Chapter 1: Her Grand Entrance
"Come on, Ichigo! You can't stay locked up in your hotel room forever!" Keigo yelled as he punched the door with his fists.
"Let him be, Keigo," said his best friend, Mizuiro. "He's been sick all week."
"Yeah, but this is just ridiculous. Who the hell comes all the way to Okinawa for a vacation and doesn't bother getting a hint of vitamin D?" Keigo asked. He continued to punch the door and yelled, "Ichigo, I know you're not dead yet so come out!"
When the door opened, Keigo and Mizuiro couldn't help but grimace at the sight of their friend. Room #1984 belonged to no one other than Ichigo Kurosaki, a soon-to-be senior at Karakura High School. While he usually kept his orange hair neatly spiked up and his face clean and well shaven, today his hair looked like it hadn't been brushed for days and the dark circles under his sharp, brown eyes were so noticeable that they almost looked permanent.
"Holy crap, Ichigo," Keigo gasped. "What the hell happened to you?"
"It's what happens when you get sick," Ichigo said quietly. He walked back to his bed and laid down, letting out a loud groan that vibrated through his pillows. "This sucks…"
Keigo and Mizuiro carefully entered the room and immediately regretted doing so. There were cough medicine bottles and used tissues all over the hotel floor. The trash can was overfilled with food from the restaurant in the hotel lobby that looked like it hadn't been emptied since the first day they arrived in Okinawa.
"Are you sure you caught the cold and not some kind of deadly disease?" Mizuiro asked as he hopped his way towards the bed.
"No joke. You're not going to start decomposing and turning into a zombie on me, are you?" Keigo chimed in.
Ichigo lifted his face up and glared at Keigo. "Shut it."
"And these tissues…" Keigo's face became pale as he tried to kick a tissue that was stuck to the bottom of his left shoe. "You did use them to blow your nose and nothing else, right?"
Ichigo grabbed an empty box of Kleenex from the table and threw it at Keigo, who easily dodged out of the way. "Really? That's all you can think of?"
"I'm kidding…We've just been worried about you," said Keigo.
"Sorry. I really didn't expect to get sick all of sudden. This crap came out of nowhere," said Ichigo.
This had to have been the worst vacation that Ichigo had ever been in. During the last semester of his junior year, Kisuke Urahara, the headmaster of Karakura High School, made an announcement that the class that finished the year with the highest exam score would win a 5 day vacation to Okinawa. Although Ichigo's class won the contest, out of the 30 students in Class 2-B, he was unfortunately the only one who had to barricade himself in his hotel room due to having the unusual luck of being sick. What started as a slight discomfort in his stomach led to coughing, high fever, and body ache that lasted for the entire duration of their trip.
"Well…we do fly out tomorrow. Do you think you have enough energy to go to the Mihama American Village with us?" Mizuiro asked.
"Yeah, why the hell not. I have to enjoy at least one scenery while I'm here. Give me few minutes to get ready," Ichigo replied.
"All right. We'll wait for you downstairs," Mizuiro pushed Keigo out of the room, who was still trying to get the tissue unstuck from his shoe.
When Ichigo came down to the lobby, he found Keigo and Mizuiro talking to Orihime and Tatsuki, two girls who Ichigo was also friends with. Orihime earned the valedictorian spot during their first year and maintained the rank since then, but she was also a total disaster when it came to cooking. Her favorite hobby consisted of creating new recipes but her creations left her friends appalled due to all the random ingredients that she put together. Tatsuki, on the other hand, was an extroverted athlete with blunt attitude who dominated in all the sports clubs that she joined. She led her teams to numerous championships and was even scouted by the boys' teams due to her talent. Although the two didn't have much in common, they were undeniably inseparable.
The rest of the day went by smoothly, with Ichigo and his friends enjoying their last day by exploring the quiet and peaceful scenery that the village had to offer. While they were at one of the souvenir shops, Ichigo pick up a key chain for his little sister, Yuzu. Orihime approached him as he picked up a teddy bear keychain.
"Yuzu would love that," she said.
"Yeah. You should see her bedroom. She is starting to become a total addict when it comes to teddy bears," said Ichigo. "I thought by now she'd outgrow it but I guess she hasn't hit that stage yet."
"I would like to buy one for her as well."
"Oh, you don't have to—"
"I insist. I was her math tutor for a while, after all."
"Well then…thank you," Ichigo smiled.
Meanwhile, Keigo and Tatsuki watched Ichigo and Orihime's interaction from a counter nearby. Keigo leaned over to Tatsuki and whispered, "You think those two will cut the crap and start dating?"
"That'll be the day," Tatsuki rolled her eyes.
Despite the amount of effort she put in trying to convince Orihime to make the first move, she knew Orihime was more likely to keep her feelings hidden and let the chances slip away. As for Ichigo, he simply seemed too oblivious to even notice Orihime. As she continued to watch the two, she saw Orihime pick up a keychain from the display rack. Her eyes narrowed as soon as she saw the design—a teddy bear holding a soccer ball. She tried to stop but she knew she was already too late as her best friend handed it to Ichigo.
Orihime did not realize what she was doing until she saw the hint of sadness in Ichigo's eyes. She gasped and tried to snatch the item back.
"Ichigo, I—I'm sorry…" she muttered, horrified by her actions.
"No, don't worry about it. I think Yuzu would like this better than the one that I picked out," he reassured her.
"But..."
"If you don't mind, I would like to pay for his myself instead. Thank you for helping out, though."
Ichigo gave her a polite smile before walking over to the register. She felt a hand on her shoulder and saw Tatsuki standing next to her, her eyes filled with sympathy.
"Tatsuki…I didn't mean to hurt him," Orihime tried to explain.
"It's okay. He knows you meant well. If it bothered him that much, he would've let you know just now. It's a scar that will take long time to heal completely, that's all. Don't let it get to you."
Orihime was a little relaxed as she listened to her reassuring words but could not shake off the guilt she felt. She tried to take the first step to get a little closer to Ichigo…but failed and ended up making him stray further away than he already was.
Ichigo and his friends were waiting for the shuttle bus to return to the hotel when they saw a motorcycle parked by the sidewalk. It wasn't just the bright, pink color that made it stand out, but a large drawing of a bunny on the side of the motorcycle.
"Well, well, well…this is something you don't see on a daily basis," said Mizuiro.
"It's quite flamboyant to be riding this on the street," Tatsuki commented.
"Who cares? Ichigo, can you take a picture of me with it?" Keigo asked as he tossed his cell phone. Ichigo shrugged as Keigo posed next to the motorcycle.
"Stop right there!"
The group stopped and turned around, only to find a girl around their age running towards them. She was wearing a ball gown and was holding a white bag that matched Ichigo's. Just few yards behind her, two men in black suits were running down the stairs chasing after her, yelling at bystanders to catch her.
"MOVE!" The girl ordered Keigo, who immediately obeyed. But she bumped straight into Ichigo and they both dropped their shopping bag.
"Really…?" She muttered as she glared at him.
"I'm sorry. Are you okay?" Ichigo tried to help.
"Hey, kids! Stop the girl!" One of the guards ordered.
Before Ichigo could react, the girl snatched her shopping bag off the ground and sat down on her motorcycle. She then pierced a hole through her dress with her keys and completely ripped off the bottom half, revealing her toned legs as well as her four-inch stilettos. She threw the dress on the ground and started the ignition, enthusiastically raising her middle finger at the guards as she sped off onto the highway. Ichigo and his friends watched in shock by the event that unfolded in front of them while the guards cursed at the sight of her disappearing.
"We lost Chappy…" One of the guards growled as he pressed a button on his walkie-talkie. "I repeat—we lost Chappy!"
"Thanks a lot for your help," the other guard said sarcastically before the two headed back.
"What was that all about…?" Orihime asked in bewilderment.
"Dude, she was a total badass!" Keigo exclaimed. "Not only did she run like a pro wearing stilettos, she gave us a peep show of her legs and they were fine as hell! Did I mention she was running in stilettos?! Freaking stilettos! What kind of sorcery is that?!"
"Calm down," Tatsuki sighed as she patted him on his shoulder. "Someone like her is probably not worth your time."
"How can you say that? Did you not see her?!" Keigo continued to yell in excitement.
"We all did. But not a lot of people can pull that off. She's probably a delinquent or someone who works at a hostess bar. Why else would she be dressed like that in the middle of a day?" Tatuski answered.
Orihime picked up Ichigo's shopping bag and gave it to him. "Here you go."
"Thank you." As Ichigo peeked inside to see if his souvenirs were unbroken, he immediately blushed. "What the hell?!"
His friends peeked inside the bag and blushed as well. What was supposed to be a keychain inside had now been replaced with a black, lace thong.
"Like I said…not worth your time," Tatuski shook her head.
"We should go back and get your sisters another gift," said Orihime.
Ichigo sighed in frustration. "Just one problem. My wallet was in that bag."
Luckily for Ichigo, there wasn't much in his wallet except for cash and his student ID. What upset him was the fact that the wallet was a hand-me-down from his father who received it as a gift from Ichigo's mom before she passed away. The only thing Ichigo could do was hope that the girl who took his shopping bag was kind enough to mail his wallet to his school.
The morning of his first day of school started off just like any other day. Ichigo's father, Isshin, left to work before sunrise and Yuzu had breakfast prepared by the time Ichigo finished getting ready. On his way out, he looked at the family portrait that hung on the living room wall and smiled sadly as he stared at his deceased mother and his other younger sister, Karin. Yuzu was nervous about starting her her third year in middle school and as much as he tried to comfort her, Ichigo knew there was only so much he could do. It wasn't easy living without a mother...but to also lose her twin sister forced Yuzu to grow up faster than other kids, completely stripping her chances of living with a normal childhood.
It was a sunny and beautiful morning and Keigo and Mizuiro were waiting for him in front of the house, just like how they have always been there since middle school. Today was going to be same…or so he thought.
"Welcome back to your final year, kids!" Miss Misato exclaimed as she stared at her 25 students. "I am pleased to announce that I will be your homeroom teacher again. I can't tell you how pleased I am to be the one to help you get ready for college! We are going to have one fantastic year!" She looked down at her attendance log and quickly scanned the room. "Hmm…so Sho and Hitoshi decided to skip their first day, huh? Well, they will show up later this month so that's okay!"
She ignored her students' confused reaction and continued. "Before we start, I have a special announcement to make. We have a brand new student who will be joining us. She attended private schools her entire life so this is actually her first time attending public school. Come on in!"
The door slid open and Ichigo gasped as soon as the new student entered inside. She was short, petite, with black hair that rested neatly against her shoulders…the same girl who sped off with his souvenir gift in Okinawa. The girl stood next to Miss Misato's lectern as she wrote her name on the chalkboard.
"Class, this is Rukia Kuchiki."
"No. Freaking. Way." said Tatsuki.
"That's the hot chick with the rabbit bike!" Keigo said in disbelief.
The students whispered among themselves as they waited for her to bow. When Rukia continued to stand still, Miss Misato leaned next to her and whispered, "Um…aren't you forgetting something?"
Rukia raised her eyebrow and stared back.
"You have to introduce herself," said Miss Misato.
Rukia raised her hand and gave a single wave. "Hey."
The whispers became louder as the students talked to themselves. Miss Misato laughed as she slapped the lectern with her attendance log to keep her class quiet.
"That's one way to make a first impression. I like that. We do have few vacant desks—"
Rukia did not hesitate and walked over to Ichigo's desk, never keeping her eyes off of him. She stopped in front of him and watched in silence as he began to tense up.
"Um…hi…?" said Ichigo.
"Where is it?" She demanded.
"Where is…what?" He asked, already dreading her reply.
"Where is my thong that you ran off with?!"