Y'know, I keep promising myself that I wouldn't let these chapters grow so big, but I figured I had a problem when the outline ended being larger in size than Chapter 3... Uh, yeah...
Well, I guess I can blame it on an appearance by a long awaited character 'n all...
I also want to mention that zerohour was correct in the last thread and my math was fuzzed up. It has been 5 years since Masaki died at this moment in the story. I will be fixing those soon.
Once again all C&C is welcome, especially when it's constructive. Please, also, by all means point out any mistakes in spelling that I missed as well as grammer if it can be fixed. If you think that a line or two or a paragraph can be phrased better than send it along as well.
Again, many thanks to all of you who are still reading and enjoying.
There will be multiple sections so if you don't see 'To Be Continued' at the end I haven't finished posting it all.
So, without further ado:
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Disclaimer: Bleach is created by Tite Kubo and is distributed by Weekly Shonen Jump, Shueisha,Studio Pierrot, TV Tokyo, Adult Swim, & Viz Media. Ah My Goddess is created by Kousuke Fujishima and is distributed by Kodansha, Afternoon Magazine, AIC, Tokyo Broadcast Station (TBS), Animeigo, Geneon, Dark Horse Manga, Media Blasters, ADV Films & FUNimation Entertainment. No infringement is intended.
Blessings In Disguise
Book I: Be Careful What You Wish For
Chapter 5
-...But You Can't Choose Your Family-
A Few Days Ago...
June in Karakura Town was unfortunately for many people a small preview of the coming summer. The sun overhead, just bearable at the moment seemed to be teasing the inhabitants, letting them know that it could go higher, and within a few weeks would.
This day however the cause of much sweat and panting wasn't due to the warm sun overhead, for this day much to it's dismay it had been eclipsed by something that caused the heat within oneself to rise on it's own.
Or at least, to a normal human male the heat would rise upon catching a glimpse upon this object.
To a female the heat would rise in reaction to the male's reaction, or realizing that comparison was moot.
Paying attention to none of the people around her Urd continued to strut herself to her destination. Smiling to herself as she turned at the second to last corner she could feel some of the anxiety leave as she found herself closer to her goal.
Swiftly snapping her head to the side, her hair flew from one end to the other, giving off an effect that most supermodels would hard pressed to emulate.
Unfortunately an added affect was that cars began to swerve in an out, their drivers twisting their heads to get another glimpse of perfection. For the traffic officers on duty, this only caused their heat to rise at the chaos around them.
With one final turn, Urd closed her eyes and remembered the data Yggsdrasil was able to give her on the subject. In just a few moments the boy would be reduced to putty and the first major clue to her sister's disappearance would be at hand.
Opening her eyes she found herself looking forward to catching the first glimpse of the Kurosaki's family...
...ramen shop?
"Eh?", Urd squeaked out. Quickly concentrating she recalled the data she studied before leaving and looked once more at the shop in front of her.
The address she had matched the one in front of her.
'What..what the hell?'
She stood there a few moments attempting to make sense of it all.
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Present
Breakfast at the Kurosaki's was normally an active affair; usually with the girls talking amongst themselves or including their mother or more recently the father and son verbal sparring. With the recent blessing of a new arrival life at the table was sure to be more bustling.
Yet that was not quite the case this morning.
"DAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Of those gathered at the table two were currently rolling over the floor clutching their stomachs as if they'd burst if they let go.
Still at the table Belldandy took a sip of her tea while Yuzu watched her fraternal twin and father continue to bust their guts out. Keiichi was next to his mother in a baby carrier on an extra table seat, happily kicking around and waving his hands. Orihime sat next to Yuzu, quiet with her hands on her lap and head lowered, attempting to hide a blush that matched her copper colored hair.
Ichigo sat opposite Orihime, a hand on his bowl of rice with chopsticks in the other, attempting and failing miserably to ignore the two while hiding his reddening face. He was just about to break the chopsticks in his hand when suddenly both Karin and Isshin stopped and sat up.
Surprised at the abrupt halt all eyes were on the two as they rose. Seeing both Ichigo and Orihime both of their cheeks bubbled, attempting and then failing to hold another round in, Isshin then slapping his lap.
While the chopsticks in Ichigo's hand had begun to crack at the antics, one would be hard pressed to tell if his face was red from either embarrassment or anger.
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Last Night
Karin exhaled as she slid into the bath, joining her sister Yuzu. Stretching she slid further down until the water reached her neck.
"Ah, man, what a day", she muttered, feeling the heat of the water work it's magic on her.
"Yes", Yuzu agreed with her, sitting opposite of her. Sighing, she looked upward. "Oniisama hasn't come home yet".
"He should be home soon", Karin supplied, though not quite getting it out as cheeful as she hoped.
Before Yuzu could reply the door slid open and Orihime walked in, one hand carrying a towel which covered her front while also holding her bathing supplies and change of clothes. Closing the door with her free hand, she swiftly stripped down and made her way to the wash section. Sitting down she placed her clothes and bucket down nearby and grabbed the shower hose and began to rinse herself off.
"Orihime-neesama, has oniisama...", she trailed off and lowered her head as Orihime paused and shook her head at her.
"No, but I don't think he'll be gone much longer. It's not like he did anything bad."
"That's right", Karin piped up, sitting straight. Her eyes then squinched up. "But what I don't get is why he ran off. Stupid old man, I bet he managed to skunk things up somehow. He knows Ichi-ni wouldn't do anything like that without reason."
The other two girls nodded at that.
Orihime began scrubbing herself up with soap as Yuzu spoke once more. "Hearing from Asano-san and Kojima-san about oniisama earlier makes me feel better but I wish he'd come home..."
"Yuzu", Karin growled out. "He's not some stray puppy, he'll be fine".
"She's right, Yuzu-chan", Orihime said, turning to her. Scrubbing her head she continued. "If anything does happen Ichigo-kun will take his fighting pose and scare any bad guys off!", she then demonstrated by holding her arms out and bringing them in quickly, giving off a soft though cute kiai. Her out held fists were clenched and her elbows were at her waist.
Her little maneuver wasn't quite so effective while sitting down, though it did sufficently make her chest bounce as a few sizeable soap suds went airborne.
Both Karin and Yuzu's heads followed the suds as they went up and came down nearby, sounds of admiration coming through their mouths at that demonstration. "Wow", they both muttered before looking down and patted themselves, wondering when they could do that.
It was then that Orihime fully rinsed off and made her way toward the furo, stepping in and sitting back. "Aaah", she moaned happily as she set herself in.
They continued to make small talk about the day's events until the girls finally got out and began to dry themselves off. Bidding her a good night, both left her alone as they first shut the bath door and then the entrance door after.
It was then that Orihime brought her legs in, her arms wrapping around them and rested her head on top of her knees, which were the only parts above water. Some of her wet bangs broke free from what little hold the water had, allowing them to fall over eyes.
"Ichigo-kun", she whispered softly. She found herself wishing that the girls were back, as alone her self assured words from earlier seemed to lose their power in the silence that immediately followed in their departure. It chilled her, despite the heat of the water that enveloped her.
The words she overheard earlier came back to her, of when they all heard him confront his father. In the two years she had known them, nothing like that had ever happened. While Ichigo would at times grow frustrated and argue with his father, there was always a sense that much of their verbal sparring was for show.
What little she overheard gave none of that impression, and it bothered her greatly. Ichigo just hadn't been quite himself lately, at times staring off into space, or just gazing as if seeing something or noticing something for the first time.
Like when he referred to her...
It really seemed to start the night when they went to see Keiichi for the first time after he was born and Ichigo had collapsed after entering the room. She had froze, utterly frightened by what had happened but couldn't move, even after Tatsuki rushed to him.
He had looked so lost when he had come to, and that she couldn't do anyting after...
Later she had talked to Tatsuki about it, but she didn't quite seem to think much was wrong, other than Ichigo-kun had had a bad spell. Even after pointing out how strange he had acted at school Tatsuki still seemed to pay it no mind. Though she did end up getting a strange look from her when she hypothesized if he had been abducted by aliens and replaced with double.
Or maybe he was upset at her for not helping him when he collapsed at the hospitable? It was then that she had hit upon her idea to help him; that she'd stay over the night to help them with the baby, chores, cooking - to help give back for everything they did for her. Maybe then he would be ok again.
When she asked Isshin he had been quick to agree and give his approval, though he did seem to want her to stay more with Ichigo-kun than the kitchen...
But now with all this happening it all seemed for naught, as the day was gone and Ichigo was still not home. While she would be leaving the day after tomorrow, it already seemed like she wouldn't be able to get anything accomplished.
Sighing she rose from the bath and let the water run off her as she squeezed her hair, the droplets making rapid dripping sounds as they fell into the water below. Stepping out she made her way toward her towel and paused as she reconsidered her thoughts.
Ichigo *would* be back soon, and she *would* find a way to make him feel better! There still was tomorrow and some of the day after! Determination rose within her and she again struck a pose that would have made Karin proud, standing tall and pointing forward, legs slightly spread with the other arm on her hip.
'Maybe making a late dessert would help to start things off', she thought positively. Humming, she resumed drying herself off.
Soon satisfied that she was dry, she made her way toward her clothes and picked up her panties, holding them out to look at and stretching them a bit she then bent over to slip her legs in.
Once secure, she grabbed her pajama bottoms and held them out as well, again seemingly to look at them as she then lowered and slid a foot through.
It was at that moment the door slid open and another figure entered, facing the door as it was closed before turning around.
Wiggling her hips as she let loose the elastic on her pajama bottoms she felt a small gust of cool air and stood still, attempting for a few seconds to think what may have caused it. Realizing that it was because the door was opened she turned around, thinking maybe it was Belldandy.
And found Ichigo standing there.
Her eyes widened as she smiled widely at the realization.
He's back!
For Ichigo Kurosaki, he went rigid in shock at the sight in front of him. After a long day of contemplation, understanding, a brief brawl and reconciliation it was somewhat forgivable that he would allow some things to slip his mind.
This was not the kind of reminder he would have expected.
He had stepped into the bath to figuratively and literally wash off the events of the day when he found himself first staring at a waving rump several feet in front of him before the owner of said rump stood up and turned. That last bit of information of who it belonged to made it's way to his currently short circuiting brain as he saw her state of dress, or rather undress as she turned to face him.
His mouth went dry and his mind froze up as he caught sight of two large, slightly wet, round-
"Ichigo-kun! You're back!", she shouted before she then bounded toward him, stopping just a foot away.
The lack of moisture in his mouth made gulping difficult as he saw every movement as Orihime quickly made her way to him.
"You're back, you're finally back!", Orihime cried, her face now alight with enough power to run a city block. "We were so worried! Your mom had gone out and then when she came back you weren't there and were gone so long!"
Ichigo just nodded his head, eyes still cast downward.
Orihime's face then became stern as she bent forward a brought a finger up and waved it at him. "Yuzu was just so worried about you! You should have called especially when we had company stop by!"
"Wha- huh?", Ichigo replied, his brain attempting to reboot.
"It was just so sudden!" Orihime had continued. "We were all in the living room, wondering where you went and then a knock came from the door and Karin went -WHHOOOOOOOOMMM-", Orihime said she had described by bringing her arms from one side and swinging them to the other side quickly, showing how fast Karin moved, "all the way to the front door!"
Ichigo promptly dropped his bathing contents, all feeling gone from his hands.
Orihime continued not noticing, "But it wasn't you, it was...", she stopped as she then stood straight, looked up and brought a hand to her chin to tap her finger against it, now in thought. "It was...Asano-san and Koji- Yes! Asano-san and Kojima-san! They had visited when we went to see Keiichi and - and?"
Orihime paused as Ichigo suddenly lowered himself to the floor, grabbing his fallen contents and holding them with one hand in front of his pants as he then stood up. With his free arm he grabbed the shouji door and slid it open, stepping backwards and closing it when he made it though. Looking at the shadow he gave off she then saw him grip the waistline of his pants and quickly jerk it side to side as his shadow faded, hearing the entrance door slide open then shut.
Orihime blinked in surprise at Ichigo's sudden departure before she realized that her upper body suddenly felt cooler at the doors opening and closing. Looking down her eyes widened as her face then turned a bright shade of red.
Giving a soft yelp she brought her arms up to her chest, her hands discovering that her heart was now attempting to burst forth.
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Present
"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"
"Oh my god, Ichi-ni!", Karin managed to get out. "You just missed one set of twins but ended up meeting another!"
That set off another round between the two, with Karin now starting to wheeze. Isshin was still at the counter trying to stand up, one arm holding himself up while the other was trying to wipe away tears.
Ichigo sat rooted to his spot at the table, teeth clenched, staring into his bowl of rice as he gripped the remains of his chopsticks. Orihime was still facing downward, her hair managing to hide most of her face as father and daughter seemed to finally start calming down.
Yuzu, who had been watching the two with great interest clasped her hands together and spoke up.
"Does this mean you two are going to get married?", she asked, her eyes sparkling.
Orihime's face shot up as she held her hands up. "Yu-yu-yu-yuzu-chan! I-I-I-we-we....", she continued to stutter, her face now turning a shade darker than her hair as she began to sway back and forth.
Ichigo who had been doing his best effort to mimic a statue turned to look at his sister open mouthed, stunned at her question.
Karin, still wheezing as she plopped herself in her seat, turned to look at her sister, whose face was beaming at the possibilities. She then turned to look at the two in question; Orihime who looked like as if she could have steam coming out of her ears from the short circuit dance she was doing in her chair while her brother continued to stare at Yuzu.
"Heh", Karin managed to get out between wheezes. "I just gotta wonder -wheeze- what Tatsuki-nee's going to say about all this".
It was at that point Belldandy put her cup down. "I would imagine that Tatsuki-chan would want you to take responsibility", she mentioned with a small twinkle in her eye.
Ichigo stunned anew turned to face her. Before he could say anything his father wailed.
"OOOOOOOoooooOOOHHHhhhhhh!", Isshin cried, his hands covering his face. He swayed back and forth from his place at the counter to Belldandy, who moved her arms aside with practiced ease while Isshin in one motion fell to his knees and laid his head on her lap.
"Mother! Our son is now a man and ready to leave the nest! How joyous this is to be alive to be able to witness such an event!" He then held on to his wife tighter and his shoulders shook as if he were crying. Belldandy then began to stroke his head, comforting him.
Ichigo swiftly stood ramrod straight, the chair he was sitting in sliding back a few feet, and pointed at his father. "I AM NOT LEAVING ANYWHERE AND DON'T BE DOING THAT AT THE TABLE OLD MAN!"
From below Ichigo's line of sight at the table Isshin replied, "As you are now a man you must leave the safety of your mother's lap behind!"
Ichigo's eye twitched at the comment. Unfazed at his outburst a few seconds prior, Yuzu stood up herself and gestured towards Orihime before her brother could retort. Yuzu's eyes still sparkled as she spoke, "It's ok, oniisama! You can do that now with Orihime-neesama!"
Ichigo's rising anger was again snuffed as he gaped yet again at his sister. He then turned towards Orihime, still a bit razzled from earlier caught Ichigo's eye and Yuzu's comment registered in her head. She yelped as her hands snapped to her lap and her face lowered.
This movement however managed a semi decent bounce that her seifuku and bra were unable to contain.
-The lack of moisture in his mouth made gulping difficult as he saw every movement as Orihime quickly made her way to him.-
Ichigo brought a hand to his face so fast it left a blur. Quickly turning his head he pinched his nose and tried to snort whatever liquid that managed to make their way to his nostrils.
More laughter reached his ears as he turned to find his grinning father finally take a seat. Removing his hand from his face he stood straight as he quickly turned to address Orihime. "We better get going now or we'll be late", he said, more so just to get out of the house before his dad and sisters could embarrass him any further.
"Thanks for the meal", he said as he brought his hands together and turned. Before he could make his way to his room Isshin called to him.
"Ichigo! Remember what we spoke about last night! You have a new temp to help get acclimated starting today!"
Orihime, who was just now getting over her embarrassment, blinked at Isshin's announcement.
"Yes, dad, I remember", he grumbled.
"And don't think that now that you are a man that you can take advantage of her in her current emotional state!", Isshin rightously roared, pointing at Ichigo.
"What?"
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Yesterday Afternoon, Kurosaki Clinic, Isshin's Office-
"It's ok, it's ok", Isshin comforted, a waterfall of tears running down his own cheeks. He pulled some tissues that were off to the side and handed them to the emotionally distressed interviewee, who was seated across his desk.
"Thank you", a gorgeous, but teary-eyed woman said as she took them and dabbed her eyes.
"I understand completely", Isshin related, taking a tissue and blowing into it loudly. "It must be so hard".
"It is", replied the woman. "I've looked everywhere and I can't seem to find her! And without any money I won't be able to keep searching for her!", she lamented, clasping her hands together and bringing them to her chest.
"It's alright", a completely sympathetic Isshin comforted. "You can stay here and work as long as you need to until you find her." He sniffed again and nodded, wiping tears away with his arm.
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Present
Ichigo just stared at his father before sucking in a breath. "Sure thing, dad", he drowled as he turned to rush into his room.
At the table Orihime stood up, "Thank you for the meal", she said, also bringing her hands together briefly. She picked up her school carrycase and made her way towards the living room to wait for Ichigo.
Before she could leave the kitchen Belldandy had made her way towards her. Just before she could speak Ichigo managed to rush by. Seeing them he slowed to a stop and stood next to Orihime as his mother brought an arm to his shoulder.
"You know we were just teasing you, dear", she said to them, both of them blushing. "But next time Ichigo, please knock before entering, especially when we have guests".
Ichigo nodded, before stiffly moving by his mother. He then grabbed Orihime's hand, pulling her along. "We'll see you later!", they said as they made their way past the front door.
"Come home safe!", Belldandy shouted, making her way out of the kitchen to make sure the front door was shut.
At the table Yuzu giggled. "Did you see! They're at the holding hands stage!"
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Tatsuki yawned as she tossed her carrycase onto her desk. Moving her arms to her legs she held the back of her skirt to them as she took her seat and stretched forward.
'Man, whatta night', she thought and she yawned again. Shi-ichi's problems had her thinking for the rest of her jog all the way to bedtime, wondering how things turned out.
More students began filtering in as Tatsuki rubbed an eye. Orihime had not called, but that wasn't unusual since she was at the Kurosaki's, yet considering what she heard yesterday she'dve thought that she'd be filled in at some point.
And in spite of her words to him she needed some confirmation that things turned out ok. Those thoughts kept her up late, recalling their talk and just old memories coming to fore.
"What the..", she heard one of the male students mutter.
"That bastard", another one quietly grumbled.
Confused, she lifted her head and turned to see what they were looking at and was vaguely surprised to see both Shi-ichi and Orihime here a bit earlier than normal. Well, Shi-ichi was here earlier than normal, but...
'Waittasec', she thought, her mind taking notice of something out of place. Now awake, she realized that both Shi-Ichi and Orihime were holding hands.
She breathed out though her nose and turned away briefly to hide her face before she could get hold of the sudden emptiness that spread within her.
'Seems like Orihime finally made a move', she concluded as she then recomposed herself.
The two finally made their way in and Ichigo let Orihime's hand go. Getting to his desk Ichigo sat down but Orihime hadn't made a move yet, standing where Ichigo let her go. A faint blush graced her cheeks as she looked at her hand.
"I see things are looking up", Tatsuki muttered as Orihime finally came close by on her way to her desk. 'At least now I can get some answers, but from the look of things Shi-ichi must be doing better', she thought, eyeing him, 'he has none of that aura he did last night'.
Orihime hummed, not really hearing her.
Tatsuki sighed. "I said things are looking up for Shi-ichi", she repeated, finally getting her attention. "I ended up running into him yesterday. I take it everything's better now?"
Orihime turned to look at Ichigo. "He came home very late last night, Tatsuki, and it was really bad for awhile, but I'm glad everything's ok now". She then made a contemplating gesture and continued. "He seemed to be better after he walked in on my bath-", Orihime then stopped, realizing what she said.
Everyone in class stopped, hearing what she said.
Ichigo's heart stopped, unbelieving what she said.
"Wha-wh-wha-wha-wh-what?", Tatsuki stuttered out, trying to confirm what she said.
Orihime just stood their quietly, her hand to her mouth, not turning around but feeling all eyes on her.
"Shishishi-shi-shi-shi-ICHI"!, Tatsuki shrieked, hopping out of her seat onto a desk before diving to tackle her shocked target.
Both crashed in the aisle between desks and Tatsuki straddled him, preventing his escape and grabbed his shirt by the collar with both hands, hauling him forward to look him in the eye.
"Explain yourself", she roared. "I told you yesterday to behave, so what the hell happened?!"
"It was an accident", Ichigo finally got out as he got his bearings. He then tried to get out of their position but Tatsuki weighed herself down, pinning him with her hips.
"Accidents like that just don't happen, Shi-ichi", she said, completely focused on Ichigo now. "How exactly did that happen?"
Ichigo was about to answer as his mind decided to replay what was beginning to be it's favorite part, or parts. 'Oh boy', he thought as he could feel his cheeks begin to blush as well as something else begin to come forward. He then grabbed Tatsuki's arms and tried to wiggle free. "It was just an accident" he managed as his hands got hers off him and tried to push her off.
She grappled with him as he wiggled under her. "You're not getting off that easy", she promised him, tightening her legs and grinding her hips to keep her hold on him befo- 'wait, what was that?', she suddenly thought as she felt something new brush under her. She found herself blushing as she tried to figure out-
"If you don't move Arisawa, he will get off that easy", a call came out and both stopped.
Both slowly turned their heads at the same time.
"Freaking Kurosaki, it's bad enough he's got the hottest chick in class but now he's rubbing our faces in it and pulling double duty", one male lamented.
Both blinked.
"I didn't know Arisawa-san was so forward", a girl close by said to another.
"I just knew she liked him", another gushed.
Ichigo and Tatsuki looked at each other again and finally noticed the position they were in.
'Tha-that-that feeling was...', Tatsuki realized, her mouth falling open.
'Oh, god, can it get any worse', Ichigo mentally cried.
Tatsuki finally leaped to her feet and backpeddled, running into a desk and tripping over it.
Several others in the class started to laugh and more catcalls were thrown out as the snickering turned up a notch.
Ichigo then noticed that most of the girls were looking at him, or rather, looking at a certain-
Making the connection he attempted to save his dignity by twisting in place and tried to jump to his feet, completely missing that he twisted underneath a desk and slammed his head under it, yelping in pain as he clutched his head and sank to his knees.
More laughter came as he then took a seat on the floor and rubbed his head. As he did the laughter died down and two legs came into view. Looking up and up and up he saw the owner of the desk peering down at him.
Yasutora Sado raised an eyebrow at Ichigo's predicament but remained silent as he waited for Ichigo to move out of the way.
'Great freaking morning', Ichigo thought as he finally managed to stand up and wobble to his desk.
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Lunchtime came not too soon enough for Ichigo. After the incident this morning he had to deal with a constant hum of snickering and whispers throughout the classes. Looking back at Tatsuki didn't help matters, as she pointedly ignored him but at least in her case the ones she growled at stopped joking.
Getting up he grabbed his bento and made his way out and followed another of his classmates that left a moment prior.
"Yo, Chad".
Stopping and turning around, the tall boy looked down at Ichigo.
"Sado", he corrected.
Ichigo caught a glint at the larger boy's upper chest and noticed the amulet/pendent hanging around his neck. 'Dunno why I never noticed before', he thought, reminded of yesterday's talk. "Wanna join me for lunch?", he asked aloud.
"......", Sado stood waiting.
After a moment Ichigo raised an eyebrow. "You really aren't the talkitive type. Yesterday was the most I've ever heard you speak", he shook his head ruefully. Sado still stood there, waiting. 'I guess that means 'ok'. "Let's go".
"Kurosaki-san!", a voice called out.
Turning, Ichigo saw Keigo and Mizuiro make their way towards them.
"Asano, Kojima", Ichigo acknowledged them, nodding his head. "I heard you stopped by yesterday", he said to them as they got closer. "Sorry I wasn't there, I was kinda...", he trailed off, thinking of trying to explain himself.
"That's fine", Keigo mentioned. "I actually wanted to thank you for the other day, and that I gotta say your mom knows her stuff!"
"What", he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"She was spot on when she said I'd be feeling better, and I am!", he mentioned happily.
"Oo..okay", Ichigo finally said. "We're heading to the roof for lunch, if you want you can join us and fill me in".
"Thanks", both boys mentioned, and then turned to Ichigo's companion and looked up.
And up, and up.
Sado nodded at them in greeting.
"This's Chad. Chad, this is Asano and Kojima", Ichigo introduced.
"Sado", 'Chad' corrected again.
"Let's go", Ichigo said and walked ahead, the others following him.
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"I tell ya man, it's a miracle", Keigo said, regaling his story.
"Uh-huh", Ichigo mentioned through a mouthful of rice.
"It really is something", Mizuiro said. "He was really banged up yesterday. Seeing him this morning was quite a shock."
Keigo beamed, his face no longer in a sling and his bruises nearly healed as he brought another piece of food to his mouth. Chewing happily, and loudly, he swallowed before a stream of tears fell.
Ichigo stopped in mid-chew, feeling a bit nauseous at seeing an all too familiar display, even if it was from someone else.
"I couldn't do this yesterday without locking up or feeling like I was being poked!", he cried.
"So how did you end up like that", a voice questioned.
Ichigo swallowed before darting his head left and right, trying to see who asked that question before turning to face Sado who was looking at Keigo. He blinked at that.
After being filled in on the excitement yesterday Sado turned to Ichigo. "Sounds like you had a really busy day, even before helping me out".
"He helped you out too", Keigo asked, astounded. Considering Sado's height and look, the thought that he needed help -any help-, seemed like a revelation. "Was this while you were out", he asked Ichigo.
"Yeah", Ichigo said after a moment of thought. "I had some things to...think over, and I saw him getting jumped." He took another bite of food and chewed slowly, looking thoughtful. Gazing forward but not quite looking at anything he spoke again. "It pisses me off when I see that shit".
Keigo and Mizuiro both stopped to look at him, noting the change of tone in his voice. Before they could say anything another voice rang out.
"So this is where you are."
"Man, you'd think that you were ditching us on purpose".
All the boys turned to see two other boys make their way towards them. Ichigo recognized them from class.
"Yuuya, Hideo", he greeted automatically and blinked. 'Friends', his mind supplied and stared.
"Geez man, where've ya been?", Yuuya, a black haired boy standing a few inches shorter than Ichigo questioned.
"From the looks of it he's got some new pals. Hey, Sado", Hideo greeted.
Ichigo found himself surprised, as he remembered these two from before, in his old life, but it had been only as classmates. Here, he had been friends with them, and it surprised him again at how different some things were now.
"Have a seat", he said and scooted. Making quick introductions all the boys resumed eating.
"Where've you been off to all week, man", Yuuya asked again. "I'd been wanting to catch up with you on some of the games that have come out recently and left you a few messages. Hell, you've been running out of class before I could catch you."
"I've... this week hasn't been the best of weeks, y'know".
"I guess", Hideo supplied. "In any case, congrats again, Ichigo. Sorry I wasn't there to tell you in person, man, but being sick sucks".
"Didn't stop you from having play time", Yuuya grumbled, taking a sip from his drink.
Ichigo was silent, watching the by-play from the two newcomers. Bits and pieces were coming to him as they chatted and he found himself shaking his head. 'Games', he thought. He owned a few systems here and back 'home', but he didn't really play all the much. In fact, Karin was the one who liked to play, and he only really got involved when all 3 of them could play co-op. Looks like he had a bit more time here.
"I'll tell you what's happened", Yuuya supplied. "Ichigo's finally graduated, now that he has a girl and all".
Ichigo stopped in mid drink and started to cough.
"You lucky, bastard", Keigo commented. "It's Orihime, right? She was there when we stopped by yesterday".
"Get out", Hideo exclaimed. "You mean all that was true?"
"You saw this morning. He and Tatsuki too, they were practically having sex in class this morning", Yuuya continued.
"Holy shit", Keigo exclaimed, a outright look of admiration in his eyes.
"IT ISN'T LIKE THAT AT ALL", Ichigo finally shouted back, crushing his juice and splattering it.
"Kurosaki-san", Mizuiro said, wiping himself off, "I can give you pointers if you want".
The others turned towards him, curious.
Keigo grumbled. "I don't know how he does it, but not only does he like older women, but they never brush him off", he said enviously.
"You just got to know what to say", Mizuiro said, smiling. "I know some things that can help smooth things over for both your girls if your having problems".
"I'M TELLING YOU IT AIN'T LIKE THAT!"
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"Whatya mean your not going to come in today", Tatsuki asked, annoyed.
With the school day now over, all three were in the hallway, with both Tatsuki and Orihime on their way to their clubs.
"Exactly what it means, I'm not going to be in, as the old man has me breaking in a new temp as my punishment for yesterday".
"It's so stupid that you're being punished for helping someone out", she complained. "And this is going to go on for how long"?
"For the next several days until she gets it, I guess. I go, help, and come home later either closing or a bit prior to work on schoolwork".
A step behind them Orihime's face fell at hearing those words, knowing now he won't home until late.
Both Ichigo and Tatsuki stopped, noticing that Orihime was no longer keeping pace with them.
Ichigo saw her change her sad face into a happy one and misinterpreted it. "S'ok, Orihime, y'know Tatsuki will walk you back to my home".
Tatsuki just looked at Ichigo and fought an urge to roll her eyes. Though somewhat annoyed at his thickheadedness there seemed to be a small bit of relief that went through her. She crushed it when she caught Orihime's face again as she tried to brush his concerns off.
She was nearly successful.
"Yeah, don't worry about Orihime, Shi-ichi. I'll also cover for you when Noriyuki sensei asks about you later on, too".
Ichigo grimaced. "Thanks Tatsuki".
They then came to a corner and Ichigo continued towards the stairwell. "I'll catch you both later!", he told them, lifting an arm.
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Ichigo found himself whistling in appreciation as he arrived at his destination. While his 'memories' gave him more than an idea of what to expect, just seeing the place filled him with a bit of family pride that he could not quite keep down.
Good thing his dad wasn't here to see it.
He looked the place over. Larger than the 'original' Kurosaki clinic, this one was easily 2-3 times the size of their combo home/business house. Large enough that it commanded use of a staff at times was needed around the clock should they have a patient that needed to be there overnight or until a hospital transfer could be made.
Walking to the glass door he reached out to the door handle which suddenly flew open with a shoe sole rapidly filling his vision. He felt a strong gust of wind wash over him as he managed to duck in time.
Turning in mid-rise from his crouch he found his father slide on the pavement and come to a stop.
"OOOH!", Isshin shouted at his son, pointing at him. "Ichigo, I commend you on your awareness! My training is starting to bear fruit!"
"WHAT THE HELL", Ichigo fired back. "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'RE CRAZY ENO-", Ichigo stopped as his father had a hand on his shoulder, suddenly at his side.
"But enough about that", Isshin said, suddenly changing subjects. He turned his son around and nudged him to the door. Opening the door he buried a fist in his boy's back and pushed him through. Grumbling, Ichigo went forward.
Before Ichigo could turn around he noticed that they were not alone in the lobby. Trying to get his composure he faced the other room's occupant.
'Whoa', was the first word to come to mind.
Standing before him a without a doubt one of the most beautiful woman Ichigo had ever laid eyes on. Tanned with platinum blond hair, she was already in uniform, however the uniform seemed a size too small for her, as her skirt rose a bit too high on the thigh and her top was not fully buttoned, allowing some of her cleavage exposed. She held her hands clasped in front of her and held a clipboard in them. Forcing his eyes up, he caught her eyes as she smiled. He gulped softly as he felt his pants tighten.
Grabbing the hem of his school jacket he pulled down before bowing and introducing himself. He then mentally kicked himself as he fought the heat down from his face, and other places.
'What the hell', he thought. Never had he had such a strong reaction like this.
"It's a pleasure to meet you", the woman greeted him, also bowing. "I'm Urd. I hope that you'll take good care of me". She smiled, pleased at his reaction. 'All too easy'.
Ichigo silently nodded his head. After a moment he felt a hard tap at the small of his back and winced as his father walked to the side and entered his line of sight. Before making a retort his father coughed in his hand and faced him.
"Ichigo, I'd like to present to you our new temp. She may be with us for some time so I'm expecting you to show her right way of doing things around here.
"Yes, dad", Ichigo responded, again turning to face Urd, who stood waiting for him.
Isshin then walked forward and motioned for them to follow him. "Ichigo I want you to first show Urd how...", Isshin continued, but Ichigo did not hear. Urd had walked in between them, so she was in the middle behind his father as he continued on with his instructions. As she walked, there was a saunter in her gait that drew his eyes to her rear.
Gulping, he did his best to tear his eyes away and back to his father, who was still talking, not knowing Ichigo had tuned him out.
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Ichigo slid the shouji door to his room open and stepped through. Rubbing his face with hand he used the heel of his foot to shut the door behind him. Making sure it was closed he made his way to his desk and turned on the lamp, brightening the dark room a bit. Settling his things on his desk he turned to sit on his bed and laid back lifting his feet and resting them on his chair next to the desk.
'Oh, man', he thought, a bit of weariness coursing through him. Rubbing his eyes with his hands he stretched and yawned, enjoying the feel of his bed under him.
'What the hell is up with that nurse?', he thought. While not the worst he had ever seen, she seemed to be a bit of a butterfingers. His eyes narrowed, as that description seemed to be completely off tangent with the woman herself and the way she carried herself before his father had left the two of them alone.
Urd had, in some cases managed to have several files slip through her fingers several times as he tried to get her familiarized with some of the lobby work. Each time she insisted on picking everything up herself, but he had tried to help her regardless, and in doing so, had strangely managed to position him with some...interesting view points.
In one case she had bent over completely to pick up the dropped papers. Not merely crouching down but actually bending over with barely a bend at her knees. It was extremely difficult not to notice that not only was she facing away from him as she did so, but that her already short skirt rode even higher on her thighs.
Another case had him crouched with her but she had been directly in front of him, facing him this time and crouching as well. Lowering herself further to pick up the files he found himself able to see over her unbuttoned top into her cleavage including a bit of the inner cup of her bra.
He sighed as he recalled that when she had stood up she bounced as well.
With yesterday's events, the ruckus this morning and now this, he moaned as he realized that this was just Urd's first day. 'I don't think I'm gonna survive this...', he mentally lamented.
Before he could go over more a knock came at his door. Taking his hand off slightly to his face he looked toward his door. "Come in", he called out.
The door slid open and a figure walked in, holding a tray. With the light of the hallway behind her and his own darkened room, he could not quite make out her silhouette.
Blinking to improve his vision, the light from his lamp caught her face as she took another step inside and also carefully closed the door with her foot.
"Orihime", he said, managing at the last second to not say 'Inoue'. He rose to a sitting position, his feet now pulled from the chair and on the ground.
"Wel-welcome back, Ichigo-kun", she said as with measured steps she made her way to his desk and carefully placed the tray on it. "This was tonight's dinner", she explained to him before he could ask.
"Tha-thank you", he said, blinking.
A few moments ago out in the hallway Belldandy had exited her room, laying Keiichi to bed. She turned to make way to her eldest's room, curious to know how his day went and to let him know that his dinner was waiting for him.
Looking ahead she saw Orihime holding a tray with his dinner on it. Standing in front of his room she fidgeted as the girl realized she had no free hands to knock on the door. Before Belldandy could make a move or call out Orihime then carefully made way to his door and while making sure the tray was held firmly she tapped the door twice with an elbow. Hearing her son's consent Orihime with a foot carefully opened the door and stepped through, closing the door after a few seconds.
She smiled and continued forward. She loved the girl dearly, and would welcome her into their family should Ichigo wish to pursue her in that matter. Her smile widened a bit as her own cheeks flushed, recalling her own courtship with Isshin. She brought a hand to her face as one certain memory came forth. Speaking of which...
"Isshin", she said softly.
Behind her, on his knees was her husband in front of Ichigo's door with a glass cup in his hand. "Shhhh", he whispered to her, a finger to his mouth.
"Isshin", she said again, slightly turning her head but not turning around.
Missing her husband's disappointed face he rose and walked to her. Taking his hand, she was about to take a step forward before she stopped in midstep.
"Yuzu", she called out in the same tone.
Yuzu moaned softly in disappointment, her posture mirroring her father's of a moment prior exactly before she rose up to join her mother and father.
Inside and completely unaware of what had happened outside, Orihime watched as Ichigo rose to take the tray and slide it towards the bed. Sitting on his bed once more he gave thanks and began to dig in.
She watched him for a moment, smiling. She then took a seat beside him on his bed.
Stopping in mid-chew her turned to her, surprised at her actions. She sat next to him, a few feet away near the edge so she was not too close and continued to watch him before she turned away. He slowly began to eat once more, not sure exactly what was going on and trying to ignore how easily she did that.
"How - how was your day, Ichigo", she asked after a moment of gathering her courage. It was not the first time she was here nor the first time she sat on his bed, so why was there butterflies dancing in her stomach?
"Oh...okay I guess", Ichigo then responded. After swallowing another bite he frowned. "Then I got to the clinic".
Orihime made a soft sound of confusion as she looked at him. Taking a few more bites Ichigo continued.
"I swear this chick is toying with me", he said, recalling one frustrating moment. Continuing to eat he relayed much of what had happened, and her eyes had widened at hearing what he had to say. "And I get to have fun all over again tomorrow", he grumbled as he took the last bite.
Orihime brought her hands together, twiddling her fingers as Ichigo's last comment reminded her of what she came in for. "Thanks for the food", he said as he leaned forward to put the bowl back on the tray. He then scooted a bit further back on his bed and brought his legs in, sitting Indian style.
"Ich-ichigo-kun", she prompted finally.
"Hmmmm"?
"How..how've you been feeling, recently"?
He looked at her, puzzled now. "I've...I've been fine. Why do you ask?"
"It's just..well, you see...", she paused, trying to form her words. Ichigo looked at her, waiting. "I'm...I'm sorry, Ichigo. Please don't be mad at me", she said, her eyes watering a bit.
Ichigo's own eyes widened at what she said and turned fully to her. "For what", he asked.
"I'm, I'm sorry I didn't help you. Tatsuki did, but I just couldn't move. I was so scared when you collapsed I just couldn't move."
"What are you talking about", Ichigo asked, completely confused.
"At..at the hospital, when we went to go see Keiichi. You've..you've been so different since then".
His lips thinned as he looked down. He remembered now, he had been very disoriented from his 'transition' of being fully awakened. Thinking about it he had been acting normal, or at least he thought, but he realized that he 'probably' acted a bit differently from what others would expect.
He looked up and studied her. The Inoue he 'remembered' was, well, a mystery. He didn't really know her, other than she was good friends with Tatsuki. She also found herself tongue tied or quick to rush away when he did greet her or look at her. He had figured that she was shy, or something, considering Tatsuki never mentioned anything about it.
Looking at the girl in front of him, he could now recall much of his memories with her now. She was very close with his sisters, Yuzu in particular and his mother. He frowned as he recalled that first turning point with her parents, but since that time she's been a wonderful friend, and looking at her now... She really must've known him well if she could see the differences in what he understood as 'normal' for him.
"You've", she continued, bringing him back to the present. "You've also been referring to me as 'Inoue', and you haven't done that since we met". She sniffled as another tear rolled down her cheek. She then brought her legs in and wrapped her arms around them. "If you're doing that than I must've done something to make you angry at me, and, and-"
"Hey", he said, breaking her concentration. Looking at her and making sure that they had eye contact he continued. "You've done nothing wrong".
"Huh"?
"But you're right though. I have been... I have been a bit different lately". He paused as he thought about how he should say this. Orihime watched him, noticing how he had withdrawn in thought. After a moment he spoke again. "There have just been a few things that have happened recently - nothing that you've done", he then said, to soothe her. "I guess, I guess you could say that experience changed me a bit, but it's still me on the inside". He smiled at her.
"It as nothing to do with what you did", he told her. "And for what it's worth, I'm sorry for making you worry". Another tear rolled down her cheek and he frowned.
"Thank..thank you, Ichigo-kun", she said, wiping the tear away with her hand. "I...I still wish I could have done more though". Ichigo raised an eyebrow at her and waited to continue. "I wanted to come here and help you a bit. You and your family have done so much for me that I wanted to be able to give back a bit as well, but with what happened yesterday and your punishment; I feel...I just feel like I've been an extra burden on you".
"Hey", he said, his voice a bit firmer. "Don't talk about yourself like that". She blinked at him, a bit surprised at his tone. "You were here and able to help mom out and my sisters while I was out, both yesterday and today".
She blinked at him, a bit amazed at how firm he was being to her.
He took a breath in as he saw that she was still a bit unconvinced. Remembering a time that Yuzu was like this he decided that maybe doing the same would help Orihime as well. He rose from his sitting position to move towards her a bit and reached forward and laid a hand on her head. He rubbed her head a bit, trying to soothe her.
Orihime went completely still.
"That's more than I could ever hope to ask of anyone", he told her softly, looking her in the eye. "And it's my own fault of what happened, so don't knock yourself on that, ok"?
She blushed madly as she slowly nodded.
"Good", he said, giving her a very small nudge before sitting back and away from her.
"Now c'mon", he said, standing up and reaching out to grab his tray.
Snapping out of her reverie, she then got off his bed and stood up and tried to take the tray from him.
"It's ok, Ichigo-kun, I'll do that", she told him. Before he could retort she added, "I'm here because I wanted to help, remember? I'll take it". With that, she was able to take the tray from him. Walking to the door, she turned to look at him. "Thank you, Ichigo-kun", she smiled at him.
With that, he smiled back at her. Not a grin, but a soft one that was not marred by the scowl he had adopted so recently. Seeing him like that set her heart at ease, knowing that he was right. It was still him in there, no matter what had happened recently.
And that was all that mattered.
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Next Day, Isshin's Clinic
Urd frowned as she carried a stack of folders to the table. Finding the right one she walked over to the door and called the next name. An elderly man walked up, and she in turn led him to the room he would be waiting in.
She smiled at him as he complimented her, and she in turn thanked him as she told him to wait in the room. The others would be taking over from here, as she had not been trained yet by the boy on what to handle next.
The boy, yes, Ichigo.
She nodded at a passing co-worker, taking the next stack from her and returning to her chair to begin filing anew.
She had concluded so far the groundwork was being laid quite nicely. He had tried so hard to keep himself in check but she knew that she had caught his eye. The only thing she had failed to do was to get him alone and properly reveal herself to him.
She had, in hindsight, made a miscalculation in gaining the boy's attention through the workplace she realized.
She had intended to be able to get him alone, and the clinic seemed to have plenty of room for 'opportunity', but it seemed to not want to present itself the night before. Work, it seemed, had presented itself at each turn, and they both found themselves in it as he instructed her on what to do or who to talk to.
'He was just so cute when he was being serious', she thought, recalling his attempts to regain his self control after one of her 'slips'. Still, she felt he wasn't all that bad, and wondered what kind of wish he made.
When she could finally corner him alone she'd be able to ask, and from there see how it pertained to her sister and if it had any bearing on-
-THUD-
Blinking, she found herself snapped out of her thoughts as another stack of folders appeared next to her.
"Have these filed in the same area Ichigo showed you last night", Isshin said before turning back. "Oh, one more thing", he said before he reached the exit.
"Ichigo will be in a little later than normal today", he informed her. Urd momentarily closed her eyes and fought back a growl of frustration at another wrench in the works. Quickly regaining her composure, she asked, "May I ask why he will be in late"?
"He has to take a guest of ours home", he said before a nurse called for his attention.
As he left her alone Urd turned back to look at the stack in front of her and snorted in frustration.
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Ichigo leaned back in his chair and blew out a breath. Holding his arms behind his back he stretched, twirling the pencil he held. Settling back down he reworked the problem that was giving him some issues. After a moment he turned to look at the clock once more and sighed, not looking forward what was to come.
The classroom he was in was long since emptied, and he was only staying around to wait for Orihime finish her club so he could first walk her to his home to grab her stuff, then walk her home while carrying her stuff. Though lighter than what it was when he first lugged it home a few days ago, it was still something he didn't want to do.
His father found it an appropriate part for his punishment, since he would need to see her home he could also take her stuff, and then come for training at the clinic.
'It's only appropriate because of the timing', he mentally growled. Looking at the clock once more, he scowled as he went back to his homework.
Well, I guess I can blame it on an appearance by a long awaited character 'n all...
I also want to mention that zerohour was correct in the last thread and my math was fuzzed up. It has been 5 years since Masaki died at this moment in the story. I will be fixing those soon.
Once again all C&C is welcome, especially when it's constructive. Please, also, by all means point out any mistakes in spelling that I missed as well as grammer if it can be fixed. If you think that a line or two or a paragraph can be phrased better than send it along as well.
Again, many thanks to all of you who are still reading and enjoying.
There will be multiple sections so if you don't see 'To Be Continued' at the end I haven't finished posting it all.
So, without further ado:
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Disclaimer: Bleach is created by Tite Kubo and is distributed by Weekly Shonen Jump, Shueisha,Studio Pierrot, TV Tokyo, Adult Swim, & Viz Media. Ah My Goddess is created by Kousuke Fujishima and is distributed by Kodansha, Afternoon Magazine, AIC, Tokyo Broadcast Station (TBS), Animeigo, Geneon, Dark Horse Manga, Media Blasters, ADV Films & FUNimation Entertainment. No infringement is intended.
Blessings In Disguise
Book I: Be Careful What You Wish For
Chapter 5
-...But You Can't Choose Your Family-
A Few Days Ago...
June in Karakura Town was unfortunately for many people a small preview of the coming summer. The sun overhead, just bearable at the moment seemed to be teasing the inhabitants, letting them know that it could go higher, and within a few weeks would.
This day however the cause of much sweat and panting wasn't due to the warm sun overhead, for this day much to it's dismay it had been eclipsed by something that caused the heat within oneself to rise on it's own.
Or at least, to a normal human male the heat would rise upon catching a glimpse upon this object.
To a female the heat would rise in reaction to the male's reaction, or realizing that comparison was moot.
Paying attention to none of the people around her Urd continued to strut herself to her destination. Smiling to herself as she turned at the second to last corner she could feel some of the anxiety leave as she found herself closer to her goal.
Swiftly snapping her head to the side, her hair flew from one end to the other, giving off an effect that most supermodels would hard pressed to emulate.
Unfortunately an added affect was that cars began to swerve in an out, their drivers twisting their heads to get another glimpse of perfection. For the traffic officers on duty, this only caused their heat to rise at the chaos around them.
With one final turn, Urd closed her eyes and remembered the data Yggsdrasil was able to give her on the subject. In just a few moments the boy would be reduced to putty and the first major clue to her sister's disappearance would be at hand.
Opening her eyes she found herself looking forward to catching the first glimpse of the Kurosaki's family...
...ramen shop?
"Eh?", Urd squeaked out. Quickly concentrating she recalled the data she studied before leaving and looked once more at the shop in front of her.
The address she had matched the one in front of her.
'What..what the hell?'
She stood there a few moments attempting to make sense of it all.
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Present
Breakfast at the Kurosaki's was normally an active affair; usually with the girls talking amongst themselves or including their mother or more recently the father and son verbal sparring. With the recent blessing of a new arrival life at the table was sure to be more bustling.
Yet that was not quite the case this morning.
"DAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Of those gathered at the table two were currently rolling over the floor clutching their stomachs as if they'd burst if they let go.
Still at the table Belldandy took a sip of her tea while Yuzu watched her fraternal twin and father continue to bust their guts out. Keiichi was next to his mother in a baby carrier on an extra table seat, happily kicking around and waving his hands. Orihime sat next to Yuzu, quiet with her hands on her lap and head lowered, attempting to hide a blush that matched her copper colored hair.
Ichigo sat opposite Orihime, a hand on his bowl of rice with chopsticks in the other, attempting and failing miserably to ignore the two while hiding his reddening face. He was just about to break the chopsticks in his hand when suddenly both Karin and Isshin stopped and sat up.
Surprised at the abrupt halt all eyes were on the two as they rose. Seeing both Ichigo and Orihime both of their cheeks bubbled, attempting and then failing to hold another round in, Isshin then slapping his lap.
While the chopsticks in Ichigo's hand had begun to crack at the antics, one would be hard pressed to tell if his face was red from either embarrassment or anger.
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Last Night
Karin exhaled as she slid into the bath, joining her sister Yuzu. Stretching she slid further down until the water reached her neck.
"Ah, man, what a day", she muttered, feeling the heat of the water work it's magic on her.
"Yes", Yuzu agreed with her, sitting opposite of her. Sighing, she looked upward. "Oniisama hasn't come home yet".
"He should be home soon", Karin supplied, though not quite getting it out as cheeful as she hoped.
Before Yuzu could reply the door slid open and Orihime walked in, one hand carrying a towel which covered her front while also holding her bathing supplies and change of clothes. Closing the door with her free hand, she swiftly stripped down and made her way to the wash section. Sitting down she placed her clothes and bucket down nearby and grabbed the shower hose and began to rinse herself off.
"Orihime-neesama, has oniisama...", she trailed off and lowered her head as Orihime paused and shook her head at her.
"No, but I don't think he'll be gone much longer. It's not like he did anything bad."
"That's right", Karin piped up, sitting straight. Her eyes then squinched up. "But what I don't get is why he ran off. Stupid old man, I bet he managed to skunk things up somehow. He knows Ichi-ni wouldn't do anything like that without reason."
The other two girls nodded at that.
Orihime began scrubbing herself up with soap as Yuzu spoke once more. "Hearing from Asano-san and Kojima-san about oniisama earlier makes me feel better but I wish he'd come home..."
"Yuzu", Karin growled out. "He's not some stray puppy, he'll be fine".
"She's right, Yuzu-chan", Orihime said, turning to her. Scrubbing her head she continued. "If anything does happen Ichigo-kun will take his fighting pose and scare any bad guys off!", she then demonstrated by holding her arms out and bringing them in quickly, giving off a soft though cute kiai. Her out held fists were clenched and her elbows were at her waist.
Her little maneuver wasn't quite so effective while sitting down, though it did sufficently make her chest bounce as a few sizeable soap suds went airborne.
Both Karin and Yuzu's heads followed the suds as they went up and came down nearby, sounds of admiration coming through their mouths at that demonstration. "Wow", they both muttered before looking down and patted themselves, wondering when they could do that.
It was then that Orihime fully rinsed off and made her way toward the furo, stepping in and sitting back. "Aaah", she moaned happily as she set herself in.
They continued to make small talk about the day's events until the girls finally got out and began to dry themselves off. Bidding her a good night, both left her alone as they first shut the bath door and then the entrance door after.
It was then that Orihime brought her legs in, her arms wrapping around them and rested her head on top of her knees, which were the only parts above water. Some of her wet bangs broke free from what little hold the water had, allowing them to fall over eyes.
"Ichigo-kun", she whispered softly. She found herself wishing that the girls were back, as alone her self assured words from earlier seemed to lose their power in the silence that immediately followed in their departure. It chilled her, despite the heat of the water that enveloped her.
The words she overheard earlier came back to her, of when they all heard him confront his father. In the two years she had known them, nothing like that had ever happened. While Ichigo would at times grow frustrated and argue with his father, there was always a sense that much of their verbal sparring was for show.
What little she overheard gave none of that impression, and it bothered her greatly. Ichigo just hadn't been quite himself lately, at times staring off into space, or just gazing as if seeing something or noticing something for the first time.
Like when he referred to her...
It really seemed to start the night when they went to see Keiichi for the first time after he was born and Ichigo had collapsed after entering the room. She had froze, utterly frightened by what had happened but couldn't move, even after Tatsuki rushed to him.
He had looked so lost when he had come to, and that she couldn't do anyting after...
Later she had talked to Tatsuki about it, but she didn't quite seem to think much was wrong, other than Ichigo-kun had had a bad spell. Even after pointing out how strange he had acted at school Tatsuki still seemed to pay it no mind. Though she did end up getting a strange look from her when she hypothesized if he had been abducted by aliens and replaced with double.
Or maybe he was upset at her for not helping him when he collapsed at the hospitable? It was then that she had hit upon her idea to help him; that she'd stay over the night to help them with the baby, chores, cooking - to help give back for everything they did for her. Maybe then he would be ok again.
When she asked Isshin he had been quick to agree and give his approval, though he did seem to want her to stay more with Ichigo-kun than the kitchen...
But now with all this happening it all seemed for naught, as the day was gone and Ichigo was still not home. While she would be leaving the day after tomorrow, it already seemed like she wouldn't be able to get anything accomplished.
Sighing she rose from the bath and let the water run off her as she squeezed her hair, the droplets making rapid dripping sounds as they fell into the water below. Stepping out she made her way toward her towel and paused as she reconsidered her thoughts.
Ichigo *would* be back soon, and she *would* find a way to make him feel better! There still was tomorrow and some of the day after! Determination rose within her and she again struck a pose that would have made Karin proud, standing tall and pointing forward, legs slightly spread with the other arm on her hip.
'Maybe making a late dessert would help to start things off', she thought positively. Humming, she resumed drying herself off.
Soon satisfied that she was dry, she made her way toward her clothes and picked up her panties, holding them out to look at and stretching them a bit she then bent over to slip her legs in.
Once secure, she grabbed her pajama bottoms and held them out as well, again seemingly to look at them as she then lowered and slid a foot through.
It was at that moment the door slid open and another figure entered, facing the door as it was closed before turning around.
Wiggling her hips as she let loose the elastic on her pajama bottoms she felt a small gust of cool air and stood still, attempting for a few seconds to think what may have caused it. Realizing that it was because the door was opened she turned around, thinking maybe it was Belldandy.
And found Ichigo standing there.
Her eyes widened as she smiled widely at the realization.
He's back!
For Ichigo Kurosaki, he went rigid in shock at the sight in front of him. After a long day of contemplation, understanding, a brief brawl and reconciliation it was somewhat forgivable that he would allow some things to slip his mind.
This was not the kind of reminder he would have expected.
He had stepped into the bath to figuratively and literally wash off the events of the day when he found himself first staring at a waving rump several feet in front of him before the owner of said rump stood up and turned. That last bit of information of who it belonged to made it's way to his currently short circuiting brain as he saw her state of dress, or rather undress as she turned to face him.
His mouth went dry and his mind froze up as he caught sight of two large, slightly wet, round-
"Ichigo-kun! You're back!", she shouted before she then bounded toward him, stopping just a foot away.
The lack of moisture in his mouth made gulping difficult as he saw every movement as Orihime quickly made her way to him.
"You're back, you're finally back!", Orihime cried, her face now alight with enough power to run a city block. "We were so worried! Your mom had gone out and then when she came back you weren't there and were gone so long!"
Ichigo just nodded his head, eyes still cast downward.
Orihime's face then became stern as she bent forward a brought a finger up and waved it at him. "Yuzu was just so worried about you! You should have called especially when we had company stop by!"
"Wha- huh?", Ichigo replied, his brain attempting to reboot.
"It was just so sudden!" Orihime had continued. "We were all in the living room, wondering where you went and then a knock came from the door and Karin went -WHHOOOOOOOOMMM-", Orihime said she had described by bringing her arms from one side and swinging them to the other side quickly, showing how fast Karin moved, "all the way to the front door!"
Ichigo promptly dropped his bathing contents, all feeling gone from his hands.
Orihime continued not noticing, "But it wasn't you, it was...", she stopped as she then stood straight, looked up and brought a hand to her chin to tap her finger against it, now in thought. "It was...Asano-san and Koji- Yes! Asano-san and Kojima-san! They had visited when we went to see Keiichi and - and?"
Orihime paused as Ichigo suddenly lowered himself to the floor, grabbing his fallen contents and holding them with one hand in front of his pants as he then stood up. With his free arm he grabbed the shouji door and slid it open, stepping backwards and closing it when he made it though. Looking at the shadow he gave off she then saw him grip the waistline of his pants and quickly jerk it side to side as his shadow faded, hearing the entrance door slide open then shut.
Orihime blinked in surprise at Ichigo's sudden departure before she realized that her upper body suddenly felt cooler at the doors opening and closing. Looking down her eyes widened as her face then turned a bright shade of red.
Giving a soft yelp she brought her arms up to her chest, her hands discovering that her heart was now attempting to burst forth.
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Present
"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"
"Oh my god, Ichi-ni!", Karin managed to get out. "You just missed one set of twins but ended up meeting another!"
That set off another round between the two, with Karin now starting to wheeze. Isshin was still at the counter trying to stand up, one arm holding himself up while the other was trying to wipe away tears.
Ichigo sat rooted to his spot at the table, teeth clenched, staring into his bowl of rice as he gripped the remains of his chopsticks. Orihime was still facing downward, her hair managing to hide most of her face as father and daughter seemed to finally start calming down.
Yuzu, who had been watching the two with great interest clasped her hands together and spoke up.
"Does this mean you two are going to get married?", she asked, her eyes sparkling.
Orihime's face shot up as she held her hands up. "Yu-yu-yu-yuzu-chan! I-I-I-we-we....", she continued to stutter, her face now turning a shade darker than her hair as she began to sway back and forth.
Ichigo who had been doing his best effort to mimic a statue turned to look at his sister open mouthed, stunned at her question.
Karin, still wheezing as she plopped herself in her seat, turned to look at her sister, whose face was beaming at the possibilities. She then turned to look at the two in question; Orihime who looked like as if she could have steam coming out of her ears from the short circuit dance she was doing in her chair while her brother continued to stare at Yuzu.
"Heh", Karin managed to get out between wheezes. "I just gotta wonder -wheeze- what Tatsuki-nee's going to say about all this".
It was at that point Belldandy put her cup down. "I would imagine that Tatsuki-chan would want you to take responsibility", she mentioned with a small twinkle in her eye.
Ichigo stunned anew turned to face her. Before he could say anything his father wailed.
"OOOOOOOoooooOOOHHHhhhhhh!", Isshin cried, his hands covering his face. He swayed back and forth from his place at the counter to Belldandy, who moved her arms aside with practiced ease while Isshin in one motion fell to his knees and laid his head on her lap.
"Mother! Our son is now a man and ready to leave the nest! How joyous this is to be alive to be able to witness such an event!" He then held on to his wife tighter and his shoulders shook as if he were crying. Belldandy then began to stroke his head, comforting him.
Ichigo swiftly stood ramrod straight, the chair he was sitting in sliding back a few feet, and pointed at his father. "I AM NOT LEAVING ANYWHERE AND DON'T BE DOING THAT AT THE TABLE OLD MAN!"
From below Ichigo's line of sight at the table Isshin replied, "As you are now a man you must leave the safety of your mother's lap behind!"
Ichigo's eye twitched at the comment. Unfazed at his outburst a few seconds prior, Yuzu stood up herself and gestured towards Orihime before her brother could retort. Yuzu's eyes still sparkled as she spoke, "It's ok, oniisama! You can do that now with Orihime-neesama!"
Ichigo's rising anger was again snuffed as he gaped yet again at his sister. He then turned towards Orihime, still a bit razzled from earlier caught Ichigo's eye and Yuzu's comment registered in her head. She yelped as her hands snapped to her lap and her face lowered.
This movement however managed a semi decent bounce that her seifuku and bra were unable to contain.
-The lack of moisture in his mouth made gulping difficult as he saw every movement as Orihime quickly made her way to him.-
Ichigo brought a hand to his face so fast it left a blur. Quickly turning his head he pinched his nose and tried to snort whatever liquid that managed to make their way to his nostrils.
More laughter reached his ears as he turned to find his grinning father finally take a seat. Removing his hand from his face he stood straight as he quickly turned to address Orihime. "We better get going now or we'll be late", he said, more so just to get out of the house before his dad and sisters could embarrass him any further.
"Thanks for the meal", he said as he brought his hands together and turned. Before he could make his way to his room Isshin called to him.
"Ichigo! Remember what we spoke about last night! You have a new temp to help get acclimated starting today!"
Orihime, who was just now getting over her embarrassment, blinked at Isshin's announcement.
"Yes, dad, I remember", he grumbled.
"And don't think that now that you are a man that you can take advantage of her in her current emotional state!", Isshin rightously roared, pointing at Ichigo.
"What?"
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Yesterday Afternoon, Kurosaki Clinic, Isshin's Office-
"It's ok, it's ok", Isshin comforted, a waterfall of tears running down his own cheeks. He pulled some tissues that were off to the side and handed them to the emotionally distressed interviewee, who was seated across his desk.
"Thank you", a gorgeous, but teary-eyed woman said as she took them and dabbed her eyes.
"I understand completely", Isshin related, taking a tissue and blowing into it loudly. "It must be so hard".
"It is", replied the woman. "I've looked everywhere and I can't seem to find her! And without any money I won't be able to keep searching for her!", she lamented, clasping her hands together and bringing them to her chest.
"It's alright", a completely sympathetic Isshin comforted. "You can stay here and work as long as you need to until you find her." He sniffed again and nodded, wiping tears away with his arm.
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Present
Ichigo just stared at his father before sucking in a breath. "Sure thing, dad", he drowled as he turned to rush into his room.
At the table Orihime stood up, "Thank you for the meal", she said, also bringing her hands together briefly. She picked up her school carrycase and made her way towards the living room to wait for Ichigo.
Before she could leave the kitchen Belldandy had made her way towards her. Just before she could speak Ichigo managed to rush by. Seeing them he slowed to a stop and stood next to Orihime as his mother brought an arm to his shoulder.
"You know we were just teasing you, dear", she said to them, both of them blushing. "But next time Ichigo, please knock before entering, especially when we have guests".
Ichigo nodded, before stiffly moving by his mother. He then grabbed Orihime's hand, pulling her along. "We'll see you later!", they said as they made their way past the front door.
"Come home safe!", Belldandy shouted, making her way out of the kitchen to make sure the front door was shut.
At the table Yuzu giggled. "Did you see! They're at the holding hands stage!"
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Tatsuki yawned as she tossed her carrycase onto her desk. Moving her arms to her legs she held the back of her skirt to them as she took her seat and stretched forward.
'Man, whatta night', she thought and she yawned again. Shi-ichi's problems had her thinking for the rest of her jog all the way to bedtime, wondering how things turned out.
More students began filtering in as Tatsuki rubbed an eye. Orihime had not called, but that wasn't unusual since she was at the Kurosaki's, yet considering what she heard yesterday she'dve thought that she'd be filled in at some point.
And in spite of her words to him she needed some confirmation that things turned out ok. Those thoughts kept her up late, recalling their talk and just old memories coming to fore.
"What the..", she heard one of the male students mutter.
"That bastard", another one quietly grumbled.
Confused, she lifted her head and turned to see what they were looking at and was vaguely surprised to see both Shi-ichi and Orihime here a bit earlier than normal. Well, Shi-ichi was here earlier than normal, but...
'Waittasec', she thought, her mind taking notice of something out of place. Now awake, she realized that both Shi-Ichi and Orihime were holding hands.
She breathed out though her nose and turned away briefly to hide her face before she could get hold of the sudden emptiness that spread within her.
'Seems like Orihime finally made a move', she concluded as she then recomposed herself.
The two finally made their way in and Ichigo let Orihime's hand go. Getting to his desk Ichigo sat down but Orihime hadn't made a move yet, standing where Ichigo let her go. A faint blush graced her cheeks as she looked at her hand.
"I see things are looking up", Tatsuki muttered as Orihime finally came close by on her way to her desk. 'At least now I can get some answers, but from the look of things Shi-ichi must be doing better', she thought, eyeing him, 'he has none of that aura he did last night'.
Orihime hummed, not really hearing her.
Tatsuki sighed. "I said things are looking up for Shi-ichi", she repeated, finally getting her attention. "I ended up running into him yesterday. I take it everything's better now?"
Orihime turned to look at Ichigo. "He came home very late last night, Tatsuki, and it was really bad for awhile, but I'm glad everything's ok now". She then made a contemplating gesture and continued. "He seemed to be better after he walked in on my bath-", Orihime then stopped, realizing what she said.
Everyone in class stopped, hearing what she said.
Ichigo's heart stopped, unbelieving what she said.
"Wha-wh-wha-wha-wh-what?", Tatsuki stuttered out, trying to confirm what she said.
Orihime just stood their quietly, her hand to her mouth, not turning around but feeling all eyes on her.
"Shishishi-shi-shi-shi-ICHI"!, Tatsuki shrieked, hopping out of her seat onto a desk before diving to tackle her shocked target.
Both crashed in the aisle between desks and Tatsuki straddled him, preventing his escape and grabbed his shirt by the collar with both hands, hauling him forward to look him in the eye.
"Explain yourself", she roared. "I told you yesterday to behave, so what the hell happened?!"
"It was an accident", Ichigo finally got out as he got his bearings. He then tried to get out of their position but Tatsuki weighed herself down, pinning him with her hips.
"Accidents like that just don't happen, Shi-ichi", she said, completely focused on Ichigo now. "How exactly did that happen?"
Ichigo was about to answer as his mind decided to replay what was beginning to be it's favorite part, or parts. 'Oh boy', he thought as he could feel his cheeks begin to blush as well as something else begin to come forward. He then grabbed Tatsuki's arms and tried to wiggle free. "It was just an accident" he managed as his hands got hers off him and tried to push her off.
She grappled with him as he wiggled under her. "You're not getting off that easy", she promised him, tightening her legs and grinding her hips to keep her hold on him befo- 'wait, what was that?', she suddenly thought as she felt something new brush under her. She found herself blushing as she tried to figure out-
"If you don't move Arisawa, he will get off that easy", a call came out and both stopped.
Both slowly turned their heads at the same time.
"Freaking Kurosaki, it's bad enough he's got the hottest chick in class but now he's rubbing our faces in it and pulling double duty", one male lamented.
Both blinked.
"I didn't know Arisawa-san was so forward", a girl close by said to another.
"I just knew she liked him", another gushed.
Ichigo and Tatsuki looked at each other again and finally noticed the position they were in.
'Tha-that-that feeling was...', Tatsuki realized, her mouth falling open.
'Oh, god, can it get any worse', Ichigo mentally cried.
Tatsuki finally leaped to her feet and backpeddled, running into a desk and tripping over it.
Several others in the class started to laugh and more catcalls were thrown out as the snickering turned up a notch.
Ichigo then noticed that most of the girls were looking at him, or rather, looking at a certain-
Making the connection he attempted to save his dignity by twisting in place and tried to jump to his feet, completely missing that he twisted underneath a desk and slammed his head under it, yelping in pain as he clutched his head and sank to his knees.
More laughter came as he then took a seat on the floor and rubbed his head. As he did the laughter died down and two legs came into view. Looking up and up and up he saw the owner of the desk peering down at him.
Yasutora Sado raised an eyebrow at Ichigo's predicament but remained silent as he waited for Ichigo to move out of the way.
'Great freaking morning', Ichigo thought as he finally managed to stand up and wobble to his desk.
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Lunchtime came not too soon enough for Ichigo. After the incident this morning he had to deal with a constant hum of snickering and whispers throughout the classes. Looking back at Tatsuki didn't help matters, as she pointedly ignored him but at least in her case the ones she growled at stopped joking.
Getting up he grabbed his bento and made his way out and followed another of his classmates that left a moment prior.
"Yo, Chad".
Stopping and turning around, the tall boy looked down at Ichigo.
"Sado", he corrected.
Ichigo caught a glint at the larger boy's upper chest and noticed the amulet/pendent hanging around his neck. 'Dunno why I never noticed before', he thought, reminded of yesterday's talk. "Wanna join me for lunch?", he asked aloud.
"......", Sado stood waiting.
After a moment Ichigo raised an eyebrow. "You really aren't the talkitive type. Yesterday was the most I've ever heard you speak", he shook his head ruefully. Sado still stood there, waiting. 'I guess that means 'ok'. "Let's go".
"Kurosaki-san!", a voice called out.
Turning, Ichigo saw Keigo and Mizuiro make their way towards them.
"Asano, Kojima", Ichigo acknowledged them, nodding his head. "I heard you stopped by yesterday", he said to them as they got closer. "Sorry I wasn't there, I was kinda...", he trailed off, thinking of trying to explain himself.
"That's fine", Keigo mentioned. "I actually wanted to thank you for the other day, and that I gotta say your mom knows her stuff!"
"What", he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"She was spot on when she said I'd be feeling better, and I am!", he mentioned happily.
"Oo..okay", Ichigo finally said. "We're heading to the roof for lunch, if you want you can join us and fill me in".
"Thanks", both boys mentioned, and then turned to Ichigo's companion and looked up.
And up, and up.
Sado nodded at them in greeting.
"This's Chad. Chad, this is Asano and Kojima", Ichigo introduced.
"Sado", 'Chad' corrected again.
"Let's go", Ichigo said and walked ahead, the others following him.
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"I tell ya man, it's a miracle", Keigo said, regaling his story.
"Uh-huh", Ichigo mentioned through a mouthful of rice.
"It really is something", Mizuiro said. "He was really banged up yesterday. Seeing him this morning was quite a shock."
Keigo beamed, his face no longer in a sling and his bruises nearly healed as he brought another piece of food to his mouth. Chewing happily, and loudly, he swallowed before a stream of tears fell.
Ichigo stopped in mid-chew, feeling a bit nauseous at seeing an all too familiar display, even if it was from someone else.
"I couldn't do this yesterday without locking up or feeling like I was being poked!", he cried.
"So how did you end up like that", a voice questioned.
Ichigo swallowed before darting his head left and right, trying to see who asked that question before turning to face Sado who was looking at Keigo. He blinked at that.
After being filled in on the excitement yesterday Sado turned to Ichigo. "Sounds like you had a really busy day, even before helping me out".
"He helped you out too", Keigo asked, astounded. Considering Sado's height and look, the thought that he needed help -any help-, seemed like a revelation. "Was this while you were out", he asked Ichigo.
"Yeah", Ichigo said after a moment of thought. "I had some things to...think over, and I saw him getting jumped." He took another bite of food and chewed slowly, looking thoughtful. Gazing forward but not quite looking at anything he spoke again. "It pisses me off when I see that shit".
Keigo and Mizuiro both stopped to look at him, noting the change of tone in his voice. Before they could say anything another voice rang out.
"So this is where you are."
"Man, you'd think that you were ditching us on purpose".
All the boys turned to see two other boys make their way towards them. Ichigo recognized them from class.
"Yuuya, Hideo", he greeted automatically and blinked. 'Friends', his mind supplied and stared.
"Geez man, where've ya been?", Yuuya, a black haired boy standing a few inches shorter than Ichigo questioned.
"From the looks of it he's got some new pals. Hey, Sado", Hideo greeted.
Ichigo found himself surprised, as he remembered these two from before, in his old life, but it had been only as classmates. Here, he had been friends with them, and it surprised him again at how different some things were now.
"Have a seat", he said and scooted. Making quick introductions all the boys resumed eating.
"Where've you been off to all week, man", Yuuya asked again. "I'd been wanting to catch up with you on some of the games that have come out recently and left you a few messages. Hell, you've been running out of class before I could catch you."
"I've... this week hasn't been the best of weeks, y'know".
"I guess", Hideo supplied. "In any case, congrats again, Ichigo. Sorry I wasn't there to tell you in person, man, but being sick sucks".
"Didn't stop you from having play time", Yuuya grumbled, taking a sip from his drink.
Ichigo was silent, watching the by-play from the two newcomers. Bits and pieces were coming to him as they chatted and he found himself shaking his head. 'Games', he thought. He owned a few systems here and back 'home', but he didn't really play all the much. In fact, Karin was the one who liked to play, and he only really got involved when all 3 of them could play co-op. Looks like he had a bit more time here.
"I'll tell you what's happened", Yuuya supplied. "Ichigo's finally graduated, now that he has a girl and all".
Ichigo stopped in mid drink and started to cough.
"You lucky, bastard", Keigo commented. "It's Orihime, right? She was there when we stopped by yesterday".
"Get out", Hideo exclaimed. "You mean all that was true?"
"You saw this morning. He and Tatsuki too, they were practically having sex in class this morning", Yuuya continued.
"Holy shit", Keigo exclaimed, a outright look of admiration in his eyes.
"IT ISN'T LIKE THAT AT ALL", Ichigo finally shouted back, crushing his juice and splattering it.
"Kurosaki-san", Mizuiro said, wiping himself off, "I can give you pointers if you want".
The others turned towards him, curious.
Keigo grumbled. "I don't know how he does it, but not only does he like older women, but they never brush him off", he said enviously.
"You just got to know what to say", Mizuiro said, smiling. "I know some things that can help smooth things over for both your girls if your having problems".
"I'M TELLING YOU IT AIN'T LIKE THAT!"
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"Whatya mean your not going to come in today", Tatsuki asked, annoyed.
With the school day now over, all three were in the hallway, with both Tatsuki and Orihime on their way to their clubs.
"Exactly what it means, I'm not going to be in, as the old man has me breaking in a new temp as my punishment for yesterday".
"It's so stupid that you're being punished for helping someone out", she complained. "And this is going to go on for how long"?
"For the next several days until she gets it, I guess. I go, help, and come home later either closing or a bit prior to work on schoolwork".
A step behind them Orihime's face fell at hearing those words, knowing now he won't home until late.
Both Ichigo and Tatsuki stopped, noticing that Orihime was no longer keeping pace with them.
Ichigo saw her change her sad face into a happy one and misinterpreted it. "S'ok, Orihime, y'know Tatsuki will walk you back to my home".
Tatsuki just looked at Ichigo and fought an urge to roll her eyes. Though somewhat annoyed at his thickheadedness there seemed to be a small bit of relief that went through her. She crushed it when she caught Orihime's face again as she tried to brush his concerns off.
She was nearly successful.
"Yeah, don't worry about Orihime, Shi-ichi. I'll also cover for you when Noriyuki sensei asks about you later on, too".
Ichigo grimaced. "Thanks Tatsuki".
They then came to a corner and Ichigo continued towards the stairwell. "I'll catch you both later!", he told them, lifting an arm.
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Ichigo found himself whistling in appreciation as he arrived at his destination. While his 'memories' gave him more than an idea of what to expect, just seeing the place filled him with a bit of family pride that he could not quite keep down.
Good thing his dad wasn't here to see it.
He looked the place over. Larger than the 'original' Kurosaki clinic, this one was easily 2-3 times the size of their combo home/business house. Large enough that it commanded use of a staff at times was needed around the clock should they have a patient that needed to be there overnight or until a hospital transfer could be made.
Walking to the glass door he reached out to the door handle which suddenly flew open with a shoe sole rapidly filling his vision. He felt a strong gust of wind wash over him as he managed to duck in time.
Turning in mid-rise from his crouch he found his father slide on the pavement and come to a stop.
"OOOH!", Isshin shouted at his son, pointing at him. "Ichigo, I commend you on your awareness! My training is starting to bear fruit!"
"WHAT THE HELL", Ichigo fired back. "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'RE CRAZY ENO-", Ichigo stopped as his father had a hand on his shoulder, suddenly at his side.
"But enough about that", Isshin said, suddenly changing subjects. He turned his son around and nudged him to the door. Opening the door he buried a fist in his boy's back and pushed him through. Grumbling, Ichigo went forward.
Before Ichigo could turn around he noticed that they were not alone in the lobby. Trying to get his composure he faced the other room's occupant.
'Whoa', was the first word to come to mind.
Standing before him a without a doubt one of the most beautiful woman Ichigo had ever laid eyes on. Tanned with platinum blond hair, she was already in uniform, however the uniform seemed a size too small for her, as her skirt rose a bit too high on the thigh and her top was not fully buttoned, allowing some of her cleavage exposed. She held her hands clasped in front of her and held a clipboard in them. Forcing his eyes up, he caught her eyes as she smiled. He gulped softly as he felt his pants tighten.
Grabbing the hem of his school jacket he pulled down before bowing and introducing himself. He then mentally kicked himself as he fought the heat down from his face, and other places.
'What the hell', he thought. Never had he had such a strong reaction like this.
"It's a pleasure to meet you", the woman greeted him, also bowing. "I'm Urd. I hope that you'll take good care of me". She smiled, pleased at his reaction. 'All too easy'.
Ichigo silently nodded his head. After a moment he felt a hard tap at the small of his back and winced as his father walked to the side and entered his line of sight. Before making a retort his father coughed in his hand and faced him.
"Ichigo, I'd like to present to you our new temp. She may be with us for some time so I'm expecting you to show her right way of doing things around here.
"Yes, dad", Ichigo responded, again turning to face Urd, who stood waiting for him.
Isshin then walked forward and motioned for them to follow him. "Ichigo I want you to first show Urd how...", Isshin continued, but Ichigo did not hear. Urd had walked in between them, so she was in the middle behind his father as he continued on with his instructions. As she walked, there was a saunter in her gait that drew his eyes to her rear.
Gulping, he did his best to tear his eyes away and back to his father, who was still talking, not knowing Ichigo had tuned him out.
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Ichigo slid the shouji door to his room open and stepped through. Rubbing his face with hand he used the heel of his foot to shut the door behind him. Making sure it was closed he made his way to his desk and turned on the lamp, brightening the dark room a bit. Settling his things on his desk he turned to sit on his bed and laid back lifting his feet and resting them on his chair next to the desk.
'Oh, man', he thought, a bit of weariness coursing through him. Rubbing his eyes with his hands he stretched and yawned, enjoying the feel of his bed under him.
'What the hell is up with that nurse?', he thought. While not the worst he had ever seen, she seemed to be a bit of a butterfingers. His eyes narrowed, as that description seemed to be completely off tangent with the woman herself and the way she carried herself before his father had left the two of them alone.
Urd had, in some cases managed to have several files slip through her fingers several times as he tried to get her familiarized with some of the lobby work. Each time she insisted on picking everything up herself, but he had tried to help her regardless, and in doing so, had strangely managed to position him with some...interesting view points.
In one case she had bent over completely to pick up the dropped papers. Not merely crouching down but actually bending over with barely a bend at her knees. It was extremely difficult not to notice that not only was she facing away from him as she did so, but that her already short skirt rode even higher on her thighs.
Another case had him crouched with her but she had been directly in front of him, facing him this time and crouching as well. Lowering herself further to pick up the files he found himself able to see over her unbuttoned top into her cleavage including a bit of the inner cup of her bra.
He sighed as he recalled that when she had stood up she bounced as well.
With yesterday's events, the ruckus this morning and now this, he moaned as he realized that this was just Urd's first day. 'I don't think I'm gonna survive this...', he mentally lamented.
Before he could go over more a knock came at his door. Taking his hand off slightly to his face he looked toward his door. "Come in", he called out.
The door slid open and a figure walked in, holding a tray. With the light of the hallway behind her and his own darkened room, he could not quite make out her silhouette.
Blinking to improve his vision, the light from his lamp caught her face as she took another step inside and also carefully closed the door with her foot.
"Orihime", he said, managing at the last second to not say 'Inoue'. He rose to a sitting position, his feet now pulled from the chair and on the ground.
"Wel-welcome back, Ichigo-kun", she said as with measured steps she made her way to his desk and carefully placed the tray on it. "This was tonight's dinner", she explained to him before he could ask.
"Tha-thank you", he said, blinking.
A few moments ago out in the hallway Belldandy had exited her room, laying Keiichi to bed. She turned to make way to her eldest's room, curious to know how his day went and to let him know that his dinner was waiting for him.
Looking ahead she saw Orihime holding a tray with his dinner on it. Standing in front of his room she fidgeted as the girl realized she had no free hands to knock on the door. Before Belldandy could make a move or call out Orihime then carefully made way to his door and while making sure the tray was held firmly she tapped the door twice with an elbow. Hearing her son's consent Orihime with a foot carefully opened the door and stepped through, closing the door after a few seconds.
She smiled and continued forward. She loved the girl dearly, and would welcome her into their family should Ichigo wish to pursue her in that matter. Her smile widened a bit as her own cheeks flushed, recalling her own courtship with Isshin. She brought a hand to her face as one certain memory came forth. Speaking of which...
"Isshin", she said softly.
Behind her, on his knees was her husband in front of Ichigo's door with a glass cup in his hand. "Shhhh", he whispered to her, a finger to his mouth.
"Isshin", she said again, slightly turning her head but not turning around.
Missing her husband's disappointed face he rose and walked to her. Taking his hand, she was about to take a step forward before she stopped in midstep.
"Yuzu", she called out in the same tone.
Yuzu moaned softly in disappointment, her posture mirroring her father's of a moment prior exactly before she rose up to join her mother and father.
Inside and completely unaware of what had happened outside, Orihime watched as Ichigo rose to take the tray and slide it towards the bed. Sitting on his bed once more he gave thanks and began to dig in.
She watched him for a moment, smiling. She then took a seat beside him on his bed.
Stopping in mid-chew her turned to her, surprised at her actions. She sat next to him, a few feet away near the edge so she was not too close and continued to watch him before she turned away. He slowly began to eat once more, not sure exactly what was going on and trying to ignore how easily she did that.
"How - how was your day, Ichigo", she asked after a moment of gathering her courage. It was not the first time she was here nor the first time she sat on his bed, so why was there butterflies dancing in her stomach?
"Oh...okay I guess", Ichigo then responded. After swallowing another bite he frowned. "Then I got to the clinic".
Orihime made a soft sound of confusion as she looked at him. Taking a few more bites Ichigo continued.
"I swear this chick is toying with me", he said, recalling one frustrating moment. Continuing to eat he relayed much of what had happened, and her eyes had widened at hearing what he had to say. "And I get to have fun all over again tomorrow", he grumbled as he took the last bite.
Orihime brought her hands together, twiddling her fingers as Ichigo's last comment reminded her of what she came in for. "Thanks for the food", he said as he leaned forward to put the bowl back on the tray. He then scooted a bit further back on his bed and brought his legs in, sitting Indian style.
"Ich-ichigo-kun", she prompted finally.
"Hmmmm"?
"How..how've you been feeling, recently"?
He looked at her, puzzled now. "I've...I've been fine. Why do you ask?"
"It's just..well, you see...", she paused, trying to form her words. Ichigo looked at her, waiting. "I'm...I'm sorry, Ichigo. Please don't be mad at me", she said, her eyes watering a bit.
Ichigo's own eyes widened at what she said and turned fully to her. "For what", he asked.
"I'm, I'm sorry I didn't help you. Tatsuki did, but I just couldn't move. I was so scared when you collapsed I just couldn't move."
"What are you talking about", Ichigo asked, completely confused.
"At..at the hospital, when we went to go see Keiichi. You've..you've been so different since then".
His lips thinned as he looked down. He remembered now, he had been very disoriented from his 'transition' of being fully awakened. Thinking about it he had been acting normal, or at least he thought, but he realized that he 'probably' acted a bit differently from what others would expect.
He looked up and studied her. The Inoue he 'remembered' was, well, a mystery. He didn't really know her, other than she was good friends with Tatsuki. She also found herself tongue tied or quick to rush away when he did greet her or look at her. He had figured that she was shy, or something, considering Tatsuki never mentioned anything about it.
Looking at the girl in front of him, he could now recall much of his memories with her now. She was very close with his sisters, Yuzu in particular and his mother. He frowned as he recalled that first turning point with her parents, but since that time she's been a wonderful friend, and looking at her now... She really must've known him well if she could see the differences in what he understood as 'normal' for him.
"You've", she continued, bringing him back to the present. "You've also been referring to me as 'Inoue', and you haven't done that since we met". She sniffled as another tear rolled down her cheek. She then brought her legs in and wrapped her arms around them. "If you're doing that than I must've done something to make you angry at me, and, and-"
"Hey", he said, breaking her concentration. Looking at her and making sure that they had eye contact he continued. "You've done nothing wrong".
"Huh"?
"But you're right though. I have been... I have been a bit different lately". He paused as he thought about how he should say this. Orihime watched him, noticing how he had withdrawn in thought. After a moment he spoke again. "There have just been a few things that have happened recently - nothing that you've done", he then said, to soothe her. "I guess, I guess you could say that experience changed me a bit, but it's still me on the inside". He smiled at her.
"It as nothing to do with what you did", he told her. "And for what it's worth, I'm sorry for making you worry". Another tear rolled down her cheek and he frowned.
"Thank..thank you, Ichigo-kun", she said, wiping the tear away with her hand. "I...I still wish I could have done more though". Ichigo raised an eyebrow at her and waited to continue. "I wanted to come here and help you a bit. You and your family have done so much for me that I wanted to be able to give back a bit as well, but with what happened yesterday and your punishment; I feel...I just feel like I've been an extra burden on you".
"Hey", he said, his voice a bit firmer. "Don't talk about yourself like that". She blinked at him, a bit surprised at his tone. "You were here and able to help mom out and my sisters while I was out, both yesterday and today".
She blinked at him, a bit amazed at how firm he was being to her.
He took a breath in as he saw that she was still a bit unconvinced. Remembering a time that Yuzu was like this he decided that maybe doing the same would help Orihime as well. He rose from his sitting position to move towards her a bit and reached forward and laid a hand on her head. He rubbed her head a bit, trying to soothe her.
Orihime went completely still.
"That's more than I could ever hope to ask of anyone", he told her softly, looking her in the eye. "And it's my own fault of what happened, so don't knock yourself on that, ok"?
She blushed madly as she slowly nodded.
"Good", he said, giving her a very small nudge before sitting back and away from her.
"Now c'mon", he said, standing up and reaching out to grab his tray.
Snapping out of her reverie, she then got off his bed and stood up and tried to take the tray from him.
"It's ok, Ichigo-kun, I'll do that", she told him. Before he could retort she added, "I'm here because I wanted to help, remember? I'll take it". With that, she was able to take the tray from him. Walking to the door, she turned to look at him. "Thank you, Ichigo-kun", she smiled at him.
With that, he smiled back at her. Not a grin, but a soft one that was not marred by the scowl he had adopted so recently. Seeing him like that set her heart at ease, knowing that he was right. It was still him in there, no matter what had happened recently.
And that was all that mattered.
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Next Day, Isshin's Clinic
Urd frowned as she carried a stack of folders to the table. Finding the right one she walked over to the door and called the next name. An elderly man walked up, and she in turn led him to the room he would be waiting in.
She smiled at him as he complimented her, and she in turn thanked him as she told him to wait in the room. The others would be taking over from here, as she had not been trained yet by the boy on what to handle next.
The boy, yes, Ichigo.
She nodded at a passing co-worker, taking the next stack from her and returning to her chair to begin filing anew.
She had concluded so far the groundwork was being laid quite nicely. He had tried so hard to keep himself in check but she knew that she had caught his eye. The only thing she had failed to do was to get him alone and properly reveal herself to him.
She had, in hindsight, made a miscalculation in gaining the boy's attention through the workplace she realized.
She had intended to be able to get him alone, and the clinic seemed to have plenty of room for 'opportunity', but it seemed to not want to present itself the night before. Work, it seemed, had presented itself at each turn, and they both found themselves in it as he instructed her on what to do or who to talk to.
'He was just so cute when he was being serious', she thought, recalling his attempts to regain his self control after one of her 'slips'. Still, she felt he wasn't all that bad, and wondered what kind of wish he made.
When she could finally corner him alone she'd be able to ask, and from there see how it pertained to her sister and if it had any bearing on-
-THUD-
Blinking, she found herself snapped out of her thoughts as another stack of folders appeared next to her.
"Have these filed in the same area Ichigo showed you last night", Isshin said before turning back. "Oh, one more thing", he said before he reached the exit.
"Ichigo will be in a little later than normal today", he informed her. Urd momentarily closed her eyes and fought back a growl of frustration at another wrench in the works. Quickly regaining her composure, she asked, "May I ask why he will be in late"?
"He has to take a guest of ours home", he said before a nurse called for his attention.
As he left her alone Urd turned back to look at the stack in front of her and snorted in frustration.
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Ichigo leaned back in his chair and blew out a breath. Holding his arms behind his back he stretched, twirling the pencil he held. Settling back down he reworked the problem that was giving him some issues. After a moment he turned to look at the clock once more and sighed, not looking forward what was to come.
The classroom he was in was long since emptied, and he was only staying around to wait for Orihime finish her club so he could first walk her to his home to grab her stuff, then walk her home while carrying her stuff. Though lighter than what it was when he first lugged it home a few days ago, it was still something he didn't want to do.
His father found it an appropriate part for his punishment, since he would need to see her home he could also take her stuff, and then come for training at the clinic.
'It's only appropriate because of the timing', he mentally growled. Looking at the clock once more, he scowled as he went back to his homework.
