Edit: oh, yes, Fruit Punch, I had noticed that during proofing, but 1) when I wrote it, I was thinking of a "spell" as being more of, say, the spell of a woman, not a "spell" like a magical enchantment; and 2) I was much too lazy to change it ;-p
It was in my opinion that Ishida's eyes were green. I don't know how I got this perception of him, since I can see in the anime they made them the same color as Rukia's. But this is just how I see him, and refer to him as such.
"hime-sama" is the way you generally refer to a princess. Orihime's name is important, because the latter "-hime" could translate the name into Princess Ori…hence why Chizuru, in the anime, calls her "hime" in the first place (as a term of endearment).
This fic is rated R because of language, violence, and sensuality. If any of the aforementioned offends you, please do not read.
Review if you like. No flames, please.
kaerichi
Chapter 11
"Well, don't you look like shit."
Ichigo didn't even spare the speaker a glance. He was too tired.
"Hot date? No STD, I hope."
"Shut up…" Ichigo said half-heartedly. "I really don't need this right now."
He only looked up when a glass thunked in front of him, and even then had to focus to realize it was full of an amber liquid, half-filled with ice, and slightly sloshing over the edge of the glass.
"Johnnie Walker," the dark-haired man said, sipping from his own glass.
"The fuck is that?"
"Brand of scotch. On the rocks." He edged the glass toward Ichigo slightly.
"Damn you, Ishida, I'm not even of age."
"Go on, you need it."
"Yeah, I guess I do…" Ichigo said tiredly as he reached for the glass. He downed a quarter of it in one gulp, feeling that familiar burning sensation rise pleasantly. "Thanks."
"Always ready to help the friend in need."
"Heh…don't be so sarcastic."
"Who said I was?"
"I know you too well, is all."
The two drank in companionable silence, hearing the weak sound of the TV in the background, the dim lights overhead providing a rather fitting scene to match the mood floating in the air. There was currently no one else in the hunter's den, and only Ichigo was sitting at the bar. All other hunters were most likely sleeping or training.
Ichigo got the feeling Ishida was waiting for him to say something. The dark-haired man was never the type to come right out and say things when he was in an entertaining mood; rather, he would play little mind games like the one Ichigo was sure he was currently in.
"What do you want, Ishida?"
The man shrugged. "Friendly company would be nice; I've been alone all morning."
"Why aren't you with Inoue?"
"She's overworked and tired."
"Why aren't you training?"
"Don't need it." He took another sip of his drink, looking supremely indifferent.
"Should I even mention captain's duties?"
"Even captains are allotted time for sleep. I just happen to be extending my time of wakefulness," Ishida said as he finished the last of his drink, setting the glass down next to Ichigo's half-full one. However, the orange-haired captain quickly followed suit, draining his glass in the next gulp and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
"Ishida, what do you want?"
"You seem so intent on believing I want something from you," he said, a glimmer of amusement in his eyes. "Why is that? I rarely ever talk to you any more. Don't you think I expect nothing of you except just your friendship?"
"No. And can the bullshit."
Ishida laughed slightly then. The movement of his head caught the overhead light on his square spectacles, and for a moment his eyes were hidden from sight. "You really are so amusing when you suffer from insomnia, Kurosaki Ichigo-kun."
"Don't call me that, Ishida-chan."
"I'm just making a statement," he shrugged his shoulders. "Any particular reason why you look like someone just ran over you and back?"
Rukia flashed before his eyes then, and his eyes pulled down. The memory from the evening that had just conspired was as fresh as ever, and he'd found it hard to shake her face from his mind, especially in the deep, encircling solitude of his room.
Ishida saw that, he knew. And that brilliant mind of his was probably already working away at possible conclusions.
"Someone break your heart?"
The question was so absurd that Ichigo laughed.
"Or maybe," Ishida paused, eyes suddenly narrowed, "you're just uncertain what to do or how to act in the face of a possible situation."
That was so astute that Ichigo shot him a glance. And he cursed himself just as quickly, for now Ishida would know the truth, and would not be waylaid.
"Ah…so it was the latter."
"Maybe it isn't."
"No, I know you know I saw your little head movement there. And besides, if someone didn't break your heart – unlikely, as you are dating a non-existent girlfriend – then the second most obvious choice would have been the latter of what I said, and to which you responded to." He tilted his head to the side. "It was obvious, in any case."
Ichigo said nothing. Turning back to stare at his glass, he wished it were full again.
"More drink?"
"…sure."
Another minute in silence as Ishida prepared another drink for him, and another minute as Ichigo sipped away.
"A girl, was it?"
Silence.
"Or maybe a boy?"
"A girl…" Ichigo hissed quietly.
"Something happen?"
"…yeah, something…just not sure of the cause…" Ichigo said, swaying his glass in a circle and watching the alcohol inside form a gently circular rhythm. He stopped. "In fact, I'm not even sure what the hell is going on."
"Well, obviously, if it bothers you, you must like this girl a lot," Ishida said.
Ichigo, whose drink had been halfway to his lips, froze. He set his glass back down slowly.
"Well, Kurosaki, if you're in denial, just think about it. You worry about her, you spend a sleepless night with her memory still burned into your conscious, and you know that if you went to sleep you'd probably start dreaming of her too. That's when you know you've got it bad, chump." He smirked down at Ichigo, who barely noticed.
"What? Is this supposed to be a revelation?"
Still silence from the orange-haired captain.
"Are you going to say anything?"
"…"
"You know, all this mystery is starting to remind me of the time your mother died."
Suddenly fierce brown eyes were at his. "Don't start talking about that again."
Ishida shrugged. "It's the only way to get a rise out of you sometimes."
"Shut up."
"You're too easy to read sometimes, Kurosaki," Ishida said, smirking, which darkened his pale features. He came around the bar to stand next to Ichigo. Neither looked at each other. "You think you're so complex, but I can see right through you sometimes."
"You always did talk funny."
"But you know," Ishida said, and his eyes were hidden behind his spectacles, "if you realize you're acting like when your mother died, you must place the same level of emotion on what happened then to what's happening now. And if you need some kind of epiphany, I can only point out to you that you've only been like this once before, when your mother died – and that this mystery girl, whoever she is, can get the same kind of emotion out of you. Think about it, Kurosaki."
And he made to leave.
"…bastard."
Ishida stopped, and smiled. "You too."
He went a few more steps.
"I won't thank you."
"I know." And he was almost out the door. "Do you ever?"
He smiled, and was out of sight.
Orihime was already back at her post when Ishida came up, quietly, and he thought that she didn't notice his presence. However, when she didn't start from his wrapping his arms around her from behind, he knew she'd heard him beforehand.
"Good morning, Inoue-san."
"Good morning, Ishida-kun," she said back to him. He noticed that she smiled as she did so. "Might I ask why you're smiling in such a self-satisfied way? Not too often I see you with a smirk that wide."
He just smirked again, and her face darkened slightly.
"…you didn't happen to tell Kurosaki-kun, did you?"
He just kept smirking.
"Ishida Uryuu!"
"What?" he asked in this oh-so-innocent voice that instantly betrayed him.
"Ishida Uryuu, I told you not to tell!"
"Can't help, you know Kurosaki. He's so dense with things that I practically had to whack him over the head with it. As it was, I had to actually say it before the thought probably even registered."
"But still, Uryuu! It wasn't nice to tell him, especially when you don't know if…!"
"Look, hime-sama," Ishida said, smiling into her neck, "don't worry about it. You know Kurosaki; he's resilient, and he overcomes things in his way. Or gets even. I wouldn't be worrying so much about him just because you think he can't cope with his delicate little fluttery heart. Besides, I'd be jealous if you thought of him that much."
"Since when are you jealous?" Orihime said, though she twisted her head to the side to bring their faces closer together.
"I'm always jealous."
"You never let on."
"Of course not. As long as you don't look back."
"Hm, that little possessive streak of yours again…" she laughed. "Not that I really mind too much anyway…"
They stood in silence while Orihime just observed all the comings and goings in the building, where a wealth of security camera screens spread out in front of her like so many glass lenses to the world. As security manager, this was her job: to make sure security was in working order, and to make sure that the hunters would be safe.
"…and just what in the world possessed you to talk to Kurosaki-kun, anyway?"
"He was just being an asshole in his denial."
"You don't even know if he's in denial."
"Sure I do. He's got the face on and everything."
"What makes you so sure?"
"Why do we keep talking about him?"
"Because I care."
"I know. You always care," he grumbled lightly; and maybe she thought he was hurt, because she spun around in his arms to look then into his eyes.
"Look, Uryuu…you're not any less important to me now just because Kurosaki-kun seems to be having problems," she said, averting her eyes from his momentarily. "If I…seem too involved with him, I'm sorry. But you know me better than anyone. You know that…you know that Kurosaki-kun is one of my best friends, and I'd do anything for him. And that means being by his side when he needs help, you know?"
Ishida smiled, and brought their foreheads together. "I know, I know, hime-sama. I think you sometimes forget I've known him longer than you."
"Well, for being childhood friends, you sure don't show it."
"I do show it. Just in different ways."
That brought him back to a moment in his past, one of those moments that Ishida had, by some miracle, remembered. Remembered and tucked away. That brought forth an image of eight-year-old Ichigo and almost-nine-year-old Uryuu, playing together, when all the world seemed like a big toy ready to be unwrapped and shining in its box.
"Hey, Ryuu-kun, why're you so sad today?" Ichigo's big brown eyes blinked up at him, but at the time, all he'd felt was a compounding sadness. Not even the prospect of playing with his best friend made it seem any better. "Are you okay?"
"I'm okay, Ichigo-kun," he said. "It's just that my dad died yesterday, you know, because of his cancer, and so now the only family I have left is my grandfather. I have to go live with him now."
"Oh, Ryuu-kun! I'm sorry about your dad."
"I know. But I have to move, too."
"What?"
That was the first time he had ever discussed it with his best friend, and the news came as a shock.
"You have to move? Where?"
"I don't know. To where my grandfather lives, and I don't really know where that is," Ishida said, feeling thoroughly miserable. "What if he lives in Okinawa or something? Then I'll never get to play with you again."
"Don't worry, Ryuu-kun! Me and you will always be friends!" Ichigo's sad face suddenly turned into a grin. "But come on! We should hurry up with the rest of the time you're going to be here. And you have to give me your address too, so that when you move I can write to you! That way, we'll still be friends!" And he grinned in such a manner that the gloom around Ishida's heart was temporarily lifted, and he trusted in his friend.
But things happened, events were twisted, and, as it turned out, that was the last time Ishida ever saw his friend for many years to follow. Oh, Ishida didn't move that far away; maybe a hundred miles or so, but it was the thought of having left his best friend without so much as another word that hurt the most.
And it wasn't until nine years later did they actually meet again.
"Ishida-kun?"
He shook himself out of his reverie. "It's nothing. And I told you to stop calling me that."
"I can't help it," Orihime pouted adorably, "when you're in your thinking mode I can't do or say anything to get you out of it!"
"Sorry, hime-sama…"
Ishida hadn't seen his friend, or, indeed, even thought about him in years, but he would've known that crop of orange hair anywhere the moment he spotted it under the small, dirty light. He was here on business, but to run into his childhood friend, here of all places, with his arm around a whore and drinking down bottle after bottle of hard liquor…it couldn't be him, really. Not the Ichigo he knew.
He wondered if it was safe to approach.
"Kurosaki Ichigo?"
Dull eyes turned to his, but behind that Ishida could still see the awareness, the certainty that alcohol had not dimmed all of his senses. And least of all his memory.
"Hey…" Ichigo smiled slowly, "Ishida Ryuu."
He brushed off the casual mention of Ichigo's childhood nickname for him, coming straight to the point. "What are you doing here?"
The other man stared at him for a second, and then laughed. "Fucking hell, Ishida, I see you for what, half a minute? – and you're already questioning me like a criminal. Not gonna even say hello? How are you? Nice to see you, maybe?"
Funny, they hadn't seen each other in years, but the teenage banter that immediately sprang up between them was casual, almost lighthearted. Still, Ishida wondered what had happened to his friend in the years that had sprung between them.
"Want to talk somewhere private?" he said, using his eyes to sweep over the crowd Ichigo was with, a rough-looking bunch that was looking none too pleased about his interruption. The whore next to Ichigo made a noise of disapproval, but he seemed to ignore her; at least, he gave no visible reaction.
"Yeah, sure…" Ichigo replied, just a little slurred by drink, and he released the woman at his side.
"Hurry back soon, baby," she said, fluttering her lashes at him and biting her bottom lip in a supposedly seductive manner. Her hand made a grab at his ass. "You said we were gonna have fun tonight, right? I guess I can wait, but not too long…" she giggled.
"Yeah, right…later…" he smiled at her slightly, but Ishida could see it was strained.
They made their way to a quiet spot in the bar, difficult due to the loud voices and constant action surrounding the place. Ishida only glanced back once at his friend, but Ichigo was following him steadfastly, more rather than less sure in his step with each he took. Talk about some tolerance for alcohol.
Ishida turned around. "So."
"So," Ichigo echoed. "What brings you to this pleasure spot?"
"Business. And you?"
"Business."
"Didn't look like business to me."
"It's my own kind."
"Oh really? Peddling around in the drug trade now?" Ishida couldn't keep the bitterness out of his voice. What a waste of such childhood innocence. "You're just lucky I feel no urge to report you."
"Feel free, if you really want to," Ichigo laughed, "because drugs ain't what I'm here for."
"Sure, tell me another." Ishida snorted disbelievingly and turned his head to the side, but Ichigo was the one staring at him now, and grinning.
"You wouldn't even believe me if I told you I was after a vampire."
Suddenly Ishida's eyes shot back to his. "What did you say?"
"I said, you wouldn't believe me if I told you I was after a vampire, right?" Ichigo's grin widened. "Too bad for you. Because it's the truth."
"The truth?" Ishida weighed the words carefully. "You are after a vampire?"
"Yeah. You know, with the long fangs, the white skin, the ones who can turn into bats and vanish in sunlight? The ones who pierce your neck and drink your blood?" He was still smiling, and it was beginning to make him look a little crazy.
Ishida wondered if he really was drunk, or sober and just trying to throw him off. "Are you…a hunter?"
"A hunter? Of what? Vampires?" Ichigo continued to grin, like this was all a big joke. Ishida was getting annoyed with it. "I never thought of myself that way, but I am hunting a vampire so I guess that makes me one. Why, are you?"
"Yes…" Ishida said quietly.
And suddenly the joviality was gone, and suddenly Ishida realized that he'd been right all along – the big grin and drunkenness was all just a very, very clever façade. They continued to stare at each other, never blinking, and each trying to gauge the honesty of the other's words.
"…seriously?" Ichigo asked him quietly.
"Yes, seriously."
"Why do you hunt?"
The other's eyes closed almost ruefully, and he let out a smirk. "To make a long story short, remember my grandfather I told you about? He was a hunter through and through. Got me into the business the second I moved in with him, trained me for years, and I haven't regretted it since. Not since he was killed by some bloodsuckers eight months back." His eyes opened. "And why are you here, in this dingy and godforsaken shithole? Not to screw your whore in the bathroom, I'm sure."
"Che…" Ichigo smirked as well, "Like I said earlier, I'm here on business. You're making me look suspicious by calling me out and all this y'know." Suddenly he was silent, and stared at the ground; Ishida waited in silence for almost two minutes before Ichigo spoke again. "It's business that I…I can't really talk about. Maybe one day, after I do it, I'll tell you, but…I'll never tell anyone till that day." He looked up. "Not even if I die."
Ishida caught his eye, and then looked at the ground, nodding slightly. "I understand."
"Do you?" The relief was evident in Ichigo's voice, and then he smiled – almost smiled, not quite, but the nearest semblance of a real smile that Ishida could remember from when his friend was just eight years old and without a care in the world.
"Yeah, I do."
They stood in silence while a fight erupted somewhere else.
"Well, you know, once you get through with what you're after, and if you're still alive…let me know if you want to become a real hunter," Ishida had said, rummaging around for his business card and holding it out to the man opposite him. "One can never tell the paths our lives lay for us."
"You're telling me…" Ichigo muttered, contemplative for a second before taking the card. He held out his hand. "…who knows, maybe they'll cross again."
"Maybe." Ishida smiled at that, and shook it.
"Ishida Uryuu! Are you listening to me?"
"Hm? Oh, what? Sorry, hime."
She pouted at him, and then smiled. "Thinking about Kurosaki-kun again?"
"I never said anything of the sort."
"You didn't need to. I know that face you had on, and it was the thinking-of-my-friends-in-trouble face. Just like you have the don't-bother-me face and the overstressed-from-captain's-duties face and the daydreaming-about-your-beautiful-girlfriend-Inoue-Orihime face," she giggled a little, "and that's why I knew you were thinking of him."
Ishida just stared at her in surprise, before his face broke out in a smile. He hugged her tighter. "That just shows how well you know me."
"You think?" Orihime kissed him lightly on his nose, and then broke away. "Well, Ishida Uryuu, I'm on break right now for another hour. Want to have some coffee in my room? Alone?" She smirked as she stressed the last word, and Ishida thought it was about the sexiest thing he'd ever seen.
"You are going to be the death of me, woman," he shook his head, smiling. One could never tell with Inoue Orihime.
"So? Most men would love to die with me."
"No exception."
"Oh, you."
But as she took his hand and started leading him away, Ishida decided that he wouldn't worry too much about Kurosaki Ichigo. Ishida didn't need to. He already knew.
For Kurosaki Ichigo, no matter what he said or did to disprove it, no matter if the feeling was reciprocated or not, had fallen like a load of bricks for his one vampire captive…the dark-haired, lavender-eyed vampire, Kuchiki Rukia.
tsuzuku