Sorry for the hiatus, but college is EXTREMELY time consuming. Cheers to a new year and new updates!
"And, students, that will be the end of our lesson until after lunch", the teacher announced after finishing a final equation on the blackboard. "Enjoy your break."
As I bent down over the side of the desk to lift my bag from the floor, I watched Ichigo walk past me through my peripheral vision. We both agreed that we didn't want his friends from school to know about our relationship right away, so we didn't spend a lot of time with each other outside of walking to school together. So most days, Ichigo ate with Chad, Mizuiro, and Keigo, and I ate by myself. Ichigo said he felt bad about me spending so much time alone, but I enjoyed the peace I got mid-school day. It gave me time to gather my thoughts. I was able to think up new hollow fighting strategies, how to compose my final report back to the Soul Society, and how to go about this whole "relationship" thing that Ichigo and I were involved in.
As I packed my notebook into my bag, I felt someone stop and my desk. "Hey, Rukia!" A the figure greeted with a rather jolly voice. I looked up to see a cheerful, redheaded girl standing above me.
"Orihime?" I asked slightly confused. "What is it?"
"Well, it's nothing", she replied, nervously laughing and scratching her face. "Its just that I see you eat lunch alone every day, so I was wondering if you would like to join me for lunch with Tatsuki, Chizuru, and the others?"
I sat bewildered at first. I had spoken with Orihime and the others a few times, and I did help Ichigo save her life when her hollowfied brother attacked, but I had always thought of them of being Ichigo's friends more than mine. "Um, sure." I returned her merry smile to give a little more enthusiasm. "That sounds great."
As I sipped on the straw my favorite juice box, I couldn't help but admire the beauty this world had to offer. There were no clouds that day, so the sky was able to display the full of its deep blue, a blue that nothing in this world or the next was able to replicate, for all to behold. And though there were no clouds, the Sun, shining in all of its glory was still mercifully mild. It did not burn or blind, but merely bathed us. Even the air was especially pleasant that day; so fresh and warm, it was as if I was drinking sustenance from the earth itself.
"Rukia?"
I was snapped out of my trance once again by Orihime. I came to my senses, to find the five girls I had joined for lunch staring at me with their various lunch objects in hand, chewing and drinking alike. The excess attention caught me off guard and I could feel the beginnings of a blush coming on.
"What is it, Orihime?" I asked, trying to appear nonchalant.
"Oh, I was just wondering if you'd like to try some of my homemade banana-zucchini-jalapeño bread", Orihime answered, pulling a small loaf of green tinged bread out of her lunchbox. Each of our lunch-mates made faces and I tried to hide a grimace of my own.
"No, thank you", I replied, as politely as I could. "I'm already full." I averted my eyes and hoped no one would catch on to the fact that, save the juice, I hadn't touched any of my food yet.
"Geez, Orihime, you don't want to kill the girl, do ya?" Tatsuki teased as she took another bite of her rice ball. "It takes a special person to handle the stuff you cook."
Orihime tilted her head slightly as she started to remove part of the bread from its plastic wrap. "But Rukia is a special person", she replied innocently.
"What she means is", Chizuru chimed in enthusiastically. "Food prepared by my goddess, Orihime, is too much for these mortal tongues! Only the palates greatest of deities are fit for Orihime's mana from the heavens!" Chizuru made a grab at Orihime before being swatted down by an annoyed Tatsuki, and the other girls giggled.
I offered a wry chuckle of my own before turning my attention away from their antics once more, and letting it shift to the orange haired boy in the corner of my eye. I could feel his eyes on me ever since I had joined the girls for lunch. I didn't really know any of these people well so, my joining them had most likely peaked his interests. He also knew I sometimes felt insecure about human world customs so there was also some worry mixed in as well. In then there was probably the fear that I would blow the lid on our "big, secret relationship" that no one in the school was supposed to know about. Actually the latter was probably the most likely reason he was paying so much attention. He said it was to save us from being the subject of school wide gossip, but I didn't really care much. I didn't really mind how I appeared in the eyes of common humans.
I peeked over at his lunch group. He and his friends were all sitting in a circle with Keigo telling some loud story with exaggerated hand movements, yet Ichigo gave him, nor the sandwich his was biting into any attention. His nervous eyes were glued to me and his worrying was almost palpable. I smirked a little at the sight.
"Hey!"
Again, I was jerked back to attention, this time by Tatsuki. "Huh?" I uttered trying to insert myself back into the group dynamic. "What happened?"
"Nothing", Tatsuki replied. "We were just asking you about the homework. Hey, are you usually this spacy, Rukia?"
I gave another nervous laugh before bringing the juice box back to my lips.
"I think she's too busy staring at her boyfriend", a girl named Mahana suggested.
The statement caused me to immediately choke on my drink. How does she know?! Although my immediate reaction probably gave me away, I made an effort to play dumb.
"Boyfriend?" I asked with poorly acted, contrived confusion. "What are you talking about? I don't have a boyfriend."
"Yes, you do!" another girl named Michiru said. "That scary guy, Ichigo, right? Everyone's been talking about it."
"Yeah", Tatsuki joined in. "How did that happen? Ichigo's never had a girlfriend, but he all of a sudden manages to get with you within a few weeks of you transferring here. What's up with that?"
"Does he bring you flowers and cook you dinner?" Orihime asked? "I bet he's really romantic!"
"Have you met his parents yet?" Mahana asked. "I've heard his dad is a nut!"
"I-I-", I stammered. Dammit, Ichigo. How was I supposed to keep denying our relationship when confronted with stuff like this?
"So", Chizuru started with a devilish grin. "Does the carpet match the drapes?" Every girl was silent as they waited for an answer.
I raised an eyebrow in confusion. What a weird question. "Um… Ichigo doesn't have any carpet", I replied simply.
Gasps resounded throughout the lunch group as every girl turned to Ichigo's group in a screaming fit of giggles. I, in a state of shock, embarrassment, and confusion hesitantly turned to face Ichigo, as well. When I saw his face, a feeling of sympathy joined every other emotion I was feeling.
His mouth hung agape and his eyes were wide with a classic dear-in-the-headlights look. I was sure Ichigo was probably just as clueless as I was as to why this group of girls was laughing and this only made it worse for him.
I knew I was in for it when we got home. Ha! My poor Ichigo!
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