Bleach Fan Fiction ❯ She Will Be Loved ❯ Chapter 18 ( Chapter 18 )

She Will Be Loved

 

By Tituba

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any Bleach affiliates.

 

(A/N: This is the final chapter of She Will Be Loved. I want to thank everyone who ever reviewed for this fic. You have no idea how much I appreciate it. I'm not sure when I'll come out with another story—even though I have a few in my head—so here you go.

I hope you enjoyed this story, as controversial as it might be.)

 

 

 

 

Chapter 18

 

 

 

Rukia walked to school with steady, even, steps. The sky was bright and her eyes were constantly peeking up to the sky. She noticed the many clouds that peppered the cerulean blue ceiling above her. A light breeze rifled through her hair and she smiled into it. Her pack was weighty on her back and she hefted it slightly on her shoulders. She reached to the zipper on her light jacket and tugged it up slightly. Her summer skirt was getting a little too light for the coming November.

 

The schoolyard came into view and she smiled even wider when she noticed a familiar head of orange hair. His eyes were searching for her as she walked towards the gates. She raised her hand and waved to him softly. His face crinkled into a grin and he began to walk towards her. Rukia's pace quickened until she was standing only a foot from him.

 

“Hi,” she said breathlessly. Her heart and her head were pounding pleasantly.

 

Ichigo looked down at her and allowed a large grin to permeate his features. His hand rose to cup her cheek and he blissfully ran his thumb over the smooth skin beneath her eye. “Hi.” He murmured in response.

 

Rukia's eyes fluttered shut and her body moved to its tiptoes as Ichigo's mouth touched hers softly. His arm wrapped around her back. Her fingers tangled in his hair. Their kiss was deep and sweet. Their limbs were locked in a messy web of sensations and their lips were burning with the heavenly awareness of each others presence.

 

When they pulled away they were both breathing heavily. He looked deeply into her eyes before burying his nose in her jet black hair. Her arms wound around his waist and she sighed.

 

“I love you.” He whispered.

 

“I love you too.” She said in response.

 

They held each other tightly. Neither one moved until they heard the bell for first period ring. He and she detached slowly, kissed once more, and then walked towards the school. Ichigo tensed a bit when Rukia slipped her hand into his but he turned to her, smiled, and tugged her towards him. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and they both walked into school.

 

*~*~*

 

Word traveled around Karakura High like a wildfire left untamed. Sympathy poured out from the woodwork for the poor, dejected, Orihime, who spent the day in a state of melancholy.

 

Ichigo and Rukia were shot dirty looks, hateful words, and snide comments. Rukia was called a `boyfriend stealer' and a `tease.' Ichigo was dubbed `cruel' and `heartless.'

 

Neither of them cared.

 

They ignored each comment, glare, and snort that came their way. During class they stole glances at each other. When they ate lunch they avoided the cafeteria entirely and went outside to their tree. He sat down first and she sat between his legs, her back molded onto his chest. They didn't say much. Talking they would save for later. When school ended they walked to the park instead of home. She called Haji and told him where she was, Ichigo talked to Chad, Keigo, and Ishida and the three boys knew well to leave the two of them alone for a while.

 

They sat in the park and watched the clouds, occasionally shifting against each other. She rested near him and he held her hand tightly.

 

Rukia pointed up at the sky. “That cloud looks like a bunny.”

 

Ichigo snorted and held her hand. “Does not.”

 

*~*~*

 

He didn't touch her intimately until they were both in their second semester of college.

 

She had gotten accepted to Tokyo University and, to her everlasting surprise, so had he. He went to the Medical School whereas she had been accepted into the business section of the University. They met whenever they could. At meals, in the library, and in their dorms. They helped each other study, went out together, and even did work study in some of the same places. They were once again as close they had been when they were younger.

 

Their relationship grew stronger as time went on. Talk was freer and less repressed. She jostled and screamed at him when he did something stupid. He called her short and scrawny and yelled at her whenever the opportunity arose. Their verbal and physical wars resumed to the point where the past was nearly buried behind them.

 

The only odd moments that came were when Ichigo would spontaneously apologize.

 

“I'm sorry.” He would whisper at the oddest times. She, no matter in what state of anger or happiness they were in, would always turn to him and ask.

 

“For what?”

 

Sometimes he answered and sometimes he didn't. When he did speak, he looked her straight in the eye, his soul pouring so freely into hers that her heart practically melted on the spot. He would always say something like, “I never noticed how pretty your smile is.” Or “I can't believe I never noticed how your eyes change color when you're mad.” They were always things like that. Things that stretched back to the times when he had used her.

 

During the first few months of their reconciliation he apologized so many times. He was sorry for not noticing how pretty her legs were, how her hair glistened in the sunlight, how her nose wiggled up and down when she was ready to sneeze, how her eyes twinkled when she was happy or burned when she was angry, how she ran her tongue over the tip of her teeth whenever she was frustrated with a question on a test, how her fingers would always organize her pencils on her desk, how she would chew on the cap of her pen when she was bored, and so many other things he had never noticed before but was now seeing with perfect clarity.

 

It had been a Saturday and the two of them were staying in her dorm room. She had acquired a single because of the connections her brother had with the University. She had been laying in his lap, his fingers entwined in hers, simply sitting back and watching a strange western movie that was playing on her television.

 

“I'm sorry,” he whispered as he bent his neck and kissed the top of her head.

 

Her body stiffened as she heard the words drifting towards her ear. His breath warmed the back of her neck and she sighed when those two fateful words registered in her mind.

 

“Ichigo,” she murmured and her hands tightened in his.

 

He didn't say anything but only pressed a kiss to her neck and rubbed his thumb over her hands.

 

She didn't know what made her do it, she only wanted him to stop being sorry.

 

Rukia turned towards him. Her body twisted until her knees were between his legs and her face was mere inches from his. Her hands reached up to his face and she pulled him close. Her lips brushed against his and within moments they were kissing softly.

 

Rukia pushed him back until he was flat against the bed. Her thighs were draped over his hips and his chest was pressing against hers. Their hearts were beating erratically. Ichigo's hands wandered up to her waist and down her back. His fingers traced her spine and she shivered softly. Their mouths never parted as she pushed his shirt up gently and exposed his muscled chest.

 

When he felt her heated fingers pattering over his stomach and lower he pulled away from their heated kiss and sat up half-way. His face was filled with panic and his eyes were wide with alarm. She sat back just a bit but her center was pressed against the noticeable bulge in his pants. He was panting and so was she. Her face was hot and her hair was mussed. Her eyes were bright and her body was radiating.

 

“Ru-Rukia,” he stammered. She lowered her eyes and reached her hand forward, running it over his clothed chest. His breaking hiked and she leaned forward even more.

 

His mind was battling with itself as she touched him. She was feeling every part of him that she could with some type of childish wonder. It was so new to her that all he could do was drowsily watch her as she explored.

 

The moment her hands were ready to draw off his shirt he took her hands and brought them to his heart.

 

“Rukia,” he murmured, his hot breath slid over her body and she shuddered. “Do you… do you want this?”

 

Her sparkling eyes were raised to his and she nodded solidly. “Yes… I do.”

 

She leaned forward to kiss him but he slid his face to the side and pressed kisses to her neck. She arched her neck and he nuzzled his nose against her.

 

“I don't want you to feel like I'm making you do this,” he whispered. Pain filled his voice and regret edged his tone. Rukia knew that his mind was reverting to all those times before when they had been together, cold and icy, stale and bland, together and yet so far apart.

 

Her mouth moved to his ear and she gently stroked his back. He shuddered at the touch but she smiled lovingly.

 

“I don't want you to be sorry anymore Ichigo,” she murmured, her voice was cool and soothing while her hands traced lines of fire on his back. “I love you and I want to put our past behind us.” Her palms settled on his cheeks and she turned his face towards hers. Their eyes looked deeply into one another. Twin souls matched forever by fate glistened in the deep black of the pupil.

 

They were one.

 

“Make love to me Ichigo,” she whispered, never taking her eyes from his.

 

He drew in a breath of air and nodded slowly, pulling her down beside him.

 

What occurred next was what Rukia could only explain as the purest act of love she had ever experienced. Ichigo moved with such grace and tenderness that she had difficulty believing it was the same brash idiot she had fallen in love with. She understood that he was desperately trying to please her. He wanted to show her the pleasure he had denied her all those years ago. With each stroke of her insides, with each kiss on her lips, with each rub and caress on her skin he conveyed every aspect of his love to her.

 

When they came, they came together; clutching and panting and kissing everything in reach. They collapsed onto the bed, simply breathing together, occasionally stroking each other's hair and skin until they fell into a drowsy sleep.

 

When they woke up they smiled and blushed like virgins before folding each other in their arms and making love again.

 

*~*~*

 

Their lives went on as normal as they went through college. People knew who they were simply because they were always together. They were as inseparable as they had been when they were younger.

 

They looked forward to the future whenever they had a moment away from school. Ichigo alluded to marriage and Rukia only smiled in response. They decided that they would both go to graduate school and buy an apartment together. They would go to work somewhere in Tokyo and then later, perhaps, have a family.

 

They weren't perfect. Their relationship was a tumultuous one but they worked at it so that they could be together. Their past was an ugly reminder of how things had been and how they must never be in the future. Ichigo and Rukia knew that things would never be the same after the two years they spent together in silence and in pain. All they could do was attempt to right the wrongs that had been perpetrated earlier.

 

There was only one thing that was certain between them: they loved each other more than the air they breathed. Together, they could overcome any and every obstacle.

 

Together they were loved.