I'm back.

HAPPY READING

I DO NOT OWN BLEACH OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS.

Edit: 30/07/2023

Responsibility

Ichigo drove around deep in thought thinking about Senna's pregnancy, to that bastard Ulquiorra that had some type of hold on Orihime's heart. He looked over at her noticing she herself was deep in thought; probably thinking about that bastard again. He felt himself getting jealous once again. He turned his attention back to the road. He had to find a way for her to focus on the merger and breaking off all connections with Ulquiorra.

Ichigo pulled up to a small restaurant not too far from Orihime's home. Parking his Infiniti, he turned to her who was still deep in thought.

"Orihime," Ichigo called to her softly. She turned her head with a sad expression to him. "We're here. I know you're hungry. Let's go inside and eat."

"Okay," she gave him a small smile. Ichigo narrowed his eyes. He knew that she was trying for his sake.

Orihime got out of the car stretching her legs.

"So, what is this place? I never saw this place before."

"It's not too far from your house you know," Ichigo said as he locked up his car.

"Really?" Orihime stared at the small restaurant. She then walked over to him. "How did you know about this place?"

"I used to come here when I was little when my parents would visit Tokyo." She stared at him. "What?" he asked annoyed.

"Oh, I'm sorry I thought that you would continue with your story."

"I wasn't telling you a story."

"Okay sorry." Orihime turned away from him and started walking towards the restaurant. Ichigo followed close behind. The hostess greeted them when they walked through the door. Orihime smiled at the tall plump woman. She noticed that her make-up was applied a bit too heavily for her complexion. Being a CEO of a cosmetic company can bring out the expertise inside her. "Table for two please," Orihime said.

The hostess smiled. "This way please." They followed the hostess to a small booth in the middle of the restaurant.

Ichigo looked around noticing that the restaurant hadn't changed since he was a child. Just different people workers. He slid into the booth across from Orihime. The hostess placed the menus in front of them. She then stood gawking at Ichigo who failed to notice. Orihime cleared her throat. The hostess suddenly jumped. "I'm sorry. Please enjoy your meal." The hostess then scurried away.

She watched the hostess go back to the front of the restaurant before looking at the menu.

"I would suggest you pay attention to your surroundings Ichigo," Orihime said not taking her eyes off the menu.

Ichigo looked up at her.

"What?" He was confused.

"Did you really not notice the hostess looking at you like you're her favorite piece of steak?"

Ichigo scratched the back of his head. "Sorry, not really." She furrowed her eyebrows. Was he really that dense? "Don't tell me you're jealous Ms. Inoue?"

She started blushing. "No…no, I'm not." She then hid behind the menu. "Anyway, what would you suggest I get here to eat? You know, what's good here?"

"Yeah, sure. I usually get the Toku burger with French fries." Orihime scrunched up her face. "It's really good, you should try it."

"No thank you, I think I'll pass on that," she continued to look over the menu.

"Beat yourself. You're missing something very delicious," Ichigo smiled.

"Good afternoon, I'll be your server for today. My name is Shuhei." Both Orihime and Ichigo looked up at their server. Orihime gasped. Shuhei looked at her as he placed two glasses of iced water. "Hey, haven't I seen you before?"

"You're the bartender from the hotel," she pointed at him in shock. Shuhei smiled nodding his head.

"Hey there pretty lady." Ichigo watched Orihime as she blushed.

What the hell is wrong with her?

Ichigo cleared his throat. "Shuhei hmm?" He turned his head and finally noticed Ichigo. They both nodded their heads acknowledging one another. He then turned back to Orihime who was still blushing.

"But the last time I saw you, you were with a different guy. Was that guy your boyfriend or is it this guy?" he said pointing at Ichigo. Ichigo clicked his tongue.

What the hell does he mean by that?

"No neither is my boyfriend." Shuhei then raised his eyebrow. "It's nothing like that. They're… um… good friends of mine." Orihime said waving her hands in front of her.

"Are you sure? I mean because that guy from the hotel was pretty rough with you." Orihime placed her hands on the table before looking down at them.

"Oh, you saw that?" He then quickly regretted bringing it up.

"Hey, look it's a new day. How about I start you off with a hot cup of coffee?" he smiled sweetly.

Orihime smiled back. "Thank you that would be lovely." Ichigo cleared his throat once again.

"Can I pick what I want to drink too?" Shuhei turned his attention back to him.

"I'm sorry, did you say something?" Ichigo scowled at his rude question. "Would you like some coffee as well?"

"Yeah, that's fine," Ichigo growled.

"I'll be right back to take your orders." He faced Orihime. "Don't run off like last time," he said with a wink before walking off.

Orihime turned red with awkwardness. He was flirting with her again. Ichigo watched the whole scene play out in front of him.

"You can't be serious?" he said, breaking Orihime out of her dreamland.

"Huh?" she asked, confused.

"Just a few moments ago you were lecturing me about being blind to the hostess looking at me like a piece of steak, and now you're drooling over this guy that you just seen for the second time in your life like he's some piece of a cake?" Ichigo was growing furious.

Orihime stared at Ichigo for a moment before lightly tapping her fist in the palm of her hand.

"He looks just like you, but he's nicer."

Ichigo widens his eyes at Orihime. "What did you say?"

"He's like your twin, but the nice one while you're the evil one."

"Wha-" He was about to correct her when his phone began ringing. "Hold that thought." He pulled his phone out and noticed the number. "Excuse me."

"Okay," Orihime said watching him remove himself from the booth. He walked outside to the parking lot and answered the phone.

"What?"

"Ichigo you still can't be mad at me for dropping that bomb on you."

"Senna right now isn't a good time."

"Aww, why not? Isn't it the weekend? All you do every weekend is work out and watch the sports channel for the remainder of the day. What can you possibly be doing?"

Ichigo pinched the bridge of his nose. "Look I'm busy… I'm with a client."

"…"

"I got to go." Ichigo looked back at the restaurant, staring at Orihime as she drank a sip of water.

"You're lying." Senna interrupted his gaze.

"What?"

"Who are you with? Does she know that you have a baby on the way? Does she know that you are no longer on the market?" Senna rambled.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Ichigo shouted into the phone.

"I'm the same woman you raped. She just happens to be pregnant now."

"Look I gotta go." Ichigo turned his head towards the window noticing Orihime was staring at him now, that was until the server Shuhei distracted her.

"Is she really worth it?"

"Huh?" Ichigo turned his attention to the voice on the other line.

"Is Orihime Inoue worthy of your time more than me? I'm the one that's pregnant, not her. So, I would advise you to throw away your dreams of being with her and focus on me. That's unless you want her to get hurt?" Ichigo stood silently watching the scene with Orihime and Shuhei. "I don't think you want her to get hurt," Senna said accepting his silence.

"She has nothing to do with this situation you and I have," Ichigo said turning away from the scene.

"Ichigo honey, she has EVERYTHING to do with this."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"It's just like I said. I suggest you wrap up your little lunch date and bring your ass home. I'll be waiting for you there." She then hung up the phone. Ichigo removed the phone from his ear and looked around the parking lot.

Was she really watching me?

He turned his attention back to the two in the restaurant. Orihime was smiling like she never did before with the guy while he crouched down in front of her talking. He turned away clenching his hands. He took a deep breath.

Calming down vaguely, Ichigo made his way back to the restaurant. Orihime was sitting by herself sipping her coffee. He slid into the booth not bothering to make eye contact with her.

"Hey, is everything all right? You seem to be having a heated argument with whoever it was on the phone." He slouched down in the booth.

"It's fine, just work-related business."

She smiled. "Oh okay. Your company is getting ready for the merger, right?"

Ichigo sighed. "Yeah, something like that."

"That's great. Speaking of great, that Toku burger I ordered for you while you were outside. Shuhei convinced me to try it too. It seems to be the restaurant's special burger." Orihime continued to babble on, but Ichigo tuned her out.

Was Senna serious about Orihime? Could he really stop being with her? It shouldn't be so hard to end the relationship, but they work together so that's impossible. And to top it off his grandfather and mother want them to be together for the company, unfortunately. He bit the inside of his cheek. Senna wouldn't do anything to Orihime, especially not if her reputation is on the line.

"Ichigo?"

But ending the relationship with Orihime should not be hard. They're not even together as a couple. Ichigo clenched his fist again. But he wanted a relationship with her. But she's all fucked up in the head about her crazy ex-boyfriend.

"Ichigo?"

And now this idiot waiter is gaining her attention. What does this guy have that he doesn't? He knew Shuhei since they were little because he used to go to this restaurant since he was a kid. Shuhei used to be in the back helping his father run things even if he was a small child. He didn't move up anywhere, instead, he works at the same restaurant as a server and he's a bartender at a hotel. Ichigo stared at the table in front of him. For goodness' sake, he himself was a multi-millionaire in a clothing company. He was good-looking, and he had a good head on his shoulders, so what the hell does Orihime see in that guy?

"Ichigo!" Ichigo snapped out of his train of thought. He looked up at Orihime who had a worried look on her face.

"What?" he said.

"You tell me. I've been calling your name for the past 5 minutes."

"Oh, I didn't notice." Shuhei came back with their food before she could question him further.

"Here you go two Toku burgers with fries. Enjoy." He smiled before walking off. Orihime's mouth watered at the sight of the burger. It looked delicious.

"Wow, Ichigo this looks good." She picked up her burger getting ready to take a bite but stopped mid-way looking at Ichigo who just stared at his food. She placed her burger back down on the plate and pushed it aside. "What's wrong? Aren't you hungry?"

He lifted his eyes to meet her concerned ones. "I suddenly lost my appetite." He slid out of the booth standing up and threw fifty bucks on the table. "Look I gotta go."

"Wha… what do you mean you have to go?" Orihime stuttered. "Did I do something wrong?" He turned away from her. "Please don't go."

Ichigo could feel the sadness coming from her plea.

"I need to go Orihime."

"Is it something dealing with work? I can go with you to help out." She slid out of the booth and stood behind Ichigo. He still had his back turned towards her.

"No. I'll call my car service to pick you up." He started walking away.

"Ichigo," Orihime ran after him. The hostess smiled at the two.

"Have a nice day." They both ignored her.

"Ichigo hold on and wait!"

Orihime grabbed his shirt trying to stop him. He finally stopped and turned around. She had tears falling from her eyes.

"Please don't leave," she sniffled gripping his shirt tighter.

He closed his eyes. "Orihime… I can't be with you."

"Huh? Why not? It's just our first date; we're slowly getting to know each other. Is it because Shuhei was flirting with me? It didn't mean anything. I'm sorry." Orihime smiled up at him through her tears. "Don't tell me you're jealous?" she tried to humor him.

"It's not that," Ichigo turned his head away from Orihime. More tears fell from her eyes.

"So why not?" She started laughing through the embarrassment. "Is it someone else?"

Ichigo sighed as he faced her. He slowly pushed a strand of her hair away from her face.

"Yes…"

Orihime stopped laughing. She then let go of his shirt. "Wha… what do you mean?"

"I…" Ichigo looked down not making eye contact with her. "I got my ex-girlfriend pregnant."

She stood silently reading his expressions. They both stood in the middle of the parking lot unaware of their surroundings. "Tell me this is some sort of a sick joke," she whispered.

Ichigo ran his hand through his hair. "I wish it was."

"…How… how long did you know?"

He raised his eyebrows. "Um, a few days ago I found out."

Orihime gripped her chest. This was becoming too much. "When were you going to tell me?"

"I wasn't going to tell you at all." Ichigo removed his hand from his hair. "I was going to find out if the baby was really mine or not. Honestly, I'm hoping it's not mine. I can't afford to have a child of my own with a woman I don't really love. And if it is mine and if she wasn't so far along, I would want her to get an abort-"

SMACK

"Don't you dare say that!" Orihime screamed. "Who are you to tell that woman she's not allowed to have a baby? She didn't create the baby all by herself. It takes two to tango." She pulled on her chest. "You have no right to tell her to get an abortion. How can you be so heartless?"

Ichigo watched her as she began to sob.

"How am I being heartless? How would you feel if someone dropped a life-changing bomb on you? You wouldn't know how it feels until you have gone through it."

"What the hell does that mean?" Orihime snapped at him. "I'm not a naïve child. I almost had a baby. I know exactly how you feel and how your ex-girlfriend feels. You don't know how it feels to have a life pulled out of you, so don't you dare tell me that I don't know anything!"

Ichigo felt himself getting angry. "Of course, I know how it feels! I had seen it with my own eyes. My mother died in front of me, and I couldn't do shit about it. My mother died because I was useless. Her life wasn't pulled but it sure as hell was taken from me. So don't try to criticize me on what I know and don't know. You don't fucking know me and what I've been through!"

Orihime grew furious. "And you think you know me? I've been through the same shit Ichigo! But more than you can imagine. I saw my parents kill each other and I saw my brother's life taken from me. Then my baby was ripped out of me, so don't give me that shit that 'oh I've been worse than you' competition. This is real life so don't try and play with it acting as a god. You and your ex did the act together, so don't try and take the easy way out and think about aborting a life. Take responsibility!"

They both stood shaking with anger, not noticing that some people had gathered outside the restaurant.

"Uh excuse me?" They both snapped their heads toward the voice that interrupted them.

"What?" they yelled in unison.

The hostess cringed at their yelling. "Well, it's just that you're making a scene, and it's bad for business." They both finally noticed the people whispering to one another. Ichigo took a step back away from Orihime.

"Look, I have to go now." He moved away from an angry Orihime towards his car. "I'll call for someone to pick you up."

"I don't need it! I can walk my ass home."

"Orihime you can't be serious." He ran a hand down his face. "Fine, I'll drive you home."

"NO!" She turned away from him and the crowd. "I need some air. And I can't take around you." She then left him in the parking lot with curious onlookers.

Ichigo opened the door to his bachelor pad. He stepped in, locking the door behind him. He then threw his keys in the bowl containing all the other keys he owns. He sighed before leaning on the front door and sliding down. He placed his head in the palms of his hands. He knew from here on out he and Orihime would no longer have a steady relationship if they were to be on speaking terms. He groaned.

Will their companies still unite? Why was he thinking of work at a time like this? He really was becoming like his grandfather.

"Aww baby, what has you down in the dumps?" His hallway light turned on and there stood the pregnant Senna. He snapped his eyes at her.

"How the hell did you get in my house?"

"Uh, through the front door like a normal person." Senna walked up to him as he was still sitting on the floor. "Wow, you look angry and depressed at the same time."

He turned his head away from her.

"I'm guessing you two broke up, or so I've heard. It seemed pretty intense arguing in the restaurant's parking lot. She must mean a lot to you to have you looking like," her hands pointed at him up and down, "…this." Ichigo stood up and towered over her. She took a step back away from his angry eyes. "Hey, I didn't tell you to make a scene when breaking it off. That was all you."

"Why would you want me to end anything with her? I thought you didn't care if I was in that… that things life?" he said pointing at her baby bulge.

Senna smiled. "Well, there was a change of plans apparently."

"What do you mean plans?" Ichigo took a step closer to her.

"Well, you see I didn't want to be a single mother. I'm a businesswoman too, and I can't afford to leave my work undone. You had a part of this, so take responsibility babes." He cringed. That word responsibility was being thrown at him a lot today. "And on top of that, I can't have you dating other bimbos while I'm pregnant. With my hormones raging and feeling horny I need someone around. If I can't date, neither can you."

Ichigo bit his tongue. He was about ready to lash out at this mad woman.

"Since we're both single good-looking people, we might as well be together. Well now that's out the way, feed me! Boy, am I hungry." She walked away from him towards the kitchen. Ichigo followed close behind. She sat in the same spot that Orihime was sitting in early that day around his island counter. "Cook me something delicious and big; remember I'm eating for two." He walked to his refrigerator and pulled out all the ingredients he might need.

"Mm, it's just like when we were dating." Ichigo remained silent. Suddenly her phone began ringing. She pulled out her phone and smirked at the familiar number. "Now, if you would excuse me, my dear. It's work." She removed herself from the counter and made her way to the balcony.

"Whatever," Ichigo tried his best to pay attention to what he was going to make. He had to focus on what he could do next. How could he keep Orihime in his life and Senna away from it?

"Hello?" Senna whispered when she slid the balcony door shut.

"How did everything go on your end?" a smooth voice asked.

"Pretty well. My associate said they had a very huge argument at the restaurant."

"Good."

"I'm a bit sad," Senna whined.

"Why is that?"

"Because my great body is going to be ruined by this thing growing in me."

"It's a sacrifice that has to be taken."

"Fine, I guess I can last another 2-3 months. But what's the point of doing all of this? What does that bimbo have that you need her so much?"

"Don't call her that!" The voice on the other end snapped.

Senna frowned. "I'm sorry sir."

"And that is none of your concern."

"Okay Master Aizen," she sighed.

BAMM! Chapter done and as long as the other, maybe longer.

These ladies and gentlemen is when the plot thickens.

Please REVIEW! And see you next week.