Rukia hummed as she skipped along her way to the Kurosaki residence. It was early May. The sun was blazing down and it honestly felt nice compared to the last time she visited.
Standing in front of the doors of the clinic she hummed again, a toneless tune as she rocked on her feet, ringing the doorbell. She was in her gigai, wearing a cute floral top with a pair of slim-fitted jeans, and a pair of purple sneakers on her feet.
The door swung open and Rukia was pulled into a tight bear hug, "Rukia! Just on time! How are you doing, girly?" Isshin declared. "Guys! Rukia's here, finally!"
Rukia stood in stunned silence… well really she hung in stunned silence as Isshin had lifted her in his bear hug. "What do you mean 'finally'?" She asked, frowning slightly.
Ichigo peeked his head out the door frame, the 15 -year-old boy was tall for his age, his bright orange hair most definitely a sight for sore eyes… Rukia snickered.
"NEE-CHAN!" Came the excited squeals of the twins as they rushed down the stairs to greet Rukia. Isshin set her down so the pair could hug her tightly.
"Just like Aniki said!" Karin cheered. Her grin was big and bright, her voice a little deeper with her tomboy nature. "How does he even know this stuff?!"
Rukia laughed nervously. "I don't really know…" She mumbled, she swore the next time she saw Izuru she was going to hit him upside the head. He definitely shared too much info with these kids.
"Nee-chan," Yuzu said. "Are you going to stay with us?" She asked softly.
"If it's okay with your dad." She smiled up at the man. She wondered briefly if he had missed her more than anticipated. She was just glad the twins were out of infancy and toddlerhood when she was restricted from visiting.
"Rukia," Isshin started, placing a large hand on top of her head. "You are always welcome here. You're family to all of us. Besides, we've been preparing for this ever since Ichigo and the girls ran into Izuru! He said…" He leaned down, speaking softly so the girls couldn't hear, "That crazy stuff will happen, upon your arrival. When you get time, tell me what I need to do to protect my daughters."
Rukia nodded, sighing deeply through her nose. She was really going to kill Izuru the next time she saw him. "Later tonight we can go over some of the details." She said softly.
Ichigo watched as the adults -HA!- talked. His hands were stuffed into his pockets. He knew he would eventually find out what was going on. Seeing as his dad could never actually keep his mouth shut. Rukia, however, was another story, if she felt it was important enough, her lips were permanently sealed until stated otherwise. He paused. If she wasn't around with Izuru so often… maybe Ichigo would know more about his future. After all, what else could it be if he was involved, practically the center of attention? His chest puffed up, like he was the main character.
Rukia glanced over at the teen and smirked. "I wonder which room I'll be sleeping in." She snickered, obviously she was teasing but Ichigo flushed red.
"Not mine!" He shouted, making an X with his arms. "No way!"
"I bet she wouldn't want to sleep with a stinky boy like yourself, Ichigo," Karin taunted. "I bet you she has a cuter boyfriend back home!"
"You could sleep with us!" Yuzu offered. "We can push our beds together and make one big bed! Like a sleepover!"
Rukia looked over at the small girl, and grinned. She paused… wait…. They were the same height… So didn't that make Rukia small? Realization dawned on her. The 11-year-old twins were the same height as her! A tear welled in her left eye. "You girls are growing up." She hugged them and wailed, though she was mostly pretending to embarrass them but secretly she really was a little sad. She had missed so much due to her stupid Aniki and his stupid rules.
Isshin clapped his hands, "Who's hungry? I'll order take-out! Any requests? Rukia?"
"I like pastries." She released the twins, Karin was quick to brush off her clothes and look away, a bit of a blush on her face. Yuzu, however, actually kind of basked in the attention. She was smiling as she looked at her sister.
"What is it, Karin?" Yuzu asked.
"It's nothing!" She retreated into the house leaving behind a confused blonde and an amused Rukia.
"Are we okay to get some pastries? I mean we can order actual food too but I haven't had a good pastry in a long time." She sighed. 4 years to be exact.
Isshin hummed and rested his hand on his chin, nodding a bit as he closed his eyes. Opening them he grinned.
"Pizza and pastries it is!" He cheered and ran into the house to grab the phone to start the order.
Ichigo shook his head and sighed deeply. "Man, did he ever grow up?" He muttered. "He's so weird."
Rukia snickered. "He's your dad. Of course, he's gonna be silly. He's been like this since you were a baby."
"Rukia!" Isshin called from where the landline is, "Got any allergies? I know you're… well, you know but still!"
She sweat dropped and smiled a bit. "I'm… allergic to persimmons," She said. She was ashamed to admit it. In her last life, she wasn't allergic to anything at all. And so being allergic to one of her favorite character's favorite food was bullshit to her. Not to mention her best friend lives on a compound where all of the trees… are persimmons. She sighed deeply. She could never visit Squad 3 unless she was hopped up on allergy medicine.
"That's… oddly specific, but okay!" Isshin returned to the phone call.
Absolute chaos. That's how Rukia could describe the damaged Kurosaki house. Blood dripped down her face, watching helplessly as the boy she'd helped raise from infancy now fought the Hollow she was assigned to kill! Of all of the things in canon to happen, why was this the one thing that happened almost word-for-word?
The exception being… Yuzu and Karin weren't home. They were sleeping over at some friends' houses.
She glared at the bat Ichigo was about to use to fight. The idiot had seen her and Izuru fight Hollows before, and he thought a bat of all things would kill it? He's supposed to be smarter than this.
Well, now he had his obnoxiously large Zanpakuto…
The whole thing was a rather large blur. Her head swam and she kept having to wipe blood from her eyes as she had somehow managed to hit her head after being flung by the hollow as she tried to fight it the first time before Ichigo had intervened.
Despite his inexperienced swordsmanship with a weapon of such stature, Ichigo effortlessly killed the Hollow, letting it vanish into nothingness.
Rukia watched in awe as her baby boy was practically a grown man standing there like that. "When did you get so big?" She asked, her words slightly muffled as she covered her mouth with her hands.
"Nee-chan!" He shouted. "Don't talk like that!" He was pointing his sword at her in a non-threatening way. "I'm a teenage boy! Of course, I'm gonna be big."
Rukia snorted and tightened her hold on her mouth as though she were trying to fight back the laughter. "I know Ichigo, but still…." She sighed and calmed down after taking a deep breath. "I remember when you were a bitty baby, I remember holding you and patting your butt to get you to sleep."
His face was bright red. His heart thumped painfully as he stepped closer. "Nee-chan… are… you okay?"
"Oh, she'll be just fine!" A cheery voice came from behind him.
He whipped around and stared at the blond-haired man in front of him. "Hat 'n clogs?" He asked, noticing the bucket hat and the clogs on his feet.
"Urahara Kisuke, at your service!" The man easily moved around Ichigo, squatting before Rukia. "Hmmm… yep. I can fix you up in a jiffy! Just have to take you to my shop. Upsy-daisy!" And he effortlessly picked up the very concussed Rukia like she weighed nothing. "Do you ever eat, my dear?"
Rukia snorted in response. "I eat, it's just my metabolism works faster." She grumbled, crossing her arms. Kisuke used to be her long-time crush character but after knowing him for so many years… he's just like that eccentric uncle.
"Don't worry, boy. I'll have your big sister back home before you know it! Bye now!" Annnnndddd they were gone.
Ichigo was on pins and needles. Despite that man's promise, it had been two days and Rukia was still missing! Somehow the hole in the wall of their house was patched up seemingly overnight, but explaining to his sisters that Rukia was gone was hard.
His dad, on the other hand, didn't seem worried.
"She'll be fine. Rukia's in good hands- trust your old man."
Of course, his dad picked that time to be serious.
Ichigo sighed, resting his head on his desk. Course he had to go to school despite all of it. His friends seemed none the wiser of his plight. Chizuru groping Orihime, Keigo cracking jokes… all the same normal thing.
"Ichigo?" Orihime said softly. "Are you okay?"
Pausing and offering her a slight smile. "Yeah, I'm okay."
"HAVE A SEAT!" Their teacher stepped into the room. "Today we have a new student joining us! Please welcome her warmly!"
Ichigo paused as he looked at the front of the class where a familiar head of dark hair reflected the fluorescent lights a navy color. Shiny purple eyes sparkled as they locked with his own brown ones.
"Hiya! I'm Kuchiki Rukia!" She smiled brightly and saluted the class. "I'm 15-years-old! Nice to meet you all!"
Ichigo trembled in his chair as he stared at her intensely.
"Okay, Rukia, go ahead and take the empty seat next to Ichigo back there." The teacher explained. Ichigo looked over and, yep, conveniently the only empty seat in the whole classroom.
Rukia took her time to get to her assigned seat. She smiled sweetly. "Long time no see." She mouthed, giggling slightly as Ichigo huffed and crossed his arms, sitting back in his seat.
"You have a lot of explaining to do." he mouthed back to her, glaring.
She smiled sweetly and took her seat. Soon class commenced. Rukia had a notebook on her desk. Mostly she doodled but when something came across that she didn't understand she jotted it down. Even though she knew she wouldn't be there for long she still thought it would be good to brush up on some common knowledge.
Later, during lunch, it was a shock for the rest of the class when Ichigo grabbed the new girl by the back of her blazer and dragged her to the roof. The new girl was grinning widely the whole time. She really missed her strawberry boy. Not that anyone knew that.
When they were alone Ichigo let go of Rukia and turned around to face her. "Where the hell have you been these past few days?!" He asked gruffly, crossing his arms and glaring at her.
"With Kisuke, recovering. I didn't want you guys to see me like that." She shook her head. "After… I have to recover my spiritual powers." She said seriously. "Don't blame yourself. You had to protect your dad after all. I'm glad I helped you!" She chirped.
Ichigo sighed. "Okay…"
Rukia rubbed her hands together mischievously, "Now… Who are your friends in the class? Hmmm? Maybe the cute girl with the hairpins?" She frowned, noticing all the light behind Ichigo's eyes turned to static. "Just like Izuru… Anyway, introduce me to people, young man! If I'm going to be stuck here, I need friends!"
Ichigo sighed, "Ma'am, yes ma'am…" Head bowed, he gave in and led Rukia back to class, where she'll inevitable embarrass him.
Honestly I think the first scene was my favorite to write XD I really hope you enjoyed reading this!