If i sing a song,
will you sing along,
If i sing a song,
will you sing along,
If i sing a song,
will you sing along,
or should I just keep singing right here by myself?
Ba baba dada baba...
If i tell you I'm strong,
will you play along,
If i tell you I'm strong,
will you play along,
If i tell you I'm strong,
will you play along,
Or would you see I'm as insecure as everybody else
Its like..
Ba Ba Baba Daba ba...
If I follow along,
does it mean I belong,
If I follow along,
does it mean I belong,
If I follow along,
does it mean I belong,
or will I keep on feeling different from everybody else?
Its life...
Ba Bada Ba Ba Dababa.. Oh Oh Oh
If I sing a song, will you sing along,
If I sing a song, will you sing that song,
or should I just keep singing right here by myself
If I sing a song, will you sing along,
If I sing a song, should i just keep singing right here by,
should I just keep singing by myself
If I sing a song, would you sing along,
Would you, Could you Sing along
Should I just keep singing right here by, by myself
Should I, Should I
Sing a song, (baba) Sing along, (baba)
Would you still sing along, (baba)
Please, or should I just keep right here singing by myself
If I still sing a song (baba), would you sing along,
Sing with me, or just Take it home,
or I'll just keep singing right here by myself
Sing Along by The Blue Man Group featuring Dave Mathews
It didn't take long for Meimei, as she had come to be called, to become friends with the rogue vizard clan and she found herself spending time at their warehouse more frequently than she expected. Even though they were different from anyone she'd ever met, they still made her feel at home in the strange world she was exploring. And for the most part, they enjoyed her company, even if Hyori still insisted on occasionally going after the strange young woman.
Spending time at the warehouse had other perks as well. It gave her more opportunities to see Ichigo and Shinji, two people that she had quickly grown very fond of but for very different reasons.
Strangely, she found that Ichigo was the easiest pesron to talk to, at least that she met so far. Well, the others who noticed this found it strange. On the other hand, it made perfect sense to Meimei.
Rukia had even teased her about it once. "How can you stand to listen to him try to explain things? He's really terrible at it, and he doesn't really know what's going on," she teasingly complained.
Meimei didn't bother answering with more than a little laughter. What the young soul reaper considered a lack of eloquence and insight sounded to the rainbow spirit like a taste of home.
She pondered these things as she walked along side Ichigo on his way to go train with the vizards and listened to Ichigo talk about his day. Her thoughts were interrupted when he started speaking about her, unwittingly forcing her to pay closer attention to their conversation.
"I'm kinda surprised that you want to watch me train," he finally said once the warehouse was in sight.
"Why's that?" she asked, though she knew the answer.
"'Cause, ya know, you don't fight or anything. Urahara said that you were attacked for the fist time ever not that long ago," he managed.
"Wouldn't you want to see something you'd never seen before?" she questioned teasingly.
"I dunno..." he hedged. Sure, he liked to see new things but usually he liked to see new things that didn't completely go against his philosophy on life. As far as he could tell, that was exactly what combat training would be for a rainbow spirit.
"Is it true that in addition to an individual personality, each of your swords has a unique ability?" she eagerly shifted the subject.
"Uh, yeah. It's pretty weird, especially because when you're fighting someone for the first time, you really don't know what they're capable of," he laughed as he remembered some of his stranger fights.
"But not all of those abilities are necessarily for combat, right?" she pressed.
Ichigo finally understood why she wanted to watch him train. "Usually they are, but not always. Swords that can heal are especially freaky," he commented with a slight shudder.
She giggled at his shudder. "Indeed," she agreed.
"And here we are," Ichigo motioned once they arrived. "I'll see if I can get'em to take turns so you can see what each of their swords can do," he offered.
"That would be splendid," she cheered.
Unfortunately, it was Hiyori's turn to go first and she was stubborn as ever, feeling that a pacifist shouldn't sit around and watch people fight. When Ichigo finally got her to use her shikai, she refused to do anything special with it.
"Come on, you can do better than that. Do something cool," the orange-haired teen taunted.
"Nothin' doin'!" Hiyori shot back. "Yer just showin' off for the coward!" she accused.
"She just wants to see your shikai's special ability," he tried to coax.
Hiyori stopped fighting and cross her arms over her chest in a huff. "I ain't doin' this for her, shithead! An' if that's why you're here today, then count me out!" she stormed off.
Ichigo sighed with exasperation. "Sorry about that, but you know how she is," he tried.
Meimei nodded. Actually, she had been more than a little nervous about seeing the aggressive young blonde's special ability.
"What's the brat so piss'd about now?" Kensei asked as he approached. It was nearly his turn anyway, so he crossed paths with her as she grumbled and kicked things on her way to the fridge.
"She doesn't like my observing," Meimei quickly answered, fearing that the other fighters might have similar feelings as their youngest counterpart.
"That's kinda funny," the white-haired man laughed and immediately started with his shikai. "Outta anybody, I'd rather show a pacifist what I'm capable of. At least I know you won't use it against me," he chuckled as he attacked Ichigo.
Meimei gave a startled squeek when the pair of fighters came within a few feet of her. She could hear their labored breathing and smell the sweat on their skin, and when their swords clashed loudly right in front of her, she nearly jumped out of her seat.
Kensei noticed her reaction, and it made him laugh a little, though she couldn't hear that over the sound of her own heart racing. He wondered why she was so fascinated by their violence. It obviously scared the shit out of her, but she kept her eyes riveted on them no matter where they were or what they were doing, even though he could see her trembling and it looked like she would bolt at any moment. She had never seen anything like it before, and it fascinated her to see two people behave in such a way.
Amused by her obvious fascination and wondering if he could frighten her enough to leave her seat, Kensei didn't think twice before unleashing his air blades on his opponent. To his surprise, Meimei squealed with delight as the non-lethal portion of the air blew passed her and messed up her hair.
The white-haired man couldn't help laughing a little at her reaction, causing Ichigo to do the same.
"Do it again!" she cheered as she rose to her feet.
With a chuckle, Kensei motioned for Ichigo to stand aside and he aimed at one of the larger boulders a few meters away. A strong slash later, the boulder was falling to pieces with another great rush of wind.
She was a little disappointed that he felt the need to actually destroy something to show off for her but did well not to let it show, which worked out well because a moment later Shinji was emerged, performing a slow clap.
"Very good," the tall blonde teased. "But did you have to make such a mess?"
"Hey, we can't all just turn everything around. Some of us actually have to do damage," Kensei taunted in return.
"Turn everything around?" Meimei repeated quietly to herself, wondering what that might mean.
"Yeah, Shinji's shikai does some crazy stuff," Ichigo informed.
Shinji turned to their guest to see her anxiously biting her bottom lip. He could tell she wanted to see what he was capable of but was unsure about asking. With a smirk, he released his zanpacto and started it spinning.
"If you're gunna do that, I'm outta here. That shit always makes me queasy," Kensi teasingly complained before making his exit.
Ichigo took that as his cue to sit down. It always took him a few minutes of looking like an utter fool before he could even start to get the hang of Shinji's inverted space.
The blonde's smirk grew when he saw that Meimei was the only one still standing, her eyes transfixed on his rotating blade. Since she was so distracted, he thought he'd try to catch her off guard. He reached out and wrapped a sure arm around her waist, pulling her close to his side. He felt her tense when his sword cut through the air in front of her face without touching her.
Once the illusion was complete and Shiniji's sword stopped swinging, Meimei took a moment to look around and gather her bearings. Unfortunately, at least at first, looking around was the exact opposite of what she needed to do to gather her bearings. She felt the tall blonde chuckle lightly when she looked up, or down rather, and held a little tighter to him when she realized they were upside down.
After a moment, she realized she wouldn't fall and felt a little foolish at her reaction. "So...is everything just upside down, or is it backward to?" she asked as she cautiously tried to move away from him only to move a little close.
"Everything is backward," he assured.
A mischievous grin grew on Meimei's face as she succeeded in moving away from him. Shinji watched her curiously as she tested her movements.
"This is amazing!" she finally raved. "What an amazing perspective!" she twirled.
Shinji shook his head. He had a feeling that she would adapt easily to his shikai's ability but he still didn't expect how easily she would adapt. In a matter of moments, she was dancing around and giggling.
"Can we do this outside?" she asked hopefully.
"It is possible," Shinji carefully conceded. "But it tends to draw bit of attention."
"And rightfully so!" she assured.
Seeing that Meimei and Shinji were effectively caught up with one another, Ichigo slowly gathered his bearings and left the space that Shinji's shikai affected in hopes of finding another training partner. Finding that no one was interested, he gave up and went back to the shop. He almost asked Meimei if she wanted to go but it was clear by how seriously she and Shinji were flirting in the blonde vizard's inverted space, he should let them be.
Shinji took her back to the shop a short while later. Again, she kissed him but this time he was less surprised and more readily reciprocated.
This became something of a routine for them. Meimei would go with Ichigo to the vizards' warehouse. When Shinji wasn't busy, which was more often than not, they pair would run off into the inverted space to flirt and even dance when he felt like pulling out his record player and dusting off his old records. The trick was to position the space around them just right so the record wouldn't play backward.
One afternoon when Shinji walked her back to the shop, they were met with more company than usual, and he was surprised by the variance in reactions her presence elicited from the others. He was especially taken aback by how dismissive and even rude Renji and Rukia seemed to be toward her. He almost said something to them about it, but Meimei seemed undisturbed by their attitude, so he let it go.
After letting Kisuke know that she was back, the pair ducked into her room so they could say good-bye in private. This had also become routine after it became painfully apparent that they wouldn't get through even the smallest affection without someone seeing and saying something to one of them about it.
"Ah," Shinji sighed with contentment once they were alone.
"What is it?" she asked, sensing there was something on his mind.
"I was just wondering..." he began reluctantly. "How a guy like me got so lucky, that's all," he mused.
"Oh?" was all she could manage through the blush his comment illicited.
"Yeah, how'd a guy like me catch a woman like you?" he half-teased but only to hide how serious he was.
"Ah, yes but…what would a man like you have with a woman who giggles at strange things? A woman who cannot make sense of the most sensible things?" she pressed, knowing deep down that he had a good answer.
"You are a woman and your sense for nonsense was what first turned my head. Please, if you won't give me any other mind, then leave me with a kiss and disappear while my eyes are still closed," he dramatically proposed. It was the only way he could bring himself to see if he could get some sort of commitment out of her.
She gave a mock-pout at his resignation. "I only get to kiss you if I disappear? That's hardly fair," she teased.
Her tone made his grin return. "If you don't, I'll be the one who starts the kissin' this time," he warned.
Before he had the chance, she closed the gap between them. "I'm afraid I can't disappear," she said with feigned disappointment. "I'm far to short to kiss you." Even though she had done so many times in the past, she always had to pull him down to her to make it work. Since he was threatening to take the initiative this time, she wanted to let him.
That was all he had to hear before he took her chin in one hand and brought his lips down to hers, sealing their fate with a soft, slow kiss.
Shinji's head nearly hit the ground a moment later. Only the fact that their embrace had turned from tentative to protective saved him. He collapsed so quickly that she barely had the reflexes to catch him and gave a gasp of surprise, stumbling under the unexpected extra weight. In what could best be described as a controlled fall, they landed relatively unharmed.
As she adjusted him in her arms, she examined him. This man wasn't exactly feint of heart and she began to worry about what had dropped him so quickly. One glance into the peaceful, and somehow rather pleased, look on the blonde vizard's features and she breathed a sigh of relief which was quickly followed by a light blush of embarrassment as understanding began to dawn upon her.
This revelation was interrupted a moment later when someone came to make sure the commotion that was heard from a couple rooms over hadn't left anyone injured.
"Is everything okay? It sounded like someone fell-" Orihime immediately stopped when she saw the strange woman for whom she had always felt a sort of affectionate curiosity toward sitting with Shinji's head in her lap. He appeared to be asleep.
"Orihime-san," the woman gave a respectful nod. "Everything is fine, wonderful in fact," she continued in a quiet voice.
"I see. I'm sorry for barging in-" she tried to apologize.
"No. I thank you. Your concern is much appreciated." She paused and, after the moment of seriousness passed, she continued. "I was a little worried too. I didn't realize what was happening until he was unconscious," she mused.
"What happened?" she asked, glad that she had been given the opportunity to.
"I love this man," the woman replied simply before returning her gaze to the face nestled in her lap, fingers never ceasing in their idle playing with his hair. That was as close as she was going to come to saying that she had given him part of her soul.
Now the teenage girl really felt as though she was intruding. "I-I'm very…happy for you," she managed.
The woman gave a dry smile. "You are," she agreed unquestioningly but then added, "But the others will question the purity of my feelings."
Orihime frowned deeply. She knew it was true. In fact, they had just been debating that and similar issues in the room from which she had just come. But to her surprise, that solemn expression earned her a giggle.
"Bleh! Sorry, I shouldn't be so formal! This is a happy moment!" She raised her voice just enough for conviction's sake for fear of disturbing the sleeping man, though she had a feeling that was highly unlikely at this point. "But why don't you keep it our little secret for now? I mean, I haven't even told Hakaro-san yet. If they ask, just tell'em we were screwin' around, 'kay?"
"Sure. I can do that," she almost turned to leave. "Wait, he doesn't know?"
That made the woman laugh again. "I think he has a pretty good idea."
After that, Orihime's curiosity was satisfied enough to let her leave but she took a moment during her short walk between the two rooms to gather her composure before rejoining her friends.
"What happened?" Ichigo was the first to ask when she rejoined him.
"Oh, they were just messing around and got carried away. No harm done, really," she brushed it off.
"Tch, figures," Renji scoffed.
Orihime did her best not to react to that.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Yuroichi pressed of the rude redhead.
"I don't mean to sound like I care about either of them but…there's just something about their relationship," he phrased as carefully as he could and ended up trailing off.
The dark woman, who had remained largely silent on that issue, pursed her lips and gave a sigh. "I know what you mean."
"I don't see why it matters," Ichigo dismissed. He had been much happier discussing different techniques for slaying hollows.
"It doesn't seem like it's for the right reasons," Rukia tried to explain.
The silence that followed that statement only seemed to prove what the woman had told her young confidant. "I dunno…I think they really like each other," Orihime weakly defended. She couldn't just sit there but that was as far as she was willing to tip her hand.
Renji scoffed again.
"He's not saying they don't," Yuroichi half-defended. "I just wish there was a way of knowing," she shrugged.
"Knowing what?" Ichigo pressed, unwilling to let them dance around the subject like that.
"She wants him 'cause he's part hollow and he wants her 'cause that makes her easy," Renji pointedly explained.
Orihime nearly reached across the table to slap him and lost any defensive words in keeping herself in check.
"So what?" Ichigo pointed out. "If they're happy, I don't see what difference it makes why. It's not like they're hurting anybody." He would have defended that stance regardless but this time he felt a special interest.
"You're just sayin' that 'cause you're one'a them!" Renji accused. "I've seen the way she treats ya."
Ichigo rolled his eyes, his unwillingness to physically shut his friend up was quickly evaporating. "If you don't lay off, I'm gunna throttle you," he threatened and that was all it took before they finally digressed into wrestling around and name-calling.
Shinji blinked awake nearly an hour later and gave a soft mewl at the feeling of her dexterous fingers playing with his hair. He was obviously surprised and disoriented but seeing her smiling face beaming down at him calmed him considerably. "I just had the most amazing…well, I don't know what it was." He felt a mild disappointment in himself at his lack of eloquence.
"Shhh," she placed a finger over his lips. "You had a vision but don't talk about it. No language you speak or contrive will never do it justice."
That only made his disappointment deepen but he fell silent just the same.
"It was for you, no one else. Even if you could describe it, no one will know what it means but you. It's like a dream or hallucination; you're the only one who has a chance of understanding it."
He felt a little more satisfied with that, though, he always did when she spoke in that tone. He even smiled when he realized that.
"What?" she felt a pinned by his playful look.
"That tone you just used. It gives away your age," he told her with a cheeky grin.
She blushed and stopped stroking his hair. "Just how old do you think I am?"
"I can't say for sure," he finally sat up, mostly so he could get a better look into her eyes, "But you're definitely older than I am. Only people older than me talk like that."
"How old are you then?" she asked haughtily.
He smirked. "Let's say, somewhere between three and five hundred…Really I stopped keeping close track after two."
"Then you're right."
"I don't think you're as old as the captain commander, though," he mused.
She was unwilling to validate that one way or the other. "Is my age an issue to you?"
"Not particularly. I just thought you should know."
"Does this have to do with your vision?" she asked seriously. She was willing to divulge some of her more personal details for that sake.
He shook his head.
"Good," she breathed a sigh of relief.
"What happened anyway?" he looked around. Everything appeared to be in order, aside from their sitting on the floor.
She blushed. "You kissed me."
Her simple answer caused him to cock an eyebrow. "And then?"
"Then you feinted," she managed.
That made him blush. "Oh. That's it?"
"Okay, it was sorta my fault…but it was really your fault," she accused.
"Wait, what?"
"If you hadn't been so-so damn sweet and then kissed me like that…it overwhelmed me a little," she admitted sheepishly. "I couldn't help the way I reacted. It all happened so fast."
Shinji laughed a little. "I guess it's only fair that you overwhelmed me too then." Then, he bit his lip and leaned toward her again. "Can we try that again?"
She didn't bother answering verbally, simply closing the gap and this time, though they both felt a little light headed from it, no one lost consciousness. When they finally parted, their breathlessness left them feeling a little foolish.
"Oh, one thing," Shinji said when his breathing and heart had settled a little.
"What's that?"
"I heard what you said to Orihime."
She blushed again. "You did?"
"Yeah. It was funny. I could hear you but not her but yeah, I think I'm in love with you to."
She gave him a gentle smile that made him think he was going to pass out again. "Come on, let's go have a drink."
He followed her out of the room and toward the kitchen, and when they passed the tea room where the others were still bickering, but about something else entirely now, they didn't say anything.
"Keh, there they go- don't even pay us any mind," Renji complained.
"Since when do they have to mind you?" Yuroichi defended.
"It'd be nice if they had some manners," he continued until he noticed Orihime trying to sneak out. "Where are you running off to?"
"I'm gunna go make sure there really wasn't any permanent damage," she managed and ducked out, making her way toward the sound of their voices. Her step quickened when she heard the woman give a sudden sharp shriek but then she gave a sigh of relief when she found that he was simply tickling her.
"Eeek! Orihime, save me!" she called playfully, her words cut and stammered between sputters of laugher.
The young girl was more than willing to put up a barrier between the two for the sake of their game. The woman scurried back to their bottle and shot glasses, knowing he wouldn't risk spilling or breaking anything.
"So, Orihime-san," the woman straightened her clothes and hair. "Can I get you anything?" she offered.
"Oh, no. I'm fine. I just wanted to make sure both of you were okay. That was quite a jolt of raietsu earlier and we couldn't tell who it came from," she explained.
The pair gave a guilty blush. "We're fine," Shinji assured.
"Better than fine," the woman readily added.
"Indeed," he agreed with equal readiness.
Orihime gave them an odd look until she realized that they must have discussed their feelings. "You were right about the others."
The woman smiled. "Don't worry about them; let them react in the way that is truest to their natures."
"You're doing it again," he reminded.
She gave a mock-glare. "Don't worry about it," she affirmed.
They returned to the others a few minutes later, after the liquor and glasses were put away.
