AN: Hello everyone. I just quickly want to thank two of my readers, MojoBlack and diah77. This update is coming a little later than usual thanks to some difficult things in my life.. I've been dealing with a little heartbreak recently so putting myself in a romantic headspace to write two sage lovers like Ichigo and Rukia has been a struggle. Your reviews and opinions have been really encouraging. Thank you both kindly. :) Now on to the chapter.
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Shadow of Love
Chapter 15
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Under the starry sky, where it is lit by the light of the moon
a wish that was shakingly written:
I wish you will be happy.
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(APRIL)
"Hey, can you open this?"
Rukia glanced up as Ichigo dropped a rather heavy, decorative envelope in her lap as she lounged on the sofa in his living room. She glanced over, watching him set the table as she questioned, "What is it?"
"Open it and see, genius." Ichigo retorted. Rukia stuck her tongue out at him and then carefully tore open the envelope, pulling out a card, her eyes scanning it carefully. "Hmm..."
"Well?" Ichigo called from the kitchen as he picked up the pot of soup he'd made and carried it to the table.
"It's an invitation to your coworker Hideki-san's wedding," Rukia mused as she held up the elaborate white card in her hand for him to take. "Are you going to go?"
"Let's see.." he looked over the card, "Looks like I have a plus one. Will you go with me?" with that, he waved her over to the table, sitting down himself.
"It's on a weekend, so. I'll have to look at my schedule, but yes, I'll go with you." she said as she climbed off the sofa, going over and sitting in the chair across from him.
They shared dinner together after that, chatting with each other about work before Rukia left to go back home.
Ichigo stood in his kitchen, his phone playing music out loud as he moved about, stacking all of the dirty dishes into the dishwasher, picking up his phone from the table as he heard the front door unlock, Kazui stepping inside. He glanced over as the boy headed into the living room, his phone in hand. "Hey, dad."
"Hey, kid." Ichigo replied casually as he watched his son sit down on the couch, typing something into his phone. "You busy now? I wanted to talk to you.." Ichigo trailed off, nervous about bringing up what he wanted to. "It's kind of important."
"Sure, what's up?"
Ichigo sat down next to him on the couch, quiet for a moment before he spoke carefully. "Before I say anything... I just want to say that you're my son and I love you, and nothing has to change between us."
Kazui blinked, his curiosity piqued as he regarded his father. "Okay?"
Ichigo swallowed nervously before continuing. "I... I wanted to know what you would think- how you would feel if I thought about seeing someone."
And circle gets the square.
Kazui held back the desire to chuckle, instead of maintaining his calm, placid demeanor. "Oh... okay."
"If you're not okay with it-" Ichigo said quickly, swallowing the tiny lump in his throat at that idea, "Just tell me, you can be honest. I won't get upset."
Kazui looked into the eyes of his father. He looked so sad, almost as if he were lost. That was the thing about his dad. Ichigo had done his absolute best to ensure that his son would not feel or notice any ounce of the depression he'd been going through for so long. But Kazui was smart, and he'd always known- his parents didn't have the most typical relationship when they had been married, though they had always gotten along. He'd never even seen them fight or argue. Still, their split a year earlier had somehow been a shock to him, and yet not shocking at all.
Once mom had moved out and started school, he could see the stark difference in the two of them. She was happy, with a new job, new place, and finally getting out to achieve her goals; something that made him feel excited for her despite the separation. His father on the other hand seemed to sink lower into a sorrow than even before, though he was very good at masking it when he was there. He only seemed happy when he got to spend time with him, and that was worrying to him too.
In just one month, he'd be moving to Tokyo for university. What would his father do then? He'd almost felt guilty despite the fact that it was expected for kids to leave the house one day. But he just couldn't stand the thought of his father wallowing in the house all alone, wandering the rooms like a left-behind ghost. Once he moved he'd be hours away and busy with school and his part-time job. What would happen to his father?
He didn't want to leave him there all alone, by himself.
"Dad.. okay, look." Kazui began slowly, wanting to word himself carefully. "I just want you to do what's best for yourself. I'm moving out in just a few weeks.. I want to know that I'm not leaving you behind here to be stuck in the house all by yourself."
That statement made Ichigo's eyes teary, which Kazui inwardly winced at, praying that his father would not break down in front of him. Please don't cry, please don't, please don't.. taking a breath, he continued.
"I mean... you're an adult.. and now I am too. I just don't want someone to replace mom for me, so.. if she's good to you.. that's all that matters."
Ichigo nodded slowly, blinking back the tears that had gathered in his eyes. "Of course not, I'd never try to replace her.."
"Do you have someone in mind? I'd like to meet them," Kazui questioned innocently, holding back a snicker at watching his father's face heat up. Of course, there was. He'd seen the flowers he'd gotten on Valentine's day, though he knew his father thought he was sneakier than he really was.
"Sort of..." Ichigo mumbled, trying to fight the redness from creeping on his face. Kazui's expression was unsuspecting enough, so he continued. "If you really want to, maybe... in some time."
"Okay."
(MAY)
Large wooden doors slid open in a spiral of light, thudding as they stopped and Rukia stepped through them with a wave. "Ichigo, are you ready to go?"
"I'm coming," he called from the stairs, and so she walked over, climbing up the steps to his bedroom. The door was open, and she went inside to see him tying his tie haphazardly. Rukia paused in the doorway for a moment, admiring how beautiful he looked in a clean, simple suit, his hair had gotten longer and slicked back, and it reminded her of 20 years ago when he'd left the Dangai to fight Aizen. It was an odd feeling, to remember such an event and think that it had been so long since then.
She moved in then towards him, touching his arm. "Need help?"
"I think I got it.." he said, turning to face as she reached up, straightening it. He busied himself with admiring how pretty and put-together she looked, in a simple satiny powder blue dress that reached her knees. She had a matching coat she held in her hand, paired with white tights, short white pumps, and a simple string of pearls around her neck, her dark hair twisted up into an elegant bun.
Ichigo caught her hand as she finished with his tie, pulling it up. "You look pretty," he said softly, kissing the palm of her hand before pulling her close and kissing her, too.
She turned then, doing a once-over in the mirror, "It's fine for a wedding?"
"More than," he said softly, his fingers pulling the strap of her dress that was falling from her shoulder as he bent lower, kissing her neck gently.
"Thank you," she turned, pinching his cheek affectionately before picking up her purse, "You clean up well."
"You think so?"
"Yeah, of course," she replied as they went back downstairs, locking the front door of the place before getting into his car. It was Saturday morning, sunlight dappled by fluffy white clouds, the air cold and crisp. They arrived at the church quickly, piling inside with all of the other guests as Rukia admired the entrance that was framed by a giant arch of orange and yellow flowers.
Ichigo held onto her hand, as they walked, nodding at a pew and sliding in with her following him. The ceremony was not very long, and Rukia watched with interest- having never seen a church wedding before- while Ichigo idly traced patterns on the back of her small hand. Eventually, it was complete, and all the guests filing out for the reception.
"Kurosaki!" Hideki-san was glowing with excitement as he approached with his bride, "I'm so glad you made it! And Kuchiki-san, of course." he added, Rukia smiling in response.
"Congratulations, Hideki." Ichigo said warmly as he took his friend's hand. "You look great."
"Both of you look wonderful," Rukia added, and Hideki grinned back.
"I'm hoping to hear about your engagement one of these days!" he said jovially before moving away, leaving the pair a blushing mess. Ichigo could only glance over at his.. his girlfriend- it felt weird to call Rukia that, it felt so oddly superficial- and wonder how she felt.
It was almost ironic when, 10 minutes later, the bride threw the bouquet, and it seemed to sail through the air before smacking Rukia in the face, knocking her to the ground and landing in her lap. She could hear as all of the other guests were cheering her on while she felt Ichigo's strong arms pick her up easily, asking if she was ok to which she nodded and laughed, red-faced. He was grinning and teasingly congratulating her on catching it.
The night delved on, Rukia sat at the table nibbling at her cake as the live band played Just What I Needed by The Cars. It felt so different- being at a wedding of two people that wanted to be married to each other. She felt as if she could feel their emotions during the ceremony, and even when they cut the cake or did their first dance. Her eyes closed for a moment as she savored how peaceful the moment felt, all low lights, pretty music, and white cake.. the song ended then and a new one started, one that she recognized and one that made her eyes open in surprise as she heard the beginning notes of violin and guitar.
"You remember this song?" Ichigo murmured from across the table, eyes on her as they both listened to the live band play out a more mellow version of Song For by Rookiez is Punkd.
"Of course.." her voice faded off in surprise, "You loved this band.. we used to listen to this in your room all the time when we were kids,"
When we were kids. The reality of the statement made the both of them pause; it never stopped surprising them just how long they'd been apart from each other since he was 15 and she was assigned to Karakura.
"..I paid them off to play it." Ichigo admitted then, and she looked at him in surprise as he reached across the table, taking her hand in his.
"Wanna dance?"
Rukia could only nod, not wanting her voice to betray her as he led her by the hand to the floor. Normally they both might've felt self-conscious about it, but there was a wonderful quiet in being surrounded by people who didn't know them, not to mention it was night and the only lights on were the candles on each table and the low, golden fairy lights that hung from the ceiling. Plus, most people were wine-drunk anyway.
They walked onto the floor just as the song reached the midpoint, Rukia letting her eyes close as she moved closer, weaving her arms around him from under his coat as she put her cheek against his chest. He was so warm and he smelled so nice; like the cologne she'd picked for him the last time they'd gone to the mall together.
Ichigo held back a shiver at the feeling of Rukia's lithe body pressed against his. It felt wonderful, being able to be alone together like this, though they were surrounded by people, no one was paying any attention. They could just be Ichigo and Rukia, a man and a woman in love, rather then Ichigo and Rukia, war hero and captain of the 13th.
June arrived, as did warmer weather and sunlight. It was a lovely, crisp morning, and Kazui graduated from high school with honors, the ceremony held in a cool auditorium on early Saturday morning. Ichigo met both Tatsuki and Orihime there as well, the latter weeping through the ceremony and then later when they got to see him in person afterward for pictures. It was nice to be able to attend these occasions and be able to interact normally with his ex-wife, grateful that they could remain cordial with each other. It was also helpful that they could plan together for his graduation gift, which was a new phone- one that he had been planning to save up for instead. They went out for dinner together before both women left for work, Ichigo taking Kazui home as he would be going out again in the evening.
Rukia came by the house a few hours later, wanting to give Kazui something for his graduation as well. They'd met almost 4 weeks before on Kazui's request- he did not want to move away without at least knowing who his father was possibly seeing. They had met a few times, and while it was rather weird for him to see his dad be so happy around her, he felt at least satisfied that his father would not wither away in the empty house all alone by himself. And while he didn't know her well, he did like Rukia-obasan enough- she seemed smart and was pretty funny, and he could see how she and his father worked so well together. There was also some bit of comfort in the fact that his father had mentioned that he had known her since he was a teen, which meant he could probably trust her more than a stranger his dad just met.
As Kazui got dressed to leave, running a comb through his hair idly, he could hear his father and Rukia-san laughing downstairs in the kitchen. It made him feel a little bit better that his father had someone to keep him company.
"Dad," he called out as he went down the stairs, tugging on his jacket, "Why can't I take your car to the party? It's only half an hour, and Misato will be with me."
"It's way too far, you've never driven for that long before." Ichigo reminded,
Rukia waved her hand casually, "Oh, Kazui, have some pity for your father. The real reason he doesn't want you to take the car is that it makes him feel old."
Ichigo gaped at her, and Kazui bit back a laugh. "Old? What do you mean old?!?"
Rukia glanced over at Kazui, who was grinning, "See, when you act like a responsible 18 year old who can take the car on his own, it makes him feel unneeded. That, and also the receding hairline, waking up all stiff in the morning.."
"I am perfectly fine, and I am not afraid of getting old!" Ichigo exclaimed hotly, not bothering to look away from her mischievous expression as he added, "Kazui, the car is yours. Keys are on my desk. Just text me before you leave."
"Thanks, dad." Kazui said jovially, mouthing a thank you to Rukia before going back up the steps to retrieve the car keys. They both watched the boy leave before Ichigo turned back to his soup, raising the spoon as he added, "And for your information, Rukia, when I get up in the morning, nothing is stiff!"
There was a moment of silence as Rukia regarded him with a raised eyebrow before adding calmly, "I rest my case."
Ichigo could only stare, slack jawed as she laughed her way up the steps.