Author's Note: Okay…well, if you want to know the information regarding my one-shots for Ichigo and Rukia, please refer to the first one-shot collection so I do not have to rewrite everything. For those of you who read the story "Finders Keepers", here is the sequel.
It is dedicated to all of the avid readers from my last collection, whom I thank adamantly for their support and love, especially Andraq. Thank you so much!! I hope you enjoy. It is not perfect, but I thought some innocent fluff would be a good way to start.
If you have any suggestions or requests for one-shot stories, please let me know!! I would be happy to do them. Please read and review!
Title: Finders Keepers Two
Genre: General/Romance
Summary: Rukia was afraid of rejection, and wanted to keep the feelings hidden inside. Little did she know the one she wrote of so fondly had some feelings hidden too…
Finders Keepers Two
Rukia delicately flipped through the pages of her diary. Each entry up until she reached the human world was filled with the scribbles of her training, which consisted of working diligently next to Ukitake-taicho, and Kaien-dono, and there were even skirmishes with Renji in the sand trap practice grounds. Now it was different; each entry had Ichigo encrypted into each page, whether directly said or floating between the lines.
And he almost found out…
Clutching the book tightly, she shuddered at him opening her beloved diary, and with enlarged eyes scanning over her written affections for the boy. It was not how she wanted to tell him; Rukia had watched plenty of romance movies to know.
A muffled knock came to the closet door; Rukia forgot she awoke early that morning, and secluded herself in the dark to think. With a jump, she glanced at the light streaming through the cracks, attempting to see who was there. She had a hunch of who it might be.
"Open." She said quickly as she hid her diary away underneath the pillow. The door slid open to reveal a disheveled Ichigo, hair tousled and pajamas in disarray. Rukia managed to stifle her laugh, though she knew she could not possibly look any better. "Do you know what time it is?" Ichigo asked with irritation, yawning.
"Why does it matter? I wasn't making any noise." She replied defensively, nose wrinkling. Ichigo sighed and shook his head. "I wasn't referring to that. I really wanted to know what time it was. My clock fell and broke last night."
"Oh." She muttered, embarrassed. "I don't know."
He waved her off and walked back to his bed, stretching and groaning in an attempt to wake up. Rukia could not help but stare at the one who kept her awake at night, thoughts of him running through her head incessantly. It was enough to drive a person mad. Lost in thought, she did not realize she was still staring. Ichigo raised an eyebrow.
"Um, Rukia? Everything okay?" He asked, finishing his stretch. Rukia blinked and shook her head. "No, no everything is fine, really."
Ichigo nodded, and took in a sharp breath. "Okay." Then he seemed jittery. "I um…"
Rukia swung her eyes back towards him, watching as he flailed for words and scratched his head. She felt her heart in her throat. "Come on, spit it out," She said impatiently, ignoring her body. He gave her a frustrated glance, and then sighed.
"I wanted to…" His eyes drifted to the floor. "To um, apologize again about the…about the diary."
Rukia drew her head back in surprise; that was not exactly what she was expecting him to say. His facial features were shadowed, and his brows drew together in a tight scrunch. Rukia tried to read his face, but Ichigo was a closed book.
"Uh, okay. Where did that come from?" Rukia asked. She was almost mad that he was still attempting to apologize for an incident that occurred a week before. He shrugged. "I'm just re-apologizing, is that a problem?" He asked, his voice rising.
She shook her head quickly. "No. Just did not expect it."
"I just felt bad is all. I felt like a jerk, for some reason."
Rukia huffed. "Yeah, I would say it was rather jerk-ish of you." He dropped his shoulders, and did not look at her. Noticing his remorse, she added, "But apologizing balances it out, you know. If you were a true jerk, apologizing would not have been part of your vocabulary."
"Yeah, I guess so." He replied quietly.
"So why is it bothering you so much?" She just had to ask him; her curiosity was killing her. Ichigo glanced up, and for the first time a different light shone in his eyes. She swore her heart stopped at the look in his eyes.
"Because it's your diary. I shouldn't read that stuff. I never was going to, but my mind…it was fighting with me. I guess…I felt bad about my curiosity."
She raised her eyebrow. "What is there to be curious about? I'm just…me." Rukia thought she did well covering how nervous she felt; her words did not shake so badly.
"But that's just it. It's you. I want to know."
Rukia knew now that her heart no longer functioned. Did she just hear what she thought she heard? Ichigo shut his eyes, mentally shoving his fist in his mouth. He knew now that she would be mad, and braced for the storm to come.
But none came.
"…why."
He opened one eye and saw the blank stare on her face. Was she worried, shocked, scared, or mad? Ichigo could not tell, but he stood up from his bed and made way for his door. He wanted to hide. "No reason. Just forget I said anything."
"No Ichigo. Please."
Rukia sounded desperate; almost like she was pleading with him. Ichigo was not sure how to respond, so he stopped walking and stood near the closet where she sat. He could feel his insides tangle in a tight knot. The knob on the door drew him in.
The silence in the room hovered above them like a deadly poison, ready to drift down and suffocate the lives out of them. Ichigo's face was still unreadable, and Rukia's eyes continued to stare at his profile praying he would respond. With a defeated sigh he dropped his head and closed his eyes once more.
"What is there for you to know, Rukia? I just told you…"
"Ichigo, I…I want to know what it is about me that you want to know. There is nothing life-threatening, or dangerous. It is just my diary."
He gave her a sweeping side glance with one eye. "I do not think you understand what a diary really means."
"Of course I do," She said, offended. "It is where I keep all of my thoughts and daily events."
"I know that." He snapped. "But it is the things you do not say that you place in that diary. The thoughts you want to hide, for one reason or another, are hidden inside. Curiosity overtakes us humans. We want to know what others are really thinking."
Rukia sat quiet for a moment. "You wanna know what I think?" Ichigo still did not look directly at her, but she had his full attention. "What?"
"That you make no sense." She stated dully.
"I make perfect sense! You are a closed book, Rukia. You rarely ever share anything with anyone, and it made me curious as to what you really think…what really goes through your mind every day."
She jumped out of the closet and stood before him, fists clenched. "Why should it matter to you? It's my diary, my thoughts—"
"I know that, stupid!" He argued. "But that doesn't make me any less curious!"
She growled. "I'm not stupid! And I keep certain things hidden because I am afraid!"
"Afraid of what!?" He yelled back.
She stomped her foot and tears formed behind her eyes. It burned. "Afraid of rejection, Ichigo! I do not want to be rejected! I refuse to be!"
"No one is going to reject you!" He replied, their faces now mere inches from each other, sparks of anger flaring from Rukia's tear-filled eyes. Ichigo noticed a little too late.
"Yes you will!"
Rukia gasped quietly as she backed away from him, the tears now streaming quietly down her flawless face. Ichigo could only watch her with a frozen face; the shock kept him from reacting. The poisoned silence took over again. Rukia, her back against the corner of the room, slid down the wall and buried her head in her arms. "I'm so stupid…" She whispered to herself.
"No you aren't."
Her head shot up to see Ichigo kneeling down before her, his eyes shifting uneasily. The pounding she heard must have been her own heart as it raced rampantly in the pit of her stomach.
"What?" Rukia wanted to ensure her hearing was in check.
He sighed. "I said, no you aren't. It was my fault."
"But I told—"
"It was my fault!" He cut her off. "I..I shouldn't have even said anything in the first place. Let's just…act like we never had this conversation."
She felt her heart shatter into a thousand finite pieces. "W-what?"
"Look," He said, glancing at the window, "It is your diary. Whether it has to do with me…"
"It has everything to do with you." She confessed.
He raised an eyebrow. "We should still just drop it."
Suddenly her face grew dark, and her eyes glazed over with a sadness he had never before seen. He knew then he said something wrong, and the guilt washed over him.
"I knew I would be rejected." She said quietly, shoulders shaking.
The next thing Rukia knew, Ichigo's finger was placed under her chin, lifting her eyes up to meet his deep, brown ones. She felt at home; there was something in them that drew her in. Rukia swallowed hard. She noticed a small bead of sweat run down his temple.
"You will never be rejected." He whispered softly, placing his forehead on hers. "I will never reject you, Rukia. I promise you that."
She smiled to herself as she pressed her forehead harder, feeling his warm skin against hers in an affectionate way. "But…but you don't even know what I wrote about you."
"If…if it has anything to do with the things I write about you…I think I have a pretty good idea."
Without once more thinking about her diary, and the fact that he kept his own, she jumped into his arms and buried her head into the crook of his neck. Rukia allowed tears of joy and relief flow. There was nothing left to hide.
"You know…" She said, muffled against his shirt. "I like the phrase finders' keepers."
He laughed softly and brought her closer. "I do too."
Authors' Note: Well…I have so much shit to do for school…but I somehow managed to squeeze this out of my wilted brain. I know it is not the best, and does not make a whole lot of sense…but I did it more for my enjoyment. It was random fluff, basically.
If you enjoy, great. If not…screw you. :
Look out for the next update…well, not for a while. I've some traveling to do in the next coupla days, and I will be gone for a few weeks. Forgive me. Please review.
EvilMoose