One Lifetime of Our Five
Disclaimer: I in no way own the characters or storyline of the anime and manga series Bleach. It wouldn't be as awesome if I did. I do own this fiction story though.
Author's notes: An overdue update to this, I hope you enjoy it. Without further ado, chapter three.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Had his mind not been preoccupied with thoughts of concern and worry for his wife, Ichigo would have allowed himself to smile or chuckle at that memory. Man, was he clueless back then. In all honesty, he still retained some of his cluelessness. It had gotten him into some tight situations time to time. Despite his nervousness, his train of thought came to a screeching halt when he heard his youngest daughter mention the words "first kiss" and "today." Oh hell no. If some little punk kid stole her first kiss…well he couldn't beat him, but he'd sure as hell haunt him for a few weeks. His turned his attention slowly to Masaki as she continued to tell her story to Nell.
"And I did just what Tatsuki-oba told me to do; I pushed him down and jumped on him!" Masaki exclaimed happily.
With that, Ichigo cursed Tatsuki. He heard about the time she told Orihime to push him down in the park and shove her large breasts in his face from his wife. Was that woman dead set on corrupting Orihime and her descendants? Any matter, he made a mental note to talk to Tatsuki about this.
"He tasted like natto." Oh yes…he'd talk to her about this.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Kurosaki Ichigo was not the kind of man to back down from a challenge. His career as a Shinigami proved it. But with this challenge, something inside him wanted him to back out quickly. He damned his pride. Since Keigo had been the one to make the challenge, he really didn't want to back out.
A friendly get-together was the cause his torment. In a game called…what was it called? Ah forget it. All he knew is that it was that game and that get-together. At the end of the night, to vent his frustrations, he ended up kicking Rukia, who was the reason he came to be at the event, from behind. His night would get worse as he found himself in a garbage can shortly afterwards. He didn't know if Renji had come up from behind him and done it or if Rukia herself did it. Either way, he arrived at home with a banana peel on his head. After a bath, Ichigo went to his room and dropped face first on his bed. He groaned and thought about smothering himself with his pillow. Tomorrow would be a crappy day.
Despite all his wishing and praying, the sun shone its now accursed light on Ichigo, signaling the end of the night and arrival of the new day. Ichigo gave a loud zombie-like groan and rose slowly from his bed. He heard a clatter come from his doorway, and he managed to catch a glimpse of a terrified Yuzu before she bolted away. Shrugging it off, Ichigo made his way slowly to the bathroom. It was then that he realized the shape he was in. Somehow, he looked rather pale, his eyes were very shadowy and blood shot, and he carried himself in with bad posture. For a moment, he considered trying to get away with being sick and staying home for the day. He then remembered that his dad was a doctor, one who seemed to enjoy trying out new medicines he'd heard about on his son. A week of killer muscle cramps and possible blood vomiting or a simple dare; Ichigo seriously considered the first option. Finally, the first choice lost its appeal when he remembered what the last one had done to his stomach. Never again. With a defeated sigh, Ichigo splashed some water on his face and went on with his morning routine.
Despite having returned to his normal look, Ichigo still carried zombie-like properties. He dragged his feet on his way to the school, occasionally gave a low groan, and wore a glazed over look. 'Are you really going to make such a big deal out of this?' His mind demanded an answer. 'Yes. I am.' He replied. Before long, he arrived at the school's gate. He's glazed over look fell from his face and was replaced by a look of confusion and slight anger. 'Where the hell did the rest of the street go?!' Ichigo swore that he still had a half a trip to go. "Damn." He sighed again and went into the building, praying that a hollow would come by so he could go off and fight it. Unfortunately, the Shinigami in the area was doing his job, quite well actually. There'd be no such luck for Kurosaki Ichigo today.
"Good morning, Ichigo!" Keigo gave an unsettling normal greeting to his friend. Ichigo simply gave a murderous glare at his schoolmate and continued down the hall. He suddenly felt added weight on his back as Keigo dropped his arm on his friend's shoulder. "Remember what the deal is, Ichigo." Keigo spoke quietly to his friend. It was somewhat unnerving to see that Keigo fell into the hushed devious persona so well. Yes, Ichigo remembered. That's why Ichigo was beyond pissed and more than ready to take it out on Keigo. The deal was simple. "I'll catch you later." Keigo removed his arm and sped ahead, greeting Orihime as he went into the class room. Oh yes, the deal was simple: steal a kiss from his most innocent and spacey friend, or suffer through a rather annoying rumor Keigo would start.
Ichigo had dealt with rumors for a long time, and he was used to the treatment. Initially, he hadn't even considered the first part. It was just wrong to steal a girl's first kiss (he assumed it was her first.), especially when the guy stealing it was him. When he was first dared into such a ridiculous situation, he flat out denied it and said that he'd take the penalty. Why the hell did he even get so involved with that game? He wasn't that type of person. Then he learned about how long Keigo would drag it on. The time was just insane to comprehend. Despite this, Ichigo still denied doing such a thing. Saying that he'd still have the opinion of doing the dare, Keigo dropped it, and the game continued. After leaving, Ichigo's thoughts dwelt on it. The reason was beyond him. He would have normally dismissed the thought altogether and go through the day without any major foreseeable occurrences, and suffer through the annoyance of Keigo for the remainder of his school life. Unfortunately, Ichigo's thoughts poked at the subject. It began to weight the options, and he was disgusted with himself for actually letting it continue. It reasoned that the annoyance known as Keigo would probably drive him into insanity if allowed to provoke him that long. It also reasoned that Inoue was forgiving. Maybe to a certain extent, she might like it. After all, they were good friends now. He had heard stories that friends would occasionally share a kiss without a meaning behind it. It was just a kiss. He still loathed himself for thinking about, but the decision of whether he would do it or not became less certain. He was further rattled when a single voice in his mind shouted something he hadn't even thought about.
'My, my. As hard as your thinking about it, maybe you do want to kiss Inoue!'
A quick slap to the face put that thought back in the depths of his brain. He shook his head and greeted Orihime as well, then took his seat in class. His scowl was more pronounced, and many other students wondered what had rubbed Ichigo the wrong way.
Most of the day would pass normally; Ichigo never let the conflict in his mind known to the world. The only sign something was amiss was his more defined scowl, but most people just attributed it to him having woken up on the wrong side of the bed. Of course, there were those who knew better, but one didn't know for sure; she just assumed that something was truly bothering Ichigo. It was just her strange ability.
The air was warmer than pleasant and the breeze did little to relieve them. Silently, Ichigo asked himself why they decided to have lunch on the roof. The sun had seemingly scared the clouds away, thus making it warmer. If it was just a little winder, the day would be quite nice. The joyfully idle chatter of his friends drifted all the way to where Ichigo stood at the other side of the roof. 'It really shouldn't be bothering me this much. I already know that I won't do it.' Yes, that's what Ichigo reasoned. Every time he believed that it was the end of it, somehow he found himself debating the pros and the cons. His scowl would borderline vicious every time he came to the realization: Kissing Inoue definitely had more pros. The only real con that he encountered was that it went against his moral standing, and he'd be damned if he betrayed his morals.
"Penny for your thoughts, Ichigo." Rukia popped up behind him, talking in that fake tone she took when she first appeared in the human world.
Ichigo gave a growl like noise, and answered, "I hate you."
"Oh come on, you can't still be pissed about last night." Rukia sighed, slapping the orange haired boy's back. "No one forced you to go, no one forced you to play, and no one's forcing you to think so ridiculously hard on it." She snickered a bit. "And how you've thought on it." She playfully taunted.
That was it. Ichigo finally reached a point he didn't know he had. He roughly ran his fingers through his hair and let out a frustrated yell. One loud enough to make Rukia flinch, and the others believe that he had some how gotten hurt. Once he had let some stress out, he came to the realization of what had just happened. He glanced slowly over to Rukia, who still looked a little startled, and then to his friends, who were trying to see what the hell had happened to him. He turned a very light shade of red and promptly left the roof. He retreated back to the classroom, took his seat and wanted for class to start back up. He was now frustrated, pissed, embarrassed, and somewhat wishing for Grimmjow or Ulquiorra to rise from the grave, just so he could vent his problems.
It was near the end of the day, and thankfully nothing more had occurred. Ichigo finally found peace of mind. After an endless day of mental war and frustration, Ichigo came to the ultimate and predictable decision to stay true to his morals. He no longer scowled in such a dramatic way, easing the class in the last minutes of the day. All was going normally, until they heard the sound of retching coming from the hall. There was a small murmur throughout the class, while Ochi-sensei went out to check on the poor student. A few moments later, there was the squeaking and wet noise of a mop being put to use.
"Looks like you're going to refuse me, eh Ichigo?" Keigo poked at his friend. He once again slung his arm around Ichigo and said, "The fact that you're going to stick to your guns even when you know what hell I'm going to put you through is admirable." He then pretended to brush away a stray tear. "It makes me proud to call you a friend." The bell rang, and Ichigo shoved Keigo off him and left the room.
"Kurosaki-kun was sure acting strange today, wasn't he Tatsuki-chan?" Orihime mentioned to her friend. "He went around looking like this for the entire day." She then did her best to imitate the scowl she so loved, getting a laugh from Tatsuki. "I wonder what was bothering him…" She said in a thoughtful manner. As she passed Ichigo's desk, she noticed that his book bag was still hanging on the side of his desk. She quickly looked for Ichigo, and discovered he was already halfway out the door. "Kurosaki-kun! Your bag!" She called over to him, but he didn't hear her. She then grabbed his bag and rushed past everyone to get it to him. "Kurosaki-kun!" She called to him once again, this time, managing to get his attention.
"Huh?" Ichigo turned around in mid step, effectively stepping back into someone, who like him had a rough day.
"Watch you, jerk!" The boy yelled, pushing Ichigo forward. Now, under normal circumstances, this won't have had much effect. But as a reason of the sick student in the hall and the mop having been there only minutes before, footing became an issue for the young Kurosaki. He stumbled and slipped forward just a bit, whilst Orihime was hurrying towards him.
There was a collective gasp from the on lookers and a few jaws dropped. Though if someone had a real good look at the event, they'd have known that it wasn't too big a deal. Keigo stopped dead in his tracks, jaw seemingly unhinged. Chad and Ishida kept their normal looks, though they were slightly more rigid than normal. Rukia, however, had a different reaction from everyone else. She would have given her beloved Chappy doll for a camera at that moment.
The result of both Ichigo and Orihime moving toward each other in a hurried manner was them colliding. The result of Ichigo trying to get his balance was his head being lowered than normal. For the same reason, his arms had been in front of him to catch himself in case he fell flat on his face. This added up together, and the result looked worse than it really was.
The first thing that registered in Ichigo's mind was that his face was touching Orihime's. The second thing that registered was his hands firmly on her shoulders. The third and final thing was what he felt against his lips. It wasn't at all soft. It slowly dawned on the poor boy that he was, regrettably and accidentally, kissing Orihime's chin. When it all registered, Ichigo pulled back quickly, saw the flushed face of Orihime, and then did something that made his image worse. He ran like hell, just like when he was rushing to her aide in Hueco Mundo.
There was a small murmur from the students before Chizuru gave a rather pissed off yell and attempted to chase down Kurosaki, with the intent to break some of his bones. Fortunately, a mutual friend of Ichigo and Orihime prevented this by putting the out of control lesbian in an arm lock. It was then that everyone erupted into their own discussion about the event that had just occurred. During the commotion, Orihime glanced down and realized that she was still holding Ichigo's bag. Though a still bit in shock, she took off after Ichigo, leaving the mess in the hallway behind. Tailing her, Rukia bolted through the mess and quickly caught up with the other girl at the school gates.
Though it wasn't his fault, Ichigo felt like scum. He had run all the way from the school, halfway to his house, stopping to rest a bit on a bench. He didn't really kiss her, he wasn't really to blame, and he wasn't sure why he felt disappointed. He hoped that it was because he had in a way betrayed his morals.
"Ano, Kurosaki-kun…" Orihime timidly said his name.
"Argh!" Ichigo jumped at the sudden mention of his name. He silently screamed, 'Where the hell did you come from?!' Like main times before, Orihime had managed to find Ichigo and appear seemingly out of thin air, when she shouldn't have. "Inoue?!" He gasped out. His breathing was a little harder, a result from the mad dash and the sudden shock from Orihime. He felt himself redden again.
Orihime's had the same tint to it. "You forgot your bag in the classroom…" She timidly said and handed him his book bag. She then opened and closed her mouth repeatedly, trying to find the words she wanted. "Ano…do you mind if I sit with you for a while?" She then lightly laughed her own unique nervous laugh. "I kinda tried myself out chasing you down."
Ichigo briefly considered politely declining for fear of it being to awkward, but realized he didn't have the heart to say no. "Go ahead." He scooted a bit to the side to give her more room. Orihime took her seat, and the air instantly became deathly silent. For both of them, it was awkward and somewhat uncomfortable.
"Ku-Kuchiki-san told me about what you Keigo dared you to do…" Orihime started. Ichigo felt his blood turn cold. Oh, he was going to kill her. "So, that's why you were acting so strange today." Orihime lightly laughed against. After a brief pause, Orihime asked a question that hadn't crossed her mind until Rukia suggested it to her; a question Rukia had skillfully played out. "Kurosaki-kun, why did you flat out say no to the idea of kissing me? Am I not a kissable girl in your eyes?"
Ichigo's head shot up, and he instantly answered, though a bit more forceful than he intended. "Of course not!" He surprised both himself and Orihime with his answer. He quickly worked to save his ass. "What I mean is, you're not someone I wouldn't kiss. Inoue, you're a very pretty girl, and everyone guy would love the chance to kiss a girl like you." He instantly felt he chose some poor wording and failed to completely save himself from drowning. "Inoue, I flat out said no to Keigo's dare because I didn't want to steal some thing like a kiss from you. It won't sit well with me." He sighed. "If we where to ever kiss, I'd want you to want us to…wait I don't mean it like that! Ah, bu…argh…" Ichigo gave a defeated sigh. He somehow dug himself in a grave and threw the dirt onto himself. Where the hell was this coming from?! He was just about to return to his rather moody state when he heard Orihime trying to suppress her laughter. He gave her a sideways, questioning look that effectively caused her to break into full blown laughter. For a moment, he just stared at her, completely lost, before she started to infect him, making him chuckle lightly.
Finally, Orihime's laughing fit passed, and she settled back into her usual upbeat self. She then got up and turned to Ichigo. She then quickly placed a peck on his check. "You know, you're really sweet, Kurosaki-kun." She then turned to head home, leaving a stunned, blushing, and confused Kurosaki Ichigo alone on the bench. As Orihime walked home, she couldn't help but smile. Her knight in shining armor was still just as sweet as he ever was, though he hid it well. The next day, they'd be the subject of much gossip, and bombarded with questions, but tomorrow was still some time away. For now, the two of them just wanted to think back on the day and reflect on what had happened, and just maybe, regret that Ichigo was a little too tall.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Author's notes: Well, that's chapter three. It changed so much while I wrote on it, and the ending is very different from what I originally thought up. Overall, I don't think this is the best thing I could have done for this addition to the story. I feel like I used too much of a cliché and then made the characters a little OOC. Also, it feels kinda rushed. That's just my opinion. Who knows, you guys might think this is pretty good. As always, comments are welcome, and flames will not be well received, but if you must, make it valid. There are probably some spelling and grammar errors since I haven't really proof read it, and it might flow awkwardly in some parts since I didn't work on it constantly. I would sometimes write a few paragraphs and then get busy with school and other things for a week or two, so sorry about that.