You know the drill, DON'T OWN!
Lyrics of the chapter: I always needed time on my own...And I never thought I'd need you there when I cried...
Peyton drew in a breath as she realized she only had four days left. Four days until the world stopped again. She knew because she had circled it in black Sharpie on her calendar- yes, she kept a calendar, what of it?
Rukia was back and could almost immediately sense her mood in homeroom. "Peyton...are you alright?"
She smiled as convincingly as possible and nodded. "Yeah. Fine."
Tatsuki looked skeptical. "You look like you ate a few bites of Orihime's lunch, dude."
Orihime's head shot up at this. "What?" she exclaimed defensively. "My lunch is delectable, thank you very much: Canadian bacon with ketchup and rice on some toasted bread, with a side of pickled eggs and some jelly beans! ...Oh, and some pineapple orange juie."
They all sweatdropped. "...I rest my case."
Peyton sweatdropped again. "Do you honestly think I'm stupid enough to try that? U-Uhhh, no offense, Orihime!" she added quickly at Orihime's expression.
Later, during lunch period, Peyton was stabbing the straw into Rukia's juice- again- when Ichigo popped up out of nowhere. "Poor straw...So who's Miya?"
She jumped, and Rukia sipped her juice in interest. "...No one."
Everyone within hearing distance was soon following their argument like a ping-pong match.
"Then how come Seth was shocked you didn't tell me yet?"
"I dunno, it's SETH!"
"Would you just TELL ME already?"
"Why should I? And why do you care, anyway? Must you know EV-erything about me, Strawberry Shortcake?"
Renji snickered. "Nice one."
Ichigo shot Renji a quick glare before attempting to stare Peyton down. He wordlessly measured the distance between their heights, then nodded. "Almost six inches. Need I go on?"
BAM! THWACK!
"Good God, woman! WHAT THE HELL'S WRONG WITH YOU?"
"I SHRUNK TWO INCHES, THANKS FOR REMINDING ME, JACKASS!"
"SO YOU KICKED ME IN THE SHIN AND SLAPPED ME?"
"WANT SOME MORE?"
"N-NO!"
Rukia and Uryu nodded in agreement. "Score: Ichigo- 14, Peyton- 17." Everyone else was laughing, some were shrugging since this was a regular occurance. They all quickly turned to "Oooohh!"'s as they realized the vice principal had been standing there the whole time.
"Cullen, Kurosaki: in my office. NOW. And Ishihackaloogie, wipe that smug look off your face unless you want a week's worth of detention."
Ichigo and Peyton exchanged a snicker at Ishida's face. "...My name is Uryu Ishida."
He waved off the notion. "Whatever."
After a good five minutes of being chewed out, and the rest of the day banging erasers together, they stomped out of school. Rukia was loyally waiting for them, but they were too busy arguing to pay attention.
"How's it all my fault?"
"You ALWAYS pick on people being shorter than you, myself included! Did you ever think about your possible relation to the Jolly Green Giant, Strawberry Shortcake?"
"I dunno, did you ever think about attending Anger Management, you goddamn midget?"
"Why, you little-"
"HA! Me! Little! That's funny. Besides, it was you asking him what he was doing on the roof in the first place that set him off!"
"Uh, NOOOO, it was you ticking me off, 'cause it made me injure you, dumbass!"
"Oh, so now even your bodily functions are my fault too?"
"...N-Nobody mentioned FARTING, Ichigo!"
"ENOUGH!" They gulped at her tone and slowly looked at Rukia. An evil aura surrounded her small frame, and she was staring at them rather ominously.
"I've about had enough of you two constantly biting each other's heads off! Usually it's funny...in an idiotic sort of way...but now it's just idiotic! You leave me with no other choice. As of now, in order to properly control your anger, you are to both start keeping...diaries."
"WHAT THE FU-" They shouted at the same time, and a random truck honked its horn at the perfect moment.
"YOU HEARD ME!"
"But Ruuukiaaa, that's stupid," they whined pathetically, to which she raised her fist suggestively. They immediately shut up.
ENTRY #1:
This sucks. Ooh, I like the ring of that. Lemme say it again: this sucks. This SUCKS. THIS SUCKS THIS SUCKS THIS SUCKS! THIIISSSSS SUUUCCKKKSSS!
Okay. Now that that's out of my system. This is all stupid Ichigo's fault. What a GREAT way to kick off a week that sucked before it even began by getting detention for a week, a bruise on my forehead from where Ichigo tripped me on the way out, and NOW I have to write a stupid journal entry at least once a day.
Holy crap. Ichigo was right. I ended up taking anger management! This SUCKS ASS. Rukia says she's tired of hearing us fight. Well, it's always HIM that starts it. I don't see why she got pissy at ME, too. Sigh. Stupid Strawberry-Shortcake-Giant. I wish he'd go crawl in a hole and rot.
...Actually, that's not true. He'd find a way to come back and haunt me. I just know it.
MY FIRST ENTRY IN MY MANLY JOURNAL OF THINGS OF A MASCULINE NATURE:
The title might be a bit too long. But I AM a guy. I have to defend my manliness, y'know. This is all that stupid midget's fault. You'd think I mean Rukia, but NOOOOO. I mean the OTHER midget, the one that's PURE ANNOYANCE. Rukia's pure evil, she's pure annoyance. There's a difference.
Although, I do give her this: thank God she doesn't like Chappy, it makes her somewhat more bearable. Actually, she's scared shitless of Chappy. Something about Lindsay putting her through the most traumatic 5-year-old birthday that Chappy's ever been to.
I really don't wanna know. It'd give ME nightmares too. (shudders)
But anyway. We always fight, it's like our hobby. Our goddamn TALENT, really! Only this time we got caught by Mr. Panties-in-a-Wad. That's our "Vice President", as Peyton and her fellow Americans call them back across the ocean.
If you stuck a lump of coal up his ass, you'd have a perfect diamond in a couple weeks tops. Not that I'd recommend going near HIS ass. Us sophomores hire a different freshman dumbass each week to stand post and scout him out. That way, when he lets one rip, we all know when to haul ass downwind.
I swear, he could choke a donkey with that "special brand" of his...
Y'know, if Peyton hadn't moved here, I'd blame it on being American. But now I don't think that's true, for three main reasons:
1. I've never heard Peyton fart. EVER. Burp, yes, fart, no.
2. If I DID happen to blame it on his American-ness, Peyton would kill me.
3. If I ever commented on her farting, she'd clone me and kill me again.
Speaking of farting, sometimes I seriously wonder if girls ever even fart. I have yet to hear one do it...
And speaking of American, I really quite honestly and truly think Panty-Wad simply has personal problems that have nothing to do with being American. I mean, he has the hugest "Redneck accent," as Midget Annoyance calls it. She's from Tennessee, the most redneck place in America, yet her accent isn't HALF as bad!
Although, I DO have to give him credit for calling Quincy "Ishihackaloogie".
Banging erasers with Peyton for two hours? -76 points of energy.
Keeping this diary because of Peyton being so fucking hostile? -97 points of manliness.
The look on Quincy's face at his new nickname? PRICELESS.
The minute she hid her diary, Seth burst through the door, and she gave him her "Privacy" glare. He rolled his eyes. "What are you, twelve? Anyway, Lindsay said you're wanted in the driveway."
Peyton furrowed her brows. "How come she didn't just tell me herself?"
Seth neatly sidestepped the question and pointed towards her bedroom door. "Go. Now. Before she makes you suffer."
When she went outside, she gulped and turned on her heel to get the hell out of dodge, but Seth blocked her way in amusement. Lindsay was holding rope and duct tape, giving her a menacing look.
"We're going to go with Miya to pick out a wedding dress. You're coming, I'm coming, Miya's coming. It'll be perfect time for us to get to know her better, and for you to stop bitching about this wedding. Nothing else to it. Now, do I need these or not?"
Peyton whined and bit her lip. "But, Lindsaaaaaay..."
TWENTY-THREE MINUTES LATER...
By some strange stroke of luck, Peyton ran into Yuzu. "OH THANK GOD! YUZU!" she exclaimed, hopping after her at full speed and causing herself to faceplant. Goddammit, Linds, thanks for tying me up so damn tight! Peyton thought miserably as she groaned from her fall.
The look on that poor kid's face as she helped her up made Peyton regret her decision. "Oh my goodness...did the gangsters find you?"
"No no no no, they-"
"WE SHOULD CALL THE POLICE!" Yuzu screeched, making everyone who wasn't already gawking at them to turn a look.
Peyton waved her hands as best she could, shaking her head quickly. "No, really, that's not necessary, just...can I hide at your house for a few hours?" she asked, looking around quickly to make sure Lindsay and Seth weren't running toward them.
TEN MINUTES LATER...
Peyton totally understood the expressions on everyone's faces. Isshin looked horrified/amused, Karin looked like she was dangerously close to laughing uncontrollably, and Rukia immediately glared at Ichigo.
"...You pervert!"
"What the hell? I WAS HERE THE WHOLE TIME, MIDGET!"
"DON'T CALL ME MIDGET, WE HAVE A SERIOUS SITUATION HERE!"
"WHAT serious situation? She's tied up by a freaking jump rope and some flimsy duct tape!"
Peyton interrupted them nervously. "Uhhh...let's just say my siblings are very vengeful."
"They ARE American," Karin whispered to Isshin, who nodded slowly.
"This is true." He then almost immediately brightened. "Fine. Stay as long as you like! As if I'd say no!"
He turned to Yuzu as they walked off to help Karin with her homework. "This is tough! I can't tell who our Ichigo's ending up with!"
"My money's on Orihime. She's very...developed," Karin commented, making Ichigo and Peyton sweatdrop.
"Since when do you put in YOUR input on my love life?" Ichigo exclaimed.
Peyton and Rukia exchanged a grin. "You're bright red. Like a strawberry," Peyton said slyly.
He rolled his eyes and yanked at the end of the rope, making her spin extremely fast and unravel, landing on her butt just like in the cartoons. "Ow! GODDAMMIT, ICHIGO!"
"Oh, get over it."
"YOU get over it!"
"Get over WHAT?"
"I dunno, just GET OVER IT!"
Rukia just sighed and shook her head as the two scowled at each other, growling a little. "That's it. You guys better start writing, before an all-out war breaks out."
"There's no way I'm doing that, it's total bullshit."
"Ichigo, don't make me use that jumprope to tie you to a chair and force you to look at my whole sketchbook full of drawings!" Rukia threatened before turning to a pouting Peyton. "...CHAPPY drawings."
They both paled and exchanged a look that clearly read "Aww shit, she got us there" before letting out an extremely long "AWWWWWW!" and stomping up the stairs, but then Peyton brightened. "WAIT a minute...Ha! I don't have-"
Suddenly the door slammed shut, and through the window they saw Rukia flash-stepping for the Cullen house. "...Mine?"
Ichigo stared at her expression, then pointed at her slowly.
"...FAIL."
"SHUT UP!"
ENTRY #2 IN MY MANLY JOURNAL OF THINGS OF A MASCULINE NATURE:
I just saw something I never thought I'd see.
I was sitting there, minding my own business, explaining to Evil Midget what Spam was-
SPAM? That stuff's like crap in a can, molded into the ever-popular Crap Can Shape for your own viewing pleasure.
PEYTON, GET OUT OF MY MANLY RAMBLINGS!
Heh. Make me. BRING IT ON STRAWBERRY-SHORTCAKE!
Ignore the pissy Annoying Midget in the background. She's just mad because Evil Midget went to go get HER required dia- er...JOURNAL. Why is she even here in my personal space, you ask?
Well, I dunno. But all of a sudden, Yuzu walks in, and she shows us Peyton like she's her new pet or something. The funniest part was Peyton's face. She was tied up by this stupid jump rope, the duct tape was hanging onto her cheek by tiny threads, and she was hopping beside Yuzu, all huffy and being her usual pissy, stupid self.
If you MUST know, Lindsay and Seth mutinied and tied me up in my own driveway! Damn them. AND I'M NOT STUPID, GODDAMN YOU!
BULLSHIT! ...Wait, Peyton, isn't it their driveway too?
Yeah, so?
Wait, why am I talking to you via my Manly Journal?
Ichigo? There's NO SUCH THING as a manly journal!
...This coming from the chick who's currently spinning in my wheelie chair at warp speed, yelling "WHHHEEEE!". Like SHE knows anything.
Rukia's here. Let the fun begin.
ENTRY #2
I just learned that Ichigo thinks he has a "Manly Journal". I think I nearly wet myself, I laughed so damn hard! Hahahahaha.
Anyway. I can't believe they freaking tied me up. Not like Miya's wedding dress has anything to do with ME. Shoot, her WEDDING doesn't even have much to do with me!
...Well, besides the whole 24-year-old stepmom part. But besides that, nothing else! What pisses me off the most is that I seem to be the only person who remembers what this Saturday means. Only two days now. Scary. ...And they wonder why I'm acting like a bitch. There, I admit it, I'm being a bitch. But c'mon, I'm getting little sleep and it's almost time to visit her again! And now there's some new chick - much YOUNGER than my dad chick - added into the crazy equation known as my family to make things even more hectic? I. DON'T. NEED. THIS. SHIT.
Peyton didn't write HALF as much as Ichigo. Luckily, Rukia didn't read them. She could tell by their Concentration Faces that they had been seriously jotting stuff down. She nodded with satisfaction. "Rukia, if you don't mind my asking, how the hell are these diaries supposed to do any good?" Peyton asked suddenly, sprawled out on Ichigo's floor as he spun slightly in his wheelie chair.
She loved his wheelie chair; too bad he knocked her out of it earlier when Rukia wasn't looking.
Rukia shrugged. "Think of it as a stress reliever. My brother used to make me do it. ...Besides, it amuses me," she added cheerfully, making their temples throb.
"So. Are you staying here tonight?"
Peyton sighed and stood up, now free of rope and duct tape. "No, I really need to be with my family this week. But thanks."
Rukia looked concerned about something for a split second, and then she had a normal expression again. "Okay, if you're sure. They DID try to kidnap you..." She sighed to Ichigo. "I'll never understand humans."
"Oh, not humans. You'll just never understand Americans."
Peyton elbowed him in the ribs, making him groan. "Ichigo, don't push your luck," Peyton warned tiredly as she went downstairs. "Later, guys."
Ichigo and Peyton exchanged an eye-roll as Mr. Kurosaki and the girls immediately shot up. "You're leaving so soon? Please stay awhile!"
"Sorry, Mr. Kurosaki, I need to get back home before they really kill me."
"Well, in that case...COME BACK SOON!" Isshin and Yuzu yelled after her.
Ichigo and Rukia exchanged a look as they snuck back upstairs. "What was that all about?" Ichigo wondered, rubbing the spot where she'd elbowed him thoughtfully. "She didn't look near as pissed as usual when she elbowed me."
Rukia shrugged, opening his closet with a yawn. "She's been rather distant lately, not to mention cranky. ...Maybe it's lack of sleep?"
"Maybe..."
SATURDAY.
Peyton sighed heavily as she slipped on her black flats. It was that time of year again, and now she had no choice but to go back to the grave and accept the fact that she'd been without a mother for another year.
She sighed. "Saturday, October 17. Phew, it didn't take its time getting here, did it?"
Peyton slipped downstairs and out the door unnoticed; she'd already dropped hints for about a week as to what she would be doing today, but no one really caught on. And if they did, they didn't really say anything. Although Lindsay was outside throwing something away in the big trash can by the curb, and she furrowed her brows at her younger sister as she stuffed her iPod's earphones into her ears. "...What's with the black? I didn't even know you owned a skirt besides your school uniform, much less a black one..."
Peyton just rolled her eyes. "Don't worry about it."
"What day's today again?" Lindsay wondered thoughtfully as she walked back inside.
"SATURDAY!" Peyton threw over her shoulder.
"Right, thought so."
Her little sister sighed and shook her head; she supposed this was Lindsay's way of coping with it, to forget entirely, but Peyton wasn't lucky enough to get distracted with a wedding and forget.
Surprisingly, she didn't run into anybody on her way there. When she finally found what she had been looking for, Peyton closed her eyes, deep in thought.
Please forgive Linds and Seth for forgetting. Miya's changed everything. But I didn't forget, I never will. I've been dreading this day every single day for exactly two years...I never thought I'd actually be here to visit your grave in person. I know you can hear me, I know you can.
"I miss you so much," she whispered, eyes still squeezed shut. Every girl needs her mom...
"...So who was she?"
Peyton jumped and whirled around, suddenly face-to-face with the last person she ever expected to see here. "Ichigo? What're you doing here?" she asked, turning away quickly to look at her grave again.
He shifted to where she could see him out of the corner of her eye, and he shrugged. "Does it matter? So, who was she?"
Peyton turned back to the grave. "My mother. It's her ann-...She died two years ago today." She didn't like using the word "anniversary". It made it sound like a happy occasion.
He looked at the picture, too. "Thought so. You look almost exactly like her."
She smiled slightly. "Eh, I guess so, but she was different. She was special."
He nodded. "I know what you mean, so was mine."
Was. Peyton felt her stomach drop. She had had the creeping suspicion his mom was dead, but it never really clicked to her before now. Before she could stop herself, her anger boiled to the surface. "Funny how I'm the only one who bothered coming. Besides my dad, I mean. He wouldn't, all he did last time was hole himself up in his room and take off of work. Lindsay's cooking couldn't even get him to come out, all he did was sit on his bed, watch TV Land, and look at old pictures. Then he'd be totally fine the next day. The rest of us would just kind of mope around, since her grave was all the way in Karakura and we didn't really feel like seeing relatives and hearing how wonderful mom used to be. We already knew that, no need to make us feel worse, right? But today...I guess Miya's a bit more interesting. Which is good, I guess, since she takes their mind off of it. It's better than hearing the Bonanza theme song playing through the wall all night," she rambled, not knowing where half the stuff she was saying was coming from.
Ichigo appeared to have a lightbulb moment amidst her rambling. "Oh, I get it now. Miya's your stepmom?"
Peyton shook her head. "Not yet. Come spring, she will be. It wouldn't have pissed me off so much if I had at least known she existed before he dropped the bomb on us...I just got home one day and she was there, all beaming sunshine and pooping butterflies and shit." Ichigo sweatdropped at that, and she pretended not to notice.
A slight wind blew past them, ruffling her hair. She glanced over at him. "I still remember exactly what I had been thinking throughout that day, every single tiny thing...It's weird. Then again, it was the worst day of my life, so I guess it makes sense."
He looked at her with the most serious expression she had ever seen Ichigo wear. Not saying much, but still. "Peyton?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you ever...y'know, blame yourself?"
"Of course I do," she blurted, then winced. "Well, it is my fault." His look clearly said Please Explain, but she knew he was too nice to ask.
"Well, I was 13, y'know. All 'ooh, I'm a teen now, I count for something!'. And I was a lot less patient with my parents, like every other kid in the world. We used to come here sometimes during the fall. She liked the way Karakura looked with all the leaves changing color, and the fairs and such. Plus, at the time, dad was still looking into the job offer as Chief Coroner here. Anyway, we had just had this huge fight about something unbelievably stupid, and I was walking along the river by myself, right down there," she explained, jerking her thumb behind her.
Her voice started getting shaky as she thought back. "I remember some woman flailing around in the water, she looked like she was drowning. I called for help and looked around for anybody, but I didn't see anyone. And of course, my phone didn't have service, y'know, just to fuck my over doubly. So...I tried to save her myself. After that, it's kind of hazy...the paramedics said I hit my head, and I do remember a sharp pain from hitting it on something, but after that I don't remember much at all...I remember the look on my mom's face when she randomly showed up on the shore and dove in, though. When I woke up..."
She cut off for a second. This part always made her vulnerable. And she didn't like vulnerable. "Some random bystander was doing CPR on me, and another one was calling an ambulance or something." She shook her head. "And the rest I saw...it's just unspeakable." What she meant was the way her mom's body looked; it looked like more had happened to her than just a simple drowning, that's for sure, and Ichigo seriously looked like he knew what Peyton was talking about. So much so that it was a bit unnerving.
Peyton felt tears brimming to the surface, and tried her best to blink them away before thinking, Fuck it, let 'em come.
"I never even made up with her before the accident. And I've always been a good swimmer. But on the one day I apparently decided to throw all previous swimming experience out the window, my mom died. So, I have no choice but to blame myself. People can tell me it wasn't all they want, it doesn't change the fact that I think they're wrong. You know?"
He nodded. "Yeah, I know."
She glanced at the flowers she had put there, the ones she had been randomly picking on the way. Half of them were weeds, but they still looked cool. She knew her mom would like them regardless. "Why were you here?"
He looked around, then shrugged, inching a little closer. "I like coming here. My mom's buried nearby, too. It's peaceful here, and usually when we come on the day she died, my dad does something stupid anyway, so...it's nice to see her when it's quiet."
Peyton nodded. "You're right, it is pretty quiet around here. Maybe I should come here more often." Whether it was something in her voice, or just that he'd had plenty of experience with the whole grieving thing, he was ready for the breakdown that was coming.
He wordlessly put an arm around her shoulders, she hid her face in his shoulder, and the sobs finally tore from her dry throat. Peyton felt all previous thoughts of Ichigo's annoyance temporarily disappear as he just patted her back and let her cry.
Me: (Grabs tissue from Ichigo's tissue box) That's so emotional!
Rukia: (nods tearfully)
Ichigo: (tries to wipe away tear marks on his face) I-I've seen better. You chicks, so fucking emotional!
Me: (sweatdrops) Dude, your voice is shakier than mine and Rukia's combined!
Ichigo: YOU CAN'T PROVE THAT!
Rukia: (eye-roll between sniffles) Whatever. REVIEW!