STOP ME WHEN YOU'VE HAD ENOUGH

Oh, Now What

Ichigo's eyes open slowly. He was in the middle of a nap, but his instincts are screaming for him to awake. He glances around his room feeling groggy. There's no immediate danger. What gives? There's nothing happening. A voice tells him to wait.

The door then creaks open. A head pokes through before anything else, and they turn right to Ichigo. It's a little dark in here, so they might not be able to see him. He, however, can see her face just fine.

"Rukia?" He asks softly.

"O-oh! You're awake," she stutters.

"Unfortunately. What's up?"

She enters the room, prompting him to turn the lamp on beside him. The door closes and she's over to his bedside in a moment's notice. The small Shinigami is back in his t-shirt, but the blood is at least out. Did she do laundry? Or did Inoue simply reverse time? It takes a moment to realize she's in a pair of shorts as well as her uncomfortable expression.

He sits up against the head board, and the sheets fall to his lap. He got hot in the room and there's no fan so he's without a shirt. He's also trying to get used to his new look, and not wearing a shirt seemed like the best option. The ginger couldn't be bothered about it since Rukia has seen him half naked plenty of times, and it didn't seem to bother her as much as whatever is on her mind.

"Are you okay? You've got this look on your face," Ichigo asks not unkindly.

Rukia fidgets with the bottom of the t-shirt. She looks so young when she does that.

"Rukia?"

"Can I sleep here tonight?"

He watches her face turn red. She's embarrassed yet genuine. Why does she want to be in here? She's got her own room. Is something wrong?

"Do you want to talk to me about it?"

She shakes her head. "Maybe after I get some sleep?"

"Okay. Climb on in."

She goes around to the empty side of the ridiculously large bed. To be fair, it needed to be big enough to hold Yammy. Good thing the sheets are new. Even then, Ichigo really fucking doubts Yammy got any action.

Rukia crawls under the covers, and curls into a ball. She's laying on the edge of the bed. Why? It's not like there's not enough space. He dismisses her weird behavior, and reaches for the light. The small Shinigami is suddenly grabbing his arm closest to her. He jumps out of his skin, giving her a surprised look.

"S-sorry. Just... maybe leave the light on?" She murmurs with an embarrassed flush.

A small smile pulls at his lips. She's so fucking cute. "Sure. Should I kiss you good night, too?"

She growls in annoyance, her red face still vibrant. She escapes back to her side of the large bed, and pretends Ichigo isn't in the covers with her. He keeps his chuckle on the inside, and goes back to sleep.

Sleep came easy to him then. He doesn't know exactly which thing it came from more; his utter exhaustion or his deep depression. Probably both, yet he's leaning more toward the exhaustion. He's been depressed for a hot minute and it never helped him sleep this fast.

He wakes a second time to Rukia again. This time, however, she's in the middle of incoherently talking back to her nightmare. She's slick with sweat and is tugging at the blanket like she's trying to struggle for something. He debates what to do as he studies her sleep self squirm. The moment a desperate shout left her lips, he's scooting over to her.

"Nnnn... no. No. No! Ichigo!"

Ichigo shakes her awake. She comes to violently, confused and afraid at once. She gapes at his face in the soft glow of the light. Personally, Ichigo doesn't know what to say to someone in this situation. He can't cradle Rukia to sleep like he's done for his baby sisters, can he? He's not quite sure if she'd like that.