Woooow, this really did take a long time to upload. I am deeply apologizing to everyone who is still following this story and thought I had given up on this - but I can assure you: I didn't. Although the updates are not regular I wish and hope for both old and new readers to give 'Ship Happens' a chance - just as with this beloved pairing. I am always looking foward to any comment, follower, favouriter and every one else who's giving this story a try - yoroshiku ne!
His head was aching. He was in his inner world, where he tended to meet his Zanpakutou spirit. But this time it was oddly dark. Not a single ray of light, not a single raindrop falling. It was hard to recognize even the slightest silhouette. He wasn't sure how long he'd been here but it seemed like forever, as if he'd always been here. Ironically he'd probably always been here – in a way; it was his inner world to begin with. Ichigo held his temple. The thumping in his head just wouldn't stop. What was going on here? Why was nobody here? Where was the old man? He suddenly heard Rukia's voice from far away that was trying to get through to him but he couldn't understand a single word. No matter how hard he concentrated on it, her words didn't reach him. It just sounded as if someone was pulling his head under water. The skyscrapers around him were starting to shake just like the ground he was standing on. Ichigo tried to hold onto something, anything to save himself from falling into the abyss but nothing was there. He couldn't breathe.
His eyes flipped open.
Although his mind was still far away his reflexes were already sharp enough to react appropriately. Only seconds later he sat upright in his bed pushing the pillow that had been suffocating him away from his face. Ichigo took a deep breath, as the rest of him was finally processing what was going on:
"Did you want to kill me?!"
Rukia was standing at one side of his bed wearing an indifferent expression, still holding onto the supposed murder weapon: "Well, you just wouldn't wake up. You have any idea what time it is?" He glimpsed at his alarm clock. Damn, did he oversleep? Rukia was simply baffled as she witnessed Ichigo jumping out of his bed, bridging the distance between it and his closet, fetching his clothes and getting to the door in merely two seconds. He paused:"You're going to pay for this." Having that said he disappeared into the bathroom.
Ichigo repeatedly eyed his watch kinda paranoid as they were covering their way to school as if it was a short-distance race. They would be too late. He shook his head internally. That was bad…
"Kuchiki-san and Kurosaki…"
Ochi-sensei let her gaze wander around the classroom and the two empty seats.
"Not present."
She closed the class register with a flap, as if the attendance check was already finished. "Well, we all know what that means." She dozed off slightly reminiscing about her own school days but already back in an instant and back in her 'I-don't-give-a-shit-about-my-students' attitude: "Teenager. That's everything you ever think about, isn't it?"
Right in this moment the door was torn open exposing her two missing students. "There is something called 'knocking'. Ever heard about that, Kurosaki?!" Her voice was far from relieved that her class was complete after all. Rukia pushed Ichigo to the side and entered the class room before he could do or say anything stupid. She bowed in front of their teacher apologetically:
"We are honestly sorry but…"
"Don't say it. Don't say it." Ichigo was mumbling to himself like a mantra.
"We overslept."
Great, she did say it.
Ochi-sensei was fishing for a piece of chalk. "Yeah, we figured as much…" With that she turned around to the blackboard leaving the pair alone with the piercing gazes of their fellow classmates.
Lunch break came but they were still haunted by everyone's naughty glances. Apparently the rumors about them being late for school had spread like wildfire. Keigo cleared his throat nervously after Ichigo and Rukia had joined them on the rooftop: "So… Ichigo…" The orange head raised an eyebrow but before Asano could go on Mizuiro leaned in to his brown haired friend informing him about the faux pas he was about to make: "Kuchiki-san is here as well. It would be rude to ask him now." "Well, we are in a relationship so there is nothing you can't discuss while I'm here."
Was she being serious? He turned his head to face Rukia wearing an expression that said something along the lines of 'Are you really that stupid, that you have no idea what this is actually about?'. Luckily nobody except her could see his reaction, especially not Ishida. Although his facial expression should have given her a broad hint it had no effect on her as she continued to watch Keigo and Mizuiro expectantly. Ichigo's idiot friend cleared his throat again: "So… did you enjoy it?"
His question floated in the air until Rukia volunteered to tell the whole story completely unrequested: "Oh, we did. We went to the park and after that we went to that nice little place… We were the only customers, because it was already late. I paid the bill and the owner seemed a bit confused about our relation, because I told him I was way older than Ichigo. So the rest of the evening we were wondering if this guy thinks I am always tending to kill my time with inexperienced teenage boys." "Ok, that's enough for now." He had to end that. Ichigo got up, took her arm as gentle as possible and dragged her with him to the stairs: "We need to talk."
Keigo and Mizuiro remained seated rather surprised by the turn the story had taken. "Wow, that's not quite what I expected…" "I guess the rumors are true then." concluded the blue haired womanizer. "I wonder what it is they need to talk about."
He pushed her against the wall a little too harsh: "Have you completely lost it?" His eyes looked furious. "You know he didn't ask about the date, do you?!"
Rukia shoved him away to a more appropriate distance, equally angered: "Do you really think I'm that stupid? I am well aware where he was aiming at, so I told him what he wanted to hear. Where's your problem?" Her justification speech continued to pour down on him when he didn't immediately respond to her question. "Everyone else thinks we are in a…" She formed quotation marks in the air. "…relationship. So they anticipate we are doing everything that is part of being in a relationship. What is wrong with that? It's not like we really did it." Rukia inhaled deeply, still pissed. "Apart from that I told the truth. All of that actually happened. It's not my problem if he's misunderstanding it."
Ichigo let her words ease down for a moment, although her arguments technically didn't change a thing about his objections.
"Why is everything always no big deal for you?"
He watched her, his expression now completely serious, his anger gone. Only the still furrowed brows on his face assured her, that he didn't just change into an entirely different person. She felt kinda uncomfortable with the way he looked at her. Her eyes trailed off to the ground. She wanted to avoid him but… there was something that had been occupying her mind for quite some time now so she decided to act as usual – toss the ball back to Ichigo and making him feel insecure instead:
"Why is everything always such a big deal for you?"
She looked determined leaving him no room to answer, yet: "Is it because it's me?" Her voice sounded accusing. The following sentence escaped her mouth without her being able to hold it back anymore: "Is it that awful because it's me?"
She noticed how he wanted to say something but now that she had finally uttered it she couldn't get a hold of herself anymore: "Is it really that awful that everyone thinks I am the one you're doing…?"
"Ara? Kuchiki-san? Kurosaki-kun?"
Orihime had just walked up the stairs and unknowingly prevented Rukia from going any further. Somehow she was grateful to Inoue. She had barely been able to keep her composure. Although a part of her really wanted to hear an honest answer from Ichigo, just a little more and she would have completely lost the control over her body. "Is… everything alright?" The orange haired girl eyed both of her friends questioningly. Ichigo attempted to explain the situation when Rukia took the lead again: "Yeah, everything's fine. We just talked about the rumors that are going round."
"What rumors?"
Ichigo tried to reply once more but he didn't get a chance to: "Oh, it's nothing. Let's go join the others and eat!" With these words Rukia opened the door to the rooftop and shoved Inoue carefully outside. She felt Ichigo's gaze on her. He was well-deserved confused about the sudden change in her behavior, which was nothing but really bad acting in his eyes. Rukia indicated him with her hand to follow Inoue outside. He did, to her surprise, without any further objection.
She watched him go for a moment, sighed and finally stepped through the door herself.
