Hey All, sorry for another long wait. School has kept me busier than I thought it would. Just a warning ahead of time, this is a shorter chapter and more of a filler. The next chapter will be more stroy driven and hopefully longer, I need to make an outline for it though to help me along. And Happy 4th of July everyone!

Rukia was extremely comfortable, she almost didn't want to wake up. The sun, not aiding in her attempt to rouse herself from sleep, was exquisitely warm on her skin. She hummed in appreciation, not remembering the last time she let herself truly relax and enjoy the small luxury. The feel of the cushy couch underneath her was also a conspirator, and she felt herself falling back to sleep. However, a somewhat irritating sensation on her tail kept her from continuing her slumber. She grumbled and slowly opened her eyes, only to blush at the sight before her.

Ichigo had fallen asleep while playing his game, and currently held her tail between his thumb and forefinger. Her stomach grumbled.

"Okay, if I'm really careful I can get off the couch without waking him up." She softly muttered, neither of them would hear the end of it if they were caught like this. She ever so slowly rolled onto her side, the pain in her hip was bearable thanks to the medication. Rukia carefully tucked her legs closer to her to remove them from Ichigo's legs. Unfortunately, when she turned further onto her side, her knee dug itself into the orange headed teens thigh.

Ichigo grumbled in his sleep, suddenly gripping her tail in his hand, hard. Rukia bit back a shriek, and instead, let out a soft whimper. It was enough to wake the sleeping teen though.

Ichigo awoke with a start, looking around the room for the source of whatever the hell woke him up. That's when he noticed the painful pressure on top of his right thigh. He slowly looked over to the side, only to be greeted with a black tail in front of his face. Rukia, afraid to even acknowledge the situation that she was in, froze on the spot, her face beet red. Ichigo blinked, then, when he felt the appendage twitching in his hand. He instantly released her tail and scooted away from the Nekojin.

"Shit I'm sorry." He awkwardly apologized with a light blush on his cheeks. Rukia sighed in relief the minute her tail was released and rolled the rest of the way off of her classmate, seating herself back onto the couch.

"I-It's fine, don't worry about it." She said awkwardly, both sat on the couch in silence, trying to forget that the incident even happened. Her stomach growled once more.

"I'm just going to go to the kitchen."

"Yeah okay." He responded quickly, watching out of the corner of his eye as she limped quickly to the kitchen, not even bothering to pick up her crutches. He sighed, looking down at the hand that had held her tail.

"Idiot."

Rukia entered the kitchen, heart still racing and the blush still on her cheeks. She would not admit aloud that his hand had felt somewhat nice when it was gently stroking her tail. She was so preoccupied in her thoughts, that she never noticed Karin sitting at the table, a smug look on her face.

"You know, you and Ichi-nee looked pretty comfortable on that couch." Rukia spun around, her blush intensified at the realization that they had been seen.

"W-what?" she sputtered, "It's not like that at all Karin!" She exclaimed, waving her hands. Karin smirked.

"He especially seemed to enjoy fondling your tail." She suggested with a scandalous tone, hiding her smile behind her hand. It was too easy to tease the Nekojin, and she had suspected that she harbored feelings for her brother, and vice versa. Though neither would admit it, they were both too stubborn. She took on a more serious expression.

"Well, he may be an idiot sometimes, but he's a good guy. He was very worried about you when you came in." She leaned further back into her chair.

"I mean, we were all worried, but he stayed in the clinic with you when you slept you know, to watch over you." Rukia smiled sadly.

"Your whole family is very nice, I wish I could do something to repay you for all you have done." Karin smiled genuinely.

"You don't have to do anything, It's not difficult to be kind to other people you know?" The dark haired twin took a sip out of her water bottle.

"Just live your life, go out and have fun for once. You could come watch my soccer game, It'd be good for you to get some fresh air. Then we can come back and start movie night." The thought of leaving the safety of the house made Rukia's heart race as anxiety coursed through her. Injured as she was, if she happened to run into anyone, she would stand no chance of getting away. Just being seen with the kind Kurosaki family would endanger their lives. A hand touched hers and Rukia's eyes widened as the normally stoic twin hugged her.

"You can't spend the rest of your life hiding away, so just trust us to take care of you okay?" Karin let go of the stunned Nekojin and walked out of kitchen.

"I'm going to change into my practice clothes, let me know if you want to come." She called back, giving Ichigo a knowing look as she passed him. He had heard the whole conversation and knew what Karin was suggesting. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Alright." He muttered to himself. He got off the couch and made his way to the kitchen where Rukia still stood.

"Oi, you want to go to Karin's soccer practice? It's pretty nice out." The Nekojin looked unsure, and for a minute he thought she would vehemently decline, but he was mildly surprised when she turned to look at him with a small smile.

"That sounds nice." Ichigo blinked, then softly smiled before turning around and heading to the stairs.

"Good, go change, I'll pack up some snacks and tell the old man we're going out." She looked down at her shirt and grimaced, it would be nice to put some fresh clothes on. The Kurosaki family had lent her some clothes, the twins mostly contributed to that, but Ichigo had given her one or two t-shirts. She slowly changed into some loose fitting jeans and a black tank top, choosing to not acknowledge her wounds and old scars. She slipped into some sandals and grabbed her crutches, hopefully, it wasn't a far walk. She walked back to the kitchen to see Ichigo and Karin standing at the table. Ichigo showed her the car keys and she inwardly sighed in relief.

"Alright, let's head out." Ichigo said, and they all walked to the front door. Karin and Ichigo walked through the door and headed towards the beat up car, but Rukia stopped at the threshold. When Ichigo noticed that she wasn't with them he stopped and looked back. She seemed to be in deep thought, and he didn't have to read minds to know what she thinking. He saw her looking back and forth down the street and sighed. He made his way back to her and took one of her hands in his own.

"Come on midget neko." She found herself not complaining about him holding her hand, maybe because she took comfort in the act, and found herself walking along behind him. She wasn't sure, but she thought she had felt him gently squeeze her hand in a comforting way. Her crutches were put in the trunk, along with the food, and she sat herself in the front seat. Ichigo started up the car shortly after, and they were off.

They had arrived at the practice field without incident, though Ichigo had noticed her constant need to check out the windows about every minute. But she was out of the house, anxious as she was, it was good for her. Everyone exited the car and Karin handed her crutches while Ichigo carried the bag of food and drinks. Karin ran out to the field, and Ichigo and Rukia walked over to a shady spot on the grass. It took a little effort and some help from Ichigo, but Rukia was finally able to sit down with her back against the tree. She sighed as the breeze hit her face and she took a whiff of fresh air for the first time in days. Ichigo smiled inwardly, she was still tense, but the fact that she was willing to close her eyes outside was a small, but major step for her. The recovery process would be slow, not just the physical portion, but mental as well. He dug into the bag and brought out two bottles of water and a bag of chips.

"Oh." He suddenly said before reaching into the bag again, Rukia opened her eyes and looked at the bag curiously as he dug around in it. He pulled out a notebook and her coloring pencils.

"Here, I forgot to give this back." She slowly took her drawings and smiled.

"Thank you, I honestly forgot about it." Her mind went back to that day and she couldn't help but sweep her eyes across the field and then behind her. Ichigo didn't say anything, if she felt like she needed to look then he would not draw attention to it. Whatever she needed to do to feel safe. The soccer practice started, and few words were said as both teens watched the younger Kurosaki dominate the field. Time went by fast, and as the game drew to a close, Ichigo felt a pressure on his shoulder. He looked over and his eyes widened, Rukia had fallen asleep on him, again.

He looked at her face, taking a minute to study her relaxed expression. He liked it better like this, when she looked like she didn't have a care in the world. He hesitantly brought a hand to her head and rested it between her ears, being careful to not touch either of them. The sleeping Nekojin let out a sigh and surprised him by burying her face in the crook of his neck. He felt his face heat up, he could feel her breath on his neck and his hairs stood on end. He didn't mind this, he decided, not one bit.

"Cough cough." Unless of course he was caught. Rukia remained sleeping, but Ichigo looked up into the smug face of his sister, who also happened to have a camera in her hands.

"Well don't you look comfy." His family was going to be the death of him.

The ride back was just as uneventful as the ride over, Rukia sat in front with a tired look in her eyes, completely unaware of the situation that occurred while she slept. She had noticed Ichigo's irritation toward his sister, and the smug look on Karin's face told her something had happened. When she asked about it, Ichigo just blushed and denied anything happened, while Karin smirked.

'Weird family.' She thought to herself. Although, she did find herself enjoying Ichigo's company more and more. And just maybe, maybe she felt a little itsy bitsy thing for Ichigo. The thought made her blush and she turned to look out the window. Ichigo though, had noticed her blush.

'Weird girl.'