Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or anything associated with it. Title of owner goes to 久保 帯人. :3 Nor do I own anything related to the Hana Yori Dango drama or manga.
AN: Originally I intended for this chapter to be very long but I realized it would be too much for one chapter so I decided to cut it into two. I'm not so happy with this chapter mostly because it's lots of dialogue, especially in the beginning. The next chapter I actually like better but I won't say more than that. happyfacez, it makes me happy to read how you like some of the characters and how you dislike others because then I feel I've done a good enough job portraying them. :D Miichiya Mikan, thanks for reading but of course, I can't say what will happen next although you will see Kaien's first appearance in the next chapter. Chocolate and caramel, my answers for now are 'I don't know yet' and 'yes but later'. xD Thanks to BrazeRancor to for always reviewing! :D
I added "eventually IchiRuki" in the description because I realized earlier how they're definitely not starting to get lovey-dovey yet. And right now it sounds very IchiHime(more one-sided though) but I'll tell you now that I don't intend it to end that way at all. If you haven't figured it out, my OTP is definitely IchigoxRukia. But this is more drama than romance for now and I'm babbling on so I'll stop it here. xD
Note: Japanese phrases/words:
-Senpai: the senior in Japanese school status
-Chotto matte kudasai: Please wait a bit
And others that I've used previously so no need to reiterate.
Yosh! よろしくお願いします！
Chapter 6
"After that I got up quickly and just left them there. I didn't dare look back. Ugh, I can't believe it happened. I can't believe I kissed her." Ichigo told Chad what happened after he landed on Rukia at the party. It was the next Monday at work.
"Wouldn't you want to be kissed by her?" Chad asked him. He was quite surprised that Ichigo was ballsy enough to kiss Rukia or even push her out of the way.
Ichigo scoffed at his question. "No, it was horrible, Chad. I can't describe it any other way." He replied bluntly.
Chad couldn't help but think out loud. "I… wonder why your enemy would kiss you..."
Ichigo glared at him in annoyance for saying that. "Can we just leave it alone? I don't want to relive the moment."
"But your first kiss was taken by the person you hate most in the world!" Urahara popped up from behind the two, making them both jump at his sudden outburst. "It's been sealed with a kiss that fate will bring you two together!"
Ichigo gaped at his comment. "That can't be true."
"Urahara-san, don't say things like that." Chad warned.
Urahara gave a small chuckle at their reactions. "But it was in front of a person whom you like the most in S4, am I right? Kissing the most hated person in front of the most liked person. Hehe, this is juicy!"
"Why are you so interested in Ichigo's affairs?" Chad asked, his eyebrows raised in surprise.
Urahara ignored Chad's question and turned to Ichigo in excitement to further prod. "So, how was the kiss like? Everything you imagined it would be?"
Ichigo didn't feel like answering him and went over to the counter to fill up a candy bowl.
"Hmm, that was an interesting predicament you ended up in." Toshirou stated once he was sat around a table with Rukia and Renji at Rukia's mansion. "You must like Ichigo now. If not, how the hell could you have landed like that?"
Rukia rolled her eyes at his comment, thinking back to when Orihime was acting so friendly toward Ichigo. "Pfft, no I don't like him. How can I intend to kiss a bastard like him? No way."
"That was your first kiss, right?" Renji asked. He sure as hell didn't make any moves on Rukia back when he liked her. He also didn't recall Rukia ever getting close with a boy to take it to that level.
Rukia looked away. "No… you don't know what you're talking about."
Renji scoffed and decided to dig in deeper. "Okay, so if this wasn't your first kiss then when did your first kiss happen?"
"What?" Rukia acted as if she didn't hear his question.
"I said when did your first kiss happen?" He repeated, seeing her tension arise.
She hesitated and started twiddling her fingers together. It took almost half a minute for her to answer. "Okay… then… Friday… that was it?"
Renji smirked. "I knew you were still a virgin but I didn't think you were that innocent."
After work, Ichigo walked home along with Chad. Even though it was already dark out they took their time going home by taking the longer way to their respective places.
"Ah, you know what." Ichigo started when there was too much silence. "I have to avoid Orihime from now on. It'll be too awkward if I see her again after what happened on Friday night."
"Wait…" Chad stopped and pointed at something hanging out from Ichigo's pocket on his slacks. "Is that a... napkin?"
Ichigo fished out the white cloth from his pocket and brought up almost guiltily. "Well… it's more like a handkerchief."
"The handkerchief that Orihime gave you." Chad instantly said since Ichigo had told him about Orihime giving it to him after he was bullied. "Man, I don't understand. Why don't you tell her your true feelings."
"What are you talking about?" Ichigo said, acting as if he was oblivious and started walking faster ahead.
It wasn't difficult for Chad to catch up to him since he had long legs. "You can't hide it, Ichigo. I know you do like her. You never know that you might have a chance."
Ichigo stopped abruptly after Chad said this. "You know you may be right." He started thinking back to when Orihime had given him the cloth and told him he was handsome in the suit. It gave him a weird feeling inside his stomach. It was both a weird and warm feeling.
"You know, she said I was handsome." Ichigo said aloud.
"Eh?" Chad looked back at his friend.
"She said I was handsome after I wore that suit Ishida gave me." Ichigo explained and continued walking ahead, this time slower with a slight smile upon his face.
Chad looked a bit flabbergasted at this but walked along with his friend. "Man, you sound like you're getting big-headed."
"I just can't forget what she did. I simply can't." Rukia declared when she, Renji, and Toshirou where in her limo. She sat in the back seat while Renji and Toshirou sat on the side seats, playing chess. She was referring to Orihime's overly friendly relationship with Ichigo.
"Oh, just forget it, Rukia." Toshirou commented after hearing her say this many times throughout the night. "Forgive and forget. It's simple. Don't be like my father who doesn't forgive or forget anybody who does shit to him, no matter how small."
"Yeah, and the poor fools all end up dead." Renji added. "Hah, checkmate!" He pumped a fist up in triumph earning a menacing look from Toshirou.
Rukia looked out the window and scrunched her face in annoyance at Toshirou's comment. "Humph, I won't until Orihime apologizes to me first."
Toshirou shook his head in defeat, not bothering further to change Rukia's stubborn mind.
"You know, it's kind of lonely without Orihime here. I'm so used to all of us being together." Renji commented after a bout of silence in the vehicle. Usually there would be no bouts of silence when Orihime was present.
"It doesn't make a difference if she's here or not." Rukia retorted loudly. "She can go about as she pleases and I'll do the same without her, thank you very much."
Renji rolled his eyes at her comment. Looking out the window he spotted a familiar carrot top in the distance. "Hey, look there. It's Ichigo." He pointed out.
"Maybe you should stop the car and go get him, Rukia." Toshirou teased.
Rukia caught sight of Ichigo walking by himself. She decided to ignore his appearance and turned to look out the other window. "Don't be stupid. I wouldn't stop for him."
During this time, Orihime was not present with the S4 because she decided to visit Ishida at his mansion instead. She had a great urge to catch up with him about topics she could not speak about earlier. They sat outside under the awning in his brightly lit outdoor patio area.
"You know, you haven't spoken to Rukia since Friday night. I think it's a good time for you both to make up and forget what happened." Ishida brought up the incident at the party. He felt it needed to be addressed sooner than later.
"I can't forgive her for what she did." Orihime answered instantly. "For the first time in my life, I really felt so angry at her when she spoke to you like that. You're her senpai and yet she was so rude to you."
"Well, you didn't seem too happy either when Ichigo kissed Rukia." Ishida mentioned.
Orihime looked down at her cup of tea and started stirring the spoon, swirling the liquid inside. He saw her hesitation. "You… like Ichigo a bit, do you? It's kind of funny seeing you and Rukia like this because of him. And it just so happens you're both too stubborn to look each other in the eye and admit this."
She lowered her head so that Ishida could not see her eyes. He thought he said something wrong and quickly asked her what was the matter. "What did I say?"
"I'm surprised at you, Ishida-kun." She said quietly. Raising a hand to shield her eyes so that he wouldn't see the tears glistening in them, she continued. "I know you're smart enough to figure out what my true feelings are but… you still insist that I try to pursue someone else. Someone who I don't feel as strongly for…"
"O-Orihime…" Ishida was surprised at seeing her like this. He felt the pit of his stomach sink when she started sniffling. At the same time, he heard the sound of thunder cracking and spotted rain starting to fall. Getting up from his chair, he went over to her and tried to get her to go inside for cover. She refused by swiping him away.
"No!" Standing up from her chair, she faced him with the tears now flowing freely from her eyes. "I don't get you!" She yelled at him. She grabbed her purse and went out in the rain without a coat, not caring if she would get wet.
Now fully worried, Ishida only had time to grab his coat from the back of his chair and take it with him to cover her when he caught up. "Orihime, wait!" He ran after her in the rain which was now coming down harder than ever.
"Ah, hell. It's raining. I hate the rain!" Ichigo cursed to himself as he had a few blocks left until he would reach his home. He and Chad had already separated ways when Chad took another route to go home. Ichigo wished that he had listened to his father earlier who threw an umbrella at him saying it would rain that day. Ichigo threw it back to him and yelled at him for throwing things in the house.
Ichigo's school clothes were getting wet from the rain. He didn't want to ask Yuzu to go through the trouble of drying it for him so he opted to find cover for the time being. He found an overhanging awning in an alleyway between two buildings and decided to wait out the rain there. Shivering slightly, he could only rub his arms for a bit of warmth.
The streets were usually empty and quiet at this time of night. Yet even with the constant downpour of rain creating a loud patter on the pavement, Ichigo could distinctly hear someone running toward his area. Curious of who or what it could be, he poked his head out from the side.
His eyes widened with surprise when he saw Orihime running, fully soaked from the rain. Ichigo's instinct was to run up to her and help her from whatever she was running from. But he stopped and hid closer behind the building when he noticed Ishida running after her a few meters away.
"Orihime, chotto matte kudasai! Please, just stop!" He yelled out loudly, hoping she'd hear him in the loud downpour.
Ichigo inched himself backward when Orihime came closer. He heard her stop in front of the building in which he was situated behind. Ichigo couldn't help but go back to peek from behind the wall and eavesdrop at what was happening.
She was standing a few feet away facing Ishida, with her head down and strands from her long wet hair covering her face from Ishida's view. Ishida, equally soaked from head to toe, stopped his running and slowed his pace when coming toward her. When he reached her at a considerably close range, he quickly placed his half wet/dry coat over her shoulders.
Ishida saw that Orihime was still slightly shivering and her teeth were chattering together. Without thinking twice, he enveloped her in his embrace in hopes to stop the cold, holding the coat tighter to her body to avoid the rain. She stood perfectly still, unresponsive to his close contact.
"I went to America…" He started, the pouring rain continuously dripping from the top of his head toward his chin and onto to her hair. "…because I wanted to live by myself independently and study something that I could easily succeed in and be praised for."
Orihime raised her head so she could clearly see his face. Ishida couldn't tell if it was the rain or that she was still crying. He continued, choosing to look ahead instead of in her large grey eyes. "But I came back to Japan to see if I could realize what my dream truly is. And I did. I want to become a doctor and live up to my father's name. I don't want to have to depend on his wealth that I'll inherit in the future. So please…" He placed a chaste kiss atop her forehead. This caused her to close her eyes and try to grind away thoughts of him going further.
"…understand me when I say I want to live a normal life as an ordinary person. Please."
Ichigo didn't dare stay to listen to her response. He ran in the opposite direction down the alleyway and left them alone.
The next day at school, Ichigo safely placed Orihime's handkerchief in the inside pocket of his school jacket. He planned to return it to her as soon as possible. The previous night he had washed the cloth along with his rain soaked school uniform. What he saw happening between Orihime and Ishida had Ichigo thinking throughout the whole night after. He kept wondering what Orihime had said after Ishida had asked her to understand his situation. Of course, Ichigo also didn't know the whole story so Ishida's request to Orihime came equally mind boggling to him.
During class, Ichigo waited impatiently for the indication that it was lunch break. Once the teacher announced it, for the first time ever Ichigo was the first one out the door. He walked quickly up the stairs leading to the rooftop and opened the door, expecting to see Orihime there. He was met with silence and no Orihime in sight.
He heard his stomach growl in protest and decided to satiate it's desire and go down to the dining hall to have lunch. He would have to wait to give Orihime the handkerchief later.
Once Ichigo had situated himself at the same table he sat with Hanatarou previously, he could only go so far as to say an "itadakimasu" before Ikkaku, Shuuhei, and Yumichika approached him along with a horde of other students behind them. Ichigo reckoned they had to increase their group size to keep their intimidation level ever since their plans and egos were ruined at Ishida's party.
"It's unfortunate, isn't it Kurosaki?" Ikkaku started. "Hanatarou hasn't come to school in a while." Ichigo decided to pay attention at the mention of Hanatarou. Like they agreed to, he had avoided contact with Hanatarou at school. He even went as far as to request seat changes in the classroom. Ichigo now sat closer to the front while Hanatarou was closer to the back. He could understand how he didn't notice Hanatarou's absence.
"Rumor has it that he left school altogether." Shuuhei added, saying it to Ikkaku but intentionally directing it to Ichigo.
"Yeah, and you still come to school as if nothing happened to him. We know you two are friends. But what kind of friend are you, Kurosaki?" Ikkaku questioned. The tone he spoke in gave Ichigo an uneasy feeling and something in the back of his mind told him this wasn't right.
Ichigo abruptly packed his lunch back up (to the satisfaction of Ikkaku and others) even though his stomach grumbled in disappointment. Without saying a word to the gang in front of him, Ichigo left the dining hall to use his lunch break off campus. He had to visit Hanatarou and make sure he was okay.
Hanatarou had previously given Ichigo his home address and Ichigo was pleased to find it about four blocks away from Takaimono. Although his home was not as large as Rukia's own abode, the Yamada residence was still a grand and luxurious brick mansion.
As difficult as it was to go past the gate, the butler reluctantly let him enter when Hanatarou said Ichigo was a friend of his through the intercom speaker.
The butler led him to Hanatarou's room. Hanatarou was lying in bed, covers up to his chin but Ichigo could tell he wasn't sick. Ichigo sat on a chair the butler left for him beside Hanatarou's bed. He quickly explained to Hanatarou what the students said about him.
"Honestly, I don't want to go back to school." Hanatarou said when Ichigo was finished. "I guess someone found out we were still friends outside of school and told everyone else."
"Yeah, you may be right." Ichigo sighed. "It's my entire fault, Hanatarou. I got you into this situation."
Hanatarou shook his head. "No, don't be sorry." There was a pause before he mustered up enough courage to ask, "Is it true you kissed Kuchiki Rukia at that party?"
Ichigo rolled his eyes. He wondered how fast word of this incident spread. "Yes and no. It was an accident."
Hanatarou's expression changed into a frown. He quickly covered his face with his bed sheets as if he didn't want Ichigo to see his reaction. Ichigo took this as Hanatarou being angry at Ichigo kissing Rukia, the enemy who almost beat him.
"Hey, don't worry. It was nothing." Ichigo reassured. He caught a quick glance at the digital clock on Hanatarou's nightstand and realized he would be late for his next class if he didn't hurry. "I need to go now. Lunch break is almost over. Come back to school soon and remember you can call me if you have any worries!" Ichigo grabbed his book bag from the ground and sped out the room.
When Ichigo was out of sight, Hanatarou gradually rose up from his bed. The frown he gave Ichigo was gone and now replacing it was a look of sheer contempt.
AN: Ano... a mean Hanatarou? Heh, well I was able to fish out this chapter quick so hopefully I get the next chapter out before I move into my dorm on Sunday.
A bunch of stuff happens in the next chapter as well as Kaien and Byakuya (I'm such a Byakuya fangirl) make an appearance. And Ichigo will encounter Rukia more in the next chapter, I promise. Now comments, constructive criticisms, and/or love are always appreciated in your reviews! Please do review! Thank you much!
ありがとうございます！