Barrista AU

"Gods damn it Kurosaki!" Ishida yelled yet again as coffee splashed on his hand.

"Sorry there Ishida! I swear I'm trying my best!" The orange-haired barrista apologized as he filled another cup with the customer's order of an iced latte.

"Well make it look like you're putting in an effort!" Ishida all but yelled at his co-worker.

It was lunch time and the crowds were flowing in thick and fast. The tiny cafe they were currently working in was situated just outside a university and next to a busy office building. Countless sleep deprived students and workers made their way down to the tiny cafe that sold expensive coffee to find a wake up call. Lunch time was especially bad, with the four of them having to yell and scream over the noisy crowds to be heard.

Orihime and Ichigo were the latest additions to the 'Quincy's quick-fix Coffee House'. They were hired just so that the lunch crowd could be tackled quickly. But actually, their presence made the place more crowded than ever. Orihime had people who would drive hours just to see her smile at them and hand them coffee. Ichigo, who's just on his first shift, seemed to be doing more harm than good with his clumsy ways. Oh well, who else could Ishida coerce into this kind of job?

"KUROSAKI! WOULD IT KILL YOU TO BE MORE CAREFUL?" Ishida screamed yet again as an ice cold concoction went right onto his red and swollen hand.

"Sorry Ishida I really can't get the hang of this." Ichigo apologized as he completed yet another order.

"Would it kill you to not fill the damned cup to the brim?" Ishida asked while taking down orders.

"Every time I pour the stuff in and take my eyes off for 1 second to get ready the next order it overflows! What the heck am I supposed to do?" The flustered teen replied as another cup of coffee was filled precariously full. Whenever Ishida hurriedly grabbed the cup to put the lid on, it would over flow and splash onto him. He really was losing his patience.

"You know what? Swap with me. I'll show you how it's supposed to be done."

Ishida cussed under his breath as Ichigo passed him his apron.

"All you need to do, Kurosaki, is to put their order through the machine, ask for their names, then write them on the cup and pass it to me. Got it?" The black haired boy instructed, pushing up his glasses.

"Yeah yeah, I wasn't born yesterday you know."

"Well your pouring skills leave much to be desired."

The crowds were not thinning, no matter how fast the crew served their customers. As they found out, Ichigo was worse off behind the counter than pouring coffee.

"House Coffee for a... guy wearing a horrible tie? Guy wearing a horrible tie!" Orihime called as about 15 different people looked down at their ties.

"Kurosaki-kun, who are you referring to?" Orihime called from the other side of the counter as 4 different males with bad looking ties surged forward to claim their drink.

"Huh? That one there." He yelled to Orihime, the customer he was serving wincing from the volume.

"Where?!"

"Ah just give me that!" And he crossed over the small work space, pushing Ishida against the counter and ripped the drink from Orihime's hands. He passed it to one of the customers who was close to bursting with anger at his description.

"You know what, go back to pouring coffee." Ishida muttered as they swapped roles.

That was how Ishida nearly had to be sent to the hospital for all the burns he suffered. After the crowds have all mercifully gone, Orihime helped bandage up his arm (that made it a lot better). If the coffee house was not severely short on manpower, he would have sent Ichigo packing. But alas, who wanted to work in such a place during the lunch rush hour?

Despite everything, Ishida breathed a sigh of relief. The day's takings had been good and most customers looked happy when they left. He puffed his chest out a bit in pride. This coffee house had been passed down from generation to generation. He himself grew up smelling coffee and learning how to brew tea the right way. His grandfather had taught him whatever he had known, to the chagrin of his father who insisted that running a coffee shop cannot feed a family. Hence, the shop fell to Ishida's care. He would make his grandfather proud.

"Alright guys, I think we can take a break before the night shift." Ishida's words were cut off by the sound of the door bells jingling, showing in a new customer.

Ishida's eyes lit up. Ah, here was another person who appreciated coffee as much as he did!

"Kuchiki-san!" Orihime cried in delight as she ran forward to give the petite girl a hug.

Ishida wiped his hands on his apron, smiling as he went to greet his favourite customer. Before he got past the counter, the phone in the back room rang obnoxiously. With a sigh, he doubled back to pick up the call.

"Pst Ishida." Ichigo hissed at him.

"What now Kurosaki?" He replied.

"Who's that midget?"

"Who are you calling a midget, dumbass?!" Apparently subtlety was not his strong point. The raven haired girl asked, stomping up to him. She then proceeded to grab the front of his apron and yanked him down to eye level. "Say that to my face again!"

Ichigo narrowed his eyes. Was it that all short people had big tempers? Despite how much he wanted to sock her, he kept his mouth shut.

"Kuchiki-san! Kurosaki-kun doesn't mean it at all! Did you know just now he called someone 'guy wearing a horrible tie'?" Orihime laughed as she dragged Rukia to one of the vacant tables. The orange haired teen rolled his eyes. Seems like Orihime knew that girl. He shook his head and went back to cleaning up his work station.

A while later, Orihime said she needed to pop out for a bit and bade Rukia goodbye, grabbing her things and leaving. Ichigo started putting the last few cans of coffee beans back into their respective places, glad that his shift was going to be over in a short while.

Rukia, who was busy with her handphone, suddenly looked up and yelled at him. "Oi orange top! Get me one of my usual and one of my brother's favorite, less milk this time. Thanks!"

Ichigo almost dropped the coffee can in disbelief. What?! Didn't that girl realise he's new? He glanced at her, but she was busy talking away on her phone. "Hey!" He shouted, trying to get her attention. She shot him a dark look that clearly asked him to shut up. Fuming, he grabbed the chalk board that decorated the counter and scribbled a few words quickly, showing it to her.

She shot him a look of distaste, but rummaged through her bag all the same and brought out a sketch book and a myriad of colored markers, furiously writing on it while carrying on with her conversation. When she was done, she lifted it up. Ichigo had to squint to see properly; the writing was so weird. After a long time, he realised that it wasn't writing he was looking at, it was a bunch of drawings that depicted how the coffee was to be made?

Or that was what it looked like in his opinion. It was hard, considering that it seemed like all the colors in the universe had exploded on the page. There were weird looking marshmallow shaped lumps with ears and noses. Wait... were they supposed to be bunnies? Even what he assumed to be the finished drink looked a bit purple. He gave a 'WTF' look which the raven haired girl promptly ignored.

Sighing in defeat, he just grabbed some coffee beans and began making two lattes, one with less milk. Grumbling to himself, he cursed the high heavens that he had to deal with such a customer. The latte was quickly completed, the smell of coffee beans wafting through the air. He began pouring the hot drink into to-go cups when suddenly, a hand shot out and grabbed the cup from right under him! The remains of the coffee splashed on him and he jumped back with a yelp.

"What the hell?" He yelled as pain lanced up his arm.

Rukia made no reply but looked down at the cup of coffee with a critical eye, swirling it around as if it were some fine wine. She then took a cautious sip, eyes fluttering shut as the drink went down her throat. It was rather silly, but Ichigo found himself wondering if his concoction was up to her standard. For a long while, her eyes remained closed as she tasted the drink. He found himself caring a good deal whether this weird girl was pleased.

"Hm... not bad, for a newbie." She finally said. The carrot-top found that the tension that he had was leaking out like a deflating balloon. So his efforts warranted a 'not bad' from the coffee maniac. He didn't know what to feel.

"LIKE REAL!" She suddenly screamed, whacking him across the head as she spat out the coffee. "Your technique is crap, you have no precision and there is absolutely no subtlety in this coffee! What was Ishida thinking to hire you?!"

"Gods!" He screamed, jumping back. Yep, this one definitely has a Napoleon complex.

"I'll show you how it's done," she said as she climbed over the counter and into the work station, taking out tools like a seasoned pro.

"We start by mixing the different kinds of coffee beans. Use Arabica and Robustica. One part Robustica to 4 parts Arabica." She instructed, as the slightly confused barrista got out the beans and poured them out of the tin, using his great powers of estimation. That earned him a whack from his instructor. "You use a weighing scale dumbass!" She cried, the required tool magically appearing.

Shaking his head, he complied and weighed out the exact amount of beans under her watchful eye. She gave the brown nuggets a once over, nodding her head in agreement. "Now grind the beans." Ichigo let out a sigh of relief. Here was something he probably could do without getting hit. He picked up the small serving of beans and tossed it into the grinder attached to the expresso machine and hit the on button. The machine whirled to life, the smell of coffee infusing into the air. Ah, what a great smell! His joy was short lived, for yet again, he was assaulted by the tiny girl. As he rubbed his arm, he wondered what he did wrong this time.

"What now shorty?!"

"Imbecile! Who says we're using the expresso machine?" She countered, tutting under her breath.

"Then what?"

"Are you blind or do you really not see? Ishida has the best French Press in the whole town! It was custom made by his grandfather, of course we use that!" She punctuated her sentences with hits and jabs, earning a scrowl from her student. "Get the coffee out of the grinder this instant before we get coffee paste!" She yelled not a second later, jabbing him with a pen.

"Coffee-crazed idiots..." He muttered. This would be a long shift indeed.

Several pots of coffee later, a sweaty Ichigo had finally brewed what Rukia deemed an acceptable pot. Who knew coffee making took so much effort? He had to restart half way when he forgot to stir the coffee beans after the water was poured. He also had to practice pouring the coffee into the cup in just the right manner, so that his slave driver would be satisfied. The evening crowd was starting to trickle in and he really wanted to get out lest he got called to help out.

The perfect cup of the brew stood proudly between the two, a moment of silence as they both took in the result of their hard work.

"Well, I think I've wasted enough time here today, see ya around midget." Ichigo finally said, slipping off his apron while walking towards the back room.

"Oi! My name's not midget! It's Kuchiki Rukia! Don't forget that idiot!" She yelled at his retreating figure, waving their cup of coffee in the air.

"And my name's Kurosaki Ichigo, not idiot!" He called out as he disappeared through the door way.

"What a stupid name he has.." She muttered, taking a sip of the coffee they brewed, struggling a bit to swallow it down. "All he needs is more practice." She convinced herself as she left the shop, her brother's order forgotten.

IMPORTANT A/N: From now on, if you'd wish to make a request, you'd have to PM me (for I have flouted section 5 of the rules and what not)