INSANITY IN LOGIC
CHAPTER ONE
Seeping his tea, eyes wandering on the numerous shelves of the library he worked for, Ishida Uryuu was contemplating the busy lives buzzing outside. A woman, walking fast in her high heels, an umbrella in a hand ; a businessman, fingers caught in undisciplined hair. Two little girls, running to school, with birds flying over them like they had, for a weird reason, the objective to overtake them.
Uryuu's gaze stayed a moment on the birds before they disappeared behind a huge building, then it flickered to the gloomy sky, to the humid ground, to the world around him sunk in a deep lethargy that announced one thing: Monday. Mondays were not that awful, in fact, they offered a moment of calm, a perfect period of time to relax and slurp an unhealthy amount of tea. But while his colleagues were enjoying this kind-of extended weekend, it made Uryuu feel uncomfortable, restless ; like something wasn't right. Sighing in annoyance, he ran a hand in his short black hair.
He was the kind of person being dedicated to his work, refusing to be paid for nothing, trying to earn what he deserved and ignoring easy ways because he needed to feel accomplished, craved for self-satisfaction and could absolutely not sit here and let himself change in a sort of useless, pretty, decorative flower.
The entrance bell suddenly rung and Uryuu tore his attention from his own reflection undulating in his green tea, eyeing eagerly at the tall silhouette that came in. A drenched stripped hat and wooden sandals appeared under the warm light of the library, and Uryuu rolled his eyes as he recognized Urahara Kisuke, his kind but somewhat eccentric manager.
"I told you it was going to rain two days ago," Uryuu snorted, nose wrinkling. Urahara smelt like rain on asphalt and smoke, like pollution and flowers, and the mix was too odd to be appreciated. It was strange and unnatural and Uryuu repressed the urge to make a face because Urahara would definitively call him princess, lips curled in a smile and his ash-blond hair dripping.
The manager, not noticing Uryuu's disgusted face, didn't raise his head and stayed a moment there, standing, staring at his wet feet like they were the signification of all lives in the world. Then, he suddenly seemed to acknowledge the librarian with a smirk and finally muttered, "Oh, you know I am a busy man, Ishida, I can't remember all these irrelevant things". And Urahara plopped down on the nearest chair and took Uryuu's teacup, sipping its content a bit before gulping it whole steadily, as it was one of these difficult tasks he always mentioned.
Uryuu screamed internally in agony when he saw his tea disappear, but his features stayed blank while he tried to calm himself down. He opted for his trademark sceptical raised eyebrow before turning to the computer screen, attempting to busy himself in a non-existent work while his manager retreated himself in his office, a contented smile on his face.
And the usual Monday continued, so boring that it seemed Time had purposely slowed down itself to make the tortuous day even more tortuous. Uryuu, head plunged down in a pile of books he decided to rearrange on some shelves, narrowed his eyes in direction of the entrance, where the bell just rung. Damn dust, damn old shelves and damn this mountain of books, his glasses were smudged and he couldn't see anything in the thick layer of grey covering them. Uryuu just tried to guess the time before he got up to welcome the first customer of this day.
It was probably two o'clock.
"Welcome, how can I help you ?" the brunette asked in a tired voice, eyes closed and blindly attempting to wipe his glasses clean with a piece of his worn sweat.
There was a sharp intake of breath, a surprised gasp if Uryuu wasn't wrong. Intrigued, he opened his eyes, put back his glasses and mirrored the same noise. It was more strangled, definitively more indignant, but as surprised. It took maybe a couples of seconds, or maybe a handful of minutes, Uryuu didn't know, but suddenly he was red all over the face and his teeth were clenched.
In front of him, in a glorious black suit and blue tie was standing the person Uryuu tried to forget the most in this world. Almost unnatural orange coloured hair, spiking everywhere as it had its own conscience, brown eyes staring straight at him in surprise, it was impossible to mistake him with anyone else : Kurosaki Ichigo, former classmate, professional bully and unequalled idiot was standing in front of him, all pampered and clean-shaven as he was back to end-of-the-year ball again.
Ichigo stayed silent, frozen, apparently unable to process Uryuu's presence. The brunette clicked his jaw, a thin, hard line expressing how the other's presence disgusted him ; before he snarled, "Why are you here ?", furious. This short sentence was pronounced word by word between his clenched teeth, like if he opened his mouth just a little more, he would vomit and spit on Kurosaki's face without even an ounce of self-control.
The orange haired boy tried to choke out some words, destabilized by Uryuu's presence or his own surprise, before he closed his mouth and tried to run away under the brunette's satisfied gaze. But fate, destiny, God, whatever was ruling the Earth seemed to have another plan ; because Urahara suddenly appeared from behind, shoes hitting the floor in a steady rhythm, and his face beamed when he noticed the almost fleeing Kurosaki Ichigo.
Urahara rose his arms exaggeratedly like a very bad puppeteer was controlling him, before he exclaimed, visibly more than happy, "Hey, isn't it Kurosaki ? Oh boy, you're as punctual as your father said ! Come, come !"
The brunette sharply craned his head to see his manager approach Kurosaki. The two of them spoke in hushed voices, the newcomer's eyes sometimes flickering to Uryuu's face a split-second before he continued to talk, and the quiet librarian wanted to hear more than ever whatever they were saying because he just knew it was probably about him. Self-conscious, he looked intensively at his shoes. Funny, he never noticed there was a scratch on the side of the left one.
But then Urahara retreated in his office, Kurosaki following silently behind him, and Uryuu knew it was the end of his world when a moment later –the brunette didn't exactly know how long it took, his manager emerged from his office with a smirk and a somewhat tensed orange haired guy behind him.
"So, yeah. Kurosaki Ichigo will be replacing Arisawa during her holidays !"
Uryuu didn't really listen. He just wanted the floor to swallow him whole.