Writer's Note:
- Just an idea that came to mind when I was going to bed - lying in bed and desperately trying to think of an interesting AU Ichiruki fanfic. Hope you enjoy! I'm a little rusty when it comes to writing fanfics, so bear with me. This may seem long it turned up being 18 pages on my wordperfect file, but Fanfiction's font size is different - so I don't know. I couldn't include all of the summary so I put what I actually wanted to write here. I will probably update weekly, hopefully.
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. (I wish I did)
Pairings: (if you don't like then don't read) Ichiruki, RenjiXJackie, GinRan, UraharaXYoruichi, OrihimeXIshida (Maybe - not quite sure yet), KenseiXMashiro (a little), HisanaXByakuya (probably).
FULL Summary:
Ichigo Kurosaki ran away from home in his small town with his daughter, when he became a father 4 years ago. Now in a busy city, struggling to keep up with two jobs and providing food to the table without letting it show to his young daughter - Ichigo ends up at his limits. When all hope is lost, Ichigo finds himself relying more and more on the coldhearted woman in the apartment across the hall. It turns out the person he needed most was a doorstep away.
Ichigo never had anything to catch him when he stumbled; she was catching him before he even felt the fall.
Chapter 1: Deliveries, a Accidental Kiss, and a Strange Neighbor
Ichigo Kurosaki sighs as he closes the driver seats door to the large delivery truck. He rubs his tired drooping eyelids and begins buckling the old seatbelt that always got stuck halfway through putting it on. After a minute of struggling with the cursed seatbelt, while using some colourful words, the damn seatbelt finally clicked into place. Ichigo readjusted his "Urahara Shoten" ball cap before turning on the truck and beginning to drive down the busy street. He glances at the time, it was only 8:30 a.m. His shift ended at 1:00 p.m., so today was going to go by slowly.
It is one of Ichigo's rare good days - today is Tuesday, so he didn't have to work a late night at the restaurant, in turn it means that his daughter, Mai doesn't have to be taken to the crazy babysitter, the only one he could possibly afford, Hiyori. The crazy babysitter is a teen who lived in Mai's preschool area, and Hiyori had offered a low fee that Ichigo could actually afford. He would like to say it was a blessing from God, since there were literally no other babysitters - but Hiyori was anything but a blessing.
Every time Ichigo had to leave Mai there, he has this bad feeling at the back of his head that Hiyori would somehow teach her wrongly, or yell at her too much and cause Mai to cry (she can be pretty sensitive). The only reason he is such a worry wart is because it has always been just Mai and him for four years; but now that his jobs are becoming more frequent during the day and night, Ichigo actually needed a babysitter. Hiyori had been watching Mai for 6 months now, and so far there hasn't been any major setbacks - though Mai nearly got lost at the park once, because Hiyori had been on the phone with her 'boyfriend'. Ichigo seriously doubts Hiyori's sanity, so he wasn't able to agree with the possibility of a boy actually liking her romantically.
Ichigo dropped off Mai at the preschool at 6:00 a.m., since he started worked at 6:30a.m. He had less worries about the preschool teacher, Unohana mainly due to the fact she was so motherly and kind to Mai. Mai always talked about Unohana right when he picked her up; it also helps that Unohana once used to be a doctor, so she knew basically everything about taking care of Mai, and how to keep her healthy. Unohana initially offered to take care of Mai during his late shifts at the restaurant but Ichigo couldn't possibly ask her to do it on top of watching her all day.
Ichigo sighs for the millionth time that day, realizing he needs to go grocery shopping before picking up Mai from preschool, so he may be late on picking her up. Mai didn't like it when Ichigo was late, she starts to ignore him, which only lasts a couple of minutes, but he still absolutely hates it when she does it. The reason he never took Mai to the grocery store with him was simply he didn't like all the women staring at him. For some reason every mother would always smile and wave if he ever brought Mai shopping, and it drove Ichigo crazy. He didn't like getting attention and he doesn't like smiling at people. The only person he ever smiles at is Mai, and Mai only.
Ichigo parks beside a condo, and checks his clipboard again to make sure he went to the right address. Confirming the fact he went to the right place, Ichigo heads out of the vehicle hoping that the cold fall day would end quickly.
(^3^)
"Shit!" Rukia Kuchiki swore under her breath as she saw the subway doors closing since she dozed off while waiting for it to arrive. Thankfully she squeezes her way past the closing doors, before letting out a relieved sigh. "Hey move out of the way, kid!" some man barked from behind her, waiting for her to move so he could sit down. He didn't bother waiting and just shoved by her, Rukia gave the man an icy glare but decided against even giving the guy the pleasure of getting her worked up. Though, I would whoop your ass in a second if I could Rukia thought bitterly, she glares daggers at the floor, and grabs a seat near the door, so she could leave quicker when she reaches her stop.
Rukia readjusts her white blouse and combs her fingers through her hair to get rid of any flyaway hairs. She pulls out her phone to text her friend at work, Renji that she may be arriving late today - she would text Jackie, but the said woman absolutely hates using her phone, which has terrible service and is an old flip phone.
To: Renji Abarai
I may be late to work. Tell Jackie not to worry.
"Message Sent" her phone notifies her, and Rukia shoves the device back inter her large black purse. Her violet eyes close and she massages her temples in hope of ridding herself of the last minute work she pulled together last night. She had yesterday off from work, and was supposed to finish her work early in the morning and have the rest of her day free, but Rukia had a procrastination problem during work and after work. She decided to go shopping in the morning and spent most of the day out. When she got home she was pooped, and wanted to do anything but send e-mails to twenty different people.
Rukia is currently working her third year as an Administrative Assistant at an advertising agency. She had many different tasks to do at work, but she generally just makes sure that everyone is doing what they are supposed to be doing, while assisting the Department Head, Ukitake-san.
Renji is the graphic designer of the agency, the two had gone to the same high school; though Renji had gone to college while Rukia headed to a higher up University, the two had kept in contact. Renji is Rukia's best friend in the world, thoguh Jackie was a close second. Jackie and Rukia had met on Rukia's first day, Jackie was having troubles with the printer, and Rukia and her bonded with beating the poor machine up - ever since then they had been close.
It was also nice to have a friend that is an actual girl; Rukia mostly had guy friends in high school since she was a tom boy, and was into sports. University had been a huge lonely blur, since she felt like she lost her other half when Renji went to college. Though now that she is working at a professional job, she finally began making some actual friends that were girls.
Rukia snaps out of her thoughts as the subway begins slowing down at her stop. A woman's voice is buzzing through the speakers, announcing their stop her voice barely audible over the screeching subway. Rukia immediately stands, almost losing her footing but regains her composure as the doors ding before opening. She dashes through the station practically running to work in her black flats. Thank god I didn't wear heels today Rukia thought, squirming her way through the tight crowd around the exiting staircase. Rukia Kuchiki was never late to work, and she wasn't planning on losing her perfect streak today.
Rukia decides to catch her breath before walking into the "Soul Advertising Agency". The building wasn't very tall compared to more famous agencies in the city - like the one her brother-in-law, Byakuya Kuchiki owned. Rukia has grown accustomed to the friendly small agency. It is practically her second home (she spent most of her week here), and unlike others who hate their jobs, Rukia knew that she loves what she does here every day.
Once regaining her breath she glances over at her silver watch which was her university graduation present from Byakuya. She came with five minutes to spare. She opens the glass doors and greets the front desk secretary, Nemu, who gives a small smile that is barely visible. Rukia presses the silver elevator button and taps her foot rapidly; it is a new bad habit of hers. For some reason her body could never relax for a second - she is a pretty busy woman so she's always alert.
The doors open and Rukia walks in with some other men and women heading to work also. She doesn't recognize any of them, but the woman wearing circular glasses and her hair tied up tightly seems familiar to her. Her name is on the tip of Rukia's tongue but she can't seem to remember the name that belongs with the woman's face. She would ask Jackie about it later.
She presses the button for floor 3 and everyone else presses their respective floor numbers. Once reaching her floor Rukia steps out of the elevator, greeted by medium sized cubicles, some fake plants since they are cooped up in the building all day, and the secretary's large stylish desk.
"Morning Kuchiki-san!" Hinamori greets Rukia. The said secretary, smiles brightly, her large brown eyes practically sparkling like some kind of shoujo manga - despite the fact it was early in the morning. Rukia wonders how the hell the woman could operate so cheerily 24/7. She never saw Hinamori without a smile spread onto her face.
"Morning, Hinamori-san. How's your morning been?" Rukia asks politely, whilst trying to give her co-worker a smile, it ends up being a little too awkward on her face so she stops trying to smile at all. She has a few minutes to spare anyways so why not strike up a conversation?
"Very well! There has been quite a few calls from different clients today! I think we are gaining more everyday!" Hinamori chimed, excitedly, and Hinamori was definitely right - they had been increasing in popularity at the moment. Everyone has been pretty pumped up about the great news, though as Ukitake always says, they shouldn't get too ahead of themselves or else the company may lose it's popularity. "I hope so," Rukia commented before waving a goodbye to her timid co-worker and heading to her small office.
Rukia remembers when she used to work in one of those cubicles. The day she got promoted to her very own office was one of her most memorable days at work. That, and the day she saw Jackie actually blush - she barely ever lets her emotions out, so it was a grand event for both Rukia and Renji. Jackie is still in a cubicle; she doesn't complain to Rukia - she just enjoys the fact she's an account supervisor. Byakuya always pressures Rukia to aim for an even higher position, at another more successful company, but Rukia could never see herself leaving this small agency. Sure, she may be able to earn even more money, but her friends would be farther from her reach. She needs them more than they think.
Rukia sighs as she hears the wonderful sound of her office door clicking close. She heads over to her desk, dropping her briefcase onto the elegant wooden surface, before plopping herself onto her comfy leather desk chair. She would spin around in it too, if she didn't have work to do today. Rukia turns on the PC, and taps her lavender painted nails onto the sleek desk impatiently. Her computer always took forever to start up; while her laptop at home took a few seconds.
The moment she begins opening her briefcase, she hears a knock on the door and a voice asking, "You aren't naked right?" Rukia laughs before saying sarcastically, "Yes I love working naked on the job!" The person opens the door revealing Jackie, laughing hysterically wearing a burgundy suit jacket over a black blouse, and matching burgundy suit pants. This was a small tradition Jackie had started two months ago, when Jackie accidentally walked in once when Rukia was changing into a different blouse since it got coffee spilled all over it. Since then Jackie has refused to see any more body parts of Rukia, so she always asks.
Rukia raises her eyebrow, taking in the new suit, "Oooo, that colour suits you! When did you buy this?" Rukia presses; it was rare for Jackie to ever change her wardrobe, she didn't like spending too much money. Rukia lives in a super low priced apartment building, that is really old, so she saves a lot of money that she uses on clothing for work.
Jackie looks away from Rukia, "I just saw it and tried it on, and couldn't say no. Which is why I avoid going to malls. Or else I'll buy everything - like you do," Jackie responds with a roll of her brown eyes. "I don't buy everything," Rukia pointed out with a huff, as she crosses her arms around her petite torso.
"Anyways, did you end up having any hot dates?" Jackie asks quickly, gliding over to Rukia's desk and sitting on the right empty corner. Rukia doesn't bother telling her to not sit on her desk, and merely starts clicking the Google Chrome icon with her mouse. She also opens a Solitaire game to play before she got anything done.
"The closest thing to a date I had was with Ben & Jerry," Rukia snaps as she begins playing the game. Jackie sighs, "Having ice-cream on a Monday night? Okay, but what about that blind date your sister set you up on; I thought it was yesterday - on your day off?"
"No, no I rescheduled for my next day off. I need to mentally prepare myself for the dating world, before just jumping in. I mean it's super awkward, I never have any idea what to say or talk about!" Rukia rambles as she side glares to Jackie who laughs slightly at her.
"The real question that's important is whether you and Renji are going out yet!? Have you even talked with him this morning?" Rukia demands, her violet eyes piercing through Jackie's warm caramel orbs.
Jackie looks away her face turning slightly pink, "Renji and I - are not dating - you're delusional we're just friends"-
"Wait a minute?! You never blush when you talk about him! Did something happen?!" Rukia exclaims as she stands up from her desk and slams her hands on it. Jackie is startled from the slam of Rukia's hands and immediately decides to come clean, "Fine don't tell Renji I told you though, promise?"
Rukia nods feverishly as happy as a puppy, and Jackie rubs her forehead before saying, "Last night he invited me to a bar - you were busy so you couldn't come, or so I thought you were on that date. But the point is we both got a little drunk, actually he got A LOT drunk and we-we um, kissed okay?! But immediately afterwards Renji said it was an accident. After that I took a cab home - that's all."
"Oh my God! You should've slept with him!" Rukia bursts out loudly, Jackie immediately covering Rukia's mouth with her hand before shushing her. Rukia quiets down and plops loudly back down onto her leather seat, thinking of what to say as she chuckles at Jackie's embarrassed look on her face.
"If we did anything like that it would be horrible - think about it Rukia, do you realize how many accidental pregnancies happen between people who were drunk and well, weren't thinking at the time!" Jackie rambles her face flushing still, and her brown eyes glaring pointedly at Rukia. The said girl gave Jackie an unfazed expression.
"You guys aren't fooling me or anyone for that matter - you like like him, more than friends," Rukia states simply hoping to get her point across.
"I don't! Plus if Renji likes anyone - it would be you!" Jackie retorts quickly.
"Please, Renji may have liked me in high school - but in university when he confessed I told him he was only a friend to me, nothing more. Renji was okay with it. After that he had like a million girlfriends. I even met some of them! So, you guys should date!" Rukia explains, her violet orbs glaring at Jackie. If she were Jackie, she would be glad she even had someone interested in her. Ever since Renji - Rukia hasn't been confessed to like that again. Sure she had many one night stands in university and some in her working career. But she wanted to meet the guy. The one that all the little girls dream of meeting.
But, that would never happen, not with her never going out of her apartment- afraid to face the real world. Rukia was merely scared of others - also she seems cold-hearted to almost everyone she meets. Her brother-in-law was a huge businessman in the city and every time she introduces herself, people immediately back off; thinking she's off limits, or too snobby for them.
Jackie coughs awkwardly, still taking in Rukia's response and wondering what to do about the whole kissing Renji thing. Jackie asks quickly, "So, did you finish the schedule that I need by today?"
"Fuck!" Rukia's brain remembers that Jackie had reminded her on Sunday at work to do the schedule, but on Monday she barely even did all of her other work. "Damn, I forgot!" Rukia shouts as she turns quickly to her PC, and scans to find the document she needs to finish doing.
"Please refrain from using such filthy language in my presence, Kuchiki-san," Jackie says in monotone, and Rukia immediately bursts out laughing, tears forming around her eyes. That's how funny it was. Rukia snorts, "Oh my God, Ukitake's still not feeling well?!" Jackie was giggling at her own joke, and replies, "Yup, Ishida has taken into snooping in our department area for awhile now. Ever since Ukitake's been sick he's started acting like the Head of this company."
Rukia iss still laughing at Jackie's accurate impression of Uryu, who always caught someone swearing and immediately corrected their use of words. Ukitake merely ignores cussing and pretends he never heard it. But unfortunately, Ukitake was frequently sick - so the Chief Executive Officer, Uryu practically acts as the leader most of the time. As for who finishes Ukitake's work, well Sentaro and Kiyone look up to him as a mentor - and are the ones who finish 99% of his work for him.
Jackie gets up from her spot on the desk, and begins walking towards Rukia's door, "Well Rukia, good luck! Don't worry I won't tell Uryu about it. Just finish it now." Jackie opens the door to the office her head still turning towards Rukia. Rukia starts filling in the schedule and states, "All he does is boss people around! He's so full of himself!"
"Who's bossing you around Kuchiki-san?" Uryu Ishida questions coolly, his blue eyes completely serious for the day of work. Rukia's whole body froze, her entire being turning cold in a moment. Shit, Shit, Shit! Rukia thinks in her head as she turns her head slowly towards Uryu who is standing behind Jackie. Jackie's face is startled but she regains her composure much quicker than Rukia who struggles to say anything.
"Oh, she's talking about Renji! Yeah, you know how old married couples bicker a lot - Well Renji bickers with Rukia, and she doesn't enjoy being told what's right and wrong! She's stubborn like that!" Jackie says swiftly, the lies coming out perfectly from her red lips. Rukia thanks the heavens for Jackie's great thinking skills and for coming up with perfect lies on her feet. Ones that were practically true. Renji and her did bicker a lot.
"Ah, I see. Well, Kuchiki-san I need that" - Uryu began saying but Jackie interrupts him from asking for the schedule, "Oh, Ishida-san, I have a new idea for this company, I would like to pitch! I was wondering if I can present it to you sometime!" Jackie cuts in quickly.
Rukia gives a sigh of relief as the two begin walking away, in their own conversation. Rukia hopes Jackie will be okay, since she wasn't sure whether Jackie actually had any ideas for the company or not. Deciding to ask her friend about it later she begins to work once again. A few seconds later, Jackie walks back into Rukia's office a smirk on her face, "You owe me one."
Rukia replies, "Yeah, I owe you many drinks for that performance you did right there." Suddenly Jackie gasps loudly, and Rukia averts her gaze from her screen, seeing a hilarious sight before her eyes. Rangiku Matsumoto - a member of the Human Resources recruiting team - was groping Jackie's breasts from behind. Rukia bursts into a fit of laughter as Jackie covers her breasts with her slim arms and runs away from Rangiku who states, "I think they've gotten bigger, J-chan~!"
"How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that!" Jackie mutters under her breath, as Rangiku jumps up and down in her pencil skirt and rolled up purple blouse. Rukia thought Rangiku was jumping due to Jackie but her guess was wrong.
"Guess what happened last night - girls?!" Rangiku chimes; Jackie and Rukia exchange a small glance, and they both shrug simultaneously, since they never knew what to expect with Rangiku. The woman was the most flirty person Rukia ever met - she would flirt with an inanimate object if she could. And she can pull it off too - she is blessed with large breasts, though Rukia had no idea how she could stand the weight of them.
"You guys are no fun! Fine, I'll just tell you!" Rangiku pouted slightly as she sat in an actual chair meant for Rukia's clients, while Jackie merely stood beside Rukia's desk facing the large busty woman. Rukia still had no clue what to expect from Rangiku; she can be a handful.
"I was shopping last night - instead of finishing up work, as usual. And I saw this toy store, my neighbor and I used to go to when we were kids when we visited the city once! And then I started thinking of him; since I hadn't seen him since high school, I really miss him actually. And then out of nowhere a tall guy who looked really good wearing all black went up to the window also. I was about to flirt when I recognized his face in the reflection it was my neighbor, the one I always talk about, Gin~!" Rangiku squeals, her body still bouncing in excitement.
Rangiku despite her love of shopping, her stylish outfits and long perfectly stylized hair, grew up in farmland. Yes, she lived on a farm. Her parents didn't have any more kids other than her, so she is an only child. Her mother never liked the farmland and divorced her father when Rangiku was young. Rangiku played by herself most of the time, and sometimes with the border collie on the farm named Spot. One day she got lost in the tall fields and that's where she met Gin - who was pretty mysterious. He lived with the neighbors, but she had been over to their house before and never met Gin. It turned out, they adopted him, since they were his Aunt and Uncle, on his father's side. That's all Rangiku told them but Rukia had the feeling there was more to the story.
Rangiku told Jackie and Rukia this story a month ago; she was drunk at the bar, since she convinced the both of them to meet her there. She was crying when she told the story, since Rangiku hadn't seen him since he left for university. Rukia had the feeling Rangiku was in love with Gin when she heard the story, he had saved her from getting lost in the fields, and he had stopped her from crying. Also, he was there for Rangiku whenever her heart was broken - he once even pranked the guy who cheated on her in high school. It apparently involved a LOT of chickens.
"That's great Rangiku!" Rukia states and Jackie agreed. Rangiku smiles brightly her strawberry blonde hair bouncing, since it was curled for today, her blue eyes looked down at her skirt's lap, and she began playing with her skirt nervously. "Well we talked for awhile and it turns out he's managing a restaurant with a bar in the city! I told him I'd come by, and he promised to buy me a drink. I really missed him, you know. He's the only guy who cared about me before I even had big breasts! And even when I got 'em he still didn't stare at 'em!"
Rukia grins at Rangiku and wiggles her eyebrows up and down, "So... do you think you'll date him?"
"What?! No, definitely not!" Rangiku turns beet red immediately, at the thought of becoming more than friends with Gin Ichimaru.
Her co-workers never saw him before, they didn't know that Gin wasn't like any other regular normal person - he was far from normal. Most people would find him creepy or strange. His face scares a lot of people off - but Rangiku is never scared when she looks at Gin. His eyes are always hidden behind his closed eyelids, and large smile - but when his eyes are revealed, they are the most beautiful colour blue Rangiku has ever seen in her life. She has never met anyone with Gin's electric blue eyes - almost as if they were physically impossible; she never saw what his parents looked like, so she has no idea how Gin inherited his eye colour.
Rangiku snaps back from her deep thoughts when Jackie points, "You're practically daydreaming about him. Plus, you talk about him a lot." Rangiku pouts slightly at her friend before teasing with a grin, "Not as much as you talk of Renji!"
Jackie grumbles to herself, and rolls her eyes at Rangiku, who is giggling excessively. Rukia grins at Rangiku and the two girls high five at Rangiku's wonderful joke. "Anyways I could never hook up with Gin, it would be weird - he's my friend! Like Rukia and Renji!" Rangiku rationalizes.
"Well, Renji didn't practically save me from near death!" Rukia states swiftly, with a wave of her hand, as she types up the finishing touches of her schedule. She is a pretty damn good multitasker when it came to working and talking at the same time. She always wonders if Rangiku ever even works at all - since all she ever does is talk with them most of the day. Her supervisor Toshiro absolutely resents her for it.
"I guess so, but still" Rangiku sighs. Jackie smiles lightly and says, "I understand - so don't worry about it Rangiku." Rangiku beams up at Jackie, and Rukia questions, "I don't understand how you can pass up on Gin, but when it comes to the poor nervous delivery boy, you hook up with him plenty of times."
"Oh, Izuru-san? Ah, he's a sweetheart! I couldn't pass him up!" Rangiku song-songs as she squirms in her leather seat. Jackie rubs her forehead in annoyance, and Rukia wonders how the poor boy even had the guts to even lay a finger on Rangiku's large breasts. He could barely even have a conversation with anyone in the agency, especially the women. She pities the man since he was often forced on Rangiku's wild extravagant night outs.
"I better head to that pitch I have to do. Hopefully Uryu doesn't want to force a pencil down my throat by the end of it. Rangiku, let Rukia work in peace - she has work to do you know," Jackie says as she pulls Rangiku up from her seat. Rukia gives Jackie a grateful glance, and the last thing Rukia hears is Rangiku's complaints whilst being pulled out of her office.
It's only after the door clicks close that Rukia realizes she owes Jackie a couple more drinks.
(^3^)
Ichigo Kurosaki allows his lips to give a small smile as he parks the delivery truck next to the many others in the large parking lot. It is the end of his shift, so after he checks in with Urahara, his boss he will be free to go grocery shopping, and then finally pick Mai up. He hasn't seen her a lot since last week he had to work both of his jobs on the same days - meaning more time with Hiyori the babysitter, who Ichigo would rather not dwell on at the moment.
He walks into the one story building that somehow fit most of the merchandise Urahara sold. Urahara owns a online shopping website, he practically sells everything from clothing, to furniture, to technology, you name it, Urahara probably has it stored somewhere. He wonders how Urahara can even manage the website, since he never even saw him using a computer before.
Urahara was mainly found dozing off asleep in a chair or on the couch in the break room. He's also pretty mysterious, with his strange green and white hat, his wooden cane and clogs. The man seems young, but dresses like he's an old man. Ichigo still doesn't trust this guy - no matter how long he's worked at this company - which is why he refuses to mention Mai or anyone for that matter around Urahara. But Urahara rarely asks Ichigo anything personal, and he was thankful for that.
Ichigo realizes the front area is empty, and Urahara is no where that Ichigo looks. He ventures into the break room, and lo and behold, Urahara is sleeping on the old leather couch, drool dripping from the corner of his mouth. "Urahara-san?" Ichigo asks impatiently a deep scowl forming onto his face. He is in no mood for any delays, and wants to leave this horrid establishment as quickly as possible.
No response.
A growl forms at the back of Ichigo's throat and he begins shaking Urahara roughly with both his hands. Urahara's grey eyes begin opening and he immediately yawns, "Oh, Kurosaki-san, you're finished for the day?"
"Yes. Now sign the damn paper, before I hit you for taking so damn long to wake up," Ichigo scowls immediately, as he hands his boss the clipboard filled with clients signatures.
Urahara takes the clipboard and pouts slightly, "Aw, no need to be rude, Kurosaki-san~! You shouldn't frown so much, it's not good for getting girls, you know!"
"I'm not looking for girls - I have work to do," Ichigo states with a wave of his hand, before shoving them in his pockets. Ichigo hasn't dated since Mai's mom; he plans keeping it that way. It would be weird introducing Mai to someone who may not always be around. Dating is unstable, and Ichigo can't have his life becoming even more unstable than it already was. Plus, he didn't have money to pay for dinner or for an actual date of any sort. It is out of the question for him.
"Aw, Kurosaki-san you can't give up that easily! There are plenty of lonely women out there!" Urahara chimes, as he grabs a pen from the break room table and signs on the sheet. Ichigo just grunts in response to his boss, hoping this conversation would just end. "Where's Yoruichi?" Ichigo questions,, noticing that the tanned purple haired woman is nowhere in sight. "At work," Urahara states swiftly with a smirk.
Yoruichi is Urahara's wife; the two of them even adopted two children, though Ichigo has never met them before, Urahara has shown him photos of them. Yoruichi is very strange, much like Urahara. Ichigo still has no clue what Yoruichi's job is, he had a feeling it is something secretive since Urahara rarely mentions her work. Ichigo always pictures Yoruichi as a trained assassin or a secret government agent, but he always had a wild imagination when it came to people. She is very fit, and she's always wearing comfortable clothing. She may even be a personal trainer.
"I guess that's all for you today, Kurosaki. I'll see you tomorrow," Urahara says with a small smile as he stretches up from the couch and begins heading to the backroom to file the paperwork. Ichigo nods, and waves at his boss before turning to leave the building.
Ichigo begins walking to the grocery store, it is a 10-minute walk, so it will take awhile. He parks his old truck there since the parking lot for Urahara's business is always full. Ichigo doesn't mind walking though, it's good exercise since he barely has time to jog anymore, now that he's working two jobs in one day. The grocery shopping doesn't take very long, and soon enough, Ichigo is driving in his blue truck over to the Konso Preschool, grocery bags shoved below the passenger seat. Mai's small legs didn't reach the floor anyway, so the bags were never a problem.
Ichigo parks his truck in the parking lot, and begins walking towards the preschool, still wearing his work clothes; jeans and a white t shirt with the delivery ball cap placed over his tangled orange locks. He hears high pitched laughter from the preschool, and some squeals of delight. He braces himself for Mai's disappointed face - it is 2:00 p.m. so he's 20 minutes late, she won't be happy when she sees him, like on other days.
"Yo! Ichi! Your late aren't you?" a young voice questions from the right side of the parking lot. Ichigo turns his head, and his amber eyes find the small ten year old Yachiru Kusajishi, her short bubble gum hair bouncing as she skips in the parking lot towards Ichigo. She's wearing her blue and white elementary school uniform; she went to one that was near the area, since a lot of families live around here.
Yachiru stays at the preschool after school since she used to be one of the old students, she helps cleaning the areas up, and Unohana in turn babysits her for the night until her adoptive father Kenpachi came to pick her up. Ichigo knew Kenpachi since he owns the restaurant he works at part-time; Kenpachi talks of Unohana a lot, the two know each other quite well - Ichigo has the feeling that the scary man may possibly harbor feelings for the caring woman. Ichigo wasn't quite sure how such a threatening looking man could have a crush on someone so kindhearted and sweet as Unohana.
"You should stop calling me Ichi - at least say my full name!" Ichigo frowns at her, the girl is still hopping on her feet, circling around Ichigo as if he was some rare animal species who needed to be analyzed. She scrunches her nose and squints her eyes, "You seem different Ichi! Did you grow your hair or something?"
Ichigo sighs as he begins walking to the front door, not wanting to make his daughter wait a second longer, "No - not that I know of, now let's head inside before you catch a cold. Why aren't you wearing a sweater anyways?"
"Hmm...Kenny, forgot to give my sweater to me today~! He probably didn't wash it - he's horrible at doing laundry!" she giggles her pink eyes glowing in the afternoon lighting. "I'm a big girl now! Just started fifth grade! So I don't need a sweater!"
Ichigo would've scolded her if it weren't for the fact he needs to bring Mai home as quickly as he can, before she got super angry. So, the two walk into the entryway, the area lit up brightly, with leather couches along the two walls, some small toys and magazines lay unopened on the glass coffee table. The preschool wasn't pricey and Ichigo was grateful for Unohana's low price for such a great preschool. The playroom is always filled with toys from Barbies to toy cars, any kid would be in heaven here.
Isane, the second teacher is sitting at the desk and hangs up the phone when the two of them walk in. She smiles and greets them before heading to the playroom to retrieve Mai. Yachiru practically throws her small school bag onto the couch and begins shuffling through it, until she pulls out a large bag of candies.
Yachiru is known to always have candy with her; Kenpachi spoils her with it - Unohana always scolds Yachiru for eating too much of it, since it's bad for her teeth. Yachiru loves Unohana, but doesn't listen, since Kenpachi tells her she can have as much as she likes. Unohana gets angry whenever it happens, and Ichigo finds her scary when tension is in her blue eyes. Unohana can be quite frightening if she wants to be.
Unohana greets kindly, "Ichigo, you're here! I'm glad you came so quickly after work, isn't that right Mai?" Unohana appears from the hallway, her long black braid flowing behind her. She's holding Mai's small hand, and is smiling warmly down at her. Mai can be quite shy in front of an audience or even a few people, she wasn't a fan of too much attention. Mai frowns at Ichigo; he knew immediately he won't win her over that easily.
"Thanks again, Unohana-san," Ichigo replies, and he takes Mai's small backpack that is used to carry her lunch, and her new pack of crayons. Mai walks towards Ichigo her arms crossing around her torso. Unohana gives Ichigo a worried look, but Ichigo waves her off. Unohana notices Yachiru when she practically jumps over and hugs Unohana out of nowhere. "Unohana! I'm back~!" Yachiru shouts happily. Unohana laughs lightly and hugs Yachiru back.
Ichigo says goodbye to them before taking Mai's small hand with his large hand. The two walk towards the truck in silence, and Ichigo absolutely hates the tension in the air. Mai wasn't very silent when they were alone. She's a pretty loud kid most of the time. Ichigo misses hearing her crazy stories about the other kids at the preschool and what they all do during the day. It is the best part of his day; Ichigo opens the passenger seat door for her, since she can't reach and buckles her into her booster seat. Ichigo walks over to his side and gets into his own seat.
The truck is brightly lit by the sun that is slowly moving down in the sky. The trees around the street were turning colours, since summer is coming to a close quickly. He is glad he bought Mai the warm beige sweater she's wearing since the air is getting colder as well. "So, how was your day?" Ichigo asks Mai, his hands sitting on the driving wheel, his knuckles turning white.
Mai was blessed with Ichigo's bright orange locks, and her small nose and light green eyes resemble her mother - but Ichigo loves her orange hair. It's the only proof that she is his kid, and his alone. Her hair is slightly wavy, like her mothers, and is tied in a small ponytail with a sparkly elastic band Ichigo bought her recently, she has side bangs and her green eyes turn an even lighter green in the afternoon sun. She's still silent, and Ichigo just sighs before beginning to drive out of the parking lot.
Mai, glances over at her father, and immediately notices his unhappy expression. She begins to feel guilty for him, but then realizes that she was the one who was waiting forever for him. It isn't fair that he's angry.
Ichigo turns on Mai's favourite radio station with catchy pop song tunes that she loves. Mai can't help but smile as she mouths the lyrics under her breath. Ichigo hears her saying the lyrics but doesn't say anything. The two drive to their crappy old apartment in cold silence. The truck is warm due to the warm air breezing through the air-conditioning.
The only thing Ichigo thinks of is sleeping on the couch when he arrives home, that's before he realizes that he has to make dinner for Mai soon. It is only 2:30, so he has plenty of time to make it up to her. He'll play house with her if she wants, or have a small tea party with no actual tea or talk with Mr. Whiskers the orange cat.
It didn't matter that he felt like sleeping for a whole day; he needs to bring a smile to Mai's face, or else she'll become unhappy like he always was. He didn't want that for Mai at all. He could take a nap after dinner, or after he tucks Mai to bed at 7 p.m.
Mai's green eyes lighting up against the setting sun kept Ichigo going. He remembers now, the reason he's still standing upright. Those green eyes filled with amber specs in the sunlight were like nothing Ichigo has ever seen; he couldn't give up - not with those eyes still shining so bright.
-Thanks for reading~! This story is supposed to be kind of like where everyone is somehow related to someone else. For example how Yachiru goes to Mai's preschool, and Kenpachi, Yachiru's father is also Ichigo's boss at work. There is going to be plenty of overlaying relations between the characters, and I'm excited to put it all together!
