"In Another Life"
"A new bunny!" Yuzu exclaimed, "Thanks Ichi-nii!" Yuzu took Kon from Ichigo's arms, pulling him into a tight embrace. Karin looked at Kon with caution. "Oh come on Karin. Can't you at least welcome the new family member?" Yuzu asked, pouting while holding Kon to Karin's face, hoping that she'd suddenly see how cute he was.
Karin turned to Ichigo with a raised brow. "Why'd you suddenly decide to get us a pet rabbit? I don't recall it being our birthday."
"Can't I be just be generous without being questioned? Be thankful I didn't get you a pet rock," Ichigo huffed, crossing his arms while having a staring contest with his little sister. Truthfully, it was because there was no one left to take care of Kon. Ichigo had no skills in watching after delicate things and the only one who knew how to raise Kon was...
"Ichigo!" a voice yelled excitedly. Ichigo stepped to the side, dodging his father's bear hug. "I missed you so much my son!" Isshin threw his arms wide open, to which Ichigo looked away. Forgetting his depression, Isshin turned towards Kon; his eyes turned into pink hearts. Isshin ran to the poster of his wife, Masaki, hanging on the wall. "Honey! We have a new family member and he's so beautiful!" He cried tears of joy.
"Oh geez," Karin facepalmed. "Hm?" Karin looked around.
"What?" Ichigo asked, wondering what kind of problem she detected now.
"I thought you'd be here with your all time favorite girlfriend Rukia."
Isshin and Yuzu suddenly realized it too. Ichigo sighed, feeling their eyes on him. "Where is my beautiful daughter-in-law!?" Isshin shouted, grabbing Ichigo's shoulders and shaking him violently. Karin sighed, leaving the room with Yuzu and Kon.
Ichigo looked away, highly annoyed. It had been a week since they broke up. In less than a minute, Rukia managed to destroy all of him. "It didn't work out," Ichigo sighed, slumping onto the couch while eating a few cookies that Yuzu baked earlier.
Isshin gasped, horrified. He instantly blamed Ichigo for their break up. "You gotta know the way to a woman's heart; you gotta love her tenderly!" Isshin threw his arm over Ichigo's shoulders.
Ichigo shrugged, "Yeah, whatever," he crossed his arms behind his head. "It was bound to happen anyway. What did I find in her anyway? She's not even my type." Rukia's short, abusive, and an A cup - totally the type he'd never go for. Ichigo was into beautiful, big breasted women, not little girls like Rukia. "Ow!" Ichigo yelped, feeling Isshin smack him across the head.
"You know what you're doing right now? You're in denial," Isshin shoved a finger into his son's face. "I saw the way you were crying when you carried her over here when she was sick! How can you say you don't love her-"
"I had water on my face because it was raining that day, not because I was crying!" The two pushed their foreheads against each other like bulls.
"Go apologize to Rukia-chan!" Isshin demanded.
"No way!" Ichigo shouted. There was no reason why Ichigo should go apologize to Rukia when it was clearly her fault why they separated. She spat harsh words at him and left him behind like trash. If anyone had been wronged, it was himself, thought Ichigo. "Rukia doesn't need me, so obviously I don't need her."
Isshin finally calmed, seeing the seriousness in Ichigo's eyes. "I know you don't mean that, son." Isshin rubbed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and his index finger. He tried to explain to Ichigo in the best way he could. "I am not forcing you to go see Rukia because I think it's your fault. I am doing it because I know you're stubborn."
Ichigo scoffed, looking away, uninterested. What's done was done. Why did his father have to keep bringing up the subject? "What's the point of pursuing someone when they won't even look at you anymore?" Ichigo mumbled, crossing his arms.
"Do you honestly believe that she doesn't love you anymore?"
"She said so herself, and even if she was lying, I hate her for being a coward and not standing up to her brother."
Isshin sighed, "Women are really frustrating aren't they?"
"You just realized?" Ichigo asked, laughing wearily. "Just leave it be. There are tons of more women out there. I'll be back up on my feet in no time."
Isshin slapped Ichigo's back; he glared at his father. "But why go through all that trouble when you've already found the one?"
Ichigo narrowed his eyes at his father. Rukia? The one? Yeah right. Rukia had her many flaws. She was insecure, absolutely humorless, and not fun at all... but despite all that, Ichigo had fallen in love with her. Despite having flaws, she had many more great features that outweighed the bad. Rukia accepted him for who he was, she loved him in the best way she knew how, and perhaps it were her mistakes that saved Ichigo from being a reckless guy.
"Look son... I'll stop pestering you after this, so I'll just say it now: If it's going to end, make sure you have no regrets about it." Isshin patted Ichigo on the shoulder and then left him to contemplate alone.
When Ichigo was completely alone, the tough guy act dropped. He sighed, placing his hand over his eyes, rubbing them to somehow get rid of the headache he had. 'I felt absolutely nothing...' Ichigo grabbed a pillow from the couch, throwing it across the room. He hated the silence because it didn't distract him from recalling the cruel words Rukia told him. Something... he needed something to distract him.
Ichigo's hand slipped into his pocket, pulling out his cell phone.
1 Week Earlier
"What is it, nii-sama?" Rukia asked, tilting her head down. She kneeled before him, sitting on a cushion. Byakuya barely made an effort to recognize her presence. Now that she was living with Byakuya again, she practically had no freedom.
Byakuya's house was a large traditional home. It had its own Japanese garden in the yard, a pond full of large koi fish, and a handful of maids that cleaned the place and served their needs. Byakuya grabbed his cup, lifting it to his lips and sipping on the warm tea. Rukia flinched, feeling his grey eyes on her. "You went to go see that boy today?"
"No. I was just packing up my belongings," Rukia told. "I cut it off with him... so he won't be a bother anymore."
Byakuya heard Rukia sniffling; her eyes were slightly red. It was obvious that she had been crying. Byakuya glanced down at Rukia's lap, seeing her fists clench tightly onto the edge of her clothes. "Stop that; it's a bad habit."
Rukia apologized.
"How old are you now?" Byakuya asked. Despite them being brother and sister, he didn't know a thing about her, nor did she. They spoke like strangers and that was that.
"Twenty-three," Rukia replied.
Byakuya nodded to himself. He reached down and grabbed the brush that was lying beside a piece of paper; Rukia sat there awkwardly as he practiced his calligraphy and ignored her. Finally, he spoke, "It's about time you got married, isn't it?"
Rukia shifted uncomfortably at the subject. Marriage? Was he so eager to marry her off so that she'd stop being his burden? Rukia's eyes fell to the ground. Of course, she couldn't say anything to him. He took her under his wing - how could she ever defy him? "Y-Yes... it is," she said, though quite reluctant.
"I'm glad that you agree," Byakuya said, though he really didn't even seem to care. Even if Rukia didn't agree, he would've forced her into marriage anyway. "There is already a list of candidates for you. A miai will be prepared soon."
Rukia hid behind her hair; her eyes widened at the news. Byakuya had already planned everything out without her knowing. "I understand," Rukia whispered. "Please excuse me," Rukia stood up, leaving. She shut the fusuma behind her, finally sighing in distress. There was no way she was okay with the situation.
Present
"So what do you do for a living, Kuchiki-san?"
"Please stop with the creepy act; it's totally unlike you," Rukia laughed, pointing her chopsticks at Ukitake. They both came to eat out at a well known izakaya shop nearby. Of course, it wasn't a date or anything. It was simply practice to help Rukia become sociable so that she'd meet her brother's expectations and find a man to marry soon. "Ah," she sighed, drinking her glass of water. "What should I say in this kind of situation?"
Ukitake smiled, "It'll be fine. You've already got the charm. All you need to do now is get rid of that wall of ice surrounding you."
Rukia moaned. She propped her chin on her palm, "What if I'm not good enough?"
Ukitake didn't answer. He poured her a cup of sake, "Have some confidence." Rukia shook her head, drinking the wine. "Though it really surprised me that Byakuya suggested that you get married."
"How so?"
Ukitake shrugged, stuffing some pork meat into his mouth. "Well, I really don't like to speak behind people's back but I don't know... I find his actions quite hypocritical." When Rukia asked what he meant by that, Ukitake told her, "Your brother married a while back. It wasn't arranged and I do know that his family was disappointed with the woman he chose to marry."
"Her name was Hisana, right?" Rukia asked. She heard of the woman's name a few times, but never really felt it was her place to dig into Byakuya's past. Hisana was Byakuya's late wife, so it was a sensitive topic that Rukia didn't want to touch upon with her brother.
Ukitake nodded. "Well, that's how the story goes." Ukitake looked at his wristwatch, "Ah, it's about time I left. Come, I'll take you home-"
"Thank you, but I'll stay here for a little longer."
Ukitake gave a faint smile. "Don't worry, everything will fall into place." With that, he left.
Rukia sighed. She was so tired of everyone telling her that everything was going to be okay. So far, nothing has been. She was back where she started, as a lonely woman who was doomed to be miserable.
"Ichigo! Come on, you've been drinking all this time. I'm not paying you to confide in me!"
Rukia looked over at the far table in the room, seeing a loud woman screaming at some poor man. Rukia gasped, quickly lifting the menu to her face. She hid behind it, but held it so that it was just below her eyes. "What's Ichigo doing here?" she asked herself. Sure enough, Ichigo was drinking himself away like he had just lost everything in his bank account.
The woman Ichigo was with was clearly unhappy. When Ichigo finally passed out, she looked around before slipping her hand into his pocket and taking his wallet along with his money.
Rukia gawked at the scene. "How rude," Rukia murmured, seeing the woman leave Ichigo behind. It didn't take long before the owner of the place came over to Ichigo, trying to wake him up.
"Hey! You gotta pay for all these drinks you know?"
Rukia wasn't sure what she was thinking, but before she realized, she pulled out her credit card. "Sir, I'll pay for it." The owner turned around, staring at Rukia like she was a madwoman. Ichigo was dead asleep.
"Do you even know the guy? I'll just sell him to the yakuza or something; there's no need for a pretty little lady like you to pay for this idiot."
"It's fine, really."
The owner took a good look at Ichigo and sighed, "Alright, but he's your responsibility."
With that, Rukia found herself stumbling out of the shop with Ichigo leaning against her. His arm draped over her shoulders while he was barely conscious. He groaned; Rukia gagged at the smell of alcohol in his breath. "Smells... like strawberries," he murmured, sniffing her hair. "Rukia?" he opened his eyes halfway.
Angry, Rukia set him down on a nearby bench. "Stupid!" she shouted, waking Ichigo up. He blinked dumbly, though he was still quite drunk. "Didn't you hear me when I said that it's not the end of the world? I leave you and the next thing I know, you're going around humping girls again!?"
Ichigo closed his eyes, jolting awake again when he heard Rukia screaming at him.
"Ichigo," Rukia said sternly. Ichigo looked up at her miserably. "Don't let me be your only reason for living a happy life. You have your father, sisters, friends... Understand that you are important to them. It's selfish for you to go out and do this stupid thing that you do."
Ichigo squinted his eyes, trying to make out Rukia's figure. "You said... that you wouldn't even care if I disappeared. Why... tell me this now?"
Rukia felt a pang of hurt in her chest. Of course, she meant none of that. Rukia pulled the scarf she wore off her neck, wrapping it around Ichigo. She placed her tiny arms around him, holding him close to her heart. "If you disappeared, every day that passes would be meaningless." She wasn't sure why she was telling him all of this, but perhaps it was because she knew he wouldn't recall a single thing in the morning. "I'm going to be married soon, so forget about me."
Ichigo nuzzled against her. "Then marry me... that way I won't ever have to forget about you."
Rukia trembled, feeling weak. She tried her best to smile. "Maybe in the next life."
"Tatsuki-chan! I'm going to make soup with squid, cheese, and-"
"No thanks, I'll pass," Tatsuki waved her hand. Orihime tended to make... interesting food. Noticing her clumsy friend's pout, Tatsuki assured her, "I'm sure it'll taste delicious but uh, I already ate before I came here," she lied. Tatsuki was at Orihime's place; she was visiting town for a few days and needed a place to sleep.
"Okay!" Orihime nodded happily, easily falling for Tatsuki's obvious lie. She threw in whatever she found in her fridge into the pot of boiling water.
Tatsuki flipped the channels on T.V., "Boooring," she moaned. "Hey, Orihime?" she asked in a loud voice so that Orihime could hear from the kitchen. "How's Ichigo? I heard he finally came back home when I visited his family. I didn't see him there though."
Orihime stopped cutting the carrots; she nearly sliced her finger off at the mentioning of Ichigo. She scratched her head, "He's doing good!"
"Well it's about time he came home. That idiot... I oughta give him a thousand knuckles for running away and making everyone worry."
Orihime shook her head, trying to get the thought off her head. She called Ichigo a few days ago, and when he told her that he saw Rukia, she was glad... until Ichigo said that it was over between him and Rukia. Orihime could hear it in his voice that he wasn't doing okay, despite him telling her that he was perfectly fine.
"Hey, earth to Orihime! Your phone is ringing," Tatsuki said, wondering what was bothering Orihime. She washed her hands and picked up the phone. Tatsuki frowned, seeing Orihime nod. She worried when Orihime began to look frantic; her usual smile disappeared. "What's wrong?" Tatsuki asked.
Orihime grabbed her coat that hung on the wall, "I'm just going to get more ingredients for dinner," she said, closing the door behind her. After walking for ten minutes in the night, Orihime finally arrived at the Kurosaki Clinic. "Kuchiki-san?"
Rukia stood stiff as a board, greeting Orihime awkwardly. "I'm truly sorry for the inconvenience. I wish I had the courage to bring Ichigo to his family, but I really can't face his family..."
Ichigo slept on the ground, still drowsy. Orihime frowned, upset to see Ichigo so heartbroken. He was such a mess, and clearly it was all Rukia's fault. "What right did you have to say those hurtful words to Kurosaki-kun?"
Rukia looked away, feeling Orihime's glare on her. Rukia tried her best to avoid conflict. "Please take care of Ichigo-"
"He loves you!" Orihime exclaimed. "Don't you think it's unfair to just abandon Kurosaki-kun like this?" Orihime stepped to Rukia's side so that Rukia was forced to look at her. "If I were you, I'd cherish him and love him."
There was a brief silence. Orihime couldn't tell what Rukia was thinking. Rukia looked over at Ichigo and back at Orihime. "Then why don't you take my place and love him for me-"
Rukia's face turned to the side. She felt a sharp pain on her cheek. Orihime panted, lowering her hand after slapping Rukia. "If it's that easy for you to toss him aside, then you don't deserve him." Orihime walked over to Ichigo's side, lifting him up. She turned to Rukia one last time, "I know you're only leaving Kurosaki-kun behind because of your brother... but you shouldn't use that as an excuse to run away. And if you must know, I could never take your place because the only one Kurosaki-kun loves is you. You know that best, don't you?"
Of course, Rukia knew it best.
A/N: Woot! Orihime-powaaaah! Hope you all don't mind that Rukia got bitch-slapped by her. I mean, c'mon. We all wanted to slap Rukia after what happened in the last chapter ;)
Anyway... most of you cried to me and asked why I separated them in the last chapter, and so I say this (and I mean it): I got everythaaaang under control! I know there is so much angst, but I'm telling you over and over - I got this! Don't fret!
It may seem bad now, but that's just part of the process! ^^
Y'know? Every good thing that we want in life is always hard to get, but in the end, it'll be worth it ;)
