Ichigo acted as a human shield for the rest of dinner. Unfortunately, it didn't stop the occasional outbursts of emotion from his insane dad, who had now started referring to me as 'third daughter' in hopes that Ichigo and I will fornicate. He didn't even make a secret about his wishes; he told them right to my face. Regardless of whether or not I can come here again, I highly doubt I'd cross the threshold of the circus ever again. Ichigo smirked when he heard this.
"See, dad? She hates you." Which of course, caused the old man to leap up and turn over the whole table.
"I'm sorry about that," Yuzu said. Smiling at her, I scooped up yet another slice of glass. At least someone in the Kurosaki household was sane.
"Yeah, Rukia. What were you thinking when you decided that Ichi-nii was the weirdest of us?" Karin asked. I shook my head.
"I don't know…I mean, your brother was so weird that I just thought…" I trailed off. Instead of insulting Karin, she seemed to be amused.
"Oh, don't worry about it; it's you and the rest of the world." Suddenly, Ichigo and Isshin stopped fighting to look over in our direction. Praying to whatever gods there were, I hoped that my trembling was just a figure of my overactive imagination. Maybe they'd already found out and they were planning to incarcerate me until I divulged all the secrets of Parasite society. Or were they hoping that I'd…?
"Were we hoping that you'd what?" Ichigo snapped, obviously in a bad mood. My hand reached up to scratch the back of my head nervously as I tried to think of a lie.
"N-nothing!" I stuttered, failing to find one. Perhaps I'd permanently scared the carrot-top off with my suspicious behavior, because he glared apprehensively at me and ignored me for the rest of the night.
By the time I'd gotten to the front door, I was in a very hopeful mood. I'd kept my secret, I'd arranged another meeting in a month's time, and nothing reflective had been within ten meters of me. They even had plastic spoons, no doubt to save Yuzu some time in washing dishes. It was then that it happened. The doorbell rang, and reminded Yuzu that she had a date with Jinta, whoever he was. Concerned for her immaculate appearance, she pulled out a mirror. At the time, I was standing behind her. Once satisfied with a dab of coconut lip-gloss, she made to put the delicate looking device back into her white leather purse.
She caught site of me, or rather, the lack of me. At first, she seemed to think it was a trick of the light. Then, becoming more curious, she held the mirror in front of my nose. There was nothing in it, as expected. Yuzu vacated the house screaming.
Too horrified to do much more than just stare, I stood as if frozen.
And Ichigo stared back, the milk he was pouring himself overflowing over the glass.
A/N: We feel much pleased with this chapter. Yes, another cliffie! LOL, we're evil.