Ichigo thinks she hates him, of that Rukia is certain. Every few minutes, he catches her poorly-concealed glances at him, which he shrugs off with irritated sniffs, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his robes.
She doesn't mean to stare at him, but it's difficult not to—not when so much of him, including his tousled hair and the angles in his profile, keep calling her mind back to her former lieutenant, old memories sore with fresh bruising. He isn't a perfect mirror to Kaien, not by any stretch of the imagination, but the resemblance is striking, so much so that it seems impossible that Renji hasn't noticed it yet.
Maybe, though, it isn't so much of a coincidence that, of all the humans Renji encountered, Ichigo was the one he chose to give his powers to.
Maybe that's why Renji's so unbothered by him, consciously or not.
Rukia isn't quite certain yet whether she actually does hate Ichigo, given how little she knows about him, and whatever has gone wrong with Renji. It's hard to say, when so many of her instincts feel like they're at war with one another. She doesn't totally trust him, but she doesn't think she wants to hate him, and part of her sits uneasily with the fact that Ichigo certainly, without a doubt, thinks that she does.
For the moment, Rukia is limited to the admission that, despite all of the fair and rational reasons she has to be suspicious of Ichigo, and despite all the compelling reasons for her to treat him as a potential suspect, she doesn't want Ichigo to dislike her.
Maybe she even wants him to like her.
He walks several feet ahead of her and Renji, his massive zanpakuto safely sheathed at his side. Even that screams out to her as strange, as something she should be second guessing, if the only source of reiatsu he had was Renji's.
"Hat and clogs' shop is this way," Ichigo announces after several minutes, without even looking back as he does.
"He's the one who got me situated," Renji tells her, leaning in to explain. He walks closely beside her, ever protective, apparently unconcerned about appearances, given the fact that so few humans are around to see him talk to himself. "With the gigai and everything."
"'Hat and clogs." Rukia wrinkles her nose. "Is he some kind of human, then? Someone who's got some kind of contact in Soul Society?" She frowns. "How thoroughly have you looked into this man?"
"Uh…" Renji looks away guiltily, in a way that tells her he's hiding more out of shame. "He's—he's a guy. Seems to know what he's doing, though, uh, I don't exactly know—you know, where all of his stuff is sourced from."
Rukia hits him with another long, tired glare. It seems that she's been giving him a lot of those as of late, though it doesn't seem that he's taken them much to heart. "So how do you know about this guy?"
"Oh, well." Renji rubs the back of his neck. "You know, he was just kinda around, and seemed to have everything I needed. He's an okay enough guy, prices aren't bad."
Rukia clenches her fist again against the rising tide of her frustration, but is barely able to hold back a sharp, "So you really just decided to—"
"We're here," Ichigo interrupts.
They stop in front of an old, wooden storefront. It's dark on the inside, and looks deserted, though Rukia assumes this is misleading, possibly even intentionally so.
Ichigo sets his hands on his hips. "It's a little later in the day, but—"
Before Ichigo can even finish, Rukia is banging her fist against the front door. "Hey! Mr. Hat and Clogs! I'd like to have a word with you!"
"Hey, not so—!" Ichigo cringes and turns to Renji. "Dammit, is she always going to be like this?"
Renji sighs. "All the time."
Rukia ignores his comment and continues banging at the door, unconcerned about catching the attention of human beings who can't even see her.
"I think I hear something inside," she mutters, though in truth, it's hard to tell over their voices. Something nudges her leg, and Rukia startles as a large, black cat weaves its way between her legs, before gently bumping its head against the door, as if seeking attention.
She frowns, and is about to reach down for the cat when she hears a louder, rustling noise deep in the house. The light clicks on behind the screen, and a set of muffled footsteps approach before the screen slides open, revealing a middle-aged man in a light green robe.
Hat and Clogs, Rukia assumes.
The man stretches his arms above his head and yawns, before scratching the back of his head. "Back again so soon, Ichigo?" the man asks. He gives Rukia a heavy, tired look before turning to Renji. "Looks like you've got more company."
"Rukia needs a gigai," Renji tells him. "She's, uh—she's gonna be sticking around for a little bit, so it'll be safer if we can—you know. Find a place for her."
"And I have questions, too!" Rukia interjects. "About—well, for starters, who exactly are you!" she demands, her hands planted firmly on her hips.
"She's like that with everyone, apparently, so don't take it too personally," Ichigo drawls.
"Ah, in that case." Hat and Clogs smiles, looking a little queasy, before he snaps his fan shut. "I'm sure I have a gigai I can spare."
.
.
.
Rukia spins once in the mirror, watching her skirt flare as she does. Overall, it's a fairly well put together gigai, something that could easily be mistaken as something produced by Squad Twelve.
While nothing Squad Twelve does is ever simple, or obvious, she thinks it's safe enough for her to assume that Hat and Clogs - whoever he may be - is not someone directly affiliated with them. He's got supplies that seem to have come from Soul Society, though. She supposes that it isn't unheard of that outsiders - even ones whose connections to Soul Society are tenuous at best - would have some connections that aren't actively shared with the rest of the Gotei 13.
Still, something about it seems odd.
With a crinkle of her nose, Rukia smooths down her skirt and exits the small room she'd been given to change and rejoins Renji and the rest of their group in the sitting room of the shop.
Renji makes to stand up when he sees her, but Rukia waves him off with a sharp flick of her wrist.
"I feel fine," she says without preamble, running one hand up and down her forearm, then flexing her hand to show. "Everything seems to be in order with this gigai."
"Well." Hat and Clogs huffs, offended. "I should hope that it is."
"But like I said, though," Renji starts, "there have been some issues with this one. Things that have never happened before."
"Yes, I see that." Hat and Clogs touches his fan to his chin lightly, before he shakes his head. "Certainly I'll think on it. As of right now, though, I think it's fair enough to say that what you've done is rare enough that very little research into it has been done." His eyes drift, apparently deep in thought. "Perhaps I may need to do more investigation into that initial hollow you encountered. The initial attack on you was rather opportune," he muses.
"That's one word for it," Renji mumbles.
"If any research has been done, it would be Squad Twelve that would know best," Rukia counters, though his curiosity is enough to make her reconsider whether he may have some kind of working relationship with the secretive squad.
She glances at Renji, unsure of how best to toe around the fact that if Renji goes back to Soul Society any time soon, he'll be facing a criminal tribunal. "Though we're, uh—of course we're going to investigate in the area before we head back to Soul Society…"
"I suppose so," Hat and Clogs says lightly, before he shakes out his fan again and starts to lightly fan himself. "So, in terms of payment for the gigai…"
Renji gives her a sheepish look, and Rukia grumbles as she holds her cellphone out to transfer credits for the gigai. "You owe me for this," she grumbles. "No lieutenant should be relying on a seated officer to pay their expenses!"
Renji lets out a noise like a wounded animal as he drops into a deep bow. "I'm sorry, Rukia!"
She smacks the back of his head. "You should be!"
Ichigo lets out a long, annoyed sigh. "We about done here?" he asks, as he nods towards the door. "I don't trust Kon to hang on for much longer."
Rukia can only guess who Kon is, but the point seems clear. As strange as Ichigo's circumstances are, he's still a human, and she can't imagine that it's safe, or usual, for him to be out and about for too long outside of his body.
"Yeah. Let's go."
"Oh? So soon?" Hat and Clogs doesn't sound the least bothered by that. "Well, it was so lovely meeting you, Rukia."
He doesn't sound sincere, but his intonation is so difficult to parse that Rukia doesn't take it at full face value. "Likewise," she says, as she nods once and turns to follow Ichigo out of the shop.
Ichigo sniffs and turns ahead, leading them out of the shop and back onto the night streets. It's an expression that she'd never seen on Kaien, in all of the time they'd spent together.
Their eyes meet, and Rukia quickly looks away, her cheeks growing warm under Ichigo's imagined scrutiny.
What the hell is going on? she wonders.
What the hell is wrong with me?
.
.
.
"So, we're gonna need some kind of story," Ichigo starts, as they head towards his house. "A reason for Rukia to stay with us."
"A cousin," Renji offers. "My cousin from out of town, who can't stay at home either."
Rukia scrunches her nose. "What's the current excuse?"
Ichigo makes a noise that sounds suspiciously like a snicker.
"What?" She turns to Renji. "What is it?"
Renji looks away, his cheeks blooming a bright red. "It's a truck," he murmurs, almost so low she can barely hear. "Just—a stupid story about a human vehicle—don't worry about it."
"More believable than you'd think," Ichigo chimes in.
"A vehicle?" she asks. Renji doesn't bite. He shoves his hands into his pockets like a human delinquent and turns away, scowling into the shadows on the side of the road.
Rukia turns to Ichigo. "A truck?" She furrows her brow and nudges Renji with her elbow. "What does a vehicle have to do with you not staying at home?"
"Nothing," Renji says, a little strained. "Just some stupid story Ichigo came up with. Don't worry about it." He nods at Ichigo. "You wanna head upstairs and come meet us? I can introduce her to your dad. Hopefully he'll be okay with her staying."
"Tch." Ichigo shakes his head. "As if he'd turn away someone."
"I don't expect it to be long," Rukia starts. "Captain Ukitake gave me his permission, but at some point I'll need to send some sort of report back." She pauses, allowing Renji to process. She's also reevaluating her strategy—before she found Renji, she would have spent as much time as was required to track him down.
Now, though, she feels as though a heavy clock has started ticking, each movement of the minute hand bringing them closer to the point where they'll inevitably be discovered by other shinigami.
Rukia continues, "Captain Ukitake is more flexible than other Captains, but I don't want to wait for him to try to make contact first, especially given the type of report we'll be giving. We should do an initial investigation, but our time isn't unlimited."
"Yeah." For all of his usual enthusiasm, Renji is unusually subdued. He sulks like a wet dog, head hung low as Rukia continues to plan out loud.
"For now, I want to monitor your reitasu and figure out why it isn't replenishing." She ponders it for a second, tapping one finger to her bicep. "It could be a few different things—either that your body, for whatever reason, is producing it much slower, or that it's burning it so fast that it feels like it isn't being restored."
"Right." Again, Renji's reply is frustratingly unhelpful, and it tells her very little. "We're almost at Ichigo's, though, so maybe let's—let's just try to get past his dad first."
Rukia frowns but nods. "Is he formidable, then? Should I anticipate that he'll be difficult to reason with?"
"Uh…" Renji shares an inscrutable look with Ichigo. "Something like that."
They round another corner, where Ichigo leads them towards a yellow building with a sign posted out front—Kurosaki Clinic.
"I'll see you in a minute," Ichigo says gruffly, before he leaps to the second-story window and slips in. The light clicks on, and there's another flash of bright orange hair - a brother? An illusion of sorts? - before Ichigo disappears from sight.
Rukia scrunches her nose. "He's—" she starts, but then thinks better of it. There's a lot that's happened in the last few hours, and plenty of time to dig into the particulars of it later. "You trust him?" she asks instead. It seems the better approach, and the simplest question to pose.
Solemnly, Renji nods. "Yeah, Rukia, I do."
"Enough to put your life in danger for his sake?"
"Yeah."
It's hardly satisfying, but it'll have to be good enough for her. "Fine, then."
Renji takes in a deep breath and walks towards the front door. "Before we go in there, though, there's something I want to warn you about. Ichigo's dad can be a little…"
Before Renji can finish, the door to Ichigo's house flies open and a scruffy, middle-aged man in a floral-patterned shirt and white coat steps out. "Renji! You're back!"
Rukia blinks.
The man in the doorway lets out a big, chesty laugh and sets his hands on his hips. "And you've brought company! An illicit lover, perhaps?" he asks, leaning in and lowering his voice, as if sharing a secret with them.
"This is… my cousin, Rukia," Renji mumbles. A second later, almost as an afterthought, he holds both arms out in an unenthusiastic presentation. "Rukia!" he says again.
"A cousin!" Ichigo's dad's eyes go wide. He slings one of his arms around her shoulders and begins shepherding her towards the doorway. "How wonderful a pleasure it is to meet !"
"What are you yapping on about?" Ichigo lets out a loud yawn.
Rukia peeks into the house and watches him descend the stairs, putting on a very convincing show of just having woken up.
"Ichigo! We have another guest!" Ichigo's dad throws his arms out flamboyantly around his son's shoulders, pulling him in close. "Now, I need you to be on your best—"
"Who is this?" Ichigo says, sounding bored, as if they haven't been running around Karakura Town together all night. He leans against the wall with his arms crossed, looking wholly unimpressed by her.
Rukia glares back at him.
Renji forces out a laugh. "Ichigo! You know my cousin, Rukia. I, uh—well, she needs a place to stay for a little while, so I figured that, uh, since you guys have been so accommodating to me…"
Ichigo scowls and shoves his hands into his pajama pockets as he walks over to the doorway. His hair is mussed, a pointed crown of orange on top of his head. "Rukia, huh? Oh, yeah. Now that I think about it, you probably mentioned her a time or two." Ichigo scratches his chin as if in deep thought. "Isn't she the one who was kicked out of her old high school for pulling a knife on someone?" He shakes his head. "Or was she the one who burned down that convenience store?"
Rukia feels a tendon pop from how hard she's clenching her fist.
"So she's a girl with spirit!" Ichigo's dad claps his son so hard on his back that Ichigo coughs and almost topples over. "We're glad to have you, Rukia. Feel free to make yourself at home."
When Ichigo turns away to sulk, his dad gives her a reassuring smile. "I'm sure whoever it was deserved it."
"Ah… thank you for the kind words." Rukia fusses with the skirt of her dress, unsure of what else to say. Suddenly, she's aware of her total lack of belongings, save for the few things she'd packed with her, and wonders whether that's suspicious at all. "I—it was a little sudden, you see, and I didn't really have time to pack all that much—"
"You don't need to explain yourself to me, Rukia." He says it with such confidence that, for a moment, Rukia almost believes that he truly does understand. Then, he turns towards the stairs and barks out, louder than his lungs should be able to manage, "Karin! Yuzu! We need a futon set up stat!"
.
.
.
Ichigo's sisters gather up a stack of blankets for her and start putting together a place for her to sleep.
The elder one, Karin, gives her a nightgown to wear, one of hers that she says is just slightly too large for her. It fits a little loosely even on her, though it's adequate, and it isn't like she has any better alternatives.
"But at least it's a girl this time!" the younger sister, Yuzu, adds as she flops onto their bed, resting her head in her hands. "It's almost like having an older sister, instead of Ichigo!"
Karin's lips press into a thin line, even as she nods along. Rukia gets the sense that she's grown up fast, even though she seems so much younger than Ichigo is. Aside from Ichigo's dad, she hasn't seen or heard anyone else in the house, leaving her uncertain whether his mother is around or not.
If she isn't, though, it would make sense that Karin would have stepped in to fill that role, even as a young girl.
Strangely, despite having no family at all that she can recall, Rukia feels like she can sympathize with that.
On a whim, though, she decides to check back in with Ichigo and Renji, to see whether she can't get them to commit to something the next day—either a search around the city, or pay another visit to whoever Hat and Clogs is, to see if they can gather more information about the hollow that Renji fought.
"I—" As nice as the girls' company is, in an odd way, Rukia feels compelled to continue her investigation into Renji's strange circumstances. "I was going to see if Renji talked to my parents about our, uh, house situation."
Karin looks at her, her eyes dark and heavy. Even though age works differently for shinigami, she knows Karin is young, and that her eyes don't match the eyes of a girl her age.
"So, uh, I'll see you guys later," she says, lamely, as she waves once and slips out the door.
Ichigo's room is down the hall, though when she knocks and pokes her head in, only Renji is there.
Rukia frowns. "Where's your new friend at, huh?"
"He's been doing a good job, Rukia." Renji grumbles, sounding tired. As much as Renji doesn't care to argue with her usually, he seems unusually stubborn on this point. "He's taken care of everything that's come up, including—" He waves his hand, almost dismissively. "Including a lot of really crazy stuff."
Rukia raises an eyebrow. "You sound impressed, Renji."
"I didn't say that!" Still, his cheeks are flushed, and he's clearly embarrassed. "I just said he's doing fine, all things considered."
Rukia lets out a hot breath, but drops the matter there. She doesn't want to be mad, especially not over Ichigo. "Well, I guess it could've been worse."
"How are things back at home?" Renji asks. "With—you know. The Captain, the Squad. All of that."
Rukia shrugs. "They're fine. Same as always." She looks down, fusses with the sleeve on her borrowed nightgown. "They were worried about you. Everyone was."
"Sheesh." He wipes at his forehead like he's sweating. "Rukia, I—I feel terrible about this."
"You should," Rukia mumbles. But then she shakes her head. "Right now, it doesn't seem like there's anything we can do about it except figure out how to get your powers back." She's turned it over several times in her mind, but she hasn't come up with an answer she likes any better. "It seems like you were fully trapped and did what you could."
"I did." Renji groans and hangs his head in his hands. "I feel like—I feel like this is almost a punishment. I screwed up, got caught off guard by a hollow, and now I'm stuck unable to do a damn thing about it."
"Well, don't be so dramatic about it." Rukia huffs. "I told the Captain I'd figure it out, so either way, you've got some additional time."
"Yeah."
Down the hallway, the floor creaks, heralding someone's approach. Rukia waits for a moment, until the door opens and Ichigo steps in, wearing a loose t-shirt and comfortable looking sweatpants.
His orange hair is dark and wet, fresh from a shower.
"Hey." Their eyes meet, and again, Rukia finds herself flushing. His gaze is so intense, like he's never had a second of relief in his lifetime. "You two settling in okay?"
"Yeah." Rukia shifts her weight. "We're, uh, just talking some things through."
"Yeah? Come up with any good ideas?"
Renji growls. "It's a work in progress, okay?"
Almost imperceptibly, the corner of Ichigo's mouth ticks up, into something like a grin. "Well, guess the two of you have some ways to go."
With that, he saunters across the room and plops down on his bed, resting back against the headboard and propping his feet up on his bed.
Rukia follows his lead and slides down to the floor, resting her back against the wall. It's a comfortable spot, and she gets the sense that they'll be talking for a while.
Renji runs a hand through his hair, tugging at the roots. "So, given that we have Rukia here now—"
There's a whistle, almost like the sound of a flute, followed immediately by a heavy thunk.
Rukia blinks. A wet, warm trickle slides down her cheek, just barely touching her jaw.
"Wha…" She turns slowly, just as the wind whistles next to her again. There's a hole in the wall an inch from her cheek, a perfect slit, almost diamond shaped. "What…"
"Renji Abarai!" A voice calls out, audible even through the wall of Ichigo's bedroom. "I'll give you the choice of coming out on your own or being taken out in pieces."
When Rukia turns to the window, though, she can see the clear slice where the blade cut into Ichigo's bedroom.
It's when she looks at the window, and is able to see the gleam of a zanpakuto, next to the flowing white robes of a Captain, that she realizes just how much danger they're in. Her imaginary clock rings loud in her head, their time run out.
Gin Ichimaru, Captain of Squad Three, grins back at them, his eyes shut in fox-like mirth. "You wanna make this easy, Abarai? Just know I'm hoping you don't."
All the blood in Rukia's veins runs cold. "Renji," Rukia breathes. She's frozen stiff, unable to even move her head away from Captain Ichimaru to look at Renji as she says, "Run."
AN: thank you so much to everyone who has been following and reviewing! as you can tell, the fic is really gonna start flying off the rails here, so it's always a joy when i get to see all of your thoughts and reactions. next chapter will be fairly action heavy - right now, my hope is to have it out in March. thank you again everyone!