Rain and its Mishaps
Chapter 5- Acting Nice
AN Ello peoples! I've had a very boring week, what about you? Ah well, I guess it COULD have been worse . Well, the last chapter was sorta crappy, and I'm guessing this chapter will be the same, but you guys are the judge! Ii didn't notice it until a little while ago, but all the stuff in the last chapter was underlined! I fixed that if you want to know, and sorry about the inconvenience! Now onto the story! This one's called "Acting Nice". Enjoy!
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BEEP BEEP BEEP
"I got it all ready! Its time to get up!" Ichigo grumbled, then pressed the OFF button on his alarm clock. He stretched and started to dress for school. After what was a simply horrific weekend, he was slightly glad to be in school so that he wouldn't have to face Rukia after their 'little spat' the day before. He grumbled a bit under his breath about how annoying it was, then headed off for school. He already knew Rukia had woken up earlier then usual, seeing that she had been waking up earlier ever since last week. He didn't question why, because it was obvious neither of them wanted to see each other.
He noticed Renji across the street from the Kurosaki Clinic, and walked over to him.
"What do you want now?" Ichigo asked while sighing. "I'm really not in the mood for any more of your stupid ideas."
Renji smirked. "For your information, they aren't 'stupid ideas', they're 'words of advice'. The only thing stupid is you, because you can't even follow the directions out without making the situation worse!"
Ichigo scowled and replied, "Its not my fault Rukia is as stubborn as hell." Renji was about to say something back, but he cut him off. "Besides, its clear both of us don't really want to apologize to each other, so why can't we just lay low and get out of each others way until this whole thing blows over? Its not like I have forever to try and make up with her, so why bother trying?"
This time it was Renji who scowled. He turned around and started to walk in the opposite direction when he suddenly said to Ichigo, "At least try to be a little nicer or considerate for once? I've honestly never seen Rukia so mad before and it scares me a little." Then, just as Ichigo was about to reply, he snapped, "Just do it alright? It won't hurt you to at least try not to piss her off. I'll see you later, ok?"
"What for?" Ichigo asked, because they hadn't made any plans about it.
"Oh, apparently Urahara is either afraid that you'll get lazy and slack off, or he just wants to mess with you, but he wants you to swing by tomorrow after school and train with us a little."
"Oh… alright. It is a little boring after a while, since Rukia's been taking care of all the hollow's recently. So sure." And with that, Ichigo walked off to school.
Renji noted that he hadn't said anything about him being slightly nicer to Rukia. At least he never exactly said "No"…
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"All right class, that's all for now, time for lunch!"
The students all filed out of the classroom to get ready for lunch while all talking happily. All except for two…
From a strangers point of view, you would have never noticed anything wrong with any of the students, but if you knew the kids and what they were like, you would know that Ichigo and Rukia were not acting like themselves. They were actually being nice to each other. Ichigo had to because of a some-what forceful Renji, but Rukia was just being distantly 'polite' to him, like a classmate she had just met.
"Kuchiki-san! Lets go eat lunch!" called out an always-cheerful Inoue who was waving her arms for Rukia's attention.
"Be right there!" Rukia called back equally cheerful, which was the reason of Ichigo's discomfort. She was carrying quite a lot of stuff, when someone bumped into her, so Ichigo -acting on Reni's 'words of advice'- decided to help her pick it all up. Rukia looked up, and if she was surprised, she didn't show it. She just took all the books from him, said a quick, "Thank you very much, Kurosaki-kun!" with a eerily fake smile, and walked off to find Inoue.
"What did you do this time, Kurosaki?" asked a bemused Ishida who was quietly watching the events from his desk. He was one of the few in the class who knew that Rukia would rather kick Ichigo in the shin and call him an idiot then say thank you.
"Don't ask me, she's the one acting like a idiot."
"So something did happen."
"Shut up." Ichigo replied then said, "Hey, are you eating lunch or not?" then walked out the door to where the group usually ate lunch- the roof.
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"And then, he said, 'Well, lets see what you got!' and I punched him straight in the face! He fell over and ran straight home to his mommy!" Keigo said triumphantly, even though all his friends knew that was a bunch of bullshit.
"That's wonderful, Asano-kun!" Rukia said in her ever-so-cheerfully-fake way which made Ichigo scowl. He was about to say something to her, but caught himself just in time. I'm such an idiot! I'm supposed to be 'nice' to her today! If I don't, Renji's going to kill me. It's hard enough having one person pissed at me, much less two! I think its better if I just stay away from her today. I guess that's the only way I can be nice to her.
If anyone knew what was going on, they would notice that Ichigo didn't look at Rukia for the rest of lunch period.
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What is wrong with that idiot! First, he tries to be nice to me and help pick up my books, then he decides to just ignore me for the rest of lunch?! What's his problem? Rukia asked herself. On the surface, she looked like a perfect straight-A student with a squeaky clean record and a happy demeanor, but underneath, she was fuming at a certain orange-haired shinigami. Sure, she had been angry him all week, but not to this extent! Now, he was majorly pissing her off, with basically just ignoring her point-blank, and then when he actually did talk to her, it was like she was a stranger!
It was apparent that she didn't know that she was doing the exact same thing.
Inoue, Ishida, and Chad knew about it of course. They weren't stupid, and they had learned quite a bit after spending some time with the duo. Sure, they fought often (more like angry spats were part of the daily plan or something) but it never went to this extent. Although, most of the anger was placed on Rukia. Unknowingly to the rest of them, Ichigo was actually not angry at all. In fact, it was more like he was confused and frustrated, then angry and wanting to scratch someone's eye out. However, it was clear that he was going to extra mile to be nice to her. Too bad she doesn't take the time to notice…
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The last bell of the day rang, and students walked out of the classrooms chatting with their friends, giggling, and doing all the other normal things students did.
"They're showing that new movie today!" Inoue was saying to her friends. She spotted Rukia and asked, "Kuchiki-san, do you want to come with us to see the movie?"
"Of course I would like to! What time is good?" Rukia replied with the cheerful smile she had donned the entire day.
"Hmm…about 6:45?"
"Ok, see you then!" She said, then turned to grab her book bag. It was slightly heavier then usual today because the teachers decided that they would all give the kids homework today. She struggled with it a little, then felt it be taken off her shoulders.
"Wha-?" she managed to exclaim, wanting to know in their right minds would want to take her bag. She turned to see Ichigo slinging it over his shoulder along with his bag also.
He saw her expression and grumbled, "I just thought that I could carry your bag today." Then he walked off without a word. Rukia followed right after, pondering what made him suddenly want to carry her bag. She smiled slightly at the thought, but then realized, Wait, does that mean he thinks I'm too weak to carry my own bag? What a arrogant jerk!
The giggles in the hall didn't help either. The other students noticed his strange behavior and laughed. It wasn't everyday that you saw the usual detached, grumpy Ichigo helping out a girl.
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Fuck. I knew I shouldn't have agreed to this. Now everybody's laughing at me! Ichigo thought. He overhead someone say, "Check it out! Kurosaki's finally starting to flirt!" and in a burst of anger and embarrassment, he dropped the book bags and raced out the door.
Rukia, slightly surprised by his actions, calmly picked up their book bags.
"Kuchiki-san, what just happened? Why did Kurosaki-kun suddenly run out the door?" Inoue asked, equally -if not more- surprised by his actions.
"I don't know, Inoue. I'll go see what's going on with that idiot." Rukia replied, finally using her normal voice. "Maybe it's a hollow." she added quietly so that only Inoue could hear, then walked out the doors to find Ichigo.
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"Damn it! What the hell was up with that?!"
What is wrong with me? Why did I suddenly just bolt out of there?! Ichigo asked himself, even though he already knew the answer. I was embarrassed about being seen with Rukia. Am I that much of a coward?!
"Why do I care so damn much?! I've never cared in the past, so why now?!" He yelled angrily while kicking a tree. Tired, he rested his head on the tree while thinking, Do I really care that much about what people think of me and Rukia?
Suddenly, a twig broke and Ichigo whirled around to see who it was.
"Shit. Great." said a very familiar voice, and Ichigo relaxed.
"What are you doing here, Rukia?"
"I'd like to ask you the same thing, Kurosaki-kun."
Yup. Definently Rukia. Ichigo thought with a shadow of a smile on his face.
"Why are you being such a wimp?" Rukia said in her usual commanding way that gave no room for disobedience. Good. She's acting like herself again. Ichigo thought, and replied, "What do you mean by that? Speak for yourself! At least I wasn't avoiding you the whole day!"
"What about five seconds ago? You just ran out of the school in hurry without saying anything!" Rukia countered. "Why do you care what other people think as long as we know that it's not true? You -and most importantly- your friends know the truth, so why worry? You're not alone, whether you know it or not."
Ichigo was surprised. That was true. He never cared in the beginning. So why should he care now? As long as he had his friends. It was fine. He scowled, but both knew that behind that scowl was a smile. A true smile. Without either of them noticing, they had gotten back to normal.
"That's true. Why should I be so concerned about a midget like you?" He said smirking. She scowled and made a noise very close to growling.
"I'm not a midget, Strawberry." She said, now smirking. Ichigo scowled at the nickname. He was about to retort when suddenly, it started raining.
"Shit. Come on, Rukia! We have to get back home quick!" Ichigo called out to her and immediately started running towards home. It must've been sprinkling while we were arguing, and we didn't notice or something… He smiled as he ran because, for once, he realized he wasn't alone in the world. As long as even one person believed in him, then he couldn't ever truly be lonely.
"AND I'M NOT A STRAWBERRY!"
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AN Whew! That is the longest thing I've ever written (for this story) ever! Yayz!! I also took me the most time O.o Well, technically I started it the day before (at like… 11 at night O.o) but then I had to go to sleep, so I finished it today. So chapter recap: Ichigo wakes up and sees Rukia gone which isn't much of a surprise. He meets Renji outside and he tells Ichigo to be nicer to her, and that he'll be seeing him tomorrow and Ichigo goes off to school. Ichigo tries to be nicer to Rukia (and basically just avoids her all day) but at the end of the day, he sorta cracks and runs out of the school. Rukia follows him and overhears him having an angst moment, and steps on a twig alerting him of her presence. She yells at him for being a wimp, and tells him that he's not alone. He realizes that she's right, and they have a bit of witty banter. Suddenly, it starts raining and they have to run home. Seems like Ichigo finally realized that he doesn't have to be Mr. Big Tough Guy! And it also seems like he and Rukia are on speaking terms again… but for how long? Just wait until next chapter! See ya! -Cam