Rai-kumo (Ichigo\Bleach) Ch. 33

Ichigo scowls at you. "Oh no," he growls, "You're not getting out that easily! You're coming with me!" How's he going to know if you don't dash straight home again? Something's obviously wrong with you today and he knows if he lets you out of his sight for one second, you're going to run away again or do something else to avoid him, like you did yesterday. He's willing to bet you lied about being mad and this is your way of punishing him. He's not going to let you leave until he figures out what is wrong and why you're still mad at him.
"No way," you say stubbornly, "Not until you return that germ-infested broom! In case you haven't noticed, they're not going to just let you waltz in with it, they'll think you're the new janitor or something!" Ichigo's scowl deepens. You have a point. "All right, fine," he sighs, "but..." He seizes your arm. "You're still coming," he finishes, dragging you with him. Around ten minutes later, you're in front of Karakura High School.

"Geez, Ichigo," you say as you reach the gate, "You didn't have to drag me here by the arm. I can walk, remember?" "Hmph," he snorts, "You were going to run off if I let go, and I'm not gonna let that happen until I figure out why you're still mad at me." You blink and frown. "Who's mad?" you deadpan. "Then explain why you've been acting weird since last night!" Ichigo insists. Then, a thought hits him. "Wait," he says slowly, making you squirm. Did he figure anything out? No, wait, AUGH! Why are you worried? There's nothing TO figure out! Stop it Aki!! "Are you upset that we never found out who killed your friend?" Ichigo draws out, looking at you, still holding your arm. Phew.
"No," you sigh, "I'm all right. I've come to terms with everything already. You helped me do that." When he just stares blankly at you, you take the chance to get your arm out of his grip (man, is he that scared you're gonna run off?) and tell him point-blank, "You did that when we were in front of your Mom's grave. I did some thinking last night too, and I figured, well, if there's a will, there's a way, right? So, I know I'll figure out what's going on eventually. I'm all right."
He studies you for a minute, making you squirm all the more. Then he smiles. "All right," he says, "I believe you." You sigh and give him a relieved smile back. "Man, Ichigo, you really should get a girlfriend, you sure know how to take care of people," you joke, punching him lightly on the arm. "What, like you?" he mocks, rubbing his arm, but smirking. You feel your smile fade. Somehow, that joke just doesn't seem funny right now... You walk in through the gates and say, "So, let's go return this thing." "Yeah," he says. Ichigo's smirk vanishes when he sees two people on the distant sidewalk. "Aww, not them," he moans, "C'mon, let's go!"
"Them?"
"Ichigo? Who?" you question, but he grabs your wrist again and speeds into the building with you. "It's Mizuiro and Keigo," he hisses. "If they even see us in the same spot at the same time, we're never going to hear the end of it!" You give him a questioning look. "I thought you didn't care--?" you start, but he cuts you off. "I don't, but the rest of the school does!" You gulp. He's right. There were already too many rumors floating around for your liking and likely, both of your reputations would suffer the damage. You're not looking forward to wasting your time telling everyone you two are not an item, and he probably feels the same way. Besides, what's Orihime going to say? After you've already told her you're not interested in him? Will she still believe you? You shake your head violently, making Ichigo stare at you with a sweatdrop on his head. She's got to! It's the truth! The two of you find the janitor's closet and shove the broom in and dash out the back, near the basketball courts. "Oh? Ichigo? Aki?" Shoot.
Mizuiro and Keigo are standing on the courts, both of them dressed in jeans and T-shirts, Keigo holding a basketball. "Eh? What are you two doing here on a Sunday?" he asks curiously. "That's what we should be asking you!" Ichigo shouts, pointing a finger at him. "We?" Keigo repeats. Then he does an overly theatric gasp. "Oh my God! Don't tell me that you two--?!" "Nothing's going on!" you exclaim. "Some prankster threw the school broom through Ichigo's window and we were just returning it!" Mizuiro and Keigo exchange glances and stare at the two of you. "Wait, 'Ichigo's' window?" Mizuiro says slowly, "Aki, don't you mean 'Kurosaki's?'" You cringe. "Err..."
Your stomach chooses this moment to growl loudly, causing everyone to stare at you. You manage a nervous laugh and tell them, "Uh, see, I was just about to go grocery shopping and I bumped into Ichigo. I thought I'd go with him, since I wanted to check out the kendo club's room and stuff..." Mizuiro gives you a critical stare. "I thought you said you hated this guy. Why were you dashing out the back with him?" "Um..." you manage, rubbing the back of your neck. "We were... having a race?"
Keigo and Mizuiro exchange glances and shrug. "Okay then," they chorus in an unconvinced tone. "You just go off and do your shopping," Mizuiro tells you cheerily. You offer a nervous grin and walk off. "All right, I'm leaving too," your orange-haired companion drawls as he takes a few steps. But as Ichigo passes by, his friends each pull on a shoulder and with matching frowns, hold him back. They exchange glances, Mizuiro now grinning and Keigo now moping, looking like the Greek theater masks, comedy and tragedy. They wait for you to walk out of sight. "What?" Ichigo asks, dreading the looks on their faces as the soft pad of your sneakers fades away. "Oh, nothing," Mizuiro says, "Just..." "You better take care of Aki, you lucky bastard," Keigo sobs, tears streaming down his cheeks, "She's too cute for you!" Ichigo flings their arms off and backs away, staring at them. "I already told you!" he exclaims, "It's not like that!" "Sure..." they draw out. "Then why are you going shopping with her?" Keigo says a little accusingly. "I'm not!" Ichigo exclaims, "We just happen to be going the same way! She said she's going shopping!" Mizuiro smirks. "She also said she wanted to poke around the kendo club room. Did she find everything okay?" Ichigo frowns. "Er, yeah," he lies. "Look, I really gotta go okay? I'll see you guys tomorrow." With that, he starts down the hillside, but turns around halfway and calls back, "Hey, don't go spreading any rumors or something all right?" "Wouldn't dream of it," Mizuiro chirps. As Ichigo leaves, Keigo gives his shorter friend a wary glance. "Hey, your fingers were crossed," he states.
...
You had walked until you reach the street with the park where you had sat on the swings with Ichigo. You had sat there on a swing, sorting your thoughts out. You don't like this. Ichigo just went from a punk to a guy with a sad past to someone who looked nice in less than 48 hours. Too quick. The thermometer says you're not sick, but hey, that thing doesnt pick up on brain disorders... You sigh and get up and start home when your stomach growls again. You didn't eat at all today and it's nearly lunchtime now. Actually, you had been feeling too weird to eat. "It'll pass..." you tell yourself.
After half an hour, you finish your shopping and are about to turn the corner to go home when you see Ichigo. You nod rather stiffly in greeting and he starts walking beside you. "Uh, Ichigo, we returned the broom," you say warily. "You can go home now..." "Stupid," he snorts, "I live across the street from you." You glare and kick him in the shin (your hands are full of plastic grocery bags). "Ow!" While he's rubbing his leg, you snap, "Don't call me stupid!" Ichigo, glares back and snarls, "Well, what else should I call you? The kendo club's room is locked on Sundays! They saw right through you!! Next time pick a better lie!" "Fine then!" you shout, "You do the lying next time if you're so good at it!" "Maybe I will!" he yells.
Suddenly, a soccer ball comes out of nowhere and hits Ichigo on the side of the head, knocking his face into the dirt. You're so surprised, all you can manage is a confused, "Eh?" "Ah, sorry!" someone in a red baseball cap shouts as she runs over. When she arrives, she looks down and mumbles, "Huh? It's Ichi-nii?" You pick up the ball and hand it to her. Only one person calls Ichigo that... "Karin?" Karin looks up and takes the ball back, her mouth slightly open in surprise. "Aki?" You nod. "What are you doing?" you ask, curious. "I was playing soccer with the guys," she replies, "But I kicked the ball so hard, it went through the goal net and just kept going... They made me go get it." You sweatdrop at how casually she says this. "This girl," you think, "is definitely Ichigo's sister..." She eyes you and slowly asks, "Hey, what are you and Ichi-nii...?" "Agh," Ichigo moans, getting up, "Man, that hurts! Karin, watch where you kick that thing next time!" Karin looks from him to you and slowly grins, as if answering her own question. "Ah, I see..." she smirks, as Ichigo scowls. "Sorry to have bothered you two, I'll just be going now!" she declares, still smiling smugly. "It was nice to see you again, Aki! Have fun, Ichi-nii!"
Ichigo, still rubbing his head, shouts after her, "Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Karin just grins knowingly at him as she runs off, waving. "Tch," he mumbles, getting back down on one knee, "My shoestring snapped again. That's the second time this week..." You frown and squat down next to him. "Hey," you declare, jabbing him in the arm. "What?!" he cries, exasperated. "Your cuts," you say nonchalantly, pointing to his face. "They've opened up again." He blinks at you for a minute before reaching up and touching his left cheek. Blood. "Geez, you should've bandaged them," you say, as you pick up your bags and get ready to leave. "C'mon, get up." He looks at you quizzically, but straightens up. "Huh?" he manages. "I'm going to pick up some onigiri for lunch (*rice-balls)," you say, "The convenience store's right over here, why don't we get you some band-aids? Your house is still kinda far from here and it's going to look odd if you bleed all over your clothes." Ichigo blinks and looks down. There are small dark spots on the green part on his long-sleeved T-shirt... As he watches, a small red drop of blood hits the white and settles into the fabric.
You sigh. "Don't just stand there and watch, you idiot!" you exclaim, exasperated. You shift all your bags to one hand and with the other, grab him by the back of his collar and practically tow the very shocked Ichigo in through the automatic doors. You let go of him and snatch a small packet of band-aids from the shelf and get a couple of packages of onigiri from the bottom rack of the counter you arrive at. Ichigo just watches you, astounded by how fast you're moving. "All done," you declare calmly, as you take the new bag with the same hand holding all the other bags and grab Ichigo again and drag him outside. Ichigo, gasping with pain, just barely manages to catch the cashier who helped you giggle and say, "My, my, what an energetic girlfriend you've got!" Ichigo feels his face turn red (is it with anger or embarrassment? Right now, he's too upset to care which), but before he can yell, "She's not my girlfriend!" the doors shut. You, on the other hand, didn't catch any of that. You were too busy muttering under your breath about what an idiot you were stuck taking care of right now and wondering why Rukia didn't want to return the broom herself.
About halfway down the street, Ichigo manages to rasp out, "Aki, let go, damnit!! You're choking me!" You stop walking just long enough to drop his collar. Ichigo drops to the ground, gasping for breath, his eyes watering. "Oh, sorry about that," you apologize. "You didn't have to do all that, you know!" he accuses, getting up to glare at you. "I didn't?" you ask indifferently, "Yeah right. You were watching yourself bleed all over your shirt, you masochist. You may know how to take care of other folks, Ichigo, but when it comes to yourself, you suck." "What was that?!" he snarls, but you cut him off. "Over there," you point, "That's the park. Let's go." He just stares as you walk down the hillside to the same park you were at earlier. He frowns. This seems to be a favorite haunt of yours... "Hmm, I wonder why?" he thinks. But, he follows.
You sit down on the same bench as before, from the first time you had helped Ichigo train and Ichigo sits down next to you. "Aki?" he asks, "What are we doing back here?" You fish out the onigiri and the band-aids and put the food on the table. The package you keep in your hands and open. "Having lunch," you answer, "And in the meantime, I'm going to help you fix your face. You probably don't have a mirror on you and if you go home without looking at least a little cleaned up, there's gonna be trouble." Huh? Are you... actually being compassionate? He glances at you in surprise. True, you know about the situation with his dad, but this... His bubble bursts when you finish, "I don't want to hear any banging going on over there while I'm trying to sleep. If I go to school looking like a panda tomorrow, I'll blame you." He scowls and crosses his arms as you get up and stand in front of him examining his re-opened cuts. "So much for that," he thinks angrily.
You peel the tape off of the first bandage. "Hold still," you command, noting his facial expression, "Or it won't do anything besides make you look dumber than you already do." "Shut up," Ichigo grinds out, scowling even more, making your eyebrow twitch. "Stubborn idiot," you think to yourself, but you say, "I'm trying to help!" To make sure he holds still, you place your left hand on the side of his face. Ichigo flinches at the sudden contact as you mumble, "Keep your head like that okay? And don't move!" But he can't help but move. You don't notice as his eyes flick over to you, as he watches you stick the band-aids on with careful precision. He feels his face getting strangely warm as the soft pressure of your fingers smoothes them in place. He sees you biting your lip in concentration as you finish and get another band-aid. You've always made a habit of that, biting your lip...
Keigo's words echo in his head... "You better take care of Aki, you lucky bastard..." it sobs, " She's too cute for you!"
Quickly he pulls away. "I can bandage myself thanks," he suddenly says, taking over from there as you grab some food and sit back down on the bench beside him. Damn Mizuiro! Him and Keigo, coming over just long enough to bug him and plant thoughts in his head. Aki? Cute? Yeah, right. Sure you don't look half-bad when you're happy and all, but this is the same girl who wanted to watch him fight Oshima at lunch not too long ago! That is NOT cute. YOU are not cute.
He sneaks a glance at you as you eat, but you catch it. "Your share's behind you," you announce, closing your eyes and sighing. "Huh?" he stammers, surprised you'd caught him, "No, that's not it!" "Then what?" you ask, cocking your head to the side and fixing him with an even stare. "So, this means you were never mad? At all?" he asks. "For the last time, no! Why does it bother you so much anyway?" you sigh. Ichigo blinks, a little startled. That's a good question. Why is he so worried? Especially about what YOU think? What Aki thinks... "Uh..." he manages after a long pause. "I really don't know..." When you give him an unconvinced look, he shouts, "What's with that face? I mean it!" When you continue eating, he yells, "And don't ignore me! You've been dodging almost all the questions I've ever asked you!! What gives?!" "I'm hungry," you state, point-blank. "Oh," he says, feeling a bit embarrassed. To cover that up, he picks up the box of band-aids on the table and examines it carefully...
"Hey! You're making me wear these?!" he exclaims, grabbing the box from you and goggling lamely at them. "They're bright red and blue! They're for three year olds! I'll look ridiculous! No one's going to take me seriously in a fight any more!!" You blink at him. "Three year olds?" It's so funny you just start laughing, but you scoot back a little bit, in case he decides to throw it at you. "Aw come on, since when have you ever cared about that?" you snicker, "Besides, you look okay, all right?" Ichigo looks up to glare at his so-called friend, but stops short as he watches you laugh. Your cheeks are kind of pink from laughing so hard and you stop just long enough to start grinning in an amused way at him. He can't stay mad at you... "C'mon, Kurosaki," you declare, thumping him on the back. "Lighten up." He watches you as you get up. "I'm going home, okay? See you tomorrow," you tell him and start walking away. "Yeah," he mumbles, still watching you. "Home..."
Gaiden ending in results >>>>>>>>
As you leave, Ichigo puts his head in his hand and stares at the small patch of dirt in front of him. His fingers brush the bandages and stop there. You really tried to help him today. Yeah, you got in another fight, but what else is new? Verbal battles seemed to be your thing, between the two of you. You didn't usually fight with other folks so much.
"She's too cute for you!"
"What an energetic girlfriend you've got!"
He sighs, taking his hand away and looking at the table by the bench. You had left his share of the onigiri behind. "What a weird girl," he mumbles, looking at them in wonder. "Who?" The voice comes from nowhere, making Ichigo shout in surprise. When he turns around, he sees Rukia. "I hope you weren't talking about me," she says a little threateningly. "I wasn't!" Ichigo cries. "Good," she says, a gleam appearing in her eyes. "Rukia," he asks cautiously. "What are you doing here?" She smiles softly. "You took too long in getting back, so I was afraid a Hollow had attacked you. Now that we know you're safe, it's time for training!!" she declares triumphantly. Ichigo feels the color drain out of his face. A scream echoes throughout the park.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"
END GAIDEN PART II