A/N: dun dun dun… here is the newest chapter for you my lovelies! I can't believe it took me so long to finish this one. Anyways, hope you guys enjoy! Flames are welcome.
And you know I don't own Bleach, yeah?
OOOOOOOOOO
Chapter 10: Of Abductions and Shakespeare
There was an uncomfortable silence as Rukia sat primly with her hands folded on her lap while Renji sat beside her and across them sat a frowning Ikkaku. There was an especially raging tic above the redhead's left eye.
Rukia was the first to break the silence. "I applaud your efforts to woe him Renji, but you do know that kidnapping is illegal, right?" she spoke like she was talking to a five year old child.
The redhead's facial tic worsened as he tried not to shout. "I know alright? I did tell Rikichi to make Ichigo come by any means possible, but I didn't fucking tell him to resort to kidnapping!"
Ikkaku sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Then you should've given him more precise instructions, idiot."
: Some two and a half hours earlier :
Rikichi stood before Ichigo's door, his master's voice echoing in his head. Tell him I'm inviting him to dinner, nicely, alright? If he doesn't agree, just do whatever you could do to make him come. Behind him, two hulking bodyguards in black stood by, waiting for his word.
The young man's hand was free of any tremors as he reached for the doorbell. He pressed once, then twice, patiently waiting for someone to answer. The door was opened by the berry himself. He cleared his throat and spoke with all the formality and politeness he could muster within his small frame.
"Good afternoon, Ichigo-sama." The berry only raised his brows in response as he looked at the three men from head to foot.
"Renji-sama is requesting you to have dinner with him tonight." Rikichi continued, unruffled.
"No," the berry made to close the door but was stopped when the shorter man extended his arm.
"Please, Ichigo-sama, Renji-sama is imploring you to…"
"I said no. So please leave now."
The other man then kneeled and resorted to using the deadly cute puppy eyes which one couldn't half thought possible from a man his age. "Please, Ichigo-sama…"
The berry took but one look at him, unfortunately he couldn't be swayed by such underhanded tactics.
"The answer is still no." the berry said, voice firm, as he made to close the door again. But he was stopped once more.
Rikichi was determined to do as his boss asked him to and he would not fail. "Aki…" as soon as he called out the name, one of the burly men stepped forward, a bald one wearing a stud on his left nostril and a pair of dark shades, immediately took out a small can of sleeping gas and sprayed it directly to the poor berry's face before he could react.
Ichigo slumped into Aki's arms. The other burly man, his hair in a ponytail and had a goatee, stepped forward in an effort to help carry Ichigo back to the car. But before they could make a hasty getaway…
"What do you think you're doing?" An unmistakably female voice was heard as someone swat their heads with a lethally thick, rolled up newspaper.
Rikichi's eyes widened like saucers as he nearly had a heart attack when he found out who it was. "Rukia-sama!!"
Rukia was glaring at the three hapless men as she stood, arms crossed on her chest. She was used to these kinds of blunders though, rare they might be, after all she grew up in a yakuza family herself.
Poor Rikichi stammered as he tried to explain, but the woman had enough of it. "Take me to your idiotic leader!"
: present time :
Rikichi confined himself to a corner in the room, genuflected, his forehead touching the unforgiving cold floor. His limbs were already aching and he felt his forehead growing numb by the minute due to the lack of circulation. But he felt he deserved it, all because he thought he lacked the appropriate faculties to understand a simple command from his boss. He could hear Renji and Rukia arguing in the background. The sound of it was beginning to hurt his ears too.
A soft hand touched his shoulder as the scent of lavender accosted his nose. It was Yumichika-dono.
"Don't be too hard on yourself Rikichi-kun. You can get up now. I know for sure you're aching all over." The effeminate man kindly said.
The younger man smiled gratefully though he reluctantly sat up then stretched his legs. "Uh, Yumichika-dono, how is Ichigo-sama doing?"
"Thankfully still asleep. But as soon as he wakes up, he'll make a fuss for sure." It was the understatement of the day.
Ichigo felt the world was in some huge limbo as he slowly opened his eyes. He saw that he was in an unfamiliar room. He lay sprawled on a queen size bed with lavender colored silk and lace canopy overhead. He felt a twinge of relief that he was still wearing his low riding blue jeans and white shirt. He also realized that his left wrist was cuffed to one bed post. Then he remembered what happened earlier.
Anger surged through his being like never before. The berry snarled and yanked his bound appendage as he screamed at the top of his lungs. "Motherf—Renji! You asshole! Where the fuck are you?! Let me fucking go!"
All of those outside the room heard the berry's loud yells of fury. Rikichi practically stiffened. Even Renji was a bit afraid, though Ikkaku, Yumichika and Rukia were unruffled. The redhead should've handled things delicately considering the way things were with the berry.
Yumichika stood up resolutely; as he felt he was the only one who could pacify the irate berry… he crossed his finger and hoped.
The effeminate man carefully opened the door and found the berry struggling to free himself. He winced at the damage being done to his bed. He thought of getting back at Renji by bullying him to buy a new set of sheets, made of the most expensive and softest Egyptian cotton and probably a brand new bed too if he could help it. He mentally smirked at the idea.
He trod carefully, like his own bedroom was a landmine. Then he cleared his throat.
The berry glared at the intruder. "Where the fuck is he?"
Yumichika remained unswayed by the berry's anger. "Ichigo-kun, would you mind hearing me out?" he gently queried.
With bated breath Renji and company waited. A few minutes later, Yumichika came out of his room with a sparkling smile. The redhead felt a pang of relief but the effeminate man just had to remind him. "Renji! You better get ready! Ichigo's almost done dressing! And please behave! Take your time because you don't want him to run away again. The man spoke so fast it made Renji feel dizzy, but he got the gist of what Yumi was trying to say as he chased him to his own bedroom to get ready.
The redhead looked dashing in his black Nehru jacket and slacks, his wild crimson mane providing the only dash of vividness. As he checked himself out on the mirror, he couldn't help but feel a bit of trepidation. After all he seriously didn't want to mess up again.
As Renji was closing the door to his room, his eyes caught the tangerine haired man surrounded by a sea of black (or the lack of it, in Ikkaku's case). It seemed the people surrounding his precious berry magically parted. His mouth immediately went dry. Ichigo looked so hot in pair of stove pipe slacks, making his behind even more than appealing. His top consisted of a white button down dress shirt which showed enough of his neckline to make the redhead drool. And to avoid the cold, he had on a double breasted coat. Yet, the berry still had his trademark scowl on.
He cleared his throat as he approached the group. The berry's scowl got even more pronounced. "Uh…" he was honestly at a loss for words. It was too damn awkward.
"You kids better get going or you'll be late for the play." Thank Kami for Ikkaku.
"What play?" the berry asked, but Rukia had already shoved him in Renji's direction before anyone could answer.
"Have fun!!" Rukia cheerfully said as she practically pushed the pair out of the door.
The pair boarded the limo especially rented for the occasion. The tension was so thick between the two of them, one could practically it eat with a fork. Renji cleared his throat in an attempt to start a conversation.
"Why don't we have dinner first since we still have enough time before the play starts." Still, the berry remained silent and scowling.
Ichigo couldn't help but wonder though what play it was they were going to watch. He kept his mouth shut though; he was still pretty upset about the kidnapping thing.
Dinner was an even more awkward matter. The berry still has not spoken a word, much less relaxed his facial muscles. Renji was losing hope. He cleared his throat (he was doing a lot of that today) in a stab at nonchalance as he looked at his watch.
"Looks like the play is about to start. We can walk to the theater from here." Silence embraced him like a lost friend. He took a deep breath and paid for their dinner. He stood up, offered his arm gallantly even if he knew the berry wouldn't take it anyway.
Ichigo stood up as the redhead offered his arm. He nearly retorted in annoyance when he remembered that he was giving the redhead the silent treatment. It wasn't as if he was not interested in this play. He was curious in fact, but he also dreaded heading to the theater. After all this was Renji.
They arrived at the theater just as people were settling down in their respective seats. The pair sat in the middle of the throng. After a few more minutes, the curtains parted, and finally the play started. It was The Taming of the Shrew.
Renji wasn't concentrating on the play at all. He just kept on staring at the oblivious berry who was watching with rapt attention. He couldn't really help. It seemed as if Ichigo looked even more beautiful and tempting, with the way his lips parted in a pleased smile as he recognized the lines or the way his eyes shone in mirth when the scene was hilarious. Buying to the tickets was all worth it in Renji's book.
The atmosphere in the limo was a whole lot lighter after watching the play. Already Renji was hopeful that this date made a great dent in the berry's resistance against him. He would have to thank the Matsunaga brat later on.
As the driver deftly maneuvered the limo into Ichigo's street, the redhead felt the night was simply too short. All too soon, the apartment complex where the berry lived was in sight. He had to fight an urge to sigh.
The redhead alighted from the limo first and opened the door gallantly. The berry still did not take the offered arm, but there was no hostility either. He could see that the berry's expression had softened a bit as they walked side by side. As they reached his apartment, the berry spoke.
"Thanks Renji. I enjoyed the play. Goodnight." Ichigo spoke so softly the redhead almost strained to hear him. He was glad though, his efforts had surely paid off.
He grinned wolfishly, but before he could say anything the berry already had gone in and closed the door. But no matter. He leaned towards the door and kissed it. "Goodnight, berry."
By sheer chance, the berry kissed the same spot at the same time on the other side of the door.
XXX
Ichigo did not get much sleep last night, but as he walked to class, there was a spring to his step, lightness in his being. And this was all because of a perverted redhead's crazy shenanigans.
Rukia passed him by the hallway on the way to the teacher's lounge. There was a wide smirk on her face but he really couldn't care less. His co-teachers gave him a wide berth. He only smiled at them in return. It gave them the creeps. Even the students were perturbed at seeing his smiling face. He was happy for change.
As he was discussing Raphael Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland, which was Shakespeare's main source for Macbeth, he was rudely interrupted by a man wearing, of all things, knee length skin tight breeches, a red beaded top with puffed up sleeves with a ruffled neck and a mismatched baseball cap. Talk about timing.
"Hello, I'm looking for Ichigo Kurosaki. Is anyone named Ichigo Kurosaki here?" the man asked, his tone bored. He was a man of medium built. His hair was still black, though the mullet didn't seem so right for him, as it highlighted his already receding hairline. Plus, he badly needed a shave.
"I'm Ichigo Kurosaki." The berry answered with gritted teeth.
"I'm Maki from Forget-Me-Not Sing-a-Gram. I have a message for you." Then he took out a harmonica then started singing (imagine the Spongebob Squarepants opening theme except the words were different)… if something so horrid could be called that.
Lines from Shakespeare's 18th sonnet blared out of the man's mouth tunelessly, with a little blow of the harmonica here and there.
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this and this gives life to thee.
The berry turned several shades of red, either from embarrassment or anger (most probably a mixture of both, with anger having a higher intensity), nobody knew. The man was murdering the great Shakespeare's work. He nearly tore the man's head off his shoulders. He briefly wondered how a tone deaf man such as this got employed in a freaking sing-a-gram in the first place.
He forced himself to thank the man, even if he really wanted to throttle the living daylights out of him; even gave him a tip so just he could get the fuck away from him and his class.
But before finally living, Maki the tone deaf singer handed him a brightly colored package. "Oh, I almost forgot about this. Here ya go." He said as he handed Ichigo the box.
He put the box down on his table, took a deep breath and continued the discussion… not one of his students dared raise the issue, fearing his imminent wrath. He knew who to blame for this, and boy would he kick his ass.