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Extraordinary Cinderella
By: Shinku Amakusa a.k.a Shia
Disc: Bleach is Tite Kubo's, not mine
Warning: OOC, AU, grammatical error, misspelling, etc, etc
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Chapter 9 - Reunion
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Rukia ran as fast as she can to save herself and—of course her shopping materials from the heavy rain. She made a turn to visit an old abandoned shelter and decided that she would stay there until the rain become less annoying. She was already drenched from head to toe and she couldn't make it back home safely in the middle of this storm. She could imagine what would the witches in her home say about this and she could only muttered some curse under her breath.
"I really really hate rain!"
Or not?
As if it couldn't get worse, someone crashed her shoulder abruptly and a Rukia with a really bad mood wasn't someone you want to mess with. She turned her head and ready for spitting out harsh words before launching her physical attack to her-soon-to-be-victim. But then something got her tongue.
A bright orange.
On someone's hair.
"I'm so sorry! The rain was really unfriendly so that I need to get a shelter immedia—"
And of course we all knew the owner.
Ichigo's words stopped automatically when he realized who was standing beside him. His eyes shone with happiness and surprise he couldn't hide. On the other hand, Rukia was soo… undescribeable. She looked shock, afraid, worried, and everything mixed together. She decided to turn her back and hide herself as if it was possible.
'Please, please, please! I really don't want him to realize who I am! I'm really pitiful and I don't want him to look at me like this!' She kept praying, hoping the heaven will grant her wish. But her ritual stopped when the voice that she could only hear in her memory in these past few days, now she could hear them with her own ears.
"You're that midget on the ball, aren't you?"
Rukia came frozen after hearing that sentence. Not answering maybe was a good decision.
'He's gotta be kidding me. It's just his lucky guess. Yeah, lucky gu—'
"Why did you go that night? You hadn't explain anything to me properly." Once more, the prince asked her and tried to move so he could see Rukia clearly.
Rukia turned her back once again, still struggling so Ichigo wouldn't see her face. Unfortunately, even Ichigo couldn't explain why it was so easy for him to recognize that this girl in front of him was the one who was occupying his head since that night. He was so sure and there was no need for him to confirming anything except why she left him on that night. It was even confuse Ichigo to see this girl trying so hard to avoid him. Did he do something wrong?
"Hey, talk to me. Why do you treat me like a ghost?"
"Oh, I'm so sorry, my Prince!" Rukia turned to face Ichigo but before he could take a look at her face, Rukia bows her body quickly. "You seem like mistaking me for wrong person! Goodbye!"
And with that… she ran as fast as she could, leaving a dumbfounded Ichigo yelling 'hey! Come back here, you midget!' desperately. She didn't care about the rain anymore. She just needed to go away from that place, so far away until she could her nothing but the rain and her own hard breathing.
'Stupid! Stupid orange! How come he come to that place, for God's sake! This is too much to be a coincidence!' Rukia screamed out in her head. 'It couldn't be! We're really from different worlds, and I don't deserve any of his existence. I mustn't hold my hope high! Be strong, Rukia! Don't be stupid!'
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"Ichigo!"
A familiar voice stopped him to chase that petite figure who's always running away from him. Chad and Renji came to his place with so many questions mark on their face.
"Please stop being so impulsive, you rock-headed-prince!" Renji needed to hold the urge to smack that orange head. "You left your horse behind and start running around as you wish. At least you can ask us to join you sheltering under this heavy rain!"
"I'm not really fond of rain, you know that, Renji." Ichigo answered.
"Or because you saw something?" Chad asked, bulls eye. Though he was so quiet and less talking, but observation of small things indeed his speciality.
The said one hadn't given any answer. Maybe he just didn't know how to answer, because that was a statement not a question. Ichigo indeed ran away because he saw something, or someone, sheltering under the rain. It was so familiar and Ichigo couldn't wait any longer to make sure the things in his head. He was crashing himself to her on purpose, just to see her reaction and avoid any awkward conversation since he didn't have any idea how to talk to her. It turned out that his eyes were right. She was the one at the party. But, why did she always trying to run away from him?
"Hey, Ichigo!" Renji called for the nth time, finally getting Ichigo back to reality.
"Yeah?"
"What is this?" Renji asked and pulling up a big plastic bag full of groceries. Initially, Ichigo just need to shake his head. But, suddenly he got better idea and he just couldn't hold his smile.
"Something to return."
A big smile.
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"Why do you come back so early?!"
"Where's the groceries?!"
They're yelling loud enough for Rukia to make her wants to cover her ears. They didn't even care about their drenched girl in front of them. That petite girl herself was also forgetting her groceries because her mind kept yelling to run away from that place. Run away from him, even though her heart longing for his presence.
No, Rukia, stop right there—
"I'm sorry, I left the groceries when I was looking for a shelter." She needed to keep talking so her head won't start rambling random things about that mini encounter a few minutes ago.
"Go back and get them. Now." Rangiku ordered.
"But, the rain is really—"
"The groceries are more important." Tatsuki cut her.
'And Kurosaki-kun haven't come here. So you better off.' Orihime added, in her head, of course. She felt there was no need for her to yell to this pitiful creature in front of her. Her mother and sister were more than enough to torture this freezing little bitch. 'That what you get for trying to steal Kurosaki-kun from me.'
"What are you waiting for?" Rangiku asked.
Rukia was speechless. Really. She didn't know what's going on in their head. It was really got on her nerve! She just didn't get the point of the groceries suddenly becoming more important than anything in this world for these three absurd people. Rukia needed to hold herself not to strike and strangle them to death. She remembered her dad always said something about being a proper lady of Kuchiki—in the past.
Finally, she chose to give up and threw herself back to the stormy rain. It was so cold that hugging her own arms wasn't working at all. She bent her head down to avoid the rain which made her eyes hurt. Suddenly, she stopped when she heard Rangiku, Tatsuki, and Orihime gasped so loudly, even she can hear them in this kind of rain.
"Is this the groceries you're talking about?"
Rukia really thought her heart was going to stop when she heard that voice and saw the owner—with a plastic bag of her groceries on his hand—standing in the middle of rain in front of her house.
"Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime was sure on a panic mode. She and Tatsuki were so busy looking for an umbrella and then rushing towards that prince in the rain, trying to shelter him.
Rukia was still standing at her place, not moving at all, staring at that orange haired prince in total disbelieve. Now she doubted that he was really a prince. He's definitely a stalker! How come he showed up suddenly in front of her house without any warning? Right in front of her? Staring back at her with his annoying victory look on his face and a smile as if he was just after winning a big lottery?
"Oh, Gosh, you're all drenched, Kurosaki-kun! Let's go inside and warm yourself!" Orihime grabbed his arm and pull him to join her step. But, Ichigo wasn't moving at all, making Orihime look at him questioningly.
"I won't go inside if she doesn't go too." Ichigo still keeping his stare at that petite figure under the rain in front of him which looked like she forgot how to move.
Orihime turned her head and suddenly Rukia looked 100 times more annoying than ever. She hold herself from cursing and yelling by biting her lower lip.
"What are you doing, Rukia? Get in quickly before you catch a cold!" she said with an overdose of sweetness and full of fake worries.
Orihime's voice brought Rukia back to reality and she decided to be the one who broke their eye contact. Without anything to say, Rukia turned her back and walked in first, with the longest steps she could take. When she walked past Rangiku, she swear she heard her said something menacingly.
"Don't you dare showing yourself. Just stay in your room and never come out before I call you."
For the first time in her life, she was really tired of listening to what others tell her to do.
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At first, Rukia thought the idea of going back to the rain just for retrieving the groceries sounded like an idiot. Now, she had to admit she was really considering that idea was a brilliant move rather than stuck here in this complicated situation. But, unfortunately, those groceries had cleverly found their own way home. She wished by locking herself in her room she could forget that actually that Ichigo was right here in this house, warming himself with Orihime at the fireplace.
On the other side, the prince was looking round, his eyes couldn't stop wandering around observing every inch of that house. There's only one question in his head.
Where is she?
"Do you want to eat something, Kurosaki-kun?" an oversweet voice distracted him, making his head turned to see this brown haired girl in front of him. "Do you want something warm? It's so cold outside, anyway."
"No, thank you…" Ichigo smiled a bit and realized that he didn't even remember this girl's name. It was so rude of him to forget the name of the girl he once danced with.
"Orihime. Inoue Orihime." She answered for him, a smile never left her face even a second. "I believe we've danced together before back at the party, Kurosaki-kun."
"Ah, yeah…" Ichigo answered simply. He didn't even get to know the name he wanted to know the most. "Oh, that's right. That girl… the short one with black hair and violet eyes back then, what's her name?"
Orihime really want to kill someone right now. How come her Kurosaki-kun mentioned complete details of Rukia? She planned to mention Tatsuki's name when Ichigo asked her, if only he didn't mention so much details about her, since their hair both black. As much as she wanted to lie, she just couldn't imagine how angry Ichigo would be if he knows the truth. He'll hate her for sure, and she didn't want that.
"Ah, that girl… she is only a housekeeper here. I'm sorry, Kurosaki-kun. It was her fault that you went all the trouble to bring back our groceries. She is really a troublesome—"
"Her name," Ichigo cut her useless sentences and meet Orihime's eyes without any glint of joke in his eyes. He was dead serious. "I just want to know her name."
Orihime really didn't know what to do now. She didn't want to tell him that girl's name. She couldn't give up like this!
"Kuchiki Rukia,"
And a familiar voice joined their conversation, making those two people look at the owner of that voice curiously. It was really unexpected to see that figure to came out and showed herself like this.
"…that's my name."
Yeah, Kuchiki Rukia is standing before them.
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Tbc
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A/n: Okay. I'm sorry… I guess? I've been missing for a year (?) and nearly abandoned this fic. Honestly, I hate discontinued fic so much, so I'm trying not to let this fic be something like that. But, well… I can't find any excuse. Oh, good news, this chapter is the longest chapter I've ever made for this fic, right? I hope I can atone my sins with this. Hahahaha…
As usual, I'm sorry for my lack of proper grammar, misstypo, etc. So sorry for the inconvenience reading, I'm still struggling with my English. Thank you so much for everyone who keeps supporting me with reviews and PMs. I really appreciate you guys! You're my ray of light~ Hehehe…
So, what do you think about this chapter?
Like it? Hate it? Tell me with reviews~
Last but not least, arigatou gozaimasu and ja matta!
