Chapter 32
"We'll be looking for sunlight
Or the headlights
Till our wide eyes burn blind
We'll be lacing the same shoes
That we've worn through." – Halsey.
Grimmjow observed the sunrise from his bedroom window and frowned.
He got up and stretched, it was a cold morning. He looked at his empty bed and huffed, he never expected Rukia to actually accept his invitation to go on an adventure with him but it was worth a shot. Sighing he remembered what happened last night.
"I don't know what to say" Rukia said while looking uncertain at the window.
"You don't have to say anything" Grimmjow said with a smirk "but we should leave now, your brother might check on you sooner or later."
Rukia let go off his hand and looked aside. She seemed to ponder her options for a minute and Grimmjow was growing impatient, he could swear that he was hearing footsteps outside her door.
"I can't go with you" she said finally and Grimmjow groaned
"Why the hell not?" he asked and Rukia frowned at him.
"Well, first of all" she started "my sister would get worried sick, I cannot do that to her."
Grimmjow didn't say anything at that, he knew how close the princess and her sister were, if anyone were to try to become between them they would meet hell, they were very protective of each other.
"Besides" she continued "my brother would kill you."
Grimmjow snorted at that but kept quiet. He wanted to tell her how he wasn't afraid of her brother but it would sound like a lie, anyone with a decent amount of self-preservation would be scared shitless of Kuchiki fucking Byakuya.
"Also" she said as if she wasn't tearing down Grimmjow's hopes and dreams of being with her "I know that you won't like to hear this but I'm engaged."
Grimmjow glared at the ceiling.
"I don't see a fucking ring on that pretty little hand of yours." He said darkly and Rukia sighed heavily "I really want to be with you Princess" he said and she hugged him.
"I know" she said "I want to be able to hang out with you too."
Grimmjow chuckled inwardly. She obviously didn't get the innuendo behind his words.
"Don't worry Grimmjow" she said reassuringly "I'll be fine and I'll call you to let know how everything's going."
Grimmjow hugged her back.
"Yeah, we'll see each other soon anyway."
After that he said goodbye and left.
Well, it was going to be a shitty day but he had something to look forward to, the match against Kurosaki's high school was closer than ever.
Byakuya had a speech planned. He could actually picture Rukia shedding one or two tears and explaining to him what happened, but as always she surprised him, she was ready earlier than usual and ran downstairs to look at him with panic written all over her face.
Byakuya blinked.
"Is something wrong?" he asked calmly.
"You didn't plan this, right?! You didn't chose Ichigo as my fiancée just because you know him a lot, right?!" she asked.
Byakuya sighed. Judging by the bags under her eyes she had been thinking about it the whole night, he wanted to ask her why she was doubting the "engagement" decision so soon but it would ruin the prank.
"No" he said simply "in fact I just told the boy yesterday that if he were to fail to meet my expectations I wouldn't let him marry you."
Rukia gaped.
"What if I want to marry him?!" she asked rising her voice a little.
"You want to?" Byakuya asked as stoic as ever.
"No? I mean yes? I don't know! I didn't realize how sudden this decision was!"
Byakuya patted her head.
"Rukia, calm down" he said "you have time to figure things out."
Besides is not a real engagement he thought.
Rukia took a deep breath and hugged him unexpectedly.
"I want to be spoiled by you for many more years."
Byakuya hugged her back. Even if she were to marry someone he would still spoil her. He wouldn't say that aloud though.
Makoto started to feel lighter, the dizziness due to the blood loss was finally fading. Judging by how no one had visited during the night he supposed that they weren't interested about his wellbeing, hell these bastards weren't playing, they were going to get rid of him that was for sure. He had been struggling with the ropes for a long time with no avail, that was until he heard someone coming downstairs, it was the big man wearing glasses, Urahara's assistant if he wasn't mistaken.
This was his only chance.
Rukia thought that something was weird when she got to school with Riruka. The first thing that made her think that was the fact that Yui, taking her by surprise, decided to ignore her completely once she saw her. She simply huffed and turned around, Riruka and Rukia exchanged a confused look but let it aside, it wasn't a big deal anyway.
The second thing that was weird was the fact that Ichigo was late, she sent him a text asking him if he was coming but he didn't answer. Sighing she decided that she would just let things flow calmly, she and her friends were finally back so it was going to be a good day.
"Remind me again why we are doing this." Ichigo asked breathlessly at Kaien who seemed to be on a bad mood.
The whole soccer team, except for Hitsugaya, were running towards school. Literally running, they were going to get to school late and sweaty but Kaien didn't seem to mind, if anything he seemed to be determined to get on time, which according to Ichigo was impossible.
"Because" Kaien answered annoyed "we need to be in shape for the match against Hueco Mundo."
"We could've practiced after classes!" Renji, who was running next to Ichigo, argued "we're going to get to school smelling like shit."
"Exactly" Ichigo said exasperated "we don't need that kind of attention!"
"I'm sorry dear cousin" Kaien said while running faster "did you want to go to school and greet your pretty fiancée with a kiss?! Well, it's not happening! You'll have to deal with that cruel reality!"
Ichigo frowned.
"What does Rukia have to do in all of this?!" he asked, wondering why hearing the word "fiancée" filled him with pride, he shook his head "It's called common decency idiot! The principal won't let us in if we're smelling like pigs."
Kaien stopped running to look at the team with widened eyes.
Everyone stopped at the sight of him and Ichigo wondered if he had finally lost it. God knew that those days away from school and at the mercy of his sister drove him to the edge, but he didn't think that it was a big deal, Kaien was strong after all.
"Are you okay?" Hisagi asked worriedly.
"It's against the rules to enter the school in a less than decent state" Kaien said as realization hit him "I didn't remember."
Ichigo blinked.
"Uh? It's one of those new stupid rules?!" he asked angrily "you made us run like idiots before classes knowing that?!"
Kaien gasped.
"Run!" he ordered while panicking "we'll take a shower at the gym and we have to do it before the bell!"
Everyone started to run faster than before.
Ichigo was considering murdering Kaien.
Once the bell rang Rukia sighed and took her seat, she hated to see Ichigo's seat empty but she supposed that his father must've greeted him with some punches and kicks so he was obviously going to be late, perhaps he was unconscious on his living room. Sighing heavily she took out one of her notebooks, if she wanted to know about Ichigo's wellbeing she could ask Karin or Yuzu later, besides apparently they had a new teacher for science class, that was a surprise.
"Who do you think is the new teacher?" Tatsuki asked while standing next to Rukia's desk.
Rukia shrugged, she didn't have an idea.
"As long as he doesn't bore us to death it'll be fine" Riruka said while dropping her backpack on the empty desk next to Rukia "What do you think Orihime? Orihime?"
The pink haired girl started to look around trying to catch a glimpse of Orihime wasn't inside the class which was weird.
"Where is she?" Rukia asked curiously.
"Probably talking with Ishida in the hallway" Tatsuki answered with a sigh "I haven't give him the talk about respecting girls, is it weird that I find it unusual that she finally has a good boyfriend?"
Riruka smirked.
"Oh, that's not weird at all, she deserves a good boy after all" she said "what I find amusing is the fact that she's the one who kissed him first, that boy would've died right there."
"Oh" Rukia said sadly "I missed that."
"You were too busy having a mental breakdown because the orange haired loser and Mr. Muscles at the dance" Tatsuki said "talking about that, did you fix everything with Ichigo?"
Riruka laughed hard and Rukia looked aside.
"What?" Tatsuki asked "did something happen?"
Riruka winked at her.
"You'll have to wait until lunch to hear the whole story" she said "let's just say that the Kuchiki Princess here lost ten percent of her virginity during suspension."
Tatsuki gaped and Rukia threw angrily an eraser at Riruka's head.
"Shut up!" she hissed "if someone overhears you I'm dead meat!"
"What happened?!" Tatsuki asked but they couldn't continue the conversation.
The new teacher stepped into the class.
"Youngsters, I need you all to take your seats! We're going to have fun today!"
Rukia's eyes widened when she recognized the voice.
"Is everything okay?" Riruka asked her after seeing her expression.
"Urahara Kisuke" Rukia said and the mad hatter bowed respectfully at the class.
"Nice to see you everyone."
"Okay, I need everyone to take off your clothes!" Kaien ordered and everyone looked at him with fear.
"That's a little bit too much, dude." Renji said while carefully taking two steps back "we're no taking a shower together, it's unsanitary."
"Not to mention that your cousin is here" Hisagi said "if you're into that kind of relationship we have no right to judge but I seriously don't want to watch that."
Ichigo shuddered.
"I understand that the suspension hit you hard but we're not to blame." He said.
Kaien glared at them.
"I'm not going to repeat myself, take off your clothes."
Everyone gulped.
Kaien had finally lost his shit.
Hisana laughed while pouring tea for Byakuya.
"She's doubting the decision so soon?" she asked him "poor thing, she probably thinks that you arranged the whole thing."
Byakuya closed his eyes exasperated.
"She has amazing grades, a huge sense of adventure and she actually likes to learn new things. She's supposed to be brilliant, yet she believes that I, of all people, would let her be engaged at such young age and with such a boy. I wonder how her brain works sometimes."
Hisana chuckled at that.
"It doesn't" he told him "I mean, not when it comes to Ichigo, it's like she loses all common sense."
Byakuya took a sip of his tea.
"That's the other thing" the Kuchiki heir said "the boy according to what I heard, wants to be a lawyer in the future, turns out that he is incapable of deducing that the signature of two horny teenagers means nothing without the parent's approval, isn't he supposed to be smart too?"
Hisana laughed at that.
Byakuya was glad to see her happy, that was the only positive side that he could see about this whole situation.
"They are made for each other, don't you think?" she asked with a playful smile and Byakuya simply ignored her.
He wouldn't admit that, not in a million years.
Kurosaki Isshin knew that Urahara was playing the teacher's role right now, either way he decided to stop by his tiny shop to check on Makoto. Whether he was alive or not wasn't that important but it was clear how the bastard couldn't be left alone for long periods of time, besides his gut was telling him that something was wrong.
He stepped into the tiny shop expecting to find Tessai cleaning but the tall man was nowhere to be found. He looked around and when he realized that there were some drops of blood on the floor he ran towards the basement. The first thing he saw was an unconscious Tessai on the floor, he kneeled next to him and checked his pulse, he was alive.
Sighing heavily he looked at the chair in which Makoto was supposed to be.
It was empty.
Kurosaki Isshin cursed under his breath, Makoto was free again.
Much to Rukia's surprise Urahara turned out to be an amazing teacher. She didn't get bored at all and she even found herself enjoying every second so much that when the bell rang it came as a surprise. Lots of students looked as disappointed as her after realizing how fast time went.
"Now" Uarahara said "don't look so sad, we'll see each other tomorrow too."
Everyone started to leave the class but she felt the need to talk with the mad hatter for a second so she stood in the classroom even after everyone left.
"Is something the matter, Kuchiki-san?" He asked with a smile.
"I'm just confused" she said sincerely "aren't you the owner of a humble business in the middle of the city?"
Urahara just smiled wider.
"I happen to have a lot of abilities."
Rukia nodded.
"Right" she said "including private detective, right? I mean, you were the one who found me and everything."
Urahara chuckled.
"Oh no" he said "that was Kurosaki Ichigo, it was thanks to him that I found out where you were."
Rukia smiled fondly at the memory of her days hiding in Ichigo's closet.
"I never thanked you for that" Rukia said "I mean, you helped me a lot."
Urahara shrugged.
"There's nothing to thank me" he assured her "your brother and sister were pretty generous with me back then."
Rukia didn't know what to say to that.
"Well" she said "I guess we'll see each other tomorrow."
"Of course, Kuchiki-san!"
She left the classroom and found Riruka waiting for her on the hallway along with Tatsuki and Orihime, she was really glad to be back.
Zaraki Kenpachi knew several things about teenagers.
To begin with, he knew that teenagers were pretty energetic, smart and reckless pieces of shit. He also knew that teenagers were competitive as fuck, that's why he liked to work with them, he could push them to the limit of their physical abilities on the field and they wouldn't complain. He actually liked teenagers, that's why he took under his wing Ikkaku, Yumichika and Renji, he could see their potential.
Unfortunately, he also knew that teenagers were idiots, dumbasses, and stupid pieces of shit.
That's why he wasn't surprised when he found the soccer team, his fucking soccer team, arguing half naked on the showers.
Once he stepped inside everyone turned to look at him with widened eyes and Abarai, had the nerve to scream like a little girl before hiding behind a curtain. He glared with all his might at them, they were already on a lot of problems with the principal and yet, here they were, creating more unnecessary paperwork for him and earning another suspension.
He wanted to kill the whole lot of them.
"Listen up here" Kenpachi started "I already gave full reports of all of you to the principal and I hate, with my whole soul, the fucking paperwork."
Chad took some steps back along with Hisagi.
"Now, because you already missed classes today while being here having a nice bath together I'll have to deliver more paperwork."
Ichigo exchanged a panicked stricken face with Renji.
"So, if I'm going to suffer, you're going to suffer with me."
"Do you want us to fill paperwork?" Ikkaku asked confused.
"Hell no" Kenpachi said with a menacing grin "you're going to do laps around the whole school until you cannot breathe anymore."
Everyone nodded and started to look for their clothes, they wanted to get away from their angry coach as soon as possible.
"What the fuck are you idiots doing?" Kenpachi asked.
"We're changing" Ichigo answered "before running our laps we have to change."
"I said I wanted you to suffer, Kurosaki" Kenpachi said "so you're going to run just as you are right now."
Kaien's eyes widened as he looked at his teammates.
"But we're wearing just towels around our waists!" he said dumbfounded.
"So the whole school will see your nipples? So everyone will see your belly button? Can't handle a little bit of public humiliation? Is that your problem? I gave you an order! Go run around the school until you pass out! NOW!"
The whole team gulped, they didn't have another choice.
Once Rukia and the other girls were outside the classroom they noticed a group of people laughing and cheering to something on the school yard so they approached them to see what the ruckus was about. Rukia's eyes widened when she saw the whole soccer team running laps wearing nothing but towels to cover their privates.
"Fuck" Tatsuki cursed and covered Orihime's eyes "can someone please make them stop?"
Riruka laughed and pointed to a team member in particular.
"Hey, loser" she said to Rukia "now I see why you chose the orange haired idiot instead of the blue haired one, to think that you'll be under that body on your honeymoon, I bet you'll behave like a pillow princess that night."
Rukia blushed and looked at Ichigo who in that moment looked at her.
He blushed when he saw her looking at him with widened eyes and rosy cheeks, had she always looked at him like that? Unfortunately that moment of distraction made him trip and he ended up pushing Kaien by accident, his cousin was surprised at that and the towel that was covering him fell to the floor.
Everyone yelled and some girls covered their eyes while others kept watching with widened eyes.
"I'll kill you!" Kaien promised to Ichigo who was frantically helping him to cover his manhood "you're dead!"
Rukia, who was now covering her eyes, decided that this was a weird day. She didn't need to see anything more, it was enough to hear Kaien yelling death threats to Ichigo while running around the school.
Still, the idea of having a honeymoon with Ichigo didn't sound so bad now.
Hey, is anyone still here? Thank you so much for reading! I honestly tried to update sooner but life always gets in the way, hopefully if you're still here you'll like this chapter. I would love to read your thoughts and I hope I was able to make you smile with this silly thing!
So, as I said some time ago, I know how this story is going to end, I planned that since the beginning, I think that it'll take like five chapters more to finish it, I'm not entirely sure. I hope you keep reading until the end, I seriously cannot keep delaying this anymore.
Thank you again and I you're still around let me know.
I apologize, as always, for my grammar mistakes.
Kisses!
