chapter seven!
Sep. 6th, 2010 07:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
queenofchalicesTitle: Oedipus Complex – Chapter Seven
Series: Bleach
Rating: T
Warnings: het (IchiHime, IsshinHime), May/December relationship
Spoilers: Through current chapters (418)
Disclaimer: These characters belong to a lot of Japanese people, namely people like Tite Kubo and Shonen Jump. You'll notice how none of those are me. The LiveJournal format that you'll probably be reading this in (if you're one of my friends) is rough draft and is subject to revision. Consider this a 'sneak peek'. If something sits the wrong way with you, let me know. Not responsible for epileptic seizures or allergic reactions. May contain eye-and-brain-bleeding levels of radioactive ANGST and/or peanut products. Please sit a reasonable distance from your computer screen.
Author's Notes: And we had Ruby Tuesdays' today! Although now Labor Day is over. Aww. :(
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Breakfast the next morning was sullen and quiet. Even Isshin wasn't being his normal obnoxious self, for which Ichigo was exceedingly grateful. Rukia had left earlier the night before to return to Soul Society - she had only been there for a short visit - and Karin and Yuzu were practically walking on eggshells around him. For her part, Orihime had come down to cook already in her school uniform and had cast Ichigo fretful, guilty looks all throughout the meal.
By the time he was ready to leave for school, Ichigo couldn't get away from the house fast enough. Unfortunately, Orihime was going exactly the same way and walked along with him, even after Mizuiro met him on the front stoop.
"Wow," the black-haired boy whistled, "Did I just see Inoue-san walk out of your house, Ichigo?" Even if she was too young for his tastes, Ichigo knew Mizuiro could still appreciate just how popular and sought-after Orihime was. The girl in question said nothing, opting to blush shyly instead.
"Don't talk about her like she's not even here," Ichigo grumbled, "And yes, she spent the weekend with us." Mizuiro gave a low whistle at this information.
"That's some grist for the rumor mill," he remarked, casually pulling his phone out of his pocket. No sooner had he flipped it open than Ichigo reached over and calmly took it from him.
"Grist that you will not be spreading around," Ichigo said in a warning tone. He wasn't sure what to tell the folks at school just yet. He knew he had to tell Tatsuki at a minimum; she might be his only way out of this mess. But there was no way he wanted Mizuiro spreading wild rumors about Orihime being at his house. They'd probably be less bizarre than the truth anyway.
"It's okay, Ichigo-kun," Orihime said quietly from behind them, "You can tell Kojima-kun." Ichigo froze and looked at Orihime as though she'd just grown flowers out of her ears. Mizuiro simply looked intrigued. He even cast Ichigo a curious look over the use of his given name.
"Tell me what, Inoue-san?" he asked politely.
"I'm marrying Ichigo-kun's father at the end of this week," she said quietly, and perhaps a bit sadly, Ichigo thought. Mizuiro's eyebrows disappeared into his hairline.
"I didn't know you liked older men, Inoue-san," he remarked evenly. Ichigo wanted to roll his eyes, but even that was too much effort.
"Yeah, now you have something in common," Ichigo grunted, determined to tune the rest of the conversation out. Mizuiro looked a bit ruffled at that remark.
"I like older women, Ichigo," he corrected, "There are differences." As Ichigo cast him a scathing look, Mizuiro reached over and took his phone back from him. "I'll need that back, thank you."
Unsurprisingly, he immediately began texting. Ichigo snorted and tuned the other two out as Orihime made nervous idle chit-chat to fill the silence.
The rest of the morning wasn't much different, dragging past in a hazy, empty blur. Ichigo barely registered their teachers or his friends' usual antics. Most of his time was spent staring morosely out the classroom window or at Orihime's back. He was sure he looked like a particularly love-sick puppy, but he didn't care - he was officially miserable.
So it came as no surprise when he pulled Tatsuki aside during lunch that the first words out of her mouth were:
"Wow, Ichigo, you look like crap."
Ichigo regarded her with a look that clearly said he was well aware of the state of his appearance. He knew his hair was less-than-perfect and that he had bags under his bloodshot eyes. In all honesty, he probably looked like a particularly ripe zombie, but he was trying not to think about it.
"I don't need to hear that from you," he grunted, fixing Tatsuki with the same baleful glare he'd been casting at everyone that morning.
"Yeah, well what do you need?" She asked, "What'd you wanna talk to me about?"
"I need your help," he started. He'd barely said the words before Tatsuki spoke again.
"You need my help?" Tatsuki asked sarcastically, "Now this is a development!" Ichigo sighed in frustration.
"I apologized for that already!" he reminded her, "But yes, I really do need your help. Just... hear me out, alright?" Tatsuki looked somewhat bored, but allowed him to continue.
"Inoue's marrying my dad."
Tatsuki's expression didn't change. As the seconds ticked by, Ichigo lost more and more hope.
"I know."
"You... You know?!" he finally sputtered, "How the hell can you be so calm, then?! She's marrying a guy old enough to be her father! And she's just in high school!" Tatsuki shrugged.
"That's her choice, Ichigo," she reminded him, "She's not the first high school girl with an older boyfriend. And it's not like anyone else worth a damn has shown any interest in her. And isn't he a lot older than that anyway?" Ichigo didn't miss Tatsuki's pointed look from her statements.
"So?" he countered defensively, purposely ignoring the last part, "She has her whole life ahead of her! She doesn't need to marry him and become a mother at sixteen!" Tatsuki smiled as though she knew something he didn't.
"Actually," she corrected, "She said they were going to wait until she finished high school before trying for any rugrats." Ichigo's face lit up like a firecracker.
"They can't do that!"
"And why not?" Tatsuki asked, hand on hip, "Plenty of people do it just fine. Plus, I'll get to babysit."
"Because they... she... I just don't want them to!" Ichigo was fully aware of how utterly lame he sounded, but at the moment he didn't care. The thought of Orihime and his dad spawning was too much for him.
"Why?" Tatsuki asked pointedly, "It's not like you like her or anything, right? Why wouldn't you want her to be happy?" Ichigo was once again confronted with this. Why was he being so selfish? Was he really the one with the problem after all? Screw it, why even bother trying to fight it anymore?
"No, I..." he began, fully tripping over his every word, "I do like her! I just... it's complicated!" Well, that was substantially easier to admit than he thought. And if he wasn't mistaken, he thought he saw Tatsuki grin faintly.
"Well, better uncomplicate it before Friday," Tatsuki said, turning to leave, "Otherwise, you just gotta deal with it." She waved at him over her shoulder as she went to meet her friends for lunch.
Ichigo's shoulders slumped in defeat. He could take out someone with the powers of a god, could turn Soul Society and Hueco Mundo upside down if need be, yet he couldn't just admit that he liked a girl. And it looked like he was really all alone in this matter. He could ask Chad or Uryuu for help, but he suspected their answers would be similar. Plus, he was never keen on giving Uryuu something to lord over him anyway.
He just had to suck it up and deal with it himself.
Series: Bleach
Rating: T
Warnings: het (IchiHime, IsshinHime), May/December relationship
Spoilers: Through current chapters (418)
Disclaimer: These characters belong to a lot of Japanese people, namely people like Tite Kubo and Shonen Jump. You'll notice how none of those are me. The LiveJournal format that you'll probably be reading this in (if you're one of my friends) is rough draft and is subject to revision. Consider this a 'sneak peek'. If something sits the wrong way with you, let me know. Not responsible for epileptic seizures or allergic reactions. May contain eye-and-brain-bleeding levels of radioactive ANGST and/or peanut products. Please sit a reasonable distance from your computer screen.
Author's Notes: And we had Ruby Tuesdays' today! Although now Labor Day is over. Aww. :(
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Breakfast the next morning was sullen and quiet. Even Isshin wasn't being his normal obnoxious self, for which Ichigo was exceedingly grateful. Rukia had left earlier the night before to return to Soul Society - she had only been there for a short visit - and Karin and Yuzu were practically walking on eggshells around him. For her part, Orihime had come down to cook already in her school uniform and had cast Ichigo fretful, guilty looks all throughout the meal.
By the time he was ready to leave for school, Ichigo couldn't get away from the house fast enough. Unfortunately, Orihime was going exactly the same way and walked along with him, even after Mizuiro met him on the front stoop.
"Wow," the black-haired boy whistled, "Did I just see Inoue-san walk out of your house, Ichigo?" Even if she was too young for his tastes, Ichigo knew Mizuiro could still appreciate just how popular and sought-after Orihime was. The girl in question said nothing, opting to blush shyly instead.
"Don't talk about her like she's not even here," Ichigo grumbled, "And yes, she spent the weekend with us." Mizuiro gave a low whistle at this information.
"That's some grist for the rumor mill," he remarked, casually pulling his phone out of his pocket. No sooner had he flipped it open than Ichigo reached over and calmly took it from him.
"Grist that you will not be spreading around," Ichigo said in a warning tone. He wasn't sure what to tell the folks at school just yet. He knew he had to tell Tatsuki at a minimum; she might be his only way out of this mess. But there was no way he wanted Mizuiro spreading wild rumors about Orihime being at his house. They'd probably be less bizarre than the truth anyway.
"It's okay, Ichigo-kun," Orihime said quietly from behind them, "You can tell Kojima-kun." Ichigo froze and looked at Orihime as though she'd just grown flowers out of her ears. Mizuiro simply looked intrigued. He even cast Ichigo a curious look over the use of his given name.
"Tell me what, Inoue-san?" he asked politely.
"I'm marrying Ichigo-kun's father at the end of this week," she said quietly, and perhaps a bit sadly, Ichigo thought. Mizuiro's eyebrows disappeared into his hairline.
"I didn't know you liked older men, Inoue-san," he remarked evenly. Ichigo wanted to roll his eyes, but even that was too much effort.
"Yeah, now you have something in common," Ichigo grunted, determined to tune the rest of the conversation out. Mizuiro looked a bit ruffled at that remark.
"I like older women, Ichigo," he corrected, "There are differences." As Ichigo cast him a scathing look, Mizuiro reached over and took his phone back from him. "I'll need that back, thank you."
Unsurprisingly, he immediately began texting. Ichigo snorted and tuned the other two out as Orihime made nervous idle chit-chat to fill the silence.
The rest of the morning wasn't much different, dragging past in a hazy, empty blur. Ichigo barely registered their teachers or his friends' usual antics. Most of his time was spent staring morosely out the classroom window or at Orihime's back. He was sure he looked like a particularly love-sick puppy, but he didn't care - he was officially miserable.
So it came as no surprise when he pulled Tatsuki aside during lunch that the first words out of her mouth were:
"Wow, Ichigo, you look like crap."
Ichigo regarded her with a look that clearly said he was well aware of the state of his appearance. He knew his hair was less-than-perfect and that he had bags under his bloodshot eyes. In all honesty, he probably looked like a particularly ripe zombie, but he was trying not to think about it.
"I don't need to hear that from you," he grunted, fixing Tatsuki with the same baleful glare he'd been casting at everyone that morning.
"Yeah, well what do you need?" She asked, "What'd you wanna talk to me about?"
"I need your help," he started. He'd barely said the words before Tatsuki spoke again.
"You need my help?" Tatsuki asked sarcastically, "Now this is a development!" Ichigo sighed in frustration.
"I apologized for that already!" he reminded her, "But yes, I really do need your help. Just... hear me out, alright?" Tatsuki looked somewhat bored, but allowed him to continue.
"Inoue's marrying my dad."
Tatsuki's expression didn't change. As the seconds ticked by, Ichigo lost more and more hope.
"I know."
"You... You know?!" he finally sputtered, "How the hell can you be so calm, then?! She's marrying a guy old enough to be her father! And she's just in high school!" Tatsuki shrugged.
"That's her choice, Ichigo," she reminded him, "She's not the first high school girl with an older boyfriend. And it's not like anyone else worth a damn has shown any interest in her. And isn't he a lot older than that anyway?" Ichigo didn't miss Tatsuki's pointed look from her statements.
"So?" he countered defensively, purposely ignoring the last part, "She has her whole life ahead of her! She doesn't need to marry him and become a mother at sixteen!" Tatsuki smiled as though she knew something he didn't.
"Actually," she corrected, "She said they were going to wait until she finished high school before trying for any rugrats." Ichigo's face lit up like a firecracker.
"They can't do that!"
"And why not?" Tatsuki asked, hand on hip, "Plenty of people do it just fine. Plus, I'll get to babysit."
"Because they... she... I just don't want them to!" Ichigo was fully aware of how utterly lame he sounded, but at the moment he didn't care. The thought of Orihime and his dad spawning was too much for him.
"Why?" Tatsuki asked pointedly, "It's not like you like her or anything, right? Why wouldn't you want her to be happy?" Ichigo was once again confronted with this. Why was he being so selfish? Was he really the one with the problem after all? Screw it, why even bother trying to fight it anymore?
"No, I..." he began, fully tripping over his every word, "I do like her! I just... it's complicated!" Well, that was substantially easier to admit than he thought. And if he wasn't mistaken, he thought he saw Tatsuki grin faintly.
"Well, better uncomplicate it before Friday," Tatsuki said, turning to leave, "Otherwise, you just gotta deal with it." She waved at him over her shoulder as she went to meet her friends for lunch.
Ichigo's shoulders slumped in defeat. He could take out someone with the powers of a god, could turn Soul Society and Hueco Mundo upside down if need be, yet he couldn't just admit that he liked a girl. And it looked like he was really all alone in this matter. He could ask Chad or Uryuu for help, but he suspected their answers would be similar. Plus, he was never keen on giving Uryuu something to lord over him anyway.
He just had to suck it up and deal with it himself.
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Date: 2010-09-08 12:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-08 01:12 pm (UTC)