A Mid-Semester's Day Dream
I know some of you were looking forward to this one so I thought I'd give you the first chapter to chew on. Be sure to let me know what you thing when you're done reading. I only live to serve.
Story:
Ichigo's substitute shinigami duties have been taking a toll on him. Waking up at odd hours of the night to chase down hollows in defense of Karakura town doesn't pay as well as one would hope. Being a high school student hero isn't all it's cracked-up to be.
Disclaimer: I do not own the beloved Bleach series nor the fantastical Shakespearean play to which the tale alludes itself.
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Hollow, hollow, hollow...
Damn. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, an orange haired youth sprung from the comfort of his mattress. Searching blindly in the dark, he grabbed the squawking badge from his desk and pressed it to his chest without hesitation. Leaving his body behind unceremoniously, he jumped through the bedside window. He relaxed for a moment to better sense the monster afoot, and then took off like a bat out of hell. Racing through the night at a pace few could rival, the youth cut down the souls who dared to disturb the peace of a modest town called Karakura. It seemed as one monster wailed it's last breath, another would appear to take its place. This did not phase him the slightest bit. He knew his duty was to protect the innocent people of his town and no creature would convince him otherwise. The night continued in this endless line of hollows until moments before sunrise. Returning wearily to his body, the young substitute shinigami flopped down heavily. The grace with which he scoured the shadows of the night forgotten as the bold warrior reclaimed his slumber.
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"-"
Huh?
"-"
Grrrrrr!
"!"
Whack, thud.
"The hell! Why the fuck can't I get any sleep old man!" An irritated teen lowered his foot, shouting profanities at the grown man laying haphazardly by his feet. "Who the hell wakes up their son with a surprise attack!"
"That's my boy~!" Came the man's muffled reply. "You make daddy so proud~!-Ooff!"
Kicking him for good measure, the youth stepped over his deranged father. "Whatever, just get the hell out of my room!" Scowling the young man scratched his bedhead mop of orange hair while glancing at his alarm clock. Just fucking great. I get what? Two hours of sleep at best, and on top of all that my psycho dad tries to murder me at the crack of dawn. Tsk, asshole.
Skipping breakfast in favor of avoiding another ambush, the youth arrived to school early. I really want to go back to sleep but... An idea popped into his head and he made a beeline toward the stairs. The roof. If I fall asleep there before class, no one will see me. Pushing open the door he surveyed the area to be sure he was alone. Satisfied with the empty space before him, he walked out to the center to lay down and nap before any of his classmates showed up. Perfect I have a good hour before anyone arrives, and another half-hour before the bell rings. Then I'll just...He drifted off before his thought even finished.
It hardly seemed that he had fallen asleep when a cheerful voice broke his rest.
"Ohayo Kurosaki-kun." Opening his eyes he noticed a figure hovering above him and obscuring the sun. As his eyes adjusted, he noted the auburn hair secured by blue pins, and large gray eyes surveying his person. "Ano, are you feeling unwell Kurosaki-kun?" The young beauty placed a small hand on his permanently folded brow.
Sitting up slowly he noted the cool and smooth texture of her palms before it slid away to press against her own forehead. Her face contorted into a comical expression while she gauged whether or not there was any difference between their heads. "Ano I'm not sure if-" She stopped mid sentence when he grabbed her hand before it could reach his own brow once again.
"Arigato, Inoue." A blush tinted her pale skin. "I'm fine." He said dropping her hand and raising to his full height. "I'm just tired. The hollow attacks seem to be coming more frequently." He dusted himself off before bending down to collect his back-pack and offering her his hand.
Taking his offer she marveled at his strength and the harsh rub of the callouses upon his palm. Looking away from his hand she caught his dark brown eyes embedded into his signature grimace. She ducked her head swiftly to avoid the intensity of his gaze and began to babble wildly. "I'm glad to hear that you're okay Kurosaki-kun! I was worried that the little blue-men..."
He tuned out her rambling, still a bit too tired to maintain much focus on anything and silently studied her. He noticed the gleam of sunlight upon her hair and the fluidity of it's movement while the wind encouraged it to dance. His eyes were suddenly caught by the quick blur of her hands as they elaborated on her tale.
His battle trained vision followed their wide arc and vibrant gestures with hardly any difficulty. At one point they passed by her face and he couldn't help but admire the plump peach-toned lips vibrating so swiftly to convey her wild thoughts. Then he returned his gaze to her eyes which seemed to be examining another world that his eyes could not visualize.
"...with out any gangsters-"
"Inoue." He cut her short and attempted to give an encouraging smile. "We should go." Adjusting the strap across his shoulder he turned for the door.
"R-right!" A blush swept across her features once more while she rushed to keep up with his long strides.
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"Settle down class, I have an announcement to make." The teacher's command was unheard and the class continued to chatter and fidget as adolescents often do.
"I said SETTLEDOWN!" She barked out and the students obeyed. "That's better." She commented while shifting her glasses. "Now as I'm sure you all know, next week-end is the annual Shakespeare Festival. Some of your fellow classmates will be participating in the play this year. I have promised them extra-credit for their participation and in all fairness to the rest of the class I will offer you the same opportunity."
She turned to the board and began to list the time, date, and location of the event for the interested few. I myself will be at the festival working backstage. Anyone who wishes to receive extra credit must come meet me there after the show and sign your name in this notebook-" She raised a black and white spiral notebook. " to receive extra credit."
Some of the class was listening carefully and copying the information on the board while others began to giggle and talk or dose off. Ichigo was one of those sleeping.
"I'm putting you all on the honor system. I expect you all to stay for the whole play and not just show up at the end. I encourage you all to support the festival and walk around for a little-bit. And absolutely no writing down names of friends who didn't attend. Understood?"
The class nodded and murmured in unison before she continued. "Good. That being said, in honor of this year's festival we will be reading Shakespeare's A Mid-Summer Night's Dream. Hopefully going over it in class will help you have some idea of what is going on in the play."
A few moans of pure teen-aged agony floated over the class while the books were being passed out. A stern warning against damaging or vandalizing school property was given though some present had already begun to doodle on the front cover.
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Several young companions gathered on the roof top to share a meal. Conversations fluttered about the group sometimes between two members and sometimes involving the whole assembly.
"What about you Tatsuki-chan? Are you excited for the festival?"
"Yeah I guess. It should be alright." The young fighter took a bite of her sandwich. "I'm supposed to hold up the lantern at the end of the play."
"Oh Tatsuki-chan! You're in the play? Why didn't you tell me! This is so exciting! I'll bring my camera and take pictures and bring you roses for after the performance and I'll make sure to clap extra loud when you come out to bow!"
"Don't over do it Orihime. Just knowing that you'll be there is enough." She patted the young healer on the back in gratitude.
"Oh no Tatsuki-chan! This is a momentous occasion! We should celebrate your success as an actress! Oh I know! We can throw you a surprise party for you great achievement!" The red head swiftly slapped her hands over her mouth before continuing in panic. "Oh no! You weren't supposed to know about the party! It was supposed to be a surprise!"
By this point in their interaction, Orihime had unknowingly garnered the attention of the whole group. Her loud cheerful voice and flailing arms made it hard to ignore her. The last part rang loud and clear around the group of friends and they all laughed heartily at her silly behavior.
"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to ruin the surprise." She said sincerely.
"Don't worry." Tatsuki slapped a hand onto her shoulder for reassurance. "You can just throw me one for my birthday." She commented with a big smile.
"Ah, you know about that one too! I must be a terrible friend." She dropped her head in woe but the rest of her friends couldn't keep from laughing again. A smile took over her face when she looked around to see all of her dearest friends enjoying themselves so completely. When her gaze landed on Ichigo though, a worried look took over.
She moved closer to the resting adolecent and tapped lightly on his shoulder. He remained still and she contemplated leaving him as he was.
Kurosaki-kun was sleeping this morning too. He must be so tired from fighting so many hollows. If only I were stronger, then I could fight too... Maybe it would be just to just let him sleep...but he hasn't touched his lunch. What if he has to go back to class hungry?
The first person to stop laughing was Tatsuki and upon seeing her friend hunched over Ichigo, she voiced her concern. "Eh? What's wrong with Kurosaki?"
"Ano, I found him asleep earlier this morning too. He said that there have been a lot of hollow attacks lately."
"He slept through the lecture today." Sado added.
Keigo wailed, not one for being left out of the conversation. " I never get to sleep in class~! I'd just get a detention~! Why does Ichigo get away with everything~!"
"Because you dolt-" Tatsuki set him straight with a swift hit to the head. "he's been dragged out of bed every night this week to fight monsters. What do you do at night?"
His eyes shot open wide and a blush covered his face as a hand shot up to the back of his head. "I uh- well nothing of course- I mean, I go right to bed- lights out!"
"Ugh, sorry I asked." Tatsuki as well as Mizuro who was sitting on the other side scooted a bit further from the boy. He began to wail again.
Orihime ignored the rest of the conversation and looked at her orange-haired hero.
I thought people were supposed to look peaceful when they slept...He looks so tired. I wish there was something I could do...
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With five minutes left of lunch Ichigo woke up and scarfed down his lunch in record time. A sound kick in the head from Tatsuki as well as a short lecture on how eating too fast is bad for you marked the end of lunch period. The group made their way back to class and banter about the much anticipated festival accompanied their walk.
"Yes, I'll be doing all the costuming for the play and I've done some research to make sure that all the costumes are authentic."
"Oh that's great Ishida-kun! It's wonderful that you put so much effort into your work!" Orihime turned to speak with the gentle giant next. "And what was it that you said you'd be doing Sado-kun?"
"I'm going to be a wall."
"A wall? Wow! You must be really good if they think you can portray a wall. You'd have to stand really still the whole play. You can't even sneeze or scratch your nose or else the audience will know that you're not a wall! I didn't even know that plays had parts like that. To think all this time I thought the scenery was just made of cardboard and paint! That's amazing, actors are so talented!"
Ichigo snorted and a smile broke through for a moment. "Those were cardboard and paint Inoue."
"Huh?"
"In A Mid-Summer Night's Dream, the character's put on a play and one of them is supposed to pretend he's a wall that two lovers talk through. It's supposed to be comical."
As they entered the class room and moved toward their seats, Ichigo glanced over his shoulder at the buxom beauty and smiled again at her confused face.
"But aren't they already doing a play?" She asked.
"Yes. It's a play within a play. That's what makes it funny." He shrugged and sat down. "Shakespeare was making fun of himself and actors in general. He was portraying the behind-the-scene stuff in the scene."
He could see the gears still turning in her head but could tell she was starting to understand. "So it's a play about putting on a play?"
"No, it's a play about how stupid people who fall in love can be." He didn't notice the blush she wore as it spread over her smooth complexion. "but during it, they pretend they are putting on another play as a part of the play they are already doing."
She slowly sat down too, still working it out like a math problem. "You sure seem to know a lot about plays Kurosaki-kun." She smiled sweetly toward him.
He blushed realizing his slip up. "Eh, I've read it before." He was saved by the teacher's entrance before he could do any more damage to his own reputation.
Damn. I need to get some sleep. I'm not thinking straight anymore.
He ran a hand through his hair and looked forward trying to pay a little more attention to this lesson than the last.
A row over and a few seats back, a blue hairpin sparkled in the light as it's owner bowed her head to think. How stupid people who fall in love can be...Oh, I'm such a fool...
The young girl dropped her head onto her folded arms. The shadowed eyes of a stranger watched her grief beyond the window pane and smirked when an amusing idea came to mind. After all, who doesn't like the classics?
The student's of Karakura High sat quietly in their seats while the teacher droned on about the intricacies of the algebraic formula. Pencils scrapped across paper as most of the students attempted to do the problems listed on the board. Others focused their attention on less academic ideas for the remainder of the day.
Little did they know, things in their little town were about to get a lot more interesting.
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Can you guess who our mysterious guest is?
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Best,
Aijou