Chapter 7
Everyone's Topic: Jealousy
Beep! Beeep!
Rukia huffed. "I'm off the freaking road! You can just drive pass!" she yelled and turned around to face the annoying driver. Her mouth dropped as soon as she recognized the tattoo on his face. Shuuhei had a smirk plastered on. "No way is this yours!" she asked as Shuuhei pulled over. It was a 1978 mustang convertible. There was no damage to it of any kind.
"She was my old man's before. Worked on her for months, she's all mine now," he grinned triumphantly. "Wanna a ride to school?"
She raised a brow and smirked, "Miss arriving to school in fashion? Stepping out with the hottest bachelor on campus?" Shuuhei grinned as she said that. "Seeing everyone's ridiculous envious faces? Need I say more?" She grinned.
"Hop in," he said.
Rukia immediately opened the door in a rush to get but stopped. "Wait," she said.
"What's wrong?"
"You're not one of those obsessive freak car guys are you?"
He laughed, "Nah, you can eat in here and make a mess if you want, but only you."
She smiled, "That's fine with me," and she got in.
"You're ready for today?" he asked as he cruised towards their destination.
She scoffed. "Look at me," she said, pointing at herself. "I'm confident I'll win against Ichigo. 'Not attractive' my ass," she muttered, repeating his words.
Shuuhei grinned. He pulled into the school and smirked proudly as he saw everyone's faces.
Rukia smirked, "Your ego must be building."
"Hey, can I help it?" he asked with a smug look. "Ready?" She nodded and they both opened their doors. With calm faces as though they had nothing to be proud of, they stepped out.
Shuuhei securely locked his car and set the alarm he installed. He walked over to Rukia and held out his arm, which she gladly accepted. With the utmost grace and poise, they walked into the school building.
-
"Wow!" Senna said, amazed, "Never thought it'll be Kuchiki-san in there. Her outfit is cute, too!"
Surprise and shock immediately took over Ichigo's nervous system when he saw that petite girl get out of the killer machine. He clenched his fist.
"Ichigo?" Senna inquired.
He gritted his teeth," Yeah, who knew?" and he loosened his arm around her waist and walked in the school building.
-
"Are they dating?"
"Damn, what a fine ride!"
"Hisagi-kun is sooo hot!"
"I am so jealous of her!"
"Show off!"
"Kuchiki-san is fine!" Those were only some of the phrases that were said among the student body. Hearing the last one, made Ichigo quite pissed.
-
Karakura High was decorated from top to bottom with banners, posters, signs, streamers, balloons, and a lot more. Booths extended from school classrooms to the school courtyard. The smell of food and sweets filled the air. Students passed out flyers encouraging the guests to come to their class activity. It was a very busy day for the students.
"Kuchiki-san!" called Hanatarou as he tried to get through the throng of students crowding the school entrance. "Hello Hisagi-san," he greeted when he came to the two. He turned towards Rukia, "The other hosts have already been signed up and are already starting their rounds. You and Hisagi-san have a long list already."
"Really?" Rukia asked. Hanatarou nodded.
"Time to prove your friend wrong," said Shuuhei, with a smirk. "I'll see you later," with that he went to find his first guest.
Rukia watched Shuuhei disappear in the crowd before turning back to Hanatarou. "Really? The guests are signing up?" she asked, happily.
"Uhh, not exactly," replied the clumsy representative. "The students are, actually."
Rukia shrugged. Hey, at least she's getting attention from her own school. "Okay, I have a bet to win," she smiled before walking off.
-
"You're really pretty, Orihime-chan," complimented a first year, who kept glancing at the red-head's chest.
"Thank you!" she replied, oblivious to the boy's eyes.
Likewise with everyone else, each host/hostess was preoccupied with entertaining their guests. Even some of the class members that didn't sign up were also engaging in the activities. Hanatarou looked after each host's guest log-sheet. Their idea was working out pretty well. People lined outside class 3-A to spend some time with the pretty faces. Girls who had crushes and boys who had lusts took this opportunity to spend time with their heart's desire.
"I'm definitely signing up for Hisagi-kun!" squealed one love-struck school girl in line.
"Eh, he's alright, but Hitsugaya-kun is soo much cuter!" squealed another.
"Kensei-san is actually pretty hot, too," said another girl.
"Dude! I'm totally going after Inoue-san," said one guy to his friend.
"I prefer her friend, Arisawa-san," he replied. "She always had this… something. Kind a cool if I can get with her."
"If only Kurosaki-san was a host! I am so crushing over him!" exclaimed one fan-girl. "I can't believe Senna-chan got him!"
"I know what you mean," said another girl. "I mean seriously! We all thought that Kuchiki girl was with him. I guess they were telling the truth when they said that there wasn't anything between them."
"Yeah," agreed the fan-girl. "But I rather have Kurosaki-san with Senna-chan, though."
"What? Why?" the friend asked.
"It will be so much easier to try to get him away from her than to try and snag him from Rukia-chan."
-
"Holy shit!" said a wide-eyed Renji as he turned a corner.
"What the!?" Ikkaku followed behind Renji.
"There's a freaking line outside their classroom!" exclaimed Renji in disbelief.
"Guess they were smart in picking a Host Club," shrugged Ikkaku.
"Yeah, but what kind of Host Club are they putting on?" Renji and Ikkaku made their way pass the long line.
"Hey! There's no cutting!" yelled one guy.
Renji turned his head, "Shut up! I'm not even going to sign-up. Just want to check things out with some friends. Chill!"
"Well, if you want to talk to the hosts then you have to line up with the rest of us!"
"Yeah!"
"Back in the line, baldie!"
Immediately Ikkaku, glared at the crowd. "Who said that!?" he popped his knuckles. The crowd took a step back. No one said anything. Renji pulled on Ikkaku's collar. "Wa-!"
"Not worth the time," said Renji, ignoring the crowd's complaints.
"Hey! That's not fair!" the line of people continued on.
Renji was getting ticked off. The crowd just got louder and louder with each step he took towards the classroom. His eyebrow was twitching with annoyance. "Alright!" he yelled, shutting the zoo of animals up. "Have it your way, stupid shits," he muttered the last sentence.
"What the!?" Ikkaku looked at Renji, mouth open. "You're going to listen to them?"
Renji just shrugged his shoulders, turning away from the crowded corridor.
-
"Hey!" greeted Kira when the two thugs joined their class. Both Senna's class and Ichigo's class are lounging around in one class, waiting until their showtime. Some of them were browsing around the school festival, engaging in some of the activities.
"Heard around that the Host Club's pretty busy," said Shinji. Renji nodded.
"Too busy," Ikkaku replied. The two classes joined looked at the two individuals confused. "There's a line outside. And apparently you can't speak to them unless you sign-up," explained Ikkaku.
"Really?" Risa asked, amused.
"They sound like celebrities," said Kira. Hiyori scoffed.
"But they're not!" retorted Renji. He then looked around. "Where's Ichigo?" he asked. He was waiting for a comment from him on the subject.
"Senna-chan took him around to see the school festival," answered Nemu.
-
"I'm so excited!" said Senna. "I can't help it!" she grinned. Ichigo raised a brow. He smiled though at his girlfriend's giddiness.
They were walking outside in the courtyard taking a look around. The weather today was excellent. The crowd looked really happy. Family and friends were enjoying themselves buying cotton candy and playing some of the games that were up. Ichigo looked around at the activities. It was like an amusement park, minus the rides.
-
Rukia had finished entertaining about fifteen people and she still had a few more guests. It was actually fun except tiring. She was just walking back to the class to get her next visitor.
"Hey, Shuuhei," Rukia called as he walked by with a guest. "Have you seen my brother?"
Shuuhei paused a moment from talking to his female companion to answer Rukia with a nod, "He's with Unohana at the tea area."
"Oh, thanks," she said and walked off. She was glad he came, but with Unohana? She never thought of the possibility. Hopefully, there isn't anything going on...
-
A couple hours have passed since Ichigo was dragged out by Senna. They practically went to every class event, ate many foods at that, too. But all in all they were having fun. That is until Ichigo saw Rukia from the corner of his eye.
She was smiling and laughing with her guest. He was a tall, rather good-looking dude; he had a maroon-reddish hair color. Rukia was leaning on the lockers, laughing and smiling like a freaking school girl that's flirting. Her male companion was grinning while leaning over her, his hand resting on the locker behind her. He then saw the bastard lean down to Rukia, who was oblivious to his oncoming kiss.
For some strange odd reason, which Ichigo knew was jealousy leading to anger, he glared daggers at the guy. Due to his emotions getting the best of him, he vaguely caught the faint calling of his name from Senna when he stormed over to the flirtatious pair and yanked the guy off of Rukia and shoved him against the lockers in one fluid motion. People, who were having a joyful time, paused what they were doing to stare at the drama scene before them.
"What the?!" exclaimed a surprised guest.
"Ichigo, what the hell is your problem? I'm sorry, Ashido," she quickly apologized to her guest then glared at Ichigo. "Let go of him," she ordered. So his name is Ashido, huh?
He ignored Rukia. He didn't answer her. He couldn't. He didn't even know what to say. He just knew that he was angry. And as much as he hates to admit it, he knew he was angry because he was jealous. What's even worse is that he knew he was jealous because of Rukia. But what made him more frustrated was that he didn't know why he was jealous. And he was too damn furious to put two and two together to figure out the reason.
"Get off of me," Ashido tried to shrug out of his hold; however, Ichigo pushed him even further into the lockers.
"Ichigo?" Senna called, worriedly. Ichigo glanced at the concerned girl and noticed that there was a crowd around them.
"Ichigo," Rukia spoke, "if this is your idea of preventing me to win the bet, it's—"
"Bet!?" he exclaimed, cutting her off. "Everything is always about the damn bet with you, isn't it?" he asked, still holding onto Ashido.
Rukia was taken aback at his behavior. "I don't know what your problem is, Ichigo, but you better let go of him," she repeated.
The rash teen turned to look at the subject he was holding. He saw him smiling—no, smirking. "Who knew the 'cool guy' would actually lose his cool when a friend and a stranger were merely role-playing?" he asked only loud enough that the person, who the words were meant for, can hear. Ichigo narrowed his eyes, to which Ashido grinned. "Why would someone act so rash towards two people getting along, unless," he paused; Ichigo's grip kept getting tighter. "That person is jealous?" he finished.
As soon as the word escaped his mouth, Ichigo immediately raised his fist. That statement, of course, pissed him off. Was it because it was true? Some onlookers gasped and others eyes went wide. Some rooted for a fight even though they had no idea what was going on.
Ichigo noticed he was still smirking. He saw his eyes glance to the side. "Better not," he spoke. "Your girlfriend is standing over there worried over someone who doesn't even like her the same way," and with that Ichigo lunged his fist at him.
Ashido didn't even blink and Ichigo's fist didn't collide with the guy. Renji yanked Ichigo off and pulled him away before any damage was done. Hisagi then came over to Ashido and draped an arm over him, casually leading him away from the scene, but mostly Ichigo. Ashido looked at Hisagi with a raised brow. "Leave him alone. He's not worth a punch," Hisagi said as they walked away from the crowd.
"What's up with you?" Renji asked Ichigo. He had a hand on his shoulder to which Ichigo shrugged off. He ignored Renji and turned around. He saw Rukia somewhat angry and surprised. He glared at her. He was so angry with her.
"The bet, huh?" he asked her; his voice was deep. "Fine. Let's see who wins the fucking bet," he said to her and walked away, passing Senna along the way. Everyone just watched him leave.
"What was that about?" Renji asked Rukia.
The girl looked up at him and shrugged her shoulders, "I have no freaky idea."
Senna looked at Rukia. And when she answered Renji's question, she glared at the girl. Senna had nothing against her, except jealousy; however, she didn't mind that she was so close with Ichigo. But, right now Senna hated the girl. She hated her for the fact that she was completely clueless to Ichigo's feelings, but mostly for the fact that that same clueless girl is the object of Ichigo's affection. Rukia needs to open her eyes. And if she can't see how Ichigo feels about her, then she doesn't deserve him at all.
