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Rukia rolled over onto her side and sighed, hoping to vent some of the exhaustion in her aching body in her exhale. The sunlight streaming in through the crack in the curtains of Urahara's dingy upstairs bedroom had woken her from her light, fitful sleep. 4:47 am , according to the dazzlingly bright display on her soul pager. Orihime and the Bount sensor mod soul Lilin were still sound asleep on the futon next to her. Good , she thought. They had been through a lot lately, and they deserved the rest.
She shivered and drew her thin blanket around herself tighter. It had been too soon for her to come back to the World of the Living. She had barely been able to keep up with her light duties at the 13th Division as it had been. No matter what she did, she couldn't shake the awful weakness that was dragging down her every footstep, the residual effect of the hokyoku's presence in her body. It was a waiting game, she supposed. But when she had heard Ichigo and the others had been in danger with the arrival of these "Bounts", she had been through the senkaimon before Captain Ukitake had even finished giving her the order. Her heart leapt with terror thinking about what might have happened if she hadn't arrived when she did during Ichigo's fight with the female Bount. She forced herself to swallow it down and take a deep breath. It was okay. He had escaped with nothing but a few scratches this time. He was okay. For now, at least.
The sound of the door sliding open startled her. Her fright turned to annoyance when she recognised the figure standing in the dim light in the doorway.
"You - Fool! What are you doing sneaking around so early?" she hissed at him.
"I was going to the bathroom and I felt your reiatsu spike" the ginger-haired substitute Soul Reaper murmured defensively in response "Why are you even awake anyway?"
"Woke up. Couldn't get back to sleep" she replied.
“Che. Same as ever. I don’t remember you ever sleeping through a whole night in my closet” he said, sliding the door shut behind him.
“I didn’t think you noticed” she said, surprised.
He padded across the room towards her, the footfalls of his socked feet muffled by the worn tatami underfoot.
“Of course I noticed. You were loud enough in there” he replied, laying down on his side next to her, smiling with mirth at her scowl. He paused for a beat and then asked "How've things been in the Soul Society since I left?"
"Things have been... Strange, to be honest" she answered thoughtfully "Everyone in the Gotei 13 seems to either be avoiding me or being overly apologetic to me."
His face sobered a little, and he tentatively asked her "And… With Byakuya?"
"He's... He's not as bad a guy as I thought he was" she said, then frowned, brows furrowed "We've had a lot of time to talk but... I don't know, I still feel like I don't know the first thing about him..."
"He looks like a real tough nut to crack alright" Ichigo replied "But I wouldn't sweat it. He seemed pretty serious about wanting to make things right with you so I'm sure he'll open up to you eventually."
"I hope you're right" she said softly. They lapsed into a comfortable silence, broken only by the distant roar of cars making the most of the i crowded roads so early in the morning.
"What about Renji?" he asked her suddenly, a little guarded "Has he been acting up?"
"No, but... It's weird" she said "It's been years since we've even spoken. We're both completely different people now. It's like getting to know him all over again."
"You two looked pretty buddy-buddy yesterday to me" he muttered.
"What, jealous of me hanging out with Renji or something?" she teased, poking him in the chest playfully.
"Nothing like that at all!" he protested in that bratty way of his. He poked her back in retaliation and she jabbed at him again, harder, and he counter-attacked in kind by sticking his fingers under her arm and tickling her. She grabbed for his own ticklish spot, right behind his neck and before she knew it they were rough-housing on the floor, trying to keep their laughter muffled. The speed at which they had fallen back into their old habits was almost frightening, as if no time had passed at all. Like she had never left. Truth be told, she missed him more than she cared to admit. Sometimes, half-asleep in the small hours of the morning, her mind would trick her into believing that she would wake surrounded by the familiar walls of his closet, that if she turned her head and opened her eyes she would see his bright hair spilling out around his head like a halo in the dawn light. The hollow feeling that came with waking up facing the ornate ceiling of the Kuchiki Manor often stayed with her for the rest of the day.
Inoue-san broke up their scrap by muttering something about a seaweed and raspberry jam onigiri as she rolled over in her sleep.
"You almost woke Inoue-san up!" Rukia chided in a hushed whisper, breathing a lot heavier than she normally ought to have been. In her current state even that much exertion was enough to take the wind out of her. He eyed her with concern as he rolled over onto his side again, hand rested within reach of hers, fingertips almost brushing hers.
“Yeah, well...” he began, then trailed off. The golden light filtering in through the curtains spilled across his tanned face, illuminating the flecks of amber in his chocolate brown eyes. Rukia felt her shallow breath leave her lungs as he fixed her with the full force of his dazzling, unbearably cocky smile and added “I missed this.”
“Missed what?” she asked, lightheaded in the wake of it.
“This. Just you and me. Talking. Like this.”
Rukia felt her cheeks heat up and the tiniest of smiles unfurled across her face unbidden.
“F-fool!” she said, punching him on the shoulder.
“Ow!” he complained “What is with you?”
In an effort to bury the warm feeling that had settled in her stomach, she turned away from him and with as much snark as she could manage, snapped: “Nothing! Now get out and let me get some sleep. We have our work cut out for us once everyone wakes up."
His clothes rustled as he pulled himself up into a sitting position.
"Fine, fine" he griped, then softer added "I'll let you get some more sleep."
He pulled Urahara's musty blanket over her, tucking it around her before giving her shoulder a squeeze as he got to his feet.
"G'night, Rukia. Or good morning, I guess" he whispered to her from the doorway. She craned her neck to look at him.
"Good morning, Ichigo" she replied, savouring the way the familiar words felt on her tongue.