Bleach Fan Fiction ❯ Morning Rain ❯ It Began on a Sunday ( Chapter 1 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: IchigoBLEACHcake 
The story is just unraveling as a visit from Renji alerts Ichigo and Rukia to the situation.
Anime/Manga: Bleach Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Horror / Drama / Comedy / Action / Angst | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 06.21.2007 | Pages: 5 | Words: 4.3K | Visits: 383 | Status: Completed
The story is just unraveling as a visit from Renji alerts Ichigo and Rukia to the situation.
Anime/Manga: Bleach Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Horror / Drama / Comedy / Action / Angst | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 06.21.2007 | Pages: 5 | Words: 4.3K | Visits: 383 | Status: Completed
Rain splashed softly and continuously against the only window connecting the small room to the outside world.
It was early enough in the morning so that light hadn’t even started to creep across the horizon yet.
Rukia stared out through a slight crack she had made with the closet door, just small enough to see a tiny portion of the room. Her back was propped against the smooth wooden wall of that dark enclosure that she had become so familiar with. She had been sitting like this for hours.
Her eyes had only shifted places a few times during that long stretch. It was mostly one thing in particular that she was watching…or, one person, rather.
It had become a habit lately; Rukia would go to bed especially late, and wake up very early in the morning also, a somewhat new routine, but slightly worrisome, none the less.
She sighed lightly, shifting her weight only in the slightest, more out of habit than to get comfortable. She feared she would become frozen like that if she didn’t move at least a little every several minutes.
Rukia blinked a few times, and resumed watching diligently and carefully.
Naturally, Ichigo was still out like a light, slightly sprawled on his long, twin bed, his sheets thoroughly tangled and crumpled around his legs while his arms were completely bare.
The rhythmic rise and fall of his chest remained at it’s slow, even pace, and his deep breathing was the only other sound that could be heard other than the steady hum of rain outside the walls.
His mouth hung open slightly, and for what was probably the only time of the day he ever allowed it to be, Ichigo’s face was not contorted in a frown, but rather just relaxed and devoid of expression.
Rukia could always tell what kind of dream he was having every night, whether it be one of those strange concoctions his imagination would throw together, or, on a bad night, one of his nightmares.
It was those nights that Rukia almost felt...afraid.
It would usually happen about an hour or so after he was asleep. First, his peaceful expression would darken and he would tighten his jaw.
The next step was his whole body would stiffen, and his muscles would clench, as if he were in pain. Sometimes, he would even visibly tremble from the stress.
But the last and most frightening and heartbreaking thing Ichigo would do is mutter some traces of his dream aloud.
He would almost always start uttering words of apology with a soft, but strained voice. And for whatever disaster that was being created in his mind, whatever apocalyptic scenario, he was always taking the blame for it. He was always shouldering the whole burden
...like he would do in reality.
One particular night, just two weeks before, the nightmare had such a grip on him, that Rukia was even moved from her spot in the closet.
~~~~~~
She had stepped down as quietly as she could and carefully made her way to the edge of his bed, where she set down so gently you would have thought she was sitting on glass as thin as paper.
Ichigo was panting and almost to the point of rambling out apologies to no end. He was in a cold sweat, and every fiber in his body was clenched to the point where he was shaking all over.
Rukia brought her hand up and placed it gingerly on his forehead. So entangled in his dream, Ichigo didn’t so much as flinch when her skin met his. He felt feverish under her palm, and his cheeks were flushed.
She almost wanted to cry, seeing him in so much pain, even when he was sleeping.
In one soft, fluid motion, Rukia swept his bright orange hair from his face, and wiped the sweat from his brow.
At that moment, his desperate words started to slow and he stopped turning from side to side.
That helped...
Without much thought, Rukia automatically reached for his hand, which was balled into a fist at his side. She lifted it up, and started to pull back gently, but firmly on his fingers, to loosen up his death grip.
He had so much pressure on the inside on his hand, that there were small red marks where his fingernails had just started to break the skin on the top of his palm.
She placed his hand on her lap and laced her slender fingers with his. With her other free hand, she lifted it up and rested that on the top of his muscular chest. She could feel his heart pounding rapidly against his ribs. It felt like a butterfly was caged in his chest and couldn’t find its way out.
But suddenly, as if someone had just injected him with sedatives, everything began to slow down.
His eyes, which had been darting back and forth beneath their lids, had now ceased their movement. His breathing became more steady, as well as his heart rate.
Finally, all of his muscles started to slack.
Rukia felt the fingers wrapped around her hand unclench. Ichigo actually seemed to sink
back into the bed, as some wave of relaxation splashed over him.
His face was back to that peaceful expression he usually had during his sleep.
Soft silence followed behind.
It seemed that Ichigo was finally released from his inner horror.
Rukia let out a breath of relief without realizing it. She was glad for being able to comfort him, even if it was only while he slept.
It’s not like he would let anyone do that while he was conscious anyway.
Stubborn idiot...
A slight smile crept across Rukia’s lips.
She remained sitting next to him, her hand laced with his on her lap for several more minutes as she just watched him, up close for once.
He just seemed so much older now. Completely different from the skinny, bright haired boy she had found on that night. Like just within these few short months that she had known him, he had completely grown up.
His body was defiantly starting to show signs of his transformation, but not all of it necessarily for the better.
He had gotten a deal more muscular, mostly from him having to run around all the time.
But what stood out even more to Rukia, were the scars on his body. He seemed to be collecting more and more every day, and that was only on his human body, which he usually always jumped to fight.
She couldn’t imagine what his spirit form would look like if the scars remained like they did on this body. It was all part of being a Soul Reaper, that’s what she told herself...but sometimes, Rukia couldn’t help but wonder if Ichigo would be better off not even knowing about Soul Reapers, or the Soul Society. It had all been sort of forced on him that night; the night she met him.
He would probably just be leading a normal teenage life right now. He wouldn’t be getting torn up all the time.
Would he really be happier that way?
Rukia’s trance like gaze was broken when Ichigo suddenly started to stretch, mumble something completely nonsensical, and then rolled over, pulling his hand away from hers.
His sudden movements had almost startled her. He had just barely missed her with his right foot when he rolled over.
Rukia quickly collected herself, and started back to the closet. She didn’t want him to wake up with her sitting there. Rukia thought of all the likely responses she would get from him if he did find her there.
Certainly it would be something like the ever popular ‘What the hell are you doing?’
She lifted herself back up into the dark space and onto white mattresses.
She glanced back to his bed one more time before she slid the door shut completely, and lay back into her usual position.
Rukia sighed heavily once more.
She hadn’t gotten so close to him again since that night. Why should she anyway? She didn’t have a reason to. That’s what logic was telling her. But every time she thought about getting that close to him again, she would suddenly feel a tightness in her chest, like a nervousness...anxiety...
Why?
Was she worried about something?
Ichigo was fine, he wasn’t in danger or anything...
So why?
Why?
That one word was beginning to annoy her. Every time it flashed across her mind now, she couldn’t grasp the answers. It was frustrating.
She shook her head lightly, trying to shake that irritating question from her brain.
Ichigo rolled over in his bed again, becoming further tangled with his sheets if it were ever possible.
Rukia smiled at his goofy posture, his recklessly sprawled body.
It was almost hard to believe that this young man had saved her from execution. He fought many people in the Soul Society. He had stood up to two captains, two of the strongest. And he had done for her....
Suddenly that question came bubbling right back up.
Why?
How could she have been worth it? What was so important about her that he almost destroyed his life for again and again? He had said he was just returning a favor.
Rukia laid her hand on the side of the wooden wall.
Hell of a way to return a favor...
He even played it off like he didn’t even care about her at all, like he was just doing a job that needed to get done.
What a dumbass...
He was truly amazing.
“Geez, that late already?”
The clock read 11:13 a.m. in crisp black digits. Normally this would be cause for panic and scrambling around for clean clothes, but it was a Sunday morning, thankfully. It was also the beginning of a whole week of vacation. That did mean of course still fighting Hollows and running around without, hopefully, getting his head chopped off.
Ichigo stretched again and dragged himself off his bed and over to the closet. He tapped softly on the sliding door, hoping Rukia wouldn’t explode on him for not going downstairs to get her breakfast this morning.
Geez, he had to do everything around here...
Ichigo waited for a few seconds, and when he heard no reply, he knocked again, louder this time.
Silence.
“Hey, Rukia. You still sleeping in there?”
Still no answer.
He slid the door open cautiously. Mattresses and sheets, but no Rukia.
She has a habit of disappearing at the weirdest times.
Ichigo sighed and started to pull off his night shirt. He might as well just go have lunch. She would be back eventually.
“So what’s with the serious look?” Rukia folded her arm across her chest, and casually leaned against the side of the building she was standing next to.
“It’s bad, Rukia” The red head sighed, rubbing the back of his head.
“What’s bad?”
Renji’s face looked grim.
“The Soul Society is in complete uproar again. Apparently there’s a fugitive on the run...”
Rukia straightened up, knitting her brow with concern.
“A fugitive?”
“Yeah, apparently this guy attacked a couple shinigami, including Captain Konmamaru.”
Her dark blue eyes went wide.
“He went against a captain?! They’re weren’t any casualties, were there?”
Renji shook his head, causing his spiky, red ponytail to sway with it.
“No, but the captain is sustaining some minor injuries. According to the report, the man attacked quickly, and then disappeared. No one really has a solid read on what the bastard looks like. All we know is that after attacking, some witnesses reported minutes later that they saw an odd looking shinigami flee to the real world trough the senkai mon.”
Rukia bit her bottom lip, mulling the situation over in her head.
Renji shifted his weight over to his right leg and ran his palm over his headband.
“So that’s why I was ordered to come here and look for the guy, and inform you and Ichigo of the situation.”
“Right.” Rukia nodded, still keeping her eyes fixed toward the ground.
“Where is that good-for-nothing representative anyway?”
She looked up at him, arching an eyebrow.
“He’s still in bed.”
Renji looked highly irritated.
“Still? Man, he’s lazy as always.” He started to walk out of the alley way.
“Well, it’s time for a wake up call; he needs to know about the situation too.”
Rukia followed Renji out of the alley and they headed back toward the Kurosaki clinic.
Ichigo stared out with window with a perplexed look on his face.
“What the hell was that?!”
Just seconds before, Ichigo could’ve sworn he heard a high pitched screech-like sound not too far from his window. He climbed onto his bed and stuck his head out the window to see what could’ve caused the disturbance.
“Was it a hollow?” Ichigo mumbled quietly to himself. He put his hands on the window pane to give him more leverage to see out the window better. Still, there was nothing around...
“OW!”
Ichigo’s left arm shot right back inside his room, along with the rest of his body as a sudden needle sharp pain appeared on his forearm. Ichigo looked down to inspect what had just happened.
There was a small red dot on his arm, with a tiny bead of blood starting to emerge from his skin.
Was it a bee sting? It looked exactly like one.
“Damn it...” Ichigo growled, rubbing the small wound with his other hand. He looked back toward the window once more, thinking about the sound he heard. He exhaled sharply, annoyed by the small distraction. He continued to stare out the window for a few moments, but still, no source to the sound seemed to present itself.
It probably that damn bee buzzing in my ear... Ichigo thought a deep frown spreading across his face.
“Yo!”
Suddenly Renji’s body filled Ichigo’s window. He jumped back with surprise as his concentration was completely shattered and his privacy utterly ignored again.
“What the- Renji?!” Ichigo, glared at the red head shinigami squatting in his window.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
Renji jumped down onto Ichigo’s messy bed.
“You know...just a plain ‘hello’ would’ve worked too.”
Ichigo tapped his foot impatiently, clearly displeased with Renji just barging into his room and sitting down on his bed. He stood for a few moments, waiting for an answer, all the while still glowering at Renji.
Of course, Renji was taking his sweet time getting completely comfortable, before he could divulge any bit of information to the fuming, orange-haired teen trying to burn a hole in through his head with his stare.
“It’s a new mission for you...” Renji said rather plainly.
Ichigo unfolded his arms, stuffing his hands into his pockets and tilting his head up to the ceiling, blowing air noisily out of his nose.
“No surprise,” he groaned to the ceiling lamp.
The door knob turned, and with a soft click, the bedroom door swung open, allowing Rukia into the room.
Ichigo lowered his head, and snapped it over to the direction of the second intrusion.
“Rukia! What the hell are you thinking coming through the door like that? What if my family saw you?!” She looked up at his red face and simply ignored his for the moment, sitting down on the bed first before responding.
“Relax, I’m not completely stupid you know. No one saw me come in. Yuzu went grocery shopping this morning, your Dad is at a meeting, and Karin must still be playing soccer, so no one’s even home.”
She nonchalantly pushed a lock of raven hair over her shoulder.
“Maybe you would have known all this if you would get up in the morning.”
“Tch...” Ichigo scowled and tilted his head away. She always had to be friggin’ right.
Renji smirked at the completely and clearly pissed Ichigo standing in front of them, angrily fidgeting with the hem of his pant pocket.
Renji cleared his throat and prepared to give the explanation once again.
“As I said, I’m here to brief you on your mission, so unplug your ears for a sec and listen up.”
Despite his anger, Ichigo straightened up. He pushed it aside and listened carefully as Renji began.
“Well, we’ve got this fugitive on out hands...”
The door creaked open slowly, as Yuzu nudged it with her shoulder, her arms cradling a pile of plastic bags, filled with different foods and small household items.
“Anyone home?” she asked to the house. She walked to the counter and dropped her armful carefully, waiting for a reply.
“Hm, Ichigo must still be asleep...or he went to Keigo’s...” She thought aloud to herself, as she placed a carton of milk into the refrigerator.
She went about putting all the other groceries away, and then dusted her hands off on her pink dress when she was done.
“Still no Ichigo, huh? I’ll have to go wake him up, it’s nearly one.” Yuzu started up the stairs, fixing the red, plastic clip in her short, blonde hair as she ascended.
Ichigo sighed heavily, rubbing his forehead with two fingers.
“Damn...why can’t the Soul Society keep anyone in control anymore?”
Renji was horizontal on the bed, his head resting on his propped up hand. He rolled his eyes, and clicked his tongue in annoyance.
“Well, we can’t all be quiet little children like you, Ichigo.” Renji coated his words thick with sarcasm.
Rukia observed their laid-back mannerisms and chat with distaste.
“Let’s try and take this a little more seriously.” She shot nefarious glances at both of them.
Renji seemed to be unaffected by the look, but sat up anyway, to at least show some shred of respect to the situation.
Ichigo rubbed the back of his neck and cast his gaze toward the ceiling again.
“So I’m guessing I’ve got no choice but to give full cooperation in this mission, right?” He droned.
“Well, it’s your job, dumbass.” Renji remarked curtly.
Rukia didn’t exactly like how he presented the fact, but she still nodded in silent agreement anyway.
“We’ll have to start looking soon.” Suddenly her eyes fell upon the small welt on Ichigo’s arm. The subject in her mind completely changed for the moment.
“What did you do to you arm?”
Ichigo blinked at her for a moment, surprised by the out-of-the-blue question. He glanced down at the small wound. It had swollen quiet a bit, and had a tint of purple, like a bruise.
“Oh, I think it was a bee sting... I had my window open, so it probably flew in and I whacked it on accident, or something.”
“Because we know how gentle you are...” Renji added, once again. Ichigo threw a dark stare at him.
“Geez, you’re not allergic to them are you?” Rukia asked, still focused on the ‘sting’.
Ichigo raised his eyebrow and stated the answer realistically.
“If I was allergic, don’t you think I would have already had a reaction?”
“I was just asking.” Rukia crossed her legs deliberately, and snapped her attention away from his arm, to emphasize her anger with him.
“Anyway, we need to-”
Suddenly all three stiffened in their places at the same small, feminine call.
“Ichigo! Are you up yet?” Yuzu was just down the hallway.
“Quick! Into the closet!” Ichigo hissed to Renji and Rukia, who had already launched off the bed in that direction.
Yuzu had her hand on the door knob.
“I’m coming in.”
Rukia jerked Renji all the way in and slammed the door shut with the help of Ichigo, who suddenly tried to make himself look busy at his desk just as his sister opened the door. Yuzu looked over at him, and what looked like a pile of pens he had dumped out of a cup and was now very intent on organizing by color.
“What are you doing?”
Ichigo looked over his shoulder and very poorly tried to look surprised to see her standing at the door.
“What does it look like I’m doing?” He wagged a dark blue pen between his fingers.
Yuzu put her hands on her hips and cocked her head slightly.
“It looks like you’ve developed a case of OCD to me.” She looked over towards the closet. “What was the door slamming I heard before I came in?”
Ichigo immediately forgot his pens and shot over between her and the closet.
“Oh, I was, uh, you know, fixing the runners on the door! Yeah! They were getting squeaky because they were bent, but I fixed it and it’s all better now! Ha ha!” He laughed nervously and patted the door with his palm.
Yuzu blinked at him and stood silent for a second, a little weirded out by his strange reaction to the question.
“Oookay.” Yuzu turned and looked toward the door. “Well, I guess I’ll be downstairs making lunch. It’ll be done in a little while, so I’ll call you when it’s ready...”
Inside, Renji and Rukia were listening to the conversation, trying to be as quiet as possible, despite the extremely uncomfortable physical positions they were in. They were somewhat tangled with each other, and squished in the extreme left corner of the closet.
“How the heck do you live in here?!” Renji whispered just before receiving a sharp elbow in the ribs from Rukia.
“OW!”
Yuzu turned back to Ichigo, who had the expression of a forty year old man, standing in front of an entire group of peers with no pants on in a dream, because the guy is terrified of his high school reunion on some stupid television program.
“What was that?”
Ichigo started to sweat.
“Uh, uh, I said ‘AH!’ would you look at the time,” he babbled, looking down at an invisible watch on his wrist, “I really gotta get started on my homework!”
He ran over and started to push her to the door. “Now, it’s been great but I got a lot to do.” He shoved her out into the hall. “Bye!”
“Now just-”
SLAM!
Yuzu jumped as the door was thrown shut in front of her nose.
“Hmph...” she shook her head. There must be something about male hormones that she didn’t get.
It was early enough in the morning so that light hadn’t even started to creep across the horizon yet.
Rukia stared out through a slight crack she had made with the closet door, just small enough to see a tiny portion of the room. Her back was propped against the smooth wooden wall of that dark enclosure that she had become so familiar with. She had been sitting like this for hours.
Her eyes had only shifted places a few times during that long stretch. It was mostly one thing in particular that she was watching…or, one person, rather.
It had become a habit lately; Rukia would go to bed especially late, and wake up very early in the morning also, a somewhat new routine, but slightly worrisome, none the less.
She sighed lightly, shifting her weight only in the slightest, more out of habit than to get comfortable. She feared she would become frozen like that if she didn’t move at least a little every several minutes.
Rukia blinked a few times, and resumed watching diligently and carefully.
Naturally, Ichigo was still out like a light, slightly sprawled on his long, twin bed, his sheets thoroughly tangled and crumpled around his legs while his arms were completely bare.
The rhythmic rise and fall of his chest remained at it’s slow, even pace, and his deep breathing was the only other sound that could be heard other than the steady hum of rain outside the walls.
His mouth hung open slightly, and for what was probably the only time of the day he ever allowed it to be, Ichigo’s face was not contorted in a frown, but rather just relaxed and devoid of expression.
Rukia could always tell what kind of dream he was having every night, whether it be one of those strange concoctions his imagination would throw together, or, on a bad night, one of his nightmares.
It was those nights that Rukia almost felt...afraid.
It would usually happen about an hour or so after he was asleep. First, his peaceful expression would darken and he would tighten his jaw.
The next step was his whole body would stiffen, and his muscles would clench, as if he were in pain. Sometimes, he would even visibly tremble from the stress.
But the last and most frightening and heartbreaking thing Ichigo would do is mutter some traces of his dream aloud.
He would almost always start uttering words of apology with a soft, but strained voice. And for whatever disaster that was being created in his mind, whatever apocalyptic scenario, he was always taking the blame for it. He was always shouldering the whole burden
...like he would do in reality.
One particular night, just two weeks before, the nightmare had such a grip on him, that Rukia was even moved from her spot in the closet.
~~~~~~
She had stepped down as quietly as she could and carefully made her way to the edge of his bed, where she set down so gently you would have thought she was sitting on glass as thin as paper.
Ichigo was panting and almost to the point of rambling out apologies to no end. He was in a cold sweat, and every fiber in his body was clenched to the point where he was shaking all over.
Rukia brought her hand up and placed it gingerly on his forehead. So entangled in his dream, Ichigo didn’t so much as flinch when her skin met his. He felt feverish under her palm, and his cheeks were flushed.
She almost wanted to cry, seeing him in so much pain, even when he was sleeping.
In one soft, fluid motion, Rukia swept his bright orange hair from his face, and wiped the sweat from his brow.
At that moment, his desperate words started to slow and he stopped turning from side to side.
That helped...
Without much thought, Rukia automatically reached for his hand, which was balled into a fist at his side. She lifted it up, and started to pull back gently, but firmly on his fingers, to loosen up his death grip.
He had so much pressure on the inside on his hand, that there were small red marks where his fingernails had just started to break the skin on the top of his palm.
She placed his hand on her lap and laced her slender fingers with his. With her other free hand, she lifted it up and rested that on the top of his muscular chest. She could feel his heart pounding rapidly against his ribs. It felt like a butterfly was caged in his chest and couldn’t find its way out.
But suddenly, as if someone had just injected him with sedatives, everything began to slow down.
His eyes, which had been darting back and forth beneath their lids, had now ceased their movement. His breathing became more steady, as well as his heart rate.
Finally, all of his muscles started to slack.
Rukia felt the fingers wrapped around her hand unclench. Ichigo actually seemed to sink
back into the bed, as some wave of relaxation splashed over him.
His face was back to that peaceful expression he usually had during his sleep.
Soft silence followed behind.
It seemed that Ichigo was finally released from his inner horror.
Rukia let out a breath of relief without realizing it. She was glad for being able to comfort him, even if it was only while he slept.
It’s not like he would let anyone do that while he was conscious anyway.
Stubborn idiot...
A slight smile crept across Rukia’s lips.
She remained sitting next to him, her hand laced with his on her lap for several more minutes as she just watched him, up close for once.
He just seemed so much older now. Completely different from the skinny, bright haired boy she had found on that night. Like just within these few short months that she had known him, he had completely grown up.
His body was defiantly starting to show signs of his transformation, but not all of it necessarily for the better.
He had gotten a deal more muscular, mostly from him having to run around all the time.
But what stood out even more to Rukia, were the scars on his body. He seemed to be collecting more and more every day, and that was only on his human body, which he usually always jumped to fight.
She couldn’t imagine what his spirit form would look like if the scars remained like they did on this body. It was all part of being a Soul Reaper, that’s what she told herself...but sometimes, Rukia couldn’t help but wonder if Ichigo would be better off not even knowing about Soul Reapers, or the Soul Society. It had all been sort of forced on him that night; the night she met him.
He would probably just be leading a normal teenage life right now. He wouldn’t be getting torn up all the time.
Would he really be happier that way?
Rukia’s trance like gaze was broken when Ichigo suddenly started to stretch, mumble something completely nonsensical, and then rolled over, pulling his hand away from hers.
His sudden movements had almost startled her. He had just barely missed her with his right foot when he rolled over.
Rukia quickly collected herself, and started back to the closet. She didn’t want him to wake up with her sitting there. Rukia thought of all the likely responses she would get from him if he did find her there.
Certainly it would be something like the ever popular ‘What the hell are you doing?’
She lifted herself back up into the dark space and onto white mattresses.
She glanced back to his bed one more time before she slid the door shut completely, and lay back into her usual position.
Rukia sighed heavily once more.
She hadn’t gotten so close to him again since that night. Why should she anyway? She didn’t have a reason to. That’s what logic was telling her. But every time she thought about getting that close to him again, she would suddenly feel a tightness in her chest, like a nervousness...anxiety...
Why?
Was she worried about something?
Ichigo was fine, he wasn’t in danger or anything...
So why?
Why?
That one word was beginning to annoy her. Every time it flashed across her mind now, she couldn’t grasp the answers. It was frustrating.
She shook her head lightly, trying to shake that irritating question from her brain.
Ichigo rolled over in his bed again, becoming further tangled with his sheets if it were ever possible.
Rukia smiled at his goofy posture, his recklessly sprawled body.
It was almost hard to believe that this young man had saved her from execution. He fought many people in the Soul Society. He had stood up to two captains, two of the strongest. And he had done for her....
Suddenly that question came bubbling right back up.
Why?
How could she have been worth it? What was so important about her that he almost destroyed his life for again and again? He had said he was just returning a favor.
Rukia laid her hand on the side of the wooden wall.
Hell of a way to return a favor...
He even played it off like he didn’t even care about her at all, like he was just doing a job that needed to get done.
What a dumbass...
He was truly amazing.
Chapter 1
Ichigo yawned, opening his mouth as wide as it would go. He raised his arms high up over his head, stretching his stiff, sleepy muscles. Freeing himself from the blankets bound around his lower half, he swung his legs over the side of his bed. He rubbed his eyes and felt for his alarm clock, bringing it up to his face so he could see the time better.“Geez, that late already?”
The clock read 11:13 a.m. in crisp black digits. Normally this would be cause for panic and scrambling around for clean clothes, but it was a Sunday morning, thankfully. It was also the beginning of a whole week of vacation. That did mean of course still fighting Hollows and running around without, hopefully, getting his head chopped off.
Ichigo stretched again and dragged himself off his bed and over to the closet. He tapped softly on the sliding door, hoping Rukia wouldn’t explode on him for not going downstairs to get her breakfast this morning.
Geez, he had to do everything around here...
Ichigo waited for a few seconds, and when he heard no reply, he knocked again, louder this time.
Silence.
“Hey, Rukia. You still sleeping in there?”
Still no answer.
He slid the door open cautiously. Mattresses and sheets, but no Rukia.
She has a habit of disappearing at the weirdest times.
Ichigo sighed and started to pull off his night shirt. He might as well just go have lunch. She would be back eventually.
“So what’s with the serious look?” Rukia folded her arm across her chest, and casually leaned against the side of the building she was standing next to.
“It’s bad, Rukia” The red head sighed, rubbing the back of his head.
“What’s bad?”
Renji’s face looked grim.
“The Soul Society is in complete uproar again. Apparently there’s a fugitive on the run...”
Rukia straightened up, knitting her brow with concern.
“A fugitive?”
“Yeah, apparently this guy attacked a couple shinigami, including Captain Konmamaru.”
Her dark blue eyes went wide.
“He went against a captain?! They’re weren’t any casualties, were there?”
Renji shook his head, causing his spiky, red ponytail to sway with it.
“No, but the captain is sustaining some minor injuries. According to the report, the man attacked quickly, and then disappeared. No one really has a solid read on what the bastard looks like. All we know is that after attacking, some witnesses reported minutes later that they saw an odd looking shinigami flee to the real world trough the senkai mon.”
Rukia bit her bottom lip, mulling the situation over in her head.
Renji shifted his weight over to his right leg and ran his palm over his headband.
“So that’s why I was ordered to come here and look for the guy, and inform you and Ichigo of the situation.”
“Right.” Rukia nodded, still keeping her eyes fixed toward the ground.
“Where is that good-for-nothing representative anyway?”
She looked up at him, arching an eyebrow.
“He’s still in bed.”
Renji looked highly irritated.
“Still? Man, he’s lazy as always.” He started to walk out of the alley way.
“Well, it’s time for a wake up call; he needs to know about the situation too.”
Rukia followed Renji out of the alley and they headed back toward the Kurosaki clinic.
Ichigo stared out with window with a perplexed look on his face.
“What the hell was that?!”
Just seconds before, Ichigo could’ve sworn he heard a high pitched screech-like sound not too far from his window. He climbed onto his bed and stuck his head out the window to see what could’ve caused the disturbance.
“Was it a hollow?” Ichigo mumbled quietly to himself. He put his hands on the window pane to give him more leverage to see out the window better. Still, there was nothing around...
“OW!”
Ichigo’s left arm shot right back inside his room, along with the rest of his body as a sudden needle sharp pain appeared on his forearm. Ichigo looked down to inspect what had just happened.
There was a small red dot on his arm, with a tiny bead of blood starting to emerge from his skin.
Was it a bee sting? It looked exactly like one.
“Damn it...” Ichigo growled, rubbing the small wound with his other hand. He looked back toward the window once more, thinking about the sound he heard. He exhaled sharply, annoyed by the small distraction. He continued to stare out the window for a few moments, but still, no source to the sound seemed to present itself.
It probably that damn bee buzzing in my ear... Ichigo thought a deep frown spreading across his face.
“Yo!”
Suddenly Renji’s body filled Ichigo’s window. He jumped back with surprise as his concentration was completely shattered and his privacy utterly ignored again.
“What the- Renji?!” Ichigo, glared at the red head shinigami squatting in his window.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
Renji jumped down onto Ichigo’s messy bed.
“You know...just a plain ‘hello’ would’ve worked too.”
Ichigo tapped his foot impatiently, clearly displeased with Renji just barging into his room and sitting down on his bed. He stood for a few moments, waiting for an answer, all the while still glowering at Renji.
Of course, Renji was taking his sweet time getting completely comfortable, before he could divulge any bit of information to the fuming, orange-haired teen trying to burn a hole in through his head with his stare.
“It’s a new mission for you...” Renji said rather plainly.
Ichigo unfolded his arms, stuffing his hands into his pockets and tilting his head up to the ceiling, blowing air noisily out of his nose.
“No surprise,” he groaned to the ceiling lamp.
The door knob turned, and with a soft click, the bedroom door swung open, allowing Rukia into the room.
Ichigo lowered his head, and snapped it over to the direction of the second intrusion.
“Rukia! What the hell are you thinking coming through the door like that? What if my family saw you?!” She looked up at his red face and simply ignored his for the moment, sitting down on the bed first before responding.
“Relax, I’m not completely stupid you know. No one saw me come in. Yuzu went grocery shopping this morning, your Dad is at a meeting, and Karin must still be playing soccer, so no one’s even home.”
She nonchalantly pushed a lock of raven hair over her shoulder.
“Maybe you would have known all this if you would get up in the morning.”
“Tch...” Ichigo scowled and tilted his head away. She always had to be friggin’ right.
Renji smirked at the completely and clearly pissed Ichigo standing in front of them, angrily fidgeting with the hem of his pant pocket.
Renji cleared his throat and prepared to give the explanation once again.
“As I said, I’m here to brief you on your mission, so unplug your ears for a sec and listen up.”
Despite his anger, Ichigo straightened up. He pushed it aside and listened carefully as Renji began.
“Well, we’ve got this fugitive on out hands...”
The door creaked open slowly, as Yuzu nudged it with her shoulder, her arms cradling a pile of plastic bags, filled with different foods and small household items.
“Anyone home?” she asked to the house. She walked to the counter and dropped her armful carefully, waiting for a reply.
“Hm, Ichigo must still be asleep...or he went to Keigo’s...” She thought aloud to herself, as she placed a carton of milk into the refrigerator.
She went about putting all the other groceries away, and then dusted her hands off on her pink dress when she was done.
“Still no Ichigo, huh? I’ll have to go wake him up, it’s nearly one.” Yuzu started up the stairs, fixing the red, plastic clip in her short, blonde hair as she ascended.
Ichigo sighed heavily, rubbing his forehead with two fingers.
“Damn...why can’t the Soul Society keep anyone in control anymore?”
Renji was horizontal on the bed, his head resting on his propped up hand. He rolled his eyes, and clicked his tongue in annoyance.
“Well, we can’t all be quiet little children like you, Ichigo.” Renji coated his words thick with sarcasm.
Rukia observed their laid-back mannerisms and chat with distaste.
“Let’s try and take this a little more seriously.” She shot nefarious glances at both of them.
Renji seemed to be unaffected by the look, but sat up anyway, to at least show some shred of respect to the situation.
Ichigo rubbed the back of his neck and cast his gaze toward the ceiling again.
“So I’m guessing I’ve got no choice but to give full cooperation in this mission, right?” He droned.
“Well, it’s your job, dumbass.” Renji remarked curtly.
Rukia didn’t exactly like how he presented the fact, but she still nodded in silent agreement anyway.
“We’ll have to start looking soon.” Suddenly her eyes fell upon the small welt on Ichigo’s arm. The subject in her mind completely changed for the moment.
“What did you do to you arm?”
Ichigo blinked at her for a moment, surprised by the out-of-the-blue question. He glanced down at the small wound. It had swollen quiet a bit, and had a tint of purple, like a bruise.
“Oh, I think it was a bee sting... I had my window open, so it probably flew in and I whacked it on accident, or something.”
“Because we know how gentle you are...” Renji added, once again. Ichigo threw a dark stare at him.
“Geez, you’re not allergic to them are you?” Rukia asked, still focused on the ‘sting’.
Ichigo raised his eyebrow and stated the answer realistically.
“If I was allergic, don’t you think I would have already had a reaction?”
“I was just asking.” Rukia crossed her legs deliberately, and snapped her attention away from his arm, to emphasize her anger with him.
“Anyway, we need to-”
Suddenly all three stiffened in their places at the same small, feminine call.
“Ichigo! Are you up yet?” Yuzu was just down the hallway.
“Quick! Into the closet!” Ichigo hissed to Renji and Rukia, who had already launched off the bed in that direction.
Yuzu had her hand on the door knob.
“I’m coming in.”
Rukia jerked Renji all the way in and slammed the door shut with the help of Ichigo, who suddenly tried to make himself look busy at his desk just as his sister opened the door. Yuzu looked over at him, and what looked like a pile of pens he had dumped out of a cup and was now very intent on organizing by color.
“What are you doing?”
Ichigo looked over his shoulder and very poorly tried to look surprised to see her standing at the door.
“What does it look like I’m doing?” He wagged a dark blue pen between his fingers.
Yuzu put her hands on her hips and cocked her head slightly.
“It looks like you’ve developed a case of OCD to me.” She looked over towards the closet. “What was the door slamming I heard before I came in?”
Ichigo immediately forgot his pens and shot over between her and the closet.
“Oh, I was, uh, you know, fixing the runners on the door! Yeah! They were getting squeaky because they were bent, but I fixed it and it’s all better now! Ha ha!” He laughed nervously and patted the door with his palm.
Yuzu blinked at him and stood silent for a second, a little weirded out by his strange reaction to the question.
“Oookay.” Yuzu turned and looked toward the door. “Well, I guess I’ll be downstairs making lunch. It’ll be done in a little while, so I’ll call you when it’s ready...”
Inside, Renji and Rukia were listening to the conversation, trying to be as quiet as possible, despite the extremely uncomfortable physical positions they were in. They were somewhat tangled with each other, and squished in the extreme left corner of the closet.
“How the heck do you live in here?!” Renji whispered just before receiving a sharp elbow in the ribs from Rukia.
“OW!”
Yuzu turned back to Ichigo, who had the expression of a forty year old man, standing in front of an entire group of peers with no pants on in a dream, because the guy is terrified of his high school reunion on some stupid television program.
“What was that?”
Ichigo started to sweat.
“Uh, uh, I said ‘AH!’ would you look at the time,” he babbled, looking down at an invisible watch on his wrist, “I really gotta get started on my homework!”
He ran over and started to push her to the door. “Now, it’s been great but I got a lot to do.” He shoved her out into the hall. “Bye!”
“Now just-”
SLAM!
Yuzu jumped as the door was thrown shut in front of her nose.
“Hmph...” she shook her head. There must be something about male hormones that she didn’t get.