Learning the Lesson
by Whinnie

D.I.S.C.L.A.I.M.E.R
Sorry, I own Bleach... just kiddin', lol. Everything mentioned here is © Tite Kubo; I just own the fic.

A.U.T.H.O.R.'.S – N.O.T.E
Whoa... this is a surprise... I never expected to be on my third IchiRuki fic already... O.O Anyway, Ichigo, Rukia, a juice box, what other perfect scene for romance? xDDD

I know the first few lines sound choppy, but I'm sorry, that's the best I can do... And the ending... my god, I screwed that up bad... xDDD; T.T; Also, another alert for possible OOC-ness. -.-;

Inspired by this image - h t t p /tasuki-no-miko ./art/Bleach -It-required-a-trick- 24097401 (remove the spaces and put the colon and / before the h t t p, dumbasses :P). If you have any trouble trying to picture the scene in this fic, you should check it out. And go leave some faves, comments, and love!

This is for missingthepoint, my fellow IchiRuki shipper and FFNET author. I wuv you. :D

R&R, peeps. Read, enjoy, and read it again.

F.Y.I. ...
baka – idiot (aah, classic! xDDD)
hai – yes
kawaii – cute (aah, my first Japanese word, lol... xD)
shinigami – soul reaper (must we go through this everytime...? T.T)

She frowned, looking around. When she found him, she was going to teach him a lesson.

Rukia wandered around the building of Karakura High, searching for Ichigo. It was lunchtime, and she was hungry. But first, before she could start eating, she needed someone to open her juice box.

She refused to eat without juice. Ever since she had been introduced to it when she had first come to the material world, she had loved the sweet taste; loved how it had come wrapped up, all neat and kawaii, in the little box, with the straw attached to the back in its wrapper.

Being able to drink it, however, without being 'neat and kawaii', was a different matter.

Rukia frowned. She had been searching for fifteen minutes; lunch was almost over. She had all ready asked Keigo and Mizuiro, Sado and Ishida, even Inoue and the other girls, but no one knew anything. Finally, in some type of desperation, she had resorted to running around yelling out his name, only to receive weary glances from other students.

She knew she was being a bit unreasonable. Why miss eating a whole, entire meal just because of juice? Besides, if she really was that desperate, she could just ask someone else to open it for her. But no; she wanted Ichigo to open it for her, because he always had, and – for some strange reason – she liked it that way.

She angrily let out a small huff and pouted, walking to a far corner of the school yard. It was very deserted and secluded, and she considered it as her spot. There was a nice, tall tree, and sometimes she would climb up and eat, looking up at the leaves; or, sometimes, she would sit on the grass instead, her back against the trunk, resting in the shade.

Abruptly, she stopped, surprised. Ichigo was sitting in her spot.

Eyes closed, hands behind his head, his back leaning against the tree; Ichigo gave a small, consented sigh and basked in the peace and quiet. Such moments were rare in his life, and they had only become even more infrequent when he had become a shinigami. "If only it was like this at home," he grumbled to himself, thinking of his father and his crazy wanting to always fight with his son.

"ICHIGO!"

Said teenager was so surprised he practically jumped up and hit his head on a branch. Frantically looking around, he saw an enraged looking Rukia storming towards him. Regaining his composure, he quickly sat back down into his original position, calm and cool. "Hey," he called out nonchalantly, as he heard the footsteps come to a stop beside him.

The next thing Ichigo knew, he felt a foot being shoved into his face. Yelling swear words, he immediately jumped up and wiped his face with his arm.

"You baka!" Rukia yelled. Her arms were crossed and she glared up at him; at her feet was her lunch box. "I've been looking for you everywhere, and where do you happen to be?! Damn it, Ichigo! I've missed my lunch because of you!"

"What – sitting down underneath a tree by myself is a crime?" he retorted. "Besides, if you wanted me to wait for you, you should've told me yourself! Anyway, where's the fire?"

"You..." Rukia fumed and kicked him in the shin – hard. As Ichigo yelped in pain and doubled over, murmuring even more curses, she bent down to pick something up. "Here!" she said in a commanding tone, waving it in his face.

Ichigo took the juice box, straightened up, and frowned. "You chased me around the schoolyard just for a box of juice?" he asked her incredulously.

"Does it matter?" Rukia practically spat at him. "Just open it!" She frowned and glanced away.

Ichigo smirked. "Strange that you went through all that trouble just to get me to open this," he observed, sitting down. "Maybe this is rigged or something, so that once I open it, it'll squirt all over my face."

Rukia gave him a glare. "No, but I wish I'd thought of that before."

"And why didn't you just get someone else to open it for you, huh?" he continued, turning the juice box over and over again in his hands.

"I didn't want to bother them," she replied, snarling. "Now just open the damn thing so I can drink it!"

Ichigo gave a heavy sigh and stood up. "No," he told her.

"What?!" Rukia's eyes widened and she looked like she wanted to murder him. "Why not?!" she demanded.

"Well, there are gonna be more times in the future when I'm not around to help you open your juice boxes," he explained in a bored voice. "Besides, don't you think it's about time you learned it yourself?"

Rukia glared at him. "Fine!" she replied defiantly. "Teach me how." Again, she crossed her arms and looked away.

"All right," Ichigo began. "You see this little plastic wrapper that the straw's in?" Rukia glanced at the juice box and nodded slowly. "Well, you have to push it out," Ichigo explained, handing the cardboard contraption to Rukia. "Look..." He stood behind her and took her hand, the hand holding the juice box, and then he held onto her other wrist and directed it towards the straw. He placed her finger on the top of the straw, and then he pushed on it – gently so he wouldn't hurt her, but firmly so that the bottom of the wrapper ripped. He pulled the straw out and gave it to her, then guided her towards the top of the juice box.

"Now, this is the part you're having trouble with. You have to stick the straw through the aluminum – the gray – hole. Push the—" As Ichigo continued on with his explanation, Rukia tilted her head to the side and subtly glanced at him, but Ichigo was so intent on teaching Rukia that he never noticed that her attention had shifted. Her mind stopped any thought running through her brain at that moment, and her face grew hot as she realized what kind of an intimate position they were in.

"And that's all." Rukia's head quickly turned back to the juice box, only to find it ready for drinking. "That's really all there is to it," Ichigo finished. "Just take the straw out and stick it in through the hole. You get it now?" He slightly moved closer to her to see her reaction. Quickly, she nodded, and inspected the juice box.

"I see..." Rukia muttered softly. Ichigo blinked, suddenly noticing how close they were to each other. He was standing behind her; his hand was on one of hers, the other rested lightly on her opposite wrist... and their faces were so close... "Her eyes are pretty," he thought, then his eyes widened, surprised at his self-made statement.

"Ichigo—" Rukia turned her head towards him, slightly moving closer towards him; her mouth was open to say something, yet no words came out as they locked gazes. They stayed like that, for what felt like hours, but suddenly they both pulled away at the same time.

Rukia sat down on the grass, beginning to drink her juice, and Ichigo dropped down beside her, closing his eyes and leaning back against the tree. "Ichigo," Rukia began again. "Th-thank you." She shyly glanced back down at her juice and began to suck on the straw again.

"...You're welcome, I guess," Ichigo mumbled, hoping the blush on his cheeks was unnoticeable.

A few minutes passed in silence. Rukia stopped drinking and began to eat her lunch. Finally, Ichigo casually said, "When you were in Soul Society, Hanataro mentioned that you told him about juice boxes."

Rukia paused, her spoon lifted halfway to her mouth. "Hai," she murmured reluctantly, lowering the piece of silverware back to her bowl.

Ichigo opened an eye and glanced at her. "He also said that you blamed yourself for hurting me."

Rukia remained silent, looking down at her food, and Ichigo opened his other eye. "Rukia—" he began tentatively.

"I did hurt you." Rukia's voice was quiet and laced with guilt. "I left you on the ground to die... I kicked you and walked away... I thought I had killed you... And yet you still came back for me..."

"Because I thought it was my fault." Ichigo unfolded his arms from behind his head and turned to fully face her. His tone softened and he told Rukia, "I thought that you hated me because I... wasn't strong enough to protect you. Because I couldn't stop Renji and Byakuya from taking you away." The frown on his face deepened.

"Ichigo..." Rukia looked at him with a hurt expression on her face. Ichigo was surprised; he realized he hadn't seen that look in such a long time. When Rukia had returned from Soul Society, he suddenly noticed, she had looked different: her frowns were deeper and more frequent; her smiles were less happy; her eyes had lost the spark they had possessed before. It was as if, by being imprisoned and ready to be executed, she had revealed a deep weakness in Soul Society, and now she was trying to cover it up so badly by acting so tough all the time. But right here—

Suddenly, Rukia jumped up and ran off, not even offering a backward glance. Ichigo blinked, confused for a moment, and then his eyes widened. "RUKIA! HEY!" he yelled, getting up to chase after her. He glanced down and frowned, looking at her unfinished lunch. "What to do with it?" he asked himself, when suddenly, his eyes rested on the juice box.

Stupid juice.

Rukia did not stop running for a long time, and when she did, she doubled over, forcing air into her needy lungs, her legs wobbly, her entire form shuddering. "Why?" she mentally yelled at herself, demanding the answer that even she did not know.

She really hadn't meant to run off... but seeing Ichigo in such a state – blaming himself, convincing himself that he wasn't good enough to protect her, looking and feeling so bad for something he hadn't even done – had made her breath get caught in her throat, made her feel guilty for something she couldn't identify yet. She inhaled deeply, trying to stop her heart from racing, to prevent herself from feeling like passing out, to clear her mind of whatever had just happened.

"You forgot something."

Rukia whirled around, eyes widening. Ichigo stood behind her, just as winded down as she was. He was bent towards the ground, panting hard, but he raised his hand towards her, and Rukia could see her juice box held in his grasp.

She blinked, glaring at him, albeit slightly curiously. "You idiot," she hissed, slowly taking the object from him. "You chased me all the way here just for a juice box?"

He smirked up at her. "That's what you did for me." Her eyes slightly widened in shocked realization. "And I came here for more than just a stupid juice box." In an instant, the stupid grin had vanished from his face and he frowned, inching a few steps closer towards her. "Rukia, what happened back there? God, you didn't even warn me, just left... What's wrong with you?" He peered down at her closely.

"N—nothing," she muttered, suddenly becoming very preoccupied with drinking her juice.

"If nothing was up, then you would be stuttering like that every time we talked, dontcha think?" he replied sarcastically. "Look, if it was that thing I said with Hanatarou... forget it." He sighed and sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "I just... I don't like it when you blame yourself, okay?" He glanced away awkwardly.

Rukia looked up at him, something in her eyes. "Look who's talking," she sarcastically pointed out.

Ichigo glared at her. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?!"

She simply frowned.

"Rukia," Ichigo muttered, "what happened to you? Ever since you came back from Soul Society, you've seemed... different."

"I was tired of you making up for my mistakes," she mumbled. "I wanted to become stronger... like you did, when you tried to save me... I didn't want you to protect me, because I didn't want you to get hurt... I want to save you, too..."

"I want to protect you," Ichigo pointed out. "And as long as you're never harmed, Rukia, then neither am I," he continued on more firmly.

"Then never blame yourself," she whispered in his ear. "And never think that I will hate you."

He glanced down at her, so close to him, and she smiled. "Teach me how to stop," he told her softly, hugging her close.

She turned towards him in his arms, fixing his shirt which had gotten rumpled when he had run after her, and then leaned into him. He bent down towards her, his hand over hers, her fingers clutching the cardboard box of juice, her lips brushing up against his.

Rukia smiled, closing her eyes. She had finally taught Ichigo a lesson.