It feels strange to be finally updating this. This chapter was a particularly hard one for me, because it's that part of the action that gets things starting. Just as a warning, the next chapter may cause the rating of this fic to go up.
Again thanks to all those who've reviewed, fav-ed, and put this on their alert list.
As always, Bleach belongs to Kubo Tite, Shueisha, and some other people, just not me.
Always One Foot on the Ground
chapter 3
"So why exactly are you coming to me with all your bags? I'd think that after this kind of story breaks that you'd be in some hotel room with your managers keeping watch," he said sitting down in a chair that sat adjacent to the sofa she was currently on.
"I don't want to deal with that right now. I know I'll have to, but I just need some room to think for now."
"And why come here?" he asked with an almost hostile tone. He'd spent his past weeks mustering up the courage to just be able to get over her, and, yet again, she comes swooping back into his life just as he was starting to allow himself to let go. This time it wasn't just a dance at a wedding. There was much more potential in this situation, potential that Shuuhei wasn't sure about.
"I can't go into hiding on my own. Everyone's out looking for me, so I'm pretty sure that it would only be a matter of time before I was discovered just at some hotel. I don't know if the people I know now would be willing to help after learning about this…without selling me out," she said, clearly not happy to admit that most her friends now would likely call a tabloid than actually help her. "Other than you and Orihime, no one else knew about this before now. At least, you're the only two I can go to now. Orihime just got back from her honeymoon, and the last thing I want is for her to have to deal with this. That just leaves you."
He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Even if they were on shaky terms, he still cared very much for her. Even if he were over her, he would always care about her well-being. He was sympathetic to her situation, but, at the same time, it felt strange to have her be so close if he agreed to let her stay. They had a very excellent physical chemistry, and it would be hard for him to suppress that. Not to mention, it would just be awkward.
"How long do you need to stay here for?"
"I think it would be just today and through the weekend."
Shuuhei cursed to himself. It was Friday, wasn't it? Had this happened during the week, it would be easy to avoid her by staying at the office until 8 or 9, which wasn't very unusual for him in the first place. Still, if she needed his help, when she would be staying over should really make that much of a difference in his decision.
"Okay, but I don't really have much food around. There's some instant curry, some Vienna sausages, maybe a few eggs, and rice, but that's probably about it when it comes to a meal." She smiled slightly, relieved that he was indeed willing to help her. Before she could say anything, Shuuhei's phone rang. The conversation was short, and he put his phone back into his suit pocket when he finished. "My car is waiting for me outside. I need to get to work, and today is probably going to be a late night for me."
With nothing else said between them, he quickly left, not stopping until he got to the black sedan that was waiting for him.
Work has always been a welcome distraction for Shuuhei. Part of the reason he'd gotten the position of editor-in-chief was because he buried his worries in work. The higher ups saw it as a studious dedication to the field and to the publication. They didn't care why he always there. All they knew was the he was almost always the last one to leave in the evening.
It wasn't that he didn't love what he did. He very much loved his job. That probably helped the situation a great deal.
Shortly after walking into his office and sitting down, Momo scurried in for her usual rundown of the day's schedule.
"Today's a busy one, Hisagi-san. Ichigo Kurosaki is coming in this morning for a meeting about another short fiction feature. Then there's the mid-morning run through, and we should have every department ready for that. For lunch, you'll be meeting with Isane-san about the re-design and hiring a new art director or two to help with that. After that, Kojima-kun, the photographer for the cover feature, will be coming in along with the creative director to talk about options for the shoot next week. Kunida-san will also be coming in for that, since she conducted the interview last week, so you'll be going over that with her as well. The end of the day, we have a conference call squeezed in with the publishing board about the progress on the redesign and re-brand."
"When is Kurosaki coming in?" Shuuhei asked, unbuttoning his suit jacket.
"Actually, he's already here. The meeting was made for 8:30 so you could get it in before most people would come in, and it's quarter after nine now. He was waiting in your office, but he went out talking on his cellphone about ten minutes ago. I think it was Orihime-chan calling."
"And how did you figure that out?" he asked with a smirk.
"It's pretty easy to see," Momo said, giggling softly. "But it sounded like Orihime-chan was worrying about something. He seemed a little stressed out by it all."
Shuuhei wondered if the call had anything to do with Rangiku. He knew that Orihime, and maybe Ichigo knew about her past, but seeing as Rangiku went to his place, he had to wonder if she'd even contacted Orihime at all. It wouldn't surprise him if she didn't.
"If you see him, wave him in. I'll be waiting."
"Certainly," Momo replied with her usual cheery tone. "I'll also get a pot of coffee ready." As she left, he could see Ichigo off in the distance, wandering around the halls while talking on his phone. His pacing confirmed Momo's suspicions as well as his own. Maybe it was a good thing that they were meeting after all.
"Was that Orihime-chan on the phone?" Shuuhei asked after greeting the younger man, who had made his way back to the office when his call was finished.
"Uh, yeah, it was," Ichigo replied, a little confused as to why he was being asked who was calling and hoping that Shuuhei wasn't mad that he wasn't available when he came in. "Why do you ask?"
"Does it have anything to do with the news about Rangiku?"
"Kinda," he replied, hesitating slightly at the older man's question. He had to wonder why that would be the conclusion, since Shuuhei didn't seem like the type that bothered with celebrity scandals. How exactly did he know to ask about that? "She's just worried because she can't get a hold of her. She was just kind of expecting to hear from her this morning. I just figured she was sleeping in, like always, but Orihime tried to call her a few times before I left and it went straight to voicemail. Now, I guess she's been calling her managers, and they haven't heard anything either."
"Call her back and tell that she has nothing to worry about. Rangiku's at my place."
"Oh, okay," Ichigo replied, reaching for his phone, taken aback a bit by the older man's blunt admission. This was certainly a moment that he didn't plan on getting trapped in when he left for the meeting this morning. He had been nervous, but it was more about what kind of feedback he was going to get on his new featured story from the editor who got him the feature and not relaying messages to his wife from her adoptive older sister's ex-boyfriend. It was definitely not what he'd imagined would happen when he walked out the door this morning. "Hello? Orihime, I–"
"You don't need to worry about me, Ichigo-kun. I haven't found her yet, but you have your meeting. I can talk to you when you're done," she said, cutting him off before he could explain the situation.
"I am at my meeting, but Hisagi-san told me to call you and let you know that Rangiku's at his place."
"Now is not the time to be joking, Ichigo-kun," she said in the most stern voice she could muster.
"I'm not joking, that's what he said," he replied defensively.
Hearing Ichigo's reply, Shuuhei motioned to the younger man to give him the phone. It looked like he was going to have to explain everything after all.
"He's not lying Orihime-chan. Rangiku came over this morning, asking to stay for the weekend, so I assume that she's going to be there until Sunday."
There was a bit of silence over the phone for a few moments, and he wasn't exactly sure how to interpret it. He was thinking he'd hear her rambling on about how happy she was to know where her surrogate sister was and that she was okay.
"So how is she?" The question was soft and almost unsure.
"I think I'd be one of the last people to be able to answer that," he replied. "You know Rangiku better than I do. She'd never let us know that she was more than just shaken."
"I kinda figured it would be like that. I wasn't really all that surprised when I couldn't contact her." Shuuhei sighed as he listened to the young woman, she seemed to be slowly easing the tension in her voice he heard when she first spoke. "But I'm happy to know that she's okay. Hearing that she's at your place for the weekend makes me even more relieved. I know you'll take really good care of her."
It was one thing for him to think about his feelings for the voluptuous blond, but it was another to hear someone else relay the obvious back to him, as if he actually thought that he was any good at holding back his feelings. The way Orihime had said it that made it seem like that much was a given.
"Things are a little hectic around here, so she may just end up sitting around my place alone," he said in an attempt to play off Orihime's last comment. "Maybe it would be a good idea for you to go visit her."
"Really? You're okay with having me there?"
"It's fine, Orihime-chan. Do you remember where it is?"
"Um, I think so. I just need to get to the Omotesando station, and Hisagi-san is in the big white building, and if I reached Dior and Chanel, I've gone too far*…Rangiku-san taught me that when she first was seeing you," she admitted with a laugh.
"It figures that would be how she remembers it," he deadpanned. "All you need to do is enter 2757, then the pound sign on the keypad next to the big door in the entryway. That'll get you in to the building. My place is on the top floor, number 810."
"Thank you, Hisagi-san. I really appreciate it."
"No problem. I know she'll be happy to see you."
"Yes, well, I should probably let you get back to you meeting."
"I think Ichigo would appreciate that. I'll talk to you later."
"Bye, Hisagi-san!" the younger girl finished cheerily. Shutting the phone, Shuuhei handed it back to Ichigo.
"I hope you don't mind me telling her to visit."
"No, it's fine. It'll be good for both of them," Ichigo awkwardly replied as he put his phone back in the inner pocket of his blazer. He'd initially been nervous about the meeting, now he was just praying for the actual discussion about what he'd been working on for over a month to start.
"Good. Well, I guess we can finally get down to talking about what I called you in for."
Rangiku was having a hard time passing the time alone at Shuuhei's apartment. Her first thought was to watch some TV, but pretty much all the morning talk shows were talking about her at some point in the program. She decided to put in a movie, hoping it would distract her, but soon lost interest in watching it. Shuuhei's movie collection didn't interest her much in the first place.
Instead, she found herself wandering around the place, which was rather roomy by at least Tokyo standards. Even with the open space that was available, she found herself almost instinctively heading towards the main bedroom. She had fond memories in his room, most of which were made in the bed. It was for that reason that the first thing she did when she entered the room was to sit on the messily made bed. After a few seconds of sitting, she felt her body slowly sink down onto the mattress until she was lying sideways across his bed. As she lie there, she could feel the scent that permeated the apartment, his scent, intensify.
A knock at the door startled her from her daze. She knew better than to go answer the door, but her curiosity couldn't keep her from tiptoeing over and looking through the peephole to see who it was. Hopefully no one had seen her walking to the building, but she quickly shook that thought. It had to be someone that knew how to get into the building without having a pass-code.
She peered through peephole to see a very familiar face. Excited, she flung open the door and pulled the girl inside quickly, making sure to shut the door swiftly behind her.
"Orihime!" the older woman exclaimed as she enthusiastically hugged the younger girl. "I hope you're not mad that I haven't called you."
"It's okay," Orihime replied, trying to loosen the hug just a little. "I'm just glad that I was able to find out where you were, and that Hisagi-san was nice enough to suggest that I come over."
"He didn't call you, did he?" Rangiku asked, pulling out of the hug, yet still keeping her hands firm on smaller girl's shoulders. Orihime could tell by her expression that she didn't want that to be true.
"Oh no, not at all! I don't think he's the type to be that bold. Ichigo-kun just had a meeting with Hisagi-san this morning, and I was on the phone with him because I was worried about you. I guess Hisagi-san figured out that I was the person Ichigo-kun was on the phone with, and that's when he told me not to worry, because you were here. Then he said he'd be busy all day, so maybe it would be good for me to come over and keep you company. That's all."
Rangiku had to admit that sounded much more like Shuuhei than the idea that he would go out of his way to call Orihime and tell her to go over to his place. "So, how are you doing?"
Rangiku only offered a grim smile in response. What else was she supposed to do or say?
"I don't really know," she sighed.
"I guess that much is expected, huh?" Orihime said softly.
The tension in the room was still quite thick. In Orihime's younger years, Rangiku was the one to console her about her problems. She couldn't really remember an occasion where it was Rangiku that needed her help, and now, without much experience, Orihime wasn't exactly sure how to go about the situation.
"Well, surely, it's not the end of your career," Orihime said, as she lead Rangiku to sit on the nearby couch with her. "There are actresses who used to be AV stars. I mean, the movies they make are a little steamy for normal movies, but this isn't going to stop you from doing what you've always wanted to do."
"But I wasn't an AV actress. It may not seem like there's much difference, but people consider what I had to do to be worse than being an AV idol."
"It's not like you had much of a choice about it. Maybe if you tell the truth and let people know how this happened, they'll be more understanding." Rangiku could almost feel herself smiling at the optimistic tone in the young woman's voice. It felt good to have at least one person wishing the best for you.
"I hope that's true. I just don't want my past make people only want one thing from me. If I wanted to be an AV idol, I would have done it by now. I'd be a pretty good one too," she said with a slight smirk. "Now, Hime-chan," she continued with a sly tone. "I haven't talked to you face to face since the morning you left on your honeymoon and the details you gave me on the phone are just not enough."
"Ah, Rangiku-nee, I can't talk about that," the younger girl said, her cheeks turning pink. She looked to see that Rangiku didn't have anything to say, but she had a very sly and very familiar grin. Before Orihime could say a word, Rangiku had pounced on her, tickling the younger girl. "Ran…giku-nee…still…not telling!" she tried to get in as she gasped for breath between bouts of laughter.
Even after a long day at work, Shuuhei was still aprehensive about returning to his apartment. He was hoping that Rangiku, in her current state, would be sleeping at this hour, but with his decision to invite Orihime over to keep her company, he highly doubted that was the case.
Opening the door, he immediately heard Orihime's embarrassed giggle, soon joined with Rangiku's chuckle. Part of him was annoyed that she was indeed still awake, but hearing her laugh like that made that annoyance melt away. He'd genuinely been worried about her for most of the day but still a little too reserved to call her to check up.
"Tadaima," Shuuhei said, almost timidly, as he removed his shoes. He wasn't used to saying the greeting since he usually came come to an empty apartment.
As he walked further inside, he could see Orihime and Rangiku sitting on his couch, the TV softly playing in the background. Rangiku noticed him out of the corner of her eye.
"You're home early, Shuuhei. I thought you said it was going to be a late night for you," she said, turning around on the couch to see him better.
"It was. It's quarter til nine right now."
"EH?" Shuuhei watched as Orihime went from laughing to frenzied in a matter of seconds. She was muttering about losing track of time and hoping that she wouldn't be coming home to an upset husband. "Rangiku-nee, sorry, but I really need to go," she said giving Rangiku a rushed hug. "Just call me if anything else happens. And Hisagi-san," she said pausing in front of him. "Thank you so much for letting me come over."
"No problem, Orhime-chan. It's getting late, I can walk you to the station."
"I'll be fine. You're so close to Omotesanto-dori. I've imposed enough already, and I can't imagine there being any trouble on such a busy street. I'll just call Ichigo-kun and have him meet me at the station so we can walk home. Thank you so much for everything. Take good care of Rangiku-nee this weekend."
With that, Orihime was gone, leaving them together, alone.
*Omotesando is a main road in Tokyo, and is known for having many of Tokyo's designer boutiques. I kinda based where he lives on Omotesanto Hills, which is a big complex of shops and (gorgeous) apartments. I figure since Shuuhei's always had a pretty decent position, and is now an editor-in-chief, at a popular magazine that he could afford it. And it is less than a block (and across the street) from Chanel and Dior stores.
