Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach and I can't help it, there are some Friends references in this chapter also :D
A/N: Hi, again. Thanks everyone for keeping up with this story! I want to apologize first, sorry I haven't updated in a month… and really sorry, guys, tried to keep the chapter short, I tried but I failed -_- I do hope you all can enjoy reading this chapter. Warning: High school drama is back on the table hahaha.
And there are some parts in past tense (because it happened in the past haha), and there are some references to the earlier chapters.
Enjoy reading!
Boys will be boys. That's what people say. It can't be more accurate than that when Renji literally spends his last 30 minutes doing a smack down and wrestling with his so-called brother to fight for his bed, of all things, just because Ichigo is there with his pillow and blanket, hogging his bed.
He is such a loser. Renji thinks.
The redhead kicks Ichigo for the 3rd time. "This is my bed, you moron!" He yells, "go back to your room, maybe that little chick ghost is waiting for you in your closet!"
"Goddamnit," Ichigo grinds his teeth and tackles Renji and almost suffocates his so-called brother with a pillow.
Hearing all the ruckus, Karin opens the door, at the same moment catches her brother pinning down her adoptive brother on the bed. "Well, this isn't pretty." She mumbles, full of sarcasm.
Ichigo and Renji yell at her in unison. "Shut up and close the door!"
Karin shakes her head and shouts back, "You two shut up! Some people are trying to sleep here!" She slams the door. "No funny business, Ichi-nii, or I am telling Rukia-nee! I have her number now!"
In the end, Renji wins the bed and he generously lets Ichigo sleep on the futon on the floor. It is around 10 and Renji knows his friend is still awake. He is still watching NBA highlights on his phone after all.
Renji stares at the ceiling, his mind wandering to some things. He may be Ichigo's best friend too, his brother. But, before Ichigo, Renji is Rukia's. Renji loves her too, not in a romantic way, they're all long gone (his feelings for her), buried and kept in a box, in a special place in his heart. She has always been that special to him.
Renji has encountered many boys before Ichigo who fell head over heels for Rukia but never made it through her heart, it was like everyone knocked, and Rukia didn't even try to see who it was. And Renji used to hold some kind of pride that he was the only guy that could be in her heart, probably tucked and buried in a special box too. He likes to think that Rukia cares about him too, somehow (she does).
But now, Rukia finally has that someone in her heart, not kept and buried in a special corner like Renji, but there is the biggest proportion of her heart reserved for him, Ichigo. And Renji can't be more relieved than that. At least, her heart isn't that ice-cold anymore. At least, he now gets to see Rukia receiving and giving love in return, she deserves that much. And it is the same for Ichigo too, at least, Renji now gets to see life in his friend's used-to-be-dull eyes.
They're good for each other. Rukia and Ichigo. Renji recognizes it soon after the first moment he saw Ichigo checking his best friend out. That day he said it was going to be interesting. And he is right indeed.
Ichigo is his bestest boy, Renji has said it million times. But, as Rukia's best friend, Renji supposes he still needs to have the talk. Because that's the common courtesy? Ranji laughs. No, because he wants to.
Renji lies on his side, his head propped up with one elbow, picking his ear nonchalantly. "Ichigo,"
Ichigo murmurs something like, "what?" in the dark.
"So, you and Rukia, now?" In an official kind of way.
Ichigo pauses his NBA highlights video. He always pays attention when it comes to Rukia. "Yeah. Me and Rukia." He is no longer shy to admit it. His answer is straightforward, clearly proud to have her in his life.
"Listen, I am talking here as Rukia's best friend, not your brother."
Ichigo almost scoffs. He always finds it amusing when both of them swallow their pride and accept the fact that, yeah, they are kind of brothers now. "But, you're still my brother, though?"
"Don't be a smartass," Renji rolls his eyes, and the corner of his lips lifts up a little bit too much than he intends to. "I'm going to say it once, so listen to me, and listen good." The redhead scratches his neck nervously, he is not used to being all serious with Ichigo. They're always bickering or joking around.
"Take good care of her," he tells him. She means a lot to me, there is the unsaid subtext that Ichigo can decipher.
"Don't ever let her go," because Renji thinks no one is going to be good enough for Rukia, except Ichigo, and no one is going to be good enough for Ichigo, except Rukia. They both deserve each other that much.
"If you ever hurt her, I'll hate you, you know." He tells him.
Ichigo doesn't say anything for a while, but Renji knows Ichigo gets it.
"Yeah, I'll hate me too."
Renji smirks. That's his bestest boy right there.
"I won't even talk to you anymore. I'll just hunt you down and kick your sorry ass."
This time Ichigo snorts.
"I'm serious," Renji's voice is gruff.
Ichigo smirks, and his voice is clearly teasing him. "So, that's it? Now, you're my brother again?"
Renji chuckles and picks his ear again. "Yeah, fine, whatever."
The room gets silent again for a little while, and then.
"Oi, Renji," Ichigo calls the redhead.
"What?"
His cocky smirk is so palpable even in the dark Renji can picture it, "you won't believe what my girlfriend's shitass best friend just said to me,"
Renji throws and smacks a pillow hardly on his face.
Ichigo may be his bestest boy, but he really is an ass sometimes.
"You're mostly a shitty wingman, but you have your moments, I guess," Ichigo says again. Renji laughs. Ichigo IS an ass. Renji thinks he is not that shitty, after all. The moment Renji told Rukia that Ichigo had a massive crush on her, things escalated pretty quickly. So, give him credit where it's due.
Renji grins. "Just say it, dumbass," he wants a thank you from the man.
Ichigo smacks his pillow back at his face instead. It doesn't matter. They always communicate better with fists after all. Boys will be boys, indeed.
Then, "Oi, Ichigo." Renji remembers something. "Speaking of wingman," he begins, "didn't we make a pact?"
Ichigo plays his NBA videos again. "What pact?"
"If I fix you up with someone, you gotta fix me up with some chicks, too."
Ichigo raises an eyebrow and snorts again, "when did I ever do that?"
Renji scratches his chin. He isn't sure. Was it Ikkaku? Was it Ichigo? It was Hisagi.
"Doesn't matter." Renji yawns and groans, "Fix me up with one of your friends."
Renji knows he sounds stupid. Ichigo doesn't even have chick friends. Girls are too intimidated to be close to him, they're just fawning over him from distance.
"My friends, huh."
After a minute there, Ichigo plays his video again and mutters, "I don't think Tatsuki is willing to handle your crap,"
Renji chokes at that one and Ichigo snickers.
Arisawa? Yeah, not gonna happen. They're not enemies, Renji muses, they're pretty much civil (not). But, for some time now, they've been on each other's throats, because Tatsuki acts like a bratty captain of Ichigo and Inoue's ship, and Renji never sits well with that. After all, he is a self-claimed respected navigator of the Ichigo and Rukia ship (because the whipped lover boy over here is the own captain of that ship).
Renji laughs then. "Yeah, I don't think she will."
This was nice, talking to each other when it's near midnight. They've never really done this before, except for the first day and first few weeks after Renji ran away from his foster parents' home with multiple bruises on his ribs and back and went to Ichigo's for shelter because he had nowhere else to go. Ichigo used to share his room with him until the Kurosakis officially took him in, and Isshin renovated the 2nd floor of the house to make room for his new adopted son.
This is nice. Today has been a good day after all.
Later that night when the two boys have stopped chatting, Renji is trying to sleep, but he knows Ichigo is still watching his NBA videos. Renji isn't surprised since Ichigo almost always has trouble getting to sleep. He never sleeps before midnight. But then, at 10.30 PM, Renji hears Ichigo's phone vibrates and his best friend answers the call in a low voice, probably so he won't disturb him.
"Hey," Ichigo answers. "Still awake too?"
Without actually seeing who it is, Renji can take a wild guess who'd call Ichigo this late at night. Besides, Ichigo does sound different when he talks to her.
Renji glances a little from his bed and almost wants to smirk. Ichigo's head is propped up with one arm under the pillow, his face facing his phone, and Renji can slightly see Rukia's pretty face on Ichigo's phone. Didn't they just spend almost an entire afternoon together? Why are they video-calling each other right now? Whipped.
Ichigo puts on his AirPods then so he won't bother Renji with the noise, so Renji can't really hear Rukia's side of the conversation.
"Yeah, I drank the tea,"
Rukia is saying something and Ichigo chuckles. Renji thinks he sounds happier with her too. "while the waterfall and rain sound playlist was nice, Rukia," (he lies, it was boring as hell) Ichigo runs his hand through his orange folks out of habit, "I'd rather listen to you nagging me nonstop until I fall asleep?" Or simply just looking at her face.
For the next 30 minutes, Renji can faintly hear Rukia's talking about a lot of things, and Ichigo listens and at times he scoffs (because Ichigo is still an arrogant asshole no matter what, even to his girlfriend), chuckles, or grins like a fool simp in love he actually is.
Exactly at 11 PM, Ichigo finally falls asleep which surprises Renji greatly because he is rarely able to drift to sleep before midnight. When Renji sneaks a little peek again, he can faintly see and hear Rukia's telling him goodnight. Renji shakes his head and plugs out the AirPods from Ichigo's ears.
Looking at how smitten his two best friends are now for each other, it looks like his third-wheeling days are going to start already.
He sighs. Yeah, Renji is happy for them, but he also feels like he is single as hell. He really needs to find a girlfriend or something.
Is Arisawa really unlikely to keep up with his crap? Renji shudders and shakes his head. Yeah, no, what the hell is he thinking about anyway?
Single as hell, indeed.
Ulquiorra Schiffer never knows love before.
He doesn't even believe that he has a heart. There is the heart that keeps his blood pumped, but that is there to it. There is no love in it. There is a hole in his chest though. It is all empty. There is nothingness.
He has never had parents. He also has never had a family, for as long as he can remember. So, what is love? What is a heart? Ulquiorra asks once. He can't see that. He doesn't think it exists.
Until he met her, that girl, that woman that carries her heart in the palm of her hands. Like it is real, like it is something that she can bare for the world to see.
Ulquiorra first met Orihime Inoue a year ago. On the first day at school, well, after school, to be precise. He was just walking home (it wasn't a home, just some place where he sleeps and eats and lives), hands in his pocket, quietly walking and minding his own business, when he noticed her for the first time.
A bunch of thugs, drunk, stupid, weak, and disgusting were bothering this girl, this long-haired girl on her way home. They were whistling at her, she halted her steps, and tried to turn around, probably looking for some alternative ways to reach her destination, but one of those disgusting men caught her hand, and Ulquiorra could see the fear in the girl's orbs. "Hey, hey, come on, where are you going, beautiful?"
The man almost touched her and that was when Ulquiorra moved. He didn't know why he did. Maybe, because he wanted to go home and these scums were blocking his way.
He cracked the drunken thug's wrist that day. And the rest ran for their lives, thinking they had seen a devil. Ulquiorra did not do it for her, he didn't even know her.
The very first word she said to him was, "Thank you..." with those tears in her eyes.
He let her walk in front of him, carefully maintaining the distance. He told himself that no, he wasn't watching out for her. Why would he? He didn't even know her.
It turned out that girl was living in the same apartment complex as he was. Her room was one floor below his.
On the next day at school, Ulquiorra saw her again. He was never one to pay attention, but it was hard to forget the fear and the tears on her face, a face with so many emotions, something that Ulquiorra never had.
They were in the same class. He never bothered to remember her name. That woman, he called her that in his mind.
Orihime Inoue, the voice inside his head said.
He watched her, but he was not the only one. Everyone watched her, boys, girls, it didn't matter. People said Orihime Inoue was the most beautiful girl at school. She was beautiful, kind, sweet, innocent, smart, and... perfect in every way.
The queen bee, they soon after called her, but she was the unusual queen bee, the one of a kind, the one who never tramples anyone's feeling and acts sweet, pure, innocent, and kind like a maiden from a fairy tale.
She was never that superficial to Ulquiorra. She was everything that he never understood. A puzzle he wanted to learn.
He always walked behind her. He didn't do that on purpose, he told himself. He didn't wait for her secretly at the school gate just to match their going-home time, to make sure she was safe. He didn't do that. Why would he?
She knew he was following her. She didn't think he was a creepy stalker. Why would she? Orihime never thought the worst of people. She only saw the good in them.
Ulquiorra Schiffer was a scary man, that was what the girls at school thought. He was cool, and he had a lot of fans, but he was scary and mysterious, something that drew a lot of attention from the high school girls.
Orihime was scared of him at first. But, later on, she realized that when he walked her home, she felt safe, she felt like there was a shadow that would always protect her from harm. So, no, she was not afraid of Ulquiorra Schiffer.
Their walk back to their apartment was never that silent again. She talked a lot, even about the most bizarre things. And he listened. He rarely replied, but he paid attention.
Ulquiorra found out that, this girl was just like him, she was alone and she had no family ever since her brother died in an accident. She had no one, just like him. Then, why did they turn out so different? Why was she so full of love and warmth with so many emotions she bared proudly for everyone to see? Why was the only thing he could feel emptiness, nothingness?
He never understood her. They were the complete opposites of each other.
On some weekends, she often rang the bell of his apartment door, cheerfully and softly telling him, that she was cooking this wasabi chocolate cake or this onigiri with custard filling or red bean paste sandwiches, telling him that he should try them because they were very good. He tried them for her.
On their way home, Orihime talked about Kurosaki Ichigo the most. Ulquiorra didn't understand why there was something in his chest that weighted him down by the mention of that guy's name on her lips.
"Kurosaki-kun was incredible today, wasn't he?"
She told him one day, after Kurosaki and his team won the football championship for high school students last year, near the end of their first year of high school. At that time, Orihime, not yet the captain of the cheerleading team, gave Kurosaki a bouquet of flowers, after the match, right in the middle of the pitch, and kissed him on the cheek. Everyone was there to witness the moment, even Kurosaki's own sisters and father saw that.
It was such a talk back then. How romantic, everyone said. That was when the rumors began (although it got way out of control only after That Night). That was when there were people that started shipping the two, the beautiful Hime, and the handsome Kurosaki Ichigo, thinking that the two were a match made in heaven in every girl's high school fantasy. Orihime blushed hard, her hand clutched the shirt in front of her beating heart. The whole audience whistled at the two. Kurosaki looked kind of confused and taken aback, but he received the flowers, nonetheless.
Just thinking about it made her heart flutter.
When Ichigo was made captain of the football team and Orihime was chosen to be the captain of the cheerleading team right after the first year ended, the shipping got even wilder. And Orihime's talk about Kurosaki-kun this, Kurosaki-kun that, even got more intense.
Ulquiorra could only wonder, what did she see in him? Kurosaki Ichigo? The man that never even lifted his head when she walked into the room? The man that never even initiated a conversation with her unless she started it?
"I am... I am so in love with him, Ulquiorra-kun..." Ulquiorra only realized one thing. She rarely called him by name.
She sounded so soft, so fragile, and so weak. "I am so, so in love with Kurosaki-kun, sometimes it hurts..." she clenched the shirt covering her heart again. Orihime told him one day after the first day of school. Her eyes were swollen because of her tears. They met in the hallway, Orihime was running and crying and Ulquiorra caught her.
Ulquiorra stopped walking beside her. His hands in his pocket made fists. His eyes were cold, but his heart was not that empty anymore.
The reason why Ulquiorra let it all unfold before his eyes were because he wanted to know, this thing, love or heart that woman held in her palm, to what extent that she would fight for it? He wanted to see this love.
That night, the famous That Night before the 2nd year of high school started, where gossip uncontrollably swirled around about how the football captain saved the sweet cheerleading captain, Kurosaki Ichigo was not beaten and lost to Grimmjow Jagerjacques like most people were told to believe.
The villain was Grimmjow Jaggerjacques, the princess was Inoue Orihime, but the prince in the shining armor surely wasn't Kurosaki Ichigo.
Ichigo literally busted the door open and wasted no time kicking Grimmjow out of bed, and the blue-haired jock clearly spit and cursed and fought back, but it was not a losing match for Kurosaki, it was not even close to a draw. Kurosaki could easily win that fight and walk away without a broken nose.
It wasn't Grimmjow who beat Kurosaki Ichigo senseless.
"Kurosaki-kun! Stop, stop, Kurosaki-kun, please!" It was Orihime's voice in Grimmjow's bedroom, crying, screaming, begging, and hurting.
Even Ulquiorra from outside the bedroom could hear her cries. But, Kurosaki Ichigo did not.
Kurosaki Ichigo didn't even give a slight glance at her state. His objective was clear. He just wanted to fight. She was never his priority. If she was, he would just take her and leave, but he didn't. He didn't even stop when he had pinned Grimmjow to the floor. He could've taken her away then if he cared one bit about the situation Orihime was in and her dignity (vulnerable, undressed, frustrated, and hurt). But Kurosaki didn't even pull his punches and Grimmjow's laughter filled the room even more.
Ulquiorra saw that, it was clear where Ichigo Kurosaki's eyes were, where his heart was, but Orihime couldn't.
Hearing her agonizing cries and shame and guilt, as she was frustratedly clinging to the thin sheet covering her undressed state, Ulquiorra decided he couldn't take that anymore.
So, he went in there and ended things once and for all.
Kurosaki Ichigo was beaten to a pulp by Ulquiorra Schiffer that night, not Grimmjow Jaggerjacques.
That love, that heart that woman proudly kept talking about? Where was it? Ulquiorra couldn't see it in Kurosaki's amber eyes as Ulquiorra punched his face without mercy.
It was different, in that abandoned building, where Kurosaki Ichigo turned his face around and kicked Grimmjow right in the abdomen at the mere mention of Kuchiki Rukia's name.
Even without the said Kuchiki Rukia's heart-shattering cries, without "Kurosaki-kun, please Kurosaki-kun, please!", as Yammy held the orange-haired captain's both arms from behind and Kurosaki became a punching bag for Di Roy, Grimmjow, and Ulquiorra, there was something in his eyes and action, something that Ulquiorra did not find That Night.
This time Ulquiorra knew Kurosaki Ichigo wasn't looking for a fight, he was protecting that Kuchiki Rukia.
Ulquiorra knew that the heart in Orihime Inoue's palm shouldn't be for Kurosaki Ichigo. He never deserved it. He never even fought for it.
And the moment Ulquiorra kissed her, feeling the softness of her lips on his, Ulquiorra Schiffer got the answer. Maybe, he couldn't see the heart, the love, but he could feel it.
Grimmjow eventually picked up something. That day, when Orihime's slap was still warm and burning on his pale cheek, Grimmjow shoved him roughly onto the locker in the baseball team HQ the moment he stepped into the room.
The baseball captain gritted his teeth and grinned at him mockingly, "You're screwing her too, huh?"
Ulquiorra shoved his hand away. Grimmjow's fist was this close to his face but Ulquiorra caught his wrist and twisted it so hard that his bones cracked.
In pain, Grimmjow shouted like a mad man, "Goddamnit, she is mine!"
Ulquiorra knew Grimmjow never had real objectives. He acted like a jerk only to seek attention, out of frustration. He was that typical spoiled brat who never got to know a father's love but only knew violence. Even though he was coming from a rich family, his dad beat his mom, but his mom stayed for the money. It was a broken home thing shit.
Grimmjow tormented Orihime because she was weak and he thought he could pick a fight with Kurosaki by doing that. After all, Grimmjow was just really fucked up in the head, and he hated that Kurosaki was doing good, healing in the right way, he hated that. Now that he didn't have anything on Kurosaki anymore, Grimmjow just acted out of frustration, looking for anything, anyone to blame.
Ulquiorra pushed him so hard that he hit the ground with a loud crash and kicked him in the stomach. Their other friends never dared to interrupt. They were always weaker compared to Grimmjow and Ulquiorra.
When Grimmjow coughed and grunted in pain, Ulquiorra, hands still in his pockets, kicked him again and again and again, harder and harder, and told him, coldly, spiteful, "she is no longer yours to torment."
And he left the room without turning back, and it was only Yammy who followed him. The rest stayed with the blue-haired jock.
Grimmjow didn't go to school for an entire week because of those injuries.
Last week, Orihime skipped school almost for the entire week. She needed the time. Orihime stayed at Tatsuki's all the while. In this one week, the cheerleading captain got to be alone. Orihime was thinking, reminiscing, and contemplating things.
She cried, and cried and cried when she was alone and only got better when Tatsuki was home or when Ishida-kun was being sweet and visiting her. He never missed a day to deliver her cookies or warm beverages to the tomboy's place whenever he got off from school. He was so kind, Orihime thought.
One night, sleeping in Tatsuki's warm and soothing embrace, Orihime closes her eyes and reminisces how things swirled out of control into this thread of mess.
Even in the arms of the person she trusted the most, her thoughts are still suffocating her from the inside.
It all started when she met Kurosaki-kun a year ago, on their first day of school—the school opening ceremony.
Orihime remembered he was so tall and broad-shouldered from behind. His white shirt complimented his well-built but lean body well. And when he turned around, saying some things to Keigo Asano next to him, Orihime got a glimpse of his face—sharply cut, angular jaws, pointed chin and nose, furrowed eyebrows, and a deep scowl.
While her friends said that he looked scary, Orihime thought he was very handsome and funny looking at the same time.
Tatsuki watched how Orihime's eyes followed Kurosaki-kun everywhere in the huge indoor gym. "It's Ichigo. Ichigo Kurosaki," Tatsuki told her, a small, knowing smile on the tomboy's lips.
He had a funny name, too, Orihime thought. Ichigo. A cute name for someone who looked so intimidating.
Orihime blushed then, imagining how the name would roll on her tongue if she got the chance to call him by his first name. She never ended up calling him by his first name, though, because she was too shy.
Once the headmaster was finished with the welcoming speech, the new high school students scattered around the corridor, patiently waiting for the class announcement on the information board.
Orihime noticed Kurosaki-kun was standing in the corner there, with his friends. He looked… bored all the time. His shoulders were slumped and his hands stayed in his pockets. Keigo Asano was making jokes all the while and Kurosaki-kun never really seemed interested. And yet, despite his bored demeanor, he still held that aura around him—an aura that demanded to be noticed. He was that intimidating.
And he was so handsome.
Orihime wished they'd be put in the same class.
The school teachers came then with some pieces of paper and carefully stuck them on the board. Orihime was jumping around to see her name behind the crowd. Kurosaki-kun was tall enough to see the board from behind, and he still had the same bored expression on his face.
Orihime saw her name. Then her heart was beating fast. Where is he? Where is he? When she saw Kurosaki-kun's name a few rows below her, Orihime let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding.
They were in class 1-2.
Kami-sama, thank you.
Being in the same class as him meant that she got to see him in class every day—this handsome, tall, boy who scowled all the time.
Tatsuki then patted Orihime on the head. "Yosh, Hime, we're in the same class."
Oh, right. Orihime realized. She should've checked Tatsuki-chan's name first, instead of some boy she just saw this morning. She felt a little bad about it, but just shrugged it off with a smile and a nod.
"Yippie, Tatsuki-chan!"
On their first day, when their sensei decided the class's seating arrangements, Orihime wished she'd sit next to Kurosaki-kun, but fate was never on her side. Kurosaki-kun got Abarai Renji—the weird and scary-looking boy with red hair that was alone all the time like he had no friends—and Orihime was seated next to Yasutora Sado instead.
Orihime was heart-fallen at first, but she was nothing, but cheerful and full of positivity. She cheered herself and tried to see the silver linings. It wasn't too bad. She knew Sado-kun was friends with Kurosaki-kun, so maybe he would sometimes go to their seat and chat, and he'd finally notice her?
Orihime hoped.
It turned out Kurosaki-kun did approach Sado-kun quite a lot, mostly to ask the big guy to go to the cafeteria with him when it was lunchtime, but…
But Kurosaki-kun never said a word to her.
She shouldn't be dwelling too much about it, though, Orihime mused. Orihime was nothing but an optimistic girl. Kurosaki-kun only minded his own business and rarely said anything to anyone, except his friends in class; Tatsuki-chan, Abarai-kun, Asano-kun, Kojima-kun, Hitsugaya-kun, Sado-kun, and his cousin, Ishida-kun.
So, maybe, maybe… he'd talk to her later when they got to know each other?
The very first time Orihime talked to him was when their sensei asked them to do a literature essay, in the same trademark lottery style to determine the working partners. Orihime originally got Abarai-kun (he still made her feel uneasy for some reason), but Tatsuki-chan got Kurosaki-kun, and Tatsuki-chan was kind enough to switch with her, knowing Orihime's huge crush on her childhood best friend.
Orihime's imagination ran wild. Maybe they could do their task together at that café near their school, just the two of them, so from the outsiders' view, it'd be like they were two young teenagers on a date? Wasn't that café owned by Kurosaki-kun's godparents? Would Orihime get to know his family? Would they like her?
Orihime blushed hard by the idea and hoped, but.
"Inoue, right?" it was three months since they were in the same class, and Kurosaki-kun…
Kurosaki-kun knew her name.
He called her Inoue.
Her eyes lit up and her heart was beating so fast in anticipation. Where did he want to go to do the essay together? What should Orihime wear if he'd ask her to do the essay on the weekend? Was her red dress too much? Was wearing jeans too boyish? What kind of clothes could impress Kurosaki-kun so he'd at least—at least—pay attention to her? Orihime couldn't feel her legs as if all the blood there rushed to her head, she almost fainted.
But.
"Sorry, Inoue, I kind of have to do all this football tryout after school, and they call me in on weekend, too," Kurosaki-kun told her next—one afternoon after the bell rang, he was already in hurry to change into his football training gear.
Orihime heard about the football tryouts for the junior. And the current captain at that time, Ikkaku Madarame from 2nd year, was a well-known bully to the juniors. It was that hard to make it into the team.
"So, what if I just work on my part, and you do yours, and we just compile it on Monday before submitting it?"
No study date, then…?
Orihime was too stunned to decline. Her face fell but Kurosaki-kun didn't know her well enough to notice that.
They didn't end up having the imaginary date she had planned in the last 4 hours since they were decided partners.
"Okay, Kurosaki-kun…" Her disappointment was clear, but not to him.
"Thanks, Inoue," and just like that, he left the class in hurry, Renji Abarai, Keigo Asano, and Mizuiro Kojima trailing after him.
Orihime could hear Keigo Asano saying things like, "Ichigo, are you freaking crazy?! Did you really just blow the chance to spend time together, just the two of you, with the sexy goddess Inoue-san?!"
There was a voice of Renji Abarai asking, "Geez, leave him alone. Is that even that big a deal?"
Keigo turned to Renji as if the redhead had grown two heads. "Of course, it is a big deal! It's I-N-O-U-E-S-A-N, for fuck's sake!"
Renji scratched his neck, thinking. "I can see the appeal, but, goddess, really?" Abarai-kun was always that rude. His hands shoved in his pockets, the red-haired teenager scoffed, "She is alright, but compared to—"
Then Keigo Asano snorted, "Gah! I am so tired of you boasting and boasting and boasting again about this beautiful friend of yours in the States! Rukika, Rukai—what's her name again?! That one who made even Ichigo drop his jaws?"
The one who made Kurosaki-kun… what? There was this uneasy feeling in Orihime's stomach.
Ichigo scoffed to deny his friend's accusation but Keigo ignored him and went on and on, "You know, I know she looks beautiful from the photo you've shown us, but I start wondering, is she even real, because there's no way a beauty like her wants to be friends with a dumbass like you?!"
"Why you!" Renji put the brunette in a headlock to shut him up.
At that moment, Orihime didn't understand what the context was, so she shrugged it off like it was nothing.
She might have forgotten this one tiny piece of memory, but Orihime never forgets the unsettling feeling in her stomach back then. Tonight, however, it kind of makes sense.
Orihime's tears fall in the darkness of Tatuski-chan's room.
It was never a competition. She never had the chance in the first place.
Since Orihime knew that Kurosaki-kun knew her, Orihime became brave and confident enough to greet him good morning every day when he passed her and Sado-kun's seat. He was nice about it. When she said good morning, he replied 'good morning to you too, Inoue,'
But the problem was, Kurosaki-kun… he never greeted her first.
Orihime realized it, but didn't want to think too much about it, and decided to shrug it off.
Kurosaki-kun never really greeted anyone good morning in class, after all.
But, deep down, Orihime couldn't shake the feeling of why Kurosaki-kun never gave her the special treatment. Why?
It was a harmless, cute crush at first before Orihime kept learning and learning more about him from Tatsuki-chan (because they were not close, Orihime didn't know how to approach him, and Kurosaki-kun never talked to her first). After she did know more about him, about how he cared so much for his sisters, or about how he lost his mom in middle school, about how he was named after to protect, Orihime knew that harmless crush transformed into something more.
Love.
At the same time, Orihime was already doing her cheerleading tryouts. It was really hard to get into the cheerleading team, but, being the most popular and desired girl amongst the first-year graders, Orihime secured her place well and easily.
In the team, Orihime met the girls; Harribel, Loly, Luppi, Apacci, Lilynette, Franceska Mila Rose, and Sung-sun. While Harribel was mostly cold toward her, the others were really nice to her, and they were always there for her, supporting her in one way or another.
That was Orihime thought.
What Orihime never realized was that they were using her, to stay at the top of the food chain, to keep the most desirable girl in school in their circle.
They never really liked Orihime, they thought Orihime was too timid, pure, and innocent. They were actually so fed up seeing her acting so perfect in everyone else's eyes.
It might be a sick jealousy or something, seeing a girl like Orihime being so perfect like she was just plucked straight from fairytale fantasy.
That was why they wanted to change her, corrupt her.
A sick jealousy amongst toxic teenage girls.
But it was never easy to corrupt someone as pure as Orihime. And then they found her weakest point. Her love for the orange-haired football captain.
They knew Orihime would do anything for Kurosaki Ichigo's attention.
In one way or another, the more she spent time with the girls, the more they could change her.
Orihime stopped wearing the hairpin her late brother gave her because her cheerleader friends thought that it was stupid and childish and that no boys would like hot girls with childish antics.
Tatsuki showed her disdain, "If you want to keep wearing it, you should."
But, Orihime shook her head, "No, it's right, Tatsuki-chan, it's too childish… Kurosaki-kun won't like such childish girls, will he?"
Tatsuki only sighed, somehow knowing this wouldn't end well. There were moments when Tatsuki wanted to put an end to all of this, before things got too far, before their hold on Orihime got even stronger, but at the same time, in a good and ugly way altogether, Orihime did seem more confident with the girls around. And Tatsuki knew Orihime back then, from middle school, where she got bullied and ridiculed, and confidence looked good on Orihime.
And Tatsuki didn't want to take it all away from her.
Since then, the cheerleaders (plus Tatsuki) started having lunch together. During lunch breaks, Orihime was not shy and pretty vocal about her feelings for the orange-haired boy.
They started fueling Orihime's love for the boy even more. They'd want to make her look desperate since desperation would call for drastic measures.
"Oh, my God, Hime, you two will really look cute together!"
"We really think he likes you too, but too shy to admit it. I mean, look at you, Hime," they turned Orihime to face the mirror, one day in the cheerleaders' dressing room.
Orihime looked at her reflection in the mirror. She felt… she didn't know what she felt about herself.
Luppi caressed her long hair gently, "Now, what kind of guy doesn't have you as their first love?"
Orihime blushed. It was always nice to hear someone else tell her that.
But, deep down, Orihime wondered. If she was as beautiful as her friends told her… if she was every guy's first love, then… then why did Kurosaki-kun's eyes never linger on her?
Lolly was the one who pushed her to go get Kurosaki-kun's number, but Orihime didn't know how. She was too shy to ask for it directly.
Lolly then told Orihime to ask for Tatsuki's help. Tatsuki wasn't sure about giving out anyone's number without their consent, but Apacci pressed her, telling her that she was not being a good friend to Hime.
In the end, they made a little scenario where Tatsuki-chan needed to contact Kurosaki-kun but her phone was supposedly run out of battery, so she'd need Orihime's phone to text Kurosaki-kun's number.
Oi, Ichigo, it's Tatsuki, my phone's off, I'm using Hime's.
"Just wait, Hime, I bet later tonight he's going to text you with whatever excuses. I mean, what kind of guy doesn't want to text you if he got your number, right?" It was Lolly.
What Orihime never realized was the others' faces whenever one of them coaxed her into making a move on Kurosaki-kun. There were hidden snickers behind those girls' eyes.
They only wanted to hurt Orihime with false hopes and expectations.
Orihime stayed up all night, watching the online status below Kurosaki-kun's name.
She was awake until 1 AM, but his text never came.
Orihime slept with a heavy heart that night.
Later, Orihime gave up waiting for Kurosaki-kun's texts, so she started texting him first.
But he rarely replied more than common polite courtesy.
Franceska Mila Rose only rolled her eyes. "That's because your profile picture isn't hot enough, Hime." Her profile picture was just herself sitting on the grass wearing a purple dress and a layer of an old jacket. She wore too many layers, her friends told her.
"Take a selfie of you in cheerleading costume, and set it as your profile picture before you text him,"
It was a pretty photo, but Orihime actually wasn't comfortable and confident to set it as her profile photo. It was showing too much skin, and the angle boasted her already large chest, and it was showing too much cleavage.
Orihime was worried that Kurosaki-kun might think wrongly of her, but Franceska Mila Rose only laughed, "Look, you want him to text you or not?"
The dark-skinned girl told Orihime, that there was no way a guy in his sane mind would turn down the opportunity to text/call a girl with a breath-taking display picture like that. And Kurosaki Ichigo would be no exception. Because, in the end, Mila told her, guys would be just guys. And even an aloof, uncaring-asshole like Kurosaki Ichigo would fall under her feet by her photo alone.
When she put on her profile picture, her friends were right. Because guys started texting her immediately. Even Keigo Asano randomly asked her about homework. But Orihime didn't care, not when the only notification from the only guy she cared for didn't appear on her phone. She texted him then.
Hi, Kurosaki-kun, I saw you at practice today :)
It was rough, right, Kurosaki-kun? :(
The cheerleaders will be ready to support you. Kurosaki-kun, fighting! :)
Orihime watched him this Friday afternoon. She never missed the football team's training schedules. They weren't kidding when they said it was that hard and gruesome to make it into the football team. The training was absolutely crazy now that the team was training hard for the upcoming championship. Ikkaku Madarame was a mad man. The vice-captain, Hisagi Shuuhei wasn't any better. They made the first-year players run a thousand laps and did a thousand sit-ups and push-ups, and Orihime watched.
Kurosaki-kun looked tired, and yet he always looked extremely handsome and boyish in his football gear. Orihime loved watching him when he practiced. Because the usually bored-looking Kurosaki-kun always looked more alive when he ran and dribbled around, made assists, and scored goals with a cocky grin on his face because he knew, everyone knew, how good he was with the ball.
After practice, Kurosaki-kun took off his shirt and hang it on his shoulder. The cheerleader saw the sweat running down his face and body as he drank a bottle of cold water in one gulp, and Orihime blushed and just wanted to be the girl who gave him his drink and wiped the sweat off him. She wanted to be the girl on the sideline he directed his goal celebration at. She wanted to be the girl who supported him, wearing their school jersey with his last name on her back.
Her daydreaming made her realize it had been two hours since she sent the texts. Kurosaki-kun was online but he didn't even read them.
Tatsuki-chan's words were, "Ichigo rarely texts, Orihime. He's like an old, caveman, really. If he wants to talk to you, he will just call."
So, Orihime hoped. It was 8 PM already. Was he still preoccupied with his family? Was he out with his dad? (because Tatsuki-chan told her, Kurosaki-kun's dad always took him out on Fridays) Would he be calling her later tonight when things had quieted down, so he could focus solely on her?
Orihime waited and waited and waited for her phone to ring.
He only replied to her four hours later, even though Orihime knew he was online all this time.
Thanks, Inoue
Orihime squealed against her pillow.
Kurosaki-kun thanked her for her support. It could be the beginning of her fantasy. Them, being the cutest and most desirable high school sweethearts. He, playing football for their school, and she, supporting him with her cheerleading.
Orihime blushed and waited for him to start another topic, anything, anything to show her that he wanted to keep talking to her. Because it was near midnight already, and Kurosaki-kun was still online, and now he could focus on her, right? They could chat, or they could talk until midnight?
But the texting bubbles never came, and neither did his call.
There was the unsettling feeling again in her stomach.
Later when she voiced her concern, her friends were at it again, rolling their eyes at her. "Don't be silly, Hime. He is just too shy to text you!"
One of Orihime's fond memories with Kurosaki-kun was that one day near the end of their first year of high school. It was actually the one day that drove her even more straightforward in pursuing her love. That day wasn't perfect, but Orihime would cling to even the slightest moment she had with him.
Next week was going to be the final of the football championship for high school students. Neliel Tu, captain of the cheerleading team at that moment, and Ikkaku Madarame, captain of the football team, held a meeting after school to discuss the opening ceremony of the final match next week.
Orihime was prepared to take the crown of the leader of the cheerleading group, and Kurosaki-kun, on the other hand, was prepared to be the successor of Ikkaku Madarame. So, the two seniors invited their two juniors along to the meeting, so they'd be prepared for this kind of thing when they got to hold the position later.
The bell rang, their homeroom teacher left the class, and from the corner of her eyes, Orihime watched as Kurosaki-kun, sitting at the back of the class, gathered his things to his blue sling sports bag and told his chair mate, Abarai-kun, to meet him about an hour later.
When Kurosaki-kun walked past her table, Orihime expected him to wait for her so that they could walk to the meeting point together, but as usual, Kurosaki-kun just passed her…
Almost in this past year, Orihime had learned things and she knew better now, so she called him.
"Kurosaki-kun!"
He turned around. The bored, lifeless expression was always on his face, and his eyes didn't light up by her voice calling his name. She knew that too well, but Orihime was nothing but an optimistic, cheerful girl, with a heart full of love and positivity.
Orihime blushed and ran her hand through her long auburn hair, "Let's… let's go together, shall we?"
And Kurosaki-kun might act like he didn't care all the time, but Kurosaki-kun was nothing but always nice to her. "Alright," he replied, like it wasn't something special like it was nothing, but.
Orihime tried to contain her blush as Kurosaki-kun walked back toward her and Sado-kun's table. Orihime was still arranging her things, putting them into her bag, and Kurosaki-kun sat there on Sado-kun's table next to her, and he was… he was patiently waiting for her.
He just sat there nonchalantly, and for the first time ever, he didn't appear busy doing other things (like having his eyes glued to his phone or something) and did look focused on her.
Kurosaki-kun just sat there… and watched her putting her books and pencils into her bag, and that one time he even handed her scattered books to help her pack quicker.
It shouldn't have been anything special, but to Orihime, it was something. So, her heart was beating too fast, too strongly.
They walked together, side by side, to the meeting point Ikkaku Madarame had decided. This was actually the very first time Orihime walked through the corridor with him. She knew all students' eyes were on them, and there were squeals and whispers, and Orihime clutched the shirt in front of her chest tightly, because she couldn't contain her nervous (albeit happy) feelings.
It made Orihime even more nervous, having everyone's eyes on them—thinking that they were compatible high school sweethearts, and dreaming, wishing to be them.
"Are you nervous about the game, Kurosaki-kun?" Orihime asked him cheerfully. Her eyes
wandered to Kurosaki-kun's hand in his pockets and the cheerleader wondered how it'd feel to walk side by side, her slender hand enveloped by his stronger, more calloused hand. She blushed again.
Kurosaki-kun was always nice to her, his voice was somehow always softer when he talked to her compared to when he talked to the others. He nodded. "Pretty much. We beat them once during tryouts, though. Just need to do that again, I guess."
Orihime smiled. He was always that confident about his football, and Orihime always loved him for it.
"I'll… I'll be supporting you always, Kurosaki-kun. Always…" Orihime said it in a low, shy, soft, and intimate voice a girl reserved only for the special boy in her heart, hoping that Kurosaki-kun realized her feelings for him.
But he only nodded, without a change in expression, like it was nothing special, like he was saying thanks to any other people, like Sado-kun, or Ishida-kun—like her support was no more different than the support he received from his other friends. "Thanks, Inoue."
The meeting took a quite long time and when Ikkaku Madarame finally put an end to it, it was already 5.10 PM, and when the two first-year high schoolers reached the front gate, they saw the afternoon sky was getting dark because of the upcoming rain. Orihime didn't bring an umbrella and the clouds were so darkly thick and there were lightning and pretty loud thunder.
Orihime could never forget that moment when Kurosaki-kun offered to drive her home.
"It's going to rain," Kurosaki-kun said.
Orihime shyly nodded, her fingers playing with the hem of her too-short skirt.
"I'll drive you home, where do you live?" he asked her. Even though there was no change on his face and in his voice when he was asking her that, Orihime still found it hard to breathe.
"Oh—" She was blushing so hard that it was difficult to form a complete, coherent sentence.
"You don't have to, Kurosaki-kun! I live in the opposite way of your home, really, I don't want to trouble you at all, Kurosaki-kun—" Orihime wanted to punch her stomach, because… she just let it slip that she knew where he lived. What if, what if Kurosaki-kun thought that she was a creepy stalker, what if—
"Inoue, it's fine." He waved her off, still acting like he didn't care. He didn't look at her, as he was preoccupied with his black phone.
A million imaginary romantic ideas had spiraled wildly out of control in her head (Kami-sama… Kurosaki-kun's driving her home! Kurosaki-kun's driving her home!). It would be just the two of them in Kurosaki-kun's car. She would sit next to him, and he'd know where she lived and… Would he open the car door for her? Would he adjust her seatbelt for her? Would he stay with her for some moment alone in the car before she gets into her apartment? Would he—
A black range rover was pulled in front of the two, and the driver's window was rolled down.
"What the hell took you so long?" Abarai Renji was there, grunting and looking annoyed… and he was driving Kurosaki-kun's car.
Orihime's face fell.
Why? Why was he driving Kurosaki-kun's car? Why couldn't it be just Orihime and Kurosaki-kun, just the two of them? Why did Abarai-kun have to be there?
Kurosaki-kun grunted back, "Shut up and blame Ikkaku instead." Kurosaki-kun then tilted his head, giving clues to Orihime to take the back seat of his black range rover (Orihime tried hard to ignore Abarai-kun's confused stare on her that sort of said what is she doing here).
At that moment, a little drop of rain started pouring, and then Kurosaki-kun covered his head with his blue sports bag and jogged to the front door of the car. Even in that tiny moment, Orihime realized Kurosaki-kun didn't romantically cover and protect her from the rain.
"Inoue, come on," Kurosaki-kun called her then, a little bit impatient.
The auburn-haired Karakura queen quickly nodded and followed suit and jogged to the back door.
He didn't open the car door for her like she was some kind of a princess… she didn't get to sit next to him, they didn't—
"—your place, Inoue?"
Orihime was too deep into her thoughts that she didn't realize both Kurosaki-kun and Abarai-kun had turned their heads at her, asking her where she lived, because unlike her, Kurosaki-kun didn't ask Tatsuki-chan where she lived, because unlike her, Kurosaki-kun—
"Inoue?" he asked again, confused and clearly not used to her spacing out with her weird imagination.
He didn't know her… he didn't know her habit of zoning and spacing out and getting lost in her imagination.
Why didn't he know her…?
"Oh, right, sorry, sorry, Kurosaki-kun!"
Orihime knew Abarai-kun was rudely rolling his eyes as he turned away.
Orihime realized Kurosaki-kun's car smelled so… boyish and masculine, like Kurosaki-kun. But his car was so neat and clean and it smelled really nice and fresh, a little bit unexpected from some high school teenagers with bad boy persona like Kurosaki-kun.
Orihime didn't get to talk and spend an alone, intimate time with Kurosaki-kun, but she was content enough to be here with him. She watched the rain pouring outside, and Kurosaki-kun was turning up the radio, and somehow, it was kind of therapeutic for her.
After he asked for her address, Kurosaki-kun didn't really try to indulge her in a conversation again, but that might be also because Abarai-kun did almost all the talking.
"Tomorrow?" Orihime heard Kurosaki-kun's voice, asking Abarai-kun about something.
Abarai-kun nodded, one hand on the steering wheel, and one hand rummaging a snack on his lap,"Yeah. Her semester ended a month earlier than us there in the States." Abarai-kun paused to munch his potato chips, "Told me that her family and she are going to come back earlier than planned, to settle things back here."
He munched potato chips again, making a mess on his shirt. "I told her she should just go to ours; you know? But her family is kind of that rich shit kind of nobles, the odds are she's going to go to an all-girls private school. Told me that her brother hasn't decided yet,"
Orihime didn't know where this feeling came from, but Orihime had always known Kurosaki-kun better than anyone because she was such a good observer, and she could tell the difference when Kurosaki-kun was acting disinterested and bored, and this time—
"So, you're going to the airport tomorrow?" he asked Abarai-kun again.
Abarai-kun nodded and grinned like he was showing off. "Yeah. Actually, Ichigo, I was gonna ask… you wanna drive me there? I want to introduce you to her,"
Her? There was a tiny pang in Orihime's heart, but she didn't really understand the context here, and she didn't want to jump to conclusions, and she didn't want to pry, but—
At Kurosaki-kun's silence, Abarai-kun elbowed him on the ribs and snickered. "She's way prettier in person, you know."
Even from behind, Orihime could tell Kurosaki-kun's ears turned red (because she knew him best, she knew him, she knew him), and there was that unsettling feeling again in Orihime's stomach.
"Since you dropped your jaws just looking at her pic—"
Kurosaki-kun sounded annoyed and defensive then, although Orihime still could notice the crimson blush on his ears, "I didn't, you idiot."
Abarai-kun snorted. "Yeah, but she made you look, didn't she?"
Kurosaki-kun… Kurosaki-kun didn't deny that.
"Just take my car, I'm not going to drive you around,"
Abarai-kun laughed again then and scratched his chin as if he was thinking, "Should I just go with Chad? Dude seemed interested too back then, and after you, he's the second-bestest guy I know,"
Kurosaki-kun scoffed rudely. "Don't take Chad. I'm going to his place tomorrow."
Abarai-kun only rolled his eyes, somehow knowingly.
It was then silence again between the two guys, and Orihime didn't know why but she felt relief that they were done talking about that person Orihime didn't even know, the one that Kurosaki-kun's friends kept teasing Kurosaki-kun about. The one—what did they say again? The one that made Kurosaki-kun drop his jaws? Did Kurosaki-kun also drop his jaws for Orihime's profile picture? Did Kurosaki-kun also like what he saw? Orihime couldn't think straight, and—
Even from a small conversation like that, Orihime felt something… different. Orihime wasn't friends with a lot of boys, she didn't know how boys talked or what boys talked about, but Kurosaki-kun was asking questions, and it was something because Kurosaki-kun rarely asked things that he didn't care about, he rarely asked about her.
And even though the guys' talk in the car made Orihime feel somewhat insecure and unsettled, when they reached her apartment, the rain was getting harder, and the moment Abarai-kun stopped the car, Kurosaki-kun got out of the car without a word, went to the trunk, grabbed an umbrella, and in a second, he was there next to her… opening the car door for Orihime, and shielding her from the rain with his yellow umbrella. His shirt was damp from the hard pouring rain that hit him earlier.
His expression didn't change, but Orihime would take every moment she could have.
She felt like her chest was going to explode. Her confidence was rising once again.
Sung-sun and Apacci were the ones who handed her the flowers during half-time. It was the final game of the football championship. It was still 1-1, and the second half was about to begin. Francesca Mila pulled Orihime into a tight embrace and soothed her long hair and whispered, "When the boys win, give the flowers to Kurosaki, in front of everyone, Hime."
Orihime blushed. Wouldn't that be… too blatant? And everyone at school was watching, and Orihime saw Kurosaki-kun's dad and sisters on the front seat, and—
"Also, you have to give him a little kiss, a gift for his victory! It'll be so romantic, Hime, he may as well pull you for a kiss on the lips with all the adrenaline running after a match like that!" It was always Lolly who got to her in the end.
Just an imaginary picture of having their first kiss, in the heat of the moment after the match, was enough to make Orihime hard to breathe.
Kurosaki-kun scored the winner. Karakura High won by 3-1. The boys were having a celebration on the field. The boys called to the podium and got gold medals, and Ikkaku Madarame lifted the trophy with the widest grin on his scary face. The whole school cheered from the supporter's bay. Only the cheerleaders joined to scatter around the pitch to celebrate.
That was when Milla and the others pushed Orihime in Kurosaki-kun's direction, winking at her to show her support.
Kurosaki-kun was talking with Abarai-kun there, his face was kind of tired after a gruesome match, and he was sweaty, but the victorious grin on his face somewhat wiped all the exhaustion away.
"Kurosaki-kun…" Orihime called him, shyly, her face was red, and her hands clutched the flower bouquets even tighter.
Kurosaki-kun turned his head at her, and his amber eyes were confused as if asking her what was she doing here in the middle of the pitch?
Orihime fidgeted on her toes, and she was blushing hard, but then she shoved the flowers into Kurosaki-kun's hard chest. "You're amazing, Kurosaki-kun, congratulations!" she told him.
Orihime couldn't look Kurosaki-kun in the eyes, but she could hear that the whole school cheered and whistled, and it was all…too overwhelming.
Kiss him. Kiss him. Kiss him when everyone else was watching (so they knew, they knew Kurosaki-kun was hers, and she was Kurosaki-kun's, so girls would stop pinning over him, and boys would finally leave her alone because she was Kurosaki-kun's, she was Kurosaki-kun's—)
Her friends' words were loud in Orihime's ears.
When she looked up, Kurosaki-kun took the flowers but he still had the same confused expression on his face. And yet, he looked so adorable and handsome at the same time, so then, when Kurosaki-kun mumbled his confused and usual, "Thanks, Ino—" she cut him off with a quick peck on the cheek.
The whole audience was shocked to see the cheerleader's blatant act of public affection. They roared and whistled and some girls sighed and squealed and some boys booed and made death threats at Kurosaki-kun, but Orihime couldn't think straight, the adrenaline rush was too strong, and her heart was going to explode from how fast it was racing.
She pulled away, and Kurosaki-kun's eyes widened and he was speechless, and Orihime didn't realize—refused to realize how uncomfortable he looked back then. His face was kind of red, so Orihime thought he was just acting shy.
She smiled at him then, shy, beautiful, and seductive at the same time. "Congratulations again… Kurosaki-kun," she whispered.
She then turned away and got back to her friends on the sideline. The girls were telling her that she did a good job (Orihime missed the snickers and mischievous glint in their eyes), and when she turned around, looking for Tatsuki-chan—who knew Kurosaki-kun better than anyone—there wasn't a proud smile on her face. She looked uncomfortable, and Orihime wanted to wonder why, why did Tatsuki-chan not look impressed? Didn't she want her to end up with Kurosaki-kun? But, then—
"Now the whole school knows, Hime. You and him." Lolly winked at her, and Orihime felt warmth on her cheeks.
You and him.
She met his family after the match. Kurosaki-kun's father was funny looking, and his little sisters were adorable. They must have witnessed the public affection Orihime showed earlier on the pitch and Orihime was nervous, fidgeting with the hem of the skirts. Would his family like her?
Orihime bowed politely to greet Kurosaki-kun's father. They seemed taken aback that Orihime knew them.
"Kurosaki-kun was amazing today, Mr. Kurosaki…" Orihime gave him her sweetest smile. And while the older Kurosaki looked nice, it was just it.
(But, Tatsuki-chan told her Kurosaki-kun's dad had crazy antics, and he was loud and he got excited easily… so why, why did Orihime not get the extravagant reaction she had been hoping for…?)
"Oh, are you Ichigo's friend in class?" Mr. Kurosaki asked, out of common polite courtesy.
She was… she was more. She wanted his father to know that she was more than that. She kissed his son in front of everyone at school. Didn't he know…?
But Orihime nodded cheerfully instead.
Orihime felt uneasy with Kurosaki-kun's sisters' gaze on hers, especially the one directed at her from the tomboyish twin, Karin. Yuzu-chan was nice, but she looked kind of shy, and her face was kind of red, probably blushing because this was the girl who kissed her Onii-chan in front of everyone at school.
Suddenly, Orihime felt insecure, she heard a lot about some little sisters getting possessive over her older brother. What if… what if Kurosaki-kun's sisters were one of those?
Karin-chan crossed her arms in front of her chest, and her face was kind of judging. It somehow confirmed Orihime's insecurity before. "Are you his girlfriend or something?" she asked her, not too nicely, even though Orihime was older than her, but Karin-chan wasn't polite about it (but that was just the way she talked to everyone? Tatsuki-chan told her…).
Orihime blushed hard, and quickly shook her head, "Oh, no, no, I'm not, Karin-chan—"
If Karin realized that it was weird that a stranger like Orihime knew her name, she didn't show it.
"Then why did you kiss Ichi-nii in front of everyone like that?"
Yuzu blushed even harder, pulling Karin-chan's shirt to warn her to be nice, "Karin-chan!"
Kurosaki-kun's father also scolded her then, looking too serious for someone that was known as the craziest dad in the century. "Ssh, Karin."
(Orihime ignored the faint mumble of Karin scolding her twin back, "you know Ichi-nii, Yuzu, he is kind of weird with this image thing. He must be so embarrassed. Didn't you see how uncomfortable he—" Orihime tuned out).
Then the older guy turned to Orihime. "Thanks for supporting my son,"
At that, Orihime was sure flowers were growing in her stomach, a garden full of flowers and butterflies, because… Kurosaki-kun's father thanked her, and he was being nice about it.
His family wasn't exactly rude, they were nice, really (except Karin-chan), but they were just it… and…
In the deepest part of her mind, Orihime pushed back the insecurity that she expected… more extravagant reaction, not just some kind of common polite response.
She pushed the thought away. She rejected it. Instead, Orihime put on her most beautiful and caring smile and nodded.
But Kurosaki-kun's father didn't even ask for her name…
Orihime had a fight with Tatsuki-chan about it later that night. She loved Tatsuki-chan, and she knew Tatsuki-chan also held her dearly, but Tatsuki-chan wasn't showing support for what she did.
"I wasn't saying I didn't want you to be with him, Hime." Tatsuki-chan looked frustrated. "Hell, he is my best friend, and you're too, of course, I want nothing but my two best friends to end up together."
It made Orihime feel worse about herself. She knew the way the whole school cheered and shipped them both sent her to the clouds, but at the same time, the way Kurosaki-kun, Tatsuki-chan, and Kurosaki-kun's family reacted brought uneasy feelings to her heart. Like she did something wrong, like she embarrassed Kurosaki-kun by doing so, like Kurosaki-kun didn't like what she did.
(Claiming him as hers in front of everyone without considering his feelings).
And at this moment, Orihime needed Tatsuki-chan's support the most, because she was Kurosaki-kun's best friend, she could convince and reassure Orihime that she wasn't crossing some boundaries and Kurosaki-kun wouldn't mind, that Kurosaki-kun wouldn't hate her for what she did.
At her sad face and glossy eyes, Tatsuki-chan sighed and softened. "I was just saying, Ichigo's such a prude, Orihime. And I know he draws attention wherever he goes, but he hates it. He hates people's attention on him."
"I didn't say that he hated your kissing him. Just… just not in front of everyone like that, Orihime."
In the end, Orihime cried and apologized to Tatsuki-chan (she was kind of shocked… just how come they had a fight about a boy, of all thinngs) and both girls hugged, like the best friends they had always been. At that moment, Tatsuki-chan felt bad too. Wasn't she being supportive of her?
"I just… I just need Tatsuki-chan on my side," Orihime whispered to her best friend. "Because... Tatsuki-chan… Tatsuki-chan is always there, will always be there. Right, Tatsuki-chan…?"
The memory of weak, sad, bullied, and lonely Orihime back in middle school flashed back in the tomboy's mind. It was good that Orihime wasn't bullied anymore, it was good that she was more confident than ever. And Tatsuki couldn't feel worse than she already did.
"I am… I will." Tatsuki caressed Orihime's long hair, soothing her, lifting Orihime's shattered confidence back up.
"I promise, Orihime." She whispered.
During the school break, roughly two weeks after the end of their first year of high school, Tatsuki met Ichigo after the dojo training (her dojo was in the same building as freaky his boxing training club). Ichigo was resting after another beat-up session with Abarai and Madarame, and Tatsuki handed him a fresh, cold drink.
She told him then, about Orihime's feelings for her to justify her action on the pitch three weeks ago.
And Tatsuki wanted to expect more because this was Orihime. She was beautiful and perfect and every guy would dream to be with her. What kind of guy didn't have Orihime as his type? So, Tatsuki hoped.
(But she knew how uncaring and unbothered Ichigo acted these days—as if nothing, except football—since he had stopped fighting thugs—was worthy enough of his attention).
Ichigo didn't even look at Tatsuki then, just drinking his bottle of water, and his bored amber eyes were focused on Abarai's movements against Madarame in the boxing ring.
"I had no idea," he replied after another gulp of his drink.
Tatsuki was afraid to ask further, she wasn't sure she would want to clarify things with him, to know his answer, but—
"Sorry, Tatsuki, but I don't feel that way about her."
And just like that, without another explanation, like an uncaring asshole he always acted since his mom was gone, Ichigo got off his seat, walked to the boxing ring, and called Renji to switch with him.
Tatsuki knew. Ichigo treated Orihime no more special than he treated any other of his friends—Ishida, Sado, and her. Tatsuki knew that. And even though she was tough and always acted like she was the bravest girl in their school, Tatsuki was just not brave enough to tell Orihime so.
There was, of course, That Night. The one night that started it all, was the swimming pool party at Grimmjow's the night before the first day of their second year of high school. Orihime remembered that she refused to come because she didn't go to parties like that, where teenagers went wild, drinking even though they were underage, dancing till midnight—hot girls hooking up with hot guys.
But her friends all told her to come, and Tatsuki was coming too because they were the most popular girl group in their school. They had to. But Orihime, still innocent and timid, didn't think that it was her place.
Ulquiorra was at her door, telling her that she should come. Deep down she cared about the boy. He had been too closed off from everyone, and this was actually the very first time Ulquiorra came to her place and asked her, and Orihime just… didn't want to say no to him.
What happened after was a different thing altogether. Orihime never thought she'd drink for the very first time ever—the alcohol tasted weird and bitter on her tongue. She was clumsy, and that night she found out that she was clumsier when she was drunk.
She didn't think the night would turn up like this, when Lolly's, Luppi's, and Apacci's words were clear, urging her to make a move on Grimmjow to make Kurosaki-kun jealous, so he'd come to save her, like a prince in shining armor, saving his princess from the beast.
The night was kind of blurry, Orihime was tipsy but she could remember her kissing Grimmjow, and he kissed back, and suddenly it was him, carrying her in a bridal style to his room. Laying beneath the handsome blue-haired baseball captain on his bed, Orihime could faintly hear Tatsuki-chan's panicked voice outside Grimmjow's room, screaming and yelling at Yammy Llargo to let her in, to drag Orihime out of the blue-haired jock's room.
There was Hallibel, then, telling the tomboy that it was no use. Tatsuki should call Kurosaki Ichigo down there if she wanted to save Orihime before anything did happen in there.
Orihime never knew a guy's touch like this before. And she was afraid, but she couldn't stop it when Grimmjow took off her clothes layer by layer. There were tears in her eyes, but she was frozen still, she didn't know what to do, and she wanted to stop him, but she didn't know how.
Kurosaki-kun, save me, please, please, please, Kurosaki-kun—
And the door was kicked open, and Kurosaki-kun (her prince, her prince) was there and he
kicked Grimmjow out of bed, literally, and—
"Stop it, Kurosaki-kun! Stop it!"
"Kurosaki-kun, enough! Enough! Just leave, Kurosaki-kun, I am begging you, I am begging you!"
But Kurosaki-kun didn't listen to her. He didn't even glance at her. Orihime could hear nothing but Grimmjow's evil laughter in the room. She didn't feel protected. She only felt the guilt and shame blanketed over her like the thin sheet covering her exposed body.
She cried all night, and it ruined her first day at school. Knowing that they'd be in the same class again, Orihime had it all imagined and orchestrated perfectly in her head.
They said they got to pick their own seating arrangement now that they were in their 2nd year of high school. Orihime wanted to sit next to Kurosaki-kun. Because didn't they belong together?
After his heroic act to save her last night, didn't he want to sit next to her?
Orihime watched as Sado-kun chose to sit next to Asano-kun, and Ishida-kun was seated next to Kojima-kun, and Abarai-kun wasn't in the same class anymore, so it left Kurosaki-kun with no one, and Orihime hoped.
But it was past 30 minutes already and Kurosaki-kun still didn't come to class.
"Hime, just sit next to me," Tatsuki-chan said, oblivious that Orihime was waiting and hoping to sit next to Kurosaki-kun.
There was a new face Orihime had never seen before. This girl, this beautiful girl with pale, fair, porcelain skin, midnight dark hair, and violet eyes that were too enticing to be true. She was standing outside the class with Ochii-sensei before the older woman led her in.
She was beautiful.
Even as a girl herself, Orihime knew this new girl was beautiful in a league of her own. Because no girl at their school held beauty and an aura like her before—this girl was beautiful, adorable, and yet, elegant and classy, and expensive-looking at the same time without even trying.
Who is she?
Kurosaki-kun opened the class door abruptly then, and Ochi-sensei wasn't amused.
Orihime's eyes watched as the new beautiful transfer students' breath-taking (but cold) violet eyes glanced at Kurosaki-kun's abrupt entrance, and Kurosaki-kun's amber eyes locked with hers.
Who is she?
Kurosaki-kun went to the empty seat in the back of the class then. He walked past Orihime's and Tatsuki's desks without even the slightest glance, and girls started whispering about the multiple nasty wounds on Kurosaki-kun's face, and the cut lip on his lip.
When he got to his seat, Orihime turned around to face him. Kurosaki-kun slumped in his chair, his arms were crossed in front of his broad chest, he looked tired as usual, but his eyes… his eyes were focused on the front of the class, on that new girl, named Kuchiki Rukia who had just moved back into Karakura with her family after spending roughly two years in the United States.
Orihime knew Kurosaki-kun. She knew when he was annoyed, when he was bored or disinterested, and now… Orihime noticed something unusual then when his amber eyes were watching Kuchiki-san. Something that Orihime couldn't manage to do in the past year she had known him.
Kuchiki-san made him… look.
When Grimmjow made fun of Kurosaki-kun then, Orihime decided that this whole thing—the unresolved drama from last night, Kurosaki-kun's injury and humiliation, her insecurity of the new girl's beauty that caught Kurosaki-kun's attention just from the first glance—was too much, too overwhelming and it hurt her in a way she could never imagine, so she stood up, cried, and ran to the bathroom.
"Orihime…" Tatsuki's worried whisper didn't stop Orihime from running and leaving the class.
She cried that night—after she confessed to Kurosaki-kun in the deserted classroom—and her friends were there in her apartment instantly. Orihime was crying over Kurosaki-kun's rude demeanor toward her, and his almost rejection. Franceska Milla Rose was hugging her tightly like a mother hen, and Luppi and Lillynette were making her tea and cookies to make her feel better.
Lolly and Apacci were making a whole speech about how it didn't make sense. "You are too dense and innocent, you know what? You know nothing about boys, do you, Orihime? Were you stupid? Were you blind? He came to save you, you dummy!"
But, Kurosaki-kun said… it was fucked up what she did, Kurosaki-kun said he was…
"Didn't you see how battered he was? He acted like that because he lost to Grimmjow! His rival of all people. He lost YOU to his rival! Now, what do you know about men with pride like Kurosaki Ichigo?"
"His pride is wounded, Hime. We all know men like Kurosaki Ichigo hates to lose more than anything. He was jealous! He was frustrated and desperate, and of course, he would say those things to you to hide his jealousy."
"Look, the point is, he obviously has feelings for you, because what kind of man doesn't? But he was just being a little shit, because he was too humiliated and too embarrassed and too jealous of his loss to Grimmjow."
"His heart belongs to you, Hime, and yours to him. You should keep that in mind. Give him time to mend his broken pride and overcome his humiliation, and watch how jealousy will work on men like him. We will see how he will crawl back and snatch you away from Grimmjow, just like you always wanted…"
Kuchiki Rukia was everything that Orihime was not. While Orihime was cheerful and bubbly, Kuchiki-san was nice but there were some kinds of invisible layers of ice surrounding her that made her unapproachable to anyone around her. She held that certain elegant and cold aura around her, that kind of made people stay away from her, but admire her for it at the same time.
Orihime knew that the unique and classy enigma of the beautiful new transfer students caught
many people's attention, boys and girls included, and yet, Kuchiki-san didn't seem to want the attention. She kept her profile low, out of everyone's prying eyes and ears.
She was polite, and she smiled at Orihime when the sweet, bubbly cheerleader greeted her good morning, but there was just it. She politely declined Orihime's invitation to join the cheerleaders, she also nicely declined Orihime's and the cheerleaders' invitation for lunch.
She wasn't rude at all. She just seemed like she didn't want anything with anyone.
The girls talked about her—about her effortless natural beauty, about her simple-looking and yet really expensive shoes, about how they suspected she was from a rich family—but above all, they talked about how effortlessly she could gain attention without even trying. And they didn't like it.
She wasn't in cheerleading group, she was in an unpopular orchestra group like a nerd, she was friends with the poorest guy in school that only made it here because of a scholarship, and yet… and yet they still couldn't quite place her in the hierarchy food chain of their school.
Boys worshipped her like an unapproachable ice queen, and girls secretly envied her.
And what irritated them, even more, was that… Kuchiki Rukia didn't even seem to care.
Orihime voiced her concern and insecurities about Kuchiki-san to her friends on multiple occasions. But the girls always, always outright corrected and denied her.
"Kuchiki? Don't be silly! Do you know what you have and she doesn't, Hime? Perfection."
"She is not perfect. Okay, she may be beautiful, maybe she does have the billion dollars skincare or something, but she is nothing but cold and heartless, you know? What good is it to have beauty without a heart?"
"Trust us, Hime, a perfect, kind, and beautiful girl like you shouldn't be concerned about an uncaring arrogant bitch like her."
The girls pushed the cold and heartless agenda so hard because they had nothing else on Kuchiki-san (but deep down, Orihime knew, it wasn't true… they just didn't know Kuchiki-san enough to judge her like that).
"Please, there is no way Kurosaki will choose her over you! Look at you. What do you see? You're every guy's fantasy and no boys are stupid enough to choose an outcast like her, over a sweet queen like you."
But there were the thoughts, that lingered in the deepest part of Orihime's mind, secluded and hidden by her fear of getting hurt.
She knew him. Orihime loved to think that she knew Kurosaki-kun better than anyone.
So, Orihime refused to acknowledge the way Kurosaki-kun looked at Kuchiki-san (like… like she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen), talked to Kuchiki-san first and actually made efforts to have a conversation with her, and deliberately annoyed Kuchiki-san because his amber eyes lit up and seemed more alive and his bored scowl turned into an amused, cocky smirk whenever he argued with her (and Kuchiki-san could stand her ground with him, didn't act awkward and shy around him…)
She refused to see that Kuchiki-san could keep Kurosaki-kun's attention and gaze on her without even trying (something that Orihime desperately had been trying to do in the past year).
And Orihime refused to understand the little things that mattered. She refused to believe that Kuchiki-an was slowly becoming Kurosaki-kun's priority. She refused to accept that he ditched her invitation to the cheerleaders' tryout to watch Kuchiki-san.
She turned a blind eye to the way Kurosaki-kun looked annoyed and jealous when the boys' paid too much attention to Kuchiki-san during PE class.
And she refused to be aware of the way they got closer and closer each day, how comfortable they sat so close to each other, how it was obvious Kurosaki-kun purposely tried to touch Kuchiki-san even when it was not necessary, how they got so close that Kurosaki-kun ate the food of Kuchiki-san's chopsticks, how Kurosaki-kun could nonchalantly play the songs in Kuchiki-san's phone, or the way they listened to music together, sharing her AirPods between class break, or the way Kuchiki-san knew Kurosaki-kun's phone's passcode.
And when she watched Kurosaki-kun practice and she didn't want to see that he was using the expensive knee pads Kuchiki-san bought for him.
Orihime didn't want to know that Kurosaki-kun's friends left the two as if to give them some quality time alone (she heard more than once about the way Kurosaki-kun spent alone time with Kuchiki-san after school, about how Kurosaki-kun waited for her every day after her extra class—but it was too painful, so she pretended that she heard it wrong.)
All in all, Orihime refused to believe that Kuchiki-san brought up something in Kurosaki-kun's amber eyes that Orihime and other girls in their school never could—interest, attention, desire—
Feelings.
She refused to acknowledge them all. She was so weak that she constantly needed other people's opinions and words rather than believed on what she saw with her own eyes.
Because Ulquiorra-kun was right… she was too delusional to think, too blind to see, and too self-centered to care.
Orihime closes her eyes then.
Here in Tatsuki-chan's warm embrace, Orihime's form shrinks and shrinks deeper.
How could she be that stupid?
Tomorrow is Monday and it is about time she should go back to school and face the mess she has created.
She sobs and almost chokes and Tatsuki-chan's hold on her only gets tighter.
"Hime…" Tatsuki-chan's voice is worried.
But, Orihime gives Tatsuki-chan her strongest and most beautiful smile. "Tatsuki-chan… you'll always be there, right… Tatsuki-chan?"
"I am, I will."
Orihime can't hold her tears then and whispers. "Thank you… Thank you, Tatsuki-chan."
She is ready to face a new day.
Closure.
It is another Monday at Karakura High. To people who are never really close to them, nothing seems out of place. Rukia sits next to Ichigo in class, and they're friends, just friends (some suspect they're more than that, but isn't the football captain in love with the cheerleading captain?)
To the people closest to them, however, the change is kind of palpable.
Momo and Hanatarou find out when school's over and the bell rings, and every student has fled the classroom (Hanatarou wants to show Momo and Rukia his new hunting photos from yesterday, so they stay). Rukia no longer has any extra classes she needs to attend, and Ichigo has his football training until 4 PM.
The orange-haired football captain packs his school stuff messily in hurry into his blue sports bag, eager to leave the class for practice.
"4 PM, straight." Ichigo reminds Rukia, and Rukia nonchalantly waves her hand without looking at him, as if to tell him, yeah, yeah she got it, so just go already.
He is her boyfriend now, and he's going to drive her home from now on. Ichigo may act cool and like an uncaring asshole all the time, but deep down, he's just like any other boy his age, who foolishly feels giddy and proud to have his first girlfriend ever. He doesn't show it, though. But, he has always wanted to be the one who drives his girlfriend home. Imoyama-san (it is Kurumadani) doesn't have to chaperone Rukia anymore.
What startles Momo and Hanatarou is the moment Ichigo leans toward Rukia and steals a quick, playful, harmless peck on her cheek before he gets up from his chair and jogs to the door. Momo swears there was a faint cocky, satisfied grin there as he did so.
When Ichigo has left, Rukia runs her hand through her dark folks and clears her throat, and acts like nothing really happens, as if it's an everyday thing to have her chair mate kiss her on the cheek like that, and Momo's and Hanatarou's eyes can't widen so much that it's ridiculous.
"Rukia?!"
"Rukia-san?!"
They're not that surprised, really. But, still.
In the football team locker room, on the other hand, they all have known for a long time now that Rukia has always been Ichi's girl, but starting from today, they all know, Rukia has always been Ichi's girl, alright (Thanks to Renji's big mouth who won't stop blabbering everything).
"So, you do have balls," Ikkaku says to him, grinning and leaning next to Ichigo's locker and crossing his arms in front of his bare chest. Ichigo only rolls his eyes and closes his locker with a thud.
"And I thought, you were gay," Yumichika adds next, flipping his hair.
Hisagi scratches his chin, "Remember when I told you that you shouldn't date chicks that are hotter than you?" He squints his eyes at his junior, "You didn't get it, did you?"
Keigo and Mizuiro are way more dramatic, with tears, party hats, confetti, trumpets, and a huge ass banner spread on the locker room's wall, saying "THE END OF ICHIGO'S 5840 DAYS OF BEING SINGLE". Yumichika designed the banner, there's a poorly cut photoshopped design of Ichigo's scowling face on it.
Shirtless Keigo and Mizuiro with nothing but football pants, only one pair of socks, and party hats create a made-up stage out of a bench, and while Mizuiro is playing flute, producing a melody that matches Titanic's famous soundtrack for dramatic sound effects, and Renji's putting on a made-up King crown on Ichigo's orange mop, and Yumichika is putting on a sash around Ichigo's naked torso as Hisagi is holding his arms from behind to keep him stay put, Keigo Asano makes a whole stupid, dramatic full-of-tears speech of how happy he is for their captain, but ends up crying, talking about his fragile heart being broken because Kuchiki-san chooses Ichigo over him. It gets more ridiculous when Chado starts showing up with free printed t-shirts of Ichigo's face and a "WHIPPED ASS" label.
They all cheer, there are freaking trumpets blown, and Ikkaku even dares to call out for Toushiro, tilting his bald head from Toushiro to Ichigo, "Oi, Toushiro, now!" and it is almost comical how the only normal one, the serious one member of Ichigo's team, unwillingly pops a confetti popper aimed at the poor football captain with a blank expression on his face.
"…bunch of idiots." The white-haired football genius mumbled and cursed under his breath.
"Tell me about it," Ichigo replies, deadpanned.
Bunch of idiots, indeed.
Later that day, when they're finished with their football practice, the football team once again notices, that after months of always taking his sweet time before he showers, Ichigo is back on his jabbing-the-shower-first frenzy once again like he used to like he is eager to go home already.
Having seen for the very first time ever the presence of the beautiful transfer student, Kuchiki Rukia, on the front row seat, sitting there with her Chappy backpack, eating a cup of ice cream, waiting for their captain to finish with his training, the team kind of gets it why.
Keigo was almost hysterical, "Is that…?! Is that Kuchiki-san?!" and proceeded to hug Ichigo with tears, saying, "Thank you, thank you, for bringing the beautiful queen into their lives," because never once did they have her here before. It is nothing special to have the cheerleaders or other girls watching them practice, but today, this is such a rare sight.
No other student around the pitch is present to witness this, apart from the football team. The guys get to see Ichigo, fresh from the shower, clad in another dark-blue t-shirt and black shorts, in all in his typical after-training attire, jumping on the fence to sit next to his little girlfriend and drink the water from her Chappy tumbler she hands to him.
The two sit so close together, his thigh gracing hers, and they get to talking as they're waiting for Renji to go home. Rukia then feeds Ichigo a spoon of ice cream, and some of it gets smeared on his upper lip, and Rukia looks amused and wipes it off from him with her own finger.
Keigo is hysterical (again), he is not ready to see this blatant public affection (although, technically there's no one there aside from the football gang), and Mizuiro tries so hard to restrain his friend. Ikkaku and Hisagi are like shaking their heads in unison and mumbling, "The captain's down, captain's down bad."
When he's done freshening up, Renji, clad in a black rock band t-shirt and black shorts, approaches the couple and makes a whole speech about some kind of rules when he's third wheeling, "Okay, kids, ground rules. No kissing, no groping, no cuddling, no canoodling, all in all, no funny business while I'm here, understood?" To which Rukia and Ichigo reply simultaneously, "shut up,"
The trio walks to the parking lot where Ichigo parks his black range rover and they get to see Ichigo pulling up Rukia's backpack on her back to make it lighter for her, walking so close together like there is some kind of glue between them.
It is another Monday at Karakura High. To Orihime Inoue, who watches them from afar without anyone knowing, everything seems out of place.
Tears almost swell in her eyes again. Her chest feels heavy as if there are tons of rocks weighing it down. And there is a lump in her throat, rendering her speechless and making it hard to breathe.
Orihime wipes her tears, clenches her hands, and makes her decision.
She's not turning back now.
"Are you… are you sure we're going to do this?" Luppi asks, unsure.
Lolly is always the most vocal one in the group. Hallibel only watches from afar, and somehow doesn't care about the mess that is going to ensue if this goes out.
Lolly nods. "Yeah, that bitch is going to pay for walking out on us like that."
How dare she hands her resignation from the cheerleaders like that? Who does she think she is when she told them she was done with them and didn't want anything to do with them anymore?
Apacci laughs then. "Alright, let's do this."
On Monday evening, roughly 5 hours after Orihime Inoue made a bold decision and quit the toxic cheerleader's group for real, an email is sent to the email address of every second-year high schooler at Karakura High, except one, Orihime Inoue herself.
Subject: THE TRUTH! KARAKURA HIGH'S BIGGEST WH*RE!
Folks! You want to know the truth of what happened? The b*tch was asking for it! The body email said.
There is an attachment to the email. It is a video from That Night. The night that made every girl swoon—about how the two most popular guys in their school fought tooth and nail to win the beautiful captain of the cheerleading group's heart.
The Karakura folks never expect to find out that their beautiful, innocent, pure-hearted queen, Orihime Inoue, was actually the one who acted drunk, flirted, and made a suggestive move first on the dangerous Grimmjow Jaggerjacques.
They never expect their perfect queen to act so loose with her body, and the video even gets so far to the moment Grimmjow took her to his bedroom and they get to see how Orihime willingly let him carry her bridal style like that.
The video even gives them glimpses of the moment when Grimmjow helped her take her clothes off and the auburn-haired beauty willingly obliged (but it was dark, and Orihime was facing the other way so they could only see her milky back)—
But then the video is abruptly cut off short the moment Orihime was pushed down to lie on the bed by Grimmjow.
Lying b*tch playing victim here!
The video is going to shock the whole school tomorrow.
A/N: Okay… in my defense I told you guys this is a shitty high school drama hahaha.
Anyway, this chapter is like the prelude before the ultimate drama. I really think I needed to write this to set up for the next chapter.
We are near to the end! I plan to finish this story in 14 chapter/15 (for epilogue), and my vacation ends soon in July, so I will try to finish this story and Little Miracle first before my vacation truly ends… I hope I can do this *fighting!*
Oh, yeah, one more thing (sorry for rambling hahaha). Okay… in my defense, it was in cannon, Orihime willingly wore something revealing and uncomfortable just to impress Ichigo, so I think… I think… I am just trying to follow Kubo's writing here, Orihime is willing to do anything for Ichigo even for the things she doesn't like -_- But I promise, I promise to put an end to Inoue's misery here, she has been through a lot in this story.
Guys, pretty please tell me what you think? :D Your support will mean a lot to me to finish this all before my vacation ends :D