Rain and its Mishaps

Chapter 7- Operation Dinner Apology Part 1

AN Since last time it took a long time for me to update, I decided to update a little bit quicker this time! :D I want to give a shout out to all the people who have ever reviewed, and I'm sorry for not replying to them! They really make my day, and I'm glad to know that there are people out there who appreciate my story. I'll try to reply to them from now on! Now, please enjoy Chapter 7, Operation Dinner Apology(part 1)! -Cam

P.S Sorry, but in the last chapter's AN, I accidentally said that the chapter's name was "Apology at Dinner" when it was supposed to be "To Plan an Apology"! Sorry about the confusion!

"Come on guys! This way!" Renji whispered to the small group of people behind him. A couple hours before he had convinced Ichigo to ask Rukia to go out to dinner with him. Even if he didn't want to admit it, Renji had just made him ask Rukia out on a date! He chuckled at his own genius.

"Ouch! Someone just stepped on my foot!" someone said in the dark.

"Don't worry Inoue-san. I'll find the light switch for you." another person replied to her. Suddenly, the lights flickered on and the people came into view. Ishida was next to the light switch with Inoue next to him. The three were inside of an old abandoned building which looked like an old restaurant.

"Whew! This place needs some cleaning up!" Renji exclaimed, looking around. Urahara told him that, "No one ever uses that place anymore, so I don't think they'll mind if you clean it up a bit and use it for your own purposes" with the same slightly maniacal glint in his eye.

"'Some' is an understatement." Ishida said while pushing up his glasses. The place was, to tell the truth, a dump. There were strewn chairs and tables all over the floor, only a handful of them were up in the right way with no sense of arrangement. The wallpaper had long peeled off and were laying in small rolls on the ground.

If they had stepped back in time about twenty years ago, they would have seen it at its prime, one of the most visited and popular restaurant bars in town. However, the small town had expanded into a city. Karakara City actually. The small peaceful town soon became deserted when the promise of better paying jobs came along, and after being left untouched for two decades, it was a dusty mess.

It was fortunate that the bar was near Urahara's place, for he had stumbled upon it while taking a 'walk'. He agreed for Renji to use it for the purposes of Operation Dinner Apology, or the ODA as he had nicknamed it as. He had enlisted some help from his friends, both human and shinigami, who all had seen the growing problem of Ichigo and Rukia's feelings for each other, but ignorance of it, so they had decided to help.

A couple of minutes later, the rest of the ODA group had arrived, and the plan had begun to commence.

Rukia sighed somewhat tiredly. Skirting around Ichigo the past two weeks, and trying desperately to ignore him had taken a toll. It wasn't the fact that she was mad, she had gotten over the rain incident a long time ago, but the fact that she knew she would have to leave sometime or another. In fact, she could -and should- have left a while ago, but there was always something holding her back. Ichigo.

After watching a movie, fighting a hollow and going shopping with Inoue, she had realized that she missed spending time with Ichigo, whether it be in school, fighting and arguing, or training against hollows. She had decided to leave that night two weeks ago, on the rainy walk back from school. She realized that she needed to stay away from him, or both of them could get hurt badly. A shinigami and a human shouldn't be involved with each other in any way. We can't keep on living like this. Someone will find out and will take us apart. By that time, I will be so attached that they'll have to use force on us. Then, he'll be hurt even more because of me. Rukia thought. She remembered all the times he had gotten hurt for her. Every single time…

Suddenly, she heard the door open. Ichigo! She thought, choking back a sob which was threatening to come out.

"Oi! Rukia! Where are you?"

His voice resounds through the house. Through me.

With that thought, her tears started fall, landing on the soft blanket under her.

Ichigo walked into his room, certain that she was there. He was determined to ask her to go to dinner with him, even if she didn't want to. Its only because Renji is being so damn stubborn about it… he thought, but even he didn't believe it.

He happened upon Rukia laying on his bed. Crying.

"H-hey! What happened?" He exclaimed, walking over to her. "Why are you crying? I'm going to kill the person who hurt you!"

Rukia saw Ichigo come into the room and quickly ducked her head so that he wouldn't see her tears. Too late.

"H-hey! What happened? Why are you crying? I'm going to kill the person who hurt you!"

She was surprised by what he said. Does he really care about me? So much that he would automatically want to protect me without thinking? She thought, but quickly submerged the idea. No, that's stupid. He's just that kind of person.

"Ichigo. Stop. It doesn't matt-" She was about to say, struggling to stop crying. Why won't the tears stop!? But she was interrupted by him.

"Of course it matters! What do you think I am, stupid!?" he yelled angrily. Why do I care so much about her being hurt? He wondered. But aren't I like that for everybody? No. This is different somehow. This is… Rukia.

"I could have sworn you were." She said sarcastically. She had finally made her tears stop, and she wanted Ichigo to know that everything was normal again with the usual arguing and insulting that they did.

He glared at her. It's not going to work this time.

"I know its something if you try to cover it up like that." He said, surprising her once more. Suddenly, he picked her up from the bed and put her in a standing position. He looked her in the eye and said, "Do you want to go somewhere with me, Rukia?"

She was so surprised with his question that it seemed like someone other than her was answering. The look in those eyes… its like he can see right through me.

"Sure." She replied. "But why? Aren't we just going to have dinner downstai-" She was cut off again by him.

"Look, I just want to say something to you without having my head be bitten off alright!?" He said.

Rukia smiled. Its like the rainbow after the rain. He thought, then shook the thought out of his head.

"Riiiight." She said happily getting back into pace again. After a couple weeks of confusion, the arguing was very welcome. "Are you asking me out on a date Kurosaki-kun?" she adopted the fake voice she used at school, but instead of him shivering at the unfamiliarity of it, he smirked. Back to normal… for now.

"Why would I want to ask a midget out on a date?"

"Why you!!"

Only Rukia could make him smile like that.

Renji scanned the room quickly. Ishida & Inoue were here from the beginning. Check. Matsumoto and Hitsugaya-taichou had just arrived. Check. Chad had stumbled in sometime after the incident with the lights. Check. Urahara and Yoruichi had arrived to "join in on the fun" as they had called it. Check(?)

Renji sighed in relief. "Ok everybody! Now that we're all here, I'm going to tell you a bit more of the plan. Or, Operation Dinner Apology for two certain shinigamis. As we all probably know, Rukia and Ichigo have had feelings for each other but are way too wimpy to acknowledge it." It was plain to see that he had no shame in telling other people about the feelings that the two didn't even know they had. "So, we're going to set them up with some of the romantic stuff that humans like nowadays, and leave them alone. Of course, that means dinner and some sticky situations… Got it?"

"Will that mean alcohol too?" Matsumoto asked somewhat innocently. Of course. No one other than Matsumoto is going to ask that. Renji thought smirking slightly as Hitsugaya-taichou slapped his forehead in annoyance.

"Actually…that isn't that bad of an idea. Nice job!" Renji replied as he tried to imagine Ichigo drunk. His grin widened as did others who obviously were thinking the same thought. No matter what, it's always fun to put Ichigo into tough situations, and everybody knew that. Except for maybe Inoue because she was so innocent. Or because she was daydreaming? The world may never know…

"Ok, so that means that we're going to have to have waiters, some good food, alcohol, and some sort of romantic music. I've already worked out a bit of a plan, so everybody gather round to see what your job is." Renji called out as he unfolded a large piece of paper. The list looked something like this:

Jobs for the ODA

Music- Yoruichi-san

Drinks- Matsumoto-san

Food- Urahara-san and Ishida

Cleaning- Chad and Hitsugaya-taichou

Others- Inoue-san and Me (Renji)

Everyone saw what their jobs were and went off to do them with the exception of Matsumoto. ("I already brought some drinks with me!" She exclaimed, pulling the bottles out of unimaginable places… "Um…ok…?" He replied, not bothering to wonder why. "You can be a 'other' along with me and Inoue-san if you want…") Although…some people had a couple of questions…

"Oi. Abarai. Why the hell am I on cleaning duty!?" Hitsugaya-taichou asked angrily.

"Uh… because I didn't know where else to fit you in…?" Renji replied tentatively before adding, "Besides, later you're going to be a waiter along with me and Ishida." He turned around to face Inoue before the short captain walked off fuming. I'm glad Momo isn't here to see me like this… He thought, slightly relieved he hadn't mentioned it to her.

"Yes, Inoue-san?" Renji asked the pretty orange-haired girl as a desperate attempt to get out of trouble with Hitsugaya-taichou.

"Um… I was wondering… what does a 'other' have to do exactly?" She asked when suddenly Matsumoto glomped her from behind.

"Yeah! What exactly does a 'other' do anyways?" The busty 10thdivision asked in a slightly sing-song voice.

Renji grinned. "Why, a 'other' is a person to help the two almost-love-birds get ready for the ODA without looking and acting like a total slob!" He replied happily.

"So basically you help out Kurosaki-kun get ready, and we'll help Kuchiki-san?" Orihime asked.

"Right-o! We should probably help the others clean this place up a little bit though. We're going to help them tomorrow." Renji stated. When people say deserted, they don't mean deserted. They mean dusty, gray, boring walls and decorations (and not to mention furniture) that have a lot to ask for.

"Its going to take a whole lot of effort to get this place looking like a diner again, so we'll need lots of help." And with that, the ODA team worked hard towards what they hoped would be a happy ending.

AN Wow. That's a bit longer then usual huh? I hoped you liked it! I think I'm dragging things on a little bit…but its entertaining XP Next chapter will be about Renji helping Ichigo not look/act like the stubborn orange-haired fool we all know he is, and Inoue and Matsumoto are going to change Rukia into a "lady"…supposedly if these two can survive! O.O Well, that's all I'm giving away for now

-Cam

P.S Btw, I'm going to try and finish up the next couple of chapters in the next two days which is going to mean a whole lot of typing up to 12:30 at night! O.O Wish me luck! I have to do this before I go camping, because after that I am going to be SO swamped with stuff like going to my BFF's house (I haven't seen her in like… 2 months!! Give me a break here!!) and going to Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp (which I am now regretting…)

P.P.S I hope you guys don't mind the Hitsugaya-taichou thing…I wanted to write Captain Hitsugaya, but it seemed too non-Japanese and sorta amateurish, so I had to use the Japanese version. Obviously Renji has to give the lovable little captain some respect, because well… he's a captain! O.O Only Ichigo and Hinamori call him something other than Hitsugaya-taichou (at least, that I can remember… and other than his grandma)

See you! (For real!) -Cam