Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach and its characters…huhuhu
Author's Notes: Like I said, it's supposed to be a one-shot ficcie… hehehe. Iro iro arigatou minna! For your reviews hehehehe!
Summary: Bachelors from all over Seireitei presented themselves before a noble family and will be evaluated to see if they're worthy enough to be a member of the nobility… by law or by marriage.
The Prince and the Pea
Hell no. One, two, three… Joudan ja ne. Fifty five, fifty six,…on to the straight count. Fruit head suddenly wished to tread the other way and let his feet carry him far, far away… Sixty nine?!!!
"Holy shit! You've got to be kidding me!!!" Ichigo yelled. This earned him a lot of stares and surprisingly, a lot of blades sliding off their sheaths. One of them glared at him dangerously, as he shifted his weight a bit to gauge the situation he's into. Seriously, what's with the long line?
"Ano…Ichigo-san?" He jumped at the sound of his name. He frown a little as he watched Hanatarou skidded past through the long line that lead to what seemingly the purpose of his visit.
"Oi, good to see you ol' buddy." He flashed him his infamous smirk as the latter stopped in front of him, obviously bushed. He watched Hanatarou smiled at him nervously as the latter mentioned something like "You're the 70th bachelor."
He cringed a bit at the thought. 70thBachelor. Sure, once his old man heard this, he'll squeal like a little girl, crying over his mom's poster, muttering gibberish words like their little boy's a grown up and something along those lines. And he's gonna hate whatever trash that'll soon follow.
"Uh, the thing is…well you see…" Damn! Couldn't he get this straight? It's not like he's confessing his love, which would be painful when you see it from another view… I wish those scumbags will stop staring and eavesdropping for crying out loud!
He let out a growl that sent those from the line the message he's trying to convey. Mind your own goddamn business!
That was way too effective when he let his reiatsu leak like chaos. Even Hades will cower and hide beneath his momma's skirt.
"Uhm… you're scaring them away, Kurosaki-san." Hanatarou blurted out, once he realized nobody was around standing 60 feet within his radius. And the line seemed awfully deserted.
"Don't mind… don't really care." He huffed out his remaining frustrations as he let his left hand rake his spiky hair. "Is Rukia around?" He suddenly asked as he bent on his knees, concentrating on checking every ounce of his reiatsu.
"You're stupid as ever, Ichigo." He looked up to see his midget, glaring at him for whatever reason. Generally, she's pissed. The fire blazing in her violet pools was her dead give-away.
"Ah good to see you, Rukia-san." Rukia acknowledged her other friend by nodding in his direction. Her brows met halfway as she glanced back at this substitute soul reaper.
"This won't take long but I need a word with him." She smiled genuinely at Hanatarou who blushed madly and excused himself from the two. Ichigo watched them as Hanatarou took his leave. Yup, he's all alone now with his midget.
"Rukia--" Ichigo started.
"Go home, Ichigo." She stated firmly, she turned slightly to the other direction so he won't be able to see the human emotion.
"Hey I just got here you bitch!" He stood up to tower over her. He's aware that his height never fazed her, but still he thought, maybe he could put her off even a little bit.
"The least you could do is give your candidate a nice warm welcome and offer him a nice lemon tea…" he cocked his head on one side as he watched the different emotions displaying themselves on her face…
"What the--?!!" She shrieked. He let a small curl tug on one side of his lips. Hehe. That's my girl! With that thought, he allowed himself to show off his boyish grin. He's enjoying every moment of her outburst.
"It's just a joke right? Bwahahahaha! I'm laughing now! So call it off, is Ashton Kutcher with you? Coz I think I'm punked!" She randomly called out.
"I don't see why it should be a laughing matter. If it is, my head was already rolling alongside yours." Ichigo piped in. He raised his eyebrow, an indication that it's a challenge.
Rukia rubbed off the last fake tear from the corner of her eye. She equally declared her answer with her cocky smirk. Great! She loves a challenge.
"Then I don't see why you would do that." She smirked. Che! Two can play in this game.
"I don't see why you're being oblivious." He inched closer. From his level he could see faint blush spreading over her porcelain cheeks.
"Oh? I don't see anything why you accused me of being oblivious." The slight quivering of her lips indicates that she's getting tense over almost everything, from their distance to their exchange of thoughts. But her stance also held her strength and undeniable stubbornness. The very characteristics they shared as their similar ground.
He reached a finger close enough to touch her left cheek. She held her breath as she realized what he was about to do. Instead, a flick on her nose told her otherwise.
" Tell you what, I'll pass any test--" he leaned back, taller this time. "So even a blind dwarf like you could see through it." With that, he strode towards the entrance, and into the waiting critic.
Rukia stared at his retreating form, a soft smile gracing her lips. Stubborn fool.
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"Yo!" Ichigo entered the main Kuchiki domain, brusquely stepping on the well-polished wooden floor. The elder Kuchiki seemed unimpressed by his behavior.
"Kurosaki Ichigo…Conduct: failed." He glared at the newly arrived contender.
"Wha—you mean you're fuckin' grading them the moment they show their faces?!" Ichigo hollered.
"Manner of approach: Failed" Byakuya continued as if turning on a deaf ear. He sipped on his cup of tea.
Ichigo only stood dumbfounded. How the hell will he ever win over Rukia's hand if he keeps on receiving failing remarks?
The older man looked at him impassively, as if waiting for another moment he makes a fool of himself.
"Have a sit, Kurosaki." Byakuya coldly replied, no scratch that, ordered. And Ichigo's someone who doesn't take orders from anyone.
He paced silently this time, stopping shortly in front of the man who made himself known as Rukia's brother and guardian. For this I make an exception. He thought as he sat quietly on the floor directly facing sakura-boy, in Indian style.
"Shall we begin?" The Kuchiki head asked.
At this he tried to swallow the lump forming in his throat, nodding more to himself.
"Yeah." Sure, whatever.
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"So how did it go?" Rukia chimed in. They were sitting on the 13th division's rooftop. From the sour look of Ichigo, she could tell he could kill a cow with that face… she stifled her laughter.
"What's so funny, oh Rukia-sama?" He laced her name with sarcasm and smirked when she turned to glare at him.
Turning the tables on him, her infamous strategy began. "Heh, you think sulking your ass out here could find you solution?"
"I failed the 'interview'…" He made an air quoting gesture with his fingers. "if that's what you call it. Who would have thought your idiotic psychopath of a brother will include tea ceremony and meaningless man-to-man interview as a preliminary round before you actually pass."
"Well, how about the tea preparation? Did you do well?" Rukia stole a glance at his companion's sober face, which lit up a little, and an arrogant smirk started playing on it.
"Oh about that, I should thank you for actually dragging my butt in our kitchen. Seeing you're really enthusiastic in teaching me the basics of preparing and drinking the tea, I guess it really paid off."
He hung his head a little, "but it's not enough."
Rukia smiled at him. "Hey, you did yourself a good job out there. You really mean to help, but this is just as far as you go." She hated it when she discourages him, but what else can she expect from him when this arranged marriage was way beyond his power.
"Shut the hell up! And who says anything about me helping you?" He groaned inwardly. Idiot! You're blabbering admission of your affection! Get a grip!
She made a silent "Oh" and giggled when her comrade turned different shades of red.
"I see now. So--" She leaned in closer and whispered in a tone only Ichigo could hear.
"You've fallen head over heels for me." She teased. He jerked his head away to let off the steam of embarrassment.
"Fall my ass." He grumbled. The red tinge's still spreading over his cheeks. Leave me the hell alone, Rukia! You're not helping! He silently pleaded. He's getting uncomfortable with their conversation, especially now he's fully aware of the feelings that were slowly resurfacing themselves after the Arrancar battle.
"I'm doing this out of gratitude." He shot off heatedly.
"Gratitude for what? Oh I see… when I came and save your reckless ass and your family." She nodded, acknowledging the meaning. "But you already repaid your 'debt', as you call it, that time when you save my guilty ass from extinction." She mimicked his air quoting when she mentioned 'debt.'
"So what? I felt obliged doing it all over again." He smiled. Knowing exactly that it's all a lie.
"Grow up, Ichigo." She playfully nudged his side. "Don't help people when you felt you're obliged or you just felt like doing it."
She gazed up ahead, watching stars twinkling in the night sky. "But because you wanted to." She turned to him, smiling genuinely. He smiled back. I really love her smile.
She stood up, getting ready to leave. "Oh, and Ichigo." She turned her head sideway, looking at his relaxed form.
"Yeah."
"When you fight, you did because you want to take the upper hand, for good intentions. Don't get too reckless. Oyasumi!" She smiled again at his direction.
Ichigo watched her retreat and resumed to his daydreaming. That's the little push I need.
Coz it's as good as she's saying she believes in him and that he has to be more careful or she'll have his ass.
Yeah. I have to win no matter what.
And that's the promise of his resolve.
To be continued…
FN: Hope you guys enjoy!