GoodLuckMotherFuckers: Hello everyone, sorry for the long update. I was so busy with school I hadn't had chance to write an update on this story, at the moment I am out of school but not fully sure when the next update will be. But I hope everyone has a merry Christmas, and happy a new year!
I like to dedicated this chapter to Smile-san, and fire19 ^_^
Reviewer Corner
Aeducan: Aww! Thank you! Merry almost Christmas too ( ^_^) Ssorry for the long update, also that's good suggestion for more action I have plans for Orihime and Renji… Mwhaha. Hope you enjoy this chapter.
Miss quirky bookworm: LOL, yep! I been putting flour, starch, instant jello to thicken it up! Thank you for the review
MyTwiliLove: Omgosh! I always wonder that too, I think that's how I got into the Renji/Orihime pairing. But I have "Honor thy wife" bandwagon! Omgosh! Neat! Thank you so much for your nice review.
Greyearth01: LOL, thank you for using "Weeeeh" in your review. I love it, and glad you think so. ^_^ I hope you enjoy the update.
Fire19: Omgosh! Thank you, thank you, for leaving a sweet review for each chapter! I loved reading them. I hope you enjoy the new chapter!
Brendabond: LOL, you know your right? And ahh! I'm going to hide the kittens on you! Thanks for the sweet review!
K: LOL, again, LOL, didn't notice that either XD But I see what you mean there, as always thank you ^_^ Let's hope this chapter has no error, thanks for the sweet review.
WestAnimeBrigade: Aww, thanks for reviewing my stories, means allot. Hope you enjoy the chapter.
Red- Weaasel-chan: LOL, oops there, but OMG YOUR NAME ARIEL! That's even better! I always loved that name ever since I saw the movie "Little mermaid" It's so pretty! Enjoy the update, thanks again for the sweet review! ^^
Oh My Kira: I'm glad you do ^^ I agree you don't, but the stories there are out there are so very good! Enjoy the update!
Nypsy: Hey Nypsy! At this point I'm not sure myself, I'm thinking to writing filler chapters to move the romance, but skipping time is still an option. Thanks for the usual sweet review! Always loved it ^^
Smile-san: Your reviews indeed make me smile! You lived up to your name my friend! Wow! But thanks for reviewing each chapter, hope you enjoy the new update.
"What do you mean, do I hate Kuroskia? What kind of a question is that?" Renji snapped at the young healer, as he increased the pace of his stride, causing Orihime to frown deeply, as she walked silently behind the brooding soul reaper.
"I'm sorry, Renji. I didn't mean to cause you pain. I just-"
"Well what kind of a question is that? You of all people should know better. Let's move on from this," Renji hastily retorted, staring directly into shocked grey eyes.
"I'm sorry," Orihime whispered, shoulders hunched forward in exhaustion. "Come on, let's hurry back to your place. It's been a long day for both of us."
The first thing the newlywed couple noticed upon entering the healer apartment was that the young soul reaper Matsumoto was nowhere to be found in the small apartment. Orihime silently wondered if this was another sign of unfavorable things to come. She quickly glanced at the brooding redhead, who lazily sat at the table, awaiting his dinner. Orihime continued to send a series of frowns his way with each glance. Although the redhead noticed each glance, he didn't acknowledge it, and his body language remained bored, as he rested his head upon his hands and softly drummed his fingers against the wood, resulting in a quiet, pulsing rhythm. Orihime paused while stirring the stir-fry, as she finally made eye contact with Renji. Renji looked back dully, unaffected, as a soft powder pink quickly spread across Orihime's cheeks. She looked back down at the stir-fry to avoid Renji's gaze for the rest of the meal preparation.
"Din, din!" Orihime cheerily walked over to the soul reaper, carrying the hot meal. Renji gave a soft hum of approval and nodded as Orihime cheerfully listed the origins of the meal. Orihime nervously bit her lip, as she watched her husband continue his apathetic behavior while eating his dinner, demonstrating an entirely different attitude than he had last night.
"I wonder if Matsumoto will be back soon," Orihime wondered aloud before offering Renji a strained smile, as he took a spoonful of crackers, tomato sauce, and stir- fry, managing to maintain the same expression throughout.
"She must be drinking under the table by now," Renji replied before taking a sip of water.
Orihime gave a soft "Oh!" in response. "Renji?" Orihime whispered after a full minute of awkward stares and heavy silence. "I'm sorry about earlier," Orihime whispered again, as she comfortingly reached out for Renji's hand.
Renji flinched at the sudden contact, instantly pulling away.
"I'm sorry," Orihime quickly apologized, both of them blushing.
"You say sorry way too much," Renji muttered, snarling in annoyance and turning his face away.
"I," Orihime began, only to stop upon realizing that she didn't know what else to add.
Renji, however, took that opportunity to say, "No wonder Rukia and Ichigo ended up together guilt-free, with the way you act. You treated Rukia and Ichigo in the same way, too. They took advantage of you. You should have been strong and fought for Ichigo's affection. If you had, we wouldn't be in this situation!" Renji declared, his eyebrows slowly knitting together, as he put the words together, as though he were figuring something out.
"I tried Renji, I really did, but after all, they are my friends in the end…" Orihime quickly answered back in her defense, causing Renji to snarl in response.
"Friends? You call them friends after all that?" Renji seethed, standing up at the table, hovering over a confused Orihime.
"Renji, you don't mean that, do you?" Orihime slowly asked.
"Damn right I do, Orihime. It's a cold world, and you've got to do whatever you can for yourself. You think I wanted to marry you?" Renji yelled back, causing Orihime to gasp silently.
"I, I," Orihime's eyes blurred, as she fought back the tears. "I'm sorry, Renji." The words rushed out before Orihime ran outside of the apartment, still upset with Renji.
"Shit," Renji cursed, now alone in the apartment. "I didn't mean it like that." Renji sighed, as he brought his hands to the bridge of his nose. He silently stormed into Orihime's, or technically, into their bedroom, before giving the picture of Orihime's late brother a cursory glance and continuing to curse for awhile. He allowed himself to fall onto the bed and into a deep sleep, too tired to care or worry about anything further.
Orihime ran each step of the way, causing her heart to pound louder and louder. It wasn't until she tripped over some branches that she realized that her face was wet with tears and that she had ended up at the park. Upon coming to this realization, Orihime curled up into the fetal position on the ground under a tree.
"You treated Rukia and Ichigo in the same way, too. They took advantage of you! You think I wanted to be married to you?" Renji's voice echoed in her head, as clear as a bell, and she hiccupped from crying so hard. "I know that I'm not Renji's first or even second choice for a wife, but I..." Orihime didn't complete the thought. "Ichigo," Orihime whispered, her tears streaming down.
"Renji? Oh, Renji, darling?" a perky voice whispered.
"Hmm," Renji muttered, still caught in slumber. A pair of long limbs encircled the man's waist. "Hmm." Renji nuzzled into the pillow. "Rukia," Renji murmured before landing smack on the ground. "Ugh...," Renji groaned, turning his head toward the grinning woman on the bed.
"Rukia? Tsk tsk, you naughty boy. After all, you're a new husband now," Matsumoto purred.
Renji glared at her for a long time. "I'm not in the mood for any more craziness tonight," Renji muttered, sitting up on the ground.
"Hmm, apparently not," Matsumoto murmured happily, falling back in bed, bouncing her foot. "Where's hime-chan?" Matsumoto asked, frowning softly, upon seeing that her companion was nowhere to be found.
"She's...out," Renji added softly, standing up for the first time that evening to walk over to the sora inoue picture.
"Out?" Matsumoto repeated.
"Yeah, out," Renji stated, his stomach turning at the memory of Orihime and their last conservation. "You think I wanted to marry you?" Renji mentally flinched. "I shouldn't have said that to her, not like that," Renji thought, frowning deeply, as he continued to stare at the photo. "Why do I feel even guiltier than I really should -"
"Oi," Matsumoto muttered, snapping Renji out of his innermost thoughts. Renji turned his head to stare at her. "Are you sure your wife is safe?"
Renji frowned. "Of course, of course," Renji added, more to reassure himself than anyone else. She'll be fine alone in the dark. "Shit," Renji thought feeling another stab of guilt. "What are you even doing in the world of the living?" Renji asked, suddenly changing the subject. But it didn't ease his feelings of guilt or his concern about his missing wife. Still, he couldn't help but forma bond of friendship with the healer over the short time of knowing one another. Perhaps they had simply bonded over lost love?
Matsumoto hummed a soft tune in between her sentences. "Maybe a certain captain asked me to monitor a new married couple…," Matsumoto sang.
Renji gave her a deadpan look in return. "You've got to be kidding me," Renji hollered. "You've got to be kidding!" Renji repeated even louder than before. "Why would he do something like that? Have us observed! Who does he think he is! And what does he think is going on here!" Renji asked, storming over to the busty woman, twitching in the process. Renji suddenly became fully aware of what he was doing. "Damn this town, it makes people twitch. If anyone says that I look like that idiot strawberry,-"
"I don't know the full reason myself, Renji, so I suggest you just continue living in wedding bliss with Orihime," Matsumoto declared. "Oh wait, where is the little wife now?" Matsumoto mocked, grinning, causing Renji to scowl in a perfect impression of Ichigo.
"Shut up," Renji muttered off-handedly. He left the bed and frowned upon seeing the dinner table still covered with soiled dishes, left there as a result of their first fight, or however you wanted to refer to it, as a married couple. "You really acted like a complete ass," Renji thought, berating himself even further. "I'll just apologize to Orihime and that will be end of things," Renji thought, feeling a little better already, as he knew that Orihime would simply wave off his future half-assed apology. He cleaned up the mess, which caused Matsumoto to raise her eyebrow at Renji's behavior.
"Well, well, I'm sure Orihime can take care of herself, Renji darling," Matsumoto declared, as she strode back and forth in the small room, like a cat stalking its prey.
"Knowing her, she'll hug her mugger." Renji paled at the thought, knowing that his newlywed wife was quite capable of doing exactly that. Renji nervously bit his lip, annoyed by the stress of imagining his wife hugging a creep.
"But it is getting quite dark," Matsumoto said solemnly.
"Yeah, and she's all alone…" Renji let out a long hiss, as his mind came up with several worse-case scenarios involving his wife. He was going crazy from the stress.
"I'm sure she'll be fine, Renji!" Matsumoto sang out, already departing the apartment for the second time that evening and leaving a dumbstruck Renji behind.
"She'll be fine," Renji said aloud to himself, "She's got to be," Renji muttered. He looked down, feeling his stomach tighten into knots and not at all fully believing what he was saying.
Orihime let out a soft sigh after a full hour of crying, which had taken a great deal of energy out of her. She sniffed softly and stood up, only to wobble from the sudden movement. Orihime let out a soft cry, as she fell forward onto the ground, implanting her face into the cold park grass. "Owie," Orihime muttered softly, standing up and rubbing her red forehead. Puffy grey eyes looked up at the sky that was now dark and that was slowly being lit up with stars. "I should go back…Everyone must be worried,…" Orihime thought. "But I—"
"Well, well, well. Look what we have here, boys." Orihime's head spun in the direction of this unrecognizable voice and instantly frowned at what she saw…
GoodLuckMotherFuckers: That's all folks! Till next time! And happy holidays!