I Promise You
Chapter 9
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Sabine - Ahhhh, thank you for this long review! Momo has many sources...haha. Yeah, I tried to not bash too much on her in this story...til much later that is... I know, poor Rukia! She's totally in the dark in this! Hmmm, I'm not too sure, but I don't think this story will be as long as Angels' Will. Ramblings are fun to read!
Um, thank you to everyone who favorited, and what not!
"Ah, Hitsugaya-sama! Thanks for waiting!" called out Hinamori as she ran up to her boss who was sitting on a bench.
Toshiro looked up from his phone to see his secretary coming towards him with a wide smile on her face. He nodded his head in acknowledgement to her as she took a seat next to him.
"I have quite the news for you," Hinamori stated while still smiling. She leaned a bit closer and whispered, "Trust me, you'll want to hear it."
It was a warm Saturday with very few clouds in the blue sky. The sun shone brightly down, but a cool breeze kept everybody comfortable from the heat. Rukia was happily milling about the shopping district, looking for anything that caught her eye. She was alone though, but still happy about it since she finally could have some time away from Ichigo.
Ichigo had become her shadow in the past few days. To be honest, it was beginning to suffocate Rukia even though she knew that he meant no harm. She was busy admiring some purses through a window when something caught her eye in the glasses reflection.
Eh? Toshiro? Rukia thought as she rapidly blinked her eyes and rubbed them with the back of her hand. Upon closer inspection she found that there was another person sitting next to him. That person was really close to him too. Hinamori?
"Ichigo?" scoffed Toshiro. "Anything that concerns him isn't really important to me."
Hinamori frowned at him. "Really? Even if it involves Rukia too?"
Toshiro tried to remain indifferent, but Hinamori noticed the tensing in his facial muscles.
Hinamori let out a sigh and crossed her legs before looking in the opposite direction of her boss. "Well, I guess it's fine if Rukia gets hurt, right?" She looked out of the corner of her eye to see Toshiro's eyes widen. "I mean, this time she probably won't even recover from the pain, but that's totally fine."
There was an awkward tense silence between the two before Toshiro finally spoke up.
"Fine," Toshiro muttered, annoyed. "Tell me what's going on."
Hinamori turned to him and smiled. "Of course, boss! But let's talk this over some food, I'm starving."
Rukia watched as the two got up to leave and found herself suddenly following them. What am I doing? Rukia wondered as she began to blush. It's not that I'm interested in Toshiro's personal…affairs, she continued to think, vainly trying to convince herself.
Rukia followed the pair as they both sat down at an outside table of a restaurant. I need to get closer…
"HATS! HATS FOR SALE! ALL SIZES AND COLORS!"
Rukia winced at the loud voice, but an idea popped into her head. She swiftly walked over to the vendor. "Hello, I would like one of your hats."
"OF COURSE!" the vendor yelled.
Rukia held her flinch as she picked out a large sun hat. A light purple ribbon was wound around it. "I'll take this one."
The vendor nodded and took Rukia's money before waving her on. He immediately started advertising out his wares again.
Rukia put the hat on and briskly made her way to the restaurant. Again, why am I doing this?
She sat down at a table that was two tables away with her back towards them. It was thankfully quieter around this restaurant which allowed Rukia to eavesdrop on the two. Eavesdrop? Me? No, I'm just worried about Hinamori, Rukia weakly reassured herself.
A waiter came to her table, asking what she wanted. Rukia quickly placed an order and then sat quietly, for Toshiro and Hinamori were beginning to talk. She unconsciously pulled down her hat a little lower.
"So," started Toshiro, "what's going on?"
Hinamori just smiled and put a spoonful of yogurt in her mouth. "Mm mm."
Toshiro glared at his secretary. "I don't have time for this."
Rukia frowned a bit. Were they having a fight?
"Alright, alright," Hinamori said, giving up and letting her spoon drop into her bowl. She looked at Toshiro with mischievous brown eyes. "What would you do if your dearest went and got pregnant with another man, hmm?"
Toshiro furrowed his brows in slight confusion. "I don't know what you are talking about."
Hinamori picked up her spoon again and began twirling it around in the air before giving at a long lick. "Come on Hitsugaya-sama, put two and two together."
Toshiro shook his head. "This isn't a time for games, Hinamori-san."
She held the spoon away from her face. "I'm sure you are aware of a woman named Senna, right?"
Toshiro vaguely thought back to when he took Rukia home and when Ichigo took that girl home. He nodded his head after a moment.
Woah! Senna? Why are they talking about her?
Hinamori smiled as realization suddenly dawned on Toshiro's face.
"No," breathed Toshiro, as sudden anger pulsed through him.
Hinamori gave a small wicked smile. "Yes he did."
He, he did what? Who is he? Rukia thought urgently as she strained her ears to listen for more.
The waiter came and dropped off her drink before leaving to tend to others.
"That…bastard!" cursed Toshiro, though he kept his voice low. How could he have done that to Rukia? Does she even know?
As if reading Toshiro's mind Hinamori answered, "No, she doesn't know. Her so-called friends are talking about it behind her back. The poor girl." Hinamori went back for more yogurt. "Plus, to top it off, Senna's pregnant."
Senna is pregnant? Since when? The wind suddenly picked up and Rukia desperately held her hat down.
Toshiro's eyes widened in disgust as he growled out, "That Kurosaki bastard better come out clean."
I-Ichigo? Senna? Rukia was slowly putting the pieces together.
Hinamori put her hand on her chin in thought. "Well can you blame him? Senna's not that bad looking and plus she was drunk that night." She looked up at the sky in mock curiosity. "It's easy to get sucked in when you can take advantage of someone else."
Rukia almost felt like throwing up. They had..SEX? She trusted him! She even told him she trusted him on that very night! Rukia quickly shook her head as she shakily got up. No, I should give him the benefit of doubt first. They might not be telling the truth.
Rukia started walking to get away, but she stumbled and bumped into a table. Others looked over to see if she was alright and some asked her. Both Toshiro and Hinamori looked over as well, but Rukia quickly regained her composure and left.
Toshiro turned back to Hinamori. "Do you have Rukia's number?"
Hinamori shook her head. "No, but I could get it. When do you need it?"
Toshiro stood up and checked the time on his watch. "As soon as possible."
"Got it," Hinamori said as she too stood up. "I'll start working on it."
Toshiro looked back at his secretary. "Good, I have to go to a meeting now, so I'll be expecting it after I'm done."
Hinamori nodded and smiled.
Rukia flopped onto her bed, still wearing her street clothes, and closed her tired eyes. What I heard today…Rukia began to think, but stopped. Does that mean Orihime knows about this? Hinamori said something about "friends" knowing it. Rukia pulled out her phone, thinking of calling Orihime, but decided against it. To be honest, she just didn't want to know right now. But this information might explain why Ichigo has been acting so out of character.
Suddenly Rukia punched her bed out of sheer anger and she brought her phone close to her as tears began to fall from her eyes. She sloppily wiped her cheeks before burying her face in a pillow and letting her sobs go free. I'm in so much pain. I can't believe Senna and Ichigo…I just can't believe… Her heart clenched in pure cold agony as the sobs wrecked her body.
Her phone started to ring, momentarily drawing her out of her sad state. She looked at the ID through a screen of tears before throwing her phone off her bed and onto the floor. Stupid Ichigo!
Rukia awoke to the sound of her phone ringing. It annoyed her out of her sleep and then she tiredly realized that she had thrown her phone somewhere. Rukia slipped off her bed and went blindly around looking for her phone. Once finding it, she quickly picked up the call without seeing who was calling.
She rubbed her puffy sore eyes and mumbled a tired 'hello.'
The other voice chuckled on the other end before saying, "I'm sorry, did I wake you up?"
Rukia shook her head 'no.' "Who are you?" she asked, finally noticing that she had no idea who was calling her.
"Oh, sorry Rukia, it's your friend Toshiro Hitsugaya."
Rukia spluttered and almost dropped her phone. "T-Toshiro? How did you get my number?"
"Well, that's quite a story, but I have something to ask of you," he replied.
Is he going to say something about Ichigo? "Um, sure, what is it?" Rukia asked, a bit curious.
"Can you come over to my place next week?"
Rukia blushed a little. "I guess…I mean I don't really mind."
"Great! I guess I'll see you then!" Toshiro had happily stated.
"Mmm, yeah. Goodbye Toshiro," Rukia said.
"Bye Rukia," Toshiro whispered, sending shivers down her spine.
Rukia hung up and leaned against her bed. "I don't know what to do," she said aloud. "I don't know who to trust anymore."
Her phone lit up once more making her tilt her gaze downwards. Seeing the caller ID made her frown, but she decided to pick it up anyway. "Hello."
"Ah, Rukia! I've been calling you for a long time now! How come you haven't picked up?" Ichigo's urgently asked.
Because for some reason, I find myself hating you. "I'm sorry, I fell asleep," Rukia calmly replied, yawning afterwards. Should I ask him now?
"Are you okay? Feeling sick?" Ichigo continued to question.
His concern didn't feel as real as before and it made Rukia feel on edge. "Yes, fine. I was just tired."
Ichigo let out a sigh of relief. "So, did you want to do something tomorrow?"
"No, I actually have something planned, so I'm sorry," Rukia quickly replied. Let me just have some time for myself.
"Oh, well that's okay. I'll see you at work!"
"Of course," Rukia replied before abruptly ending the call.
She stared at her phone. So many questions were running through her mind. However, through the turmoil of emotions that were filling her, she found herself looking forward to seeing Toshiro.
Yay? Good?
Haha, thank you for reading! I hope the restaurant part wasn't too confusing!
Leave a review!
Uh, I have school...starting tomorrow...so here is my fair warning...
Updating is going to be a bit hard, I have quite a hefty schedule this year.
Anyways, I hope you all liked this chapter and 'til next time!
Adieu!
-Shiragiku
