"He's late."
Orihime and Chad chuckled as they watched another vein pop on Uryuu's forehead. "Calm down, Ishida-kun. I'm sure he's on his way."
"Well he better be," Uryuu snorted as he sat back and crossed his arms across his chest, "I didn't bring any money with me."
"I brought some cash so we're good," Chad said as he took a sip of his drink.
"See, even if he can't make it Sado-kun can pay for us," Orihime smiled.
"That's not the whole point," Uryuu sighed. He reached into his pocket to dish out his phone. "I'm going to call him."
"Hm," Chad nodded as he continued to sip his drink. Orihime laughed before sending their waiter an apologetic look that they still weren't ready to order yet.
Uryuu drummed his fingers on the table as he waited for the other line to pick up. "Ring. Ring. Ring." Another vein popped up as his fingers became even more persistent to dent the table underneath. "Even this ringing is annoying," he groaned as the voicemail came on again.
"So Inoue…" Chad started, "What happened?"
The woman looked up at him with a questioning look before she caught on. "Oh…that," she whispered before chuckling lowly, though there really wasn't any amusement in her tone. "Well, I kinda found out that day when we went to Kurosaki-kun's apartment to check out that rumor. I heard you guys talking with him about Kuchiki-san."
Uryuu tensed at what she just said. "I-I didn't know you were there."
Orihime shrugged her shoulders with a smile. "I came back to see what you had to talk to him about. It's a good thing that I did."
"Why is that?" Chad asked. "This couldn't have been easy for you."
"Eun," she nodded, "I ended up crying over a week because of it."
Uryuu frowned. "Then why do you sound so relieved?"
Orihime took a sip of her drink before looking up at him. "Like I said: I'm free. Now I don't have to waste my time chasing after a man I can never have."
"What made you come up with that?" Chad asked.
"Kuchiki-san finally became the barrier that I've been searching for," she answered, "Before, while I might have said I was over Kurosaki-kun, I still held the unwanted hope of getting his affection some day. But now, finally there's a reason to stop hoping."
"Still, it must have been hard for you," Chad said.
Orihime nodded. "At first when I found out about his relationship with her, I was planning on exposing it or somehow get to Kurosaki-kun with this scandalous information. But…" she looked down to keep her eyes hidden in case they saw her eyes brimming with tears again. "I knew he would hate me if I did that. If others find out, then not only would my dreams with him shatter forever, but so will whatever friendship that is left between us. And…I didn't want to do that."
Uryuu smiled as he looked at his drink. "That's a pretty noble decision you made."
Orihime nodded again. "I might have loved Kurosaki-kun as a woman, but I also love him as a friend. And that's more important to me in my heart."
Chad smiled at his friend as he patted her shoulder. "I will pray for your happiness."
"Thank you," she whispered.
Uryuu sighed, unsure of how to comfort his dear friend. So instead he pulled out his phone and said, "I'm going to try calling him again."
Orihime looked up at him and smiled. "Okay," she whispered as Uryuu placed the phone next to his ear.
The ringing continued again, bringing back the tick from before. The gloomy mood from before was quickly gone as the other two noticed his anger bubbling up again. After the tenth ring, the call finally got picked up. "Goddamit, Kurosaki!" Uryuu shouted into the phone, "Where the hell are you?" The other two quickly looked away, trying to pretend they weren't associated with him when other people in the restaurant threw them a glare.
"Um, is this Ishida-kun?"
The said man stiffened when he heard another voice beside that of his friend. "Yes…who is this?"
"Ah, long time no see! Or is it no 'hear?'" the man laughed.
Uryuu immediately recognized the other person through his odd joke. "Kurosaki-san?" he called out, getting curious looks from Orihime and Chad.
"Yup," Isshin answered, "I haven't talked to you since Ichigo moved here. How have you been m'boy?"
"Um, fine, thanks for asking," Uryuu answered though he was frowning. "Excuse me for asking, but how come you're the one answering Kurosaki's phone right now?"
"Because I'm visiting my son right now," he replied.
A moment of silence passed as cold sweat streamed down Uryuu's face. "Um, are you really? W-why? I mean, wh-who, um… anyone else—that is, what about—"
"If you're talking about Rukia-chan," Isshin interrupted, though his tone now serious, "I am already aware."
Now the sweats were falling down like waterfall and Uryuu's faced contorted like he was constipating. "Um, then may I ask just how much you know? And what's going on right now."
"…"
"Kurosaki-san?" Uryuu called out when there was no answer.
"…Ishida-kun, may I ask you to come over to Ichigo's apartment right now? I really would like to talk to you."
Uryuu throat dried up and he tried to swallow to loosen it up. For some reason he felt like a kid who got caught for helping a friend break the neighbor's window. "Um, sure. I'll be right there."
"Good. I'll see you in a few minutes," Isshin said before hanging up the phone.
Uryuu slowly peeled the phone away from his ears and stared at it as he heard the dial tone coming from it.
"What was that?" Chad asked.
"Seems like Kurosaki in trouble," he answered as he closed his phone and stood up, "His father wants me to come over right now, but I think all three of us should go there."
"Why?" Orihime asked.
Uryuu looked at her as he grabbed his jacket from the back of his chair and pulled his arms through the sleeves. "It's about Kurosaki and Kuchiki."
The two immediately got up, Chad threw a few bucks on the table, and the three friends were running out the restaurant with their umbrellas and towards Ichigo's apartment. With their insane speed, it took them only ten minutes to get there.
Chad quickly went to the door and gently banged on it with his giant fist. In no time, the door was unlocked and opened.
"Ah, I didn't know you two were coming as well," Isshin gently smiled, "Good to see all of you guys again. It's been too long."
"Good evening, Kurosaki-san," Orihime bowed, followed by the two men, "How have you been?"
"Quite well," he answered, "I've been good. Come on in." He pulled the door open wider and motioned for the three to enter. They slowly stepped into the apartment and slipped their shoes off and stepped into the living room. They immediately took a spot on the couch while Isshin sat on the single, adjacent seat.
"Um, excuse me for asking—"
"You sure do ask a lot," Isshin grinned.
Uryuu merely pushed up his glasses and coughed. "Ahem, well, I just wanted to know where Kurosaki and Kuchiki might be."
Isshin's smile immediately fell and a serious atmosphere surrounded them. The three friends gulped, already feeling uncomfortable by Isshin's sudden uncharacteristic expression. "Before I tell you," he started, placing his elbows on top of his knees and placing his hands near his mouth, "I just wanted to know one thing: how long have you three known about Ichigo and Rukia-chan's relationship?"
"A little more than a month," Chad answered.
Isshin nodded. "And were you guys also aware that Rukia-chan is Ichigo's student?"
It suddenly got really hot in the room.
"Um," Uryuu coughed as he tried to pull his collar that felt like it was choking him, "Well, we knew right away since she is a student at our school. One of the top students in fact."
Again Isshin nodded. "I see. And was nothing done to stop this relationship?"
"They were already passed home base by the time we found out," Uryuu answered.
This time Isshin sighed as he brought up his hands to rub his temple. "What could have possibly gotten into them to start such a risky relationship?"
"Simple: they are in love."
The four looked up to see Yoruichi and Urahara standing by the door that Isshin had forgotten to lock when Ichigo's friends came inside.
Isshin's eyes narrowed into slits as he glared at his friends. "You two told me Ichigo finally found a girl. But I never expected Rukia-chan to actually be a girl."
Yoruichi shrugged her shoulders as she walked over to sit on the floor across from the couch. "I was way too busy just celebrating over the loss of Ichigo's virginity to really think about that."
"Besides," Urahara continued as he sat next to Yoruichi, "You weren't complaining when we told you about her through the phone."
"You didn't tell me she was Ichigo's student!" Isshin yelled. "And now her fucking brother—with a missile up his ass—broke in here and took Rukia-chan away after threatening and beating up my son!"
Orihime gasped while Uryuu and Chad stared at the older man with wide eyes.
"Ah," Urahara nodded, "So it finally happened. Guess we were right."
"Yeah, and sometimes I hate that," Yoruichi sighed as she looked out the window to see that the rainstorm still hadn't let up.
Isshin groaned as he leaned back against his seat. "I had to drug my own son to sleep since he's been trying to go after Rukia-chan in his condition. I think he might have broken a rib."
Urahara nodded. "I'm really sorry for not having told you about Kuchiki-san, my old friend. But you must understand, Yoruichi and I knew it was for the best."
Isshin eyed his two friends for a while before nodding. "I know. I have yet to doubt your amazing ability to predict the future. After all, you two did help me with Masaki."
Yoruichi smiled. "Pretty much the same way we got Ichigo and Rukia together."
Isshin chuckled as he closed his eyes to reminisce about the good ol'days.
"Ano, then what's going to happen to Kurosaki-kun?" Orihime asked.
The three older adults looked at each other before becoming all serious again. "Well, Rukia-chan's brother did threaten to call the police."
"But seeing how none came, I'm guessing he took pity on him," Yoruichi said.
"Or maybe he thought his men already killed Kurosaki-kun," Urahara suggested.
But Isshin shook his head. "Or Rukia-chan did something to get her brother to leave Ichigo alone."
Another silence surrounded the six as they thought about how likely the last statement was.
"What do we do when Ichigo wakes up?" Chad asked.
"I don't know, but I'm going to need you guys to help me keep him down," Isshin nodded at Uryuu and Chad, "I don't want him running out after Rukia-chan just yet."
"Good thing it's the weekend," Orihime added, "We have Saturday and Sunday to figure things out before this gets to the school."
This time Uryuu groaned as he rubbed his temples. "I don't think two days is enough time. Kurosaki is going to need more than that to get better and go after Kuchiki. Not to mention it might take a couple of days before anything really happens."
Immediately Orihime's face fell and she looked at her feet. Just when she finally got over Kurosaki-kun, his love life gets twisted upside-down. She felt bad for him, this time not as a secret admirer but as a dear friend.
Urahara pulled out his fan from inside his sleeve, and started fanning himself like he always did when he was in deep thought. "Then I guess you three might have to think of some excuse for the two."
"And not to mention you should get to school and intercept any fax or mail that might contain this issue or of Rukia's transfer. If I'm guessing it correctly, her brother will most likely pull her out of Karakura High School and send her to another school by next week."
Chad nodded. "I have to go to school early tomorrow morning to help with our sports club. I'll go there earlier and keep an eye out for them."
Yoruichi nodded. "And since I'm still listed as her roommate, I can write up some excuse that she's ill and won't be coming to school until she gets better."
"And I'll think of something for Ichigo," Isshin added, "I can just lie that one of his sisters got extremely ill and was sent to the hospital. I'm sure Ishida-kun's father is willing to write a believable letter back at Tokyo," he grinned at the young man.
Uryuu's face fell at the thought of his father. "Are you sure Ryuuken will be willing enough to write something like this?"
"Why not? He owes me," Isshin snorted.
"But would Kurosaki-kun's sister like the idea of being used for this lie?" Orihime's eyebrows wiggled in concern.
"Don't worry," Isshin told her, "Karin and Yuzu really love Rukia-chan and thinks of her as their sister. I'm sure they would do anything to see her back with Ichigo and making me grandchildren."
Yoruichi smirked. "Same old Isshin."
"And I'm damn proud of it," he gave her a thumb's up.
Urahara chuckled, happy to see some improvement in the air. "So, what shall we do when Kurosaki-kun wakes up?"
"I know what I'm going to do," Isshin said as he slammed his fist into his open palm, "I'm first going to beat his ass for lying to me, and then I'm going to beat him up for being so weak that he couldn't protect his woman."
"I have a lecture prepared," Uryuu added.
"I'll take Ichigo out to exercise his stress off," Chad raised his arm.
"Then I'll make him my special soup! It's made with chicken broth and sweet bean paste along with honey and mustard. It'll bring his mood right back up!" Orihime pumped her arms into the air with enthusiasm, although the others were turning slightly green.
Yoruichi shook her head as she laughed. "Looks like maybe things are going to turn out alright after all."
"Of course it will," Urahara winked at her, "It took us so long to get those two together, there's no way we can just sit here and watch all our hard work go to waste."
"Touché, my love," Yoruichi smirked.
Rukia stared out the dark window as the rain continued to collide with her window. She was lying on her giant bed in the room she had left over five years ago. Nothing had changed but the person now occupying it.
The very place she hated. The very place she had been trying to escape all this time. In the end, she was back to the very place she wanted to leave behind forever. It seemed she had been only going around in circles.
It's been over three hours since Rukia was shoved back into this confiding room by her brother's bodyguard and the door was locked from the other side. It was almost like her room finally became a prison. And for the past three hours she stayed completely still with the lights off as she lied on her bed, her eyes with a far away look as they peered passed her window and at the crazy downpour that seemed to be crying her tears for her.
Rukia barely heard the knocking on her door.
"…Rukia?"
Her ears suddenly perked up as she heard a familiar voice, but ignored it as she continued to act dead.
"Rukia," the person called out again as he—the voice clearly that of a man—continued to knock. "I brought you some food."
Rukia heard the lock being undone outside and someone coming in, but she remained still in her position, only thinking it was a butler who would leave after he dropped off her meal. But after hearing the sound of the tray getting placed on her desk, she heard footsteps coming closer to her. She flinched when she felt weight pushing down the other side of the bed and when the man placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Rukia."
Finally recognizing the voice, Rukia looked up to see the familiar red head of her childhood friend. Immediately, the tears that had stopped an hour ago finally started up again.
Renji smiled. "Rukia. How have you been?"
Rukia's lower lip trembled as she sat up and wrapped her arms around her friend. "R-Renji! Wha—who?"
He just smiled as he held her back. "It's okay now. I'm here."
"R-Renji," she choked again, "I—Niisama, he…he—Ichi—"
"Shh," he patted her head, "Don't worry. It's going to be okay. Your back home where you should be and nobody is going to hurt you anymore."
Rukia's shoulders stiffened and her sobbing started to die down. As his words started to sink in, she pulled away to stare up at him. "W-what?" she asked in a hoarse whisper.
Renji continued smiling. "That's right. That Kurosaki-bastard can't touch you anymore."
"Kuro—Ichigo?" Rukia's breathing started to slow down and she detached herself from Renji. "Yo-you know a-about Ichigo?"
Renji tried to reach out for her again but Rukia slid away from him on the bed. He sighed as he tried to reason with her with his eyes. "Of course I know. I'm the one who discovered you guys and told your brother."
"You—"
"You owe me now," he smirked, "After all, I'm the one who saved you from that fucked up teacher."
Rukia's eyes widened as she slipped off her bed. "I-Ichigo," she breathed.
Renji nodded. "I was hoping the rumor I started back at Karakura high school would have been enough to get him but I guess it didn't reach the principal's ears fast enough. So I had no choice but to go to your brother. It took a while but once I did, he quickly took care of everything."
Rukia started to back off as Renji also got off her bed. Her eyes were wide as plates as she continued to gape at him. "You started that rumor?"
Renji nodded.
"But…but why?"
This time a frown appeared as Renji looked at her. "Why? Isn't it obvious? That citrus head was using you and keeping you captive back at his place."
"What are you talking about?" she asked, "And how did you know I was living with him?"
"Well, when we came over to visit that guy's apartment for a study session, I went back to walk you home but noticed you never came out." A dark expression quickly appeared on Renji's face as he thought back to that day. "I was so close to going in there and beating the shit out of that guy but I decided to do this quietly in case people get the wrong idea about you." He approached her, shaking his head as he continued. "Let's not talk about that now. I'm angry just thinking about it."
Rukia's heart started beating faster and her body tensed up. "It was you," she whispered before anger took the best of her and she yelled at him. "IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!"
Renji was taken aback by her certain outburst. "W-What do you mean it's my fault? I did what I could to save you—"
"THAT'S NOT THE POINT!" Rukia yelled. "Because of you Ichigo might be in danger!"
Renji glared when he heard her using Kurosaki's name so familiarly. "Why are you acting like I did a bad thing?"
"Because you did!" she screeched as her tears welled up. "If it wasn't for you I would still be with Ichigo and niisama wouldn't have attacked him!"
Anger started to bubble up inside him as he noticed her obvious distress over the matter. "You were being manipulated by him!"
"No I wasn't! I wanted to be with him!" Rukia yelled. "Why did you have to interfere?"
"Because I was looking out for you!" Renji shouted, "Why can't you see that that dumbass teacher was just using you to get a piece of ass—" his words got abruptly cut off when Rukia slapped him across the face, sending his head flying off to the side.
Time seemed to stand still as Rukia's teary eyes glared at him. "Congratulations," she said, "You have just successfully fucked up our friendship. From now on, don't you dare come near me."
Renji stayed frozen in his spot, his cheek burning hot as Rukia turned around to walk away. But the second she took her third step, a growl came from the back of his throat as his eyes narrowed into slits. He took a giant stepped towards her and grabbed her arm, pulling her back into his embrace.
"Renji! What are you—"
This time Rukia's words got cut off when Renji suddenly smashed his lips against hers. Her eyes widened in shock as she stood stiff, not really sure what was happening. But the moment she felt his tongue run across her lips, she was brought back to reality and quickly pushed him off of her.
"What's wrong with you?" she screamed as she quickly wiped her lips with the back of her hand. "Why did you do that? Are you that determine to terminate whatever is left of our friendship?"
"Friendship, yes!" he shouted back, "Because I want to be someone more than that to you!"
Rukia's eyebrows narrowed as she snorted. "Are you crazy?"
"No!" he quickly responded, "I loved you ever since I could remember and I wanted to take our relationship to the next level but that fucking circus-clown suddenly came in and ruined everything!"
Rukia gasped as she stepped back. "Wait a second," she held up her hands, "Are you trying to say you actually wanted to ask me out?" she cringed at the thought, "What made you think I would want to jeopardize our long time friendship by suddenly going out with you? And Ichigo didn't ruin anything since there was nothing like that between you and me in the first place!"
"There would have been! I was planning on asking you out when we graduated!"
"What kind of stupid excuse is that?"
"A valid one, considering who your brother is!" Renji's face reddened from both embarrassment and anger.
Rukia took another step back and shook her head. "It never would have happened even if Ichigo didn't come," she said, calmly this time, "I don't love you like that."
A sharp pain ran across Renji's chest as he took a step forward. "You don't know that. There might have been a chance if only—"
"Stop it," she took several more steps back, "I don't want to think about 'maybe's.' I love Ichigo and I'm happy—well, I was happy before you went and told niisama everything."
At her sudden confession, Renji's hands rolled into fists and he saw nothing but red. "What?"
Rukia remained quiet as she tried to get away, but Renji continued to follow her.
"Y-you…you love him?" he asked.
"Yes," Rukia swallowed as she noticed that the room was starting to feel small, "I love him."
Renji came to a sudden stop, much to Rukia's relief, as he continued to stare at her as if she was crazy. "Does he love you?"
Rukia looked straight into his eyes and nodded. "He loves me."
"That's bullshit!" Renji slammed his fist against the wall to his side, breaking through the drywall.
Rukia gasped by his sudden show of violence, and she took the last step before her back hit against the wall.
Renji's shoulders heaved up and down as his breathing became labored and his eyes gave off a murderous glare. "That fucking guy is just spouting out lies to get in between your legs!"
"And you would know?" Rukia glared the moment he continued dissing Ichigo, "I know Ichigo and he loves me—"
"Stop calling him by his name!" he shouted at her, "You sound like you already slept…" his voice slowly died off but his eyes widened at the realization. "You already did, didn't you?"
Rukia bit the inside her mouth as she looked away.
That was all she had to do for him to understand. Renji gasped as he took a few steps back this time. "No fucking way," he muttered.
"Like I said, I love him and he loves me back. What's so wrong with showing each other our feelings?" Rukia asked, though she still wasn't looking at him. She remained still, waiting for him to scream, yell, punch or just all out destroy things but nothing happened. The room remained silent for several seconds before she heard Renji's low laugh. She looked up to see his head facing downwards, blocking out his eyes, as his shoulders shook up and down.
Renji's laughter slowly increased and he threw his head back to laugh out loud. "That's just fucking great! Now Kuchiki-sama has a new reason to get that bastard arrested! Not only did he sprout out lies about loving you to get you to live with him, but you two fucked each other! And I bet he knew about your inheritance too!"
The discomfort from hearing Renji's menacing laughter remained but Rukia glared at him. "Don't be stupid. Ichigo doesn't care about my inheritance; he didn't even know anything about this until a month ago! And we've been together since summer—"
"I don't want to hear this!" Renji suddenly shouted as his eyes turned red with rage. "I don't care so you better not bring him up again!" Without even waiting for her to retort, Renji quickly pushed passed her and headed to the door. He slammed the door shut after him and leaned against the wall to control his breathing.
Just the thought of that guy holding his Rukia and whispering sweet nothings into her ear while making love was making his blood boil. It wasn't supposed to go like this. Rukia was supposed to be his and they were supposed to live happily ever after. But some dumbass suddenly entered the picture and took away the one good thing in his world.
Renji was about to slam his fist against the wall again, cursing everything and everyone. His heart was being ripped to shreds and things just got worse when he heard crying from the other side of the door. His arm fell limp as he stared at the ground, slightly dumbfounded, before leaning his ear against the door to hear more clearly.
No doubt about it. Rukia was crying out loud in her room.
And he was the cause of it.
"Congratulations. You have just successfully fucked up our friendship. From now on, don't you dare come near me."
Rukia's words ran over and over again in his head and Renji's logical mind started to come back.
He did it.
He finally fucked up his friendship with Rukia.
Renji slumped against the wall and slid down it as he listened to Rukia's nonstop crying.
It wasn't suppose to go like this.
A/N: Sooooooo...how was it? I kinda liked this chapter since it finally gave answers to many of the questions you guys have been asking. And YES, Renji was the one who started the rumor and told Byakuya about Ichigo and Rukia. Why him and not Orihime? Allow me to finally explain:
I included Orihime's little speech in the beginning to show her intelligent insight on her relationship with Ichigo and the consequences if she had exposed the truth. She's not stupid to do something irrational which would destroy any chance of having Ichigo for herself (since she would pretty much be blackmailing him to be with her) and also their friendship. She has always given me the impression that, beneath that ditzy exterior, she knows and understand her friends the best.
However, the very thing Orihime decided not to do and successfully avoided, was done by Renji. Even though he's a good friend of Rukia's, his pride was damaged when she was taken away by someone she just met. Also, his hot-headed-ness played a role, which can be seen above when he was comforting Rukia. He never really saw their relationship as merely just 'friendship' but as something more. So he started the rumor and then told Byakuya. He thought this would bring her back to him since he 'saved' her from a perverted teacher, but never realized that he was actually wrong in his assumptions. In the end, he realized his mistake after making things worse between him and Rukia. And now that Renji realized his mistake, the next chapter will show him trying to fix the wrongs before it's too late.
I hope this explanation clears up a lot of things for you guys. I don't want others to feel confused about this. I really wanted to write this chapter because it shows the value of friendship and intelligence of these two characters who have been suffering from one-sided love for so long.
Thanks for reading and don't forget to review!
Preview for next chapter:
Ichigo is finally awake and is waiting for the opportunity to get back Rukia.
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