BLEACH – Into a New World
Hallo all!
Yeah, I'm inconsistent with my uploads, I know. Ahm SORREH okaaayyy?
But yeah. No disclaimers from now on, because if you read this from the start, you probably know already. It's almost finished anyway.
Chapter 21 – Rejection…?
Frozen in place, I gulped. How long had he been there? How much had he heard? There was so much I wanted to ask him, but it felt like my tongue was stuck to the roof of my mouth. Even if I did ask, I wasn't sure I wanted to know the answer.
"Turn around."
Stiffly, I obeyed. His voice told me nothing. I couldn't tell whether he was angry, disappointed, betrayed or anything. It made me nervous. Gulping again, I fixed my eyes on the gaping hole in the middle of his abdomen. He was in his spirit form. No wonder I didn't hear him. The timer that I set before suddenly went off, but neither of us paid attention to it. Under any other circumstances, I would've wanted to turn it off immediately. Although the timer wasn't made to go on for very long, the noise it made was almost the same as my alarm clock, which irritated me. Mornings weren't really my thing.
"So."
I winced inwardly. There was no reason to, but I felt incredibly on edge.
"Explain."
I winced physically this time. Ugh. My most hated word.
"Um…I was m-making dumplings…" I stuttered.
"Not that." He held up my phone. "This."
"T-that's my p-phone-."
"Is it true?" he suddenly interrupted.
"What-"
"What Kimiko said, is it true?"
I was trapped. Completely and absolutely trapped. Cornered. Snared. In my mind, I'd gone through various scenarios that could've happened, and planned all my excuses in advance. But I'd never considered a scenario like this. I was utterly unprepared. Suddenly, for no reason at all, I wondered. What if everyone is right? What if, maybe, by some chance, some twist of fate, he does like me? My heart fluttered slightly. But I was so plain, so uninteresting and so normal. No matter how you looked at it, it wasn't going to work. We were from different worlds, had different upbringings, different lifestyles. Grimmjow was much better suited to someone more similar to him, perhaps some strong, intelligent, pretty girl from Hueco Mundo. My heart plummeted. Let's just get this over with. I told myself. I'll tell him, get rejected, laugh it off and go back to my daily life.
"Yes." I whispered, my voice barely audible. Eyes squeezed shut, I waited for the stinging rejection.
"I see."
Surprised, I puckered up my courage to glance up just in time to see him Sonido out of the window.
So I just got rejected…right?
Brow furrowed, I drummed my fingers on the hard wood of my desk, ignoring the intense stares of Ayame and Keiko. Grimmjow had said: "I see." But what exactly did that mean? Was it the standard thing to say when rejecting someone? Although I had no experience whatsoever in this field, it didn't really seem like it. Sighing, I slumped over my desk.
"My head hurts…" I muttered sullenly.
"Why?" Mercilessly, Ayame prodded me with her ruler.
"None of your business." I snapped as well as I could with my face buried in my arms.
"Grimmjow giving you trouble?" Keiko asked. I could hear the smirk in her voice.
"Kind of."
"Explain."
"Ugh." I winced. Why was everyone suddenly asking me to explain everything? I hate that word…Reluctantly, I sat back up and retold the events of the previous night.
"He said 'I see'? 'I SEE'?" Ayame's face had slowly started to turn into an ugly shade of crimson as she rose out of her seat. It might've just been me, but it looked like there were tiny bubbles forming at the corners of her mouth. "What kind of answer is that!?" her voice was shrill as she spluttered at 'the indignity' - as she put it - of what I was put through.
"So I'm guessing that's not a normal statement of rejection?" I raised my eyebrows, slightly confused, slightly relieved.
"No, it's NOT!" she was almost yelling by this point.
"Calm down." Sighing, Keiko pushed Ayame back into her seat. "But Ayame's right. It's a bit weird, so I'm thinking that it's not quite a rejection, but just a way for him to buy time."
I frowned, puzzled. "Why would he need to buy time?"
Sighing again, Keiko rolled her eyes. "So he can decide if he feels the same way or not."
"So I was rejected." I concluded bluntly. If he needed time to figure out something like that, then chances were, he didn't like me to begin with.
"No-argh!" exasperated, she threw her hands into the air. "I give up, you go ahead and think what you like, but you're going to find out what I mean soon enough."
Slightly despondent, I heaved a sigh. Even though I expected the rejection, it still kind of hurt.
Chewing on my bottom lip, I paced outside my apartment. How the heck am I supposed to act? Normal? Would it be normal to act normal? Am I supposed to treat him differently? Is he even in there? Gathering up my courage, I unlocked the door and opened it up a sliver. Squinting, I jolted slightly when I saw movement, but then realized that it was only Pantera. Breathing a sigh of relief, I opened the door completely, allowing myself in. Heading straight for my room, I pulled out my books and pencil case, preparing myself for an intense study/Grimmjow-forgetting/heartbreak healing session. Suddenly, I realized that my phone was still off from yesterday.
"Crap!" Turning it back on, I saw that Kimiko had called around twenty times and left at least seven messages. I should probably text her back and tell her what happened. I knew that by telling her what happened, I was signing myself up for an interrogation, but I probably owed her at least that much, seeing how worried she was.
Hey Kimiko, so sorry about yesterday, I got interrupted by Grimmjow and rejected by Grimmj
Pausing, I backspaced. I don't have to tell her everything…
Hey Kimiko, so sorry about yesterday, I got interrupted.
I paused again. Knowing Kimiko, the rest of the conversation would probably go something like this:
Kimiko: Interrupted by who/what?
Me: …Grimmjow…
Kimiko: Did he hear?
Me: …Yes…
Kimiko: So what happened?
Me: …I got rejected…
Sighing, I gave up and typed in everything. "Okay…send."
"What'cha doin'?"
Shrieking, I spun around, almost tripping over my own feet. It was Grimmjow. Of course. Grimmjow. Who else would it be? Who else would appear with the worst possible timing? Who else would continuously scare me to death? I am so SICK of this happening EVERY TIME.
"So?" Grimmjow raised an eyebrow. It's nice to see that you're doing so well. I snarkily spat at him in my head. My jaw clenched as a vein pulsed in my forehead.
"I have had ENOUGH!" I finally burst out. Smacking my phone onto the table with enough force to crack it, I scowled at him. "Do you have ANY IDEA how MESSED UP my head is right now? And it's ALL YOUR FAULT!" Angrily, I jabbed my finger at him. "Why the heck do you ALWAYS ALWAYS show up when I don't want to see you? You are so INFURIATING!" I shook my fists at him. "And, and how is it that you can be so, so…" I gestured at him wildly. "THIS. What is THIS? Why exactly are you so NORMAL? Actually-" holding out my palm to stop any protests that might have been coming, I pinched the bridge of my nose. "No, I get it. I understand. You can only act like this because YOU weren't in MY position." I glared at him angrily. I was livid, but at the same time, I felt close to tears. "Have a little compassion will you?" I snapped as I stormed out of the apartment, grabbing a hooded jacket on the way. It would've been perfect, apart from the fact that I couldn't hold back a yelp when I pathetically stubbed my toe on the door. Way to ruin a tantrum…
Knees drawn all the way up to my chest, I sat in Orihime's living room with a comical expression somewhere between a pout and a frown.
"I just don't believe Grimmjow would just stand there and take all that." She shook her head in disbelief.
"Me neither." I muttered into my scarf. I hadn't bothered taking it off before plopping down and spewing my troubles to the poor girl. I'd gone to Ayame and Keiko's places too, but they were out. Luckily, Orihime was home. "He's going to kill me."
"No he's not" she replied patiently.
"Yes he is." I insisted stubbornly. "He's going to kill me, rip me into shreds and make me into soup." I stared glumly into my half empty cup of tea. What possessed me to yell at him like that, I had no idea. To be honest, I didn't exactly regret my outburst, but rather, I regretted that I probably would have to die because of that.
"No. He. Won't." Flicking me on the forehead, she refilled my cup. "He likes you."
"He rejected me." I retorted bluntly.
"I can't believe that either." She frowned, clearly puzzled.
"Oh yeah?" Grumpily, I downed my newly refilled cup of tea in one shot. "Well, he did."
"Look," she sighed, "I think it's a misunderstanding."
"I think not." I shot back. "He made it very clear that he did not feel the same way." I sniffed, hurt and slightly humiliated at the same time.
"How exactly did he say it?" she gazed at me, waiting for an answer.
"He said: 'I see'."
I watched Orihime's jaw drop as her eyes grew bigger and rounder to the extent that it looked like they were going to pop out of their sockets.
"I know right?" I sniffed again. "Way to break a young maiden's heart."
"What, no-I mean, Nagi, I think-wait, no-" I stared as she spluttered, seemingly unable to construct a comprehendible sentence.
"What?" I snorted. "Am I wrong?"
"Yes, um, no, I mean, no, you're not wrong, but you're wrong!"
An awkward silence filled the room before I decided to speak.
"Orihime. That makes no sense." I told her straightforwardly.
"No, um, yes! I know, I know it seems like it makes no sense, but it actually makes a lot of sense!" her arms flailed as she desperately tried to explain.
"That makes even less sense." I smiled wryly at her attempts.
Suddenly she froze.
"What?" leaning closer, I peered at her face. "You're kind of pale…are you ok?" I was starting to get worried.
Suddenly I was lifted off the ground by someone holding the hood of my jacket. Shrieking, I floundered in mid-air. "Wha-wha-WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" I screamed. "PUT ME DOWN! WHO THE HECK ARE YOU?!" There was no answer. Finally, after about a minute or so, I gave up, completely exhausted. I need to start exercising…I sighed. Grouchily, I crossed my arms as I slowly rotated in the air until I met a pair of electric blue eyes. And oh look, guess who they belonged to?
"You're comin' with me."