MUST READ: This series will be presented in various formats, for example: email, texting, and some vocal conversation. Please alert me if it gets confusing.
Disclaimer? I don't own bleach. Any similarities between characters and persons, live or dead, is purely coincidental. (XD) The email sites have been altered to fit the fic.
a/n The format was surprisingly hard to figure out for this one. I wasn't sure about the whole email bit, and so it took WAY longer to write than it should have...Things in Italics are whatever the email says.
Many thanks to:
My minion, a.k.a. Yuri. -that's her name, not the genre XD- you can half blame her for the production of this fic.
THIS IS A SHOUJO-AI!
Tatsuki turned off the water, standing motionless in the shower, grey mist swirling around her. She shivered as she moved the curtain aside, stepping out into the cold air. Blankly, she grasped at the wall to her right, until her hand fell upon a soft green towel. Grabbing it, she wrapped it around herself, careful to dry off completely. Walking to the sink, she used her right forearm to wipe away the condensation on the mirror. Swiftly, she knelt down in front of the cabinet, opened it, and removed a smaller yellow towel which she used to dry her short black hair. She stood again, sighing as she stared at herself in the mirror. She had bags under her eyes, something uncharacteristic for a young teenager like herself. Her hair hung limp, it was obvious even in the wet state it was in now. She hadn't had a real night's sleep in...she couldn't recall. She missed Orihime. The thought brought a pain to her that shook her back to reality. She had a life aside from Orihime. She knew it. But her mind was filled with senseless worry and doubts, such as "But does Orihime know that?" or "Why would she care? It's not like she feels the same way about me..." That last thought smarted, for unrequited love hurt. Anyone who thinks KARMA is a bitch, has never been in Tatsuki's position. No, in terms of physical, emotional, and mental agony, unrequited love took the whole bloody cake.
The worn-out teenager walked into her room, shouldering off her robe as she reached the night clothes she had laid out on her bed. Letting the soft cream fabric fall to the floor, she replaced it with a clean pair of panties, and a silken pink night gown, a gift her favorite grandmother had given her several years ago. Normally, Tatsuki wouldn't have chosen something so girly for herself, especially because of the light pink ribbon bows going around the collar, but she loved the way the material swished when she walked, the smooth fabric caressing her skin with each step she took, adding a measure of comfort to an otherwise hectic day.
Walking over to her computer, she jiggled the mouse slightly to make the screen come bursting back to life. The desktop background donned a candid photo of Orihime a friend had emailed her. The memory reminded her to check her email, as she did every morning and every night, just in case Orihime (or one of her other friends) had sent her anything. Logging onto the internet, she typed "www.docano.ne.jp" into the address bar, sighing as it took awhile to load. She had to delete some of the files on here, really. Otherwise, she'd NEVER be able to load anything faster than five minutes. The colorful website popped open, showing she had three new messages.
After she had checked the first to, discovering spam and deleting it, she clicked on the third message, opening it to reveal a message from her long-time friend from the dojo, Airi. The message was a quiz, which goal it was to get to know your friends better.
NEW MESSAGE:
From: Airi (aireallyluvsyou at docano.ne.jp)
To: "Tatsuki" (tathawt at docano.ne.jp) , "jei-jei" (macchi at docano.ne.jp), "rin" (balto980 at kitsune.ne.jp), "hanabi" (hanabi890 at docano.ne.jp), "kai" (ghosthunterkai at kitsune.ne.jp), "rukia" (rukiaslaysthehollow at kitsune.ne.jp), "rie" (punkrockerjapan at kitsune.ne.jp)
"Great. More chainmail. Oh, well..." she sighed, reading the directions. 'Here's what you're supposed to do...please do not spoil the fun. Hit forward, and in the space marked 'YOUR ANSWER,' type in, -well, obviously- your answer. Then send this to a whole bunch of people you know, INCLUDING the person who sent it to you. Ther theory is that you will learn a lot of little known facts about those who know you. Remember to send it back to the person who sent it to you.'
She grinned. This was something to be expected when you befriended Airi. Pointless junk mail, and lots of it. But, her curiosity about the quiz got the better of her, and she went on to the first question.
1. What time did you start this quiz?
MY ANSWER: 10:44
Tatsuki looked to check the time. 'It's still pretty early...' she thought, as she changed the answer, adding a sleeping smiley face to the end.
YOUR ANSWER: 17:03.
2. What's your full name?
MY ANSWER: Yuuka Airi.
YOUR ANSWER: Arisawa Tatsuki.
She added a kissy face to the end of her name, just for the hell of it, smirking at the motions of the smiley. She highlighted the text a bright purple, a darker blue for the font color, making it clearly visible.
3. What are you most afraid of?
MY ANSWER: Cannibals and...Jei-Jei. (But who isn't? XD)
Tatsuki laughed at that last bit, an image of a pissed-off Jei-Jei scaring away all the kouhai flashing through her mind.
YOUR ANSWER:
She shifted in her chair, so that her left foot was on the desk, her right tucked beneath her, with the keyboard at an angle in her lap. Now in a more comfortable position, she gave the question some thought, while she high-lighted the rest of the words in questions one and three. Giving a sad smile, she decided on her answer. She stared at the screen, sighing as she resumed typing.
YOUR ANSWER: My mom finding the yuri I wrote, and her banning me from fanfiction. Nah, just kidding. XD What I'm REALLY afraid of is more rejection.
'Ah...I feel so weak whenever I say things like that...I'll just train at the dojo more.' She reasoned, flipping the colors of the text and font, adding a sad smiley to the end.
4. What was the last movie you saw in a theater?
MY ANSWER: DEATHNOTE movie.
YOUR ANSWER: Deathnote movie.
Tatsuki grinned at the memory of going to see it with the red haired girl, and having one of her other friends in the top row throw popcorn, and having it 'accidently' hit Airi in the head.
5. Place of birth?
MY ANSWER: OUTER SPACE. Woo-hoo!!
YOUR ANSWER: I DON'T KNOW??
She gave it little thought, this time adding a confused smiley, and changing the font colors to seafoam green and a neon yellow.
6. Favorite food:
MY ANSWER: sushi and ramen, yum.
YOUR ANSWER: Sweet buns filled with bean paste. The yellow kind...
The thought made Tatsuki realize just how hungry she was, so after adding a hungry face to her answer, she minimized it, getting up and heading to the kitchen to get some food.
7. Your natural hair color?
MY ANSWER: Red.
YOUR ANSWER: Black.
Tatsuki typed, sitting back down with a glass of milk and some cookies balanced on her right hand. She highlighted the text in the same fashion as the others, and sighed. It would take her forever to complete the quiz if she kept highlighting and adding smiley faces, but it made it easier to read what she wrote.
8. Been to Okinawa?
MY ANSWER: Not yet.
YOUR ANSWER: Once.
9. Ever been toilet paper rolling?
MY ANSWER: Yes.
For the second time that night, a question on this quiz brought back a relatively happy memory. This time, it was one of she and some of the office ladies toilet papering the office of the pricipal on his birthday.
YOUR ANSWER: Of course!! (It was on the principal's birthday. Let's just say...I gave him a gift he wont' soon forget. -the janitors were in on it too. They supplied a large amount of the toilet paper-) I'm innocent!!
She added a smart ass grin and an angel to the end of that one, highlighting it in bright red, with a dark blue font text. Her smile dissapeared as soon as she saw Question Ten.
10. Have you ever loved someone so much it made you cry?
MY ANSWER: Hmmmm...
YOUR ANSWER:
A bitter smile plastered itself across the young girl's face. She drew in a breath as she let a little of her hurt show through in her answer.
YOUR ANSWER: Only once. And I hope I never make that mistake again.
For the first time since beginning the quiz, she just moved onto the next question, not bothering to highlight or add any faces whatsoever.
11. Been in a car accident?
MY ANSWER: Uh, not that I remember...
YOUR ANSWER: Yup. All of them while my mom was driving.
She proceeded to highlight the rest of her answers, adding a smiley face to each one after number ten.
12. Croutons or Bacon bits:
MY ANSWER: Croutons most definetly. (1)
YOUR ANSWER: (Damn...I'm sending this to a vegetarian, and I hate croutons...uh...) tofu-bits!! (XD)
13. Favorite day of the week?
MY ANSWER: Friday.
YOUR ANSWER: Saturday. My favorite TV shows are on.
14. Favorite restauant:
MY ANSWER: Ichiban's.
YOUR ANSWER: Kim Son's?
15. Favorite Flower:
MY ANSWER: White roses and cherry blossoms.
YOUR ANSWER: Anything orange.
16. Favorite sport to watch:
MY ANSWER: Basketball.
YOUR ANSWER: Pro wrestling.
One of the few interests the two of them didn't share just happened to be this: they both loved training at the dojo, but only Tatsuki took it to the next level, watching pro wrestling almost daily.
17. Favorite drink:
MY ANSWER: Um, tea. P)
YOUR ANSWER: Ramune. Any flavor.
18. Favorite ice cream:
MY ANSWER: The kind with alcohol in it. P)
YOUR ANSWER: The kind with oranges in it.
19. What color is your bedroom carpet?
MY ANSWER: Tanish...it used to be white.
YOUR ANSWER: Orange-ish.
20. Before this one, from whom did you get your last email?
MY ANSWER: Jei-Jei. No...wait. BUDDA!!
YOUR ANSWER: Orihime.
21. What's your favorite color?
MY ANSWER: Rainbow. 8P
YOUR ANSWER: Orange.
22. What do you do when you're bored?
MY ANSWER: Daydream, read, write, bug the crap outta Jei-Jei.
YOUR ANSWER: Plot revenge, write stories and fanfic, draw, contemplate, read, eat, read other people's fanfics, practice sparring, read doujinshi (rarely.) rant, bug people, reminisce, and beat myself up about Question Ten. Oh, and wondering why Question Ten broke off all contact with me, without any Goddamned explanation. (Oh, look. I swore. Not NEARLY enough, though. DAMN. HELL. ASS. BASTARD. BITCH! FUCK.)
Her anger rose to a new level as she realized she was thinking only of Orihime, even on a subconscious level, and she gritted her teeth, forcing herself to finish the quiz.
23. What is your bedtime:
MY ANSWER: I'm an insomniac.
YOUR ANSWER: 21:00. If I stay up later than that, I'm too tired to train in the morning.
24. Favorite TV show:
MY ANSWER: INUYASHA!
YOUR ANSWER: BLOOD+...No, wait. Code Geass!! Nooo...DEATHNOTE!!
25. How many pets do you have?
MY ANSWER: 1 Doggie.
YOUR ANSWER: None. I'm not allowed to keep a pet in the apartment, although I'd like to get a pet someday.
26. Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
MY ANSWER: Da chicken, of course!(Which is NOT supposed to be eaten!!)
YOUR ANSWER: The egg? What's this have to do with getting to know my friend? Or me?
She smiled, realizing she was on the second to last question, and then she'd be done with this infuriating email once and for all.
27.What do you want to do before you die?
MY ANSWER: Get married, a tattoo, travel to as many different countries as possible, conquer the world, heheheh...
YOUR ANSWER: Face my fears and FORCE Question Ten to talk to me, and possibly tell Question Number Ten the truth. Though I doubt I'll be brave enough for that...
Tatsuki hated feeling weak, especially if she has to face her feelings and doubts. At least when she typed her answer to the last question, she wouldn't have to face them again unless Question Ten --Orihime, tried to contact her.
30. Time this survey ended:
MY ANSWER: 11:14
YOUR ANSWER: 17:46, Because it was reaaally long, and I lost my cool.
She stretched. Finally, she was done, so she pressed the forward button, sending it back to the person who sent it, Airi. Reviewing her answers, she frowned. She really sounded almost...obsessed with Orihime. She had to change.
(1)-she's a vegetarian. XD I laughed when I saw this question.
a/n So. I hope you liked it. Wasn't quite as angsty as I had hoped, but it's better than my previous attempts. I'm plotting for this to be around twenty chapters, and decided to write this while I was still pissed at a certain someone, other wise it would be too happy-ish to be angsty.
Please, REVIEW. But NO FLAMERS!! Unless it's tough love. -wipes away a tear-