Writer's Note:
Thanks to all the reviews so far~! I'm determined to finish this story - and complete it! There will be Rukia's blind date this chapter - and some Ichigo and Mai interaction! Review if you can! :)
Chapter 3: Complications and Nightmares
"Thanks for coming out Renji - especially on such short notice," Jackie smiles, as Renji hands their waiter the bill for their dinner. Jackie invited Renji to dinner, to work on the project for Ukitake-san's friend, and they did get a little off topic, but they ended up getting a lot of the ideas down for the new ad.
"Of course I'd come out - or else I'd be stupid for missing a chance to talk with you. Since we barely talked last week," Renji answers roughly, but Jackie can tell he actually meant for it to be a heartfelt statement. It is the closest thing Jackie's going to get to something romantic coming from Renji's loud mouth. "I thought we already talked about this - and I had no idea you cared about me that much," Jackie responds swiftly taking a sip from her wine glass. Renji chuckles his mouth forming a challenging smirk, "Well, maybe I do care," his tone suggesting something more.
Jackie isn't quite sure whether or not this is classified as teasing between friends, or possible flirting between two people. She decides to go along with it, "Well, if you care so much then you might as well take me out again - on a date."
Jackie instantly regrets saying those words, she has no idea how the word date got thrown out so quickly. Renji seems surprised by her statement, and Jackie's face turns a slight shade of red - realizing Renji probably had no feelings whatsoever for her. She was stupid for even asking him to join her tonight. Of course he has no interest in a boring girl like her -
"Sounds like a great plan - your plans are always spot on anyways Jackie. How bout next weekend sometime?" Renji states, a smile slowly forming on his face, and on the inside he finds Jackie looking quite cute with blush tainting her skin - he could never admit it to her though, or the fact that her body fit in that black dress perfectly he could barely stop his eyes from moving down her dress.
Jackie's eyes seem astonished, and Renji wonders if she was only kidding about the date, thinking he maybe took things too far for one night. Then again, he took things much farther the other time he went out drinking with Jackie, well more specifically when he was drinking, she didn't touch any alcohol. Renji at first was certain he didn't want to remember that night - but as the week passed he realized how much he enjoys talking with Jackie. The revelation that he had hidden feelings for Jackie took awhile to get used to, but seeing her in that dress, with that playful look in her eyes wasn't helping him control his feelings at all. The moment she opened her large red lips, Renji new he was going to set things straight between them, and let her know his true feelings.
He couldn't handle lying to her anymore.
"Renji," Jackie's voice brought Renji out of his thoughts, and his eyes fall onto her brown irises. Her voice is like melting caramel, it's smooth and warm at the same time. It made Renji feel calm and at home for some reason maybe even more at home than Rukia's voice, and he's known her since high school.
"This - whatever this is - we can't do it," Jackie's voice seems confident, but towards the end lost it's certainty, her voice cracking slightly. Her eyes are downcast at the white table cloth, and Renji wishes she'd just look him in the eyes. He doesn't understand why she's being so hard-headed. Jackie whispers so softly Renji would've missed it if he didn't block out everyone else in the room, "I'm sorry."
The next thing Renji knew, Jackie abruptly stands up and Renji says, "Wait a minute, Jackie - we should" - but she shakes her head repeating an apology to the man in front of her, her eyes are still looking at anything but the red-haired man she's grown close to - the man who knew everything about her.
Renji is frustrated with Jackie's apologies, since she's much stronger than this - he knows she is. She quickly leaves the table and Renji calls after her immediately, "Wait!" as he grabs his jacket from his chair, and pushes past a waiter almost knocking them over to catch up to the woman he's possibly in love with. All he wanted was to find out whether they did care for each other, to just give it an actual chance.
Renji knows deep down in his heart that Jackie wants to take the chance too - she's just too afraid and feels guilty because she doesn't want to ruin anything that they have now. But what they have now, is it really just a friendship? Was being excited to make her laugh, and hoping to run into her whenever he went out really just a friendship? Was thinking of how pretty she is and wondering if they could ever be something more really friendship?
Renji opens the entrance to the restaurant's door, nearly running into a few people trying to get in. He sees Jackie walking quickly ahead, and catches up with her walking by her side. "Jackie, listen, we should talk this over," Renji suggests but is declined immediately, "There's nothing to talk about - I already told you I" -
Renji growls angrily at Jackie interrupting her sentence by grabbing her arms and turning her to face him. Jackie's eyes stray away from Renji's searching eyes and Renji's hands instinctively tighten around Jackie's upper arms. "You're not looking me in the eye Jackie. Just tell me the truth. You can't just wave off the possibility just because you're afraid."
"I'm not afraid!" Jackie shouts back at him loudly, her eyes glaring at him as she pushes the man away.
"Then why aren't you giving us a chance?!" Renji explodes, his voice seeming impatient with her, his eyes seem slightly hurt though and Jackie's heart aches just seeing him like this. She opens her mouth to respond but nothing seems to come to her head - she can't admit to him that she's worried about their friendship - or what other people thought at work, or how unprofessional it was. Renji wouldn't give up - she knew that better than anyone.
Renji speaks softly, his fists clenching by his sides and his face looking towards the ground, "If you don't want to talk about it then fine - just don't come crying to me when you realize that we're worth it."
Before Jackie can answer him, the tall man walks past her and Jackie instinctively knows she should grab him and stop him before he goes, that this is the one chance she has to make things right, to clear it all up. But she retracts her right hand from reaching out to him, and put her left hand over her right hand, physically stopping herself from reaching him.
Jackie stands in the busy sidewalk, watching Renji's tall figure disappear into the crowd around her. She regrets everything she said to Renji - but she knows that wasn't true. She didn't regret asking him to take her on a date, no matter how many times she tells herself it was wrong she can't regret it. Jackie finds herself wanting to cry but she isn't quite sure why, her feelings aren't the ones who got hurt - she hurt Renji's feelings.
Maybe that's all it took to let the tears begin falling.
(^.^)
Rangiku gives Rukia an encouraging smile before Rukia closes her door, and begins walking into the fancy high end restaurant. Rukia concludes that no regular person would come to this place unless they were rich - she hopes the date wouldn't take too long, she promised Rangiku no more than an hour; she secretly hopes it takes only thirty minutes. Ever since her older sister started setting up these horrible blind dates to get Rukia into the dating scene, she's met snobby obnoxious men who brag about their successful lives and stare at her as if she's some sort of prize to be won.
She couldn't blame them - almost everyone knew of her successful brother-in-law, being with her would provide a million connections for their companies, it's no wonder they looked at her that way. Rukia just wishes she could somehow change her name, so that people would stop associating her with her brother-in-law, she barely ever even spoke with him - and when she did it meant a scolding or an interrogation about every little thing she does. He's a nitpicker, if Rukia slips up ever so slightly, Byakuya would be the first to know and in no time, Rukia would be honoured with a call from him when she arrived home.
Rukia takes a large breath to mentally prepare herself as she walks towards the hostess at the restaurant's entrance. "Welcome to Narisawa, do you have a reservation?" the bright hostess asks her smile very welcoming towards Rukia. Rukia gives the woman a smile and replies, "Yes, a reservation under Hisana Kuchiki."
"Ah, yes of course, Kuchiki-san, your table is ready for you. Your waitress, Harribel will take you to your table," the hostess motions towards the waitress named Harribel who has bright blonde hair that stands out against the others in the room. Harribel begins walking Rukia to her table and Rukia follows, becoming nervous immediately. She's still wearing her work clothes, and she's pretty sure her hair is a complete mess, and that she probably smells bad since she hasn't used any deodorant since the morning. She tries placing some hair behind her ear in order to help in some way - but doing so provides no comfort to the small woman.
Harribel stops in front of a table for two, and Rukia sees that the man sitting there has black ebony hair like hers. The man realizes Rukia has arrived once Harribel motions her head towards me. The man stands as Rukia finally makes her way to the table. He turns to face her, a small smile forming on his oval face, and Rukia is immediately drawn to the man's aqua green eyes, he is also very much taller than Rukia, she finds her neck stretching to actually get a look at the man she's going to have a date with.
"Hello, Rukia-san, it's a pleasure to finally meet you. Hisana-san talks a lot about you," the man says, whilst stretching his hand out awaiting Rukia to return the handshake. Rukia notices that the man is incredibly handsome - she isn't surprised since most of the men Hisana set her up with were practically models, but the air around this man seems different. She hopes this date won't be as excruciating as the others. Rukia shakes the man's hand and allows a smile to fall onto her pink lips, "The same for me. Hisana does that a lot - it gets out of hand sometimes, so I apologize if she's a handful."
"Ah, it's fine, Rukia-san. I'm Kaien Shiba by the way - forgot to tell you," he says while scratching the back of his head and smiling down at her. Rukia thinks the man is kind of strange, but funny at the same time. She sits down, and Kaien seems like he's about to help her into her seat until he realizes she's already seated down. He chuckles awkwardly before sitting in his seat.
The two decide to order their drinks and food so that they get their dinner sooner. Once Harribel leaves, Rukia takes a small sip from her glass of water. "So, how much convincing did your sister do for you to accept the date?" Kaien questions nonchalantly, and Rukia almost spits her water out of her mouth in pure astonishment. She stops herself and just swallows the water, before saying, "What? How did you" -
"Im not stupid, Rukia-san, I can tell you don't want to be here."
Rukia sighs and looks away from the man who generally seems nice, she feels bad for not giving him a chance but going on this date just felt so - unnatural, it's not like they decided this by having some natural attraction. Hisana just picked him from a bunch of single men who work near Byakuya's large company. Rukia looks up and raises her eyebrow, "Are you always this straightforward on dates?"
"Yes - I guess you could say that," he laughs at her comment, tilting his head slightly and Rukia laughs as well. She notices the man doesn't seem quite comfortable as well and Rukia comes to a realization, "So, who's the girl?"
"Huh? What girl?"
"The girl you're in love with - or dating - or are" -
"Okay! Okay, I get it! Well, I've been seeing this one girl, but my sister, Kukkaku keeps pestering me like your sister, to find a successful woman, like you. So that's why I'm here," Kaien explains, his eyes losing the happiness in them from before. Rukia felt bad for the man and she smiles to Kaien and states, "Tell me about her - I'd love to hear about you guys. Maybe I can even help you out!"
Kaien's dull eyes brighten and they lock onto Rukia's seeming much more thrilled to be talking about this woman. Rukia can't help herself from feeling disappointed that this man was taken - he wasn't anything like the others; he didn't care about success or money or even who Rukia's related to, he cares about a person's character. Rukia likes this about Kaien, she wishes that he gets a happily ever after with this woman - at least then someone while have their happy ending come true. And this time it won't be some fairy tale - it'll be a real life happily ever after.
(^.^)
Rangiku cusses for the millionth time at her phone, dying again on the stupid game she's playing. She throws the device into the cup holder, fed up with it, and decides to just look out the window and hope this endless waiting will be finished soon. She may be unlucky and have to wait the one time Rukia meets a guy she can actually see herself being with. But knowing how picky Rukia could be at times - she seriously doubts it should take too long. Rangiku is always a very impatient person, the bad quality never seems to go away; as a kid her Father would always tell her she should learn to become more patient. Boy did she need that right now - the wait for Rukia was absolutely killing her right now. She needs a distraction, something, anything that can-
Rangiku's phone vibrates loudly against the cupholder, and Rangiku quickly turns her head towards the phone, seeing the caller ID written across the screen, the phone vibrating again. The phone has the last person in the world Rangiku wants to talk with - Gin Ichimaru. She instantly decides to ignore the man, since he's always ignoring her - but she then realizes that she'll have to do nothing but stare at the boring sidewalk for who knows how much longer.
She quickly grabs the phone and slides to answer the call, saying seriously, "Hello, Gin," not sounding too happy to be talking with the man. She wants to make it clear that Gin can't get away with everything all the time - that there can be consequences for his actions.
"Rangiku I" - but Gin immediately coughs loudly into the phone before he can finish his sentence. Rangiku wonders if someone has taken the phone but Gin's voice is still heard from the phone, "I'm sorry - all weekend I was sick, I could barely even get out of bed." Gin begins coughing again, and it sounds like he's seriously ill. Rangiku forgets about her anger to the man and her voice fills with worry, "Are you alright? Where are you anyways? You better be having soup at home!"
"I'm fine Ran-chan, don't worry about me like that, okay?" Gin says softly, but his voice sounds hoarse and cracks throughout his reassurance. Rangiku forgot how soft Gin's voice turns when they used to talk in her room late at night when she was young, she also missed her old nickname that Gin always called her. She didn't realize how much she missed hearing his voice till now.
"Your not fine, I mean" -
"Oooo Gin's on the phone with his girlfriend~! How kawaii~!" a high pitched woman's voice exclaims, and Rangiku cringes at the loud voice since she's still recovering from drinking so much alcohol. Rangiku then becomes angry thinking Gin is somehow playing with her, and saying that he's sick when he's actually fooling around with some girl.
"Mashiro-san, quiet down, the customers will-" Gin begins saying but is interrupted by another woman's voice, "Gin, I had no idea you have a girlfriend - tell me who~!" Gin sighs loudly against the phone, and Rangiku wonders where the hell Gin could be.
"We're not dating, we're" - but Gin is interrupted once again, and Rangiku can hear shuffling near the phone's speaker, and it's when she hears one of the woman's voices that Rangiku figures that Gin's cellphone was taken from his hands.
"Hello, Gin's totally not girlfriend, but causes Gin to whisper sweet nothings during work~! It' s a pleasure to meet you - I'm Riruka!" Riruka giggles towards the end, and Rangiku finds herself blushing deeply, but laughs at the hilarity of Gin in the background yelling at Riruka to give his phone back. It's only when Gin begins coughing loudly, sounding extremely ill that Riruka gives the cellphone back to the sick man. Afterwards, she hears Gin's footsteps as he walks to another more quiet room.
"Sorry about that," Gin says quickly, and Rangiku wonders whether he's apologizing about their conversation being interrupted or about not meeting up with her last night.
"It's fine. Why are you at work anyways? - You're sick Gin!" Rangiku scolds him as if he was still that 6 year old boy she met in those wheat fields.
Gin coughs before answering his voice cracking, "I have to - but I promised Riruka-san I'd leave early, the real question is what are you up to?"
"At the moment I'm stranded in my friend's car, waiting for her to be done with her hot date. I was drinking, so I can't go home yet - at least with her still on this date," Rangiku explains trying to sound less whiny than inside her head, she didn't end up succeeding.
"I'm coming now," Gin states firmly, sounding sure of himself.
"NO! I'm fine, you should go home and rest, I'll just wait!" Rangiku protests, but finds herself wanting Gin to not listen to her and still come to pick her up.
"Ran-chan, I know how bored you get when you wait around doing nothing. You're worse than a two year old."
"Am not!" Rangiku exclaims.
"You're acting like one right now! I'm coming Rangiku - you can't stop me," Gin states and he sounds desperate, as if driving her home was his only option to stay alive - he sounded that worked up about it. And Rangiku couldn't say no to that voice, she knew it cause Gin rarely uses that voice - she's heard it only in certain moments and she'd rather not remember those times right now.
"Okay Gin, I'm at the Narisawa restaurant. Let me just tell Rukia about you coming though."
"Gotcha, call me when you're done telling her," Gin replies quickly and before she new it Rangiku is texting Rukia to call her as soon as possible.
(^.^)
"Miyako is really smart and funny, and doesn't treat me like some stuck up rich guy. She works hard too - she went up the ranks despite being poor when she grew up. She has so many great ideas to help people who have families that are struggling. She's just so perfect and beautiful - sometimes I think she may too good for me," Kaien remarks sheepishly, and Rukia giggles, "You may be right!" Kaien glares at her slightly before taking a bite of a cut piece of medium rare steak. Rukia notices that her phone is vibrating in her pocket and she decides to head to the ladies room to check if Rangiku was okay since it's been thirty minutes already.
"Excuse me, I'm going to the ladies room - I'll be back," Rukia notifies Kaien.
"This isn't the part where you sneak out from the bathroom window to ditch me, right?" Kaien jokes his grin widening at the small raven haired woman.
"Please, a Kuchiki would never bail like that. I would tell you face to face that I was leaving before I left."
"You Kuchiki's and your direct ways, you're a lot like Byakuya-san you know."
Rukia rolls her eyes at the chuckling man and heads over to the ladies room, thanks to Harribel's direction of course, or else she'd be lost in this large establishment. She quickly opens the washroom door, and pulls out her cellphone from her suit pants pocket. After unlocking the screen she notices the text from Rangiku and dials her friend's number. After the first ring Rangiku answers the call saying, "Hello, Rukia~!"
"Rangiku, is something wrong?" Rukia questions her tone seeming worried.
"No, no! I just wanted to let you know that Gin's going to drive me home, so don't worry about taking me back to my apartment, you can even head to his apartment if you want tonight! I know you need it!" Rangiku teases her voice bright and practically shining in joy. Rukia can tell the woman is grinning ear to ear just by the sound of her friend's voice.
Rukia's worries are even more apparent than before, "Wait, Gin? You mean the same Gin that you told us left you at the bar alone all of yesterday night?"
"He was sick Ruks! He called me a second ago, he sounds horrible - and he's working now too; I know how Gin is, and he's never sick - something must be wrong, I need to make sure he's okay."
"I think the person you should be worrying about more right now is yourself Rangiku!" Rukia retorts her voice extremely serious, not allowing herself to think Gin deserves a second chance with her friend. At the back of her head she knows that Rangiku and him should probably talk - but the man didn't seem trustworthy, she never even met him yet!
"Rukia. Please. I've been waiting to see him for a long time now. I can't keep waiting for him to come find me another time, if I lose this chance he probably won't call me again and disappear!" Rangiku sounds desperate for Rukia's approval, and Rukia knew immediately she lost this battle - but she would put up a little more of a fight so that Rangiku couldn't tell she already gave up.
"But you haven't seen him in years Rangiku, I don't trust him - I can leave and" -
"Relax, I've known Gin for years, plus I've been bored forever in your car, you know how I can't stand waiting. Anyways have fun on your date! Bye~!"
Rangiku ends the call before Rukia can tell her friend to be careful, and to call her if anything happens. Rukia looks in the mirror seeing her messy hair and tired eyes in the reflection. She thinks she should brush through her hair and make herself slightly more presentable but discovers after looking in the mirror that it would be pointless. The man outside is already in love, and she's not a step closer to finding a guy who will actually date her without having some ulterior motive. Rukia gives her reflection a final determined look before leaving the spotless bathroom.
(^.^)
Rangiku calls Gin to let him know her friend was okay with it, and Gin told her he was coming right away. Rangiku starts playing the game on her phone in hopes of straying her mind from the man she's known for most of her life. Once she finally makes it to level two on the game she hears a knock from the window next to her and she jumps in her seat since she's so transfixed on the game she forgot where she was. She turns her face towards the window and witnesses Gin's smiling face, a large red scarf wrapped around his neck, with some purple bags under his eyes. Seeing Gin wearing a scarf is strange, he's never complained about the cold but his skin's always freezing cold. It never made much sense to Rangiku when she was younger and it still baffled her to this day. She gives him a small smile of her own, and Gin backs away from her door, so she can open it.
Rangiku opens the door, and closes it behind her. She feels weird since she isn't sure whether to hug Gin and smile brightly just like when they were young or just stay where she is. Gin seems to notice her hesitance but just says, "It's good to see you again Ran-chan." He coughs loudly into his elbow the scarf around his neck blows in the wind. Rangiku states, "Let's get in your car, before I get a cold too."
"It's not just a cold - I actually have a fever and a sour throat. And it's not a car," Gin replies hoarsely through his loud coughs sounding amused with her, as he walks down the sidewalk towards his truck. And it's not just any truck, it's the truck. The same old red truck he owned in the countryside, the same truck he owned when he left her that day. As she sat into the old brown leather seat she used to always sit in she felt an overwhelming force of nostalgia. The truck still smelled the same, and looked the same as she remembers. Gin gets into his seat and buckles his seat belt while Rangiku is still looking around the truck, in complete shock.
"Gosh, you know taking a picture would last longer," Gin jokes and Rangiku snorts at him in response, finally settling into her seat. "Well keeping the same old truck is bound to make me interested in whether or not it's exactly as I remembered."
"Well is it?"
"Yes, yes it is. Why do you still have it anyways? I'd think of you to be more of a new car type of guy."
Gin merely starts the truck and begins driving, not even bothering to answer her question. He coughs again but continues driving to the address Rangiku told him. She remembers one of the last times she sat in this seat, when Gin had taken her to prom. Gin had worked hard to actually buy the red truck, and she specifically remembers how happy he was when he showed it to her. She had been surprised when Gin asked her to prom, she never expected it since it was the summer of grade eleven and the two had been talking as per usual. Rangiku was rambling on about this guy she loathed at school, when Gin suddenly asked her to go to prom with him.
She nearly fell over in pure shock. Many girls wished for Gin to take them to prom - they thought he was mysterious and hadn't witnessed what Gin's eyes appeared like. Rangiku remembers the moment clearly because Gin's blue irises were lighting against the sun in the sky, and when she nearly fell, he laughed but his blue eyes were still seen - the corners of his eyes crinkled as he laughed. In that moment Rangiku's breath was caught in her throat - she'd imagined Gin would ask her to prom, but she thought it was only a silly dream. She said yes to him in heartbeat, not faltering in an way when she looked back at him. She didn't know whether Gin asked her during summer so that no other guys could ask her, or if he just couldn't stop thinking about how he'd ask her.
During the school year many boys asked her, but she told them all she was already going with someone else - she didn't tell them who since she said it was a surprise. She didn't even think Gin wanted to go to prom - it isn't that he didn't like socializing, in fact they had many good friends in their school that Gin new just how to tease and get on their nerves. But Gin was never the type of guy who danced to anything - Rangiku was the complete opposite she loved to dance and party with her classmates. She'd think he didn't want to sit around at the table and be bored all night. But Gin always did many things for her - it made her wonder if she never did anything for him. Was that why he had left? She turns her head to the man who's been bringing back these nostalgic memories into her thoughts, and his face does look slightly more coloured than his usual pale grey skin.
She almost forgot how quiet Gin got when he drove, the familiar silence made Rangiku feel like no time had passed between them. As she looks out the window she remembers the time when Gin first acted in such silence and spoke this softly to her.
"Daddy, where exactly does Gin live?" Rangiku asks eagerly. She wants to find out more about this mysterious boy who saved her from being lost. Her father looks up from his newspaper, his eggs and bacon still untouched on his plate. Rangiku is simply having cereal with her various different ingredients added in - her father says she doesn't have good taste buds but Rangiku likes to think she's just creative. "Hm. Well he did head into the direction where the Honda family lives," her Father ponders out loud while scratching the stubble forming on his chin. Rangiku bursts loudly, "The Honda's?! Our next door neighbors?!"
Her Father chuckles as Rangiku slams her hands down onto the wooden table in pure surprise. He ruffles her strawberry blonde hair, "Yes, our neighbors."
"But I've never seen Gin," Rangiku reasons sounding deflated once realizing that she may never see him again since he probably doesn't even live there. They visit the Honda's house at least once a week, her Father often helps them out with their livestock, they have six kids in total and none of them are her age. Rangiku surely would've noticed Gin with his strange appearance and all.
"Well, tonight we're eating with them anyways - so I'll ask about Gin during dinner, okay?" her dad encourages his daughter, he notices that Rangiku has seemed very glum as of late. She normally hides her worries behind her bright smile, but her Father can definitely tell she's been lonely without having any friends around. This Gin Ichimaru boy seems to be a kid who can be a good friend for Rangiku - he just hopes that the boy is easy to find.
...
Rangiku and her Father walked to the Honda's place since they were about a five minute walk away from their farm. Her father decides to bring them some banana cake they made during the day, he had to stop her from adding any extra ingredients throughout the process. Rangiku isn't too thrilled to be visiting the Honda's, none of the children talk with her since most of them are either way older or younger than her. She isn't quite sure who to talk to the older kids or the younger ones. She's always stuck in the middle of things. Not to mention how the children's father, Honda-san is very loud and kind of scares Rangiku at times. She's never heard him lower his voice, and he also talks with food in his mouth all the time.
Once arriving into the Honda's warm home, greetings are said, and Rangiku is forced to hug all of the kids because the Honda's are always very friendly and love to hug anyone they meet. "Come in, come in!" Honda-san says and his wife is smiling intently at her children as they make their way to the large dinner table. The dinner table is so long it's no problem to fit Rangiku and her Father at the wooden table. The eromas of many different foods fill Rangiku's nose, and all of the kids end up grabbing their food, some bickering as to who gets what first. Their mother doesn't scold them and just feeds the baby who's only a few months old sitting in it's high chair. Honda-san talks loudly to Rangiku's Father and Rangiku decides to just start eating, hoping that her Father remembers to ask about Gin by the time dinners finished.
Towards the end of the dinner Rangiku feels full, she fails to talk with any of the other kids who are all busy talking among themselves to pay her any mind. She hears her Father say, "Oh, Honda-san I almost forgot to ask you - do you know a kid named Gin Ichimaru?"
The whole dinner table turns silent, everyone's heads turning to Rangiku's Father. Rangiku glances at everyone's astonished faces, some of the kids even whispering amongst themselves. "Ah, children how bout you all go play outside, before the sun goes down for the night," the wife commands the children and almost instantly the children get up from their seats and head outside. Rangiku isn't sure whether she should join them, but decides to just pretend to be still eating and listen to the conversation.
"Gin Ichimaru? How do you know him?" Honda-san asks seriously, sounding slightly angered at the mention of the boy's name. "Well, my Rangiku-chan got lost in the fields and Gin brought her back home safely - I'd like to thank him again, I owe him for saving my daughter's life," Matsumoto-san explains, and Rangiku glances at her Father's face who seems curious to know what exactly is going on here.
"That runt? Well, if you really want to know, we adopted him - he's not worth your time!" Honda-san shouts loudly, and Rangiku nearly drops her fork from being startled. She feels an overwhelming amount of anger towards him for talking about Gin that way, she's about to yell at the man when her Father responds kindly, "Ah, but I'd love to meet him, come on Honda-san." She does remember her Father telling her to kill people with kindness - now she understand what he meant by that.
"Fine - his room's in the barn," Honda-san agrees, and leaves his wife and newborn baby to take Matsumoto-san and Rangiku to see Gin again. Rangiku hasn't spoke with the boy since she fell asleep on his back when he'd rescued her. She needs to talk with him again and ask him why the Honda's keep him in the barn. Does he always not eat with them for dinner and only get leftovers? Why do they not let Gin meet anyone?
Rangiku and her father finally make their way into the barn, Rangiku immediately searches the room for any sight of the silver haired boy. "He's up this ladder," Honda-san states sourly. Rangiku looks up and notices that there is a small loft above all of the animal pens in the barn containing pigs, goats, and horses. Her father goes up the ladder after Honda-san, and Rangiku waits a few seconds before latching her smalls hands onto the wooden ladder. She finds it extremely cool for Gin to get to climb a ladder to his room everyday, it's like some secret kind of clubhouse.
Her wonderful image of his hideout is ruined when Rangiku lays her pale blue eyes on the sight in front of her. The wooden planks were old and dusty, and there is barely any light in the room if it weren't for the small lightbulb with a string dangling beside it to turn it on and off. The worst part is how Gin didn't even have a dresser or a bookshelf, or a desk or any furniture at all - his bed is literally a pile of hay with one lonely white bed sheet. Rangiku finally steps onto Gin's so called 'room' and she still can't grasp how it's possible to live in this horrible place. Where does he keep his clothing? Is this why Gin's clothing had holes in them and why his shoes were practically falling off his feet? Gin seems to be just sitting on the pile of hay - his bed - and staring at the wall when they walk in, but when hearing Honda-san's large feet creaking on the wooden planks he turns his head, his eyes still closed tightly.
He's frowning, which is strange since the boy seems more like a happy type of person - not a sad one. She couldn't blame him though, she can't imagine living in this horrid place, he's so far away from everyone, like he's on another planet. How can he call them his family if they put him in here? Maybe Gin didn't call them his family. It doesn't seem like any of them speak to him, or else they would've talked more about him when they asked. Honda-san when speaking of Gin almost sounds disgusted to be mentioning his name - is Gin really that bad a person to deserve this treatment? She doesn't think any young kid could deserve any of this.
"Gin! Get up ya fool! What're you doing staring at the wall for and greet our guests!" Honda-san nags Gin, and the young boy gets up quickly as if Honda's a ghost, Rangiku notices that Gin's face is dirty and his white shirt has grass stains all over it. "Yes, Honda-san," Gin replies, giving a small smile to her Father. "Thanks again Gin, you and Rangiku should play together sometime. Rangiku's been lonely back at home without anyone to play with, and I'm getting old," Matsumoto-san grins down at Gin, and glances to his daughter. Rangiku pouts and crosses her arms, "I'm not lonely! Just bored Dad!"
Her Father chuckles before ruffling his daughter's strawberry locks, and turns his face to Honda-san remarking, "Well, Honda-san, how bout we let these two talk while we go down and talk about business?" Honda-san seems to be thankful to her Father's distraction since he 's avoiding looking even remotely at Gin as if he's some sort of menacing person. Rangiku would've thought Honda-san would be more menacing towards Gin, but he just seems like he feels uncomfortable with him. Isn't he the one who adopted Gin?
Rangiku gives a sigh of relief when Honda-san is gone, along with her Father. She never really liked Honda-san, and his reaction to Gin further affirmed that fact. She turns to Gin who's face is turned to the small window with no glass but just a thin screen, Rangiku isn't sure what Gin sees because from where she's standing it's just pitch black out there, she isn't even sure how they'll walk back to the Honda's place without using a flashlight. She heads over towards Gin but she still doesn't see anything out the window, and since Gin didn't say anything she decides to strike up a conversation.
"Thanks for helping me out - I must've looked like a baby crying like that," Rangiku laughs lightly at the memory of herself, thinking of how incredibly stupid she was.
"Nah, babies cry way worse than you did! Though it was a pretty close call!" Gin replies his silver hair flopping with the turn of his face. She's relieved to see his bright smile, and wishes to herself that it never leaves that pale grey face of his.
"Can I ask you a weird question, Gin?" Rangiku blurts to Gin, and she wonders why she used Gin's first name rather than his last. It's not like she's known him very long. But the name is so strange she can't stop herself from saying it to herself.
"Maybe," Gin replies. Rangiku pouts slightly at his response but sighs, "Fine! I was wondering, what happened to your parents, Gin - I if you don't mind" -
"Don't ask me that. Don't ask me that ever again," Gin states seriously his voice soft as he sits on the makeshift bed. Rangiku feels guilty for being so rude and is about to reach and grab Gin's hand - it's sitting on his lap, she can easily take it into her sweaty palms - but she doesn't. She retracts her hand and starts talking about her day - and Gin listens to her every word, even responding to her once in awhile. The thing is, you can never ask Gin a question - because asking Gin a question would mean expecting an answer, and Gin doesn't have answers - all he has are questions about you, and anything but himself. Gin doesn't answer questions.
That's just the way he is.
...
Rangiku finally closes her bedroom door, wanting nothing more but to sleep soundly in her comfy bed, with the large purple and pink quilt her Father recently got for her. She snuggles into the warm quilt, sleep pulling at her mind. But every time her mind falls into the depths of slumber, she finds herself picturing Gin in that barn all alone, with nothing but that thin white sheet to keep him warm. It may be summer but even she wasn't foolish enough to think he'd be warm enough up in that loft. Her attic is cool, and without these multiple bed sheets Rangiku is sure she'd be frozen.
She can't take this nagging feeling that Gin needs her from the back of her mind. She decides to go get him and bring him to her room, so he can sleep in her bed. At least then he'd be warm. She'd wake Gin in the morning and he can walk back to his loft before Honda-san knew about any of this.
She decides to take action before she begins doubting herself. Before she even realizes that Gin may not agree with her plan, she's already inside the barn, her flashlight in her right hand. Thankfully the watch dog recognized her and didn't bark when she walked into the barn, the dog merely closes it's brown eyes, falling back to sleep. Rangiku suddenly finds herself being envious of the dog being able to sleep so peacefully. Her dog at home was also sound asleep when she snuck out.
"Gin?" Rangiku whispers, as she nudges the sleeping boy who's eyes are closed, and his legs are curled up against him - probably trying to warm himself up in some way. She wonders how many nights Gin has slept here feeling so cold and alone. It bothers her to the core, and she isn't even sure why. Rangiku hopes to get a glimpse of Gin's irises but the boy just lifts himself up and rubs his closed eyes before she can even see what colour they are.
"Rangiku, what are ya doing here?" Gin asks his voice still as soft as she remembers. "You're coming with me," Rangiku commands, any form of doubt leaving her light voice. She grabs his hand, and almost pulls away from his hand immediately due to how astonishingly cold it is. She felt like a thousand needles were pricking onto her hand. She catches herself from letting go, and it's Gin who takes his hand away from her. "My hands are too cold," he explains when Rangiku gives him a confused glance. She grabs his hand again nonetheless, her warm hand already accustomed to his frozen fingers. She hopes her warm hands somehow help him feel slightly warmer, but she seriously doubts that.
The two make it down the ladder, Rangiku forcing herself to let Gin's hand go in order to go down. Gin follows her afterwards not really understanding what exactly is going on. She takes his hand in hers once again and the two begin to walk towards Rangiku's house. Rangiku leads the way, a flashlight in one hand, and Gin's cold hand in her other.
"The moon is so nice tonight," Gin says.
Rangiku looks up at the sky that is covered in dark clouds.
"What do you mean? I don't see it anywhere."
"It doesn't matter if you don't see it. Just because you can't see it, doesn't mean it's not beautiful. It's a half moon tonight."
"Wow, your smart Gin. Your right too - I know my Mom's beautiful and I don't see her either."
Gin turns his head to the girl beside him, her eyes still on the sky. Her pale eyes look white in the dark world around them. Gin sees a slight sadness in her happy eyes and he wonders what exactly she's thinking of.
The two tiptoe into the house, careful not to wake her Father. Once reaching the attic Rangiku silently closes the door thankful that it didn't creak. Rangiku says, "You can sleep in my bed with me. It'll be like a sleepover! There's no way I'm letting you sleep there every night - at least not until you have a proper bed."
Gin is about to protest but knows straight away that Rangiku's determined mind is set - she won't let him leave. He walks to her bed and slips under the sheets, and Rangiku gets in afterwards, the two on opposite sides of Rangiku's small single bed. The room falls into a comfortable silence for a few minutes, sleep tugging at both of their minds.
"Gin?" Rangiku asks timidly, not sure if the boy is still awake.
"Yeah?" Gin answers swiftly, to Rangiku's relief.
"Do you think we can be friends?" Rangiku is facing away from Gin to the right side, while Gin lays on his back, staring at the wooden ceiling.
"I thought we already were - I mean what kind of crazy person would bring me here if we weren't friends? It would be weird."
"How come I haven't seen you at school before? The Honda's kids go to my school."
"I don't go to school. Honda-san gives me work to do during the day. Like today how I took care of the crops."
"Then how do you learn? You know, math and science and" -
Gin interjects," I don't learn."
"Then I'll convince Dad to take you! I know you're smart so it'll be fine!"
"You don't have to be so nice,"Gin states seriously, and Rangiku glances to him; he's no longer staring at the ceiling but has turned to face away from Rangiku.
"I may not have to, but I want to! You deserve it Gin," Rangiku replies her voice becoming soft, and she seriously means what she's telling him, he doesn't know how happy she is that they're friends.
"Let's just get some sleep," Gin responds, his hands tucking the sheets to his chin.
"I'm glad I found you Gin." She whispers to herself more than to Gin - she doesn't know whether Gin heard her; it doesn't really matters anyways.
...
"Rangiku?"
"Yes," she turns her body over to look at Gin, and stares at the back of his head wondering what exactly is going through that strange mind of his. They've only slept for an hour or so.
"Thank you. For everything."
Rangiku blinks her eyes, surprised as to how desperate the boy sounds, his voice is a melancholy of emotions Rangiku doesn't even understand. She smiles and lets out a warm breath that tickles Gin's slightly bare neck, where his silver hair didn't touch his pale skin.
"You're welcome."
...
"Gin! Gin! HEY! I SAID WAKE UP!" Rangiku yells at Gin as she shakes the boy for the third time. She wonders why he woke easily in his old bed but when she tries waking him in her bed, he doesn't even bat an eyelash! She thinks he may be able to sleep through an entire explosion if it ever occurred. Gin finally stirs in his sleep before sitting upright and rubbing his tired eyes in such a cute way she compares him to a kitten - he may be even cuter. "What is it, Ran-chan?"
"Ran-chan?" she echoes his statement, her blue eyes appearing confused.
Gin grins at her cute expression, "It's a new nickname I came up with."
"Really?"
"Thought of it yesterday when ya left, actually I think it suits ya Ran-chan~!"
"I never had a nickname before," Rangiku thinks out loud. She blushes when she realized she actually said her thoughts out loud.
"Why are we awake? We can sleep a little longer. Honda-san won't be up until later," Gin says as he glances at Rangiku's bedside clock. Rangiku rubs her forehead, wanting to sleep also. "Fine, fine," before plopping her body back down onto the bed, the mattress bouncing the two of them. Gin plops down beside her and the two giggle as they bounce once again.
"We're crazy," she remarks.
"At least we're crazy together."
Rangiku snaps back from her memory when Gin arrives into her apartment building's large parking lot. "Here we are," Gin announces, and she can tell even by not looking at him he has a large grin on his face. But the smile is short-lived when Rangiku hears a fit of coughing escape from his throat. Rangiku realizes she spent the whole drive to her apartment thinking of the past, when she should of been talking with Gin like she told herself she would. She's still not used to seeing the man she's staring at here. It's strange to think she only thought of Gin to be part of the past life when now he's suddenly part of her present life, and maybe even her future. She wasn't used to living in the present; to her she's always been stuck in the past - and having Gin here didn't change a thing.
She mentally forces herself to invite him into her apartment, just to talk with him. She knows Gin wouldn't try anything on her, plus the poor man is getting red cheeks, his fever has probably gotten worse. She shouldn't have let him drive her home. She can at least let him rest a little and give him some medicine.
"You should come in and rest for a little bit," Rangiku says her face looking worried. Despite Gin missing Rangiku's worried face, he declines, "I can't come in - I'd be a bother and" -
"Gin! Don't be stubborn, you can't drive looking like that! You'll fall asleep and get in an accident, or close your eyes for a moment and run someone over!" Rangiku scolds him as if he's still the same boy she grew up with. Some things never change - like the fact that Gin doesn't like relying on anyone. He was always like this when they first met. Gin recognizes Rangiku's set jaw, with her furrowed thin eyebrows and knows that the woman in front of him wearing a gorgeous black skirt and white blouse has already got her mind wrapped around him staying. And there's no swaying of Rangiku's mind - he's learned this long ago.
He unbuckles his seat belt with a sigh, and hangs his head in defeat. Rangiku screams,"YES! Rangiku 150 - Gin still at a measly 0!"
Gin opens his door, and gets out of the old truck a grin spreading onto his lips. "Oh, you kept count?" he teases, "You actually remembered our scores?"
Rangiku is out of the truck now, and she blushes at Gin's teasing, "So, what if I remember? We're best friends, remember?"
Gin walks past her, looking incredibly handsome in his black dress pants and matching black button up shirt and tie. He whispers into her ear as he passes, "It's actually Gin 1 and Rangiku 150."
Rangiku rolls her eyes, and remembers the one time where Gin actually swayed Rangiku; at prom night. She had refused to get into the truck that day since Gin hadn't said anything nice to her. He'd convinced her to get in, and that was the only time Rangiku admitted defeat, he'd teased her so much she couldn't come up with any come backs or even look him in his electric blue eyes.
The two friends make their way to Rangiku's apartment, Rangiku asks about Gin's new managing job and before they know it, they are walking into Rangiku's small living room. Rangiku notices Gin's flushed cheeks from his fever, and tells him to lie down already. Gin obliges, and Rangiku doesn't even bother counting this as a point for her - Gin is out of his normal habits at the moment so she doesn't count any points right now.
"Your apartment is nice Ran-chan, not as nice as mine though. I'd think you'd have a more expensive place," Gin says and Rangiku hears his voice all the way in the bathroom, as she rifles through the medicine cabinet.
She yells, "Yeah, and what's that supposed to mean? You know I'm not as high maintenance as you think!"
"Says the woman who didn't want to be seen in sweatpants in public!"
She laughs at his joke and heads into the kitchen to get a glass of water for the pill for Gin. She'd make some soup for him too, it would probably make him feel better. "No one looks good in sweatpants, okay! Except maybe guys - but even then it's a stretch!"
"Anyways enough about that - I'm making you soup!" Rangiku announces joyfully, opening one of the cabinets to find some canned soup.
Gin nearly falls off the couch in horror, "No, no! I'm fine!" but he begins coughing once again and Rangiku scolds him, "Tsk, tsk, I'm not going to add anything into it."
"Sure you won't," Gin says sarcastically.
Rangiku decides to do the soup later after some convincing, and fills a cup of water for Gin to have to take the pill. Rangiku heads back to the couch and places the glass of water onto the coffee table. "Here you go, just take this pill and" - Rangiku stops talking when she witnesses Gin fast asleep on the couch his right arm angled over his head. She silently laughs at Gin's funny sleeping position and rolls her eyes at how much Gin needs his sleep. The man works too hard, and doesn't leave himself any time to relax or rest. She combs her fingers through his silky silver locks, and finds herself loving Gin's soft expression when he sleeps. It's the most relaxed he ever is - brushing her fingers through his hair makes her realize that the hole Gin's left in her heart is still there - she wonders if their relationship can even be repaired. Or are the pieces shattered so small that they can never be glued back together again?
She sighs remembering that Gin almost cannot be woken up without screaming loudly in his ear for a couple of minutes - doing it will be such a pain. But letting him sleep in her apartment for a few hours won't be too bad for him, she'll sit on the carpet in front of the couch, and watch some T.V. - it's not like Gin would wake up from the noise anyways.
(^3^)
Ichigo lets out an irritated scowl as Hiyori opens her front door. Her parents are rarely ever home so babysitting this late for a job is fine for Hiyori. Ichigo wonders how Hiyori can even cook any meals for his daughter since she's only seventeen - he suspects the girl may be sneaking his daughter fast food for her dinners. Ichigo never gets her any fast food - since it's pretty expensive, so he decides to let Hiyori do what she wants. Mai deserves to experience McDonald's - he knows when he was a kid he worshiped that place. He wants Mai to have a great childhood, one that will be forever remembered to be something his daughter enjoyed; he doesn't want her to think that her childhood wasn't great.
"Oh, it's you," Hiyori states in monotone, her yellow eyes appearing unamused by Ichigo's presence.
"Who else would it be this late at night?!" Ichigo asks incredulously but also slightly suspicious - did she invite her boyfriend over when his daughter was here?
"Whatever carrot top - yer kids fine. MAI! GET YOUR BUTT OVER HERE!"
Ichigo face palms at Hiyori's yelling and wonders why he even lets the seventeen year old take care of his only daughter. "Oh ya, she's asleep - I forgot! Silly me!" Hiyori knocks her own forehead in response to her own stupidity. Ichigo decides its about time he lets himself in. He follows Hiyori into the living room, ignoring her babbling because he knows its not worth listening to. The T.V is still on a kids cartoon channel, and Ichigo sees Mai's curled up small body at the right end of the couch, her orange hair tangled in a mess over her face. She tends to get her hair tangled into knots every morning - her wavy hair got tangled fairly easily. If it weren't for Ichigo's good brushing skills they'd be stuck with an ape's hair by now.
Ichigo quietly walks to his daughter and pulls the hair away from her face, smiling intently down at her he can't help but smile at his daughter - she looks incredibly cute while sleeping. He sometimes wishes Mai could never grow up so it can always be like this. "She fell asleep the minute she set her head down - happens every time. Wish I could sleep as fast as her," Hiyori whispers to Ichigo, careful not to wake Mai. Ichigo's slightly surprised by Hiyori's kindness, but just gives the teen a thankful smile, "Me too."
He carries his daughter to the front door, holding her bridal style, and she curls up into his warm chest. He gives Hiyori a final silent wave before making his way to his blue truck. He opens the passenger door with one hand, holding his light daughter in his other arm who cuddles into his shoulder and mumbles to herself in her sleep. Ichigo carefully places her in her booster seat and buckles her seat belt. He pushes a few stray orange bangs away from her face and then closes her door. He hurries over to his side, opens his door, quickly getting into his seat and begins driving back to their apartment. It's silent for a couple of minutes and Ichigo catches himself from falling asleep while driving twice.
"Daddy?" Mai wakes up, her ebony lashes fluttering open.
"I thought you were asleep." He glances his amber eyes over to his small daughter; she looks sleepy, and there are light purple bags under her eyes.
"I'm not asleep - I was only pretending!" Mai pouts, and Ichigo chuckles at his daughter's white lie - he can tell she's lying by the sound of her voice.
"I have a present for you, but you have to wait till we get home." Ichigo grins when he sees Mai's light green eyes light up brightly.
Mai's excited and grabs Ichigo's arm, "Dad, you're the best!" She's bouncing in her seat and her smile grows even larger.
"Woah, don't grab my arm like that! I'm driving! Do you want to get us in an accident?"
"But Daddy, you're the best driver in the world!"
"Even if I am the best driver - which I am of course, I am the best Dad," Ichigo jokes and pauses his sentence waiting for Mai to laugh. And she does laugh loudly at her Father before Ichigo finishes, "Everyone can make mistakes - even me."
Mai stops her giggles and looks up at her Father proudly, "Yeah, your right! Hiyori made a mistake and gave me McDonald's today!" Ichigo laughs with his daughter, and the two burst into a fit of laughter, Ichigo imagining Hiyori failing to make Mai a dinner and Mai remembering Hiyori causing the fire alarm to go off.
The two finally get into the apartment, Ichigo holding a large box that he had wrapped for her at the toy store. Mai is jumping and squealing around the small apartment, wanting to rip open the gift immediately. Ichigo decided to buy her this gift since he'd be making some extra money this week, so he has some money to spare to buy Mai something that she can use. He also had another present in a plastic bag for her, he's just as excited as her to see her face. She often gets bored in the apartment since she only has a few stuffed toys to play with and their old T.V only has the news channel on it.
"Oh, can I open it!?" Mai asks loudly, her voice practically screaming in delight. Ichigo kicks the door closed, and drops the large box gently onto the ground, before turning to lock the door. Mai jumps around Ichigo and pulls at his pants, "Come on! Let's open it!" Ichigo smiles down to her and gives her the plastic bag to open first. He plops down onto the old couch and watches as his daughter curiously open the bag. She gasps loudly and Ichigo's grin widens when she pulls out her gift and squeals in amazement. He got her a Chappy the Rabbit small playhouse set - she loves the show though she never watches it at the apartment she watches it at the preschool when they sometimes play VHS tapes. Ichigo sometimes buys DVDs on sale for her since they did have a DVD player but it was rare since Chappy's so popular amongst kids. Ichigo still doesn't understand it, but as a kid he did love watching cheesy shows too so he doesn't judge her for her choice in her favourite show.
"Thank you, thank you! I love it!" Mai yells and she jumps up and down twirling around while holding the small box containing the dollhouse.
"Now open the big one!" Ichigo encourages her, and she drops the dollhouse box and sprints towards the giant wrapped box. She begins ripping off the wrapping paper, and in the midst of it she screams, "A desk?! You got me a desk?"
Ichigo laughs at her reaction, and sees her running towards him, and he opens up his arms to pick her up, but Mai jumps up and hugs her Father tightly before he even attempted to pick her up. Ichigo smiles and hears her thanking him into his chest, she kicks her legs in joy wildly and Ichigo thinks to himself that he never wants this moment to end. Having her in his arms was just what he needed after a whole day of work. Ichigo tickles her wildly and kisses her face and the only sound heard from their apartment is Mai's squeals and their loud laughter bouncing off the walls in the quiet apartment building.
...
"Ichigo stop being a sour puss and drink already - just like old times," a blonde woman states playfully, while caressing his shoulder and leaning towards his face. Ichigo wonders why he's standing here in front of this woman for a moment, but the confusion passes once anger overwhelms his entire being. His fists shake, "What the fuck are you doing Naomi? You're supposed to be in my dorm room!"
"Please - don't be stupid if I remember correctly you were the one who used to always drink and party here too," she replies smugly with a teasing wink. This is the woman he loves, the woman he'd fallen for since the time he first kissed her at that party. He thought she'd be different than the others - she's smart he knows she is. She wastes it all for something like partying and getting high.
One of Ichigo's friends, Grimmjow pats him on the shoulder, "Come on man - calm down you're ruining the mood!" with a large grin extending across his face.
"Naomi, can we please talk somewhere - privately?" Ichigo seethes, his teeth grinding in pure impatience. She's drinking, smoking and partying when he knows she shouldn't be. Ichigo's had enough of this, he can't just stand by and watch this anymore.
"No, whatever you have to say, you can say it here in front of my friends," she grins almost daring him to continue in front of his friends. Ichigo's confidence deflates and he avoids Naomi's piercing gaze. Grimmjow shakes his shoulder, "Hey, man, what's wrong?" Ichigo knows Grimmjow's worried but he can't tell him so he shoves Grimmjow's hand off him and mutters, "This has nothing to do with you."
Grimmjow growls, "Fine, then fuck you - I'm not even bothering to help anymore! And by the way, you deserve better than a girl like her!" his blue eyes filling with resentment towards them, and Ichigo knows Grimmjow is angry with him for not telling him anything.
Naomi rolls her beautiful eyes at Grimmjow who grins widely almost encouraging her to disagree with him, but Naomi knows it'll only provoke the wild blue haired man so she stays silent. Ichigo decides this is the perfect opportunity to take Naomi back home. Ichigo grabs Naomi's small hand and pulls her with him, gripping it so hard no matter how much she pulls he still has his large hand gripping onto hers. She yells at Ichigo, and screams in his ears but he doesn't care - he has to get her to stop doing this to herself - doing this to them. She can't get rid of the baby - not with Ichigo pulling it back to safety. He doesn't know what the gender it is, and it doesn't matter he won't let her hurt it anymore.
"This baby is not going to be born - ever Ichigo. When will your small brain finally wrap around the idea that I'm not having it!" she screeches, and Ichigo doesn't stop - he keeps going. He doesn't listen to her loud screams or her pleads. He wasn't going to let her end someone's life for her own personal gain.
Ichigo gasps loudly, breathing heavily, his eyes blinking rapidly and seeing the ceiling of his apartment staring back at him. He's covered in sweat, and he finds himself struggling to breath from that nightmare. That's strange I've never dreamed about something that's actually happened he thinks to himself, and sits upright on the medium sized bed. His tired eyes glance to the clock that read 3:00 AM and he groans, not wanting to close his eyes again after witnessing his girlfriend's face.
He doesn't want to remember those horrible days, so he turns onto his side, getting under the sheet once again. He stares at Mai who's sleeping soundly beside him, and he plays with her orange locks covering her until he finds her pale face. He smiles at seeing her mouth slightly ajar, breathing rhythmically in a deep slumber. Seeing her sleeping form eases his worries from thinking he was back to his past life before Mai was even born. It scares him to think about it, and Ichigo's eyelids soon become heavy as he rests his hand onto her pink cheek.
He falls asleep with his hand still lying there, her breaths even to the sound of his heart.
Writer's Note:
Boy was that long - I'm sorry I just had loads of ideas for this chapter! So sorry if it seems overwhelmingly long to you! if you want you can read parts of it at a time instead of all at once - I know I do that sometimes. Sorry Ichigo and Rukia didn't meet yet - I planned that they will meet in chapter 4, so get ready! Anyways let me know what you think - did you suspect that Kaien would be Rukia's date? I'm guessing it was a surprise! :D And YES, I did another Gin and Rangiku flashback because I just had to ^.^ if you don't like then don't read! I usually update every Saturday but this week's been hectic so I apologize for the late update!