Chapter Four
"Hey! So you're Riruka Dokugamine, right!?" One girl asked, leaning in toward Riruka, who backed away nervously. She wasn't used to handling this many people at once… Especially when the attention was focused on her alone.
She stiffened slightly as another girl leaned in and smiled at her. What did those girls want? Did they just want to chatter away about inane topics like those gossip rags that they sold at newsstands? If she had wanted to hear that, she would've gotten one for herself…
"You've got really pretty hair! What kind of conditioner do you use?" The girl asked. Riruka gulped, trying to suppress the urge to hit this girl for asking such a stupid question.
"Do you use moisturizer on your skin?"
"I heard you know a bunch of seniors! Can you introduce us?" A third one asked. It was true that Riruka knew a few seniors, but she wouldn't introduce those girls to them. She wouldn't waste her friends' time with such imbeciles. She wondered if Orihime and Chad were this unintelligent when they were freshmen. Probably not. Orihime was airheaded, and clumsy, but never stupid.
That last question was finally more than Riruka could take. She shoved the girl aside, grabbed her bag and ran out of the classroom, silently cursing her own terrible social skills, and the brainless girls that seemed to infest the world.
"Wait! Riruka! You dropped your hat… And this hat is really cute, too…" One of the girls said dejectedly.
"Nngh! Those stupid, asinine… Gahh! Even Inoue isn't this infuriating! I SWEAR TO FUCKING GOD!" She screamed out loud, right before speeding up and accidentally plowing headfirst into Tatsuki, and sending both of them flying, their respective papers and folders spilling everywhere.
Suddenly, everything seemed unnaturally silent. It was like they were waiting for one of the girls to say something… Either to apologize or to yell at the other. It turned out, contrary to Riruka's normal nature, she spoke first.
"Sorry… I guess I wasn't looking where I was going…" Riruka said through gritted teeth, having turned a deep crimson from embarrassment and anger. She wasn't enjoying apologizing, but she just wanted to get out of that damn building as quickly as she could.
"No… Don't worry about it. I should have been paying attention…" Tatsuki replied, offering Riruka a hand to help her stand up. Riruka refused, though, and stood up on her own, leaning over again immediately to try to determine which papers were hers, no mean feat, considering the fact that they had been scattered everywhere, exacerbated by the fact that she was extremely nearsighted.
She squinted, trying hard to make the papers come into focus, but even only a foot in front of her face, it was just blurry figures to her. She absolutely refused to wear glasses, though, and contact lenses hurt her eyes… made them dry out too easily, and she had to keep putting eye drops in.
Her vision had gotten progressively worse since she was nine. She had always been a little bit vain about her appearance, though, and didn't want to wear glasses because she thought they looked geeky.
"Are you alright?" Tatsuki asked, looking down over Riruka, who slapped Tatsuki's hand away irately and snarled at her.
"I'm fine! Sometimes I just have trouble seeing!"
"You mean you're nearsighted?" Tatsuki asked curiously. "I think I have a pair of glasses in my bag. You can borrow them if they'll help." She said, reaching into her bag and shuffling around inside it.
"I don't want your damn glasses! Just leave me alone!" Riruka snapped, on the verge of tears now. She never remembered school being this frustrating in the past. Had she really become so socially inept? Or was it everyone else? Either way, she didn't like it. At this, Tatsuki felt rather hard done. She had only wanted to help Riruka after she ran into her. The girl didn't seem very grateful.
"You sure are crabby! What the hell's your problem!?" Tatsuki demanded. Hearing Tatsuki talk back to her, Riruka stood up.
"My problem? This whole damn school is my problem! Ichigo asked me to enroll in this stupid place filled with asinine, dimwitted children who have nothing better to do than carry on asinine, dimwitted conversations about hair and skincare!" Riruka screamed, heedless of the fact that the two of them had now drawn a fairly large crowd.
After a moment, Riruka calmed down, and seemed to realize where she was. She turned bright red and cleared her throat, kneeling down again and going back to trying rather helplessly to find her papers among the scattered mess. Tatsuki felt a bit more sympathetic now, though, realizing that Riruka was just a little bit awkward, and handed her a case with her glasses in it.
"Will you at least wear these until you find all your papers? Let me help you. I think some of my work is in there, too… And what are you all looking at!? Show's over! Get out!" She demanded, looking up at the crowd, who now began to back away, not wanting to invoke the wrath of either girl, but not sure which one was more frightening; the one who was well known for her skill in martial arts, or the one who had just managed to send the martial artist flying.
"Thanks…" Riruka said shortly, turning a light shade of pink, refusing to look Tatsuki in the eye, but taking the glasses and putting them on her face. Immediately, she saw the difference. Although they were far from perfect, they at least allowed her to see nominally well enough to see her name on her papers.
"So, you know Ichigo as well? Are you secretly a Shinigami? What's your name?" Tatsuki asked. Riruka stiffened at this question and glared at her.
"Hell no! I'm nothing like one of those losers! I'm a Fullbringer. And my name is Riruka Dokugamine!"
"A what, now? I don't think I've ever heard that title before. How is that written?" Tatsuki asked, referring to the Kanji used to form the word.
"Full Manifestation Art. But it's…"
"Tatsuki-chan! Riruka-chan!" Came a voice from down the hall. Riruka sighed. It was her. It wasn't that she disliked Orihime… But something about her made Riruka feel uncomfortable.
"And Yasutora is here, too?" Riruka asked.
"Hi…" Chad said, keeping his usual stoic personality. Chad was surprised to see Riruka there. He hadn't been told that Riruka was going back to school, and in fact, was certain that she was still just hanging out at Urahara Shoten.
"You know each other?" Tatsuki asked quizzically, scratching her head.
"Hell yeah, we know each other! We used to work together…"
"Oh, yeah!?" Tatsuki asked, smiling cheerfully. "Where'd you two work?"
"Xcution. It's a store in the next town over." Riruka lied. She had gotten good at lying over the years. Tatsuki grimaced at this, but accepted her answer. It sounded like a weird store. 'Xcution'. She could only assume that it was some Goth joint. She could sort of see Riruka working there… But she couldn't see Chad doing it.
"Riruka-chan!" Orihime said loudly, hugging Riruka, causing the young Fullbringer to stiffen at the contact. She wasn't used to people touching her.
"I didn't know you were enrolling in our school! That's great! We can have lunch together!" Orihime said cheerfully. Riruka looked away, rolling her eyes slightly. She hadn't even once thought to eat lunch with Orihime or the others.
She just wanted to be left alone until she graduated. "Riruka-chan…" Orihime said, releasing the girl, and looking into her eyes with concern. "What's wrong?" She asked. Riruka glared at her, and then looked promptly away.
"Nothing's wrong!" She snapped.
"Don't tell me nothing's wrong. You look upset…"
"If I said nothing's wrong, then nothing's wrong!" Riruka yelled, causing Orihime to jump slightly, not used to people being so angry at her. She tried to make friends with people, so when someone wasn't friendly with her, it was a little bit surprising.
"Well, alright… Oh my God! You got glasses! They're so cute on you!" Orihime squealed, holding Riruka still by her shoulders. Riruka blushed and looked away, scowling.
"They're not mine! I'm borrowing… Um… What was your name, again?" She asked, looking over at Tatsuki.
"Tatsuki Arisawa…"
"Right… Arisawa… I'm borrowing her glasses… I hate glasses! They make me look nerdy…" Riruka pouted. Orihime shook her head though, and looked at Riruka extremely seriously.
"No! I think you look great in glasses! They're really cute on you! If you can't see well, you should buy a pair!"
"I don't have any money!" Riruka snarled at Orihime, showing a level of vehemence that seemed disproportionate to the situation.
"But… You always wear such cute clothes! I thought for sure you had at least some money…" Orihime complained.
"No! That jerk, Yukio always paid for everything! I bet he's still got the tab for what I owe him!" Everyone around Riruka wondered at how she could keep ranting and raving so easily. Usually someone calmed down after a few minutes, but Riruka had been angry for almost half an hour. If anyone thought that this didn't bode well for the rest of Riruka's day… They were right.
The best part of her day was when lunch came and she could hide up on the roof. She seriously considered doing this for the rest of the day, passing her time by daydreaming, or finding a side with no windows and jumping. That way, she could leave the school altogether. She had had quite enough of irritating teachers, and dimwitted classmates. Orihime's friends weren't so bad, though.
She said I look cute in those glasses… Maybe it couldn't hurt to get a pair. I suppose I could always ask the old man if I could borrow some money. I'd probably have to work it off in his damn candy store… That girl Tatsuki was really beautiful…
How does Ichigo manage to have all the good looking friends? Am I the only average looking one in the bunch? Even Ichigo's girlfriend is stunning. She may be tiny, but something about her is a little breathtaking…
A sort of graceful beauty… But now I can't even see Ichigo anymore. That stupid bitch stole him away from me. I knew I didn't have a chance with him, but she even made it so I can't even see his face any longer.
Riruka brooded over this for a while, not touching the food that she had brought. For some reason, she wasn't hungry. She was just really depressed.
Maybe that jerk, Yukio was right. Maybe there really is something wrong with me… How else could I explain why I have so much trouble making friends?
She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't hear the door opening, and a shortish, blonde haired boy walk out onto the roof and stand there next to her by the door.
"Boy! It sure is a nice day…" He said, loudly enough to bring Riruka around.
"HOLY SHIT! Y-Yukio!? D-d-don't sneak up on me like that, you bastard!"
"I didn't sneak up on you. Last time I checked, the roof was open to everyone."
"Yeah! To students!" Riruka countered, standing up angrily. Then, she gasped. She had been so sure that Yukio had died after their defeat at the hands of the Shinigami.
"You bastard! Why didn't you say goodbye to me!?" Riruka demanded angrily, hugging Yukio rather more tightly than he would have liked, despite the fact that she was angry at him.
"Could you please get off me? I don't need to feel your breasts rubbing against me… Small though they may be." Yukio said disinterestedly. In truth, though, he was trying to suppress the blush that was creeping its way up his neck and across his face. Riruka growled and shoved Yukio off of her.
"You're the same as ever, I see… Did you just come here to make fun of me!? If so, then leave! I'm not in the mood!" Riruka snarled, advancing angrily on Yukio and poking him rather harshly in the chest to the point that it almost hurt.
"It's nice to see you, too, Riruka…" Yukio replied sardonically.
"It seems you've already made quite a first impression… Did you really get asked what shampoo you use?" Yukio asked, breaking into a laugh. Hearing him admit that he thought the same things that she did helped Riruka feel a little bit better, even if it was Yukio. After a few minutes, Yukio heard Riruka giggling as well. She was cute when she laughed.
"Still… I don't know if you should have called them 'asinine' and run out of the classroom like that. That Tatsuki girl is still wondering if you've got all your marbles in there…"
"And what did you tell her?" Riruka asked threateningly…
"I told her you spilled them a while ago, but that you managed to find most of them…" Yukio said with a genuine smile, rather than the cold, fake smile he usually gave.
"You think I'm ugly, too, don't you!?" Riruka shouted at him, pointing right in Yukio's face, forcing him back a few inches.
"How did we go from 'crazy' to 'ugly' exactly?" Yukio asked, fairly sobered, now, from her yelling at him again. She truly never did change… She was able to have long, one sided conversations about irrelevant topics. He probably could have said nothing, and she would have just kept on ranting, acting as though he was answering every question, rather than none of them.
"Answer the question!"
She was making progress. At least she acknowledged that he hadn't yet answered, rather than continuing to have a one-sided fight.
"Why should I? If I say you are, you'll get mad at me, and if I say you aren't, you'll accuse me of lying. You're a lot of things, Riruka. You're annoying, insane, immature, ill tempered, selfish, shameless, thick-headed, airheaded, and annoying… You're not ugly, though…"
For a moment, Riruka didn't say anything. It was unlike Yukio to actually be nice to someone for a change. Then she realized that he had insulted her while he was at it. And besides…
"You said 'annoying' twice, Yukio."
"You're pretty damn annoying, Riruka. I think the only person I've ever met who actually isn't annoyed by you is that Orihime chick… And I think she might have a few screws loose, herself."
"Fine…" Riruka said grudgingly, glancing away from Yukio. "What's so annoying about me, anyway, though?" She asked. Yukio looked at her blankly. Had she really just asked him that? First off, any reasonable person would be able to figure out the multitudinous ways in which she annoyed everyone around her…
But beyond that, he was pretty sure that in the past that even if he confronted her with every flaw she had, she wouldn't accept them as true, anyway. Maybe she wasn't such a hopeless case, after all.
"I'd need over a terabyte of data on a computer, writing in size 8 font single spaced with quarter inch margins to list all the ways in which you annoy people…" Yukio sighed, unable to keep his habitually sarcastic comments to himself.
Naturally, he was exaggerating quite a bit. In truth, most of the ways in which she was annoying just came down to her being extremely childish. Before he knew it, though, Riruka was speaking again.
"Did you come to collect the money I owe you?" She asked hostilely, though feeling a little bit nervous. The truth was that if he really wanted to get his money that day, there wasn't a lot that she would be able to do to defend herself, especially considering she didn't have anything that she could shrink him into…
She guessed that she could shove him in her backpack if she really wanted to, but he could probably use Invaders Must Die to get out. That would leave them at a stalemate, or maybe he would trap her in Invaders Must Die, and leave her there until she agreed to pay him back.
"Money? What money?" Yukio asked blankly, honestly confused about Riruka's question.
"The money that you so incessantly reminded me that I owe you for the clothes, and shoes, and stuffed animals, and…"
"Oh yeah… That money… You know, I think I must have misplaced your tab, and I can't for the life of me remember that number…" Yukio lied, smiling. "I guess if I can't remember it, I can't really expect you to pay it…" At this, Riruka gaped at him. There was no way Yukio would ever forget how much money someone owed him.
"You know, Riruka… You're pretty, but looks alone won't get you through life… If you don't have the social skills to…" Yukio began. Riruka promptly cut him off, though.
"You're discounting all cable television with that statement. Besides, I don't need to listen to this! I never needed these social skills in the past!" Riruka raged, advancing on Yukio again, pushing him almost to the bars that protected people on the roof from falling.
"You've never lived with normal people in the past. If you want, I could give you a job at my company. You always seemed to have good fashion sense. I was considering adding a clothing line to my company soon. I could hire you as a fashion designer.
You wouldn't have to bother talking to anyone. You could just draw chic designs and then make a prototype of it on a sewing machine. We all know how much you love to buy clothes…" Yukio said with a good natured laugh. Was he being serious? Was he making fun of her? She couldn't tell… And that annoyed her.
"If you're making fun of me, cut it out, shorty…"
"If you're gonna work for me…" Yukio said with more than a little laughter in his voice, "you'll have to call me sir, or Mr. Vorarlberna… Hehehe…"
"Why you… I can't even spell that, much less pronounce it!"
"What's that?" Yukio asked teasingly, putting a hand up to his ear. "You don't want the job?"
"Well…" Riruka said irately, refusing to look at Yukio. "I might accept if I thought you were being serious."
Yukio thought for a moment, but then slapped his forehead. "Of course! No wonder you haven't been taking me seriously! I talked to Jackie after the incident! I thought it was you! I told her that I'd come back in three years after I'd made the company three times bigger, and give you all jobs.
I already see that I was right in thinking you guys couldn't get on without me. It's a little bit earlier than expected, but I've made real progress with my company, and the clothing line will bring us even further."
"Well… Anything is better than this damn place… I'll do it. When do I start, Mr… Mr. Vora…"
"Just call me Yukio, Riruka… I'm not the CEO of the company. I only own it behind the scenes. After all, how could a fifteen year old possibly own a whole company? I've already arranged the position with Mr. Mitsuhiro. Just be in his office on Monday, and he'll get you started. Oh, you'll have to wear glasses if you're going to have a job involving precision like this."
"What!? I ha…"
"I know. But I have a solution that I think might work for you. I know a woman who makes custom glasses. She might be able to design a pair that would suit you."
"You sure are going out of your way to help me…" Riruka said suspiciously, narrowing her eyes and stepping away from Yukio, as though deciding that perhaps it wasn't such a good idea to be so close to him.
"What do you plan to get out of this?" She asked. Yukio pretended to think for a moment. The truth was that he wanted to spend more time around Riruka, although his pride wouldn't allow him to admit that. He could come and go anytime in the company building. Using his Invaders Must Die, he could get into any room any time for any reason. It was convenient.
On the other hand, it was true that Riruka had talent in design, and seemed to have a fairly good eye for clothing. He had seen some of the costumes she sewed for herself. She was talented. And for that reason as well, he wanted her in his clothing department.
"Me? I get the additional money that would come into the company as a result of having a clothing line. What else do I need to get out of it? Money is the greatest motivator of all."
"You sure are a strange guy, Yukio…"
"Ah, Miss Dokugamine!" Came a friendly, cheerful voice from inside the glasses shop. Riruka gasped as she was swept inside the small business, and led to a back room, where the woman sat her down, and pulled a machine up to her.
"Wow!" The woman said brightly. "You're really pretty! Yu-chan said you were attractive, but I had no idea you were so adorable!" The woman exclaimed, blushing slightly, and squealing with delight. She was also dressed oddly, in almost Victorian fashion, with extremely baroque hair, and wire rimmed spectacles, and white gloves that went up to her elbows. Riruka wasn't sure what she thought was
funnier… The fact that Yukio had called her "attractive", or that this woman called him "Yu-chan".
"Don't worry about a thing, Miss Dokugamine! With an amazing face like that, I'm sure I can make a pair of glasses that will go beautifully with it! Now, look at the chart on the wall, cover your right eye and read the fourth line from the bottom!"
Riruka squinted hard, covering her eye as she was ordered, and leaning forward. Alas, though, it was no good.
"I-I can't… I can't see a damn thing…" She muttered sheepishly, feeling embarrassed, now that she was so nearsighted.
"That's alright. Try covering your left eye, now."
"Um… 'R', 'L'… 'G'…"
"Try reading the next line up… Use your left eye first…"
Riruka squinted again, covering her right eye. It was irritating to have to do this… She hated going to the doctor, even if it was just the optometrist. She had bad experiences with doctors. Her doctor when she was a child was an old, mean bitch.
It took about half an hour to do all the tests that she needed on her eyes, but when she was done, the optometrist took her aside and measured her face, including the circumference of her head, the distance between her eyes and her ears, and then took a truly hideous pair of glasses and took a deep breath, touching them.
Riruka gasped as the glasses began to warp and fuse in different places, eventually turning into a smaller, and sleeker pair of glasses with silver wire half rims that went under the glasses, holding them together. The woman then blew on them and handed them to Riruka.
"There you go, Miss Dokugamine! Try them on!" She said, her breath hitched in anticipation. Riruka slid the glasses on her face and gasped. The entire world seemed so much clearer. She remembered back when she was a child and she didn't need glasses. Things seemed even clearer than then. It was like these glasses enhanced her vision beyond the norm.
"Ahaha! I get that a lot, sweetie! My glasses do tend to have that effect. Your vision should be better than perfect, now. I'm not entirely sure how they do that, but they do… Don't worry about the bill. Yu-chan asked me to give you this note. I didn't read it." She said cheerfully, taking out a plain, sealed envelope.
Riruka took the envelope, and opened it, reading the letter inside. As was Yukio's wont, it was rather smug and succinct.
Riruka,
You can thank me for the cool glasses when next we meet. Don't worry about the bill… I'll take it out of your first paycheck. Just so you know, you're the first of the Fullbringers to come work for me. Be grateful that I'm giving you such an awesome job.
Yukio
"You sure are a strange guy, Yukio…"
