A/N I've decided to just add one-shots as I go. :] This one won't be as good, because I had the idea for so long that I completely forgot how I drafted it the first time, and totally rewrote it as I went along.
Bleach is disclaimed.
Someone Like You
Ichigo Kurosaki does not cry. He does not have a weak resolve, and he most certainly does not cry. But when he saw all the invitations to her wedding, he broke down and sobbed. She hadn't even invited him. He sobbed so hard his shoulders were nearly dislocated. It would've been humorous had it not been so depressing. He hadn't even cried when she walked out the door, with his heart in her hand. He had not cried when he'd heard that she'd been seen with countless other men after him. He'd barely shown any emotion since their brutal break up. All he did was drink and fuck. His friends were worried sick, but couldn't do much more than attempt to comfort their lost friend.
Ichigo had lost his resolve, his determination, his will to be indifferent.
Ichigo downed the last of his absinthe and began to feel the effects he'd been hoping for. This night was different from the rest, because this night he was more broken than he ever was. He moved through the mass of gyrating bodies and found a target. As far as he could tell, it was probably only because in the dark, her purplish hair looked raven. He tapped her on the shoulder, and asked for her company. He knew she would have to accept; his cocky nature and attractive looks could make any girl swoon.
"One Long Island Iced Tea for the lady, sir." Ichigo slurred out to the best of his ability.
"I prefer Blue Lagoon." She said quietly.
He looked at her closely, and under the dim lights, realisation flooded through his alcohol laced brain.
"Senna?"
"Hey, Ichigo."
He grinned sheepishly, forgetting his pain momentarily.
"Man, I really hate havin' ya see me in this state."
"I've seen worse, Ichigo. But I just wanted to drop this off with you, maybe we can talk some time." She said, handing him a small card.
He peered closely at the card. She was a shrink. Even she thought he needed help. Ichigo was having a great fuckin' day.
Ichigo scrambled to find his clothes as soon as he woke up to find himself in a foreign bed with a foreign girl. It was his daily routine. He was used to it. When he was finally ready, he called up the gang to let them know he was okay. That was also routine, no matter how much he hated it. He hated seeing his friends sad for him even more. He hopped onto his motorcycle and sped to the complex he shared with his friends. They'd all somehow managed to regroup again under the luxurious apartments of Urahara Kisuke. The orange-headed male headed up and went inside. His entire groups of friends were all talking loudly, but stopped as soon he came in. They quickly hid whatever they held in their hands away.
"Yo, Ichigo." came the chorus of greetings and false cheer.
"You guys can give it up. I've already seen the invitations." Ichigo said as he went to his room. He left his comrades in confusion.
"Well, that went well." Uryuu mused.
"Fuck up, Ishida." Grimmjow said. "I'm going to go talk to him."
Nel tried to hold the brash blue-headed man back, but to no avail. "Grimmy, don't you think he needs his space?"
"He needs her. That's what he needs." He replied.
"I agree. I think me and small dick here need to go talk to carrot-boy." Renji chimed in.
"Fuck you, pineapple. But yeah, we should go talk to him, before he leaves."
Tatsuki let go of the Abarai's hand. "Yeah, you two should talk to him before he leaves on another escapade."
"Wow, I have your support, Arisawa?" Grimmjow smirked.
"Shut up before I shove my foot up your ass."
'Don't cha think Renji'd get jealous?" and with that the man ran to Ichigo's room, with a furious Renji behind him.
"Hey, berry boy, open up." The Jeagerjaques called out.
"It's not locked." Ichigo called back.
Grimmjow and Renji entered, surprised to see Ichigo calmly playing a very violent video game.
"Dude, why didn't you invite us to play?" Renji yelled.
"You guys were too busy talking about my personal life."
The two other men looked at each other, shock etched in their faces.
Ichigo continued to drawl on. "Besides. I've made up my mind. I'm going to her wedding, regardless."
"Oooh Ichigo's got a spine! Wedding crasher." Grimmjow said with mirth.
"Nothing of the sort. I'm just going to be there. I want to see how happy she is, that's all. I suppose it'll give me closure. The closure that I need to begin healing my broken heart."
Renji butted in before the blueberry could get another word in before him. It was simple, but it did the job.
"We support you."
Ichigo looked up and smirked. His scowl returned just as quickly. "I don't need your support. I would've anyhow."
"Asshole." His two friends muttered.
From then until the wedding, Ichigo turned himself around. He wasn't the same Ichigo he was before, but he was damn close enough. And he hoped that would be enough to win back Rukia.
He almost stopped himself from getting into his car and driving to Rukia's wedding. He'd hate to show up out of the blue like that. He'd surely make her mad. But then he realised… he couldn't fight it. He had to, invited or not.
Rukia was surprised, to say the least, when she saw the masculine build of her former lover in a black tuxedo, at her wedding. A wedding her soon to-be-husband had made sure she didn't invite him to. She could not weaken her resolve now. She had to marry Kaien. She would not break another man's heart, the way she did Ichigo's. She did the only thing plausible. She walked straight towards him, with a glare piercing right through him. He was unnerved. He only smirked at her, his eyes regaining a bit of the warmth they had before. Once more, she was captivated by his amber eyes. Forcing herself to look away, she grabbed his arm and pulled him out to an inconspicuous garden.
"Well then, don't be shy, midget. Grab me all you' like." He winked and flashed her a toothy smile.
"Don't play with me, Ichigo. Why are you here?"
"I just wanted to make sure my old best friend was happy." "I had hoped you'd see my face, and that you'd be reminded, that for me, it isn't over" He thought to himself.
Suddenly, she felt like a cold bitch. "Sorry. Wedding day jitters, stress, the works."
"It's all good, shorty."
"So… How've you been?" She asked awkwardly.
"As good as any broken-hearted man can be."
"Please don't start, Ichigo. I'm getting married, and …"
"Just kidding, midget." He smirked.
"Oh." Before she could continue, her name was called out.
The pair looked awkwardly at each other, and then decided it was best to depart towards the waning crowd. As they made their way over, they saw movement in the bushes and a mischievous Ichigo signaled for the raven-haired girl to follow him to check it out. In the bushes, they found Renji and Tatsuki in a heated kiss. Ichigo and Rukia giggled profusely as the pair that was caught red-handed ran away, hand in hand.
"Doesn't that remind you of the time when we got caught in the garden behind your brother's house? He didn't let me see you for a week! We were so young then."
"Of course I remember! He lectured me about what a gauche and hormonal teenage boy you were and told me to never see you again!"
"You know how time flies… Only yesterday we were having the time of our lives."
"We had some glorious days, didn't we, Strawberry?" Rukia said quietly.
"We sure did, midget. We sure did." He answered earnestly.
"Yeah." Was all she could reply.
"So did you find what you were looking for?"
"What?" She asked, confused.
"The things you couldn't find in me. The things you'd said I couldn't give you. Did he give 'em to ya?"
She looked at him blankly, before replying. "I guess… all along, anything and everything I really needed was with you. But it's too late now, and I don't want to dwell on the past. At the moment, he makes me happy, and I'm getting married to him."
He gazed into her eyes. "He makes you happy at the moment. I could make you happy forever. Why can't you just swallow your pride and tell me your sorry? Why can't you just tell me that you want me, that you love me? It was like this back then, and it's like this now."
The woman turned away from the orange-haired man and opened the door.
"You will never, ever understand, Ichigo! This is what I need! What I want! I just need to find someone. Maybe it'll be someone like you. Maybe he'll be better. But this is for the best."
"You still love me though. Why can't you just tell me that you want me! Stop pushing me away! Just admit that you love me!"
"Sorry, Ichigo. Good-bye." And she walked out the door.
"That wasn't the sorry I was looking for." Ichigo muttered, as he sank to his knees.
She swallowed a lump in her throat and willed away the memory. She turned away from his piercing gaze. "Sorry, Ichigo. I can't hurt him."
"But you can hurt me, right? Well it'll be different this time. This time, it'll be me walking away from you." And with those words, he turned away.
"Wait. Ichigo."
"What?"
"I did invite you, you know. It was just that… he took the invitation and told me it was best if we didn't."
"I won't be there to watch you commit to a lie, Rukia. Good-bye."
He never looked back as he walked away from her. A silent cascade of tears fell from her face as she watched his retreating form.
A/N Yeah, not so good, and kinda sad too. The other ones will be much better drafted then this one, and won't be written from out of my ass the way this one was written. Cheers!
