Fragaria Vesca
By Summer
Strawberries are the first fruit to ripen in the spring.
Chapter Twelve: Antirrhinum
Years ago, when Ichigo was still in elementary, Karakura Town was spilt in two directions about adding a new high school. The more well off homeowners wanted a new school built that would have divided the rich and poor students, and the less well off homeowners didn't want their property tax raised for the whims of the elitist rich. It was a bitter fight that ended with no new high school, but an addition to the old one to deal with the increase in students.
Once when he was bored Ichigo figured out the boundary lines for who would have gone to the new school and who wouldn't if it had been built.
Even though he would have been on the poorer end of the rich kid school, his house and his father's old clinic were still well inside the lines.
There was only one of his friends who would have ended up in the same school as himself.
Uryū Ishida.
Ishida was the son of the director of the Karakura Hospital, a man who Ichigo thought was a prick. He didn't seem to pay any attention to his son and was never around anyway.
This same man was now sucking up to the Kuchiki siblings.
Ichigo wasn't paying much attention to Byakuya who was getting his ear talked off by Ryūken Ishida but to his friend and his girlfriend who were standing next to their father and brother, respectively.
Both Uryū and Rukia were in white. Uryū in a white suit and blue tie and Rukia in a white dress with a pink sash. They both had a similar shade and length of hair. Both were being waited on by staff and looked bored as they nibbled on crackers and sipped juice. Ichigo was pretty sure that their last names insured they were part of the two richest families in the whole park, if not of all of Karakura. It was no wonder the rumors were already swirling.
He chewed his sandwich in angry bites as he listened to the doctor's wives discuss how beautiful a couple Rukia and Uryū made.
He was damn sure no one would ever make that assumption of Rukia and himself. Most people thought he dyed his hair orange after all. Their damn kids would likely end up with some sort of tie-dye mixture he thought unpleasantly. They'd look like the fell out of some bad Halloween costume every day. They'd end up hating their parents for having them because their hair would look like crap.
And Uryū and Rukia looked closer in height too. From a distance it wouldn't look like Uryū was holding some little kid's hand when they walked down the street. Ichigo looked like a giant next to her.
He glared.
"Hey, Ich," Karin said, she was the only one sitting next to him since Yuzu and their dad ran off somewhere. "You're giving your friend and your girlfriend the death glare. Is everything alright?"
"Do you think I look weird next to Rukia?"
"Uhh."
"Like do we look funny together? And what about our kids?"
"What kids?"
"Mine and Rukia's."
"Gee, brother. I'm pretty sure it takes a bit longer then a week-"
"I mean future kids. Do you think they'd end up with weird hair?"
"Weird hair?"
"Since her's is so dark and mine's so… bright."
"Are you forgetting where your hair comes from."
"Yuzu got mom's hair. You got dad's. I think mines a genetic mutation."
"I think you're loosing it."
He continued to stare.
"Maybe," his younger sister said thoughtfully.
"Maybe? Oh, gawd, they'd be hideous right?"
"Maybe you should just go over there."
"What?"
"You're starting to act like Pop."
And then he blinked.
"She's really rich. She's worth more now then I'd ever make in this lifetime."
"Oh, so now you're being shallow."
"That's not it." He shrugged. "We had a really fun date yesterday. She's great. Funny, cute, silly, sexy." His sister gave him a look that said she didn't care that Rukia was sexy. "Anyhow, I like her a lot."
"Yeah, okay. I get that. She seemed nice. And it was cool of her to get us something. Yuzu loved that. She thinks you could replace us. As if you could try."
"The thing is, she's like in a whole other stratosphere. She lives in a mansion, has bodyguards, a driver."
"Does any of that actually define her?"
"Well, no. But her brother might think so. I guess I never figured I'd date a girl on a completely different plane of existence then me. And I look at her over there with Ishida and they fit, don't you think?"
Karin looked over to where Rukia and Ishida looked miserable and uncomfortable. She remembered how Rukia looked sitting on the couch next to her brother while the two of them laughed.
"I think she looks pretty great next to you, Ichigo."
"My dear and only son!" Isshin screamed, coming from nowhere and ending up flat on his back from Ichigo's punch. "Aww. Why'd you have to go and do that for? Daddy just wants to love on his bitty baby boy!"
"Because it's disturbing you old man!"
"Aww!" Isshin got up, rubbing his backside. "Where's my new daughter?"
"There she is!" Yuzu pointed.
Isshin and Yuzu started jumping and waving.
"Stop it!" Ichigo and Karin yelled.
"I want to say thank you!" Yuzu said, running across the park.
"Me too! Me too!" Isshin yelled following after her. The pair was off before Ichigo or Karin could blink.
XXX
It always surprised the Kurosaki children that their father could change personalities at a drop of a hat. By the time Yuzu and Isshin got to Rukia, Byakuya, Ryūken and Uryū he was a calm and collected again.
"Hello, Mr. Kurosaki," Ryūken said. "Mr. Kuchiki, have you met Isshin yet?"
"Yes," Byakuya said. "My Rukia babysat his daughter a few nights ago. I trust Rukia did a good job?"
"She did a very good job. We hope that we can use her services again in the future." He smiled thinking, 'I'm quite certain my son really enjoyed it.'
"I'm sure that won't be an issue. Rukia?"
She smiled at her older brother, "I'd really enjoy that."
"Can Rukia play now?" Yuzu asked.
Byakuya looked at his little sister and sighed. "That's fine. Kotetsu! Kotsubaki!" he snapped his fingers and the pair was standing behind Rukia. "Please keep watch over Rukia. And, Rukia, please be on your best behavior with the Kurosaki's."
"Yay!" Yuzu grabbed her hand and dragged her off.
Uryū sighed as he watched Rukia skip happily with the youngest Kurosaki. And yet he was left behind. Everyone always seemed to forget him, although he couldn't really blame Yuzu. It wasn't like he was dating her brother.
A part of him wondered if he snuck off if his father would even noticed. He was raised too well however and so he stayed at his father's side.
XXX
Karin rolled her eyes, sad that her own twin sister was running the same "let's play with Ichigo's love life!" agenda that their father seemed to be.
It's not that she was in any way opposed to either her brother dating or Rukia Kuchiki. In fact she thought that Rukia seemed really nice and was really pretty. Rukia seemed like a breath of fresh air in Karin's own insanity she called family. As the only one who wasn't running on emotions; their father, the great need to be some grand champion of the world; her brother, or little Suzie homemaker; her sister, Karin was happy that Rukia seemed to be on the same page she was. Normal. Some mornings sitting at the breakfast table, Karin felt like she was in the middle of a circus she didn't really belong to. Maybe it would be nice to have Rukia there.
Kinda like a comrade at war.
Ichigo was going to turn eighteen this summer. She very much understood it, even if it seemed like her own idiot brother didn't. He couldn't live with them forever. Watching their backs, keeping their family together. Besides, Karin knew that her family was fine. Even if Ichigo decided to be a jungle guide in the Amazon.
Because of Ichigo stepping up when their mom died, when their dad needed help because of the demands of his job, when Yuzu cried or when she need help with soccer drills. Ichigo had been their champion. Their hero. Their second father.
It would be nice to let him have something of his own agenda.
She was okay with her brother dating. After dealing with everything in her life since she was little, she figured he deserved a break. That he didn't need to be there every second to make sure that everything was okay. He was more then ready to let go.
She was quite okay with Ichigo running someone else's life for a while.
But she wasn't about to join her father and her sister in their quest to get Ichigo attached.
Karin figured this was in their minds their way of coping with the fact that Ichigo was growing up, growing wings, and going to leave them one day very soon.
She wouldn't admit it, but the night that Rukia came to their house she had watched them kiss in the doorway. She just happened to be walking to the bathroom and she couldn't help but stop. She wasn't some sick perv like her father. Her's was completely accidental.
She had wondered what she would feel when Ichigo found someone else to care for. To dote on, to worry about other then their tiny little family. She figured she was okay with it.
And then he kissed Rukia.
And she realized she was just fine.
Because when she thought about those crazy mornings at the breakfast table and thought of Rukia there, Rukia added a sense of peace that their mother had.
No, the short girl would never replace her mother. Never could. And it wasn't what Karin wanted anyhow.
But it would be nice if someone else was there to be calm and cool with her.
XXX
Ichigo met up with Rukia and his sister before they got to the picnic spot Karin was left at.
"Thanks, Yuzu."
"You're always welcome."
"Can we hang out later, Yuzu," Rukia asked. She smiled at the younger girl who was almost her height.
"Yes. I'd really love that, Rukia. I'm already programmed on your phone!"
Ichigo rolled his eyes but happy that Yuzu had taken a liking to Rukia right away. He loved his sisters and he'd hate if they didn't like the girl he was dating. It was defiantly a make or break issue. After loosing his mother's, no one, not even if he was head-over-heals in love, would get a chance if his sister's didn't approve.
The two girls hugged before Yuzu went running off. Ichigo and Rukia watched until she was safely back with her twin.
"That was nice of you, Ru," Ichigo said. "She really likes you."
"I like her too. She's very sweet."
"Let's go." Ichigo smiled as he grabbed her hand and began to walk.
"I'm really excited for art club tomorrow. I've never really done many group activities," Rukia said as they walked off. Ichigo was rubbing his thumb over her hand and setting off butterflies. She really wished that he'd find a quiet spot and kiss her, but she also knew they were surrounded by hospital staff and their families and she'd be lucky if her brother didn't find out she'd been holding his hand.
"No surprise there."
"Stop."
"Just saying."
"You make it sound like I have the worse life ever. It wasn't so bad."
"Rukia, you told me that you were often lonely."
Lonely wasn't even the half of it, but she didn't want to talk about it.
"I know. And I was. Do we have to talk about this. Let's go on the boats!"
XXX
He found himself in the middle of the lake rowing the boat as Rukia sat across from him and giggled and made faces.
"You could be rowing too," Ichigo said.
"Then you wouldn't get to use your hard muscles, and that would just be a shame."
"Do you like my muscles, Rukia?"
"I'm pretty sure I've felt them, but I haven't seen them."
Ichigo laughed, pulling on the hem of his shirt.
"Stop it!" Rukia said with a giggle. "We're in public!"
"Come on, Rukia. You know you want to."
Rukia laughed, crossing the distance of the boat to smack him.
"You should at least sit with me," Ichigo said. "It's lonely over here."
"Are you kidding. Byakuya is somewhere in this park! He'll kill you if he even sees us rowing a boat let alone anything else we could be doing."
"Your such a tease. But fine. Fine. You owe me."
"I what?"
"Owe me. A date on a boat. With my rules. And we'll have this date on this boat your way."
"Fine. Fine. It's a deal."
"Good."
"Good. Now row boy."
Ichigo laughed.
"Aren't we demanding?"
"Shut up!" She turned so she could peer into the dark water and dip her finger's in. "Have you ever thought of what it would be like to live underwater?"
"Like a mermaid? No."
"Our house in England has a pool and when I was younger I use to imagine what it would be like if I lived under the water. If I never had to come up to the surface, would I even know what was above me?" She trailed her fingers as she spoke. "I mean, the ocean is huge. Conceivably, I could swim it forever and never see all of it. But in all those years of swimming, I'd be missing all this land that I wouldn't even know existed."
"But you wouldn't feel like you missed anything."
"But, fish jump out of the water all the time. Do you think they ever catch a peek and think, 'what am I missing?'"
"I don't know. I guess I never thought about it."
"That's how I feel sometimes," Rukia said. "Like a fish that's jumped out of the ocean for just a second but I can see so many things that I can't touch. But you, Ichigo. You make me feel like I'm breathing for the first time."
XXX
First: I'm pretty sure I don't own Bleach. But if Tite Kubo would like to share, I wouldn't mind. I'm still really happy for the pretty hair!
Second: Antirrhinum are Snapdragons.
Third: Know what I noticed when having to flip back a bit. I gave Rukia two different ages in this fic. Just for the record. She's seventeen. Anyhoos. So, before I've given perceptive on what Yuzu thinks, and now it was Karin. It was never planed, but I like what she had to say. I like that she thinks she's the normal one. Most teen girls would think they were the odd duck, but Karin doesn't. ^_^
Four: Ah, Thank you! As always I want to thank every reader just for reading! Yay! You should know that my computer crashed and my first thoughts were.. But I have a chapter to upload! And went out and borrowed my friend's laptop so mine can go to the computer doctor. Sads that my car is there too! LOL.. And the funny part is .. My laptop is named 'Kon' and my car, 'Renji' and my car and computer repair man is the same person so I keep saying they are off to Squad 4.
falconrukichi- thanks as always. ^-^ I wasn't sure if you knew what a foster home was. It's what happens when you can't live in your own home, the government takes you away and makes you live with strangers who sign up to take kids. Not all homes are bad, but not many are good, and you spend a lot of times in homes where no one wants you except for the money they make from you being there. It's a whole other ring of hell that if you've never experienced it, you couldn't truly understand it.
Zangetsu50- Yeah, last week was Renji breaking down.. This week its Kon… I'd say I'm running out of electronics, but I'm not, and I don't want any of them to stop working… so… yep. Thanks for the review. Drama begins in the next chapter!
Aizawa Ayumu- thank you! This chapter shouldn't exist.. Lol… it just happened, but I liked the idea of a boat date… fun fun. Actually, its kinda funny because a few days ago I went to this sale, and I said something about a free boat (they had boats for sale) and off to the side they had a free box.. And tada.. Free boat. (and if you were two inches tall you could even ride it) I like the idea of Ichigo rowing like I've seen in British tv shows.. =)
Abarai Starsha- thanks! I'm happy you can see what I'm trying to do. But let me just say that I'm having the hardest time not putting Renji in this.. LOL.. He will show up at some point.. But I can't wait for it… and I'm the writer. And if you read the above, yes, I did name my car Renji… and trust me… it drives the way you'd expect Renji to drive… but nope.. He's not even my favorite.. I just like him though.
Goku's Daughter- Gurr! Accursed spell check! I knew it looked funny to me! Anyhow… Thanks for the review. I hope this chapter was fun.. I like the boat. And I like the idea about fish. Plus it enabled me to write a line as cheesy as Rukia's =) Actually there was one more chunk about fish that I X'ed out.. And that was when she compares humans to fish in Earth. That we look at stars and we wonder what's out there, but we only get a small look.. And maybe we're something else's fish. I really loved the whole idea… but it didn't end as neatly as where it does now. But if you ever wondered what was said next.. In this fic… its that.. "maybe we're something else's fish."
