Chapter 10: Sentiment

Something bothered her, which were a lot of things. One of those things being awake at the crack of dawn when she normally slept in until the sun was farther in the sky. Instead today, she was up at the first sight of the ball of fire that signaled a new day. Her watered down eyes stared at the ceiling of her room, seeing it brighten until she could make out the corners where the ceiling and walls met.

Sitting up and running her hand across her face, Tomoko's gaze wavered a little. Why did she get up at the crack of dawn? It bothered her. Another thing that was bothering her was the fact that she wasn't inflamed the way she usually felt toward the bald shinigami. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts away from the shinigami, nothing could get him out of her head.

"Appalling." Tomoko muttered to herself as she got out of bed, making the covers until they covered the pillow that she usually used. Looking at the door, expecting her mother to come barging in to get her up since she had a habit of not wanting to get up, a sigh escaped her slightly parted pale pink lips.

Stepping out of the room that seemed to be the only sanctuary from the maternal being that had her, her gaze flickered everywhere. She heard nothing going on in any part of the house which told her that her mother was still asleep. Sneaking back into her room, she changed out of the clothes she had on into a plain kimono type of clothing that only had an outline of a dragon done in ink. Other then that it was plain to her.

Slipping out of the house and closing it slowly, Tomoko sighed once she was outside. She could find someone that opened their cart early for something to eat.

"This isn't like you. The Tomo-chan that I know isn't this devious to leave the house in the wee hours of the morning." Jirou's voice drifted toward her, making the young woman turn and press her back flush against the wood in surprise.

"Kuso. Don't do that again." Tomoko hissed as she peeled her body away from the object. Shaking her head, the bluish green haired woman started down the street as her gaze drifted around. It was silent, practically dead at this time in the morning. It made her happy.

"So why are you sneaking out of the house? You're usually asleep during this time, especially after a certain moment." Jirou purred as his fingers tapped on the holes of his instrument. Looking down at the woman, he saw her sneak a peek at him. "What is your oka doing now?"

"Nothing. I just wanted to eat something different then her cooking. I'm sure she'll kick me out soon enough, like after Onii-san's wedding." She said. Her feeling toward the upcoming event just made her wonder how long until her mother did kick her out onto the street. "She wants me to marry soon. I'm sure. She's already said that she would marry me off to some stranger if it came down to it."

A sigh escaped the blond haired man that kept his verde gaze focused on the woman beside him. It seemed like things were going against her now since she didn't have anyone or her mother was overreacting. Shaking his own head, he sighed once more, "your oka is really strange. It sounds like she just wants to get you out of the house so you can give her grand kids. That's the way it sounds like to me though."

Shrugging, the barmaid stopped at a cart and ordered some fried rice for breakfast, paying for it. Smiling her thanks, she started to take a chopstick full of the food. "I don't really care. It's my life and it sounds like she's trying to get into it."

"Like she did with us?" Jirou brought up, groaning at the memory.

She nodded. Her mother had the nerve to go into the relationship and tried to break it off because Tomoko had given herself to him in an intimate way. Her mother was purely against a child born out of wedlock, saying that it was the wrong thing to do and it added up to trouble. So it was one of the many reasons why they broke the relationship up, also they fell out of love. She didn't feel used though.

"Bartending tonight?" he asked, trying to change the subject to something that was on a lighter subject compared to the previous one.

"Yep. Hopefully I don't have to put up with intoxicated baka. That's including shinigami." She hissed at the thought, throwing the empty bowl away along with everything else. Sighing in content for a full stomach, she looked around. The sun was higher now, instead of letting the shadows rule the streets.

"What time are you getting off?"

"When it closes for the night so midnight. Tomorrow I don't go in until happy hour starts and that's usually around three for some reason." Tomoko mentally groaned at the thought of the hour that was usually packed by people that were thirsty for liquor.

He nodded and glanced over at the sapphire eyed woman beside him. "So how's your onii's wedding coming along or do you even know?"

"It's a couple weeks away. I don't even want to go to it because I'm not fond of the girl even if I've met her finally. She's a shinigami too, but I just hate her. She reminds me of someone that wants to be too perfect for her own good. I'm surprised that she even went into the profession that means getting dirty. Luckily I'm not one of her brides' maids."

"You're not? That's surprising." Jirou commented with a small smiling playing on his tanned face. Stopping his feet and seeing her walk a few more before looking back, he continued to smile. "Lighten up. It'll get better. I'm sure."

"Oh, it'll get worse for me. Let's see here onii-san is practically the enemy because of what he does, along with oto-san. Then there's the fact that Ka-san is trying to get into my love life to the point she'll marry me off. Um . . . what else? Oh!" Tomoko chimed with sarcasm. "Kunio's girl, Akemi, wants to take over the flower shop so that means she'll be spending her time there after the wedding so I might as well not go."

Rolling his eyes with a laugh, he swore she was getting over reactive over the matter. It was that or she just hated people anymore. "Anything else you would like to get off your chest before you go to work?"

"I-I might like someone." Her voice was soft, so soft that she could only hear it. That urge to say who it was even if his name was like venom toward her, she looked up to see him clueless.

"Nani?"

"I like someone Jirou-kun." Tomoko announced with her head bowing. It wasn't right for her to fall for the enemy but in some many stories that she heard that was usually the case. Why did she have to fall for the guy that tried to hit her with his sword a week ago? It didn't seem like a week though.

"Who?" He inquired as his eyes narrowed. It made him wonder who the lucky guy was, but wondered if he was good enough to have his past lover. Stepping over to the sulking woman, he pulled her into a hug, feeling her wrap her own arms around him. Closing his eyes and his lips pressing against her head tenderly, he wondered. "Who's the lucky guy?"

"Madarame Ikkaku of the eleventh division." Tomoko finally answered after a moment of silence. It hurt to even think of it. The guy hated her so he would never turn the feelings that she had toward him. It would just feel awkward when she had to serve him – if she ever served him again. Looking up at the man that was everything to her at one time, the azure eyed barmaid saw his verde eyes open to look at her.

"A shinigami huh? Have you said anything to Kunio yet? He might help you out even if he's in whatever division he's in."

"Second division." The long-haired woman corrected and looked at the ground. How would her brother react? There was only two ways he would react and she could picture him overreacting to the news. She could almost see him asking all kinds of questions, getting every little bit of information on the bald shinigami. "I haven't even said anything to him. I probably won't."

"He'll find out somehow." Jirou said, saying the truth. News seemed to travel fast in the divisions for some reason. Pulling away from the barmaid that he was holding, he pressed his lips to her forehead like the other day. "You're already getting rid of that grudge of yours."

"I don't want too though. If it wasn't for them then Oto-san would be around." She argued at the thought that brought up her father again. Slouching her shoulders, Tomoko bowed her head.

"I'll see ya around Tomo." Jirou said with a pat on her shoulder and started away. It bothered him that she fell for someone like that. He heard rumors that eleventh division was the toughest division yet besides the second division. He just hoped that it was just a rumor that he never wanted to find out if it was true or not.

Walking to the building where she worked, Tomoko's gaze looked at the sign. What if she ran into Ikkaku in here? Would she be able to say her feelings toward the man that was easily angered by her? Would Yumichika laugh at it? Wait, why would she care for the other shinigami's opinion on the confession. "This is it. I like him. There I admit it."

I love making drama and suspense especially when people are discovering their true feelings toward people. It's so much fun writing about it.