Bleach 1. Spring

**Spring**

It was one of those days where you have to squint almost to the point of closing your eyes completely. The sun shone brightly in a cloudless sky, for spring had come to Karakura, washing away the death and destruction of Winter. Car after car went by, their destinations most likely work or school on this glorious morning. A boy with striking orange hair standing out in stark, almost laughable, contrast to the blue sky walked slowly along this busy street, his backpack slung over his shoulder like an afterthought. He had bandages covering almost every part of his body that wasn't clothed, but he walked as if there were no pain. If you were to watch him from a distance, aside from the bandages, you would think he was a normal teenager, going through his normal teenage stuff in a normal teenage life. What you can't see, though, is the badge with a skull on it. You wouldn't see that he's been through Hell and back or what he's gained or what he's lost. You'd also miss the immense sadness in his eyes, dismissing it because someone his age shouldn't know that kind of pain.

He stopped when he reached the center of a bridge streched out over a sparkling river. His backpack dropped to his right side with a dull thud. He turned to look out over the water, rolling rough and high on its banks because of the melting snow. He bowed his head and gripped the railing as if holding on for dear life. If you were to stand closely to him, you would see his brightly-colored hair whip across his face in the warm spring breeze, brushing against the tear that began to fall down his cheek. You would hear him whisper a name, so softly, and that one word is filled with such deep love, such overwhelming sorrow that even you would be brought to your knees just witnessing it.

_Rukia._

The boy used his sleeve to wipe at his face as he turned toward his destination once again. He flung his backpack over his rounded shoulders and took a faltering step, as if he doesn't want to leave the memory, doesn't want life to move forward. You would watch, as the sounds of everyday life go on around him, the boy steel himself, pushing his shoulders back and deeply breathing in the warm air that melted the snow and brought flowers to bloom. He would walk with some purpose, with confidence you'd be sure is for show because now you'd know pure misery has no age restrictions, because his eyes remained exactly the same--hopelessly lost.

Birds would chirp their happy tune. Meadows overflowing with flowers would dance in the breeze as sunlight kissed their petals and made diamonds of the morning dew. Despite the awe-inspring beauty of life springing anew all around him, with every breath and every step, he would wish for ice and snow.


	2. Start My Heart

**Start My Heart**

A/N: Oh, I'm going so darn sappy. LOL Anyway, this is IchiRuki and started with a question. Would Ichigo have the superhuman ability to take on wounds that would be fatal to anyone else if he were still in his physical body? Also, what happens when Rukia doesn't have kidou to heal and Inoue's nowhere in sight? Thus a fic was born. Very fluffy. Enjoy.

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The clouds were rolling in, painting the dusk an ominous black. Thunder rolled only a second after lightning tore through the thick air. A summer storm was upon her, but Rukia paid no heed as she crawled to where Ichigo lay.

The ambush was executed quickly, precisely.

They were walking home from Chad's place. The three friends just hung out together, something they didn't get to do often. Most of their time together consisted of dangerous battles with hollows, but today, Chad played some new songs his band would perform on his guitar. Rukia and Ichigo bickered, listened to Chad's music, and bickered some more.

It was a rare fun, relaxing time that Rukia cherished more than she would ever say.

Then they were waylaid on their walk home. They'd chosen to go the long way, through a quieter section of town, or so they thought. The hollow were modified, courtesy of Aizen, so they could completely mask their reiatsu. Before she could even comprehend what was happening, Ichigo was shoving her out of the way of a charging hollow. He paid dearly for protecting her as the hollow's fangs dug themselves into Ichigo's abdomen, impaling him. He had no time to use his badge to separate to his spirit form. The damage was done to him, body and soul.

Rukia was out of her gigai while still in that off kilter motion from being pushed, and Chappy ran off to hide without needing more than a look. Her eyes quickly fixed on the boy being chewed on by a hollow.

_So much for relaxing_.

She easily slayed the thing before it could take Ichigo's soul, she was sure of that. His reiatsu still swirled around her, but he was rendered unconscious and was bleeding profusely from his middle. She didn't know how long his physical body could survive like that.

The battle was long and took its toll on the little shinigami. The hollow were powerful, and they seemed never ending, but the last one was killed by the strike of her zanpakutou and burst into spirit particles before fading away.

Blood coursed it's way down her face. She had a deep slash wound down her side, a fatal one if she hadn't used kidou to close it partially. A partial healing is all Rukia had the strength for, though. She was trying to save as much of her reiatsu as she could to heal Ichigo, who was much worse off.

Ichigo hadn't moved at all since the hollow bit him. Normally the stubborn fool would have been trying with all his might to get to her, to save her, but this time she was alone in battle. Rukia called out to him, but he didn't respond. She could see his blood pooling around him as she closed in, and for the first time in a long time, she was afraid.

The streetlights came on a while ago, bathing the road in a soft glow. Huge drops of rain fell from the sky, plopping onto the pavement, wetting Ichigo's still face, darkening his orange hair to near red. It was going to to be a downpour.

He had told her she should learn the human way of healing, just in case, and she scoffed at him.

They were in the back room of the clinic where Ichigo's crazy dad held first aid classes for the town. Ichigo had pulled out a dummy and was attempting to teach Rukia CPR.

"Well, midget, I'm going to show you whether you like it or not. You never know when it might come in handy," he stated as he demonstrated how to check for breathing and then pulse.

"Idiot, I've got kidou for that." Rukia rolled her eyes.

He grabbed her at the wrist then. "And what if there _is_ no kidou? What will you do then?"

Rukia couldn't think of an answer. There wasn't a time where she didn't have kidou. Even when she had Urahara's rigged reiatsu-sucking gigai, she'd been able to use kidou.

Ichigo seemed so serious about this, though, so she indulged him.

Ichigo showed her how to use CPR to keep blood flowing through someone's body if the heart stopped. The mouth-to-mouth made her blush, but she could understand why it was necessary. She balked at the chest compressions, though, finding them overly rough.

"No one's figured out a different way that isn't so... so barbaric?"

"Hey, it's not barbaric. It'll keep someone alive."

She had no idea then how she'd be eating her words, or that the life that she'd be saving was his.

Chappy came out from behind the bushes and Rukia took control of her gigai back. It was blinding white pain to merge with it while so injured, but she wasn't sure if she needed her gigai to perform CPR properly. Rukia wasn't willing to take the chance.

She had barely enough strength to stop Ichigo's bleeding with kidou. If she used any more of her reiatsu, she'd pass out and there'd be no hope for him.

_How was I so stupid for thinking this couldn't happen, so arrogant for thinking kidou was the only way?_

Truth is, it wasn't just stupidity or arrogance: she'd become complacent. Ichigo somehow survived everything; his amazing life force took over, and he could survive what would've been fatal for someone else on a regular basis. But that was when he was in spirit form. Now he was in a fragile human body.

Part of his wounds were still open and seeping blood, but that in itself would be manageable. The problem was he wasn't breathing. She'd taken too long to get to him. Stupid human body.

"Damn," she muttered and tried to recall what exactly he'd said to do.

She leaned over and felt his neck for his pulse. There was nothing.

The rain came down in torrents now, soaking Rukia thoroughly, Her hair, which was usually perfectly in place save for that one bang that resisted all her efforts to tame it hung down in front of her face as she knelt over the boy lying in the street.

She could feel his reiatsu was weaker than normal, but it wasn't alarmingly so. She was surprised his spirit hadn't popped out of his body yet because he was what he said was "clinically dead." It was almost like he was waiting to be saved. Ichigo would be alright even if his body died, but Rukia didn't even entertain not reviving him. It was his right and privilege to lead a full, human life, and she would never deny him that. She'd already changed his life too much as it was.

She titled his chin upward, pinched his nose and clamped her mouth over his. His skin was covered in sweat and rain; she could taste the saltiness. Rukia gave him a breath and was relieved to see his chest move in response like he said it would. She did it again.

She hoped he'd at least be conscious the first time she had her lips to his.

_No such luck._

Rukia felt his chest for where he'd said to place her hands. Ichigo's tight clothes, the kind he always loved to wear, clung wetly to him revealing the contours of his chest so she found it with ease. She put her hands one on top of the other and laced her fingers together. She bit her bottom lip as she pushed the heel of her hand just below his sternum.

Something in Rukia stirred as she did this. There was a very strong feeling of giving life while she breathed into him and pushed down over his heart, more so than she ever felt with kidou, probably because it was so physical, so intimate. Of course, it was Ichigo, so that made it even more real to her.

Someone had finally witnessed the scene on the road. A young mother with her toddler in tow under a large black umbrella called out to Rukia, "I'm calling for help!" Rukia could hear her dial her cell phone and tell the operator there had been a hit-and-run accident and a young man was getting CPR from a second victim.

"The clinic isn't far," the woman said, trying to sound more confident than she looked. "I'll see if I can get them to help." She picked up the small girl with pigtails and bright eyes and ran towards the Kurosaki Clinic.

"Crap," Rukia whispered. That's all she needed was Isshin finding his son lying on the ground like this. What story was she going to come up with this time? What if they weren't able to revive his body? What would she tell his father, his sisters?

Oh, this was getting messier and messier. This CPR stuff needed to work much faster than this.

Puddles of rain formed on the road, reflecting the streetlights, making the street a silver river. She noticed someone open a window in a nearby house and scream. The faint wail of an ambulance siren could be heard in the distance.

Rukia bent over Ichigo to give him another two breaths, pushing those thoughts and the rest of the world out from her mind. She repositioned herself over his chest again and began the compressions. As she pushed down, it dawned on her. _She_ was causing his heart to beat. She_ was _his life right now, and that notion sent waves through her. Rukia found that fitting.

_If he only knew..._

Ichigo shuddered beneath her. She stopped to feel again for his pulse and was relieved it was there, pushing weakly against her fingers.

Rukia gazed down at him and realized that he'd lost that intense scowl and permanently furrowed brow he wore like a mask. He seemed peaceful, content.

Her midnight hair, slick with the still pouring rain, fell around him as her lips met his in a slow, soft kiss. She didn't know what possessed her to act on it, but as she looked at Ichigo's softened face, she was completely overwhelmed by the urge to kiss him.

And it felt good.

If he were conscious, Ichigo would probably act offended, freaked out, but Rukia knew it would all be for show. She knew how he felt about her: he didn't need to go out of his way to tell her or overtly show it. Ichigo told her volumes with how he looked at her, how he lit up when she entered the room, how he was so protective of her. The fear and self-loathing in his eyes if he thought harm came to her, especially if he blamed himself for it, was so revealing. Yes, Ichigo loved her, and Rukia knew it.

When she looked up, she was face-to-face with a wet, pale, drawn Isshin.

"Kur-Kurosaki-sama."

He immediately felt his son's neck for a pulse. "You managed to get his heart started again, Rukia-chan," he sighed and closed his eyes.

She thought he mumbled something about not wanting him to go to the next world just yet while he brought out his stethoscope to listen to his heart and lungs.

Ichigo let out a soft groan and slowly opened his eyes, blinking in response to the raindrops hitting his face. In a second he realized where he was, and he immediately grew concerned, the hard set facial expression back in full force.

"Rukia...," he croaked as he turned his head in search.

"Idiot, what did you have to go and push me for? Look at you." She chose her words carefully with Isshin there.

He relaxed once he heard her voice. "You're welcome," he said with a smirk. He scanned her for injury and scowled deeper when he saw the beating she took because he was too damn slow.

Isshin poked Ichigo hard in the ribs, "What an ungrateful son I have!"

Ichigo used all his strength to yell at his father. "What are you talking about? I took the hit for her! I'm freakin' injured already!" It came out a little squeeky, but he got his point across.

Before Isshin could answer, Rukia pitched to the right a bit, suddenly unsteady. She'd forgotten her own injuries, the adrenaline rush keeping her from feeling the full extent. Ichigo tried to sit up, but his body wouldn't let him. Isshin's arm shot out over his prone son to catch her in case she was going down.

"I'll be fine," Rukia insisted. Both men seemed like they needed more convincing. "Really," she righted herself as best she could, grinning through the pain.

Red flashing lights accompanied the scream of the sirens. "Ah, the ambulance is here now," Isshin observed, running his fingers through his hair, spraying tiny droplets of rainwater around his head. "I'll go tell the EMTs that you both will be treated at the clinic unless the need for you to go to the hospital arises. I hope they'll give you a ride home. You'll need it."

"Dad, treat Rukia first," Ichigo said firmly.

Isshin regarded his son for a moment. "I'm the doctor, son, not you, and I'll treat the one who's worse first, just like always."

Ichigo looked like he was going to protest so Rukia said something she knew Ichigo would understand.

"Your opinion is rejected."

Ichigo shot Rukia a glance of surprise and remembrance. He smiled a little and closed his eyes, leaning back, not pursuing the matter further.

Isshin poked Ichigo in the ribs again. "That's for scaring my wounded but still lovely third daughter and making her give you CPR when she's injured herself and, even worse, not thanking her for it."

Ichigo gaped at his dad's back while he walked over to the EMTs. Rukia had given him CPR, even after she shunned it, and that made him feel so many emotions he couldn't put words to them all. It meant she kept him alive, gave him her breath and made his heart beat for him. His wounds hurt like crazy, but Ichigo felt a soreness sprouting in his chest, as well, and he welcomed it.

She's been his life and owned his heart since the moment they met, after all.

Rukia cringed as she watched Ichigo's dad stand and call to the EMTs who were rushing over to them, putting his hands up in a gesture meant to slow them down. He saw her saving Ichigo. Had he seen her kissing him, too? Things could get very ugly if he had...

"Rukia," Ichigo called her name softly, which brought her our of her reverie. "Thank you."

She smiled in response. He lifted up his arm and brushed her rain-soaked cheek with the tips of his fingers.

"Oh, and I told you so."


End file.
