Don't be alarmed! I'm still working on my other story, 'Friends and Siblings,' it's just that I've been meaning to do a continuation of the Kurosaki family from my other story 'Life of Peace and Irritation.' Some commented on making a Sequel but I wasn't even entirely sure if anyone liked it. I decided to try my luck in creating the sequel anyway since it's been nagging me. This is Ichihime but it also involves the lives around their children. I really hope you come to enjoy the story and PLEASE leave a comment if you're interested in me continuing this story.
Update 10/24/2018: I had uploaded this story not realizing there were things I needed to correct, I assumed they were corrected when I copied it onto Fanfiction, but stupid me for not double checking. lol
Kazui woke up to the sound of his alarm clock blaring as he reached to shut it off. Sitting up at the edge of the bed, rubbing his hair in frustration as he stretched and gave a low groan. Glancing at the bright red fluorescent numbers that showed it was 6 am, Monday morning, the end of summer break. He sat up, needing to get ready in order to arrive on time for his college courses.
That was when he noticed a familiar spiritual pressure, glancing at his desk to find a red-headed beautiful female, dawned in shinigami apparel. Apparently, Ichika had been patiently sitting on the desk silently reading from a book.
"Took you long enough, are you getting rusty with old age in sensing spiritual pressure? I've been waiting forever for you to wake up," Ichika put the book down to scoot across the top of his desk to move closer to the orange-haired son of Ichigo and Orihime Kurosaki.
"Who you calling old? Look, I find it fascinating that Shinigami's age normally during youth and adolescent years, only to freeze at the age of a young adult. Did you come here to poke fun at the human process of aging or do you have some other hidden agenda for visiting me in my room?" he watched her tile her head with violet eyes, that looked so much like her mother's, scan him as he gave her a smug grin.
"No, hidden agenda just wanted to visit you," she hopped off the desk to walk around his room, looking at his bookshelves. "Don't you have anything good to read instead of school literature and Shakespeare?" she fingered the spines as she turned to wait for his answer. Inheriting some height from her father she wasn't as petite like her mother. His 5'11" height towered over her 5'4", which seemed to irk her as she looked up at him when he stood close to her, straightening herself to look intimidating. Grinning, he placed the book she left on his desk to place it back into his bookshelf.
"Sorry, fresh out of erotic literature, why didn't you ask Lisa?" he asked her as she blushed, giving him a glare that rivaled her own parents.
"I... I don't read stuff like that, I'm not a pervert," she poked his chest, blushing when she realized he was shirtless. Swallowing, she turned as red as her fiery hair, it had only been a year since she last seen him yet he managed to become even more muscular. She looked up to find his wide eyes studying her with a confused expression.
"Does Soul Society know you're here or did you come in your own violation?" he asked, curious about her answer, she looked away avoiding his stare as she sat on his bed.
"I got permission from my parents if you must know. During this peaceful time, there aren't many hollows scouring the human world or Soul Society: it's just patrol, training, and bringing spirits to the other side," she shrugged, her shoulders sagging giving a disappointed sigh. "It's not like I want something bad to happen. I just want a little adventure, especially with the stories my parents told about Aizen, fighting the Arrancars, and the Sternritter."
He always knew Ichika had a fiery personality, its no wonder with who her parents were, her need for a constant adrenaline rush, it's probably why she was such a troublemaker in Soul Society. She didn't get reprimanded especially with her being related to the head of the Kuchiki Clan and other times she was too smart and avoided getting caught.
"I've noticed that too, we've come to the conclusion that since Teir, Nel, and Grimmjow have everything under control in Hueco Mundo, it's usually stragglers that drift to our world or a soul in the Human World turned Hollow," he claimed as he began to prepare for the day.
"We?" she questioned as she watched him gather some apparel from his closet.
"My father and I," he boasted, "I have to get ready... Are you going to wait here?" he asked her watching her cheeks turn crimson as she nodded.
"I'll wait here," she fidgetted, watching him grab a towel and head out to the hallway to the bathroom. Once the door was closed, she sighed heavily lying down on his bed to rest her head on his pillow. Smiling, she snuggled into his small bed. She was used to sleeping on huge mats with expensive silk, but she adored his quaint cotton sheets and lumpy mattress. His scent surrounded her as she breathed him in, she felt so relaxed that she closed her eyes and slept.
Kazui walked into his room after a nice shower, rubbing the towel over his wet locks as he hanged the damp towel over his desk chair. He stopped for a moment when he saw his red-headed friend sleeping on his bed, he bent down to watch her elegant appearance. She usually had a serious expression on her face but as she laid there, her features were calm. He bent down beside his bed to gaze at her, brushing the stray strand away from her face, he couldn't help but watch how her pink bottom lip jutted out into a pout from being disturbed. Without even thinking, he kissed her forehead and stroked her face as he gave a warm smile.
"I'll be back around four," he whispered, she groaned and her brow scrunched downward as she turned away, grabbing onto his pillow. He grabbed his things and headed downstairs as he smiled.
Once he got downstairs, he found his mother already cooking breakfast.
"Good morning, Mom! When did you get up?" he gave her a hug, smiling as he hugged and kissed her.
"Oh, Good Morning, Kazui! I came down as soon as I heard you enter the shower. I wanted to get started on breakfast since you had to leave early," she smiled, cooking several omelets with miso soup.
"You didn't have to go through all that trouble, you must be exhausted from staying up working on your cake designs," he said with a worried look that had his mother brush her hand against her son's face to give him a comforting smile.
"I'm fine, sweetie. You've been helping me all summer with the inventory at the bakery it's the least I could do. Plus, don't tell your father but I love spoiling you," she giggled, handing him a bowl with soup and a plate with an omelet.
"I won't but you have to promise me you won't strain yourself, okay?" he gathered the plates and waited for her answer.
"Don't worry, I won't. Now sit down and eat up before you're late," she said shooing him away to the table. He laughed, heading in that direction to find his father walking down the stairs stretching his arms. As his father came closer, the younger Kurosaki had to duck his father's swipe at his head and narrowly dodge the leg sweep. He steadied the dishes he held with ease as he set them on the table.
Kazui laughed, settling himself down to eat his food as he cheekily grinned at his father.
"Were you even trying to hit me?" he arrogantly said, causing his father to glare at him. He made to shove a spoonful of omelet into his mouth when he felt his chair kick from under him as he clumsily fell to the floor.
"What was that?" Orihime rushed out of the kitchen with a skillet in one hand, finding her boy on the floor, "Are you okay Kazui?"
Kazui dusted himself off, fixing his chair to look at his mother with a smile.
"I'm fine, mom. I must have slipped," he rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.
"You should really be more careful and stop upsetting your mother like that," Ichigo chided as he came out of the kitchen with a bowl and plate in his hand, heading to the table.
Orihime scrutinizing both, feeling like they were both avoiding her stare and hiding something from her. "Well, I'm heading back to the kitchen if you're sure your okay?" she asked him cupping her son's chin as she headed back.
"He's fine Orihime," Ichigo shouted out, "he just needs to dodge an attack, even if I used high-speed movement with my fullbring," he whispered, for only his son to hear as his wife hummed in the kitchen.
Ichigo looked up to give his son a smug grin as he ate his wife's cooking, to find his son smiling as well. Ichigo's grin turned into a scowl watching his son suspiciously close when he made to fork another piece of the egg he found that his plate was empty.
"Mom! Dad sure love's your cooking he seemed to gobble it up," he smiled as he shoved a spoonful of delicious soup into his mouth. Watching his father scowl at him clenching his jaw.
Orihime came out with a plate and bowl of her own, placing it on her side of the table, "Oh, I didn't realize you were that hungry, Ichigo?" she said, trying to walk back to the kitchen only to have her husband stop her.
"You eat Orihime, I'll get some more," he kissed her as he strolled into the kitchen.
Kazui turned to see his father walking back with a newly acquired omelet when suddenly a small wormhole appeared to plop the missing omelet onto his father's already full plate as he was heading back. Aggravated, Ichigo stared daggers at his son, who's back was to him. When he slammed his plate on the table, he saw his son trying to cover his face from laughing so hard.
"What's so funny?" Orihime happily asked, watching her son trying to contain his laughter. She looked at her husband who began to eat from his plate with a scowl, she noticed the pile on his plate.
"Ichigo! I hope you left some for Miume," she said with concern. This caused Kazui to burst out laughing, shedding a tear.
"Yeah, Dad! Don't be such a hog," he laughed, winking at his father who angrily stared at him. "Well, I'm going to head out. I'll be back before you know it."
"If you want to wait, I can drive you," his father's grimace made his son swallow as he shook his head 'no'.
"T... That's ok! I'm just going to walk and take the train," he nervously said heading to the kitchen to wash his plate.
"Just leave it there, I'll take care of it," Orihime shouted only to hear the water turning on and dishes clacking together.
"Don't worry, I got," he said, after a while, the water shut off and they heard the door opening. "See ya Mom, Bye Dad!" Kazui shouted as he exited shutting the door.
"I swear his personality is irritably reminding me of someone," he scowled as he continued to eat the pile of omelets.
"Everyone says he gets his sweet fun personality from me," she proudly said receiving a small grin from her husband.
"I know, it's the other part that reminds me of my father that I'm worried about," he said drinking from his cup of tea. Orihime smiled, knowing how much Isshin annoyed Ichigo, but deep down she knew he loved him dearly. She loved her father-in-law and she didn't mind him rubbing off on her son.
"Does he have to be so loud? I swear he yells before he leaves on purpose," their youngest child grumbled as she came down the stairs tiredly.
"Good morning, Baby!" Orihime stood up to give her child a kiss on the cheek as her daughter did the same.
"Morning, mom!" Miume said as her mother made her way to the kitchen
Miume wrapped her arms around her father's neck and gave him a kiss on the cheek as she felt his large hand grab her arm.
"Morning, Dad!" she said, releasing him to sit beside him at the table.
"Morning, Miume!" he smiled as his daughter slumped her chin onto her hand still trying to wake up. "You need a ride to school?"
She shook her head as he noticed a red tint on her cheeks, "I'm okay, Tatsu is stopping by to walk me to school. I sort of wanted to be with him on his first day back," she smiled, only to see her father give an aggravated look.
Orihime came back just in time to hear the conversation, placing the plate of food in front of her daughter as she sat back down to her own plate.
"Thanks, Mom!" she said starting to eat from her plate.
"That's sweet of him to walk you to school, you guys been stuck like glue since he came back," Orihime giggled, referring to Tatsunari's time away to train as a Fullbringer and coming back once he learned to control it. Her daughter missed him as much as his own mother, Tatsuki, did. Seeing the soft tinge of pink gracing her lovely daughter's face caused the mother to internally squeal in delight. "Has your relationship progressed?" she asked the girl who tried not to choke on her food as she looked to her father, then to her mother.
"Well, we're taking things slow," she quipped nervously as she heard a deep cough coming from her father.
"I hope for his damn sake he's taking it slow," he angrily growled, crossing his arms in an intimidating pose.
"Of course, Dad. Jeez!" she blushed, pink turning to crimson as she covered her face, "Slow, meaning that we're keeping our relationship secret from our classmates. Except for Yumiko, of course, she's my best friend."
"Why?" her mother asked seemingly put off by her new relationship a secret.
"Well, it's still new and we don't need other nosy people getting involved. It's just complicated," she finished her food as she got up to wash her dish.
"That's okay, you can leave your dish there I'll get it," Orihime said as she followed her daughter into the kitchen.
"Mom, will you please stop. I can wash my own dish, I'm not a little baby," she chuckled as she began to wash her dish and then turned to grab the dishes from her mother's hands.
"Hey! You guys keeping doing things around the house you'll leave me with nothing to do," she kissed her daughter's cheek for being so helpful.
"You can continue with your cake designs," her daughter said, concentrating on cleaning the dishes.
"I only go to the bakery two times per week, to make sure everything is ok and sometimes more to do personalized cakes for clients who specifically ask for me. So I can have more time to do things at home. So when you guys are at school and your dad is managing the clinic that leaves me bored out of my mind, especially if things are already done around the house," she expressed with a small pout.
After Miume finished washing the dishes, she looked at her mother and burst into laughter, "If you're so adamant on doing something, I can stop washing my clothes."
"I don't think so," Ichigo came in, making his way to the sink to wash his dishes, "nice try though. Orihime, if you want to do something you can always help at the clinic."
"I know but sometimes you have an issue with me being there," she glanced at him as his scowl returned.
"I don't have an issue with you being there, I just don't like you wearing the nurse's outfit."
"Why?" his wife asked him. Ichigo nervously avoided his wife's questioning stare, only to hear his youngest child burst into laughter.
"He's afraid of perverted patients ogling his wife," she couldn't help but hold her stomach in laughter when her father frowned at her, "Her not wearing the nurse's outfit is not going to help stop the stares, mom's hot anyway."
"Would you get ready for school," he advised his daughter, pointing his thumb for her to leave as she smiled giving him a kiss. When they felt she was out of earshot, he felt his wife move closer to him, wrapping her arms around his waist.
"Are you sure it's the patients or is Dr. Kurosaki distracted by his wife in a nurse's outfit?" she giggled when she saw him stare at her with a sly grin as he gripped her close.
"Sort of, it makes me think of the other nurse's outfit you have stashed away," he growled kissing her neck causing her to moan.
"Oh my god, my ears," they heard their youngest yell.
"Why aren't you getting ready, Miume?" Ichigo shouted out, clearly mortified having his daughter hearing them.
"I forgot my phone, now I'm regretting coming back downstairs. Can't you guys wait till I'm out of the house before you jump each other," she shouted, running back upstairs.
Orihime was quiet the whole time still clasped tightly to her husband, afraid to show her face.
"M...Maybe we should make sure we're alone before ...," Orihime began to say when they felt a familiar spiritual pressure and a familiar red-head walk into the kitchen. Both husband and wife stared as the girl walked into the kitchen, jumping to sit on the countertop.
"Hey Orihime, Ichigo. Don't mind me just hanging out here," she dangled her feet as she looked around the small kitchen, whistling.
Ichigo closed his eyes in frustration as he leaned down to kiss Orihime's head, "I'm going to get ready for work," he then focused on the shinigami, "Good morning, Ichika! Just make yourself at home," he said with a hint of sarcasm as he let go of his wife to head upstairs.
"Morning Ichika! I thought I felt you, learning to suppress your spiritual pressure?" she nervously said, still trying to recover from her earlier embarrassment.
"Yeah, It's actually Uncle who is teaching me, says it's important to keep hidden from enemies," she exhaled as if bored. "I just use it to slip through the other divisions to learn secrets and if I'm bored cause trouble."
The older auburn-haired woman giggled as she came closer to the girl to give her a hug. "I missed you, are you staying long?" she gave her a quick peck on the cheek.
"Couple of months," she clarified as the older woman nodded.
"Will you be staying with us?" she asked.
"I... I didn't want to impose so I was going to rent a hotel nearby," she began to say as Orihime scrunched her brows.
"Don't be silly you can stay with Miume, she loves when you visit, I won't take no for an answer," the woman said sternly, causing the other girl to nervously laugh, finding the expression odd on such a sweet woman.
"Oh okay, Thanks!" she hopped off to walk out of the kitchen, "I'll be back, I'm just going to have a look around, doubt I'll find any hollows. Who knows, maybe I'll get lucky.
The red-headed shinigami left leaving Orihime to her own devices as she decided to head to her desk and began to draw.
Tatsunari walked towards the Kurosaki household when he heard his phone beep that it had a message.
'Whatever you do, don't come in! I'll meet you out front!'
He looked at the message curiously, then looked up when he heard the front door slam and a flustered Miume rushing in his direction.
"Hey! Where's the fire?" he asked when he was pulled by the arm by his girlfriend who stayed silent. "Miume, I didn't even get to say hi to your parents, that's a little rude."
"Tatsu, let'sjustgettoschool.I'llexplainlater," the words came out of her mouth so quickly, he was surprised he caught it all. Her cheeks were still flustered, he couldn't help but stare at how adorable she looked.
When they were far enough, their pace became much slower and she let go of his arm, much to his disappointment.
"Okay, are you going to explain why you ran out of your house this morning like a fairy on fire?" he asked her as she crossed her arms and looked ahead, a little hesitant before she began to talk.
"I just heard my parents talking to each other about things I rather not reiterate at the moment," she nervously said, pushing a strand of hair over her ear. She didn't hear anything from him until she peeked in his direction to find him smiling at her.
"You really need to lighten up, stop acting as if your parents sleep in separate beds like those old-fashioned shows my grandparent's watch. One, your mother is extremely hot and two, from what my mother says, women in this town call your dad Dr. Super Hunk, Dr. Eye Candy, and Dr. Big Daddy," he laughed when he heard Miume scream out loud next to him, trying to cover her ears.
"Oh my god, I don't want to hear this. That is so gross, don't most of these women have husbands?" she angrily said, mentally making a list of those who would even say those things about her dad.
"You don't even want to know what the men in this town say about your mother," he whispered near her, as she glared in his direction.
"I guess you don't care because it's my parents. You'd probably do the same thing if you were in my situation?" she said as he just shrugged his shoulders.
"Not really, it's probably because I'm not so naive or because I'm used to it with my parents. That's why I use plugs for my ears when I sleep, even though my room is on the other side of the house."
"Let's please change the subject," she rubbed the bridge of her nose.
"Okay, so you ready to tackle eleventh grade?" he asked, placing his hands into his pockets.
"I can handle it, you left Yumiko and me to fend for ourselves when we entered our tenth year," she gave a fake pout as he slightly grinned with his head hung low. "I was just kidding Tatsu," she warmly said, wondering if it was wrong of her to bring the time they were apart as a joke. Suddenly, she felt him sneak a kiss as he gave her his charming grin.
"You're so gullible, all I have to do is look sad and you're quick to reassure me," he wrapped his arms around her, he leaned down to try to give another kiss when he felt her maneuver out of his grip.
"Did you forget that we're headed to school and someone might see," she looked around to make sure there were no prying eyes that belonged to her classmates. Suddenly his happy demeanor changed to one of annoyance, as he placed his bag over his shoulders.
"Yeah, wouldn't want that," he said sarcastically as the girl beside him stopped as her hand held his arm, causing him to stand still.
"You know I don't want this either, Tatsu! I just don't want others to ruin something that we're in the process of finding out ourselves, without outside interference," she looked at him with those warm amber eyes, that held a smidge of golden coloring from the morning sun. He couldn't help but accept her answer even if it didn't sit well with him as he nodded in agreement.
"I just don't like the thought of other guys thinking you're on the market when secretly your not and I can't do anything to stop them from trying to get your attention," he sighed once more, looking up at the sky in thought.
"What about me? Mr. #1 Prince of Karkaura?" she jested, poking him on the side of his waist. She didn't realize how extremely hard his side was until she felt her finger shove inward with a slight ache, having poked, in her opinion, solid rock. "Ouch, do you have your scaled armor on?" she pouted, starting to rub her finger.
"No, I'm just naturally carved to perfection," he expressed, giving her an arm curl under his long-sleeved jacket, that only gave a hint of what was underneath. She started to blush as she pushed his arm away, causing him to give her a fake pout.
"You're so full of yourself, I'm afraid your neck won't be able to hold that big head of yours," she said, smiling at her boyfriend who only found her statement amusing.
"I don't think I'll have that issue. Did you see how extremely thick my neck has gotten?" he pointed to his neck that indeed had gotten large, matching his broad shoulders. She held her strap on her schoolbag tighter as she looked away to hide her blush. Noticing they were coming closer to school, she glanced up to see Yumiko leaning against the school fence, reading her book as she waited patiently. Glad for the distraction, she ran towards the calm and collected Quincy.
"Yumiko!" she hugged her friend tightly, who patted her back, closing the book that she was reading. "You weren't waiting here long, were you?" she asked her blue-eyed friend who nodded 'no.'
"Good morning Miume, and No to your question! Father had dropped me off before he went to the hospital, that was just a few minutes ago," she smiled at the auburn-haired girl who sighed with relief. The dark-haired Quincy, looked up to find the boy who completed their tight-knit trio. "Good morning, Tatsu! Are you anxious about entering an actual high school?" she joked, waiting for the taller boy's response.
"Hey this may be my first time entering this high school, but I have you know that even though the school was in an underground facility that was funded by Yukio Hans Vorarlberna, it was an actual school. Maybe gym class and the curriculum was slightly different but we read Romeo and Juliet," he argued, giving both girls a wink as they laughed at his carefree attitude.
"You read it or glanced at the cover," the Quincy peered at him, watching him think of some sort of response.
"I may have just read the abridged version of it," he said placing his arm around Yumiko and Miume's shoulders as they headed into school.
"May I ask which abridged version?" the black-haired girl asked, looking forward.
"On Wikipedia," he stated matter of factly as he stopped abruptly, raising his hands up theatrically, "See how she leans her cheek upon her hand! O that I were a glove upon that hand, That I might touch that cheek!" he yelled Romeo's lines as the girls nervously looked around to see a few classmates staring at their friend.
"Would you please not be so embarrassing and refrain from acting like an idiot," Miume pulled down his arms that were waving dramatically.
"O happy dagger," he quoted Juliet, slamming a make-believe dagger into his chest as he slowly dropped to the floor. Miume aggressively pulled his arm, trying to prevent him from embarrassing her further by pulling him up.
"Would you stand up straight," she said out of breath, "Why are you so damn heavy?"
"It's because he's all muscle," a sweet voice said with a giggle.
The trio looked to find Akemi standing in front of them with her swarm of her pretty friends. She gave Tatsunari a wink and a seductive smile as she began to straighten his coat.
"I was really disappointed that you couldn't make it to my Summer Party," she batted her eyes, pouting her lips as she leaned closer.
"Well look forward to disappointment," Miume whispered a bit too loud, catching the attention of Akemi. As if, noticing her presence, she gave a bored expression at the auburn-haired beauty.
"Oh, Miume! I didn't notice you," she swept her long hair over her shoulder as she crossed her arms."Anyways maybe we could catch up later, Tatsunari. I believe we share the same class," she hugged his arm as she squealed. "Well, Bye Tatsunari and others," she said the last part to the two girls beside him with a snort as she sashayed away with her little group, her skirt rising a bit as she walked.
"That went rather well," Tatsunari commented, receiving a glare from his girlfriend, "I'm just stating that things could have become a lot worse."
"What's worse than her being rude?" she crossed her arms, tapping her foot impatiently on the concrete of the school grounds.
"The conversation could have escalated enough that I would have been burdened with the task of preventing a swarm of females from fighting each other. Can you imagine the horror, I don't think I could have recovered. I would have been scarred for life," he continued his rant only to have his girlfriend interrupt him.
"Enough! I don't need to hear any more of your emotional scarring from the attention of the opposite sex," she stated through gritted teeth.
"Speaking of sex," he leaned closer causing the auburn-haired girl to turn red as he whispered, "You could prevent others scenarios such as these from happening by telling the female student body that I am unavailable."
She closed her eyes for a moment as she exhaled, opening her eyes to give a scowl.
"No! Keep annoying me and you could be unavailable for real," she stressed as she left her friends and headed to the school entrance with determined strides.
Tatsunari watched his girlfriend leave upset and couldn't help but chuckle at her empty threat. He glanced over at Yumiko as he pulled her close wrapping his arm around her.
"I guess it just you and me, Yumiko," he guided her through the entrance, making their way to change their shoes.
"Of course, until we both head to our separate classes," she declared, removing her shoes and wearing the designated ones for walking the halls of the school.
"It sucks we don't have the same classes," he propped himself near her cubicle a little disappointed.
"Well, Miume and I have the same honored classes. Maybe you should have put a little more effort in trying to study harder, so there wouldn't be this issue," she asserted, only for the taller boy to place his hand on her forehead as if to take her temperature.
"You don't seem to be running a fever, what could possibly cause you to say such things?" he responded, flabbergasted.
"Tatsu, you're already intelligent, you just lack the effort to push yourself," she smiled, poking him on the head."I'll see you at lunch," she told him disappearing amongst the crowd.
Tatsunari looked around, finding that he couldn't find the auburn-haired girl of his dreams in the sea of students. Leaning off the cubicle, he made his way to his class, finding a seat next to the window. He glanced at the clouds that gradually made their way across the sky.
'Everyone keeps saying I have potential, but with everything that has been put on my plate, it's hard to focus,' he internally struggled with his thoughts as he sighed.
"Hello again, Tatsunari!" the familiar voice of Akemi said, interrupting his internal reasoning. He turned to look up to find the smiling dark-haired girl posing, as she grinned a bit more suggestively. She sat at the seat right beside him as she crossed her legs slowly, raising her skirt a little.
"Hey, again Akemi!" he said, making sure not to focus on her legs as she purposely switched them every moment she could. Disappointed that he seemed to not be paying attention as he turned to look out the window once more.
"So why didn't you come to my Summer Party, it was extremely uneventful without you?" she expressed her sadness by crossing her arms, pushing her breasts forward. He had a tinge of a blush that caused her to smile, getting a slight reaction from him.
"I was with my parents at the Kurosakis, their practically family," he expressed, thinking of the kiss with Miume, that day as he smiled.
"Oh, well I guess in a way with Miume Kurosaki being like a family member, sort of like an annoying little sister," she mused, receiving a shrug from the boy across from her.
"We get on each other's nerves at times but I can assure you that I do not think of her as a little sister," he smugly clarified, giving her a mischievous grin hinting that his words meant something else that he wasn't entirely sharing, causing the girl's eye to twitch in annoyance.
"Akemi!" a deep voice bellowed that caused the girl to roll her eyes as she turned at the newcomer's direction.
"What is it, Daichi?" she huffed, clearly irritated.
Daichi Oda, his uniform jacket was opened to reveal his untucked white dress shirt as his top button was left purposely unbuttoned to show his muscular collarbone. Broad shouldered with a slightly trimmed frame, with a set of untamed dirty blonde hair that effortlessly swept over his brown eyes. He seemed to be someone who worked out a lot, maybe sports or martial arts, Tatsunari wasn't sure, but he already despised his handsome chiseled face.
"Sheesh! What's up your ass this morning?" he furrowed his brow, sitting on top of a desk in front of her, facing her as he placed his feet on his seat.
"Nothing! Do you have to be so damn rude this morning?" she glared up at him as she pushed her hair to the side. "I was here talking with Tatsunari before you rudely interrupted."
That was when Daichi had acknowledged his presence as his eyes furrowed when he saw the boy across from his on and off again girlfriend. Tatsunari sensing the other boy's dislike of him, decided to extend an olive branch.
"Good morning Daichi! The name's Tasunari Asano!" he said with a carefree smile that seemed to irritate the boy across from him. The dirty blonde just glanced at his hand critically as he slowly extended his hand with a smile, only his smile seemed to give off a menacing look, that Tatsunari seemed to ignore.
The spiky-haired fullbringer could feel that the other was trying to intimidate him with his stare and somewhat strong grip, but being stronger than the average human it felt like a light squeeze. It didn't go unnoticed by Daichi, who undoubtedly became more upset at this boy he knew to be close to the girl he'd been painstakingly trying to make his. The blonde remained silent as both boys eyed each other, making Akemi sigh very loudly causing them to glance in her direction.
"So what were you guy's talking about before, how you put it that 'I so rudely interrupted?'" he asked her, leaning close as he moved a strand of her hair away from her face.
"Nothing impor-," she began to say.
"Miume Kurosaki! A close friend of mine, along with Yumiko Ishida, you probably heard of them?" he interrupted with a smug grin causing the blonde to glare at him only for his expression to change into a grin as well.
"Yeah, both girls are considered untouchable with who their fathers are. Both being well-respected doctors in the community but Dr. Kurosaki is rumored to have beaten a boy unconscious just for talking with his daughter," he asked a little curious how this guy was allowed to be in the same proximity as them.
"Yeah, except that's not entirely true. Both would do that to any guy for their daughters, it's just that Dr. Ishida tends to be calmer when dealing with situations in public as Dr. Kurosaki is known to fly off the handle. Both men could be pretty intimidating in their own way," he chuckled, thinking about both men being so freakishly powerful, but easily swayed by the love of their daughters.
"So since your parent's being high school friends with them, gives you access to being close to them?" he turned to lean closer to Tatsunari, this conversation peaking his interest.
"In a way, doesn't make me immune to getting killed by them if I step out of line. They both trust me," he said, as the blonde nodded in understanding.
"You know, Miume is someone that, if you haven't heard, I'm quite interested in becoming friends with," he asked, watching the spiky-haired boy's smile change into a grimace.
"So why haven't you've accomplished that?" he asked knowing full well Miume wanted nothing to do with this jerk.
"She's sweet but she can be a little stubborn. Maybe with you being a friend and all, you could let her know that I'm interested," he smugly disclosed as Akemi yawned very loudly, finding this conversation rather boring.
"I don't think you're interested in being friends and she's not interested in something more than that," his words felt like a direct insult to Daichi's pride, only causing him to grit his teeth.
"You know this, personally ... or maybe you're trying to be the protective brother? I may be wrong but I thought she had one brother an older one. What are you her baby brother?" he chuckled, as Akemi made to cover her laugh with a soft cough.
"I can see where you might think I'm a baby with my adorable dimples, but as I said to Akemi, we both don't see each other as brother and sister," Tatsunari pointedly said, staring hard at both of them to get his point across.
Nothing else was said, as their homeroom teacher came in to start the day. From time to time, Daichi looked at Tatsunari over his shoulder to find him listening to the teacher or giving him a thumbs up to acknowledge him.
"Senpai!" Kazui heard a girl rush to his side, breathing heavily from trying to catch up to him.
"Hello, Hana-chan? What's wrong?" he asked curiously as the girl gripped her bag close to her chest.
"Nothing's wrong, I... I just wanted to thank you for helping me borrow your notes you took in Professor's class," the cute small girl with a bobbed haircut said with a bright smile, as she fidgetted nervously.
"Oh, well you seemed that you were very upset about your laptop not being charged to type up the notes. So I just wanted to help, no big deal," he smiled back causing the girl to blush.
"It is a big deal to me," she began to say, watching him closely. It became awkwardly quiet for the both of them until Kazui heard a voice only he could hear.
"Oh, Senpai! Notice me Senpai!" the voice became louder as Kazui tried to keep his composure, trying to block out the voice behind him. The other girl noticed his discomfort after studying his face.
"Are you okay, Senpai?" she asked him with a worried look.
"Oh I'm fine, I'm just a little distr-" he tried to answer.
"-with how adorably sweet you are. Look Kazui, she's practically glowing with admiration," the red-headed shinigami said to the only person who could hear her as she walked around the unsuspecting girl who continued to eye Kazui.
"-d...distracted at having so much on my mind. I apologize for making you worry," he nervously smiled, causing the girl to become extremely red.
"I..."
"Look how red you made her Kazui!"
"If you're not doing..."
"I think she's trying to ask if you're free tonight," the red-headed explained, much to the annoyance of the young orange haired boy.
"That's if it's okay with you," the girl looked at him with her brown eyes nervously, waiting patiently for an answer. Ichika towered over the shy girl just by a few inches, waiting also with a patient expression. Kazui having no idea what the girl said, felt like an idiot for trying to ask the girl to repeat herself, so he just stood there with a wide-eyed expression.
The girl seemed to feel a bit out of place when the orange haired boy took too long to answer, "I'm sorry, maybe I'm being too forward."
"Jeez Kazui, just answer the poor girl," the red-head interfered.
"JUST GIVE ME A MOMENT TO THINK!" he yelled, seeing both girls eyes open in disbelief, feeling guilty for raising his voice at the other girl.
"Hana-chan, that wasn't meant for you," he nervously laughed, as the girl looked around her, seeing that they were indeed alone as she looked to him with a confused look.
"But who was it intended for?" she softly asked, shocked when he put his hands onto her shoulders to speak to her.
"I ... I meant to say that it was meant for me, it gets a bit loud up in my head, especially when the blue men attack," he jested as the girl looked to him a bit uncomfortable. She made to move away.
"Oh okay! Well, thank you for the notes again. I also want to apologize for inviting you to the coffee shop tonight when I have something else to do. Silly me, I forgot that I had to take care of my cousin's, aunt's, daughter's cat," she bowed to him in respect as she rushed off in a hurry. Kazui sighed as he hung his head low.
"Way to go Casanova! Now she thinks you're crazy," she placed her hand on his arm, just when he looked up to her with a worn out expression.
"Didn't I tell you I was coming back at four?" he turned, walking some distance from the school. In the process, holding up his phone to his ear pretending he was talking to someone on the other end. A neat little trick his parents told him to use, with him being able to see ghosts, so he wouldn't look crazy to strangers.
"Dispatched some lingering hollows on the outskirts of this town and I got bored," she stretched her arms, then set her hands onto her zanpakutÅ, "You're not trying to peg this on me are you?" the girl glared at him as he sighed.
"No, just some other spiritual entity that was talking too loud for me to hear what she had to say," he sarcastically said, trying to keep his voice low as he entered the train station.
"So what's your other excuse for being single?" she eyed him as he glanced at her for a moment then looked away in silence. The red-head looked around to see other's on the train, staring blankly and uttering nothing, understanding the boy's lack of words.
"You know, I'm pretty popular with the guys in Soul Society," it was when she began to talk about other guys that it finally caught his attention, "I don't mean to brag, it's just I'm a lady of a noble family and my dad and uncle would totally kill them. I just choose to keep my options open, you know?" she said seductively as she straightened his collar. All he could do was stare as he laughed and shook his head, getting a few stares in the process.
The subway doors opened to his stop, still with an amused face he started his walk home.
"Oi," Ichika shouted, running to catch up with him as he seemed determined to remain quiet and walk. "Oi! You know it's highly rude to ignore someone," she chided him like a child as he stopped to look at her, giving a slight grin.
"Sorry, I just have a lot on my mind," he divulged to her, placing his hands in his pockets, expressing a smile that felt unusually forced for him.
"It's what I said on the train isn't it? "she bluntly said, as she crossed her arms when he looked away to nod.
"I'm just... confused," he said with a sigh.
"Confused?" she questioned him, holding her arms tightly as she listened to her friend.
"Yeah... Isn't this what you wanted? For us to go our separate ways and just remain friends?" he asked softly, suddenly turning his head so that he could stare at her as she responded. She was speechless for a moment, opening her mouth to talk only to shut it again, finally having the courage she decided to answer.
"I'm trying to be the practical one here," she criticized, raising her voice a little as she held herself tighter.
"You didn't answer the question?" he raised his brow as she furrowed hers.
"No! It's not what I wanted. Are you happy now?" she turned away before he could see the welt of tears that started to form.
He nodded 'no' with a worried expression, "Ichika, I.." he began, as he walked closer to her, only to have her stop him.
"Don't! I just need to get a few things from Urahara and I'll meet you home," she clarified.
"I'll walk with .."
"No!" she interrupted him again, "I just need to be alone for a moment."
She leaped onto the rooftops and disappeared as he rubbed his head in frustration.
'I should have just kept it to myself,' he thought, deciding to use his wormhole to get home faster instead of walking the rest of the way. He took that time to look around before conjuring it in the empty dark alley.
He entered the dark hole that opened up to a dark world, it was void of nothing. He thought of home when a light flickered in front of him breaking his concentration. It seemed to be a fairy in armor glancing at him, when he made to touch it, it scurried off into a smaller wormhole. He ran to the wormhole that the little deity conjured, glancing inside he saw a world absolutely breathtaking. The hole grew in size to accommodate him as he stepped in. Investigating the world more closely, he saw a turquoise gem castle that had ingrained itself together with colossal trees. From what he could see, the castle was surrounded by these massive trees with leaves that looked more like diamonds and some that were painted gold.
He could see a colossal sun that dwarfed the planet's atmosphere, wondering how this planet felt cool with a warm breeze and not a scorching molten hell with the titan star so close. He wanted to explore more when he saw a glowing orange shield shove him back into the wormhole he came from. The shove knocked him back some distance but it didn't cause any serious damage, he looked up to find that the hole had disappeared and what remained was a dark expanse. He tried to open the beautiful world again, only to have some force deny him entry. Giving up, he decided to open up the wormhole to his room.
Excited about his discovery, he ran downstairs to find his mother scream in surprise as the clothes she folded, flew everywhere.
"Aww, I just folded these," she pouted, bending down to retrieve them only to have her son stop her action and pick them up himself.
"It's my fault, I'll take care of these. I found something in the wormhole, I want to tell you about," he said carrying the pile in his arms as he directed his mother to the couch as he began to refold the clothes.
"So what did you see?" Orihime asked, she had no idea what it was about but the excitement in his voice and his bright smile became contagious as she smiled as well. Kazui explained the events that transpired within the wormhole. As Orihime listened, she imagined the beauty he described and she couldn't help but feel excitement at the prospect of a world that existed only in fantasy. She also felt a sense of foreboding for some reason, at the familiarity that she couldn't place, especially when her son spoke about the armored fairy and the shield.
"Next time, promise me that you won't go near this world until we have a better understanding?" she encouraged, placing her hand on his cheek to look into his amber eyes.
"But what if..."
"Listen to your mother Kazui!" they heard the voice of the hybrid shinigami say as he showed himself, stepping out from the shadows wearing his white coat. The clinic was pretty slow, opting instead to check up on his wife. Both his son and wife were so invested in their conversation, they didn't realize that he was close enough to overhear them. He saw the disappointed look in his son's face even when he nodded.
Kazui would try to find some way around his parent's rules but judging the seriousness in his parent's concern, he didn't risk upsetting them even more.
"I'm going to put these away and start on my work," he stated, giving his parent's a soft smile as his kissed his mother's cheek and nodded to his dad before he headed upstairs.
Ichigo watched his wife stare in the direction of where their son disappeared to, it was only when he came closer, placing a hand on her shoulder that she broke her stare to smile up at him. She placed her hand onto his as she felt him sit on the couch.
"I'll speak to Urahara regarding this and see if he could shed some light on it. We know there are many worlds that we haven't yet tapped into like Hueco Mundo and Soul Society. Maybe this is just another one?" his words eased her wandering mind a bit, leaning into his chest as he wrapped his arms around her to kiss her head.
"You're probably right, maybe this world has unicorns and talking cupcakes?" she excitedly expressed, turning to stare at him with wide expressive eyes like someone experiencing falling snow for the first time.
"Unicorns ... maybe but talking cupcakes ..." he began to say when he saw his wife's sadden demeanor, he thought of something he could say to change it back to a contented one. "I mean if we did see a place of talking cupcakes, it would change the way you feel about them. Think about the mini cupcake children, you wouldn't be able to eat another one ever again."
Orihime was taken aback as she contemplated this and he couldn't help but feel a slight tug in his heart at how absolutely endearing she looked.
"Oh, I think you're right Ichigo. If I knew a cupcake empire existed and they found out we ate them here, it would incite a war. I'd be deemed the enemy to the cupcake ...," she was interrupted by a kiss on the lips from her husband, as he halted her thought process.
"I can think of a punishment for the Evil Dictator Orihime and her crimes against eating an abundance of these tiny frosted treats," he kissed her neck, causing a small giggle from his wife. She felt herself being lifted up by his strong arms bridal style as an abrupt squeal escaped from her mouth. "Starting now!"
"Ichigo, we can't! The clinic is still open and Kazui is in his room," she scolded, as her cheeks redden as she watched her husband scowl in thought for a moment.
"I promise to make this punishment quick," he kissed her lips as he grinned, " if you can promise me to be quiet," he watched his wife's face give a defiant look but never expressed that her husband was wrong about her strong vocal chords. Satisfied he headed upstairs quietly, making their way into their room as he softly closed the door with his foot.
"Your Majesty, two guards wish to speak to you. They say they have some information that may possibly be of interest," the servant girl addressed her Queen who reclined on her chaise lounge, she nodded her approval as the servant girl went to retrieve them. As the guards entered, both of them bent in front of their Queen, both their heads hung low eyes staring at the ground. A rule instigated by their King, that those beneath them couldn't look upon them unless told to do so, if broken, a fate worse then death would await them. She waved her servant off as she sat up to speak, "What news do you bring?"
Both men dressed in dark silver armor lined with turquoise, same colored insignia of a flower-adorned their chest plate, nodding their heads before one nervously answered her.
"We noticed a rogue Faye spirit entering the kingdom's boundary when we arrived in time to investigate. Its user was nowhere to be found, having long disappeared but his world access gate had still remained," he swallowed, as he heard the loud impatient tapping of her nails on the wood of the armchair.
"We receive many reports of these rebellious cowards entering our boundaries and they are severely dealt with, they are harmless fools. Please tell me that this wasn't what you deemed so important that it was necessary to bother me in my chambers? I'm starting to think you just wanted an excuse to see your beautiful Queen," she seductively taunted, her voice sweet to the ears but her guards heard the restless tone in her voice.
"No, your highness! There's more," the other guard hastily said, dropping his head lower to the ground as the other guard followed suit.
"This better be good," she irritably stated as she waited patiently.
"The rogue Faye must have lured an outsider that entered the wormhole as well. He seemed to be from another world due to his perplexed expression at seeing our kingdom."
The Queen's interest peaked at the mention of the outsider as she leaned closer, "What happened to this outsider?"
"We made to incapacitate him by forcibly slamming my Santen Kesshun against him, he seemed to be unharmed. Before we could follow him through the world access gate, it had abruptly closed on us," the guard bellowed as he heard his Queen sigh in irritation.
"What did this outsider look like?" she licked her lips, finding this newcomer interesting with him being unharmed by the sacred shield that these guards perfected in a millennium.
"His hair was the color of scorching flames. He seemed to be a young mortal in age but I sensed that he also possessed Faye within his DNA and... something else," the guard swallowed.
"Something else?" she asked curiously with a hint of a smile.
"Other spiritual energy seemed to corrupt his DNA that I am unaware of. Some dark energy that is ingrained, he must have acquired since birth."
Their Queen sat silently as she processed the information that was given, "Who knows about this?" she asked as the guards looked at each other and shook their heads.
"No one else your highness," they both said in unison.
"Keep it that way. I want you both to find a way to follow this energy and find out what world this young boy is from. I asked that this is kept secret. No word to my husband the King or other Reigning Monarchs."
"But your highness, Lord Iki-Ryo would surely have us punished severely for keeping things from him," the guard nervously said as he began to shake.
"If this outsider is considered worthless in his eyes, he will make sure the punishment will carry on until eternity for wasting his time. I will deal with him, I want to make sure before I bother the monarchy of the other realms, including our King Noboru. Is that clear?" she giggled as the men in front of her bowed lower before rising again to answer.
"Yes my Queen," they both said.
"Oh, and if you find others with unusual powers from the world in which he resides in, I ask that you capture them and bring them to me. Our Maesters will get a chance to study them and they'll let me know what they find before I take my findings to the others," she clapped her hands giddily as they left her presence. Once they were gone from her sight, she laid back in her chaise lounge wondering what this all meant.
"After all these years... could it be?" she bit her lip, closing her eyes deep in thought. "If he's somehow connected to Sora, I might finally get some answers. First, I'll just politely ask my son, 'Where in the hell is Orihime?' the beautiful Queen said maliciously through gritted teeth as she ran her fingers through her long mane of auburn hair.
I'm a big fan of Berserk and fascinated by the world Kentaro Miura has created. I love his use of fantasy and creates them in this dark atmosphere. I've decided that I want try to introduce a bit of that world in this story. Just let me know what you thought and if I should continue.
I loved writing the dynamic of Kazui and Ichika. I just think they are so adorable. I wanted Kazui's personality to be more like Orihime but I also wanted to have Isshin too. lol but later on you'll see his father's determination that I introduced in ' Life of Peace and Irritation.'
Miume is her father with a bit of Karin. I wanted her to have the sweetness of her mother and Aunt Yuzu, but know when someone is being an asshole and say brashly say something like her father would.
Tatsunari, I just love his character. Maybe because I loved melding Tatsuki's bold attitude and Keigo's silliness.
Akimo, I want to add more of her, if you guys want, cause I love Uruyu Ishida. Also, I most definitely will add Chad because he's a friggen part of the Karakura kids and I also love him too.