Well, I’m working on something bigger, but I thought I’d write something for the FC’s birthday. So, have fun!

Prompt: Library spread-based
Title: Living happily
Rating: G
Word count: 684
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Renji had left hours ago, saying that this was too boring, and Tatsuki had called Inoue out to walk her back home. They were the only ones left in the peaceful library, and all that could be heard was pages that were turned, slowly. It was a small library, where Ichigo often went – before he met up with Rukia, that is. He used to do his homework a lot there – no way he’d use the school’s library, he was not that stupid; and since his curfew used to be so damn early, he never stayed until the end. But he liked it, with the old books’ scents around him, the way the parquet creaked, the silence and the peace he could find there.

“You can stay over a bit, I’m closing; when you’ll be finished, just tell me,” told him the owner.

Ichigo nodded, hoping that it wouldn’t take too long for Rukia to finish her book. She could read it at home, as he had his own edition, but she didn’t want to – and when he thought about his hectic family, he could just understand why.

“Romeo and Juliet...” she suddenly said, breaking the silence.

“Yeah?”

“They were really idiots, uh?”

He snorted. “You missed the message, the message!” he said, getting up to get closer, tapping a finger on the book’s cover.

“Fools do stupid things for love, such as killing themselves?” she asked.

“No!” he exclaimed, exasperated. “It means that people should learn to work on their difference, to prevent tragedies. Isn’t it obvious?”

“It is, but it also proves how stupid can people be while in love.”

“Why does it bug you so much?” Something was definitely off, and he could feel himself frowning even more.

Suddenly, she looked down. “Kaien-dono too, was like this. He didn’t care about dying, once Miyako was killed. Isn’t it stupid? Everyone grieved him... weren’t we enough?”

So, that was it. “I think, it’s a little bit different... when my mother died, a huge part of me died with her,” he whispered softly, sitting on the corner of the table and leaning a bit towards her. He paused, thinking about that time when Ulquiorra told him she was dead... “Truthfully, if you were to die, I...” Just the thought ripped him apart. It wasn’t funny. “... I don’t think I’d take it well; I don’t think that dying against the one who killed you would matter much to me. So, I would probably end up like him.” He could have never said Kaien, that was a name he always refused to say. It was too odd and foreign to talk about someone he didn’t know, and who yet held such a place in Rukia’s heart. “Am I a fool for that?”

Her face was tinted with an interesting shade of red, he thought while gazing at her intensely. “If I died, I’d wish for you to continue on living happily,” she replied, locking eyes with him.

“Even though I’d be dead inside? I’ve been through it once, thank you. Even though he’s an idiot, my father could go on because of me and my sisters. But I’m sure that if we weren’t here, he wouldn’t have been able to live as he is right now. And you? How would you feel, if I were to die tomorrow?”

She opened her mouth and closed it, her eyes showing her torment. “I... I don’t know,” she admitted.

“You see,” he grinned, “that’s why I have to protect you. So that you won’t die, and I can continue to live gleefully.”

“Fool. I don’t want to be protected.”

“I know that well. You aren’t making things easy...”

She chuckled. “Why, thank you,” she said, getting up and kissing him lightly on the cheek.

He caught her wrist as she began to walk away. “That’s not enough,” he replied, kissing her lips, asking for her to let him in. She opened her mouth, letting him kiss her tenderly.

“Just so you know,” she whispered between two kisses, “I’m not letting you die either.”

He grinned, feeling truly happy.