Alice-chan, you got your Rukia in this chapter.
I've been told that my updates came faster than what was expected. Should I take longer to update then?
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I'm just yanking yer chain. I'll stick to my every 2-4 days update schedule.
No guesses on who the guest appearances were in chapter 3? Awwwww *sniff sniff*
Silly FF! Blame it for the fact that this is being posted two days late! And yeah, GO NOW and read Copper's new fic! Its WAY awesome! D:
Disclaimer: No, don't own Bleach. Its too awesome to be owned by lil ole me.
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~ C h a p t e r 0 4 ~
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"I'll expect you all to read the next two chapters in preparation of the next topic. And do not forget that I require an update on your research papers by the end of the week as well. I'll see you all next week then."
Orihime hummed happily as she quickly put her books into her bag. She slipped the bag's large strap over her shoulder and slipped out of her seat.'I should be able to get the readings done tonight if I manage to finish Yamamoto-sensei's work. Then I can…' Her thoughts came to a screeching halt when a loud voice called out her name, "Orihime-chan~~"
She had barely turned around when she got tackled by an overly enthusiastic Rangiku. Orihime weakly wacked her hand against Rangiku's arm as her face was pressed right into the older woman's ample chest 'Rangiku-san…I can't breathe…"
Not hearing or feeling the girls' weak protests, the strawberry blonde spoke, "Ne ne Orihime-chan! Let's go on a goukon today! My friend's arranging one with doctors!"
"Oye Matsumoto!"
Rangiku turned around to stare at the irate white haired student with visibly popping veins as he ground out, "Can you move yourself? You're blocking the way for the rest of us!"
She pouted, still clutching a very red faced Orihime between her arms as she replied, "You really need to loosen up you know. Just because you're a child genius doesn't mean that you can't let go once in a while. Why not come with me Shiro-chan?"
Rangiku could have sworn that the air around them got cooler by four degrees thanks to the glare that he directed at her. "No thanks. And don't call me Shiro-chan."
"Ara, but Hina-chan-sensei calls you that."
"Well she's known me longer than you have. Now get your butt out of the way!"
Rangiku (and a slightly blue faced Orihime) watched the short boy make his way to the front of the class to talk with Unohana-sensei. Rangiku sighed and confided in the younger red head, "He really needs to loosen up I think. But no matter what I try it's like he just gets more and more stiff......You think maybe he's afraid of big breasts?"
She glanced down and noticed that Orihime was just two minutes away from passing out due to a lack of oxygen and hurriedly let go of the girl. Orihime gasped and bent over a nearby desk as she tried to catch her breath.
"Sorry about that Orihime-chan! I got a bit over excited. So, will you come to the goukon?"
Orihime stood back upright, one hand on her chest and the other holding her bag in place. "Gomenasai Rangiku-san, I have to meet up with Tatsuki-chan."
"Aww that's too bad. Maybe next time ne?"
Orihime smiled and waved as the oneegyaru girl bounced out of the classroom. 'I wish I could be a bit more like Rangiku-san in terms of confidence…' She sighed softly before heading out of the class and to meet Tatsuki-chan.
She made her way out of the engineering department, greeting the few teachers she passed by. Her smile widened as she caught sight of Tatsuki sitting on a nearby bench. Tatsuki raised a hand in acknowledgement and Orihime started to raise her own when a sudden beeping made her glance down at her bag.
She quickly searching in her bag for her new cell phone that she had received as a present from Sora. Slowly and clumsily she managed to open the newly received email.
'Onii-chan? I hope everything's alright. Eto…I'll be coming home late tonight. Have to attend a business meeting with some executives from Tokyo. Eat your dinner and don't wait up for me. Love Sora. Then I'll make myself some spaghetti tonight! With chicken, mushrooms, vanilla and maybe broccoli…and I'll see what's on sale as well.'
Pondering on what to make for dinner she made her way to her best friend. Tatsuki stood up as Orihime approached and picked up her duffel bag. "What's up?"
"Onii-chan just emailed me. He'll be home late tonight so I was wondering what I should make."
"If you want, I can ask my mom to make something for you. Or you can come over to my place."
Orihime waved away the offer with her hands, "I can't impose on you like that Tatsuki-chan! And I have a new recipe I'd like to try out as well! You wanna come over and help me make it?"
Her stomach quickly reminded her of the pains it had to go through the last time she had forced some of Orihime's food into it and Tatsuki quickly wondered of an appropriate way out, "Oh but see mom is making…sukiyaki tonight and I don't want to miss out on it!"
"Oh! Maybe next time then ne?"
Tatsuki wiped away the sweat that had formed on her brow, 'That was a close one…' "So how was today's class?"
She listened to her friend jabber away about the class, her teachers, new classmates (Tatsuki found herself wondering how the hell Orihime ended up attracting perverts like Chizuru and Rangiku to her. Well the answer was a bit obvious but who the hell was gonna protect her from this Rangiku woman?) and lessons.
"Ne Tatsuki-chan…"
"What is it Orihime?"
She turned her attention towards her best friend, who in turn was staring away at a distant building. "Isn't that where the kyudo club is?"
"Yeah I think so." Tatsuki gave her friend a slight nudge in the ribs and a sneaky grin. "You want to go see Kurosaki in action?" Her grin turned in a full out leer as the other girl turned pink and twisted her bag strap in her hands. "Alright then! Lets go check it out!"
Protesting as the dark haired girl grabbed her by the wrist and strode determinedly over to the kyudo club, Orihime's heart felt as though it was on a race. She kind of wished there was some way she detach her hand from the rest of her body so that she could follow her body's instinct to just run away and hide beneath her futon.
She concentrated all her focus on her wrist. 'Detach! Detach! Detach! Please detach!' She couldn't quite hide the desperate anxiety that was filling her up as the building came into clear sight. Some of the members were milling around outside, clearly taking a break from their club activities as they chatted amongst themselves. Many of them were standing there with their bows in hand as they talked.
Tatsuki strode over to the first person who in her path and asked, "Is Kurosaki in today? We'd like to see him."
Forgetting her worries for a moment, Orihime stared at the tall man's long pink hair and tattooed eyebrows . 'He looks so funny with those eyebrows! I wonder what he looks like when he frowns! I bet you can make all sorts of interesting faces with those eyebrows! But I wonder if he has to pluck his eyebrows to make sure that they don't cover his tattoos…I wonder how much it hurt too. And did he have to walk around with a bandage around his head when he got the tattoos? Oh dear…then how did he get around? That must have been terribly inconvenient! I'm never going to get tattooed eyebrows!'
Renji nodded towards the building, "He's in there with the manager. You can go in and wait for him. We're done with today."
"Thank you. Let's go!"
Jerked out of her thoughts about tattoos, Orihime got dragged into the building and before she realized it, she was standing a few feet away from Ichigo. Or to be more precise, she was a few feet and one door away from him.
Orihime sat on her knees against the wall, her hands clutching her skirt tightly as she said, "Tatsuki-chan, I really don't think Kurosaki-san will be happy about this."
Tatsuki whispered back as one of the club members walked past them, "Who cares! You want to see him right?"
Blushing and being unable to hide anything from her best friend, Orihime could only give a soft nod.
"Then it's alright! Okay, the last guy just left. Let's go."
"Eh? Eh? Where are we going now? Shouldn't we wait for him here?"
Tatsuki gave her a dry look, "Baka. Just come with me."
Although she followed her friend as they tip toed over to the slight ajar door behind which they had been told that the club vice president and manager were currently in the middle of a meeting, Orihime whispered, "We really shouldn't be doing this…"
"…have a shot at it."
"Nii-sama approved of your training schedule for the new comers as well. Though he did say that you should increase the time spent on the basic techniques."
"Alright, I'll fix that and give you the new training schedule. We can hand it out by next week."
"That sounds reasonable enough. And about the budget…"
Tatsuki gently pulled Orihime against her as they both leaned against the wall right beside the open door, listening to the soft conversation between the two members. Orihime wondered what this girl looked like…given her way of speaking she sounded as though she was from a noble family…maybe she was an ojou-sama. Unable to resist the temptation, Orihime slowly and cautiously leaned forward to take a peek at the club manager.
'She really is pretty…' was the first thought that came to mind as she saw the dark haired girl. Her shoulder length hair was straight and shiny in a way her own hair never quite managed to be. Her eyes were large, violet and calm. Her every gesture was filled with a grace that one could not help but notice and admire. She was sitting beside Ichigo on the small table - their shoulder's brushing as they leaned over the table.
'They look so comfortable sitting that close to each other…he doesn't even mind it when she touches his hand. He would move away from me even if our hands would accidentally touch.' Misery filled her as she watched the two converse quietly and a thought came to her, unbidden and unwelcome. 'Maybe…they are going out?'
That thought made her feel as though her stomach had just turned to lead. Her heart and her head felt heavy, as though she had a fever. She shuffled back, ready to get up and leave when Tatsuki's sudden tugging had her turning her attention towards her friend. Tatsuki was making frantic gesturing motions towards the door and Orihime turned her attention back towards the conversation.
"I can't believe you ran out of here in your club uniform! Were you that worried about her?"
"Oh shut up already. I was just in a hurry."
"Ah so you were worried about her. I really want to meet this ex-student of yours. I wonder how she looks like too. She's got to be something special that you went with her on a date to the amusement park."
A sudden spluttering sound. "It wasn't a date! I promised her a reward and that's what she wanted."
"You couldn't have gotten her hair clips or a book or something?"
Even though she strained, Orihime couldn't hear his mumbled response. But whatever it was, it had the other girl laughing like anything. "That I'd live to see the day when Kurosaki Ichigo gives in to the whims of a woman!"
"S'cuse me for being a man who lives up to his promises!"
"But I gotta ask something. From what I've heard, she's smart, she's pretty, she's really gentle and kind and she's got a great figure. And your antics well…they speak for themselves really. So why do you still insist that you don't feel anything for her?"
"Because I don't! She's just a kid! And our senpai's little sister, in case you've forgotten. She's like a little sister to me and that's all she's gonna be. Nothing more."
Tears come to her eyes at his statement. She couldn't pin-point why but what he said hurt. It really hurt that he thought of her like that. Quietly, she moved away from the doorway and made her way quickly towards the entrance. Tatsuki looked at the doorway and then at her friend's quickly retreating form. As quietly as she could manage, she quickly moved away to follow Orihime.
Orihime wiped away her tears, not wanting Tatsuki to see them as she strode briskly towards the entrance. In her haste to leave, she didn't realize that she had accidentally caught her foot in the long strap of a nearby bag and went tumbling down with a surprised cry.
"Orihime! Are you alright?!"
She rubbed her forehead and sat up with Tatsuki's support. Her hands moving up to her throbbing forehead as she winced at the pain. Tatsuki's slim fingers gently pressed on the hurt area, drawing a whimper from the long-haired girl.
"Oye, what's goin…Inoue?!"
Orihime felt her heart nearly leap out of her chest at the familiar sound of her name in that voice. Willing her heartbeat to return to normal, she turned her head around. She saw that he and the petite manager were standing right outside the door and staring at the two girls with near identical expressions of surprise. She gave them what was a bright smile, "Konbanwa Kurosaki-san."
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Ichigo was pissed. He was pissed that the cafeteria was so noisy today. He was pissed that he had to complete a paper within three days. He was pissed that his miso soup was too salty. He was pissed that Rukia kept jabbering away at full speed beside him. And above all, he was pissed as hell that Orihime wasn't meeting his eye and he couldn't figure out why. And that was grating on his nerves like nails on a chalkboard.
Moodily he stabbed the mackerel, picked the piece up and popped it into his mouth. 'Whatever. Not like I give a shit if she's being moody.'
Completely aware of Ichigo's growing bad mood, Rukia wondered, 'What the hell is wrong with him? He was fine just a while ago.' She watched from the corner of her eye as he scowled down at the tempura before picking it up and biting down on it with more force than was strictly required. His gaze suddenly darted up to look across the table at the smiling ginger haired girl before he let out a barely audible 'tch' and resumed to scowling down at his tray of food. 'Is he mad at her for showing up at the club? Geez, this guy is too much…'
"How long have you been the kyudo club manager Kuchiki-san?"
Deciding to ignore the orange head's foul mood, Rukia turned her attention back towards Tatsuki and Orihime. Tatsuki was blowing on the noodles on her chopsticks as Orihime beamed at her. "Ah well I think it's been nearly 3 years I think. I became the manager when I was in my first year and that was when nii-sama also became the faculty adviser for the club."
Tatsuki looked up from the bowl of ramen to ask curiously, "Nii-sama? Your brother is part of the faculty?"
Rukia smiled slightly, "He's part of the faculty for Literature and Culture. Kuchiki Byakuya."
Orihime clapped her hands together, "I have him for my Japanese Literature class! He seems really nice!"
Rukia noticed the subtle twitch that went through Ichigo at the girl's moment and fought back the urge to smirk like a wolf. 'Well well well…' Wondering if maybe she could somehow manage to get a bigger reaction out of the boy Rukia continued, "Isn't he though? Poor nii-sama has had to bat away girls ever since he started this job. They never seem to mind the fact that he's married."
Orihime nodded, "He is handsome in that manner. But I like his hair noodles the best."
Rukia blinked in surprise, Tatsuki dropped her chopsticks and Ichigo nearly choked on the rice. He coughed hard before taking a few large gulps of water as Rukia meekly asked, "I'm sorry but did you say…hair...noodles?"
"Isn't that what they are? A new fashion?"
Ichigo didn't even try to keep the laughter from bursting out of his mouth. That was arguably the best joke he'd heard on Byakuya in a good long while. His shoulders shaking with laughter as he leaned over on the other side, ignoring Rukia's scathing glare completely. Tatsuki weakly apologized, "Sorry bout that. She's got a bit of a wild imagination."
Rukia waved her hand lightly, still in a bit of a shocked daze "No it's alright. It was…an interesting description. Not one I'd tell him in any case."
As Tatsuki quickly explained to Orihime the significance behind the teacher's hair style, Rukia glared at Ichigo's back. The bastard was still laughing. His back straightened as he turned back, wiping away the tears from his eyes. His amusement disappeared when he saw Rukia steal the last tempura shrimp off his plate.
"You'd better put that back where it belongs!"
Rukia smirked before daintily popping the seafood in her mouth, chewed on it and quickly swallowed it.
"Fine then!"
Ichigo quickly grabbed his chopsticks and managed to steal the last piece of tamagoyaki from her bento (he knew that to be her favorite). In the few scant minutes in which Tatsuki had explained to Orihime that "No, Byakuya-sensei isn't wear hair noodles or hair curlers, you called it a kenseikan which shows that you're of noble birth.", the two kyudo club members had ended up in a small fist fight.
Tatsuki gaped at the sight of Ichigo's hand being firmly twisted by the petite girl while he held her hand gripped tightly, both mere inches away from each other's plate. She turned shocked towards Orihime who had one finger on her lips as she said in a wistful tone, "It must be nice to have all love-love like that in a relationship…"
Both Rukia and Ichigo froze mid snarl and turned their heads slowly towards Orihime. Ichigo asked slowly, as though he had misheard what she had said, "Excuse me?"
Blithely she repeated, "I said that must be to have a love-love relationship like you two do."
Ichigo dropped Rukia's hand from his as though it was a poisonous snake before pointing a finger at the petite girl, "You couldn't pay me enough money to even consider getting into a relationship like that with this midget!"
Rukia was brushing her sleeve off as she spoke, "I think you're forgetting that we were a couple once."
Three pair of startled eyes turned to the dark haired girl before Ichigo groaned and face palmed. "God, do you still remember that? HOW many time do I hafta apologize for that?!"
Tatsuki asked with a hint of hesitation in her voice, "Dare I ask….?"
Rukia smirked, "We were a couple like, way before." Ichigo snorted and said, "Don't play with words and just tell it straight. We were like five or six. And it was only for two days."
Orihime repeated his statement, "Two days? What happened?"
Rukia hit Ichigo over the head with her notebook as she spoke, "This clod broke my favorite doll."
"For God's sake! It was over fifteen years ago and it was an accident!"
And that just made the pair go back to their bickering. Tatsuki gave a confused and slightly amused look at Orihime, who was wondering if she let out a delight squee right now, would it be considered rude? She had to satisfy herself by happily tapping her feet against the floor while patting her hands against her thigh to the happy tune in her head.
Tatsuki leaned over and asked softly, "What's with you?" Orihime beamed back, shaking her head slightly, "I'm just happy!" Tatsuki raised a slightly confused eyebrow before hesitantly replying, "If you say so…"
"Oye Ichigo, Rukia!"
The pair turned around to stare at Renji as he made his way over to their table and stood behind Rukia's chair. "You seriously need to grow up, you know that right?"
Rukia merely let out a small 'humph' while Ichigo pointed at her, "She's the one who starts it!"
"You're just proving my point. Anyways, you ready to go?"
Rukia started to quickly wrap up her bento box asking, "Did you make the reservations at Black Stones like always?"
Renji nodded as he plucked her coat and bag out of her hands, "Some of the guys already left."
Orihime stood up, pushing her seat away with one hand before standing up fully. "We'll take our leave as well. It was nice seeing you again Kurosaki-san."
Ichigo nodded at the two girls as he picked up his bag. "You too Inoue, Arisawa."
"Whoa whoa whoa! Wait a minute!" Renji grabbed Ichigo by his jacket, "She was the girl you'd tutor?"
Ichigo scowled at the shocked expression on his friend's face, "Yeah so?"
Renji ignored his question completely before turning to Rukia, "How did this idiot manage to land a teaching job to such a cute girl? Is this what they call divine luck of the heavens?"
Orihime blushed at the compliment and spoke timidly, "We should be going now…" But Renji and fate apparently had different plans…and they were far more convincing as well.
Lets get the Japanese terms outta the way eh?
Gyaru- Japanese transliteration of the English word 'gals'. The term was applied to fashion and peer conscious girls in their teens and early twenties. (Wikipedia banzai~)
Oneegyaru – is a gyaru who has graduated from high school and has become a more mature onee-san and their style is more mature. (Wikipedia banzai~ banzai~ banzai~)
Black Stones. Shout out to the amazing, wonderful, super, 'HOLY SHIT THIS IS SO AWESOME!' Nana! I hope Yazawa-san gets well soon again. I want more Nana! I NEED to know what's the story with little Ren. And shit, I'll admit it…I need my Shin-chan fix.
*ticks off more of the cast who jumped in when she wasn't looking* Rangiku, Yama-jii, Hinamori, Retsu-san, Hitsugaya...they all sneaked in from the backdoor when I was looking the other way. And dear God, I don't get chased by an ash cat for turning its owner into a gyaru girl *hides underneath a sofa*
Reviews will make me a really happy and motivated writer! :D
