Disclaimer: I don't have the skill to own Bleach…but Kubo Tite does!
Chapter 4 flash back
She [Rukia was cut off when the front door slammed open to reveal a weeping Isshin. "Ahh! Ichigooo! Rukiaaa-chaaan! HORRAY, YOU'RE ALRIGHT!" Then Isshin caught the sight of the two teens holding hands, he grinned maniacally. "ICHIGO'S FINALLY DECLARED HIS LOVE FOR RUKIA-CHAN" he bellowed. "Daddy is so happy"
A Birthday To Remember
Chapter 5
You invited…WHO?!
Ichigo and Rukia glared at Isshin as if he was crazy, then they glanced at their entwined hands…
Ichigo bellowed incoherently as he pulled his hand away from Rukia's as if it burnt him.
Rukia did her best to hide her embarrassment by laughing one of her girlish, fake giggles. She was also actually just stalling for an idea to explain their former entwined hands. There was no way she was telling Ichigo's family the truth…she didn't even know why she took his hand in the first place anymore…
The annoying and very fake giggle from Rukia was enough to put Ichigo out of his state of shock, allowing him to register what his dad has said before. Ichigo exploded into a range of curse words and violent gestures at his dad as he threw the umbrella onto the ground.
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN, OLD MAN?! ME?! ME and HER?!" Ichigo pointed to Rukia, who maintained a calm and rather stoic expression.
Isshin nodded gleefully and ran back into the house and threw himself at the poster of Masaki. "OH, MASAKI! I TOLD YOU THAT ICHIGO HAS FOUND A GIRLFRIEND!"
"WHAT THE FUCK? HEY! GET BACK HERE OLD MAN!" Ichigo yelled as he chased his father into the dining room where the poster of his mother was.
Yuzu and Karin looked up from their dinner. Yuzu looked positively dumb-struck whereas Karin looked completely bored.
Rukia sighed inwardly as she shut the front door and picked up the long-forgotten umbrella and placed it in it's stand. She walked into the dining room and noted that the family was still halfway through dinner. She walked down the hallway and into the twins room, hoping to find something to change into.
Isshin ignored Ichigo and continued to talk to the poster of Masaki, "See, Masaki? I was actually starting to get worried about the fact that Ichigo was gay!" Isshin then burst into a fit of laughter as tears of joy continued to flow down his face.
Ichigo's face darkened, words couldn't convey what he felt right now. The closest word there was would probably be 'murderous'. Ichigo walked briskly towards his father and kicked him in the back, sending Isshin face first into the poster of his mum and the wall.
Isshin groaned and slid down the wall slowly, in a comical way.
"Ichigo!" Yuzu huffed as she glanced worriedly at her father on the floor.
"Can't say he didn't deserve it," Karin drawled.
Ichigo grunted and sat down at the dinner table as if nothing had happened.
"Ichigo, where's Rukia-chan?" Karin asked, "And why are your clothes wet?"
"Uuh…I forgot my umbrella," Ichigo muttered, "Wait…where is Rukia?"
"Right here," Rukia said as she walked into the dinning room and took her usual seat next to Ichigo. She had changed into yet another sun dress. Rukia glanced at Ichigo, "You should change you know, you getting a cold won't do anyone any good."
"Tch. I don't need you to tell me that," Ichigo said with a scowl as he got up from his seat and walked into his room for a change of clothes.
By the time Ichigo emerged from his room again, Isshin had recovered from Ichigo's blow and was having dinner with the rest of the family. They appeared to be talking about Rukia's birthday the next day.
"Well, you know, I can cook all the food!" Yuzu said brightly, a twinkle in her eyes, "and I'll make you this beautiful, big cake…"
Isshin glanced at Ichigo as he sat down, Isshin grinned mischievously. "Yuzu, make it a big, five decker, white cake. Oh, and put pink love hearts everywhere!"
Ichigo looked at his father, "What the hell? Whose getting married."
Isshin was almost beside himself with amusement now; he really did have an idiot for a son. "You are, of course, and to the lovely Rukia-chan aswell!"
Rukia choked on her mouthful of rice and started into a coughing fit. Ichigo thumped her on the back lightly, as much as he wanted to pay her back from this morning [refer chapter 2, he didn't actually want to hurt her. Ichigo was too busy with helping Rukia than to even retort to Isshin right now.
"Ahh…young love!" Isshin said loudly as tears of joy, once again, flowed down his cheeks.
"Shut up, old man," Karin said impassively.
"Awww, Karin, why are you so mean to your own father?" Isshin feigned hurt.
"Damn. I used to keep telling myself I was adopted…" Karin groaned.
"So, Rukia-chan? Can I make the food for your party? Please?" Yuzu asked the now expressionless Rukia.
Ichigo's right eye twitched, the lack of expression on Rukia's face kept reminding him of a certain Gotei 13 squad leader by the name of 'Kuchiki Byakuya'. Ichigo shuddered.
"Of course, Yuzu. Your cooking really is the best," Rukia answered with a radiant smile.
"YAY!" Yuzu cheered as she rushed over the table and gave Rukia a tight hug. "Thank you, Rukia-chan."
"No, no, I should be the one thanking you," Rukia said with a laugh.
"Oh, Rukia-chan, we invited that Asano guy. Asano Keigo or something," Karin informed her.
"WHAT?!" Ichigo yelled as he stood up from his chair in a quick motion.
"Ichi-ni? What's wrong?" Yuzu asked worriedly.
"Why the he- Why of all the people in the world would you invite Keigo?" Ichigo asked, bewildered. He didn't want Keigo near Rukia… He didn't want his sisters to be around the likes of Keigo either…
"Well, Rukia-chan said she wanted to invite him this morning, didn't you, Rukia-chan?" Yuzu turned to Rukia.
Rukia looked at Yuzu dumbfounded, "Uh…Did i?" Then she remembered this morning where she had said it to piss Ichigo off. "Oh…I did…" she groaned.
Ichigo groaned too, "Great…that perv's gonna be all over this house… We're going to have to boil whatever he touches…Wait…how did you invite him?"
"Ahh…that Asano Keigo guy? He seems a decent fellow!" Isshin piped up. "I invited him this afternoon."
"Your standards must be pretty low to deem Keigo as decent…" Ichigo muttered.
"…I also went to the trouble of inviting all your classmates!" Isshin declared proudly.
"WHAT?!" Ichigo bellowed.
"Ichi-ni. This is Rukia's party, why do you care so much?" Karin inquired.
Ichigo flushed and stammered out random words. "U-uh. Well, for one thing, this is my house. Second of all, she doesn't want them here either!"
"How do you know? Rukia-chan, do you want your classmates here?" Isshin asked.
All eyes turned to Rukia, who sat there still looking rather shocked. "Uuh…of course I want them here!" Rukia replied with a fake, girlish giggle.
Ichigo groaned and rolled his eyes. He knew she only said that to piss him off…
"Well, then it's settled!" Isshin declared. "Yuzu and I will get to planning the schedule for the party. You don't have to worry about a thing, Rukia-chan!"
Rukia smiled and laughed nervously, "Why, thank you, Isshin-san, Yuzu-chan. You too, Karin-chan."
"What are family for?" Isshin asked with a grin. "Now why don't you two teens go and do…whatever teens do." Isshin winked at Ichigo.
Ichigo gagged. "Old hentai…" He then proceeded to walk out of the dining room and into his room.
A few minutes later, Rukia opened the door to his room- without knocking as usual. She plopped herself on Ichigo's bed, "Hey, Ichigo, you sure it's ok that your family is throwing me a party?"
"They said it was ok, didn't they?" Ichigo answered with a raised eyebrow.
"I…guess…" Rukia said thoughtfully. "But…what if things go wrong…What if a hollow comes tomorrow or something?"
"They told you not to worry about anything, I'm sure things are gonna run smoothly." Ichigo reassured her.
"Whatever…" Rukia murmured as she got up from the bed and walked towards the door. As she opened the door, she turned back to look at Ichigo, "Hey, Ichigo, thanks."
"…What for?" Ichigo asked.
"…I don't know…" Rukia answered puzzled as she pulled his door close.
That night, Ichigo and Rukia lay awake in their rooms.
"You don't have to worry about a thing!" Ichigo scoffed at what Isshin had said earlier that evening. He sure hoped that he wouldn't have to worry about anything…
"They told you not to worry about anything, I'm sure things are gonna run smoothly." Rukia smiled unconsciously at Ichigo's reassurance. She sure hoped he was right…He should hope so too, because he was going to get hurt if he was wrong…
Authors Note: Yay! Another chapter. Yes, I took my time. xD
The next chapter is the big day! I'm gonna have fun writing that up. xD
Once again, thank you guys for the reviews. They are appreciated.
…I wonder if people even read the A/Ns. xD
I think I'm abusing 'xD'…xD