A/N: Long, long, long wait. I apologize greatly for this. I won't get your hopes up though. This may be the last update for a while. I have lost a great deal of interest in Bleach. My interest has shifted away from Manga and Anime and to certain books, movies and TV shows. I refuse to abandon this story, so it will continue to be updated, I assure you, but, sadly, it will not be frequent. I apologize for this.
It was requested that I make a list of OCs to make everything a little easier by sandcat and science dork. There's a list at the bottom.
Monday the 18th: I messed around with the format a little, getting ride of quite a few of my multiple Author's notes. I hope both they, and the lack of them, have not confused anyone. Thanks to TheStatue for the constructive critisism. I haven't fixed the conversations as you pointed out but I feel you are right about my character lists and Author's Notes.
Chapter 13: A Dinner Interlude
"Holy…" Ichigo stared at the couple standing in front of the door, his mouth wide with shock.
Ayumi waved her hand, flapping in a caricature of summoning. "Come over here! Mom! Dad!"
The man, a tall, white haired male, wore a Taichou's haori. It blazed with the number ten. The woman next to him had strawberry colored hair. She wore a belt with an armband with the number ten on it as well. "Ayumi! We didn't know you were here!" she exclaimed.
The man rolled his eyes. "Yes we did."
The woman grabbed his arm and dragged him over to where their daughter stood with the others. "You're sitting with friends!"
The man looked down at Ichigo. "You're here?" he asked blandly.
Ichigo could only consider stuttering. "T-ten… k-kids…?"
Isshin leaned across Rukia. "Toshirou-taichou got some," he whispered in Ichigo's ear.
Ichigo snapped out of his stupor, and punched his father in the head. "Disgusting pervert."
"Ichigo," Matsumoto admonished, wagging her finger at the younger boy. "Be nicer to your father."
Hitsugaya glared down at Kageromaru. "Push that table over so that we can sit."
The Abarai boy looked at the tenth Division Taichou fearfully, and got up to push a table to join next to where Ayumi and Isshin had seated themselves. "Yes-Yessir."
Ichigo blinked. "You afraid of Toshirou, or something?"
His answer came in aghast stares form the other students. "You… you called Hitsugaya-taichou by his given name…." Hikaru gasped.
Ichigo shrugged. "Yeah, so?"
The temperature had dropped considerably. "Kurosaki," Hitsugaya began, a great deal of ice in his voice. "You will address me with the proper respect."
Ichigo was about to retort with a rue comment when Rukia's arm swung around and hit him upside the head. "Oops…" she giggled falsely. "I'm sorry, Kurosaki-kun," she glared at him from behind Matusmoto's back, so that no one saw it.
Ichigo glared back. And thus, began a glaring contest of epic proportions.
Everyone ignored them. Tatsuki had seated herself previously on Hikaru's left and Renji sat next to her. Matusmoto sat on the end of the new table, next to her daughter and Hitsugaya sat next to her.
"So… you have ten kids, do you?" Rukia asked, in an attempt to break the ice. "Congratulations."
"Thanks!" Matsumoto exclaimed, reaching into her belt and pulled out a picture. It showed her and Hitsugaya surrounded by ten kids. The eldest was Ayumi, and the youngest was a small puff of white in Matsumoto's arms. Like the proud mother that she was, Matsumoto began naming them all. "This is Ayumi, who you've met, Akani, Kimi, Ami, Suki, Tatsumi, Emi, Yuki, Mimi and Daisuke."
Ichigo had to stifle a laugh. "Nine girls and one boy," he muttered and then under his breath he added. "Poor Toshirou."
Hitsugaya seemed to have heard him, but he did comment on the lack out his title, merely shaking his head slightly.
"Ten kids…" Ichigo whispered again, his awe apparent.
Isshin was frowning. "There was something I was supposed to do," he mumbled to himself. "I just don't remember what it was supposed to be…"
"Who gave you the job, Isshin-san," Matsumoto asked, tilting her head as she grabbed some of the food off the table. They had grabbed a great deal before the students and Isshin had sat down in the first place.
"Sora-chan."
Koiyuki grinned at the Taichou. "And you don't remember what she told you to do?" she asked. "That could prove to be bad for your health."
When the door opened again, everyone saw Sora and Byakuya framed in the doorway. A scared look crossed Isshin's face. "Oh no," he whispered. "I remember what she wanted me to do."
Rukia's face lit up. "O-nii-sama," she whispered to Ichigo.
He nodded slowly, looking at the confused look on Byakuya's face, a grin spreading over his face. "You don't know him, remember?" he whispered to her. "He looks confused," he chuckled sadistically.
"Ichigo," she hissed, punching him in the arm.
"Hello everyone," Sora greeted them as she and Byakuya sat down. Sora sat beside her cousin, across from Matsumoto, and Byakuya sat beside her.
"Hello, Sora-chan!" Isshin exclaimed, forcing himself to look at his cousin with a smile. "What are you doing here?"
"Byakuya-taichou and I thought we would join you," Sora smiled, a strange look crossing her face.
"Why does he look wet?" Matsumoto asked. "Why are you wet, Kuchiki-taichou?" she asked him directly.
Ichigo grinned, this might just be amusing.
"We had to wake him up somehow," Sora replied, and Byakuya, who seemed slightly distracted, staring at Rukia, turned sheepish. She changed topics abruptly and turned to her cousin. "You finished rather early with the Headmistress, didn't you, Isshin?" she asked, looking at him out of the corner of her eyes.
It was Isshin's turn to look sheepish. "Actually, Sora-chan… I, er… uh… forgot."
"You forgot, did you?" she asked, standing up slowly.
Isshin's face became worried, as he too, rose from his seat. "You're not too angry, are you, Sora-chan? Are you going to hurt me?" he asked.
Sora smiled in an evilly amused kind of way. "Hurt you, Isshin?" she asked pleasantly. "No, I'm not going to hurt you," she replied. Isshin seemed to visibly relax. "I'm going to castrate you, remember?"
Isshin "eeped" and ran.
The two conjoined tables and the rest of the cafeteria watched in amusement as Sora shot an angry look at Ichigo as if he was the one who did it, and ran after her cousin. The cafeteria's sound, at that point a dull murmur, increased as everyone began to discuss the two Taichou chasing each other around the room.
Those sitting at the conjoined tables were so absorbed in watching the two chase each other around the room they didn't notice the new arrivals.
Ichigo, however, was given a rather rude greeting.
SLAM
Something large, strong and heavy landed on Ichigo's head, forcing it into his soup. It then proceeded to stay there. Ichigo sputtered, his arms flailing uselessly in circles as he began to turn purple. As a soul, can I die again by suffocation? he wondered. After a minute the object was removed. "That," a familiar voice stated, "was for dying." Ichigo lifted his head.
Even Sora and Isshin had stopped running to watch the proceedings.
"This," the voice continued, "is for not remembering to come say hello."
A foot collided with the side of his head, which was beginning to throb painfully. "Ouch," he heard Kageromaru mutter. He continued to do nothing though, because of whom he realized the voice belonged to. He realized she probably needed this.
"And this is for coming back." A body latched itself onto him, hugging his so tightly, Ichigo worried about the condition of his ribs.
He wasn't prepared for what happened next.
"Ichi-nii-chan!" a voice shouted from across the room. Ichigo's eyes nearly popped out of his sockets as another small body latched itself onto him. It took all of his acting ability to continue to look confused and not hug his sisters back as they latched onto him.
"My darlings!" Isshin shouted. "Don't I get a hug as well?"
Ichigo felt the pressure exerted on him decrease as something was lobbed at his father's head, and then it returned.
"Sora-chan! My darlings hate me!" Isshin exclaimed. "I need a hug!" Suddenly it was Sora attempting to escape her cousin.
"Stupid Goat-Chin," groaned Karin from next to Ichigo's ear.
The suffocation lasted a few more moments as the twins continued to hug their brother and then it was gone. Ichigo swallowed deeply and sighed, hating what he was going to have to do next. "Do I… know you?" he gasped out, still having trouble getting all of his breath back. His sisters hugged really tight.
Yuzu let out a sob and something heavy, like a bat hit Ichigo across the back of the head. "Where do you get off saying something like that, you damn Strawberry?" a voice Ichigo remembered as belonging to Jinta, one of Urahara's helpers, demanded.
"What the hell is this?!" Ichigo shouted. "Attack Ichigo Day?"
"I want in on that," muttered Kageromaru.
Koiyuki slapped him on the back of his head. "No, it's hit the idiots day."
Tatsuki hit Renji. "Now the only idiot left is Isshin-taichou."
Renji glared at his wife as Rukia giggled. All attention turned back to the Kurosaki family as Isshin ran by, shouting as Ichigo hit him upside the head. "Now all the idiots have been hit."
"That wasn't nice, Ichigo!" Isshin exclaimed. "Why do you always have to hit Daddy?" He was halfway across the room, so his voice managed to gather the entire cafeteria's attention.
"Because you're an idiot!" he called back, rolling his eyes. Ichigo turned back to Yuzu and Karin and noted Jinta standing behind Yuzu and Chad standing amazingly close to Karin. "Now," he asked again, hating himself. "Who are you?"
"Your younger sisters," Yuzu wailed. Jinta put his arms around her, glaring at Ichigo.
"Well," Karin added, and Ichigo noted that she looked both calculating and about to cry at the same time. "Technically we're older than you are now," she told him.
Ichigo smiled. "Younger sisters, huh?" he asked. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you both." It sounded forced and he knew it. It took all of his well-taught self-restraint from throwing his arms around his sisters and hugging them.
Karin and Yuzu both looked saddened as they and Chad and Jinta sat down.
Isshin and Sora had stopped running by then, having fully bored themselves out. For a very long time it was silent. Ichigo and Rukia were unsure of what to say that wouldn't give away their memories, Akina and Hikaru didn't know what to say in front of Taichou and Fukutaichou. Ayumi, Kageromaru and Koiyuki were uncomfortable around Ichigo and Rukia and the other Shinigami just seemed uncomfortable in all.
Tatsuki seemed determined to break the silence though. "So, Karin, where's Usagi?" she asked.
Karin smiled. "My Division offered to watch him," she replied. "Yumichika seemed pleased to do so, and Ikkaku managed to get himself involved as well," she added offhandedly.
"Who's Usagi?" Ichigo asked.
"Our son," Chad said in his deep, slow voice.
Ichigo blinked, and there was silence, again, for a moment. "I'm an Uncle?!" he shouted. "And you left my nephew with Feather Freak and Bald Boy!?"
The entire table chuckled at that. Some of them, like Byakuya and Rukia, tried to hide it, but the rest laughed outright. "Nice names, Ichigo," Matsumoto giggled.
Renji leered at him. "Who are you trying to be? Yachiru?"
Ichigo, still in awe that he had a nephew, shook his head blandly. Suddenly a thought struck him. He looked down the table at Chad. "You're my brother in law?!" he demanded.
The stoic, tall man nodded slowly. "Yes," he replied, gazing at Karin, a gentle look in his eyes.
Ichigo stared and sputtered, as if he was being suffocated by his soup again. He glanced down the table at Jinta and Yuzu. "Do I want to know about you two?" he asked, a groan in his voice.
"They're dating," Karin replied for them.
Ichigo allowed a groan to escape him. One of his sisters (whom he wasn't supposed to remember) was married and had a child with his best friend, and his other sister (also whom he wasn't supposed to remember) was dating one of Urahara's annoying workers. What else was he going to find out?
Sora rose to her feet after a little while. "I have to go to the Living World," she announced. "I'll check up on the Quincy and the girl with the fairy powers."
"Orihime and Uryuu," Rukia chimed in with the names.
"I bet that's not all you're going to do," Isshin told Sora in a teasing voice, grinning at her all the while.
Sora chucked a roll at his head. "Go to hell," she growled at him. "Oh," she glanced at him, her eyes frustrated, "I also have to talk to Tsumana-sensei because you forgot to."
Isshin looked frightened as she glared at him angrily.
The others at the table chuckled. Byakuya rose to his feet as well. "I must get back to my paperwork," he told them, and he and Sora left the dining hall together.
Karin stood up slowly and lethargically, stretching. "We best go pick Usagi up," she told Chad. "I only trust my Division members so long."
Renji laughed. "If you don't pick him up soon, you might find him either bald or with an Afro."
Karin paled. "I don't know which is worse," she said in a pained voice.
Chad rose to stand beside his wife. Before they left, Karin strode to stand behind Ichigo. She cuffed him upside the head. "Later, Strawberry. Bye everyone." Chad nodded his head to everyone, and they both left as well.
Tatsuki stood up abruptly, her face becoming worried. "I left Ukitake-taichou alone with Kyione, Sentarou, Keigo and Mizuru! And he's not feeling well!"
Rukia looked worried as well. Despite the fact that she "didn't remember" her former taichou, she still worried about him secretly. He had done so much for her.
"What's wrong with Juushirou?" Isshin asked.
Tatsuki sighed. "He had a relapse. And we were so hopeful that Urahara's treatments were helping him." She glanced down at her husband. "Come on," she ordered. "We'd best get out of here as well."
Renji, whose mouth was full of a roll, glanced up at his wife. "Derihabteh?" he asked, spitting bits of roll on his son.
"After that display," Tatsuki responded, looking disgusted, "yes."
Renji sighed and grabbed another roll to munch on as his wife dragged him away, shouting "Goodbye" to everyone.
Hitsugaya got up after a minute. "We have several children who need attending to, as well," he reminded his wife. "We should leave as well."
Matsumoto looked saddened. "Aw," she whined.
Hitsugaya looked down at her, a small smile lifting the corners of his mouth. "Come on, we should go."
"Okay," Matsumoto replied. She threw her arms around her daughter. "Good night, my darling Ayumi!" she exclaimed.
Ayumi hugged her mother back. "Good night, Mom," she glanced at her father. "Dad."
Hitsugaya allowed the girl to hug him and then he led his wife from the dining hall.
Jinta and Yuzu left the table shortly after that, claiming they had to go back to their own paperwork (though Jinta looked rather moody about this).
Isshin grinned around at the seven students. "So you all have class tomorrow morning don't you?" he asked.
Ichigo and Kageromaru groaned simultaneously and then glared at each other.
Koiyuki rolled her eyes as she attempted to ignore the angry glares passing between her twin brother and Ichigo. "Yeah," she replied. "We'd probably best head off to bed," she stated more for the benefit of the others at the table.
Rukia nodded as well, standing up. "Goodnight Kurosaki-san, Ayumi-chan, Hikaru-san-"
Ichigo stood up, cutting her off. "G'Night," he muttered and walked quickly out of the dining hall.
"What pissed him off?" Kageromaru asked to no one in particular.
No one in particular had any answer for him. Isshin waved goodnight to everyone, after several failed attempts to hug them all. "Good night, you wonderful students!" he exclaimed as he danced out of the cafeteria.
Ayumi left after him. She wasn't the roommate of anyone present, so she didn't have to wait. Hikaru, Akina, Koiyuki and Kageromaru left next, walking together until they had to part. Rukia followed after them slowly, pondering the dinner and Ichigo's abrupt departure. It wasn't entirely out of character for him, but it was strange.
She was walking so slow that she didn't notice Ichigo standing outside the door to the dining hall until he grabbed her arm. Rukia let out a small exclamation of surprise as he pulled her into the shadows with him. "Rukia," he hissed.
"What, you idiot?" she demanded, pulling away. What did he think he was doing? "Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"
"Sorry," he muttered, glancing away. "Listen, I needed to touch base on something. Are we still going to pretend?" he asked.
"Isn't that what we agreed?" Rukia asked. "Why would our decision have changed?"
He sighed, looking up this time. Anywhere, Rukia noticed, but at me. "I don't know. I guess it's… just seeing everybody together in one place… it might be harder than we realized."
Rukia paid little attention to his words; instead she was trying to figure out why he wasn't looking at her. "Ichigo…" she spoke his name in a whisper.
Ichigo finally looked down at her. "What?" he asked.
In the split second that their eyes met, Rukia and Ichigo made two identical, but separate decisions. He leaned down and she leaned up. Their lips met in a hesitant, worried kiss, neither realizing the other had done the same as them.
Rukia pulled back after a moment, her eyes wide and terrified. Without a word, she turned and ran away from Ichigo as fast as she could, never thinking of looking back at him.
Ichigo remained motionless against the wall, watching her go, never thinking of following after her.
End Chapter 13: A Dinner Interlude
A/N: I agreed to attempt some romance, and I said this story was going to be IchiRuki, but I never said the relationship would come about easily.
I finally finished the chapter (longest so far. Almost three thousand words). That only took months of procrastination. My apologies if you hate it, but I'm trying. I'm trying very hard. Many relationships are seen in this chapter.
I'm surprised that only two people guessed both of Ayumi's parents correctly: Katty008 and Jayuna. Thanks to everyone for guessing, though.
Also, while I assume that Matsumoto would take the name Hitsugaya when she was married, I referred to her as Matsumoto in this chapter and those before out of habit. Starting next chapter, when I refer to her, I shall call her Rangiku (if I can remember).
Hitsugaya Ayumi: Daughter of Hitsugaya and Rangiku. Same age as Ichigo and Rukia
Abarai Koiyuki: Daughter of Renji and Tatsuki. Twin of Kageromaru. Rukia's Roommate
Abarai Kageromaru: Son of Renji, and Tatsuki. Twin of Koiyuki. Ichigo's roommate
Yusaki Akina: Rukia's roommate
Yamanaka Hikaru: Ichigo's roommate
Mitsukai Sora:Third Division Taichou. Isshin's cousin. Terminally injured right arm (Hollow attack)
