ATTENTION! I am back! Sorry for being gone for, what… 2 years? Oops. I've been wanting to continue with this story for quite a while and I believe that I can get back into this. I've become a much better writer, but that's for all of you to decide. I'll try to make the characters as IC as I can. I am proud to give you, Stay with Me, continued.
Chapter 5: Ulquiorra's First Day
Ichigo POV
It had only been a few months after the war with Aizen. I could say that my life was back to normal, with the exception the ex-Espada living with me. No big deal.
Taking in the Arrancar was totally nerve-wracking for me, because of dad. He's not an idiot. He knew the spiritual pressure of an arrancar within 100 miles of the house, especially one coming from his own home. I had to explain to him the whole situation and how Ulquiorra no longer fights for Aizen. But luckily my sister's took a liking to him when I introduced him to them, so that must have made Dad change his mind on the situation.
He has been living with us for a couple of weeks now, today is the day that he will be enrolling at my school.
Dad insisted that he acts like a normal person, so he enrolled him in my school under our name –as if he were my adoptive brother-. I was actually quite looking forward to it, but I wonder how everyone else would feel about it.
After my alarm had gone off a few times, I reach over to grab it to turn it off.
Luckily, I persuaded Dad into letting Ulquiorra share my room with me. We couldn't fit another bed in my small ass room, so we just got a bigger bed.
Putting back the small clock, I look to my right to see the sleepy raven rub his eyes as he awakes from the beeping.
I have to admit the first few weeks were awkward, being with the person who pretty much killed me was now sharing the same bed with me, but I wasn't going to treat him like shit. He came back to be with me. That's the least I could do for him.
"Good morning." I say to him as he sits up and scratches his head.
"Mmm," was all that I got out of him. Either he was really tired or that he knew that today was his first day at school.
"So, today's the day. Heh," I let out a small laugh.
"I suppose so," Ulquiorra mumbled as he rested his head on my shoulder.
It's kinda' nice when he's close to me. Actually, the only time we have been close was, well, when he came back. Since then, the only time he would ever touch me was if we were watching a movie or just TV and he would get tired and lean on me. I'm not gonna' lie and say it wasn't cute. Other than that, being the touchy type didn't fit him so well, so I'm glad there's no surprises.
We kinda' just sit there for a few moments, but then I felt his slightly cold fingers interlock with my own and begin to tense up.
"Hey, everything will be fine. If anyone gives you problems, they'll have to deal with me!"
"I don't I need you to protect me." He said while letting go and climbing over me to get out of bed.
That actually kinda' hurt, but that's nothing surprising he would say.
He walked over to our closet to pull out his brand new uniform that was covered with a clear bag like protector, you know, to keep it from getting dirty. It also had his name on a little sticker that read:
Ulquiorra Schiffer Kurosaki
Damn Dad put that as Ulquiorra's name as he was signing the papers for him to attend school. He just loves the feeling of having more 'kids.' Hence the kids part because a hundred or even thousand year old person doesn't count as a kid.
It wasn't very surprising to me that he began undressing and changing in front of me. We actually have already discussed that we are both men and that we shouldn't have to leave the room to change. The only exception was that I had to agree to keep my eyes to myself, as if he thinks that I'm gonna' stare at him the entire time.
I guess it didn't take him very long and he was now done when my cheek was poked, turning my head to see him sitting on the bed with his uniform on.
"I hope you don't intend to make me go by myself. Get dressed." He said in what was considered his 'playful' tone, which was next to nothing.
We made our way downstairs to be suddenly greeted by Yuzu, looking happier than her usual overjoyed self.
"Good morning! Ulqui-chan, I heard it's your first day at school so I made your favorites. Come eat, it's all ready for you," She said as he took ahold of Ulquiorra's hand and bringing him into the kitchen with me following.
I have to admit, Ulqui-chan? Now that's pretty funny. He didn't like it, but he respected my sisters so he didn't show any sense of annoyance when he was be addressed as so.
When I walked into the kitchen, Karin was already sitting at the table, but it looked like she hadn't eaten yet. Yuzu probably told her not to eat til' Ulquiorra was served.
I sit down next to him as Yuzu fills our bowls with rice and Tsukemono*, Ulquiorra's "favorite." Yuzu just made it for him one day and he said "It's good," and she decided that that was his favorite meal. I look over which he was slowly eating his food, only to catch me staring and glace over at me while keeping his head down, giving me a small glare, directing me to eat.
Sheesh this is my home, you can't order me around.
Grabbing our bags, we said our goodbyes to the girls before heading outside to the fresh spring air.
"Ahhh!" I let out as I stretch my arms out. "You're lucky you get to spend your first time at school on a day like this."
He looks over at my but takes a step forward to place his head on my chest. Did I mention that I'm taller than him?
I couldn't blame the guy. It was first time having to majorly interact with humans. Hey, if I spent my entire life in a desert with monsters all around me, I'd be nervous too.
I rest my hand on his head, "Hey, don't worry you'll do fine. I'm not leaving you."
He looked up at me with wide eyes, but with a look of hope.
"Come on, we don't want to be late and already be put on the teachers' shit list. Most of them don't trust me, but I'm not going to let my brother get looked down on."
Ulquiorra
"That's all I am to him. A brother..."
Ichigo
It didn't take us very long to get to school. On the way there I had to tell him some of the do's and don'ts, but I'm pretty sure he won't cause any trouble, if anything, he'll be perfect.
Once we were on the school grounds, I heard a familiar voice call out to us.
"Kurosaki-kun! Ulquiorra-san!"
He both turned to see Orihime and Chad coming towards us.
"Hey guys, what's up?" I said to the two while Ulquiorra only nodded.
A few days after Ulquiorra came back, I knew I would have to tell the others about him. I called them all up to my house, where they were shocked to see him standing in my room next to me. Well, Chad wasn't surprised as much because the only time he had seen Ulquiorra was when he was with Yammy a few months ago, but Ulquiorra didn't do anything to Chad, so I can see why he wouldn't recognize him.
Orihime and Uryuu on the other hand, I thought they were going to fall over.
"Guys I know this looks bad, but he means no harm. He—"
"I refuse to believe that. Kurosaki, this guy tried to kill us all, and you just welcome him with open arms? Are you crazy? Have you lost your mind?" Uryuu was about to continue when Orihime put her hand on Uryuu's shoulder, making him turn toward her.
"Ishida-kun, I'm just as surprised as you are, but Kurosaki-kun has done so much for us, I know he wouldn't lie to us."
"But, Inoue-san.." He said she lifted her hand from his shoulder and walked to the other side of the room to stand in front on Ulquiorra.
I could tell with the look on her face that she was trying to be brave, but I could see in her eyes that she was afraid. She then gave a smile to both of us but I could tell it was forced.
I can't image how she felt during our battle, and I didn't expect her to heal quickly from seeing such things.
"I'm glad you came, Inoue," I say to her to which she gave me another smile.
Looking at Orihime, I could tell that she had finally adjusted to the changes. She was smiling like she had always has. I'm glad.
"So Ulquiorra-san, you ready for your first day?" She said with a giggle at the end.
"I would say yes, but that would be very inaccurate."
"Ohhh come one! It's not that bad! School can be so much fun! I love learning! Favorite class is History! Oh and Math is fun as well!"
Both Ulquiorra and I stare at her with little expression on our face as she continues to rant on. Boy does she love to talk, but I'm glad that's she's warmed up to the situation.
Luckily, Ulquiorra and I had the same homeroom, so I didn't have to worry if he tried to escape from school or not.
When we finally got to the room, Tatsuki, Mizuiro, and Keigo were there as well, talking with each other.
I had forgotten that Tatsuki had met Ulquiorra before, that same time the Chad had, but Orihime talked to her instead about his stay. I suppose she didn't argue much with her because Orihime texted me not too long after their conversation saying it went well.
I guess Uryu wasn't here yet, seeing as he wasn't in his usual seat.
We all walked toward our group of friends before that idiot Keigo ran up to Ulquiorra and put his hand on his should. Is he asking for a death wish?
"Hey there! I'm Keigo! Everyone has been talking about Ichigo getting a new brother. You must be him. Nice ta' meet cha', uhh… ool.. cola… oh, Ricola!"
What the hell? How the hell did he come up with that? Now you're really asking for it.
"You moron, his name is Ulquiorra." I had to say because the other was so dumbfounded at the horrible pronunciation of his name.
"Oh, heh, sorry man!" He laughed out as he patted his shoulder.
I was surprised at how Ulquiorra was handling the situation, as awkward as it is. I can't believe that Keigo isn't on the floor, bleeding. He's my friend and all, but the idiot does sometimes deserve a good punch in the face.
"Just ignore him." I say as I point toward the other two. "That's Tatsuki and Mizurio. Guys, this is Ulquiorra."
Mizuiro must have been interested as to who I was introducing to them, because he looked up from his phone.
"Hi," was all he said as he returned his face to the screen.
"Oh, hey," Tatsuki said with her arms crossed. I could tell that she wasn't happy about the idea of him coming to our school, but I had no choice.
The homeroom bell rang, which was the signal for us to find our seats. I turn to sit and leave a seat next to me open for Ulquiorra. I hadn't noticed that Uryu was now in the room. Much to my surprise, he turned around in his seat and said to us, "Don't bother," and with that he turned back to face front.
Honestly, he's going to say that to him on their first 'no more problems' meet. Ulquiorra did worse things to me, so taking your arm off was nothing compared to what I went through. Sheesh never mind, I hate thinking about the past.
The rest of the day went fairly normal. Luckily, we had most of our classes together. I was taking gym while he had to take health, so that was the only class that we weren't in together.
Other than that, a lot of the teachers took a liking to him. In our math class, the teacher asked him what skills in math he has, which he replied with "Anything."
She didn't believe, so she wrote a complicated problem on the board that I know I could never solve, and he answered it without even hesitating.
How the hell does he even know math?
In English, our instructor gave him a book of the story that we were reading, and asked him to read aloud one of the passages, which he did in perfect English.
I was a bit jealous, but I'm glad that none of the teachers saw him as a freak.
I had a feeling that things were going to go smoothly for us.
I hope you all liked this return chapter. I plan to do a chapter a week if that's good! I guess we'll have to see what happens next. Also, the food that Yuzu made is a Pickle dish that's usually served during breakfast. I never really gave a time from when the war with Aizen and now have been, so it's just going to be a couple of months, because we never get to see their 3rd/junior year. I didn't want to make it in the time of the Fullbring/Lost Agent Arc because this is not an AU, so it'll be hard putting him in with along with the Fullbringers and all. If you want, give me some suggests as to what other chapters may hold. Other than that, I hope you continue to follow this story. Thank you!
