...

...

...

Everyone's around
no words are coming out
and I can't find my breath,
can we just say the rest with no sound...

...

...

The sound of trickling water and soft wind in his ear was soothing, the air warm and fragrant with jasmine and soft florals. How did I get here? Ichigo thought to himself as he looked around. It was as if he'd stepped into Monet's pond, surrounded by soft hues of blue, green, periwinkle, and pink. The vast body of water before him was a glimmering, splendid teal-blue dotted with fluffy white, pink, and purple lilies, water hyacinths, cardinals, and floating water cabbage.

He took a few steps forward cautiously, wondering where he was. It was a beautiful place, and when he glanced up, the sky was a dreamy, hazy periwinkle-lavender, the stars tiny and barely visible.

He looked down again, watching a tiny, silvery-white koi fish swimming under the water, its tiny scales glinting when it turned and moved, swimming away, and he heard the splash of water from his right. He turned, just in time to see Rukia standing on a wooden platform suspended just above the water, a few feet away from him. She seemed to not notice him there, and he watched in a trance as her dark hair fell from the twist it was in, long and shiny like a curtain. She began to shrug off the satiny white robe she had on, his eyes widening as it slipped from her shoulders to the floor in one fluid motion, leaving her completely bare, all pale and clean, like a marble statue out of a museum.

Ichigo woke up with a start, "Ru-!"

He blinked, his bleary eyes adjusting to his surroundings. This wasn't the beautiful Monet painting that came to life... this was just his bedroom. He glanced over at his alarm clock, reading 2:14 a.m. Some sense of annoyance- or was it disappointment?- washed over him as he fell back onto his pillow, staring at the roof with a sigh of aroused annoyance. No naked Rukia here.

He clutched his shirt in his fist, his thoughts a rambling mess and his heart racing. When he closed his eyes, the vision of her all soft and pale and bare before him, with the contrast of the sky behind her and the dark crown of hair on her head made him ache for her. He was sure he'd never seen a more beautiful woman before in his life.

With a tired sigh, he got up slowly, blushing in the realization that he was going to have to change his sheets. Pulling them off, he gingerly rolled the bed sheet into a ball, carrying it to the bathroom with him. He shivered at the feeling of the cool bathroom tile under his sensitive feet, ignoring the still-throbbing feeling he had as he tossed his sheet into the hamper along with his clothes, turning the shower on and waiting for the water to adjust.

'What am I, a teen?' he thought to himself dryly as he pulled the shower curtain away, stepping inside. It had been decades since he'd woken up like this, especially from something like a dream. How odd. His eyes sank shut as he allowed himself to relax under the spray of the hot water, his thoughts drifting off as he attempted to think of other things than Rukia and how pretty she looked without a stitch of clothing on.

"Rukia?" Ichigo called out from the doorway, turning to close the door behind him as he moved into the kitchen, following her reiatsu.

"Hey," Rukia greeted him casually as she held up a glass of water for him, which he took gratefully. "How did it go?"

"It was fine. The train was just starting to board when he got there. He must have left by now." he replied, taking a sip. "He seemed excited."

"That's good," Rukia mused, and he nodded along to her comment. "How was Orihime?"

"She was a little sad, of course," Ichigo said matter of factly, "Hard not to be. It feels weird to think he's almost an adult, and going to college."

"And you?" Rukia's voice was low now, and she moved closer to him, idly taking his hand in hers. He shrugged, looking up past her at the sparkly chandelier hanging high up.

"I mean... yeah, it sucks a lot. He'll be hours away by train.. I did give him a soul ticket though. And I suppose I could use shunpo to get there really fast if I needed to... I'm glad he's responsible, it's just hard to accept that he doesn't need me around as much anymore. Although I know that's just a part of growing up, getting to be on your own.."

"It's good you gave him a soul ticket," Rukia mused, "Although you know you can't use that to travel in the living world, right?"

"Yeah. But I'm there a lot anyway... and eventually, I think I might move there someday, permanently," he added casually, at which she blinked.

"Eh?"

"It's just an idea, for now," Ichigo said quickly. "We'll talk about it later. I just wanted him to have it in case... if he somehow can't reach me or Orihime, at least he could still reach you."

Rukia was quiet as he pulled her hand gently, which propelled her forward, allowing him to put his arms around her waist, dragging her close and pressing his face into her stomach with a groan. "It just makes me feel kind of old."

Rukia giggled at that, and he relaxed at the feeling of her fingers raking through his slightly long hair gently. "You are old. You're a senior citizen now."

"How dare you, lady," he said indignantly, his voice muffled by her dress, "I ought to punish you."

"Oh really? she replied coolly, "And how do you plan to do that?"

He raised an eyebrow before moving back, grabbing her by the waist and all but tossing her onto her plush white sofa swiftly, earning a surprised squeal from her as he did. She opened her mouth to say something but had no time as he climbed over her and began tickling her sides, making her screech with laughter. "I-I-Ichigo, p-please-!"

He paused, a mischievous grin curled on his pretty face. 'Like a devil', she thought as she gasped for air, "Just- Just-"

"Yeah?" he cooed teasingly, his grin only seeming to get more suspicious as she glared at him, unable to move as she was trapped underneath him. "Take it back then. I'm not an old man. In fact, just recently someone thought I was Kazui's brother at the grocery store.

"How recently was that, 10 years ago?" Rukia bit back, only to be immediately assaulted with another wave of endless tickling, "No-! No!"

"Take it back and I'll stop!"

"Never!" Rukia gasped between laugh-crying, "I-I'll buy you a c-cane to s-seal Zangetsu in- agh!"

He paused then, grinning as she kept laughing, deciding to give her a moment of peace, "Well, what does it say about you to fall in love with a senior citizen hm?"

"I'm older than you." Rukia reminded him, shiny-eyed and pink-cheeked as she stuck her tongue out at him defiantly.

"Right," Ichigo said in an agreeing tone. "If one of us is a cougar, it's definitely you."

"Hey!"

"I'm kidding," he said with a laugh, glancing around before questioning in a low tone, "Is Ichika coming today?"

"No, she's with her dad tonight." Rukia replied in a matching low tone, and he looked back at her before shifting closer.

He was able to feel her shiver under him at the contact, something he relished in as he murmured, "..Can I kiss you?"

She squirmed underneath him momentarily, lowering herself just slightly to put her hands on his shoulders. "Well, aren't you the hero of soul society?"

He shrugged shyly at the title, tilting his head down and kissing her gently, his fingers curling in her inky dark tresses.

Orihime Inoue's boots clicked on the sidewalk as she walked down towards the Kate Spade outlet, feeling incredibly happy. She'd saved up money all year to buy herself something nice for finishing her first official year of college and had finally gathered enough out of rent and bills to buy herself something she wanted. She had settled on a bag from Coach, an adorable one with yellow handles and a pattern of ducklings on the front she had immediately fallen in love with.

She made her way towards a nearby cafe, hoping to get a latte and work on her essay, when she stopped suddenly in her tracks as the door of a store just in front of her opened, a tall man stepping out and a familiar reiatsu enveloping her. Her jaw dropped slightly at the man before her, dressed in a dark three piece suit with a number of bags hanging from his left hand as he turned at the same time, familiar grey eyes meeting hers in surprise-

"Ishida-kun?"

Orihime's brown eyes watched the steam rising from the cup of latte in front of her, slightly peaceful and slightly nervous. Her companion across from raised his own cup to his lips as he spoke up, "I'm glad you're doing well, Kurosaki-San."

Her voice spoke before her mind could even register as she hurriedly corrected, "Inoue- it's just Inoue now."

"Right, sorry.."

"That's okay." She looked at him keenly, part of her still in surprise that this was really Ishida-kun from school. He looked so different- well dressed, tall and dark. The slightly longer hair, lack of glasses (contacts, she suspected), and most of all, the single earring that hung from his right ear that looked like a fashion statement but she recognized to be his Quincy pentacle all made him look like somewhat Sebastian from Black Butler, a thought she mused over. She's never noticed him like that before.. but he looked so different now. So much more... mature. And manly. It was odd.

"Where do you live now? Still in Tokyo?" She questioned, basing off the last thing she'd heard about him- he'd quit as a doctor and moved to Tokyo for something.

He shook his head, raising his teacup to his lips, "No, America actually. I moved there 3 years ago."

"Wow.." her eyebrows raised slightly, "So you're here for a visit?"

"Yeah, we're visiting my dad." He replied, so casually she almost didn't catch it.

"We?"

"...I came with my wife." he said the statement carefully as if to not shock her- but it did.

For some reason, it made her throat close, and she forced the words out almost in a choke. "Wife?"

"Yeah, we got married over there because her family couldn't travel all the way here.." he added as he did something with his phone before holding it out to her as he said in a proud tone, "Her name's Mirai."

'Mirai', Orihime thought to herself. 'Future.'

The photo on the screen was a wedding photo, with him dressed and tall, a pretty, petite, dark-haired woman in his arms, dressed in a stunning white gown and a two-tiered veil that was attached to her hair with a tiny bow a la Audrey Hepburn.

"She's beautiful," Orihime said softly, unable to take her eyes off the woman. She looked so happy in his arms, all gauzy and white with a bouquet of pink and white roses in her arms. From the background, it looked like they'd gotten married in a castle. "...How did you meet?"

"Oh, I went to medical school with her cousin, actually.." Uryu began, but she was only half-able to register what he was saying, her mind swirling with thoughts.

"A-Are you staying here for long?"

"No, just a week. We wanted to visit before she gives birth," he said as he took a sip of his earl grey, not noticing how Orihime looked at him as if he'd sprouted a second head.

"Birth?"

"Oh- yeah, she's expecting," he said, his expression a mix of excitement and affection. "Our first."

"Wow.." Orihime replied softly, trying hard to not look unhappy at this news, "Do you know what you're having?"

"It's a girl," his answer was immediate and his smile was undeniable, and Orihime said nothing, simply taking a sip from her salted caramel latte.

He didn't stay long after that. He paid the bill, insisting on not letting her, and they walked out of the cafe together, only stopping in front of the entrance, where he held out his hand to her.

"It was nice to see you again, Inoue-san."

She stared at him with an unreadable emotion in her brown eyes, one he did not catch, as she slowly reached out, shaking his hand.

"It was nice to catch up with you... Ishida-kun."

He gave her a final wave before turning and heading back in the opposite direction, where he had been before she'd seen him.

She could only stand there and watch as he walked away.