Comments: This was written like 2 weeks before chapter 181 came out and so this is now an AU.

Disclaimer: Bleach is not owned by me (dammit)

Length
By: Hime
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It was not love at first sight. Whoever said that they fell in love with their significant other at first sight is either a liar or a fool, most likely both. For one thing, it was not the first time she had met him. And besides, there was really no time to fall in love with this huge boy (and it was hard to believe that he was the same age as her brother, considering, but since he was, then most definitely he was a boy) when their lives had been at stake. And then when he actually defeated the monster, he had to do something so uncool as to give her the thumbs up…

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And then she saw him again, about a month later, carrying the body of her brother, alive, but unconscious. A girl she had never seen before was also with him, holding Ichigo's hand within hers. Who was she? Why did Ichigo hold her hand so tightly that even in sleep he didn't let go? And he wouldn't let go, so they pulled a chair up to his bedside so the girl could be comfortable. When she finally remembered about him, she found out he had left sometime ago without saying a word.

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She didn't find out what had happened that year when her brother and his friends were fifteen until about two years later from him. He had been watching as she helped the ghost girl tell her mother that she loved her. She didn't normally help the ghost she came across—ignored them as best as she could, really—but this one had been her own age and had the same eyes as Yuzu, soft and liquid, as if tears would fall at any moment. She was surprised when she turned around, thinking she was alone, to find him leaning against the lamppost waiting for her. That night she had given her brother a kick in the head and stole his share of the dessert that Yuzu had made.

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He came by, unexpectedly, one afternoon asking for her brother. Ichigo was out she told him, and he just nodded, and they stood there, each framed by the doorway. As she stared up into his droopy eyes, she wondered if four years were too long between them.

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She stopped counting after a while—counting the number of times they met and the number of sentences he spoke. Over the years, they had become friends and then something more. They didn't hide their relationship from their family and friends, but they didn't announce it to one and all either. Both of them really weren't much for talking anyway. Only Yuzu had a clue about what was going on. After all, she was the one that did the laundry.

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She took him as her date to her brother's engagement party. Of course the family didn't tell Ichigo what the party was really for—he would have pitched the biggest of hissy fits if he knew. When they had walked through the door together, no one gave them any notice. These days they were always together. It wasn't until the crowd saw that he held her hand that an awkward silence fell over the party until Ichigo just shrugged and rolled his eyes. That night, she gave her brother her slice of the chocolate engagement cake.

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They sat side by side during her brother wedding on Rukia's side of the church as they had arrived late and her side had been mostly empty. It had been an interesting engagement as Ichigo and Rukia had called the wedding off and on over the course of two years, depending on how big of a fight they got into with each other. She wore white. It should have washed her out considering how pale her skin was, but instead she seemed to glow, a perfect moon reflecting the light of the burning sun. Ichigo stood next to her, standing tall in his rented tuxedo, looking (and she hated to admit it) quite handsome in his finery. She had heard that men always looked better in tuxes and perhaps the saying was right. Ichigo had refused to get married in a Shinto ceremony, saying that he would wear the dark colored kimono over his dead body. Somehow this had struck Rukia as hilarious and she couldn't stop laughing, finally leaving the room, clutching her stomach. The perverted old man then made a comment about how Ichigo just wanted the chance to kiss Rukia in public. Then the wedding planning came to a halt as Ichigo laid the smack down on their father.

She watched with dry eyes as her brother recited his vows and pushed the ring onto Rukia's small finger. His face was unusually soft, as if all the anger, all the irritation at life that normally settled there was gone in this one sacred moment. His smile was soft and intimate, something for only the two of them, not really meant for an audience. It was then that she glanced from the corner of her eyes at the man sitting besides her. She wondered if she could finally say she was in love. After all, it had been nine years for them—Ichigo had only needed two months.
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.:fin:.
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...'til death do we part...

Author's Notes:

Karin and Chad have got to be one of my favorite crack pairings of all time. I wish people would join the bandwagon so I can read more stories about these two…