The Substitute Teacher
Chapter 7
xXx
Ichigo stood there awkwardly while Renji hugged the air out of the tiny woman. He never felt like that before... So miserable. He suddenly felt like he didn't belong there in any way and really, really wanted to leave. That's when Renji finally let her go.
The woman caressed the redhead's face with both her hands, a loving gesture that Ichigo also painfully noticed, and turned to the teen, offering a hand.
"Kuchiki Rukia, pleased to meet you," her eyes glittered in a mischievous way. Almost like she was smirking at him instead of smiling.
"Kurosaki Ichigo," he murmured, eyeing her, almost expecting her to pull a prank of some sorts.
She nodded and turned back to Renji, taking his hands into her small ones. "I'm sorry I couldn't get here sooner. How is she?"
"Bad," Renji sighed and cast a look on Ichigo. The boy was looking politely away, hands in his pockets. The redhead noticed how tense he was and felt like he should be apologizing to him. Pushing the thought aside, he glanced back at Rukia and squeezed her hands. "Visiting hours are over for today, but you can go with me again tomorrow."
"Of course I'll go. I owe her so much," Rukia sighed. "Well, if there's nothing we can do at the moment, can we go and have a bite to eat?"
"Sure! There's this fast food place nearby, if you still like cheeseburgers," Renji smirked knowingly.
"Gah! I would kill for a cheeseburger!"
Ichigo sighed, hearing the conversation and already prepared himself to say goodbye and go home. There was no place for him there, honestly.
"Ichigo, you comin?"
"What? Me? B-but you should probably... Hang out and talk... And I have homework to do..."
"I don't remember giving you one," Renji grinned and then laughed as the teen blushed bright red. He also noticed that Rukia gave an intrigued look but didn't say anything.
"I shouldn't interrupt your time with your girlfriend..." Ichigo tried again, now desperately wanting to run away and hide.
Before Renji could answer, Rukia snorted and waved a hand. "Oh please, I'm nowhere near his list of preferences."
Renji rolled his eyes while the small woman patted him on the back and giggled.
What the hell did that mean? Ichigo scratched the back of his head and stared at the weird couple. Okay, so she wasn't his girlfriend. Oh, that's right, Renji's secret lover always put a 'B' as a signature. But was it an ex or not? And Rukia must be connected somehow since she too was in Paris. Maybe it was Rukia's friend or a sister?
xXx
"So, please tell me how's this goofball doing as a teacher?" Rukia asked the teen, munching on a cheeseburger bigger than her hands.
"Hey you're undermining my authority here!"
Ichigo felt a bit more lighthearted so he dared to make a joke. "What authority?"
Rukia burst into laughter, barely managing to swallow the bite before it all would go to hell. "Oh man, you're good!"
"Great," Renji grumbled, feigning to be upset. "Should I leave and let you two have fun?"
"Aw, don't be mad," Rukia drawled, leaning in and planting a kiss on his cheek.
Ichigo observed with amusement how his sensei grumbled something, but smiled anyway. Now he could see it for real. The two were more like siblings. Okay, so he couldn't picture himself being that close to either of his sisters but that was probably because they were so younger than him. Renji and Rukia seemed to be of the same age.
"So," he decided to join the conversation again, "how did you two meet?"
Renji smiled a bit sadly. "At Miss Saiko's. We were there together until we were twelve."
"I'm sorry," Ichigo blurted, feeling very ashamed.
"It's okay," Rukia smiled. "You couldn't have known."
"Um so... Twelve? Weren't you allowed to stay until you're eighteen?"
"I was adopted by Kuchiki family. I wasn't so sure I'd like it, but Renji convinced me to give it a try. They were so nice to me, like a real family. The only tough part was that they decided to expand their business to France. Eventually the whole family went and only I and Nii-sama stayed to finish school and college. We joined them in Paris six months ago."
"I guess you like it better here, huh," Ichigo commented, his brain going into overdrive, trying to figure out all that jumble. So who was B.?
"By the way, Nii-sama sends his regards," Rukia said, somewhat cautious.
"I couldn't care less," Renji muttered.
"But Renji, he..."
"I said I don't care. Drop it. Please," the redhead sounded convincing enough, so the next few minutes passed in silence.
Ichigo sat there, playing with the straw in his drink, avoiding looking at either of them.
"See, now you made him feel weird," Renji accused his childhood friend. "Sorry kid, we shouldn't have had this conversation in front of you. That was rude of us."
"That's okay... Um, anyway, I should be going now... My dad is waiting for me." He stood up and looked over at Rukia, bowing a little. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Kuchiki-san."
"You too, Kurosaki-kun. We'll see each other again, I guess, since I'm back," she smiled, this time genuinely.
"Have a good day, sensei," Ichigo turned to the redhead, smiling as the words left his mouth.
"See ya tomorrow kiddo."
Seeing the look on Renji's face as he said goodbye to the young man and then watched him go, Rukia's eyes widened in surprise. She knew that look all too well.
"Renji."
"Hmm," the redhead hummed absentmindedly.
"We gotta talk."
xXx
"What's the matter, Ichi-nii? You seem really distracted today," Yuzu asked sweetly as she brought a pot of curry to the table.
Ichigo glanced at his little sister and shook his head. His thoughts were on his sensei, wondering about Rukia and that other person... He gradually wanted to spend more and more time with Renji and now he was actually jealous that Rukia stayed with him. On the other hand, he thought it was ridiculous – there was no way that Renji would suddenly realize he wanted to be with her and then do something and then he and Rukia would be together and never hang out with him again... Ichigo hated himself for being so damn paranoid and couldn't figure out why it was happening to him. Why was Renji so important to him? If that was, in fact, real jealousy, then was he maybe in love with-
"Helooo?" A voice rang in his ear, interrupting the last line of thought. Ichigo jumped in his seat and stared at his other sister.
"Karin, what the hell..."
"Leave him be, girls," Isshin chuckled. "He must have some hottie on his mind. After all, it's mating season..."
"Puberty, dad," Karin rolled her eyes, disgusted with his choice of words.
"Dad," Ichigo said absentmindedly. "How did you know you were in love with mom?"
Isshin grinned like he'd won a best father award and sat down next to his son. "Now, why is my boy asking me that?"
Ichigo groaned. "You know, just forget I asked."
"Alright, alright, sorry! Erm, well, how did I know? I just did. I couldn't imagine being away from her for too long. I started to notice every little detail about her that made her such a wonderful person... My heart would begin pounding like crazy whenever she was around..."
Isshin chuckled, "Not to mention I was a clumsy, nervous wreck in her proximity... And then I finally asked her out on a date."
"So you felt all of that before you started dating?" Ichigo asked.
"Yeah... And when we had been dating for several months, I knew I wanted her to be the only woman in my life." Isshin gave a warm, somewhat sad smile, remembering his love. "You should ask that girl on a date if you feel that way."
Ichigo squirmed in his seat, his cheeks flushing. "Uh, it's not that simple..."
"Why? She doesn't like you back?"
Ichigo wondered how his father would react if he told him that it wasn't a 'she' and that it was his teacher. He wasn't sure which of the two was worse.
"I... I don't know..."
"I'm sure you'll work it out somehow."
Ichigo sighed. Yeah right. He was a seventeen year old kid and Renji was a grown man. His teacher. A man. There was nothing to work out.
xXx
To be continued...
