Isshin looked across the kitchen table where everyone was eating their breakfast. But his attention was mostly focused on the orange head sitting to his left.
When Isshin went to wake up his son this morning, he reacted like he usually did: punched Isshin right back. But Ichigo became unusually quiet when he came into the kitchen… correction: when he suddenly saw Rukia.
The ex-shinigami knew right away that something was going on, or something had already happened between the two.
"Gochisoosama," Ichigo said as he placed down his empty bowl and stood up. Without glancing back, he grabbed his bag and headed out the door.
"Itterrashi!" Yuzu called out to her brother as she cleared the table of his utensils.
Rukia took a gulp of her water before slowly rising up to follow him. "Thanks for the meal Yuzu! I'll see you later!"
Yuzu and Karin waved goodbye but Isshin only sat still, watching the two forms of Ichigo and Rukia disappear as the front door closed behind them. His daughters didn't seem to have noticed the silence between the two.
Ring ring ring
Isshin got out of his trance when the phone rang. He got out of his seat and walked over to his phone and picked it up with his usual, happy tone. "Moshi moshi? This is the handsome Dr. Kurosaki Isshin speaking!"
"Kurosaki-san!" Urahara's voice spoke through the other line with a singing tone, "I have something very important to discuss with you! Can you meet me?"
"Why, of course! When?"
"Right now!"
MEANTIME…
Ichigo and Rukia quietly walked around the corner, now officially two blocks away from their home. And without a word, Ichigo grabbed Rukia by the wrist and dragged her to a small alleyway where no one could see them.
"Ichi—mmh" Rukia's words got cut off as Ichigo smashed his lips against hers and passionately kissed her. Her shocked eyes relaxed and slowly responded as her arms encircled around Ichigo's neck.
When Ichigo could no longer breathe he pulled himself off of Rukia and looked into her eyes.
Rukia stared back and smirked. "How long have you been waiting to do this?"
"Since last night," Ichigo smirked back.
Rukia lightly chuckled as Ichigo slowly took her lips again. It was still a bit odd for them to display so much affection to one another. But whenever they go a day without even so much as touch one another, life almost seemed unbearable.
It's been a few days since they shared their first nights together. At first it was odd, pretending like nothing happened in front of others. But when they got time for themselves, Ichigo and Rukia would always lock themselves in his room or wherever was quiet and had a lock. They've been officially 'sleeping' together for awhile now (though they never had time for actual sleep) and it seemed nobody was aware of it. Ichigo was just glad that Byakuya and Renji hadn't shown up at his house unexpectedly. Ichigo wasn't afraid to stand up to them since he was confident he could beat the two shinigami, but was afraid of how it might affect Rukia. So Ichigo was very cautious and only 'touched' her when they were one hundred percent sure they were alone.
Ichigo brought up his hand and pulled Rukia's head a little bit more to the side so he could push his tongue deeper into her throat when suddenly Rukia's phone started to beep.
Hollow Hollow Hollow
Ichigo groaned as pushed himself off of Rukia to grab his screeching badge.
Talk about bad timing.
"I think this is the first time in quite awhile you look pissed about an order," she commented as she pulled out her spirit phone.
"Don't tell me you aren't?" Ichigo snorted as he used his badge to turn into a shinigami.
Rukia shrugged her shoulders as she reached for Ichigo's badge. "We're going to be late for class either way," she responded.
The two quickly hid their bodies behind some bushes and went after the Hollow.
"Down there!" Rukia shouted as she pointed below where a huge Hollow was chasing after the soul of a young girl.
"I'm gonna end this quick!" Ichigo shouted. He pulled out Zangetsu from his back and pointed it downwards as he fell on top of the Hollow.
Rukia shook her head, watching the sloppy job Ichigo was doing as he fought against the Hollow. Suddenly the Hollow made a run for it and Ichigo angrily chased after it. Rukia could no longer see the two from where she was. She landed on the ground and noticed the little girl crying as she kept running away.
"W-wait!" Rukia called out as she chased the girl. It didn't take too long to catch up to her since she was still little. Rukia grabbed her shaking shoulders and pulled on it. "I said stop—"
"Don't kill me!" she cried. Rukia quickly let go and the girl fell on the ground. Her crying intensified as she screamed for her mother.
Feeling sorry for the frightened girl Rukia knelt down and gave her a soft smile. "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm here to help you."
The little girl slowly looked up but didn't stop crying. "Really?"
Rukia nodded her head.
The soul must have felt better after seeing Rukia's smile because she wiped her tears and gave a small smile as she spoke, "Will you help me find my mommy?"
The sudden question caught Rukia off-guard. "Well…," she rubbed the back of her neck, not sure how to respond to that question, "I'd like to but you see… well, um…"
"That's okay. I know I'm dead," the girl responded. Rukia snapped her head up and looked at the girl with disbelief. She tried to say something but only stuttered. The little girl lightly giggled at the older woman's response. "I've been dead for some time now. My mommy told me…But she disappeared one day when I woke up…" She stopped speaking as tears formed in her eyes again.
Rukia didn't know what to do in situations like this. For all she knew, the mother could have been sent to Soul Society already or she could have been eaten by a Hollow. Rukia sighed as she slowly pulled out her Zanpakotou. "I don't know exactly where your mother is, but I can assure you that you'll find peace in Soul Society. And maybe, just maybe your mother is already waiting for you there."
"Soul Society… is it Heaven?" the girl blinked.
Rukia nodded as she brought the hilt towards the soul's forehead. "Yes," she softly replied as she lightly tapped the soul and a beam of light engulfed the child. Soon she was replaced by a Hell's Butterfly, flying off into the sky before disappearing.
"That went well," she smiled.
"What did?" a cold voice spoke behind her.
Rukia's breathing became harder as strong reiatsu suddenly surrounded her. She slowly turned around and before her saw an arrancar stepping out of his portal.
The arrancar looked around before setting his eyes on Rukia again. He gave her a perverted smile and laughed. "I've been looking for someone with high reiatsu to feed on and it looks like I finally found one. A pretty one at that."
Rukia released her Zanpakutou into its Shikai form and held her stance, ready to attack the moment the arrancar came at her. But he kept looking at her with a disgusting smirk, lightly chuckling by himself.
"What's so funny?" she asked, not really interested.
The arrancar crossed his arms over his chest. Slowly the took a step to the side, Rukia turning as well to keep them face-to-face, and he tried to circle around her as if eyeing a piece of art. "Ara. It seems that the new reiatsu I've been sensing these days have been coming from you, my pretty shinigami."
Rukia raised an eyebrow as her body tensed. "What are you saying?" she asked, now interested in what was going through the arrancar's mind.
"My my, don't tell me a shinigami such as yourself hasn't realized the sudden change in your own reiatsu pattern. Soul Society must be getting rusty these days," he chuckled.
It was official: Rukia really did not like this guy. "I really don't care about what you're saying so I'll end this quick!" she shouted as she charged towards the arrancar with Sode No Shirayuki.
The arrancar smirked as he pulled out his weapon and blocked Rukia's attack. "Too weak!" he bellowed as he pushed back with more force.
Rukia skidded on the ground but quickly found her footing again. But before she could charge for another attack, the arrancar was already in front of her, bringing down his weapon straight to her head. With all her might and speed Rukia lifted Sode No Shirayuki and their weapons collided against each other, sparks flying as they struggled to push past each other.
"It's a shame you still don't know how to tap into that amazing power of yours," the bastard whispered as he licked his lips, "But I'll still take my time and enjoy this meal!"
"EUGH!" Rukia growled as the arrancar surged out more of his reiatsu and pushed Rukia's defense closer to her. Dammit Ichigo! Where are you? Rukia thought to herself, noticing that this arrancar was a lot stronger than he looked.
Suddenly, Rukia felt a sudden urge of reitasu forming within in. Her hold on her Zanpakutou tightened and with a yell she pushed with all her might.
The arrancar, who was shocked at the sudden new displaying of strength, pushed harder as his smile disappeared and got replaced with a serious frown. "AURGH!" he grunted as Rukia's reitasu intensified. It was starting to shoot out of her like bullets, cutting his skin! The arrancar got pushed back completely and flew several yards away.
Rukia was breathing deeply, confused as to how she suddenly got so much power. She looked up when she heard the arrancar suddenly laughing as he got up.
"MUHAHAHAHAH! Just as I had expected! Your reiatsu is so great I can't wait to eat it!" He screamed as he charged at her with full force. His frown got once again replaced with his smile but it was now looking more menacing and crazy.
Rukia took a step back. Sure she still didn't know where her powers were coming from but that doesn't mean she can't use it to her advantage. Besides, she had to end this quick if she wanted to make it to school in time. "First Dance: White Moon," she called out as her Zanpakutou glowed.
A white circle surrounded the shocked arrancar and suddenly shot upwards. "NOOOO!" he screamed until his voice got cut off as his body got frozen with a thick layer of ice, glistening in the sun. As Rukia gracefully returned Sode No Shirayuki into its sheath, the ice cracked and the arrancar inside fell into tiny pieces.
"Rukia."
The said woman turned around and smiled upon seeing Ichigo land on the ground next to her. "Where were you?" she pouted.
But Ichigo was not in the mood for games. He frowned as the pieces of the arrancar started to dissipate, and when it was all gone Ichigo yanked on Rukia's arm and examined her. "Are you okay? Did you get hurt? Where did that arrancar come from?"
Rukia yanked her arm out of Ichigo's painful grasp and kicked him. "Baka! Of course I'm fine, that is until you pulled on my arm."
Ichigo pouted, still examining her.
Rukia sighed as she rubbed her temples with her fingers and said, "Ichigo, really I'm fine so will you just stop?"
"Then explain to me where that reiatsu came from," Ichigo asked with a deep scowl. When Rukia turned away to try and avoid the question Ichigo gently grabbed her chin and pulled her towards him. "I'm not letting you off that easily. Tell me what's going on."
Rukia sighed and shook her head as she said, "I really don't know."
"How is that possible?" he asked as he brought his hand down.
"Wish I knew," she responded with a shrug, "I suddenly felt this weird strength coming out of me and I used it. And it made my attack a lot stronger."
"We know why!" cried out two voices in unison.
Ichigo and Rukia turned around to see Isshin and Urahara sitting on a bench. They were drinking some tea and looked as if they were watching a movie.
"How long have you two been there?" Ichigo raised a questioning eyebrow.
Isshin and Urahara got up and walked over.
"Long enough," Urahara fanned himself.
Isshin nodded. But when he made eye-contact with Ichigo, it sparkled. "ICHIGOOO!"
"AH!" Ichigo had no time to defend himself when his dad suddenly ran the last few feet and grabbed him into a huge bear hug. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"
"Ichigo! I am so proud of you, my son!" Isshin cried with tears rolling down his eyes, "You have truly proven yourself as a man!"
"What are you saying?" Ichigo shouted as he shoved his father away. But that was probably not a good idea because Isshin was now closer to Rukia and the old man took the chance to hug her.
"My third-daughter… NO! You are now officially my daughter-in-law! Oh, I'm so happy!" He cried.
"Ano," Rukia awkwardly spoke, "What are you saying?"
"No need to be shy Rukia-chan! I know of your relationship with my son!" Isshin cried out with a wide grin. Blushes ran across both Ichigo and Rukia's face as Isshin continued. "And I'm also very much aware that you two had 'connected,'" he winked with a fake blush.
"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?" Ichigo yelled as he tore his father away from Rukia who looked like she was about to faint.
"Ara," Urahara continued fanning himself, "Looks like things are getting violent."
"Nothing I can't handle," Isshin gave his friend a thumb's up.
Ichigo glared at the two men and grabbed Rukia's wrist. "We're leaving—"
"Not if you want to know what Rukia's new powers are all about!" Urahara yelled after them with a smug expression.
Rukia's ears perked up and came to a halt. Ichigo felt her body no longer moving and stopped himself, dropping his head in defeat. It seems like Rukia was determined to stay behind, even if it meant going through the embarrassing talks with his father.
Rukia turned around and stared at Urahara. "So you know?"
Urahara smiled widely as his eyes peered over his hat. "Of course. Why else would we be here?"
"Then hurry up and tell us," Ichigo grunted, "We still have school to get to."
"Blah. Who needs school now that you two are fully adults," Isshin smirked.
Ichigo raised his fist, ready to hit his father if Rukia hadn't stopped him. She just quickly glared at Urahara but also begged him to hurry up and tell them.
Urahara smirked as he fanned himself. "It's quite simple. When the two of you had, dare I say, 'sex', it automatically transferred some of Kurosaki-kun's enormous reiatsu into you, Kuchiki-san, thus you sudden increase in strength. And this was how we knew what had happened to you two."
Ichigo blinked his eyes a few times. "So what does that mean? Am I weaker now?"
"Nope. It just means that your shared some of your reiatsu with Kuchiki-san, triggering something inside her that allowed her to release more reiatsu. All in all, Kuchiki-san was able to obtain more power from you. Isn't that sweet?"
Ichigo only blushed and was about to retort but Rukia smack his arm to shut him up. She looked at the two older men who were now giggling. She sighed as she asked, "Is this normal? And will this happen again if we…um, you know."
"Don't worry Rukia-chan," Isshin replied, "It's is a normal occurrence between two people with high reiatsu levels. And it only happens the first time so no needs to stop yourselves from enjoying your youths. I guess you can see it as a form of 'biding' one's soul to another as they share and sacrifice their power for each other."
Ichigo rubbed the back of his head, still confused to all the unnecessary information that just smacked his head. He sighed and looked at the woman in front of him. "Com'on Rukia, we still have to go to class."
Rukia looked up and nodded. The two bid their farewells and walked away when Urahara sang out after them to come by his store afterschool with Chad, Orihime and Uryuu.
A/N: I know the whole Rukia's-new-power thing is a bit odd but it plays a role in later chapters. Please be patient and wait for it! I'm so trying my best to spend more time with this fic...
What might Urahara and Isshin have to say to the group? Find out NOW!
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