Disclaimer: I hope this fic is finding its way back to those who stuck around and thank you! SO, I've been re-learning Ichigo's transformations cause this fic was inspired by a pic of him and Grimmjow in their awesome forms... well it turns out that that one-horned look IS Ichigo's final form MEANING that look is from TYBW MEANING I just randomly grabbed shit and made spiked lemonade. Maybe I'll explain it in later chapters of the fic ; ) Also, that means I'll 99.9% add in Rukia's bankai. Anyways, enjoy! (More character building).
As We Know It
Chapter 7
"We still have about thirty days to do whatever we want this summer," Orihime reminds the girls.
It was Friday and the girls got together for brunch. Just them, because being around all that testosterone was starting to get a tad bit aggravating. Socially, women, need to recharge their batteries from the ups and downs. With Rukia's health taking weird turns, Uryuu being more guarded and uptight than usual, and with Tatsuki a bit over the top out of her normal self was wearing Orihime down. She needed girl time, a rest with her best gal-pals, and she found a cute little café for them to meet up to do so.
Orihime took a sip of her iced tea, glancing at her violet-eye friend. "How have your migraines been?"
Rukia shrugs her shoulders and pokes at her mini strawberry souffle pancake. It had only been a couple of days since she started taking her medication, and so far, so good. Yet, Rukia didn't want to jinx it even though Dr. Urahara said it was ninety-nine-point-nine percent guaranteed.
"Seems to be going well, although I don't think it will stop the visions," Rukia slices her pancake and continues eating. This brunch idea was cute. If it wasn't for Orihime, Rukia would've been eating with her brother. Don't get her wrong, eating with her beloved nii-sama wasn't horrible, he just seemed like a zombie most mornings lately.
Tatsuki clasps her hands together enthusiastically. "Well, that's great news, and I have more great news!"
"Oh! What is it?!" Orihime asks back just as enthusiastically, while simultaneously pulling a can of tuna out of her bag. Rukia notices what her friend was about to do and tells her to put it back immediately.
Orihime pouts but Tatsuki carries on as if she didn't notice a damn thing. "I got us a rental booked for the beach outing. It will be a weekend away from the city, and Rukia I don't care if we need to kidnap you because you're coming. Byakuya be damned."
"Come on, don't need to bad mouth him," it was Rukia's turn to pout. "He's been extremely lenient since the party. I'll just ask him, no problem."
Tatsuki raises an eyebrow, she was still very skeptical of the man. "Sure, if you say so."
"When did you book it for?"
"Towards the end of break, and still left a few days between the start of the semester so we can adjust back to being boring," Tatsuki finishes her meal and relaxes. "Also, I need to do some more planning!"
At this both, Rukia and Orihime, groaned.
"I think you need to take a vacation from this vacation," Orihime says. "Just relax, your friends aren't going anywhere soon, are they?"
Tatsuki frowns, "No, they're here to stay. I just want to have a great summer that's all, but judging by your tones I'll back off a bit."
Rukia pauses in thought as she munches on a piece of bacon. "They're here to stay? For good?"
Orihime claps her together in a tiny applause. "Operation-Get-Rukia-A-Man will commence!"
"Excuse me?" Rukia blinks her eyes at Orihime.
"Oh, come off it, Miss Princess," Tatsuki wiggles her eyebrows at Rukia. "You think I had forgotten about you and Grimmjow dry humping on my bed?"
Rukia automatically starts choking on her own saliva earning rapid back-pats from Orihime. Taking a sip of iced water, Rukia breathes in to clear her throat. "We were not dry humping on your bed!"
"Fine, could've fooled me," Tatsuki snickers and signals the waiter for the bills. "I don't know what you ladies have planned for the day, but I promised Grimmjow I'll drive him around for his errands."
Rukia checks her phone surprised by how fast their morning went. "I've got to get going too. Kind of want to take a nap today, especially after eating all of this."
Tatsuki was the first out of the cafe and waved to her friends as she hopped in her car and peeled off. As Rukia was about to let Orihime know she was going to start walking, she stopped once she saw her friend's face.
"Orihime?"
Rapidly blinking her eyes, Orihime comes back to reality. "Sorry, I just have a lot on my mind right now," she spoke so softly Rukia leaned in a bit. "C-could I walk with you to your house? I can catch a ride from there."
Rukia nods her head, and they started walking together in silence. Which the short-haired woman didn't mind, she had a lot of things going on in her mind as well. For as long as she could remember her life was idyllic, and Rukia was overwhelmed with the twists and turns that had been happening to her so rapidly. Was this all by coincidence? She was beginning to feel like she was missing chunks of her life, and she couldn't figure out why she felt like that. Feeling a tingling sensation in the back of her head, she glances behind them and only noticed a bush rustling. Nothing else there.
Letting out a deep sigh, Rukia turns her attention back to her unusually quiet friend. "Anything on your mind?"
"Well," Orihime worries her bottom lip between her teeth, and took a few seconds of silence before spilling the beans. "Uryuu has been acting just as strangely as Tatsuki, but not as cheerfully."
"Oh, you know I won't be any good giving advice for relationships," Rukia wasn't being dismissive in her tone, but was being sympathetic. Tatsuki would've been a better person to vent to, at least she could've given some form of sage advice back.
"No, no, no, nothing like that," Orihime's hair settled around her shoulders from shaking her head. "It's like being around a scared cat. No, more like walking on glass all the time? I can't—"
Rukia could see the tears threatening to spill. "Has it been that bad?"
Orihime swallows her tears down and nods her head, she steadies her breathing. "He barely touches me nowadays. He jumps when I even brush his hand. He doesn't hold me at night like he used to. He can't look me in the eyes when he tells me 'Everything is fine', but it's not!"
During Orihime's confession, Rukia could feel herself getting hot under the collar. Uryuu was by no means a person of public display, and to be fair she barely knew the guy despite being around Orihime for years. He kept to himself and only came to group functions. Even then she didn't feel obliged to strike up a sincere conversation with the man. To her, Uryuu has always been cold and aloof. Even more so than Byakuya, and that's saying a lot, but to be this way towards your girlfriend that you claim to love?
"Am I unattractive to him?"
Rukia barely heard the whispered question but yanked on Orihime's arm. "Don't you ever think that!"
I don't know what's going on with that man's head, but you don't have to go home. In fact, stay at our place for a couple of days." Rukia will tell Byakuya later, no need for permission on a matter like this.
The girls resumed their walk after Orihime calmed down. Rukia's mind was going into overdrive and questions popped out every now and then.
"How long has he been acting like this?"
"...about a couple of weeks."
"Was there anything that could've triggered this new behavior from him? Anything at all?" Rukia was thinking back a couple weeks ago herself. But that was when Ichigo and Grimmjow came crashing in, honestly anyone could've missed if anything was amiss with Uryuu. It has been chaotic, in a welcoming way, since then.
"Rukia," Orihime's face had realization written all over her face. "It was at the coffee shop! He started acting weird then!"
'Could they have said or done something to Uryuu? No, that doesn't make sense...' They were all at Tatsuki's apartment not too long ago being comfortable. There it was again, the feeling of missing something, and her head started to feel heavy. 'Damn, I need to get home and take the meds.'
"Let me sit with this for a while, but you can still stay with us for a few days."
"I need to get some clothes..." Orihime was feeling apprehensive again.
"I'll go get them later," Rukia reassures her, tugging Orihime along to walk faster. Feeling that tingling sensation again, Rukia turns around with a frown. There was a black cat sitting in the middle of the sidewalk, tail flicking back and forth. 'Odd.'
For some reason that image of the cat was burned and stored in memory but pushed to the back of her mind like a snapshot. It was all she could think about when she pulled her brother to the side and filled him in on why Orihime needed to crash with them. Byakuya didn't put up a fight, he simply told her to keep it quiet at night, he didn't want his sleep disturbed.
Even now as she was pulling herself awake from a nap, that image of the cat was there. What did it mean? Besides that, there were rarely any animals roaming about the streets of Karakura. 'Ugh, what is my mind telling me?'. Yawning quietly, she looks over to her right where Orihime slubbered on. The sun was setting outside, and Rukia still needed to go retrieve her friend's clothing.
She just couldn't figure out why Uryuu would randomly start acting colder than usual. Rukia leans closer to Orihime, pondering the past couple of weeks. The ghosts were a constant reminder, and she remembered that Orihime said something about believing in ghosts. Now, Rukia is considering confiding in her. Let's be for real here, Rukia has been taking all of this in great stride without cracking her shell, but she can feel the tingling of stress clawing at her ankles. It feels like something is always in the back of her mind, and it is continuing to grow. Almost like she could hear something, but what?!
Rukia closes her eyes and takes deep breaths.
"I'm not crazy," Rukia whispers aloud, gently brushing her hand across Orihime's forehead. "At least, I don't think so..."
...So...
"...So...do you like Ichigo?"
Rukia chokes on her juice, spraying it forth from her mouth. "Where is this coming from?"
Orihime, Tatsuki and their group of girlfriends found Rukia sitting up in a tree and invited her to have lunch with them during their school lunch break. And now she found herself being interrogated by said group of friends.
Was this their motive the entire time? Rukia smiles softly and slightly shake her head. No matter what world she inhabits, emotions will always play a side role. Or the main role!
"So, what's the deal? You've been clinging to him ever since you showed up," Mahana blurted out.
Rukia could feel the girls leaning in with unblinking eyes. Maybe even a few held their breath, who knows, but she smiles and shakes her head. "We are just friends. That's all."
Some sighed in relief and others sighed in defeat.
"It doesn't matter, I'll still be rooting for you Rukia," Chizuru explained, grabbing a hold of Rukia's hands. "Fall for him hard, so then Orihime will be all mine!"
Tatsuki glares over at Chizuru. "Aren't you taking it a bit too far now?"
Orihime was quiet during the whole exchange in deep thought. "Well, Rukia, if you don't like him then it won't be two against one. And then we won't win."
"I don't think you know what you're talking about," Tatsuki quietly tells her best friend. "That situation won't work well with love."
Rukia politely smiles while the girls argue amongst themselves about love triangles and friendships, and the best ways to conquer a man's heart. What was going through Rukia's mind was a complete one-eighty-degree flip. She wasn't one to kiss and tell, these girls don't know her true nature of being in Karakura. Human feelings were useless, and developing feelings was a foolish aspect to even consider. At least that's what Rukia told herself because she was already in the beginnings of satisfying a certain teenager's needs.
Orihime drew in a deep breath and turned her face away but stayed in deep slumber. Rukia's hand was still hovering over where she had placed it, slightly trembling. There was no way to deny that vision she just experienced, that school uniform—
Stealthily getting off her bed Rukia heads straight into her closet and starts going through her clothes in a frenzy. That school uniform wasn't made up, she remembers that she usually liked wearing the winter long sleeve with her skirt even though it was getting warmer. It was just then that she started to acclimate to the society around her is when she started leaving it behind and—
"Something terrible happened soon after that," she whispers to herself. "I could feel the breeze up in that tree. There was a feeling of...I don't know...why can't I remember anything?"
About to give up in frustration in not finding the high school uniform, she yanks down a dress and there it was hanging up in pristine shape. Rukia stands there taking it all in, she didn't want to touch the article of clothing like it was a piece of evidence for...what?
What in the world is going on? Rukia didn't want to go down a spiral of thinking, but she did know of amnesia, she had those weird doctor visits and migraines. Was she in a terrible accident that damaged her brain in a way that messed up her memory? But what was really putting her in a spin was that...
"I know Ichigo?"
Or was it 'knew'?
Rukia calms herself down some more because she needed to handle these new discoveries one problem at a time. Because if this recent "memory" turns out to be real then what about the other visions she had been seeing? The only person that could answer her was Orihime. Well, she could go to Ichigo, but how crazy would that be to approach someone that you claim that some girls were talking about them being an item, yet it was all in her head in some weird daydream. She really liked the guy and didn't want to scare him off, but then on the flip side if they had a past and he was hiding it from her, hiding everything from her she knows she will feel utterly betrayed.
Moving clothes to shield her eyes from the damned uniform, Rukia takes in deep breaths. She was still shaking, but the first thing was to retrieve clothes for Orihime and a walk might do the trick to get her thoughts organized. She didn't bother even telling Byakuya she was heading out, and by the time she stood in front of Uryuu's and Orihime's building the sky was a shade darker with the stars trying to trinkle through the last of the sun's rays.
After taking the elevator up to the fifth floor Rukia rounded the corner and walked down the hallway to the door, raising her hand to knock before she heard muffled shouts from inside.
'It sounds like Uryuu and another male, but who?'
Rukia hesitantly puts her ear against the door to try and make out what was being said but could barely make any coherent sentences. Something about jealousy, idiot, decisions or lack thereof any. This was borderline what Rukia was thinking about Uryuu herself with what Orihime confessed earlier. It must be one of their friends ripping Uryuu a new hole, good for them. Rukia pulls away from the door, this time knocking not caring what drama she interrupted.
This time she could hear the voice clearly and said-person was still berating the quiet eyeglass-wearer. "I can't clean up your own damn messes, and it better be her cause you need to get this shit over with."
'Wait...wait, is that—'
"Rukia?!"
"Hi, I-Ichigo," Rukia timidly raises her hand in a greeting gesture. She wasn't ready to see his face, not after her warring thoughts and feelings and let's not bring in her growing attraction to the man either. There goes her emotional bravado training. Now who needs to get their shit together?
"I just came to grab some clothes for Orihime," Rukia confesses in a low voice, suspecting that was why Ichigo was in the apartment to begin with,
The way Ichigo's scowl flew back to his face confirmed her assumption. "Oh, I bet you are." He opens the door wider for Rukia to enter, which she does, and she could see that Uryuu already packed an overnight bag for his girlfriend.
Uryuu gets up from the couch he was sitting on and hands Rukia the bag with a bow. "Please, tell Orihime that I want her to come back home. She isn't picking up any of my calls."
Rukia nods her head in agreement and slight bewilderment. This was going way too smoothly for some odd reason. Rukia groans in her head about this whole day being odd and off. It couldn't get any worse, could it? She guessed that Orihime must have been texting Uryuu about not staying home for a couple of days. Maybe this will also be resolved quickly then.
"I'm sure you don't mean Orihime any harm with your mannerisms, yet I'm not one to talk about relationships," Rukia offers and takes a breath, "get back on track. She loves you more than you know."
Rukia nods at Uryuu and walks out the apartment, not sure if she could keep her bravado up around Ichigo much longer. She waves bye to him, but he in turn bids Uryuu night and ends up following Rukia.
"I hope I didn't interrupt anything crucial," Rukia speaks up after they exit the building.
Ichigo sighs and wishes on a lot of things, mainly the situation they're all in, considering the stickiness of it all. "Nothing too important to worry your cute little self about," Ichigo teases Rukia and grabs Orihime's bag from Rukia's shoulders and slings it over his, feeling slightly better after he sees a blush bloom across her face. "Uryuu put himself in an avoidable situation."
"Do you think it will get better between them?" Rukia asks hopefully.
"Only the future can tell, but I hope he does what he needs to do," Ichigo frowns slightly. "It's only a matter of time."
Rukia scoffs with sarcasm dripping from her words. "Now that doesn't sound foreboding. Say, Ichigo, you lived here before, right?" Rukia decided to use the last wisp of her bravado to start digging into the mysteries around her.
"Technically, this is my hometown, I grew up here," Ichigo answers without hesitation.
"You went to Karakura High School too?"
Ichigo felt the warmth wash away from his face, and the gears started to go overtime in his head. What does she know? How much does she know now? It was hypocritical of him to be berating Uryuu a few minutes ago about choices and consequences, yet here he was walking next to his consequence. Although in Ichigo's mind it was fair to say this was all for Rukia's protection, well, that's partially true. He was more apprehensive about the revelations that are sure to arise. His whole goal, besides protecting his woman, is to get ahead of that reveal and save some heartache. And save his ass.
Rukia starts to side-eye the man walking beside her as he went silent. 'Now, that's odd. What is he thinking?'
"Karakura High, you say?" Ichigo scratches the back of his head. 'I can't keep lying to her...'
Ichigo opens his mouth to answer, but then Rukia's phone rings. Rukia throws Ichigo an apologetic look before glancing at her phone and silencing it in irritation.
"It's Byakuya."
"You know he's going to keep calling," Ichigo says stifling the giggle he could feel in the back of his throat.
"How would you know something li—" Rukia's phone goes off again, and she hits the ignore button, again. She could feel a bit of her irritation rising to the surface. "My nii-sama is just looking out for me; you don't know him like that."
"Your nii-sama sounds like he could be a pain in the ass," Ichigo couldn't help it now, this teasing and bantering reminded him of the good ole' days where he would rile up Rukia like this on purpose. He just missed seeing that spark of spitfire from her.
"You can't put someone down that you don't know," Rukia huffs. "He's the best protector anyone could ask for."
Ichigo clicks his tongue thinking back when he and Grimmjow were ordered back to Karakura. It didn't seem like nii-sama was doing a stellar job at the time considering Rukia's back was practically sliced up like sashimi.
"Sure, Rukia," Ichigo responds sarcastically while patting the top of her head.
"And you know what?" Rukia slaps his hand away. "Stop trying to dodge my question about which high school you went to and leave Byakuya out of it."
Ichigo lets out a loud sigh. "Fine, since you want your answer so freaking bad. I went to—"
Rukia's phone goes off, once again, and she hits the side button to ignore it. "Don't worry about it continue."
"I went to Karakura High," Ichigo finally admits, and he watches as Rukia's eyes opened wider. What could that have meant, he doesn't know, but it didn't appear as if Rukia was angry, that is until her phone goes off again!
Rukia answers her phone this time not caring about etiquette. "My goodness, Byakuya! I'm with Ichigo!" And oddly enough, with the release of her pent-up irritation there was another release from her. It brought back feelings of when her migraines came along, but this time it felt like it coursed through her body and was expelled out instantaneously. As if some pressure was literally released from within. 'What the hell was that?'
Rukia looked up at Ichigo who was eyeing her weirdly, but she didn't get the chance to digest anything before a black cat rushed between them causing her to jump, and then the power suddenly went out around them causing her to shriek and cling onto Ichigo. Still clinging onto Ichigo, she lifts her phone up realizing her signal was gone.
"What the..." Rukia began to get a gut sinking feeling and can feel herself tremble ever so slightly.
It was that bloodcurdling scream from her dream.
Ichigo felt Rukia's grip on his arm tighten even more. He had initially grabbed her around the waist when she jumped, but now he was dead focused on the Hollow looming over the houses down the road. Soon it will zero in on Rukia's uncontrolled reiatsu, and come lumbering in their direction with a heavy thirst.
"Ichigo, we should get going," Rukia looks around with her eyes and notices a grotesque mass moving in the darkness. "Please.."
"It's fine, Rukia," Ichigo reassures her with a smile, taking note that she can see the Hollow clearly.
He madethe right direction confessing which high school he attended, sprinkling the truth here and there could deepen her trust in him. "Do you trust me?" Ichigo attempts to bring Rukia's frantic gaze away from the frightening Hollow who's roving eyes locked onto woman in his arms.
Rukia jerks hard trying to get free from Ichigo's grasp since he wasn't budging. She was insistently pleading with him to run with her, and she could feel the tell-tale prickingly tears in her eyes of fear building up. The problem with this scenario was she wasn't waking up! The last time she witnessed something so grotesque, and terrifying was in her dreams, but now she supposes that was not a dream! And why the hell was Ichigo maintaining a calm demeanor like he's been through this before?
The Hollow let's another blood-curling howl, with the wind whipping up and around the couple. Ichigo grabs Rukia's face between his palms and successfully brings her attention to him. "Rukia, do you trust me?" He says louder with a steady a grip on Rukia.
Rukia felt the ground buckle beneath them, but she kept her eye contact with Ichigo. "I trust you," she said loud enough for him to hear.
Ichigo plants a kiss on Rukia's forehead, turns around while pulling his badge out, and transforms. Rukia was too stunned to say speak as she held onto Ichigo's gigai and sunk down to the ground.
Rukia blinks once.
"What the fuc—"
A/N: I'm lowkey mad at myself for this one. This chapter was done a long time ago, and I thought I never finished it. Got on here and read it, checked where it was at and... IDK what happened! But here we are. So now, I can move on with what to do what's in my head.