and Kenpachi," Rukia snapped. "What were you guys doing anyway? Hunting for prepubescent boys?"
"We were helping Kenpachi give Unohana a letter," Ichigo said without skipping a beat. "Unohana is constantly trying to avoid Kenpachi, so Rangiku, Toshiro, and I had to corner her."
Rukia snorted. "How'd that go?"
"She yelled at Kenpachi a bit," Ichigo said. "But she took the letter. Don't know what she did with it though."
"What did Kenpachi even write?"
"I wrote a poem," Ichigo said.
Rukia half smiled. "You wrote a love letter to Unohana? What did you even write? 'Your perpetual smiles turn me on?'"
"Kenpachi just told me what he wanted to say," Ichigo said. "Of course, had to censor a lot of it, but it came out fine. Anyways, so you gave me letter to Orihime today?"
The truth was that the letter had slipped from Ichigo's mind. He was so focused on the dance tournament, that he had nearly forgotten the deal he made with Rukia.
"Yeah, I did," Rukia said. "She was reluctant at first, but she took it."
"OK," Ichigo said, no longer feeling hollow. Ichigo couldn't put his finger on this new emotion. He was definitely relieved Orihime accepted the letter, but also anxious. Did she read it already? Or was she reading it at this very moment? Ichigo felt a stab of guilt for his initial reaction.
"Thank you, so much. I'm sorry I sounded ungrateful before. I was just-"
"Surprised?" Rukia interrupted. "It's fine. I would've reacted similarly."
Ichigo rubbed his face. "You're really too good for me, Rukia. I don't know how you've been able to tolerate me."
Rukia sniffed. "Yeah yeah. Anyways, let's continue where we left off."
"Right." Ichigo tensed as Rukia charged at him. She jumped up, and Ichigo grabbed her waist.
His step back was meant to keep his balance. Instead, Ichigo fell backward and his head slammed against the wooden floor. Ichigo groaned. His vision blurred, so he shook his head a few times.
That was when he realized that Rukia was on top of him, with her face only inches away from his.
Ichigo stared into Rukia's violet eyes that stood out like vibrant flowers in the moon of her face. They regarded him with an emotion Ichigo hadn't seen before. Whatever it was, it made something in Ichigo's stomach flutter. Her peach scent wafted in his nose, clouding his thoughts and intoxicating him. He could hear and feel Rukia's heart racing under her black cotton shirt…or maybe it was his own.
Ichigo didn't know how long they lay there. The moment seemed to stretch on for hours, days, months, years, an eternity. But as soon as Rukia hastily got up, staring at the floor and mumbling something Ichigo couldn't hear, the moment seemed to have ended as quickly as it begun.
Ichigo sat up and watched Rukia. She was still staring at the floor, her cheeks slightly red. They sat together in silence.
Rukia glanced back at Ichigo with a quizzical expression. She looked like a child, so unsure about the world.
"Um, I have to go," Rukia suddenly said in an unnaturally high voice. She gathered her belongings and sprinted out of the studio.
Ichigo stared at the door for a moment before lying back down and wondering what the hell just happened.