Aurora Whisperwind: July 14th. Theme 6. Nooooo, it's almost over!
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of its characters. Kubo Tite-san does.
Theme 6: Homework
"Alright you brats, I have a fun new assignment for you all" Oochi-sensei barked from her desk on a crisp Monday morning. Most of the class gasped audibly, sensei's assignments were mostly embarrassing and painful- never fun. Like the time she had made them juggle three watermelons or the time where she laid live coal in the class and made them jump across it. Or even worse, the latest assignment where she paired people up and made one in the team them draw the other one nude.
Disregarding the anxious murmurs, the demon lady cleared her throat and began "Okay, so I made thirty-five chits and put them all in this bowl. All of you will come up and pick a chit each. Start!"
"Overcoming my worst fear?" read Ichigo, an annoyed expression on his face, upon receiving his chit. "Is that what you got? Mine is strange 'The most emotionally draining moment of my life.' Are we supposed to write essays or something?" Rukia mused, peeping to see what he got. "Essays? No, it can't be that easy" Ichigo murmured, taking her chit absent-mindedly and looking into it. He shuddered at the memory of the last one- he had been paired with Keigo, and had the dreaded duty of painting him naked. His father had insisted on framing it and hanging it on the clinic wall, proudly telling anyone who looked at it that his beloved little son had painted it with his own two hands, until Ichigo went insane and burned it. He shook his head violently, trying to bury that unsavoury memory into oblivion.
Oochi-sensei did not leave them long in suspense. "Attention again, morons!" she shouted, when all of them had finished picking and comparing, "You must have noticed by now that there are only four types of chits. Here's what you have to do- you all have to act out your topic. Alone, although props are allowed. Make sure it finishes in ten to fifteen minutes. Got it? "
"Like a play? Are you out of your mind sensei? I have to re-enact 'The day I felt like an ass' in front of everyone?" Keigo whined loudly, earning a "What the heck Asano, you got the easiest topic! All you have to do is do what you always do! Che" from her.
Mizuiro snorted as she continued "Now, no excuses! Do the assignment; or I'll fail you! By the way, there must be a number on the chit. If it is one, you do it tomorrow. If two, you do it the day after. And so on. Now get out, all of you! Class dismissed!"
--
"Damn" Ichigo cursed on the way home, "I got a three. That gives me two days… and I have such a stupid topic!"
"Listen to you whine" Rukia said, "I got a two. And an even creepier topic. You help me, Ichigo." It was a command, not a request. Ichigo's blood boiled. "I'm not helping you; I have my own problems to attend to. For once, can't you do homework on your own?" She gave him a death glare, but did not retort. "Overcoming my worst fear indeed… I don't have any fears!" he complained. She snorted "Yeah right, as if. You have tons of fears"
"Name one" he challenged, glaring at her. "I can" she retorted, "Off the top of my head... let's see…oh yes! What about your whole image thing? Losing that is one of your worst fears, ne? Your thing is easy- just let Kon come to school and there you have it!"
"Shut up" he growled, squirming inwardly at her accurate guess "I don't care about things like that. And you're the last person to talk about my image. Didn't you have a princess one at your academy thing?"
"I didn't choose it" she snapped, her voice cold. "Whatever" he huffed, and kicked a rock on the way. Neither of them exchanged another word the entire way home.
--
Wednesday came, and Ichigo still had no clue about what to do. Worse still, he had no clue about what Rukia was going to do. He just hoped that she wouldn't do anything stupid that would compromise all of them. Most of the class, unsure and afraid about what was expected had done pretty badly. Ishida however, had very slyly brought his girly knitting things, sat in front of them and silently did something for fifteen minutes. He ended up with some furry thing, which he claimed was 'The accomplishment he was most proud of.' Inoue got the same topic, but her play was so garbled and confusing and filled with implausible events; that none of them understood her, except sensei who gave her full marks.
All too soon, Tatsuki was finishing her own mono-act about how she won some juniors competition, beating a dummy to dust as she progressed. Rukia was next, and Ichigo felt his heart rate double and then quadruple when she hauled a huge wooden thing that looked all too familiar. And when she wheeled in a gigantic Chappy statue made out of cardboard, wearing a black outfit with obvious orange hair, Ichigo's mind went blank with the realization.
She was actually going to re-enact his rescue of her from the Soukyoku.
Too shocked to react, he sat back dumbly as she began a fumbling explanation "In the summer I was kidnapped by the, ah, the Yakuza who um, who wanted my brother to pay a huge ransom." The class stared as well, dazed at the monstrous size of her props. "So they tied me up to this big wooden cross" she continued, clambering up the pillar and attaching her hand to what looked like a handcuff attached to the top. "Anyway, I was helpless, like now" she plodded on, uncaring of her response as she somehow attached the other handcuff as well. Now she was actually dangling two feet off the ground. One of the girls, Mizuki or something like that now took control of the Chappy-him.
"Ne, that sort of looks like Kurosaki-kun" someone piped up, and Rukia reddened. "Of course not, it was um, a uh… a stranger who wore a bunny mask" she defended, most unconvincingly. "Anyway, I was like this when Ichi- that is, the masked Chappy man stopped-"
That was it. He couldn't take it any more. Kicking his chair aside so hard it crashed into the guy's behind him, Ichigo stomped to the front of the class. Ignoring Mihana, who screamed and ran away on his approach, he took a deep breath and hit one of the pillars. It broke easily, and he proceeded to break the other one as well. He caught the dazed girl, still handcuffed to her broken wooden frame, and kissed her. Hard. She mumbled something in surprise, and he took the opportunity to deepen the kiss. Ignoring her slight gasp, he tightened his hold as he ran one hand through her hair, while his other one remained securely at her waist.
Five breathless minutes later, he pulled away and announced to the dumbstruck class and sensei "Alright, both our assignments are done".
Oochi-sensei spluttered weakly as he dumped the red-faced Shinigami in his arms unceremoniously on the ground and stomped out, dragging the masked Chappy man with him for good measure.
He didn't care how he was going to get the cash, but he was paying a visit to Urahara to buy the most powerful memory modifier the man had, that very afternoon. Either that, or pray that the shock had killed his entire class. And sensei. And Rukia.
Authors' note: I did have an assignment like this in school, a long time ago. It was a lot of fun, and I thought it would be funny if our little lovebirds kissed in public. Do read and review! Please!!!