IchiRuki - Blind

"Hey, Rukia? You home?" Ichigo shouted as he walked into his house.

"Upstairs!" she called to him, her voice echoing through the barren halls.

"Come down here for a second. I need to talk to you." He said, placing his school bag on the floor.

"What's up?" she said, already standing in front of the orange-haired teenager. He blinked a few times before speaking.

"How did you…nevermind. Listen, we've got to leave soon. You've got an eye doctor appointment in about an hour, so do me a favor and-"

"Eye doctor? What's what?" Rukia asked, her head tilted sideways like a confused puppy.
"You mean to tell me you've never heard of an eye doctor?"

"Nope," she said nonchalantly. "What is it?"

Ichigo paused for a moment and stared at her in disbelief. He was then suddenly struck with an idea; a very evil idea. A suspicious smile appeared on his face before he spoke.

"An eye doctor is someone who has to perform different procedures on your eyeballs. They take you to a secluded room and lock the door behind them. Then, they turn down the lights so that you can barely see an then make you perform a lot of 'tests' just for their amusement."

"R-really?" Rukia gulped. "That sounds like the eye doctor is a perverted creep." She said.

"But you've got nothing to worry about. I'll be there to keep the big bad eye doctor from having his way with you." He said, placing his hand on her shoulder as he walked away. "So go get ready,"

XXXX

"I don't want to do this, Ichigo." Rukia said, frozen in place in front of the doctors office, her face pale as a ghost.

"You'll be fine, I promise." He said, reaching for her hand and gently pulling her forward. "You've got nothing to worry about when I'm around."

"If I had a nickel for every time you've said that…" Rukia muttered under her breath, as Ichigo lead her to what was sure hell.

XXXX

"Ichigo, I really don't want to do this." Rukia said, sitting in the waiting room chair, her knees pulled tightly to her chest.

Ichigo looked over at her pathetic state and sighed.

"Look, I was only joking. I didn't mean anything that I said earlier. Eye doctors are very nice people, they won't hurt you."

"I still don't understand why you brought me here." She whined.

"Because you need your eyes checked. You might need glasses or something."

"I can see perfectly fine! I don't need glasses!"

"Yo don't know that for sure. Besides, I think you'd look interesting with glasses."

"Interesting? What's that supposed to mean?" Rukia asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Interesting in a good way," he said, smiling in a sweet way, making her blush.

"Mr. Kurosaki? Ms. Kuchiki? The doctor's ready for you."

"Well, are you ready for this?" he asked.

"Not entirely," she replied.

"Look, I'll go first so you can see what you're gonna be going through. It'll be over with before you know it."

"If you say so…" she mumbled, following him closely.

XXXXX

"Alright, Mr. Kurosaki, I need you to take this here and cover your right eye, then read the third line down."

"Right," he said, covering his eye with the cold plastic object. "Alright…E, F,P, uh…R?...yeah, I think that's right…C, L, N, … M?"

Rukia giggled softly beside him.

"Not even close, Ichigo." She whispered to him.

"Okay…now cover your left eye and try reading the line below it."

"Q…W…A…is that a four?"

Rukia giggled again, only slightly more audibly.

"Alright, that's enough. Ms. Kuchiki, I do believe it's your turn."

"Good luck," Ichigo said, handing her the plastic eye patch.

"Alright, when you're ready, go ahead and read the third line."

"Z, P, O, K," I read.

"Very good," the doctor said with an impressed tone. "Alright, now try reading the fifth line."

"B, W, X, L, V, G, A," she read again.

"Impressive, Ms. Kuchiki," the doctor said.

"Pff…beginners luck." Ichigo muttered.

XXXX

"Alright, Mr. Kurosaki, which is clearer? Number one…number two."

"Uh.." Ichigo said. "They're about the same?"

"Number two…number three."

"…number three."

"Three…four."

"…they're about the same." He said.

Rukia sat in the spare chair on the other side of the room, boredom written all over her face. Her part of the examination was over minutes ago, but she couldn't quite understand why he was taking so long. Finally, after a few minutes of waiting, Ichigo had finished his examination.

"Well, it looks like we're done with the hard part." The doctor stated. "Why don't you two go back to the waiting room while I process your results?"

"Yeah, alright." Ichigo stated, stretching his arms above his head.

XXXX
"So what do you think he'd going to tell us?" Rukia asked, thumbing through a magazine.

"Probably which one of us is blind and is going to need glasses." Ichigo said irritably.

"What's with the attitude?" she asked, picking up on his tone.

"Nothing…I've got a headache." He said. "I feel like I strained my eyes with all those stupid tests."
"Really? Hm…I don't feel like that at all."

Ichigo groaned at her comment and returned to his magazine. Shortly after he began reading, the doctor entered the room.
'
"The results are in!" she chimed. "And I must say, they're rather interesting."

"How so?" Rukia asked.

"We'll start with you, Ms. Kuchiki. In all my years in the medical profession, I've never seen anyone with such perfect vision."

"Perfect vision, huh?" Rukia repeated, glaring in Ichigo's direction.

"In fact, you probably won't ever have to wear glasses, not even in your elderly years."

"What about me?" Ichigo asked.

"Your tests were strange, Mr. Kurosaki. It appears you're very near sighted. How you've been able to see two feet in front of you is a complete mystery to me."

"N-near sighted?!" Ichigo repeated.

"I'm sorry, but you're going to need some sort of eyewear."

"You're joking!" He exclaimed.

"I suggest you start looking at frames, Mr. Kurosaki. Glasses are definitely in your future.


XXXX

"C'mon Ichigo! Put them on! I want to see what you look like!"

"No! I'm not wearing those repulsive things!"

"Please?" Rukia begged. "Just for a second."

Ichigo sighed. "Fine, whatever."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of thin, black plastic frames, and placed them on his face.

"Well?" he said, staring at Rukia.

"I like them," she said. "They make you look…interesting."

"Interesting?" he asked.

"In a good way," she said, causing him to blush.

"I knew I should have gotten contacts…" he said under his breath, hiding his read face behind a pillow.