Reaperdeath: Haha, here I am with the fourth installment. As of right now I'm in my college's cafeteria leeching off of the wifi and hoping that no one is sneaking a look on my laptop. So far, college hasn't been so bad. I've been a little busy trying to juggle college and my family. I'm happy to say that I only have a few weeks left before the end of the first semester.
But I don't know why I want to write about Bleach.
I only own Sonya Avalon.
I do not own Sakura. ILUVNCIS123 does.
"Normal" Japanese language.
'Texting' Texting.
"Italics" English language.
"Bold" Hollows/Ghosts talking.
Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo.
Shout out to Bishou no Marina, her Deadpool fanfic had inspired me in one of the scenes.
Chapter Four~ I don't believe I am brave.
(Sonya's POV)
Never in my life have I ever thought that a ringtone could scare me so much.
'Da da da DA DA, da da da DA DA!'
That literally came out of nowhere.
I freeze as Sakura was in the middle of showing me how to alternate eating chocolate bamboo shoots and potato chips during an NCIS episode that I had shown her as that was all I had to offer to play in my DVD player. I wasn't really into it, but she seemed to really like it.
And yes, that was the "La Cucaracha" ringtone.
"What was that?" Sakura asked as she expertly smacked the remote with her elbow to pause the show, looking over to me and I let out a hesitant laugh while picking it up. It was a text, actually, and no it wasn't from my brother. I'm going to have to change that ringtone before it'll drive me mad.
I'm sure, my valued readers, that you would say, "You should totally let it keep ringing so we can listen to it for a while."
Well, if you want it so bad—
I flip my phone open, which caused the ringtone to cease, as Sakura clicks play to let the episode continue to play. I'll give you one guess who sent me this text.
No, not Mr. Browne.
No, not Ichigo—and I said only one guess!
It was from Rukia. I don't remember giving her my number, and instead of her telling me how she found out in the text, she merely said this before sending another text with an address in it:
'Do you know this address, then get here as fast as you can. It's another Hollow and you're involved in this now.'
I stared at the text before typing my response:
'LOL K'
Not caring about her response, I stared at the address she had sent me, and despite how stupid I can be, I instantly recognize the address. There was no doubt about it. It was Orihime's address. Is there a Hollow there? No, no. Instantly, I close my phone and merely focus on the TV. They're just…playing pretend.
There's no such thing as a Hollow—
"SAKURA WATCH THE HOUSE FOR ME!" Already I was out the door as Sakura had jumped from the couch, accidentally knocking down the chocolates and chips all over the floor. She called out for me but I didn't listen as I swung the door back to close it and took off, jumping with every step as I struggled to pull my shoes on. Instead of waiting for the elevator I jumped for the stairs.
I don't know, people. I can pretend to not believe in Hollows, but my ignorance is worthless if I continue to allow myself to get pulled into this. It's not fair. If Rukia had texted me any other day, I would have ignored it. But…But this was…
Real or not, Orihime might get hurt.
Her orange brown hair flew around her at the impact between him and the snake Hollow. The snake Hollow had its hand against Ichigo's blade, with Ichigo holding it steadily against the strong force it was pushing against his weapon. Her eyes widened in shock at the sight before her.
"Kuro…saki…?" Orihime gaped in shock, as if her eyes were fooling her.
She wasn't the only one to be shocked as the Hollow looked on in silence before that bubbling hatred inside of its maddened form overflowed.
"…you interfered."
Meanwhile, outside, Rukia was struggling to figure out how to climb up to the second floor where the targeted Hollow was in. As she had attempted to climb up using the storm drain, footsteps was heard behind her.
"You're late." Rukia declared as she turned around to see an out of breath Sonya standing there, sweating immensely from running all the way from where she was at previously. Sonya heavily huffed and puffed, trying to gain her breath again before replying to Rukia, only for the window on the second floor to the left (where Orihime's apartment is located in) to blow out, with Ichigo flying out and skidding across the air. Landing, he flipped right-side up and skid across the ground to a stop as the Hollow chased after him. There was a gush of blood trailing down his forehead and Ichigo cursed under his breath with his irritated eyes glaring at the Hollow.
Sluggishly, it slithered towards Ichigo before standing with its back straight. "Your movements are slow. You are all bark but no bite…" The Hollow stated as Sonya stared in fear at the large entity. Her right foot slid back to prepare her to flee the scene, but her eyes caught the sight of Orihime tightly clutched in its hand. Seeing her friend erased all desires to run.
"Orihime-!" Rukia immediately grabbed Sonya's wrist, and she looked back only to see the ex-Soul Reaper shake her head.
"Can you unlock the door? If not, we're going to climb up the pipe." Sonya faltered from replying before nodding and they hurried towards the stairs. Sonya glanced back, only for her eyes to widen when the Hollow stretched its jaws open, where venom was shot towards Ichigo.
"ICHIGO WATCH OUT, IDIOT!"
It was too late as the venom landed on his hands that clutched the hilt of his sword. It was slow at first but the second it settled in, Ichigo let go of his sword while hissing in pain, staring at his hands. As he was busy staring at his burning flesh, he never saw the Hollow's snake tail swinging straight towards him, sending him into the air.
"Go!" Rukia yelled to Sonya as the ex-Soul Reaper hurried towards Ichigo who landed on the ground, except now on his back. Sonya reluctantly turned away and hurried up towards the stairs, going for the welcome rug and grabbing the hidden key.
As she unlocked the door, she heard Orihime scream out. "Let me go!" Sonya felt herself panic as she stumbled into the apartment, only for her eyes to widen, seeing an unconscious Orihime and another girl in the destroyed apartment. Sonya felt herself paused before looking towards the large hole in the wall, seeing another Orihime in the Hollow's hand, literally trying to bite herself out. "Let me go! Let me go! Kurisaki is…!"
Why are there two Orihime's…?
The Hollow held a clawed hand up, staring at the struggling Orihime. "Have you…really forgotten about me?" The black hair on its head was brushed back as it continued to stare at her. "It's me, Orihime….!"
Sonya felt her mouth fall open when she recognized the look in Orihime's eyes.
"Brother…?!"
A warm hand rested on her head, and after a few minutes, the tears dried up. She looked up at him with her large brown eyes that were red from crying, and all he had to offer her was a smile.
"When he gives you your phone, we'll call each other all the time, okay? I promise." He grinned down at her, only to jolt when more tears fell from her eyes. "Sonya?!"
It may have been a bit loud in the airport, but he never failed in catching her words, no matter how quiet she was. Beside her was a large suitcase and around her neck was a lanyard with a pass case that had her air ticket to Europe. Between the two of them, only she had the lanyard. Not him.
"Promise…?" She asked him with hopeful eyes, and despite his desire to keep that promise, he knew it wouldn't happen a lot. She'll be working, despite her age, and he'll be busy with moving on with his life, despite his age.
"Of course, I promise. Have I ever broke one to you?" He asked as she looked down at her feet. No more words were exchanged between them when Mr. Browne approached the two and pushed the little girl away from her older brother. "I love you, sis. When you come back to America, we'll play together!"
That wouldn't happen. When it did, he knew she'd be too old to play house with him or too mature to want to play board games.
Sonya glanced back at her brother, despite being shoved towards the woman who would check her ticket. She didn't want to board the plane. She wanted to stay in America with her big brother. Not go to some place she couldn't pronounce correctly.
"Bye…big brother…"
"Yeah…bye."
That was the last time she'd see her brother in person. That was the last time he made her a promise, and the first time he broke a promise.
"To kill…!"
Leaping through the large hole in the ruined apartment, Ichigo landed on the ledge before jumping once more towards the Hollow, holding his sword out with glaring eyes ready to pierce the Hollow into the back of its neck. Only for a moment did his eyes flickered towards the still form next to Tatsuki's unconscious body. His eyes widened when he saw the dead look in Sonya's eyes before the tail of the Hollow came right at him, smacking down to the ground. The tail curled around him, trapping him in the Hollow's grasp.
"Kurosaki-kun!"
"Ichigo!" Sonya called out as she looked towards the trapped and struggling Ichigo. He was bleeding from the top of his head, and though she wanted to run towards him, there was just a problem. Sinking to her knees, she placed a hand on the back of Tatsuki's back, looking towards Ichigo. "…what can I do…?"
"Why…?" The Hollow turned its eyes towards Orihime in its claws. The girl was keeping her eyes on Ichigo before switching it towards Tatsuki. Why…? "Why are you hurting them all? My brother…he wasn't a person who did things like this!"
The Hollow's hand clenched around her, causing Orihime's face contort into a painful gasp.
"I'll kill you…!"
Sonya's eyes flickered up as she heard Orihime screamed, to see the Hollow slowly crushing Orihime within its grasp.
"WHO DO YOU THINK TURNED ME INTO THIS?! IT WAS YOU, ORIHIME!" The Hollow threatened as his blackened clawed fingers curled around her even tighter, with Orihime bending back like a doll with a horrified expression. "I'll kill you, I'll kill you, I'll KILL YOU—!"
From the elbow to the wrists, the blade of Ichigo's sword danced and sliced through the flesh of the Hollow. The blood of the Hollow came streaming out like ribbons from the freshly sliced flesh, and Orihime fell from the suddenly loosened hands, landing safely in Sonya's arms. Quickly, and awakened from her trance of fear, Sonya hugged Orihime protectively while Orihime herself was gasping for air.
"Do you know why the big brother is born first?" Walking past them, Ichigo swung his blade around, approaching the Hollow with furious eyes. "The reason is so that we protect the little brothers and sisters that come after us!" Pointing his blade at the Hollow with a furious scowl that matched the intensity of his eyes, Ichigo continued on as the Hollow was wailing for its decapitated hands. "A brother who tells his sister 'I'll kill you!'… You never ever say something like that!"
The Hollow was still wailing as the blood flowed freely from the nubs of its elbows, "OOOOHH…! WHY?! Why do you interfere, ICHIGO KUROSAKI?!"
"Av-Avalon-san…?" Orihime whispered through her oxygen deprived lungs as Sonya immediately shifted her attention onto her.
"Hey, no, don't talk. Just breathe." Sonya encouraged as Orihime began to inhale and exhale slowly. "That's good. Ah…" Sonya's eyes fell on the chain that was coming out of Orihime's chest. "Are you o-okay…?" Orihime nodded as Sonya swallowed dryly, wishing she could have a glass of water.
"Hey, a little help here?!" Glancing back, Sonya and Orihime spotted Rukia struggling to pull herself onto the floor from the hole in the wall.
"Stay here. I'll be back." Sonya got up and hurried over to the ledge, as the Hollow chuckled darkly.
"I am the one who raised Orihime!" Sonya kneeled down as Rukia was holding onto the broken flooring of the apartment. "I'm the one who protected her! I won't give her to anyone! Especially not you, Ichigo Kurosaki!" Sonya reached out, and Rukia immediately grabbed for the offered hand. "I WON'T GIVE HER TO YOU!" The floor shook as the Hollow charged towards Ichigo, causing Sonya to stumble forward, causing Rukia to almost to let go.
"ICHIGO!" Sonya, on her kneels and leaning over the ledge with her hands still holding Rukia's hands tightly, glanced back to see Ichigo blocking the Hollow's snapping jaw.
"She's mine! All of her! I lived my life for Orihime! Yet, Orihime won't live her life for me! Then at least…" The Hollow began as it slowly stood up tall, almost hitting the ceiling. Sonya fold herself shivering as her grip on Rukia loosened.
No way…
There's no way she could ignore this.
Rukia kicked her legs against the side of the house, trying to climb up, but there wasn't enough support for her to safely push herself up. "Hey, pull me up! Hurry!" Sonya quickly turned her attention to Rukia, but her hands were too shaky to grip onto Rukia's hand. "What's wrong with you?! This is no time to be afraid!"
She's right. But…Sonya couldn't help deny that this was too frightening to ignore. Getting onto her feet once more, she stepped back and began to lift Rukia over the ledge with all the strength she could muster.
.
"ShE mUsT dIe FoR mE!"
.
The Hollow lunged for the defenseless Orihime, and as Ichigo dashed to save her, yelling for the Hollow to stop, the girl could only stand there with her legs glued to the floor. She was too afraid, so afraid that her legs didn't want to move despite that it could save her life if she just jumped out of the way. If she could only… With a small smile, as the Hollow, who was her dear brother, came at her, her arms moved open.
Time could only stop for Ichigo and Sonya as they saw Orihime tenderly embrace the Hollow's head as it bit into her shoulder, its strong teeth digging deeply into her flesh. The Hollow's eyes widened as it realized Orihime's arms were around it. Sinking to her knees as the Hollow slowly opened his large mouth to release her, her arms gently caressed the Hollow's hair.
"I'm sorry, brother… I didn't mean to make you so lonely." Orihime said as she continued to gently caress the hair of the Hollow. "I only wanted to tell you all about the fun things that happened in school. The things I like. The people I like…. I thought that praying wasn't good enough in the beginning. I didn't want you to see me be sad every day. I didn't want you to be worried. That's why I…" She slowly pulled herself back just enough to look the Hollow in the single eye that was visible. "I only wanted you to see me happy, so you didn't have to worry. But I didn't know it made you said… I'm sorry for making you sad…I love you."
This is real. This is really real.
Sonya watched as Rukia got up, at a loss for words, while the Hollow was uttering Orihime's name.
Please…let this be a bad dream—
"ORIHIME!" Ichigo shouted as he was hurrying to her, and Sonya closed her eyes.
This is reality, isn't it?
"Sonya!" A harsh slap against Sonya's back caused her to almost shriek in surprise and pain as Rukia was hurrying for Orihime. "Wake up and help me!" Standing up, she slowly trailed after Rukia, confused but out of the deep trance she was trapped in. "Stop panicking, she can still be saved!"
"Really?" Sonya asked as she perked up with Rukia kneeling over Orihime's slumped body. Kneeling down as well, Sonya reached out and gently rolled Orihime onto her back.
"Do you see the chain of fate?" Rukia asked as Sonya's eyes were directed towards the chain coming from Orihime's chest. "As long as that is connected to the body, the spirit isn't dead. She can be saved without any demon arts."
"Thank goodness…" Sonya sighed before almost shrinking back when the Hollow loomed over them.
"Orihime…Orihime…" The Hollow repeated again and again as Rukia glared at it.
"You're in the way of healing. Move back!" Surprisingly, it moved back, but kept its eyes on Orihime's form. With a sigh of relief, Sonya watched as Rukia's hands began glowing, watching as Rukia worked her 'Shinigami' magic. "Are you okay?" Sonya blinked, looking up to see Rukia looking right at her, before looking back down to continue healing Orihime's spirit.
"I'm…fine now. Thanks." Sonya said as she reached up to gently touch her head, never realizing how her head throbbed. This was worse than getting the influenza, and it was surprising that she was able to ignore it until now. "I'm sorry for not being strong."
She was also sorry for being ignorant when the proof was there.
Sakura sank into the cushion of the couch, staring at the turned off TV. It was quiet in the spacious apartment, with a heavy and unwelcoming feeling of loneliness washing over her. If she were to turn on the TV and allow the sounds to fill the apartment, Sakura was afraid that it wouldn't be enough. It was only then that the sound of jiggling keys at the front door had perked her up.
"Sonya! Is that you? Where did you go? I was so worried." She pulled herself off the overly comfortable couch, quickly walking towards the front door to greet her friend. "Don't run off like that-"
The sight of the high schooler's faded eyes made the energetic bath worker stop at middle of her sentence.
"…" Sakura paused before picking up her bag from the floor. "I'll…I'll see you tomorrow then! Let's go out to eat somewhere, okay? My treat! Bye!" With a cheerful voice, yet a strained smile, Sakura hurried out of the apartments and the second the door closed, Sonya walked over to the couch and picked up the remote, turning off the TV.
Shutting off all the lights in the house, she retired to her room and crawled under the comfortable sheets that reminded her of what a home feels like.
"Brother…goodbye…"
The Hollow, disintegrating into pieces of souls that looked similar to petals, smiled and disappeared into the sky. Sonya helped Orihime sit up to watch the departure of her brother's soul into the sky.
"He's gone…" Orihime said softly.
"Yup…" Ichigo nodded before looking to her, "How are your wounds?"
Orihime patted her slowly healed shoulder, smiling a bit, "I think they're almost completely healed—n-never mind that! Kurosaki, what just happened—?" A lighter was held in front of Orihime's face, and the second it was clicked, it ignited into a smoke with a loud cluck. Orihime slumped to the ground as both Sonya and Ichigo looked in shocked as Rukia blankly stared at the lighter.
"O-Orihime?!" Ichigo gaped as Sonya looked just like the Scream, "What did you do?!"
"It's the Memory Replacer. It erases her memory and substitute it with a new one. We don't want her chatting about what took place tonight, right?" Rukia asked as she scooted over to the other girl who was also there, but knocked out the entire time. "The only issue is that the new memories are random. Just to be safe, I'll use the Memory Replacer on this girl."
"…uh..." Sonya scratched the back of her head, unsure of how the Memory Replacer works, and apparently Ichigo was also at a loss for words. Rukia sighed as she held the igniter button down, with the puff of smoke bursting out in front of the unconscious Tastuki's face with a loud cluck.
"If you don't understand, then wait until tomorrow." Rukia said as she got up. "Now let's go."
"Can't you do anything about the hole too?" Ichigo asked as Rukia gave him a thumbs up.
"Just leave it be."
Sonya chuckled nervously as Rukia held the little device in front of her face. "WHOA!" Sonya cried as she fell back, just avoiding it in time when the smoke burst out ten times as stronger than the last two. "What the heck are you doing?!"
"What do you mean? I was going to wipe your memories of everything about this and the past events of Soul Reapers. I should have done this a long time ago." Rukia said as she crouched before fiddling with the device. "Now stand still."
"Y-You can actually erase several memories at once?" Ichigo asked as Rukia paused, then shrugged.
"If I turn the power a little up then maybe it can erase her memories up until the night when this all started." Rukia said before staring at it, "Though I never tried it out before…"
"You're crazy!" Ichigo snapped as Sonya was crawling away.
"LEAVE MY MEMORIES ALONE!" Rukia reached out and grabbed the collar of Sonya's shirt, pulling her back over.
"It's not painful, I promise! Now hold still, you fool!"
"No!"
"Sonya, there are going to be many more times similar to this in the future. I should have erased your memories in the beginning when you saw what happened last night. If you're that scared, then it's not too late for you to get out of this while you still can." Rukia said as Sonya froze. "I'm only thinking about you. Right, Ichigo?"
Ichigo looked shocked that Rukia was needing his input. His face softened and he looked away, almost shameful of himself. "Yeah. That Hollow was dangerous. If Rukia says that we'll be fighting more of them in the future, then I can't protect you. Look what happened tonight. Orihime was hurt because I didn't stop him in time. I can't be sure if I'll be able to save you in time next time. Just think about it."
"Thank you, Ichigo," Rukia said as she kept her eyes locked with Sonya's. "You heard him. Please make the right choice."
Rolling over to her side and curling into her comforter, Sonya sighed and closed her eyes, ignoring the faint glow of her clock that said it was too early to sleep.
"Did I make the right choice…?" Sonya asked herself as she felt the throbbing of her head continued. No, she shouldn't think about it too much. She couldn't take what she decided for herself now. It was her decision and she should be happy with it.
It wouldn't have mattered anyways.
She could still see them.
The shoe locker room was lightly crowded this morning as Sonya was switching her shoes for the indoor shoes. Stuffing her sneakers into the locker, she closed it while dropping the indoor shoes before her. Slipping them on, she never noticed that a certain person had stepped beside her, opening his own shoe locker.
"Good morning, Avalon." Sonya glanced over, spying Uryuu slipping off his loafers and placing them inside the locker. He didn't even look to her as he greeted her placidly. Why is he…? "You do realize that it is against the school rules to wear colorful scarves over your uniform, as well as colored socks that aren't black or white." She twitched as she remembered the pink scarf around her neck, as well as the pink and black socks she had mistakenly put on this morning.
"Take your sass and put it in your pocket!" Sonya hissed as she grabbed her bag she had sat on the ground early, getting ready to march off towards class. Uryuu merely reached into his bag and held out a small wooden bottle that had a scent of herbs. The ends of her scarf was within her reach, so he was able to easily grab it and stop her from proceeding any further. "GWAH!"
"You don't look good this morning, from your usual expression of smiling." Uryuu claimed as Sonya felt her breath hitch in her throat, but she continued to attempt to be calm. "Take this. It'll take away that headache of yours."
"Wow, really? I took some Advil earlier, but it didn't work and—wait, how did you know I had a bad headache…?" Sonya stared at Uryuu with a questioning stare. Uryuu didn't seem to falter as he continued to have a grip on her scarf as well as still offering the medicine towards her.
"It's obvious. You keep holding your head and grimacing." Uryuu explained as Sonya faltered, staring at the medicine. "Go ahead and take it. I have a water bottle if you can't take it dryly."
"Oh…thanks, Uryuu," Sonya said as she reached out for the medicine bottle, only for a hand to grab her shoulder, which almost caused her to jump out of her skin. "YEE!"
"OI! You're out of dress code!" The strict looking gym teacher angrily snapped as Sonya fluidly yanked herself out of the teacher's grasp, but her scarf slipped from her neck and hung from Uryuu's grasp.
"SOORRRRY!"
"GET BACK HERE!" The teacher took off after her as Uryuu stood there, holding the scarf in his hand. Staring at the scarf, Uryuu tucked the medicine bottle in his pocket before folding the scarf up neatly, only to notice a rather large hole in it. The more he stared at it, the more he noticed that the scarf was rather worn and had small holes in it, despite the color being vibrant.
Placing the folded scarf into his bag, he slipped on his indoor shoes in silence before closing the shoe locker door.
The class door opened and Sonya stepped in, cradling her poor head. "Oww…." The gym teacher really let her have it, judging from how hard he smacked his folder on her head. Even though she told him to take it easy on her because of her headache, he didn't really seem to care. With the wisps of the ghosts clinging to her shoulders and arms, her body felt heavier than usual. They're being oddly clingier than usual today. Maybe she shouldn't have stared at them when she was getting to school.
"Are you alright?" Ichigo's hand shooed away the ghosts, causing them to whine but understand. They phased through the wall to leave, and Ichigo sighed. "Yeah, they can get annoying. Just tell them to leave if they're bothering you."
"Oh…haha… thanks, Ichigo. I'm really down in the dumps." Her body felt lighter, but her headache didn't go away. "But I'll be fine now as long as Ichigo is looking out for me."
"Are you kidding me?" Ichigo asked as Sonya looked giddy, or at least tried to. "…Fine. I'll do the best I can as long as you stay out of trouble."
"Aw, but I'm naturally attracted to trouble." Sonya teased as she skipped after Ichigo as he was trailing after his desk.
"Shut up, okay?" Ichigo snapped as Sonya didn't seem to deter from his words.
"I'll die if I stop talking for more than five minutes, Ichigo!" Sonya laughed as he slumped into his desk, trying to ignore her. Sonya sat in her own desk, placing her bag on the hook at the side of it. "Wake me up when class starts—eh, where is it?" She placed her hands against her neck, realizing that her scarf was missing. "I'll be back!"
"Uh, okay?" Ichigo said as he watched the American student hurried out of class, just as Rukia walked in.
"Where is she going?" Rukia asked as she pointed after Sonya.
"No idea."
"URYUU!" Uryuu stopped in his steps, staring at her as all the other students seemed to ignore them, continuing on their way to class. Sonya held her hand, glaring at him. "Hand it over, Uryuu. I need it."
"Learn some manners." Uryuu snapped placidly at her before reaching into his pocket. "You should learn not to run off then. Here." He placed the medicine bottle in her hand. "Take one before class," Uryuu instructed as he walked around her, continuing to class. Sonya stared at the medicine before hurrying after him.
"That's not what I meant! My scarf, gimme my scarf!" Sonya demanded as she was following him into class. "…please?" She added and Uryuu stopped to look at her. She blinked, and he didn't. The staring continued for thirty seconds before he turned away and continued to his desk.
"I don't have it."
"LIAR!"
XX (To be continued) XX
EXTRA
"Ichigo, can I eat with you today again?" Sonya asked as she was holding a paper bag in her arms. Ichigo merely shrugged as he was eating his own lunchbox. She placed her bag on her desk and moved it over to rest against his. Moving her chair, she sat down and dug through her paper bag while Ichigo wondered what was in that bag.
"What's in the bag?" Ichigo asked as Sonya pulled out a yakisoba bun she bought from the school store. "You bought bread from the store?"
"I forgot to make my lunch today." Sonya said as she unwrapped it and took a big bite out of it. As she chewed, Ichigo ate another one of the egg rolls from his own lunch box. "Mm, yum… I always wanted to try a yakisoba bun."
"I actually forgot that you lived alone." Ichigo said as Sonya silently took another bite. "Do your parents live abroad or something? You never actually told me."
Sonya swallowed roughly, sweat drops running down like bullets on her face. "So…" Sonya looked away, looking rather nervous. "Something like that, I guess."
"Oh, I see." Ichigo said, and before the conversation went dead, Sonya stuffed the rest of the sandwich into her mouth and began making gestures with her hands. "…what are you doing? Can't you just say it?"
Swallowing, Sonya got up from her seat and slammed her hands down on the desk. "When can I go to your house, Ichigo?"
"Where did this come from?!"
"I wouldn't expect much out of Ichigo, Sonya." Rukia had popped out of nowhere, pulling a chair and sitting down at the table. "The hole may have been repaired, but it still looks a bit shabby."
"Why thank you, your majesty," Ichigo bitterly remarked as Sonya was unwrapping yet another yakisoba bun. "How many did you buy?"
"I missed dinner and breakfast." Sonya responded, not answering his question, taking a bite. "It's good, Rukia. Want one?" Sonya reached into the bag and pulled another bun out, offering it to her.
"Thank you. Ichigo never offers me anything."
"Because you never ask!"