Hey guys, so I've been itching to write a series of one shots based on single words so I figured the best way to do it would be to google the word of the day and just write! So, here it is! Tell me is you like it in the reviews below, and if you have any word's you would like me to write on.
*For those of you who are reading my Fairy Tail Fanfiction story, "Kicked Out" I am SO sorry for the lack of updating! I just don't have time to try and write a well thought out chapter right now, but I am working on it. Believe me! Thank you so much for your patience!"
So, now onto chapter one
Capapie: From Head to Foot
"Come on!" Rukia shouted as she tugged harshly on Ichigo's arm. Rukia's eyes were narrowed in concentration as she struggled to pull Ichigo along behind her. While she may be a gifted soul reaped with enough determination to even out last Ichigo's stubbornness, she was still a good foot and a half smaller than him. Tugging again, this time more fiercely, Ichigo rolled his eyes and let himself grudgingly be dragged along to the captivator of Rukia's attention. Taking long, large strides Ichigo soon passed a madly grinning Rukia. He knew exactly where she wanted to go, and the annoyed look on his face clearly suggested he wasn't happy with it. Letting go of the carrot top's arm Rukia quickened her pace to keep up with his relaxed one.
"Ichigo! Slow down!" She called out as she raced to catch up with him. It annoyed her that it took two of her own strides to equal his one, and on more than one occasion she had told the idiot to slow down. Each time she did though Ichigo just smirked at her, teased her about being a midget, and kept walking. However, each time Rukia complained he always seemed to take smaller steps, or at least until she caught up, and then trailed slightly behind her, though this wasn't always the case. Turning around Ichigo stopped and gave her his trademark smirk.
"What's the matter Midget? Can't keep up?" He teased lightly, his hands set loosely in his pockets and hair messier than usual. He was dressed in casual clothes with a red T-Shirt, faded jeans, and comfortable fitting shoes. His smirk wasn't as patronizing today as it usually was as he watched the tiny girl striding towards him. He gave a small chuckle at the irritated look on her face as she stopped in front of him, her hands on her hips and eyes glaring up at him.
"Don't' call me that!" She screamed and landed a quick, painful blow to Ichigo's shin. With a cry
Ichigo ripped his hands out of his pockets and desperately clutched his bruising knee. His eyes were closed tightly as a string of grunts and groans that may have been words fell violently from his lips. Around him strangers shot a mixed of worried to annoyed glances his way as they walked past him. With her hands still placed firmly on her hips Rukia waited until the orange haired boy was finished hopping around on one foot, a small tinge of guild resting heavily in the center of her chest. It was only then that she realized how hard she had kicked his am that he was still regaining his strength from his training session only hours earlier. The sun had been beating down on her all day though and her temper wasn't at its best. Still, watching him with his eyes shut tightly Rukia's eyes softened and her anger fell away. Finally finished with his awkward dance Ichigo set his newly bruised shin back on the ground and opened his eyes. Rukia looked into them and saw their usually warm chocolate hue staring back at her with a sort of hurt that bordered onto that of a look of betrayal. Forcing her gaze away Rukia huffed and squared herself as she continued to walk towards her original target, a wide smile once again coming to her face and smothering the lingering feelings of guild that clouded her mind. Throwing a single look over her shoulder she was pleased to see Ichigo shuffling after her, his pace set to stay just behind her. His hands were shoved deep in his pockets and his face down cast so that his eyes were hidden in the shadows casted off his bright orange hair. His shoulders fell so that his normally proud posture now gave off the impression that he was a stone hearted loner who would punch you if you so much as looked at him wrong. Rukia's smile faltered as she turned back around and continued walking, another wave of guilt planting itself inside her heart.
She hated when he looked like that. It reminded her too much of the first months she had known him. He had been so wrapped up in his own solitude then that it affected how she herself felt. Being around him then made her feel like gravity weighed down on her more so than any other person in the universe. She felt like every day was a miserable over cast with freezing cold rain that poured down on her constantly even though the sun was shining for everyone else around her, and she could only imagine the raging storm Ichigo must be caught in every day. He never really let on that he thought anything was wrong, but looking at him Rukia could tell he felt like something was missing. The only time she didn't feel the weight of the pouring rain or cold touch of the storm was when Ichigo was around his little sisters. It was those moments that convinced Rukia that Ichigo was something other than what he appeared to be to others. When he was around his family pride and love radiated off him so intensely Rukia would have never though he could be capable of feeling such depression and emptiness. Whenever Yuzu gave him a giant hug, Karin punched him playfully in the arm, or even when his dad was ranting about something insignificant and stupid Ichigo no longer felt lost. He had a purpose, a reason, to keep going from day to day. It was that feeling Rukia had grown accustom to feeling around him.
Before she and Ichigo had gotten close enough for him to tell her what his inner world was like Rukia had never once stopped and considered what Ichigo thought about the constant feeling of being pushed down into the darkest part of the world by an invisible rain that only he could see or feel. She had always just assumed he didn't care enough or mind enough to fix it. That all changed though when he had risked his life to come save her from her execution in the Soul Society. Smiling ever so slightly now, she remembered the feeling of being safe, of being protected and cared about, while he held her awkwardly around her waist at his hip. She would never admit this to anyone, and she wasn't even quite sure if she admitted it to herself, but in that moment she wondered if that was what it was like to be a part of Ichigo's family.
A wide smile on her face now, Rukia almost ran into a tall man with black hair as she pulled herself out of her thoughts. Realizing her mistake her face flushed with embarrassment as the tall man look down on her with an unamused face. He looked like he was sick of being at the carnival as much as Ichigo was.
"I'm sorry sir." She managed to wheeze out as she stared at the ground, his hard eyes still staring at her. He opened his mouth to say something, most likely rude, back to her when Rukia was thrown into a large shadow.
"Is there a problem here?" Ichigo's annoyed voice asked gruffly. Rukia's eyes widened when she realized it was the carrot top idiot standing behind her. She silently cursed under hear breath and clenched her fists tightly at her side. She hated when he saved her, especially when it was from her own mistakes. However, as the irritated man with black hair looked up at Ichigo with a look of shock she couldn't help but smile. The same feeling of safety as back in the soul society flooded her chest and her cheeks boasted a rosy tinge, no longer produced by embarrassment. Fixing his shocked expression back into a deep lined frown the man gave a gruff, "Nothing" and turned back around.
"That's what I thought jerk." Ichigo whispered so quietly Rukia almost thought she had imagined it. In any case she barely managed to choke back a laugh by clutching her hands over her mouth forcefully. Turning around to face Ichigo she saw a small smile on his lips too, his eyes down cast. Noticing Rukia's new position he raised his gaze to rest on her, his eyes waiting for her to say what she always dreaded. Shoving her pride down for three seconds her smile fell and her placed her hands forcefully in her pockets, a habit she supposed she picked up from Ichigo. Her eyes stuck to the pavement beneath them.
"Thanks." She mumbled, her voice thick with distaste for the word. Ichigo smile turned into a smirk as he jokingly poked her shoulder.
"Thanks? That's all I get for keeping you from getting kicked out of line?" He replied with a disappointed voice. Rukia sighed and dragged her gaze up to meet Ichigo's radiant eyes, the sun tinging them with the slightest hint of gold. They captivated her for a second, then the moment fell flat once she saw what those eyes help. Expectancy.
"Thank you Ichigo Kurosaki, the orange haired wonder, from keeping my pathetic self from getting kicked out of line." She replied, her words laced without enough sarcasm to kill a horse. Ichigo seemed to ignore this when he shook his head in satisfaction.
"You're welcome." He replied smoothly, an easy smile falling onto his lips. Turning his head to look at the lines of people and rides around him, he spoke with a surprisingly lack of annoyance. "Why are we here anyway?" He asked, his attention still wandering to the bizarre scenes unfolding around them. At the cotton candy machine a young looking girl tried desperately to get a machine working while a clearly irate mother stared her down with a crying child in her arms. To the left of the food tents was a large semi-truck boasting the banner, "Temporary Tattoos and Piercings" on the side. In a long line stood a group of boys about Ichigo's age, all dressed in at least something black and supporting their own tattoos that Ichigo assumed where in fact not fake. Looking to his right now he saw the ferries wheel spinning slowly, the highest carts level with the setting sun. Looking straight over Rukia's head now, he looked past his line and saw that they were in line to ride the notorious, "Zipper", and his stomach fell and his face paled ever so slightly. As the ride came to an end and people walked out of their spinning cages he saw a mixture of green, white, and red faces walk away. The people standing in line were being filed into the now empty cages, and Ichigo realized he and Rukia would be loaded in about three more minutes.
"Because, I've never been to an amusement park before! And besides, I heard kids talking at school say you can't call yourself brave until you've ridden the Zipper!" Rukia replied cheerfully, the line moving forward as the cages were being loaded. Rukia bounded forward happily but Ichigo's feet stuck haltingly to the cold ground beneath him. Not bothering to look behind her, Rukia stopped well behind the black haired man as the people in front of her were shuffled into a cage by a tired looking man sporting the amusement parks logo with big green letters on his shirt. Moving forward once again Rukia and Ichigo found themselves at the front of the line, and as to be expected, a height ruler rested a measly two inches below the top of Rukia's head. Ichigo's eyes constricted with pain while Rukia's with annoyance at the sight, and then the two were being prodded forward by the employee.
Stepping into the rickety cage first, Rukia smashed herself against the far side of the metal to make room for Ichigo. Taking in a sharp breath, the employee cast Ichigo a worried glance.
"You gonna be okay man?" He asked. Ichigo shook off his concern as he gave a gruff reply.
"Yeah, just not feeling great today." Then he sat on the cheap plastic seat next to an excited Rukia. With a shrug, the employee slammed the cage door shut and locked it with a key hanging from his lanyard. Moving away from the side of the cage and closer to Ichigo Rukia bounced up and down with energy.
"This is going to be so much fun!" She squealed. Ichigo didn't give a reply, but instead clutched the bar tightly in front of them. Noticing this, Rukia shot him a questioning glance. "What's wrong? Do you not like amusement park rides?" She asked with surprise. Ichigo looked down at her in annoyance and gave a sharp reply.
"I'm fine!" The ride gave a small but harsh jerk as their cage was lifted higher into the air, the next cage ready to load beneath them. Still, Ichigo's grip tightened around the thin metal bar his knuckles faded to white and his entire body went rigid. That's when Rukia caught on, and an evil smirk graced her lips.
"Oh, I get it now! It's not amusement park rides in general, it's just this ride!" She declared. "You're afraid of the Zipper!" Pinned, Ichigo didn't even try to defend himself. All he did was loosen his grip on the bar ever so slightly and give out a rushed reply.
"Alright, so what if I am?! Let's just get this over with as soon as possible and get off this death trap." He pleaded. The ride gave another shudder and jerked forward, lifting them higher into the sky. With a loud creak the cage tilted forward giving the two teens a direct view of the ground so far below them, then thruster them back as it evened itself out. Caught off guard, Rukia jumped a little, but overall was unaffected by the movement. However, the same could not be said for Ichigo. His eyes were shut tightly and his body was rigid with anxiety. Rukia frowned as she raised her hand to his pale face. Gently brushing his characteristically bright hair out of his eyes she looked at him with concern. She could feel his shaking from head to foot under her hand. He let out a whimper of some sorts as he opened his eyes briefly to look at her. Their chocolate color were pale with fear and panic, and Rukia felt a wave of guilt wash over her. She hadn't even thought Ichigo would be affected like this by a simple amusement park ride. However she regretted not asking him before hand while they stood in line now as she watched him grip the bar in front of them tightly. Looking down through the floor of the rusty cage she saw the last few people being loaded into their own cages.
The ride was going to start soon
Lifting her gaze back up to Ichigo's tense face, her hand fell away from his face and gently rested on top of his left one clutching the bar. She felt him flinch slightly at her touch at first, but then relax faintly. Placing her other hand on the bar she held onto it tightly as she took a deep breath. She was still going to enjoy this ride, but it still wouldn't hurt to have something to hold onto. Counting down in her head, she listened for the faint slam of a metal door beneath her. Hearing its familiar clang she began the count down.
Three. Two. One.
With a loud, chilling creak the ride roared to life and Rukia felt them being raised higher and higher into the air. With her eyes wide open she saw when they reached the peak of the ride, then felt herself being thrown forward as their cage spun the entire way down. Underneath her hand Ichigo clutched the bar tighter and willed himself to calm down as he felt himself spinning uncontrollably. His heart raced and he felt as if he might choke on his own lungs. Rukia giggled next to him, the sound wiled and thin, but it still comforted him slightly. The entire ride lasted for about 8 minutes, but it felt like an eternity for Ichigo. It was especially horrible when they started spinning backwards, and at that point Rukia wasn't giggling any more. Instead he felt her hand clutch down tightly on top of his own. When he finally felt the ride gradually slow, then come to a stop, he cautiously opened his eyes. Relief flooded him when he saw they were close to the ground, the next ones to be let out of their cage. With a happy sigh he loosened his grip on the thin metal bar he had gripped through the entire ordeal and fell back against his seat. Glancing over at Rukia he saw her do the same thing, her face flushed red with excitement and adrenaline. Her hair was a wild mess and her chest rose heavily with deep breaths. Noticing his stare, she looked back at Ichigo and flashed him a goofy grin that reflected back at him in her elegant violate eyes. Without thinking he smiled back at her and enjoyed feeling them being lowered back to the ground. When they were being released from their cage Ichigo ignored the surprised look of the employee from before and walked away quickly, making sure to keep a pace Rukia could keep up with. She steered them in the direction of a bench in front of the carousel to which Ichigo was grateful for. Food and other rides did not sound appealing to him at the moment, and in fact is he had it his way he would just go home now to the comforting embrace of his couch. Sitting down happily he let out a sigh, finally relaxing entirely, his eyes closed lightly and a small smile on his face. He could feel Rukia's curious stare though, and he inwardly prepared himself for the question that were sure to follow.
"Why are you still holding my hand?" Rukia's small voice asked suddenly.
That wasn't what he had been expecting.
Ichigo's eyes snapped open and he looked down to his hand quickly. Sure enough he was still clutching Rukia's small, pale hand in his own large one and he felt his face light up with embracement. Letting go of the raven haired girls hand quickly he sputtered out an apology.
"S-sorry, I guess I just didn't r-realize it." He replied lamely, his eyes avoiding Rukia's. He could still feel her shift uncomfortable beside him, her hands now interlocking with each other on her lap. After a few minutes of extremely awkward silence she cleared her throat loudly and spoke in a rushed, moving-on tone.
"So why are you afraid of the ride?" She asked. Pausing for a second, Ichigo lifted his gaze to rest on Rukia's light face. Fading sunlight rested on her usually sharp features, softening them into a glowing ember.
"I was nine when I rode the Zipper for the first time. Since Chad and I were the only ones out of my friend group tall enough to ride at the time I wanted to look brave in front of them because I didn't want them to know I was afraid of heights." Ichigo began, his voice thick with emotion. Even though the story sounded simple and not particularly scarring to Rukia, she could tell it had traumatized Ichigo to no end. One thing did stick in her mind though, and that was the fact he used to be afraid of heights. However she waited to ask him about it until he finished his story. "So I stood in line with Chad, not really paying attention to what the ride actually did. So when I got into the cage I had no idea it spun until it was too late to change my mind. So when I got off I yelled at my friends for not telling me the cages spun, and then they all laughed at me." Ichigo paused to give a faint, but pained smile. "They did apologize, but they teased me for the rest of the year." He finished. Rukia stared at him, trying to picture the strong, brave young man sitting next to her as a scared nine year old being teased by his friends. As she concentrated she finally saw a ghost of the small, young boy he was talking about sitting next to her, and her eyes softened.
"Well, that's good to know then. Thank you for riding with me any way." She replied with a warm smile, dropping the subject. Ichigo looked at her in shock, then he smiled gratefully back at her and leaned back against the back of the bench. With the sun having set Ichigo watched as the amusement park lit up brightly in the young night. Stars had just begun to appear in the dark sky and the moon hung peacefully over them. The air around them was cool and crisp, a certain energy sending chills of excitement and happiness down Ichigo's spine. Glancing down at Rukia he saw the bright lights reflecting tenderly in her warm eyes as she looked forward, and his smile widened. Directing his attention back to the sea of lights in front of him, he almost jumped when he felt something warm and small clutching his hang gently. Looking down, he was shocked beyond thought to see Rukia's thin fingers interlaced with his own. Looking away from their hands and onto her face, he was even more shocked to see her smirk.
"Oh, and by the way Ichigo, asking why you're holding my hand is deferent than telling you to let go." She spoke teasingly. Ichigo stared at her in shock for half a minute longer, then his expression melted away into a warm smile. Giving out a small chuckle he tightened his grip on her hand slightly as she scooted closer to him.
"I'll keep that in mind."
Alright, what did you think? Was it good, bad, ugly? Leave your thoughts in the reviews! Also if you have a word you want me to write about make sure to include the definition you want me to go off of! Thank you so much for reading this, and again I apologize for the lack of updates for my other story! *Bowing profusely* Love ya!
~VampireFluteChick~
Aw, what the heck! Random poem time!
Stars sit in the sky, watching them below
Spinning wildly, out of control.
He filled with fear, her with joy
But something else is there, a change for the boy
A warmth from inside, glowing brightly
At the feeling of Her hand gripping his tightly.
~VampireFluteChick~
