Chapter 6
Overrated
(Tōshirō's POV)
I thought over the kiss from last night. It had happened so fast that I barely had any time to react. I can't believe that I actually kissed her. My eyes narrowed at the ceiling I was staring at from my futon. I can't have any feelings for her. She's a human. I'm a Soul Reaper. I sighed. I had made a mistake. Yes, I do care about her, but at the same time I knew that it was wrong. I had to go back to report to the Head Captain, Captain-Commander Yamamoto, at the end of the week.
"What the hell were you thinking, Tōshirō," I cursed myself. "Are you losing yourself over some stupid human."
"HEY, CAPTAIN!" Rangiku yelled form outside my door.
"What do you want, Rangiku?" I was still annoyed at her from last night.
~Flashback~
"Oi, Captain. How'd it go?"
"We went to dinner and came back. Simple as that."
"Are you sure? You're blushing...OH MY GOD YOU'RE BLUSHING! THAT'S SO CUTE! What'd you do, uh? Did you kiss her or something?"
"NO I DIDN'T KISS HER! ARE YOU STUPID? I'M A SOUL REAPER, SHE'S A HUMAN! THERE'D BE NO CHANCE EVEN IF I..."
"Even if you what, Captain? Do you really care about her enough for this?"
"What the hell are you talking about?"
Rangiku pulled out a picture. Where'd that come from? My Lieutenant squealed as she looked at the picture.
"Then if you didn't kiss her, then what is this?" she showed me the picture.
What I saw pissed me off. Somehow, in some way, Rangiku was spying on me and Jennifer that night. She had taken a picture of us when I kissed Jennifer.
"EEEEP, it was so cute I couldn't resist."
I snatched the picture away before she had the chance to hide it. I growled and headed for my room.
"Are you going to frame it, Captain?"
"Leave me alone, dammit."
~End of Flashback~
I got up and opened the door to reveal Rangiku. She had her usual cheeky grin. My eye twitched.
"You've still got school today. You wouldn't want Jennifer to worry about you being late," Rangiku pinched my cheeks.
I swatted her away and closed my door. I heard Rangiku laugh as she walked away, saying something about me being in love. I walked over to my dresser and looked at the picture. Yes, I had framed it. A part of me didn't want to throw it away like I would normally do. I sighed and went to get ready for school. 'Face it, master. You do care about her, even if you try to ignore it,' my Zanpakutō, Hyōrinmaru, spoke up. Even so...I can't be with her. 'That's a pity. She is such a nice girl. Clumsy and mouthy, but kind.' I nodded. As much as I refused to believe it, the longer I thought about it the more I realized the truth. Sighing again, I grabbed my backpack and left.
(Jennifer's POV)
I yawned and stretched my arms. I didn't get any sleep last night, so I was still a bit groggy. I was thankful that I wasn't in the least bit grumpy like I usually was. I accidentally hit someone behind me. I quickly turned around and saw Tōshirō holding his nose.
"Oops. S-sorry, Tōshirō," I smiled nervously.
"It's alright," he sat down next to me. "Just be careful where you fling those arms of yours."
"Hehe. Sorry."
"So how was last night, Jenny," Travis turned around to face me, grinning. "I heard you went out with Whitey here."
Tōshirō growled while I twitched. How the hell did he know? I sighed.
"What makes you think that, Travis," I wanted to know he wasn't spying on us.
"Alexis told me," Travis pointed his thumb at Alexis, who in turn smiled and waved. "She said that she saw the two of you over at Panda Express in the mall."
Crap. Now there's a stalker. Be careful, Tōshirō. These guys are nothing like Rangiku. I rubbed my temple.
"Great," both Tōshirō and I exclaimed in the same time.
We looked at each other, but turned away. The both of us began blushing instantly.
"Awww. Young love," Travis turned around to avoid any direct confrontation.
I picked up my notebook and hit him in the back of the head with it. I then threw it at Alexis, who had stopped laughing when she saw the oncoming attack. I smirked and leaned back in my chair.
School was boring, as usual. All we did was testing, all day. Because I was at the top 15 of my classes, the tests were as easy as pie. As soon as I was done with the tests, I'd pull out my laptop – yes, I have the habit of sneaking it into class and lie that it was for homework – and fool around on it. Right now, I was using the school's Wi-Fi to look up images on DeviantArt and chat with Nathan on Windows Messenger. Even though he was at work, Nathan was a computer technician, so he got away with it with no problem. Sigh. I browsed through some random pictures on my account, most of which took me weeks to do on Photoshop. I looked up and saw that everyone were still doing their tests. Sore losers. I glanced behind me at Tōshirō. He was also done with his tests and was now playing with his 'phone', as he called it. I glanced back at the screen. Nathan had just sent back a message.
NFL_Computer_Geek: Hey, I just got your note. So, what's going on?
The_Zero_Jager16: Nothing. Finished my testing, now I'm waiting for school to be over.
NFL_Computer_Geek: Booooring.
The_Zero_Jager16: Ha. Tell me about it
So, did u get package yet?
NFL_Computer_Geek: Yep, it just came in a few minutes ago. It looks awesome.
The_Zero_Jager16: WTF? U went thru my package?
NFL_Computer_Geek: Hehehe. It seems to fit your body.
The_Zero_Jager16: ….U pervert….
NFL_Computer_Geek: Am not!
The_Zero_Jager16: R 2….
Don't argue wth me….
"You've got Mail: Ice_Shinigami wants to join you"
I glared at the screen, confused. Who the hell is Ice_Shinigami. I thought for a minute. Hell no…
NFL_Computer_Geek: Hey, u OK, Jen?
The_Zero_Jager16: 1 moment, Nate.
I clicked on the "Join" button on the screen, adding Ice_Shinigami to my chat group.
Ice_Shinigami: What r u doing?
The_Zero_Jager16: WTF? How'd u get this account?
Ice_Shinigami: I'm right behind u…Baka.
The_Zero_Jager16: Shut the f*ck up, Tōshirō.
Ice_Shinigami: What? Rn't u happy to talk 2 me?
The_Zero_Jager16: … :z
NFL_Computer_Geek: Hey, Jen…who's this guy?
The_Zero_Jager16: …It's Tōshirō, Nathan.
NFL_Computer_Geek: ;) Hotty.
The_Zero_Jager16: WTF? SHUT UP!
Ice_Shinigami: Am I missing something?
The_Zero_Jager16: No, Tōshirō…u r not…
NFL_Computer_Geek: Hey, Jen. Why don't u invite him over for dinner tonight?
The_Zero_Jager16: …
NFL_Computer_Geek: Come on…Dad and I won't bite…much
Ice_Shinigami: …Jen?
The_Zero_Jager16: Sigh…Fine…Tōshirō, do u want to join me and my family for dinner tonight?
"You've got Mail: Sexy_Babe wants to join you"
"Oh, come on," I mentally smacked myself in the head. Now who wants to join. I clicked "Join" and accepted the invite.
Sexy_Babe: OOOO…I want to come too.
NFL_Computer_Geek: WTF?
Ice_Shinigami: Who's this?
Sexy_Babe: Oh, Captain. U meanie.
Ice_Shinigami/The_Zero_Jager16: RANGIKU?
NFL_Computer_Geek: Rangiku?
Sexy_Babe: Pleeeeeeaaaassssse, Tōshirō
NFL_Computer_Geek: Your boyfriend's got another girl?
The_Zero_Jager16: No…She's…his older sister
…HEY, STOP IT WTH THE BOYFRIEND CRAP!
NFL_Computer_Geek: Okay…Then she's welcome to come to dinner 2…
Ice_Shinigami/The_Zero_Jager16: WHAT?
Sexy_Babe: Yeeeeeeeeeaaaaah
I turned to face Tōshirō. He had the same annoyed look on his face that I had on my face. We both sighed.
"Care to tell me how she got my profile name," my eye twitched.
"Don't ask," he rubbed his temple. "She confuses me too, so you're not the only one."
Tōshirō, Nathan, and myself sat at the table, staring at my dad and Rangiku. We not just finished dinner and right away, Rangiku and Dad got themselves into what Rangiku called 'a little party get together'.
"Come oooooooon…hiccup…juuust ooone mooore," Rangiku handed Dad a shot glass of liquor.
"Ooooh, pleeeaase…hiccup…I think I've…hiccup…reached m-my lim-mit," my dad slurred.
I sweat-dropped and glanced over at the other two. God. Now I know how Tōshirō must feel when he has to go through this. I sighed and got up. Nathan looked up at me.
"Uh…Where are you going, Jen?"
"Upstairs," I rubbed my head. "Care to join me, guys?"
Tōshirō was the first to get up, followed by my brother. There was no way in hell that I was going to stay in the kitchen any longer. It was a mess, so I knew that I'd be stuck cleaning it up when Rangiku and Tōshirō leave, if not in the morning. We went into my room, and I closed the door. I threw myself on the bottom bunk, while Nathan took the chair. Tōshirō, of course, didn't know where else to sit, so he sat on the floor, leaning against the bed. We stayed there in silence. The only noise that broke that silence was the laughter from Rangiku and Dad. I sat up and looked down at Tōshirō. He looked exhausted, if not annoyed. We all sighed at the same time.
"I think it was a bad idea bringing Rangiku along," Nathan finally spoke up.
"Noooo…you think," I threw an annoyed glare in his direction.
"I wouldn't blame him," Tōshirō spoke. "He didn't know what would happen if he did, although…perhaps I should've warned him."
"We should've warned him," I corrected him.
He nodded and leaned his head against the mattress. I sat closer to the edge, bringing my knees up to rest my head on my hands. I heard Nathan chuckle slightly, earning a strange glare from both Tōshirō and myself.
"S-Sorry," he retained his original posture. "At least I got to meet this boyfriend of yours, Jenny."
"What did I say earlier, Nate," I hissed at him, my eye twitching.
~Flashback~
After I drove Rangiku and Tōshirō to the house, we were instantly greeted by Nathan and Dad. My dad was the first to make an impression.
"Aw, soo…you're Tōshirō," my dad grinned like a maniac. "What's with the white hair?"
Tōshirō growled, while I smacked my dad in the back of his back. Rangiku giggled. Nathan just smirked.
"Dammit, Dad. Stop being an ass already," I walked passed him.
Tōshirō followed me inside, with Nathan on our tails. Nathan came up to me leaned into my ear, keeping an eye on Tōshirō.
"So…He seems nice. A bit uptight, but not too bad," he earned a punch in his shoulder. "Ow, Jen."
"Be nice. You were the one who invited him AND Rangiku. Do you realize what you just did?"
"What? I was just saying how much of a great boyfriend he would be for my little Jenny," Nathan hugged me.
"Awww," both Dad and Rangiku awed at the scene.
I saw Tōshirō blush. I growled and stepped on Nathan's foot. He jumped away, yelping in surprise and pain.
~End of Flashback~
"Yes…I remember," Nathan whined.
There was that awkward silence again.
"So what should we do now," Tōshirō brought up the courage to ask the question.
"Don't ask me," I sighed. "I have no clue…And no truths or dares…Nathan."
"Fine then," Nathan sat back in the chair and pouted.
I rubbed my temple. God. He's older than me and he acts like a kid. Too bad I'm not the one having to take care of the family. I sighed in annoyance.
"What'll we do with Dad and the crazy woman."
Tōshirō and I chuckled at the thought, soon joined by Nathan. Trying to drag two drunks around the neighborhood isn't too much of a good idea, but it would be funny.
"Yeah," I suppressed the laughter. "We'll have to think of something."
"Perhaps you could drive them home, Jenny," Nathan had to insist.
"Eh?"
"That wouldn't be a good idea, especially if Rangiku tries to pull something off with me and Jen," Tōshirō came to my rescue.
I grimaced at the thought. Yeah, that wouldn't be good. Yet, again, I knew that Rangiku couldn't stay at the house either. That would be the worst case scenario. I sighed.
"Eh, fine then. I'll take them home when Rangiku's out of it."
"You sure," Tōshirō looked up at me. "You don't have to."
"Meh, it's no big deal. That's why I said 'when they're out of it' so that no one would pull anything."
We sat there in silence again. Each of us were thinking of some random thought, except for me. I just closed my eyes and leaned back on the bed.