Disc: I don't own BLEACH and LONG VACATION

Note: this fanfic is inspired from a J-Dorama, Long Vacation starred by Kimura Takuya of SMAP, enjoy!

Though/Past

Present

-Love Story-

4

"Are you sure you want this table to be in your room?"

A curious raven haired girl frowned at the bubbly girl in front of her. She put her hands on her hips, waiting for the auburn haired girl to answer her question. The table between them was really wide. She couldn't believe that the taller cheerful girl wanted it inside her small bedroom. She couldn't think of where she would put it.

She sighed, "Orihime… If you really put it inside your room, there would be no space for you to walk, let alone to move!"

Orihime laughed, "Of course I am sure, Rukia, this table will be in my room!" She smiled, "I mean, hey… We can't leave it in the living room now can we? Ichigo would kill me!"

"He wouldn't kill you…" Rukia scowled.

Orihime giggled, "He wouldn't," she agreed, "but believe me, he could."

Rukia shook her head in defeat as she continued helping her moving her things into her bedroom.

When Orihime told her that she would be moving into some stranger's apartment, Rukia couldn't believe it. She knew that Orihime was a little bit eccentric but she never thought that she'd go as far as living together with a stranger. Of course she had offered Orihime to stay at her place instead but she declined it. If Tatsuki were in Japan she wouldn't let Orihime to live with a stranger. Heck, if Tatsuki were here she'd have been killing that ungrateful bastard who left her on her wedding day…

Rukia hadn't met this guy yet. Since he was this bastard's roommate, there'd be a chance that he was just another bastard. But he let Orihime in though he hardly knew her. Maybe he was a good guy after all. Wait, a good guy wouldn't let a stranger, a girl in this case, move into his house, would he? Rukia shook all of those thoughts out of her head.

"By the way, Hime, is your roommate hot?"

They were walking back to the living room. They had finished to putting all of her things into her new room, so now they could rest for a while. Rukia sat on the couch while Orihime walked into the kitchen to get some cold drinks for them. Ichigo had permitted her to use and touch everything in his house except for one thing, the baby grand piano.

Orihime came back from the kitchen with two cold Cokes. She gave one can to Rukia and sat next to the petite girl.

"Rukia… You are engaged to Renji-kun now, remember?"

Rukia shrugged–actually she had forgotten that her red haired boyfriend had proposed to her last night. "Well, being engaged doesn't mean I can't adore any handsome guy around, does it?"

Orihime laughed, "Well, I don't know about that but I think maybe he's hot…" She felt she was blushing, she didn't really use the word 'hot' often. "Oh, but he is a really nice guy."

Rukia just nodded, she drank her Coke while thinking. "So… how old is he?"

Orihime frowned, she tapped her index finger on her chin, thinking. "Hmm, maybe younger than me… One year or two years younger… I never asked him" she admitted, " but I know he is younger than me…"

The shorter girl laughed, "Oh it'll be hard then…"

"W-what?"

She smirked, "For you to get him…"

"Rukia!" Orihime blushed. "It will be awkward if you say something like that! I mean, I am living with him now…"

Rukia just laughed. Somehow she got a good feeling about all of this.

"I'm home."

Orihime stood up all of a sudden, she put the Coke on the table and ran to the door to welcome the other resident of the house, "Ah, welcome home! How was your day?"

Rukia snickered hearing her cheerful tone. Damn, she acts like a cute little wife. She watched the man remove his shoes and change into slippers.

"It was just like usual, how was yours?"

Hey, they act like newlyweds!

It amused Rukia to watch both of them. This strawberry man was not like what she had imagined before. True, he didn't look really friendly but he didn't look like a bad person anyway. Maybe if it was him, Tatsuki wouldn't complain too much. He looked like someone who wouldn't do anything weird to Orihime.

And even their hair color matches!

"Oh, I'm done with all the things, so now no boxes in your room!"

He nodded, "Ah, good." He looked around the room and his eyes fell upon the small girl sitting on his sofa. He frowned when the girl just wave at him.

"Ah, she is my friend! Rukia Kuchiki! She helped me moving my things!" Orihime explained.

"Yo." Rukia smirked.

"Rukia, this is Ichigo Kurosaki, you know, my roommate…"

Ichigo just nodded slightly and walked to his room without saying anything anymore. He walked past Rukia without even looking at her. She whistled teasingly when he closed his room door and locked it from inside. Orihime sighed and walked back to the couch to sit next to her best friend.

"How cool…" Rukia teased.

"He is." Orihime laughed.

Her face was red.

Ichigo was really tired when he went home today. Right after he reached his room he fell asleep. He woke up a few hours later and realized that he had missed dinner. He frowned and rubbed the back of his head. He was hungry.

He was just laying on his back for a few seconds. He watched the ceiling trying to collect his energy back.

Someone was knocking on his door.

He walked lazily to the door.

What does she want now?

He opened the door, looking at the charming girl with a curious look.

"Yes?"

The girl smiled widely at him—damn, I could be blinded!—and showed him a bottle of liquor in her hand. "Let's have a party tonight!"

"Eh?"

"I have many!" she pointed at the table on the living room. There were seven bottles on the table, "Come on… Come on…"

She pulled him to the living room. Ichigo didn't know what made him follow her like that. Maybe it's because he was still sleepy. He let the girl drag him and she made him sit on the couch. Maybe he just couldn't say no to her.

He watched her open one of the bottles skillfully, and wondered if she was old enough for drinking. He would be in trouble if she was still under age.

"Where did you get all this?" he asked in disbelief. He didn't drink often but he knew that these liquors were expensive. And she said she was broke?

"They're wedding gifts. Even though the wedding's off they couldn't take the gifts back…" she giggled. Now he remembered she was about to marry Grimmjow–of course she was old enough for drinking. "I think it is rude to send the gifts back, so I just accepted them."

He just nodded, not knowing what to say. Heck, he was never good with words.

"Now let's have a small party!" She laughed. He watched her pouring the liquor into the glasses. "You let me invade your room for a while so now, we have to celebrate it! We have to celebrate all good things, Rangiku-san's philosophy."

Ichigo didn't ask who was Rangiku-san, he just took the glass hesitantly. When he took a sip of the wine, he knew that this was an expensive wine, or so he thought.

"It tastes good right?" she said happily and took a sip herself.

Ichigo nodded and took another sip, "Yeah." He checked the bottle to see the year it was made and frowned, "It's really old…"

Orihime blushed. She smiled shyly, "I know, that's why I told you I was an old lady the first time we met…"

Ichigo furrowed his brows, he didn't mean that way. Besides, why would she keep saying that she was old anyway. "I don't mean you, it's the wine!"

"But it's made on the year I was born…" She giggled, still blushing. She touched her cheek with one hand.

"W-what?"

He pointed at the bottle accusingly, "But THAT was made 27 years ago!"

She nodded, "I am 27 years old."

She said that just like she said, 'Panda is funny.'

No, that wasn't right.

She couldn't be THAT old.

Orihime took a sip from her glass, still smiling shyly. She giggled when she saw Ichigo's current expression. How old was she he thought?

"I thought you were twenty."

She laughed, "Ah… I couldn't be that young!"

"Or even though you are older than me, it couldn't be more than 2 years older…"

"Am I not?"

He didn't say anything.

She bit her lip, "Just… how old are you, Kurosaki-kun?"

"Twenty two."

She bit her tongue, "W-WHAT?"

She thought he was at least twenty five.

"B-but you're Grimmjow's friend!"

He scowled, "So?"

She shook her head.

"Ah forget it!" she said happily. "We're having party… Party!"

Ichigo nodded. He needed a lot of alcohol. He drank all the wine in his glass and let the princess refill it. That was a really good wine. He felt lucky that she was actually willing to share the expensive wine with him.

"Actually, Grimmjow said we would open this on our wedding night…"

Ichigo stiffened when he heard this and he glanced at the girl beside him. Orihime shifted on the sofa as she smiled sadly at her wine, as if she had totally forgot that she was not alone.

"Grimmjow and I met when we were in college. At first, he was like this brotherly figure for me, always there whenever I needed him. Whenever something happened to me, he was always the first one to be there for me.

"Three years ago, I happened to break up with a guy. Not one hour had passed when Grimmjow frantically called me and told me that he had beat up the guy until that guy couldn't even say my name anymore. I never knew how Grimmjow managed to receive the news that fast, but I was so happy, so very, very happy that whenever he called me, I didn't care about anything else in the world.

"But then, as our conversation continued on that night… the clock ticked one second past midnight, and Grimmjow quickly stopped what he was saying and shouted HAPPY BIRTHDAY to me." Orihime chuckled sadly.

"I didn't even realize that that day was my birthday. I remembered holding the phone in shock as I glanced at my calendar. But then again, since the first time I knew Grimmjow, he had always been the first one to congratulate me on my birthday.

"When he asked me to marry him, I thought that it would happen forever. That he would always be the first person to congratulate me on my birthday. Always be the first… forever and ever… always…"

A single teardrop sparkled on Orihime's grey eyes as she continued on smiling at her wine.

Ichigo didn't know what to say. He stared at the girl, having this weird feeling inside his heart. And when he saw her teardrop, his eyes stared at her with concern. He had to fight the urge to give the girl a hug. Instead, he just stared at her, not knowing what to do. He didn't hug anybody. That wasn't his style.

Orihime quickly wiped away her tear when the old grandfather clock on the corner made a noise, signaling that it was midnight. She gave a fake laugh as she quickly drank her wine.

"Oh, I'm sooo sorry. I ruined the mood, didn't I? Let's just forget what I said and party tonight!" she shouted happily, way too happily.

Ichigo stared at her.

Orihime Inoue, you are a strong person…' was the only thing that entered his mind.

Author's note:

So far, I am following the Long Vacation's plot (like 70%) but from next chapter I will go with my original plot ^^ (with some reference from the drama of course)

So... Review?