SPOILER ALERT: Spoilers for the Bleach manga ending in here, read at own risk.

A/N: Since the end of the Bleach manga, people have been divided on how they feel about it- particularly the ships. As a longtime shipper for IchiRuki (the pairing of Ichigo and Rukia), I obviously don't agree with the pairings that the manga ended with even though I like many things about the manga still. But instead of arguing about them, I decided to answer the question many people have poised to us Ichiruki shippers- why continue to ship them?

This will contain many aspects of the anime and manga (not including the Bount arc or the movies), but there will be spoilers so if you haven't read it yet and want to stay unspoiled, stop now. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. With that said, let's begin.

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IchiRuki. The most popular of the ships until of late. Second only to IchiHime (Orihime x Ichigo), it has had the largest following since the beginning of the manga's release. The biggest surprise to most people was that they weren't canonical. Reasons why are as follows.

They had major, and we're talking MAJOR, development. Throughout the majority of the manga there was no one Ichigo was closer to than Rukia and Chad. It wasn't until after the Soul Society arc that he formed a close friendship with Renji and Orihime. Despite their almost constant bickering, these two have had each other's backs since they met. And that's another thing, they constantly tease each other. Guys generally only tease girls they like. During the short span before the official start of the Soul Society arc, Rukia gets to know Ichigo and his family, soon beginning to see the hole that was left by Ichigo's late mother. Ichigo, who hasn't even confided his pain over the loss to his best friend Chad, questions Rukia's lack of inquisition when they go to visit his mother's grave.

Note Rukia's response, "I have no right to know. I don't have a method of stepping into the depths of your heart without getting it dirty. So I'll wait. When you want to talk, when you think it's okay to talk...talk to me." (Rukia, chapter 20). This surprises Ichigo, but later he learns that she lost someone close to her too, so she understands his pain better than someone without that experience. Later on in the series even after learning who Rukia lost, he doesn't confront her and force her to explain it to him. But rather, he repeats a similar sentiment when he says this, "I have nothing to ask. If you didn't tell me until now, you probably have a reason. And that's your problem. I don't know how to ask about that. I don't know a good way to ask without trampling over and putting to shame your feelings. That's why I'll wait. Until you feel like you want to tell me, until you feel it's alright to tell me. Until then, you don't need to. [...] It's all second hand. I was told something similar before, and I just remember how much it put at ease." (Ichigo, chapter 398). Their mutual respect for each other's feelings is not something shown in stories a lot, due to people getting upset over the slightest things in most books. These moments are a huge turning point in their relationship and effects how they interact during the rest of the series.

Soon after this, Rukia tries to distance herself to protect Ichigo since humans and shinigami aren't supposed to interact. "Whether I like him, whether I hate him, it's just all so troublesome. Love, companionship and friendship... it's nothing but trouble." (Rukia, chapter 54). The rest of the arc is focused on Ichigo gaining power and rescuing her from execution due to her not following these strict rules. He makes it blatantly obvious that she's the reason he trained so hard. "Rukia saved my life. She changed... my destiny. Because of Rukia, I became a shinigami that's how I am able to fight... and protect everyone now." (Ichigo, chapter 155). He even goes as far as to fight Rukia's older brother who misguidedly tries to stop Ichigo entering Soul Society (although Ichigo changes his mind on that). When they finally see each other after his training, he can't even look her in the eye for fear he'd lose focus of her older brother Byakuya who is bent on fighting him.

When they finally see each other after his training, he can't even look her in the eye for fear he'd lose focus of her older brother Byakuya who is bent on fighting him    

At the end of the arc, the two go their separate ways for the time being. Right before Ichigo leaves he says this, "I remember now..... why I wanted to save you so much..." and this, "Thank you Rukia, thanks to you I think the rain... has stopped." (Ichigo, chapter 181). The "rain" here is his sadness after losing his mother, through their friendship, he has found some happiness again that he didn't have before they met, despite having most of his family still intact. The way their impending separation is shown is nearly heartbreaking. Below are the manga and anime versions of this sad chapter.

The next time we see Ichigo, it's been fifteen months after the end of the Soul Society arc. Right from the start we see Ichigo more depressed than we see him during the rest of the series. During this time he makes this comment when he's alone one morning. "I wonder, can I keep up with it? The speed of the world without you in it?" (Bleach volume 49). He's all doom and gloom until Rukia returns a few chapters later. When she returns, she is shown to be disappointed that Ichigo isn't acting like the guy she knows him to be and when a hollow attacks the city, she gives a short speech to knock him back into action. "If it was defeat, you need to train harder! If it was about your companions, then you need to reseal those promises after becoming a more virtuous man! If it's about your hollow... then just become strong enough until you can shatter it in an instant! The "you" that still lives on in my heart, Ichigo... would do exactly that! That's the kind of Man you are in my Heart Ichigo!!" (Rukia, chapter 196). Before their reunion however, her brother and the rest of the Soul Society believe Ichigo to have gone to the enemy's side due to his desire to regain the power he lost in order to protect those he loves. Everyone but Rukia is utterly convinced of this, "That's impossible! I know Ichigo, he would never go along with the enemy!" (Rukia, chapter 476). No matter how it appears to the leaders of Soul Society and everyone else, she holds onto the person she knows him to be and is eventually proven right. At the end of the fullbring arc, when Ichigo is completely powerless and vunerable, Rukia appears almost out of nowhere to return his abilities. The look he gives her here in both the anime and the manga says it all. He's also shown to be more worried when Rukia's close to death than anyone else outside his immediate family.

After this the arc focuses on Orihime more as she gets taken captive and taken to Hueco Mundo, the lower part of Soul Society. This arc is shorter than the rest of the arcs and is quickly wrapped up after the revelation of the real villain, Aizen, when he takes Rukia hostage instead due to a powerful weapon hidden in by Kisuke. Using this he threatens the safety of the human world and Soul Society, but here Ichigo is shown to be completely outraged when he thinks Rukia could come within death's reach after Aizen retrieves the weapon from her body. After defeating Aizen, Ichigo returns home but less time goes by during which him and Rukia are separated, soon reuniting at the beginning of the Quincy (or the Thousand Year Blood War) arc as a new enemy appears and tries to gain the ultimate power of knowing every outcome history could have and bend it to his will. Unlike the previous arcs, this one has very little interaction between Rukia and Ichigo, but neither does it have much between him and Orihime. That is until the end where despite all the evidence for it, IchiRuki becomes uncanon and Ichigo is shown to have married Orihime and Rukia is shown to be married to Renji, her childhood friend who she had a falling out with for a period of time before they met Ichigo. Even Orihime once commented on their amazing bond, "To Kurosaki-kun, Kuchiki-san is a very important person! She's not just a friend, because, Kuchiki-san is, the person who changed his world." (Orihime, chapter 164). Lastly, unlike in America, to use a person's first name in Japan signifies a very close relationship and not once until the final chapter does Orihime call Ichigo by his first name, while Rukia and Ichigo use each other's first names almost from the moment they meet.

Why Kubo ended it this way I'm not entirely sure. Some might say it was always going to end that way, but my reasoning is it was entirely changed from the way he began the series, much like J. K. Rowling changed the pairings in her books. No matter what the reasons turn out to be, I still can't help liking the series as a whole even as I ship IchiRuki and always will. With that I'll leave this last photo here and end this lengthy explanation.

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A/N: Thank you to everyone who reads this long explanation, I didn't intent for it to be this long but I hope this clearly explains in an non-offensive way, why I like these two together. The best part in my opinion is Toushirou making jokes with Byakuya (see above). I am happy for them regardless of who they ended up with, just like I am with Rowling's pairings. I did like how the last chapter ended with their kids, it was a nice way to wrap things up I think. As always, the photos are not mine (although I wish I could draw like that), neither is the video. It's from the live action movie for Bleach, the song suits them well I think. The external link is a list I found of almost all the shippy-ish moments between these two if you're interested in that. All the evidence is just from my own reading and understanding of the story, so please don't comment hate if you disagree. This is strictly my opinion and thoughts on why I ship Ichigo and Rukia. Thank you all again for the many reads on my Bleach one shots despite my long absence, hopefully I'll add more soon. I just wanted to finish reading the manga first or I would have posted more last summer. I do have more ideas for these two and my other Bleach ships but for now school takes precedence. I appreciate your patience and hope to see you all again soon :) Comment, vote and share this if you enjoyed this.

-CoordinatorIza out! ^_^