Body Shock

Disclaimer: Bleach does not belong to me. I'm simply borrowing the characters.

A.N: It was to be expected. The direction this story took was never going to please everybody, as I said before. It was never going to be easy for Rukia and Ichigo to be together. Still, thank you for taking the time to leave feedback, whether it is positive or negative. Sometimes it is difficult to find the time to write but thank you for your patience, if you still decide to continue reading.

Knowledge is mostly anime-based.

And as a side note, this is a long chapter.


He had to get up. The longer he stayed here, the more dangerous it got. But as Kon gently eased Rukia's sleeping form out of his hold, he felt sad that he had to leave. And that Rukia didn't know it was really him, not Ichigo that gave her all that pleasure. He also felt somewhat worried. After all, what was Rukia going to say when she found out? And Ichigo as well. Kon made a face. It wasn't going to be pretty. There were going to be serious consequences.

He broke into a silly grin all of a sudden. It was worth it, though.

But as he looked down at Rukia again, her lips slightly parted as she breathed, he felt that it had been worth it in more ways than one. Not just because he got some satisfaction, but also because it had been Rukia.

"Rukia...Rukia..." He shook her gently. He needed to get her up. If Ichigo came back and found her sleeping naked on his bed, there would be a lot of confusion. And Kon didn't want Ichigo or Rukia to find out what he had done just yet. Some other time. Not yet.

Rukia stirred and her eyes fluttered open, met by the sight of Ichigo looking down at her. She smiled and reached up to touch his face. As she did, he held her hand to the side of his face and started to speak.

"I...think you should get back in the cupboard."

That woke her up fully. She was about to protest but then she realised that he had a reason. "Oh. Are your family back?"

How convenient. Rukia had provided a reason. "N-not yet, but they'll be back soon."

"All right." Rukia sleepily got up and started to reach for her panties. She slipped them on and holding the dress in her hand, walked over to the cupboard in her bare feet, opening it and reaching for the pyjamas she usually wore. No point in climbing into the cupboard to change. Ichigo had already seen her naked. She pulled the pyjamas on quickly and then stood with her hands on the shelf for a moment, trying to steady herself enough to climb inside.

Kon was dressed and he knew that he should probably go back to Ichigo. Maybe help out with any hollows. Try and redeem himself a little bit. Who knows, maybe if he saved Ichigo's life, his own would be spared. Although the chances of that were looking very slim.

Rukia was almost sleeping on her feet. She had never been so tired so was grateful when Ichigo came over and lifted her into his arms, placing her inside the cupboard. Her eyes closed as he kissed her once more on the lips and then as she felt covers being tucked around her, she drifted off into sleep again.

Kon quietly closed the door of the cupboard, somewhat glad that Rukia had been able to sleep so easily. He had to go. But he stood with one hand placed against the door of the cupboard, longing to feel soft skin beneath him again. It wasn't going to happen.

He tried to push the thought to the back of his mind as he climbed out of the window and dropped down to the street below.

"Tsubaki-kun!" With Orihime's call there was a flash of light. Tsubaki appeared at her side.

"About time you called, woman!" His eyes narrowed. "Now aim right this time!"

"Ishida-kun! Are you ready?" Orihime turned to Ishida, who was standing with his bow in hand and an arrow ready to be fired.

"I'm ready."

"Chad!" Ichigo called to his friend.

Chad responded with a nod and clenched his fist.

"On three," Ichigo called. "One...two...THREE!"

Orihime and Ishida fired their projectiles at an image each while Ichigo leapt forwards with his sword and Chad sprinted, taking aim with his fist.

The cry of pain from the hollow was almost deafening as both of its images were destroyed easily, splitting and then each fragment disappearing. But it seemed that it still had the strength to dodge Chad's fist and narrowly miss Ichigo's sword so instead of its head being cut off completely, there was simply a deep gash down the side. Enough to hurt it severely, but not enough to kill.

As Ichigo came down from his attack and landed gracefully, pivoting and holding his sword at the ready once more, he felt incredibly frustrated that his attack had failed to connect fully. Why was this hollow so fast? At least it looked as if its images weren't going to return. It was just this hollow now. Ichigo closed his eyes briefly, breathing hard. What was wrong with him? Why wasn't he...?

"Ichigo!" Chad's call came just at the right time, alerting Ichigo to the hollow's hand about to slam down on top of him. Ichigo rolled out of the way and as the hand slammed down, Ichigo brought his sword down with a cry of frustration, leaving a cut spurting blood.

"Take that!" Ichigo raised his sword again about to cut the hollow's hand clean off but the hollow gathered a little strength and jumped into the air.

As Kon flew, jumping from post to post, he caught sight of Ichigo and the others fighting a large hollow not too far away. Kon's eyes narrowed as the hollow jumped into the air, the instinctive hatred rising up inside him.

"This is it." He jumped towards the edge of a fence and then bent his knees slightly with his hands behind his back before springing away with all of his might, shooting through the air. As he headed straight for the hollow, Kon extended a leg, connecting with the hollow's face with a resounding crack. As Kon fell, he noted the hollow's screech and grinned, pleased with his accomplishment.

"Did you tell Rukia?"

The question took Kon a little by surprise as he landed. "I thought you said you weren't going to be long, you bastard?"

Ichigo didn't have time for bantering but he very much wanted to punch Kon. Still, he didn't have time for that, either.

"Perhaps if we all attack at the same time?" Ishida suggested. "It seems to have been weakened a little bit."

"Fine then. Just send it over to me." Ichigo adjusted his grip and moved out of the way as the others got into position. "And Kon! Don't forget who owns that body! I don't want you doing any funny stuff in it!"

"Hey! Hollow!" Orihime stood and waved her arms about, trying to attract the attention of the hollow, who was focused on Ichigo. "Over here!"

It took the bait and swiped down but Chad stepped forward, swinging his fist and stopping the hollow's hand from coming down as Ishida fired an arrow, slicing through the hollow's shoulder. At the same time, Orihime sent Tsubaki flying towards the hollow, aiming for the same shoulder that Ishida had hit, intending to cause even more damage.

Meanwhile, Kon knelt down, thinking about Ichigo's words. Funny stuff? It was a bit late for that.

"It's all yours, Ichigo!" He sprang up and delivered a painful kick to the base of the hollow's face, sending it flying backwards in Ichigo's direction.

"Right!" Ichigo was ready for it. He would put an end to all of this, for sure. He stood, ready to deliver the final blow as the hollow fell down.

"Not this time, shinigami!" The hollow rasped out those words and with its uninjured arm, pushed itself up and then gleefully laughed as it shot off towards the sky, its legs giving it enough force to jump high enough to surprise all of them. A hole opened up in the sky and the hollow went through it, disappearing.

Ichigo stood with his face twisted in anger, his hands clutching his sword with terrible force. "COME BACK HERE!" he bellowed. "COME BACK HERE, DAMMIT! COME BACK!"

There was a long pause as all of them looked up to where the hollow had disappeared. Everything was oddly quiet all of a sudden.

"K-Kurosaki-kun..." Orihime stepped over to him and gently placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry…we'll get it next time."

Ichigo wanted to move his shoulder roughly away from Orihime but he didn't. It wasn't just that he had failed to kill a hollow that was a little weak. It was also because it was late and that evening with Rukia had been wasted. Completely ruined.

Ichigo lay in bed later, his hands behind his head. He was staring at the ceiling, his mouth set in a firm line. He was still angry. Part of him wanted to turn over and pound his pillow into oblivion. All of him wanted to find that hollow and destroy it completely. He would definitely destroy it.

He really didn't like failing. It made him feel as if his stomach was twisted. It made him feel inadequate. He took a deep breath, trying to calm down again.

It made sense that Rukia would be sleeping by the time he got back. Why would she have waited up? Kon had told him earlier that he hadn't said anything to Rukia about a hollow and Ichigo was somewhat glad. Otherwise Rukia would have rushed out to help them. While it would have been nice to have her with him while he was fighting as usual, he hadn't wanted to spoil her evening and had agreed that Kon had done the right thing.

Perhaps he wouldn't mention it to her later, either.

But where would he say he had been?

He didn't know. He just wouldn't mention fighting a hollow unless it became necessary to. At least Rukia had had a good evening. He sure as hell hadn't.

His legs and arms ached a little. Damn Kon. Always thinking he could do whatever he liked in this body.

It was morning. As Rukia started to put on her school uniform, she couldn't help but smile thinking of the night before. Ichigo had been so good to her. One of these days she would repay him for sure.

She slid open the door of the cupboard with a smile. "Good morning, Ichigo."

"Morning." Ichigo was putting some things into his bag. He hadn't had much sleep last night and for some reason couldn't bring himself to look at Rukia. He felt as if somehow he had not just failed himself, but failed her. He didn't want to face his humiliation and admit that he hadn't killed it and he sure as hell didn't want to admit that he felt like crap because he hadn't gotten the opportunity to spend some proper time with her.

Ichigo's offhand manner made Rukia wary of him. She hopped down from the shelf, shutting the door slowly behind her, studying Ichigo.

"Here's your spirit phone." He took it from the table and tossed it to her. Rukia kept her eyes on him as she caught it easily, slipping it into her pocket. "I picked it up from Urahara last night."

"Oh. Thanks." What was wrong with him?

"See you at school, then." He breezed past her and went out of the room, leaving Rukia confused.

"I think that he's taken it hard," Orihime said sadly to Chad, watching as Ichigo stalked into the classroom, his usual scowl deeper than normal. "Although his face does look a little funny."

Chad hadn't thought that Ichigo would be so bad-tempered about not defeating a hollow. But then again, it was Ichigo. And it was his night off yesterday.

"Although..." Orihime looked down sadly. "I feel as if we could have done a little more."

He nodded in agreement. He himself had missed an attack on the hollow. If he had moved a little faster, then he could have helped Ichigo a little more.

"Maybe we're too inexperienced." She looked up at Chad with large eyes full of worry. "What do you think?"

He did agree with her on that point. But without practice, they would not get more experience. And at least last night they had fought a little.

"Ichigo!" Keigo stood in front of Ichigo's table. "You look so grouchy! What's wrong with you this morning?"

"Get out of my face." Ichigo looked down and started to get something out of his bag.

"I...was just asking."

"Well don't."

Ichigo felt as if everyone was staring at him and he couldn’t bear it. He just wanted to get through this school day so he could go out tonight and hunt down any hollows. He would make up for last night by killing as many as he could tonight.

"You couldn't have stopped it."

Ichigo looked up and angrily glared at Ishida, who had turned around to quietly make a remark.

"Shut up."

"You really couldn't have stopped it. We underestimated it. That thing even managed to dodge my attacks. We'll be better prepared next time."

"I don't need you to tell me that."

"Well someone has to. Get a grip on yourself."

"Fuck off."

As Rukia walked into the classroom, she felt a little worried. She had been thinking about Ichigo all the way to school and she looked at him out of the corner of her eye as she sat down, uncertain of what he was feeling.

"Good morning, Kuchiki-san!" Keigo greeted her, hoping to get a warmer response than the one he had gotten from Ichigo.

"Good morning," Rukia smiled back, faking her cheerfulness, although noting how Ichigo was deliberately not looking at her.

Whatever was wrong, the problem was between her and Ichigo. Nobody else had to get dragged into it.

"Ichigo!" Rukia caught up to him and reached for his arm. She managed to grab it briefly, feeling how muscular he was and remembering how he had used those arms last night to hold himself up above her.

"What is it?" He shook her off quickly and looked down at her, feeling that guilt well up inside him again.

"I just wanted to ask you what was wrong." She walked beside him. "Is it...about last night?"

He was quiet for a moment.

"It is." She stopped walking and looked down at the floor.

Ichigo sighed. She probably thought that he was angry because she had her break and he hadn't. What exactly had Kon told her? That he had some work of some kind to take care of? He couldn't avoid telling her about a hollow forever.

Why did she feel...sick all of a sudden? And vulnerable? She looked up at Ichigo with her head held proudly. "Tell me if I did something wrong."

Seeing her look at him defiantly, Ichigo was taken aback but he still noticed the way that her eyes hid some deeper emotion. "Rukia, about last night..." He definitely had to come clean. Why was she looking so upset all of a sudden?

"I did something wrong, didn't I?" Rukia bit her lip as she kept staring at Ichigo. "I did something wrong, and now you're all different because of it."

Ichigo snorted dismissively. "Yeah. Right. I guess that's it." Why was she getting so worked up over something? She had it all wrong and Ichigo found it a little strange that she would think that he was so shallow as to be jealous of having a night off. He opened his mouth, about to tell her that he wasn't angry because of that at all, he was angry because of something else completely but she caught him by surprise with a swift punch in the stomach.

He doubled over, clutching his stomach. "Ow! What the hell was that for?"

Rukia really wanted to hit him again and make him feel some more pain but she was starting to feel a little choked up. So she simply ran away in the other direction.

"This is stupid," Rukia whispered to herself as she sat on a branch high up in a tree. It was easy to climb up, made easier by the fact that she had wanted to hide herself for the time being until the feeling of being choked up went away. No, it wasn't her that was stupid. It was Ichigo that was stupid. Stupid stupid stupid stupid. Each time she thought the word, she slammed her fist into her palm.

But he had been so nice to her the night before...She closed her eyes and thought of how strong his hold on her had been, how he had laughed with her, how he had carried her into the cupboard when she had fallen asleep. How warm he had felt, how full she had felt, how muscular he was underneath all of those clothes, the sounds he had made, the sounds he had made her make...

And to think that this had all started with problems with the gigai.

He must have gone to pick up her spirit phone after he saw that she was safely in the cupboard. Was that when he had changed his attitude and started to regret the time they had spent together? Was it Urahara? That son of a bitch. He was the one who set this whole thing up in the first place. She ought to go over there and punch him in the face, anything to vent her anger.

Rukia shook her head furiously. No point getting worked up about it. She should just move on.

Maybe this was why humans were so messed up. Too many feelings. Too many complicated situations.

She would have to face Ichigo eventually. Hopefully it would be later rather than sooner.

But as her spirit phone in her pocket beeped, Rukia put a hand to her head and sighed in exasperation.

What was wrong with Rukia? Punching him like that...Maybe shinigami girls were just as complicated as ordinary human ones. His stomach still sort of hurt from where she had hit him. It had been a really strong punch but why was that any surprise?

Ichigo was standing outside one of the buildings, lounging against a wall in the shade. The boys had gone upstairs to sit on the roof for lunch but he hadn't felt like joining them. Luckily, Chad had said something that had distracted Keigo from bothering Ichigo about eating with them.

He hadn't spoken to Rukia since she had hit him. Sure, they had been in class together but she had pointedly refused to look at him. Fine. Whatever. Let her be like that. Let her sulk at him. What did he care?

He clenched his fist. Of course he cared.

Had he hurt her in some way?

If he had, then what had he done?

Ichigo looked up at the sky, wondering what it would be like to just go up and escape all of his problems, then not have to deal with them when he came back to earth. He was so confused. Maybe he had gotten too wrapped up in himself and his own anger and bruised ego to think of Rukia.

That was settled. He had to find her and straighten this whole thing out. No matter how ugly it got.

As he pushed himself off the wall and took a few steps, coming out of the shadows and stepping into the blinding sunlight, he thought he heard someone calling his name. He raised a hand to shield his eyes and saw a girl with dark hair rushing towards him.

"Hollow."

"What? Now?"

"I wouldn't be telling you otherwise."

As they both ran, Rukia looked at her spirit phone once more. Ichigo cast a glance at her as their feet pounded on the ground in unison, carrying them towards the place where the hollow would appear.

"Rukia..."

"Save it." Rukia shot him a glare and continued to run.

The severity of her glance was enough to keep Ichigo quiet for the meantime.

The sight of seeing his body 'unoccupied' never ceased to freak Ichigo out. But there was no time to worry about that as Rukia dragged his body around the corner. Ichigo frowned. Was she deliberately making sure he scraped across the ground more than usual?

"So where is this hollow, then?" He stood with his sword laid casually across his shoulders, scanning the sky and the surrounding area.

"It'll be here soon." Rukia shoved Ichigo's body roughly to make sure he was hidden sufficiently and then, dusting her hands off, went closer to where Ichigo stood in his spirit form.

There was an awkward silence between them.

Usually he never felt strange around Rukia. He almost always felt comfortable when she was near. He always felt as if he could talk to her and as if she would take him seriously. That wasn't happening now. He really must have done something wrong and while a part of him was a bit annoyed that she had suddenly exploded like that, he couldn't help but want to make amends so he took a breath before opening his mouth to speak.

Where was this hollow? Rukia got out her spirit phone and checked it. It was supposed to be here...

"Rukia..."

Her heart skipped when he said her name. She slowly closed her spirit phone and turned to look at Ichigo.

How many times had they stood side by side? He wished that he had spent the time with her yesterday. It was supposed to be their time together and he had wasted money on those puddings. She was his friend, and she was his fellow fighter. The one who had given up her powers so that he could have them. He would always be thankful for that.

He was looking at her strangely and Rukia cleared her throat quietly. What did he want? What was he going to say? There was a tension between them that was unmistakeable. She couldn't bear it any longer.

"What?"

She hadn't meant it to sound so harsh and she registered the surprise that flashed briefly across Ichigo's face.

She had said it so sharply that he was taken aback and responded almost automatically. "What do you mean what?" Immediately he kicked himself for being so harsh in return.

"I mean what. You were the one who said my name." Rukia folded her arms. "What did you want to say to me?"

Ichigo took a long moment to regain his composure. She was so infuriating sometimes. But then he broke into a smile as he realised how alike they were.

When Ichigo smiled, Rukia couldn't help it. She smiled back. He was so infuriating sometimes. But maybe that just meant they were too alike.

They stood there for a moment, simply smiling at each other.

Ichigo lowered his sword so that it was by his side and with his free hand, reached for Rukia's hand. As their fingers touched, he felt again how warm she was. How small her hand was in comparison to his.

"Earlier..." Ichigo said slowly, trying to gather his thoughts. He had never held her hand properly before.

Rukia waited patiently, liking the way that they were standing in front of each other, holding hands like they had last night.

"I didn't mean to..."

Was he having difficulty thinking too? Rukia looked up expectantly at him, waiting for him to finish his sentence.

"I just wanted to ask you why..."

He couldn't get the words out properly. What exactly did he want to ask her? He wanted to ask her why she had gotten so mad earlier. He wanted to ask her what he had done wrong. Yeah, that was it.

"What did I...do wrong?" Ichigo swallowed as he finally finished asking his question.

Rukia's eyes widened and she was about to explode again and hit him around the head this time but when she saw his frown, and the way he looked genuinely confused, she stopped. Did he really not know?

Perhaps this was just the way that human boys were.

Perhaps this was what sex did to people.

She gently squeezed his hand. "I...wanted to know what I did wrong. You were bad-tempered earlier. More so than usual."

Ichigo laughed wryly. He felt a little strange. She wanted to know what she did wrong? But she hadn't done anything wrong. Hadn't he been the one who had done something wrong? He understood, now. It was just a mix-up, easily cleared by a few words.

"It wasn't you, Rukia. You see, last night..."

She had just heard the part where he had said it wasn't her. Rukia had sighed with relief and leaned her head against Ichigo's chest, feeling the material of his shinigami clothes separating her from his skin. But he was still solid, and he was still there. She closed her eyes briefly, happy all of a sudden. So she hadn't done anything wrong?

What the...Was Rukia actually laying her head against his chest? Ichigo stared down at her but she had her eyes closed. His first reaction was one of shock but then that was slowly overridden by a happier feeling. One that made him not want to push her away. It wasn't like Rukia to be like this. But then again...Ichigo raised his free hand and slowly put his arm around her, holding her to him. It wasn't like him to be like this either.

There he was. She felt comforted as he held her against him. The feeling was so familiar, even though she had only felt it last night. She felt as if she could stay there for a while, just pressed against Ichigo, feeling the sunshine warm her from one side and Ichigo warm her from the other. Her eyes were closed because she felt that if she opened them, the bubble would burst.

Ichigo lowered his head, pressing the side of his cheek against the top of Rukia's head. She was so small. He smiled for a moment. They must look so stupid, just standing there holding onto each other. It would be especially bad for Rukia if an ordinary person came along, seeing her leaning against an invisible something.

Was she whispering something? Her voice was a little muffled and Ichigo strained to hear.

"Ichigo...Last night was really..."

Ichigo suddenly stopped, his eyes going blank as he registered that horrible feeling once again. So he didn't hear Rukia say the next word.

"...wonderful."

"You..." Ichigo looked up to see a hollow emerging, his relaxed expression changing into a disbelieving scowl. "You...again..."

"Ichigo?" Rukia looked up at Ichigo, who seemed to be staring past her. She carefully turned around to be met with the sight of a hollow. What was this...? Why hadn't she felt it before?

He didn't want to, but he released Rukia and adjusted his grip on his sword while he glared up at the hollow. Perfect. Absolutely perfect. Twice now that hollow had interrupted. It was so fucking ironic that it was painful. Why couldn’t he and Rukia ever have any time alone? He mentally cursed whatever was making this happen.

The hollow chuckled, an empty, harrowing sound. "Me! Pathetic little shinigami! I'll make you pay for what you did!"

"You know what?" Ichigo's lips curled into a snarl. "I'm really fucking sick of you."

"Ichigo?" Rukia looked between the hollow and the shinigami, a little confused and dazed because the moment had been spoiled.

Ichigo looked sideways at Rukia. Of course. She didn't know, did she? The thought stoked the flames of his anger a little higher.

"You're wrong," he called up to the hollow. "I'm going to be the one to make you pay!"

He called for Rukia to move out of the way and as she did, he dashed forward to attack.