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[Bleach] Setting Sun, Rising Moon (9/12)
Title: Setting Sun, Rising Moon (part 9 of 12)
Rating: PG for this chapter
Word Count: 2,293
Summary: Half a century ago, Ichigo became a substitute shinigami while he was still alive. At the end of that life, it's time to become the real thing, but with death comes unexpected challenges-not the least of which is that presented by seeing Rukia again for the first time in years.
Chapter nine: On inter-office politics, unexpected ichthyology, and seizing the day.
Spoilers: Assumes knowledge of all characters and events leading up to the winter war, but as this takes place in the future, historical references are largely creative inventions.
To chapter one
To chapter two
To chapter three
To chapter four
To chapter five
To chapter six
To chapter seven
To chapter eight
Setting Sun, Rising Moon: Chapter 9
“Kurosaki-san, is something bothering you?”
“What?” Ichigo looked up from his reports, annoyed that his train of thought had been broken. He was just starting to get a feel for the rhythm of how this place ran, and how he could run it. It wasn't at all like he was focusing on work to avoid thinking about the past romantic entanglements of his friends.
Maybe if he told himself that enough, he would actually believe it.
Hinamori rested her chin on one hand. “You're holding your pen as if you’re trying to snap it in half,” she pointed out. “And you’ve been reading that same report for ten minutes.”
“I'm just trying to be thorough.”
She pursed her lips. “Maybe it’s not my place to say it…”
"Go ahead." He shrugged. "It's not my place to tell you when you can talk."
“Perhaps you should speak to Vice-Captain Kuchiki.”
He slumped back in his seat, too surprised to feign denial. “Damn. Is it that obvious?”
“Actually, no,” she said reassuringly. “Only a little. And you have the same expression Kuchiki-san had the night she came to proposition you with tea, so I assumed-“
“Woah, woah, wait. Back up.” He jumped to his feet and waved his hands in front of her even as he tried to force the words to make sense in his mind. “The night she WHAT?”
“You hadn’t realized it yet?” Hinamori blinked.
“No! What-there’s nothing to realize! It was just tea!”
"Tea and the chance to talk," she pointed out. "It was easy to see at the time, but I didn't feel it was my place to say anything. She seemed quite emotional."
“I had tea with Unohana the other night and I’m damn sure she wasn’t trying to start anything with me,” he said. “Er. She wasn’t, right?”
“I doubt it,” she said. “That would only give Captain Zaraki more reason to want to fight you?”
“What?! No, wait. I don’t want to know.”
Hinamori's eyes sparkled with amusement. “Still.”
“Rukia doesn’t have a problem saying what she thinks," he insisted. "Loudly. If she wanted tea and…stuff…she’d just say so.”
“Maybe.”
“Not maybe! That’s just how she is!”
“Many people act more confident than they are,” she said. “That’s part of being brave. You could always ask her yourself.”
Ichigo paused at that, imagining what that would be like. Rukia had acted strangely around him, but after what she'd confessed about how Renji had "helped" her get over him, he'd assumed it was because she didn't want to tell him about her past with the other man. “I wouldn’t want to put her on the spot like that.”
Hinamori nodded. "Hmm.”
Women and their confusing secret codes once again. He'd never get it. “`Hmm’ what?”
“Nothing. Just `hmm.’”
“You are one insubordinate vice-captain,” he grumped.
“Just doing my job.” She signed a report. “Sir.”
“Some job,” he said, frowning as he stared into space. He still couldn't quite bring himself to trust in Hinamori's words. But then, she seemed pretty confident, and he certainly wasn't always the most perceptive guy. Moreover, he wanted to believe in her assessment of the situation; it sent a shot of hope through him, along with just a touch of terror.
She picked up another report. “May I ask a personal question?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“What do you think is the worst that could happen if you said something?”
“I could fuck up our friendship, for starters,” he said. “What’s left of it.” If he lost what relationship he had left with Rukia...it didn't bear thinking about.
“Aah.”
“Hey.” He was starting to get annoyed. “That’s a big deal.”
“I know,” she said, eyes soft. “But if your friendship is strong, it will survive. There are worse things than a little awkwardness.” She touched her stomach lightly. “It isn't as if she'd want to hurt you simply for having feelings for her."
Ichigo winced. Privately, he thought maybe he’d prefer getting stabbed in the stomach to messing things up with Rukia again, but that wouldn’t be the best thing to say to out loud. “You've made your point.”
“In any case, you’re free to go if you have somewhere you’d like to be.” She leaned back, stretching her arms. “We’ve been at this enough for one day.”
“Hey, aren't I supposed to dismiss you, Vice-Captain?" Then again, she still knew more than he did about the division. "Anyway, I'm not tired. We could get more done.”
“Take advantage of the free time while you can. Once everything is official, we’ll be spending many more hours here,” she said. “The ceremony is in two weeks. Do you think you'll be ready?”
“Shit.” He blinked. “That soon? I hadn’t even realized.”
She nodded. “Captain Hisagi asked me to let you know he wants to go over a few final things before the transfer, but you’re coming along well. He’s not worried about the change of command anymore.”
“So he was before, huh? Heh. As long as he doesn't try to micromanage things when he's gone.”
“It’s hard to let go," she said. "Even when it's the right thing.”
“No kidding,” he said, and pushed his chair back to stand. “See you tomorrow, then.”
"Good luck, Kurosaki-san," she said, smiling.
He set off with every intention of going to see Rukia. At the very least, he should check how she was doing after being released from the fourth. At the most…well, he’d figure that out when the time came.
He found himself walking towards the ninth division instead.
Maybe it was because the work day was well over, but no one stopped him from heading right to the main office-where there was no captain to be found. A sliding door in the back of the room was open, though, and Ichigo stepped through to find Renji sitting there, overlooking a koi pond. “Yo.”
“Ichigo.” Renji nodded at him. "Knew that was you. You still can’t keep your reiatsu to yourself.”
“You’re just oversensitive.”
“Whatever. Sit if you want.”
Ichigo sat and wondered what exactly what he wanted to say. So Renji had been involved with Rukia-big deal. It wasn’t like Ichigo had never been aware of the other man’s feelings. As long as he avoided certain mental pictures, he could handle the past.
The present was trickier. What was the proper way to ask an old friend if he was still sleeping with your mutual ex-girlfriend? What if Renji said no? Ichigo would feel like a complete ass for throwing it in his face.
What if he said yes?
He wasn't sure what he'd do then. If Rukia was truly out of his reach for good, Ichigo didn't want to know about it-even if he needed to.
“What’s on your mind?” Renji asked. “If Ikkaku sent you to persuade me to join them, you can tell him to go screw.”
“What?”
“That fishing thing he and Yumichika and Yachiru are doing this weekend,” he said. “They like to go out into Rukongai once in a while. Yumi says it’s about nolstalgia and re-forging their bonds of friendship, but I think he just thinks it’s funny when Ikkaku spears fish with Hoozukimaru. Yachiru just grabs `em with her bare hands. Captain Zaraki knows better, but they always try and drag some others along for kicks.”
“Uh, no,” Ichigo said, thrown off-balance by this choice of topic. “He didn’t send me. But thanks for the warning. I’ll make sure to avoid him the rest of today.”
“No problem.” Renji glanced at him. “Thought he might’ve because he told me you guys talked yesterday.”
Their eyes met.
“He did, huh.”
“He thought you might be interested in…fishing.”
Ichigo frowned. The hell? He’d braced himself for something-anger, an apology, something-and here Renji was just going on about a damn fishing trip neither of them cared about when-
Oh. This was one of those metaphor things.
“Yeah,” he said, picking his words carefully. “We talked about fishing. I hadn’t gone in a while. Busy being old, you know.”
“That’d be a problem.” Renji leaned back on his hands. “Thinking of trying it again now that you’re hale and hearty?”
“I suppose I could. It might be nice. Wouldn’t know until I tried. Not sure if it’s a good idea, though. I’m still figuring this place out and, uh, I don’t really know the good spots. Maybe I should just leave it in the past.”
“The fishing.”
Ichigo wondered if Renji felt as moronic as he did. “Right. Fishing.”
“I used to know a good spot,” Renji said in a low tone. “Had some good times there.”
Ichigo tensed. “Really.”
Renji looked away. “But not anymore. Not in a long time.”
Ichigo let out a long breath. The sense of relief was so palpable he felt lightheaded. “That’s…that’s too bad.”
“It’s all right.” Renji shrugged. “I still stop by, just to make sure everything’s okay there. But I found a new fishing spot. It’s working out okay so far. If you wanna try the one I had…well, I can’t lay any claim to it. Up to you to decide if it works for you.”
“Thanks,” Ichigo said, trying to keep the surge of elation down. As much as he wanted to run straight to Rukia, he wanted to make sure things were settled with Renji, too. A friend was a friend. “Cuz I’ve been thinking I’d really like to. But I don’t want to intrude somewhere I’m not wanted.”
Renji snorted. “You’ve been doing that your whole life, Ichigo. But you should be okay. I’m pretty sure you should check this place out.”
“Aah.” Ichigo stood. “Maybe I should do that now.”
“Ichigo.” Renji turned to him, his expression deadly serious. “I don’t have to tell you that if you hurt her, I will beat the shit out of you.”
He just nodded, not breaking eye contact. On this subject, they were in complete agreement.
Ichigo didn’t bother considering that he might find Rukia anywhere but in her office. She’d probably gotten a damn rash just from taking time off to heal. Even if her division was crowded with shinigami, he'd be damned if he let them stop him now.
She was at her desk when he arrived, writing industriously. Same old Rukia. Too damn predictable. He didn’t try to resist the smile this thought prompted. “Rukia.”
She looked up in surprise. “Ichigo.”
“Hey.” His mouth was dry. “We need to talk.”
“Now?” She looked nervous. “I would be happy to speak with you, but I really must finish these reports for Captain Ukitake.“
“Yes, now.” He strode forward.
She jumped up from her seat and snatched up the papers. “Just let me give these to the captain and we can find a better place-“
He stepped in front of her. “Forget them.” He put his hands on her shoulders. She stared up at him with wide eyes. “Rukia-I don’t-“ Dammit, the words wouldn’t come. “Oh, fuck it,” he mumbled.
”What are you-“
Ichigo slid his arms down around her waist, pulled her close, and bent her back to kiss her.
Rukia’s papers dropped to the floor.
If any part of the world existed beyond Rukia in his arms and her mouth against his, Ichigo wasn’t aware of it. This is it. What I’ve been missing. She was warm and soft and his neck didn’t hurt at all from leaning over her. Even with her off balance, it was easy to support her as he kissed her. She still fit. They still fit together.
Rukia moved her arms up his, holding onto his sleeves. Her lips moved softly under his. After a moment--an hour? A year?--he pulled away just far enough to see her face. He could still feel her breath against his lips.
At some point Rukia had closed her eyes. They fluttered open again and he smiled. She looked a little dazed. He had just enough time to feel proud of causing this before she reared back and slammed her forehead into his nose. Ichigo’s world exploded in pain.
“OW! What the fuck?!” He clamped his hands over his nose, dropping Rukia as he did so. She staggered backwards, nearly falling over.
“What the hell are you doing?” she hissed.
“What am I doing? You just broke my nose, you bitch!”
“It is not even bleeding, fool! And don’t change the subject! And be quiet! My captain is in the other room at this very moment!” Her face was lit up with ire.
He prodded his nose and immediately wished he hadn’t. “Might not be broken, but it still hurts like fuck! What was that for?”
“What was that for?” she repeated incredulously. “What was it for? Ichigo! You do not just march into someone’s office and manhandle them without even asking permission! What were you thinking?”
“I guess I wasn’t.”
Rukia glared at him like she wanted him to drop into a hole. At the moment, he wouldn’t mind. “I should think not,” she snapped.
Anger flared in him. “Dammit, Rukia! I wasn’t trying to embarrass you! I just-after what you said the other night-“
“What I said?” Her fierce expression began to drain away. “What did I say?”
“Nothing. It doesn’t matter anymore,” he said.
“Ichigo-“
“Sorry. I guess I just lost my head. I’ll go.” He turned and walked away, glad she couldn’t see his face anymore. He’d been so sure.
He paused at the door and tried to think of something to say that could possibly salvage the situation before fleeing to his quarters and never coming out.
He was stopped by the feeling of a small hand on his back.
“Wait.”
--
Next chapter: "Take off your pants."
Rating: PG for this chapter
Word Count: 2,293
Summary: Half a century ago, Ichigo became a substitute shinigami while he was still alive. At the end of that life, it's time to become the real thing, but with death comes unexpected challenges-not the least of which is that presented by seeing Rukia again for the first time in years.
Chapter nine: On inter-office politics, unexpected ichthyology, and seizing the day.
Spoilers: Assumes knowledge of all characters and events leading up to the winter war, but as this takes place in the future, historical references are largely creative inventions.
To chapter one
To chapter two
To chapter three
To chapter four
To chapter five
To chapter six
To chapter seven
To chapter eight
Setting Sun, Rising Moon: Chapter 9
“Kurosaki-san, is something bothering you?”
“What?” Ichigo looked up from his reports, annoyed that his train of thought had been broken. He was just starting to get a feel for the rhythm of how this place ran, and how he could run it. It wasn't at all like he was focusing on work to avoid thinking about the past romantic entanglements of his friends.
Maybe if he told himself that enough, he would actually believe it.
Hinamori rested her chin on one hand. “You're holding your pen as if you’re trying to snap it in half,” she pointed out. “And you’ve been reading that same report for ten minutes.”
“I'm just trying to be thorough.”
She pursed her lips. “Maybe it’s not my place to say it…”
"Go ahead." He shrugged. "It's not my place to tell you when you can talk."
“Perhaps you should speak to Vice-Captain Kuchiki.”
He slumped back in his seat, too surprised to feign denial. “Damn. Is it that obvious?”
“Actually, no,” she said reassuringly. “Only a little. And you have the same expression Kuchiki-san had the night she came to proposition you with tea, so I assumed-“
“Woah, woah, wait. Back up.” He jumped to his feet and waved his hands in front of her even as he tried to force the words to make sense in his mind. “The night she WHAT?”
“You hadn’t realized it yet?” Hinamori blinked.
“No! What-there’s nothing to realize! It was just tea!”
"Tea and the chance to talk," she pointed out. "It was easy to see at the time, but I didn't feel it was my place to say anything. She seemed quite emotional."
“I had tea with Unohana the other night and I’m damn sure she wasn’t trying to start anything with me,” he said. “Er. She wasn’t, right?”
“I doubt it,” she said. “That would only give Captain Zaraki more reason to want to fight you?”
“What?! No, wait. I don’t want to know.”
Hinamori's eyes sparkled with amusement. “Still.”
“Rukia doesn’t have a problem saying what she thinks," he insisted. "Loudly. If she wanted tea and…stuff…she’d just say so.”
“Maybe.”
“Not maybe! That’s just how she is!”
“Many people act more confident than they are,” she said. “That’s part of being brave. You could always ask her yourself.”
Ichigo paused at that, imagining what that would be like. Rukia had acted strangely around him, but after what she'd confessed about how Renji had "helped" her get over him, he'd assumed it was because she didn't want to tell him about her past with the other man. “I wouldn’t want to put her on the spot like that.”
Hinamori nodded. "Hmm.”
Women and their confusing secret codes once again. He'd never get it. “`Hmm’ what?”
“Nothing. Just `hmm.’”
“You are one insubordinate vice-captain,” he grumped.
“Just doing my job.” She signed a report. “Sir.”
“Some job,” he said, frowning as he stared into space. He still couldn't quite bring himself to trust in Hinamori's words. But then, she seemed pretty confident, and he certainly wasn't always the most perceptive guy. Moreover, he wanted to believe in her assessment of the situation; it sent a shot of hope through him, along with just a touch of terror.
She picked up another report. “May I ask a personal question?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“What do you think is the worst that could happen if you said something?”
“I could fuck up our friendship, for starters,” he said. “What’s left of it.” If he lost what relationship he had left with Rukia...it didn't bear thinking about.
“Aah.”
“Hey.” He was starting to get annoyed. “That’s a big deal.”
“I know,” she said, eyes soft. “But if your friendship is strong, it will survive. There are worse things than a little awkwardness.” She touched her stomach lightly. “It isn't as if she'd want to hurt you simply for having feelings for her."
Ichigo winced. Privately, he thought maybe he’d prefer getting stabbed in the stomach to messing things up with Rukia again, but that wouldn’t be the best thing to say to out loud. “You've made your point.”
“In any case, you’re free to go if you have somewhere you’d like to be.” She leaned back, stretching her arms. “We’ve been at this enough for one day.”
“Hey, aren't I supposed to dismiss you, Vice-Captain?" Then again, she still knew more than he did about the division. "Anyway, I'm not tired. We could get more done.”
“Take advantage of the free time while you can. Once everything is official, we’ll be spending many more hours here,” she said. “The ceremony is in two weeks. Do you think you'll be ready?”
“Shit.” He blinked. “That soon? I hadn’t even realized.”
She nodded. “Captain Hisagi asked me to let you know he wants to go over a few final things before the transfer, but you’re coming along well. He’s not worried about the change of command anymore.”
“So he was before, huh? Heh. As long as he doesn't try to micromanage things when he's gone.”
“It’s hard to let go," she said. "Even when it's the right thing.”
“No kidding,” he said, and pushed his chair back to stand. “See you tomorrow, then.”
"Good luck, Kurosaki-san," she said, smiling.
He set off with every intention of going to see Rukia. At the very least, he should check how she was doing after being released from the fourth. At the most…well, he’d figure that out when the time came.
He found himself walking towards the ninth division instead.
Maybe it was because the work day was well over, but no one stopped him from heading right to the main office-where there was no captain to be found. A sliding door in the back of the room was open, though, and Ichigo stepped through to find Renji sitting there, overlooking a koi pond. “Yo.”
“Ichigo.” Renji nodded at him. "Knew that was you. You still can’t keep your reiatsu to yourself.”
“You’re just oversensitive.”
“Whatever. Sit if you want.”
Ichigo sat and wondered what exactly what he wanted to say. So Renji had been involved with Rukia-big deal. It wasn’t like Ichigo had never been aware of the other man’s feelings. As long as he avoided certain mental pictures, he could handle the past.
The present was trickier. What was the proper way to ask an old friend if he was still sleeping with your mutual ex-girlfriend? What if Renji said no? Ichigo would feel like a complete ass for throwing it in his face.
What if he said yes?
He wasn't sure what he'd do then. If Rukia was truly out of his reach for good, Ichigo didn't want to know about it-even if he needed to.
“What’s on your mind?” Renji asked. “If Ikkaku sent you to persuade me to join them, you can tell him to go screw.”
“What?”
“That fishing thing he and Yumichika and Yachiru are doing this weekend,” he said. “They like to go out into Rukongai once in a while. Yumi says it’s about nolstalgia and re-forging their bonds of friendship, but I think he just thinks it’s funny when Ikkaku spears fish with Hoozukimaru. Yachiru just grabs `em with her bare hands. Captain Zaraki knows better, but they always try and drag some others along for kicks.”
“Uh, no,” Ichigo said, thrown off-balance by this choice of topic. “He didn’t send me. But thanks for the warning. I’ll make sure to avoid him the rest of today.”
“No problem.” Renji glanced at him. “Thought he might’ve because he told me you guys talked yesterday.”
Their eyes met.
“He did, huh.”
“He thought you might be interested in…fishing.”
Ichigo frowned. The hell? He’d braced himself for something-anger, an apology, something-and here Renji was just going on about a damn fishing trip neither of them cared about when-
Oh. This was one of those metaphor things.
“Yeah,” he said, picking his words carefully. “We talked about fishing. I hadn’t gone in a while. Busy being old, you know.”
“That’d be a problem.” Renji leaned back on his hands. “Thinking of trying it again now that you’re hale and hearty?”
“I suppose I could. It might be nice. Wouldn’t know until I tried. Not sure if it’s a good idea, though. I’m still figuring this place out and, uh, I don’t really know the good spots. Maybe I should just leave it in the past.”
“The fishing.”
Ichigo wondered if Renji felt as moronic as he did. “Right. Fishing.”
“I used to know a good spot,” Renji said in a low tone. “Had some good times there.”
Ichigo tensed. “Really.”
Renji looked away. “But not anymore. Not in a long time.”
Ichigo let out a long breath. The sense of relief was so palpable he felt lightheaded. “That’s…that’s too bad.”
“It’s all right.” Renji shrugged. “I still stop by, just to make sure everything’s okay there. But I found a new fishing spot. It’s working out okay so far. If you wanna try the one I had…well, I can’t lay any claim to it. Up to you to decide if it works for you.”
“Thanks,” Ichigo said, trying to keep the surge of elation down. As much as he wanted to run straight to Rukia, he wanted to make sure things were settled with Renji, too. A friend was a friend. “Cuz I’ve been thinking I’d really like to. But I don’t want to intrude somewhere I’m not wanted.”
Renji snorted. “You’ve been doing that your whole life, Ichigo. But you should be okay. I’m pretty sure you should check this place out.”
“Aah.” Ichigo stood. “Maybe I should do that now.”
“Ichigo.” Renji turned to him, his expression deadly serious. “I don’t have to tell you that if you hurt her, I will beat the shit out of you.”
He just nodded, not breaking eye contact. On this subject, they were in complete agreement.
Ichigo didn’t bother considering that he might find Rukia anywhere but in her office. She’d probably gotten a damn rash just from taking time off to heal. Even if her division was crowded with shinigami, he'd be damned if he let them stop him now.
She was at her desk when he arrived, writing industriously. Same old Rukia. Too damn predictable. He didn’t try to resist the smile this thought prompted. “Rukia.”
She looked up in surprise. “Ichigo.”
“Hey.” His mouth was dry. “We need to talk.”
“Now?” She looked nervous. “I would be happy to speak with you, but I really must finish these reports for Captain Ukitake.“
“Yes, now.” He strode forward.
She jumped up from her seat and snatched up the papers. “Just let me give these to the captain and we can find a better place-“
He stepped in front of her. “Forget them.” He put his hands on her shoulders. She stared up at him with wide eyes. “Rukia-I don’t-“ Dammit, the words wouldn’t come. “Oh, fuck it,” he mumbled.
”What are you-“
Ichigo slid his arms down around her waist, pulled her close, and bent her back to kiss her.
Rukia’s papers dropped to the floor.
If any part of the world existed beyond Rukia in his arms and her mouth against his, Ichigo wasn’t aware of it. This is it. What I’ve been missing. She was warm and soft and his neck didn’t hurt at all from leaning over her. Even with her off balance, it was easy to support her as he kissed her. She still fit. They still fit together.
Rukia moved her arms up his, holding onto his sleeves. Her lips moved softly under his. After a moment--an hour? A year?--he pulled away just far enough to see her face. He could still feel her breath against his lips.
At some point Rukia had closed her eyes. They fluttered open again and he smiled. She looked a little dazed. He had just enough time to feel proud of causing this before she reared back and slammed her forehead into his nose. Ichigo’s world exploded in pain.
“OW! What the fuck?!” He clamped his hands over his nose, dropping Rukia as he did so. She staggered backwards, nearly falling over.
“What the hell are you doing?” she hissed.
“What am I doing? You just broke my nose, you bitch!”
“It is not even bleeding, fool! And don’t change the subject! And be quiet! My captain is in the other room at this very moment!” Her face was lit up with ire.
He prodded his nose and immediately wished he hadn’t. “Might not be broken, but it still hurts like fuck! What was that for?”
“What was that for?” she repeated incredulously. “What was it for? Ichigo! You do not just march into someone’s office and manhandle them without even asking permission! What were you thinking?”
“I guess I wasn’t.”
Rukia glared at him like she wanted him to drop into a hole. At the moment, he wouldn’t mind. “I should think not,” she snapped.
Anger flared in him. “Dammit, Rukia! I wasn’t trying to embarrass you! I just-after what you said the other night-“
“What I said?” Her fierce expression began to drain away. “What did I say?”
“Nothing. It doesn’t matter anymore,” he said.
“Ichigo-“
“Sorry. I guess I just lost my head. I’ll go.” He turned and walked away, glad she couldn’t see his face anymore. He’d been so sure.
He paused at the door and tried to think of something to say that could possibly salvage the situation before fleeing to his quarters and never coming out.
He was stopped by the feeling of a small hand on his back.
“Wait.”
--
Next chapter: "Take off your pants."