Bleach Fan Fiction ❯ Rukia for a day ❯ Rukia for a day ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

She wanted to be like Kuchiki-san�to be the one in Kurosaki-kun�s arms�to be the woman he cared for the most�to be the only one he loves more than life itself�and she got what she wanted, only to realize she�ll never be able to take her place.

Anime/Manga: Bleach Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance | Type: One Shot | Uploaded On: 01.29.2009 | Updated On: 01.29.2009 | Pages: 4 | Words: 8.4K | Visits: 1.3K | Status: Completed

I'm new here at Mediaminer, and if this fic seems familiar, it's because I have posted it at ff(dot)net, where I am a regular writer. :D

This is the fic I decided to post because it's my personal favorite out of all the fics I have written. I hope you'll like it as well.

I apologize for the errors. XD

Please read this fic carefully to avoid confusion. :D

Rukia woke up with a throbbing pain on her head. She and her friends had a late night hollow hunt which lasted until a few hours before the dawn of that day. She recalled being injured really badly after taking a direct hit which was intended for Orihime. The buxom woman wasted no time to heal her, maybe even using a tad too much of her reiatsu on the petite woman due to her panicking thoughts. The raven-haired shinigami vaguely remembered being carried all the way home by a scowling Ichigo who, if not for the obvious exhaustion etched on her face, surely would have berated her for taking such a fatal blow. She passed out right after Ichigo returned her to her gigai and dropped her on to the bed.

Rukia clutched her head with one of her hands while she rolled on the bed, her amethyst orbs still heavily lidded. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself and hopefully will the pain to subside. She hazily wondered where Ichigo was at the moment since she couldn't sense his reiatsu nearby. She made the mistake of putting her free hand on her chest…only to realize it had grown…enormously, overnight. Her eyes immediately snapped open and ignoring the pounding headache, she quickly got out of bed to go look at a mirror…only to realize yet again that she wasn't where she thought she was.

`Wait a minute. This…This isn't Ichigo's house! Where the hell am I?' She silently mused.

She slowly paced around the room, searching for clues as to who owned the house. She was observing the things in the room with utmost concentration, contemplating whether she was abducted or not. She reached a certain mini-shrine/altar where a lone picture was displayed. It was of a man with long brown hair in a business suit. He seemed awfully familiar, but Rukia couldn't quite remember exactly who he was. Finally, she reached a bathroom. She ran towards the mirror located just above the sink, and to her absolute horror, a totally different person with auburn hair and a voluptuous body was staring back at her. Rukia's eyes widened when realization hit her. Hard.

`This body…this...this chest…How could I not have realized sooner? I-I'm in Orihime's body!'

Orihime felt warm and comfortable. It felt like she had some sort of giant teddy bear that hugged her instead of the other way around. She inhaled the sweet and spicy scent the teddy bear carried with it, and she found that she absolutely loved the smell. The grip of the teddy bear tightened around her, and this movement coaxed her to open her eyes. The first thing she saw was a headful of orange. Her heart skipped a beat as she instantly remembered whom she associated the color with…and she was right. Lying right next to her was the man she could only hold this close in her dreams…and she instantly deduced that she was, indeed, dreaming. Only, his soft breaths were fanning her face, and the warmth it brought told her that she was wide awake. Could it be that…Kurosaki-kun finally realized his feelings for her? But…was that even possible, with the way things between him and Kuchiki-san were going? Their relationship was pretty strong, considering all the odds they had to go against for the sake of being together…So how come Kurosaki-kun was with her now? Her query was answered when the male in question finally woke up. Although, the answer was one she would never expect to be an answer in itself.

“Rukia.”

Orihime's eyes widened when the name rolled off his tongue. Rukia? She let her eyes travel to the hands that were currently resting on Ichigo's chest and saw that they…shrank. And so did her chest. So was she really…in Kuchiki-san's gigai?

“Hey, you okay?” The orange-haired teen's voice was uncharacteristically soft, and the concern in his tone was so obvious, yet he didn't make any move to mask it.

`Was he really this open and unguarded when it comes to Kuchiki-san? It's like all his walls crumble with Kuchiki-san around…' Orihime found that her silence and hesitation worried Ichigo more, since in his eyes, she was Rukia—and he clearly saw that `Rukia' was troubled about something.

“What's wrong?”

Orihime couldn't fight off the blush that crept up her face when Ichigo tucked stray hairs behind her ear.

Ichigo found it weird but rather amusing that after several months of being together, `Rukia' was still blushing at their close proximity and intimacy. He couldn't help the chuckle that escaped his lips, and he leaned over to kiss her on the forehead.

“I think we should be getting out of bed. Yuzu's gonna be calling us for breakfast soon.”

Orihime only nodded in response. She didn't trust herself to speak, since she really had no idea how Kuchiki-san acts around Kurosaki-sun during their moments alone.

Despite the obvious blush on her face, Orihime's heart was actually torn apart.

`So this is how it feels like to be Kuchiki-san…to be…loved by Kurosaki-kun. And…and it feels…good yet painful at the same time.' Orihime knew she should be feeling guilty, probably even confessing the truth to Ichigo now, since she was almost like…cheating on the real Rukia, but she couldn't help herself; she felt really happy upon waking up in Kurosaki-kun's arms, and although it pained her to know that he was only doing all those things he did because she was Rukia to him at the moment, Orihime found that she didn't care—she still wanted to be with him even if it was just for the short time she'll be staying in Kuchiki-san's gigai. She even forgot to spare a thought on how she came to be in Kuchiki-san's gigai—all because she was too preoccupied with Kurosaki-kun.

Ichigo stood up to change into his school uniform—right in front of Orihime. The buxom wman currently trapped in Rukia's petite gigai blushed even harder at seeing the man of her dreams undress in front of her. The carrot-top caught her eyes and let out a low chuckle.

“Like what you see? We could skip class if you like.” He said jokingly.

“B-but...but Kurosa—I...I mean Ichigo, w-we can't skip school to…to...” Orihime stammered with her words. This was the first time she ever called Kurosaki-kun by his first name, and it felt so foreign on her tongue.

“Geez, I was just kidding, Rukia.” He sheepishly scratched the back of his head as he took his school uniform from the closet and put it on.

“I'll be downstairs. Head to the dining room once you finish changing, okay?” Ichigo gave her a chaste kiss on the cheek before leaving his room.

The carrot-top was deep in thought as he silently trudged down the stairs. He was wondering why Rukia was acting a little strange, especially towards his advances. Had he done anything wrong last night? As far as he could remember, the two of them were okay until the hollow hunt. So was she mad at him for some other reason? No, she couldn't be mad at him. Why would she be blushing that hard if she was mad? Something in his gut told him something was really off, but Ichigo couldn't pin point what it was.

Ichigo reached the dining area just as the doorbell rang. He leisurely walked towards the front door and opened it.

“Ichigo.”

“Inoue?” Ichigo raised an eyebrow at the sudden familiarity. Inoue hasnever called him by his first name.

“I need to tell you something.”

Just then, Orihime, who was still in Rukia's gigai, made her way down the stairs, and her eyes widened when she saw her own body, presumably containing Rukia's soul inside it, talking to Ichigo.

“Orihime!” She frantically called out. It was weird calling out her own name to someone else, but Orihime couldn't let herself ponder on that thought right now. What would Kurosaki-kun tell her when he realizes that the person he had been kissing earlier wasn't Rukia at all? She couldn't bear him getting angry at her for leading him on.

The real Rukia was surprised to see her gigai walking towards her. And did she just call her Orihime? What was going on? Was Orihime actually pretending to be her? She was brought back to reality as she was pulled in by her own gigai.

“We...we just have to talk about something, Ichigo!” Orihime responded to Ichigo's questioning gaze. “Orihime and I will be upstairs.” She added, still pulling the real Rukia towards Ichigo's room.

When the two women reached their destination, Orihime immediately dropped to her knees and knelt down in front of Rukia. “I-I'm sorry, Kuchiki-san...”

Rukia was shocked. Why was she apologizing? “It's alright, Orihime. I think this is just the side effect of using too much of you reiatsu on me last night. All we have to do is—“

“K-Kuchiki-san.” Orihime gulped nervously, mustering all the courage she has while keeping her embarrassed face down. “Can we...can we just wait until your soul automatically returns to this body, and mine to that? I mean...we shouldn't use force, right? I-I'm sure everything would return to normal soon...We can...we can wait for it to naturally occur, right?”

Orihime sounded so hopeful that Rukia didn't have the heart to say no. The shinigami's eyes softened at her as she said “Yes.” It was a lie. In truth, there was only one way—one simple way—to get their souls back to their real bodies.

“Then...then can we wait until that happens? I...I could p-pretend to be you while I'm in this body...just so we could escape the trouble of explaining to everyone.”

Rukia found Orihime's logic to be flawed. If they exchange bodies right now, they won't even have to explain anything to anyone, since no one has learned of their current predicament yet. But Rukia wasn't insensitive. She knew that Orihime was doing this so she could stay beside Ichigo, even if it was just for a short while. Rukia knew that this friend of hers had liked Ichigo for a very long time now, and she felt kind of guilty for barging into their lives and taking Ichigo away from her, not that she ever really had a chance to be with him. Maybe...maybe Rukia could give in to what Orihime wanted...just this once.

With all the cheerfulness she could gather from her whole being at the moment, Rukia smiled at Orihime and helped her to her feet. “I agree with you. Let's keep the act good, okay?”

Orihime's expression visibly lightened, and she smiled back at the shinigami. “Yes. Let's hope we won't get caught.” She took a moment to stare at the kind shinigami. She could feel that Rukia knew her real motive behind asking the shinigami to let her stay in her gigai, but it was kind of a much needed closure for Orihime. She wanted to see with her own eyes just how much Kurosaki-kun really loves Kuchiki-san...and she wanted to experience just a few moments of that love.

“Arigatou, Kuciki-san.” She flashed the shinigami a genuinely grateful smile.

“Aa. It's nothing, Orihime.”

A knock on the door caught both women's attention. “Rukia-chan? It's time for breakfast. Orihime-chan, otou-san asks if you would like to join us.” A soft voice called from behind the closed door.

“Aa, of course! It's always a pleasure to join you, Yuzu-chan!” Rukia replied, trying her best to imitate Orihime.

The three girls went to the dining area together, the older two receiving questioning glances from the Ichigo

Rukia smiled reassuringly at him, but remembered it was currently Orihime's duty to comfort his worries. She mentally cursed herself for her automatic responses to Ichigo's actions, and she couldn't help but heave a sigh at the prospect of a whole day of pretension.

The three walked silently to school. Both women were quite uncomfortable with the current situation; one was afraid to see her own boyfriend cuddle with another woman—a woman who was currently inhabiting her gigai, while the other was nervous to show her affection to the boyfriend of the woman currently residing in her body.

Ichigo's curiosity won the best of him though, so he decided to cut the silence short. “What were you guys talking about earlier?”

“None of your business, baka,” was Rukia's automatic reply.

Ichigo blinked at her. He has never seen `Orihime' act that way towards him. He raised an inquisitive eyebrow at her, prodding the woman to explain her behavior.

Again, Rukia mentally cursed and slapped herself. She just couldn't stop her instant reactions to Ichigo. It was so natural for her to retort to whatever he said. “I-I mean, it's a girl thing, Kurosaki-kun…”

The real Orihime took this moment to interfere, and perhaps divert Ichigo's attention from the shinigami's slight slip-up. “Uhhh…Ichigo, can we got get some ice cream?” Orihime was thinking how Rukia acts and was trying her best to copy her. “It's still a little early for school anyways.”

At this, Ichigo wrapped his arm around `Rukia'.

Orihime blushed madly, but slightly leaned on him, all the while avoiding Rukia's stare.

Rukia tried to look away, but couldn't help return her gaze the `couple'.

“Alright. You wanna come, Inoue?”

Rukia averted her eyes to the solid concrete ground and shook her head. “Uhh, no thank you, Kurosaki-kun. I bet Tatsuki-chan's waiting for me now. See you two, later!” With that, Rukia made a mad dash for school, calming her erratically beating heart, saying over and over again that she shouldn't be jealous—that Ichigo was only sweet to Orihime because he thought she washer. It didn't do any comfort, though.

Meanwhile, the `couple' reached the ice cream store and fell in line to order. When their turn came up, Orihime cheerfully said, “Chocolate ice cream for me, please!”

Ichigo turned and looked at his `girlfriend'. In the million trips that he and Rukia took to the ice cream store, the petite woman has never ordered anything else other than strawberry ice cream. What was with the sudden change?

Orihime was nervously waiting for her order. She almost blurted something like bean-paste flavor or leeks for toppings, but thankfully caught herself just in time before her tongue spoke the words. She smiled upon receiving her order and licked the frozen dessert happily.

Ichigo just shrugged his thoughts away. Just because she used to order strawberry doesn't mean she couldn't order anything else.

They soon resumed walking towards their school. Once they reached it, they both head over to their lockers. Orihime was still in bliss after finishing her ice cream—and actually going out on a date with Kurosaki-kun—that she didn't realize she just passed by Rukia's locker and was walking towards hers.

“Oi, Rukia. Your locker is right here, next to mine.” He smugly said, obviously amused by her slip-up.

Orihime blinked at him, broken out of her reverie by his voice. “I-I know, b-baka!” She nervously spat out.

Ichigo smirked at her. “Then mind telling me just where you're headed to?”

“I…I don't need to get anything from my locker, so I was heading straight to our classroom…” She lied.

“Oh.” Ichigo resumed retrieving his things from his locker. It was strange—he didn't have any retort to what she had just said. Usually, they would start to banter at the silliest things, but today, Rukia seemed…out of it. He felt like if he would start to bicker with her, he wouldn't get the reaction he wanted.

They reached the classroom a few minutes before classes officially started. As usual, Keigo was talking with Mizuiro, most likely about woman; Chad and Ishida were at their respective seats, both quiet, the latter sewing some dresses that were suspiciously sized for a certain lion plushy; the girls were chatting noisily and giggling; and `Orihime' was unexpectedly spacing out WHILE Tatsuki was telling her something. All of a sudden, Chizuru leaped into the air and flew towards `Orihime'.

Rukia, sensing someone sneaking up behind her thus effectively breaking her thoughts, instinctively raised a fist in the air—and it struck Chizuru right in the middle of the face…and sent the red-haired pervert flying heavenwards.

Everyone quieted down and gaped in utter shock at `Orihime'. The real Orihme, who had just stepped foot in the classroom in time for Chizuru's `flight', stood horrified.

Rukia realized that everyone was staring at her, and then at her outstretched arm. She innocently blinked at all of them…and started to stretch…

Floating question marks hung on the heads of all those who witnessed the event. It was Tatsuki who first recovered from the shock. “Orihime! Finally! Those karate moves I've been teaching you have been put to use!”

Rukia stopped her awkward stretching and let out an embarrassed giggle. “Aa! Thanks for teaching me, Tatsuki-chan!”

Everybody went back to their own conversations upon hearing a quite `acceptable' excuse for `Orihime's' behavior.

“Oh, my Hime! So strong!” Chizuru came back with a bloody nose. This time, Tatsuki stood up before the perverted lesbian even came within ten feet of `Orihime'. Meanwhile, `Orihime' looked to the side and rolled her eyes—an action that didn't escape Ichigo's notice as he made his way to his chair. He was seriously pondering now if something happened that he completely missed for `Orihime' to be behaving uncharacteristically at the moment.

Just what were Rukia and Orihime talking about earlier that morning? He knew Rukia wouldn't tell him; it would be a lot easier to get information from Inoue, so he decided to ask her come lunch time.

The first few periods came by like a breeze, and everyone was soon preparing for lunch.

Orihime was about to approach Tatsuki-chan since they always eat lunch together, but—again—remembered just in the nick of time that she was supposed to be spending time with Kurosaki-kun. She turned to look at the carrot-top who was still packing his things.

Ichigo felt someone staring at him, so he turned around and saw his `girlfriend' looking expectantly. He searched his mind for an excuse.

“Uhh…Rukia, you go ahead to our spot. I…I have to go talk to Ochi-sensei about…something.”

Orihime naively nodded her head, although she had no idea where this `spot' Ichigo was referring to could be found.

Ichigo watched `Rukia's' retreating form before turning back and finding `Orihime' still on her seat, but Tatsuki was nowhere to be found.

“Uhhh…Inoue, where's Tatsuki?” He started.

Rukia had to blink a few times at him to make sure he was indeed talking to her. She still wasn't used to being called Inoue, not after being called Rukia for more than a hundred and fifty years.

“She…she said she has some karate practice today.” She averted her gaze to the open windows, not wanting to stare at Ichigo for too long for fear that the carrot-top might catch her staring at him. Outside, she saw Orihime walking towards her and Ichigo's favorite tree where they usually eat lunch. How she found out about their favorite spot, Rukia didn't have a clue.

“So you're eating lunch here today? Alone?”

“Uhh…not really. I actually forgot to bring lunch.” How could she? She was expecting to get back to her body as soon as she arrived at the Kurosaki home. Why would she bother to bring lunch with her?

Ichigo raised an eyebrow at her. In all the years he had known Inoue, the girl has never forgotten to bring one of her weird concoctions for lunch. He took a deep breath and finally blurted out what he talked to her for. “Inoue, I have to ask you something, and I need you to be really honest with me. What's wrong with Rukia?”

It was so unexpected that Rukia couldn't help but gape at Ichigo. “W-what do you mean?”

“She's…she's been acting weird, and since you were talking earlier with her, I was wondering if you knew something…” He trailed off.

Rukia was so tempted to tell Ichigo the whole truth now, especially after displaying such concern—not to mention showing how well he knew he that could tell something was wrong—but knew she couldn't, not after she and Orihime made a deal about it. And she wasn't going to say anything that would possibly make Orihime sound like the antagonist. So, she shook her head at him. “Sorry, Kurosaki-kun. She didn't tell me anything about it.”

Was it just him, or did `Orihime' sound…wistful?

“Uhhh…Alright. Thanks, I guess.”

Rukia watched Ichigo walk out of the room and groaned irritably at how she should keep up the façade until Orihime was satisfied.

Ichigo was sitting at his desk while tapping his pen on the front cover of his school book. He stared at `Rukia' who quietly sat on his bed, glancing at him every so often. It was weird seeing her look so…contented just sitting there, when she was usually restless and would probably be doing something else during times like this. Something like…oh, right! Ichigo reached for his school bag, taking out a new manga from it—which happened to be the latest volume of her favorite series. He grinned to himself as he waited for it to be rudely snatched from his hands.

It never left the confines of his hands, though.

He looked at `Rukia' again, and saw her looking at him curiously. At him. Not at the manga in his hands. Okay, screw waiting. He needed to know what was up. Now. He stood up from his chair and stomped towards the bed.

“What's wrong with you?” He watched as `Rukia's' eyes widened a bit, before she blinked an awful lot of times and smiled at him.

“What do you mean?”

Ichigo growled and pushed her gently on the bed until she was resting on her back against it, and then he climbed on top of her, at which point `Rukia's' cheeks were burning and she was openly gaping at him.

He tried to search her eyes for the truth, only to find something else…He couldn't find those amethyst pools that he usually drowned himself into, those amethyst orbs that he loved so much. Instead, all he could see was…gray.

A Soul Pager and a substitute shinigami badge beeped at the same time, alarming both occupants of the room.

“I'll get it.” Ichigo announced as he took his badge and slammed it against his body, effectively separating his soul from it. He flew out the window towards the location of the hollow.

When he spotted it, he wasted no time lifting Zangetsu off his back and sending a moonfang towards the hollow which wasn't even paying attention to him. As he put Zangetsu again on his back and turned around to walk away, he caught sight of someone running towards the site. It was `Inoue'.

The poor `buxom woman' was panting heavily when she arrived at the area. When she sensed the hollow, she immediately ran towards the location of where she felt the reiatsu pulse. It was on pure instinct; she didn't even take into consideration how practically powerless she was at the moment since she couldn't access the Shun Shun Rikka even if she was in Orihime's body. She felt frustrated when she felt the hollow's reiatsu disappear just as she reached the site. Instead, there stood the official substitute shinigami—her official substitute shinigami, staring at her in slight confusion.

Ichigo looked at `Inoue', thinking why the auburn-haired woman was there, since she never really takes part in ordinary hollow exterminations in their town. This was a first.

“What are you doing here…Inoue?” Ichigo didn't know what it was, but something was trying to stop him from letting the name roll of his tongue. It felt…wrong.

`Inoue', who was too frustrated at the moment to care at how she was acting, scowled at him. “To kill the hollow, baka!”

Ichigo felt compelled to come closer to her. And so, he did.

Rukia finally came to her senses and realized how odd she must have acted in his eyes. But she couldn't help getting riled up at her fruitless endeavor. She hated being powerless; she hated not being able to help.

Ichigo continued to step closer towards the woman. He was staring at her eyes…and he couldn't look away.

Rukia's heart, or perhaps it was Orihime's since it was technically her body, was pounding really hard that she was afraid he could hear it. Rukia couldn't help but notice how soft Ichigo's amber orbs were as he stared at her—which in his eyes, was Orihime. Why was he staring at `Inoue' this way? There was a tug of pain in her chest as she thought of what would happen if Ichigo came any closer. But he continued coming nearer.

When there was barely a foot between them, Ichigo let out a genuine, heartwarming smile. “I missed you.”

Rukia stared wide-eyed at him, tears on the corner of her eyes. She intently looked at Ichigo—her Ichigo—whose hair was as vibrant as the setting sun behind him which relentlessly highlighted his features making him all the more striking, forcing her to stare at him despite the pain it took for her to gaze at him straight in the eyes, in those warm, amber eyes. Her Ichigo…who now stood telling another woman he missed her.

Ichigo raised one hand and let the pad of his thumb wipe the tears away. He brought his face dangerously close to `Inoue's', and Rukia could feel her heart breaking…

…until she was suddenly shoved out of the body as Ichigo slammed his substitute shinigami badge against it. The movement was so sudden that Rukia lost her footing.

She never fell though, as Ichigo protectively wrapped an arm around her waist, while he slowly leaned forward and closed the gap between their lips. Rukia felt her whole body react at how she terribly missed being in Ichigo's arms. It hadn't even been a full day yet, plus they saw each other in school; but not having to hold him like this had been hell for her. And she didn't want to go through that hell again. She wrapped her arms around his neck and continued kissing him, both of them subconsciously telling the other how much they truly missed and loved one another. Ichigo finally pulled away and contented himself in embracing the petite woman tightly. He could feel her slight trembling…he could hear her soft sobs…and he soother her by rubbing her back and kissing her all over her face.

“You baka.” She managed to say, albeit weakly. “For a moment there…I thought you…I thought…” A small sob escaped her lips again, and Ichigo kissed away the new tears that poured out of her amethyst orbs—those amethyst orbs that captivated him. He let out a small chuckle as he continued comforting the woman. They held each other for several minutes before Rukia's curious nature won the best of her.

“How did you find out, Ichigo? Did Inoue tell you?”

Ichigo smiled and shook his head. “I don't really know how. Until now, I find it hard to believe that you and Inoue actually exchanged bodies. I still don't even know the story behind this. But no, she didn't say anything to me. I guess it goes to show that whatever you're like…and wherever you may be…my heart would always lead me back to you.”

Rukia buried her face on Ichigo's chest and hugged him tightly. That was the sweetest thing Ichigo ever told her. And at this point, she could say that nothing—nothing—could ever tear them apart.

Unbeknownst to them, Orihime arrived at the scene the same time Rukia did. And she saw everything. She wanted a proof of how much Kurosaki-kun really loved Kuchiki-san? Well, here was her proof. And it hurt more than she had anticipated. Not even being in Kuchiki-san's body could make Kurosaki-kun like her. Indeed, his heart found its way back to its rightful owner…

Rukia successfully convinced Ichigo to play along with Orihime so as not to upset the woman, unknowing of the fact that the said woman planned to do the same thing. That night, when Orihime was asleep, Rukia went in through Ichigo's window. The orange-haired teen immediately got up, popped himself out of his body, and then did the same to Rukia. They placed Orihime's body on the bed beside the sleeping woman. Then, Ichigo carefully and noiselessly popped Orihime out of Rukia's gigai and place her soul back on her real body without waking her up.

Both he and Rukia went to Orihime's apartment, with Ichigo carrying the buxom woman who was still in deep sleep.

When they arrived back at Ichigo's room, both went back to their respective bodies, and Ichigo wasted no time claiming Rukia's lips with his own, all the love and passion coming out of him to show just how much love he felt for the petite shinigami…

Orihime woke up the next day as the first rays of sunlight hit her face through the open windows. She saw the familiar surroundings of her apartment room, and realized that she was back in her body. It was a nice eye-opening experience, being Rukia for a day. Now, she was ready to let Kurosaki-kun go…

—The End—