"The Super Ice Babies"

I will never own Bleach.


Chapter 4: Ramen stand

Ichigo waited until noon before Rukia and Hitsugaya came out.

"Finally," said Ichigo.

"You really have to learn how to submit to authority, Ichigo," Rukia rebuked.

"I'm not the one who's being the jackass, Rukia!" cried Ichigo.

"We'd better discuss this somewhere else," said Hitsugaya. "It's noon, I'll take you two to eat somewhere."

"Ooh!" cheered Rukia. She clapped her hands together. "Can we go to a sushi restaurant?"

Hitsugaya looked at her sternly.

Silence.

"Perhaps,… a ramen restaurant?"

Hitsugaya kept looking at her with his cold, teal eyes.

Silence.

"A ramen stand," modified Rukia.

Hitsugaya walked on without a reply. Ichigo guessed it was supposed to be a yes. Rukia made a face behind his back. She and Ichigo waited for Hitsugaya to walk a couple of paces before they started to follow him.

"Cheap skate," spat Rukia. "Maybe we should go to the real world and eat at McDonalds!"

"Not a cool start, I suppose," said Ichigo.

"No," said Rukia, without any note of regret.

Rukia and Ichigo walked on quietly, following Hitsugaya at a distance.

"Well, at least your guy won't look down on you," said Ichigo

"How do you know that?" asked Rukia. "He's so…"

"I mean down on you," interrupted Ichigo, rolling his head down. Rukia snickered.

"Ahh, yes," smiled Rukia. "Of all men, Nii-sama got me one who was actually shorter than me."

"But it'll be only temporary," said Ichigo. "Enjoy it while he's still a little boy."

"I'M NOT A LITTLE BOY!!" hollered Hitsugaya in the distance.

"Whoops," said Rukia. "He heard you."

The ramen stand was not decorated but it was clean. It was also very packed for a ramen stand. Hitsugaya thought it made it easier to avoid eavesdropping.

"So," said Ichigo, slurping on the ramen. "Why didn't you refuse the marriage, Toshiro?"

"Hitsugaya-taicho," corrected Toshiro, irritated. "I have. I told him that his offer was too grand for me and that I could never be worthy of it.'"

"That's not refusing a marriage," said Ichigo. "That's sucking up to Byakuya."

"But that's the closest thing I can do," hissed Hitsugaya. "And he insisted that I go with it."

"Man, he really must be convinced of his super ice baby theory," said Ichigo. "But still, why didn't you just say 'no?'"

"Well," said Hitsugaya, "if I had said that, Kuchiki-taicho would have been very offended."

"So, what?" asked Ichigo.

"It's never a good idea to offend nobility, Kurosaki" said Hitsugaya. "This is Soul Society."

"But now you're stuck with Rukia, and you don't want that!" said Ichigo. Rukia hit him with a mallet.

"But now we're stuck with each other!" said Rukia to Toshiro.

"Hey, I said the same thing!" groaned Ichigo in pain.

"It's okay for now," said Hitsugaya in a low voice. "All we need is a plan to elegantly terminate the marriage."

"Wow, that's brilliant!" cried Rukia excitedly. "Do you have any ideas?"

Silence.

Oh my God, thought Ichigo.

"You two don't have any idea what you're doing, do you?" asked Ichigo.

"Please, Ichigo," said Rukia. "You're not helping."

"Neither of you want this marriage," said Ichigo. "But you're going through with it for the wrong reasons."

"That's enough, Kurosaki," said Hitsugaya. "You haven't grown up in Soul Society. Most people, including Byakuya, consider it a rare honor for someone of a humble birth like me to marry into a noble clan. You would think a refusal would be common sense. However, Byakuya, as well as the vast majority of Soul Society, would consider it insult to refuse to join the Kuchiki clan, and I am not keen to make enemies with Byakuya."

Ichigo sighed. This is going to be tough.

Hitsugaya got up, and started walking out of the ramen stand.

"Hey!" said Ichigo. "Where are you going."

"I'm going to 10th division headquarters," said Hitsugaya. He left the stand.

"Isn't he the social one?" muttered Rukia.