Disclaimer: I own nothing.

WARNING: Lemon... yum!

Chapter 1: Love

It started simply enough - or at least Ichigo though so at the time. They were walking home together, both exhausted and in a bad mood. Grimmjow's attack had left a sour taste in his mouth - a rotten mixture of dry blood and deep anxiety.

As they stepped over the threshold of his house he looked over at Rukia again. She seemed worried, but otherwise fine - a miracle considering how badly she had been wounded just a couple of hours ago.

"So, I guess I'll see you in the morning," he said gruffly, as he walked towards his room.

"Yes, goodnight Ichigo," she said from somewhere behind him as he swung the door open. He was about to close it but the look on Rukia's face made him stop.

"What's the matter?"

Rukia sighed. "I don't know, I guess I just have too much on my mind to sleep. I think I'll take a walk."

She was just turning around when Ichigo caught her arm. "What are you doing idiot! Let go of me!" she hissed successfully elbowing him in the ribs.

He muffled a yelp but hung on to her. "Orihime said you had to rest..." He narrowed his eyes. "And believe me if I have to I'll make you rest."

Before she could protest he had picked her up, brought her into his room and plopped her down on his bed. She sat up and glared at him, "I have my own room now thank you very much, I don't need to sleep in your stupid closet."

"Well if you sleep in your own room I can't be sure won't sneak off," he said grinding his teeth and sitting down next to her. He was so tired, the last thing he needed was to babysit her but better that than having her attacked again. Who knew when Grimmjow might be back.

"Your bed is actually pretty comfortable," she said quietly, laying her head down on his pillow.

"Don't get used to it, you're sleeping in the closet."

She laughed. "No way! You dragged me here and threw me on your bed, I'm not moving."

Ichigo groaned. He was not looking forward to carrying her away again. The day just seemed to be getting worse and worse.

"What's the matter with you?" she asked, turning the full fury of her purple eyes on him.

"Nothing," he answered automatically.

"I've known you long enough to know when your lying Ichigo," she said propping herself up to a sitting position. "And if it's about what happened today, we all did our best."

"Exactly, and how did that end up?"

She sighed. "You can't save everyone, anyhow it was my fault..." her voice trailed off and he wondered why she would say such a thing.

They had known each other six months yet he still couldn't understand her at all. She was just too strange. Between her lousy drawings and her terrible habit of hitting him, he never had any idea how she felt about anything - much less how she felt about him. But that had never bothered him until tonight, until he had seen Grimmjow empale her with his arm. Why did it suddenly matter what she thought of him?

"Come on, you can talk to me," she said in her nicest voice.

"I've been wondering something for a while now," he began staring dead ahead of him instead of looking at her.

"Yeah?"

"If you hand't been assigned to come back, would you have?"

"You mean if there were no Arrancars."

He nodded.

"I don't know that I have anything to come back to."

Ichigo felt his heart skip a beat, and exhaled quickly to get rid of the feeling of disappointment that was coursing through him. He really should have laughed, she was right, she was absolutely right.

"Did I say something wrong?"

A tense moment passed and he couldn't find the right thing to answer. Part of him wished he hand't said anything in the first place. "You ask too many questions," he answered finally, still starring at the wall rather than her.

She didn't respond but he could feel the intensity of her stare and the warmth of her body, just a few inches from him. Why did everything feel different all of a sudden? She didn't seem like the same person who he had run to school with this morning - because this morning he hand't yet realized how much she meant to him.

"Don't tell me your going to get all moppy again, I thought it'd kicked that out of you."

"I'm not." His voice was harsher than he had intended it.

"So, now you're mad?"

Slowly his eyes moved to meet hers. He had always noticed that she looked prettiest at night, but it had never seemed this acute. With the moonlight coming in through the window her skin looked impossibly soft and smooth. And her eyes were glowing just like a cats.

"I think if you hand't come back I would have missed you," he said quietly, knowing he would regret the words the moment they left his lips but needing to say them anyway.

The shift in her was absolutely and immediate. She sprung back against the wall, sitting up so fast it was as if she had just been jolted with electricity. She tried to speak but the words came out in incoherent splutters.

Ichigo felt himself turn red and looked away from her. What was he doing? He should have never invited her in, much less put her on his bed. There was no way to defuse the situation now, it was too late. And the worst thing was, he had really meant those words. He would have missed her terribly if they had never seen each other again. She was one of his closest friends, and he cared about her.

"I'm glad I came back then," she said gathering up her composure. "I think I would have felt the same."

"You don't have to say that."

"I'm not! You think I would tease about something like this?" Her accusatory tone and made him smile.

"Yes," he said turning back to her. "I think you would tease me."

She laughed. "Never!"

"Alright, then get off my bed."

"Aw! Do I have to? Your closet is depressing," she said, taking hold of his pillow and twirling it in her hands. "I spent long enough in there last time! I mean you never even thought to offer me a pillow, I had to steal one."

"Well honestly it's not that great having your room invaded," he answered snatching the pillow back from her.

"I'm a very considerate house guest."

"You won't get off my bed, that's not being considerate!"

"And carrying me into your room is?" she said, her eyebrows raised. Ichigo couldn't help but laugh, he loved that no matter how silly their arguments were both of them fought for their side as if everything depended on it. They were really very stubborn. How had they managed to live together for so many months and not kill each other?

"What's so funny?"

"We are..." Ichigo was still laughing so he didn't notice Rukia's facial expression when he said the word 'we'. "It's a miracle we've ended up being friends."

She smiled. "Yeah, I guess it is, I never thought I'd be able to put up with you."

Ichigo laughed harder but threw the pillow at her head. "Like you're so easy to live with! I have to bring you food, you take forever to get ready in the morning, you hog the bathroom for hours and you rattle Kon up. He's always extremely annoying when you're around."

"I can't be blamed for that! You're the one that wanted to keep him."

He shrugged, she did have a good point there. They fell silent, but Ichigo felt much better now that she had managed to make him smile again. It was unnatural how easily she could cheer him up. There was just something about her that put him in a good mood. "Are you really planning to sleep on my bed."

"Yes. You said so yourself Orihime told me to rest, and this is much more comfortable that the closet."

"If it wasn't for the fact that a maniac stuck his arm through your stomach today I would fight you for it."

She grinned. "Such a gentleman, now get off my bed."

Rukia kicked him playfully on the leg and Ichigo stood up. He couldn't believe he was actually giving into her, but today she deserved it. As hard as the day's events had been for him, they had to have been worse for her.

"Are you going to sleep in the closet?" she asked as she dived underneath the blankets.

"I don't think I even fit there," said Ichigo lying down on the floor. "This will due, I'm too tired to care anyway." But that wasn't exactly true. He had been tired, but now he couldn't stop thinking. Hearing Rukia move around on his bed was unsettling.

When was the last time anyone washed those sheets? Yuzu did laundry every week but he never noticed. And what about tomorrow? Would he sleep in the same sheets she had? Would they smell like her? Would he imagine what she might have felt tonight in his bed? Well maybe she didn't feel anything. Maybe she didn't think there was anything weird about that but Ichigo did. Nobody but him had ever slept in that bed. And now she was so close that he could hear her breathing.

"You sleeping yet?" she whispered.

"Nope."

She poked her head out from the side of the bed so he could see her clearly. "I'm still not tired, a walk would have done us both good."

Her voice sound strange. It was almost like she was trying to sound normal, when really nothing that had happened today was normal. Specially not his strange new attitude towards her. Ichigo sat up. He'd never be able to sleep with her so close, and thoughts of her all over his mind . It was intoxicating being around her.

"What are you doing?" she asked looking at him.

Ichigo stared at her. For once they were almost eye level with each other, he was just a bit taller. They were close together, less than 2 feet between them. A horrible lump seemed to be growing in his throat. There were too many things to worry about already: the hollow inside of him, the Arrancars, Aizen, Shinji... he couldn't be worried about her. He couldn't be worried about loosing her. And he almost had. Today he could have lost her forever. And what would that be like? How would his life function without her?

By the time he realized that he was moving towards her it was too late to stop, because she was moving towards him too. He could feel his heart beating faster and faster. The moments leading up to their touch seemed an eternity, and all he wanted was to kiss her. When their lips met it was soft at first. He felt self conscious. He had never done this before, or even thought about it. He also had no idea what her level of experience was. That was a bit daunting, after all she was more than a hundred years old. However very quickly the fears began vanishing, she was pulling him closer, her hand on his shoulder sinking beneath his t-shirt.

They were both on the bed now, their lips and hands moving faster. His left arm wrapped around her small waist and pulled her on top of him. His other hand was in her hair, intensifying their kiss. It was all becoming blurry. If a hollow came crashing through the roof at this moment he wouldn't even notice. Rukia engulfed all of his senses. She was the only thing that mattered.

Slowly they were falling horizontally on the bed, Ichigo on top of her. Rukia's legs wrapped around his waist and his hands made their way to the front of her shirt. She shifted underneath him as he undid the first button, his hands shaking from nerves and anticipation. How had he never realized how much he wanted her?

As his hands trailed down to the second button he could feel her tensing up beneath him, though the kissing continued. Ichigo undid the third button. He couldn't see what he was doing but he could feel her soft bare skin underneath his fingertips. They moved further down, till he touched the cup of her bra.

At long last Rukia broke their kiss, and her arms loosed from around his neck. He stared at her, waiting for some sort reaction. Had he gone too far? Or to fast? Or was it all just to much for today. But she was smiling. In fact he had never seen her so happy.

Ichigo smiled back at her, his hands still moving slowly through the opening in her shirt. He wanted to say something - to communicate how much it meant to have her close like this but he couldn't find the words. Everything would sound cheap and forced now... or worse she would think any confession would be driven by his hormones rather than his heart.

"You look upset again," she said quietly, her hand touching his arm.

"No, I'm happy."

She smiled. "Are you?" Rukia was nudging him further into the bed and she flipped over so that she was on top of him now. She straddled him, her fingers undoing the last of her buttons and then just discarding the shirt. Ichigo gaped at her, half amazed, half distracted.

"What a pervy look," she said quietly as she lowered her mouth. She began a soft trail of kisses from his neck to his ear, her tongue occasionally flicking the soft skin. Ichigo groaned and his hands moved instinctively beneath her short skirt. He loved the feeling of her tongue against his burning skin.

His own hands were pushing down fabric of her underwear and grazing her soft skin. Everything seemed to be speeding up. Rukia had reached his mouth again and she ran her silky tongue over his lips before forcing it through his mouth. His hands were moving up now, wanting only to feel more of her skin instead of her clothes. After a momentary struggle he managed to unclip her bra and threw it on the ground, his hands grabbing her breast, causing her moan deep into his mouth.

Ichigo couldn't remember ever being this overwhelmed. Not even in the middle of battle. This had no comparisons. He felt himself hopelessly immersed in her and yearning for more. He might have felt badly about his building desires had he not know that she felt the same way. It was undeniable, somehow tonight they would cross all the lines, he was sure of it.

They had flipped over once again and he was on top. This time however their kisses were slower, and more romantic though with a peculiar urgency behind them. Her hands were undoing the button of his jeans, while his moved lightly through her wet sex. Finally, in a joint effort they took his pants and boxers off, so that they were both naked, except for the skirt that Rukia still wore, though he had hiked it up so that it didn't obstruct his view of her perfect body.

He panted as he position himself at her entrance, his face red with longing, and his hand caressing the side of her face. She nodded and then immediately squirmed as he pushed into her. Ichigo let out a loud groan. He felt taken in by her warmth, and quickly began thrusting in and out of her as Rukia moaned quietly, her eyes shut.

Ichigo's hands caressed her nipples, as his mouth kissed the base of her throat, wanting desperately for it to feel as good for her as it did for him. Rukia's hips were moving underneath him, matching his pace well and adding to the delirium of his own movements. It was all perfect, and at the same time too much. Her skin was so soft, and she was so beautiful and - he loved her, he really did love her.

It was the moment he realized this that he felt the first wave of darkness come over him. Something inside of him was awakening. He could feel his inner Hollow as if he had appeared between them. Ichigo tried to shake off the feeling as he let out a particularly loud moan, but it was no use. They weren't alone anymore. That thing inside of him was watching them - he cold hear his maniacal laugher ringing through his head.

And then, just as he felt Rukia tighten beneath him he orgasmic, with another moan, his lips kissing the top of her breast.

It should have been that simple. That should have been the end of it. But as Ichigo recovered his breathing, he felt a second wave of darkness come over him. The Hollows laugh was getting louder, as if he was approaching them. Quickly he pulled out and staggered out of the bed, panting and trying to think clearly.

Rukia sat up. She was staring at him, her own breathing uneven. "What's the matter?"

He doubled over. The laugher was getting so loud it felt like it was shattering his sanity. What should he do? He looked over at Rukia who was still sitting on the bed. For once she looked vulnerable to him, and scared. His sudden change must have startled her.

Ichigo snatched his pants and put them on in a haste. His vision was becoming blurry, and as he zipped them up he felt himself loose balance. It was like he was passing out, everything was in black and white. Rukia was running towards him. She was saying something but he couldn't hear. The laugher was everything now. The hollow was fighting to take over.

In one last bound of energy, Ichigo pushed Rukia away and ran out of the room as fast as he could, ignoring the fact that his vision was now almost pitch black and all his other senses seemed in a deadlock. He just had to get away from her, he could never bear it if he hurt her.

He was two blocks from the house when the laugher finally seized. Ichigo halted, holding his hands on either side of his head and praying for everything to return to normal. His hopes where thrashed after a moment though, when he heard his hollows voice:

"I never knew what you saw in that one, King."

Ichigo's body fell to the ground. His own mouth had uttered those words.

A/N: My first Bleach fanfiction, and of course I couldn't resist making it dirty. Hahaha.

Thanks for reading and I sincerely appreciate all feedback so if you have a moment tell me what you think!