DUDE I GOT INTO UNIVERSITY!
Despite what me and my entire household thought! WAHOO!
Hence, Updates will become irregular in September, but will continue, cause... well... it's Being Human. BTW I realised that I've kind of missed something out, so for people who've seen BH- forgive me for the slight discrepancies! I'm doing my best!
Oh dear, Ishida... what did you do?!
The rain fell and Ichigo held onto Rukia, looking across the crowded street in horror with Ishida beside him.
"How did it come to this?" He demanded, turning to Ishida with accusing eyes. "We only wanted to be human!"
Ishida glared at him. "That's exactly where it went wrong." He growled, and turned away.
Perhaps we should backtrack.
"Nell, what are you doing?"
Nell glanced at her mother, who was slumped over the table in a tired mess. "Putting on a DVD." She smiled.
"Keep it quiet, for god's sake..."
"Sure thing." Nell put the blank DVD into the player and sat back to watch the show Ishida had sent her home with.
There was a man.
He was talking to himself.
It didn't seem right, and Nell realised fairly quickly that it was the wrong DVD.
She glanced back at her mum, who had her eyes closed, before turning back to the screen.
He was naked...?
"Nell... What the hell do you think you're watching?!"
In the toilets of the hospital, before the caretaker turned the lights on, Ichigo threw water over his face from the sink and shook his head to wake himself up; he'd gotten very little sleep the night before... lying awake with thoughts of ghostly kisses...
Water again.
"Hey there, little doggie."
He whipped around at the voice and gripped the edge of the sink as he squinted through the shadows at the figure in front of him.
Sniff.
A vampire.
Sniff.
A girl... Someone familiar?
"Remember me... Ichigo?"
No.
Ichigo felt sweat begin to bead on his forehead. "You..." He closed his eyes. "I went to your funeral."
"We were friends, weren't we, Ichigo?" Orihime smiled, walking slowly forwards. Ichigo could feel his arms, braced against the sink, trembling with the force of his grip, and he turned fiery amber eyes on the woman before her. "What happened to you?"
"Surely you can guess?" Orihime stepped fully into the light, and Ichigo scanned her outfit with surprise.
In life... she'd been so different...
He'd first seen her working in the children's ward, reading a story to the girl with leukaemia. One of the doctors nudged him and winked, indicating the nurse with a tilt of the head. Ichigo frowned as the doctor mimed big breasts and walked off, laughing to himself.
"Pervert." He scoffed, and turned back to the girl, who was looking at him with a blush. He raised one eyebrow and turned to leave.
"Um... Excuse me." He turned around to see the redhead from the children's ward shuffling her feet shyly. "I... you're new here, aren't you?"
"And?" Ichigo scowled. "Why does it matter?"
The girl blushed harder and held out her hand. "I'm Orihime Inoue. I just... here." She thrust a small lunchbox into his chest. "I made it for you and your friend. Please enjoy."
The lunch had been terrible, but he and Ishida had befriended the girl and would often eat with her.
"Ishida did this to you...?" Ichigo put a hand to his head. "Oh no... No..."
Orihime moved close to him, leather jacket pulling apart to show a tight red top cut to make the most of her chest. "You know, I always preferred you..." She ran a painted fingernail over Ichigo's collarbone. "But you never even gave me the time of day."
"We were friends." Ichigo breathed, his eyes squeezed tightly shut. Ishida killed her... Ishida killed her!
Orihime leaned forwards. "Ishida didn't mind risking our friendship... for just... one... night." She was whispering in his ear now, and Ichigo was ready to collapse under his own helplessness.
"I am so sorry Orihime." He choked. "We only wanted..."
"To be human, I know!" Orihime hissed, throwing herself backwards. "It's all Ishida says but I can see! I see it in his eyes!" She turned and glared at Ichigo. "And now! Now you stink!" Ichigo blinked. "You absolutely stink of dog! I just... Everything's different and wrong and I'm not even me anymore..."
Ichigo reached out, but stopped short and looked down. "That DVD..."
She made a sort of choking sound, and turned large, terrified eyes to his. "Aizen..."
"Who?"
She blinked, and started to laugh, backing away. "He really never tells you anything, does he? You're just... just a bloody pet dog!" With that, she turned and left Ichigo with a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach.
"Shit..."
"So, what's the deal with you and Ichigo?" Tatsuki asked, falling into step besides Ishida. "Two guys living alone in a house on their own... it's a little bit gay." She smirked, and Ishida returned the expression.
"You checking me out or him?"
"Don't worry." Tatsuki laughed. "You're not my type." She shoved her hands in her pockets. "He's a nice enough guy... and I know that Orihime fancied the pants off of him."
Ishida stopped. "Orihime?"
"Hm." Tatsuki smiled. "She was my roommate."
"Of course..." Ishida nodded. "She was a lovely girl. Awful cook though."
"You know she actually ate all that she made?" Tatsuki grinned. "She thought it was bloody brilliant!" Laughing, Tatsuki leaned against her door. "In all seriousness though... you two seem... distant. You act like you're normal but there's something..." She shook her head. "Sorry. I've been a bit off kilter recently."
Ishida sighed. "He's a good guy, definitely. But we all have secrets."
"You guys take care of yourselves, right? There's a lot of bad guys out there..." She bit her lip, and waved once before backing into the house.
"You too." Ishida said, mostly to himself. Then caught sight of a very angry green haired woman outside his front door. "Mai?" He asked, glancing around. "Where's Nell?"
Mai threw the DVD at him. "As if I'd let you anywhere near her! You filthy bastard!"
"Wha...?" Ishida glanced down at the DVD he held and his eyes widened. "Oh... no, Mai..."
"What's going on?" A builder walked over from a house further up, where he'd been loading his tools. "Is this man bothering you?"
"He's been bothering my twelve year old daughter!" Mai screamed, hysterically. "That... that DVD of a man, writhing naked on his bed!"
The builder eyed Ishida with a disgusted frown. "Dirty bastard."
"No. No, no, no, Mai, I can explain..."
"I think you should get out, mate." The Builder grabbed Ishida's arm and pushed him against the wall. "Don't you show your face for a while, alright?"
"But I live here." Ishida protested. "And I'm not a bloody paedophile!"
"You!" Ichigo's voice called. "I have to talk to you, mate." He snarled, and Ishida pushed his glasses up his nose.
"Can it wait?" He frowned. "I'm kind of in the middle of something."
"Do you know about this?" Mai shouted, pointing at the DVD. "Are you in on it too? You nasty pervert!"
"What?!" Ichigo's eyes widened. "You... why am I a pervert?!"
"Showing bloody filth to a twelve year old girl... You sick bastard!" Mai screamed, and a couple of passer-by's stopped to watch.
"No, Mai... she just..."
"I don't want to hear it!" Mai stormed, her eyes filling up with tears. "I thought you were a nice guy! But I suppose that's how your sort work, isn't it? Gain the parent's trust and then... oh god..."
"Mai..."
"Fuck off, alright paedo?" The builder pushed him backwards. "I think you and your mate here'd better leave this street, you hear?"
"But I didn't do anything!" Ishida protested, and Ichigo grabbed his collar, pulling him inside and slamming the door.
"You are in no position to be claiming innocence!" Ichigo growled, shoving his friend against the wall. "What the hell were you thinking?!"
"I just told her to grab a Laurel and Hardy DVD and then..."
"Raped and bit her?" Ichigo growled.
Ishida threw him off. "I'm not into kids! You know that!"
"...Eh?"
"What?"
"OW!" Ichigo yelled as a small ghost managed to kick him in the head and send him flying. "WHAT THE HELL?!"
"What are you doing?" Rukia seethed. "Why are you fighting?" She was flushed and breathing hard in anger, causing Ishida to raise an eyebrow.
"He..." Ichigo knelt on the floor. "He killed one of our friends!"
"...What." Rukia said, disbelievingly. "That's impossible."
"I beg to differ, I do have fangs..."
"Shut up!" Ichigo shouted. "How can you be so flippant?! You've fucked everything up! We can't be human if you keep killing our friends!"
"I'm not like you!" Ishida shouted back. "You're a wolf for one night a week but... the rest of the time it's gone! You don't need to deal with this... this thirst every single fucking second of the day! It doesn't keep you up at night, and it doesn't make you want to lunge for everyone you pass in the street!"
"Then what's the point?!" Ichigo thundered, "If you can't do it... what's the point?"
Rukia slapped him.
"Fight, for god's sake!" She turned to Ishida, with tears in her eyes. "What... Can you fix this?"
"I don't know." Ishida slumped against the wall. "Nell's mother has publicly accused me of being a paedophile and I turned my friend into a vampire then left her to the mercy of the clan..." He lifted heavily shadowed eyes. "I think it's pretty fucked up."
"And that tape..." Ichigo closed his eyes.
"That was her?" Rukia's eyes widened. "Slut!" She glanced at Ichigo. "Sorry." She said, quickly, and he shook his head not to worry about it.
"I think it will have been Aizen who organised it." Ishida glanced up. "He's the leader of the clan."
The three remained silent for a while, and Rukia sighed. "Let's go out." Ishida said, suddenly, and Ichigo sat up.
"You're kidding."
"There's someone I've been wanting you to meet, Rukia." He met Ichigo's eyes. "It's in the town centre, so we'll be fine."
"Do we have to? There... there's monsters outside." Rukia mumbled, and Ichigo put an arm around her, which earned him a kick in the shins. "You're right Ishida." She amended. "Let's go."
The club was in the middle of 80's night.
Ishida insistently pushed Rukia through the crowd, with Ichigo following them closely, looking around in disgust.
"Rukia... this is Renji." Ishida smiled, and pushed her forwards towards the red haired man in leather. "You've got a lot in common."
"I-It's nice to meet you." Rukia shouted, over the music.
"Is it?" Renji growled, and Rukia's eyebrows rose at the guy's ridiculous eyebrow tattoos. "Hang the DJ!" He suddenly shouted, and Rukia's eyes widened, looking around for Ichigo and Ishida, who had disappeared. "That's from 1990! Everyone knows that!" He shook his head and glanced at Rukia. "Name's Renji Abarai."
"Rukia Kuchiki." Rukia replied, and reached for his hand. "You're dead?"
"Yep."
"In the 80's?"
"Yep."
"...right." Rukia crossed her arms. Explains the clothes...
"Are you sure she'll be ok?" Ichigo frowned. "That guy looked a bit... crazy. He had ridiculous hair."
"And orange is a perfectly normal colour." Ishida muttered.
"What's that?"
"Nothing, nothing."
"Damn straight." Ichigo grumbled, glancing at the two ghosts who had begun to chat a little. "I don't like him."
Ishida looked into his glass. "Well it's not as though you stand a chance." Ichigo flushed and began to protest loudly but Ishida held up a hand seriously. "She's dead; Ichigo... and she's still in love with our landlord... remember that."
"Whatever... paedo."
"I'm not a bloody paedophile!" Ishida shouted, just as the music cut out, and everyone turned around. Ishida laughed nervously and Ichigo smirked.
"So why do you live with those two?" Renji asked, inhaling deeply on his cigarette and flicking the but at a passing girl who 'inexplicably' caught on fire a little bit.
Rukia shrugged. "They moved in."
"Yeah but..." Here, Renji leaned down a little, looking more than a bit pissed off. "They're monsters, right? They kill people."
"Oh." Rukia laughed. "No, no, no... Ishida's quitting and Ichigo... he'd never hurt a fly."
"Ichigo's the orange haired one?" Renji glanced back and met Ichigo's eyes. "I don't like him." He decided.
Rukia nodded awkwardly. "So... Renji... What do you do for fun? When it's not 80's night."
Renji eyed her and shrugged. "Fun's such a bourgeois concept."
Rukia glanced around. "Okay... So why are you still here? Don't you want to move on?"
"Nah." Renji frowned. "It's good here. I had a mate once, got exorcised in the toilets."
"Really?" Rukia's eyes widened. "What happened?"
"Well he'd sing Andrew Lloyd Webber hits, right? And one minute he was giving it all "Music of the Night" and a prayer later... gone" Renji grinned. "Scary stuff right?"
"But... all ghosts have something unresolved right?"
Renji blinked. "I guess."
"So I need to find out what my unresolved... thing is." Rukia grinned and Renji blinked again, mouth dropping open. "Thanks Renji." She turned.
"Wait." Renji called, and grabbed a hold of her arm. "I'm gonna show you something."
"Why... are we here?" Rukia asked, pulling her cardigan closed. "This is..."
Renji took a drag from his cigarette and smirked. "We're going to the spot that will get rid of all your troubles." He said confidently, and guided her through the small gravel pathways until he came to a stop and held her in place. "Ishida told me you were having troubles. I want to help."
Rukia stared ahead, before tears welled up in her eyes. "That's..."
"Your gravestone."
Rukia swallowed hard.
Rukia Kuchiki,
Beloved sister and fiancée.
1988-2009
(A-N- at this point in the original series, the atmosphere was broken with a brilliant one-liner from Annie saying "there's two e's in fiancée?" made me laugh so hard...)
"Amazing, isn't it?" Renji said, awed. "The peace you feel..."
"Peace?" Rukia choked. "I'm dead!"
"But look at the world around you." Renji insisted turning and breathing deeply. "When I first visited my grave, and when I looked at the world... it all became so much more beautiful."
Rukia looked up, refusing to cry. "I was ready to be married to the love of my life... how is that beautiful?"
Renji turned. "Right. Tell me about yourself. Tell me about Rukia."
"What?"
"I'm going to help you find your unfulfilled... thing and fulfil it, see?" Renji produced a notebook. "So what happened in your life?"
"Um..." Rukia floundered. "Well... my parents died before I left college, and my sister died after me... During college I met and fell in love with Kaien." She smiled. "We went out and I got a job after my A levels, working in a clothes boutique... the perfect job... when Kaien proposed, and I accepted, we decided to move." She paused briefly. "It meant leaving my job, but that was fine because Kaien thought I could be a great stay at home mum. Then..." She shrugged. "I died. End of story."
Renji sighed. "That was the most boring story I ever heard in my life."
"What."
"Yeah, hope no one ever makes a film of it, it wouldn't sell."
Rukia frowned. "You arrogant bastard!"
He grinned. "Now that attitude doesn't suit your story. I like that attitude." He threw his notepad down. "You need some fun, girl."
"I thought fun was a bourgeois concept?" Rukia mimicked, and Renji scowled.
"Nah." He sighed. "I'm talking about Renji fun."
Rukia smiled. "Does it involve bunnies?" She asked, and Renji looked at her as though she was insane.
"Definitely not."
Back at the house, the pipes gurgled insistently, and all of the taps began to leak.
This ended sooner than I intended, but I have a lot to fit in, and if I spread it out, the story lasts longer right?
Is that a good thing?
I have no idea...
Whatever, I got into uni.
For more British goodness, review! And we get more hints as to why the house is just so vocal!
Sharp eye needed! Hints have been dropped already and in previous chapters!
