It's Chapter 2! Sorry it took me so long to update. Before the chapter starts though, I better acknowledge my first reviewers (which is becoming something of a tradition with me)!

Thanks to dark insanity 13. Wow, that review must've taken you quite a while! I'm so grateful you'd actually take your time to correct me to this extent. By the way, I took your advice and altered the bit about Inoue's name (Stephanie) in Chapter 1. Your correction didn't meet deaf ears. Thanks again.

Thanks to River of Souls who I think read and reviewed One Too Many as well. Thanks for the consistent support! I value you guys. I really do.

Then thanks go to brittstr08. I hope you keep reading.

Thanks to Arwen Mimosa. I'll be keeping my promise ending. Keep reading for it. Thanks again!

And...:bows in respect:...of course, the one and only Sage of Downtown Hyrule. Thank you for gracing my Review page.

Anyways, before this chapter starts I should make it clear that Tatsuki's presumable dislike for Americans and the American culture is really nothing at all like that. It could be French, German, or Czechoslovakian that was being spoken besides Japanese and Tatsuki would've still been pissed off. The point is she doesn't really want foreign cultures invading their holiday. It's just a touch of personality I put into the story. I'm not American, so I didn't feel too right about it without explaining myself.

Okay. Enough with the apologies. On to the story.

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KEY:"spoken" - Japanese

"spoken"- English

Tip: Domburi is a bowl of cooked rice with toppings of egg and meat.

2

The gentle clicks and tinkles of chopsticks meeting ceramic were the only audible sounds at the dinner table. Seated on one side of the table, Ichigo and Tatsuki would occasionally glance at the couple opposite them, exchange looks, then redirect their gazes to their bowls of Domburi. The tension in the air was so tangible they could almost see it; a purplish cloud of sorts hanging above. And ninety-nine percent of it was emanating from one person...

Matt cleared his throat and loosened his collar. The escaping heat almost knocked him out.

"So..." Tatsuki began, her eyes fixing sharply on Matt. "...Matt... what do you do for a living?"

The American had been anticipating this. "Actually, I hold a number of..."

"Japanese." Tatsuki interrupted immediately, holding up a morsel of rice to her lips and throwing him an expectant look.

Matt cleared his throat again. God, was there a frog in his throat? Or was it just this damn rice?

"Um...I work as a uh.." he stuttered, "I'm uh..." He cleared again. "I'm a doctor."

"Oh?" Tatsuki looked impressed. "What kind?"

"I'm a..." He started, then suddenly froze.

There was a lull in cutlery cadence as the entire table awaited his answer.

Matt appeared to be thinking. Then after a moment, he finally admitted, embarrassed. "Um... I don't remember the word in Japanese."

"He's a dentist." Inoue said, rescuing him.

"Dentist." Tatsuki repeated.

"A children's dentist." the doctor's fiancee specified.

"Huh!" Tatsuki smiled politely. "That must be fun, huh?"

"Yeah." Matt grinned. "The kid's are great."

"And they never freak out about your hair?" Tatsuki asked, amused.

Ichigo had to repress the urge to chuckle. It was one of the few rare moments he wasn't on the receiving end of a hair-joke.

"No. On the contrary..." Matt said, "I think that's why I'm so popular." Then he paused and frowned. "Um...not with the parents though. I don't think they like me much." As always, the less uncomfortable he got, the less non-existent his Japanese vocabulary became. "Some of them don't agree with a dentist that plays Rock and Rap in his office. Mr. Harper doesn't think I should be giving skittles to the kids. Miss Whitmore refuses to believe this is my natural hair colour. And as for Mrs. Rodriguez..." Matt rolled his eyes and took a small bite of chicken. "...I don't even know what her problem is. "

"You gave her son a silver canine." Inoue interjected,

"For free." Matt defended with shrugged shoulders and tried to avoid Tatsuki's look of incredulity. "The kid wanted it."

"At least she didn't sue you or anything." Tatsuki tried to joke.

Inoue wasn't smiling at the memory. "She did."

Tatsuki's eyes widened and Ichigo took a sip of water.

Matt hunched over. "She's just a jerk." Then he muttered to himself, "Just like that hag from 1922."

Tatsuki hadn't caught that. "Huh?"

"Oh nothing."

"Luckily it wasn't too damaging to the office. People get sued all the time over there. It's like a courtroom madhouse." Inoue added.

"Hmm." Tatsuki smiled knowingly and stood up. "Who's up for some sake?"

Both men nodded.

"Let me give you a hand." Inoue said, standing up as well and following Tatsuki into the kitchen.

There was silence between the men as they awaited the ladies.

Ichigo appeared to be studying some sophisticated pattern on the surface of the table, as his eyebrows were arched and his frown fixed. Matt was yet to learn that the solemn demeanor was quite typical of the fiery-haired man.

"Inoue tells me you're a doctor." Matt said, suddenly breaking the silence.

Ichigo glanced at him briefly before answering just as briefly. "I am."

Silence.

"What kind?" Matt asked in English, very secretly hoping to catch Ichigo in the language trap he'd recently been caught in.

But Ichigo didn't miss a beat. "Physician." he answered back in English. "I mostly attend to children though I am not strictly a children's doctor. I work at my dad's hospital, the Kurosaki Family Hospital. I'm the second in command from my father."

"No shit?!" Matt was impressed, not to mention relieved to be speaking (swearing) in his language again. "Man, what I'd give to be Assistant Head!" He laughed bitterly. "That way I won't have to take any more lip from Dr. Davis. The bastard..."

"So set up your own hospital." Ichigo said, knowing no man worth his self-esteem would do what he was about to suggest. "Inoue's got the money, hasn't she?"

"Maybe if we get married." Matt said somberly. "I don't feel right using her money like that now." Then a thought occurred to him and he defended eagerly, "Not that that's my reason for marrying her or anything!"

Ichigo nodded. "Anyway, it's not like there's no pressure being the Head Doctor's son."

Matt sympathized. "Dad's the pushy type, huh?"

A corner of Ichigo's mouth went up in a half smile. "Oh, he'll more than just push you. His fists get in a word occasionally too."

"Boy I know what that's like." Matt muttered, thinking Ichigo was just making use of hyperbole.

"Well...we survive don't we?" Ichigo said, drinking some more water.

There was another silent moment and for a second, it appeared the men had run out of conversational topics.

Then just as suddenly as previously, Matt said solemnly. "You know, I wouldn't mind your blessing on this marriage."

More silence. Matt wondered if Ichigo had heard his statement.

Finally Ichigo asked huskily. "What makes you think you need my blessing?"

"Well..." Matt explained, "As far as I can tell, you're the only other man Steph's ever had in her life."

"Really?" Ichigo mumbled, fixing Matt with a partly amused gaze.

Matt shrunk under it. "Okay, now you see, you really creep me out when you do that."

"And I should." Ichigo said, switching to Japanese, then switching back. "Inoue never told you about Yamamoto?"

"Yamamoto?" Matt repeated quizzically, "Um... No...No, I don't think so."

"Another guy who tried to take Inoue." Ichigo said and leaned forward. "You know what I did to him?"

Matt looked around, suddenly a little nervous. "You...um...killed him?" That had been meant as a joke.

But Ichigo didn't nod. He just added grimly. "With a katana."

Again with the cursed silence. Matt's rational thinking crashed and burned that very second. Ichigo was only joking, right?

Then Ichigo began to chuckle. Matt nervously chuckled along. Ichigo's laughter escalated to a soft sort of laugh. And Matt just kept laughing along. Soon the two were laughing it up, each for entirely different reasons.

"Oh..." Matt heaved as his laughter subsided. "I... I don't even know why I'm laughing. Why am I laughing?" He questioned forlornly.

"Ignore me." Ichigo said with a wave of his hand. "I'm just messing with your head."

"About which part..." Matt's voice wavered. "...that you killed'im or that you used a katana to kill'im."

Ichigo shrugged, his mood immediately indifferent again. "Does it really matter?"

"It doesn't?" Matt was freaking out here.

"Look..." Ichigo was on the verge of conclusion. "Do you love her?"

Matt allowed the question to linger for about three seconds. Then he sighed and answered softly. "Well yeah. I mean...no other girl's ever held me this spellbound. I'm sleeping, I'm brushing my teeth, I'm pullin' a tooth- it doesn't matter, my mind's totally captivated by her. I love everything about her, Ichigo..."

Ichigo listened pensively to the love sick American, remembering that a little over a decade ago...he'd been thinking the same thoughts.

"...I love the way she walks. I love the way she talks. I love that she brushes her teeth and tongue with separate brushes. I love her candy addiction. I love the feel of her breath on my neck...I just..." Matt had run out of breath was now chuckling in phases. "...I just want to hold her every second..."

"...and make sure I'm not dreaming." Ichigo finished simultaneously with Matt.

Matt looked up in surprise and Ichigo chuckled softly to himself.

"So you love her?" Ichigo wanted to make sure.

Matt shrugged, "More than life, I guess."

"Then that's all that matters." Ichigo said, and finally finished the water in his glass. "At least it didn't take risking losing her to make you realize that." The last sentence had a tinge of regret in it.

"Huh?"

Ichigo waved it off. "Fine. You have my blessing."

Matt hadn't expected it to be this easy. To be honest, he had kind of expected it to blow up in his face. So he was more than surprised when Ichigo gave in. "Really?"

"Sure." Ichigo said with a shrug. "Why not? You love her. She loves you. I'm old news."

Matt was nodding slowly, believing him gradually. "Arigatou, Ichigo."

Ichigo folded his arms and submitted Matt to his legendary cold stare. "But of course, there's a catch."

Matt sighed. It had been too good to be true. "What?"

Ichigo's smile was not the friendly kind. "Cheat on her even once...make her cry even once...and I'll drive your heart through with my katana..."

Matt nodded cautiously.

But Ichigo wasn't finished "...and then I'll hack your body to innumerable pieces and burn them to ashes with blasts of dark demon energy." The threat was presented very matter-of-factly.

Matt was speechless for a couple of seconds. When he finally found that he owned a voice, he uttered a meek. "Yes sir."

"I wonder where the girls are. They should've been back ages ago." Ichigo mused good-naturedly, completely changing the subject. Matt just sat back with his hands politely in his lap and wondered about other things...particularly of holding cells, straight jackets and men in funny white uniforms.

000

"I'm sorry."

The apology was sudden. Completely out of the blue. But Tatsuki had expected it, though when it came, she had nothing to say to it. There was just the familiar pain, paying another visit...filling her heart with pangs of betrayal. Tatsuki knew why Inoue...or "Steph-an-ie"...had followed her into the kitchen. It was for this very reason. And Tatsuki didn't want it...

"Tatsuki..." Inoue said, a little louder this time. "...I'm so-"

"Forget it, Orihime." Tatsuki said, rinsing the sake crucibles at the sink. "Honestly, I don't think I want to talk about this."

Inoue rubbed her arm and look down at the tiled floor. When before her best friend, she was reduced to exactly what she had been ten years before. There was no fooling Tatsuki with the smooth, business-only facade that had Ichigo baffled. With Tatsuki, she was still the bright eyed red-head, crouched dejectedly on the sidewalk, hair cut unevenly, tear stains along her cheeks. Inoue may have had everyone fooled...not Tatsuki...

"Tatsuki, I know you're hurt..."

"Hurt?!" Tatsuki spun around, looking genuinely shocked. "You've reduced the heart-wrenching soul-gashing mind-numbing sciatica I feel to hurt??"

Inoue pursed her lips.

"Orihime..." Tatsuki laughed dully, at a loss for words. "...first the contract with the candy company, then the mansion, then Matt! Each time I had to seek you just to find out. You don't tell me anything anymore. I mean, I thought we were best friends!"

Inoue didn't like where this was going. "We are best friends!! We're close, Tatsuki. You know that!"

"Well obviously, not close enough." Tatsuki concluded, turning her back to Inoue again to get out the sake from an upper cabinet.

Inoue was fighting tears back. "Tatsuki, this is about the engagement, isn't it? Please don't blow this up."

"No!" Tatsuki said, turning around with a wagging index finger in the air. She refused to be dragged into a mind game. "Oh-no-no-no! This is about e-ve-ry-thing!! Orihime, you didn't even tell me when you and Ichigo started having relationship issues! Why didn't you??"

"Tatsuki, that was 10 years ago. Please don't bring that up." Inoue hugged herself and pursed her lips even harder, desperately...very desperately trying to keep the tears back.

"Okay." Tatsuki held up her hands as if in surrender. "Okay. We'll toss that topic into the wastebin. For now." She looked up at Inoue, the pain clinging to her face. Her voice trembled as she asked the last question. "But Orihime...didn't I deserve to know...that he proposed to you...at least you owed me that, don't you think?"

Inoue swallowed hard and met Tatsuki's glistening eyes. "You...you know why Tatsuki..."

And indeed Tatsuki did. She just didn't think it was a good enough excuse. She dried her eyes with the back of her hand and sniffed. "Our friendship transcends that, Orihime. I thought you knew that."

Inoue smiled through her tears, looking away again. "Ten years and I'm still learning."

When they finally rejoined the guys, their faces were wiped dry and their smiles were radiant...and genuine.

"What took you guys so long?" Ichigo grumbled as they sat. "We're dying of thirst here."

"Sorry." Tatsuki said, pouring Ichigo a serving. "There was a little...defrosting...that needed to be done."

Matt gave Ichigo a puzzled look. "You chill your sake? In the winter? I thought it was supposed to be drank warm."

"It is." Ichigo said, picking up his drink. Like many things that holiday, he didn't want to know what the deal was. He lifted up his drink, doing this purely on a whim. "To this Christmas. The best one to be."

"To this Christmas." they all repeated and drank down their sake.

"The best one." Ichigo repeated under his breath as he refilled. "Oh it better be. I drained half my account in preparation for this thing."

"Just how many friends exactly did you invite?" Matt asked, holding out his dish for another serving.

"The number of friends..." Ichigo said, passing the bottle over to Matt. "...is not as scary as the kind of friends." Ichigo laughed under his breath, thinking about the upcoming days. "Then again I guess it's all aggravated by the combination of the two: the kind and the number of friends."

Matt raised his eyebrows as he passed the bottle over to Tatsuki,

"Yeah..." Ichigo nodded and downed his drink. "It's gonna be a madhouse in here."

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End of Chapter 2! It's kinda short, I know. But I just didn't want to jam pack the following events in this. The chapter would be terribly long and it would probably take too long to update. So forgive me.

Reviews please. Any suggestions? Is Ichigo to OOC? (I sorta felt that way when I was writing him) Is Inoue and Tatsuki's scene too emotional? Whatever you want to tell me. I'm all ears.

Thank you SO much for reading. I hope you enjoyed it. Chapter 3 will be in development, though this time it WILL take a long time.

Thanks again. Peace. I'm out!