Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.
A/N: Ello, everyone! Happy Saturday or Sunday to all of you. How are you guys? This chapter is probably my favorite so far, just because it might help out some confused/annoyed readers. So, I'm happy that we all might be on the same page soon. I hope that you all enjoy, because this one was a toughie to put together. Anyways, please don't forget to review/story alert. Thanks!
Cupid Needs Better Aim: The Reasons and New Problems
A certain raven-haired beauty walked the halls of Karakura High School. She clutched her textbook and notebook in one arm, and her lunch bag in the other. Suddenly, the blatantly loud bell rang and the dreaded noise resonated throughout the whole school. Rukia sighed with utter exasperation and impatience. She then continued to walk to her lunch area where she would meet her friends. Half of the school day had finally passed.
"That was the second bell, students. Please report to your lunch period. Today is Thursday. Thank you." the vice-principal announced through the unnecessarily loud PA speaker system. Rukia was especially agitated at the overuse of the PA system, ever since the school upgraded the old one. You don't need to tell us when lunch is, I've been here for four years. Ugh. Rukia made a quick stop at her locker to put away her Chemistry textbook and retrieved her Health and Biology textbooks. She didn't want to stop by at her locker after lunch, it was too far away from the Bio lab.
When she reached the outdoors at last, she found her circle of friends conversing casually. The weather was beautiful, almost cool enough to wear a light sweater, but enough sunlight for an enjoyable time. They were in their usual spot, of course; the west side of the school under the shade where no being could possibly disturb them... unless it was that damned PA system. She set down her schoolbag on the nearby tree and joined her friends, easily taking out her bento box out of her lunch bag. Chad, Uryu, Orihime, and Tatsuki were already voraciously scarfing down their food. She sat in the circle with her legs crossed, taking a comfortable spot next to Tatsuki and Chad.
"How was everyone's morning classes?" someone questioned to break the silence. Rukia didn't bother looking up, she was too preoccupied with her lunch and she couldn't recognized the voice. It sounded as if the person was talking with a mouthful of food.
"Boring. Ochi-sensei gave me a detention." Chad replied in a monotone voice. Well, his usual voice.
"For what? She's the most reasonable teacher here." Rukia said in between chewing her lunch.
"I was five minutes late. I was too busy helping some exchange student find the bathroom. I think her name was Kristin or something. She's american," Chad affirmed. The group nodded their heads with almost fake interest.
"Did the Strawberry that you detest so much give you a hard time today, Rukia?" Tatsuki joked, changing the subject completely. Rukia stopped eating for a moment and mustered enough control to play it cool.
"No. Not yet, anyway. I haven't been in any classes with him." Rukia responded. She was surprised with how calm she sounded. Usually, she would be slightly snarling or her temples would throb with exaggerated anger. Not so much anymore. It was almost as if she didn't mind him. Almost.
"If it isn't much to ask, why do you hate him so much, Kuchiki-san? I mean, I'm not exactly so friendly with him either, but we've been curious..." Uryu asked politely. Tatsuki and looked up and gave a look of agreement.
"Yeah, Rukia. You didn't even tell me exactly why," Tatsuki remarked, wiping her mouth with the inside of her sleeve. At that moment, Rukia debated with herself about whether or not she should actually inform them. There wasn't any harm in doing so, but something about her early memories of Ichigo were not really cherished. She didn't only dislike him for his outside pompous behavior. There were plenty of other reasons. Rational reasons, too.
"Hmm... I feel like I'm being robbed of my secrets, but if you must know, it started before nii-sama and I skipped from place to place around the world. I was a little girl and he was a little boy. His dad knew nii-sama through work, because he was a former boss in the same organization. Anyway, his family was one of the first people I met in Karakura Town, besides Renji.
"One day, I was playing with the both of them in Ichigo's back yard. At the time, I didn't really know what 'childhood crushes' were. So, when Renji went inside for a while to get some water for all of us, he hugged me for a moment and erm..." everyone leaned in with suspense. Rukia extremely regretted ever saying anything.
" He... stole my first kiss. Just a quick little kiss on the lips. Being a little girl, I really didn't know what was going on. Of course, my first instinct was to be angry. I hit him in the face so that he almost cried and we argued like the kindergarten children we were.
"So for revenge, I guess, he found my Chappy sketchbook in my backpack and scribbled all over it with permanent marker. I had over thirty drawings in it, and I was so upset that I didn't talk to him for ages. When I did, we were at his house and when he wasn't looking, I snipped all of the strings on his precious ukulele. We haven't been close since. It's like we've forgotten about it completely." Rukia narrated.
When she finally turned up to see her friends' faces, they were all looks of shock, realization, and clarity. Rukia figured that it could have been worse, when Tatsuki finally burst out laughing. Rukia noticed that Tatsuki has been ridiculing her a lot lately.
"You were Ichigo's first kiss? Do you know how many girls would kill to be in your position?" Tatsuki pointed out. Rukia ignored the comment with ease.
"I finally see now. I'm surprised you didn't kill him." Chad added. Rukia nodded with almost disputable embarrassment.
"Ah, if I can recall correctly, I believe he still has that ukulele." Uryu remembered aloud. There was something about that very fact that Rukia liked.
"How cute! It's a shame that you aren't together, you'd make the most interesting couple!" Orihime announced happily. Rukia sweatdropped and threw a piece of onigiri at her. She could have hit her or worse, but she figured that only Tatsuki could take that kind of abuse.
Abruptly, the awful, sonorous sound of the first bell alarmed every student. Rukia and her friends stuffed the remainders of their food in their mouths and raced to their next classes.
"Okay, everyone. I finished grading all of the charts from last week, and I am pleased with the results. However, only two people managed to get perfect scores. I will be passing them back shortly. For today, we will have a free period, it will be a reward for your cooperation and hard work so-" Kagine-sensei did not even get the chance to finish his sentence, his students were already chattering like maniacs. Rukia mentally cheered. Her orange-headed partner seemed to be pleased as well.
"Awesome. I'm getting sick of learning about this stuff. You can only read about birth control pills and the perks of abstinence for so long," Ichigo scoffed. He may not have realized that he made a joke. Rukia smirked. After a while, Ichigo closed up his notebook and turned to face Rukia, as if he was going to start some sort of conversation.
"You're awfully quiet today, midget. Are you going to open stage tomorrow?" Ichigo asked. He talked in the tone he used when they were in the park, but he maintained his icy demeanor.
"Well, should I? Orihime isn't dragging me to go, so..." Rukia teased. She also talked in the same tone she used previously at the park, and also maintained her usual callous expression.
"Psh. It'll be your own loss if you don't attend."
"I'm sure that I'd get over it."
"You're not normal."
"Look who's talking." Rukia smirked slyly, infecting Ichigo and causing a smile to play on his lips. He looked away for a few moments to conceal his smile.
"Hmm... maybe if you asked me nicely, I would." Rukia hinted. Ichigo thought for a while to think up of his response.
"Fine. Rukia, will you go to open stage tomorrow?" Ichigo said in a fake sincere tone. Rukia hit him on the face, reminiscent of their "first kiss" experience. Ichigo allowed himself to chuckle a little bit.
"Maybe." Rukia finally concluded. Ichigo nodded. That was enough for him. With that, Rukia opened up her notebook and started doodling to pass the time. All of a sudden, Ichigo caught himself staring at the petite Rukia. When she turned to look at him, he immediately looked away and pretended to focus on the clock, as if he had done nothing. Shit, I hope she didn't see that... he thought with sudden panic. Rukia pondered for a few second and returned to drawing the odd vegetable/seaweed thing that her brother was infatuated with. He was totally looking at me. Or was he? Screw it, why am I drawing this?
When the bell finally rang, every student picked up their belongings and left the room. Ichigo was the first to leave, nodding his head ever so slightly to gesture a "see you later" to Rukia. He was off before Rukia could return the gesture. When she exited the classroom, she suddenly felt a force tap her on the shoulder. She turned around to find three girls towering over her. They looked like the stereotypical mean girls in movies; tall, pretty, and had disproportionate assets. Perhaps they were airheaded as well. They twitched their lips petulantly, and looked as if they wanted to give Rukia a piece of their minds. Rukia sighed. What is it this time?
"Ah. Hello there, Kuchiki-san. We've noticed that you've been getting awfully close with our Ichigo-chan..." the first girl started. Something about her voice made Rukia want to harm her deeply. The two other girls were probably just her shadows or her minions. Rukia rolled her eyes and sighed again. She scratched the back of her head with sheer frustration.
"He's all yours. And by the way, I've known him a lot longer than you idiots have. Don't try me." Rukia threatened. She shouldn't have even let these fools affect her in the first place. Baka. So they're airheads, too. Lovely.
"We're watching you, Kuchiki-san. Stay away from him, he's ours." the second girl spoke up. All three girls could have been knocked out and unconscious on the floor if Rukia had been in a bad mood. She mockingly threw them a sweet schoolgirl smile and walked away. Rukia could hear them snarling and violently chatting from the back, and Rukia totally enjoyed their dissatisfaction.
On the bright side, open stage sounded like a good idea to her, and she figured that there was no harm in attending. Fridays were always the least hectic days of the week, anyway. On another note, it seemed that the Strawberry in her memories had grown to be a strawberry that she detested, and found amiable at the same time. It wasn't too soon to tell, was it?
Don't you hate fangirls? Haha, well anyway, thank you for reading my story. I've recently hit 20 reviews, so thank you so much for that. I especially want to thank DanceOfTheWhiteMoon for basically inspiring this chapter. Take care, everyone! 'Til next Saturday, my friends!