Back in town..(private)

The same sky, the same air, the same houses..the same annoying gaiga. This was the first time that Rukia had been in Karakura ever since Ichigo`s spiritual pressure dissapeared, which had been around a year ago. A lot had happened in the seireitei. Byakuya had, along with most of the captains and seated officers that had taken part in the winter war, dissapeared from the surface of the earth. Some had turned up, while others haden`t. The whole ideal bothered her a lot, but the fact that Renji was among those who had returned, meant that she at least wasen`t alone. Her reason for being in the town was, that she had been selected to stay in Karakura for the next month, staying at Uruhara`s shop. It felt a bit weird not waking up inside a closet, being awoken by Ichigo`s father beating his son good morning.

Her black hair danced slightly around her with every step she took, or even if she moved her head just a little. On just a year she had grown her hair from reaching just a little under her shoulders, all the way down to her waist. She had let her hair stay untied tonight, letting her bangs frame her face as always. She haden`t gotten any taller, but her chest had grown slightly, as well as her curves. Her face had matured as well, yet anyone who had seen her before would instantly recognize it since the change wasen`t big. Her clothing was a black sleeveless tank top with a small V cut, a knee-long white short sleeved open shirt with a hood on it, a slim black obi tied around her waist, which kept the upper part of the jacket on place, letting the lower part to hang around her body, and flutter each time she took a step. On her legs she was wearing a pair of soft black jeans, which allowed her free movement, and a pair of white sneakers. (If this description is too bad, look in the spoiler in my signature, - the sword of cause).

She laid her head back slightly, enjoying the pleasant view of the setting sun. It would be dark in around an hour, but most hollows were active during the night, so she would stay up late tonight. Rukia then looked around herself, there were no people in sight. She was standing on one of the smaller bridges, were only two people could walk next to each other. She had been on the bridge before actually, this was the fastest way to get from ichigo to Orihime`s home. She stopped halfway on the bridge, leaning slightly over the railing, letting the wind play with her long hair, jacket and the ends of her narrow obi.
Maybe i should visit inoue? Its been so long since ive last seen her...

(short sorry)

Ichigo`s eyes twiched slightly in annoyance when he stared at the group of people before him have we met before? the leader of this "group" became very frustrated and started yelling at him that he was "that" guy that Ichigo ignored the name of it was someone great something, Withouth realizing it the group had lost its leader when Ichigo kicked the man in the face before he had a chance to do anything, the man fell down and before he hit the ground he was yelping and mumbling, Ichigo kicked the man`s head futher into the mud and earth below his feet, the rest of the group stared dazed at him huh i don`t think i heard you!?!Ichigo then pulled out a mobile phone from the man`s jacket and called the hospital karakura hospital? good there are 5 people injured at the river bed just south of the high school, they need help asap beep beep, he shut the phone and tossed it over his shoulder back at their leader, Ichigo pulled his arms together while holding his arms in fists craking them slightly, his eyes shot almost ablace...

Ichigo punched the last man to the ground an pulled up his jacket from the grass right by his side letting it rest over his shoulder, he left withouth a word, walking calmy, he came up trough the stairs and now stood at the bridge, that separated his house from Inoue`s side of the town, he was going to cross the bridge to get home when he noticed something, or rather someone...

A girl a young girl with black hair stood there in the middle of the bridge there was something about her even if he could not get a good view from here there was something about this woman that simply caught his attention he did not remeber seeing a human like that before though but... a shinigami? wait that could not be right he could not see shinigami anymore, he sighed he could not quite see the face of this woman but it was quite obvious that she was a woman if you saw her rather slender body, Ichigo remained there staring at her unable to take a step she defenetly reminded him of rukia but it could not be right? RIGHT? they would never see each other again that had been a fact that Ichigo had accepted a few weeks ago... he just hoped that she did not notice her the woman that reminded him of rukia that is, oh shit shes looking at this way, Ichigo stared at her with wide eyes... he whispered for himself, only appearing as a miniature figure to each other from that distance r-rukia? Ichigo was not sure how he was supposed to react, was he supposed to be happy? or angry or perhaps suprised? well he certainly was suprised he was however not sure of the rest, his orange hair had grown a bit longer now covering his left eye, Ichigo felt something relife? he must have stared at her like that for what felt like forever, a powerful wind whipped up between them and messed up their hair slightly while their clothes danced along the wind...

Even through it was impossible for Rukia to hear his words, she still felt a sudden whisper next to her hear, causing her to turn her head in his direction. The first thing that caught her eyes was his orange hair, it seemed to have gotten a bit flatter and maybe a few inches longer, which wasen`t much considering how long hers had gotten. The picking wind grabbed a hold of her hair, making it whirl around her in a elegant flutter, the bangs blowing across her face. It seemed like time stopped for a moment, allowing the two to be lost in thoughts for a few moments. Happy...sad...angry. Should i hug him? Should i hit him? What to feel... These thoughts repeated them selfs inside her head, as she began to make her way towards him, her sneakers making no sounds as they hit against the bridge. The wind slowed down, yet it remained just strong enough to make their clothes and hair flow.

After what seemed like hours, what in reality was just two minutes, she stopped 4 feet from him. She had taken her hands inside her pocket, and laid her head back to look up at him. Despite her growth in hair and slightly matured face, she was still as short as ever. Rukia parted her lips slightly, as if she wanted to say something. She closed them again, letting her usual soft smile come over her face. "What`s wrong Ichigo? You look like you have seen a ghost..". The words was spoken in a teasing voice with a soft undertone to it. Rukia had decided to take it as it came, wondering how he would react to seeing her again. Would he ask a lot of questions? Would he simply smile back and give her a little remark? Or would he hug her? She smirked mentally to herself, knowing the latter was very unlikely. She also had a lot of questions for him, such as how his family was, how Inoue, Sado and Ishida was, and so forth.

Ichigo had already accepted her as she was whole, her new slightly diffrent appearence, his doubts where gone and he allowed himself to feel happy to see her, if he just allowed that feeling in for a moment, he would not get soft with her that he would never allow he was just happy to see that she was all right, he allowed a gentle smile on his lips while his eyes stared at her for a good while, the smile turned into a slight smirk while tilting his head slightly to the left No... not anymore... he responded with a gentle sort of tone yet somewhat serious, the irony in their words where beyond description, while ichigo had grown taller during the year he had also mature a bit, though he tended to have his moments now and then...

He kept his eyes open while smiling at her, his "long" orange hair fluttered due to the wind and seemed to enjoy the moment, it cause both of his eyes to partially be hidden at times, the moment was magical and seemed to last longer than he thought possible, he was going to ask why she had come but changed his mind and decided to annoy the "young" looking girl a bit however he got the urge to ask how she was feeling as well and decided to do that later what`s that? you look like a crow has taken its nest in your hairthere was a hint of mockery in his tone but just slight, he was always enjoying their little chat`s especially when they where away from each other for so long, he paused while staring at her he added how have you been... rukia? he asked her politeley...

Rukia could`t help but to feel happy over his respond to her, she was afraid he was gonna go into a barrage of questions or even hit her. As he commented on her new hair lentgh, she reached up and wracked him once onto the side of the head, not hard, but hard enough to make it clear it annoyed her. "We haven`t seen each other for half a year and the first thing you do is mocking my hair!? Its not like your hair is any better, you can barely see anything from those bangs of yours...", she said with a annoyed tone, mocking him back..like the old days. "For your information, i grew it long because i wanted to...a little change dosen`t hurt..". Her face soften up again, and the small smile came over her face again. "..Are you asking on how i am, or how soul soceity is doing?", she said with her tone getting serious for a moment.

Rukia reached up and took some of her long hair behind her left ear, turning halfway around so she was facing the sunset. "..I wish i could say that i had been doing fine..", she said as she placed her hand onto her chest, closing her eyes for a moment, letting the image of Byakuya run over her thoughts for a moment. She then turned her head towards him again, the smile returning. "By the way...i`m a vice captain now, so its Kuchiki-sama to you now, boy". Her tone had a teasing sound to it again, but it was clear in her eyes that she wasen`t lying about rank. "..How are you, Inoue and the others?.."

Ichigo could have dodged the slap that came by his way, he had expected something along those lines, he allowed himself to be slapped but not withouth conciquence, it was strange as her palm hit his cheek it did not hurt, as strange as it sounds it hardly even left a mark, she made her point which was good, he would allow himself to get annoyed at her as well, his lips parted w-what was that for?!? Ichigo asked raising his voice slightly and turning to lean down at her a bit just so that his head was no less than a feet away from each other their eyes met, he let his voice sound annoyed and particulary rude, exactly as he used to...

Same here! i grew it because i wanted to! nothing special... His attitude shifted with hers as she got more serious both he let the simple word flow out from his mouth as if the fact that he was the least concerned by her well being rather than Soulsociety`s, Ichigo raised an eye brown at her when she became quiet and placed her arm on her chest, he was just about to ask if something was wrong when she said "..I wish i could say that i had been doing fine.." his eyes widened slightly but only slightly as he started to wonder what the hell she was talking about? had her bathroom been leaking or had yachiru decided that Byakuya`s home was her motorway, actually the latter had happened already but Ichigo would not be suprised if she would have decided to go public about the matter... and let the "motorway" go public, Or then it was something even more urgent? maybe Byakuya had gotten himself some tatoos? yes that must be it... maybe Byakuya had finally realized how little talent her adoptive sister had in drawing? or maybe she discovered that he was in fact gay? that would explain so much and yet so little, as ichigo thought about what in the world it could be he got snapped back to reality by Rukia`s comment..

"By the way...i`m a vice captain now, so its Kuchiki-sama to you now, boy" Ichigo pretended to yawn as he placed his arm on her head and messed up her hair like how Kaien had done at some point in time Tsh as if that would ever happen! either that or Soul society must have gotten really sloppy! Ichigo had never thought about the possibility that she would gain the rank of a vice captain the mere thought was simply impossible at least for him, he thought she was mereley giving him a bad joke or something... he made no effort to intercept her eyes were hanging there... he spoke off course of her friends and himself... there was really not much to add...

"I`m glad to hear that...", she spoke with a slightly warm smile, before lowering her head slightly. She was confused, should she tell him the truth of what had happen to soul soceity, or just lie and let him live his normal life? She had already once forced him out of his normal life around 2 years ago, telling him this could destroy everything for him. With a light sigh, she hugged herself, letting her slender fingers grasp around her arms tightly. He didn`t have any shinigami powers...letting him know of this now, might be better than to keep it a secret for him. "..Ichigo...", she slowy began, her voice being lowered into its serious tone. "Around three months ago...Byakuya-sama..he..". She bit her lip for a moment, feeling a tear slide down her left cheek. Rukia placed a hand onto her left hip, the other one quickly wiping away the tear.

"Sorry..must have been something in my eye". She looked up at the night sky, her bangs hiding her sorrowful eyes from him. "Its getting late, and knowing you, you would probably catch a cold pretty fast out here without noticing it". She closed the jacket a bit closer around herself, looking over her shoulder at him. "..your coming?", she said in a fake demanding voice, a small smile being over her face. "Its been awhile since ive last been here, so i don`t really remember the way to your house..". It was clear that whatever she had been about to say, was something she wanted to discuss once they were at the Kurosaki Clinic.

(short sorry)

Wow she must be really depressed, she did not even sound mad at him for calling soul society sloppy let alone that he did not belive that she was indeed a vice captain now, geez man what on earth have you done byakuya, she called his name ichigo blinked for a second and got back to reality as he stared at Rukia what`s wrong? he listened to when she explained something about byakuya, ichigo`s eyes widened slightly with a confused expression he what? wait did he get married, no way he still probably griefs for Hisana`s death, wait that means he can`t be gay after all, Ichigo sighed, while rubbing his head while staring at Rukia. d-dont change the topic dammit! Ichigo rolled his eyes when she asked if he could come over, what the, it reminded him of the old times wait, where have you been sleeping over until now then? the hell with that! im fine... its YOU im more worried about at the moment idiot! here i have been running my life and you suddenly show up from nowhere you got any idea how long i thought i was actually going to see you again and after that i simply started to think that i would never see you... he said in a sort of an serious way, while trying to sound as nice as he could, he walked past rukia follow me

"...You always think to much..", she mumbled out loud, following him with her head lowered slightly. She walked up on his side, taking her hands into her pockets. Walking side by side towards his home..they had done it so many times when they finished a day of school, yet this time it felt like it was a first. Rukia kept her gaze forward, not even bothering to remove the long stains of hair from fluttering around her, she had gotten used to it. As they walked through the town in silence, she began to think once again. How would he react once she told him the entire truth? Would he demand for her to take him to soul soceity with Kisuke`s help, would he begin training himself so he could regain his shinigami powers, or a whole third thing? For some reason, Rukia saw the latter to be the right one. There was no reason to take him to soul soceity, if even they didn`t have an idea of what had happened. Training himself up just to save a place that already had rebuild itself, didn`t seem very likely either.

As they reached the clinic, the sun had gone down complety, leaving only the moon and stars to light the sky. Rukia noticed that there was no light in the house, it wasen`t so late yet, so it wasen`t likely that his family had gone to bed already, maybe they were out? Rukia looked up at Ichigo, wanting to break the silence. "..Does Kon still live here?", she asked in a relaxed tone, having always found it odd that the plushie had liked her the most, yet her chest was small compared to Inone`s and Rangiku`s.

Ichigo closed his eyes and acted as if he did not hear Rukia`s mumbling, once the approached the clinic it was already dark, there was but a slight breeze blowing in the area, all the windows where dark, which gave ichigo a light shudder, His father and sisters, where gone for a couple of weeks, and by now they had been gone for 1 week, Ichigo had work and school so he had not gone with them for their vacation to Hawaji just across the sea, in truth Ichigo had been a bit lonely in the house all by himself, which made him go eat out in bars and restoraunts... Ichigo opened the gate and stepped in towards the front door, he took his key from his pocket and unlocked it, he heard Rukia`s comment huh?... oh him, umm yeah he is around.... i think he pushed the door open with his palm, a shriek could be heard and Ichigo soon had a plushie in his face WHAT THE HELL OF AN TIME IS THIS TO COME HOME!!! leaving me here all alone, ICHIGO!! WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOU-R-R-R Kon`s eyes got teary eyed when he noticed Rukia sure she had changed but not so much that Kon would not reconice her R-R RUKIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!! Byaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah you came baaaack!!! Kon jumped from Ichigo`s face towards Rukia, towards her chest part, he had noticed a slight diffrence in that part too trough he did not hesitate to use this excuse to glomp rukia...

As the doll was about to reach the "godness valley", he was stopped by the back of Rukia`s hand, which slammed him into the floor of the entry. She kneeled down onto a single leg, taking him up by the head. "..Good to see you, Kon...have you been taking care of this dobe and his sisters?", she said in a light smile, her long hair falling slightly over a single shoulder. Even through Kon had annoyed her much in the past, she had kinda missed the small "lion". She stood up, allowing Kon to hold onto her arm, and poked her head inside the living room. A warm feeling came over her, a feeling of having come home. The only place she had ever felt that, was when she was in the Kuchiki manor. Not much had changed, the only thing that she noticed was changed, was a picture hanging on the wall. Both Karin and Yuzy had grown their hair slightly longer, Karin`s being tied into a high ponytail, while Yuzu`s was in pigtails. Isshin looked like himself, and she began too wonder how his and Ichigo`s relationship was now. Out of curiosity she had actually tried to look up information about isshin in soul soceity`s libary, but since she didn`t know how old he was, it would take her months to search through even half of it. He could also have changed his name when he deflected, making it even harder.

"..Your sisters has become beautiful..yet you still look the same", she said with a light smirk, turning her head towards him for a moment, a teasing look being in her eyes. She took off her shoes and walked up the stairs, stopping in front of his door, were the number 15 still was hanging, despite he was around 17 now. Insteed of going in, she placed her hand onto the frame of the door, leaning against it for a moment. "..Feels so nostalgic..to be back..".

Ichigo looked annoyed at Kon, what the hell of an greeting was that anyway? Kon did not seem to like too much how he was being treated by Rukia, but he did not complain either, a mere word of their sister made his "heart" skip a beat if he had any that is, Kon hated those two with passion, well hate was probably a strong word more like did not like them so much, especially yuzu, Those monsters tried to take me with them to some darn trip, so i had to hide until that monster gave up searching for little ol me! he started to cry slightly in an effort to gain Rukia`s favor once again Im happy i stayed, because Rukia came back! where have you been RUKIA!!!! he cried some more before he struggled up on her arm and up to her shoulder where he felt more safe than ever...

Ichigo sighed it had almost been too quiet here withouth his family, but kon was not exactly the company that he had been asking for, Ichigo raised an eye brown at Rukia when she told him that his sisters had changed a lot but that he had remained the same pretty much... what are ya saying? you haven`t changed much yourself either... Ichigo went straight to the kitchen and picked up some toast from the toaster, it was old from the morning but it would have to do for now, Ichigo nibbled a bit as he took a small bite he went to the living room and gazed out trough the window you where saying that something was wrong about Byakuya...

Rukia looked over at him for a moment, her eyes growing soft for a moment. She looked out of the nearby window, inorging Kon who had settled on her shoulder, at least it wasen`t on her chest. "..Byakuya nii-sama, along with most of the captains and vice captains, dissapeared 4 months ago..". She let the news hang in the air for a few moments, knowing that, that little sentence would fill his head with many thoughts and questions. After a few moments in silence, she took a step towards him, lifting her head. "Renji, Hitsugaya-taicho, Matsumoto-san and some of the others has returned..they have no memories of were they have been during their dissapearance. The new captain commander has demoted or fully stripped them of their ranks, until we learn more about what happend..". Yet again she let the news hang in the air, knowing that it might calm him down a little bit.

"Around one month ago, a patrol squad from the fifth division turned up at the Kuchiki manor. They brought Onii-sama`s scarf with them, it has been passed down from to the leaders of the clan through many generations, he never takes it off, unless forced to. The temporary family head gave it to me since im the closest family..of cause im glad that i have been given the task of watching over it until he returns...but it also means that they are looking for a new family head..". Rukia hugged herself, learning her head slightly to the left, so her cheek was resting against`s Kon`s soft head. "New captains has been found, as well as new vice captains. Since my skills in kido are good, i was promoted to the fifth division vice captain..". Rukia looked towards him again, finding herself pondering over how he would react.

Kon felt drained when Rukia ignored him, he let himself just lay there on her shoulder, he had no intentions to get pervy at this very moment, instead he listened to what she had to say along with Ichigo, Ichigo swallowed a nibbled bite, and turned to look at rukia with a dumbfounded look on his face, he stared at her with his toaster in his mouth, Ichigo was uncertain what to say, wait why was she telling him about this in the first place, he was not a shinigami anymore let alone a shinigami representative, there was nothing in his power that he could do about so why? Ichigo cleared out his mind and responded Why are you telling me this?... Rukia, you know better than anyone i have no longer... his words drowned aruptly, oh god he did not like to bring that up...

what do you want me to do about it? im sorry but i would like to help, but as i am now... i can`t.... .... Ichigo turned away from her in mid sentence, he glanced now down to the floor, then allowed himself to smile while he turned back to look at Rukia Lets go upstairs... Ichigo headed for the stairs leaving the toaster on the kitched table, suddenly he was not so hungry anymore...

She followed him into his room in silence, sitting herself on his bed before he really had time to comment on it. She swung her legs for a few moments, taking notice of the room. It haden`t changed much, he had gotten a slightly longer bed since he had grown taller, and his sheets were different, but that was about it. Rukia threw herself back onto the bed, enjoying the feeling of the soft madras against her slightly sore back, it had been a long time since she had slept on a soft bed, her usual bed was a thin rice mat in the kuchiki house. With her long hair sprawled out around her head, framing her small frame, her small size became even more clear, the bed seeming very large with her on it. She picked Kon up by his left arm, taking him off her shoulder for now.

"...Did i ever say i wanted your help? You simply asked and i answered...", she laid herself on the side, looking over at him. "Really, your just as stupid as you were when i meet you...". She remained on her side, spending a few moments on recalling their first meeting around 2 and a half years ago, were she had drawn him into the entire mess. When she first gave him his power, she had though he would die fast...but over and over, he had proven himself, and in the end, he had saved soul soceity and the human world from Aizen. He, more than anyone else, deserved to live as he wanted. She could feel some faint traces of reaitsu from him, but she guessed that, seeing how he his reaitsu had been so large before, some faint traces of it would always remain.

"...I missed you and the others a lot...", she said in a soft smile, not once moving from the bed.

Normally Ichigo would not have taken kindly to people calling him an idiot, then again rukia was not a normal friend of his what are ya saying you where the one who blurted out first something about byakuya, catching my attention... meh i guess it does not matter he took a seat at the table, watching his homework that had heaped up into quite a pile, he opened a book and read a few lines, history bleh so boring, he sighed loudly at Rukia`s comment and as a combination of the work, he was sure the captains and shinigami over all had it a lot better back in SS, no mind breaking puzzles and other idiotic math related questions above all else... what he would not do to return to SS even for a day... but would that be even possible at his current state?

same here... he mumbled over his breath when he was trying to read the history book, on the book there where people dressed as the shinigami where, Apperently it was accient history, Kon was going to give Ichigo a kick in the head any moment now for being so rude to Rukia, he had always been like that, he didn`t look at her but seemingly did not mind her lying there on his bed, over the course of time there had been plenty of people abusing his bed, including a few hollows, the entire room smelled of him, it was quite a pleasant smell to those who had gotten used to it over the years, off course Ichigo himself could not smell it, or anyone else who had spent more than a day in the house...

... so what happens next? he asked, still partially reading his book, and as he finished those words his eyes drifted towards rukia. off course he was talking about SS rather than her, if so many people had gone missing they would need to find replacements right?

"To be honost, i don`t know...but my guess is that everyone moves on. Sure the people that haven`t turned up will always be missed, but our duty as shinigami comes before emotions...for most at least. The new captain commander has been working up some ways to improve teamwork between the divisions, and the kido corps has begun to work again...Sebastian taicho does a good work as the fifth division captain, he seems friendly enough..". She stopped talking since she had begun to trail off again, wandering into a speach that could last hours, if not more. With a light sigh, she ran a hand through her hair, sitting up in the large bed. She began to swung her legs a little, looking at him once again. "Your as lazy with homework as before...you have grown on the outside, but on the inside your still the same idiot i meet two years ago, who has yet to find a girlfriend..".

Being satisfied with the amount of teasing for now, she reached under the bed, pulling out a average sized drawing note pad, half of it being filled with her chabby-themed drawings. She began to flip through the pages slowy, taking in the good memories the drawings brought her. She had sometimes spend hours on them, in an attempt to make Ichigo understand her artistic talents...it had always ended with him insulting her, resulting in a kick or hit to his head.

I thought you would say something like that... He smiled a bit and continued with his work when he heard Rukia`s comment about that he had not grown on the inside but that he had yet to find a girl friend Ichigo turned to look at Rukia for a moment, shutting the book that he had been reading on his eyes had narrowed and his left eye was twiching says the girl who`s 10 times older than me! he raised his voice slightly with a mixture of a playful annoyed tone... That`s when kon could not hold himself, he simply jumped towards Ichigo`s face yelling however Ichigo was ready this time, he grabbed kon`s head and opened Ichigo`s "closet" where Ichigo tossed him inside... and closed behind him...

He was teasing her back outright, a fight of honor that could last for hours to come...

As expected, no more than ten seconds went by, before his pillow was flung towards his head. "A girl can be very sensitive about her age, have some manners!", she raged back, standing up from her bed, her hands having clutched into fists. Despite the slightly matured face, longer hair, new rank, and the acceptance of the Kuchiki family, she haden`t changed much, she was still fully cable of getting angry at him. With a light sigh, she sat back down onto the bed, occupying herself with running her left hand over the sheets. "But your words are true truth...i just tend to forget how old i am. The time i spend with you, inoue and the others in the human world, made me feel as if this was my home". She laid herself back, the black hair getting sprawled around her body in an almost elegant way, as if she had been aiming for it to lay like that. With her gaze fixed onto the celling, she folded her hands onto her belly, letting her legs hang off the side of the bed.

"Most shinigami looses track of how old they are at some point. We age differently you know. Unohana taicho is above 600, yet she looks so young..and some elders in the kuchiki clan are only 100 years or so, and their hair has already grown white". She looked at ichigo briefly, before returning her gaze to the celling. "I wonder how old i am right now? I`m not 70 yet...maybe 64? who knows..i`m young compared to other shinigami`s you know", she said with a small smirk. As she sat up again, she took out her "cellphone", and began to click on its buttons, focusing her gaze onto it. Right now, she looked like a teen girl who was texting with her friends about school work or boys, and not a shinigami vice captain who was searching for hollow traces or checking up with soul society

Ichigo turned to back to look at Rukia, only to get a pillow in the face, as it dropped between his feet a rather annoyed facial expression stared at her Hai hai Hime-chan (princess) Ichigo replied with a very bored tone and allowed himself to yawn slightly, her words did not suprise him that much, she had felt at home he could understand that, Ichigo turned back to his homework again as he listened for Rukia`s words half intrested, as rukia started fiddling with her phone the sound of each button pushed started to annoy him could you shut that thing up, im trying to read!? Ichigo sighed as he stared at Rukia, he would never get his home work done like this...

"Make me!", she snapped angrily at him, not even looking up from the phone. She contineod on clicking on it, trying to get the range of the sensor further. It began to beep all of a sudden, a hollow had appeared around 3 miles away. She stopped herself from looking up at Ichigo, and just sat there, looking at the phone with a blank stare. She closed it slowy, hugging herself for a moment. She had been close to lifting her head, yelling to ichigo to get out of his body and then run with him to finish up the hollow. It had been around 5 months since they last had seen eachother, yet she still thought of the old days. With a light sigh, she opened up the phone again, noticing the signal had dissapeared. "Ishida...he`s chasing the hollows now, aren`t he?", she said in a neutral tone, at least she tried to act neutral. She laid the phone back into her pocket, pulling off her long coat, folding it next to her on the bed.

"..You would`t mind if i slept here well? All the memories i have from this house will become to much unless i spend a night here". Playing with some stains of her long hair between her fingers, she looked over at Ichigo again, standing up this time. She walked over to his side, glancing down uninterested at the book for a moment. She then picked up the pillow, throwing it back onto the bed. "Be glad that i`m not in the mood to kick you in the face..", she said in her usual teasing smile. She went over to were Kon had placed himself, and picked him up by his head. She dropped him onto Ichigo`s head, closing her arms under her chest with a amused smirk.

Ichigo was slightly angry at her for the attitude she was displaying, either way he did not say anything about it, it was pointless either way, Ichigo realized that a hollow had appeared when it started beeping off suddenly, only after a few moments the signal had dissapeared once more, he heard Rukia`s suspicion and thought the same as her yeah probably... he sometimes does that during class too... Ichigo explained while working, he picked his book up and tried to relax slightly while reading, she spoke again and Ichigo raised an eyebrown at her when he let his gaze fall over her from the pages of his book Did i ever say i would forbid you? Naturally you can sleep over as often as you want Ichigo replied but continued Just make sure its not on my bed... Ichigo tried to remain as neutral as possible when Rukia tried to tease him Be glad that im allowing you to sleep over despite your arrogant words... Ichigo said in a most unintrested tone he could give...

when Rukia brought kon on his head the plushie flew out trough the open window Ichigo gave a rather manly yell while Kon yelled Rukia`s name while flying out, Ichigo closed his window and continued to read after about 1 hour he was done with the home work and had prepared his bed, changed into his pyjamas and was preparing to enter his own bed, he had even given Rukia the pyjamas that she had used to wear in the past, and it still seemed to fit her decently, honestly Ichigo was not suprised... Are you going to sleep or are you going to keep up with the phone of yours forever? he asked, he had prepared her bed as well, where she usually would sleep...

Rukia was sitting on knees in his bed, looking at her reflection in his dark window. Since she haden`t grown in height, it haden`t become to short. The curves and grown chest of her slightly matured body could be seen. The long black hair fell down loosely around her body, the very tips of it being just an inch or two above her waist. "in a moment..", she mumbled, running a hand through her bangs she had kept in the same style since they first meet, since her academy days to be exact. Her phone was held loosely in her left hand, she didn`t seem very interested in looking after hollows at the moment. After a few moments in silence, she got off the bed, the moonlight screaming in from behind, engulfing her in his almost ghostly light. "...you remember what i used to sleep in and even how i used to make my bed..that`s charming and kinda creepy in a way", she said with a little smirk, feeling a little late night teasing to be in place.

She walked up to him, her small height again becoming clear. She reached up and laid her hands onto his chest firmly. It was strange for her to do such a thing, but her true colors showed through a few moments later. Rukia pushed onto his chest, sending him up against the closet door. "Time that with 5, and thats how hard i will kick you if you even consider snoring!", she said while putting her hands on her hips, a teasing smirk coming over her face again. She walked over to the closet door, opening it half so she could come in. She looked over her left shoulder, smiling softly towards him. "Good night, Ichigo.."

Ichigo sighed as he could hear her phone beeping again this time twice in a row, two more hollows had appeared, but shortly there after the beeping stopped, dammit Ishida, when do you have time to do homework when your out all night? Ichigo asked himself only to hear Rukia`s comment`s shut up... during the years i suppose its just become a almost weekly ritual Ichigo answered while he turned to look at Rukia after he was done What`s so creepy about that dumbass, its you who still are not very comfy with being in the human world admit it... Ichigo sighed again before Rukia placed her hands on his chest Ichigo was sure he was seeing things, he raised an eye brown at her Ichigo became slightly suprised, why on earth was she acting like she was? Ichigo tilted his head to the left blinking, waiting for an responce, there was a certain suspicion in her way, but Ichigo did not stop her, then his suspicions hit the spot when she confirmed his suspicion, more aggravated assumptions, Ichigo sighed again and holded in a yawn

the hell, i thought you had grown used to sleeping in my room already... and for the record i don`t snore he placed his arm on her head and ruffled her hair like how kaien shiba had done in the past If you can`t stand sleeping here then go back to Urahara or something he teased back at her before he headed back for his bed he turned out the ligths and then pulling away the sheets, he opened the window letting kon back in again, Ichigo was too tired to listen on kon`s ranting or Rukia`s bold teasing, he laid down Good night... and fell asleep almost instantly, quietly breathing, sleeping...

Rukia crawled into the closet and spend the next half hour, just watching his sleeping figure from her spot. She had allowed Kon to sleep at her feet, she had even given him one of Ichigo`s shirts to sleep with as a pillow. He was actually good company, when you learned to see past his many flaws. The same could be said about Ichigo. Rukia sometimes saw a tender and caring side within the former shinigami, she had such a side also, but like him, she rarely showed it. She knew that he deeply cared for his family, but now that he knew that his father was a former captain, she wondered how their relationship were. Rukia could`t really image them sitting down, talking about zanpaktou`s or how soul society has changed over time. She came to the conclusion, that both of them just tried to live normal lifes. His father seemed to have put his shinigami life behind him, and so would Ichigo in due time. Her thoughts fell over on how Ichigo would be when he grew older. Would he marry and get a couple of kids like his father? Or would be pressure a career in fighting? Or maybe he would become a police man and protect living humans against living evil, instead of protecting the dead against the dead evil. She held back a smile, she could`t really imagine Ichigo becoming a father, at least not if his personality didn`t mature. He just didn`t seem like the guy who would marry and just settle with an everyday life. Rukia eventually decided to settle down for the night, and she fell asleep quicker than she had done in months...

The beeping sound of her phone intterupted her sleep, it was only at the fourth beep that she managed to get up, rub her eyes a little, and slide open the phone. She slided the closet door open slowy and looked at Ichigo. He was still sleeping, not snoring as always. She held the phone against her left ear, pressing on the speaking button. "This is Vice captain of the fifth division, Kuchiki Rukia speaking..who is it?". "RUKIA! WERE ARE YOU!?", the yelling voice of Renji sounded from the phone, which was probably loud enough to awake the neightboors, and escpecially Ichigo. Rukia held her hand over the phone, holding it against her ear. "I was sleeping..what is it?", "where are you? Uruhara-san called and asked after you, you never returned for dinner. I told him that you probably were out hunting hollows, but i wanted to make sure you were okay". Rukia let out a little sigh, pulling her knees up to her chin, hugging it with her left arm. "I`m okay...i`m sleeping at Ichigo`s place..i probably will the rest of my time here, but he won`t allow it if we keep talking..it will just awake him". There was a long pause, she was letting Renji take the news that she had meet with Ichigo. "His powers haven`t returned well?", the voice of her childhood friend said, in a much more mature and caring voice. Renji was kinda like Ichigo at times, he was easy to anger, but could also be caring and worry for others. "No..they probably won`t...you should`t worry about stuff like that, he has done his time as shinigami..he is allowed to live a normal life...we both know that he deserves it more than anyone else"". Again there was a long pause, the only sound being Kon who had been screaming complains on the floor for serveral minutes now.

"..Goodnight, Rukia...i`ll see you when you return". The phone clicked before she had a chance to say something in return. Despite Renji had been demoted to an unseated officer, and she had become a vice captain, they still hung out a lot. He was the only person whom she could speak freely about Byakuya to. Renji had been close to his captain, even made it his goal to surpass him. Rukia picked up Kon by the head, silencing his rambling by stuffing his head against the closet door.