Writer's Note:
Thanks for all the reviews, faves, and follows~! I really appreciate the feedback I get from you guys! :) I'm glad you guys think it's interesting! I don't want to reveal what happens this chapter too much - so read to find out! :D If your wondering why Mai's mom isn't one of the bleach characters it's because I don't like making bleach characters OOC and make a nice character seem mean or rude when they actually aren't - so that's why she's an OC. ^.^
Italics writing: means emphasizing a word, thinking or flashbacks
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.
Chapter 4: First Meetings and Movie Passes
Gin groans as he rubs his forehead, feeling extremely hot for some reason. His blurry vision flickers at the ceiling, and Gin slowly remembers where he is. He's still lying on Rangiku's leather couch, he wonders what time it is, and his ocean blue eyes move to the digital clock on the T.V. box. He nearly gets up from the shock of the time - it's already 3:00 am. Was I asleep for that long? Gin ponders to himself, and he faintly remembers Rangiku getting him medicine, but him closing his eyes and sleeping before actually taking it. Lo and behold the pill and glass of water Rangiku got him were still sitting on the coffee table, and Gin hastily takes the medicine. His throat is aching, and he thinks he can barely talk at the moment. Not to mention how hot he feels.
He realizes why he's so hot when he notices a knitted blanket lying over his legs on the couch. He smiles softly at the warm blanket that smells faintly of Rangiku's perfume - like most of the apartment did. Gin feels like sleeping again but knows he should probably ask Rangiku about it first - he didn't want her to get angry at him for staying the night without even asking for her permission. He's about to get up to find her bedroom, when he notices Rangiku's orange blonde strands of hair and sleeping face lying on the soft carpet in front of the couch and coffee table.
He slowly gets up and bends down to hear Rangiku's soft even breaths as she slept soundly with a smile on her face. She's mumbling something about sweets in her sleep, and he begins moving away some of her tangled hair from her face. He knows she'll be angry in the morning if she looks in the mirror to see a bird's nest in her tangled mess of strawberry blonde hair. His blue eyes drink in every spot where she's placed, and how her left arm is angled upwards, and her entire body is turned to the left. He does this to remember every detail, so that his memory can picture her asleep like this and be glad that Rangiku could sleep soundly like this - and glad that she's safe. He had worried about her - alot - and so much time had passed he'd nearly forgotten the beauty mark under her lip and the exact way her hair always fell when it's long.
Gin snaps back into reality when Rangiku mumbles, "Kira-san, you're being so silly! Come here~!" He frowns at Rangiku, when hearing her mumble some other man's name in her sleep. This is the moment Gin realizes there's no way to repair what they had back then; Rangiku is beautiful, more beautiful than any woman he's ever met - many men would do anything to date her in a heartbeat, including this Kira person. Gin could never be with her - it was out of the question anymore.
He's out of the picture completely now.
He decides to not let himself hear her mumble anything more about this man she's with, or else he'll go crazy not knowing who beat him to Rangiku. Gin shakes his head he didn't beat me - I had no chance the minute I left her. Gin slowly places his arms under her, picking her up slowly bridal style. Her head unconsciously snuggles against his chest and Gin wishes he could hold her like this forever - but knows that it's not his place to do so. He walks quietly, making sure not to wake Rangiku's light slumber because he knows she wakes easily in her sleep; unlike him who can never be woken up.
He pushes open the door with his foot, guessing that this was Rangiku's bedroom and hopefully not the bathroom. He's relieved when he sees a large queen sized bed and a small nightstand beside it. He walks over to the side of the bed, his eyes taking in every aspect of her room, and how her desk is filled with so many papers he knows that Rangiku probably never even finishes. She never finishes her work, but always manages to get what she wants in the end. He wishes he could do things like her sometimes and get what he wants with doing the least amount of work. He chuckles at her messy desk, and let's his blue eyes fall once more on the woman he can't seem to forget loving - the one he still loves.
He sometimes wishes he could be open to her about his feelings but knows it would only cause her more problems - and more things to worry about. It's bad enough he ran into her that day, he hadn't meant to see her there, he did hope he'd meet her at the back of his mind while looking into that toy store he went into with her in the past once when they were young crazy kids. It was only unconsciously he thought of running into her there - it was a stupid and careless thought, but when he heard her bright voice asking him if he saw something he liked - he knew immediately it was her; her voice is the only one who can sound that bright and flirt so effortlessly.
He finally forces himself to open the sheet for her and place her into the bed. Rangiku immediately turns to face the other side, her long wavy hair spilling behind her looking like strands of pure gold against the white bed sheet. He pulls the thicker sheets over her turned body, and decides that he should just leave Rangiku despite how sick he feels.
Leaving Rangiku is always what he does best anyways.
"Gin?"
He freezes from the sound of her voice, and wonders if she's just talking in her sleep again. As he turns his head he doesn't see Rangiku still soundly asleep, but the woman is sitting upright, her eyes searching in the dark for him.
He doesn't know what to say, or whether or not he can even speak since his throat is so dry. He manages to croak, "Yes?"
"You're not leaving again Gin - I'm not letting you go. You're sick remember? You need some soup to get that throat less dry," Rangiku scolds him as if he was the immature one and she was the level headed one. Gin is slightly hesitant to answer her, he wants to leave so badly, because it's the only thing he's familiar with doing right now. It's the only thing he knows how to do. Talking with Rangiku and staying with her like this is too perfect to be real, he doesn't deserve her kindness after all he's put her through.
Rangiku hastily gets out of bed and quickly heads towards him, Gin instinctively takes a step away from her, thinking she's coming too close. But Rangiku persists and stops right in front of him, inches away from his face, her sighing against his collarbone since she's not as tall as him, "I'm not letting this happen again - I asked you to come in to talk with you. Not to let you leave me all over again." She sounds desperate and upset - he knows she's upset, he hears a sniffle come from her hidden face and notices her shoulders are shaking as if she'll fall apart in a second.
He knows she's crying immediately and wants to leave even more so than before - he's making Rangiku cry, this is his worst nightmare. She grabs onto his frozen hands, and holds onto them as tightly as she can, squeezing them to reassure herself that he's still there and that he's not leaving any time soon. She mumbles an apology in the midst of her sniffling. Her face is still looking down at her socks, he guesses it's to hide her tears from him.
Gin pulls away from her warm hands that he remembers loving so much, and wraps his arms around her shaking form, "I'm so sorry Rangiku," he whispers softly his voice cracking. Rangiku's face looks up, her eyes spilling tears and she witnesses Gin's blue eyes filled with a sadness Rangiku understood just before he embraces her. Gin chokes hoarsely, "Don't say you're sorry ever again - it's my fault not yours." She feels his cold hands on her back pushing her into his chest tightly, and she finds her heart ache for Gin's sad words, her forehead pressing into his collar of his black button up shirt. Gin stood there holding onto her so tightly Rangiku was sure she'd break if she were a piece of glass.
Rangiku didn't care, she let out a light sob as she grabbed onto his black shirt, gripping onto it as tightly as he held her. Gin felt like crying too, but he didn't even know why - was it because he made Rangiku cry? Or was it because he wanted her to come with him when he left that day - but she didn't follow him - not immediately. Was that why he's sad?
Gin tucks his chin over Rangiku's head, his electric blue eyes watering as he heard Rangiku cry loudly in the dark room. He isn't sure whether he could ever leave Rangiku again, not when he knows he'll be leaving her like this. He knows the two of them have a huge mess of emotions flying out of them right now, and he isn't sure how they can even possibly repair them. His eyes close as he breathes in Rangiku's scent his nose touching the top of her head. She smells like flowers and a tint of vanilla like she always did; she smells like home. They both know that the problems between them were nowhere near being repaired.
But at least they have gotten closer to fixing things - even if it is only a small insignificant step. Gin briefly wonders if Rangiku still plans to make him soup this early in the morning. Would she be still crying when she made it? Or would she be smiling like she always does?
Even when she's on the brink of crying her heart out.
(^.^)
Thursday - 5:30 pm
"Oh come on Ichigo quit being a sour puss and just take it!" Yoruichi persists her yellow eyes blinking seriously at him. Ichigo's mind remembers the same teasing words being used by Mai's mom that time at the horrible party he dreamed about. He shudders at the bad memory and scowls to the older woman in front of him, "I don't deserve this employee of the month prize, and I don't go out to the movies anyways." Urahara apparently chose Ichigo as employee of the month, and since he's on a business trip to another city with his two kids to go sightseeing with them while working, Yoruichi decided to take the reigns of the business while her husband was away. Apparently this isn't the first time the mysterious man has left the business in Yoruichi's care; so far the woman seems completely at ease doing her husband's job so Ichigo didn't question her.
"You can take your daughter so you two can see a movie!" Yoruichi remarks her eyes challenging him to decline her offer even further. Ichigo sighs in agreement at the persistent woman shoving the free movie passes in front of his face until his mind registers what Yoruichi just stated to him.
"Wait - how did you?" -
"Urahara does research on all his employees. We know about Mai," Yoruichi responds swiftly whilst waving the passes in front of Ichigo's shocked face. "What?! Uh god, Urahara's crazy!" Ichigo exclaims, thinking that Urahara is planning something weird - he didn't trust the man at all, now that he knew about Mai, Ichigo may have to move and take Mai as far away as possible.
"Ichigo. Urahara may seem unreliable and kind of too weird to trust him but he's a good guy. It's not like he's tracking your every move or video taping you or your daughter. He doesn't even know what she looks like, all he knows is her name and that you are her legal guardian and Father. So just relax about it," Yoruchi explains calmly and Ichigo's uncertain for a moment and not sure whether to believe the mysterious woman in front of him but looking into Yoruichi's eyes even Ichigo can tell clearly that she's telling the truth. Yoruichi is kind and normal compared to Urahara - she's also married to him so Urahara can't be a threat to his daughter.
Ichigo looks away from Yoruchi's light eyes, feeling slightly guilty for the strange man he assumed was not to be trusted. "Tell him thanks for choosing me and for buying me these free passes," as Ichigo hastily takes the passes from Yoruichi's hand, pushing the passes into his jeans pocket, and she grins in response finding the orange haired man in front of her amusing. Ichigo continues, "Oh, by the way, does Urahara always get the employee of the month free movie passes?"
Yoruichi lets out a light laugh in response to Ichigo's question, and says in the midst of her laughing, "Nah it depends on the person, last time a guy got lingerie to give to his girlfriend." Ichigo's face turns red at the mention of lingerie, and begins thinking Yoruichi is just as crazy as his boss - no wonder they were together.
"God, you have a kid but despite that your as innocent as a virgin! Here take this," Yoruichi states. Ichigo decides to ignore her comment due to her shoving a piece of paper into his hands. Ichigo stares blankly down at it, "What is it?"
"A single girl's number of course, you and I both know you need to date immediately or else you will regret it afterwards. Urahara's right you know - you can't just give up," Yoruichi playfully answers the man, her eyes glinting in amusement. "I'm not giving up okay?! I don't want anything like that!" Ichigo throws the number onto the ground his eyebrows furrowing in frustration. Everyone is bothering him about dating whether it be Urahara, or Gin, or Lisa or Riruka and now Yoruichi!
But they don't realize he's not ready and that women don't want to date single Dads with no time. Sure women like a man who's good with kids, hence the women at the grocery store who's eyes turn to big bowling balls at the sight of him and Mai together, but no one would stay with him anyways. He'd have no extra time to spend with them cause he barely already has time to spend with Mai, and it's not like he can stay overnight at a girl's place cause he needs to take Mai home. No woman could have the patience for that type of stuff, or be willing to be second to Mai. The only way Ichigo could date anyone would be when Mai's in her late teen years and even then Ichigo would be far too old to hit the dating scene. Ichigo wonders where the hell Urahara even gets these single women's numbers that he keeps giving Ichigo.
Ichigo shakes his head from thinking about it too much and states, "I'm leaving - and tell Urahara to quit giving me random ladies numbers!" Ichigo shouts as he walks out of the delivery shop, leaving Yoruichi with her arms crossed as she stares down at the lonely piece of paper thrown onto the ground.
"Kids these days, they got no clue how fast it goes by," Yoruichi sighs her eyes closing in impatience. Why does he always leave me here, and take the kids for all the fun? I swear I'm getting the short end of the stick every time Kisuke Yoruichi muses as she turns around to the breakroom her long ponytail of purple hair swinging behind her.
(^.^)
Ichigo's feet drag against the leaves on the ground, and he adjusts his black tie, since he's heading to work after picking Mai up from the preschool, and dropping her off at Hiyori's house. He's still in a bad mood after that talk with Yoruichi and just wishes the day would be over already, wind blew at Ichigo's bare face as he quickly ran towards the preschool's front doors. Ichigo reminds himself he should probably wear a jacket next time so that he isn't freezing every time he walks outside. He gives out a relived sigh as he steps into the warm preschool, the vents on the ceiling blowing in warm air against Ichigo's cold face.
Ichigo makes his way into the waiting area, and recognizes the tall large man standing in front of Isane's tidy desk. "Kenpachi?" Ichigo asks as he walks to the large man's side, "What are you doing here?" Kenpachi normally comes to pick Yachiru up much later. Kenpachi grunts to Ichigo acknowledging his employee's prescence before stating, "I'm taking today off, and leaving Gin in charge. Yachiru's been not feeling too good for awhile now, but she went to school anyways - she can't miss spending time with her friends." Kenpachi seems slightly worried about Yachiru's well being causing Ichigo to smirk, "So I guess this may have to do with her not wearing a jacket right?" Kenpachi scowls in response, while cussing at Ichigo under his breath for bringing up Kenpachi's bad laundry skills.
Before Ichigo could tease his boss some more, knowing full well Kenpachi wouldn't do anything to him at the preschool, Unohana's light voice is heard from behind the men, "Ichigo, it's good to see your here, Mai's excited to see you." She gestured to Mai who's standing behind her legs, staring at Kenpachi as if he sprouted out a third head. Ichigo smiles down at his daughter, he bends down extending his arms, and Mai runs towards his open arms immediately giving her father a hug. Kenpachi grins to the mature woman, "Unohana, it's good to see you again. You haven't changed one bit have you? Nearly gave the two of us a heart attack sneaking up behind us like that." Ichigo feels slightly awkward standing between these two who could possibly be flirting in his presence.
"Yachiru is running late, she said she had wrestling practice today," Unohana smiles, but Ichigo notices the smile turns slightly into a smirk. Ichigo questions, "She's on the wrestling team? I'm actually not that surprised," Ichigo glances at Kenpachi thinking to himself that she probably inherited that trait from her adoptive father.
Before he could hear any more banter that may make Ichigo feel even more like a third wheel, Ichigo says, "I guess we better head over to Hiyori's - don't want to be late," he waves to Unohana, and Mai copies his actions before following her Father to the front doors quickly grabbing onto his left hand. Kenpachi hollers, "Tell Gin to make sure he doesn't mess up!" Ichigo feels sincerely sorry for Gin's predicament as he agrees with his bosses request. Gin still wasn't feeling well, so the poor man may possibly faint by the time the night's over to Kenpachi's unawareness. Unohana smiles as Ichigo and Mai leave before turning her attention back to the large man in front of her, "You really do know how to scare your workers don't you?"
"It works every time. And it's not like I'm the only one who does it - if I remember correctly you do the same," Kenpachi smirks down his face leaning close to Unohana's calm face. Her blue eyes seem slightly amused with Kenpachi's words, her braid is as neat as ever behind her shoulders, wearing her usual long sleeve shirt and long skirt.
"Ah, but I think I may be a little more intimidating than you'll ever be," Unohana replies, her voice teasing Kenpachi who grins widely down at her.
...
Ichigo begins driving Mai to Hiyori's place and asks Mai how her day was. "Well, Nel-chan nearly bit off Nnoitra's hand!" Nel is Mai's friend at the preschool, she's a very strange girl from what Ichigo hears in his daughter stories - but he's never met her because her parents pick her up before he picks up Mai. Ichigo shakes his head, "That girl doesn't learn does she?"
"It's not her fault Daddy! Nnoitra was saying mean things about her! She just got angry!" Mai defends, her mouth pouting at her orange haired father. Ichigo smiles at his daughter, "Yeah, but that doesn't mean you go biting someone's hand! He probably just secretly likes her!"
"Likes?" Mai echoes, seeming unsure of what it entails. Ichigo grins, "I mean, Like likes," his amber eyes shining against the sun that's beginning to set in the sky.
"Wha!?" Mai blurts out her eyes seeming confused, she crosses her arms angrily, "That doesn't make any sense! If he like likes her then why is he such a meanie?!" Ichigo chuckles at his daughter, finding her young way of thinking adorable, "I don't know boys doesn't understand how to act around girls, so they do dumb things." Mai taps her chin with her index finger in deep thought, "Hmm... I'll tell Nel-chan about this tomorrow! Maybe they can stop fighting then!"
"As long as no boys are bothering you, it's fine," Ichigo says lightly, and Mai squirms, "Not with Nel-chan always protecting me; she thinks I can't talk without her saying stuff for me!" Ichigo can tell Mai's embarrassed about this, and Ichigo eases her worries, "Just tell her you can talk yourself! Even if you take awhile to say something, as long as you talk it's fine," he takes this chance to ruffle his daughter's hair. She yells at him for tangling her hair, and Ichigo merely sticks out his tongue at her, and Mai bursts into a fit of laughter. Ichigo grins, wishing that Mai will always let him ruffle up her hair; even Ichigo knows that it's a false hope - she'll grow up one day and ruffling her hair would be a part of the past.
(^.^)
"Gin, where do you think your going?! You haven't even finished your soup yet!" Rangiku pouts, planting her hand firmly onto her hips, staring up at the tall silver haired man. Gin can tell she's trying to intimidate him, but with that adorable pout on her lips it's hard to take the woman seriously. "Yeah, yeah, well I had most of it," Gin waves off Rangiku, his blue eyes staring at her in amusement. "I'm being serious! You can't go to work when you're not even better yet - you'll only get worse!" Rangiku's eyes are determined to not let Gin leave, and he scratches his neck nervously unsure of how to respond.
"Kenpachi will kill me with his bare hands if I don't come in to work Ran-chan," Gin replies swiftly while putting on his black dressy shoes. Rangiku watches him intently the pout still evident on her face, "I don't care how scary that man is, I'll go convince him myself if I have to!" Gin gets up suddenly, Rangiku gives the man a worried look wondering if something's wrong and if he's not feeling well again. His face turns and his electric blue eyes lock with her concerned gaze. Rangiku looks away from his gaze, seeming unsure of herself now, "Just take your medication with you, and don't forget to take it on your breaks," she sounds kind of disappointed when she says this and she isn't even sure why - Gin has to go to work, she knows that.
"We are already acting like husband and wife," Gin jokes, with a slight sigh and Rangiku stammers with blush tainting her peachy cheeks, "Wha? N-no, I didn't mean to!" her hands waving around in denial.
"Ya I know Ran-chan! I'll be fine. Don't worry bout me, kay?" Gin grins at Rangiku, his body turning around fully to face her, his blue eyes boring into her pale orbs, while Gin ruffles the top of her head. It feels different from when she had short hair Gin thinks to himself when the golden orange hair doesn't move around as much. Rangiku looks at the ground, finding Gin's act of affection incredibly sweet. "Um," Rangiku mumbles, but before she can continue Gin pulls her head towards his chest practically pushing her into him. Rangiku's face heats up at the memory of being pressed up against him on Tuesday morning. Gin whispers, "Arigatou, Ran-chan."
Rangiku is reminded of the other time Gin said those words to her and smiles before pulling away from him and grabbing his red scarf from the coat hanger. She smiles down at it appreciatively before wrapping it around his neck, and adjusting it while humming to herself. Gin says his voice soft, "Your gonna be a great wife one day, right Ran-chan?" Rangiku smiles lightly, her pale eyes focusing on adjusting the scarf her voice still humming cheerfully. Gin continues, "Just make sure you practice cooking a little more!" Rangiku's eye twitches, and her hands tighten the scarf around his pale neck angrily, "Women don't have to cook you know! My husband will know his way in the kitchen - and I'll add whatever I want to it, and he wouldn't care!"
"Rangiku!" Gin chokes out against Rangiku's strangling as she practically shakes the man in front of her in frustration. Rangiku pushes Gin away roughly, almost causing him to topple into the front door, she continues, "Unlike some people who hate it!" She doesn't understand why he always teases her immediately after complimenting her - it just irked her to no end that he acts this way.
"I never said I hated your soup, I just said to practice," Gin points out with a smirk. Rangiku is about to object to him but Gin suddenly shuffles to her and plants a light kiss on her forehead, his lips hovering over her head for a second and his breath tickles her forehead nearly causing her to shiver before he backs away. The busty woman touches her forehead slightly surprised, and as her bright eyes shift towards Gin he's already opening the door to leave, his blue eyes land on the woman wearing baggy sweatpants, he singsongs, "Bye, bye!" He waves at the gorgeous woman behind him and there is a large smile planted on his face. He closes the door behind him, leaving Rangiku to sigh to herself and glare at the door, thinking of why she even takes care of him in the first place. She smiles at the door after a few moments, her cheeks flushing slightly. "Ah, I remember now," Rangiku mumbles to herself, she fiddles with her sweatpants remembering how Gin remarked about them earlier in the morning.
"That man can be such an idiot sometimes."
(^.^)
"How are you holding up?" Ichigo questions Gin as the said man hands a woman her drink who gives a small smile in return. Gin turns his head, "I'm doing better," Gin responds to his co-worker cheerfully, his smile not fading from his face. His eyes are hidden as always, and despite how bad he looks, Gin seems genuinely happy. "So why are you in such a good mood?" Ichigo asks curiously wanting to know what's gotten Gin to act so happy go lucky to everyone, even the women who flirt with him.
Gin ignores his question completely causing Ichigo to frown at the man and furrow his eyebrows wondering just what the hell that mind of Gin's is actually thinking - if he knew he's pretty sure he'd jump for joy to actually know something about his mysterious friend. Gin seems to know everything there is about him, but he still has no clue about Gin's life out of the restaurant's doors. "I'll never tell you," Gin chimes as he wipes a wine glass, seeming very smug about himself.
Ichigo sighs giving up on wrapping his mind around what's going on in Gin's life. Suddenly a bright high voice singsongs, "Because he's lovey dovey with his girlfriend~!" Ichigo's head turns to see Riruka grinning widely at Gin and wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. Riruka's hair is tied in a ponytail, the pink locks moving as Mashiro drapes her arm over her friend's shoulder, "Yes his girlie! And he whispers to her on the phone~!" Mashiro squeals loudly, and Ichigo notices guests turning their heads at the bar, some of them laughing at Gin's predicament.
"Gin and his girlfriend sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G~!" Riruka and Mashiro chime, as they sway from side to side, and continue the entire song. Gin curses and Ichigo doubles over in laughter, not even caring that they were starting a big commotion and that Kenpachi may split all their skulls if he found out.
Ichigo wipes away his teary eyes, still continuing to laugh, "Seriously, who's the girl?" Gin's grey toned skin is slightly more peach coloured and even turns a light shade of pink from the embarrassment that was Riruka and Mashiro singing in off key about his love life that didn't actually exist. It's all hard to take in - considering he isn't feeling too well. Ichigo stops his laughter and his wide brown eyes stare at Gin curiously, wondering what exactly Gin is thinking when he's staring into the wine glass he's holding his unseen irises hidden behind closed lids.
Gin turns his head to the two girls, "There's no girl - now get back to work you two fan-girls! Or else I'll have Kenpachi kick your asses until you can't sing again," Gin orders the young women, but he doesn't sound intimidating considering the circumstances and the fact his face is still flushed. Ichigo wonders if the man could ever gain his dignity back, boy is Ichigo glad he doesn't have a girlfriend.
Riruka smirks and waves at Gin, "Yeah, yeah, have fun with your girlfwiend~!" Mashiro giggles loudly at the two older men before skipping after the pink haired hostess.
"Those two are actually devils - I'm sure of it," Gin grunts to himself, and Ichigo chuckles at his friend's joke. Ichigo's amber eyes linger on Gin as the silver haired man prepares another alcoholic beverage for the same woman as before. What do you mean Gin, that you don't have a girlfriend? Then who's the girl Riruka and Mashiro are talking about? She couldn't just be Gin's friend could she? I thought Gin wasn't the friend type of guy - he's more of the type to keep their distance Ichigo thinks as he works alongside with Gin. Ichigo wonders briefly if Gin simply didn't tell the woman about his love for her, he just wishes Gin could talk with him about it, so maybe he could help or give Gin his opinion. But the truth is Ichigo probably wouldn't be any help at all. He knew next to nothing about woman, and being in love. The idea of being in love always felt to be make belief to Ichigo. That's what Ichigo wants to think but he knows that it's not true either - falling in love is possible, he knows because his Mom and Dad fell in love and had him. He knew how much they loved each other. That's enough proof to believe in it.
...
"Ichigo, Ichigo? Are ya even listening to me?" Gin states somewhat impatiently to his friend, and Ichigo could barely hear the man over the bar's noise since Gin's voice is slowly getting even less apparent throughout the night due to how sick he is. Gin even left a couple times to take medicine, but even that seemed to not help, Ichigo even remembers hearing his silver haired friend mumble something about having soup under his breath.
"Huh? What is it?!" Ichigo asks, practically yelling in his friend's ear over the loud noise of the restaurant and bar.
"The restaurant's closing soon, you should leave early and pick up Mai-chan! On your way home bring her by here - I'd love to meet her!" Gin tries to yell back in Ichigo's ear but his voice is slowly losing it's capabilities to speak. Ichigo thinks that this not girlfriend of his would probably be angry about Gin's well being considering he actually came to work today and for the rest of the week he will probably sound like a smoker, raspy voice and all. Ichigo remembers Gin's request and realizes that he's always talked about Mai with everyone in the restaurant but Ichigo barely talks about them with his daughter, maybe occasionally but he always thought Mai would find them boring. But Ichigo knew these group of workers were anything but boring.
"Yeah, sure! But are you sure you can take care of the bar? You're still sick you know!" Ichigo responds loudly, the noise in the restaurant is beginning to dim down since some people were leaving. The place is going to close in fifteen minutes anyways, so there's really no harm in Ichigo leaving - he's just worried since Gin's practically barely standing upright from all the noise in the room.
"Ya, ya - it's no big deal! Just go get Mai-chan like the good Father you are~!" Gin chimes in a teasing manner. Ichigo rolls his brown eyes, "Don't whine about it next time though."
"Sure," Gin answers lightly, and Ichigo doesn't like the uncertainty of his response but decides to just get the hell out of there anyways since even he was feeling a little lightheaded from working hard for so long. He glances at his watch on his wrist, and realizes that it's already 12:00 am - he knew waking up Mai at this time and taking her to meet them all would definitely be a hassle. She probably won't even remember any of it in the morning. As Ichigo drives to pick Mai up he feels strangely excited about Mai meeting his friends at work - they were practically his family already and he hadn't even been working there for very long.
...
"Aren't ya here early?" Hiyori mutters as she stares at Ichigo in a suspicious manner. Ichigo rolls his eyes at the small girl and she continues her yellow brown eyes boring a hole in his orange hair, "Did ya get fired? Cause I'm not lowering the price for" - "NO! Now let me in already you crazy bitch- OW!" Ichigo howls angrily, gripping onto his now stinging shin from her hard kick. And she's wearing only flip-flops too. "What was that for?!" Ichigo glares at her while rubbing his shin in hopes of curing the pain in it. Damn when did I get so wimpy? Ichigo thinks to himself as he stares up at Hiyori since he's hunched over inspecting his shin.
Her freckled cheeks are red in anger, "Whaddya mean why?! You can't go calling me a bitch ya asshole! Yer daughter's in the other room you know-stupid baldy!" she spits out furiously, her eyes challenging him to bother her any further. Ichigo decides that this is enough drama for one night - considering Yoruichi talking to him about lingerie, Urahara knowing about Mai, and Gin having a possible girlfriend, this is just the cherry on top for Ichigo's wonderful day. "I need to get going so here's your pay," Ichigo mumbles grouchily, as he pulls out his wallet, and Hiyori crosses her arms as she looks away seeming still mad about what he'd said. Ichigo thinks to himself that her boyfriend must be crazy to actually put up with her antics.
He takes out a few bills and Hiyori hastily grabs them out of his outstretched hand, shoving them into her pink sweater's pocket. "C'mon, she's in her usual place," Hiyori motions her head to the side directing Ichigo to come in, and Ichigo obeys. He doesn't want another possible bruise on any more parts of his body.
...
"Mai? Mai?" Ichigo whispers softly to his daughter while lightly shaking her shoulders. The girl is cozy inside her warm jacket, blush staining her pale cheeks in the warmth. They are parked outside the now empty restaurant, and Ichigo can tell that the others probably still haven't left since the lights are still on.
"Are we home yet?" Mai mumbles as she rubs her closed eyelids with her small fingers. "No, not yet. My friends at work want to meet you - you know like Gin and Inoue, remember?" Ichigo reminds her as he unbuckles her seat belt, hoping with all his heart his daughter remembers him talking about them. "Gin isn't the scary monster at the preschool, right?" Mai quivers, her lips frowning and eyebrows scrunching at the thought of the horrible dark man. Ichigo laughs, "Nah - that's my boss. And don't worry, everyone's scared of him."
"Everyone?! But you're not scared of anyone!" Mai states proudly, while smiling up at her father, and Ichigo chuckles at her response before ruffling her hair stating, "come on sweetie, we don't want to make them wait." "Okie, dokie~!" Mai hums with the bob of her head, her wavy hair following her head's movements as she stares out the passenger window. Her green eyes seem to be filled with wonder at the dark parking lot filled with leaves falling from nearby trees when he opens her door to let her out of the truck. "You like it?" Ichigo asks uncertainly, thinking the place seems kind of creepy this late at night, with only the streetlights and dim lighting of the restaurant barely bringing any brightness to the eerie lot. Her light green eyes look up at her father then shift back to the fallen leaves, "Yeah, it looks pretty~!"
Ichigo wonders briefly whether or not it's good she finds this atmosphere pretty but decides against even thinking about it and merely grabs onto his daughter's hand, leading her to his co workers and only friends he even has in this city.
Ichigo opens the front door and is greeted with loud yelling from the bar in the dark lit restaurant a male voice yelling, "No way in hell am I doing that you crazy!" - "You have to~! Tee, hee!" Ichigo immediately recognizes the voices as Kensei and Mashiro - though he didn't even know Kensei was working today since he works in the kitchen; Ichigo isn't allowed to step foot into that war zone - specific orders from Kenpachi himself.
Ichigo tightens his grip on Mai's hand for a moment, causing Mai to look up at her father in worry, wondering if he is scared and wants too go home instead. He turns to the right, and walks over to the bar, Kensei is the first to notice the two of them, and he seems relieved that a distraction has appeared to avert the conversation subject from himself. "Ichigo! You're back!" Kensei shouts, a grin spreading onto his face, he's wearing a regular t-shirt and baggy blue jeans. Everyone's head turns to witness Ichigo and Mai at once, and Ichigo notices the looks of surprise from everyone but Gin, who just has that same sly smile as he always does plastered onto his grey toned face.
"Aw~! MAI!?" Orihime squeals as she practically jumps out of her seat at the bar, quickly lowering herself at eye level to the little girl. Mai hides behind Ichigo's legs at first causing Orihime to tilt her head to the side in curiosity, "hm, you are Mai aren't you? Kurosaki-kun talks about you all the time! He says you're brave and smart, isn't that right Kurosaki-kun?" Orihime asks, her voice lighthearted, and Ichigo smiles down at Mai while patting her small head. "Yeah. Mai, this is Inoue Orihime, she works as a waitress here, but she's studying to be a nurse," Ichigo explains calmly, and Orihime blushes slightly when Ichigo says her first name, and Ichigo finds Orihime's first name feels foreign on his lips - he didn't feel natural while speaking it out loud. Mai comes from behind his legs, and smiles widely up at Orihime, "You have a pretty name! Orihime is such a nice name!"
Orihime taps her index finger on her chin, seeming in thought, "Well, it does mean princess, but yours is pretty too, Mai means dance! Call me Orihime if you want to Mai-chan~!" Ichigo smiles down at the two, glad that Mai gets along with another woman, since she rarely has any around her considering her mother is out of the picture. He's always worried that it may affect the way she sees woman but she's glad she isn't narrow-minded like other kids could be. Riruka sits down on her knees beside Orihime saying with a smile, "Yeah, Mai is such a good name, do you know why you were named Mai?" Ichigo stiffens at that sentence and before Mai can open her mouth, Ichigo interjects swiftly, "She's always moving around, right Mai?" Mai looks down at the ground at first seeming unsure of what to do but then nods up at her father and Riruka rolls her eyes, "Aw, how boring!"
Orihime pouts her grey eyes seeming slightly hurt, "Riruka, you shouldn't be so negative, Mai has a great name, who cares for reasons - it's her name and that's that!" Ichigo chuckles as Riruka bickers with Orihime, ignores her pleas and the two woman continue their conversation to the entrance - Riruka obviously planning on fleeing Orihime's scolding. Orihime doesn't realize she's leaving until she rounds the corner, she turns quickly shouting, "See you Mai-chan! Kurosaki-kun! Bye!" the strands of her long red hair is the last Mai sees of Orihime as she weakly waves to the woman leaving, her smile fading as the bubbly woman disappears. Kensei pats Ichigo on the shoulder bidding him a farewell, Mashiro following quickly behind him spurring some nonsense Ichigo would never understand. It isn't until they leave that Ichigo realizes Gin's the last person left who's still standing behind the black counter of the bar, he coughs into his elbow loudly, and takes a drink of water from a water bottle in his right hand. He wipes his forehead, and Ichigo thinks maybe Mai should maintain her distance from the sick man. Children always get sick easily, and Mai getting sick would only complicate things.
Mai looks up at Ichigo expectantly, wondering when exactly they can go home, her eyelids are blinking rapidly, and Ichigo can tell as his eyes glance onto her emerald's that the little girl wants to go to sleep immediately. "Gin, this is Mai. Mai this is Gin - he's a good friend of mine," Ichigo musters, with a small almost smile that plays onto his lips. Gin makes his way around the bar, having the same creepy, fox-like sly smile of his, the only smile he can ever give on his grey skinned face. Mai hides behind Ichigo legs as Gin sits down cross legged in front of her, chiming, "It's nice to meet ya, Mai-chan! I can call you that, right?" Mai nods lightly, and Ichigo chuckles at his daughter, and pushes her towards the man. Mai turns her face to Ichigo giving him a confused look before standing in front of Gin. Gin gives her a puzzled expression, "Aw, come on Mai-chan I don't bite~!" Mai seems guilty for a moment and Ichigo glances his brown eyes over to Gin, and notices something that nearly causes him to topple over in surprise.
Gin's eyelids are open completely revealing the most electric blue eyes that almost shine in the dim lighting of the restaurant. Ichigo always thought Gin's eye colour wouldn't suite him, or would make him look even more creepy - but it does quite the opposite, Gin actually looks pretty normal. Ichigo thought he'd never think such a thing, but when he's looking at Gin's small blinking wide eyes he can't stop himself from thinking him to be a normal person. Not too normal - his eyes were a blue he's never seen before - he couldn't even come up for a word to describe them. "I'm not scared!" Mai grumbles slightly, but her shoulders are far more relaxed then before.
"You're such a sweet girl Mai-chan - how was preschool? Did anything happen?" Gin questions, and to Ichigo's surprise Mai giggles and sits cross legged in front of Gin, answering him seriously. There's not a single etch of fear in his daughter's light green emerald irises, and Ichigo decides to sit at one of the restaurant table's chairs - he had a feeling Gin and Mai would take awhile. Ichigo was worried they wouldn't get along - but Gin turns out to be good with talking to everyone; probably even with that not-girlfriend of his.
He definitely will figure out who she is - Gin knows Mai; Ichigo should know who's important in Gin's life too, she is his friend, so it shouldn't be a problem, right?
(^.^)
Friday - 12:30 pm
Rukia growls angrily at the two friends in front of her, her violet irises not moving from the sight in front of her. Her thin eyebrows begin twitching in irritation. Renji violently stabs his fork at his chicken breast lunch and Jackie ignores the man's angry noises as she calmly takes a bite from her sub sandwich. The atmosphere is so tense and silent that it's starting to drive Rukia mad. The two friends in front of her have been avoiding talking with each other all week - every lunch is spent in an eerie silence, the only noise being the clanking of their cutlery and the chewing of their food.
Rukia deadpans, "Are you two seriously going to keep this up all week? You're going to have to give up at some point!" Technically they already have almost been keeping this up for a week - an entire work week that is. Rukia isn't even quite sure what happened on Monday night when they went to have dinner on the so called 'hot date' as Rangiku had told her. The two friends didn't give her a single clue as to what had occurred. Renji had ignored her completely and Jackie had seemed too guilty to even look Rukia in the eyes.
Jackie and Renji in the present time refuse to look at each other and Renji gives Rukia a slight glare his dark small eyes piercing into her so harshly she wonders how seriously bad the situation must be. Her violet eyes cast down to Jackie who seems to have that guilty expression again on her face as she stares at her sub sandwich. It's a pretty sad sight; Rukia wonders how long she'll have to suffer through this.
Ever since Monday she hasn't been able to invite Jackie over or talk with her friend at all, because of this 'incident' or whatever it was with Renji their friendship is being ruined. And this is the only stable aspect of her life too - her friends were always the stable ones; she's the one who's always uncertain in her life. Jackie's always been a stable pillar to lean on, but now she's fallen and is no longer standing upright. This may cause more problems than what Rukia needs right now - to make this day greater would be a visit from Byakuya; if that were to happen today she might as well be dead.
Rukia sighs at her predicament and just quietly continues to eat her lunch. Rangiku is running late to have lunch with them because she arrived late this morning for work. Rangiku hadn't told her why exactly she came in late - but she did know that Gin stayed over at Rangiku's place on Monday night. Rangiku didn't have time to tell her the entire story since the whole Renji incident occurred and the two of them were interrogating Jackie and Renji all of Tuesday. Rukia has a hunch that Rangiku's still taking care of him, since she did mention how sick Gin was. Rukia still hasn't met Gin and isn't sure whether to be happy for Rangiku or to be making sure Gin doesn't hurt her all over again.
Rukia is somewhat happy for Rangiku but wishes that the timing didn't have to be so bad. Rukia needs as much support so that these lunches are a little more bearable. Rangiku is far better at breaking the ice and lowering the harsh atmosphere. Rukia is horrible at this type of thing. She just wishes this lunch could be somehow saved, Rukia and Rangiku definitely need to come up with a plan to fix this; and it's going to have to be quick too, or else things may get far worse - and this time Jackie won't be the one who can piece things back together, it'll only be Rukia and Rangiku.
That thought was all it took for Rukia to realize how doomed they were.
(^.^)
Friday - 3:20 pm
"You should have seen them Rangiku! They weren't even in the same universe when they ate! Can you believe this?!" Rukia rambles as she stabs at her keyboard angrily, her eyes glaring daggers as she types an email. Rukia doesn't hear a response and points out, "Are you even listening Rangiku!?"
Rangiku jumps in her seat, her eyes seeming like they were spaced out in thought, until she realizes Rukia glaring at her impatiently. "Sorry! I know how important this is - but maybe we should wait it out? Sometimes things work out on their own, you know?"
Rukia sighs gripping her temples with her fingertips in frustation, "Like you and Gin? And look how horrible that turned out! There's no way we can let them go on like this!" Rangiku looks away from Rukia's stare and Rukia regrets saying that about her friend immediately, "Sorry Rangiku - today's just been a bad day. I didn't mean to take it out on you." Rangiku nods a bright smile forming on her face saying, "No problem!" Rukia can tell Rangiku's faking a smile when she's actually hurt about what she said. Rukia stops typing and asks, "So... speaking of Gin - I didn't get to ask you about what happened."
Rangiku's cheeks heat up slightly, and Rukia raises an eyebrow at her busty friend. "Is that blush I see? Don't tell me you guys" -
"We didn't do anything! I just have been letting him stay over until his fever's over. He worked yesterday, and came back feeling drained and he's working tonight again. I hope he'll get better soon."
"Is that all?" Rukia suggests, her eyebrows raising.
"I guess, we haven't kissed if that's what you mean. And I doubt it'll happen we haven't kissed since" -
"Wait a minute! I thought you said you guys were never more than friends!"
"We kissed at prom night and I think a couple of times before that - but they weren't big kisses! We've never dated or anything, Gin didn't do that with any girls." Rangiku's face heats up at remembering the first time he'd kissed her in grade five, she begged him to kiss her - since no one ever liked her before, and she was upset that the boys teased her at school. She remembers that moment so vividly she can almost still feel his lips on hers, and the tears staining her cheeks. Remembering it made Rangiku realize how silly she'd been for crying like that; she was definitely very sensitive back then.
She remembers the crying from Tuesday morning in Gin's strong arms that held her for so long the two didn't even realize how much time had passed when Rangiku finally pulled away, having no more tears falling down her cheeks. She decides to not even mention about that fiasco to Rukia - and to tell her another time. She senses that the whole Renji incident isn't the only thing that's been bothering her. Rukia doesn't seem to be in a good mood meaning something's definitely up.
"Enough about me Rukia - what about you? Why is today such a bad day?" Rangiku questions curiously.
Rukia looks away from Rangiku and casts her eyes at the message she was typing, "Um... well it's just that Byakuya called - he complained about how I didn't continue anything with Kaien the man that I met up with on Monday."
"You mean the guy you had a date with?"
"No, not a date - he's in love with another woman, so we just talked about her the whole time. He's a really sweet guy too. Anyways Byakuya called last night, and he also told me Kaien proposed to the woman and now they plan to get married soon. He told me he thinks I should leave this company and aim higher but I always tell him the same thing, and he's always disappointed. It kind of makes me wonder why he even calls so much. It's not like he even cares about me anyways."
Rangiku gives Rukia a sad look, seeing how sad Rukia is just makes her heart break. She knows that Byakuya has never been friendly with Rukia ever since her sister married him out of nowhere. Hisana and Byakuya met when Hisana had protested against one of his plans - Rukia remembers Hisana not even speaking Byakuya's name because Hisana thought he was a horrible person who only cared about himself. That changed when the two met though, Hisana began calling Rukia up less, and Rukia no longer heard about Hisana's protesting plans. Soon enough Byakuya cancelled the plans he had initialized to destroy their neighborhood park - and then Rukia met Byakuya a day later being introduced as Hisana's fiance. Remembering the entire confusing story only made Rangiku's head hurt.
She really sympathizes with Rukia since she hasn't been as close with Hisana as before she married Byakuya. Rangiku knows Rukia misses her older sister dearly, and probably unconsciously blames Byakuya at the back fo her mind for it - which is why she resents him a lot. Rangiku states calmly, "Rukia, maybe he is worried about you - I mean Hisana loves you so much, and if Hisana loves you that much then maybe Byakuya cares just as much as she cares about you. He knows how much Hisana worries about how you're doing - she just wants you to be happy," Rangiku explains trying to sound as helpful as possible.
Rukia closes her eyes, "I know, I know how much she cares Rangiku. But sometimes I just wish she doesn't think I need to have some guy to take care of me or something - I mean what if I don't end up being with a guy? Is that really so bad?"
"Hisana doesn't want you to date a guy because he needs to take care of you - she wants you to have someone to love - someone to love just as much as she loves Byakuya; you can't always face things alone Rukia. Maybe one day you can be with someone to face things together - and you can take care of him just as much as he takes care of you." Rukia kind of understands what Rangiku's saying and the next time she speaks with Byakuya she'll tell him not to worry about her too much and that Hisana already does enough of that on her own. Rukia feels a whole lot better after hearing Rangiku's advice, she wonders why she never asks Rangiku about anything before this. Maybe it's cause Rangiku doesn't seem like the serious type of person - but that was completely wrong; Rangiku's far more mature than Rukia will ever be. Rangiku knows what love is like because she's always feeling it with Gin.
"Like you and Gin take care of each other?" Rukia asks with a thankful smile on her face.
"Maybe - I sometimes wonder if I take care of him just as much as he takes care of me." Rangiku casts her pale eyes at Rukia, and Rukia gives her friend an encouraging smile.
"Of course you take care him him Rangiku - you're nursing him back to health!" Rukia replies loudly, flashing her friend her white teeth.
"I guess so - but you don't understand until you're actually in love, trust me you'll understand it one day." Rangiku winks at Rukia who gives her a confused look as the busty woman leaves Rukia's large office to get back to the work that she never finishes. Rangiku immediately knows Toshiro would yell at her for slacking off once again - but she really didn't care she just wants to head home and sleep for once. This whole incident with Renji and Jackie's horrible date, and Gin staying at her place has been keeping her up at night, Gin and her even slept in the same bed - she's used to him being there despite how long it's been since they slept together like that.
His presence beside her still keeps her awake at night, she thinks if she closes her eyes it will be some sort of dream and she'll wake up finding him gone once more.
(^.^)
Friday - 6:00 pm
Rukia smiles to herself once hearing the satisfying click of her apartment's door closing. It isn't until she turns around that she realizes she should probably call Byakuya back and tell him to not worry about her so much. She decides she'll do it after watching some T.V and eating dinner. She heads over to her kitchen and scans the fridge's contents hoping that there is something she could eat in there that is still edible since she often forgets to clear out her fridge. Despite how prim and proper Rukia can be - she can also be very messy - if she didn't clean her desk every day it would probably look like a tornado had blown into her office.
Rukia hears noises from the quiet hall, and specifically hears a young girl's voice. She didn't even realize any kids lived in this scary apartment building, she always thought it's filled with drug attics, and people who have questionable activities that they do for fun. Which is why it's always quiet - never a friendly atmosphere in this creepy cheap apartment building. Rukia believes it must be the trick of her ears - or someone watching a T.V. show in another room. Raising a child in this horror house would be the most horrendous thing she ever heard.
"I guess leftover pizza will have to do," Rukia mutters to herself loudly, and she kicks the refrigerator's door closed holding the plate filled with pizza slices in her hands.
(^.^)
Friday - 6:30 pm
Ichigo laughs with his daughter as he hands her dinner, macaroni and cheese - specifically Kraft Dinner, but nonetheless the same thing. Mai dug in happily, whilst humming to herself, and Ichigo himself is about to take a bite of said food when his cell phone begins vibrating in his pocket. Ichigo sighs, his eyebrows scrunching together wondering just what the hell could be interrupting him at a time like this - it's Friday for Kami's sake, the day he's off work at the restaurant!
"Hello?" Ichigo answers in monotone, sounding not at all enthusiastic, he could care less if it was his boss Kenpachi, he's not faking happiness when he's dying to eat food. "Ichigo, where are you?" Gin asks, and Ichigo responds swiftly, "eating Kraft Dinner at home, why are you" -
"Ichigo, you're working tonight, remember - Kenpachi gave you an extra day to work this week?" Gin reminds Ichigo, and Ichigo nearly drops his fork in pure shock of his own stupidity. He needs to get Mai to Hiyori's place immediately, his shift's already starting; he's sure Kenpachi would kill him if he didn't come in today. "Shit! I forgot to write it down!" He covers his mouth afterwards realizing he stated a "bad" word, and he decides to head into their bedroom to talk privately. Unbeknownst to Ichigo, Mai's light eyes follow her Father's movements, and his worried expression, she quietly jumps off the chair deciding eavesdropping on this conversation wouldn't be too big of a deal.
"Relax Ichigo, Kenny isn't in yet."
"Kenny? Since when do you call the boss, Kenny?" Ichigo states in disgust, finding this extremely weird even for Gin's standards.
"Sorry, Yachiru-chan has been rubbing off on me, she often uses Kenpachi's cellphone and calls me up without him even knowing. He barely even understands how to use most technology so he never finds out about it," Gin quickly mutters, and Ichigo feels slightly calmer after hearing Gin talking about something other than him being late for work. He doesn't like being late and he always resents people who are.
"Okay, everything will be fine - I just need to call Hiyori up and - SHIT, OH GOD, I'm such a fucking idiot!" Ichigo suddenly shouts, and Gin immediately cringes from the loud sound piercing into his ear from the speaker on the restaurant's land-line.
"Ichigo what's wrong?" Gin asks, worry etched into his voice. "I fucking forgot when I agreed to work today - Hiyori can't babysit on Fridays! Shit, I'll have to find someone else and" - Gin interrupts him, "It's fine Ichigo maybe I can call Ran-chan up and," -
"Ran-chan? So this not-girlfriend does have a name? Well, never mind I don't know her, and I don't want to be a bother," Ichigo mutters quietly realizing his daughter may have heard him before. Gin can tell Ichigo's voice sounds desperate, and lost a little too.
"Wait Ichigo I" - the speaker turns silent and Gin continues yelling into the phone some more before slamming the phone to end the call on his end. He grumbles to himself, cussing angrily but worries still play across in his mind. He isn't sure whether he should mention this to Orihime or Riruka; he decides it would only cause even more problems if he did that - Orihime would surely worry and mess up all of the guests orders. For now he'll handle the bar and manage the restaurant until Ichigo get's to work, he nods to confirm his plan before opening and closing Kenpachi's office door.
Ichigo bangs his forehead on the table while crossing out the final name on his list, feeling a huge weight has been placed onto his shoulders. Not to mention Mai has been trying to distract him with her toys or her homework from the preschool - but Ichigo gives her halfhearted replies, and a fake smile before turning his eyes back to the crossed out names. Hiyori didn't babysit on Friday's he remembers it now because of Gin - when he first met Hiyori she told him she could work every day but on Friday because she often went out to a nearby city with her parents, or just out with her friends. He remembers her saying that she was leaving town this week but because of buying that present for Mai it totally slipped form his mind.
This can't be happening, there's literally no one else left to ask help for! Everyone is too expensive, and I can't ask Unohana since she takes care of Yachiru. If I don't work tonight I won't be able to pay the amount for the rent or the food for this week - not to mention her preschool costs as well. I shouldn't have bought those gifts - I should have waited it out. I can't be a horrible Father forgetting things like this Ichigo thinks to himself, springing up to his feet and pacing across the room. Mai asks her Father what's wrong but he's thinking too thoroughly to hear his daughter call for him so timidly that her voice is almost a whisper. Ichigo doesn't want them to have to move into another building or to be forced into the horrible environment they were in before where they lived near drug dealers, and alcoholics in their old apartment building. The only reason they survived back then was because a kind old grandmother lived nearby and watched Mai - but she passed away when they moved to their new apartment building.
There has to be someone, anyone he can get to - Ichigo realizes the only other person who's left is her the woman he doesn't even know the name of. The woman in the apartment across the hall that's always silent like all the other apartments in the old run down building.
"Uh, god why does it have to be her? No way there's no way I can ask her for this! But I don't have a choice do I?" Ichigo whispers to himself. Mai isn't quite sure what he's talking about but can tell her Father is worked up about something involving some girl - maybe Hiyori? Mai thinks putting a finger on her chin in concentration while trying to figure out what's going on.
Ichigo despite wanting to forget the woman must admit even to himself he remembers the day they first met vividly despite how many months it's been, they haven't spoken since that horrible day they talked with each other. Ichigo just wished he didn't have to ask that woman - the woman who lives across the hall.
Ichigo is heading back down from his apartment, after dropping off his grocery bags, it's a Friday late afternoon around the time where he picks Mai up from preschool. He's running late today but he's happy that he doesn't have to work at the fast food restaurant tonight - he hasn't been able to spend time with Mai too much due to the crazy shifts he always takes. Ichigo walks out of the elevator and begins heading towards the only exit out of the building - since the entire building was designed horribly - but felt someone walk straight into him, their head banging into his chest, nearly causing him to fall over.
Ichigo glares down yelling, "Hey, watch where you walk!" It isn't until his eyes adjust that he realizes just how small the woman in front of him was, the more important fact is the way her cold icy irises held his gaze, her eye colour consisting of so many hues of purple he doesn't know what her real eye colour actually is. He thinks immediately that this small looking pale and fragile woman would break if he ever even laid a hand on her, as if she were made of glass. The height difference between them causes Ichigo to crane his neck down towards her, and her short raven locks are so close to Ichigo he could almost smell her shampoo. He thought this woman was beautiful. Every aspect of her face was like some sort of piece of art mixing different colours together.
"What the hell?! You're the one who walked into me! Watch where you're going!" the woman glares her icy eyes not faltering from his warm ambers. Ichigo's initial thought's of her vanish immediately, with the wrinkle of his nose, "You're short so you should be able to see me fine! It's not my fault you're so damn short that I don't even see you walking!"
The woman growls in frustration but suddenly opens her closed eyes seeming to realize something, "Ah, you're the one who lives across the hall from me - aren't you?!" she exclaims with the point of her small finger to his unruly orange coloured hair. Ichigo scowls in response to her statement, gripping her hand tightly while pushing it away from his face.
Ichigo wonders briefly why he never saw her before - he definitely would remember her face. Ichigo mutters, "Ah sorry I have no idea what the hell you're talking about, but then again you're pretty short - so I probably didn't see you."
"I'm not short you fool! Your the one who's freakishly tall! Anyways you went into your apartment before me because I was behind you then - I realized this strange carrot top man lived across from me!" she musters her eyebrow twitching in what Ichigo could guess to be irritation.
"Carrot top? What the hell? Whatever, you bumped into me so freaking apologize!"
The short woman shakes her head, her violet eyes closing,"You know what? There's no point to even talking to you - you're not even worth my time!"
"Ah I see how it is. What am I, just trash to you? If you're thinking it, then just say it!" Ichigo thinks he might as well be seeing red because he's so angry right now he can almost see himself beating the crap out of her. People like her who are all high and mighty always got on his nerves no matter who they are - even extremely pretty woman.
"Yes, dirty filthy trash that's just getting in my way, so why don't you just go back where you belong in the garbage can before I throw you in one myself!" Rukia yells back while walking away, and Ichigo fails to make a come back to that, "Well! Whatever! God damn it!" Ichigo shouts more so to himself than to the cold woman he just met.
'Can't believe that she-devil lives across from us' Ichigo thinks to himself as he continues walking angrily out of the apartment building, his feet dragging while he walked.
Ichigo sighs loudly, while rubbing his temple with both of his hands, those cold eyes are still so vivid in his mind he can almost see them even when his eyes are closed. "There's no other choice - Mai stay in here, I'll be right back," Ichigo states and Mai can tell her Father was serious about what he was doing. Mai isn't sure where he's going but nods to her Dad in agreement nonetheless, she knows he wouldn't leave her alone in the apartment without anyone to protect her.
Ichigo leaves the apartment and closes the door behind him quietly, before turning to the door directly across from there's reading the number '16' engraved onto the wooden door. Ichigo scratches his messy orange hair lightly and takes a step in front of the door, his fist hovering over the door hesitating to knock. I can do this, just don't get her angry Ichigo reminds himself, in hopes of encouraging himself to knock on the said door he's been avoiding to stare at ever since he met the cold woman.
His fist finally knocks onto the wood loudly banging against it, and he hears some movement and shuffling behind the door in the apartment. He wonders if she would even open the door - since she doesn't seem like a people person. But before Ichigo could retreat and turn back from this horrible idea, the door unlocks, and the short thin woman opens her apartment's door.
When her violet eyes land on Ichigo's ambers, her expression seems slightly frazzled by his presence but the emotion vanishes as soon as it arrives, her face setting back into it's cold stone appearance, no emotion evident on her small face. "Whatever you're here for - I'm not interested," the woman says icily, and Ichigo holds back the urge to yell at her for thinking he's some sort of delinquent. He notices that she's dressed in a professional white button up blouse and black suit pants, Ichigo's eyes stray away from her clothing trying to regain his focus on her pale face. The one stray bang escaping from her short ebony hair lies between her eyes despite her moving it slightly away with her small hand, it goes back immediately to where it was before.
"Look lady, I need a favor," Ichigo states seriously, his amber irises not faltering from her serious stone gaze.
"I'm not in the mood to deal with trash like you! So why don't you find someone else to sell your drugs to, okay?!" she shouts, her eyebrow twitching, as she begins to slam the door closed. Ichigo grabs the doorknob quickly, panic etching into his voice, "NO! It's not what you think! I really need help with something!"
She glares at him, her arms burning in an attempt to close the door, but the strange orange haired man is far too strong for her to push the door closed completely. She didn't realize before but the man's arm's are well-toned and she can definitely tell he would win in an arm wrestle match against her any day. All that is heard is angry growling between the two, like two dogs fighting for one piece of food, and harsh breaths of air coming from their mouths. Rukia musters between breaths, "Why don't you go bother some other girl? If you seriously think you can get into my pants that easily than you're dead wrong!"
"That's it!" Ichigo screeches his face turning red in pure anger, and slight embarrassment. He didn't have time for this if he didn't get to work soon he couldn't look his daughter in the eyes anymore, Ichigo slams the door open Rukia narrowly misses being crushed by the door that swings violently and bangs into her apartment's wall loudly. The small woman's eyes narrow in what Ichigo would guess to be fear when he takes a step towards her pointing a finger accusingly at her face yelling, "why the fuck are you complaining so much when clearly you've got enough money to live in a better place than this crappy old apartment?! So you're saying I'm fucking trash - well guess what princess, then that means you are too, cause you're living under the same damn roof as me! So why don't you just shut up for once and let a guy finish his damn sentence!"
The woman pushes his accusing finger away fuming, her eyes sending daggers at him, "You know what?! It's fucking dickheads like you that think you're so great and all high and mighty - and think I'm some snobby stuck up chick, well you can go beg some other bitch for money cause it sure as hell is not going to be me! So leave me the fuck alone you crazy asshole! I hope you die a slow and painful death, and when you do, you can go to hell cause only scumbags like you would end up there!" By the time she finishes yelling she's out of breath and Ichigo finds himself surprisingly hurt by her statement, his eyes turn to the ground and the silence between the two is so heavy the woman is sure she'd break under it.
"Daddy? What's wrong?" Mai asks unsurely, her voice softly calling to her Father, her pale green eyes sending him a worried glance.
The woman immediately regrets ever even yelling at the man, and her mouth slightly falls open in shock of the small young girl clutching onto the orange haired man's jeans the girl wearing a cute matching purple shirt and pants. The woman wishes she could disappear from the face of the earth. Why the hell did I think that he was a bad guy - and I'm always saying to not judge by appearances, I'm a fucking idiot she thinks quickly, looking guiltily at the little girl who is frightened to even look her in the eye.
"I'm - I'm um sorry to have bothered you - we're fine. Come on Mai let's go," Ichigo states softly, but his voice sounds shaky and the woman feels a pang in her heart for the strange Father in front of her. She had no idea that he wasn't a delinquent let alone was taking care of a sweet little kid. She grabs his t-shirt quickly, gripping onto the soft white fabric so tightly her knuckles turn white. She apologizes, "Wait! I'm sorry - I'll listen to what you need!"
Ichigo stops in his tracks, and turns back towards the woman. His eyes widen at the sight he sees in front of him. The woman is bowing down, her back bending over, her face hidden from his view and Ichigo can't believe that she's actually apologizing this much - he also said some things he probably shouldn't. When Ichigo doesn't answer, mainly due to being so struck by this strange woman in front of him she repeats, "I sincerely apologize - it's just that today, well - hasn't been the greatest day for me," she lifts her head to look him in his soft brown eyes that contrast his mean looking appearance. She smiles slightly, and Ichigo swears he hasn't seen anything like it before. She continues, her voice sounding determined, "I'm sorry I took it out on you both." It's then that Ichigo realizes that Mai is still gripping onto him tightly, and he smiles slightly down at his daughter before coughing into his hand muttering sheepishly tot he woman, "Well, I haven't been having a good day either so - I didn't mean to scare you like that."
Surprisingly the woman laughs, "Please, I've seen far scarier things than you - though you do come pretty close to it." Ichigo rolls his eyes but smirks nonetheless, "Yeah, yeah - I was a mean jerk, I know, I'm sorry, okay?"
"Apology accepted," the woman nods, and then questions curiously, "So what exactly is this favor you need?" Her eyes glance down at Mai briefly before returning back to Ichigo's scowling face. "Well, it turns out I'm working tonight but Mai's babysitter doesn't babysit her on Friday's - I totally forgot cause I never work nights at the restaurant on Friday's so when my schedule got changed I didn't write it down - so now I came to ask you if maybe you could watch her over for tonight, actually until 12:00 am," Ichigo sadly states, seeming slightly deflated after retelling the entire story and his voice sounds guilty when clearly what happened was merely an accident he made.
"Relax, I can watch her - so don't worry about it," the woman decides quicklywith a small grin, not bothering to think twice about taking care of a kid and Ichigo gives out a long awaited sigh of relief. He abruptly grabs her hand and shakes it enthusiastically, almost ripping her arm off, "Thank you - I really mean it - if you didn't say yes I don't know what I'd do. You don't have to worry too much about her, she can just play with some of her toys and finish her dinner in my apartment and" -
The violet eyed neighbor interjects, "I'd rather watch over her in my apartment, we can watch some cartoons on T.V and she can eat her dinner here too." Ichigo gives the woman a questioning stare before sighing in defeat, "Okay, I'm fine with that, Mai how about you get your pajamas and I'll get your dinner to bring over to um"-
"Rukia, Rukia Kuchiki," the woman says her eyes looking down fondly at Mai, who smiles in return to the woman. Ichigo smiles also, but hides it with his hand repeating, "With Rukia, okay?" Mai nods silently before scrambling backwards into their apartment, nearly hitting her head against the door-frame on her way out. Ichigo can tell by the gleam in her eyes that she's excited to talk with another woman, since Mai rarely gets to be taken care of anyone other than Unohana and Hiyori - the latter isn't exactly the most motherly type of person. Ichigo finds Rukia's names almost completely natural to say, and when he glances back up to the woman she doesn't seem to be bothered by using her first name - to Ichigo's slight surprise.
"And what about you?" Rukia asks.
"What about me?" he gives her an irritated scowl, and this only causes the woman to roll her eyes.
"What's your name, smarty pants?" she grins teasingly at the taller man.
"Smartypants?" He gives her a confused look, but seems slightly amused by her childish insult.
"I just don't want Mai overhearing any more bad words that will traumatize her any further," Rukia explains, her face seeming to be serious about this matter. Despite how silly it sounds, Ichigo would definitely agree - he doesn't want Mai to grow up like other kids that swear like sailors all the time and disrespect almost everyone they meet; they were worse than kids spoiled with Ipads and cellphones.
"The name's Ichigo, Ichigo Kurosaki, nice to meet you," Ichigo replies and extends his hand to hers once again, but this time waits for the woman's hand to clasp onto his. She gives him a genuine smile. It's the first time he's ever seen her look happy at all, and he finds that it suits her far better than when she's emotionless and closed off to him. Does she push away everyone? Or just questionable guys like me?
She clasps onto his hand tightly, returning the gesture, she immediately realizes how small her hand is in comparison to his - and how warm his hand felt on her icy fingers. She responds kindly, "The same goes for me. Next time, I'll try to not slam the door on your face again - despite how tempting it may be." Ichigo responds in the only way he's familiar with, a frown and a furrow of his eyebrows. Rukia laughs lightly at his response, her eyes closing tightly, and Ichigo is sure he won't be able to forget a name like hers.
Rukia. It suits her perfectly.
Writer's Note:
Dear god this turned out so long! And I didn't even end up finishing all I planned for this chapter! I decided to cut the chapter here since I thought if I continued it would just drone for far too long. how did you like their second meeting? Tell me what you think? And don't worry you guys will know some more in the next chapter - concerning Mai's mother that is. :3 thanks for reading!