Disclaimer: To all those eejits out there who still think that I might own Bleach… I don't!
About this chapter: In this chapter, I introduce my favorite character. But, I introduce two new characters, you say? Well, one of them is my favorite character, and the other isn't, plain and simple, only you, yes, you, my reader, will have to try and figure out which character is my favorite, and which one isn't. Don't worry, though! You an idiot who can't figure it out? (jk, jk, that doesn't make you stupid) Again, no worries! I'm going to write who it is in my next chapter! YAY!
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Shinji's Point of View
This'll be gas.
Hitsugaya's Point of View
He's going to enjoy this far too much.
Rukia's Point of View
I get out of Byakuya's car as soon as possible, barely waiting for it to come to a full stop before opening up the door and stepping out. Things have been slightly awkward between us since my date with Ichigo. I don't know why, but it really upset him that I didn't tell him about it right when I saw him after school. I've tried apologizing, but whenever I do he just says that it's fine, and then he continues acting the same.
I run up to my group of friends—I'm always the last person to get to school, and they've taken to waiting for me. Ichigo comes to meet me and grabs my hand, then walks with me up to our other friends.
Renji looks at me grumpily, rubbing the back of his head like someone had just hit him there really hard.
"I'm sorry we spied on you while you and Ichigo were on your date. Even if it was Tatsuki's idea." He grumbles, and I smile, knowing that Ichigo probably did hit him.
I laugh and pat him on the shoulder (I have to stand up on the very tips of my toes to accomplish this). "It's okay." I say, and we all walk into the building. We walk into our classroom and stand around talking, but our sensei makes us all sit down in our seats and quiet down before the bell rings.
"I know, I know, the bell hasn't rung yet." She says to the angry grumbles at being made to sit before the bell, and I notice that there are two empty seats in the classroom that weren't there yesterday.
"The reason you're already sitting is because today we have two new students that are joining our class, and I want you all to be introduced to them before the bell rings so that we don't miss any class time." The teacher finishes, and we all look around, trying to see if we can spot the new students, but there aren't any unfamiliar faces.
"They're coming." The sensei says when she sees us looking around. "They should just be a few minutes."
Shinji's Point of View
Wow, this school looks boring. The walls are blue and the doors are yellow. How tacky.
I look at Hitsuguya and can tell that he's not too pleased with this school so far either. I notice that everyone seems to be in class, and think that we might be late, but I don't really care. Hitsuguya seems to come to this same conclusion, though, which means that we have to hurry to our class, 1-3. I sigh as we run to the classroom. Why can't he be more laid-back, like me? Then again, maybe it's good that he's not that laid-back…
"Here they are!" Says the sensei as we walk into the classroom. We bow in front of everyone as the teacher says our names, then walk over to the seats she points out to us. I look around and see cute girls and irritated looking guys, and I know that I can have a lot of fun at this school.
Rukia's Point of View
The two new students arrive after a few minutes, and the sensei introduces them.
"This is Hitsuguya Toshiro." She says, pointing to a short guy with spikey white hair and teal eyes.
"And this is Hirako Shinji." She says, then pointing to the short guy's companion, a tall guy with a blond bob and weird teeth. He's smiling, and he doesn't seem like he stops smiling very often, whereas his friend seems like he's never smiled before in his life. They take their seats and our sensei starts class.
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It's lunch time, and I'm sitting on the roof eating with most of my friends (Mizuiro and his family are on vacation, and Chad is home sick). I'm about to start eating when I realize that I left something in the classroom, so I get up and go down the long, dark stairwell, then down the hallway to the classroom, wondering about if Chad is okay.
I walk into the classroom to see one of the new guys—Shinji-sitting on his chair, his feet propped up on his desk. He's eating something that looks like dried fruit out of a little box, and he doesn't seem to have anything else to eat. I see food on the desk of the other new kid, Hitsugaya, but the boy himself is nowhere to be seen.
Shinji looks up at me when I walk in and he smiles brightly.
"Hello." He says.
"Hi." I say. "I'm Kuchiki Rukia. I'm sorry if I'm interrupting your lunch. I just need to get something from my desk."
"That's fine." He says, looking me up and down. I blush—he seems to be happy with what he sees—and I go over to my desk, looking through my bag.
"So, Shinji-san." I say, not sure of how to dismiss myself.
I turn around and see him standing uncomfortably close to me. I naturally take a step back, and he smiles.
"Sorry." He says, but he's still smiling, and his voice sounds completely insincere, so I know he's just saying that. He takes a step towards me, then plops down on a desk, giving me breathing space but still being too close.
"You're very pretty." He says, scooting slightly closer. "How would you like to eat lunch with me today? I can make Hitsugaya leave so it can just be the two of us." I gulp, not wanting to hurt his feelings, but also not wanting to spend any more time alone with him, when Ichigo walks in, obviously looking for me.
"Rukia!" He says when he sees me.
"Ichigo!" I say, and I hope he can hear the relief in my voice.
"What are you doing to Rukia?" He asks Shinji. I look down at Shinji and see that he's scowling.
"I'm not doin' nuthin'." He says, standing up. I notice with slight anticipation that Shinji is slightly taller than Ichigo. Not by a lot, but by enough.
"Anyway," Shinji say. "Why do you care?"
"Because she's my- my- my-my friend, and I'm not going to have you creeping on her like that." He says. I can tell he's struggling as to what he should call me now that we've dated. I would've been fine with 'girlfriend', but 'friend' is fine, too.
"I smile at him, letting him know that it's okay, but he either doesn't notice or ignores me.
"I wasn't creeping, I was just being friendly." Shinji says. He steps over to me and puts his arm around my shoulders. I try to shrug away from him, but he doesn't let me. I look at Ichigo, and can practically see his anger level rise. I try to send my thoughts to him, stuff like it's okay, and calm down, because I don't want to talk, but he obviously doesn't receive my messages.
Ichigo walks forward, crazily angry, and grabs Shinji's shirt collar. Shinji just smiles, which seems to bother Ichigo even more.
"You leave her alone." He hisses into Shinji's face.
"Oh, how scary." Shinji says, rolling his eyes and looking around like he's bored with the situation already.
Ichigo moves to slam Shinji against the wall, but someone puts their hand on his shoulder and stops him. We all turn around to look at this newcomer—whom none of us noticed walk in—and I see that it's the other, rather short, new kid, Hitsugaya.
"I apologize for my friend." He says. He looks calm, but I can see a vein popping out in his head, and I can tell that he's really irritated with Shinji.
"Please, would you mind putting him down?" He asks, again in his fake calm voice.
Ichigo hesitates a moment, looking at Shinji, and then, briefly, at me, but he sets him down eventually, much more gently than I would've believed.
"Aw man, Shiro, I could've managed this on my own." Shinji says to his friend. Hitsugaya shoots him a short glare, and then turns around to leave, shutting Shinji up completely. He waves brightly, then leaves after Hitsugaya, leaving me, Ichigo, and their lunches behind. When they're gone, Ichigo looks at me. He strokes my cheek, then leaves out the room into the hall, back in the direction of the roof—the opposite direction of Hitsugaya and Shinji. I run out after him, and then run ahead of him, heading up to the roof to tell everyone about what just happened, knowing that Ichigo won't want to have to take place in telling the story.
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It's been a week since the incident with Shinji at school. More importantly, it's been eight days since Ichigo and I had our first kiss, and we haven't kissed since. I was always under the impression that once you've kissed someone, then you can just go back and kiss them as many times as you'd like. Apparently, though, that's not really the case. I tried kissing him once, and I could tell that he was about to another time, but both times we just sort of quickly looked away and fell into an awkward silence. I walking in on Renji and Ichigo talking two days ago, Renji telling Ichigo to just kiss me already, but Ichigo had said that he didn't know if I wanted to kiss him or not. This may seem unimportant; why don't I either kiss him or leave him? I can't leave him, and I can't kiss him. Things are too complicated.
The day that Shinji tried flirting with me during lunch was a very strange day, even after that. My friends could hardly believe my story, and they were so shocked that they even called Mizuiro and Chad on two cell phones and had me re-tell the story for them. We'd ended up just laughing it off—everyone except Ichigo—and going back about our normal business. That day after lunch, though, I was alone on the roof, packing up my things, when Hitsugaya came onto the roof, apparently looking for me.
"You're not here to flirt with me, are you?" I ask, joking.
"No." He says, completely serious. "I'm gay, so I wouldn't be flirting with you, anyway**." {Author's note: Read the asterisk note now instead of reading the rest of the chapter and then reading it.}
"Oh." I say, startled by his bluntness.
He almost smiles at this—almost—and then leans against the side of the doorway, just like Hisana does whenever she comes and sees me in my room.
"I just wanted to apologize for Shinji earlier today. I know him better than anyone, so I can tell you that he's most likely going to continue to do stuff like that, and not only to you, just for fun. It's his way of passing the time." He says calmly, sort of talking like, instead of being his equal, I'm a student and he's the sensei.
"I'll try to keep an eye on him, but we can't be together 24/7. Just shove him off of you if you need to, it won't hurt him. Just don't under any circumstances let him get away with anything. Especially because I think that boyfriend of yours might have an aneurysm if anything more happens than Shinji wrapping his arm around you." He sighs and starts to turn away.
"He's not my boyfriend." I say, thinking about Ichigo struggling to find what to call me earlier in the classroom.
"Sure." He says, and he leaves.
That had been a very strange meeting, and I'd found out that the very quiet and very short Hitsugaya is gay. I think back on that now, setting a bowl of snacks on the casual dining room table. Our house has a formal dining room which is for fancy parties and holidays, a casual dining room for normal lunches and dinners, and a breakfast room. It also has a small table with two chairs in the kitchen for when someone isn't home and it's just two people in the house. I look around, trying to see if there's enough food and drinks for everyone coming over soon. When I got into the car the other day, Byakuya had been silent for a minute, and then he'd said that he wants me to have all of my friends over for dinner and a movie, and then that I could have all of my girlfriends overnight. I'd been really surprised, but I didn't question it. It was most likely and apology for how cold he'd been acting lately, and besides, why would I question being able to have all of my friends over?
I hear the doorbell ring and go to greet my first guest. Before I answer, I check myself in a mirror. My striped yellow shirt and jean shorts look good, and my hair's down and brushed nicely (Hisana did that for me).
Surprisingly, Hisana hadn't known about the huge dinner party and sleepover, but—unsurprisingly—she agreed to it right away.
I open the door and see Matsumoto standing there—of course she's the first to arrive—followed by Renji. Renji started acting a little strange the day I told my group of friend's about Hitsugaya being gay, and soon after he broke up with Matsumoto. Matsumoto was upset a little at first, but she got over it, and now they're still friends. Actually, they're best friends now, always together. I asked Renji about it, and he'd gruffly said that Matsumoto won't leave him alone, and when I asked Matsumoto about it, she'd said that she could have more fun with him now that they aren't dating, though if that's true I don't know. I also noticed that Renji started talking to Shinji and Hitsugaya. He says that Shinji's actually a good guy when you get to know him, and that Hitsugaya has a short temper, but that he's still fun to hang out with.
Matsumoto flings herself at me, bringing me back to the present, hugging me until I have to push her back. I direct her and Renji to the refreshments while the gaze in awe at my huge house, then go to answer the door when the bell rings again. Slowly all of my friends arrive, some people coming alone, other people coming with someone else. I was sort of surprised to see Tatsuki come with Mizuiro and Keigo, but everyone else acted like it was normal, even Ishida who'd come alone, so I let it be.
Ichigo arrives last. I walk over to the door and open it up and see him in jeans and a tee shirt and jacket, even though it's rather hot out. He hands me a daisy, then puts his finger up to his lips, letting me know not to tell everyone else where I got the flower, though I'm sure everyone will figure it out when we walk in together, me suddenly holding a flower. It's a beautiful flower, yellow like my shirt. I stand on my tiptoes and kiss his cheek, and we walk back into the dining room.
"God, Rukia." Ichigo says, looking around. "Why didn't you ever tell us that you live in a freaking huge mansion?"
I laugh and punch his arm.
"Okay." I say when everyone stops talking for a second.
"Hisana's ordering Pizza Hut*** as a treat, and we're going to eat while watching a movie. I'm afraid that my siblings won't let any guys stay over any later than that, so-." Right then the bell rings. Everyone looks around, trying to see if anyone's missing, but everyone seems to be here. The only person who doesn't look around is Renji, and I have a feeling I know who's at the door.
I rush over to the door, a bad feeling growing in the pit of my stomach, and I throw open the door.
Shinji is standing there smugly, Hitsugaya standing behind him.
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"Don't worry." Shinji says when he sees my facial expression, smiling broadly. "I'm just dropping this midget off. I'm not staying." Hitsugaya looks up at Shinji like he doesn't want him to leave, but Shinji ignores him.
"I just want to talk to Matsumoto really quick." I nod and motion for Hitsugaya to walk in. He continuously looks back at Shinji, but whenever he does Shinji just motions for him to go forward, until we round a corner and they can't see each other anymore. We get into the kitchen without saying anything.
"Shinji wants to see you." I say to Matsumoto when we get into the kitchen. She leaves, and we all stand around awkwardly, not sure how to act around Hitsugaya. He goes over and stands next to Renji, which causes a few curious glances, but still no words.
"I'm sorry." Hitsugaya says after a minute in which Matsumoto still doesn't return.
"This was Shinji's idea. I just came along to keep an eye on him because I thought that he was going to stay." Everyone smiles and tries to make him feel comfortable, because he's obviously not used to big groups of people. After a few minutes, it feels just like it felt for me—like Hitsugaya is already part of us. Soon Matsumoto comes back, and soon after that Hisana and Byakuya come in with the pizzas. We grab a few slices—or, in Ichigo and Renji's cases, six—and we head outside, intending to eat out on the back porch like we did at Matsumoto's house.
We arrange ourselves on blankets that Hisana laid out on the grass a few hours before. I look around and notice that some people forgot napkins, so I go back inside to grab some. When I enter the kitchen, I see Hitsugaya—who'd said he needed the restroom—and Renji—who'd said he'd needed some water—kissing passionately in the kitchen. I smile to myself, quickly grab the napkins, and run back out. They're so absorbed in what they're doing that they don't even notice me.
When I get out I see that no one's started eating yet, them all having been waiting for me. I beam when I see this, then notice that I left the lemonade I'd made with Hisana earlier. I run back in, everyone saying that they'd wait and me feeling bad for making them wait to eat, and go to grab the lemonade. I run back, carrying way too many plastic cups and a large pitcher of lemonade, when I slip on a small puddle of water. I start to fall back when someone catches me, grabbing the lemonade so that it doesn't spill.
I look up and see Ichigo staring into my eyes. I feel myself blush from being so close to him. He sees this and bends down to kiss me. Finally, we kiss again.
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**NO WAY! I know, that's what most of you are probably thinking. YES WAY! Is what I have to respond. Don't worry, though. If you're doing the right thing and reading this asterisk note in the beginning of the story, going from where the asterisk is and then reading the asterisk note instead of reading the whole story and then reading the asterisk note, then I shall let you know that later in this chapter something even more crazy happens with sexuality and couples. Just read to find out
***Yes, they do have Pizza Hut in Japan. You can visit their website at
I'm so sorry that I haven't posted in so long! I've had the worst case of writer's block ever, and couldn't think of anything to write at all! I'd like to thank kalthurin for helping me through this horrible writer's block. I hope the chapter's okay. I couldn't think of a very good ending, so I hope that this one will suffice. I don't know what people are thinking right now about the RenjixToshiro couple, it's just an idea I had that was inspired by one of kalthurin's suggestions. I'd like to thank everyone for being so patient. I don't know how many more chapters will be coming, but it should be ending soon. Don't worry, though! It won't be the end of my writing. I've already started the ninth chapter, so it should be coming out soon!
Thanks! Review, please! Now that I've read chapter 459, I know that Ichigo actually can cry, so I'll tell you with confidence this time: If you don't review, then Ichigo will cry! So please, please, PLEASE! Review.