Doing a series of one shot challenges with my good Friend Secret Starr, we each take turns picking a song. Then we each write a fic based off of it. Today's song is: Can I call You Tonight? By: Dayglow.
Be sure to go read her Fic!
Chapter 1: ICHIRUKI BABY
Do people still do Disclaimer's? (Disclaimer)
Can I Call You Tonight?
"I feel close, well maybe I'm not, heaven knows."
An oddly orange haired young man sat in a chair on an apartment building balcony with a set of headphones packed into his ears. He was thinking intently and singing out loud simultaneously. The sun had a nice warm feel on his skin as he continued, "It's a spotlight stuck on the ceiling, why are these the things that I'm feeling?"
From inside the apartment building, another young man approached the singer. His hair was brown and unnecessarily unkempt. He opened a sliding glass door and stuck his head out onto the balcony as he spoke to his orange haired friend. "Yo Ichigo, what's that you're singing to yourself?"
Ichigo turned his orange mop covered head and replied with a simple, "Hmm?"
The soul reaper looked up to see a familiar face, "Oh, Hey Keigo, when did you get here?"
Keigo made a sour face. "Why do you ask those questions like you live here? This is my apartment ya know."
Ichigo stood up and pulled one of his ear buds free. "Yeah, yeah, I know."
Keigo stepped fully out onto the balcony, a black hoodie hiding his hands, "So what's that song, what are you doing out here getting all emotional for?"
Ichigo's eye twitched as he gave a light chop to Keigo's head, "I'm not getting emotional jerk. I'm just jamming. The song is called Can I Call You Tonight?"
Keigo rubbed his head and rolled his eyes, "Sounds pretty sappy and emotional to me."
Ichigo rolled his eyes in return, "Here, listen to it."
The reaper disconnected his headphones and plugged his phone into a speaker that sat on a counter in Keigo's apartment. As the song started playing, its spacey vibe filled the room. Keigo raised an eyebrow, "This song IS cool dude…but you're definitely all tied up in knots if you're out there singing this emotional stuff to yourself Mr. Reserved."
Ichigo walked over to Keigo's fridge and pulled out a red can of cola. "Whatever man."
Keigo continued in his ever constant way, "I got home ten minutes ago dude, I saw you pacing back and forth out there like some Shakespearean actor. No use trying to hide it, you're pining over Rukia, right?"
Ichigo tried to hide the defensive blush but his tone gave it away, "Fuck off man, I'm not pining."
Keigo laughed, "I get it man…she's so tiny and cute. Cool as hell, and most of all, she could kick your ass. I'd be pining too if I was hopelessly in love with such a fox."
Ichigo glared, "Do you want a beating?"
Keigo ran away dramatically and jumped over an ugly green couch that sat in his living room, "Why don't you just go see her bro?"
Ichigo came over and joined him on the couch, "It's not that simple man."
Keigo pulled up a gaming controller and turned on his television. As he fired up a video game console he answered, "I'm pretty sure it is that simple. She has some fancy job now? SO what. You're in college now? You're both busy? She lives in another dimension? Whatever! You have a gate to go there and some free time after class, if you love someone, make it work man...Only cowards run away from love."
Keigo finished by throwing Ichigo a gaming controller. Ichigo answered as he waited for Keigo to start the game, "I don't think I like getting love lectures from you."
Keigo elbowed him, "Then get your shit together."
Ichigo smiled and shook his head at him before they played a round in a fighting game, which Keigo won. That was out of the ordinary. Keigo jumped on this, "Okay, now I know you're torn up about this, you never lose fights in this game Ichigo. Why don't you just go see her? Can't you at least call her; don't you have one of those phones that can make calls across to the Soul society?"
Ichigo nodded, "Yeah, but I don't want to put her out or anything."
At that point, Keigo noticed and listened to the song Ichigo had playing as it repeated on the speaker. The lyrics called out, "Can I call you tonight? I'm trying to make up my mind, just how I feel."
Keigo laughed, "Ichigo, you're literally listening to this song because you want to call her. Do it chicken."
Ichigo started to chug the last of his soda when Keigo poked at him with suggestive eyebrows, "You better make a move quick. That Renji guy might…slide in first?"
Keigo was proud of his innuendo. That pride was swiftly ended by an empty cola can to his face. The orange haired reaper spoke bluntly, "Piss off ya perv."
Keigo rubbed his head where he was just hit, "Ichigo…I'm pretty sure she'll say yes…just ask her on a date."
Ichigo grabbed a computer bag off of a chair and started heading towards the exit door, "I'll think about it, thanks Keigo, I appreciate you letting me crash here."
Keigo waved a goodbye as he yelled, "Good luck dude!"
With that, Keigo pulled out his phone and started gossiping to their shared friends. The orange haired Substitute Soul Reaper quickly headed downstairs to the base floor of the apartment building. As he stepped out into the street he saw another face he recognized. The man was a good six inches shorter than Ichigo, had extremely well combed hair, and a rounded face. The man was looking down at his phone as Ichigo called to him, "Is that you Mizuiro?"
The shorter man popped his head up, "Oh, Hey Ichigo, Is it true you're going to finally ask Rukia out?"
Ichigo stepped back, "What the heck? How the…?"
Ichigo heard giggling from the balcony above him. He looked up to see Keigo grinning at him and waving. Ichigo called up to him, "You gossip like an old lady, Keigo!"
Ichigo took off in an angered walk, passing his friend Mizuiro.
Mizuiro called out, "Hey, Ichigo!?"
The orange hair disappeared around the corner and Mizuiro gave up, he headed inside to go up to Keigo's apartment.
…
A few hours later, darkness had fallen upon a small farm house in the middle of some relatively dense woods. After some small investing when he got into college, Ichigo had come into a sizeable chunk of money. His father went in with him and they bought a small piece of property on the outskirts of Karakura town. A small stream was trickling outside of the house just a few feet away on the plot. Small stone steps lead up to the traditional sliding Japanese door. Just inside the door were a few sets of slippers and shoes. Deeper in the house, the living room opened up. It was sparse, a small chair in one corner, and nothing else around to speak of. The only other odd thing in the room was Ichigo, lying sprawled out on the floor. He wore a checkered pair of boxers and no shirt. His face was stuck staring at the ceiling in the dark. The small hum of music coming from the tiny earbuds he wore was the only sound inside the hollow space. He was in hard contemplation. This girl he liked seemed out of his reach. Should he let it go? Should he make an attempt?
He pulled a loose piece of string off his boxers and began rolling it in between his thumb and forefinger. At this point, he sensed a familiar aura headed his way. He didn't look as the door to the house opened. A small beam of moonlight cast in on the Young Reaper's face. Finally, he glanced up and spoke to the newcomer, "Hey Dad."
Ichigo's dad Isshin stood towering in the doorway. He scratched his beard with one hand and held a red bag in the other, "What are you up to sitting in the dark like that? You doing alright kiddo?"
Ichigo let out a big sigh, "Yeah, I'm alright enough dad…what's in the bag?"
Isshin took a few steps over and sat on the empty chair across from Ichigo. "Couple of things for the house."
The elder man pulled a small lamp from inside of the bag and plugged it into an outlet, it lit up the room dimly enough for the pair to see each other's faces cleanly. Isshin laughed, "Guess I shoulda got a table for these to sit on."
Ichigo watched as his dad pulled a small box from the bag and tossed it to his son. "I figured since you like music so much that should be our first official housewarming gift to ourselves."
Ichigo looked at the box and started pulling the item out, "A Bluetooth speaker, nice."
Ichigo rolled over and plugged it into a wall when his dad called, "Last but not least, here."
Ichigo reached out and received a small cup that his dad had poured sake into. "Congrats on the house son. It's a perfect place for reaper work and college homework."
Ichigo smiled, he seemed far off in his head still. So, Isshin nearly demanded of his son. "Ichigo, tell me what's going on in that cloudy head of yours."
Normally, Ichigo was cryptic, but his dad was one person he could tell anything to, and after a few more years of aging, he'd learned to be more direct with his father if he needed help. "It's Rukia."
Isshin laughed. "Ah, my dream daughter in law. So, did you sort out your feelings for her yet? You in love?"
Ichigo started in on a long spew of manic brainwaves. "I think so, I'm still not one hundred percent sure of what I'm feeling. Love seems foreign sometimes. I keep finding myself pacing and fidgeting with things when I think about how I feel. It really started to eat at me the last few months when I hadn't seen her. So I got this bright idea that I'd go see her in the soul society. Like maybe her presence would make me happy…or flustered ya know? That would be decent proof. So I went last weekend, to the squad thirteen barracks. I sent a message I wanted to meet her, and she refuses to see me! After half a damn year! Like what the hell is up with that, can't even tell me to come back at a better time?! That pissed me off, so I hung around until it seemed things had slowed down for the day. I snuck into the barracks and got to her personal quarters. I knocked on the door, she comes and opens it, then snaps at me and says she's busy, her face was all red and puffy. I tried to tell her about my feelings and ask her opinion but I started muttering some mantra that sounded like a monk's chant because I was so damn nervous! Then, she slammed the door in my face. Like, what the heck man! I came all the way JUST to see her. I get that I showed up unannounced, but she didn't have to be THAT rude. As I'm walking back out of there, she sends me a text that said she can't," he did sarcastic finger quotations with the last bit, "Handle it if I just show up unexpected like that."
Isshin smiled at his son's wild antics as Ichigo continued. "She's a captain for Christ sake, why can't she handle me showing up? That should be easy business!"
He paused a moment and looked to Isshin for his opinion, so Isshin gave it. "Well, if we act under the assumption that she feels the same way for you as you do for her. Then that text sounds like code for; I like you and you caught me off guard. Please don't look at me when I blush…Fiery girls just yell…isn't that just like her to be a Tsundere? She's pretty reserved most of the time and you put her on the spot."
Ichigo nodded aggressively, "I considered that, like what if she was pissed because she likes me? Although, what if she was just mad that I interrupted her work? And even if she does like me, I might have to let her go regardless because of her job as a captain, how the hell are we supposed to date?"
Ichigo was breathing heavy at this point, his dad finally took a chance to speak. His fatherly reassurance he had a knack for kicked into overdrive. "Jeez kid, you're all up in your head right now. Like a pretzel. Seems to me like you're only overthinking this because you like her and you're worried it won't be possible to have her be your gal. Let me ask you this, how did you feel on the way back home after she kicked you out of her place?"
Ichigo answered immediately, "Overwhelmingly lonely."
Isshin laughed and slapped his thighs then stood and pointed at his son, "HA! Well that proves it, you do love her!"
Something about his dad calling it out stopped the mulling in his head, he really was in love with Rukia. Plain and simple. Suddenly he felt shitty, he'd wasted years. She had always been right there next to him, now she seemed out of reach. "Dad, I had all that time to speak up, but I kept quiet. Now it feels too late. We literally live in separate dimensions right now, and I don't want her to sacrifice her duty just to date me. How would that even work, how could we have a family? Or even a house we live in together?"
Isshin understood the weight, but he understood his son even better. "Ichigo, aren't you forgetting two major details here?"
Ichigo was dumbstruck, "And those are?"
"First, your own parents pulled off that sort of relationship. I was born in the soul society, your mother was here, not to mention she was a Quincy. We broke dimensional and racial barriers. If we could do it, you can too. You are our son, aren't you?"
Ichigo went wide eyed as his father changed the talk into a lecture, "AND SECOND, you can literally pass back and forth between dimensions! You can just be the one to go to her if she can't come to you, and I guarantee she won't mind it at all and you won't be a bother! Hell, you can find a way to be useful there! By the way, even captain's get nights and weekends off idiot! You're just coming up with excuses. Do you think I wouldn't go after your mother with everything I've got if she was still alive! Don't waste any more time!"
Isshin took a fat swig of Sake right from the bottle he held then grabbed Ichigo by the hair and looked his son dead in the eyes, "Be a man! Tell Rukia how you feel! Do it before someone else does! She's a damn treasure and you're drunk already if you think no one else has eyes for her! Hell, if she turns you down, we'll finish ten of these bottles together like proper men!"
Ichigo slapped his father's hand away from his head. "Fine! I'll do it right now!"
Ichigo pulled out his cell phone and sent a text to Rukia's number. "Hey, Can I call you?"
He held the phone up in his dad's face. "There, I did it!"
Isshin slapped Ichigo on the shoulder way to hard. "Now that's my boy! Good luck!"
With that, Isshin handed the sake bottle to Ichigo and the elder man left the house and then the entire property. After a minute of standing there, the realization that Ichigo had actually sent the text hit Ichigo like a hammer, he spoke aloud to himself. "You got this!"
He took his own large swig of the Sake then sat on the floor hoping Rukia would answer his text quickly. He was resolved.
…
An Hour later, Ichigo had set up the Bluetooth speaker and put his music on shuffle. After a few songs, he finally got the mercy he was hoping for. It came in the form of a phone call. A punk rock song rang out as his ringtone. He answered the call without checking who the caller was. His voice was soft. "Hello?"
Rukia's voice called back through the phone, "Ichigo?"
The man sat up from his prone position, "Rukia?!"
She rang back. "Don't yell! I can't understand you."
Ichigo relaxed. "Oh yeah, my bad."
She questioned. "So, what's up, you wanted to talk?"
Ichigo swallowed. "Yeah, I was hoping I could…uh, see you tonight."
She made some noise he couldn't discern but then she answered. "Well, it's your lucky night then, Come outside."
Ichigo looked confused. "Uh okay."
He walked to the sliding door and opened it. He took one step out and glanced around the area. "Umm, is this a prank Rukia?"
The Captain answered back with a quip. "Try sensing spiritual pressure then ask me that again."
Ichigo turned on that ability then looked up at a tree above himself with a snap. A broad smile crossed his cheeks. There on a limb she stood. The moon and night stars in a silhouette behind her, the definition of ethereal. Her face felt like water to him, a tall glass while he was stuck in a desert. It seemed like he'd been here a million times before, but it all still felt so new. That lonely feeling in his gut dissipated.
She wore a black Gi clad to her small body, a sword on her side, a phone to her ear, and a grin of her own on her soft face. She spoke when he saw her. "Boo."
Ichigo chuckled to himself as he hung up his phone. Rukia followed suit when Ichigo spoke up into the sky at her. "Get down here already."
With one clean leap she descended from the tree. She landed softly and immediately her violet eyes locked with his. "I like the place."
Ichigo rubbed the back of his head. "How did you find it?"
She held eyed contact. "I went by your Father's house, he told me about it so I came over."
Ichigo nodded. "What brings you to Karakura town, something going on with soul society?"
She fidgeted slightly. "Oh, that, no…nothing is going on, I just uh, wanted to come see you."
A butterfly hit Ichigo's gut like damn hammer. He wasn't waiting anymore, that was his sign. "Rukia, I have a question for you!"
She was looking at scars on his bare chest but snapped to attention when he spoke. She grew suspicious and antsy when she saw the nervous and shifty look he was trying to hide on his angular face. He calmed himself and spoke somewhere between calm and panic. "Rukia, will you go on a date with me?"
She'd not recognized the word immediately. A quick memory scan of the books she'd read when she'd first come to the human world gave her the definition. A tiny blush appeared on her cheeks and she fought the urge to punch him that swept over her. "A date, that's what humans do when they want to spend time with someone they have… uh."
She coughed hard and continued. "Someone they have romantic feelings for, correct?"
Ichigo nodded. "Yes, I'm guessing they call it a courtship in the Soul Society, so what do you say?"
As Ichigo hung onto hope he braced for impact, whether emotional or physical. Rukia had broken eye contact when he asked but she finally took a chance to look at the orange haired man again. Ichigo's face was beet red but he stared right at her bravely. It sent a shockwave through her soul, one that led to her own face turning crimson. She composed herself enough to scoff and turn her head away from him. She spoke through the hard blush, it was mostly a mumble. "Well, if it's that important…then sure."
Ichigo thought he heard a positive through that mumble. Rukia quickly walked past him and was about to open the door to his place when Ichigo yelled. "Wait! Don't just say something like that and run off! Was that a yes!?"
Rukia balled her fists and stormed back up to him. Stuck her head up as close as she could get it up to his face. He wasn't sure if he should be scared, or if he should trust his gut feeling that she was cute when she was this flustered. Either way, he stood there and listened as she yelled. "Open your damn ears up Ichigo, I said yes! Don't make me say it again! Now give me a tour of your house!"
She punched him in the gut and he doubled over as she went into the house, leaving him alone out front. For a few seconds he was dazed as he rubbed the spot she'd just slugged. Then he thought aloud. "Wait…did she just say yes?"
The elation shot through him, he fist pumped in the air dramatically. "YES!"
He quickly ran in the house and saw her glancing around in the sparse living room, his playlist still filling the room with sound out of the tiny speaker. Before he had a chance to speak, the smaller soul reaper turned around quickly enough that her bob cut black hair bounced. "So, are you going to put on some clothes?"
Ichigo looked down at his mostly bare frame and realized he'd just asked a girl out in nothing but shorts small enough to be boxers. Instead of getting embarrassed, years of relief let loose in a fit of laughter. "Geez…that was smooth, wasn't it!"
Rukia joined him in the laugh, it was hearty for both of them. It carried on for a good thirty seconds until Ichigo slowed and spoke. "Hey Rukia?"
She slowed her own laughter. "Yeah?"
Ichigo smiled so care freely that his cuteness cut Rukia to the Core, though she didn't show it outwardly. He spoke directly and openly. It was finally time, and ironically, that same song he listened to while he pined away earlier that day played out the speaker when he finally vocalized the feeling he'd held in his heart.
"I'm totally in love with you."
As she became obviously flushed, the song faded and moved on into the next track.
She chopped his head with a free hand. "Idiot."
Ichigo caught her hand before it returned and asked. "So, can I hug you now?"
Rukia laughed. "Don't even think about it."
I liked it so much, I kinda want to write a full fic off this.
Thanks!
