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She had insisted on sleeping in the closet from the moment he woke up. They knew, they all knew, that within days he would no longer be able to see spirits. Urahara-san did not know the specifics, because he had never seen it happen before, but Isshin had said he'd had a week when it happened to him. So, just in case, they said five days. Just to be safe. Because if the seventh day hit and he couldn't see them, it would be too late for good-byes.
He knew she watched him sleep. Even though her bed was in the closet, he'd wake up in the morning and see his desk chair had been moved, just a little closer to the bed than before. It was after the third night that he woke up early in the morning and saw her there, in the chair right near his bed, asleep. He drifted back off to sleep, but when he woke up in the morning she was back in the closet.
Tonight, though...tonight was her last night. Tomorrow she would go back to Soul Society, and he would face a world free of spirits, or at least free of him seeing them. They would still be there, only now they'd be a silent, invisible threat. And she would not be there. He knew it would hurt too much. She would probably never come back. So tonight, he would let down his walls, let her in close.
He waited for her to go change into the pajamas Yuzu had loaned her, and when she came back into the room he was sitting on one end of his bed, not quite in the middle of it. He patted the spot next to him and, warily, she came over and sat down next to him. “You watch me sleep every night,” he said, turning to look at her.
She made a scoffing noise and her eyes narrowed as she threw her hands up slightly. “What? No I don't!”
“I saw you last night,” he said quietly.
“Then you must be seeing things,” she said, her voice snapping slightly.
“You pulled the chair up close, and you fell asleep.”
She looked at him, and with a seemingly sudden deflation she dropped the glare, the posture and her hands, and slumped forward slightly. “All right, yes, I've been watching you sleep,” she said quietly.
He nodded slightly, and then, suppressing a yawn, stood up. She watched until he motioned for her to do the same, and then she rose. “Tonight, we're going to stay up and talk. All night. I can sleep after you...you know.”
“But you must still feel weak,” she said. “And tired.” He shook his head, keeping down another yawn. He didn't quite succeed, though, because she got a triumphant expression on her face and pointed at him. “You liar! You're such a horrible liar.”
“Not as bad as Ishida, though,” he pointed out after he let the yawn escape.
“No. No one is as bad a liar as he is,” she said with a smile. Then it faltered. “I'll miss him. I'll miss everyone.”
“We'll all miss you,” he said quietly.
She looked at him, and then dashed a hand across her eyes. “I told myself I wasn't going to cry,” she said quietly, fiercely.
He looked at her, and then pulled her into a hug. Tomorrow, they could be formal and polite. Tonight, it was just him and her and no one else. She was more than his friend. She was probably his best friend. She understood him so well, in a way none of the others did. Not Ishida, not Renji, not Chad, not Orihime. He cared about them, thought of them as friends, but what he shared with Rukia was something deeper.
She grabbed the back of his shirt, bunched her fists in it and sobbed into his chest. He rubbed her back, not saying anything but making sure she stayed close. Maybe this would show her how important she was to him. They stayed like this for quite a while, until she let go of his shirt and he stopped rubbing her back. She let go of him, took a step back and a deep breath, then another, and looked up at him. Her eyes were red, just slightly puffy. She smiled at him, though, a shaky and small one. “Thank you.”
“Welcome,” he said back. “Tonight...”
“Yes?”
He knew what he wanted to ask, but didn't know how to get the words out. So he went back over to the bed, stretched out on top of it, and then motioned for her to join him. Hesitantly, she moved over to the bed and laid down next to him. “Don't get any funny ideas,” he said. “I just figured you'd like to sleep somewhere comfortable tonight.”
She scoffed, the stretched out before curling up slightly. “I have made the closet very comfortable, thank you.”
“You know what I mean,” he said, looking at her intently.
“Yes, I do,” she said seriously with a short nod of her head. “Good night, Ichigo.”
“Good night, Rukia,” he said quietly. He smiled at her, and she smiled back before moving over slightly, close enough to inhale his unique scent, as he did the same for her. He knew she wouldn't do anything. She probably wouldn't even touch him as they slept, and he knew she would be out of his bed before the morning light began to stream in through his window. But for right now, he was next to the person he felt closest to in all the world, and everything was all right.