Bleach Fan Fiction ❯ Dandelion Fluff ❯ After Midnight {RukiaXIchigo} ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
"How was your fight?" Rukia asked, watching her friend climb carefully through the window. She'd decided to wait up for him, just to make sure. That particular Hollow wasn't dangerous, but she'd had a bad feeling.
"Fine." Ichigo wriggled out of the strap that held Zangetsu across his back and sighed as he sunk back into his human form. Or at least, he tried to. "What's going on?" the shinigami asked, glancing over at Rukia.
"Hmm." Rukia thought for a minute. Unable to return to human form...k'so! She'd known that for the test. Unable to...hmm. "Tell me about your fight. Blow by blow, maybe it has some clues."
"Yeah..." Ichigo trailed off. "But there wasn't any fight. I just ran up and cut it in half, that was it. Hey...Rukia?"
"What?"
"Is it unusual for a Hollow to have spiritual pressure?"
Rukia frowned. "Ighigo, Hollows CAN'T have spiritual pressure. It's physically impossible for them."
"No, it's not!"
"Yes, it is!"
"Well this one did!" Ichigo seemed...enraged, all of a sudden. "It had this sphere around it...of spiritual pressure, you know? But it didn't stop me."
"A...a sphere?" Rukia's brow furrowed. Darn it, she'd known that one for the test too. Suddenly however, it clicked. "Ichigo?"
He blinked. "What?" the teen really didn't like the look on his comrade's face. She was worried. Hmm.
"When you were fighting...did you feel any pain?"
"Come to think of it, I had a stomachache the whole time."
Ichigo looked at her questioningly. "I'm probably hungry. Just let me..." He was cut off as Rukia stepped in front of him. "What? It's after midnight; I haven't eaten since dinner. That explains it, right?"
"Wrong."
"Huh?"
Rukia started explaining. She explained about Hollows that were able to progect solid (or semisolid) barriers of spiritual energy. It didn't happen very often. It was usually just a fluke...but it was dangerous.
"Dangerous how?"
"Let me see your stomach. It's probably nothing but..." She glanced down, as if she were trying to think of the right words. Ichigo tugged the top part of his shihakusho off as well as the yukata underneath. For some reason it made him embarassed to take any clothes off in front of Rukia. Oh well, he knew she'd pester him about it until he did as she said.
"Here. See? Nothing." Ichigo sat down on the edge of his bed, facing Rukia and trying to look piqued instead of embarassed. "Nothing's wrong."
Apparently she didn't trust him. "Lie down. I need to check something...it won't take long." He lay back, swinging his legs up onto the bed.
"I'm just going to press." she told him. She pressed his arm with barely enough force for him to feel. "Just like that."
"Ok..." Ichigo was beginning to worry. "Why?"
"Because..." his companion put her hand on his chest and applied just a little pressure. "That sphere could have damaged your organs." she pressed again, this time right above his stomach.
"OW!" Ichigo shot up, which only made it worse. He looked at her with a betrayed glare. "Dammit, Rukia! Why did you do that?!"
"Do what?" Her worries were growing.
"Why did you shove your hand into my stomach like that? It hurt!"
"But I didn't do that. I pressed."
"You...?" He seemed to not comprehend the situation. "So then why did it hurt so much?"
"It hurt because your organs are damaged." Rukia was tempted to throw some choice curse words at her student/companion but clamped her mouth shut. "I'll be right back. Don't move." The black-haired shinigami disappeared out the widow without another word. Ichigo sighed, wondering what she was doing. He didn't have to wait long.
"Goodness, his aura is retracting already," he recognized Kisuke's voice. "Okay, let's get to work." Ichigo watched the man carefully removed some things from a large bag he'd been carrying with him. "Maybe we should put him to sleep first." Oh no. Not here, not now. Not when...no.
"No." Ichigo let his head fall back onto the matress and glared at the annoyingly random popcorn ceiling. "No, I'll be fine."
"You won't." He glanced up at Rukia, wondering just what she thought gave her the right to say that. Her eyes were wide and, though he'd never really tried to read somebody like that, from her hakudo the teen could easily tell that she was scared. It was kind of hard to picture her scared. "It's really painfull." she warned. "You remember when Yoruichi shoved that medicine into you with her bare hand, at Senzaikyu? It's worse than that."
Ichigo thought on that for a minute. On the one hand, that had been agonizing and imagining something worse was frazzling his brain. On the other hand, they'd just returned from Seireitei after a huge battle over Rukia's execution. The last thing he wanted was for her to think he was a sissy. (forgive the author as she has not finished the first story arc and does not know how it ends.) While he was so lost in thought Ichigo forgot all about Kisuke, who snuck up behind him and recited a Kido strong enough to knock him senseless. So much for that.

By the time Ichigo woke up it was daylight. He glanced over at the closet door, but it was open and the closet was empty. He couldn't fathom why until he glanced the other way and saw the person who was supposed to be sleeping in the closet sleeping in a chair. Her hair was all in her face and besides that, what was he doing looking at her hair when Isshin could come in any minute?!
"Rukia!" Ichigo whispered. His voice sounded terrible. "Hey, are you awake?" She blinked and looked up at him.
"Are you alright?" she asked.
"Yeah. Just fine."






He realized they were kissing eachother before he had time to say "Thanks".