IchiRuki 100 Themes, 38: invisible (repost)

[tenebris]

Title: Close Your Eyes, Maybe He Won't See It
Author: Ninx
Warnings/Rating: Manga--post ch. 201. "Eyes"-verse--post the first two stories. R, for Hollow violence, screaming, and Ichigo's mouth.
Dedication: Ray and Merry, who deserve medals for dragging my ass over hot coals here. Also, to 'Shigi, and everyone in the throes of the end of the semester.
A/N: All right guys, you've seen this before. But now it's been edited. ^^;; A lot. And it has a new ending, of sorts. Please enjoy.


Ichigo is confused.

Well, confused verging on angry, if he’s gonna be honest about it.

Something’s wrong with Rukia. He’d thought, at first, that it was just his imagination, something left over from being sick. It’s been a long time since he was that sick for so many days. But no, it's been a week now since he woke up, feeling a little dazed, but better. Any remnants of that should be long out of his system.

Something’s wrong with Rukia, and it’s not all in his head. The problem is, he has no clue what it could be.

He has a feeling, though, that he's the only one who doesn't know. He's seen Inoue talking to her at school, wearing an oddly preoccupied expression. Rukia had sparkled back at her, but in a faded sort of way. Like her heart wasn't in it.

At home, it's even worse. Kon keeps asking about Rukia, her health, whether "she's been doing anything weird." It's gotten so annoying that Ichigo has threatened to leave him in Yuzu's room again, but not even that will shut him up.

Then there's Karin. Sometime while he was sleeping off the flu, Karin got very attached to Rukia, and vice-versa. The two seem to be inseparable at home, and hell, Rukia even goes with Karin to the park. All the time! She’s not that big a fan of soccer, is she?

More troubling is what Yuzu had said to him one morning as Rukia got ready for school. Karin was predictably up there with her, and Ichigo had commented, to himself more than anything, "Those two sure are close lately."

"Karin really likes Rukia-nee," Yuzu had piped up. She was finishing off the last lunch box in the kitchen. "They even sleep together."

Ichigo had turned to look at her, but she hadn’t noticed. Instead, she had sighed, "Karin won't even sleep with me anymore," and said nothing else.

Hell, Ichigo's even caught his Pop being really nice to Rukia, like she was one of his patients. It makes him want to stand up at dinner, point at them all and ask, "What the hell is going on here?"

There are other things. For one, Rukia keeps taking long baths--not too long, not imposingly long, but long for her. She's never done that; she couldn't have when she lived with him before, but even her times at Urahara's were short. "How can I take a long time when a Hollow might show up?" she’d said. "Besides, it's ridiculous, to waste time like that."

Except now, she does.

She’s so quiet most of the time, too. They'd never had the most engaging chats to begin with, but now, she barely talks to him. She doesn't even go out Hollow hunting with him anymore, since according to her, they’re both more than capable of doing their own sweeps. The way she had said it--so cold, so matter-of-fact-- had bothered him, but since she had a point, he let it slide.

And she's stopped drinking tea, completely. RUKIA. The same girl who obnoxiously boasted all about the Kuchiki technique. The same girl who'd awed his family with her tea-making skills. The same girl who went with Yuzu to pick out just the right kind. She's just...stopped. Yuzu keeps offering it to her--possibly because she’s just as confused as Ichigo--but she refuses, very politely. Always.

The first morning he'd come to breakfast, groggy and still not entirely with it, he’d watched her do just that. Immediately, he'd scoffed, "Kuchiki, I know it's not yours, but there's nothing wrong with Yuzu's, either. Drink the damn tea."

Rukia had looked at him, and her eyes were wide, so wide. It lasted only a moment, then she'd looked away. Even so, he'd seen the faint tremor in her hands, the slight wavering of her eyes.

Karin had looked at him angrily, and in a scathing voice said, "Ichigo, shut up." Then she'd looked over at Rukia, who had nodded slightly. Then, they both rose, and left the table.

He'd looked over at Yuzu, as if to ask, "What was that about?" But she had just shrugged and offered him more toast.

He’s spent a week puzzling over it now, and he’s about fed up with it all, when Inoue approachs him after school.

He's taken to waiting for Rukia behind the wall. It may look a little odd, but what the hell; someone’s got to make sure she doesn’t bolt again. The last time she'd acted anything like this, it'd been after the Menos, when she'd been waiting to hear from Soul Society. Since that’s not a problem, he’s not sure what it could be. Maybe it involves her brother this time? And a sudden allergy to tea? Maybe that’s it entirely, and she’s just moping about it...

"Kurosaki-kun."

Inoue's voice snaps him out of his thoughts, and he looks over to see her standing there. "Ah, Inoue," he says, a little sheepish. "Everything all right?"

Inoue stands there a moment, that strange look on her face. "Kuchiki-san..."

He remembers then, the last time he'd seen that look. It was when she'd asked where Rukia had gone. Not an inspiring thought.

"Kuchiki-san...how's her bruise?"

"Bruise?"

"The...the one on her neck?" Her voice wavers a little.

"Oh...oh! The burn, you mean?" That’s the least of his worries, that Rukia had somehow managed to burn her neck in the kitchen. The fool had tried to hide it from the family by using make-up, without realizing that that stuff rubbed off. That had started bizarre rumors all over school, until one of the twins had straightened her out. She wore a proper bandage over it now.

"The...burn?" Inoue blinks. "I was sure..."

Ichigo starts to give her a weird look, then remembers who he’s talking to, and stops. "Nah, just a burn. Pop says they take awhile to heal and it's best to keep them covered, so she wears that bandage." He lessens his scowl a little. "I'm sure it's fine."

"Oh. All right," Inoue says, though she still doesn’t look entirely convinced.

Ichigo looks at her for a moment, then away, just in time to catch Rukia coming out of the school yard. "Hey, there's Rukia. I'll see you tomorrow, eh, Inoue?"

He walks off. Only later does he realize he'd never really paid attention to what Inoue had asked him in the first place.

Orihime watches him move to intercept Kuchiki-san, and sighs to herself. She’d worried that she was breaking her promise to Kuchiki-san to ask such a thing, but Ichigo doesn't seem to have noticed. Which meant...she hadn't told him the truth, either.

She feels a presence step out behind her, and says, "He hasn't noticed yet, Sado-kun."

"Aa."

"Do you...do you think I should drop another hint?" she asks, voice worried. "Because I can feel...I don't think..." She stops, holding that thought in.

Sado-kun is quiet behind her, as he usually is. She turns to him, and asks quietly, "Sado-kun?"

He stares over her head, eyes on the rapidly retreating pair. Then he looks down at her. "A little more time, Inoue," he says. "Just a little more."

She sighs, and nods, then turns back. I hope so, she thinks. I hope so. Please...be well, Kuchiki-san.

That’s also the day that Rukia goes to scout Hollows with him.

It’s..pretty normal, actually. They both had Soul Society devices, but he tends to follows hers, since it gives directions. Besides, Rukia had always been better at finding Hollows than he had.

It’s pretty normal. She runs interference for him, and he cuts the Hollow down. She does the Soul Burial on the spirit it had been chasing, since she could talk about Soul Society in a much more reassuring voice than he could.

It is, really, pretty normal overall.

Except for Rukia's scarf.

Well, she says it’s a scarf. To him, it looks like she’s wound a bandage several times around her neck, and let the ends tassel down in front of her. It does remind him a little of the one her brother wore. Which, according to her, is the point.

That’s when she points out how that Hollow had nearly caught him off guard. He retorts that she'd almost been injured too, hadn't she? And so it goes, all the way home: the two of them, talking about nothing.

That night, Ichigo dreams.

He's sitting on glass, warm glass. The buildings around him are turned sideways, and strongly outlined in blue. He instantly knows where he is, and looks around for Zangetsu, figuring that the Old Man has called him here about something. Maybe he can ask him about Rukia...

He doesn't see Zangetsu.

But he does see Rukia, standing on the side of the building. She's wearing shinigami clothes, and her sword is drawn. As he watches, she whacks it against the side of the building. The building ripples, but nothing else happens.

She says something to someone he can't see, then assumes a defensive pose. A moment later, something rushes her.

Not something. Someone.

The Hollow.

They clash, retreat, clash again. Rukia flips over its head and slashes, and it paries, barely. She pushes it back a little, an aggressive look on her face. It falls back, then pushes hard, sending her back. She barely falters, and her guard is still up when it lunges for her.

Rukia, he realizes, is outmatched, though it's not like she's let that stop her before. And Rukia, he realizes, is good. Fast, and skilled at not being overwhelmed by such an opponent.

They two split apart, and Rukia pants, still holding her sword up. The Hollow looks better off, though it fingers a slash in its sleeve. It looks up, and says, in a voice Ichigo can barely make out, "My, my, Rukia-chan. You've been keeping secrets."

"Idiot!" Rukia yells back, voice loud and confident. "You know nothing of how I fight, because Ichigo knows nothing of how I fight!"

That's true, Ichigo thinks to himself. I don't think I've ever seen her fight. Only the aftermath...

She shouts again, bringing his attention back to her. "And do you know what shinigami are trained to do?" she yells.

"What, Rukia-chan?" the Hollow says, giving her an almost bored look. Ichigo notices, though, that its hand has tightened on its sword.

"Kill Hollows," she replies, voice hard and confident.

Ichigo finds he vaguely wants to cheer her on then, until he feels something...shift in the world. Something dangerous.

The Hollow laughs. "Oh..."

It vanishes, and Ichigo strains to shout, to yell, "Get out of there!"

But his voice doesn't come, and she doesn't move. It reappears behind her.

"Rukia-chan," it says, in her ear, and its voice is a hiss.

Rukia doesn't freeze for a second, and a flash of hope fills Ichigo. "Dance, Shira..." she calls out.

Then the Hollow covers her mouth, and squeezes the sword from her hands.

"Ah, Rukia-chan, I've..."

It yelps, suddenly, and Ichigo relaxes a little.

The Hollow isn't so amused. It wraps its hand around her throat, and whispers in her ear again. He sees Rukia tense up, about to react to it...

It tosses her to the ground. It jumps on top of her.

Ichigo can't speak.

It pushes her head to the side, and presses its face there.

Ichigo can't move.

It...nuzzles her for a moment, and he can see its lips mouth something, though the words are too soft for his ears. He can also see the tremble, the shudder, the slides over Rukia's skin.

It rears back, opens its mouth, and bites down, hard.

Rukia lets out a yell. Ichigo's is only a moment behind hers. He struggles to move, to do something, but he's stuck where he is. And he can't look away, either.

The Hollow worries the flesh at Rukia's neck, shaking it like a dog with a piece of meat. Then it stops, tenses, and pulls back.

Blood fountains from Rukia, to splatter on the sideways building, outlined so strongly in blue. Where it lands, it sticks, and settles in puddles. There seem to be a lot of puddles.

Ichigo lets out a yell, a scream, and tries to force himself to move, to move, damnit, because it's killing her, she's going to die...

The Hollow raises its head, her blood smeared across its face, and smiles.

Ichigo wakes up.

He moves without realizing it, on instinct. He smacks his hand into his badge, and is through the wall into his sister's room without even stirring the covers.

He lands easily on the floor, and moves over to Rukia's bed.

She lies curled on her side, face towards him. Her eyes remain closed despite the noise, her breathing slow and regular. Still, he watches her for a moment, Zangetsu in his hands, waiting for something to happen.

Nothing does.

Finally, he lets out a breath, and sticks Zangetsu onto his back. Good job there, Ichigo, he thinks to himself. Nice overreacting. It was just a dream, that's all. There's no way that could actually happen. Just a dream...

She shifts, just a little, and makes a soft noise.

Inside him, the Hollow laughs. Quietly. Just as it had laughed in the dream, before attacking her from behind.

And Rukia...reacts to it.

She pulls in tighter, hands gripping the covers, and cringes.

He flees after that. He jumps back through the wall, into his body, his bed. He sits up in the night, and looks at his hands.

All a dream, he thinks to himself. It's all a dream...it has to be a dream...it's nothing but a dream....

There's no way it could be real.

No way.

Karin watches her brother go, then steps into the room. She moves to Rukia's bed, sits down on the other side. She reaches out, and touches Rukia's back.

She’s awake in a second. She rolls over, eyes wide, then lets out a sigh. "Karin," she says softly.

"Sorry to wake you," Karin says.

"It's all right," Rukia says. "I asked you to, if anything happened." She pauses for a moment, then asks in a small, quiet voice, "Did I cry out again?"

Karin shakes her head. "No," she says. "But...Ichi-nii...when I came back from the bathroom? He was here. As shinigami."

Rukia sits up, eyes wide.

"He just...looked at you," Karin says. "Looked at you, then got this weird expression on his face and left."

Rukia's hands tighten on the covers. "Why would he do that?" she asks.

"I don't know," Karin says, looking away. "I know he used to check up on us when we were younger, after Mom died." She sighs, then adds, "But..."

"It wasn't that," Rukia finishes.

Karin nods. "I think...Rukia, I think he's starting to pick up on things." She looks over at her. "I think he may be figuring things out."

Rukia lets out a sigh, then lays back down. "He's not completely oblivious," she says.

Karin slides down with her, reaches out, and catches her hands . "I know," she says. "We'll have to be more careful, I guess."

Rukia nods, but doesn't say anything else. Instead, she squeezes Karin's hands, then lets them go, moves a little closer. Karin does the same, arm sliding around Rukia's back, as Rukia's hand comes to rest on hers.

"It'll be okay, Rukia," Karin whispers, as they drift off to sleep. "It'll be okay..."

Ichigo finds Inoue the next day at lunch.

She usually eats with Tatsuki, but for some reason, she’s out in the yard instead. He watches her for a moment, humming over her latest concoction, before he says, "Inoue."

She looks up. "Ah, Kurosaki-kun!" she says. "I thought you'd be on the roof."

He nods. "I wanted to talk to you."

Her face changes immediately, losing its merry expression. "Kurosaki-kun?" she says, an odd look in her eyes.

He sits down across from her, in a patch of shadow, and says nothing for a moment.

"Inoue...yesterday..."

He stops, takes a breath. "Yesterday, you said Rukia had a bruise."

"Rukia's...bruise?"

He looks up at her, and his face is serious. "Yeah, a bruise. On her neck."

Orihime blinks, as if she can’t follow his train of thought. Then, her eyes widen a touch, and her face saddens. "Yeah. I thought it was a bruise...but didn't you say it was a burn?"

"I thought it was a burn," he says, eyes flicking down. He stares at the ground for a moment, then looks at her again. "But I'm not so sure. Inoue...did you see it before she came to school?"

Orihime swallows, and hesitates. Then, slowly, she says, "I did. I saw her that night. She came to me, to heal it.” She looks down a little. “I couldn't."

His jaw tightens. "Did she say where she got it?" he asks. "Did she say it was from a Hollow?"

Orihime nods. "That's what she told...Rangiku-san and me. A Hollow got her, while she was doing...while she was out."

He looks at her for a moment, then nods. He pushes himself off the ground. "Thanks, Inoue," he says. "Thanks."

Then, he walks away.

Orihime looks down at her banana bread and yogurt with bacon. She’s not sure she’s hungry anymore.

I'm sorry Kuchiki-san, she thinks. I know I promised. But it can't hurt....to tell him the same lie you told us, right? It can't hurt...

After school, Ichigo manages to get almost halfway home before the questions overwhelm him completely.

He catches up to Rukia, looks down and says, "Hey."

She looks up. "What?"

He wraps his hand around her wrist, and tugs. "Come with me."

"Ichigo..." she says, but doesn’t resist the tug.

He pulls her to a nearby park, and from there into a stand of trees. He lets go of her wrist, and stands there for a moment, back to her.

Finally, she says, "Are you going to tell me what the point of this was?"

His hand clenches at his side, and he turns to her. He can feel the heat on his face, not quite embarrassment, but not entirely anger, either.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Rukia?" he yells

"What?"

"You heard me. What the hell is wrong with you, Rukia?"

She stares at him, then rolls her eyes. "Nothing is wrong with me, Ichigo."

"Bullshit, Rukia!" he yells back. "You've been acting weird all week."

"I have not," she fires back. "And really, I'm fine." She gives him an odd look. "Why are YOU so worried anyways?"

It feels like those words hit him in the face, and he raises his hand a little, as if to ward off the blow. Then, he lowers it, and snarls, "Because you HAVE been acting weird, and I'm not the only one who's seen it. Inoue's noticed, and Karin, and even Pop for some reason. So...tell me what it is. Is it your brother? Soul Society? What?"

She sighs, an exasperated and rather tired sound. "I have not been acting weird, Ichigo," she says. "It's...nothing. Just....nothing. I'm fine, really."

"If you expect me to believe..." he starts, then something smacks into his head. He whirls around to see Karin, glaring at him.

"You should, Ichi-nii," she says. " 'Cause I haven't seen anything wrong with Rukia." She looks around him at Rukia "Yeah?"

"Exactly," Rukia says. She brushs past Ichigo to stand by Karin. "So, if that's all?"

"We're not done," he says, voice low.

She gives him a look, one almost entirely free of emotion. "I think we are, Ichigo," she says. "Karin?"

Karin gives him a warning look, then turns with Rukia, and walks off into the park.

Ichigo watches them go, hands balled into fists, teeth grinding in his mouth. "Fine," he spits, after they’re gone. "If that's how you want it to be...fine."

Then he turns, and heads back home.

Karin looks at Rukia when they're out of sight of Ichigo, and sees that she is trembling. "You okay?" she asks.

"I,,," Rukia gives her a helpless little smile. "I'm fine," she says. "But...you? I know you don't like to lie to him,"

Karin sighs. "Can't be helped," she says, then looks at Rukia. "And it's for the best, isn't it?"

Rukia nods. "It is."

And that's the last they speak of it for the rest of the afternoon.

That night, Ichigo dreams again.

He watches the same scenes before him: Rukia appearing, the Hollow, the fight between them. Rukia calling out her challenge, and the Hollow responding. Her sword, clattering on the glass beneath them. The look on her face when she impacts the glass after it. The look in the Hollow's eyes when it rears back, ready to bite her.

Only this time, it stops. Looks up at him. And says, "Hey, partner. Wanna try?"

And suddenly Ichigo is in its place, is IT, as its teeth come down into Rukia's neck.

She yells, and up close he can hear all the resonances in it: the surprise, the pain, the tinge of fear where it rises at the end. Then he tastes her blood, and the rest of the world washes away. It tastes like chocolate on his tongue, a bittersweet, rich chocolate, lightly flavored with some spice underneath. When he swallows, the spice comes out even more, a heat on his tongue and lips. He sucks at her neck, once, twice, noting how her body quivers every time, how her eyes squeeze in pain. He likes that pain, that quiver. And he loves how she tastes.

There's a giggle in his head, and a voice says, "As good as she smells, isn't she?"

Ichigo-Hollow pulls his head back, blood staining his mouth, and takes a breath. She smells amazing, rich and heady, like a finely wrought meal warming in the oven. Words come out of his mouth, but he pays them no heed, because he's watching her face, breathing in her scent, tasting her blood in his mouth. There's a note of fear in all of it, just a note, like the delicate brush of sauce on meat. He wants to bring that note out even more, taste its liquid amber in his mouth.

A voice says, "It ended here, but not for you. Not for you...."

He leans down and crushes Rukia's lips with his own. He smears his mouth from side to side for a moment, painting her lips with her own blood, before forcing his tongue inside her mouth. He tastes her blood on top of the flavor of her mouth, and somehow that makes everything...better. Perhaps, he thinks, because of the fear flooding through her now. The fear, like a high quality incense, in her scent. The fear, like some rich wine, in her mouth.

He pulls back a little, just to revel in the sensation. She bites down on his lip.

He shakes her off, pulls back, and stares angrily at her. Her expression is hard, cold, though it trembles on the edges. There’s blood on her mouth, hers and his, mingled together. He licks his lips, to see how it tastes.

Exquisite.

He presses in close again, breathes against her mouth. "Oh, I liked that, love," he whispers. "I liked it a lot..."

"So did I, partner," a voice says. "So did I."

Something snaps in Ichigo's brain, and he looks up. "Partner?" he says, voice hazy. "Partner?"

Ichigo wakes up.

This time, instead of jumping out of his bed, he sits up slowly. He presses his head to his knees, breathing, trying to control the racing of his heart. When he feels a little more together, he raises his head and calls out, "Kon."

For a second, it seems like he’s gone on one of his walks. Then, from the closet, in a groggy voice, "Whaaat, Ichigo?"

"Kon," he says again. "Do you know what happened to Rukia?"

A pause, then the closet door flies open. "ICHIGO!" Kon cries out. "FINALLY!"

Ichigo stares at him as he clambers out of the closet and over to the bed. "By the heavenly bosom of Orihime, I've been WAITING ALL WEEK!" he says, hopping up on the bed.

Ichigo frowns down at him. "So...tell me."

"Nee-san said," he says, tears welling up in his plastic eyes, "Nee-san said your Hollow tried to eat her!"

"WHAT?!"

Kon nods furiously. "It's true, I heard her! She was in here talking to Karin, and they didn't know I was in the closet (having just come back from an adventure and needing a nap). And she told her everything! About being you two being shinigami, and everything (barely mentioning me once!), and then she said she met your Hollow and it tried to EAT HER!"

Before Ichigo could say anything, he continues, "AND, I've been following them around when they're in the house. And Nee-san keeps saying, 'It's getting worse, it's getting worse.' I was going to follow them out to the park, but they keep slipping away on me!" His voice drops. "I think she's showing Karin shinigami things..."

"Kon." Ichigo's voice is flat, hard, emotionless.

"OH, my POOR NEE-SAN! She's been a victim of YOU," he points a paw at Ichigo, "and you didn't even realize, all this time..."

Ichigo grabs Kon’s paw, and throws him across the room. He smacks into the closet with a cry of pain, then hops back up. "Ichigo!" he yells.

"Kon...shut up. SHUT. UP."

Kon blinks, then stares at him. "Ichigo..."

"Go to sleep."

"But, Ichigo, what..."

"GO BACK TO SLEEP."

Ichigo falls back onto his bed, and stares at the ceiling. He listens as Kon slowly opens the closet door again, then clambers back inside. When it shuts, he rolls over on his side, then onto his stomach. One hand reaches out and grips the sheets.

The Hollow...he thinks. And Rukia. Rukia...

Ichigo doesn’t sleep that well that night.

And when he gets up the next morning, he finds a hole in his sheets, and a scrap of fabric in his hand.

Ichigo follows Karin and Rukia that afternoon.

As it turns out, Kon was right--Rukia is showing Karin shinigami duties. The moment they arrive in the park, Rukia finds a secluded spot, and takes a soul pill. Her shinigami form emerges, then gives a stern look to her body.

"Stay here," she warns. "And don't go for ice cream, even if the truck passes by again. Understand?."

"Aye aye!" the faux soul chirps, then plops down by a tree.

Karin seems completely unfazed by all of it. She looks at Rukia and says, "What are we going to do today?"

Rukia adjusts the scarf on her neck, and for a moment, he catches sight of something purple and blotchy beneath it. "Soul burials, mostly," she says. "Hollows if we run across them." She smiles, just a little. "Game?"

Karin nods, and grins back.

The two of them seem to go everywhere, Karin leading, Rukia following. It takes him several stops to realize that Rukia is letting Karin find the souls, rather than searching for them on her own. He's astounded by how much Karin’s powers have grown, and for a moment loses sight of them. He has to work to catch up, and he’s relieved he chose to trail them as shinigami; it allows him to move faster than a human, plus he can watch them from places a human normally couldn’t. The only drawback is that he doesn’t hear much of their conversation.

"What about that Abarai guy?" Karin asks, as they stand by a telephone pole. "The way you talk about him, he's a pretty powerful shinigami."

She told her about RENJI? Ichigo thinks, from his spot up the pole.

Rukia grimaces. "Renji?" she says, placing the stamp on the soul of a listless old man. "No."

"Why not?" Karin asks, as Rukia stands.

Rukia shakes her head. "Let me put it this way," she says. "Your brother is bad, but Renji's worse."

I'm...not sure if I should be offended or not, Ichigo thinks. When they've moved on enough, he follows.

At another spot, closer to the river, he manages to get close enough to hear Karin say, "You could see Yoruichi on the sly, you know."

Rukia doesn’t say anything for a moment. Then, “I know Ichigo trusts her, but she's still connected to Urahara. He'd find out, somehow.”

"Not if I ran a message to Jinta. Or had Yuzu do it," Karin's face takes on a crafty look. "I think he's got a crush on her. And she'd be happy to help, I'm sure."

"And next you'll suggest your father should look at it again," Rukia says.

"Well...Daddy's a perverted fruitcake, but he's a good doctor. He might be able to suggest something."

"Karin...thank you, but no. This is an affliction of the shinigami form, the soul. I don't think your father could help with that." Rukia sighs. "Urahara is the best choice, unfortunately. But I don't want to rush it. I can still heal it during the day."

"It comes back at night, though," Karin points out. "Worse."

Again, Rukia’s quiet for a moment. Then, she says in a low voice, “Yeah.”

This would be your chance, Ichigo, he thinks. Just...pop up. Say you were passing by. Say...

What do I say?

At that moment, Karin makes a sound, and Rukia's cellphone goes off. She pulls it out, flips it open, and says, "Hollow. Close by.”

The two take off running back towards the park. Ichigo, perhaps out of instinct, perhaps because he’s been so thoroughly conditioned, follows.

The Hollow is fairly small, and from its spirit force, not that strong. Except it has tentacles. Tentacled Hollows, in Ichigo's view, rank just below exploding Hollows on the scale of suck. To top it off, one of those tentacles holds a frightened spirit, which is screaming its head off when Rukia and Karin arrive.

"Karin, that way," Rukia says, pointing to the left. Then, she draws her sword. "Drop that!" she shouts at it. "Now!"

The Hollow looks at her, then waves its tentacles a bit. "Why should I, shinigami?" it croaks out. "It's lunch."

He can feel Rukia rolling her eyes, even if he can't see it. "Why do I never remember," she grits out, tightening her grip on her sword, "that it's pointless to talk to Hollows?"

Then, "Karin!"

A stream of rocks come flying at the Hollow's head. It turns in that direction, and Rukia swoops in, sword raised.

The Hollow's tentacles flash out, heading for Rukia.

Ichigo moves.

In one movement, he covers the remaining distance and severs the tentacles on one side. The Hollow staggers back, screaming. He turns, ready to move again, to punch his sword through its mask...

Except that Rukia beats him to it.

She slashes down, leaving a clean, gaping cut in its mask. It steps back again, raises its head, and dissolves.

Leaving the two of them looking at each other.

Karin watches as they stare at each other. It’s a quiet moment, but their faces are both tense. Rukia’s mouth is thin, lips pressed togther, but her eyes
are wide, wavering. Ichigo’s face is tense, but not in his usual scowl -- he looks angry, but somehow more than that, too. Worried?

Then Rukia yells, “You IDIOT!” and stamps over to where the Hollow had been.

There’s a brief flash of something on Ichigo’s face, then he roars back, “What do you mean, ME idiot? I just saved your ass!”

“It was covered, Ichigo!” she snaps back, then kneels down, helps the spirit of a young girl up. She says something Karin can’t quite hear, but Ichigo can. Whatever it is, it doesn’t make him happy.

“HEY!” he yells.

Karin moves closer, and says, “Ichi-nii?”

He whirls around on her, and she stares at him. She’s always seen him from a distance, or with his back to her, moving away from her. Standing still in front of him, this close, she can feel the power radiating from him.

“It is you,” she says.

He scowls. “You look surprised,” he says. “I thought Rukia told you everything.”

She’s shocked to hear that, but then she glares back. “Only because you were to scared to,” she retorts.

His face smooths a little, and he says, “Karin...”

“Don’t, Ichi-nii,” she says, shaking her head. “I was...I’m just surprised to see you here.”

“Exactly my point,” comes Rukia’s voice, and he looks over at her. “Why ARE you here?”

His face steels, and he points his sword at her. Karin’s eyes grow big, but Rukia doesn’t flinch. “I saved your butt,” he says.

“You interfered in my plan.”

“Plan, what plan? It was gonna take your head off!”

She makes an exasperated noise. “No, it wasn’t. I wasn’t aiming for it, I was trying to cut the spirit away from it.” She crosses her arms over her chest. “You know, spirits? Those things we shinigami are supposed to help and protect?”

Karin looks back at Ichigo. His mouth opens, then closes, jaw hardening. His hand tightens on his sword until the knuckles go white.

“Besides, Karin had it distracted...”

Ichigo’s sword slashes through the air, in a movement Karin can barely see. She gasps, and Rukia turns crimson.

“WHAT DO YOU THINK...”

Then, her scarf falls off.

Karin doesn’t have to look at the wound anymore; its image is firmly engrained in her head. Instead, she watches Ichigo. His mouth opens a bit, his eyes widen, and there’s a look on his face that she can’t quite put a name to. It looks like...horror. It looks like...anger. It looks like...

Rukia covers it with her hand. It’s a strangely guilty gesture.

Then, Ichigo’s face tightens again, and he demands, in short, bitten off words, “What is that, Rukia?”

“Ichi-nii, DON’T,” she says, but he whirls on her and barks, “Shutup, Karin.”

Then he moves towards Rukia, hand still tight on his sword. He seems to loom over her, and she looks like she’s about to flee.

“What the hell is that thing, Rukia?” he asks. His voice is low and hoarse.

Rukia says nothing, just lowers her head, one hand clutching her other arm.

His other hand clenches into a fist. “You said you were fine,” he growls. “That’s NOT FINE, RUKIA. What the HELL is wrong with you? Did you think you could hide it? Did you think I wouldn’t fucking figure it out?”

He stops in front of her, and his voice drops again. “Were you EVER going to tell me, or would you just...just...” He stops for a second, and the expression that washes over his face in that moment surprises the hell out of Karin. It looks like fear, but that’s...impossible.

What he says next seems to prove her wrong. “Or would you just leave?” he asks, voice quiet, low.

Ichi-nii, she thinks. I don’t believe it ...Ichi-nii....

Rukia’s grip on her arm tightens, and she trembles visibly for a moment. She takes a breath, and it’s not a smooth one. But when she speaks, her voice is steady. “Yes,” she says.

She raises her head a little, and Karin can see tears in her eyes. Karin covers her mouth to keep from saying anything. She doesn’t know if they’d hear her, anyways

“Yes, I would,” Rukia says again.

“WHY? WHAT THE FUCK...WHY THE HELL...”

“This mark,” she says, and pauses for a moment. “It’s a bite from a Hollow.” She looks up even further, as if to almost meet his eyes, and her hand tightens on her neck. “YOUR Hollow, Ichigo.”

Ichigo’s goes blank, grim, and she realizes it’s not surprise he’s trying to hide.

Ichi-nii, did you know? she wonders. How..?

“I didn’t want to tell you,” Rukia says, and her voice is quiet, still. “I didn’t want to tell you...because I never wanted to see THAT LOOK ON YOUR FACE.”

The hand covering her wound falls away, and she begins to cry, harder than before. Her hand stops in front of her chest, as if she can’t leave herself that
exposed, and it shakes. All of her shakes, so that the entire outline of her body trembles. Karin wonders how she stays standing.

"You had to know, though, didn't you," she says. "You just...had to know." Her voice drops. "And now you do.”

“Rukia...” he says, as if that’ll stem her outburst. He makes an awkward sort of move towards her.

Oh, damn, Karin thinks.

“You just had to know, didn’t you,” she says, shaking her head, and there’s a sudden anger in her voice. “You just HAD to. You couldn’t LEAVE IT ALONE, could you, ICHIGO?”

Her hand clenches in front of her, and she rakes it across her face, as if wiping away the tears. Then it drops to her side, still clenched. Her face turns up and her eyes blaze open, so she’s staring him in the eye. Her jaw clenches. She’s still trembling, but there’s anger in it now.

“You always tell me,” she says, “to worry about myself.” Her voice is hard, and cold. “You...and Renji...you’ve told me over and OVER AGAIN to worry about myself first. Then you CHASE ME AROUND as if I CAN’T DO THAT. Well, I CAN, and AM. WHY CAN’T YOU LET ME DO THAT?”

Ichigo’s jaw drops.

“This is MY fault, and it’s MY PROBLEM, Ichigo. MINE. And I’ll handle it myself. DO YOU HEAR ME? I’ll handle it MYSELF!!”

“BULLSHIT, RUKIA!”

Color floods Ichigo’s face, and he leans in towards her.

“YOUR PROBLEM? It’s MY FUCKING HOLLOW that did this! How does that make it YOUR PROBLEM? How does that make it YOUR FAULT?” he yells. “RUKIA, that’s SUCH...”

She turns her back on him, and he stops.

“No more,” she says, in a voice quiet and deadly. “No more. I am going to deal with this. Just...leave me alone.”

He starts towards her.

“LEAVE ME ALONE, KUROSAKI!” she says, and walks off.

It's raining, and Rukia's walking away from him.

It's raining, and he's dying on the pavement, and Rukia's walking away from him.

She stops in the doorway, turns to the side, looks back on him. He can't read the expression in her eyes.

This time, she doesn't stop.

This time, she doesn't look back.

Karin watches as her brother’s face as she goes. Why do I think, she wonders, that he’s seen this before?

Ichi-nii, Ichi-nii. I knew about her. I didn’t realize...you too...

When he moves, as she know he will, she’s there. She grabs onto his arm, digs in her heels, and stops him.

“What the hell are you doing, Karin?!” he roars. “Let go of me! Rukia...”

“You can’t go, Ichi-nii. You can’t,” she says, not looking at him. She can’t bring herself to look at him right now.

He follows her eyes, to where Rukia stood. He pulls against her again. ”RUKIA!” he yells. “RUKIA, YOU BITCH, IT’S MY HOLLOW. IT’S MY...”

He breaks off, breathing harshly.

She looks up at him now, and says quietly, “I know, Ichi-nii. I know.”

Then she tightens her grip on him and tugs back. “But you can’t go. You CAN’T, not now. She needs time.” She takes a breath, and it hurts for a moment, though she’s not sure why. “And I think...so do you.”

Ichigo stares at her for a moment, then looks back to where Rukia was. Karin watches him, watches the emotions clash on his face. For one moment, one single moment, it’s blank, clear. And in that second, she swears she hears him say, “I thought I was done with rain.”

Then, his face slides back into his usual arrogant scowl. He looks down at her, and gently, pushes her away. “Yeah,” he says. “You’re right.”

Story four, on it's way. Thank you again!