A/N: Previously on Finders Keepers...(God, this feels like an episode of 24!)
"Okay, now thats settled, on the count of three...ONE! TWO! THREE!" She jumped up and quickly peered over the back of the seats, while Ulquiorra rolled the orange under the chairs. He rolled his eyes. There was no way this was going to work...
"Oh my GAWD! Starkk, an ORANGE!"
PS. Want something to listen to while your reading? I had 'Fix You' By Coldplay playing in the background while I was writing :)
Finders Keepers, Chapter Four: Home Sweet Home.
Rukia sighed happily as she wove her slender fingers into short orange locks, massaging the scalp underneath. The substitute-shinigami's head on her lap snuggled further into her soft lilac skirt and inhaled deeply while gripping the material in his hands as he slept. He muttered something inchohorant and drooled slightly. The raven haired girl grimaced as he did so. She swiftly pushed him off her lap, leaving the man with no means of support and toppling off the airplane seats. Eyes snapping open in surprise, Ichigo yelled out as his head struck the floor with a dull thud. She dusted off her skirt, disgust painted across her sharp features.
"Your so gross when your asleep, Ichigo." She proclaimed, smoothing down her short ebony hair. Ichigo's mouth gaped open for a moment, staring at her in disbelief. Glaring at him, Rukia frowned.
"Shut your mouth. You look like an overgrown fish. "
"Hey! Where the hell are all these insults coming from-"
"Didnt I tell you to shut up already?" Ichigo exhaled loudly, slowly counting to ten. By the time he'd reached five, Rukia was tying her hair into little pigtails and checking her watch absentmindedly. At eight, she'd booted up her DS and was vigourously shooting at little pixelated squares resembling chikens. Once he reached ten, he hauled himself from the rough floor and flopped onto his seat. Pulling his phone out from his jean pocket, he scanned the contents of his inbox. One new message.
Ichigo & Rukia,
Can you text me back when you land? Orihime should be landing in anouther hour or so. If you don't reply soon, I'll make sure we drive off before you get here.
Tatsuki.
His face dropped. She was still the same old Tatsuki alright. And soon he'd see her, and his family, and Chad and Uryuu and Orihime. He wondered how much they'd all changed, if Yuzu had finally confessed to the moody red-head at Urahara's shop. If Uryuu had ditched the white clothes, If Karin had opened up a bit more. If Orihime had found someone to appreciate her cooking, if Chad had stopped growing yet. He wanted to know it all, and be there among those he loved.
"Hey, Ichigo?" Rukia said softly, the DS abandoned . Ichigo turned to look at her, a smile drifting across his normally scowling face. Wrapping his strong arms around her, he whispered quitely into her ear.
"We're going home, Rukia."
Orihime ducked her head down and plopped on the ground with all the grace a sixteen week pregnant lady could muster, her eyes shimmering with excitement as she whispered quickly and quietly to her not-so-impressed partner.
"It's him, Ulquiorra, it's him! And-oh!" She cried, peering through the gap in the seats,"Nel-chan too!" Ulquiorra's face fell in disbelief. Why didn't she just do that before?
"Ulquiorra, was the other girl an Arrancar?" She questioned, her head still jammed between the seats.
"Move over." He commanded, gently pushing her to the side as he looked through the gap. Starkk was sitting in the middle, his loose beige shirt and brown pants crumpled from slouching in his chair. On his right was Neleil, sleeping soundly on his lap while to his left sat Lillynette, fussing over her newly found prize. She was dressed in a little pink tank top with a crudely drawn shark covering the majority of the material, while on the bottom it proclaimed her to be a 'maneater'. Matching shorts too. He scoffed at her choice of clothing. How utterly innapropriate for a young girl of her age.
"Do you know her?" Orihime chimed.
He nodded his head curtly. "Yes," He began,"She's his other half."
"EH?" Orihime yelled, completely misunderstanding. Lillynette's head snapped round in alarm, while Starkk jumped and looked over the back of his chair. What he found there completely shocked him. The fourth Espada, Ulquiorra Schiffer, and their former captive Orihime Inoue, sitting on the carpeted floor of the aircraft directly behind him. A look of surprise flashed across his sharp features as he took the information in. Believe it or not, his brain was having a hard time processing it.
"Ulquiorra-?" The mans head slowly lifted to face the Primera, his jade green eyes slightly wider than usual, a hint of surprise refecting in their surface. Orihime too turned to look at the brunnette, her expression mimicking that of her partners, but quickly melting into a happy grin.
"Starkk-san!" She cried, standing up aruptly to greet him. Ulquiorra gracefully returned to a standing position, pretending that he had not just been caught participating in a child's 'spy' game, but however, was betrayed by the ever-so-slight warmth in his cheeks. He coughed and went to shake Starkk's hand.
Starkk smiled awkwardly at him, gripping his pale hand in his tan one and shaking it firmly. "Long time no see, Ulquiorra. I see you've been very...productive these last few years..." He said, motioning towards Orihime. The girl looked bewildered, and furrowed her brows, a pout plastered across her lips.
"Is it really that obvious?" She mumbled, staring down at her tummy sadly. The Primera looked shocked as he caught on to what she was insinuating, swiveling his head to look at Ulquiorra as if needing comfirmation.
"Orihime-san, that's not what I meant. But...WOW. A baby, huh?" She nodded and smiled brightly.
"Two actually! Me and Ulquiorra are so excited! Ne, Ulquiorra?" The man looked at her with the absolute minimum enthusiasm a human could conjure, before he was promptly thwaked in the head by the flying blue blob currently known as Nel. Pitching over, he tried ( And failed) to grab hold of the nearest chair, but with the added wait pushing on it's edge, it spun quickly; dumping Ulquiorra on the ground. Sitting up quickly, he attempted to pry the childs stubby fingers from atop his head. Apparently Nel was stronger than she looked. She gripped clumps of his black hair in her hands, screaming and wailing as he managed to rip her away from him.
"No! Let go! " She cried, banging her tiny fists against his arm. He looked at her in distatse, holding her as far away as possible, as if she were an utterly revolting pair of old shoes. She narrowed her big, moss-green eyes. With a speed impossible for a normal human child her age, she twisted her head and clamped her mouth round his wrist, biting him profousely. In response, he yelled out in surprise as she continued gnawing his pale skin. Today was definately not his day.
"Starkk, would you mind removing this pest from my arm?" He gritted out, glaring at the older man. Starkk looked at him as if he had asked him to dress up as a nurse and spank him repetedly.
"And get Cero-ed to oblivion? No thank you."
Ulquiorra glared further.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
The monotonous voice of the captain spoke through the microphone. "Ladies and gentlemen, please fasten your seat belts. We will be begininng our descent towards Tokyo shortly."
Orihime squeeled in delight. They were going to be home soon! She glanced towards a sullen looking Ulquiorra, his eyes brooding and mouth set in a thin line. Placed firmly on his head was the former arrancar Nel, snuggling into his soft, messy locks. It was safe to say that he was not a happy bunny right now. The image of a dancing Ulquiorra complete with ears and a fluffy little tail popped up in her head, and she began laughing hysterically. Ulquiorra looked at her, and glanced away. It was nothing out of the ordinary after all. Little tears gathered at the corner of her eyes, her mouth now making no sound at all, save the occasional squeek escaping past her lips. After another five minutes of laughter, she managed to calm herself enough to fasten her seatbelt and giggle quitely to herself as she pursued her daydream. He rolled his eyes and clipped together the lock on his own seatbelt. The woman was such a strange entity.
"Ulquiorra?" Lillynette said, her head propped up on her arms as she spoke to him from across the seats. His eyes flickered up to look at her.
"Hm?"
"You and Orihime-chan are having a baby, right?" She enquired. His face clouded over in confusion. Was it not obvious?
"Yes. That is correct. Why do you ask?" His voice was suspicious.
Her eyes widened slightly.
"Do you love her?" Green eyes glanced towards the orange haired girl sitting next to him, her mind occupied as she conjured up impossible scenarios. Her soft grey eyes twinkled in the dim lighting, a little laugh released from her lips. He didn't even hesitate.
"Yes," He said quitely."I do."
XOXOXOXOXXOXOXO
A/N:Finally! It's finished! I'm SO sorry I haven't updated sooner, I've had tons of homework and have been totally occupied. But here it is! Just a little warning for next week...Something called plot will be added! Isn't that absolutely AMAY-DIDDLY-DAZING?
A little dictionary for those of you unfamiliar with japanese terms...:)
'Ne?' - Kind of like, 'Right?'/ looking for confirmation.
'San' - A polite way of addressing someone, normally used for people you know but are not very close to.
'Chan' - Normally when your talking to a child, however, it can be used when your putting someone in a cute light.
Most of you will probably know these, but i thought i should make sure :) Cookies are going to...
YourRedRightAnkle,
nypsy,
Anne the Fire,
Reflected Moon,
Seproth,
OneWhoNeverStopsCrying.
Thank you all for reviewing, your cookies are in the post :L 47 hits in March! Does that mean views? Imma bit cluless right naaw:( And, can anyone tell me how to view the peoples who have favourited? I would love to give them a big thank you next chapter!
Till next time!
YukiHimeChaan xxxx
PS! Can you see the little blue button-chan down there? Do you know what happens if you click it? Why don't you try it out ? :L