A/N: Well. I don't think this story will ever be completed, unless I have a goal of a certain amount of chapters. I don't. However, I may or may not complete the original plot… Welcome to the Strange Events of Seireitei, my first Bleach fanfiction centered around… well… nobody in particular! Maybe Ichigo. Maybe. Probably. This is an AU, so if you don't like that… hit that "back" button. Bye. We'll miss you. If you are okay with AUs, welcome to the club! (I need better title ideas…)
This is also a one-shot collection, although they are all interconnected, and they all have a connection to the main plotline. If you readers want to see a continuation of a one-shot, I am willing to either make it a two/three-shot or give it to somebody else to write—you must give me credit. Plagiarism is not cool.
This concludes my author's note… there'll probably be another one at the end of this chapter. So yeah.
Warnings: Swearing, violence, MENTIONS of mature themes, occasional crack, the fourth wall MAY be missing at times, probable death, very minor OCs, AU, very possible OOC, homo and heterosexuality, me needing a beta, slight spoilers for characters, the works.
Pairings: IchiRuki, HitsuHina, KenShuu, ByaRen, Grimmjow/Ulquiorra, GinRan, Shinji\Hiyori… more to come soon.
Main Summary: AU. In a series of interconnected one-shots, Ichigo "Strawberry" Kurosaki finds himself in the strange city of Seireitei. This chapter: Ichigo doesn't really know what to think. After all, a girl he's known for less than a day is sleeping in his closet. "What are you doing here?!" "Oh, I like your closet."
Chapter Summary: Ichigo doesn't really know what to think. After all, a girl he's known for less than a day is sleeping in his closet. "What are you doing here?!" "Oh, I like your closet."
Word Count: 1,815
~oOo~
"Hi!"
Ichigo looks up from his manga, seeing a rather petite girl with short black hair and large violet eyes standing in front of him while he sits in the park bench. She's holding one of those weird white rabbit plushies that seem to be popular with the girls here in this city from what he's seen of his two days here.
"I'm Kuchiki Rukia, it's nice to meet you. You're clearly new here!" continues the girl, smiling as brightly as the sun on today's summer day. "I like meeting new people. And it's not very often we get somebody moving into the Seireitei. It's pretty and all but very reclusive. What's your name?"
She talks a lot, Ichigo decides. But he replies anyway. "…Uh, Kurosaki Ichigo."
"Ah! So you're a strawberry! How cute! Are you gay?"
Ichigo chokes at that comment. "W-what? No! And my name doesn't mean 'strawberry'; it's written with two kanji letters! It means first protector. First protector, do you get that?"
Rukia blinks. "There's nothing wrong with being gay. Lots of people here are. Wait, do you have any younger siblings? Then they could call you Ichi-nii-san! That sounds like one, two, three!"
"Karin and Yuzu do call me that," Ichigo replies awkwardly but Rukia pulls him to his feet, causing him to nearly lose his manga.
"C'mon, I'm going have my friends meet you!" Rukia says cheerfully, pulling him along. What a sight he must be, Ichigo thinks glumly. "They'll think you're awesome!"
Sighing resignedly, Ichigo lets himself be pulled along by this talkative and overly hyper girl who happens to be half his height.
~oOo~
"So, um, Kuchiki-san—" Ichigo begins but is quickly cut off by Rukia.
"No need to be so formal! Just Rukia is fine—Rukia-chan if you must have an honorific," Rukia says dismissively, waving her free hand, which also happens to be holding her Chappy doll.
"So. Um, Rukia" there is no way he's calling her Rukia-chan "where, exactly, are we going?" Ichigo amends hastily albeit awkwardly.
"An ice cream shop," Rukia replies cheerfully. "Hitsugaya-taichou makes the best ice cream in the world. I have a friend who works there, so I get a discount. You might want to watch out for her though. She likes flirting a lot."
"Oh. Okay." Ichigo wonders how this looks; a younger sister dragging her older brother to wherever she wants to go? No, they look nothing alike. Probably a girlfriend dragging her boyfriend to buy something. At that thought Ichigo forces down a blush. No way he's dating somebody who he met not twenty minutes ago! Even if she's cute.
"Hitsugaya-taichou!" Rukia calls happily as she pushes open the glass door of a large ice cream parlor. "I brought a friend with me today!"
A very short white haired boy with large teal eyes looks up from the counter. He's wearing the same outfit as Rukia is; a black kimono with a white sash and inside clothing, except he wears a white haori over it and a green sash from his left shoulder to right hip. "Lovely. They're in the back, Kuchiki."
"Aww, but Hitsugaya-taichou, don't you want to meet him? He isn't gay!" Rukia whines. The boy—no way he's the owner of this place!—glares at Rukia.
"Just because not every male on this planet is a pervert like Ichimaru does not mean I have the time nor the patience to deal with them." With that, the boy gives a huff and returns to doing whatever he was doing before. "If you insist, it's Hitsugaya Toshiro."
"Er… Kurosaki Ichigo," he says just as Rukia drags him into a room in the back where the kid had mentioned earlier.
When they're out of earshot, Ichigo exclaims, "No way that kid runs this shop!" Rukia glances at him in confusion.
"Why not? He does," Rukia responds, blinking those large violet eyes. "He's smart enough to do so. He graduated a while ago."
Ichigo's eyes nearly pop out. "W-what?"
"He set the record too!" shouts another voice. "He's the first to ever finish the Shin'o Academy in a year!" A woman, wearing the same uniform as Rukia again, but with a pink scarf and with the neckline pulled down way too far, walks out from one of the many doors.
Again, Ichigo is taken by surprise. Shin'o Academy is a rather famous school all around, and for a kid to finish in a year…!
"She's the one you'll have to watch out for," Rukia mutters to Ichigo as she drags him into the room the woman came from. In a louder voice, she says, "This is Matsumoto Rangiku; she's the second in command of this shop. Rangiku-san, this is Kurosaki Ichigo!"
"Ah! Come on in." Rangiku beckons them into the room, smiling warmly. Cautiously, Ichigo follows slowly but Rukia yanks him in, causing him to stumble into the rather spacious room with several other people there.
A tall redhead with long hair tied in a hairstyle like a pineapple is sitting next to a brunette with her hair tied in a bun. On the other side of the redhead is a blonde guy with long bangs that hang over one of his eyes. Across from them are two empty seats and Rangiku pulls out another chair, presumably for Ichigo.
"This is Kurosaki Ichigo! He isn't gay, his name means 'first protector', his sisters Yuzu and Karin call him Ichi-nii-san, and he's new here! So welcome him!" Rukia proclaims happily and Ichigo sighs in resignation. Must she state that he isn't gay every time she introduces him to somebody?
The blonde looks at him sympathetically, obviously reading his expression. "Kuchiki-san is like that. You can take a seat; it's been a while since we've had a newcomer, you know. I'm Kira Izuru, by the way."
Ichigo sits down in the seat across from the blonde before Rukia can force him to, smiling awkwardly. "Oh. Okay. Thanks Kira-san."
"Oh, no, Izuru is fine. You're amongst friends, anyway." Izuru turns to Rukia. "Hisagi-san can't make it today; he has a few errands to run."
Rukia takes a seat next to Ichigo as Rangiku heads outside to get something, and Ichigo assumes it's ice cream. "Okay. So after Rangiku-san comes back with the ice cream, you are to do five things—"
"We know, Rukia," says the redhead, rolling his eyes. "We state our name, sexuality, our status, nicknames, and one random fact about ourselves."
"Bingo!" Rukia cheers.
Rangiku comes in a moment later, carrying some ice cream with the white haired boy—he cannot be the owner of the shop—following. The boy sits down at the head of the table next to the girl with the bun and Rangiku takes the last seat.
Ichigo finds a bowl of ice cream put in front of him. "Here," says Rangiku. "Discount, since it's your first time and Rukia-chan brought you here."
"Ah. Um. Thanks, Rangiku-san." Rangiku smiles brightly.
Ichigo just realizes that he's the only one who isn't dressed like they are and he's sticking out like a sore thumb but they don't seem to care as the boy clears his throat.
"As we have a newcomer with us, I will begin Rukia's… ahem… ridiculous… ahem… game of introducing ourselves. My name is Hitsugaya Toshiro, I am heterosexual—unfortunately for Matsumoto's boyfriend—I am single—and I hope to stay single for a few years—I have no nicknames, and my fun fact is that I find this game absolutely ridiculous, and no, Kuchiki, you may not force me to give an actual fun fact. Next."
The girl with brown hair goes next. "But you do have a nickname. Shiro-chan." At Hitsugaya's—fine, he really is—scandalized glare, she merely smiles. "I am Hinamori Momo, I am heterosexual, I am single, I have no nicknames, and I like baking but I can't make anything cold."
"I'm Abarai Renji, I'm homosexual, I am dating somebody, I have no nicknames, and I got these tattoos for reasons that do not concern you," the redhead grumbles. Rukia glares.
"You do have a nickname! You're pineapple!"
Ichigo chokes on his ice cream at Renji's expression, if only because it's so funny. Renji's brow is twitching.
Izuru puts a calming hand on Renji's arm. "Now, now, Renji-san. I'm Kira Izuru, I'm bisexual, I am single, I have no nicknames, and I do not hide my eye because it's missing or injured."
"I'm Kuchiki Rukia, I am heterosexual, I am single, I'm called Rukia-chan sometimes, and I am very artistic!" At the last one, Renji coughs into his hand.
Ichigo realizes it's his turn. "Oh. Um. I'm Kurosaki Ichigo, I'm heterosexual, I'm single, some of my old friends called me Ichi, and I have never been called a strawberry my entire life by anyone other than my father. And that's not funny, because he's the one who gave me the 'first protector' name."
"I'm Matsumoto Rangiku! I like boys, I'm dating a lovely man named Ichimaru Gin, Gin calls me Ran-chan, and I don't know why but boys are falling all over the place for me!"
"Ichimaru is not a lovely man, Matsumoto," Hitsugaya mutters, glaring at Rangiku.
Ichigo suddenly hears his cell phone ring, making him jump. "What is it, Dad?"
"Where are you? You said you'd be home to take care of Yuzu and Karin for the day!"
"Jeez, I forgot! And you'd better not try to kill me—or yourself while you're at it—when I get home! Bye." He hangs up. "Sorry, my dad just called. He wants me to watch my sisters." Ichigo finds his wallet and tosses some yen at Hitsugaya. "I'd like to bring some back?"
"Alright. You had better not wreck the room while I'm gone," Hitsugaya grumbles, jumping out of the chair and heading outside with Ichigo following.
At the door, Hitsugaya hands Ichigo his change very precisely and two boxes of ice cream, passing by another worker. "Here. Have a nice day." He doesn't sound like he's being sarcastic but then again, he said it in an emotionless voice.
Ichigo watches as he leaves the room before leaving the shop himself, passing by a few other customers.
An interesting day indeed.
~oOo~
The next morning he wakes up, rolls out of bed, and gets dressed, brushing his teeth and coming back out of his room when he hears a loud noise coming from his closet. Narrowing his eyes, Ichigo heads towards it, opening the closet door.
Kuchiki Rukia is sitting there on a mattress with a blanket, pillow, and Chappy doll, along with a change of clothes. (Thankfully she's wearing her day clothes.)
"What are you doing here?!" he demands loudly, shocked and a little scandalized.
Rukia smiles innocently up at him. "Oh, I like your closet."
And that is the beginning of a truly beautiful relationship.
~oOo~
A/N: I hope you enjoyed~! I liked it, kind of. So I'm hoping that I will finish the characters' stories along with the actual plotline! So yeah. ^^
Searching for a beta~