She let go of his hand.

She took one step away.

And then both feet took off in a run.

Chapter 15

It's not too late.

He could barely hear his own thoughts as he ran, his heart pounding in his ears.

Don't leave.

He approached the edge of the Karakura park, where the morning fog lazily lingered despite the rising sun.

Rukia

And then, like that fateful day when she first appeared in his room, he saw the shape of her emerge from the fog. When their eyes locked they stopped in their tracks. Though they stood no more than ten feet away from each other, both were nervous to take that next step closer.

"Rukia," suddenly seeing her standing there caused a wave of emotions to flood over him. Ichigo had to clear his voice a few times to get rid of the lump in his throat. "Rukia, I have something I have to tell you."

Her eyes never left his as she took one step closer.

"If you want to go, then go. But if you leave, I'm going to follow you."

Another step closer.

"I'm going to follow you around, live in your room, and interfere your life at every opportunity. Until finally, one day, you give up and come back."

The corners of her mouth threatened to curve up into a smile as she took yet another step.

"And I promise you I'll spend every day of the rest of our lives convincing you. That the only place you belong is here. With me."

Rukia took one final step in front of him, crossed her arms, and tilted her head up to him,"You came all the way here to tell me that?"

"No, idiot," He quickly took two big steps and stopped abruptly with his face a mere inches from hers. He grinned at the look of her eyes widening in surprise, "I'm here to tell you that I love you."

That damn smug grin. She didn't know whether she wanted to hug him or hit him. But before she could process her thoughts, her hands moved on their own and grabbed his head towards hers.

Her small hands framed his face and pulled his lips to her own. Ichigo could literally feel time stop and the world revolve around them. This only happens in movies, was his last coherent thought before he lost himself in the kiss

They stopped only when she could no longer go without breathing. Somehow during that time his hand had found his way buried in her hair. They paused, awkwardly, and she suddenly burst out laughing.

He felt a blush rise up to his cheeks. It was his first time, but he didn't think he was that bad.

"What the hell is on your face?"

Renji watched them from far away. He stood before the doors that were slowly opening to take him back to Soul Society. He couldn't bring himself to look away. He couldn't bring himself to leave. But then he heard her laugh, and it broke him from his spell. He turned away and took his first step through the door. Even from that distance he could hear that punk yelling at him to turn around and fight him like a man, or something like that. Renji just gave them a wave over the back of his head as the light enveloped him. And then he was gone.

"Dammit," Ichigo muttered to himself as he tried in vain to wipe off the red marker Renji had left on his face, "why did he have to leave looking so cool?"

Rukia gave one final wave, even though she knew Renji was no longer there. But she knew this wouldn't be the last they saw of him. She trusted him that their friendship would remain, just as he had trusted her decision to stay. She felt Ichigo put his arm over her shoulder, and she let him draw her into a hug.

They stood there for a long time, wrapped in each others embrace. When they finally drew away, Ichigo looked down at her questioningly.

She nodded.

And gave him a hard shove with her gloved hand.

Just a few hours earlier..

Renji was lost in thought when he almost tripped over what he thought was a log in the middle of the sidewalk. He rolled it over and found the orange-haired punk instead. Interesting.. he pondered about it for a few seconds, but then just shrugged. Renji glanced around once, then pulled a red marker out from his robe and proceeded to graffiti his face. He supposed that the message wasn't necessary, and the coloring of the eyebrows probably wasn't either. But no one made fun of Renji's eyebrows and got away with it. He was Vice-Captain Abarai Renji, after all.

The hollow was a small one and Ichigo disposed of it quickly. The fight had the effect of making things feel back to normal. They spent the entire day walking around, chatting, joking, and killing hollows. The only difference being that now when they walked, they walked hand-in-hand. At the end of they day they lingered on their walk back to their house, neither one wanting to be the first to let go.

"So.." Ichigo had wanted to bring up the subject all day, but each time he lost his nerve.

Rukia prodded him with a sharp poke to his side. "So what?"

Ichigo winced and looked off to the side, trying hard to look nonchalant. "You never said anything back. After I told you, you know, that I loved you." As soon as the words tumbled out, he awkwardly tried to backfire. "But you know, that's cool. You don't have to say anything. Whatever."

"I thought I showed you when I kissed you," she said, suddenly feeling shy.

"Well, if that's the case, you can show me again when we get into my room." He whispered in a suggestive voice and gave her a ridiculous wink.

She felt her face blush before she registered that he was joking. They both started laughing as she chased him around trying to pound him with her fists. He finally let her catch him and after she hit him once, he grabbed her hand and brought it to rest against his chest. Their proximity stopped their laughter. And Rukia simply whispered, "I love you."

His mouth swooped down and caught hers in a long drawn kiss.

The next day Urahara received an expected visitor at his shop.

"Sounds like you were pretty busy, night before last." Rukia crossed her arms and glared at the man trying to hide behind Tessai.

Urahara fanned himself innocently. "Who me?"

She threw him off guard when she gave him a curt bow. "You allowed me to make it my choice, my decision. And for that, I thank you."

"Are you sure you'll get the future you want if you become a human?"

"Honestly, I don't know." Rukia answered determinedly, "but it's worth living for, to find out."

A/N: Whew, it's finally finished. I may come back and edit this later on, but I needed to post it without procrastinating. I'm sure nobody follows this story still, since the last time i posted was eons ago, but I wanted to thank all of y'all for reading, reviewing, and inspiring me.