True friends...
"Two days until your birthday kurosaki-kun!" Orihime squeled. "Are you excited as I am?!" Orihime was laying on Ichigos bed watching him as he was being fitted for a vest.
"Yes." Ichigo said in a monotone voice.
"I cant believe it!" She hugged his pillow and inhaled deeply. "I cant wait! How can you stand it?"
"I dont know." Ichigo said.
Orihime pushed herself off the bed and smiled. "Im going to go try on my dress!"
"Again?" Ichigo asked.
"Yes! I had a big breakfeast! I want to make sure it fits."
"Sweetie..i dont think dinner and breakfeast will change the way your dress fits." Ichigo's wanted to rip his hair out. He had forgotten how stupid this woman was. No, there was no way he could forget such a thing. Maybe he was just trying to overlook it..but her stupidoty was to much to handle.
"Oh but it can! One time..i ate a double chocolate cake with extra whip cream with some fruit and ice cream and salted peppers dipped in nacho cheese with some beans for dinner. Then in the morning i had eggs and bacon with some rasberry filled biscuts and some fish covered in red chili power topped off with brussel sprouts and asparagas. I didnt fit into anything!"
Ichigo stared at her horrified. "I see... but didnt you only eat some eggs and salad?"
Orihime nodded. "Yes. But as you can tell i can gain weight like crazy."
"From the shit you eat its believeable." He mumbled.
Orihime walked out of the room leaving ichigo to be fitted. He sighed heavily.
"How long will this take?"
The woman only looked at him with an angry face. She turned his head back to the forward position and continued pinning his vest in various places.
xxxx
Kaien sat at the table in the Kuchiki manor alone. He felt silly eating his breakfeast in a dark room. He decided to get up and find some company. He gently knocked on Rukia's door
"Rukia?" He pushed open the door to find her sitting on her floor hugging a chappy doll. "Hey..whats wrong?"
She looked up at him and smiled. "Nothing."
"Are you sure?"
She nodded. "Do you need something?"
Kaien knelt down beside her. "Come eat breakfeast with me." He gently kissed her forehead and smiled. "Please." He grabbed her hands from her doll and pulled her up. "We can talk about Ichigos birthday party." He pulled her out of the room and into the kitchen to eat.
"Why do you want to talk about that?" Rukia asked.
"Well, I want to go..dont you?" Kaien pulled out a chair for rukia to sit. He pushed her in when she sat down. "I want to go. Ichigo is a good boy. Becoming eighteen is a big step in life, especially in his."
He sat across from rukia and served her fresh fruit and pancakes.
"I dont really want to go." Rukia said.
"Oh...Well i wanna go. Ichigo is a good friend of mine." Kaien smiled. "Isnt he a good friend to you?"
Rukia stabbed at her pancakes and shoved them into her mouth. While she chewed, Kaien rambled on about Ichigo. But her mind was elsewhere. When kaien had finally realized she wasnt listening to him. He stopped talking..and they in silence.
xxxx
Isshin took a swig of his beer. "I just dont understand him!"
The bartender nodded. "Mm."
"I mean..he's a good kid! But..he's just been..all.. i dont know! All mopey!" Isshin raised his glass to the bartender. "Shunsui..i'll have another."
Shunsui took his glass and refilled it. "Boys will be boys."
"But..of all the people in Karakura town!" Isshin cried.
"I know."
"RIGHT!"
"Your right."
"Im not overreacting ...am i?" Isshin asked.
"No."
Isshin took another drink of his beer. "Theres no way he could have friends like that!"
"Well in His defense...they werent exactly acting friendly...so i wouldnt call them friends." Shunsui said as he dried a glass cup.
"I..i just dont understand..where did he even meet them!?" Isshin asked.
"Beats the hell out of me...But does it really matter who his friends are?" Shunsui placed the glass down. "I mean, they were trying to give him some advice bu-"
"HE TOOK ADVICE FROM GRIMMJOW AND NEL?!" Isshin cried.
"Woa! I never said he took their advice..."
Isshin finished his beer. "I remember when Ichigo never wanted to leave the house because he wanted to play robin hood with Ishida." He sighed heavily. "Now i find out he's drinking at bars -which by the way..thank you for selling my under age son Vodka- and hes befriending hoolagins...whats next?"
"Were not hoolagins, King of Karakura."
Isshin turned around in his seat to fine the blue haired demon with his psycho crazy green haired witch. "Grimmjow and Nel..they let you out of custody already?"
"Ha Ha Ha... Were not about that life no more." Grimmjow took a seat beside Isshin and Nel wrapped her arms around Grimmjow's neck and smiled.
"What do you want?" Isshin asked.
"Nothing from you." Nel said.
"But you want something from Ichigo?" Isshin accused.
"What makes you say that?" Grimmjow asked.
"I dont like you and my son being friends. I dont know what you want from him, amd i dont know how you even met! But I dont like it."
Grimmjow smirked. "You dont know how we met?" Grimmjow burst out laughing and Nel pulled his hair to quiet him. "Look I dont want anything from your kid. So you can calm the fuck down."
Isshin turned back to his drink and stared down at it.
"Hows widdo Ichigo doing?" Nel asked.
"Why?"
"Well last time we spoke..we may have ended on a bad note..and i just wanted to know how hes been."
Isshin looked at nel. "What did you say to him?"
"Oh, I cant remember.."
"Stay away from Ichigo. He has enough on his plate. He doesnt need you two fucking with his head."
Grimmjow rolled his eyes. "We werent the ones who fucked with his head."
"Whats that supposed to mean!?" Isshin snapped.
"You tell me! When we first met he seemed like a pretty cool kid...next time i se him, hes all depressed mopey and drinking his heart out to Cheap Vodka."
"Hey!" Shunsui called.
"Shut up Shunsui." Grimmow looked at Isshin. "I didnt not anything to him. I would say it was that Kuchiki chick..or maybe daddy isnt loving his son enough."
"Fuck you grimmjow."
Grimmjow stood up. "Hmm, you dont assume me like your son did." He reached into his pocket and pulled out an envolope. "Dont us a favor. Give this to Ichigo for us." He tossed it on the counter.
"And if i dont?"Isshin asked.
"Well, when we show up at his birthday party your going to have some explaing to do." He said wickedly.
"Who said you were invited."
Grimmjow chuckled. "This party is the talk of the town. We wouldnt miss it for anything." He grabbed nels hand and they walked toward the door. "Dont forget to give him that letter."
Isshin stared down at the letter.
"So...are you going to read it? Or do you have more respect for your so-" Isshin picked up the letter and began tearing the envolope open. "Or not."
Isshin began reading.
...
"THAT LITTLE BASTARD!"
xxxx
Ichigo was sitting in his room reading when the door abrutly slammed open.
"ICHIGO!" Isshin yelled and he slammed the door shut.
"Dad? Whats wrong?" Ichigo asked as he stood up.
His father was boiling with rage. His hands were clentched around the letter.
"Im going to ask you something..and I swear to god! IF you lie to me..Im going to slap the shit out of you."
Ichigo swallowed. "Okay." He couldnt remember the last time he had been hit. Infact...he couldnt remember anythime his father had hit him.
"Did you go to Hueco Muendo?" Isshin asked.
Ichigo froze. He knew..Im fucked he thought. Ichigo shook his head.
"No."
SLAP!
Ichigo bit his tongue hard and looked at his dad.
"Did you go to Hueco Muendo!" He asked again.
"No."
SLAP!
"Dont lie to me dammit!" Isshin took a step toward Ichigo. "Did you or did you not go to Hueco Muendo?"
Ichigo shook his head again. "No!"
Isshin reached out and grabbed Ichigos shirt pulling him close. "Do you fucking hear what im asking you?!" Isshin growled. "Did you fucking go to Hueco Meundo!?"
Ichigo looked at his dad. He could swear his heart had jumped out of his chest in fear oof its life.
"No."
Isshin glared at him in disbelief. But he only tightened his grip on his shirt and..
SLAP!
SLAP!
SLAP!
"I asked you to never go there!" Isshin said. He released ichigos collar and watched him stumble back.
Ichigo wiped his nose with the back of his hand. He sniffed hard trying to keep the blood that was trickling down in.
"Im going to ask you one more time. Did you go to Hueco Meundo?" Isshin asked.
Ichigo looked at his dad. "Yes."
SLAP!
"I told you! I told you never to go there! You disobeyed me!" Isshin yelled. Ichigo could only give a stare back. "Did you hear me!? What do you have to say for yourself!?"
Ichigo shrugged. "Nothing."
Isshin's rage meter cracked. "NOTHING!"
SLAP!
SLAP!
SLAP!
"What do you mean nothing!" Isshin screamed. SLAP! "Everything Me and your Mother did was for you and your sisters! The only thing we asked of you was to NEVER go to hueco muendo!"
Ichigo's chest heaved up and down. He opened his mouth to speak..but then decided against it.
Isshin pinched the bridge of his nose. "If your going to sneak around behind my back, find out who your True friends are." Isshin threw the letter on the bed, yanked open the door and walked out.
Ichigo dropped to his bed face first. His heart was racing and he felt like he just stared death in the face. He grabbed the note and unfolded it with shakey hands.
Dear Ichigo,
I am writing you this letter to apologize for grimmjows rude behavior the other day in the bar. He did not mean to make upset. I hope you are feeling better. When we first met you at Hueco Meundo, I could tell you were a strong young man. But then we found you moping around in the bar and I knew something was wrong. Ichigo, dont ever feel like there is no happy ending. There always is. You just have to be positive, dont focus on the negative or else you will never get anything, or anyone if life. If you ever need anything. We will always be around. I hope you can forgive us.
Your True Friends,
Grimmjow and Nel
p.s. We will be attending your party
Ichigo folded up the note and layed down feeling quiet dizzy.
xxxx
Rukia sat in her room rereading Ichigo's letter.
KNOCK KNOCK
"Rukia."
She shoved the letter under her pillow. "Yes Nii-sama?"
"Im going out with Kaien. We are going to buy the Prince a present for his birthday. Would you like to come?"
"No thank you." Rukia replyed.
"Are you sure?" Kaien asked. "Do you know what he will like?"
"No."
She heard their foot steps leave from infront of her room. Then she layed down on her bed and hugged her pillow.