His And Her Relationship
Chapter 14: Listen To Me Goddamit!: I Love You
Ichigo yawned and stretched his hands above his head. Sofas was definitely wasn't made to be slept on. No matter how fluffy and soft they were, it was still to short for his legs to sprawled comfortably and too narrow to completely facilitate his body. The carpet wasn't any better either, it burned his skin every time he shifted in an attempt to find a more comfortable position. So by the time sun began to creep inside the house, Ichigo was still sitting on the sofa; eyes red and bleary due to the lack of sleep.
So he spend his morning with a series of yawns accompanied him every few minutes or so.
"Stayed up all night on a date, aren't we?" Keigo nudged him on the arm as he grinned.
"Shut up," Ichigo jabbed his elbow to the brunette's rib who groaned in response, his lunch rolled down to the ground.
"So, you're finally straighten yourself up, eh?" the glass-eyed Ishida pushed up his glasses and grinned. He never missed the chance to mock or just pick a fight with the orange haired boy.
But the said boy wasn't interested on anything as he yawned once again.
"Ichigo," someone tapped his shoulder and he turned to see only a jacket-clad torso in front of him. Only after he tilted his head up did he see that it was Chad.
"Ochi-sensei was looking for you," Chad said again in his usual straight-to-the-point manner.
Feeling more than happy to escape the nagging Keigo, Ichigo got up to his feet and stretched for one last time before making his way to the teacher's lounge where his tomboyish homeroom teacher, Ochi-sensei, was.
"Yo, Ichigo," she waved him.
"You're looking for me, sensei?"
Ochi-sensei got up to her feet and cleared her throat in a formal manner.
"Kurosaki Ichigo, I hereby congratulate you on your scholarship," she took one of his hands and shook it vigorously.
"Huh?" came the reply from the orange-haired teenager.
Ochi-sensei reached for her desk and handed him a piece of paper. A neatly printed seal was what he saw first.
"I am proudly to say that you, Kurosaki Ichigo, are the first student in the history of Karakura High who receives a full scholarship from the French Embassy," she said louder than she had to. But when Ichigo saw her grinned after another teachers scoffed at her, he knew that she was boasting.
But Ichigo still mindlessly read the letter of approval in his hand.
"You are going to take it, aren't you?" Ochi-sensei tilted her head when she heard nothing from her student. His reaction was the least she expected. She expected him at least to show her some… excitement. After all, he was the one who applied for the scholarship when term began.
"Huh? Oh, yeah. I…," Ichigo managed to say before he stared the piece of paper once again.
Ochi-sensei tapped the boy's shoulder, "Just think about it. Consult with your family."
Ichigo gave her one last nod before walked back to his classroom.
When term began, Ochi-sensei announced that French Embassy was giving out opportunities for a full scholarship and everyone who scored A on their French are welcome to apply. He wasn't thinking anything when he wrote the essay, knowing full well that he didn't stand a chance. It was just a mandatory Ochi-sensei had forced to him since he always scored over 90 on his French tests.
"I wonder what this is? Is it love letter…?" someone snatched the paper from his fingers. He looked up to see that it was Keigo yet again, but didn't make any effort to take it back. He just stared at the boy.
"Hmmm, French Embassy in Japan hereby congratulates you on…," Keigo trailed off and the smile plastered on his face melted in an instant.
"You…," Keigo shouted and pointed her index finger accusingly towards Keigo, "I thought we were friends!"
When he saw Ichigo just staring dreamily at him, he threw the piece of paper back at him and shouted, "I don't make friends with nerds with scholarship." Then he ran off with tears on his eyes.
A pair of big tanned hands picked up the paper that fell to the floor.
"You're taking it?" Chad asked as he placed the paper back to his fingers.
"I… don't know," Ichigo answered. He'd been asking the same question since Ochi-sensei broke the news.
Chad smiled and patted him on the shoulder, "Congratulation, Ichigo."
---
Ichigo closed the door leading to his father's clinic behind him. The first thing he did after he got home was giving the letter to his father who was in his clinic. The usually-psychotic doctor sat back on his chair while he read the letter.
"I think you're big enough to make your own decisions," said his father as he slid the paper across the table back to Ichigo, "Just make sure you won't regret it."
Yeah, that helps, Ichigo thought to himself.
"You look terrible, care for a glass of tea?" Yuzu offered him when he passed by the kitchen.
Ichigo laughed, Yuzu believed that there was nothing a cup of warm tea couldn't cure.
"Sure," he answered and slid in on one of the chairs on the dinner table.
Yuzu gracefully set the cups before filling it with the steaming brown liquid in to it. She placed one set of the cup in front of her brother.
"Thank you," Ichigo said before he brought the cup to his lips and sipped it slowly.
"I've heard about the scholarship," said Yuzu as she sipped on her cup of tea.
Ichigo frowned, he didn't remember ever said anything to his sister.
"Ochi-sensei called a few hours ago. I happened to be the one who picked it up," Yuzu giggled at her brother's reaction.
He shook his head. Apparently the overreacted teacher was even more proud of it than he had expected. And damn that bearded man for acting he didn't know anything.
"So, are you going to take it?"
Ichigo took his time answering and swirled the tea in his cup, "I don't know yet."
"Well do you want it or not?" came Karin's voice who then flopped down next to her twin.
He observed his sisters and suddenly felt like he was being interrogated.
"The truth? Yes. That was why I applied for it in the first place. I just didn't think I could actually get it."
"Then why are you hesitating? Chances aren't coming in bundles, you know? It comes in individual envelopes," Karin reached for her twin's cup despite the glare yuzu was giving her.
That he knew, of course. The only thing made him hesitate was… her. She was the one pinning him down to the spot he was in.
If being away from her for four years resulted in someone else's ring on her finger, what would another four years do? He surely didn't want to come home to a bunch of kids with purple eyes calling him uncle.
"Speaking about answers, do you know that Rukia-nee-chan hasn't given him an answer yet?" Karin said after she cleared her throat.
Ichigo looked up and saw that the twins staring at each other, leaning towards each other as if they were whispering even when they spoke loud enough for the entire room to hear.
"Really? Then why is she still wearing the ring?" Yuzu asked back with a high-pitched tone.
"Well, I heard that Kaien-san had to go back to Tokyo for a sudden call and I heard he'll be back in a few days for her answer and had asked her to wear the ring at least until his return," answered Karin.
"Oh! So that means she hasn't accepted the proposal?" Yuzu almost squealed but something caught in her throat making her coughed.
A thump sounded from under the table followed by Karin's hiss and Yuzu's yelp.
Realizing what was actually going on, he smiled and finished his cup.
"Thanks for the tea," he said before heading for the stairs.
"Do you think he get that?" he heard Yuzu asked. Obviously she thought he couldn't hear her anymore.
"Your act sucks," Karin answered back.
"Karin, you're too cruel. You know I can't like," said Yuzu.
"Well, I just hope he gets the point and do something. I really don't wanna see her married the spiky man."
"Well our brother's spiky too, you know."
Then the twins went silent and Ichigo was about to climb the stairs when he heard Karin said, "Come to think about it, He looks a lot like Ichi-nii. Don't you think?"
As if stricken by lightning, he bolted up the stairs and into his room. And imagine how surprised he was when he saw Rukia sitting on his bed, reading one of his books.
"Sorry 'bout last night. I was dead tired and you weren't here and the bed looked comfortable," she waved to Ichigo who was still on his spot in front of the door, "Oh. I heard about the scholarship. Congrat… Ow."
She yelped because while she was talking, he crossed the room in less than a second and yanked her upper arm, making her dangled by it.
"Ichigo, what are you doing? It hurts, dammit," she flinched in pain.
But Ichigo will have none of that as he hissed, "Did you date him because he looked like me?"
Rukia's eyes widened in response and made an attempt to free her arm. But that only made him tighten his grip.
"What are you talking about? Let me…," she wriggled and got up to her knees.
"Answer me, Rukia. Did you?" he yanked her closer.
They stared at each other for a second until she looked down to his grip.
"No," she answered in a ragged voice.
"Liar," he hissed, "You knew it all along, didn't you? You already knew from the start that I love you, didn't you?"
But Rukia had covered her ears with both her hands and shook her head.
"Stop it. Please," she whimpered.
"No," Ichigo release her arm and turned to pull the palms that were covering her ears, "I will not stop. Not until you tell me the truth…"
"Please, stop it," Rukia managed to free her hands and covered her ears once again. Her eyes shut as she refused to meet his demanding eyes.
Even though Rukia wasn't a weak woman at all, strength was still Ichigo's advantage. He pulled her hands away and held them on his chest with one hand and using the other to grip at her jaw and forced her to look him in the eyes. He could see tears were threatening to fall as her violet eyes slowly opened; his own amber eyes were softened as they stared at each other.
"Did you date him because he looked like me?" and when she still refused to answer he tried again, "I love you, Rukia."
At that, tears were running down her cheeks and he could feel her body stiffened as she once again turned her eyes away from him. So he brought his lips down and whispered on her ear.
"But you already know that, don't you?"
His muscles were relaxing on their own and his grip began to loosen as his lips almost touched her cheek. But she found it as an opening and used it to shove him away from her, hard. Both of them were heaving for air.
Ichigo felt like he was going to explode. Anger, hurt, fear, joy, confusion, uncertainty, adrenaline, desperation were running on his bloodstream like a stampede. So he wasn't thinking as he moved. It was pure instinct that had taken over him when he yanked her by the collar, pressed her body against his own and crashed his lips into hers.
He could see her eyes widened, he could taste her gasp, and he could feel her heartbeat stopped.
Just the way his was. He couldn't see anything else but her beautiful face. He couldn't taste anything else but her lips. He couldn't feel anything else but her body, flushed against his own.
And the world stopped turning.
Nothing else left in his world except for him and her and the kiss they shared.
He would really like to believe that. Except for the fact that a sharp sound of slap echoed through his room and the stung in his left cheek.
Before he realized what happened, he heard the window being opened in a hurry and the sound of someone running away from him followed soon after.
---
A/N: Ah, I didn't mean to make the ending like that. But the words flowed by itself. Weird. Just hope you like this one.