*Star-chan* Last time to upload, I promise! XD Ritsu-san is now on board with helping me work on this, so it's being reuploaded to this collab account! :) Sorry for the weird uploading, but thanks for putting up with me and constant reuploading!
Permanent Disclaimer: Bleach and its characters belong to Kubo Tite and Shounen Jump. Our title, Requiem For Dissent, is owned by the music band Bad Religion.
Big brown eyes peered through the small window of the 2-B classroom. Outside stood a small girl, standing around five feet tall, not counting the few inches given due to her standing on her toes. Her lips puckered into a small pout, a soft whine was heard in the practically empty hallway. Her bright auburn hair was tied into a ponytail, her long hair collectively draping over her right shoulder, exposing the opposite one.
The girl wore a cool grey sweater, one that matched her eyes almost perfectly. Unfortunately for her, her top was too big and seemed like falling off her shoulders, repeatedly exposing her pale skin and colorful bra strap. She tried her hardest to abide by the school dress code and pull it back where it was supposed to be, but her sweater had a mind of its own. At least she didn't look too awkward, considering the rest of the girls at her school did it in the same manner to look stylish.
A black and white pleated skirt hugged her hips, the hem reaching to a little above her mid-thigh. She wore thigh-length socks as well, ending just a bit higher than her knees with gray flats adorning her small feet.
"Mou, where is Ichigo-kun?" She whimpered softly, eyes searching the empty classroom. If he wasn't where he usually was, where could her best friend be?
A quiet huff escaped her pink lips as she crossed her arms under her generous chest, her brows furrowing in slight irritation. They had walked home together every day for a while now, regardless of his after-school 'sessions' due to his rebellious nature, and she wasn't going to break the habit now!
Turning her foot and stepping into a pivot, the small teen began to make her way around the school again in another attempt to find her 'Ichigo-kun'. Her only problem was as soon as she became fixated on leaving, she ran into a built form behind her, a small "Oof," pouring from her lips upon impact. Running into people wasn't part of her plan so fast apologies quickly came.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to!" She spoke rapidly, backing off and away from the boy behind her. But as she glanced up to meet this person's eyes, she saw her familiar chocolate brown irises she knew so well. That and the flaming orange hair certainly helped as well. "I-Ichigo-kun!" She cried.
"Just how often do you think I get detention?" Kurosaki Ichigo scoffed, bringing his large hand to his hair, fingers running through his unruly locks. Orihime's cheeks burned as she laughed, doing the same motion to herself with her own head. Although upon noticing she was copying him again, she quickly retreated her hand.
Bringing her eyes to his lean figure, she wondered why he looked so different today. His blazing hair seemed to fall over his eyes quite nicely, giving him an air of mystery. He wore a white button-up shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. On his left wrist was a red sweatband for mere accessory purposes. Gray slacks stretched down to his ankles with black shoes fitting onto his feet.
"Never!" she told him in a stern voice, pumping her fist into the air. "Ichigo-kun's a good person; he could never get in trouble!" She finished in that sugary-sweet voice of hers. Rolling his eyes, he threw her brown bag towards her ample form.
"If I never get in trouble, why is this the third time this week you've been waiting outside the detention hall?" He questioned her, watching her almost dropping her bag. She was never good at sports due to those butterfingers of hers, but she still tried her best anyways. Her persistence and determination was always something he liked about her.
He could tell he hit the nail right on the head when she turned a bright red and flailed her hands, her already long sleeves flying around with her.
"T-That's because I was just searching the entire school for you! It was like a mission, you see! I needed to find you!"
"Even though we're in the same class and we sit right next to each other."
"Yes!"
Her reasoning was baffling. Screwing his eyes shut, he groaned at her words. Positivity was always a good thing, but she came up with the most bizarre excuses.
Ichigo dropped his bag at his side, pulling up his sleeves before moving closer to his friend. She turned quite a dark shade of red, spluttering words of confusion and embarrassment. "W-What are you doing, Ichigo-kun?" She flailed again, narrowly missing his face with her long sleeves. Grumbling, he promptly grabbed at the neck of her sweater, pulling it back over her shoulders. The accidental brush of his knuckles against her skin didn't go unnoticed and he was determined to keep the blush at bay. Soft skin or not, he wasn't a freaking pansy that would go super soft over his best friend.
"Keep your sweater on your shoulders, would you?" He asked harshly, his hands properly fixating her sweater back to school standards. "I don't want other guys to fucking look at you."
"E-Eh? Why's that?" She pouted, folding her small hands into fists as he fixed her top for her. "You know this is always too big on me..."
"I don't give a damn. Keep it on your shoulders." It wasn't that he was jealous of others, of course not. He just didn't want other guys looking at her so possessively as if she were an object, or the even worse rumor that went around, a freaking sex goddess. If they actually knew her, they'd see she acted like a child; something far from this heavenly being.
"Poo, you're so mean, Ichigo-kun," Orihime pouted, shrugging her shoulders while feeling the fabric against her shoulders again. He picked his bag up from the floor, dusting off bits of dirt off the bottom.
"I'm not mean, Orihime, I'm just telling the truth," he drawled out while taking a step towards the school's entrance doors. He could hear the pitter patter of her own feet trying to catch up with his long strides. It wasn't long until she walked by his side, slightly out of breath due to the short-lived sprint to him.
"Ano... Where are we studying today?" She asked softly, breathing deeply through her nose with big curious eyes focused on him. Rolling his eyes at her forgetfulness, he slung his bag over his shoulder.
"It's your day today," Ichigo responded casually, watching her out of the corner of his eye, noticing she was walking with a slight bounce to her step. Was she excited about something? Gasping, she suddenly threw her hands into the air, her bag following her. She just about hit him square in the jaw if he hadn't narrowly dodged the flying satchel. "W-What the hell?" He questioned, still scared out of his wits at the sudden explosion.
"I didn't tell my family!" She cried, eyes brimming with tears. "They're going to hate me for not informing them!"
"Orihime, I don't think-"
"And then I'll have to live on the street because they think I'm a horrible person!"
"Oi, you won't live on the street. I wouldn't let that happ-"
She immediately dropped to the floor in despair, tears starting to dribble down her cheeks and off her chin. "Waaah, I'll have to live under the bridge like a troll!" She sobbed, bringing her small hands to her eyes, dabbing away the salty droplets.
Just what the hell is wrong with her? Ichigo thought, groaning heavily at her outburst. He was familiar with her flare-ups of emotions, but this was by far one of the worse ones. Not to mention she was crying, and he really, really no good at handling her when she was crying.
"Oi, Hime," Ichigo called her name as he kneeled down to see her eye to eye. Rolling down his right sleeve, he sighed again to see she hadn't looked up yet. Placing his hand on the top of her head for a short moment, he waited for her to glance back up. She did and he saw the tears outlining her eyes.
He promptly brought his unrolled sleeve to her face and started to dry her tears. A squeak of surprise escaped her lips and she flailed her hands, all while stuttering his name.
"You won't have to live under a bridge," he told her, scoffing at her idea. "You could always come live with me if that were ever the case." She brought her small hands to rest on his risen arm and she pulled it away from her eyes so she could look at him clearly. She puckered her lips in confusion, tilting her head to the side. Glancing away, Ichigo muttered a few additional words. "God, I bet your sister would love that though..."
"Eh?"
Looking back at her, he gave her head a final pat before standing up. She still seemed to stare at him from the floor, cheeks a faint pink with baffled eyes.
"Are you coming or not?" He asked, rolling his sleeve back up and temporarily ignoring the soggy wetness of the fabric. As if caught looking too long, she turned a bit redder and nodded quickly, rising to her feet as well. She picked up her fallen bag and brushed it off in the same manner Ichigo did earlier.
Flashing him a bright smile, she bobbed her head in another nod to silently inform him she was just as ready as he was. Giving her a small smirk, they both began to make their way out of the school and towards their next destination.
"Tadaima!" Orihime called out as she lifted her knee to remove her shoe. The two teens got silence in return for a few moments as they took off their shoes and replaced them with their familiar slippers. However, Ichigo couldn't help but get a bad feeling in his stomach at the odd quiet. Her house was never like this; it was always loud and rambunctious.
A small rumbling could be heard faintly and Ichigo had to strain his ears to determine what it was. It wasn't a moment later a body flew out of nowhere and enveloped him in a tight hug, his head unfortunately wedged between two large breasts. Holding his breath, he mentally groaned at how this happened every fucking time.
"Okaeri, Orihime-chan!" A strawberry blond woman exclaimed, gripping him tighter. She stood a bit taller than Orihime and had blond hair with a red tint. Her eyes shone a bright cool gray color and she wore a smirk, all while gripping Ichigo into her large chest.
"O-Onee-chan!" Orihime exclaimed, raising her arms to flail them around wildly. "Y-You're killing Ichigo-kun!" Tears brimmed her eyes again as she grabbed a hold of her sister's arm, tugging on it insistently. Even now she could see his face turning red, border lining blue. It could only mean he had a lack of oxygen!
"Ah, so I am!" The woman raised her eyebrows as she pulled the boy from her bosom. "Okaeri to you, Ichigo-kuuuun~"
Ichigo fell out of the woman's arms and stumbled for a moment, trying to regain his balance. At least Orihime asked her to let go of him before it was too late. Shuddering, he could still feel the soft skin of that woman's breasts on his face.
Ugh!
"Do you have to do that every time I come here, Rangiku-san?" Ichigo scoffed, rubbing his face with his hand while fighting back a blush. She nodded and quickly stepped behind him, pushing him further into their humble abode.
"You're like family, Ichigo-kun! Of course I'm going to welcome you like such~" Rangiku purred before instantly wrapping her arms around his midsection, her slim fingers pulling apart the buttons and sliding under his shirt. "Mmmm, you've been working out as usual, I see!" She cooed, her digits travelling over his rock-hard abs underneath the white button-up.
He almost squealed like a girl had he not jumped out of her grasp, hands flying back towards his buttons with a heavy blush on his face. "N-Normal people usually don't feel others up!" He yelled out, stumbling back to Orihime's side. She watched him with puckered lips, her eyes wide with surprise and a blush settling on her face as well. In a distant sense, she was kind of jealous her sister could approach him so boldly like that. But on the flip side, she suddenly felt bad that she hadn't stepped in to stop her.
"Aha, that's where you're wrong, Ichigo-kun!" Rangiku grinned, sending a wink at her sister. "Orihime lets me feel her up all the time!" Using her hands, she motioned the actions of one grabbing another's breasts, fingers curling in and out. "She has such cute and perky breasts~" She chirped, almost tempting to go for her sister yet again.
"W-Wah, Onee-chan!" Orihime stuttered, raising her hands to her face in humiliation. "D-Don't say that to Ichigo-kun!"
"Eh? Why not?" Rangiku suddenly pouted, whining her question out. "Don't you li-"
"Orihime!" Another female voice called out as she entered the room. She stood a bit taller than her niece and had tan skin with vividly bright gold eyes, her hair tied high in a ponytail. Orihime smiled, practically out of relief. Her heart was racing a mile a minute because she was so sure her sister was about to say something she wasn't supposed to.
"Y-Yoruichi-san!" She squeaked, skipping over to her aunt. Ichigo stood in his spot, still trembling from the earlier groping of his own and the new information that her sibling attacked her breasts on a daily basis. This house was full of crazy women!
"Okaeri, Orihime," Yoruichi smiled as she turned her relative around, giving her a hug from behind. "Did you get in any trouble today?" She asked, glancing over to Ichigo with a smirk now playing on her face. He saw this and felt his stomach flip again, feeling very untrusting of that coy smile.
"Nope! Ichigo-kun and I were perfect angels!"
Ichigo deadpanned. Angels...? What the hell?
"I'm always glad to hear my little niece was good at school~" Yoruichi purred, her hands sliding upwards from Orihime's waist. Ichigo saw this and took a quick step forward, watching her actions carefully. The woman behind his friend saw his actions and swiftly cupped the small girl's breasts from behind, inciting a loud squeak into the room.
"W-Wah, Y-Yoruichi-san!" Orihime cried, small mewls escaping her as Yoruichi worked at her chest, weighing her assets in her palms. Ichigo had frozen in his spot for a short moment, his brain temporarily fried at the unfortunately crude scene in front of him.
"Hmm, I think you've grown, Orihime," the woman spoke matter-of-factly. Rangiku, whom was off to the side, grinned and put thumbs up towards her sister, congratulating her on her efforts.
"Good job, Orihime! You're going to catch up to me in no time!" She chirped, smiling with a proud look on her face.
It was in an instant that Ichigo was by the two girls, grabbing Yoruichi's wrists to pull them away from Orihime's breasts. Orihime was flushed a bright red as she looked up to Ichigo with soft, thankful eyes.
"I-Ichigo-kun..." She mumbled, her hands falling back down to her sides while Yoruichi's palms and digits retracted back to her own personal bubble.
"I think Orihime's had enough of your groping today," Ichigo told her sharply, glaring at her hard. An awkward silence filled the room as the boy watched the two older women carefully while stepping back to get their previously fallen bags.
Once picking them up, he handed Orihime hers and put the free hand on her shoulder, guiding her to the stairs. The smaller girl started her descent up the stairs while Ichigo held back for a moment longer to look at both of them, still scowling. Even if her family did crazy things to her, he still had to be respectful since they allowed him into their home.
"... Thank you for your hospitality."
And he retreated back up the stairs.
The soft click of the door latching shut sent a flood of relief through both of them. The closed entrance at least meant they had some sort of wall between themselves and the hectic women down below.
However, the two remained quiet. It wasn't so out of character for Ichigo to be more stoic and silent, but Orihime keeping her voice down somehow alarmed him a bit on the inside.
Regardless, he plopped himself down by the small work table in her room, deciding he would wait for her to talk when she wanted to. No matter how close they were, he would never force her to talk about something that could prove to be embarrassing to her.
Silently padding her way towards the table herself, Orihime let go of a small sigh as she sat down across from him. With her brows furrowed and a small pout, she could feel her cheeks burning incredulously, all because of the events back downstairs. She loved her family, hyperactivity and all, but the incidents from moments ago made her want to crawl into a hole and cry.
"I-I'm sorry..." She suddenly confessed while Ichigo was pulling out his homework papers. He stopped, letting them fall to the table as he raised a brow in confusion.
"For what?" He asked, now folding his arms across his chest. Orihime's stomach flipped as she blinked, quickly glanced back at the door, then back down at her lap.
"My family," she spoke quietly, folding her hands together nervously. "T-They talked about my... A-And Onee-chan did that to you," Orihime stuttered with her words, unable to finish various parts of her explanation. Another silence swept across them, sending some fear into her heart as to what he would say next. Her family did things to the both of them before, but this time was by far one of the most embarrassing times.
Her big gray eyes glanced up to meet his dark brown ones, instantly making her flush up harder. "Its fine," he told her in a low voice, never breaking his eye contact with her so she understood he was serious. "I mean, it happens all the time so I guess I'm used to it..."
His specific wording made her tense up and shift her eyes to the side. Now she felt even worse for letting it happen so often! But upon noticing her sudden change in body language, he felt bad as well for saying it in the way he did.
"No, what I meant to say was..." He grumbled, trying to fix his previous error. But how was he supposed to say it? Groaning in defeat, he brought his hand to cover his eyes, feeling even worse for hurting the girl across from him. "It's not like you did anything, so it's okay..."
Orihime opened her mouth to reply, but he glanced over his hand to give her a warning glare of sorts, immediately causing her to snap her mouth shut.
"It's really fine, so don't apologize, Orihime," he spoke quietly, feeling off for not being able to find the right words. She seemed to nod in acceptance, although her eyes still shone with confusion and guilt.
Orihime bowed her head down and began to rummage through her bags, still keeping silent. Ichigo just watched her careful, but slightly jumpy movements, almost curious in what she was thinking now. Did she still feel bad about what happened? Or maybe now she was thinking about how her aunt inappropriately groped her? Even the latter made the teen's cheeks grow hot, sharing the guilt for that as well.
Raising her head, she tucked her fallen strands of hair behind her ear while darting her tongue out to wet her lips. "U-Um... What are we starting with?" She spoke quietly, nervous eyes gazing at him. He had to swallow twice and look away to avoid turning even redder at her particular pose.
"Uh... I was thinking English Literature," Ichigo replied, bringing a hand to pull at his collar. "Unless you wanted to work on something else first."
"N-No, that's perfectly fine!" Orihime squeaked, immediately diving back towards her small bag. It took her a few minutes, but she soon had retrieved the papers for the said class, a small smile on her face. "I thought lesson today seemed pretty easy. Should we maybe try to do it on our own for a bit, and then ask questions if we need to?" Ichigo merely nodded gruffly before delving into his work, attempting to focus all his attention on the loose-leaf paper.
Although he figured she'd have trouble at one point or another. It wasn't that she wasn't good at English Literature, but that they were studying William Shakespeare, something that was confusing to any person. Being an avid fan of his plays and sonnets, albeit secretly, he could easily help her annotate and infer different parts of his writing. Regardless, he would have to work on his own until she needed his help.
So Ichigo scribbled away at their assigned sonnet, making small notes next to key phrases and words that would be worth remembering. For some reason, he always seemed to scratch down more notes on the sonnets relating back to love. But then again, Shakespeare was known for his sonnets on love, and as well as death, unfortunately.
"A-Ah, Ichigo-kun?" Orihime asked quietly, taking her paper into her dainty hands. "I need help..."
I knew it.
Nodding again, he motioned for her to come over by him so he could show her how to annotate properly. Shifting herself towards his form with a shy smile, she didn't hesitate at all to sit right in his personal bubble. Her elbow was touching his and her cheek was within inches of his own. For now, he would have to ignore her closeness and focus on their homework.
"What are you having problems with?" He asked, clearing his throat.
"Oh, um..." She seemed to fidget in her spot before putting her index finger to her lips. "All of it."
Rolling his eyes, Ichigo sighed lightly at her misunderstanding of the text, or lack thereof. But then again, he didn't think she would be able to get it anyways. Shakespeare was tough stuff.
She noticed his sigh and hunched her shoulders, suddenly feeling bad for saying what she did. "S-Sorry..." Orihime quickly apologized. Giving her a slight nudge, he gained her attention and brought her eyes up to meet his.
"Its fine," Ichigo reassured her. "That's why we study like this; to help each other." Her eyes seemed to light up at his comment and she beamed, soon returning her attention back to the paper.
"So... I was thinking that he was talking about how indecisive the sun is?" Orihime started, pouting her lips again as she pointed at a specific passage in the paper. "But I'm not sure that's right..." Shaking his head, Ichigo used his pencil to point at the same part of the sonnet.
"Nah, he's actually talking about a girl," he started, showing her the lines. "Well, most of his first hundred sonnets are related to love or some specific woman, so being this his 18th one, it's also about a girl." She seemed to gasp, surprised.
"Really? Show me where!" She exclaimed. Ichigo couldn't help but smirk a bit at her enthusiasm over Shakespeare. Hovering his finger over the first line, he leaned closer to the paper and to her as well.
"Here he's comparing a woman to a summer day," he started, watching her out of the corner of his eye. "Although he's saying this girl is more constant and lovelier than the sun. And because unlike the sun, which really shows up most during the summer, she's always there."
He could see her starting to fidget in her spot, her cheeks appearing to grow a bit pinker. Was she getting warm or something?
"Her beauty never fades either," his voice seemed to get softer as his fingers drifted over the paper. "Not time... Not death..." Blinking slowly, things seemed sluggish now as he explained to this to her. He looked at her, her big gray eyes staring right back at him. "She'll always be beautiful." He finished, half-wondering just when the hell the space between them got so close.
"... No matter what?" Orihime asked in the same tone of voice, her eyes fluttering closed for a few moments before opening again to reveal sparking gray irises. She leaned forward a bit closer, blushing at the feeling of his body heat radiating onto her.
Ichigo could only nod dumbly as he watched her and the slow, molasses-like surroundings, finding it peculiar that she looked at him the way she did. Not to mention her leaning towards him further piqued his curiosity.
Out of the blue, a loud, startling knock on her door scared them both. Orihime must not have expected it worse, seeing as she jumped back immediately. So far backwards, she began to fall, instinctively grabbing a hold of the back of Ichigo's shirt as she plunged to the ground. Flailing his arms as well, he moved his arms around and away from her small frame, doing his best not to squish her as they fell together.
Not more than a moment later, the two teens were on the soft, mesh carpet that was Orihime's floor. Ichigo did his best not to cripple her with his weight, but seeing as how fast they quickly fell (despite how slow time seemed to go), it couldn't be helped that they were caught in a compromising position. He hovered over her, his elbows propping himself up on the sides of her head, with his lower half nestled between her legs. Orihime's hands lay by her sides as she stared up at him with wide eyes and red cheeks, trying not to think too hard about how their chests were flesh up against one another.
"A-Ano, I-Ichigo-kun...I-"
"... It's nice to see you two working so hard," the voice from the doorway spoke solemnly. Instantly, the two teens sat up, both as red as strawberries. They seemed to avoid eye contact with another and focus more on the new person entering the room. "But don't stop on my account," the woman continued. "I'm just here to bring you two tea."
"T-Thank you, Retsu-san..." Orihime stuttered, watching her second aunt with careful eyes. Her motherly disposition always seemed to reassure her when she needed help, although she could be plenty angry and sharp when she needed to be. Orihime liked to think that without her around, it would literally be hell around their household. She worked as the figurehead of the home.
Retsu smiled at the girl as she placed down the tray with the tea cups. "Is there anything else you need?" Orihime shook her head probably a bit too fast, her auburn hair swinging with her wildly.
"N-No, we're just fine! But thank you for asking!"
Giving her a swift nod, the second aunt of Orihime's, whom could be recognized with blue-gray eyes as well and a black braid tied in the back, left just as quickly as she came. The two teens sat in silence once more, each almost too afraid to say anything; not after what just happened.
Bringing a hand to his neck, Ichigo rubbed the muscles in his neck, while glancing back at his homework. He knew Shakespeare was a romantic and, obviously, wrote about romance, but damn... He didn't think it would cause such sparks between the two. They were just friends, for heaven's sake.
... Weren't they?
Orihime seemed to shuffle her way back to her side of the table, avoid saying or even looking at him. He wouldn't lie; it did kind of hurt to be ignored like that. However, he knew she was one to get embarrassed over things easily. A prime example was how she was still brooding over her sister's antics from earlier. Although he understood; just hearing how she was handled like that on a daily basis was embarrassing in itself.
He returned his attention back to his own homework, dully scribbling away a few more, albeit meaningless note onto his sonnet. He could hear the scratching from her own pencil as well as the occasional sigh which he chose not to question.
Holding back a groan himself, he could feel irritation bubbling up at the awkward silence. It wasn't so bad earlier when they were working hard, but now he felt that they were hardly working. At least not with the memory of him accidentally on top of her still fresh in his mind. But if she hadn't pulled him down in the first place, things might not be so uncomfortable now.
Dammit!
Ichigo heard a soft yawn escape the girl a few feet away from him and he glanced up for a moment, watching her head bobble back and forth as he eyes fluttered closed for a short moment.
"Oi, why don't you lay dow-"
THUD.
Orihime's head fell to the table in one swift motion, even shaking the table a bit with her hard cranium. Ichigo nearly jumped out of his skin at the painful looking action, and was just about to go check if she was alright when he heard a snore escape her form.
S-She's... She fucking fell asleep?
Groaning again, Ichigo propped his head into his hands, wondering if he was to wake her up or not. Inwardly, he figured if he didn't see any blood oozing out of her skull, she might be okay for now.
A small strand of auburn hair that lay on the table interested him, and he picked it up carefully, twisting the locks around his fingers.
Damn, she sleeps like a log... He mentally commented, noting how she hadn't moved an inch from when she painfully fell to the table. If he didn't know she was snoring, he couldn't presume she was dead.
Noticing her bangs were falling over her face, Ichigo leaned over the table to brush them away, tucking them back behind her ear. He couldn't help but send a small smile her way as he did so, finding her expression oddly endearing.
But then he froze and snapped his hand back, his fingertips still feeling the warmth of her skin.
W-What the hell is wrong with me? He questioned himself, suddenly feeling very sick. Ichigo swiftly shoved his papers together and forced them into his bag, paying no mind to how crinkled and messy they were getting. He was stepping into dangerous territory with no good explanation, which meant he needed to get out fast before he did anything worse.
Standing up quickly, he made his way to the door, taking one last glance at her slumbering form while mentally apologizing. He would make up an excuse later for his sudden absence, but for now he had to leave.
"Sorry, Orihime," he quietly mumbled, gripping the doorknob tightly. And within moments, he was out the door.
.
.
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