Sorry for the super-late update. I actually meant to hold off on this for a while, but decided I needed to give anyone who reads this story a much overdue new chapter.
So here's my belated Christmas gift to y'all. I hope you enjoy, though it's not much.
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Chapter 9: Telephones Breed Revelations
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It's been one of those days, Ichigo decides as he falls onto the bed in his room.
Tests galore, not to mention an inconveniencing hollow attack that took the duration of his lunch period, plus five minutes, to get under control. The teacher gave him a loud, scathing lecture about the benefits of being punctual when he got back, which he took silently with lips pursed tight, but allowed himself to give her a few exasperated looks.
Ichigo massages his forehead and exhales loudly.
He doesn't really believe in venting his soul every time the day is exhausting, but he makes a sudden firm prognosis that he needs to talk to someone.
Not to complain, but he figures it would help slow down his overactive mind if he has a human conversation. He turns slightly to reach inside his pocket and pulls out his cell.
Ichigo flips it open and stares at the illuminated screen for a moment, as if still debating whether he should make the call he has in mind. But he realizes he's being ridiculous, sends the ambivalence away, and begins to dial the familiar number.
It rings precisely twice before he hears the feedback he was anticipating.
"Kurosaki-kun! Is there a hollow? Don't move, I'll be right-"
That is not the greeting he had envisioned. "Huh? No, Inoue! Don't go anywhere. I just wanted to call and talk to you."
There was a moment's pause on the other end.
"What? So there's no hollow attack?" she asks this as if she needs him to re-confirm his statement, as if she isn't sure whether she hears him correctly.
"No, there isn't," he repeats, "I just wanted to call you. You know, as a friend. Is that fine? You're not busy, are you?"
"O-of course not!" Orihime quickly insists. "I very much would like to talk. You can call anytime you want, Kurosaki-kun."
Though she can't see it, Ichigo nods gratefully. "Thanks Inoue..." he tells her appreciatively before he continues, "... So, how's your day been?"
"Oh, just fine." she says simply.
Ichigo snorts. "You wouldn't tell me if it was bad, would you?"
"U-um, well my day is so insignificant when you think of things overall, "she admits sheepishly, "a bad one would be so boring, and I'd hate to bore someone with complaints."
A very classic kind of response from her. Although it is interesting to him that she has the same thoughts on it as he does.
"So that's a no?" he assumes. "You know, Inoue, I've seen you earnestly listen to people gripeabout the most pointless things you can imagine, so you shouldn't feel like you can't do the same."
"I could say something similar to you, Kurosaki-kun." she chides him, but she isn't unpleasant about it.
He laughs quietly, and Inoue is silent for a while before speaking again.
"Uh, Kurosaki-kun?"
"Yeah?"
Ichigo hears her inhale deeply over the receiver.
"Is this..." she pauses "... A 'booty call'?"
Ichigo's eyes bug open so wide, he's afraid they'll pop out of their sockets. He sits bolt upwards in bed. "W-what? What kind of question is that?"
His incredulity doesn't fall on deaf ears.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Kurosaki-kun! I didn't mean to upset you. It's just that you called so unexpectedly," she starts to babble her apology, "And I know you said it was just a friendly call, and I believe that, but Chizuru-chan said that you probably think of me as a booty call, so I thought I'd ask-"
"There's your first mistake," he interrupts, "Never listen to Chizuru. She's psychotic. And second; that's disgusting. You're no one's..." he stops, not wanting to use the awkward term. "-uh, one of those."
There's ten second's worth of uncomfortable silence.
"Oh." she says softly, eventually. To Ichigo's horror, she sounds disappointed, of all things. "Well, if you change your mind, I can be packed in a second and ready to sail the open seas on a swashbuckling adventure for sunken treasure!"
Ichigo's bewilderment transforms into pure, utter confusion. "Inoue, that doesn't make any sense."
"Well, the booty call thing, of course," she clarifies, "That's the person one calls on to help them search the oceans for booty. You know? Treasure? Loot?"
"Oh... Oh." the metaphorical lightbulb finally flickers to life above Ichigo's head. Obviously, Chizuru didn't tell Orihime what a... booty call actually was. And in usual Inoue fashion, she came up with her own imaginative definition.
"Did I use the term wrong?" Orihime askes; she takes the silence as wrong usage of the word, which, she was right to deduce.
Ichigo sure as heck isn't going to tell her the real meaning.
"Err, no, that's exactly right!" he says this with so much assurance, he's very aware of how fake it sounds. "You'd make a great booty call," Boy, there's a sentence, "I only meant that you shouldn't just let whoever asks be yours, you know, choose one carefully. And don't say 'yes' to just anybody."
"That's very true, Kurosaki-kun! And thank you for considering me a good possibility for your booty call this evening; I think I'd make a most excellent pirate!"
"Definitely." he agrees, straining to not burst with laughter as the hilarity of it all hits him. That's when he hears a loud dinging noise from the other end.
"Yes!" Orihime says triumphantly, "That's my oven. Dinner's ready."
"Ah. I'll let you go, then."
"You sure?" she inquires of this uncertainly, "Did you get what you called for?"
"What?"
"You had something else on your mind when you called," she explains, "did I help?"
Once again, Inoue's perception is uncanny. He didn't think of it before, but now he sees she's right. And it isn't the hollow or any of the school events, at least, that's not what he suddenly feels was his real reason for calling. That had been an excuse. His days are maddening every day, and yet he doesn't call Inoue every day.
Maybe he had just wanted to her that voice, that tone that makes you forget nuisances and relax as you listen to her tell outlandish stories about looking for booty on the open seas.
Or was it even deeper than that? Or was it just part of a blurry whole?
Ichigo is now uncertain of the true nature of his emotions toward Inoue, and this whole conversation in general. That scares him.
"You really did help," he struggles to find words in the muddled mess of his mind. "Have a nice dinner, and I'll see you tomorrow."
"Aye, aye, Cap'n!" Orihime replies, cheerful, but a click on the other end indicates that she hung up.
Ichigo closes his phone and puts it back in his pocket; the world has been thoroughly turned on his head. The room quickly starts to become very lonely.
He is now sure he has an answer, and it terrifies him. But it is somehow a good kind of terror, if there was ever such a thing.
He had called her for comfort, but now he has more than he bargained for
So he sends the answer he knows to be the true-but-scary-but-also-kind-of-amazing-one, whatever baffling nature it has, whatever unknown things it entails, to a secret place.
Because he's too cowardly to admit it out loud now, but maybe one day he won't be.
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Well, that's all she wrote. I sincerely hope you enjoyed this. I wish it was better, given how long it took me to update, but this little snippet just hit me and I had to post it. I have the next chapter just about finished, and it might be posted in a day or two.
I love reviews, so don't have any qualms with leaving me one before you go, and tell me what you thought, liked, disliked, etc.
Happy New Year, also. XD
Cruise carefully, my cranky crustaceans.
-Sage
