Rukia practically squealed with glee as she closed the bathroom door behind her. Ichigo's father left that morning on another trip while his two sisters slept over at a mutual friend's house. That meant that the house, or more importantly the bathroom, was left to be used at her own discretion. Shinigami or not, she was still a woman and one of the things she missed most were the long soaks in the bathtub at the mansion.

Ever since she arrived here almost two months ago, she had to sneak into the bathroom for a quick shower when no one was home or when everyone was asleep. It was always hurried and stressful because of the thought that she could cause major trouble for Ichigo if she was caught.

But just minutes ago Ichigo had given her the go ahead, saying it was all clear now that his two sisters had left. He gave her a funny look as she raced up the stairs but she didn't care, she couldn't expect him to understand. The faucet raged on filling the tub as she flew out of her socks and skirt. Looking into the bathroom closet, she found a pink towel and some bubble bath. She smiled triumphantly making her way back to the tub to add in a small amount. This was going to be great she thought as she turned off the water.

The rest of her clothing was thrown on the stool nearby and the towel placed at arms length away. She heard the front door slam but figured Ichigo had left to run an errand and slipped in. It was heavenly. The bubbles tickled her face as she slipped further into the hot water.

The hurried footsteps on the carpeted stairs worried her, Ichigo shouldn't have been in any hurry, he'd told her himself that he was probably going catch up on some school work. Her body tensed but she didn't get out, surely she was just jumping to conclusions.

The beating on the door told her otherwise, "Rukia! Open the door my dad came back!"

"What?" she hissed crossing her arms over her chest, "What good is it going to do for you to be in here?!"

"Are you stupid! What happens if he has to come in there for some reason and goes in?"

Shit, he had a point. The door downstairs slammed, Ichigo's father was home.

"Open the door jackass," he whispered through the door.

"It's open you idiot," she shot back eyeing her counterpart as he quickly slipped in and closed the door behind him.

"Haven't you ever heard of locking the door?" he asked still facing away from her.

"I wasn't too concerned about it since we were alone and you knew where I would be." Although he did have a point, she had been too careless.

The heavy steps ascending made them both stop breathing. "Oi! Ichigo! Akimoto-san called and let me know that I was going to have to stay a week extra so I came back for some more things!"

His voice faded away signaling that he entered his bedroom.

"Oh yeah?" Ichigo called back through the door.

"Yeah, so let my girls know for me and tell them I'll bring them back something special from Kyoto!"

"Alright!"

For a few minutes, there was nothing but silence and Rukia assumed they had been spared. But when the steps came back down the hall and stopped at the bathroom door the shit hit the fan.

"Oi Ichigo, I need to come in to get some of my things from the closet."

"What?! You can't come in here!" Ichigo shot back while physically backing away from the door getting in a defensive position.

"Quit being such a baby asshole, I have to get some things so I can leave, otherwise I'll just stick around here and bother you."

Ichigo, whose eyes had been closed the whole time turned towards Rukia and opened one eye, 'Hold your breath' he mouthed and Rukia knew that her heart was going to leap out of her chest. She shook her head viciously.

"Just tell me what you want and I'll get it for you," he suggested.

"Are you crazy, like I'd rely on you to get the right things. For crying out loud Ichigo, it's not like I'm going to see something I haven't already seen before."

Ichigo eyed the door before going towards Rukia making her sink in even further. "Alright then hurry it up you old fart the doors not locked."

The door hadn't been locked? Was Rukia's last thought as Ichigo submersed her head into the tub, the water burning all the way up her nose.

She could hear Ichigo's father enter and open the closet door. While destroying a few shelves he asked Ichigo, "Why haven't you gotten in the water yet?" and she squeezed her eyes tighter.

"I'm waiting on you to leave," came his muffled reply.

"That's stupid, just get in, the water's going to get cold."

"I can wait."

"You hate taking baths in anything other that boiling temperatures," he shot back, "Just get in, I'm having problems looking for my extra razors anyway."

She didn't hear anything else for a while and she prayed that he had found them and left. But when she felt something in the bathtub she had to pinch herself not to scream. Looking towards the edge of the tub, she could distinctly see Ichigo's legs.

As if holding her breath hadn't been bad enough, her lungs and chest were burning more wildly now that ever. Surely he wouldn't……

She was proven wrong when Ichigo plopped himself into the bathtub and she knew she was going to die by drowning. With both legs on either side of her, she started to study in her mind some math problems they'd learned yesterday at school.

"Are you done yet bastard, I'd like to relax while I take a bath," his voice was so much closer now and it almost made her tremble.

"Yeah yeah, I'm done. Geez what crawled up you butt, you're moodier than usual."

"Nothing."

The closet door closed and Rukia was down to her limit.

"Remember to tell your sisters not to worry about me and I'll call them when I get in town tonight."

"Alright."

"Take care of them."

"I will."

"Have fun," he said in a singsong voice and Rukia wondered what it was about.

When the door closed shut Rukia sat up gasping for air and wiping the water from her eyes. Ichigo sat on the other side of the tub with arms on the edges, not only without a shirt, but with a smug grin on his face. The door slammed downstairs and she sighed in relief.

She glared at her classmate who had yet to make a move and continued to gasp for air. "What were you thinking?"

"Would you rather him get suspicious?" he asked raising a brow.

Well no. It could have gone much worse than it did she decided, so she would just have to forgive this invasion of privacy.

"Get out."

"What?"

"You heard me, I was enjoying my bath and now it's ruined so I have to get out."

"So you get out," he challenged.

"Ichigo," she growled.

He laughed and began making his way out of the tub while Rukia forced herself to look away without turning into a tomato.

"Uh oh."

"What do you mean uh oh, what did you do?" she asked following his line of sight to the ground. There, lay all of her clothing and towel thoroughly soaked.

"I guess I must have overflowed the tub when I got in," he said sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. Tightening the towel around his waist, she watched as he threw all the wet clothing and towel into the dirty clothes and fished out a new towel. She watched without saying anything as he laid the towel on the stool along with the white button down shirt he'd been wearing before he joined her in the bath.

"It didn't get wet," he read her thoughts; "It should be enough until we take care of your clothes."

He didn't even peek at her the entire time and even took the laundry bin down with him when he left……and he was still wearing just a towel.

Rukia let her head fall to the edge of the tub hoping to smack some sense back into her head. Unfortunately, it just gave her a headache and did nothing for the strange little flutters she had. Slipping out she wrapped the small towel around her and proceeded to lock the door. After dressing, draining the tub, and cleaning up the soaking floor to the best of her ability, she pulled on Ichigo's shirt.

It looked three sizes too big, but she was expecting that, after all she had problems finding women's clothes that fit her. Walking down to the laundry room, she found the bin untouched near the washer. Well this was a problem….. While she would never want Ichigo to see much less wash her clothes, including her undergarments, she would still have wanted a bit of help in the laundry room.

She suddenly felt very exposed and as if, she was being watched. Spinning around into a defensive position, she saw Ichigo in the doorway with his mouth slightly hanging open. What in the hell and gotten into him?

Shrugging off his weird behavior, she reached near the washer for a laundry bag and dumped her wet clothes inside. "I'm going to Urahara's I'll be back soon."

"Why would you need to go there?"

Not being competent enough to wash her own clothes wasn't something she was willing to tell him quite yet, "I need a few things, I'll be back in a couple of hours."

She walked past him, bag in tow and headed towards his room. Luckily she still had a spare dress she could wear to visit the pervert; she had been hoping to not have to visit him again so soon.

Meanwhile, lost in her world, Rukia was oblivious to Ichigo who was still standing in the doorway with his mouth open. He didn't know what was going on with the pride he felt in seeing her in his shirt. He certainly wasn't going to admit that he was suddenly lusting for the classmate in his shirt that was clinging to her still slightly wet body.

Swallowing hard he slapped his head in attempt to banish the perverted thoughts running through his head. He was turning into his father and that wasn't necessarily a good thing.

A yellow piece of paper taped to the front door stopped him dead in his tracks.

Ichigo,

I am so proud of you for finally becoming a man and showing some interest in the opposite sex, however, if you make me a grandfather at such an early age I'll castrate you. Enjoy your week and if my girls tell me that your girlfriend slept over I'll castrate you for that also.

Oh and Ichigo, pink towels and bunny underwear should always be hidden if you're sneaking in a girl.

Love,

Dad

Crumpling up the note Ichigo felt the color drain from his face. That son of a bitch knew she was there the whole time.

He was in for a beating when he came home.

Yeah, so plot bunnies got me again. Didn't anyone else ever wonder where Rukia did her laundry? And I think Ichigo's dad knows more than he lets on.