This was so fun to write ^-^ I hope you enjoy and please leave a review!

Laundry Day

It was quite bright, actually, a brilliant shade of purple. And it was lacy. And very… small.

Ichigo tentatively picked up the feminine underwear and examined it more closely, blushing furiously.

Where the hell did she get something like this? It was not stolen from Yuzu, that was for damn sure. He sat back down on his bed and held the thong up, stretching it and, just for a moment, picturing it on his petite closet dweller.

It was, of course, at that moment that Rukia chose to finally arrive home. Ichigo immediately dropped the offensive clothing and tried to stutter out an explanation.

Before he could manage that though, Rukia managed to turn almost the same shade of purple and Ichigo could see death swarming in her eyes.

.

.

Because of previous failed attempts, Rukia is no longer allowed to do her own laundry at the Kurosaki household. After the third incident, Ichigo devised a system in which he starts, loading his own laundry first and putting in the detergent, and then Rukia puts her clothes in while Ichigo supervises.

The first mistake had not been a huge one. Rukia merely flooded the basement with detergent bubbles and Ichigo had to bust his ass to get it all cleaned up before the rest of his family arrived home.

The second incident had resulted in her losing most of her scavenged wardrobe.

"Rukia, you can't just leave your clothes in the dryer and forget about them like that." Luckily, it had been Karin's turn to do the twins' laundry that morning and she simply tossed the clothes in a basket to wait until the rest were done and thought nothing of the oddity.

The third and final straw was when she turned his favorite casual white t-shirt pink.

"But Ichigo, you said all my pajamas could go in the same load." That memory caused Ichigo to turn quite red and he found he couldn't really be upset with her.

It had been his fault for leaving the shirt lying on the floor of the bathroom after taking it off to shower and then go to sleep. The midget wasn't supposed to find it later, after her shower, on top of the other clothes and towel he had left for her. When she came in to his room that night though, her hair still wet, her petite frame covered in nothing but his shirt and a small pair of Karin's shorts, he realized that he had a bit of a problem saying anything to her at all, much less about her choice of sleepwear that night.

So, with a pink shirt, Rukia's now non-existent wardrobe, and a huge history test tomorrow, Ichigo hesitantly sent the small girl out with his card, Tatsuki, Orihime, and the other girls to go shopping.

Sunday wasn't their usual laundry day but Isshin had taken the girls to God-knows-where for "a-super-happy-family-fun-day." (Isshin's words, not his.) Rukia had agreed to be back by seven to grab any "personal items" out of the dryer before Ichigo dumped everything in a basket and sorted the clothes in his room.

It was now eight. Ichigo closed his history notebook and texted Tatsuki, asking her to let Rukia use her phone for a moment.

T says u hav a ? o-0
-R

Ichigo rolled his eyes. Rukia reveled in the novelty that was text lingo.

Yeah. Dad'll be home soon. Hurry up so we can get your laundry out. Also, don't spend all my money on girl stuff. You still owe me a new shirt.
–Ichigo

Whatevs. TTYL :)
-R

Rukia. Now.
-Ichigo

STFU. LOL .
-R

…

Fine
-R

That had been thirty minutes ago. Ichigo had taken to sitting in the laundry room, just in case, when he heard a car pull in. He waited until he heard the various shouts and Yuzu's giggling and then opened the dryer door. Oh, that stupid midget is in trouble now…

Ichigo took a deep breath, closed his eyes tightly, and grabbed handful after handful of clothing, trying to get it all in the basket while seeing as little as possible. Once the dryer was empty, still avoiding looking directly at the basket, he quickly ran up to his room and set it in a corner.

So far, nothing inappropriate had reached his eyes. Ichigo sat down at his desk and resumed studying.

After reading through all his notes twice, it was 9:25. He grabbed a manga and sat down on his bed, skimming through the book. He had managed to postpone wondering about Rukia since coming up to his room but since he had gotten rid of her, he really had nothing to do.

Ichigo let out a sigh and looked around his room. That was when he saw… it.

It was… quite bright, actually, a brilliant shade of purple. And it was lacy. And very… small.

Ichigo tentatively picked up the feminine underwear and examined it more closely, blushing furiously.

Where the hell did she get something like this? It was not stolen from Yuzu, that was for damn sure. He sat back down on his bed and held the thong up, stretching it and, for just a moment, picturing it on his petite closet dweller.

It was, of course, at that moment that Rukia chose to finally arrive home. Ichigo immediately dropped the offensive clothing and tried to stutter out an explanation.

Before he could manage that though, Rukia managed to turn almost the same shade of purple and Ichigo could see death swarming in her eyes.

"What…are you doing?" She drew the words out, very slow and deliberate, as if she were plotting his murder right at that moment.

"I… It…i-in the laundry." Ichigo avoided Rukia's glare and pointed weakly at the laundry basket.

Rukia swiftly hit him over the head with her bags of new clothes.

"Really, Ichigo? You could not possibly wait for me to get home? Isn't that why we came up with this… plan?" She wouldn't screech at him and alert his family to her presence but her quiet, seething hiss was almost even more terrifying.

And then Ichigo remembered whose fault it was that he had to handle her clothes at all.

"Well, maybe now you'll be home on time!" He spat back. Rukia threw her hands in the air.

"What am I supposed to say, Ichigo? I can't exactly use the old "Oh! Time to get my clothes out of the dryer at my classmate's house" excuse now, can I?"

"You could've made something up! Last time I checked, you were pretty damn good at pretending and lying to everyone!" Ichigo watched the rage fade away from Rukia's face and turn into a cool resentment.

She turned around and set her bags in the closet. She rifled through them for a minute before pulling something out.

"Here's your stupid shirt." Rukia tossed a white shirt, very similar to the one she had ruined, at him and walked over to the laundry basket. She plucked a shirt, two bras, and two skirts out.

"I'm going to bed." After climbing into her makeshift bed, she slammed the door, not hard enough to be noticed by anyone else in the house, but loud enough to let her frustration be known.

Ichigo sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Then, he noticed what was still laying at his feet. For a brief moment, he considered not telling her and just hiding it.

"Hey, Rukia?" He knocked on the closet gently.

"What?" She didn't open the door.

"Umm… You… forgot this." The door flew open and the girl behind it was bright red. She snatched it from his hand and they fell into an awkward silence.

"So… I'm assuming you didn't get that from my sisters." Ichigo tried to chuckle at his own joke but a look from Rukia silenced him.

"Chizuru told me to get them when we went shopping last time. She said I had the... She said they'd look good." She finally admitted.

"You let Chizuru pick out underwear for you?" Ichigo laughed. Then, he paused and thought over what Rukia had just said.

"Wait, she told you to get them? Like, more than one?"

"It was a set." Rukia nodded slowly and then thought she understood. "They were on sale. I tried not to spend more than I had to."

Ichigo coughed and looked at his feet. She got a set… of tiny lacy thongs. That she wears… on her body.

"Ichigo?" She sounded concerned. He put a hand up and forced all dirty thoughts out of his head.

"Don't worry about it. It-it's fine." He managed a small smile and walked back over to his bed.

"Good night, Rukia." Ichigo turned the light off and rolled over to face away from the closet.

"Um… Ichigo?"

"Yes, Rukia?"

"When I said the set was on sale… I just meant the underwear. All the bras were full price but Chizuru said… Anyway, I'm sorry." A small smirk grew on her flushed face. "Good night, Ichigo."

Ichigo listened to the door slide shut and the girl on the other side as she got ready to go to sleep.

He exhaled slowly. "Night, Rukia."

The matching bras were full price…

It was going to be a long night.