Disclaimer: I don't own or claim Bleach for my own selfish purposes. If I were to own Bleach... XXX would be the rating. If ya' know what I mean... *Wink, wink, nudge, nudge*
Previously…
After a while since Rukia left, something finally struck Renji, "Where's Maru-chan and Rukia?"
"If you haven't noticed, Rukia took Maru and left awhile ago because you were being a dumbass," Ichigo started walking away with his hands shoved in his pockets casually.
"How was I being a dumbass?"
"I don't know, you just are. And I'm really hungry and I don't have time for this shit. And next time, make sure you don't lose the puppy, I'm not wasting my time again," Ichigo yawned and walked toward his house leaving Renji trailing slowly behind.
Asshole… the day you lose something, I'm not helping you. Not that I help you with anything regularly, but still, thought Renji, looking up at the peachy sky and he walked.
Chapter 3: Catching up
There was no other way to describe it. It was just loud.
What was loud exactly? Kurosaki Dinner time.
It was quite difficult for a girl to have a peaceful meal with old friends when there were three buffoons fighting each other over a piece of chicken and causing trouble.
Rukia sighed and tried to enjoy the nice homemade food by blocking out all the sounds and all of the clinics inhabitants. However, this plan didn't work out so well when a pair of chop sticks struck her in the face. Biting her lip, she made sure she didn't explode while in the company of Masaki and Yuzu.
It was hard as hell.
She was taught to always keep her cool and act un-bothered since she was young. She learned how to do this very well, but her true nature shined brightly when around her close friends. Just by looking at their scowling and -hidden- smug faces, she could already feel a vein popping up on her forehead. She always hated male pride and their egos.
Now that she thought about it, back in France, she always wondered if Ichigo and Renji changed at all. She preferred guy friends who were polite and were gentle men. Instead, she was stuck with two scowling delinquent looking guys. Great. Just Great.
"Rukia-chan, are you okay? Sorry about all the noise, but dinner is always like this. You'll get used to it over time." The raven-haired girl blinked and smiled politely as Masaki refilled her bowl with rice.
"Oh, Masaki-san, I don't need any more rice. I'm pretty full already!" She waved her hands in the air to stop Masaki from filling her bowl.
The older woman however, smiled and continued to scoop rice into her bowl. "Nonsense, you've been up and about all day, I'm sure you're very hungry. No need to hide it, a growing girl like you needs food!" Masaki then placed Rukia's bowl in front of the said girl. "Now eat up!"
"Uh, thank you." Rukia shyly picked up her bowl of rice and began eating. Sure, she ate like a pig back in France, but it's not like she was going to eat all of the food in the Kurosaki clinic so she had to hold back. Luckily Masaki was a very understanding person. She was like a mother figure to her, she was demanding but kind and gentle. She also knew how to discipline overgrown little boys.
The raven-head chuckled as she watched Masaki scold Ichigo and Renji. It was entertaining. She remembered when they were little and Ichigo and Renji would get scolded for doing something stupid and they would cower like puppies when Masaki announced they had ten minutes of time out. Rukia enjoyed their pain, as sadistic as it was.
"Dumbfuck," grumbled Ichigo as he pulled out his chair and sat back at the table. He didn't even start this! Renji and his dad started the whole thing, and somehow they had dragged him into the fight. Honestly, he could care less about the damn piece of chicken.
"Asswipe," Renji made his way back to the table and almost tripped because of a certain someone's foot.
The two boys scowled as they were given their share of rice from Yuzu, who shook her head and rolled her eyes. They would utter a curse or two to each other every so often and start glaring matches; it was childish but amusing to Rukia. And to think, they were seventeen! She sighed quietly, and nibbled on her rice. At least with the silence, she could eat in peace for awhile.
"Wait, where's Isshin-san?" She said, finally noticing the absence of the older man. She looked around and found him nowhere in sight.
"Oh, I think Renji and I kicked him through the window. He'll be back soon, so hurry up and eat before he comes," answered Ichigo, with his mouth full.
Was it her, or did that sound strange that he said it so casually?
"Why did you kick him out the window? He might be injured or something." Rukia kind of felt stupid for asking so many questions and acting clueless, but she couldn't help it. She'd been missing out on the events in Karakura town for way too long.
"Don't worry about him. Goat face isn't defeated that easily, he's immune to almost everything. Plus, this is a daily routine," said Karin, walking down the stairs in a tight t-shirt and skirt with her hair pulled up. She probably cleaned up before coming to dinner from her nap.
Rukia grinned. It seemed that Karin had changed into a very likeable teen. Just by observing, she could tell that Karin wasn't one to take shit from anyone and was rather straight forward compared to Yuzu's shy nature, which is something that Rukia liked. "Karin-chan, glad to see your nap was a success, despite all the noise..."
The other girl crinkled her nose, "Just call me, Karin. And yeah, it was a really nice nap. Probably the best one in a while considering school and football [soccer]. And I'm also immune to the noise," The dark-haired teen grinned and sat down at the table.
"Le Football! I used to play that a lot back in France with the other girls, except they weren't much of a challenge though, so I stopped."
Karin's eyes immediately brightened, "Really? That's awesome. You should show me your skills sometime."
"Oui!" Rukia grinned and placed some rice into her mouth.
"Itadakimasu!" Karin picked up her chopsticks and then started to eat.
For the next few minutes, everyone ate in silence. The only sounds that could be heard were the munching sounds of everyone eating -and Ichigo and Renji grumbling.
"So... Rukia-chan, will you be entering our high school?" peeped up, Yuzu. She smiled and popped a pickled radish into her mouth.
"Actually, I was already accepted. So I'll be joining you guys starting tomorrow."
At hearing that, Ichigo and Renji halted their eating and let their mouths hang open to share their beautiful chewed up food. "WHAT?" Grains of rice shot out of their mouths causing the females of the table to grimace and back away from the table. By the looks of it, these two could have been labeled brothers. They were perfect matches, weird hair, scowls and all that other jazz.
"Close your mouths when you're eating," Masaki's kind face, if possible, morphed into one of disapproval, and she crossed her arms, watching as they slowly obliged. "And yes, she is entering your school. So please, I want the both of you to show her around and introduce her to some nice people. That would make me a very happy Chappy!"
Rukia's ears perked up, "Chappy? You like Chappy the rabbit too?" She leaned across the table.
"Oh, no. Yuzu is the one who likes Chappy. I just think Chappy's cute."
She turned from Masaki to Yuzu who grinned widely. Returning the grin, she gave Yuzu a thumbs-up gesture and sat back down.
After that little connection, Masaki turned back to Ichigo and Renji. "So please do that, or I'll make you guys clean Isshin's office."
Ichigo widened his eyes in horror and nodded. "Uh, hai, 'Ka-san..."
Renji on the other hand had the same facial expression he had before. The only thing different was that he was sweating puddles and shaking frantically. "Hai, 'Saki-oba-san..."
Rukia put a finger up to her chin and thought. What was so bad about cleaning Isshin's office anyways that made the dimwits sweat bombs?
Pushing the thoughts aside, she started to think, "Actually, I remember some kids I used to play with before I left. I think the names were, Arisawa Tatsuki and Inoue Orihime, if I recall correctly." She brought up.
Ichigo cleared his throat, "They're in our class," said both Ichigo and Renji in unison.
"Oh! Which class are you guys in? I got papers saying I was a third year in class two-three [2-3]." Ichigo frowned and metaphorically banged his head on the table, while Renji bit his tongue.
Masaki clasped her hands together like a school girl, "Ochi-sensei, right?" The Chappy lover nodded. "That means you are in Ichigo and Renji-kun's class! That means you all can have fun together! How cute!
"I need to make dessert to celebrate!"
Just as the light orange-haired woman ran to the kitchen, there was the sound of someone breaking in through a window somewhere upstairs. At first Rukia was alert thinking it was a burglar, but from the looks of everyone's calm faces, she guessed it was just Isshin.
Speaking of the man, he stumbled down the stairs, making a bunch of unnecessary noise as he approached.
He sprung up and jumped at Rukia. "Oh, my wonderful third daughter! You are too cute! I must pull you into my bosom and squish you!" Before he could touch her however, Karin's foot met with his face. "Hands off, you old perv! You just don't go around huggin' people like that whenever you want, especially a teenage girl. It's just wrong!"
Isshin fell to the ground and started rolling around like a child. "Masaki! Karin's being mean to daddy again!"
From the kitchen, Masaki sighed loudly. "Karin, stop being mean to your father."
"He started it!" Karin frowned and went back to sit at the table, post kicking Isshin in the stomach.
Yuzu giggled and stood up, "Otou-san, you should get up and eat. Everyone is about done now and your food is getting cold," she started to collect all the empty dishes and chopsticks.
"Oh, let me help," offered Rukia, getting out of her chair.
Later on…
It had been awhile since Rukia had last eaten mochi. The chewy substance stuck to her teeth as she attempted to bite it. Finally swallowing it, she took a deep breath at all the hard work. It wasn't really "work," but rather just her jaw being tired from all the chewing.
Masaki giggled at Rukia, "My mochi is always extra chewy, so be careful not to choke." The said girl smiled politely and nodded while biting a tiny piece of mochi.
Ichigo rolled his eyes and stuffed a whole piece in his mouth. "It's not that hard, you make it seem like it's a work out." His mouth was full and the only thing that came out of his mouth was something that sounded similar to, "Ish nosh harsh, yoush maksh ish sheemsh shiksh itsh ash worksh shouts." Some chewed up pieces of mochi flung out of his mouth, causing Rukia to laugh.
"What did I say about closing your mouth when you eat? No talking with your mouth full either," scolded Masaki, her mouth tilted downwards a bit and she crossed her arms over her chest.
Rukia giggled a little and swallowed the last of her dessert, "Ah, I'm filled up. It's been so long since I've had real mochi!" She stretched her arms out and yawned quietly.
Yuzu grinned and brought up a question. "What kind of desserts do you eat in France?"
The raven haired teen put a finger to her chin and thought. "Well, we don't usually eat dessert in my house since Byakuya doesn't allow too many sweets. We do eat cake, tarts and cookies on occasion. Normally, though, it's fruit that we eat." She shrugged and sipped some of her tea.
"Really? I thought French people ate more than that for dessert."
"Well, it depends on the family. It just so happens that my family is paranoid about sugar levels or whatever. If we do have dessert, it's usually fruit like I said. Either way, it doesn't really concern me as I don't really care for sweets," said Rukia, excusing herself from the table to bring her dishes to the sink.
"Well, what about breakfast? I was just wondering if you wanted some French cuisine for breakfast," asked Yuzu as Rukia walked out of the kitchen.
She widened her eyes and blinked, "I don't care what's for breakfast really. I could eat anything. I doubt there would be the bread that I eat in France here in Japan. So regular bread and jam is fine. Coffee is fine too."
Masaki and Yuzu smiled and nodded, "Of course! We'll make sure you're as comfortable here as you were in France."
"Merci! I really appreciate it," Rukia bowed down politely. "Anyways, I think it's about time I got ready for bed. Please excuse me. Oh, and one day, I'll make sure I make you all some crepes!" She grinned brightly and made her way down the hall, up the stairs.
"What's a 'crepe?'" Renji blinked and stuffed some mochi in his mouth.
"I don't know? French crap? Some sort of food?" answered Ichigo.
"You don't say?"
Yuzu frowned, "It's not crap. It's a very tasty pancake like food in France. You can it eat for breakfast or as a dessert. It's such a nice food!" She got up from the table and started to clean up the empty dishes.
Both Ichigo and Renji kept their uninterested faces, and shrugged at each other.
Preview…
"Wait, let me get this straight. You like Ichigo?" Orihime nodded and dreamily stared up at the roof top where the said orange haired teen sat with his friends. Rukia smirked and put a finger to her chin, completely forgetting about her stomach pains. "Why don't you ask him out?" She had a plan, and she was going to make sure it worked. Hopefully.
The auburn haired girl widened her eyes in surprise and blushed, "O-o-oh! I… I'm too nervous. I don't know if he'll accept my feelings! I'm too scared to find out."
"Well, I'll help you then. And I'll make sure he accepts! Why wouldn't he give you a chance? You're pretty, you're nice and you have a good personality. Plus, you might be the only girl willing to go out with him…," said Rukia, determined. "We shall call this plan, 'le plan pour obtenir Orihime et Ichigo ensemble!'"
Orihime jumped back in surprise but then smiled happily, "Uh, yeah! Thank you, Rukia-chan!"
"No problem! And you have library duty after school right?" Orihime nodded while Rukia smiled evilly, "Okay! Now just leave the rest to me, Orihime."
A/N: FINALLY! I'm finished with this chapter. I thought I would never get it done. So… I've been on DA lately and haven't really been paying attention to fanfiction. So, sorry! Actually, I think other people have been doing that too.
Yes, yes, many unwanted errors in the text, just ignore them unless you're a neat freak [like me].
Reviews are appreciated! They make me feel lurved! ;3
Revised: 28 juin deux mil douze [June 28th, 2012]