Everything he wanted
An alternate universe Bleach fanfiction.
Chapter 2
A/N: I do not own Bleach and its characters.
14 July
"Last minute thing, she said!"
Strike.
"Can't tell me what it is, she said!"
Strike.
"Will make it up to me, she said!"
Strike.
"Stupid midget!"
Ichigo fell backwards on the mat while blocking a hit from his childhood friend with his shinai. It was no surprise that Arisawa Tatsuki was way better than him at a kenjutsu of any kind. He had long given up on trying to trump her even though he had grown up to be much taller and bigger than her. Tatsuki had the advantage of agility, speed, and foresightedness. It was because of these qualities that their sensei and former owner of the dojo had passed down the kendoschool to her.
"There's something else bugging you, Ichigo," she said, offering him a hand when he mindlessly dropped his wooden sword, accepting defeat even though they could still go on.
The orange-haired student doctor slapped her hand away as he got up from the floor and walked towards a bench along the wall. Tatsuki followed suit and settled herself next to him while dabbing her sweat with a towel. It was a really hot day so they didn't bother putting on the kendo attire. It was just a friendly spar, anyway.
"Talk, idiot, before you blow," she ordered, poking him with her shinai.
Ichigo heaved a long sigh. "I told you, Tatsuki. I'm just upset she's not around tomorrow."
The tall dark-haired woman shook her head. "Can't be just that. There must be something more."
"We get away every year to celebrate my birthday because she knows I hate parties. It's always been a way to save my ass from being dragged into some kind of awkward over-crowded area where I don't know how to handle all the attention to myself," he explained.
Again, Tatsuki shook her head. "You wouldn't make it such a big deal if it was just an annual birthday date."
"It's not a date."
She scoffed. "Stop lying to yourself. It's a date. You shut everyone else out on this particular day, every year for this date with Rukia. You even turned down Orihime and Senna those years when you were going out with them."
Ichigo narrowed his eyes. "So what? It's something I do every year and I'd like to keep it that way. Like visiting my mother's grave on her death anniversary."
"Which Rukia goes with you but that's another story to tell," Tatsuki pointed out.
He scowled. "And I'd like to keep it that way," he repeated.
"Ichigo, have you ever thought of what would happen if either one of you got married? Would you still be doing this annual shit together?" she asked, giving voice to something that had been on her mind since Ichigo broke up with her best friend, Inoue Orihime two years ago. She remembered it so well because she was stranded in Inoue's bathroom when the couple had their argument in the living room.
"Where are you going with this?" Ichigo asked, sounding jaded when his girlfriend questioned his relationship with Rukia. Again.
"Kurosaki-kun, we've been going out for two years now but we've never celebrated your birthday together. Last year, I thought it was something you had planned before we started dating so I didn't think too much about it. But last week, you did it again. You went out with Kuchiki-san the whole day on your birthday instead of going out with me," Orihime replied.
Tatsuki was getting nervous for the two of them. She didn't want to eavesdrop on them but they were only a few feet away from her on the other side of the bathroom door because Orihime's apartment wasn't that big. There was no way she could leave without walking past them to the main door. She couldn't climb out the bathroom window either because the apartment was on the 5th floor.
"It is something Rukia and I had planned before you came along. It's our annual getaway. I was hoping you would understand, Inoue."
Tatsuki could tell that Ichigo was trying not to raise his voice at the ever-gentle, ever-kind Orihime even though he was hitting his limit soon. They had been at it for the past half-an-hour and Ichigo had never been one to argue with a woman. Tatsuki had seen him walk away from such confrontations many times while growing up with him. He'd rather lose a fight than go back and forth arguing. Even with Rukia. Especially with Rukia, Tatsuki thought sadly. She already knew what was going to happen today and she only had herself to blame for hooking Orihime up with Ichigo.
The kendoka remembered what happened with Mayurama Senna three years ago. The latter was the first girl Ichigo had dated back in college. Well, if going out with Rukia all these while wasn't dating, like what he insisted. Ichigo's relationship with Senna was even more short-lived compared to the one he was having with Orihime. He started going out with Senna in April that year and it wasn't even all that serious before 15 July happened. The minute Senna brought up the matter of him going off with Rukia on that day, he had shut her out and told her, "I don't think we should see each other anymore."
Tatsuki always wondered why Ichigo never saw the pattern of his breakups happening around the time of his birthday. She couldn't blame Rukia for not realising it because the petite girl was studying in Nagoya during that time and she wasn't aware that Ichigo was seeing someone. But she did take leave from her busy schedule just to come back to Karakura to celebrate that special occasion with Ichigo. Sometimes Tatsuki wondered if Rukia ever found out about Senna.
"I'm trying to understand it this year," Orihime's voice snapped Tatsuki away from her thoughts. "But how many more years do I have to understand this, Kurosaki-kun? Will you ever celebrate your birthday with me?"
There was the sound of Ichigo exhaling in agitation. Tatsuki braced herself for his answer. She could almost hear it before he said it. "I don't know, Inoue. I'm a man of habit. There are some changes that I cannot adapt to."
"What really is your relationship with Kuchiki-san?" Again.
"Inoue," he began through gritted teeth. "First of all, Rukia is my best friend of five long years. And secondly, she has a boyfriend. We met them together. Remember that Ashido dude?"
"That doesn't even…" Orihime choked, her voice shaky. "We still call each other by our last name after two years, Kurosaki-kun. Will we ever be anything even remotely close to what you are with Kuchiki-san?"
Tatsuki held her breath – and tears, for her best friend's sake – as she listened to Orihime telling Ichigo to leave. The silence that took place between the time the main door clicked shut and Orihime's knock on the bathroom door was deafening. Tatsuki tried to work out how she should comfort her friend but nothing prepared her for the look on Orihime's grieving face when she opened the door that separated them.
"Would you still be doing this annual shit together?"
"Probably. I don't see why we won't," Ichigo replied with a shrug.
She rolled her eyes. "That's because you're looking at a future where the two of you would be married to each other."
"What kind of crap are you talking about now?" Ichigo spat. Despite himself, his face was slowly turning a little red.
He's probably thinking of Rukia in a wedding gown, Tatsuki giggled in her head. "When was the last time the two of you were single at the same time on your birthday?"
Ichigo scrunched up his brows in thought before replying, "I think it was the second year. I was 19. After that year, Senna happened." He visibly shuddered at that name.
Tatsuki chuckled. "Senna was truly something."
"She was crazy. She hunted Rukia down all the way to Nagoya University after we broke up," Ichigo recalled.
"It was a good thing Rukia had a boyfriend when Senna finally caught up with her. What was his name again?" Tatsuki asked.
Ichigo muttered angrily, "Hitsugaya Toushiro, the other asshole who cheated on her."
The usually boyish girl nodded absently, ignoring Ichigo's irritation. "Oh yeah, but she told me he didn't cheat on her, Ichigo. Like you, Hitsugaya merely prioritised his friendship with the girl he grew up with over Rukia. And then, they broke up in peace."
"Yeah, well, to me he still did cheat on Rukia."
Tatsuki smirked, "Just like what you did to Orihime two years later?"
Ichigo had nothing to say to that. He still felt guilty for hurting the only girl he ever considered as his girlfriend in all of his life. (Senna was someone he wished he could erase from his memories.) But Tatsuki was right: he did prioritise Rukia over Orihime. He felt bad about it but he knew if he were given an opportunity to change what happened, he wouldn't. He couldn't explain why. He just wouldn't.
"I ran into Rukia some time ago. She was looking for a place to rent after she moved out from the apartment she shared with Kano Ashido," Tatsuki told him.
"Yeah…" Ichigo nodded. "She's staying at the clinic for the time being. Dad is elated that his 'third daughter' is there now that Karin and Yuzu have gone to Tokyo."
Tatsuki laughed out loud as she imagined Kurosaki Isshin's excited behaviour, wailing at his wife's poster and telling her how happy he was that Rukia was staying with him. Some things never changed. Even though the old Kurosaki was an eccentric fellow, he was somehow the only constant in their lives. All of Ichigo's friends grew up to love the father they all wished they had.
Suddenly, a thought came to her. "What happened between Rukia and Ashido, though?" she asked.
"He proposed. She said she wasn't ready to settle down yet. So he called it quits."
Tatsuki raised a brow as she turned to face Ichigo. "She's not ready? I think he's not the one she wants to settle down with. The two of you have got to stop doing this."
"Stop doing what, Tatsuki?" Ichigo groaned in exasperation. "Please don't tell me…"
"See? You know what I'm talking about. Stop dancing around each other. Just own up your feelings. Get married and have a dozen kids, already!" she exclaimed in frustration, throwing her hands up for good measure.
Ichigo grunted, "We are just friends. We don't feel that way for each other."
Tatsuki shove a long finger at his chest. "You and Rukia are going to grow old unmarried if you don't do something about it now. It's exhausting seeing you like this. Even Orihime says the same thing."
Ichigo's eyes widened at what she said. "You two talk about me and Rukia?"
"Yes. But don't worry about it. She has moved on. She's just voicing her concern about the two of you. Rukia's her friend too, you know?"
The would-be doctor smiled at that. He was glad that things turned out okay with his ex-girlfriend. He did hear his cousin and roommate, Ishida Uryuu mention something about asking her out last Christmas. Not that he cared.
"Well, anyway, mind if I make a suggestion on what you could do tomorrow? Since you'll be having Rukia withdrawals," Tatsuki offered.
Ichigo glared at her. "I will not be having Rukia withdrawals, woman. Stop saying stupid stuff like that."
Tatsuki chuckled. "Whatever, here's another stupid stuff, then. Why don't you make good use of your birthday to think about how to tell Rukia that you are in love with her?" Tatsuki smirked, wiggling her eyebrows at her childhood friend.
Ichigo scoffed. "I am not in love with her and besides, I don't have the time for stupid stuff like that tomorrow."
"Oh? So you already have backup plans for when Rukia can't spend time with you?" she teased before taking a huge gulp of water from her bottle.
He scowled. "No. The old man decided to up my misery. I have to go clean up our store room in the morning."
Tatsuki snorted. "Of all the days. Have fun, then. I need to chase you out of the dojo now. Got a hot date tonight."
"Is it that Renji guy again?" Ichigo grinned. Abarai Renji was Rukia's childhood friend who had just moved back to Karakura a few months ago. Ever since Ichigo had introduced Tatsuki to him, the two of them seemed to have been going out a lot.
The kendo coach shrugged as she turned around to head towards the door that separated the dojo from her house. Ichigo didn't have to see her face to know that she was blushing.
"Lock the door on your way out, Ichigo."
And here's the second installment on the eve of Ichigo's birthday. Come back for the last one tomorrow.