~FIREFLY KNIGHTS~
Bleach Copyright Tite Kubo
Firefly Knights Copyright Illand Girl
'For those that need a Guardian.'
Chapter 5: Changing
"What did you get for question six?"
"1.25."
"Wait what? I got 3.66!"
I chucked a piece of paper at Ichigo's head.
"You have to simplify the equation first, not just go from one side to the other." I reminded him from where I sat on his bed. Ichigo huffed, glaring at me after I tossed another balled up paper at his head.
"What was that one for?"
"Target practice. I'm done already." I said, showing my fully completed assignment. Ichigo looked surprised as I flopped back onto his bed.
"Wait all thirty questions? Seriously?" I felt a bit insulted as I rolled onto my side and narrowed my eyes at him.
"Well yeah, they're not complicated questions." I watched Ichigo struggle for a moment longer before standing up and looking over his shoulder. I pointed to the question at hand and helped him simplify the equation. Then I watched him do one as I leaned against his shoulder and waited for him to do another, correcting him when needed and reaching over him to point to the page at any mistakes. Ichigo went quiet, and I could see the determination on his face to complete the task.
"There, all done." Ichigo sounded relieved as he slouched. I stood up and stretched.
"Good work." I gave a long sigh as I stretched with my arms over my head. It was then that the bedroom door was slammed open and Isshin came, quite literally, flying into the room. He went to kick Ichigo, who blocked and parried with his father.
"God dammit! Can't I have a moment of peace around here?" Ichigo shouted. Isshin laughed at him.
"I just wanted to be sure my young boy wasn't trying to become a man! Can't have you stealing our sweet Naomi away into the night now, can we?" He laughed again, sounding a little hysterical. I rolled my eyes, about to correct him when Ichigo gave a loud scream and shoved his foot into Isshin's face.
"Knock it off! It's just Naomi, stop saying weird things!" Ichigo said while his face turned red. I huffed and crossed my arms.
"Well, that's just rude, I thought I looked extra cute today too." I joked, making Ichigo hesitate as he looked over to me with a grumble.
"Don't feed into it!" He shouted.
"Hey everyone! Time for dinner!" Yuzu called from the door. I waved to her and stepped out of the room to leave the bickering guys.
"Hi Yuzu, perfect timing." I greeted her as we walked to the kitchen together. Yuzu was her usual bubbly self with Karin seemed to be extra gloomy today. Still the black-haired girl nodded to me and continued with her meal. As we arrived into the kitchen Isshin came flying down the hall, crashing into the opposite wall.
"Give it a rest already!" Ichigo shouted as he stomped up to us. I giggled, thinking it was hilarious as Isshin cried to his giant poster of Masaki. Ichigo grumbled again as he stepped up to the table. He looked at me as I went to sit next to him, but he pulled both his and my chairs out before sitting down first. I slid into mine and looked at him, wondering what was going through his head. He glanced at me, raising a brow.
"What is it?" He asked, but most of the anger from earlier was gone. I stared at his face a bit more, thinking back to school and how most of the girls thought he had a scary looking face.
He definitely had a mean scowl, but I could never take it seriously since I knew how much of a softie he could be. I smiled at him.
"Nothing, just thinking how funny it is that everyone thinks you're a meanie." I gently poked his side. "When in reality you're a big softie."
Ichigo grumbled again, tick marks growing all over his face, but then they disappeared as he opted not to answer and just ate.
Dinner went by with the normal chit chat, Isshin insisting I take food home while Karin would talk casually but always be looking at me and Ichigo as though deep in thought. I was staying over at the Kurosaki's house more and more often for dinner. Ichigo and I would walk home from school together every day, or as much as possible, and then we would do our homework before he would walk me home, or he would walk me to the clinic. I rejected an offer to walk me home from the clinic, since the sun was still up most of the time, but Ichigo normally showed up anyways.
Today was a little different, since Yuzu wanted to have help with her homework. She insisted I relax and hang with Ichigo for a while before we started, so I took it upon myself to flop onto Yuzu's bed and wait for her.
I blinked and was awake again. Only, I wasn't in my own bed.
Morning light was filtering through the window, and I quickly realized this was in fact Ichigo's bed. What made less sense was the fact that I was sleeping in Ichigo's t-shirt and sweatpants. The carrot top was also nowhere to be seen.
"What...?" I pulled myself up, feeling dizzy from the sudden movement, and slowly made my way out to the hallway. Once I made it to the living room, I could see the carrot top sleeping on the couch.
"Ichigo?" I asked, reaching out to shake his shoulder. Surely he knew what happened? But as I reached to touch his arm, he suddenly grabbed my forearm and yanked on me. I squeaked, barely keeping my balance as he pulled me forward. Ichigo's warm brown eyes blinked blearily at me, then as if realizing who I was he immediately let go.
"Naomi?" He sounded surprised, then calmed himself slightly as he took note of my confusion. "Are you okay? Why are you up so early?"
"I-I don't know. I don't even remember going to sleep." I felt a bit startled at first, but as I sat down on the couch beside his hip a warmth spread through me. The smell of what I could only describe as warm chocolate and the summer sun met my senses then. It was a comforting feeling and calmed me slightly.
"Really? You stayed helping Yuzu so late you were practically passed out by the time I came to check on you two. So you agreed to stay over as long as you got a bed to sleep in." Ichigo said, not sounding nearly as grumpy as I expected him to be.
"Oh, yeah, that makes sense." I tugged at his shirt. "Guess I raided your closet, any idea where my clothes are?"
Ichigo flinched, but then shrugged it off.
"How should I know? That's a little creepy if I would've." He looked away for a moment, then back at me. "And you're feeling okay?"
"Huh?" I looked at him, raising a brow. "Yeah? I'm good, why?"
Ichigo looked at me then with a slight sadness, surprising me more. There was definitely something he hadn't told me then, but I couldn't understand what it could be. Why would Ichigo ever lie to me? Unless whatever it was wasn't a lie as it wasn't my business.
"Ichigo?" He snapped out of it then, looking a bit more alert. "Are you okay?"
Ichigo gave a small smile, leaning closer to me then. I could feel the heat radiating from his body.
"Yeah." Though it was one word, there seemed to be a lot of relief in it as he spoke. We stared at each other, and I wanted to open my mouth and ask him what was going on, but Isshin, of course, came flying between us. Ichigo and I leaned away just as Isshin did a flying kick at where his son's head would've been.
"Seriously?! It's too early for this shit!" Ichigo yelled. Isshin jumped up and pointed at us.
"Ha! I agree Ichigo! Not on my sofa!" He yelled back.
"That's my cue to leave." I muttered, deciding that instead of finding my clothes I would just walk home and get my second uniform. However, when I turned around and looked at the kitchen, I startled.
There was a giant gaping hole right next to the entrance way.
"When did..."
I looked over to see the guys had froze, then Isshin looked over, and he had a face full of panic.
"MY HOUSE!" His wails were loud enough that they could've woken the dead. It woke his daughters, and the five of us stood outside the building and stared at the massive hole.
"Can't believe a truck drove into the side of the building and none of us woke up." Karin said, arms behind her head. I frowned, looking for tire marks and seeing none.
What on Earth happened here?
"Naomi?" Ichigo called. I looked up at him. "Did you need me to walk you home?"
"Huh? Oh no that's okay, I'll be fine." I played with the hem of his shirt and a small grin. "But I will need these for a little while longer."
Ichigo huffed.
"C'mon! You can't be stealing my clothes!" Karin noticed us then and frowned.
"Speaking of, why are you wearing Ichigo's things?" she asked while Yuzu squealed.
"So you are seeing each other?" She sounded gleeful, but both Ichigo and I shouted 'NO!' at the same time and her mood deflated. I looked at Karin.
"Speaking of, have you seen my clothes? They seemed to have just vanished." Karin shrugged.
"No clue, that's kinda weird though." She said. I'd have to agree with her on that one.
With one final "I hope your insurance covers this." to Isshin, I left the Kurosaki's and rushed to my apartment.
Even at a brisk jog and only stopping to brush my hair and make some tea I still didn't make it to school until second period. It was- surprisingly- still faster than Ichigo. The carrot top had yet to show up.
"Naomi! I was so worried when you and Ichigo didn't show up!" Orihime said as she sidled up next to me. I gave her a smile.
"Mm, yeah, I overslept. Did I miss much?" I asked, leaning against the desk behind me. Tatsuki sidled up next to Orihime and shrugged.
"We have a new student." she said, gesturing to a girl stepping into class. She was small and quiet looking as she walked to her desk without sparing anyone another glance. The smell of summer wafted to my nose and on reaction I turned and looked to the door. Low and behold Ichigo appeared. He glanced around, then saw me. He walked casually, looking bored.
"Hey, Naomi. Looks like you beat me here." He said as he stopped in front of me.
"Yeah well, I'm sure the hole in the wall took some time to clean up." Orihime and Tatsuki looked between us, confused.
"Wait... what hole?" Tasuki asked. Ichigo tsked, then looked away.
"Tell you later-" He froze, his eyes staring at the new student. She stood up and turned to look at him with a polite smile.
"Ah, you're Ichigo Kurosaki, correct? Pleased to meet you. My name is Rukia Kuchiki." She had a pleasant voice as she held out her hand to Ichigo. He looked down at it and grumbled, then turned and glanced at me.
"Hey, I'll be right back. Let's eat lunch together on the roof." Ichigo said. I frowned but nodded. He then nodded to Rukia before the pair left the classroom. The three of us stared after them.
"Well that was weird." Tatsuki put her hands on her hips.
"Yeah. It's like he knew her, but I don't remember him ever mentioning a Rukia before." I said after a moment.
"Maybe he has a secret girlfriend?" Orihime supplied, then paused. "Maybe she's an undercover cop and knows something that happened, and Ichigo is involved in some gang related event?"
I couldn't deny that Ichigo did get into his fair share of trouble... Then I remembered the hole in the wall, but why would a cop need to act as a student? Did Ichigo meet her last night? He was acting so strange this morning...
I waited on the roof for Ichigo for all of lunch, but he never showed up. Rukia and him never returned to class that day and it was beginning to make me nervous. At the entrance to the school, I idled a bit, trying to think of where Ichigo might've gone, when the boy in question showed up from around the corner.
"Where were you?" I asked with a frown. Ichigo sighed as he stopped next to me.
"Sorry, I got into another fight by the park." He admitted. I looked him over, noticing he had some dirt on his face.
"Is that where you went with Rukia?" I asked it while licking my thumb.
"Huh? Oh, uh yeah. She wanted to talk so we went for a wa- hey what are you doing? Cut it out!" Ichigo yelled at me while I tried to clean his face like a mother would with a damp thumb. I ignored him, standing on my tiptoes to reach him and scrubbed aggressively at his face. When he tried to pull away, I grabbed the back of his neck with my other arm and kept him still.
"There, now you don't look like a dirty thug." I teased, letting him go. Ichigo scrubbed aggressively at his face with his shirt, glaring at me.
"Gross! Your saliva is all over my face!" He said while getting a little high pitched. I rolled my eyes.
"You're such a baby." I said before heading to my apartment for the night.
"Hey- why are you going that way?" Ichigo asked, matching my stride.
"It's too later to study tonight, plus I'm kinda tired." It wasn't a lie; I'd had a wicked headache all day too.
"I'll walk you then." Ichigo said, leaving no room for argument. I was grateful for it; the sun was setting, and I had to walk through alley ways to get home. It was an easy way to save going all the way around the block, but you never knew what was in them until you were there.
Once Ichigo had dropped me off at my apartment, I said goodnight. However, as Ichigo began to leave, I called out to him. He looked back at me as I frowned at him.
"Did something happen last night?" I asked, noticing the way he tensed.
"What do you mean?" he asked carefully. Seeing the way he wasn't going to budge, I changed tactics.
"You know you can tell me anything, right?" He looked down at the ground, looking unsure, so I added on to it. "You're my best friend."
"I-" He sighed, then looked at me with a weak smile. "I'll tell you another time. It's just-" '
"I get it. Goodnight Ichigo." He smiled softly at me.
"'Night, Nao."
I stepped into my apartment, frowning again. So something had happened, and Ichigo wasn't ready to tell me.
I thought of Rukia, of the hole, of me waking up on his bed, my missing clothing... but I couldn't add it all up. How could I just forget getting into his bed like that? In his clothes? I mean sure, as kids we had sleepovers at my house, but we were toddlers!
I huffed, frowning deeper before getting ready for bed.
The next few days things seemed to return to normal.
Well, as 'normal' as things could be with a friend like Ichigo Kurosaki. He was back to his usual indifference and 'tough guy' persona shortly after the night I literally can't remember. We had gone back to routine but hadn't talked about it yet. I didn't blame him; he was probably rattled by the event. I hadn't even considered the fact that he was sleeping in the same room as that giant hole.
The other bizarre thing that was going on, was Rukia.
Anytime I was with Ichigo she seemed to pop up in one way or another. Sometimes Ichigo flat out ignored her, and other times he would gently redirect where we were going and avoid her all together. I wasn't entirely sure what was going on but knowing Ichigo it probably had something to do with their last rendezvous. If it had anything to do with feelings , I didn't need to be in the know.
Otherwise, life seemed to move on normally.
That weekend I had the day off from the clinic, so Ichigo and I were wandering around town just hanging out. We were discussing a manga we were both reading when low and behold, Rukia showed up waving and cheery. Ichigo went pale, then grabbed my upper arm and yanked me to turn and cross the street.
"Hey! Don't man handle me! That's abuse!" I snapped, but Ichigo didn't let up as he yanked me forward.
"Don't care, I'm not dealing with her today." He said, walking so quickly I had to jog next to him.
"Hey slow down! Some of us have little legs here!" I grumbled, to which he finally slowed as the traffic light changed. He sighed, looking a bit relieved. I raised a brow as we continued to walk.
"Y'know, you can always just turn her down if that's the issue." I said. Ichigo's gaze snapped to mine.
"Huh?!" He looked like an idiot with his mouth hung open like that. Dramatically, I reached up and shoved it closed.
"Rukia. Did you turn her down or what? She obviously wants to talk to you." I said, glancing over my shoulder to where Rukia was rushing through traffic.
"Ah shit." Ichigo muttered before he turned and speed-walked down the street. I watched him for a moment, about to follow, when a screeching noise came from the pedestrian corridor we'd just been through. I turned to look back and saw someone lying in the street.
"Hey! Are you okay?!" I shouted while running up to them. Cars were honking as one sped away. I got up to the person and immediately recognized the busty orange haired girl.
"Orihime?!" She moaned, barely moving, so I half carried half dragged her out of the streets. Her bag of groceries was still everywhere on the pavement, some of it squished as cars drove over it. "Assholes."
"Naomi?" Orihime asked. She then looked to the street, where Ichigo had arrived and began to pick up all her things wordlessly. Cars honked as I stood defiantly between the boy and the oncoming traffic to act as a pillar for the crouching man.
"Oh! Please don't risk yourselves for me!" Orihime tried to stand, but then Rukia stepped forward and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Are you alright? Did you get hit by a car?" I heard Rukia ask as Ichigo and I walked over to them. Orihime stood up, walking tenderly on one of her legs. I saw a massive bruise on her leg forming and gasped.
"Oh! That must hurt!" I exclaimed, moving forward to help her stand better. Orihime winced, but then tried to laugh it off.
"Oh silly me, I got in the way of the car, haha..." She was shaking though. I slung one of her arms over my shoulder.
"Where do you live Orihime? We'll give you a hand." Ichigo glared at me.
"We will?" He squawked, but one actual glare from me and he grumbled again. "Yeah, we will."
Orihime pulled away from me then, her face turning bright red.
"Oh no! Please don't! I don't live far so please, I'll just walk myself!" She grabbed her groceries from Ichigo, and surprisingly walked steadily away from us with her head bowed. I thought about reaching out to her and insisting, but the whispering behind me caught my attention. I turned to see Ichigo and Rukia whispering to each other. Both looked bothered by something, but the fact that they were suddenly talking made me raise a brow.
Ichigo noticed my frown first and stepped closer to me.
"Why don't we head home for dinner?" He asked. I paused, noticing Rukia still looking at us from where she was. Then I looked back to Ichigo.
"I think I want to head back to my apartment, actually. Maybe prep some meals for the week."
Ichigo hummed, stuffing his hands in his pockets.
"Sure, did you need to do any more shopping or anything?" He asked, and while he may have looked calm to the naked eye, his whole body looked rigid to me. I glanced at Rukia again, who was still staring in our direction.
"No, I just want to curl up and read that manga honestly." I confessed, smiling a little. This brought out a smirk from Ichigo as he ruffled my hair. I slapped his hand away. "Hey, who's trying to act like a big sibling now?"
"Oh can it, shorty." Ichigo said while playfully pushing me. I stuck my tongue out and we headed to my apartment. This time I didn't hesitate after saying goodnight. There were only so many times I could tell him I was here to talk before it got annoying anyways.
Forget me asking Ichigo if something was happening, something was definitely different.
For one, Rukia and Ichigo seemed... chummy.
They talked a lot, but never during class. Sometimes they'd both just up and vanish for a while. What was worse was the fact that Tatsuki spent the better part of the next few days teasing me about someone 'stealing my man.'
"He's not my man." I muttered, kicking the fencing on the roof.
"Not your what?"
I turned to see Ichigo... and Rukia.
"Hey," I said while letting myself slide down the fencing and sit on the floor. "Nothing, just Tatsuki being Tatsuki."
Ichigo laughed shortly, sitting next to me.
"Yeah, she can be a pain sometimes. Oh, I don't know if you two ever properly met, but Naomi, this is Rukia. Rukia, Naomi." Ichigo said, snapping his straw into a juice box. Rukia stared at hers, frowning. She glanced up at me then and smiled so fakely I didn't believe it for a second.
"Oh hello there. It's such a pleasure to meet you." Rukia said in a rather upbeat tone. For some strange reason, a pit developed in my gut, and I lacked even half the enthusiasm in return.
"Nice to meet you too." I said quietly, not smiling. Rukia stared at me for a moment more before going back to her juice box.
Whether it was actually awkward or just felt that way for me, I couldn't tell. But there was no conversation while I sat there, and with Rukia looming nearby it didn't seem like I could start one up. So I stood up and fixed my skirt.
"I'm going to find Orihime and Tatsuki. They wanted to chat about something." I lied, wanting to evade this weird awkwardness. Ichigo looked surprised, and a little deflated.
"Oh, sure. Make sure you come by today though. Yuzu is making Tonkatsu for you." Ichigo said as he stood as well. I smiled; his sister was an absolute gem.
"Sure, see you around." I said, nodding to Rukia before leaving them. When I made it to the stairwell, I glanced back at them. Ichigo and Rukia were already in a deep conversation.
Something wretched deep in my gut, so I paused for a moment.
Ichigo was always the type of guy to feign politeness if he had to, but very few people did he ever act like his true self with. But right now, Ichigo's eyes were lit up as he argued with Rukia about something. And then it shifted as he looked down at his juice box, and his rare warm smile broke out across his face. He looked back up to her with the same smile, his eyes bright, and Rukia looked surprised, if a bit admiring.
"Tsk." I turned and rushed down the stairs.
Jealous Nao is still my favourite Nao to write. That jealousy really works in Ichigo's favour for later chapters. Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed it.
Chapter edited: March 9/2024
Tumblr: Plznomonkeys
Thanks for reading.
Cheers.
Iland Girl
